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NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS

LAND BIRDS

VOL. I.




  [Illustration: CAT BIRD.
        (Galeoscoptes carolinensis.)
                 Adult.]




  A

  HISTORY

  OF

  NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS

  BY
  S. F. BAIRD, T. M. BREWER, AND R. RIDGWAY

  LAND BIRDS

  _ILLUSTRATED BY 64 PLATES AND 593 WOODCUTS_

  VOLUME I.

  [Illustration: sketch of nest with eggs]

  BOSTON
  LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY
  1905




  Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874,
  BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY,
  in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.




  Printers
  S. J. PARKHILL & CO., BOSTON, U. S. A.




PREFACE.


The present work is designed to meet the want, which has long been
felt, of a descriptive account of the Birds of North America, with
notices of their geographical distribution, habits, methods of
nesting, character of eggs, their popular nomenclature, and other
points connected with their life history.

For many years past the only systematic treatises bearing upon this
subject have been “The American Ornithology” of Alexander Wilson,
finished by that author in 1814, and brought down to the date of 1827
by George Ord; the “Ornithological Biography” of Audubon, bearing date
of 1838, with a second edition, “Birds of America,” embracing a little
more of detail, and completed in 1844; and “A Manual of the
Ornithology of the United States and Canada,” by Nuttall, of which a
first edition was published in 1832 and a second in 1840. Since then
no work relating to American Ornithology, of a biographical nature,
has been presented to the public, with the exception of some of
limited extent, such as those of Giraud, on the “Birds of Long
Island,” in 1844; De Kay’s “Birds of New York,” 1844; Samuels’s
“Ornithology and Oölogy of New England,” 1868, and a few others;
together with quite a number of minor papers on the birds of
particular localities, of greater or less moment, chiefly published in
periodicals and the Proceedings of Societies. The reports of many of
the government exploring parties also contain valuable data,
especially those of Dr. Newberry, Dr. Heermann, Dr. J. G. Cooper, Dr.
Suckley, Dr. Kennerly, and others.

More recently (in 1870) Professor Whitney, Chief of the Geological
Survey of California, has published a very important volume on the
ornithology of the entire west coast of North America, written by Dr.
J. G. Cooper, and containing much original detail in reference to the
habits of the western species. This is by far the most valuable
contribution to the biography of American birds that has appeared
since the time of Audubon, and, with its typographical beauty and
numerous and excellent illustrations, all on wood and many of them
colored, constitutes one of the most noteworthy publications in
American Zoölogy.

Up to the time of the appearance of the work of Audubon, nearly all
that was known of the great region of the United States west of the
Missouri River was the result of the journey of Lewis and Clark up the
Missouri and across to the Pacific Coast, and that of John K. Townsend
and Mr. Nuttall, both of whom made some collections and brought back
notices of the country, which, however, they were unable to explore to
any great extent. The entire region of Texas, New Mexico, Colorado,
Arizona, Nevada, and California was unvisited, as also a great portion
of territory north of the United States boundary, including British
Columbia and Alaska.

A work by Sir John Richardson, forming a volume in his series of
“Fauna Boreali-Americana,” in reference to the ornithology of the
region covered by the Hudson Bay Company’s operations, was published
in 1831, and has been much used by Mr. Audubon, but embraces little or
nothing of the great breeding-grounds of the water birds in the
neighborhood of the Great Slave and Bear Lakes, the Upper Yukon, and
the shores of the Arctic coast.

It will thus be seen that a third of a century has elapsed since any
attempt has been made to present a systematic history of the birds of
North America.

The object of the present work is to give, in as concise a form as
possible, an account of what is known of the birds, not only of the
United States, but of the whole region of North America north of the
boundary-line of Mexico, including Greenland, on the one side, and
Alaska with its islands on the other. The published materials for such
a history are so copious that it is a matter of surprise that they
have not been sooner utilized, consisting, as they do, of numerous
scattered biographies and reports of many government expeditions and
private explorations. But the most productive source has been the
great amount of manuscript contained in the archives of the
Smithsonian Institution in the form of correspondence, elaborate
reports, and the fieldnotes of collectors and travellers, the use of
which, for the present work, has been liberally allowed by Professor
Henry. By far the most important of these consist of notes made by the
late Robert Kennicott in British America, and received from him and
other gentlemen in the Hudson Bay Territory, who were brought into
intimate relationship with the Smithsonian Institution through Mr.
Kennicott’s efforts. Among them may be mentioned more especially Mr.
R. MacFarlane, Mr. B. R. Ross, Mr. James Lockhart, Mr. Lawrence Clark,
Mr. Strachan Jones, and others, whose names will appear in the course
of the work. The especial value of the communications received from
these gentlemen lies in the fact that they resided for a long time in
a region to which a large proportion of the rapacious and water birds
of North America resort during the summer for incubation, and which
until recently has been sealed to explorers.

Equally serviceable has been the information received from the region
of the Yukon River and Alaska generally, including the Aleutian
Islands, as supplied by Messrs. Robert Kennicott, William H. Dall,
Henry M. Bannister, Henry W. Elliott, and others.

It should be understood that the remarks as to the absence of general
works on American Ornithology, since the time of Audubon, apply only
to the life history of the species, as, in 1858, one of the authors of
the present work published a systematic account of the birds of North
America, constituting Vol. IX. of the series of Pacific Railroad
Reports; while from the pen of Dr. Elliott Coues, a well-known and
eminent ornithologist, appeared in 1872 a comprehensive volume,
entitled “A Key to North American Birds,” containing descriptions of
the species and higher groups.

The technical, or descriptive, matter of the present work has been
prepared by Messrs. Baird and Ridgway, that relating to the _Raptores_
entirely by Mr. Ridgway; and all the accounts of the habits of the
species are from the pen of Dr. Brewer. In addition to the matter
supplied by these gentlemen, Professor Theodore N. Gill has furnished
that portion of the Introduction defining the class of birds as
compared with the other vertebrates; while to Dr. Coues is to be given
the entire credit for the pages embracing the tables of the Orders and
Families, as well as for the Glossary beginning on page 535 of Vol.
III.

Nearly all the drawings of the full-length figures of birds contained
in the work were made directly on the wood, by Mr. Edwin L. Sheppard,
of Philadelphia, from original sketches taken from nature; while the
heads were executed for the most part by Mr. Henry W. Elliott and Mr.
Ridgway. Both series have been engraved by Mr. Hobart H. Nichols of
Washington. The generic outlines were drawn by Anton L. Schönborn, and
engraved by the peculiar process of Jewett, Chandler, & Co., of
Buffalo. All of these, it is believed, speak for themselves, and
require no other commendation.

A considerable portion of the illustrations were prepared, by the
persons mentioned above, for the Reports of the Geological Survey of
California, and published in the volume on Ornithology. To Professor
Whitney, Chief of the Survey, acknowledgments are due for the
privilege of including many of them in the present History of North
American Birds, and also for the Explanation of Terms, page 526 of
Vol. III.

A few cuts, drawn by Wolf and engraved by Whymper, first published in
“British Birds in their Haunts,” and credited in their proper places,
were kindly furnished by the London Society for the Diffusion of
Christian Knowledge; and some others prepared for an unpublished
volume by Dr. Blasius, on the Birds of Germany, were obtained from
Messrs. Vieweg and Son, of Braunschweig.

The volume on the Water Birds is in an advanced state of preparation,
and will be published with the least possible delay.

  SPENCER F. BAIRD.

  SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, WASHINGTON,
  January 8, 1874.




  CONTENTS.


                                                    Page

  PREFACE                                              v

  INTRODUCTION                                        xi

  Family TURDIDÆ. The Thrushes                         1
    Subfamily TURDINÆ                                  3
    Subfamily MIMINÆ                                  31
  Family CINCLIDÆ. The Dippers                        55
  Family SAXICOLIDÆ. The Saxicolas                    59
  Family SYLVIIDÆ. The Sylvias                        69
    Subfamily SYLVIINÆ                                69
    Subfamily REGULINÆ                                72
    Subfamily POLIOPTILINÆ                            77
  Family CHAMÆADÆ. The Ground-Tits                    83
  Family PARIDÆ. The Titmice                          86
    Subfamily PARINÆ                                  86
    Subfamily SITTINÆ                                113
  Family CERTHIADÆ. The Creepers                     124
  Family TROGLODYTIDÆ. The Wrens                     130
  Family MOTACILLIDÆ. The Wagtails                   164
    Subfamily MOTACILLINÆ                            165
    Subfamily ANTHINÆ                                169
  Family SYLVICOLIDÆ. The Warblers                   177
    Subfamily SYLVICOLINÆ                            179
    Subfamily GEOTHLYPINÆ                            279
    Subfamily ICTERIANÆ                              306
    Subfamily SETOPHAGINÆ                            311
  Family HIRUNDINIDÆ. The Swallows                   326
  Family VIREONIDÆ. The Vireos                       357
  Family AMPELIDÆ. The Chatterers                    395
    Subfamily AMPELINÆ                               395
    Subfamily PTILOGONATINÆ                          404
  Family LANIIDÆ. The Shrikes                        412
  Family CÆREBIDÆ. The Guits                         425
  Family TANAGRIDÆ. The Tanagers                     431
  Family FRINGILLIDÆ. The Finches                    446
    Subfamily COCCOTHRAUSTINÆ                        446
    Subfamily PYRGITINÆ                              524
    Subfamily SPIZELLINÆ                             528

  INDEX TO THE PLATES.

  PLATES 1-26.




INTRODUCTION.


The class of Birds (_Aves_), as represented in the present age of the
world, is composed of very many species, closely related among
themselves and distinguished by numerous characters common to all. For
the purposes of the present work it is hardly necessary to attempt the
definition of what constitutes a bird, the veriest tyro being able to
decide as to the fact in regard to any North American animal.
Nevertheless, for the sake of greater completeness, we may say that,
compared with other classes,[1] Birds are abranchiate vertebrates,
with a brain filling the cranial cavity, the cerebral portion of which
is moderately well developed, the corpora striata connected by a small
anterior commissure (no corpus callosum developed), prosencephalic
hemispheres large, the optic lobes lateral, the cerebellum
transversely multifissured; the lungs and heart not separated by a
diaphragm from the abdominal viscera; aortic arch single (the right
only being developed); blood, with nucleated red corpuscles,
undergoing a complete circulation, being received and transmitted by
the right half of the quadrilocular heart to the lungs for aeration
(and thus warmed), and afterwards returned by the other half through
the system (there being no communication between the arterial and
venous portions); skull with a single median convex condyle, chiefly
on the basi-occipital (with the sutures for the most part early
obliterated); the lower jaw with its rami ossifying from several
points, connected with the skull by the intervention of a quadrate
bone (homologous with the malleus); pelvis with ilia prolonged in
front of the acetabulum, ischia and pubes nearly parallel with each
other, and the ischia usually separated: anterior and posterior
members much differentiated; the former modified for flight, with the
humerus nearly parallel with the axis of the body and concealed in the
muscles, the radius and ulna distinct, with two persistent carpal
bones, and two to four digits; the legs with the bones peculiarly
combined, (1) the proximal tarsal bones coalescing with the adjoining
tibia, and (2) the distal tarsal coalescing with three (second, third,
and fourth) metatarsals (the first metatarsal being free), and forming
the so-called tarsometatarsus; dermal appendages developed as
feathers: oviparous, the eggs being fertilized within the body,
excluded with an oval, calcareous shell, and hatched at a temperature
of about 104° F. (generally by the incubation upon them of the
mother).[2]

Such are some of the features common to all the existing species of
birds.[3] Many others might be enumerated, but only those are given
which contrast with the characteristics of the mammals on the one hand
and those of the reptiles on the other. The inferior vertebrates are
distinguished by so many salient characters and are so widely
separated from the higher that they need not be compared with the
present class.

Although birds are of course readily recognizable by the observer, and
are definable at once, existing under present conditions, as
warm-blooded vertebrates, with the anterior members primitively
adapted for flight,—they are sometimes abortive,—and covered with
feathers, such characteristics do not suffice to enable us to
appreciate the relations of the class. The characteristics have been
given more fully in order to permit a comparison between the members
of the class and those of the mammals and reptiles. The class is
without exception the most homogeneous in the animal kingdom; and
among the living forms less differences are observable than between
the representatives of many natural orders among other classes. But
still the differences between them and the other existing forms are
sufficient, perhaps, to authorize the distinction of the group as a
class, and such rank has always been allowed excepting by one recent
naturalist.

But if we further compare the characters of the class, it becomes
evident that those shared in common with the reptiles are much more
numerous than those shared with the mammals. In this respect the views
of naturalists have changed within recent years. Formerly the two
characteristics shared with the mammals—the quadrilocular heart and
warm blood—were deemed evidences of the close affinity of the two
groups, and they were consequently combined as a section of the
vertebrates, under the name of Warm-blooded Vertebrates. But recently
the tendency has been, and very justly, to consider the birds and
reptiles as members of a common group, separated on the one hand from
the mammals and on the other from the batrachians; and to this
combination of birds and reptiles has been given the name _Sauropsida_.

As already indicated, the range of variation within this class is
extremely limited; and if our views respecting the taxonomic value of
the subdivisions are influenced by this condition of things, we are
obliged to deny to the groups of living birds the right which has
generally been conceded of ranking as orders.

The greatest distinctions existing among the living members of the
class are exhibited on the one hand by the Ostriches and Kiwis and the
related forms, and on the other by all the remaining birds.

These contrasted groups have been regarded by Professor Huxley as of
ordinal value; but the differences are so slight, in comparison with
those which have received ordinal distinction in other classes, that
the expediency of giving them that value is extremely doubtful; and
they can be combined into one order, which may appropriately bear the
name of _Eurhipidura_.

An objection has been urged to this depreciation of the value of the
subdivisions of the class, on the ground that the peculiar adaptation
for flight, which is the prominent characteristic of birds, is
incapable of being combined with a wider range of form. This is, at
most, an explanation of the cause of the slight range of variation,
and should not therefore affect the exposition of the _fact_ (thereby
admitted) in a classification based on morphological characteristics.
But it must also be borne in mind that flight is by no means
incompatible with extreme modifications, not only of the organs of
flight, but of other parts, as is well exemplified in the case of bats
and the extinct pterodactyls.

Nor is the class of birds as now limited confined to the single order
of which only we have living representatives. In fossil forms we have,
if the differences assumed be confirmed, types of two distinct orders,
one being represented by the genus _Archæopteryx_ and another by the
genera _Ichthyornis_ and _Apatornis_ of Marsh. The first has been
named _Saururæ_ by Hæckel; the second _Ichthyornithides_ by Marsh.

Compelled thus to question the existence of any groups of ordinal
value among recent birds, we proceed now to examine the grounds upon
which natural subdivisions should be based. The prominent features in
the classification of the class until recently have been the divisions
into groups distinguished by their adaptation for different modes of
life; that is, whether aerial or for progression on land, for wading
or for swimming; or, again, into Land and Water Birds. Such groups
have a certain value as simply artificial combinations, but we must
not be considered as thereby committing ourselves to such a system as
a natural one.

The time has scarcely arrived to justify any system of classification
hitherto proposed, and we can only have a sure foundation after an
exhaustive study of the osteology, as well as the neurology and
splanchnology, of the various members. Enough, however, has already
been done to convince us that the subdivision of the class into Land
and Water Birds does not express the true relations of the members
embraced under those heads. Enough has also been adduced to enable us
to group many forms into families and somewhat more comprehensive
groups, definable by osteological and other characters. Such are the
Charadrimorphæ, Cecomorphæ, Alectoromorphæ, Pteroclomorphæ,
Peristeromorphæ, Coracomorphæ, Cypselomorphæ, Celeomorphæ, Aëtomorphæ,
and several others. But it is very doubtful whether the true clew to
the affinities of the groups thus determined has been found in the
relations of the vomer and contiguous bones. The families, too, have
been probably, in a number of cases, especially for the passerine
birds, too much circumscribed. The progress of systematic ornithology,
however, has been so rapid within the last few years, that we may be
allowed to hope that in a second edition of this work the means may be
furnished for a strictly scientific classification and sequence of the
families. (T. N. G.)

A primary division of recent birds may be made by separation of the
(_a_) _Ratitæ_, or struthious birds and their allies,—in which the
sternum has no keel, is developed from lateral paired centres of
ossification, and in which there are numerous other structural
peculiarities of high taxonomic import,—from the (_b_) _Carinatæ_,
including all remaining birds of the present geologic epoch. Other
primary divisions, such as that into _Altrices_ and _Præcoces_ of
Bonaparte, or the corresponding yet somewhat modified and improved
_Psilopaedes_ and _Ptilopaedes_ of Sundevall, are open to the serious
objections that they ignore the profound distinctions between
struthious and other birds, require too numerous exceptions, cannot be
primarily determined by examination of adult specimens, and are based
upon physiological considerations not necessarily co-ordinate with
actual physical structure.

In the following scheme, without attempting to indicate positive
taxonomic rank, and without committing myself finally, I present a
number of higher groups into which Carinate birds may be divided,
capable of approximately exact definition, and apparently of
approximately equivalent taxonomic value. Points of the arrangement
are freely drawn from the writings of various authors, as will be
perceived by those competent to judge without special references. I am
particularly indebted, however, to the late admirable and highly
important work of Professor Sundevall,[4] from which very many
characters are directly borrowed. The arrangement, in effect, is a
modification of that adopted by me in the “Key to North American
Birds,” upon considerations similar to those herewith implied. The
main points of difference are non-recognition of three leading groups
of aerial, terrestrial, and natatorial birds,—groups without
morphological basis, resting simply upon teleological modification; a
general depreciation of the taxonomic value of the several groups,
conformably with the considerations presented in the preceding pages
of this work; abolishing of the group _Grallatores_; and recognition
of a primary group _Sphenisci_.[5]

  A. PASSERES.[6] Hallux invariably present, completely
  incumbent, separately movable by specialization of the _flexor
  hallucis longus_, with enlarged base and its claw larger than
  that of the middle digit. Neither second nor fourth toe
  versatile; joints of toes always 2, 3, 4, 5, from first to
  fourth. Wing-coverts comparatively short and few; with the
  exception of the least coverts upon the _plica alaris_,
  arranged in only two series, the greater of which does not
  reach beyond the middle of the secondary remiges.[7] Rectrices
  twelve (with rare anomalous exceptions). Musical apparatus
  present in greater or less development and complexity. Palate
  ægithognathous. Sternum of one particular mould,
  single-notched. Carotid single (sinistra). Nature highly
  altricial and psilopædic.

    a. Oscines.[8] Sides of the tarsus covered in most or all of
    their extent with two undivided horny plates meeting behind
    in a sharp ridge (except in _Alaudidæ_; one of the plates
    imperfectly divided in a few other forms). Musical apparatus
    highly developed, consisting of several distinct pairs of
    syringeal muscles. Primaries nine only, or ten with the first
    frequently spurious, rarely over two thirds the length of the
    longest, never equalling the longest.

    b. Clamatores.[9] Sides of the tarsus covered with divided
    plates or scales variously arranged, its hinder edge blunt.
    Musical apparatus weak and imperfect, of few or incompletely
    distinguished syringeal muscles (as far as known). Primaries
    ten with rare exceptions, the first usually equalling or
    exceeding the rest.

  B. PICARIÆ.[10] Hallux inconsiderable, weak or wanting, not
  always incumbent, not separately movable by distinction of a
  special muscle, its claw not longer than that of the middle toe
  unless of exceptional shape (e. g. _Centropus_). Second or
  fourth toe frequently versatile; third and fourth frequently
  with decreased number of joints. Wing-coverts for the most part
  larger and in more numerous series than in _Passeres_, the
  greater series reaching beyond the middle of the secondary
  quills (except in many _Pici_ and some others). Rectrices
  commonly ten (eight to twelve). Primaries always ten, the first
  only exceptionally short (as in _Pici_). Musical apparatus
  wanting, or consisting of a muscular mass, or of not more than
  three pairs of syringeal muscles. Palate desmognathous or
  ægithognathous. Sternum of non-passerine character, its
  posterior border entire or doubly notched or fenestrate.
  Carotid single or double. Nature completely altricial, but
  young sometimes hatched with down[11] (e. g. _Caprimulgidæ_).

    a. Cypseli. Palate ægithognathous. Wings lengthened in their
    terminal portions, abbreviated basally, with the first
    primary not reduced. Tail of ten rectrices. Bill fissirostral
    or tenuirostral. Feet never zygodactyle nor syndactyle,
    small, weak, scarcely fitted for locomotion; hallux often
    elevated or lateral or reversed; front toes usually webbed at
    base, or with abnormal ratio of phalanges in length and
    number, or both. Sternum deep-keeled, usually entire or else
    doubly notched or perforate. Syringeal muscles not more than
    one pair.

    b. Cuculi. Palate desmognathous. Wings not peculiar in
    brevity of proximal or length of distal portions, and with
    first primary not reduced. Tail of eight to twelve rectrices.
    Bill of indeterminate form, never cered; tongue not
    extensile. Feet variously modified by versatility or
    reversion of either first, second, or fourth toes, or by
    cohesion for a great distance of third and fourth, or by
    absence or rudimentary condition of first or second; often
    highly scansorial, rarely ambulatorial. Syringeal muscles two
    pairs at most.

    c. Pici. Palate “exhibiting a simplification and degradation
    of the ægithognathous structure” (Huxley); wings bearing out
    this passerine affinity in the common reduction of the first
    primary and the restriction of the greater coverts. Tail of
    ten perfect rectrices and usually a supplementary pair.
    Rostrum hard, straight, narrow, subequal to head, with
    commonly extensile and vermiform but not furcate tongue. Feet
    highly scansorial. Fourth toe permanently reversed; basal
    phalanges of toes abbreviated. Sternum doubly notched.
    Salivary glands highly developed. Hyoidean apparatus peculiar.

  C. PSITTACI. Bill enormously thick, short, high, much arched
  from the base, the upper mandible strongly hooked at the end,
  cered at base, and freely movable by complete articulation with
  the forehead, the under mandible with short, broad, truncate
  symphysis. Feet permanently zygodactyle by reversion of the
  fourth toe, which articulates by a double facet. Tarsi
  reticulate. Syrinx peculiarly constructed of three pairs of
  intrinsic muscles. Tongue short, thick, fleshy. Sternum entire
  or fenestrate. Clavicles weak, defective, or wanting. Orbit
  more or less completed by approach or union of postorbital
  process and lachrymal. Altricial; psilopædic.

  D. RAPTORES. Bill usually powerful, adapted for tearing flesh,
  strongly decurved and hooked at the end, furnished with a cere
  in which the nostrils open. Feet strongly flexible, with large,
  sharp, much curved claws gradually narrowed from base to tip,
  convex on the sides, that of the second toe larger than that of
  the fourth toe, and the hinder not smaller than the second one.
  Feet never permanently zygodactyle, though fourth toe often
  versatile; anterior toes commonly with one basal web; hallux
  considerable and completely incumbent (except _Cathartidæ_).
  Legs feathered to the suffrago or beyond. Rectrices twelve
  (with rare exceptions); primaries sinuate or emarginate (with
  rare exceptions). Sternum singly or doubly notched or
  fenestrate. Palate desmognathous. Carotids double. Syrinx
  wanting or developed with only one pair of muscles. Altricial;
  the young being weak and helpless, yet ptilopædic, being downy
  at birth.

  E. COLUMBÆ. Bill straight, compressed, horny at the vaulted
  tip, which is separated by a constriction from the soft
  membranous basal portion. Nostrils beneath a soft, tumid valve.
  Tomia of the mandibles mutually apposed. Frontal feathers
  sweeping in strongly convex outline across base of upper
  mandible. Legs feathered to the tarsus or beyond. Hallux
  incumbent (with few exceptions), and front toes rarely webbed
  at base. Tarsus with small scutella in front, or oftener
  reticulate, the envelope rather membranous than corneous. Head
  very small. Plumage without after-shafts. One pair of syringeal
  muscles. Sternum doubly notched, or notched and fenestrate on
  each side. Carotids double. Palate schizognathous. Monogamous,
  and highly altricial and psilopædic.

  F. GALLINÆ. Bill generally short, stout, convex, with an obtuse
  vaulted tip, corneous except in the nasal fossa, and without
  constriction in its continuity. Nostrils scaled or feathered.
  Tomia of upper mandible overlapping. Frontal feathers forming
  re-entrant outline at the base of upper mandible. Legs usually
  feathered to the tarsus or beyond. Hallux elevated, with few
  exceptions (e. g. _Cracidæ_ and _Megapodidæ_), smaller than the
  anterior toes, occasionally wanting (as in the Hemipods).
  Tarsus, when not feathered, generally broadly scutellate. Front
  toes commonly webbed at base. Claws blunt, little curved. Wings
  strong, short, and concavo-convex. Rectrices commonly more than
  twelve. Head small. Plumage usually after-shafted. Carotids
  double (except _Turnicidæ_ and _Megapodidæ_). No intrinsic
  syringeal muscles. Sternum very deeply, generally doubly,
  notched. Palate schizognathous. Chiefly polygamous. Præcocial
  and ptilopædic.

  G. LIMICOLÆ. Tibiæ bare of feathers for a variable (sometimes
  very slight) distance above the suffrago. Legs commonly
  lengthened, sometimes excessively so, and neck usually produced
  in corresponding ratio. Tarsi scutellate or reticulate. Toes
  never coherent at base; cleft, or united for a short distance
  by one or two small movable basal webs (palmate only in
  _Recurvirostra_, lobate only in _Phalaropodidæ_). Hallux always
  reduced, obviously elevated and free, or wanting; giving a foot
  of cursorial character. Wings, with few exceptions, lengthened,
  pointed, and flat; the inner primaries and outer secondaries
  very short, forming a strong re-entrance on the posterior
  border of the wing. Tail shorter than the wing, of simple form,
  and of few feathers, except in certain Snipes. Head globose,
  sloping rapidly down to the contracted base of the bill,
  completely feathered (except _Philomachus_ ♂). Gape of bill
  short and constricted; tip usually obtuse; bill weak and
  flexible. Rostrum commonly lengthened, and more or less terete
  and slender; membranous wholly or in great part, without hard
  cutting edges. Nostrils narrow, placed low down, entirely
  surrounded with soft skin; nasal fossæ extensive. Palate
  schizognathous. Sternum usually doubly, sometimes singly,
  notched. Carotids double. Pterylosis of a particular pattern.
  Nature præcocial and ptilopædic. Comprising the “Plover-Snipe”
  group; species of medium and small size, with never extremely
  compressed or depressed body; more or less aquatic, living on
  plains and in open places, usually near water, nesting on the
  ground, where the young run freely at birth.

  H. HERODIONES. Tibiæ naked below. Legs and neck much lengthened
  in corresponding ratio. Toes long, slender, never coherent at
  base, where cleft, or with movable basal webbing. Hallux (as
  compared with that of the preceding and following group)
  lengthened, free, and either perfectly incumbent or but little
  elevated, with a large claw, giving a foot of insessorial
  character. Wings commonly obtuse, but broad and ample, without
  marked re-entrance on posterior border, the intermediate
  remiges not being much abbreviated. Tail short and
  few-feathered. Head narrow, conico-elongated, gradually
  contracting to the large, stout base of the bill; the loral and
  orbital region, or the whole head, naked. Gape of the bill
  deeply fissured; tip usually acute; tomia hard and cutting.
  Bill conico-elongate, always longer than the head, stout and
  firm. Nostrils small, placed high up, with entirely bony and
  horny, or only slightly membranous, surroundings. Pterylosis
  nearly peculiar in the presence, almost throughout the group,
  of powder-down tracts, rarely found elsewhere; pterylæ very
  narrow. Palate desmognathous. Carotids double. Altricial.
  Comprising the Herons, Storks, Ibises, etc. (not Cranes).
  Species usually of large stature, with compressed body and very
  long S-bent neck; perching and nesting usually in trees,
  bushes, or other high places near water; young hatching weak,
  scarcely feathered, and reared in the nest.

  I. ALECTORIDES.[12] Tibiæ naked below. Neck, legs, and feet
  much as in the last group, but hallux reduced and obviously
  elevated, with small claw, the resulting foot cursorial
  (natatorial and lobate in _Fulica_). Wings and tail commonly as
  in _Herodiones_. Head less narrowed and conic than in the last,
  fully feathered or with extensive baldness (not with definite
  nakedness of loral and orbital regions). Bill of various shape,
  usually lengthened and obtuse, never extensively membranous.
  Rictus moderate. Nostrils lower than in _Herodiones_.
  Pterylosis not peculiar. Palate schizognathous. Carotids
  double. Nature præcocial and ptilopædic. Comprising the Cranes
  and Rails and their allies; the former agreeing with the
  _Herodiones_ superficially in stature, etc., but highly diverse
  in the schizognathous palate, præcocial nature, etc.

  J. LAMELLIROSTRES. Feet palmate; tibiæ feathered (except
  _Phœnicopterus_). Legs near centre of equilibrium of the body,
  its axis horizontal in walking; not lengthened except in
  _Phœnicopterus_. Knee-joint rarely exserted beyond general skin
  of the body. Wings moderate, reaching when folded to, but not
  beyond, the usually short and rounded (exceptionally long and
  cuneate) tail. Feet tetradactyle (except sometimes in
  _Phœnicopterus_); hallux reduced, elevated and free, often
  independently lobate. Bill lamellate, i. e., furnished along
  each commissural edge with a regular series of mutually adapted
  laminæ or tooth-like processes, with which correspond certain
  laciniate processes of the fleshy tongue, which ends in a horny
  tip. Bill large, thick, high at base, depressed towards the
  end, membranous to the broad obtuse tip, which is occupied by a
  horny “nail” of various shape. Nostrils patent, never tubular;
  nasal fossæ slight. No gular pouch. Plumage dense, to resist
  water. Eyes very small. Head high, compressed, with lengthened,
  sloping frontal region. Palate desmognathous. Reproduction
  præcocial; young ptilopædic. Eggs numerous. Carotids double.
  Sternum single-notched. Comprising Flamingoes and all the
  Anserine birds.

  K. STEGANOPODES. Feet totipalmate; hallux lengthened, nearly
  incumbent, semilateral, completely united with the second toe
  by a full web. Tibiæ feathered; position of legs with reference
  to axis of body variable, but generally far posterior;
  knee-joint not free. Wings and tail variable. Bill of very
  variable shape, never lamellate, wholly corneous; its tomia
  often serrate; external nares very small or finally abortive. A
  prominent naked gular pouch. Tarsi reticulate. Sternum entire
  or nearly so; furculum confluent with its keel. Carotids
  double. Palate highly desmognathous. Reproduction altricial;
  young psilopædic or ptilopædic. Eggs three or fewer.

  L. LONGIPENNES. (To most of the characters of the group here
  given the genus _Halodroma_ is a signal exception, though
  unquestionably belonging here.) Feet palmate. Tibiæ feathered.
  Legs at or near centre of equilibrium, affording horizontal
  position of axis of body in walking. Knee scarcely buried in
  common integument; tibia sometimes with a long apophysis.
  Hallux elevated, free, functionless; very small, rudimentary,
  or wanting. Rostrum of variable shape, usually compressed and
  straight to the hooked end, sometimes entirely straight and
  acute, commonly lengthened, always corneous, without serration
  or true lamellæ. Nostrils of various forms, tubular or simply
  fissured, never abortive. No gular pouch. Wings very long and
  pointed, surpassing the base and often the end of the large,
  well-formed, few-feathered tail. Carotids double. Palate
  schizognathous. Reproduction altricial; young ptilopædic. Eggs
  three or fewer. Habit highly volucral.

  M. PYGOPODES. Feet palmate or lobate. Tibiæ feathered, often
  with a long apophysis, always buried in common integument
  nearly to the heel-joint, necessitating a more or less erect
  posture of the body on land, where progression is difficult.
  Hallux small, elevated or wanting; feet lobate or palmate. Bill
  of indeterminate shape, wholly corneous, never lamellate or
  serrate, nor with gular pouch. Nostrils not abortive. Wings
  very short, reaching scarcely or not to the base, never to the
  tip, of the short, sometimes rudimentary, tail. Palate
  schizognathous. Carotid usually double, sometimes single (in
  _Podiceps_ and _Mergulus_). Nature altricial or præcocial;
  young ptilopædic. Highly natatorial.

  N. SPHENISCI. With general characters of the last group, but
  distinguished by unique ptilosis and wing-structure, etc.
  Plumage without apteria, of singularly modified scale-like
  feathers on most parts; no developed remiges. Wings unfit for
  flight, insusceptible of perfect flexion or extension, very
  short, with peculiarly flattened bones and stable
  articulations. Skeleton non-pneumatic. Many bones, terete in
  ordinary birds, here flattened. Metatarsal bone flattened
  transversely, doubly fenestrate. Hallux elevated, lateral,
  minute, free. No free pollex. Two anconal sesamoids; patella
  from double centres; tibia without apophysis; a free tarsal
  ossicle. Sternum with long lateral apophyses. Pelvic
  connections unstable. Carotids double. Comprising only the
  Penguins. Confined to the Southern Hemisphere.

Having thus presented and defined an arrangement of the higher groups
into which recent Carinate birds are susceptible of division, I next
proceed to the consideration of the North American Families of birds
which the authors of the present work have provisionally adopted as
suitable to the end they had in view. Professor Baird urges the
caution that the scheme is intended merely for the convenient
determination of the North American species, aware that in many
instances diagnoses or antitheses of entire pertinence in such
application would fail or be negatived by consideration of the exotic
forms. The arrangement of the families here adopted is essentially
that presented in 1858 in Professor Baird’s “Birds of North America,”
modified somewhat in accordance with more recent views of Professor
Sundevall and others. But before proceeding to the analysis of the
families, I will introduce an artificial clew to the preceding higher
groups as adopted, so far as they are represented by North American
species.


ARTIFICIAL KEY TO THE FOREGOING HIGHER GROUPS,

_By means of which any North American bird may be readily referred to
that group to which it is held to belong._

    I. Toes 3; 2 in front, 1 behind                       (_Pici_) PICARIÆ.

   II. Toes 3; all in front. Toes cleft or semipalmate            LIMICOLÆ.
                             Toes palmate. Nostrils tubular    LONGIPENNES.
                                           Nostrils not tubular  PYGOPODES.

  III. Toes 4; 2 in front, 2 behind. Bill cered and hooked          ITTACI.
              Bill neither cered nor hooked. (_Cuculi_ or _Pici_)  PICARIÆ.

   IV. Toes 4; 3 in front, 1 behind.
        1. Toes syndactyle                              (_Cuculi_) PICARIÆ.
        2. Toes totipalmate (all four full-webbed)            STEGANOPODES.
        3. Toes palmate. Bill curved up                           LIMICOLÆ.
                         Bill not curved up; lamellate      LAMELLIROSTRES.
                            not lamellate; hallux lobate         PYGOPODES.
                                           hallux not lobate   LONGIPENNES.
        4. Toes lobate. Tail rudimentary                         PYGOPODES.
                        Tail perfect. A horny frontal shield   ALECTORIDES.
                                      No horny frontal shield     LIMICOLÆ.
        5. Toes semipalmate; joined by evident movable basal web (A).
        6. Toes cleft to the base, or there immovably coherent (B).

  A. Hind toe elevated above the level of the rest.
      Tibiæ naked below. Nostrils perforate                    ALECTORIDES.
                         Nostrils imperforate.
                           Tarsi reticulate. Head bald          HERODIONES.
                                             Head feathered       LIMICOLÆ.
                           Tarsi scutellate in front              LIMICOLÆ.
      Tibiæ feathered below. Nostrils perforate                   RAPTORES.
                             Nostrils imperforate.
                              Gape reaching below eye. (_Cypseli_) PICARIÆ.
                              Gape not reaching below eye          GALLINÆ.

  AA. Hind toe inserted on the level of the rest.
      Tibiæ naked below                                         HERODIONES.
      Tibiæ feathered below. Bill cered and hooked                RAPTORES.
                             Bill not cered.
                               Nasal membrane soft and tumid       COLUMBÆ.
                               Nasal scale hard and flat           GALLINÆ.

  B. Hind toe elevated above the level of the rest.
      Gape reaching below eye                          (_Cypseli_) PICARIÆ.
      Gape not below eye.
        First primary emarginate or about equal to 2d             LIMICOLÆ.
        First primary not emarginate and much shorter than 2d  ALECTORIDES.

  BB. Hind toe inserted on the level of the rest.
      Nostrils opening beneath soft swollen membrane               COLUMBÆ.
      Nostrils otherwise. Bill cered and hooked                   RAPTORES.
                          Bill otherwise.
                            Secondaries only six       (_Cypseli_) PICARIÆ.
                            Secondaries more than six (_a_)       PASSERES.
        (_a_) Primaries 10; the 1st more than 2/3 as long as the longest.
                                                   (_Clamatores_) PASSERES.
              Primaries 10; the 1st not 2/3 as long as the longest.
                                                      (_Oscines_) PASSERES.
              Primaries 9.                            (_Oscines_) PASSERES.

Recurring now to consideration of the North American _Families_ of the
foregoing higher groups, I take up the latter in the natural order in
which they have been presented, giving under head of each such group
an analysis of the North American families by which it is represented,
reiterating the caution that the characters are drawn up only with
reference to the North American genera, and are, consequently, not
necessarily or always applicable upon wider considerations. These
analyses are made as nearly natural as the state of the case permits,
but I seize upon any obvious external characters which may be
afforded, without regard to their morphological significance or
taxonomic value.


ANALYSIS OF THE FAMILIES OF PASSERES.

A. Oscines. Musical apparatus highly developed. Back of tarsus
undivided, or formed of a few scutella distinct from those
lapping over the front. First primary wanting, spurious, or at
most not over two thirds the length of the longest.

  _a._ Each side of tarsus covered with a plate undivided in
  most or all of its length, and meeting its fellow in a
  sharp ridge behind.

    _b._ Primaries only nine.

      _c._ Bill triangular, depressed, about as wide at base as
      long; the gape twice as long as the culmen, reaching to
      about opposite the eyes; tomia straight or gently curved.
      No obvious rictal bristles. Tarsi not longer than the
      lateral toe and claw. Wings long and pointed, the first
      primary equal to or longer than the second. Central
      tail-feathers not half as long as the wing …     _Hirundinidæ_.

      _cc._ Bill variously conico-elongate or slender, or, if
      depressed, with long rictal bristles; gape not nearly twice
      as long as culmen; tomia straight or gently curved.
      Nostrils not obviously nearer culmen than tomia. Tarsus
      longer than lateral toe and claw.

        Bill very slender, acute; culmen rather concave at base.
        Longest secondary acuminate, nearly or quite equal to the
        primaries in the closed wing. Hind claw little curved,
        about twice as long as the middle claw. Hind toe and claw
        longer than middle toe and claw …              _Motacillidæ_.

        Bill variously conico-elongate and acute; culmen not
        concave at base. Longest secondary not acuminate, falling
        far short of primaries in the closed wing. Hind claw well
        curved, not nearly twice as long as middle claw; hind toe
        and claw not longer than middle toe and claw. Gape ample;
        tongue slightly bifid or brushy, if at all …   _Sylvicolidæ_.

        Bill lengthened, very acute, even decurved. Wings and
        feet as in the last. Gape constricted; tongue generally
        deeply bifid or brushy …                          _Cærebidæ_.

      _ccc._ Bill more or less truly conic, usually short, thick;
      commissure usually more or less evidently abruptly
      angulated near the base, or with lobe or tooth further
      forward. Nostrils obviously nearer culmen than tomia.
      Tarsus longer than lateral toe and claw.[13]

        Bill stout, tumid, convex in nearly all its outlines;
        tomia not angulated, but with one or more lobes or nicks
        in advance of the base. Nostrils placed very high. Other
        characters much as in _Sylvicolidæ_. Colors chiefly red
        and yellow. One genus of …                       _Tanagridæ_.

        Bill truly conic, much shorter than head, usually with
        the angulation evident; no lobe along middle of tomia,
        but usually a notch at end. Nostrils placed very high.
        Rictal bristles usually obvious …              _Fringillidæ_.

        Bill conic, but lengthened, little if any shorter than
        head; the angulation of the tomia evident; no notch at
        end. Nostrils high. No rictal bristles …          _Icteridæ_.

    _bb._ Primaries ten.

      Otherwise with characters much as in _Icteridæ_ …   _Sturnidæ_.

      _d._ Nostrils concealed with antrorse bristly feathers
      (except in _Psilorhinus_ and _Gymnokitta_).[14]

        Base of bill sheathed with antrorse bristly feathers,
        having lateral branches to their very ends; its tip
        mostly notched. Basal joint of middle toe united only
        half-way to the lateral. Sides of tarsus occupied by a
        lateral groove, mostly filled in with small plates. First
        primary more than half as long as second. Large,—over
        seven inches …                                     _Corvidæ_.

        Base of bill with two tufts of bristly feathers, ending
        in simple filaments without lateral branches, its tip
        mostly unnotched. Basal joint of middle toe united nearly
        all its length with the lateral. Sides of tarsus
        ungrooved. First primary less than half as long as
        second. Small,—under seven inches …            _Paridæ_.[15]

      _dd._ Nostrils exposed.

          _e._ Tail scansorial, with rigid acute feathers. Whole
          bill slender, compressed, acute, decurved, unnotched,
          unbristled. Outer toe much longer than inner … _Certhiidæ_.

          _ee._ Tail not scansorial, graduated. First primary not
          less (generally more) than half as long as the second,
          and inner toe united to the middle by at least one half
          (usually more) of the length of its basal joint.

            Tarsus with few obscure scutella. Rictal bristles
            present. Bill stout, but not toothed nor hooked. Wing
            excessively rounded (fifth, sixth, and seventh
            primaries longest), much shorter than the long
            graduated tail. Size small. Plumage brown, unbanded …
                                                          _Chamæadæ_.

            Tarsus distinctly scutellate. Nostrils wholly
            exposed, scaled. No rictal bristles, but loral
            feathers with bristly points. Bill slender, not
            notched nor hooked. Wings and tail moderately
            rounded; neither very much shorter than the other.
            Size small. Color brown, etc., the wings and tail
            barred or undulated …                     _Troglodytidæ_.

            Tarsus distinctly scutellate. Nostrils overhung (not
            concealed) with bristly feathers. Rictal bristles
            present, strong. Bill powerful, compressed, strongly
            notched, toothed, and hooked. Wings and tail
            moderate. Large. Colors black, white, and gray …
                                                           _Laniidæ_.

          _eee._ Tail not scansorial. First primary less than
          half as long as the second,[16] or about half as long,
          in which case the inner toe is cleft nearly to its base
          (_f_ and _ff_).

            _f._ Basal joint of middle toe united some distance
            with the inner, and for half or more of its length
            with the outer toe.

              Basal joint of middle toe shorter than that of
              inner toe, and wholly adherent to both inner and
              outer toes. Tarsus longer than middle toe and claw.
              Gonys more than half the length of the lower jaw.
              Bill stout, high, compressed; notched and abruptly
              hooked at tip …                            _Vireonidæ_.

              Basal joint of middle toe not shorter than that of
              inner toe; united to the outer for about two
              thirds, to the inner for about one half, its
              length. Tarsus not longer than the middle toe and
              claw. Gonys less than half the length of the under
              jaw. Bill triangular, much depressed at base,
              moderately notched, and hooked at tip[17] … _Ampelidæ_.

              Basal joint of middle toe shorter than that of the
              inner toe, united to the outer for about two
              thirds, to the inner for about one half, its
              length. Tarsus longer than middle toe and claw.
              Gonys more than half the length of the under jaw.
              Bill very weak and slender, little decurved or
              notched at tip. Very small,—under six inches long.
              (Tarsi booted in _Regulus_, distinctly scutellate
              in _Polioptila_.) …                         _Sylviidæ_.

            _ff._ Basal joint of middle toe quite free from the
            inner, and not united with the outer more than
            half-way.

              Nostrils linear, low. No bristles or bristly points
              whatever about the mouth. Wings short, rounded,
              concavo-convex. Tail very short, nearly concealed
              by its coverts. Tarsi booted …              _Cinclidæ_.

              Nostrils oval. Bristles or bristly points about the
              mouth. Wings very long and pointed, reaching, when
              folded, beyond the middle of the short, square, or
              emarginate tail, and one and a half times or more
              the length of the latter; tip formed by second,
              third, and fourth quills; outer secondary reaching
              only about two thirds way to end of longest
              primary; spurious quill very short. Tarsi booted …
                                                        _Saxicolidæ_.

              Nostrils oval. Bristles or bristly points about the
              mouth. Wings moderate, not reaching, when folded,
              beyond the middle of the tail, and not over one and
              a third times as long as the latter; tip formed by
              third to sixth quill; outer secondary reaching in
              closed wing three fourths or more the length of the
              longest primary. Spurious quill longer, sometimes
              one half the second. Tarsi scutellate in _Miminæ_,
              booted in _Turdinæ_ …                        _Turdidæ_.

  _aa._ Outside of tarsus covered with two series of
  scutella,—one lapping entirely around in front, the other
  entirely around behind, and meeting at a groove on the inside;
  hind edge blunt. First primary spurious or apparently wanting.
  Hind claw much lengthened, scarcely curved. Nostrils with
  antrorse bristly feathers. Bill conico-elongate …       _Alaudidæ_.

B. Clamatores. Outside of tarsus covered with a series of plates
variously arranged, lapping entirely around in front and behind,
to meet at a groove on the inner side.

First primary lengthened, often longest, at least over two thirds
as long as the longest. Bill broad at the base, much depressed,
tapering to a fine point, which is abruptly decurved; culmen
rounded or flattened; gonys flattened; commissure straight, or
nearly so, to the tip. Nostrils small, circular, basal; overhung,
but not concealed by bristles. Mouth capacious, with broad and
deeply fissured rictus, beset with numerous long strong bristles.
Feet small, weak. Tail of twelve feathers …              _Tyrannidæ_.


ANALYSIS OF THE FAMILIES OF PICARIÆ.

Secondaries only six.

  Bill tenuirostral, longer than head, nearly cylindrical. Gape
  constricted. Tongue filiform, extensile, bi-tubular. Wings long
  in terminal portion, abbreviated proximally, acute. Plumage
  compact, of metallic sheen. Size smallest of all birds.
  (Humming-Birds.) …                                    _Trochilidæ._

Secondaries more than six.

  Feet syndactyle by connation of outer and middle toes.

    Outer toe much longer than the inner, united for half its
    length with the middle, forming a broad sole. Tibiæ naked
    below. Bill longer than head, straight, acute, with hard
    cutting edges and ample rictus. Tongue rudimentary, fixed.
    Wings pointed, much longer than the short square tail.
    Tail-feathers twelve. Plumage compact, oily. (Kingfishers.) …
                                                        _Alcedinidæ._

  Feet zygodactyle[18] by reversion of outer or fourth toe.

    Not scansorial; tail of eight or ten long soft feathers. Bill
    with decurved tip, not fitted for hammering; rictus ample.
    Tongue not extensile nor vermiform nor barbed. Salivary
    glands and hyoidean apparatus not peculiar. No nasal tufts of
    feathers. Arboreal and terrestrial. (Cuckoos.) …      _Cuculidæ._

    Highly scansorial; tail of twelve rigid acuminate feathers,
    whereof the outer pair are short and spurious, concealed
    between bases of next two pairs. Bill stout, straight, with
    the tip truncate or acute, not decurved,—an efficient chisel
    for hammering and boring wood. Tongue vermiform,
    extensile,[19] and barbed. Salivary glands large; hyoidean
    apparatus peculiar. Nasal tufts usually present. Arboreal.
    (Woodpeckers.) …                                        _Picidæ._

  Feet neither syndactyle nor zygodactyle.

    Feet semipalmate, of normal ratio of phalanges. Anterior toes
    connected at base by movable webbing. Hind toe very small,
    elevated, semilateral. Middle toe produced, its large claw
    pectinate. Bill fissirostral, with very small, triangular,
    depressed horny part and immense rictus, reaching below the
    eyes, furnished with bristles. Rather large. Plumage soft and
    lax, much variegated …                            _Caprimulgidæ_.

    Feet scarcely or not semipalmate, of frequently abnormal
    ratio of phalanges (middle or outer toe, or both, with fewer
    joints than usual among birds). Hallux very small, elevated,
    frequently lateral or versatile. Middle toe not produced nor
    its claw pectinate. Bill much as in the last, but rictus
    unbristled. Small. Plumage compact, of few simple subdued
    colors …                                             _Cypselidæ_.


FAMILY OF PSITTACI.

To characters of _Psittaci_ add: Cere feathered, concealing the
nostrils. Feet granular, rugose. Wings pointed. Tail cuneate.
Plumage coarse and dry. Head feathered. Colors green, with yellow
and blue …                                          _Psittacidæ_.[20]


ANALYSIS OF FAMILIES OF RAPTORES.

Feet highly raptorial, with large, strong, sharp, curved,
contractile claws, adapted for grasping. Hallux perfectly
incumbent, lengthened (more than half as long as the fourth toe),
with large claw. Front toes with slight basal webbing between
outer or middle ones, or none; outer toe often reversible.
Nostrils imperforate. Bill short, stout, not notably contracted
in its continuity, with strongly hooked tip; tomia often
once-twice toothed or lobed. Head feathered wholly or in greatest
part. Lower larynx developed with one pair of muscles. Plumage
with or without after-shafts. Cœca present, as a rule, if not
always.

  Physiognomy peculiar by reason of great lateral expansion and
  lengthwise shortening of the cranium, causing the eyes to be
  directed forward. Eyes surrounded by a disc of radiating
  bristly feathers, in front closely appressed to and hiding the
  base of the bill, elsewhere bounded by a rim of differently
  formed feathers. Tomia never toothed or lobed. Nostrils usually
  at the edge of the cere. Outer toe completely versatile,
  shorter than the inner toe. Basal phalanx of middle toe not
  longer than the second, and much shorter than the next. Legs
  commonly feathered or bristly to or on the toes. Plumage
  peculiarly soft and lax, without after-shafts; flight perfectly
  noiseless. Cranial walls widely separated by intervention of
  spongy diploë. Sternum commonly doubly notched. Chiefly
  nocturnal …                                             _Strigidæ_.

  Physiognomy not peculiar in any lateral expansion of the
  cranium; the eyes lateral in direction. No complete facial
  disc; base of bill not hidden by appressed bristles. Nostrils
  wholly in the cere. Outer toe rarely versatile, except
  _Pandion_, etc.; not shorter than the inner. Basal phalanx of
  middle toe longer than the second. Legs commonly naked and
  scutellate or reticulate in some portion of their length; toes
  always bare and scaly. Plumage compact, usually with
  after-shafts; flight audible. Cranial walls with little diploë.
  Sternum commonly single-notched or fenestrate, sometimes
  entire. Diurnal …                                      _Falconidæ_.

Feet scarcely raptorial, with lengthened, little curved or
contractile, weak, short claws. Hallux elevated, shortened, not
more than half as long as the fourth toe, with small claw. Front
toes all webbed at base; middle toe lengthened; outer not
reversible. Basal phalanx of middle toe longer than either of the
succeeding. Nostrils perforate. Bill lengthened and comparatively
weak, little hooked, contracted in its continuity; tomia not
toothed or lobed. Head naked of feathers in greatest part;
sparsely bristly. No lower larnyx developed. No cœca. After-shafts
absent …                                                _Cathartidæ_.


FAMILY OF COLUMBÆ.

With characters essentially as in _Columbæ_ (exclusive of those
peculiar to _Diduncudidæ_ and _Dididæ_). Plumage without
after-shafts; the feathers with thickened, spongy rhachis loosely
inserted in the skin. Head small, completely feathered, excepting
sometimes a circumorbital space. Tarsi naked or only feathered a
little way above. Tail of twelve feathers, or lengthened,
cuneate, and of fourteen. (Hallux not perfectly incumbent in
_Starnænas_.) …                                          _Columbidæ_.


ANALYSIS OF FAMILIES OF GALLINÆ.

Hind toe lengthened, insistent. Tail-feathers twelve. Sides of
head and throat with naked spaces. Color greenish …        _Cracidæ_.

Hind toe shortened, elevated. Tail-feathers usually fourteen
or more. No green.

  Large. Tarsi, toes, and nasal fossæ naked. Head bare of
  feathers, sparsely bristly, with wattles and caruncles. A
  pectoral tuft of bristly feathers. Tarsi usually spurred in
  the male. Plumage iridescent …                      _Meleagrididæ_.

  Medium. Tarsi wholly or in great part, sometimes also the toes,
  and always the nasal fossæ, feathered. Head completely
  feathered, excepting a definite papillate strip over the eye.
  Tail-feathers sixteen or more. Sides of neck usually with
  lengthened feathers, or a naked distensible area, or both. No
  spurs. Plumage without iridescence …                  _Tetraonidæ_.

  Small. Tarsi, toes, and nasal fossæ naked. Head completely
  feathered. No peculiar feathers or tympanum on sides of neck.
  No spurs. Plumage not iridescent …                     _Perdicidæ_.


ANALYSIS OF FAMILIES OF LIMICOLÆ.

Toes not lobate. Tarsi not notably compressed.

  Legs extremely long; the tarsus equalling or exceeding the
  tail, and feet either four-toed and palmate (_Recurvirostra_),
  or three-toed and semipalmate (_Himantopus_); with the bill
  much longer than the head, very slender, acute, and curved
  upward …                                         _Recurvirostridæ_.

  Legs moderate, stout. Tarsus shorter than tail. Bill hard, more
  or less contracted at base, with short nasal fossa, gonydeal
  angle, and ascending gonys, the tip either compressed and
  truncate or depressed and acute. Feet three-toed and with basal
  webbing (_Hæmatopus_), or four-toed and cleft (_Strepsilas_) …
                                                      _Hæmatopodidæ_.

  Legs moderate. Tarsus shorter than tail, reticulate. Hind toe
  wanting (except in _Squatarola_, where very small, and in
  _Aphriza_). Bill short, straight,—not exceeding the head
  (generally shorter),—shaped like a pigeon’s, with short,
  broad, soft nasal fossæ separated by a constriction from the
  enlarged, obtuse, horny terminal part. Head large, globose,
  contracting suddenly to the bill. Neck short …       _Charadriidæ_.

  Legs moderate. Tarsus shorter than tail, scutellate. Hind toe
  present. Bill long,—equalling, or oftener exceeding,
  frequently several times longer than, the head; softish and
  membranous to the very tip, without constriction in its
  continuity; straight or variously curved …           _Scolopacidæ_.

Toes lobate. Tarsi notably compressed.

  General characters of _Scolopacidæ_. Body depressed; the under
  plumage thickened, duck-like. Habits natatorial …  _Phalaropodidæ_.


ANALYSIS OF FAMILIES OF HERODIONES.

Hallux lengthened, perfectly incumbent, with large claw. Tarsi
scutellate. Middle claw pectinate. Bill perfectly straight,
tapering, acute. Loral region definitely naked, continuous with
covering of the bill. Head narrow, elongate, tapering …    _Ardeidæ_.

Hallux somewhat reduced, less perfectly incumbent. Tarsi commonly
reticulate. Middle claw not pectinate. Lores, gular space and
usually more of the head, naked. Bill variously curved or with
expanded tip. (Genera _Tantalus_, _Ibis_, _Mycteria_, and
_Platalea_.) …                                           _Tantalidæ._


ANALYSIS OF FAMILIES OF ALECTORIDES.

Of great stature, with extremely long neck and legs. Part or all
of the head bare. Toes much shorter than the tarsi; with basal
webbing, but without lobation; hallux very short, highly
elevated. Bill equalling or exceeding the head, compressed,
perfectly straight, contracted about the middle, with enlarged
acute terminal portion; nasal fossæ wide and deep, with large
perforate nostrils …                                        _Gruidæ_.

Size moderate and small; neck and legs comparatively short. Head
completely feathered, excepting, in the Coots and Gallinules, a
broad horny frontal plate. Toes equalling or exceeding the tarsi,
simple or lobate. Bill not constricted in the middle, rather
shorter than the head, straight and quite stout; or much longer,
regularly slender and decurved, with long nasal fossæ. Nostrils
incompletely or not perforate …                            _Rallidæ_.


ANALYSIS OF FAMILIES OF LAMELLIROSTRES.

Of great stature, with extraordinarily lengthened neck and legs.
Bill of unique shape, bent abruptly down from the middle. Tibiæ
naked below. Hind toe minute or absent. Wings rounded. Red the
chief color …                                       _Phœnicopteridæ_.

Of moderate size; the neck short, or, when lengthened, not
accompanied by co-ordinately lengthened legs, these being always
shorter than the wing. Bill straight. Tibiæ feathered below. Hind
toe present; well developed and functional, though short … _Anatidæ_.


ANALYSIS OF FAMILIES OF STEGANOPODES.

Bill rather longer than head, cleft to eyes, very stout at base,
tapering to the decurved, but not hooked, tip. Nostrils abortive.
Gular sac moderate, naked. Wings rather long, pointed. Tail long,
stiff, cuneate, twelve to fourteen feathered. Feet nearly beneath
centre of equilibrium. General configuration goose-like …   _Sulidæ_.

Bill several times longer than head, slender but strong,
depressed, perfectly straight, with small distinct hooked nail at
end. Nostrils very small. Gular sac enormous. Mandibular rami
meeting only at tip. Wings extremely long, with upward of forty
remiges. Tail short, rounded, of twenty or more feathers. Legs
beneath centre of equilibrium, extremely short and stout …
                                                        _Pelicanidæ_.

Bill about as long as head, stout, straight, scarcely tapering,
strongly hooked. Nostrils abortive. Gular sac moderate, but
evident; mostly naked. Wings short. Tail large, fan-shaped,
scansorial, of twelve to fourteen broad stiff feathers, exposed
to the base. Legs inserted far behind centre of equilibrium …
                                                         _Graculidæ_.

Bill rather longer than head, slender, perfectly straight,
tapering to an acute tip. Gular sac small. Nostrils minute. Wings
and tail, and general configuration, as in the last …      _Plotidæ_.

Bill much longer than head, straight, stout, strongly hooked.
Nostrils very small. Gular sac well developed. Wings exceedingly
long, strong, and pointed. Tail exceedingly long, deeply forked.
Feet extraordinarily short; tarsi partly feathered …   _Tachypetidæ_.

Bill about as long as head, straight, stout, tapering to an acute
tip. Nostrils small. Gular sac rudimentary, feathered. Wings
moderate, pointed. Tail short, but with two central feathers
extraordinarily prolonged and filamentous. Feet small, beneath
centre of equilibrium …                                _Phæthontidæ_.


ANALYSIS OF FAMILIES OF LONGIPENNES.

Nostrils not tubular, lateral, perforate. Bill with continuous
covering, or only broken by a sort of cere, hooked or straight to
the end. Hallux small and elevated, but always present …    _Laridæ_.

Nostrils tubular, disjoined and lateral, or oftenest superior and
united in one double-barrelled tube. Covering of bill in several
pieces; bill always hooked. Hallux minute, rudimentary, or absent …
                                                     _Procellariidæ_.


ANALYSIS OF FAMILIES OF PYGOPODES.

Feet four-toed, palmate. Hallux lobate, connected at base with
base of inner toe. Tail perfect. Head closely and completely
feathered. Nostrils with a depending lobe or flap. Bill straight,
compressed, acute …                                      _Colymbidæ_.

Feet four-toed, lobate. Hallux lobate, free. Tail rudimentary.
Head with a naked loral strip and bristly or variously lengthened
feathers. Nostrils simple. Bill straight or decurved at end,
compressed, acute …                                      _Podicipidæ_.

Feet three-toed, palmate. Hallux absent. Tail perfect. Head
closely feathered or variously crested. Nostrils simple. Bill of
indeterminate shape …                                       _Alcidæ_.




NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.




FAMILY TURDIDÆ.—THE THRUSHES.


The _Turdidæ_, with the _Saxicolidæ_ and _Cinclidæ_, form a group
closely related, by common characters, and appreciably different from
the other _Oscines_ with slender bills and specially insectivorous
habits, having, like them, ten primaries (the first much shorter than
the second, but nearly always appreciable), and the nostrils
uncovered. The great family of _Sylvicolidæ_, with similar characters
of the bill, never present more than nine primaries. The most striking
of these common characters is seen in the deeply cleft toes, of which
the outer is united by the basal joint alone to the middle toe, while
the inner is separated almost to the very base of its first joint.[21]
The frontal feathers extend, with rare exceptions, to the very
nostrils. The bill is elongated and subulate, moderately slender, and
usually notched at tip; the culmen moderately curved from the base,
and the mouth well provided with bristles, except in a few cases.
Usually the scutellæ covering the front and sides of the tarsus are
fused into one continuous plate, or else scarcely appreciable, except
on the inner edge only; in the Mocking Thrushes they are, however,
distinctly marked. The lateral toes are nearly equal, the outer rather
the longer. With these as some of the principal characteristics, they
may be distinguished from each other as follows:—

NOTE.—In the present work the length of the tail is measured from the
coccyx, inside of the skin, and not, as usually the case, from the
base of the quills at their insertion. The wings are measured from the
carpal joint, with dividers.

A. Nostrils oval. Loral and frontal feathers with bristly points, or
interspersed with bristles; rictus with longer or shorter bristles.

  Saxicolidæ. Wings very long and much pointed, reaching beyond the
  middle of the short square or emarginated tail, and one and a half
  times or more the length of the latter. The spurious primary very
  short, the second quill longer than the fourth. In the closed wing
  the outer secondary reaches only about two thirds the length of
  longest primary.

  Turdidæ. Wings moderate, more rounded, not reaching beyond middle of
  the often rounded tail, and not more than one and a third the
  latter, usually more nearly equal. Spurious primary sometimes half
  the length of second quill; the second quill shorter than the
  fourth. In the closed wing the outer secondary reaches three fourths
  or more the length of longest primary.

B. Nostrils linear, in lower edge of nasal membrane. Loral and frontal
feathers soft and downy, and no bristles or bristly points whatever
about the mouth.

  Cinclidæ. Body very short and broad. Wings short, rounded, and
  concave.

The American _Sylviidæ_ are in some respects very closely related to
the _Saxicolidæ_, but may be distinguished by their much smaller size,
more slender and depressed bill, more strongly bristled rictus, etc.;
on which account they are more strictly “fly-catchers,” taking their
prey in great part on the wing.

Of the three families, the _Turdidæ_ contain a great variety of forms,
and exhibit widely different characters, rendering it exceedingly
difficult to arrange them in any systematic or regular sequence, or to
accurately define their boundaries. In the _Birds of North America_,
the Mocking Thrushes were placed among the Wrens, on account of the
distinct tarsal scutellæ, and other characters. We are now, however,
inclined to believe, with Dr. Sclater, that their place is with the
recognized _Turdidæ_; and, among other reasons, on the ground of their
more deeply cleft toes, and greater extension forward of frontal
feathers. The following synopsis of the North American forms will
serve the purpose of determining the genera, even if these are not
arranged or combined in a strictly natural manner.

A. Turdinæ.—Tarsus covered anteriorly with a continuous plate
without scales.

  Wings decidedly longer than the tail, which is nearly even.
  Bill considerably shorter than the head.

    First quill usually not one fourth the second. Wings pointed.
    Tarsus hardly the length of head, but yet longer than middle
    toe; outstretched toes falling short of tip of tail …   _Turdus_.

B. Miminæ.—Tarsi scutellate anteriorly; scales seven.

  Wings decidedly longer than the tail, which is nearly even.
  Tarsus as long as the head.

    Bill decidedly shorter than the head, scarcely notched; wings
    pointed; first quill less than half the second, third and
    fourth longest. Claws not peculiar. Bristles prominent.
    Tarsus considerably longer than middle toe and claw …
                                                       _Oreoscoptes_.

  Wings decidedly shorter than the tail, which is considerably
  graduated; first quill half or more than half the second.

    Bill notched at tip, shorter than head; straight.

      Scutellæ very distinct; gonys straight, or even declining
      at tip.…                                              _Mimus._

      Scutellæ more or less obsolete; gonys convex, ascending at
      tip.…                                           _Galeoscoptes._

     Bill not notched at tip, lengthened; sometimes much decurved.…
                                                     _Harporhynchus._

NOTE.—In the Review of American Birds, I., May, 1866, 409, I have
advanced the suggestion that the N. American genus _Myiadestes_,
usually placed under the _Ampelidæ_, really belongs under _Turdidæ_ in
a group _Myiadestinæ_. The relationships are certainly very close, as
is shown by the characters given below.

COMMON CHARACTERS.—Tarsi without regular transverse scutellæ, except
at lower end. Wings acute, pointed, as long as or longer than tail,
which is but slightly graduated. First primary rarely half second,
which exceeds the secondaries. Base of quills buffy yellow, as are
inner edges. Tail spotted or varied at the end. Young birds with many
light spots. Very melodious singers.

Myiadestinæ. Bill short, much depressed; mouth deeply cleft; width at
base about equal to the distance from nostril to tip, or greater;
commissure more than twice distance from nostrils to tip of bill, and
nearly two and a half times length of gonys. Legs weak; tarsi rather
longer than middle toe and claw. Tail feathers tapering slightly from
base to near tip, giving a slightly cuneate appearance to the tail.

Turdinæ. Bill stouter, more lengthened; narrow at base and more
compressed; width at base less than distance from nostril to tip;
commissure not more than twice distance from nostrils to tip of bill,
and about twice length of gonys. Tarsi stouter, longer than middle toe
and claw. Tail feathers widening slightly from base to near tip,
giving a parallel-sided or slightly fan-shaped appearance to the tail.

The _Miminæ_ differ, as already mentioned, in the scutellate tarsi:
more rounded wings, etc.—S. F. B.


SUBFAMILY TURDINÆ.

There are several American genera of _Turdinæ_ not found north of
Mexico as yet, although it is not impossible that one of these
(_Catharus_) may hereafter be detected within the limits of the United
States. The species of _Catharus_ resemble the North American
wood-thrushes (_Hylocichla_); but the spurious or first primary quill
is longer (from one half to one third the second quill), the wings are
rounded, not pointed, the tarsus is longer than the head, and the
outstretched toes extend beyond the tail. The species to be looked for
are _C. melpomene_ and _occidentalis_.[22]

The North American species of _Turdinæ_, while retained under the
single genus _Turdus_, yet constitute several distinct groups, which
we may call subgenera.


GENUS TURDUS, LINNÆUS.

  _Turdus_, LINNÆUS, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, 1758, 168. (Type, _Turdus
    viscivorus_ of Europe.)—BAIRD, Rev. Am. Birds.

GEN. CHAR. Bill conical, subulate, shorter than the head; the tip
gently decurved and notched (except in _Hesperocichla_); the rictus
with moderate bristles; the wings rather long and pointed, with small
first primary (less than one fourth the second); wings considerably
longer than the tail, which is firm, nearly even, with broad feathers.
Tarsi variable, seldom as long as the skull, the scutellæ fused into a
continuous plate, only in rare individual instances showing
indications of the lines of separation.

The genus _Turdus_ is very cosmopolitan, occurring nearly throughout
the globe, excepting in _Australia_, and embraces species of highest
perfection as singers. In the large number of species known there are
many variations in external form, but the transition from one to the
other is so gradual as to render it very difficult to separate them
into different genera. The sections of the group we adopt are the
following:—

_Sexes similar._

Hylocichla. Smallest species. Bill short, broad at base; much
depressed. Tarsi long and slender, longer than middle toe and claw, by
the additional length of the claw; outstretched legs reaching nearly
to tip of tail. Body slender. Color: above olivaceous or reddish,
beneath whitish; breast spotted; throat without spots.

Turdus. Bill stouter and higher. Tarsi stout and short, scarcely
longer than middle toe and claw. Body stout, generally whitish beneath
and spotted. (Second quill longer than fifth?)

Planesticus. Similar to preceding. (Second quill shorter than fifth?)
Beneath mostly uni-colored; unstreaked except the throat, which is
whitish with dark streaks.

_Sexes dissimilar._

Merula. Similar to _Turdus_. Male usually more or less black,
especially on the head; females brownish, often with streaked throats.
Bill distinctly notched.

Hesperocichla. Similar to _Turdus_. Male reddish beneath, with a black
collar. Bill without notch.


SUBGENUS HYLOCICHLA, BAIRD.

  _Hylocichla_, BAIRD (s. g.), Rev. Am. Birds, 1864, 12. (Type, _Turdus
    mustelinus_.)

  [Line drawing: _Turdus mustelinus._
                  1570]

The essential characters of _Hylocichla_ have already been given. The
subgenus includes the small North American species, with _Turdus
mustelinus_, Gm., at the head as type, which are closely connected on
the one side with _Catharus_, by their lengthened tarsi, and with
_Turdus_ by the shape of the wing. The bills are shorter, more
depressed, and broader at base than in typical _Turdus_, so much so
that the species have frequently been described under _Muscicapa_.

It is not at all improbable that naturalists may ultimately conclude
to consider the group as of generic rank.

In this group there appears to be five well-marked forms or “species.”
They are, _mustelinus_, Gm., _pallasi_, Caban., _fuscescens_, Steph.,
_swainsoni_, Caban., and _aliciæ_, Baird. The first-named is totally
unlike the rest, which are more closely related in appearance.

In studying carefully a very large series of specimens of all the
species, the following facts become evident:—

1. In autumn and winter the “olive” color of the plumage assumes a
browner cast than at other seasons; this variation, however, is the
same in all the species (and varieties), so that in autumn and winter
the several species differ from each other as much as they do in
spring and summer.

  [Illustration: _Turdus ustulatus._]

Of these five species, two only (_pallasi_ and _swainsoni_) inhabit
the whole breadth of the continent; and they, in the three Faunal
Provinces over which they extend, are modified into “races” or
“varieties” characteristic of each region. The first of these species,
as the _pallasi_ var. _pallasi_, extends westward to the Rocky
Mountains, and migrates in winter into the South; specimens are very
much browner in the winter than in spring; but in the Rocky Mountain
region is a larger, grayer race, the var. _auduboni_. This, in its
migrations, extends along the central mountain region through Mexico
to Guatemala; specimens from the northern and southern extremes of
this range are identical in all the specific characters; but the
southern specimens, being in the fall and winter dress, are browner in
color than northern ones (spring birds); an autumnal example from
Cantonment Burgwyn, N. M., is as brown as any Central American
specimen. Along the Pacific Province, from Kodiak to Western Mexico,
and occasionally straggling eastward toward the Rocky Mountain system,
there is the var. _nanus_, a race _smaller_ than the var. _pallasi_,
and with much the same colors as var. _auduboni_, though the rufous of
the tail is deeper than in either of the other forms. In this race, as
in the others, there is no difference in size between specimens from
north and south extremes of its distribution, because the
breeding-place is in the North, all Southern specimens being winter
sojourners from their Northern birthplace.

The _T. swainsoni_ is found in abundance westward to the western limit
of the Rocky Mountain system; in the latter region specimens at all
seasons have the olive of a clearer, more greenish shade than in any
Eastern examples; this clearer tint is analogous with that of the
Rocky Mountain form of _pallasi_ (_auduboni_). In precisely the same
region inhabited by the _pallasi_ var. _nanus_ the _swainsoni_ also
has a representative form,—the var. _ustulatus_. This resembles in
pattern the var. _swainsoni_, but the olive above is decidedly more
rufescent,—much as in Rocky Mountain specimens of _T. fuscescens_;
the spots on jugulum and breast are also narrower, as well as hardly
darker in color than the back; and the tail is longer than in Rocky
Mountain _swainsoni_, in which latter it is longer than in Eastern
examples. The remaining species—_mustelinus_, _fuscescens_, and
_aliciæ_—extend no farther west than the Rocky Mountains; the first
and last only toward their eastern base, while the second breeds
abundantly as far as the eastern limit of the Great Basin.

The _T. fuscescens_, from the Rocky Mountains, is considerably darker
in color above, while the specks on the throat and jugular are sparser
or more obsolete than in Eastern birds.

In _T. mustelinus_, the only two Western specimens in the collection
(Mount Carroll, Ills., and Fort Pierre) have the rump of a clearer
grayish than specimens from the Atlantic Coast; in all other respects,
however, they appear to be identical. Some Mexican specimens, being in
winter plumage, have the breast more buffy than Northern (spring or
summer) examples, and the rufous of the head, etc. is somewhat
brighter.

In _aliciæ_, no difference is observed between Eastern and Western
birds; the reason is, probably, that the breeding-ground of all is in
one province, though their migrations may extend over two. There is,
however, a marked difference between the spring and autumn plumage;
the clear grayish of the former being replaced, in the latter, by a
snuffy brown, or sepia tint,—this especially noticeable on wings and
tail.

  [Illustration: PLATE I.

  1. Turdus mustelinus, _Gm._ Penn., 1570.
  2.   “    ustulatus, _Nutt._ Oregon, 2040.
  3.   “    aliciæ, _Baird_. Illinois, 10084.
  4.   “    swainsoni, _Cab._ Penn., 981.
  5.   “    fuscescens, _Steph._ D. C., 28231.
  6.   “    pallasii, _Cab._ Penn., 2146.
  7.   “    nanus, _Aud._ Cala., 17997.
  8.   “    auduboni, _Baird_. Rocky Mts., 10886.]

The following synopsis is intended to show the characters of the
different species and varieties.

1. _Spots beneath rounded, covering breast and sides._

A. Rufous brown above, becoming much brighter toward the bill,
and more olivaceous on the tail. Beneath white; whole breast with
rounded spots. Nest on tree; eggs pale blue.

    1. T. mustelinus. Beneath nearly pure white, with rounded
    blackish spots over the whole breast, sides, and upper part
    of abdomen; wing, 4.25; tail, 3.05; culmen, .80; tarsus,
    1.26. _Hab._ Eastern Province United States, south to
    Guatemala and Honduras. Cuba and Bermuda of West Indies.

2. _Spots beneath triangular, on breast only._

B. Entirely uniform in color above,—olivaceous, varying to
reddish or greenish with the species. Beneath whitish, with a
wash of brownish across the breast and along sides. Spots
triangular, and confined to the breast. Nest on trees or bushes;
eggs blue spotted with brownish; except in _T. fuscescens_, which
nests on the ground, and lays plain blue eggs.

  _a. No conspicuous light orbital ring._

    2. T. fuscescens. Yellowish-rufous or olive-fulvous above; a
    strong wash of pale fulvous across the throat and jugulum,
    where are very indistinct cuneate spots of same shade as the
    back. Wing, 4.10; tail, 3.00; culmen, .70; tarsus, 1.15.
    _Hab._ Eastern Province of North America. North to Nova
    Scotia and Fort Garry. West to Great Salt Lake. South (in
    winter) to Panama and Brazil. Cuba.

    3. T. aliciæ. Grayish clove-brown above; breast almost white,
    with broad, blackish spots; whole side of head uniform
    grayish. Wing, 4.20; tail, 3.20; culmen, .77; tarsus, 1.15.
    _Hab._ Eastern Province North America from shore of Arctic
    Ocean, Fort Yukon, and Kodiak to Costa Rica. West to Missouri
    River. Cuba.

  _b. A conspicuous orbital ring of buff._

    4. T. swainsoni.

      Greenish-olive above, breast and sides of head strongly
      tinged with buff. Spots on breast broad, distinct, nearly
      black. Length, 7.00; wing, 3.90; tail, 2.90; culmen, .65;
      tarsus, 1.10. _Hab._ Eastern and Middle Provinces of North
      America. North to Slave Lake, south to Ecuador, west to
      East Humboldt Mountains …                    var. _swainsoni_.

      Brownish-olive above, somewhat more rufescent on wing;
      breast and head strongly washed with dilute rufous. Spots
      on breast narrow, scarcely darker than back. Wing, 3.85;
      tail, 3.00; culmen, .70; tarsus, 1.10. _Hab._ Pacific
      Province of United States. Guatemala …        var. _ustulatus_.

C. Above olivaceous, becoming abruptly more reddish on upper
tail-coverts and tail. Spots as in _swainsoni_, but larger and
less transverse,—more sharply defined. An orbital ring of pale
buff. Nest on ground; eggs blue, probably unspotted.

    5. T. pallasi.

      Olivaceous of upper parts like _ustulatus_. Reddish of
      upper tail-coverts invading lower part of rump; no marked
      difference in tint between the tail and its upper coverts.
      Flanks and tibiæ yellowish olive-brown; a faint tinge of
      buff across the breast. Eggs plain. Wing, 3.80; tail, 3.00;
      culmen, .70; tarsus, 1.20. _Hab._ Eastern Province of
      United States (only?) …                         var. _pallasi_.

      Olivaceous of upper parts like _swainsoni_. Reddish of tail
      not invading the rump, and the tail decidedly more
      castaneous than the upper coverts. Beneath almost pure
      white; scarcely any buff tinge on breast; flanks and tibiæ
      grayish or plumbeous olive. Size smaller than _swainsoni_;
      bill depressed. Wing, 3.50; tail, 2.60; culmen, .60;
      tarsus, 1.15. _Hab._ Western Province of North America,
      from Kodiak to Cape St. Lucas. East to East Humboldt
      Mountains …                                       var. _nanus_.

      Olivaceous above, like preceding; the upper tail-coverts
      scarcely different from the back. Tail yellowish-rufous.
      Beneath like _nanus_. Size larger than _swainsoni_. Wing,
      4.20; tail, 3.35; culmen, .80; tarsus, 1.30. _Hab._ Rocky
      Mountains. From Fort Bridger, south (in winter) to Southern
      Mexico …                                       var. _auduboni_.


Turdus mustelinus, GMELIN.

THE WOOD THRUSH.

  _Turdus mustelinus_, GMELIN, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 817.—AUDUBON, Orn.
    Biog. I, 1832, 372, pl. 73.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841, 24, pl.
    144.—D’ORB. La Sagra’s Cuba Ois. 1840, 49.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am.
    1858, 212.—IB. Rev. Am. Birds, 1864, 13.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1856,
    294, and 1859, 325.—JONES, Nat. in Bermuda, 26.—GUNDLACH,
    Repertorio, 1865, 228.—MAYNARD.—SAMUELS, 146. _Turdus melodus_,
    WILS. Am. Orn. I, 1808, 35, pl. ii. _Turdus densus_, BONAP.
    Comptes Rendus, XXVIII, 1853, 2.—IB. Notes Delattre, 1854, 26
    (Tabasco).
  Additional figures: VIEILLOT, Ois. Am. Sept. II, pl. lxii.—WILSON,
    Am. Orn. I, pl. ii.

SP. CHAR. Above clear cinnamon-brown, on the top of the head becoming
more rufous, on the rump and tail olivaceous. The under parts are
clear white, sometimes tinged with buff on the breast or anteriorly,
and thickly marked beneath, except on the chin and throat and about
the vent and tail-coverts, with sub-triangular, sharply defined spots
of blackish. The sides of the head are dark brown, streaked with
white, and there is also a maxillary series of streaks on each side of
the throat, the central portion of which sometimes has indications of
small spots. Length, 8.10 inches; wing, 4.25; tail, 3.05; tarsus,
1.26. Young bird similar to adult, but with rusty yellow triangular
spots in the ends of the wing coverts.

HAB. U. S. east of Missouri plains, south to Guatemala. Bermuda (not
rare). Cuba, LA SAGRA; GUNDLACH. Honduras, MOORE. Cordova, SCL.
Orizaba (winter), SUMICHR.

HABITS. The Wood Thrush, without being anywhere a very abundant
species, is common throughout nearly every portion of the United
States between the Mississippi River and the Atlantic. It breeds in
every portion of the same extended area, at least as far as Georgia on
the south and Massachusetts on the north. Beyond the last-named State,
it rarely, if ever, breeds on the coast. In the interior it has a
higher range, nesting around Hamilton, C. W. So far as I am aware it
is unknown, or very rare, in the States of Vermont, New Hampshire, and
Maine.

It makes its appearance early in April in the Middle States, but in
New England not until four or five weeks later, appearing about the
10th of May. Their migrations in fall are more irregular, being
apparently determined by the abundance of their food. At times they
depart as early as the first of September, but sometimes not until the
last of October. It winters in Central America, where it is quite
abundant at that season.

The favorite localities of the Wood Thrush are the borders of dense
thickets, or low damp hollows shaded by large trees. Yet its habits
are by no means so retiring, or its nature so timid, as these places
of resort would lead us to infer. A small grove in Roxbury, now a part
of Boston, in close proximity to a dwelling-house, was for many years
the favorite resort of these birds, where several pairs nested and
reared their young, rarely even leaving their nests, which were mostly
in low bushes, wholly unmindful of the curious children who were their
frequent visitors. The same fearless familiarity was observed at Mount
Auburn, then first used as a public cemetery. But in the latter
instance the nest was always placed high up on a branch of some
spreading tree, often in conspicuous places, but out of reach. Mr. J.
A. Allen refers to several similar instances where the Wood Thrush did
not show itself to be such a recluse as many describe it. In one case
a pair built their nest within the limits of a thickly peopled
village, where there were but few trees, and a scanty undergrowth. In
another a Wood Thrush lived for several successive summers among the
elms and maples of Court Square in the city of Springfield, Mass.,
undisturbed by the passers by or the walkers beneath, or the noise and
rattle of the vehicles on the contiguous streets.

The song of this thrush is one of its most remarkable and pleasing
characteristics. No lover of sweet sounds can have failed to notice
it, and, having once known its source, no one can fail to recognize it
when heard again. The melody is one of great sweetness and power, and
consists of several parts, the last note of which resembles the
tinkling of a small bell, and seems to leave the conclusion suspended.
Each part of its song seems sweeter and richer than the preceding.

The nest is usually built on the horizontal branch of a small
forest-tree, six or eight feet from the ground, and, less frequently,
in the fork of a bush. The diameter is about 5 inches, and the depth
3¾, with a cavity averaging 3 inches across by 2¼ in depth. They are
firm, compact structures, chiefly composed of decayed deciduous
leaves, closely impacted together, and apparently thus combined when
in a moistened condition, and afterward dried into a firmness and
strength like that of parchment. These are intermingled with, and
strengthened by, a few dry twigs, and the whole is lined with fine
roots and a few fine dry grasses. Occasionally, instead of the solid
frame of impacted leaves, we find one of solidified mud.

The eggs of the Wood Thrush, usually four in number, sometimes five,
are of a uniform deep-blue tint, with but a slight admixture of
yellow, which imparts a greenish tinge. Their average measurements are
1.00 by .75 inch.


Turdus fuscescens, STEPHENS.

TAWNY THRUSH; WILSON’S THRUSH.

  _Turdus mustelinus_, WILSON, Amer. Ornithology, V, 1812, 98, pl. 43
    (not of GMELIN).
  _Turdus fuscescens_, STEPHENS, Shaw’s Gen. Zoöl. Birds, X, I, 1817,
    182. CAB. Jour. 1855, 470 (Cuba).—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858,
    214.—IB. Rev. Am. B. 1864, 17.—GUNDI. Repertorio, 1865, 228
    (Cuba, not rare). PELZELN, Orn. Bras. II, 1868, 92. (San Vicente,
    Brazil, December.)—SAMUELS, 150.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1859,
    326.—IB. Catal. Am. Birds, 1861, 2, No. 10. _Turdus silens_,
    VIEILL. Encyclop. Méth. II, 1823, 647 (based on _T. mustelinus_,
    WILS.). _Turdus wilsonii_, BON. Obs. Wils. 1825, No. 73. _Turdus
    minor_, D’ORB. La Sagra’s Cuba, Ois. 1840, 47, pl. v (Cuba).

SP. CHAR. Above, and on sides of head and neck, nearly uniform light
reddish-brown, with a faint tendency to orange on the crown and tail.
Beneath, white; the fore part of the breast and throat (paler on the
chin) tinged with pale brownish-yellow, in decided contrast to the
white of the belly. The sides of the throat and the fore part of the
breast, as colored, are marked with small triangular spots of light
brownish, nearly like the back, but not well defined. There are a few
obsolete blotches on the sides of the breast (in the white) of pale
olivaceous; the sides of the body tinged with the same. Tibiæ white.
The lower mandible is brownish only at the tip. The lores are
ash-colored, the orbital region grayish. Length, 7.50; wing, 4.25;
tail, 3.20; tarsus; 1.20.

HAB. Eastern North America, Halifax to Fort Bridger, and north to Fort
Garry. Cuba, Panama, and Brazil (winter). Orizaba (winter), SUMICHRAST.

HABITS. This species is one of the common birds of New England, and is
probably abundant in certain localities throughout all the country
east of the Rocky Mountains, as far to the north as the 50th parallel,
and possibly as far as the wooded country extends. Mr. Maynard did not
meet with it in Northern New Hampshire. Mr. Wm. G. Winton obtained its
nest and eggs at Halifax, N. S.; Mr. Boardman found them also on the
Gulf of St. Lawrence, and at St. Stephen’s, N. B.; Mr. Couper at
Quebec; Mr. Krieghoff at Three Rivers, Canada; Donald Gunn at Selkirk
and Red River; and Mr. Kumlien and Dr. Hoy in Wisconsin. Mr.
McIlwraith also gives it as common at Hamilton, West Canada. It breeds
as far south as Pennsylvania, and as far to the west as Utah, and
occurs, in the breeding season, throughout Maine, New Brunswick, Nova
Scotia, and Canada.

Mr. Ridgway found this thrush very abundant among the thickets in the
valleys of the Provo, Weber, and Bear rivers, in Utah, and very
characteristic of those portions of the country.

It arrives in Massachusetts early in May, usually with the first
blossoms of the pear, ranging from the 5th to the 20th. It is strictly
of woodland habits, found almost entirely among clumps of trees, and
obtaining its food from among their branches, or on the ground among
the fallen leaves. It moves south from the 10th to the 25th of
September, rarely remaining till the first week in October.

It is timid, distrustful, and retiring; delighting in shady ravines,
the edges of thick close woods, and occasionally the more retired
parts of gardens; where, if unmolested, it will frequent the same
locality year after year.

The song of this thrush is quaint, but not unmusical; variable in its
character, changing from a prolonged and monotonous whistle to quick
and almost shrill notes at the close. Their melody is not unfrequently
prolonged until quite late in the evening, and, in consequence, in
some portions of Massachusetts these birds are distinguished with the
name of Nightingale,—a distinction due rather to the season than to
the high quality of their song. Yet Mr. Ridgway regards it, as heard
by himself in Utah, as superior in some respects to that of all others
of the genus, though far surpassed in mellow richness of voice and
depth of metallic tone by that of the Wood Thrush (_T. mustelinus_).
To his ear there was a solemn harmony and a beautiful expression which
combined to make the song of this surpass that of all the other
American Wood Thrushes. The beauty of their notes appeared in his ears
“really inspiring; their song consisting of an inexpressibly delicate
metallic utterance of the syllables _ta-weel´ ah, ta-weel´ ah, twil´
ah, twil´ ah_, accompanied by a fine trill which renders it truly
seductive.” The last two notes are said to be uttered in a soft and
subdued undertone, producing thereby, in effect, an echo of the
others.

The nest is always placed near the ground, generally raised from it by
a thick bed of dry leaves or sticks; sometimes among bushes, but never
in the fork of a bush or tree, or if so, in very rare and exceptional
cases. When incubation has commenced, the female is reluctant to leave
her nest. If driven off she utters no complaint, but remains close at
hand and returns at the first opportunity.

They construct their nest early in May, and the young are hatched in
the latter part of that month, or the first of June. They raise two
broods in the season. The nest, even more loosely put together than
that of the Ground Swamp Robin (_T. pallasi_), is often with
difficulty kept complete. It is about 3 inches in height, 4½ in
diameter, with a cavity 1½ inches deep and 3 in width, and composed of
dry bark, dead leaves, stems, and woody fibres, intermingled with
grasses, caricas, sedges, etc., and lined with soft skeleton leaves. A
nest from Wisconsin was composed entirely of a coarse species of
_Sparganeum_; the dead stalks and leaves of which were interwoven with
a very striking effect.

The eggs, usually four, sometimes five in number, are of a uniform
green color, with a slight tinge of blue, and average .94 by .66 of an
inch in diameter.


Turdus aliciæ, BAIRD.

GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH; ALICE’S THRUSH.

  _Turdus aliciæ_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 217, plate 81, f. 2.—IB.
    Review Am. Birds, I, 1864, 21.—COUES, Pr. Ac. N. Sc. Aug. 1861,
    217 (Labrador).—IB. Catal. Birds of Washington.—GUNDLACH,
    Repertorio, 1865, 229 (Cuba).—LAWR. Ann. N. Y. Lyc. IX, 91 (Costa
    Rica).—DALL and BANNISTER, Birds Alaska.—RIDGWAY, Report.

SP. CHAR. Above nearly pure dark olive-green; sides of the head
ash-gray; the chin, throat, and under parts white; purest behind.
Sides of throat and across the breast with arrow-shaped spots of dark
plumbeous-brown. Sides of body and axillaries dull grayish-olivaceous.
Tibiæ plumbeous; legs brown. Length, nearly 8 inches; wing, 4.20;
tail, 3.20; tarsus, 1.15.

HAB. Eastern North America to shores of Arctic Ocean, and along
northern coast from Labrador to Kodiak, breeding in immense numbers
between the mouths of Mackenzie and Coppermine. West to Fort Yukon and
Missouri River States. Winters south to Costa Rica. Chiriqui, SALVIN;
Cuba, GUNDLACH.

As originally described, this species differs from _swainsoni_ in
larger size, longer bill, feet, and wings especially, straighter and
narrower bill. The back is of a greener olive. The breast and sides of
the head are entirely destitute of the buff tinge, or at best this is
very faintly indicated on the upper part of the breast. The most
characteristic features are seen on the side of the head. Here there
is no indication whatever of the light line from nostril to eye, and
scarcely any of a light ring round the eye,—the whole region being
grayish-olive, relieved slightly by whitish shaft-streaks on the
ear-coverts. The sides of body, axillars, and tibiæ are
olivaceous-gray, without any of the fulvous tinge seen in _swainsoni_.
The bill measures .40 from tip to nostril, sometimes more; tarsi, 1.21;
wing, 4.20; tail, 3.10,—total, about 7.50. Some specimens slightly
exceed these dimensions; few, if any, fall short of them.

In autumn the upper surface is somewhat different from that in spring,
being less grayish, and with a tinge of rich sepia or snuff-brown,
this becoming gradually more appreciable on the tail.

A specimen from Costa Rica is undistinguishable from typical examples
from the Eastern United States.

HABITS. This species, first described in the ninth volume of the
Pacific Railroad Surveys, bears so strong a resemblance to the
Olive-backed Thrush (_T. swainsoni_), that its value as a species has
often been disputed. It was first met with in Illinois. Since then
numerous specimens have been obtained from the District of Columbia,
from Labrador, and the lower Mackenzie River. In the latter regions it
was found breeding abundantly. It was also found in large numbers on
the Anderson River, but was rare on the Yukon, as well as at Great
Slave Lake, occurring there only as a bird of passage to or from more
northern breeding-grounds.

In regard to its general habits but little is known. Dr. Coues, who
found it in Labrador, breeding abundantly, speaks of meeting with a
family of these birds in a deep and thickly wooded ravine. The young
were just about to fly. The parents evinced the greatest anxiety for
the safety of their brood, endeavoring to lead him from their vicinity
by fluttering from bush to bush, constantly uttering a melancholy
_pheugh_, in low whistling tone. He mentions that all he saw uttered
precisely the same note, and were very timid, darting into the most
impenetrable thickets.

This thrush is a regular visitant to Massachusetts, both in its spring
and in its fall migration. It arrives from about the first to the
middle of May, and apparently remains about a week. It passes south
about the first of October. Occasionally it appears and is present in
Massachusetts at the same time with the _Turdus swainsoni_. From this
species I hold it to be unquestionably distinct, and in this opinion I
am confirmed by the observations of two very careful and reliable
ornithologists, Mr. William Brewster of Cambridge, one of our most
promising young naturalists, and Mr. George O. Welch of Lynn, whose
experience and observations in the field are unsurpassed. They inform
me that there are observable between these two forms certain
well-marked and constant differences, that never fail to indicate
their distinctness with even greater precision than the constant
though less marked differences in their plumage.

The _Turdus aliciæ_ comes a few days the earlier, and is often in full
song when the _T. swainsoni_ is silent. The song of the former is not
only totally different from that of the latter, but also from that of
all our other Wood Thrushes. It most resembles the song of _T.
pallasi_, but differs in being its exact inverse, for whereas the
latter begins with its lowest notes and proceeds on an ascending
scale, the former begins with its highest, and concludes with its
lowest note. The song of the _T. swainsoni_, on the other hand,
exhibits much less variation in the scale, all the notes being of
nearly the same altitude.

I am also informed that while the _T. swainsoni_ is far from being a
timid species, but may be easily approached, and while it seems almost
invariably to prefer the edges of the pine woods, and is rarely
observed in open grounds or among the bare deciduous trees, the habits
of the _T. aliciæ_ are the exact reverse in these respects. It is not
to be found in similar situations, but almost always frequents copses
of hard wood, searching for its food among their fallen leaves. It is
extremely timid and difficult to approach. As it stands or as it moves
upon the ground, it has a peculiar erectness of bearing which at once
indicates its true specific character so unmistakably that any one
once familiar with its appearance can never mistake it for _T.
swainsoni_ nor for any other bird.

The nests measure about 4 inches in diameter and 2¾ in height. The
cavity is 2 inches deep, and its diameter 2½ inches. They are
unusually compact for the nest of a thrush, and are composed chiefly
of an elaborate interweaving of fine sedges, leaves, stems of the more
delicate _Equisetaceæ_, dry grasses, strips of fine bark, and decayed
leaves, the whole intermingled with the paniculated inflorescence of
grasses. There is little or no lining other than these materials.
These nests were all found, with but few exceptions, on the branches
of low trees, from two to seven feet from the ground. In a few
exceptional cases the nests were built on the ground.

Occasionally nests of this species are found constructed with the base
and sides of solid mud, as with the common Robin (_Turdus
migratorius_). In these, as also in some other cases, their nests are
usually found on or near the ground. So far as I am aware neither its
occasional position on the ground, nor its mud frames, are
peculiarities ever noticeable in nests of _T. swainsoni_.

The eggs were usually four in number. Their color is either a deep
green tint, or green slightly tinged with blue; and they are marked
with spots of russet and yellowish-brown, varying both in size and
frequency. Their mean length is .92 of an inch, and their mean breadth
.64. The maximum length is .94 and the minimum .88 of an inch. There
is apparently a constant variation from the eggs of the _T.
swainsoni_; those of the _aliciæ_ having a more distinctly blue ground
color. The nests are also quite different in their appearance and
style of structure. The _Hypnum_ mosses, so marked a feature in the
nests of _T. swainsoni_, as also in those of _T. ustulatus_, are
wholly wanting in those of _T. aliciæ_.

This bird and the robin are the only species of our thrushes that
cross the Arctic Circle to any distance, or reach the shore of the
Arctic Ocean. It occurs from Labrador, all round the American coast,
to the Aleutian Islands, everywhere bearing its specific character as
indicated above. It is extremely abundant on and near the Arctic
coast, between the mouth of the Mackenzie River and the Coppermine,
more than 200 specimens (mostly with their eggs) having been sent
thence to the Smithsonian Institution by Mr. MacFarlane. In all this
number there was not a single bird that had any approach to the
characters of _T. swainsoni_, as just given. From the Slave Lake
region, on the other hand, _T. swainsoni_ was received in nearly the
same abundance, and unmixed during the breeding season with _T.
aliciæ_.


Turdus swainsoni, CABANIS.

OLIVE-BACKED THRUSH; SWAINSON’S THRUSH.

  _Turdus swainsoni_, CAB. Tschudi, Fauna Peruana, 1844-46,
    188.—? SCLATER & SALVIN, Ibis, 1859, 6 (Guatemala).—SCLATER, P.
    Z. S. 1858, 451 (Ecuador); 1859, 326.—IB. Catal. 1861, 2, no.
    11.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 216; Rev. Am. B., 1864,
    19.—GUNDLACH, Cab. Jour. 1861, 324 (Cuba).—IB. Repert. 1865,
    229.—PELZELN, Orn. Brazil. II. 1868, 92 (Marambitanas, Feb. and
    March).—LAWR. N. Y. Lyc. IX, 91 (Costa Rica).—RIDGWAY.—
    MAYNARD.—SAMUELS, 152.—COOPER, Birds Cal. 6.—DALL & BANNISTER.
    _Turdus minor_, GMELIN, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 809 (in part). _Turdus
    olivaceus_, GIRAUD, Birds L. Island, 1843-44, 92 (not of LINN.).
    _(?) Turdus minimus_, LAFRESNAYE, Rev. Zoöl. 1848, 5.—SCLATER, P.
    Z. S. 1854, 111.—BRYANT, Pr. Bost. Soc. VII, 1860, 226
    (Bogota).—LAWRENCE, Ann. N. Y. Lyc. 1863. (Birds Panama, IV, no.
    384.)

SP. CHAR. Upper parts uniform olivaceous, with a decided shade of
green. The fore part of breast, the throat and chin, pale
brownish-yellow; rest of lower parts white; the sides washed with
brownish-olive. Sides of the throat and fore part of the breast with
sub-rounded spots of well-defined brown, darker than the back; the
rest of the breast (except medially) with rather less distinct spots
that are more olivaceous. Tibiæ yellowish-brown. Broad ring round the
eye, loral region, and a general tinge on the side of the head, clear
reddish buff. Length, 7.00; wing, 4.15; tail, 3.10; tarsus, 1.10.

HAB. Eastern North America; westward to Humboldt Mountain and Upper
Columbia; perhaps occasionally straggling as far as California; north
to Slave Lake and Fort Yukon; south to Ecuador and Brazil. Cuba,
GUNDLACH; Costa Rica, LAWR.

Specimens examined from the northern regions (Great Slave Lake,
Mackenzie River, and Yukon) to Guatemala; from Atlantic States to East
Humboldt Mountains, Nevada, and from intervening localities. The
extremes of variation are the _brownish_-olive of eastern and the
clear _dark_ greenish-olive of remote western specimens. There is no
observable difference between a Guatemalan skin and one from Fort
Bridger, Utah.

HABITS. The Olive-backed Thrush, or “Swamp Robin,” has very nearly the
same habitat during the breeding season as that of the kindred species
with which it was so long confounded. Although Wilson seems to have
found the nest and eggs among the high lands of Northern Georgia, it
is yet a somewhat more northern species. It does not breed so far
south as Massachusetts, or if so, the cases must be exceptional and
very rare, nor even in Western Maine, where the “Ground Swamp Robin”
(_T. pallasi_) is quite abundant. It only becomes common in the
neighborhood of Calais. It is, however, most widely distributed over
nearly the entire continent, breeding from latitude 44° to high Arctic
regions. It winters in Guatemala and southward as far as Ecuador and
Brazil.

In its habits this thrush is noticeably different from the _T.
pallasi_, being much more arboreal, frequenting thick woods; rarely
seen, except during its migrations, in open ground, and seeking its
food more among the branches of the trees.

Mr. Ridgway found this species very abundant among the Wahsatch
Mountains, where it was one of the most characteristic summer birds of
that region. It was breeding plentifully in the cañons, where its song
could be heard almost continually. It inhabited an intermediate
position between _T. auduboni_ and _T. fuscescens_, delighting most in
the shrubbery along the streams of the cañons and passes, leaving to
the _T. auduboni_ the secluded ravines of the pine regions higher up,
and to the _T. fuscescens_ the willow thickets of the river valleys.
He did not meet with it farther west than the East Humboldt Mountains.
The song, in his opinion, resembles that of the Wood Thrush (_T.
mustelinus_) in modulations; but the notes want the power, while they
possess a finer and more silvery tone.

The song of this species has a certain resemblance to that of _T.
pallasi_, being yet quite distinct, and the differences readily
recognized by a familiar ear. It is more prolonged; the notes are more
equal and rise with more regularity and more gradually, are richer,
and each note is more complete in itself. Its song of lamentation when
robbed of its young is full of indescribable pathos and beauty,
haunting one who has once heard it long after.

When driven from the nest, the female always flies to a short distance
and conceals herself; making no complaints, and offering no
resistance.

These birds, in a single instance, have been known to reach Eastern
Massachusetts early in April, in an unusually early season, but they
generally pass north a few weeks later. They make no prolonged stay,
and are with us rarely more than three or four days. Their return in
the fall appears to be, at times, by a more inland route. They are
then not so numerous near the coast, but occasionally are abundant.

Their nests in Nova Scotia, wherever observed, were among the thick
woods, on horizontal branches of a forest-tree, usually about five
feet from the ground. Those observed in the Arctic regions by Mr.
Kennicott were frequently not more than two feet from the ground.

The nests average about four inches in diameter and two in height, the
cavity being three inches wide by about one and a half deep. They are
more elaborately and neatly constructed than those of any other of our
thrushes, except perhaps of _T. ustulatus_. Conspicuous among the
materials are the _Hypnum_ mosses, which by their dark fibrous masses
give a very distinctive character to these nests, and distinguish them
from all except those of the _T. ustulatus_, which they resemble.
Besides these materials are found fine sedges, leaves, stems of
equisetaceous plants, red glossy vegetable fibres, the flowering
steins of the _Cladonia_ mosses, lichens, fine strips of bark, etc.

The eggs, which are four or five in number, exhibit noticeable
variations in size, shape, and shades of coloring, bearing some
resemblance to those of _T. ustulatus_ and to the eggs asserted to be
those of _T. nanus_, but are sufficiently distinct, and are still more
so from those of _T. aliciæ_. They range in length from .83 to .94,
with a mean of .88, their mean breadth is .66, the maximum .69, and
the minimum .63. Their ground color is usually bluish-green, sometimes
light blue with hardly a tinge of green, and the spots are of a
yellowish-brown, or russet-brown, or a mixture of both colors, more or
less confluent, with marked variations in this respect.


Turdus swainsoni, var. ustulatus, NUTTALL.

OREGON THRUSH.

  _Turdus ustulatus_, NUTTALL, Man. I, 1840, 400 (Columbia
    River).—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 215, pl. lxxxi, fig. 1.—IB.
    Rev. Am. B. 1864, 18.—COOPER & SUCKLEY, P. R. Rep. XII, II,
    1860, 171.—RIDGWAY, Pr. A. N. S. Philad. 1869, 127.—DALL &
    BANNISTER, Tr. Chic. Acad.—COOPER, Birds Cal., 5.

SP. CHAR. General appearance of _fuscescens_, but with pattern of
_swainsoni_; the buff orbital ring as conspicuous as in latter. The
olive above is more _brown_ than in this, and less yellowish than in
_fuscescens_, becoming decidedly more rufescent on wings and less
observably so on tail. Pectoral aspect different from _fuscescens_,
the spots narrower and cuneate, sharply defined, and arranged in
longitudinal series; in color they are a little _darker_ than the
crown. Length, 7.50; wing, 3.75; tail, 3.00; tarsus, 1.12.

HAB. Pacific Province of United States. Tres Marias Isl., Guatemala
(winter), Mus. S. I.

This well-marked race is to be compared with _swainsoni_, not with
_fuscescens_, as has generally been done; the latter, except in shade
of colors, it scarcely resembles at all; still greater evidence that
such is its affinity is that the _T. ustulatus_ builds its nest on a
tree, and lays a spotted egg, like _swainsoni_, while _fuscescens_
nests on or near the ground, perhaps never in a tree, and lays a plain
blue egg. The song of the present bird is also scarcely
distinguishable from that of _swainsoni_. Upon the whole, we see no
reason why this should not be considered as a Pacific Province form of
the _Turdus swainsoni_; at least it becomes necessary to do so, after
referring to _T. pallasi_ as geographical races, the _T. auduboni_ and
_T. nanus_.

HABITS. So far as we are aware, this thrush has a very limited
distribution, being mainly restricted to the Pacific coast region from
California to Alaska in the breeding season, though migrating
southward in winter to Guatemala. Dr. Kennerly found it in great
abundance breeding at Chiloweyuck Depot, July 3, 1859. Dr. Cooper also
found it one of the most abundant of the summer residents in
Washington Territory, arriving there in May and remaining until the
beginning of September. Three specimens of this thrush were obtained
at Sitka, by Mr. Bischoff. Mr. Ridgway met with only a single specimen
east of the Sierra Nevada, though on that range he found it an
abundant summer bird.

In its general appearance it has a marked resemblance to Wilson’s
Thrush (_T. fuscescens_), but its habits and notes, as well as its
nest and eggs, clearly point its nearer affinity to Swainson’s Thrush
(_T. swainsoni_), its song being scarcely different from that of the
latter species. Like this species, it frequents the thickets or
brushwood along the mountain streams, and, except just after its
arrival, it is not at all shy. In crossing the Sierra Nevada in July,
1867, Mr. Ridgway first met with this species. He describes it as an
exquisite songster. At one of the camps, at an altitude of about 5,000
feet, they were found unusually plentiful. He speaks of their song as
consisting of “ethereal warblings,—outbursts of wild melody.”
“Although its carols were heard everywhere in the depth of the ravine,
scarcely one of the little musicians could be seen.” “The song of this
thrush,” he adds, “though possessing all the wild, solemn melody of
that of the Wood Thrush (_T. mustelinus_) is weaker, but of a much
finer or more silvery tone, and more methodical delivery. It is much
like that of the _T. swainsoni_, but in the qualities mentioned is
even superior.”

Dr. Cooper found its nests with eggs about the middle of June. These
were most usually built on a small horizontal branch, and were very
strongly constructed of twigs, grasses, roots, and leaves, usually
covered on the outside entirely with the bright green _Hypnum_ mosses
peculiar to that region, which in the damp climate near the coast
continue to grow in that position, and form large masses. The number
of eggs is usually five.

Dr. Cooper states that these thrushes sing most in the early morning
and in the evening, when numbers may be heard answering one another on
all sides. They do not affect the darkest thickets so much as the
Hermit Thrush, but are often seen feeding in the gardens in the open
sunshine.

Dr. Suckley, who found them quite abundant in the neighborhood of Fort
Steilacoom, on the edge of the forest, and in swampy land, describes
the song as a low, soft, sad, and lively whistle, confined to one
note, and repeated at regular intervals. Mr. Nuttall, the first to
describe this form, speaks of it as shy and retiring, and as in the
habit of gathering insects from the ground. His ear, so quick to
appreciate the characteristics of the songs of birds, which showed a
close resemblance between the notes of this bird and that of Wilson’s
Thrush (_T. fuscescens_), enabled him to detect very distinct and
easily recognizable differences. It is much more interrupted and is
not so prolonged. The warble of this bird he describes as resembling
_wit-wit t´villia_, and _wit-wit, t´villia-t´villia_. His call when
surprised was _wit-wit_.

All the nests of this species that have fallen under my observation
are large, compact, strongly constructed, and neat. They measure about
5 inches in their external diameter, with a depth externally of 3; the
cavity is comparatively shallow, being rarely 2 inches in depth. The
external portions are constructed almost entirely of _Hypnum_ mosses,
matted together and sparingly interwoven with dry leaves and fine
fibrous roots, and are lined with finer materials of the same kind.
These nests most nearly resemble in their material and in their
position those of Swainson’s Thrush.

Mr. Hepburn found these birds very abundant about Victoria. It does
not usually breed there before the last of May, though in one
exceptional instance he found a nest with young birds on the 24th of
that month.

The eggs vary in size and shape, ranging from .77 to .94 in length,
and from .65 to .69 in breadth. They also vary in their ground color
and in the tints of the spots and markings. The ground color is light
green or light blue, and the markings are variously yellowish-brown
and lilac, or dark brown and slate.

Mr. Grayson found this thrush very abundant in the month of January,
in the thickest of the woods, in the islands of the Three Marias, on
the Pacific coast of Mexico. They were very timid and shy, more so
than any bird that he saw on those islands. It frequently uttered a
low plaintive whistle, and seemed solitary in its habits.


Turdus pallasi, CABANIS.

RUFOUS-TAILED THRUSH; HERMIT THRUSH.

  _Turdus pallasii_, CABANIS, Wiegmann’s Archiv, 1847 (I),
    205.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 212.—IB. Rev. Am. B. 1864,
    14.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1859, 325 ??.—IB. Catal. 1861, 2, No.
    7.—RIDGWAY.—MAYNARD.—SAMUELS, 148. _Turdus solitarius_, WILSON,
    Amer. Orn. V, 1812, 95 (not of LINNÆUS).—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1857,
    212. _Turdus minor_, BON. Obs. Wilson, 1825, No. 72. _Turdus
    guttatus_, CABANIS, Tschudi, Fauna Peruana, 1844, 187 (not
    _Muscicapa guttata_ of PALLAS).
  Additional figures: AUD. Birds Am. III, pl. cxlvi.—IB. Orn. Biog.
    I, pl. lviii.

SP. CHAR. Tail slightly emarginate. Above light olive-brown, with a
scarcely perceptible shade of reddish, passing, however, into decided
rufous on the rump, upper tail-coverts, and tail, and to a less degree
on the outer surface of the wings. Beneath white, with a scarcely
appreciable shade of pale buff across the fore part of the breast, and
sometimes on the throat; the sides of the throat and the fore part of
the breast with rather sharply defined subtriangular spots of dark
olive-brown; the sides of the breast with paler and less distinct
spots of the same. Sides of the body under the wings of a paler shade
than the back. A whitish ring round the eye; ear-coverts very
obscurely streaked with paler. Length, 7.50 inches; wing, 3.84; tail,
3.25; tarsus, 1.16; No. 2,092.

HAB. Eastern North America. Mexico? Not found in Cuba, _fide_ GUNDLACH.

In spring the olive above is very much that of eastern specimens of
_swainsoni_; in winter specimens it is much browner, and almost as
much so as in _fuscescens_. Young birds have the feathers of the head,
back, and wing coverts streaked centrally with drop-shaped spots of
rusty yellowish.

HABITS. Until quite recently the “Ground Swamp Robin,” or Hermit
Thrush, has not been distinguished from the closely allied species _T.
swainsoni_, and all accounts of writers have blended both in singular
confusion. My colleague, Professor Baird, in the summer of 1844, was
the first to suggest the distinctness of the two species. By the
common people of Maine and the British Provinces this difference has
long been generally recognized, this species being known as the
“Ground Swamp Robin,” and the other as the “Swamp Robin.”

The present species is found throughout Eastern North America to the
Mississippi, and breeds from Massachusetts to high arctic regions. It
is only occasionally found breeding so far south as Massachusetts;
through which State it passes in its spring migrations, sometimes as
early as the 10th of April; usually reaching Calais, Maine, by the
15th of the same month.

It is a very abundant bird throughout Maine, where it begins to breed
during the last week of May, and where it also probably has two broods
in a season.

The greater number appear to pass the winter in the Southern States;
it being common in Florida, and even occasionally seen during that
season as far north as latitude 38° in Southern Illinois, according to
Mr. Ridgway.

It rarely, if ever, sings during its migrations; appears in small
straggling companies, frequents both thickets and open fields, and is
unsuspicious and easily approached.

The song of this species is very fine, having many of the
characteristics of that of the Wood Thrush (_T. mustelinus_). It is as
sweet, has the same tinkling sounds, as of a bell, but is neither so
powerful nor so prolonged, and rises more rapidly in its intonations.
It begins with low, sweet notes, and ends abruptly with its highest,
sharp ringing notes.

Taken from the nest they are easily tamed, and are quite lively and
playful; but their want of cleanliness renders them very undesirable
pets. When their nest is visited they make no complaints, but retire
to a distance. Not so, however, when their natural enemy, the hawk,
appears; these they at once assail and seek to drive away, uttering
loud and clear chirps, and peculiar twittering sounds.

The nest of this thrush is always built on the ground, most generally
either under low bushes or in the open ground, rarely, if ever, among
thick trees, and for the most part in low swampy places. Both nest and
eggs closely resemble those of Wilson’s Thrush (_T. fuscescens_). In
Parsboro, Nova Scotia, I found one of the nests built in the very
midst of the village, close to a dwelling, though on a spot so marshy
as to be almost unapproachable. The nests are 3 inches in height and 5
in diameter, with a cavity 3¼ inches wide by 1¾ deep. They are
composed of decayed deciduous leaves, remnants of dried plants, sedges
and grasses, intermingled with twigs, and lined with finer grasses,
sedges, and strips of bark.

The eggs are of a uniform bluish-green color, and range in length from
.88 to .94, with an average of .63 of an inch.


Turdus pallasi, var. nanus, AUDUBON.

DWARF HERMIT THRUSH.

  _Turdus nanus_, AUD. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 201, pl. cci.—BAIRD, Birds
    N. A. 1858, 213; Rev. Am. B. 1864, 15.—SCLATER, P. Z. S.
    1859.—IB. Catal. 1861.—DALL & BANNISTER.—COOPER, Birds Cal., p.
    4. _Turdus pallasi_, var. _nanus_, RIDGWAY, Rep. Kings Exped. V,
    1872. _? Turdus aonalaschkæ_, GMELIN, S. N. I, 1788, 808. _??
    Muscicapa guttata_, PALLAS, Zoög. Rosso-Asiat. II, 1811, 465.

SP. CHAR. Above with the clear dark olive of _swainsoni_, but this
even purer and more plumbeous. Upper tail-coverts (but not lower part
of rump) becoming more rufous, the tail abruptly darker, richer, and
more _purplish_-rufous, approaching to chestnut. The clear olive of
the neck passes into brownish-_plumbeous_ along sides; pectoral spots
more sparse and less pure black than in _T. pallasi_. The white
beneath is of an almost snowy purity, appreciably different from the
cottony-white of _T. pallasi_. Wing, 3.30; tail, 3.00; bill, .36;
tarsus, 1.07.

A very tangible and constant character possessed by this bird is the
more slender and depressed bill, as compared with that of _T.
pallasi_. Specimens vary only in intensity of colors; these variations
very limited, and corresponding with those of _T. pallasi_. In all
cases, however, their precise pattern and peculiar distribution is
retained.

HAB. Western Province of North America, eastward from Kodiak to Cape
St. Lucas. Arizona, COUES.

HABITS. This small race of the Hermit Thrush was first noticed by Dr.
Pickering, and described by Mr. Audubon from an imperfect skin. It has
since been obtained abundantly on the Pacific slope, and Mr. Ridgway
procured a specimen as far east as the East Humboldt Mountains, which
he considers its eastern limit.

In its habits it is said to be, like _T. pallasi_, almost exclusively
terrestrial. Dr. Heermann mentions finding it abundant in California,
and breeding among the stunted oaks covering the sand-hills of San
Francisco. Dr. Coues found it in Arizona, but speaks of it as rare and
migratory, occurring chiefly in spring and autumn, and as a shy and
retiring species. Dr. Cooper, in his Report on the Birds of
California, describes it as shy and timid, preferring dark and shady
thickets, feeding chiefly on the ground, running rapidly, and
searching for insects among the leaves.

Near San Diego they began to sing about the 25th of April. The song,
consisting of a few low ringing notes, resembles that of Wilson’s
Thrush (_T. fuscescens_), and also that of _T. ustulatus_, but is not
so loud. Their note of alarm is a loud and ringing chirp, repeated and
answered by others at a long distance.

At Santa Cruz, on the first of June, Dr. Cooper met with several of
their nests, which, though probably erroneously, he supposed to belong
to the Dwarf Hermit Thrush. They were all built in thickets under the
shade of cottonwood-trees. Each nest was about five feet from the
ground, and all contained eggs, from two to four in number, in
differing stages of incubation. The nests were built of dry leaves,
roots, fibres, grasses, and bark, without any mud, and were lined with
decayed leaves. Their height and external diameter measured 4 inches.
The diameter of the cavity was 2½ inches and the depth 2¼. The eggs
measured .90 by .70 of an inch. They are of a pale bluish-green,
speckled with cinnamon-brown, chiefly at the larger end.

The nest, supposed to be of this species, supplied by Dr. Cooper, is
large for the bird; constructed of a base loosely made up of mosses,
lichens, and coarse fibres of plants. It is a strong and compact
structure of matted leaves, put together when in a moist and decaying
condition; with these there are interwoven roots, twigs, and strong
fibres, surrounding the nest with a stout band and strengthening the
rim. In fact, it corresponds so well—as do the eggs also—with those
of _T. ustulatus_, that it is extremely probable that they really
belong to that species. The only observable difference is the absence
of the _Hypnum_ mosses characteristic of northern _ustulatus_.

Dall and Bannister mention in their list of Alaska birds that the
species is not common there. It was also taken at Sitka and Kodiak by
Bischoff.

The fact that this thrush builds its nest above the ground, and lays
spotted eggs, if verified, would at once warrant our giving it
independent rank as a species, instead of considering it as a local
race of _pallasi_.


Turdus pallasi, var. auduboni, BAIRD.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HERMIT THRUSH.

  _Turdus auduboni_, BAIRD, Rev. Am. Birds, 1864, 16.—RIDGWAY, P. A.
    N. S. 1869, 129.—ELLIOT, Illust. (fig.). _Merula silens_,
    SWAINSON, Philos. Mag. I, 1827, 369 (not _Turdus silens_ of
    VIEILLOT, Encycl. Méth. II, 1823, 647, based on _T. mustelinus_,
    WILS. = _T. fuscescens_).—IB. Fauna Bor.-Amer. II, 1831,
    186.—BAIRD, Birds N. Amer. 1858, 213, and 922.—SCLATER, P. Z. S.
    1858, 325 (La Parada), and 1859, 325 (Oaxaca).—IB. Catal. Am.
    Birds, 1861, 2, no. 9.

SP. CHAR. Colors much as in _Turdus nanus_, but the upper tail-coverts
scarcely different from the back. Tail yellowish-rufous. Length of
wing, 4.18; tail, 3.60; bill from nostril, .45; tarsus, 1.26.

HAB. Rocky Mountains, from Fort Bridger south into Mexico. Orizaba
(Alpine regions), SUMICHRAST.

This is a very distinct race of thrushes, although it may be
questioned whether it be truly a species. It is, however, sufficiently
distinct from the eastern and western Hermit Thrushes to warrant our
giving it a place of some kind in the systems.

The young plumage differs from that of _pallasi_ as do the adults of
the two, and in about the same way. The olive is very much purer, with
a greenish instead of a brownish cast, and the tail is very much
lighter, inclining to dull ochraceous instead of rufous; this
yellowish instead of rufous cast is apparent on the wings also. The
yellowish “drops” on head, back, etc., are very much narrower than in
_pallasi_, while the greater coverts, instead of being distinctly
tipped with yellowish, merely just perceptibly fade in color at tips.

HABITS. At present we have but little knowledge of the habits of this
form of _T. pallasi_, and no information whatever regarding its
nesting or eggs.

In its distribution it is confined to the central range of mountains
from Fort Bridger to Southern Mexico. This species, there known as
“Solitario,” is common in the Alpine region of Vera Cruz (as well as
in all the elevated regions of Central Mexico), frequenting the pine
woods in the district of Orizaba. Mr. Sumichrast obtained it at all
seasons of the year at Moyoapam, in that vicinity; a locality the
height of which approximates 2,500 metres. It is also found at a
height of 1,200 metres, near the city of Orizaba.

Mr. Ridgway calls this bird the “Rocky Mountain Hermit Thrush.” He
states that he found it common in the Wahsatch Mountains, but that, on
account of its retiring habits, it was seldom seen. It there lives
chiefly in the deep ravines in the pine region, exhibiting an
attachment to these solitudes rather than to the thickets along the
watercourses lower down; the latter it leaves to the _T. swainsoni_.
Owing to the reserved manners of this bird, as well as to the great
difficulty of reaching its abode, there were few opportunities
presented for learning much concerning its habits, nor did he hear its
song. In its flight the pale ochraceous band across the bases of its
quills was a very conspicuous feature in the appearance of its
species, leading Mr. Ridgway to mistake it at first for the
_Myiadestes townsendii_,—also an inhabitant of the same
localities,—so much did it look like that bird, which it further
resembled in its noiseless, gliding flight.


SUBGENUS TURDUS, LINN.

  [Line drawing: _Turdus iliacus._
                  1718]

Of _Turdus_, in its most restricted sense, we have no purely American
representatives, although it belongs to the fauna of the New World in
consequence of one species occurring in Greenland, that meeting-ground
of the birds of America and Europe; which, however, we include in the
present work, as related much more closely to the former.

This Greenland species, _Turdus iliacus_, is closely related to _T.
viscivorus_, the type of the genus, and comes much closer to the
American Robins (_Planesticus_) than to the Wood Thrushes
(_Hylocichla_).


Turdus iliacus, LINN.

REDWING THRUSH.

  _Turdus iliacus_, LINN. Syst. Nat. 10th ed. 1758, 168, and of
    European authors.—REINHARDT, Ibis, 1861, 6 (Greenland). BAIRD,
    Rev. Am. B. 1864, 23 (Greenland).

SP. CHAR. This species is smaller than our Robin (_T. migratorius_),
but of a similar grayish-olive above, including the head. The under
parts are white; the feathers of the lower throat and breast streaked
with brown. The sides, axillars, and inner wing-covert are
reddish-cinnamon. A conspicuous white streak over the eye and
extending as far back as the nape. Bill black, yellow at base of lower
jaw. Legs pale-colored. Second quill longer than fifth. Length, about
8.25; wing, 4.64; tail, 3.45; bill, from gape, 1.07; from nostril,
.44; tarsus, 1.16; middle toe and claw, 1.15. Specimen described:
18,718, ♂, a British specimen received from the Royal Artillery
Institution, Woolwich.

HAB. Greenland, in the New World.

The occurrence of this well-known European species in Greenland brings
it within the limits of the American Fauna. Two Greenland specimens
are recorded by Dr. Reinhardt: one of them shot at Frederickshaab,
October 20, 1845.

HABITS. The Redwing can probably only claim a place in the fauna of
North America as an occasional visitant. Of the two specimens observed
in Greenland, one was shot late in October. It is not known to breed
there.

This species, during its breeding season, is found only in the more
northern portions of Europe; only occasionally, and very rarely,
breeding so far south as England. It makes its appearance in that
kingdom on its southern migrations, coming in large flocks from
Northern and Northeastern Europe, and arriving usually before the end
of October. During their stay in England they frequent parks and
pleasure-grounds that are ornamented with clumps of trees. During mild
and open weather they seek their subsistence in pasture lands and
moist meadows, feeding principally on worms and snails. In severe
winters, when the ground is closed by frost or covered by snow, the
Redwings are among the first birds to suffer, and often perish in
large numbers.

During the winter they extend their migrations to the more southern
portions of Europe, to Sicily, Malta, and even to Smyrna. In early
spring they return to the more central portions of the continent, and
leave in May for their more northern places of resort.

They nest in trees in the moist woods of Norway and Sweden. Their
nests resemble those of the common Fieldfare, _T. pilaris_. The
outside is composed of sticks, weeds, and coarse grass, gathered wet,
and matted with a small quantity of moist clay. They are lined with a
thick bed of fine grass.

The Redwing is said to possess a delightful note, and is called the
Nightingale of Norway. Linnæus, speaking of this bird, claims that its
high and varied notes rival even those of that far-famed vocalist.

During the summer the Redwing advances to the extreme north, visiting
the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Northern Russia. The general character
of its food, its inability to feed exclusively on berries, and the
fact that it perishes from starvation in severe winters, would seem to
prove that its occurrence in Greenland so late as October must have
been purely accidental. It is not probable that its presence in North
America will be found to be a common event.

The eggs measure 1.06 inches in length by .81 in breadth. The ground
color is a light green with a bluish tinge thickly covered with russet
or reddish-brown spots, confluent at the larger end.


SUBGENUS PLANESTICUS, BONAP.

  _Planesticus_, BONAP. Comptes Rendus, 1854. (Type _Turdus
    jamaicensis_, GMELIN.)

  [Line drawing: _Turdus migratorius._
                  853]

This section of the Thrushes is well represented in America,
especially in its middle and southern portions, and its members have a
close resemblance to the typical European species in the full form,
stout legs, etc., as already stated. The spots on the throat, and
their absence elsewhere on the under part of the body, are sufficient
to distinguish them.

Of the two North American species one is the well-known Robin, the
other a closely related form from Cape St. Lucas; which indeed is
probably only a local race or variety, although nothing exactly like
it has yet been found away from Lower California. The following
diagnosis may serve to distinguish the two birds:—

COMMON CHARACTERS. Throat white with dark streaks. Rest of under
parts, including lining of wing, reddish or ochraceous; the anal
region whitish; lower eyelid white. Nest on trees. Eggs plain
blue.

  Above slaty-olive, approaching to black on the head. Beneath
  rufous-chestnut. Spot in lore and on upper eyelid of white.
  Tail, 4.25. _Hab._ Whole of North America; Mexico, south to
  Oaxaca and Cordova; Cuba (very rare) and Tobago, of West Indies …
                                                  var. _migratorius_.

  Above dull grayish-ash, not darker on the head. Beneath pale
  yellowish-buff; tinged with ashy across breast; a continuous
  white stripe from the lores over and a quarter of an inch
  behind the eye. More white on belly and flanks than in _T.
  migratorius_. Bill stouter; tail only 3.75, while the wing is
  the same. _Hab._ Cape St. Lucas, Lower California …
                                                     var. _confinis_.


Turdus migratorius, var. migratorius, LINN.

ROBIN; AMERICAN REDBREAST.

  _Turdus migratorius_, LINN. S. N. 12th ed. 1766, 292.—SCLATER, P.
    Z. S. 1856, 294; 1859, 331; 1864, 172.—IB. Catal. Am. Birds,
    1861, 4.—SCLATER & SALVIN, Ibis, 1860, 396 (Coban).—BAIRD, Birds
    N. Am. 1858, 218; Rev. Am. B. 1864, 28.—COOPER & SUCKLEY, P. R.
    R. R. XII, II, 1859, 172.—DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 475. (Texas,
    winter).—COUES, Pr. A. N. S. 1866, 64 (Arizona).—DALL &
    BANNISTER (Alaska).—COOPER, Birds Cal.—SAMUELS, 154.
  Figures: VIEILLOT, Ois. Am. Sept. II, pl. lx, lxi.—WILSON, Am. Orn.
    I, 1808, pl. ii.—DOUGHTY, Cab. N. H. I, 1830, pl. xii.—AUDUBON,
    Birds Am. III, pl. cxlii; Orn. Biog. II, pl. cxxxi.

SP. CHAR. Tail slightly rounded. Above olive-gray; top and sides of
the head black. Chin and throat white, streaked with black. Eyelids,
and a spot above the eye anteriorly, white. Under parts and inside of
the wings, chestnut-brown. The under tail-coverts and anal region,
with tibiæ, white, showing the plumbeous inner portions of the
feathers. Wings dark brown, the feathers all edged more or less with
pale ash. Tail still darker, the extreme feathers tipped with white.
Bill yellow, dusky along the ridge and at the tip. Length, 9.75; wing,
5.43; tail, 4.75; tarsus, 1.25.

HAB. The whole of North America; Mexico, Oaxaca, and Cordova;
Guatemala; Cuba, very rare, GUNDLACH; Tobago, KIRK; Bermuda, JONES;
Orizaba (Alpine regions, breeding abundantly), SUMICHRAST.

Young birds have transverse blackish bars on the back, and blackish
spots beneath. The shafts of the lesser coverts are streaked with
brownish-yellow; the back feathers with white.

  [Illustration: _Turdus migratorius._]

There are some variations, both of color and proportions, between
eastern and western specimens of the Robin. In the latter there is a
tendency to a longer tail, though the difference is not marked; and,
as a rule, they slightly exceed eastern specimens in size. The broad
white tip to the lateral tail-feather—so conspicuous a mark of
eastern birds—is scarcely to be found at all in any western ones; and
in the latter the black of the head is very sharply defined against
the lighter, clearer ash of the back, there hardly ever being a
tendency in it to continue backward in the form of central spots to
the feathers, as is almost constantly seen in eastern examples; of
western specimens, the rufous, too, is appreciably lighter than in
eastern. As regards the streaks on the throat, the black or the white
may either largely predominate in specimens from one locality.

In autumn and winter each rufous feather beneath is bordered by a more
or less conspicuous crescent of white; in addition to this, most of
the lighter individuals (♀?), at this season, have an ashy suffusion
over the breast and flanks; and this, we have observed, is more
general and more noticeable in western than in eastern specimens. In
fall and winter the color of the bill, too, changes, becoming at this
season either partially or wholly dusky, instead of almost entirely
yellow, as seen in spring and summer examples.

Mexican specimens, found breeding in the Alpine regions as far south
as Orizaba and Mirador, most resemble the western series; one, however
(No. 38,120 ♂, Orizaba), but in the autumnal plumage, and therefore
very possibly a migrant from the North, is hardly distinguishable from
No. 32,206, Georgia; it is about identical in proportions, and the
rufous is of a castaneous shade, like the deepest colored eastern
examples; the white tip to the outer tail-feather is as broad and
conspicuous as is ever seen in the latter.

HABITS. Scarcely any American bird has a wider range of geographical
distribution, or is more numerous wherever found, than this thrush.
From Greenland on the extreme northeast to the plateau of Mexico, and
from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the Robin is everywhere a very
abundant species. Single specimens have been obtained as far south as
Coban, Guatemala. Its distribution in the breeding season is hardly
less restricted, occurring alike on the shores of the Arctic Seas and
on the high lands of Vera Cruz. In the winter months it is most
abundant in the Southern States, while in the Middle and even the
Northern States, in favorable localities, it may be found throughout
the year; its migrations being influenced more by the question of food
than of climate. In the valleys among the White Mountains, where snow
covers the ground from October to June, and where the cold reaches the
freezing-point of mercury, flocks of the Robin remain during the
entire winter, attracted by the abundance of berries.

On the Pacific Coast the Robin is only a winter visitant in
California; a very few remaining to breed, and those only among the
hills. They reach Vancouver Island early in March, and are very
abundant.

In New England, where the Robins are held in great esteem, and where
they exist under very favorable circumstances, their numbers have very
largely increased, especially in the villages. They cause not a little
annoyance to fruit cultivators by their depredations upon the
productions of the garden, especially cherries and strawberries. They
are a voracious bird, and no doubt destroy a large quantity of small
fruit, but there is abundant evidence that this is more than
compensated by their destruction of the most injurious insects, upon
which they wage an incessant war. The investigations of Mr. J. W. P.
Jenks and Professor Treadwell establish conclusively their great
services in this direction.

The experiments of the latter gentleman show that the nestlings of the
Robin require a vast amount of animal food, forty per cent more than
their own weight being consumed by the young bird within twenty-four
hours, and, what is more, demonstrated to be necessary to its
existence.

  [Illustration: PLATE II.

  1. Turdus confinis, _Baird_. Cape St. Lucas, 23789.
  2.   “    nævius, _Gm._ Cala., 21363.
  3.   “    migratorius, _Linn._ Penn., 1851.
  4.   “    iliacus, _Linn._ Europe.]

In Massachusetts a few Robins remain throughout the year, but the
greater proportion leave early in November, returning late in February
or early in March.

The song of the Robin is deservedly popular. While many of our birds
possess far superior powers of melody, and exhibit a much greater
variety in their song, there are none that exceed it in its duration
or extent. It is the first bird in spring to open and one of the last
to close the great concert of Nature. Their song is earnest, simple,
and thrilling, and is said by Audubon to resemble that of the European
Blackbird, _Turdus merula_.

The Robin, when taken young, may be readily tamed, and soon becomes
contented and accustomed to confinement. They are devoted to their
young, watchful, attentive, and provident. They begin to construct
their nest in early spring before the trees put forth their leaves,
and often in very exposed positions. The size of the nest, in fact,
makes concealment impossible. These nests are sometimes placed in
quite remarkable positions, such as the beams of a ship partly
finished, and where the carpenters were every day at work, and similar
situations indicating a great familiarity. Their favorite place is the
horizontal branch of an apple-tree, about ten feet from the ground.

The nest of the Robin is a large and coarsely constructed combination
of rude materials. It is composed of a base of straw, leaves, mosses,
stems, and dry grasses, upon which a cup-shaped fabric of clay or mud
is built. The whole is lined with finer dry grasses and vegetable
fibres. They average 5 inches in height and the same in diameter.
Their cavity is 2¾ inches deep, with a diameter of 2½ inches.

The eggs of the Robin, which are usually five and sometimes six in
number, are of a uniform bright greenish-blue color, liable to fade
when exposed to light, but when fresh exhibiting a very distinct and
bright tint. They vary in size from 1.25 to 1.12 inches in length, and
in breadth from .88 to .75 of an inch. Their mean measurement is 1.18
by .81.


Turdus migratorius, var. confinis, BAIRD.

CAPE ST. LUCAS ROBIN.

  _Turdus confinis_, BAIRD, Rev. Am. B. 1864, 29.—ELLIOT, Birds
    America.—COOPER, Birds Cal., 9.

SP. CHAR. No. 23,789. Entire upper parts and sides of head and neck
uniform grayish-ash, with perhaps a faint tinge of olivaceous, less
than in eastern specimens of _T. migratorius_. The central portions of
the feathers of the top of head are rather darker than the edges,
though almost inappreciably so, and not imparting a general dusky
appearance. The chin and throat are white, streaked with ashy-brown.
The jugulum and breast are pale yellowish-buff; the axillars, inner
wing-coverts, and sides of the breast similarly, but rather more
decidedly colored. The belly and edges of the crissal feathers are
white, the hinder parts of the flanks ashy. There is a distinct
whitish stripe from the lores over and a quarter of an inch behind the
eye; the lower eyelid is also white. The tail-feathers are worn, but
there is an indication of a narrow white tip. The feathers of the
jugulum, especially of the sides, are tipped with ashy like the back,
as in immature specimens of _T. migratorius_. The greater wing-coverts
are tipped with dull white. The bill is yellowish; the upper mandible
and the tip of lower tinged with dusky. The feet are pale brown.

The length cannot be given accurately, as the skin is much drawn up.
The wing, however, measures 5.10 inches, its tip reaching 1.40 beyond
the longest secondary; tail, 4.10; tarsus, 1.20; middle toe and claw,
1.07; exposed portion of culmen, .92; from tip to open portion of
nostrils, .60.

HAB. Todos Santos, Cape St. Lucas.

The specimen with a general resemblance to an immature _T.
migratorius_ (especially the western variety) in the white
superciliary streak and general markings, is much lighter beneath than
in any of the many skins of _T. migratorius_ examined; there being
none of the dark chestnut or cinnamon shade, but rather a light buff;
the belly and flanks are much more purely white. The superciliary
stripe extends farther behind the eye; indeed, in most specimens of
_migratorius_ the white is nearly confined to the eyelids. The bill
and wings are rather longer than usual in _migratorius_; the middle
toe, on the other hand, appears shorter. Nothing is on record in
regard to the habits of this bird.


SUBGENUS HESPEROCICHLA, BAIRD.

  _Hesperocichla_, BAIRD, Rev. Am. Birds, I, 1864, 12. (Type _Turdus
    nævius_, GM.)

  [Line drawing: _Turdus nævius._
                  9814]

The single species of this subgenus differs in form from the Robins
(_Planesticus_), in the more awl-shaped bill, the curved commissure,
and the absence of a notch at the end; the longer, slenderer, and
straighter claws; and in the dissimilarity in color of the sexes. In
the latter respects it agrees with _Merula_ of Europe and Middle
America; in which, however, the bill is distinctly notched, and less
attenuated. The tail is shorter and broader than in _Planesticus_,
more as in true _Turdus_ or _Hylocichla_.


Turdus nævius, GMEL.

OREGON ROBIN; VARIED THRUSH.

  _Turdus nævius_, GM. S. N. I, 1788, 817.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1857, 4;
    1859, 331.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 219; Rev. Am. B. 1864,
    32.—COOPER & SUCKLEY, P. R. R. R. XII, II, 1859, 172.—COUES, Pr.
    A. N. S. 1866, 65. (Quotes occurrence on Colorado River, above
    Fort Mohave, as exceptional.)—MAYNARD (Massachusetts!).—TURNBULL
    (N. Jersey!).—DALL & BANNISTER (Alaska).—COOPER, Birds Cal. 10.
    _Orpheus meruloides_, RICH. F. B. A. II, 1831, 187, pl. xxxviii.
  Other figures: VIEILLOT, Ois. Am. Sept. II, 1807, pl. lxvi.—AUD.
    Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, pl. ccclxix, and ccccxxxiii.—IB. Birds Am.
    III, pl. cxliii.

SP. CHAR. Tail nearly even; the lateral feather shorter. Above, rather
dark bluish slate; under parts generally, a patch on the upper eyelids
continuous with a stripe behind it along the side of the head and
neck, the lower eyelids, two bands across the wing coverts and the
edges of the quills, in part, rufous orange-brown; middle of belly
white. Sides of the head and neck, continuous with a broad pectoral
transverse band, black. Most of tail feathers with a terminal patch of
brownish white. Bill black. Feet yellow. Female more olivaceous above;
the white of the abdomen more extended; the brown beneath paler; the
pectoral band obsolete. Length, 9.75 inches; wing, 5.00; tail, 3.90;
tarsus, 1.25.

_Young_ (45,897, Sitka, Aug. 1866; F. Bischoff). Exactly resembling
the adult female, _having no spots_ other than seen in the adult
plumage; but the pectoral collar is composed only of badly defined
blackish transverse crescents, and the upper parts anterior to the
rump are of an umber brown tint. The markings about the head and on
the wings are precisely as in the adult.

This species does not appear to be liable to any noticeable variation.

HAB. West coast of North America, from Behring Straits to California;
straggling to Great Bear Lake. Accidental on Long Island (Cab. G. N.
Lawrence), New Jersey (Cab. Dr. Samuel Cabot), and Ipswich, Mass.
(Cab. Boston Society Natural History); Iowa (ALLEN).

  [Illustration: _Turdus nævius._]

HABITS. The accidental occurrence of a few specimens of this
well-marked bird in the Eastern States is its only claim to a place in
that fauna, it being strictly a western species, belonging to the
Pacific Coast. It was first discovered by the naturalists of Captain
Cook’s expedition, who met with it as far to the north as Nootka
Sound. It is only very recently that we have become possessed of
reliable information in regard to its breeding and its nest and eggs.
Sir John Richardson was informed that it nested in bushes in a manner
similar to that of the common robin.

Nuttall and Townsend found it abundant among the western slopes of the
Rocky Mountains, near the Columbia River, in October. In the winter it
became still more numerous, passing the season in that region as well
as in more southern localities, associating with the robin. From this
bird it may be readily distinguished by the difference of its notes,
which are louder, sharper, and delivered with greater rapidity. In the
spring, before leaving for their breeding-places, they are described
as having a very sweet warble.

On the Columbia River they were not resident, arriving there in
October, continuing throughout the winter, and leaving early in May.
During their stay they moved through the forest in small flocks,
frequenting low trees, and for the most part keeping perfect silence.
They were timorous and difficult of approach.

Its habits are said to resemble those of the robin, but in some of
them the descriptions given appear to correspond more with those of
the Fieldfares and Redwings of Europe. Like those species it is a
summer resident of high northern latitudes, affects secluded forests
and thickets bordering upon streams, and is found only in unfrequented
localities.

Dr. Cooper was of the opinion that a few of these thrushes remained in
Washington Territory throughout the summer, as he frequently met with
them in the dark spruce forests of that region as late as June and
July. He describes the song as consisting of five or six notes in a
minor key, and in a scale regularly descending. It was heard
continually throughout the summer, among the tops of the trees, but
only in the densest forests. Dr. Suckley states that after a fall of
snow they would be found along the sandy beaches near the salt water,
where they were both abundant and tame. We are indebted to Mr. W. H.
Dall for our first authentic knowledge of its nest and eggs. The
former measures 6 inches in diameter with a depth of 2½ inches. It has
but a very slight depression, apparently not more than half an inch in
depth. The original shape of the nest had, however, been somewhat
flattened in transportation. The materials of which it was composed
were fine dry mosses and lichens impacted together, intermingled with
fragments of dry stems of grasses.

A nest of this thrush obtained by Dr. Minor, in Alaska, is a much more
finished structure. Its base and periphery are composed of an
elaborate basket-work of slender twigs. Within these is an inner nest
consisting of an interweaving of fine dry grasses and long gray
lichens.

The eggs in size, shape, ground color, and markings are not
distinguishable from those of the _Turdus musicus_ of Europe. They
measure 1.13 inches in length by .80 in breadth, are of a light blue
with a greenish shading, almost exactly similar to the ground color of
the _T. migratorius_. They are very distinctly marked and spotted with
a dark umber-brown approaching almost to blackness.

Mr. Dall informs us that the nest found by him was built in a willow
bush, about two feet from the ground, and on the top of a large mass
of rubbish lodged there by some previous inundation. Other nests of
the same species were met with in several places between Fort Yukon
and Nulato, always on or near a river-bank and in low and secluded
localities.

They arrive at Nulato about May 15, and prefer the vicinity of water,
frequenting the banks of small streams in retired places. Mr. Dall
states that he has seen the male bird on a prostrate log near the
nest, singing with all his might, suddenly cease and run up and down
the log for a few minutes, strutting in a singular manner, then
stopping and singing again; and keeping up this curious performance.
Specimens were received from Sitka, Kodiak, Cook’s Inlet and Admiralty
Islands.


SUBFAMILY MIMINÆ.

Birds of this section have a somewhat thrush-like appearance, but
(except in _Oreoscoptes_) with longer, much more graduated, and
broader tail; short concave wings, about equal to or shorter than the
tail, usually lengthened, sometimes decurved bill without notch, and
strongly marked scutellæ on the anterior face of the tarsus. The loral
feathers are soft, and not ending in bristly points. The colors are
dull shades of brown, gray, or plumbeous. Most of the species, in
addition to a melodious native song, possess the power of imitating
the notes of other birds; sometimes, as in the American Mocking Bird,
to an eminent degree. All are peculiar to the New World, and the
species are much less vagrant than those of the _Turdinæ_,—those of
the United States scarcely going beyond its northern boundary; others,
again, restricted to small islands in the West Indies or in the
Pacific Ocean.


GENUS OREOSCOPTES, BAIRD.

  _Oreoscoptes_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 346. (Type _Orpheus
    montanus_, TOWNS.)
  _Oreoscoptes_, BAIRD, Rev. Am. Birds, 42.

  [Line drawing: _Oreoscoptes montanus._
                  8129]

SP. CHAR. Bill shorter than the head, without distinct notch. Bristles
prominent, their tips reaching beyond the nostrils. Wings pointed,
equal to, or a little longer than the tail. First quill not half the
second, about two fifths the longest; third, fourth, and fifth quills
equal and longest; second between sixth and seventh. Tail but slightly
graduated; the feathers narrow. Tarsus longer than middle toe and claw
by an additional claw; scutellæ distinct anteriorly.

Of this genus only one species is at present known. This belongs to
the Middle and Western provinces of the United States and extends from
the Pacific coast eastward to Fort Laramie and the Black Hills (in
winter to San Antonio, Texas); south to Fort Yuma and Cape St. Lucas.


Oreoscoptes montanus, BAIRD.

SAGE THRASHER; MOUNTAIN MOCKER.

  _Orpheus montanus_, TOWNSEND, Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. VII, II,
    1837, 192.—AUD. Birds Amer. II, 1841, 194, pl. cxxxix. _Turdus
    montanus_, AUD. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 437, pl. ccclxix, fig. 1.
    _Mimus montanus_, BONAP. Consp. 1850, 276. _Oreoscoptes montanus_,
    BAIRD, Birds N. Amer. 1858, 347; Rev. Am. B. 1864, 42.—SCLATER,
    P. Z. S. 1859, 340.—IB. Catal. 1861, 8, no. 30.—COOPER, Birds
    Cal. 1, 12.

SP. CHAR. First quill rather shorter than the sixth. Tail slightly
graduated. Above brownish-ash; each feather obsoletely darker in the
centre. Beneath dull white, thickly marked with triangular spots,
except on the under tail-coverts and around the anus, which regions
are tinged with yellowish-brown. Wing-coverts and quills edged with
dull white. Tail feathers brown; the outer edged, and all (except,
perhaps, the middle) tipped with white. Length, 8 inches; wing, 4.85;
tail, 4.00; tarsus, 1.21.

_Young._ Similar, but spots beneath less sharply defined, and the
upper parts quite conspicuously streaked with dusky.

HAB. Rocky Mountains of United States, west to Pacific, south to Cape
St. Lucas.

  [Illustration: _Oreoscoptes montanus._]

The careful observations of Mr. Robert Ridgway have led him to the
conviction that the name bestowed upon this species of “Mountain
Mocking-Bird” is doubly a misnomer. It is not at all imitative in its
notes, and it is almost exclusively a resident of the artemisia
plains. It seems to be chiefly confined to the great central plateau
of North America, from Mexico almost to Washington Territory.
Specimens have been procured from Cape St. Lucas, the Lower Colorado,
Mexico, and Texas, on the south, and Nuttall met with it nearly as far
north as Walla-Walla. It probably occupies the whole extent of the
Great Basin.

Dr. Kennerly, who met with it while crossing the arid _mesas_ west of
the Rio Grande, says that while singing it was usually perched upon
some bush or low tree. It was frequently seen seeking its food upon
the ground, and when approached, instead of flying away, it ran very
rapidly, and disappeared among the low bushes.

During the winter months it was observed near San Antonio, Texas, by
Mr. Dresser; and was also found by him to be common about Eagle Pass.
He noticed the same peculiarity of their running instead of their
flying away when disturbed. They preferred the flat, bush-covered
plains. A few remained to breed, as he obtained the eggs there,
although he did not himself meet with one of the birds in summer.

It is generally represented as keeping chiefly on the ground, and
obtaining its food in this position. General Couch speaks of it as
Sparrow-like in its habits.

Mr. Nuttall describes its song as cheering, and the notes of which it
is composed as decidedly resembling those of the Brown Thrush
(_Harporhynchus rufus_). He claims for it some of the imitative powers
of the Mocking-Bird (_Mimus polyglottus_), but in this he is not
supported by the observations of others. He met with its nest in a
wormwood (_Artemisia_) bush on the border of a ravine; it contained
four eggs of emerald green, spotted with dark olive, the spots being
large, roundish, and more numerous at the larger end. The nest was
composed of small twigs and rough stalks, and lined with strips of
bark and bison-wool. The female flew off to a short distance, and
looked at her unwelcome visitors without uttering any complaint.

The nests of this bird, so far as I have seen them, are all flat,
shallow structures, with very slight depression, and loosely and
rudely constructed of an intermingling of strips of bark with rootlets
and the finer stems of herbaceous plants. Their eggs, usually four in
number, do not vary essentially in size, shape, or marking. They
measure 1 inch in length, and from .73 to .75 in breadth. Their ground
color is a bright greenish-blue, marked with deep olive-brown spots,
intermingled with blotches of a light lilac. There are slight
variations in the proportion of green in the shade of the ground
color, and also in the number and size of the spots, but these
variations are unimportant.

The following are Mr. Ridgway’s observations upon the habits of this
species. They are full, valuable, and very carefully made:—

The _Oreoscoptes montanus_ is a bird peculiar to the artemisia wastes
of the Great Basin, being a characteristic species of the region
between the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains. It is exclusively
an inhabitant of the “sage brush,” and is partial to the lower
portions of the country, though it is not unfrequent on the open slope
of the mountains. A more unappropriate term than “Mountain
Mocking-Bird” could hardly have been chosen for this species, as its
predilection for the valleys, and the fact that its song is _entirely_
its own, will show. In my opinion, the term “Sage Thrasher” would be
more appropriate.

In the neighborhood of Carson City, Nevada, these birds arrived about
the 24th of March, and immediately upon their arrival began singing.
At this time, with the _Sturnella neglecta_ and _Poospiza belli_, they
made sweet music in the afternoon and early morning, in the open
wastes of “sage brush,” around the city. The birds when singing were
generally seen sitting upon the summit of a “sage” bush, faintly
warbling, in the course of the song turning the head from side to side
in a watchful manner. Upon being approached, they would dart downward,
seemingly diving into the bush upon which they had perched, but upon a
close search the bird could not be found, until it was heard again
singing a hundred yards or more in the direction from which I had
approached. This peculiar, circuitous, concealed flight is a very
characteristic trait of this bird, and one sure to excite attention.

As the season advanced, or about the 10th of April, when the pairing
season was at hand, the songs of the males became greatly improved,
increasing in sweetness and vivacity, and full of rapturous emotion;
their manners, also, became changed, for they had lost all their
wariness. In paying their attentions to their mates, the males would
fly from bush to bush, with a peculiar, tremulous fluttering of the
wings, which, when the bird alighted, were raised above the back
apparently touching each other; all the while vibrating with the
emotion and ecstasy that agitated the singer.

The song of this bird, though very deficient in power,—in this
respect equalling no other species of _Miminæ_ with which I am
acquainted,—is nevertheless superior to most of them in sweetness,
vivacity, and variety. It has a wonderful resemblance to the beautiful
subtle warbling of the _Regulus calendula_, having in fact very much
the same style, with much of the tone, and about the power of the song
of the _Pyranga rubra_.

When the birds are engaged in incubation, the males become very
silent, and one not familiar with their habits earlier in the season
would think they never had a voice; in fact, they make no
protestations even when the nest is disturbed, for, while blowing the
eggs, I have had the parent birds running around me, in the manner of
a robin, now and then halting, stretching forward their heads, and
eying me in the most anxious manner, but remaining perfectly silent.
When the young are hatched the parents become more solicitous,
signifying their concern by a low, subdued _chuck_. At all times when
the nest is approached, the bird generally leaves it slyly before one
approaches very near it.

The nest is very bulky, composed externally of rough sticks,
principally the thorny twigs of the various “sage bush” plants. Nearer
the centre the principal material is fine strips of inner bark of
these plants; and the lining consists of finer strips of bark, mingled
with fine roots, and bits of rabbit fur. The situation of the nest
varies but little, being generally placed near the middle of a bush,
that is, about eighteen inches from the ground. It is generally
supported against the main trunk, upon a horizontal branch. Several
were found upon the ground beneath the bush, one, in fact, embedded in
the soil, like that of a _Pipilo_; or as sometimes the case with the
_Harporhynchus rufus_, others, again, were found in brush-heaps. In
all cases, the nest was very artfully concealed, the situation being
so well selected.

This bird is almost equally common in all parts of its habitat, within
the limits indicated. In June, we found it abundant on the large
islands in the Great Salt Lake, where many nests were found.

In autumn, it feeds, in company with many other birds, upon berries,
“service berries” being its especial favorite.


GENUS HARPORHYNCHUS, CABANIS.

  _Toxostoma_, WAGLER, Isis, 1831, 528. (Type _T. vetula_, WAGL., not
    _Toxostoma_, RAF. 1816.)
  _Harpes_, GAMBEL, Pr. A. N. S. Phila. II. 1845, 264. (Type _Harpes
    redivivus_, GAMB., not of GOLDFUSS, 1839.)
  _Harporhynchus_, CABANIS, Archiv f. Naturg. 1848, I. 98. (Type
    _Harpes redivivus_, GAMB.)
  _Methriopterus_, REICH. Av. Syst. Nat. 1850, pl. iv. (Type said by
    Gray to be _H. rufus_.)

  [Line drawing: _Harporhynchus rufus._
                  2261]

GEN. CHAR. Bill from forehead as long as, or much longer than the
head; becoming more and more decurved in both jaws as lengthened. No
indication of a notch. Rictus with the bristles extending beyond the
nostrils. Tarsus long and stout, appreciably exceeding the middle toe
and claw, strongly scutellate anteriorly. Wings considerably shorter
than tail, much rounded; the first quill more than half the second;
fourth or fifth longest. Tail large, much graduated; the feathers
firm.

The species of this genus are all of large size, in fact, embracing
the largest of the American slender-billed oscine birds. All the
species differ in structure, varying especially in the length of the
bill, as above stated.

  [Illustration: _Harporhynchus rufus._]

It is useless to attempt a division of this genus, for there is such a
gradual chain of characters between the two extremes of form (_rufus_
and _crissalis_), that they even seem almost one species, when the
numerous intermediate forms, shading so insensibly into each other,
are considered. However, as this view would be rather extreme, in view
of the really great difference of form between the species mentioned,
we may consider the following as good species, several of them with
one or more varieties: _rufus_, with _longicauda_ and _longirostris_
as varieties, the former scarcely appreciably different, the latter
ranking as a permanent race; _ocellatus_, _cinereus_, _curvirostris_,
the latter with one well-marked variety, _palmeri_; _redivivus_, with
most probably _lecontei_ as a well-marked variety, and _crissalis_.

The seasonal differences in the plumage often make it difficult to
determine these several forms; but if the following facts are borne in
mind, the trouble will be greatly lessened. In every species there is
a more or less decided ochraceous tinge to the crissal region
(sometimes extending forward over the flanks); except in _crissalis_,
in which the lower tail-coverts and anal region are deep chestnut. In
autumn and winter this ochraceous tint becomes very much deeper, as
well as more prevalent, than in spring and summer; the whole plumage
becomes softer, the colors more pronounced, and the markings more
distinct, than when faded and worn in summer.


Synopsis of Species of Harporhynchus.

A. Spots beneath sharply defined and conspicuous,—much darker in
color than the upper parts.

  1. H. rufus. The markings lineo-cuneate; wing bands sharply
  defined.

    Above rufous; markings below dark brown; outer tail-feathers
    diluted at tip; wing, 4.00; tail, 5.20; bill from nostril,
    .79, nearly straight; tarsus, 1.30; middle toe, .90 (1,377 ♂
    Carlisle, Penn.). _Hab._ Eastern Province United States …
                                                        var. _rufus_.

    Wing, 4.40; tail, 5.70; bill, .79; tarsus, 1.35; middle toe,
    .90 (5,652 ♂ Republican River). _Hab._ Plains between
    Missouri River to Rocky Mountains …            var. _longicauda_.

    Above umber brown; markings beneath black; tail-feathers not
    paler at tip; wing, 3.90; tail, 4.90; bill, .85, slightly
    curved; tarsus, 1.40; middle toe, .94 (4,016 ♂ Brownsville,
    Tex.) _Hab._ Eastern Mexico, north to Rio Grande of Texas …
                                                 var. _longirostris_.

  2. H. ocellatus.[23] The markings circular; wing bands conspicuous.

    Above grayish-brown; markings beneath black; tail-feathers
    broadly tipped with white; wing, 4.10; tail, 5.60; bill, from
    rictus, 1.50, moderately curved; tarsus, 1.50. _Hab._ Oaxaca,
    Mex.

  3. H. cinereus. The markings deltoid; wing bands narrow, but
  sharply defined.

    Above brownish-cinereous; markings beneath blackish-brown;
    tail-feathers broadly tipped with white; wing, 4.00; tail,
    4.60; bill, .88, much curved; tarsus, 1.30; middle toe, .85
    (12,960 “♀”—♂? Cape St. Lucas). _Hab._ Cape St. Lucas, Lower
    California.

B. Spots beneath obsolete, not darker than the plumage above;
roundish in form.

  4. H. curvirostris.

    Above cinereous; wing bands distinct; spots below distinct,
    upon a white ground; femoral region and crissum very pale
    ochraceous; tail-feathers broadly and sharply tipped with
    pure white; wing, 4.30; tail, 4.50; bill, 1.00, stout,
    moderately curved; tarsus, 1.40; middle toe, 1.12 (7,200 ♂
    Ringgold Barracks, Texas). _Hab._ from Rio Grande valley in
    Texas to Cordova, Orizaba, Oaxaca, Colima, and Mazatlan …
                                                 var. _curvirostris_.

    Wing bands obsolete, and tail spots very narrow and obsolete;
    spots below just discernible upon a grayish ground; femoral
    region and crissum dilute ochraceous-brown; wing, 4.30; tail,
    5.20; bill, 1.00, slender, moderately curved; tarsus, 1.30;
    middle toe, 1.00 (8,128 ♂ “New Mexico”—probably Eastern
    Arizona). _Hab._ Arizona (Camp Grant) …           var. _palmeri_.

C. Entirely unspotted beneath.

  5. H. redivivus. Anal region and lower tail-coverts light
  ochraceous.

    Above soft brownish-cinereous, tail considerably darker; wing
    bands almost obsolete, and tail-feathers merely diluted at
    tips. Beneath paler than above,—almost white on throat and
    abdomen; anal region and lower tail-coverts
    yellowish-ochraceous. A distinct “bridle” formed by the
    hair-like tips of the feathers, bordering the throat;
    maxillary stripe white with transverse bars of dusky; wing,
    3.90; tail, 5.25; bill, 1.05, slender, moderately curved;
    tarsus, 1.25; middle toe, .86 (40,718 ♂ 20 miles from
    Colorado River, near Fort Mojave). _Hab._ Arizona (Gila
    River, Fort Yuma, and Fort Mojave) …              var. _lecontei_.

    Above ashy drab, tail darker and more brownish; wing bands
    inconspicuous, and tail-feathers hardly diluted at tips.
    Beneath, the ochraceous covers the abdomen, and the throat
    inclines to the same. No “bridle.” Cheeks and ear-coverts
    blackish, with conspicuous shaft-streaks of white; wing,
    4.30; tail, 5.60; bill, 1.40, stout, very much bowed,—the
    arch regular; tarsus, 1.55; middle toe, 1.00 (3,932 ♂,
    California). _Hab._ Coast region of California  var. …
                                                         _redivivus_.

  6. H. crissalis. Anal region and lower tail-coverts deep chestnut.

    Above, brownish-ashy with a slight purplish cast, tail not
    darker; no trace of wing bands; tail-feathers diluted, and
    tinged with rusty at tips. Beneath, of a uniform, paler tint
    than the upper plumage, not lighter medially; throat white,
    with a conspicuous “bridle”; from this up to the eye whitish,
    with transversely angular bars of dusky; wing, 4.00; tail,
    6.50; bill, 1.25, very slender, bowed from the middle;
    tarsus, 1.30; middle toe, .90 (11,533 ♂ Fort Yuma). _Hab._
    Region of Gila River to Rocky Mountains; north to Southern
    Utah (St. George, breeding; Dr. Palmer).

  [Illustration: PLATE III.

  1. Harporhynchus rufus, _Caban._ Penn., 2261.
  2.       “       longirostris, _Caban._ Texas, 4016.
  3.       “       curvirostris, _Caban._ Texas, 7200.
  4. Mimus polyglottus, _Boie_. Penn., 12445.
  5. Galeoscoptes carolinensis, _Caban._ Rocky Mts., 38425.
  6. Oreoscoptes montanus, _Baird_. Nevada, 53424.]


Harporhynchus rufus, CABANIS.

BROWN THRASHER.

  _Turdus rufus_, LINN. Syst. Nat. 10th ed. 1758, 169, based on
    CATESBY, tab. 19.—IB. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 293.—GÄTKE, Naumannia,
    1858, 424 (Heligoland, Oct. 1837). _Harporhynchus rufus_, CAB.
    Mus. Hein. 1850, 82.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 353.—IB. Rev. Am.
    Birds, 44.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1859, 340.—IB. Catal. 1861, 8, no.
    48.—SAMUELS, 163. _Mimus rufus_, PR. MAX. Cab. Jour. 1858, 180.
  Figures: VIEILLOT, Ois. Am. Sept. II, pl. lix.—WILSON, Am. Orn. II,
    pl. xiv.—AUD. Orn. Biog. pl. cxvi.

SP. CHAR. Exposed portion of the bill shorter than the head. Outline
of lower mandible straight. Above light cinnamon-red; beneath pale
rufous-white with longitudinal streaks of dark brown, excepting on the
chin, throat, middle of the belly, and under tail-coverts. These spots
anteriorly are reddish-brown in their terminal portion. The inner
surface of the wing and the inner edges of the primaries are cinnamon;
the concealed portion of the quills otherwise is dark brown. The
median and greater wing-coverts become blackish-brown towards the end,
followed by white, producing two conspicuous bands. The tail-feathers
are all rufous, the external ones obscurely tipped with whitish; the
shafts of the same color with the vanes. Length, 11.15; wing, 4.15;
tail, 5.20; tarsus, 1.30.

HAB. Eastern North America to Missouri River, and perhaps to high
central plains United States, east of Rocky Mountains, north to Lake
Winnipeg.

As stated in “Birds of North America” some specimens (var.
_longicauda_) from beyond the Missouri River are larger than eastern
birds, with longer tails, more rufous beneath; the breast spots
darker. But, in passing from east to west, the change is so insensible
that it is impossible to divide the series.

HABITS. This Thrush is a common species throughout a widely extended
area, from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic, and from the Red River
country, in British America, to the Rio Grande. And nearly throughout
this entire territory it also resides and breeds, from Texas to the
54th parallel of latitude.

It reaches New England early in May and leaves it in the latter part
of September or the first week of October, its stay varying with the
season and the supply of its food. It is somewhat irregularly
distributed, common in some portions of this section, and rare or even
unknown in others. It is not found near the sea-coast beyond
Massachusetts. It passes the winter in the Southern States, even as
far to the north as Virginia, and is in full song in the neighborhood
of Savannah as early as the first of March.

The song of this Thrush is one of great beauty, and is much admired by
all who appreciate woodland melody of the sweetest and liveliest type.
It is loud, clear, emphatic, full of variety and charm. Its notes are
never imitative and cannot be mistaken by any one who is familiar with
them, for those of any other bird, unless it may be some one of its
western congeners. It is a very steady performer, singing for hours at
a time. Its notes are given in a loud tone, and its song may often be
heard to quite a distance.

In obtaining its food the Brown Thrush is at times almost rasorial in
its habits. In the early spring it scratches among the leaves of the
forest for worms, coleopterous grubs, and other forms of insect food.
By some it is charged with scratching up the hills of early corn, but
this is not a well-founded accusation. Berries of various kinds also
form a large part of its food, and among these the small fruit of our
gardens must be included.

This Thrush is a very affectionate and devoted bird, especially to its
young. It is also prompt in going to the assistance of others of its
species when in trouble. Whenever intruders approach their nests,
especially if their young are far advanced, they manifest the deepest
anxiety, sometimes even making a vigorous defence. The writer has a
very distinct recollection of having encountered, together with a
younger brother, an ignominious defeat, when making his first attempt
to inspect the nest of one of these birds.

The Brown Thrush is jealous of the intrusion of other birds of its own
species to a too close proximity to its nesting-place, and will assert
its love of seclusion by stout battles. In Louisiana the construction
of the nest is commenced quite early in March; in Pennsylvania, not
until May; and in the New England States in the latter part of that
month. The nest is usually not more than two or three feet from the
ground. It is built in a low bush, on a cluster of briers or among
vines. I have known it to be placed in the interior of a heap of
brushwood loosely thrown together. I have never met with the nest
built upon the ground, but in Springfield, and in other dry and sandy
localities, this is by no means an uncommon occurrence. These nests
are frequently placed in close proximity to houses, and sometimes in
the very midst of villages.

The nest of the Thrasher is large, and roughly but strongly built. The
base is usually made of coarse twigs, sticks, and ends of branches,
firmly interwoven. Within this is constructed an inner nest, composed
of dried leaves, strips of bark, and strong black fibrous roots. These
are lined with finer roots, horse-hair, an occasional feather, etc.

The eggs are usually four, sometimes five, and rarely six, in number.
They vary both in the tints of the ground color, in those of their
markings, and slightly in their shape. Their length varies from .99 to
1.12 inches, with a mean of 1.05. Their breadth ranges from .76 to .87
of an inch; mean breadth, .81. The ground color is sometimes white,
marked with fine reddish-brown dots, confluent at the larger end, or
forming a broad ring around the crown. In others the markings have a
yellowish-brown tint. Sometimes the ground color is a light green.


Harporhynchus rufus, var. longirostris, CABAN.

TEXAS THRASHER.

  _Orpheus longirostris_, LAFR. R. Z. 1838, 55.—IB. Mag. de Zool.
    1839, Ois. pl. i. _Toxostoma longirostre_, CAB. Wiegm. Arch. 1847,
    I. 207. _Mimus longirostris_, SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1856, 294
    (Cordova). _Harporhynchus longirostris_, CAB. Mus. Hein. 1850,
    81.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 352, pl. lii.—IB. Rev.
    44.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1859, 339; IB. 1864, 172 (City of Mex.);
    IB. Catal. 1861, 8, no. 47.

SP. CHAR. Similar to _H. rufus_, the rufous of back much darker. Wings
much rounded; second quill shorter than the secondaries. Exposed
portion of the bill as long as the head; the lower edge decidedly
decurved or concave. Above rather dark brownish-rufous; beneath pale
rufous-white; streaked on the sides of the neck and body, and across
the breast, with very dark brownish-black, nearly uniform throughout,
much darker than in _rufus_. Two rather narrow white bands on the
wings. The concealed portion of the quills dark brown. Length, 10.50;
wing, 4.00; tail, 5.00; tarsus, 1.40.

HAB. Eastern Mexico; north to Rio Grande, Texas. Cordova, SCL. Orizaba
(temperate region), SUMICHRAST.

Specimens from the Rio Grande to Mirador and Orizaba are quite
identical, with, of course, differences among individuals. This
“species” is not, in our opinion, separable from the _H. rufus_
specifically; but is a race, representing the latter in the region
given above, where the _rufus_ itself is never found. The relations of
these two forms are exactly paralleled in the _Thryothorus
ludovicianus_ and _T. berlandieri_, the latter being nothing more than
the darker Southern representation of the former.

The Texas Thrasher appears to belong only to the Avifauna of the
Southwest. It first appears as a bird of the valley of the Rio Grande,
and extends from thence southward through Eastern Mexico to Cordova
and Orizaba. In Arizona it is replaced by _H. palmeri_, _H. lecontei_,
and _H. crissalis_, in California by _H. redivivus_, and at Cape St.
Lucas by _H. cinereus_, while in the United States east of the Rocky
Mountains it is represented by its nearer ally _H. rufus_.

HABITS. The eggs of this species are hardly distinguishable from those
of the common Brown Thrasher (_H. rufus_), of the Atlantic States. The
color of their ground is a greenish-white, which is thickly, and
usually completely, covered with fine markings of a yellowish-brown.
They have an average length of 1.13 inches, by .79 in breadth. So far
as I have had an opportunity of observing, they do not vary from these
measurements more than two per cent in length or one per cent in
breadth. Their nests are usually a mere platform of small sticks or
coarse stems, with little or no depression or rim, and are placed in
low bushes, usually above the upper branches.

In regard to the distinctive habits of this species I have no
information.


Harporhynchus cinereus, XANTUS.

CAPE ST. LUCAS THRASHER.

  _Harporhynchus cinereus_, XANTUS, Pr. A. N. Sc. 1859, 298.—BAIRD,
    IB., 303; Review, 46.—SCLATER, Catal. 1861, 8, no. 49.—ELLIOT,
    Illust., I. pl. i.—COOPER, Birds Cal. 1, 19.

SP. CHAR. Bill as long as the head; all the lateral outlines gently
decurved from the base. Bristles not very conspicuous, but reaching to
the nostrils. Wings considerably shorter than the tail, much rounded.
First primary broad, nearly half the length of the second; the third
to the seventh quills nearly equal, their tips forming the outline of
a gentle curve; the second quill shorter than the ninth. Tail
considerably graduated, the lateral feathers more than an inch the
shorter. Legs stout; tarsi longer than middle toe, distinctly
scutellate, with seven scales.

Above ashy brown, with perhaps a tinge of rusty on the rump; beneath
fulvous-white, more fulvous on the flanks, inside of wing, and
crissum. Beneath, except chin, throat, and from middle of abdomen to
crissum, with well-defined V-shaped spots of dark brown at the ends of
the feathers, largest across the breast. Loral region hoary. Wings
with two narrow whitish bands across the tips of greater and middle
coverts; the quills edged externally with paler. Outer three
tail-feathers with a rather obsolete white patch in the end of inner
web, and across the tips of the outer.

Spring specimens are of rather purer white beneath, with the spots
more distinct than as described.

Length of 12,960 (skin), 10.00; wing, 4.10; tail, 4.65; first primary,
1.60; second, 2.50; bill from gape, 1.40, from above, 1.15, from
nostril, .90; tarsus, 1.26; middle toe and claw, 1.12; claw alone, .30.

HAB. Cape St. Lucas, Lower California.

This species is curiously similar in coloration to _Oreoscoptes
montanus_, from which its much larger size, much longer and decurved
bill, and the graduated tail, of course readily distinguish it. It
agrees in some respects with _H. rufus_ and _H. longirostris_, but is
smaller, the bill longer and more curved; the upper parts are ashy
olivaceous-brown instead of rufous, etc.

HABITS. So far as is at present known in regard to this species it
appears to be confined exclusively to the peninsula of Lower
California. It has, at least, been met with nowhere else. Mr. Xantus
found it quite numerous in the vicinity of Cape St. Lucas, in a region
which, as he describes it, was singularly unpropitious. This was a
sandy shore, extending about a quarter of a mile inland, whence a
cactus desert stretched about six miles up to a high range of
mountains. Throughout this tract the ground is covered with a saline
efflorescence. There is no fresh water within twenty-eight miles.

Mr. Xantus speaks of the habits of this bird as being similar to those
of the _Oreoscoptes montanus_. It was a very abundant species at this
cape, where he found it breeding among the cactus plants in large
numbers. He mentions that as early as the date of his arrival at the
place, April 4, he found them already with full-fledged young, and
states that they continued to breed until the middle of July.

He was of the impression that the eggs of this species more nearly
resemble those of the common Mocking-Bird than any others of this
genus. The aggravatingly brief notes that accompanied his collections
show that the general position of the nest of this species was on low
trees, shrubs, and most usually, cactus plants, and in no instance at
a greater elevation from the ground than four feet. Their nests were
flat structures, having only a very slight depression in or near their
centre. They were about 5 inches in diameter, and were very little
more than a mere platform.

The eggs vary somewhat in their ground color, but exhibit only slight
variations in size or shape. Their greatest length is 1.13 inches, and
their average 1.12 inches. Their mean breadth is .77 inch, and their
maximum .79 inch. The ground color is a greenish-white, profusely
marked with spots of mingled purple and brown. In others the ground
color is a bluish-green. In some specimens the spots are of a
yellowish-brown, and in some the markings are much lighter.


Harporhynchus curvirostris, CABAN.

GRAY CURVE-BILL THRASHER.

  _Orpheus curvirostris_, SWAINSON, Philos. Mag. 1827, 369 (Eastern
    Mexico).—M’CALL, Pr. A. N. Sc. May, 1848, 63. _Mimus
    curvirostris_, GRAY, Genera, 1844-49. _Toxostoma curvirostris_,
    BONAP. Conspectus, 1850, 277.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1857, 212.
    _Harporhynchus curvirostris_, CAB. Mus. Hein. I. 1850, 81.—BAIRD,
    Birds N. Am. 1858, 351, pl. li.; IB. Rev. 45.—HEERMANN, P. R. R.
    Rep. X, Parke’s Rep. 1859, 11.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1859, 339; IB.
    Catal. 1861, 7, no. 46.—DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 483. _Pomatorhinus
    turdinus_, TEMM. Pl. Col. 441. _? Toxostoma vetula_, WAGLER, Isis,
    1831, 528.

SP. CHAR. Exposed portion of the bill about as long as the head;
considerably decurved. Above uniform grayish-brown, or light ash;
beneath dull white; the anal region and under tail-coverts tinged with
brownish-yellow. The under parts generally, except the chin, throat,
middle of the belly, and under coverts, with rounded sub-triangular,
quite well-defined spots, much like the back. These are quite
confluent on the breast. Two narrow bands on the wing-coverts, and the
edges of primaries and alulæ, are white. The tail-feathers, except the
middle, are conspicuously tipped with white. Length of female, 10
inches; wing, 4.00; tail, 4.55; tarsus, 1.20.

HAB. Adjacent regions of United States and Mexico, southward. Cordova,
Orizaba, Mirador; Mazatlan, Colima, Oaxaca.

Specimens from the Rio Grande across to Mazatlan represent one
species; but those from the latter locality are somewhat darker in
colors, though this may be owing, in part, to the fact that they are
winter birds. Considerable differences in proportions may often be
noticed between individuals, but nothing strikingly characteristic of
any particular region.

The specimens of the Mazatlan series (37,326 ♂, 51,523, and 51,525 ♂)
have tails considerably longer than any of those from the Rio Grande,
the excess amounting in the longest to nearly an inch; but one from
the same locality has it _shorter_ than any of the Texas specimens.

In its perfect plumage, this species has both rows of coverts
distinctly tipped with white; but in the faded condition of midsummer,
the bands thus produced are hardly discernible, and the spots below
become very obsolete.

HABITS. This interesting species appears to be common in Western
Texas, the valley of the Rio Grande, and Western Mexico. It was met
with in these regions on the several railroad surveys, and is
described by Dr. Heermann as possessing musical powers surpassed by
few other birds. When alarmed it immediately hides itself in a thick
covert of underbrush, whence it is almost impossible to dislodge it.
Its food consists of fruit and berries when in their season, of
insects and their larvæ, and of worms. These it collects both among
the trees and from the ground, on the latter of which it spends much
of its time. Mr. J. H. Clark states that the nest of this bird is very
similar to that of the Mocking-Bird, but is finer and much more
compact. He adds that it is oftener found among the _Opuntia_ than
elsewhere. It is a quiet bird, rather shy, and keeps closely within
the clumps of the chaparral. For a bird of its size it makes an
unusual noise in flying. At Ringgold Barracks Mr. Clark’s tent was
pitched under a como-tree in which there was a nest of these birds.
They were at first shy and seemed quite disposed to abandon their
nest, but, however, soon became accustomed to their new neighbor, and
went on with their parental duties. The position of their nest had
been very judiciously selected, for it was during the season of the
black fruit of the como, which is somewhat in the shape and size of a
thimble, with a pleasant milky pulp. These constituted their principal
food. The eggs in this nest were five in number. Lieutenant Couch met
with it from Brownsville to Durango, where it had already paired as
early as February. He describes it as exceedingly tame and gentle in
its habits, and with a song remarkably melodious and attractive.
Perched on the topmost bough of a flowering mimosa, in the presence of
his consort, the male will pour forth a volume of most enchanting
music. Their nest is generally very nearly flat, measuring nearly six
inches in circumference, and scarcely more than an inch in its
greatest thickness. It has hardly any distinct cavity, and hollows but
very slightly from the rim to the centre, its greatest depression
having barely the depth of half an inch. The nests are composed of
long coarse fibrous roots, rudely, but somewhat compactly interwoven.
The inner framework is constructed of the same materials intermixed
with the finer stems of grasses.

Mr. H. E. Dresser states that in the vicinity of Matamoras these birds
are fond of frequenting small villages, and that he frequently found
their nests within the gardens and court-yards of the houses, and near
the road.

The eggs of this Thrush vary considerably in size, ranging from 1.20
to 1.03 inches in length, and from .84 to .77 of an inch in breadth.
Their mean length is 1.12 inches, and their average breadth .80. They
have a light green ground-color, generally, though not thickly,
covered with fine brown spots.


Harporhynchus curvirostris, var. palmeri, RIDGWAY.

PALMER’S THRASHER.

  _Harporhynchus curvirostris_, var. _palmeri_, RIDGWAY, Report King’s
    Expedition, V, 1872.

SP. CHAR. Bill slender, moderately curved; fifth quill longest; fourth
and sixth just perceptibly shorter, and equal; second equal to ninth;
first 1.55 shorter than longest. General plumage uniform
grayish-umber, paler below, becoming almost dirty whitish on the
throat and abdomen; lower part of the breast and abdomen with a very
few just discernible irregular specks of a darker tint; lower
tail-coverts dilute isabella-brown, more ochraceous at their margins;
anal region and lower part of abdomen light ochraceous. No bands on
wings, and tail-feathers only diluted at the tips. Maxillary stripe
whitish with transverse bars of dusky. “Iris orange.”

♂ (No. 8,128, “New Mexico” = Arizona, Dr. Heermann): wing, 4.30; tail,
5.00; bill (from nostril), 1.00; tarsus, 1.30; middle toe (without
claw), 1.00. ♀(49,723, Camp Grant, Tucson, Arizona, March 12, 1867;
Dr. E. Palmer; with eggs): wing, 4.15; tail, 4.85; bill, .95; tarsus,
1.25; middle toe, .90.

HAB. Eastern Arizona (Tucson).

This very curious race seems to unite the characters of _curvirostris_
and _lecontei_; in fact, it is so exactly intermediate between the
two, that we are almost in doubt as to which it is most nearly
related. Having the stout form and larger size, as well as the spots
on the abdomen, of the former, it has also the uniform colors and
general appearance of _lecontei_. Were it not that the nest and eggs,
with the parent accompanying, had been received from Dr. Palmer, we
might be tempted to consider it a hybrid between these two species,
its habitat being exactly between them, too. We have great pleasure in
dedicating this curious form to Dr. Edward Palmer, who has added very
much to our knowledge of the Natural History of the interesting region
where the present bird is found.

     _Description of nest and eggs._—(13,311, Camp Grant, Arizona; Dr.
     E. Palmer). Nest very bulky,—9 inches in height by 6 in width.
     Very elaborately constructed. The true nest, of symmetrical form,
     and composed of thin grass-stalks and flax-like fibres, is
     enclosed in an outer case of thorny sticks, thinly but strongly
     put together. This inner nest has a deep cavity measuring 4
     inches in diameter by 3 in depth.

     Eggs (two in number) measure 1.16 by .85; in shape exactly like
     those of _C. curvirostris_; pale blue (deeper than in
     _curvirostris_), rather thinly sprinkled with minute, but
     distinct dots of pale sepia-brown. Markings more distinct than
     those of _curvirostris_. R. R.

The nest was situated in a cactus-bush, four and a half feet above the
ground.

Dr. Palmer remembers nothing special concerning its habits, except
that the bird was very shy, and kept much on the ground, where it was
seen running beneath the bushes.


Harporhynchus redivivus, var. lecontei, BONAP.

LECONTE’S THRASHER.

  _Toxostoma lecontei_, LAWR. Ann. N. Y. Lyc. V, Sept. 1851, 109 (Fort
    Yuma). _Harporhynchus lecontei_, BONAP. C. R. XXVIII, 1854,
    57.—IB. Notes Delattre, 39.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 350, pl.
    1; IB. Review, 47.—COOPER, Birds Cal. 1, 17.

SP. CHAR. Bill much curved. Second quill about equal to the tenth;
exposed portion of the first more than half the longest; outer
tail-feather an inch shortest. General color above light grayish-ash,
beneath much paler; the chin and throat above almost white; the sides
behind brownish-yellow or pale rusty-yellow ash, of which color is the
crissum and anal region. Tail-feathers rather dark brown on the under
surface, lighter above; the outer edges and tips of exterior ones
obscurely paler. Quills nearly like the back.

HAB. Gila River; Fort Yuma; Fort Mojave.

Since the description of the type, a second specimen (40,718 ♂, Fort
Mojave, 20 miles from Colorado River, Sept. 30, 1865) has been
obtained by Dr. Coues. This skin differs slightly from the type in
size, being somewhat larger, measuring, wing 3.90, tail 5.30, bill
(from nostril) 1.05; while the other measures, wing 3.70, tail 4.70,
bill .98. This difference in size very probably represents that
between the sexes, the type most likely being a female, though the sex
is not stated. Owing to the different seasons in which the two
specimens were obtained, they differ somewhat in plumage also. Dr.
Coues’s specimen is somewhat the darker, and the plumage has a softer,
more blended aspect, and a more ashy tinge of color; the ochraceous of
the crissal region is also slightly deeper. No other differences are
appreciable.

HABITS. Leconte’s Thrasher is a new and comparatively little known
species. A single specimen was obtained by Dr. Leconte near Fort Yuma,
and described by Mr. Lawrence in 1851, and remained unique for many
years. In 1861 Dr. Cooper presented a paper to the California Academy
of Sciences, in which this bird is given among a list of those new to
that State. He then mentions that he found it common about the Mojave
River, and that he procured two specimens.

Dr. Coues, in his valuable paper on the birds of Arizona, speaks of
obtaining, in 1865, a specimen of this rare species on a dry plain
covered thickly with mesquite and cactus, near Fort Mojave. This bird
was very shy and restless, fluttered hurriedly from one cactus to
another, until he at last shot it where it seemed to fancy itself
hidden among the thick fronds of a large yucca. Its large stout feet
admirably adapt it for its partially terrestrial life, and it
apparently spends much of its life upon the ground, where it runs
rapidly and easily. Its flight he describes as swift but desultory,
and accompanied by a constant flirting of the tail. He considers this
species as inhabiting the whole valley of the Colorado and Gila, and
thinks that it does not leave the vicinity of these streams for the
mountains.

Dr. Cooper found a nest of this species, but without eggs, built in a
yucca, and similar to that of _H. redivivus_. In his Report on the
Birds of California, Dr. Cooper speaks of finding this bird common on
the deserts, along the route between the Colorado Valley, wherever
there was a thicket of low bushes surrounded by sand-hills. Its notes,
habits, and general appearance were like those of _H. redivivus_.


Harporhynchus redivivus, CABAN.

CALIFORNIA THRASHER.

  _Harpes rediviva_, GAMBEL, Pr. A. N. S. II, Aug. 1845, 264.
    _Toxostoma rediviva_, GAMBEL, J. A. N. Sc. 2d ser. I, 1847,
    42.—CASSIN, Illust. I, 1855, 260, pl. xlii. _Harporhynchus
    redivivus_, CABANIS, Archiv Naturg. 1848, 98.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am.
    1858, 349; Rev. 48.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1859, 339.—COOPER, Birds
    Cal. 1, 15.

SP. CHAR. Wing much rounded; the second quill shorter than the
secondaries. Tail much graduated. Bill much decurved, longer than the
head. Above brownish-olive, without any shade of green; beneath pale
cinnamon, lightest on the throat, deepening gradually into a
brownish-rufous on the under tail-coverts. The fore part of the breast
and sides of the body brown-olive, lighter than the back. An obscure
ashy superciliary stripe, and another lighter beneath the eye.
Ear-coverts and an indistinct maxillary stripe dark brown; the shafts
of the former whitish. Ends and tips of tail-feathers obsoletely
paler. Length, 11.50 inches; wing, 4.20; tail, 5.75; tarsus, 1.55.

HAB. Coast region of California.

HABITS. The California Thrasher appears to have a somewhat restricted
distribution, being confined to the coast region of California, where,
however, it is quite abundant. It was first met with by Dr. Gambel,
near Monterey. The specimens were obtained on the ground where they
were searching for coleopterous insects. Dr. Heermann afterwards found
this bird abundant in the southern part of California. It was
difficult of approach, diving into the thick bushes, running some
distance on the ground, and becoming afterwards unapproachable. He
speaks of its song as a flood of melody equalled only by the song of
the Mocking-Bird (_Mimus polyglottus_). Colonel McCall also describes
its song as of exquisite sweetness, “placing it almost beyond rivalry
among the countless songsters that enliven the woods of America.” He
also states that it is as retiring and simple in its manners as it is
brilliant in song.

In the character of its flight it is said to strongly resemble the
Brown Thrasher (_H. rufus_) of the Eastern States. Their harsh,
scolding notes, when their nest is approached, their motions and
attitudes, are all very similar to those of _H. rufus_ under like
circumstances. Colonel McCall ranks the song of this species as far
superior to that of any other Thrush. Without possessing the powerful
voice or imitative faculties of the Mocking-Bird, its notes are
described as having a liquid mellowness of tone, with a clearness of
expression and volubility of utterance that cannot be surpassed.

A nest of this bird found by Dr. Heermann was composed of coarse
twigs, and lined with slender roots, and not very carefully
constructed. Mr. Hepburn writes that a nest found by him was in a
thick bush about five feet from the ground. It was a very untidy
affair, a mere platform of sticks, almost as carelessly put together
as that of a pigeon, in which, though not in the centre, was a shallow
depression about 4 inches in diameter, lined with fine roots and
grass. It contained two eggs with a blue ground thickly covered with
soot-colored spots confluent at the larger end, and in coloring not
unlike those of the _Turdus ustulatus_. The eggs measured 1.19 inches
by .81 of an inch. Dr. Cooper gives their measurement as 1.10 of an
inch by .85. Two eggs belonging to the Smithsonian Institution (2,040,
_a_ and _b_) measure, one 1.19 by .81, the other 1.14 by .93. The
former has a bluish-green ground sparsely spotted with olive-brown
markings; the other has a ground of a light yellowish-green, with
numerous spots of a russet brown.

The general character of their nest is, as described, a coarse, rudely
constructed platform of sticks and coarse grass and mosses, with but a
very slight depression. Occasionally, however, nests of this bird are
more carefully and elaborately made. One (13,072) obtained near
Monterey, by Dr. Canfield, has a diameter of 6 inches, a height of 3,
with an oblong-oval cavity 2 inches in depth. Its outside was an
interweaving of leaves, stems, and mosses, and its lining fine long
fibrous roots.

These birds are chiefly found frequenting the dense chaparral that
lines the hillsides of California valleys, forming thickets, composed
of an almost impenetrable growth of thorny shrubs, and affording an
inviting shelter. In such places they reside throughout the year,
feeding upon insects, for the procuring of which their long curved
bills are admirably adapted, as also upon the berries which generally
abound in these places. Their nests usually contain three eggs. Dr.
Cooper states that their loud and varied song is frequently
intermingled with imitations of other birds, though the general
impression appears to be that they are not imitative, and do not
deserve to be called, as they often are, a mocking-bird.

  [Illustration: PLATE IV.

  1. Harporhynchus crissalis, _Henry_. Cal., 11533.
  2.      “        cinereus, _Xantus_. C. St. L., 26343.
  3.      “        lecontei, _Bonap._ Ariz., 40718.
  4.      “        redivivus, _Caban._ Cal., 3732.]


Harporhynchus crissalis, HENRY.

RED-VENTED THRASHER.

  _Harporhynchus crissalis_, HENRY, Pr. A. N. Sc. May, 1858.—BAIRD,
    Birds N. Am. 1858, 350, pl. lxxxii; Review, 47.—COOPER, Birds
    Cal. 1, 18.

SP. CHAR. Second quill about as long as the secondaries. Bill much
curved; longer than the head. Above olive-brown, with a faint shade of
gray; beneath nearly uniform brownish-gray, much paler than the back,
passing insensibly into white on the chin; but the under tail-coverts
dark brownish-rufous, and abruptly defined. There is a black maxillary
stripe cutting off a white one above it. There do not appear to be any
other stripes about the head. There are no bands on the wings, and the
tips and outer edges of the tail-feathers are very inconspicuously
lighter than the remaining portion. Length, 11 inches; wing, 4.00;
tail, 5.80; tarsus, 1.25.

HAB. Region of the Gila River, to Rocky Mountains; Southern Utah (St.
George, Dr. Palmer).

A second specimen (11,533) of this rare species is larger than the type,
but otherwise agrees with it. Its dimensions are as follows:—

     Length before skinning, 12.50; of skin, 12.50; wing, 3.90;
     tail, 6.50; its graduation, 1.45; first quill, 1.50; second,
     .41; bill from forehead (chord of curve), 1.65, from gape,
     1.75, from nostril, 1.30; curve of culmen, 1.62; height of
     bill at nostril, .22; tarsus, 1.30; middle toe and claw,
     1.12.

The bill of this species, though not quite so long as in _redivivus_,
when most developed, is almost as much curved, and much more
slender,—the depth at nostrils being but .22 instead of .26. The size
of this specimen is equal to the largest of _redivivus_ (3,932); the
tail absolutely longer. The feet are, however, considerably smaller,
the claws especially so; the tarsus measures but 1.30, instead of
1.52; the middle claw .29, instead of .36. With these differences in
form, however, it would be impossible to separate the two generically.

A third specimen (No. 60,958 ♀, St. George, Utah, June 9, 1870), with
nest and eggs, has recently been obtained by Dr. Palmer. This
specimen, being a female, is considerably smaller than the type,
measuring only: wing, 3.90; tail, 6.00; bill, from nostril, 1.15. The
plumage is in the burnt summer condition, and has a peculiar reddish
cast.

HABITS. Of this rare Thrush little is known. So far as observed, its
habits appear to be nearly identical with those of the Californian
species (_H. redivivus_). It is found associated in the same
localities with _H. lecontei_, which also it appears to very closely
resemble in all respects, so far as observed. The first specimen was
obtained by Dr. T. C. Henry, near Mimbres, and described by him in
May, 1858, in the Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy of Sciences.
A second specimen was obtained by H. B. Möllhausen, at Fort Yuma, in
1863. Dr. Coues did not observe it at Fort Whipple, but thinks its
range identical with that of _H. lecontei_.

Dr. Cooper found this species quite common at Fort Mojave, but so very
shy that he only succeeded in shooting one, after much watching for
it. Their song, general habits, and nest he speaks of as being in
every way similar to those of _H. redivivus_.

The eggs remained unknown until Dr. E. Palmer had the good fortune to
find them at St. George, Southern Utah, June 8, 1870. The nest was an
oblong flat structure, containing only a very slight depression. It
was very rudely constructed externally of coarse sticks quite loosely
put together; the inner nest is made of finer materials of the same.
The base of this nest was 12 inches long, and 7 in breadth; the inner
nest is circular, with a diameter of 4½ inches.

The eggs are of an oblong-oval shape, one end being a little less
obtuse than the other. In length they vary from 1.15 to 1.12 inches,
and in breadth from .84 to .82 of an inch. They are of a uniform blue
color, similar to the eggs of the common Robin (_Turdus migratorius_),
only a little paler or of a lighter tint. In the total absence of
markings they differ remarkably from those of all other species of the
genus.


GENUS MIMUS, BOIE.

  _Mimus_, BOIE, Isis, Oct. 1826, 972. (Type _Turdus polyglottus_,
    LINN.)
  _Orpheus_, SWAINSON, Zoöl. Jour. III, 1827, 167. (Same type.)

  [Line drawing: _Mimus polyglottus._
                  8159]

GEN. CHAR. Bill not much more than half the length of the head; gently
decurved from the base, notched at tip; commissure curved. Gonys
straight, or slightly concave. Rictal bristles quite well developed.
Wings rather shorter than the tail. First primary about equal to, or
rather more than, half the second; third, fourth, and fifth quills
nearly equal, sixth scarcely shorter. Tail considerably graduated; the
feathers stiff, rather narrow, especially the outer webs, lateral
feathers about three quarters of an inch the shorter in the type.
Tarsi longer than middle toe and claw by rather less than an
additional claw; tarsi conspicuously and strongly scutellate; broad
plates seven.

Of this genus there are many species in America, although but one
occurs within the limits of the United States.

The single North American species _M. polyglottus_ is ashy brown
above, white beneath; wings and tail black, the former much varied
with white.


Mimus polyglottus, BOIE.

MOCKING-BIRD.

  _Turdus polyglottus_, LINN. Syst. Nat. 10th ed. 1758, 169; 12th ed.
    1766, 293.—_Mimus polyglottus_, BOIE, Isis, 1826, 972.—SCLATER,
    P. Z. S. 1856, 212.—IB. 1859, 340.—IB. Catal. 1861, 8, no.
    51.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 344.—IB. Rev. 48.—SAMUELS,
    167.—COOPER, Birds Cal. 1, 21.—GUNDLACH, Repertorio, 1865, 230
    (Cuba).—DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 230.—COUES, Pr. A. N. Sc. 1866, 65
    (Arizona).—_? Orpheus leucopterus_, VIGORS, Zoöl. Beechey, 1839.
  Figures: WILSON, Am. Orn. II, 1810, pl. x, fig. 1.—AUD. Orn. Biog.
    I, 1831, pl. xxi.—IB. Birds Amer. II, 1841, pl. 137.

SP. CHAR. Third and fourth quills longest; second about equal to
eighth; the first half or more than half the second. Tail considerably
graduated. Above ashy brown, the feathers very obsoletely darker
centrally, and towards the light plumbeous downy basal portion
(scarcely appreciable, except when the feathers are lifted). The under
parts are white, with a faint brownish tinge, except on the chin, and
with a shade of ash across the breast. There is a pale superciliary
stripe, but the lores are dusky. The wings and tail are dark brown,
nearly black, except the lesser wing-coverts, which are like the back;
the middle and greater tipped with white, forming two bands; the basal
portion of the primaries white; most extended on the inner primaries.
The outer tail-feather is white, sometimes a little mottled; the
second is mostly white, except on the outer web and towards the base;
the third with a white spot on the end; the rest, except the middle,
very slightly or not at all tipped with white. The bill and legs are
black. Length, 9.50; wing, 4.50; tail, 5.00.

  [Illustration: _Mimus polyglottus._]

_Young._ Similar, but distinctly spotted with dusky on the breast, and
obsoletely on the back.

HAB. North America, from about 40° (rare in Massachusetts, Samuels),
south to Mexico. Said to occur in Cuba.

The Mocking-Birds are closely allied, requiring careful comparison to
distinguish them. A near ally is _M. orpheus_, of Jamaica, but in this
the outer feather is white, and the 2d, 3d, and 4th tail-feathers are
marked like the 1st, 2d, and 3d of _polyglottus_, respectively.

We have examined one hundred and fourteen specimens, of the present
species, the series embracing large numbers from Florida, the Rio
Grande, Cape St. Lucas, and Mazatlan, and numerous specimens from
intermediate localities. The slight degree of variation manifested in
this immense series is really surprising; we can discover no
difference of color that does not depend on age, sex, season, or the
individual (though the variations of the latter kind are exceedingly
rare, and when noticed, very slight). Although the average of Western
specimens have slightly longer tails than Eastern, a Florida example
(No. 54,850, ♂, Enterprise, Feb. 19), has a tail as long as that of
the longest-tailed Western one (No. 8,165, Fort Yuma, Gila River,
Dec.). Specimens from Colima, Mirador, Orizaba, and Mazatlan are quite
identical with Northern ones.

HABITS. The Mocking-Bird is distributed on the Atlantic coast, from
Massachusetts to Florida, and is also found to the Pacific. On the
latter coast it exhibits certain variations in forms, but hardly
enough to separate it as a distinct species. It is by no means a
common bird in New England, but instances of its breeding as far north
as Springfield, Mass., are of constant occurrence, and a single
individual was seen by Mr. Boardman near Calais, Me. It is met with
every year, more or less frequently, on Long Island, and is more
common, but by no means abundant, in New Jersey. It is found
abundantly in every Southern State, and throughout Mexico. It has also
been taken near Grinnell, Iowa.

A warm climate, a low country, and the vicinity of the sea appear to
be most congenial to their nature. Wilson found them less numerous
west of the Alleghany than on the eastern side, in the same parallels.
Throughout the winter he met with them in the Southern States, feeding
on the berries of the red cedar, myrtle, holly, etc., with which the
swampy thickets abounded. They feed also upon winged insects, which
they are very expert in catching. In Louisiana they remain throughout
the entire year, approaching farmhouses and plantations in the winter,
and living about the gardens and outhouses. They may be frequently
seen perched upon the roofs of houses and on the chimney-tops, and are
always full of life and animation. When the weather is mild the old
males may be heard singing with as much spirit as in the spring or
summer. They are much more familiar than in the more northern States.
In Georgia they do not begin to sing until February.

The vocal powers of the Mocking-Bird exceed, both in their imitative
notes and in their natural song, those of any other species. Their
voice is full, strong, and musical, and capable of an almost endless
variation in modulation. The wild scream of the Eagle and the soft
notes of the Bluebird are repeated with exactness and with apparently
equal facility, while both in force and sweetness the Mocking-Bird
will often improve upon the original.

The song of the Mocking-Bird is not altogether imitative. His natural
notes are bold, rich, and full, and are varied almost without
limitation. They are frequently interspersed with imitations, and both
are uttered with a rapidity and emphasis that can hardly be equalled.

The Mocking-Bird readily becomes accustomed to confinement, and loses
little of the power, energy, or variety of its song, but often much of
its sweetness in a domesticated state. The mingling of unmusical
sounds, like the crowing of cocks, the cackling of hens, or the
creaking of a wheelbarrow, while they add to the variety, necessarily
detracts from the beauty of his song.

The food of the Mocking-Bird is chiefly insects, their larvæ, worms,
spiders, etc., and in the winter of berries, in great variety. They
are said to be very fond of the grape, and to be very destructive to
this fruit. Mr. G. C. Taylor (Ibis, 1862, p. 130) mentions an instance
that came to his knowledge, of a person living near St. Augustine,
Florida, who shot no less than eleven hundred Mocking-Birds in a
single season, and buried them at the roots of his grape-vines.

Several successful attempts have been made to induce the Mocking-Bird
to rear their young in a state of confinement, and it has been shown
to be, by proper management, perfectly practicable.

In Texas and Florida the Mocking-Bird nests early in March, young
birds appearing early in April. In Georgia and the Carolinas they are
two weeks later. In Pennsylvania they nest about the 10th of May, and
in New York and New England not until the second week of June. They
select various situations for the nest; solitary thorn-bushes, an
almost impenetrable thicket of brambles, an orange-tree, or a
holly-bush appear to be favorite localities. They often build near the
farm-houses, and the nest is rarely more than seven feet from the
ground. The base of the nest is usually a rudely constructed platform
of coarse sticks, often armed with formidable thorns surrounding the
nest with a barricade. The height is usually 5 inches, with a diameter
of 8. The cavity is 3 inches deep and 5 wide. Within the external
barricade is an inner nest constructed of soft fine roots.

The eggs, from four to six in number, vary in length from .94 to 1.06
inches, with a mean length of .99. Their breadth varies from .81 to
.69 of an inch, mean breadth .75. They also exhibit great variations
in the combinations of markings and tints. The ground color is usually
light greenish-blue, varying in the depth of its shade from a very
light tint to a distinct blue, with a slight greenish tinge. The
markings consist of yellowish-brown and purple, chocolate-brown,
russet, and a very dark brown.


GENUS GALEOSCOPTES, CABANIS.

  _Galeoscoptes_, CABANIS, Mus. Hein. I, 1850, 82. (Type _Muscicapa
    carolinensis_, L.)

GEN. CHAR. Bill shorter than the head, rather broad at base. Rictal
bristles moderately developed, reaching to the nostrils. Wings a
little shorter than the tail, rounded; secondaries well developed;
fourth and fifth quills longest; third and sixth little shorter; first
and ninth about equal, and about the length of secondaries; first
quill more than half the second, about half the third. Tail graduated;
lateral feather about .70 shorter than the middle. Tarsi longer than
middle toe and claw by about an additional half-claw; scutellate
anteriorly, more or less distinctly in different specimens; scutellæ
about seven.

The conspicuous naked membranous border round the eye of some
Thrushes, with the bare space behind it, not appreciable.

  [Line drawing: _Galeoscoptes carolinensis._
                  2596]

There is little difference in form between the single species of
_Galeoscoptes_ and _Mimus polyglottus_, beyond the less degree of
definition of the tarsal plates; and but for the difference in
coloration (uniform plumbeous instead of gray above and white
beneath), we would hardly be inclined to distinguish the two
generically.

The single species known is lead-colored, with black cap, and
chestnut-red under tail-coverts.


Galeoscoptes carolinensis, CABAN.

THE CATBIRD.

  _Muscicapa carolinensis_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 328. _Turdus
    carolinensis_, LICHT. Verz. 1823, 38.—D’ORBIGNY, La Sagra’s Cuba,
    Ois. 1840, 51. _Orpheus carolinensis_, JONES, Nat. Bermuda, 1859,
    27 (breeds). _Mimus carolinensis_, GRAY, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1859,
    346.—BRYANT, Pr. Bost. Soc. 1867, 69 (Inagua).—LORD, Pr. R. Art.
    Inst. (Woolwich), IV, 1864, 117 (east of Cascade Mts.).
    _Galeoscoptes carolinensis_, CAB. Mus. Hein. I, 1850, 82 (type of
    genus).—IB. Jour. Orn. 1855, 470 (Cuba).—GUNDLACH, Repert. 1865,
    230 (Cuba, very common).—SCLATER, Catal. Birds, 1861, 6, no.
    39.—SCL. & SALV. Pr. 1867, 278 (Mosquito Coast).—BAIRD, Rev.
    1864, 54.—SAMUELS, 172.—COOPER, Birds Cal. 1, 23.
  Figures: AUD. B. A. II, pl. 140.—IB. Orn. Biog. II, pl. 28.—VIEILLOT,
    Ois. Am. Sept. II, pl. lxvii.—WILSON, Am. Orn. II, pl. xiv, f. 3.

SP. CHAR. Third quill longest; first shorter than sixth. Prevailing
color dark plumbeous, more ashy beneath. Crown and nape dark
sooty-brown. Wings dark brown, edged with plumbeous. Tail
greenish-black; the lateral feathers obscurely tipped with plumbeous.
The under tail-coverts dark brownish-chestnut. Female smaller. Length,
8.85; wing, 3.65; tail, 4.00; tarsus, 1.05.

  [Illustration: _Galeoscoptes carolinensis._]

HAB. United States, north to Lake Winnipeg, west to head of Columbia,
and Cascade Mountains (Lord); south to Panama R. R.; Cuba; Bahamas;
Bermuda (breeds). Accidental in Heligoland Island, Europe. Oaxaca,
Cordova, and Guatemala, SCLATER; Mosquito Coast, SCL. & SALV.; Orizaba
(winter), SUMICHRAST; Yucatan, LAWR.

Western specimens have not appreciably longer tails than Eastern.
Central American examples, as a rule, have the plumbeous of a more
bluish cast than is usually seen in North American skins.

HABITS. The Catbird has a very extended geographical range. It is
abundant throughout the Atlantic States, from Florida to Maine; in the
central portion of the continent it is found as far north as Lake
Winnepeg.

On the Pacific coast it has been met with at Panama, and also on the
Columbia River. It is occasional in Cuba and the Bahamas, and in the
Bermudas is a permanent resident. It is also found during the winter
months abundant in Central America, It breeds in all the Southern
States with possibly the exception of Florida. In Maine, according to
Professor Verrill, it is as common as in Massachusetts, arriving in
the former place about the 20th of May, about a week later than in the
vicinity of Boston, and beginning to deposit its eggs early in June.
Near Calais it is a less common visitant.

The Northern migrations of the Catbird commence early in February,
when they make their appearance in Florida, Georgia, and the
Carolinas. In April they reach Virginia and Pennsylvania, and New
England from the 1st to the 10th of May. Their first appearance is
usually coincident with the blossoming of the pear-trees. It is not
generally a popular or welcome visitant, a prejudice more or less wide
spread existing in regard to it. Yet few birds more deserve kindness
at our hands, or will better repay it. From its first appearance among
us, almost to the time of departure in early fall, the air is vocal
with the quaint but attractive melody, rendered all the more
interesting from the natural song being often blended with notes
imperfectly mimicked from the songs of other birds. The song, whether
natural or imitative, is always varied, attractive, and beautiful.

The Catbird, when once established as a welcome guest, soon makes
itself perfectly at home. He is to be seen at all times, and is almost
ever in motion. They become quite tame, and the male bird will
frequently apparently delight to sing in the immediate presence of
man. Occasionally they will build their nest in close proximity to a
house, and appear unmindful of the presence of the members of the
family.

The Catbird’s power of mimicry, though limited and imperfectly
exercised, is frequently very amusing. The more difficult notes it
rarely attempts to copy, and signally fails whenever it does so. The
whistle of the Quail, the cluck of a hen calling her brood, the answer
of the young chicks, the note of the Pewit Flycatcher, and the refrain
of Towhee, the Catbird will imitate with so much exactness as not to
be distinguished from the original.

The Catbirds are devoted parents, sitting upon their eggs with great
closeness, feeding the young with assiduity, and accompanying them
with parental interest when they leave the nest, even long after they
are able to provide for themselves. Intruders from whom danger is
apprehended they will boldly attack, attempting to drive away snakes,
cats, dogs, and sometimes even man. If these fail they resort to
piteous cries and other manifestations of their great distress.

Towards each other they are affectionate and devoted, mutually
assisting in the construction of the nest; and as incubation
progresses the female, who rarely leaves the nest, is supplied with
food, and entertained from his exhaustless vocabulary of song, by her
mate. When annoyed by an intruder the cry of the Catbird is loud,
harsh, and unpleasant, and is supposed to resemble the outcry of a
cat, and to this it owes its name. This note it reiterates at the
approach of any object of its dislike or fear.

The food of the Catbird is almost exclusively the larvæ of the larger
insects. For these it searches both among the branches and the fallen
leaves, as well as the furrows of newly ploughed fields and cultivated
gardens. The benefit it thus confers upon the farmer and the
horticulturist is very great, and can hardly be overestimated.

The Catbird can with proper painstaking be raised from the nest, and
when this is successfully accomplished they become perfectly
domesticated, and are very amusing pets.

They construct their nests on clusters of vines or low bushes, on the
edges of small thickets, and in retired places, though almost always
near cultivated ground. The usual materials of their nests are dry
leaves for the base, slender strips of long dry bark, small twigs,
herbaceous plants, fine roots, and finer stems. They are lined with
fine dry grasses, and sedges. Their nests average 4 inches in height
by 5 in diameter. The diameter and depth of the cavity are 3½ inches.
The eggs are of a uniform deep bluish-green, and measure .97 in length
and .69 of an inch in breadth.




FAMILY CINCLIDÆ.—THE DIPPERS.


On page 2 will be found the characteristics of this family, which need
not be here repeated. There is only a single genus, _Cinclus_, with
four American species, and several from Europe and Asia.


GENUS CINCLUS, BECHSTEIN.

  _Hydrobata_, VIEILLOT, Analyse, 1816 (Ag.).—BAIRD, B. N. A. 229.
  _Cinclus_, BECHSTEIN, Gemein. Naturg. 1802. (Not of Moehring, 1752.
    Type _Sturnus cinclus_, L.)—SALVIN, Ibis, 1867, 109. (Monograph.)

  [Line drawing: _Cinclus mexicanus._
                  8117]

GEN. CHAR. Bill without any bristles at the base; slender, subulate;
the mandible bent slightly upward; the culmen slightly concave to near
the tip, which is much curved and notched; the commissural edges of
the bill finely nicked towards end. Feet large and strong, the toes
projecting considerably beyond the tail; the claws large. Lateral toes
equal. Tail very short and even; not two thirds the wings, which are
concave and somewhat falcate. The first primary is more than one
fourth the longest. Eggs white.

  [Illustration: _Cinclus mexicanus._]

The slightly upward bend of the bill, somewhat as in _Anthus_, renders
the culmen concave, and the commissure slightly convex. The maxilla at
base is nearly as high as the mandible; the whole bill is much
compressed and attenuated. The lateral claws barely reach the base of
the middle one, which is broad; the inner face extended into a horny
lamina, with one or two notches or pectinations somewhat as in
_Caprimulgidæ_. The stiffened sub-falcate wings are quite remarkable.
The tail is so short that the upper coverts extend nearly to its tip.

The species are all dull-colored birds, usually brown, sometimes
varied with white on the head, back, or throat. They inhabit
mountainous subalpine regions abounding in rapid streams, and always
attract attention by their habit of feeding under water, searching
among the gravel and stones for their insect prey.

The only other species at all allied to the single North American one
are the _C. ardesiacus_ of Central America, and _C. pallasi_ of
Eastern Asia. They may be easily distinguished by the following
characters:—

  Plumage beneath scarcely lighter than that above; head and neck
    brownish, darkest above. Wing, 4.00; tail, 2.15; bill, .50;
    tarsus, 1.20; middle toe, .85. Legs (in life), pinkish white
    (8,496 Fort Mass. N. M.). HAB. Mountains of Middle Province from
    Sitka, south to Guatemala …                     var. _mexicanus_.

  Plumage beneath much lighter than that above,—very light along
    the median line; head not brownish, the contrast in shade between
    upper and lower surfaces very marked. Wing, 3.50; tail, 2.05;
    bill, .45; tarsus, 1.30; middle toe, .90. Legs yellow. (42,788 ♂
    Costa Rica). HAB. Guatemala and Costa Rica. …
                                               var. _ardesiacus_.[24]

  Plumage uniform dusky-brown, middle of belly blackish; _back and
    rump squamated with black_; wings and tail blackish-brown. Total
    length, 8.00; wing, 4.00; tail, 2.50; tarsus, 1.25; bill (to
    rictus), 1.10 (Salvin). HAB. Lake Baikal to Kamtschatka;
    Amoorland; S. E. Siberia; Japan (Salvin) …     var._pallasi_.[25]


Cinclus mexicanus, SWAINS.

AMERICAN DIPPER; WATER OUZEL.

  _Cinclus pallasi_, BON. Zoöl. Jour. II, 1827, 52 (not the Asiatic
    species). _Cinclus mexicanus_, SW. Phil. Mag. 1827, 368.—SCLATER,
    Catal. 1861, 10.—SALVIN, Ibis, 1860, 190; 1867, 120
    (Guatemala).—BAIRD, Review, 60.—DALL & BANNISTER (Alaska).—COOPER,
    Birds Cal. 1, 25. _Hydrobata mexicana_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am.
    1858, 229.—COOPER & SUCKLEY, Rep. P. R. R, XII, II, 1859, 175
    (nest). _Cinclus americanus_, RICH. F. B. A. II, 1831, 273.
    _Cinclus unicolor_, BON.; _C. mortoni_, TOWNS.; _C. townsendi_,
    “AUD.” TOWNS.
  Figures: BONAPARTE, Am. Orn. II, 1828, pl. xvi, fig. 1.—AUD. Orn.
    Biog. pl. ccclxx, 435.—IB. Birds Amer. II, pl. cxxxvii.

SP. CH. Above dark plumbeous, beneath paler; head and neck all round a
shade of clove or perhaps a light sooty-brown; less conspicuous
beneath. A concealed spot of white above the anterior corner of the
eye and indications of the same sometimes on the lower eyelid.
Immature specimens usually with the feathers beneath edged with
grayish-white; the greater and middle wing-coverts and lesser quills
tipped with the same. The colors more uniform. Length, 7.50; wing,
4.00; tail, 2.55.

_Young._ Similar to the adult, but much mixed with whitish medially
beneath; this in form of longitudinal suffusions.

Autumnal and winter specimens have numerous transverse crescents of
whitish on lower parts and wings,—these very especially conspicuous
posteriorly; the secondaries are also conspicuously terminated with a
white crescent. Bill brown, paler toward base of lower mandible. In
spring and summer the bill entirely black, and the whitish markings
almost entirely disappear; the young bird has a greater amount of
white beneath than the adult in winter dress, and this white is
disposed in longitudinal, not transverse, suffusions. The color of the
legs appears to be the same at all seasons.

  [Illustration: PLATE V.

  1. Cinclus mexicanus, _Sw._ N. M., 8496.
  2. Sialia mexicana, _Sw._ Cal., 10623.
  3.   “    sialis, _Baird_. D. C., 28245.
  4.   “    arctica, _Sw._ Rocky Mts., 18319.
  5. Phyllopneuste borealis. Alaska, 45909.
  6. Saxicola œnanthe, _Bechst._ France, 18959.
  7. Regulus cuvieri, _Aud._ (From Aud.’s plate.)
  8.    “    satrapa, _Licht._ D. C., 1160.
  9.    “    calendula, _Licht._ Penn., 736.]

Specimens, of any age, from the coast of Oregon and the Cascade
Mountains, have the head more deeply brownish than those from other
regions.

HAB. Found through the mountainous region of the central and western
part of North America, from Fort Halkett south into Mexico and
Guatemala. Orizaba (Alpine region) SUMICH. None received from the
coast region of California. Abundant on the N. W. coast, Laramie Peak
and Deer Creek, Neb.

This species has a wide range along the mountainous region of North
and Middle America. Mexican specimens are darker.

HABITS. This interesting bird inhabits exclusively the mountainous
portions of North America west of the Mississippi from Alaska south to
Guatemala. It does not appear to have been obtained on the coast of
California, nor in the valley of the Mississippi. In the British
Possessions specimens have been procured on Fraser’s River, at Fort
Halkett, and at Colville. At the latter place Mr. J. K. Lord states
that a few remain and pass the winter. They are found among the
mountain streams of Vera Cruz, and probably throughout Mexico, and no
doubt may be met with in all the highlands between these extreme
points. Dr. Newberry met with it in the rapid streams of the Cascade
Mountains. He describes it as flitting along in the bed of the stream,
from time to time plunging into the water and disappearing, to appear
again at a distant point, up or down the stream, skipping about from
stone to stone, constantly in motion, jerking its tail and moving its
body somewhat in the manner of a wren.

Dr. Cooper observed this species both on the Columbia and its
tributaries, and also among the mountain streams of the Coast Range
west of Santa Clara. At the latter place he found a pair mated as
early as March 16th. At sunset he heard the male singing very
melodiously, as it sat on one of its favorite rocks in the middle of
the foaming rapids, making its delightful melody heard for quite a
long distance above the sound of the roaring waters.

“This bird,” adds Dr. Cooper, “combines the form of a sandpiper, the
song of a canary, and the aquatic habits of a duck. Its food consists
almost entirely of aquatic insects, and these it pursues under water,
walking and flying with perfect ease beneath a depth of several feet
of water.” He also states that they do not swim on the surface, but
dive, and sometimes fly across streams beneath the surface; that their
flight is rapid and direct, like that of a sandpiper; also that they
jerk their tails in a similar manner, and generally alight on a rock
or log.

Dr. Cooper on the 5th of July found a nest of this bird at a saw-mill
on the Chehalis River, built under the shelving roots of an enormous
arbor-vitæ that had floated over, and rested in a slanting position
against the dam. The floor was of small twigs, the sides and roof
arched over it like an oven, and formed of moss, projecting so as to
protect and shelter the opening, which was large enough to admit the
hand. Within this nest was a brood of half-fledged young. The parents
were familiar and fearless, and had become accustomed to the society
of the millers. They had previously raised another brood that season.

The same observant naturalist, some time afterwards, in May, found the
nest of another pair, a few miles north of Santa Clara. This was built
near the foot of a mill-dam, resting on a slight ledge under an
overhanging rock, from which water was continually dropping. It was,
in shape, like an oven, with a small doorway, and it was built
externally of green moss, which, being still living, prevented the
easy discovery of the nest. It was lined with soft grass, and
contained young.

These birds are found singly or in pairs, and never more than two
together. They are never found near still water, and frequent only
wild mountain-streams, cascades, eddies, and swift currents.

According to Mr. Dall’s observations in Alaska, the species is
essentially solitary. He obtained several specimens in January,
February, and March, always near some open, unfrozen spots in the
Nulato River. It was only found in the most retired spots, and almost
invariably alone. When disturbed, it would dive into the water, even
in midwinter.

Mr. Ridgway describes the Dipper as remarkably quick, as well as odd,
in its movements,—whether walking in the shallow bed of the stream,
or standing on a stone along the edge, continually tilting up and
down, now chattering as it flies rapidly along the stream, again
alighting into the water, in which it wades with the greatest
facility. Its flight is remarkably swift and well sustained, and in
manner is very unusual, the bird propelling itself by a rapid buzzing
of the wings, following in its flight every undulation in the course
of the stream into which it drops suddenly. Its song is described as
remarkably sweet and lively, in modulation resembling somewhat that of
the _Harporhynchus rufus_, but less powerful, though sweeter in
effect.

Dr. E. Baldamus, of Halle, who possesses specimens of the eggs of this
species, describes them as pure white in color, oval in shape, and
hardly distinguishable from those of the European _C. aquaticus_.

A nest of this bird obtained by Mr. J. Stevenson, of Hayden’s
Expedition, in Berthoud’s Pass, Colorado, is a hemisphere of very
uniform contour built on a rock, on the edge of a stream. Externally
it was composed of green moss, in a living state; within is a strong,
compactly built apartment, arched over, and supported by twigs, with a
cup-like depression at the bottom, hemispherical and composed of roots
and twigs firmly bound together. The structure is 7 inches in height
externally, and has a diameter of 10½ inches at the base. Within, the
cavity has a depth of 6 inches; the entrance, which is on one side, is
3½ in breadth by 2½ in height. The eggs were three in number, uniform,
dull white, and unspotted. They measure 1.04 inches by .70. They have
an elongated oval shape, and are much pointed at one end.




FAMILY SAXICOLIDÆ.—THE SAXICOLAS.


The general characters of this family have already been given on p. 2,
as distinguished from the _Turdidæ_. The relationships are very close,
however, and but little violence would be done by making it a
subfamily of _Turdidæ_ or even a group of _Turdinæ_, as was done in
the “Birds of North America.”

While the group is very well represented in the Old World, America has
but one peculiar genus _Sialia_, and another _Saxicola_, represented
by a single species, a straggler, perhaps, from Greenland on the one
side and Siberia on the other. The diagnostic characters of these are
as follows, including _Turdus_ to show the relationships of the three
genera:—

  Turdus. Tarsi long, exceeding the middle toe; wings reaching to
     the middle of the tail, which is about four fifths the length of
     the wings. Bill stout; its upper outline convex toward the base.
     Second quill shorter than fifth.

  Saxicola. Tarsi considerably longer than the middle toe, which
     reaches nearly to the tip of the tail. Tail short, even; two
     thirds as long as the lengthened wings, which reach beyond the
     middle of the tail. Second quill longer than fifth. Bill
     attenuated; its upper outline concave towards the base.

  Sialia. Tarsi short; about equal to the middle toe. Wings
     reaching beyond the middle of the tail. Bill thickened.


GENUS SAXICOLA, BECHSTEIN.

  _Saxicola_, BECHSTEIN, Gemeinnützige Naturg. 1802. (Type, _S. œnanthe_.)

  [Line drawing: _Saxicola œnanthe_, Bechst.]

GEN. CHAR. Commissure slightly curved to the well-notched tip. Culmen
concave for the basal half, then gently decurving. Gonys straight.
Bill slender, attenuated; more than half the length of head. Tail
short, broad, even. Legs considerably longer than the head; when
outstretched reaching nearly to the tip of tail. Third quill longest;
second but little shorter. Claws long, slightly curved; hind toe
rather elongated.

As already stated, America possesses but a single member of this group
of birds, so well represented in the Old World. The color is
bluish-gray, with wings, a stripe through the eye, and the middle of
exposed tail-feathers black.


Saxicola œnanthe, BECHST.

THE WHEAT-EAR.

  _Motacilla œnanthe_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1758, 186. _Saxicola
    œnanthe_, BECHST. “Gemein. Naturg. 1802,” and of European
    authors.—HOLBÖLL, Orn. Grœn. (Paulsen ed.), 1846, 23
    (Greenland).—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 220 (Europe); Review,
    61.—JONES, Nat. Bermuda, 1859, 28 (Bermuda).—COUES, Pr. A. N. S.
    1861, 218 (Labrador).—REINHARDT, Ibis, 1861, 5 (Greenland).—DALL
    & BANNISTER (Alaska). _Saxicola œnanthoides_, VIGORS, Zoöl.
    Blossom, 1839, 19 (N. W. America).—CASSIN, Ill. I, 1854, 208, pl.
    xxxiv (Nova Scotia).

SP. CHAR. (Description from European specimen.) Male in spring,
forehead, line over the eye, and under parts generally white; the
latter tinged with pale yellowish-brown, especially on the breast and
throat. A stripe from the bill through, below, and behind the eye,
with the wings, upper tail-coverts, bill and feet, black. Tail white,
with an abrupt band of black (about .60 of an inch long) at the end,
this color extending further up on the middle feather. Rest of upper
parts ash-gray; quills and greater coverts slightly edged with
whitish. Length, 6.00; wing, 3.45; tail, 2.50; tarsus, 1.05.

Autumnal males are tinged with rusty; the black markings brown. The
female in spring is reddish-gray; lores and cheeks brown; the black
markings generally brownish, and not well defined. Eggs pale light
blue. Nest on ground.

HAB. An Old World species (Europe, Northern Africa, and Asia),
abundant in Greenland, found probably as an autumnal migrant in
Labrador, Canada, Nova Scotia, Bermuda, etc. Occurs also on Norton
Sound, near Behring’s Straits. Very occasional in the Eastern States:
Long Island.

  [Illustration: _Saxicola œnanthe._
                  18075]

This bird appears to be abundant in Norton Sound, from which region
Mr. Dall has recently brought specimens in full spring plumage. These
are decidedly smaller than birds from Labrador and Greenland, but not
distinguishable, and seem to agree precisely with skins from Central
Europe.

HABITS. The well-known Wheat-ear is entitled to a place in our fauna,
not only as an accidental visitor, but also as an occasional resident.
Dr. H. R. Storer, of Boston, found them breeding in Labrador in the
summer of 1848, and procured specimens of the young birds which were
fully identified by Dr. Samuel Cabot as belonging to this species. In
the following year Andrew Downs, of Halifax, gave me the specimen
described and figured by Mr. Cassin. This was secured late in the
summer near Cape Harrison, Labrador, where it had evidently just
reared its brood. In 1860 Mr. Elliott Coues obtained another specimen
on the 25th of August, at Henley Harbor. It was in company with two
others, and was in immature plumage. Its occurrence in considerable
numbers on the coast of Labrador is further confirmed by a writer (“W.
C.”) in “The Field,” for June 10, 1871, who states that when in that
region during the months of May and June he saw a number of “White
Ears,” the greater proportion of them being males. He inferred from
this that they breed in that country, the apparent scarcity of females
being due to their occupation in nesting. Mr. Lawrence has one in his
cabinet from Long Island, and the Smithsonian Institution one from
Quebec. Specimens have also been obtained in the Bermudas.

Holböll, in his paper on the fauna of Greenland, is of the opinion
that the individuals of this species that occur there come from
Europe, make their journey across the Atlantic without touching at
Iceland, and arrive in South Greenland as early in the season as it
does at the former place, the first of May. It reaches Godhaven a
month later, at times when all is snowbound and the warmth has not yet
released the insects on which it feeds. It is found as far north as
the 73d parallel, and even beyond. In September it puts on its winter
dress and departs.

Mr. Dall states that several large flocks of this species were seen at
Nulato, May 23 and 24, 1868, and a number of specimens obtained. They
were said to be abundant on the dry stony hill-tops, but were rare
along the river.

The Wheat-ear is one of the most common birds of Europe, and is found,
at different seasons, throughout that continent as well as in a large
portion of Western Asia. It breeds throughout the British Islands as
well as in the whole of Northern Europe and Asia.

Its food is principally worms and insects, the latter of which it
takes upon the wing, in the manner of a fly-catcher. The male bird is
said to sing prettily, but not loudly, warbling even when on the wing,
and hovering over its nest or over its partner. In confinement its
song is continued by night as well as by day.

The Wheat-ear begins to make its nest in April, usually concealing it
in some deep recess beneath a huge stone, and often far beyond the
reach of the arm. Sometimes it is placed in old walls, and is usually
large and rudely constructed, made of dried bents, scraps of shreds,
feathers, and rubbish collected about the huts, generally containing
four pale blue eggs, uniform in color, and without spots, which
measure .81 of an inch in length by .69 in breadth.


GENUS SIALIA, SWAINSON.

  _Sialia_, SWAINSON, Zoöl. Jour. III, Sept. 1827, 173. (Type _Motacilla
     sialis_, L.)

  [Line drawing: _Sialia sialis._
                  1289]

GEN. CHAR. Bill short, stout, broader than high at the base, then
compressed; slightly notched at tip. Rictus with short bristles. Tarsi
not longer than the middle toe. Claws considerably curved. Wings much
longer than the tail; the first primary spurious, not one fourth the
longest. Tail moderate; slightly forked. Eggs plain blue. Nest in
holes.

The species of this genus are all well marked, and adult males are
easily distinguishable. In all, blue forms a prominent feature. Three
well-marked species are known, with a fourth less distinct. The
females are duller in color than the males. The young are spotted and
streaked with white.


Synopsis of Species.

COMMON CHARACTERS. Rich blue above, duller in the female. Beneath
reddish or blue in the male, reddish or light drab in the female.
Young with wings and tails only blue, the head and anterior parts
of body with numerous whitish spots.

  A. _Breast reddish, or chestnut._

    1. S. sialis. No chestnut on the back; throat reddish;
    abdomen and crissum white.

      Blue of a rich dark purplish shade. Tail about 2.75. _Hab._
      Eastern Province United States, Cuba, and Bermudas …
                                                       var. _sialis_.

      Blue of a greenish shade. Tail about 3.20. _Hab._ East
      Mexico and Guatemala …                       var. _azurea_.[26]

    2. S. mexicana. Chestnut, in greater or less amount, on the
    back; throat blue; abdomen and crissum blue. _Hab._ West and
    South Middle Province United States, south to Jalapa,
    Cordova, and Colima.

  B. _Breast blue (light drab in ♀)._

    3. S. arctica. Entirely rich greenish-blue; abdomen white.
    _Hab._ Middle Province United States; Fort Franklin, British
    America.


Sialia sialis, BAIRD.

EASTERN BLUEBIBD.

  _Motacilla sialis_, LINN. S. N. 1758, 187 (based on CATESBY, I, pl.
     xlvii). _Sialia sialis_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 222; Rev.
     62.—BOARDMAN, Pr. Bost. Soc. 1862, 124 (Calais, Me.; very
     rare).—DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 465 (Texas, winter).—SAMUELS, B. N.
     Eng., 175. _Sialia wilsoni_, SWAINSON, Zoöl. Jour. III, 1827,
     173.—CAB. Jour. 1858, 120.—GUNDLACH, Cab. Jour. 1861, 324;
     Repertorio, 1865, 230.—JONES, Nat. Bermuda, 1859, 28, 66
     (resident in Bermuda). _Sylvia sialis_, LATH.; _Ampelis sialis_,
     NUTT.; _Erythraca wilsoni_, SW.
  Figures: VIEILLOT, Ois. Am. Sept. II, pl. ci, cii, ciii.—WILS. I,
    pl. iii.—AUD. Orn. Biog. II, pl. cxiii.—IB. B. A. II, pl.
    cxxxiv.—DOUGHTY, Cab. I, pl. xii.

SP. CHAR. Entire upper parts, including wings and tail, continuous and
uniform azure-blue; the cheeks of a duller tint of the same. Beneath
reddish-brown; the abdomen, anal region, and under tail-coverts white.
Bill and feet black. Shafts of the quills and tail-feathers black.
Female with the blue lighter, and tinged with brown on the head and
back. Length, 6.75; wing, 4.00; tail, 2.90.

_Young._ Males of the year dull brown on head and back; and lesser
coverts streaked, except on head, with white. Throat and fore part of
breast streaked with white. Tertials edged with brown. Rest of
coloration somewhat like adult.

HAB. Eastern United States; west to Fort Laramie, Milk River; north to
Lake Winnipeg; resident in Bermuda; Cuba (rare), GUNDLACH.

A specimen from Guatemala (50,411 ♂, Van Patten) referrible to the
var. _azurea_ is undistinguishable in color from North American
examples; the wings and tail are longer, however, measuring
respectively 4.20 and 3.00.

  [Illustration: _Sialia sialis._]

HABITS. The Bluebird is abundant throughout the eastern portion of
North America, breeding in nearly every part, from Georgia and
Louisiana to the Arctic regions, with only this exception, that near
the seaboard its migrations do not extend so far to the north as in
the interior. It is very rarely to be met with beyond the Penobscot,
although Professor Verrill mentions it as very common in the western
part of Maine. It is found throughout the year in the Bermudas, and
occasionally in Cuba. The Selkirk Settlement is the most northern
locality to which it has been traced. It is not known to occur farther
west than the highlands west of the Mississippi.

Through all the Eastern States the Bluebird is one of the most
familiar and welcome of the earliest visitors of spring, usually
making its appearance as early as the first of March. In mild seasons
they come in the latter part of February, long before there is any
apparent relaxation of the severity of winter. In 1857, in consequence
of the unusual mildness of the season, Bluebirds appeared in large
numbers as early as the 15th of February, and remained apparently
without suffering any inconvenience, although the weather subsequently
became quite severe. In 1869 their first appearance was observed as
early as the 28th of January, the earliest period of which I can find
any record.

In the Middle States, with every mild winter’s day, the Bluebirds come
out from their retreats, and again disappear on the return of severer
weather. Later in the season, or early in March, they return and make
a permanent stay.

When well treated, as the Bluebirds almost universally are, they
return year after year to the same box, coming always in pairs. The
marked attentions of the male bird are very striking, and have been
noticed by all our writers. He is very jealous of a rival, driving off
every intruder of his own species who ventures upon the domain he
calls his own. Occasionally the pair suffer great annoyance from
vexatious interferences with their domestic arrangements by the house
wren, who unceremoniously enters their homestead, despoils it of its
carefully selected materials, and departs. At other times the wren
will take possession of the premises and barricade the entrance,
making the return of its rightful owners impossible.

The song of the Bluebirds is a low warble, soft and agreeable,
repeated with great constancy and earnestness, and prolonged until
quite late in the season. Just before their departure, late in
October, the sprightliness of their song nearly ceases, and only a few
plaintive notes are heard instead.

The food of the Bluebird consists principally of the smaller
coleopterous insects, also of the larvæ of the smaller lepidoptera. In
the early spring they are very busy turning over the dry leaves,
examining the trunks and branches of trees, or ransacking posts and
fences for the hiding-places of their prey. In the fall their food
partakes more of a vegetable character.

The Bluebird selects as a suitable place for its nest a hollow in the
decayed trunk of a tree, or boxes prepared for its use. Their early
arrival enables them to select their own site. The nest is loosely
constructed of soft materials, such as fine grasses, sedges, leaves,
hair, feathers, etc. These are rarely so well woven together as to
bear removal. The eggs are usually five and sometimes six in number.
There are usually three broods in a season. Before the first brood are
able to provide for themselves, the female repairs her nest and
commences incubation for a second family. The young birds are,
however, by no means left to shift for themselves. The male bird now
shows himself as devoted a parent as in the earlier spring he had
proved himself an attentive mate. He watches over the brood even after
the second family appears and claims his attention. We often find him
dividing his cares in the latter part of the season with two broods,
and at the same time supplying his mate with food, and occasionally
taking her place on the nest.

The eggs of the Bluebird are of a uniform pale blue, measuring about
.81 of an inch in length by .62 in breadth.

In Guatemala is found a local race differing in its lighter under
colors and in the greenish tinting of its blue (_S. azurea_). The _S.
sialis_ is also found in the more open districts of the elevated
regions where it is numerous. It is there known as “_El azulejo_.”


Sialia mexicana, SWAINS.

CALIFORNIA BLUEBIRD.

  _Sialia mexicana_, SW. F. B. Am. II, 1831, 202.—SCLATER, P. Z. S.
    1856, 293 (Cordova): 1857, 126 (California); 1859, 362
    (Xalapa).—IB. Catal. 1861, 11, no. 66.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858,
    223; Review, 63.—COOPER & SUCKLEY, P. R. R. XII, II, 1859,
    173.—COOPER, Birds Cal. 1, 28. _Sialia occidentalis_, TOWNS.,
    AUD.; _Sialia cæruleocollis_, VIGORS.
  Figures: AUD. B. A. II, pl. cxxxv.—IB. Orn. Biog. V, pl. cccxciii.—
    VIGORS, Zoöl. Beechey’s, Voy. 1839, pl. iii.

SP. CHAR. Bill slender. Head and neck all round, and upper parts
generally bright azure blue. Interscapular regions, sides and fore
part of the breast, and sides of the belly, dark reddish-brown. Rest
of under parts (with tail-coverts) pale bluish, tinged with gray about
the anal region. Female duller above; the back brownish; the blue of
the throat replaced by ashy-brown, with a shade of blue. Length, 6.50;
wing, 4.25; tail, 2.90.

_Young._ Tail and wing as in adult; head, neck, back, and breast, dull
brown; each feather, except on the crown, streaked centrally with
white.

HAB. Western United States, from the Rocky Mountains to Pacific. Not
noticed on the Missouri plains, Central British America, or at Cape
St. Lucas. Found at Xalapa and Cordova, Mex., SCLATER. Popocatapetl
(Alpine region), SUMICHRAST.

As in the others, the colors of this species are much duller in fall
and winter. No. 53,319, ♂ (Carson City, Nevada, Feb. 21) differs from
others in the following respects: there is hardly any chestnut on the
back, there being only just a tinge along each side of the
interscapular region; that on the breast is interrupted in the middle,
and thrown into a patch on each side of the breast, thus connecting
the blue of the throat and abdomen; the blue of the throat is
unusually deep.

HABITS. This Bluebird belongs to western North America, its proper
domain being between the Rocky Mountains and Pacific, from Mexico to
Washington Territory. Mr. Nuttall first met with this species among
the small rocky prairies of the Columbia. He speaks of its habits as
exactly similar to those of the common Bluebird. The male is equally
tuneful throughout the breeding-season, and his song is also very
similar. Like the common species he is very devoted to his mate,
alternately feeding and caressing her and entertaining her with his
song. This is a little more varied, tender, and sweet than that of the
Eastern species, and differs in its expressions.

Nuttall describes this as an exceedingly shy bird, so much so that he
found it very difficult to obtain a sight of it. This he attributes to
the great abundance of birds of prey. Afterwards, in the vicinity of
the village of Santa Barbara, Mr. Nuttall again saw them in
considerable numbers, when they were tame and familiar.

Dr. Cooper states that these Bluebirds seem to prefer the knot-holes
of the oaks to the boxes provided for them. He does not confirm Mr.
Nuttall’s description of its song, which he regards as neither so loud
nor so sweet as that of the Eastern species. He describes it as a
curious performance, sounding as if two birds were singing at once and
in different keys.

Many of this species remain in Washington Territory during the winter,
where Dr. Cooper met with them in December. They associated in flocks,
frequented roadsides and fences, and fed upon insects and berries.

Dr. Gambel found this species throughout the Rocky Mountains, and
always in company with the _Sialia arctica_, being by far the more
abundant species.

Dr. Kennerly mentions finding this species very abundant during his
march up the Rio Grande. Through the months of November, December, and
January they were always to be seen in large flocks near small
streams.

The Western Bluebird constructs a nest usually of very loose
materials, consisting chiefly of fine dry grasses. These are not woven
into an elaborate nest, but are simply used to line the hollows in
which the eggs are deposited. Near San Francisco Mr. Hepburn found a
pair making use of the nest of the _Hirundo lunifrons_. On another
occasion the Bluebirds had not only taken possession of the nest of
this swallow, but actually covered up two fresh eggs with a lining of
dry grasses, and laid her own above them.

The eggs, usually four in number, are of uniform pale blue of a
slightly deeper shade than that of the _S. sialis_. They measure .87
of an inch in length by .69 in breadth.

Dr. Cooper’s subsequent observations of this species in California
enabled him to add to his account of it in his report on the birds of
that State. He found it abundant in all the wooded districts, except
high in the mountains, and thinks they reside through the summer even
in the hot valley of the Rio Grande, where he found them preparing a
nest in February. On the coast they are numerous as far north as the
49th parallel. He found a nest under the porch of a dwelling-house at
Santa Barbara, showing that, like our Eastern species, they only need
a little encouragement to become half domesticated. They raise two
broods in a season, the first being hatched early in April.

At Santa Cruz he found them even more confiding than the Eastern
species, building their nests even in the noisiest streets. One brood
came every day during the grape season, at about noon, to pick up
grape-skins thrown out by his door, and was delightfully tame, sitting
fearlessly within a few feet of the open window.

In regard to their song Mr. Ridgway states that he did not hear, even
during the pairing season, any note approaching in sweetness, or
indeed similar to, the joyous spring warble which justly renders our
Eastern Bluebird (_S. sialis_) so universal a favorite.

The two Western species of _Sialia_, though associating during the
winter in the region along the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada, are
seldom seen together during the breeding-season; the _S. arctica_
returning to the higher portions of the thinly wooded desert
mountains, while the _S. mexicana_ remains in the lower districts,
either among the cottonwoods of the river valleys or among the pines
around the foot-hills of the Sierra.


Sialia arctica, SWAINS.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD.

  _Erythraca (Sialia) arctica_, SWAINS. F. B. A. II, 1831, 209,
    pl. xxxix. _Sialia arctica_, NUTTALL, Man. II, 1832, 573.—BAIRD,
    Birds N. Am. 1858, 224; Rev. 64.—SCLATER, Catal. 1861, 11, no.
    67.—DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 478. (Texas, winter, very
    abundant.)—COOPER, Birds Cal. 1, 29. _Sialia macroptera_, BAIRD,
    Stansbury’s Rept. 1852, 314 (larger race with longer wings).

SP. CHAR. Greenish azure-blue above and below, brightest above; the
belly and under tail-coverts white; the latter tinged with blue at the
ends. Female showing blue only on the rump, wings, and tail; a white
ring round the eye; the lores and sometimes a narrow front whitish;
elsewhere replaced by brown. Length, 6.25; wing, 4.36; tail, 3.00.
(1875.)

_Young._ Male birds are streaked with white, as in _S. sialis_, on the
characteristic ground of the adult.

HAB. Central table-lands of North America, east to mouth of
Yellowstone. One individual collected at Fort Franklin, Great Bear
Lake. Not common on the Pacific slope; the only specimens received
coming from Simiahmoo, Fort Crook, and San Diego. Not recorded as
found in Mexico. W. Arizona, COUES.

As already stated, the blue of this species is greener, more
smalt-like than in _sialis_. The females are distinguished from those
of the other species by the greener blue, entire absence of rufous,
and longer wings.

In autumn and winter the blue of the male is much soiled by
amber-brown edges to the feathers, this most conspicuous on the
breast, where the blue is sometimes almost concealed; the plumage of
the female, too, at this season is different from that of spring, the
anterior lower parts being soft isabella-color, much less grayish than
in spring.

HABITS. This Bluebird belongs chiefly to the Central fauna, and
occupies a place in the Eastern only by its appearance on its borders.
It was first procured by Sir John Richardson, at Fort Franklin, in
July, 1825. It is abundant throughout the central table-lands of North
America, between the Pacific and the mouth of the Yellowstone, from
Great Bear Lake to the lower portions of California. In the latter
State it is not common.

Mr. Nuttall met with this species in the early part of June, northwest
of Laramie Fork. The female uttered a low complaint when her nest was
approached. This was constructed in a hole in a clay cliff. Another
was found in the trunk of a decayed cedar. In one of these the young
were already hatched. The nest was composed of dried grasses, but in
very insignificant quantity. Mr. Nuttall found them much more shy than
the common species, and describes them as feeding in very nearly the
same manner. He afterwards found a nest of the same species in a cliff
of the Sandy River, a branch of the Colorado. Both parents were
feeding their brood. The female was very uneasy at his approach,
chirping, and at intervals uttering a plaintive cry. He states that
the male bird has a more plaintive and monotonous song than that of
the common Bluebird, and that it has the same warbling tone and
manner. He afterwards observed the same species in the winter, at Fort
Vancouver, associating with the Western Bluebird.

Dr. Woodhouse found the Arctic Bluebird quite common in the vicinity
of Santa Fé, in New Mexico, where they breed about the houses in boxes
put up for them by the inhabitants for the purpose.

Mr. Townsend found this species in the vicinity of the Platte River,
near the Black Hills, and also on the banks of the Columbia. They
confined themselves to the fences in the neighborhood of settlements,
occasionally lighting upon the ground and scratching for minute
insects. He describes their song as a delightful warble. Its notes
resemble those of the common Bluebird, but are so different as to be
easily recognized; they are equally sweet and clear, but have much
less power.

Neither Dr. Gambel nor Dr. Heermann found this species in California
excepting during the winter, and were of the opinion that none remain
there to breed.

Dr. Kennerly observed them at different points among the Rocky
Mountains, where they frequented the vicinity of his camp early in the
morning, at some times in pairs and at others in flocks of four or
five.

Mr. J. K. Lord states that he found this Bluebird very abundant
between the Cascades and the Rocky Mountains, where they arrive in
June and leave in September. After nesting they assembled in large
flocks, and fed on the open plains.

The eggs are of a very light blue, paler than those of the other
species. They measure .89 of an inch in length by .66 in breadth.

Mr. Ridgway states that he found the Rocky Mountain Bluebird nesting
in Virginia City in June. Its nests were built about the old
buildings, and occasionally in the unused excavations about the mines.
At Austin he also found it common in July, in similar localities. On
the East Humboldt Mountains it was very numerous, especially on the
more elevated portions, where it nested among the rocks and, though
more rarely, in the deserted excavations of woodpeckers in the stunted
piñon and cedar trees. He describes it as generally very shy and
difficult to obtain, seldom permitting a very near approach. In its
habits it is much less arboreal than either _S. mexicana_ or _S.
sialis_, always preferring the open mountain portions in the higher
ranges of the Great Basin.

In regard to its notes Mr. Ridgway says: “The common note of this
species would, from its character, be at once recognized as that of a
Bluebird. Its autumnal note, however, lacks entirely the peculiar
plaintiveness so characteristic of that of our Eastern species, and is
much more feeble, consisting of a simple weak _chirp_. Like the _S.
mexicana_, the _S. arctica_ was also never heard to give utterance to
anything resembling the lovely spring warbling of the _S. sialis_.”




FAMILY SYLVIIDÆ.—THE SYLVIAS.


CHAR. Bill much shorter than head, slender, broad, and depressed at
the base, distinctly notched and decurved at the tip. Culmen
sharp-ridged at base. Frontal feathers reaching to the nostrils, which
are oval, with membrane above, and overhung—not concealed—by a few
bristles or by a feather. Rictal bristles extending beyond nostrils.
Tarsi booted or scutellate. Basal joint of middle toe attached its
whole length externally, half-way internally. Primaries ten; spurious
primary about half the second, which is shorter than the seventh.
Lateral toes equal.

The birds of this family are readily distinguished from the _Paridæ_
by the slender bill, notched and decurved at tip; much bristled gape,
sharp-ridged culmen, exposed oval nostrils, less adherent toes, etc.
They are much smaller than the _Turdidæ_ and _Saxicolidæ_, with much
more slender, depressed bill, longer rictal bristles, etc. The short
outer primary, with the primaries ten in number, distinguish them from
the _Sylvicolidæ_.

The following synopsis will serve to characterize the American forms
of their respective subfamilies. The species are all among the most
diminutive in size with the exception of the Humming-Birds:—

A. Wings longer than the nearly even and emarginate tail.
Scutellæ of tarsus scarcely or not at all appreciable. General
color olivaceous above. No white on tail.

  Nostrils naked. Scutellæ distinct on inner face of tarsus only.
  Head plain. …                                           _Sylviinæ._

  Nostrils overhung by bristly feathers. Scutellæ of tarsus not
  appreciable. Head with a colored central crest …        _Regulinæ._

B. Wings about equal to the graduated tail. Tarsal scutellæ
distinct. Above bluish; tail with white spots or patches.

  Nostrils uncovered. Head plain; either bluish or black above.…
                                                      _Polioptilinæ._


SUBFAMILY SYLVIINÆ.

CHAR. Size and form of _Sylvicolinæ_, but with a spurious first
primary about one third the second quill. Wings considerably longer
than the nearly even or emarginate tail. Feathers of frontal region
with bristly points; but not covering the nostrils. Tarsi scutellate
anteriorly, but indistinct externally. (Characters drawn with
reference to the American form.)

The introduction of this subfamily into the present work is required
to accommodate a species of _Phyllopneuste_ collected on the Yukon by
the Russian Telegraph Expedition, the first known instance of the
existence in North America of a group of birds characteristic of the
northern parts of the Old World. Among the smallest of the class, they
are eminently sociable, and feed entirely on insects, which they
capture mostly on the wing, like flycatchers. The nest is placed on
the ground, and is of an oval or spherical form with a round opening
on one side. The sexes are similar, and the young differ very little
from the parents.


GENUS PHYLLOPNEUSTE, MEYER & WOLF.

  _Phyllopneuste_, MEYER & WOLF, Taschenbuch, 1822.—DEGLAND et GERBE,
    Ornith. Europ. I, 1867, 543.

  [Line drawing: _Phyllopneuste borealis._
                  45909]

GEN. CHAR. Bill shorter than the head; straight, slender, and
depressed, notched at tip. Nostrils open. Tarsi lengthened; exceeding
the middle toe; scutellate anteriorly, but with the plates indistinct,
claws short, much curved. Wings pointed, longer than tail, and
reaching at least to its middle; spurious quill extending farther than
the upper covert. Tail emarginate. Olivaceous above; yellowish or
whitish beneath.

  [Illustration: _Phyllopneuste borealis._]

For the purpose of distinguishing this genus from any other North
American, it is enough to say that, of the general appearance of the
warblers, it has a short spurious first primary, as in the Thrushes,
and some _Vireonidæ_. The single species found as yet within our
limits resembles at first sight an immature _Dendroica æstiva_, but is
easily distinguished by the wing formula, the yellowish stripe over
the eye, and the brown tail-feathers.


Phyllopneuste borealis, BLAS.

ALASKA WILLOW WARBLER.

  _Phyllopneuste borealis_, BLAS. Ibis, 1862, 69. _Phyllopneuste_,
    KENN., BAIRD, Trans. Chicago Acad. Sci. I, ii, p. 313, pl. xxx,
    fig. 2, 1869.

SP. CHAR. (Description of specimen No. 45,909.) Plumage in August:
above olive-green, with a slight shade of brown on top of head, rather
lighter behind; beneath white, tinged with greenish-yellow; more olive
on the throat and breast; and more yellow behind, inside the wing and
on thighs; axillars purer yellow. A well-marked greenish-yellow line
from nostrils over the eye to the nape (extending behind the eye
nearly as far as from eye to tip of bill), beneath this an olivaceous
streak through the eye, running into the mixed olive and yellowish of
the cheeks. Quills and tail-feathers brown, edged with olivaceous; the
outer edges of primaries more yellowish than those of secondaries; the
greater coverts tipped externally with greenish-yellow, so as to form
a distinct band across the wing. Bill rather dark brown; paler
beneath. Legs dark olive; toes not sensibly different. Nest probably
on ground, and domed. Eggs white, spotted with pink.

Spurious quill in length about one fourth the second, which about
equals the sixth, or very slightly exceeds it; third and fourth
longest; fifth a little shorter.

Dimensions (fresh specimen before being skinned): total length, 4.75;
expanse of wings, 6.00; wing from carpal joint, 2.50.

Dimensions (prepared specimen): total length, 4.60; wing, 2.40; tail,
2.00. Exposed portion of first primary, 0.42; of second, 1.56; of
longest (measured from exposed base of first primary), 1.85. Bill:
length from above, 0.38; from nostril, 0.29; along gape, 1.55. Legs:
tarsus, 0.66; middle toe and claw, 0.55; claw alone, 0.16; hind toe
and claw, 0.36; claw alone, 0.20.

HAB. Northeast Asia (China, East Siberia); adjacent to Behring’s
Straits and Alaska.

This species, in general appearance, apparently comes nearer to _P.
trochilus_ than to any other of its congeners. It is, however, more
olivaceous-green above, and more yellow beneath, and has a distinct
band across the wing. The superciliary light stripe is more distinct
and longer; the bill and legs are darker, and the toes not sensibly
different in color from the tarsus. The proportion of the quills is
much the same, except that the interval between the tips of the fifth
and sixth quills is greater, and the second is almost inappreciably
longer than the latter, not reaching nearly midway between the two.
The first or spurious quill is rather shorter.

A single specimen of this species was obtained August 16, 1866, on St.
Michael’s Island, in Norton Sound, Alaska, by Mr. Charles Pease. Mr.
Bannister met with no other specimen in that locality, and from this
it is inferred that this is not an abundant species there. It was
described as a new species under the name of _P. kennicottii_ (Baird),
but has been ascertained by Mr. Tristram, to whom it was sent for
examination, (Ibis, 1871, p. 231,) to be identical with _P. borcalis_
of Blasius.

Dr. Blasius also states (Naumannia, 1858, p. 303) that a specimen of
this species has been obtained on the island of Heligoland, showing it
to be also an accidental visitant to Western Europe.

HABITS. Mr. R. Swinhoe, who describes this among the birds of Formosa
as _P. sylvicultrix_, states it to be a summer visitant to Southern
China, passing in large numbers through Amoy in its autumnal
migrations southeastward, probably to the Philippine Islands, touching
at Southwestern Formosa and Twaiwanfoo, where he found them abundant.
This was for a few days in October, but he neither saw any before nor
afterwards, nor did he meet with any at Tamsuy (Ibis, 1863, p. 307).
The same writer (Ibis, 1860, p. 53) speaks of this bird as very
abundant in Amoy during the months of April and May, but passing
farther north to breed.

We have no information in reference to its habits, and nothing farther
in regard to its distribution. As it bears a very close resemblance to
the Willow Wren of Europe, _P. trochilus_, it is quite probable that
its general habits, nest, and eggs will be found to correspond very
closely with those of that bird.

The European warblers of the genus _Phyllopneuste_ are all
insect-eating birds, capturing their prey while on the wing, and also
feeding on their larvæ. They frequent the woodlands during their
breeding-season, but at all other times are much more familiar,
keeping about dwellings and sheepfolds.

The _P. trochilus_ is a resident throughout the entire year in
Southern Europe and in Central Asia. That species builds at the foot
of a bush on the ground, and constructs a domed nest with the entrance
on one side. Their eggs are five in number, have a pinkish-white
ground, and are spotted with well-defined blotches of reddish-brown,
measuring 0.65 by 0.50 inch, and are of a rounded oval shape.


SUBFAMILY REGULINÆ.

  CHAR. Wings longer than the emarginated tail. Tarsi booted, or without
    scutellar divisions.

This subfamily embraces but a single well-defined North American genus.


GENUS REGULUS, CUV.

  _Regulus_, CUV. “Leçons d’Anat. Comp. 1799, 1800.” (Type _Motacilla
    regulus_, LINN.)
  _Reguloides_, BLYTH. 1847. (Type “_R. proregulus_, PALL.” GRAY.)
  _Phyllobasileus_, CAB. Mus. Hein. I, 1850, 33. (Type _Motacilla
    calendula_, LINN.)—_Corthylio_, CAB. Jour. Orn. I, 1853, 83.
    (Same type.)

  [Line drawing: _Regulus satrapa._
                  28784. ♂]

GEN. CHAR. Bill slender, much shorter than the head, depressed at
base, but becoming rapidly compressed; moderately notched at tip.
Culmen straight to near the tip, then gently curved. Commissure
straight; gonys convex. Rictus well provided with bristles; nostril
covered by a single bristly feather directed forwards (not distinct in
_calendula_). Tarsi elongated, exceeding considerably the middle toe,
and without scutellæ. Lateral toes about equal; hind toe with the
claw, longer than the middle one by about half the claw. Claws all
much curved. First primary about one third as long as the longest;
second equal to fifth or sixth. Tail shorter than the wings,
moderately forked, the feathers acuminate. Colors olive-green above,
whitish beneath. Size very small.

We are unable to appreciate any such difference between the common
North American _Reguli_ as to warrant Cabanis in establishing a
separate genus for the _calendula_. The bristly feather over the
nostril is perhaps less compact and close, but it exists in a
rudimentary condition.

The following synopsis will serve as diagnoses of the species:—

  Head with entire cap in adult plain olivaceous, with a
    concealed patch of crimson. _Hab._ Whole of North America;
    south to Guatemala; Greenland …                      _calendula._

  Head with forehead and line over the eye white, bordered inside
    by black, and within this again is yellow, embracing an orange
    patch in the centre of the crown. _Hab._ Whole of North America …
                                                           _satrapa._

  Head with forehead and line through the eye black, bordered
    inside by whitish, and within this again by black, embracing
    an orange-red patch in the centre of the crown. _Hab._ Banks
    of Schuylkill River, Pennsylvania …                    _cuvieri._


Regulus satrapa, LICHT.

GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET.

  _Regulus satrapa_, LICHT. Verz. 1823, no. 410.—DALL & BANNISTER
    (Alaska).—LORD (Vancouver Isl.).—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1859, 227;
    Review, 65.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1857, 212 (Orizaba).—BÆDEKER, Cab.
    Jour. IV, 33, pl. i, fig. 8 (eggs, from Labrador).—PR. MAX. Cab.
    Jour. 1858, 111.—COOPER & SUCKLEY, P. R. R. R. XII, II, 1859, 174
    (winters in W. Territory).—LORD, R. Art. Inst. Wool. 1864, 114
    (nest?).—DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 476 (Texas, winter).—SAMUELS,
    179.—COOPER, Birds Cal. 1, 32. _Sylvia regulus_, WILS.; _Regulus
    cristatus_, VIEILL.; _R. tricolor_, NUTT., AUD.
  Figures: AUD. Birds Am. II, pl. cxxxii.—IB. Orn. Biog. II, pl.
    clxxxiii.—VIEILL. Ois. Am. Sept. II, pl. cvi.

SP. CHAR. Above olive-green, brightest on the outer edges of the wing;
tail-feathers tinged with brownish-gray towards the head. Forehead, a
line over the eye and a space beneath it, white. Exterior of the crown
before and laterally black, embracing a central patch of orange-red,
encircled by gamboge-yellow. A dusky space around the eye.
Wing-coverts with two yellowish-white bands, the posterior covering a
similar band on the quills, succeeded by a broad dusky one. Under
parts dull whitish. Length under 4 inches; wing, 2.25; tail, 1.80.
_Female_ without the orange-red central patch. Young birds without the
colored crown.

HAB. North America generally. On the west coast, not recorded south of
Fort Crook. Orizaba, SCLATER; W. Arizona, COUES.

  [Illustration: _Regulus satrapa._]

Specimens of this bird from the far West are much brighter and more
olivaceous above; the markings of the face are also somewhat different
in showing less dusky about the eye. These may form a variety
_olivaceus_.

The _Regulus cristatus_ of Europe, a close ally of our bird, is
distinguished by having shorter wings and longer bill; the flame-color
of the head is more extended, the black border is almost wanting
anteriorly. The back and rump, too, are more yellow.

HABITS. The Golden-crested Kinglet, or Wren, as it is often called,
occurs over nearly the whole of the North American continent. It is
abundant from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and throughout the British
Provinces, where it chiefly occurs in its breeding-season. In
Massachusetts it is a winter resident from October until May. In Maine
it is met with in spring and fall, chiefly as a migratory visitor; a
few also remain, and probably breed, in the dense _Thuja_ swamps of
that State. They are most abundant in April, and again in October. In
the vicinity of Calais the Golden-crest is a common summer resident,
and, without doubt, breeds there.

Dr. Woodhouse mentions finding this species in abundance in New Mexico
and Texas, associated with Nuthatches and Titmice. Dr. Cooper found it
abundant in Washington Territory, particularly in the winter, and
ascertained positively that they breed there, by seeing them feeding
their young near Puget Sound, in the month of August. According to Mr.
Ridgway it is much less numerous in the Great Basin than the _R.
calendula_.

The food of this lively and attractive little bird during the summer
months is almost exclusively the smaller winged insects, which it
industriously pursues amid the highest tree-tops of the forest. At
other seasons its habits are more those of the titmice, necessity
leading it to ransack the crevices of the bark on the trunks and
larger limbs of the forest-trees. It is an expert fly-catcher, taking
insects readily upon the wing.

But little is known with certainty regarding its breeding-habits, and
its nest and eggs have not yet been described. The presumption,
however, is that it builds a pensile nest, not unlike the European
congener, and lays small eggs finely sprinkled with buff-colored dots
on a white ground, and in size nearly corresponding with those of our
common Humming-Bird. We must infer that it raises two broods in a
season, from the fact that it spends so long a period, from April to
October, in its summer abode, and still more because while Mr. Nuttall
found them feeding their full-fledged young in May, on the Columbia,
Dr. Cooper, in the same locality, and Mr. Audubon, in Labrador,
observed them doing the same thing in the month of August.

According to the observations of Mr. J. K. Lord, this species is very
common on Vancouver’s Island and along the entire boundary line
separating Washington Territory from British Columbia, where he met
with them at an altitude of six thousand feet. He states that they
build a pensile nest suspended from the extreme end of a pine branch,
and that they lay from five to seven eggs. These he does not describe.

Most writers speak of this Kinglet as having no song, its only note
being a single chirp. But in this they are certainly greatly in error.
Without having so loud or so powerful a note as the Ruby-crown (_R.
calendula_), for its song will admit of no comparison with the
wonderful vocal powers of that species, it yet has a quite distinctive
and prolonged succession of pleasing notes, which I have heard it pour
forth in the midst of the most inclement weather in February almost
uninterruptedly, and for quite an interval.

Bischoff obtained a large number of this species at Kodiak, and also
at Sitka, where it seemed to replace the Ruby-crown.


Regulus cuvieri, AUD.

CUVIER’S KINGLET.

  _Regulus cuvieri_, AUD. Orn. Biog. I, 1832, 288, pl. lv, etc.—BAIRD,
    Birds N. Am. 1859, 228; Rev. Am. Birds, 66.

SP. CHAR. Size and general appearance probably that of _R. satrapa_. A
black band on the forehead passing back, through and behind the eye,
separated by a grayish band from another black band on the crown,
which embraces in the centre of the crown an orange patch. Length,
4.25 inches; extent of wings, 6.

HAB. “Banks of Schuylkill River, Penn. June, 1812.” AUD.

This species continues to be unknown, except from the description of
Mr. Audubon, as quoted above. It appears to differ mainly from _R.
satrapa_ in having two black bands (not one) on the crown anteriorly,
separated by a whitish one; the extreme forehead being black instead
of white, as in _satrapa_. The specimen was killed in June, 1812, on
the banks of the Schuylkill River, in Pennsylvania.


Regulus calendula, LICHT.

RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET.

  _Motacilla calendula_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 337. _Regulus
    calendula_, LICHT. Verz. 1823, no. 408.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858,
    226; Rev. 66.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1857, 202.—IB. 1858, 300
    (mountains of Oaxaca).—IB. 1859, 362 (Xalapa).—IB. 1864, 172
    (City of Mex.).—SAMUELS, 178.—DALL & BANNISTER
    (Alaska).—COOPER, Birds Cal. 1, 33.—IB. Ibis, I, 1859, 8
    (Guatemala).—COOPER & SUCKLEY, P. R. R. XII, II, 1859,
    174.—REINHARDT, Ibis, 1861, 5 (Greenland).—DRESSER, Ibis, 1865,
    475 (Texas, winter). _Corthylio calendula_, CAB. Jour. Orn. I,
    1853, 83 (type of genus). _Regulus rubineus_, VIEILL. Ois. Am.
    Sept. II, 1807, 49, pl. civ, cv.
  Other figures: WILS. Am. Orn. I, 1808, pl. v, fig. 3.—DOUGHTY,
    Cab. II, pl. vi.—AUD. Orn. Biog. II, pl. cxcv.—IB. Birds Am. II,
    pl. cxxxiii.

SP. CHAR. Above dark greenish-olive, passing into bright olive-green
on the rump and outer edges of the wings and tail. The under parts are
grayish-white tinged with pale olive-yellow, especially behind. A ring
round the eye, two bands on the wing-coverts, and the exterior of the
inner tertials white. _Male._ Crown with a large concealed patch of
scarlet feathers, which are white at the base. Female and young
without the red on the crown. Length, 4.50; wing, 2.33; tail, 1.85.

HAB. Greenland; whole of North America, and south to Guatemala. Oaxaca
(high region, November), SCLATER. Xalapa and Guatemala, SCLATER.

This species of _Regulus_ appears to lack the small feather which, in
_satrapa_, overlies and conceals the nostrils, which was probably the
reason with Cabanis and Blyth for placing it in a different genus.
There is no other very apparent difference of form, however, although
this furnishes a good character for distinguishing between young
specimens of the two species.

HABITS. Much yet remains to be learned as to the general habits, the
nesting, and distribution during the breeding-season of the
Ruby-crowned Kinglet. It is found, at varying periods, in all parts of
North America, from Mexico to the shores of the Arctic seas, and from
the Atlantic to the Pacific; and, although its breeding-places are not
known, its occurrence in the more northern latitudes, from Maine to
the extreme portions of the continent, during the season of
reproduction, indicate pretty certainly its extended distribution
throughout all the forests from the 44th parallel northward. None of
our American ornithologists are known to have met with either its eggs
or its nest, but we may reasonably infer that its nest is pensile,
like that of its European kindred, and from being suspended from the
higher branches, from its peculiar structure and position has thus far
escaped observation.

In the New England States they are most abundant in the months of
October and April. A few probably remain in the thick evergreen woods
throughout the winter, and in the northern parts of Maine they are
occasionally found in the summer, and, without doubt, breed there. In
the damp swampy woods of the islands in the Bay of Fundy, the writer
heard their remarkable song resounding in all directions throughout
the month of June.

The song of this bird is by far the most remarkable of its specific
peculiarities. Its notes are clear, resonant, and high, and constitute
a prolonged series, varying from the lowest tones to the highest,
terminating with the latter. It may be heard at quite a distance, and
in some respects bears more resemblance to the song of the English
Skylark than to that of the Canary, to which Mr. Audubon compares it.

Their food appears to be chiefly the smaller insects, in pursuit of
which they are very active, and at times appear to be so absorbed in
their avocation as to be unmindful of the near presence of the
sportsman or collector, and unwarned by the sound of the deadly gun.
They are also said by Wilson to feed upon the stamens of the blossoms
of the maple, the apple, peach, and other trees. Like the other
species, they are expert insect-takers, catching them readily on the
wing. They are chiefly to be met with in the spring among the
tree-tops, where the insects they prefer abound among the expanding
buds. In the fall of the year, on their return, they are more commonly
met with among lower branches, and among bushes near the ground.

Although presumed to be chiefly resident, during the summer months, of
high northern regions, Wilson met with specimens in Pennsylvania
during the breeding-season; and it is quite probable that they may
occur, here and there, among the high valleys in the midst of mountain
ranges, in different parts of the country.

In the winter it is most abundant in the Gulf States, and especially
in that of Louisiana. Dr. Woodhouse found it quite abundant throughout
Texas, New Mexico, and the Indian Territory. Dr. Cooper found it in
Washington Territory, but did not there meet with it in summer. Dr.
Suckley, however, regarded it as a transient visitor, rather than a
winter resident of that region, and far more abundant from about the
8th of April to the 20th of May, when it seemed to be migrating, than
at any other time.

Dr. Kennerly found these birds in abundance near Espia, Mexico, and
afterwards, during January, among the Aztec Mountains, and again, in
February, along the Bill Williams Fork. He describes them as lively,
active, and busy in the pursuit of their insect food. They seem to be
equally abundant at this season in California, Arizona, and Colorado.

Mr. Ridgway found them common in June and July among the coniferous
woods high upon the Wahsatch Mountains in Utah, and has no doubt that
they breed there.

Mr. Dall found this species abundant at Nulato, Alaska, in the spring
of 1868, preferring the thickets and alder-bushes away from the
river-bank. They appeared very courageous. A pair that seemed about to
commence building a nest in a small clump of bushes tore to pieces one
half finished, belonging to a pair of _Scolecophagus ferrugineus_,
and, on the blackbirds’ return, attacked the female and drove her
away. This was early in June, and Mr. Dall was compelled to leave
without being able to witness the sequel of the contest.

A straggling specimen of this bird was taken in 1860 at Nenortatik, in
Greenland, and sent in the flesh to Copenhagen.


SUBFAMILY POLIOPTILINÆ.

The characters of this subfamily will be found on page 69.


GENUS POLIOPTILA, SCLAT.

  _Polioptila_, SCLATER, Pr. Zoöl. Soc. 1855, 11. (Type, _Motacilla
    cærulea_.)

  [Line drawing: _Polioptila cærulea._
                  10213]

CHAR. Bill slender, attenuated, but depressed at the base; nearly as
long as the head, distinctly notched at the tip, and provided with
moderate rictal bristles. Nostrils rather elongated, not concealed,
but anterior to the frontal feathers. Tarsi longer than the middle
toe, distinctly scutellate; the toes small; the hinder one scarcely
longer than the lateral; its claw scarcely longer than the middle.
Outer lateral toe longer than the inner. First primary about one third
the longest; second equal to the seventh. Tail a little longer than
the wings, moderately graduated; the feathers rounded. Nest felted and
covered with moss or lichens. Eggs greenish-white, spotted with
purplish-brown.

The species all lead-color above; white beneath, and to a greater or
less extent on the exterior of the tail, the rest of which is black.
Very diminutive in size (but little over four inches long).


Synopsis of Species.

_Top of head plumbeous._

Two outer tail-feathers entirely white. A narrow frontal line,
extending back over the eye, black. _Hab._ North America …
                                                        _P. cærulea._

Outer tail-feather, with the whole of the outer web (only),
white. No black on the forehead, but a stripe over the eye above
one of whitish. _Hab._ Arizona …                        _P. plumbea._

_Top of head black._

Edge only of outer web of outer tail-feather white. Entire top of
head from the bill black. _Hab._ Rio Grande and Gila … _P. melanura._

Species occur over the whole of America. One, _P. lembeyi_, is
peculiar to Cuba, and a close ally of _P. cærulea_.


Polioptila cærulea, SCLAT.

BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER; EASTERN GNATCATCHER.

  _Motacilla cærulea_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 337 (based on
    _Motacilla parva cærulea_, EDW. tab. 302). _Culicivora cærulea_,
    CAB. Jour. 1855, 471 (Cuba).—GUNDLACH, Repert. 1865, 231.
    _Polioptila cærulea_, SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1855, 11.—BAIRD, Birds N.
    Am. 1858, 380.—IB. Rev. 74.—DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 231.—COOPER,
    Birds Cal. 1, 35. _Motacilla cana_, GM. S. N. I, 1788, 973. _?
    Culicivora mexicana_, BON. Consp. 1850, 316 (not of CASSIN),
    female. _Polioptila mexicana_, SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1859, 363, 373.
  Figures: VIEILL. Ois. II, pl. lxxxviii.—WILSON, Am. Orn. II, pl.
    xviii, fig. 3.—AUD. Orn. Biog. I, pl. lxxxiv; IB. Birds Am. I,
    pl. lxx.

SP. CHAR. Above grayish-blue, gradually becoming bright blue on the
crown. A narrow frontal band of black extending backwards over the
eye. Under parts and lores bluish-white tinged with lead-color on the
sides. First and second tail-feathers white except at the extreme
base, which is black, the color extending obliquely forward on the
inner web; third and fourth black, with white tip, very slight on the
latter; fifth and sixth entirely black. Upper tail-coverts
blackish-plumbeous. Quills edged externally with pale bluish-gray,
which is much broader and nearly white on the tertials. Female without
any black on the head. Length, 4.30; wing, 2.15; tail, 2.25. (Skin.)

HAB. Middle region of United States, from Atlantic to Pacific, and
south to Guatemala; Cape St. Lucas. Cuba, GUNDLACH and BRYANT.
Bahamas, BRYANT.

HABITS. The Blue-gray Flycatcher is a common species from the Atlantic
to the Pacific coast, although not met with in the New England States.
It is less abundant on the coast than at a distance from it, and has a
more northern range in the interior, being met with in Northern Ohio,
Michigan, and the British Provinces. Specimens occur in the
Smithsonian Institution collection from New York to Mexico and
Guatemala, and from Washington Territory to California.

They appear in Pennsylvania early in May, and remain there until the
last of September. They are observed in Florida and Georgia early in
March, but are not known to winter in that latitude. All the specimens
in the Smithsonian collection were obtained between April and October,
except one from Southern California, which was taken in December.

  [Illustration: _Polioptila cærulea._]

Near Washington, Dr. Coues states the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher to be a
summer resident, arriving during the first week of April, and
remaining until the latter part of September, during which time they
are very abundant. They are said to breed in high open woods, and, on
their first arrival, to frequent tall trees on the sides of streams
and in orchards.

In California and Arizona this species occurs, but is, to some extent,
replaced by a smaller species, peculiarly western, _P. melanura_.
There they seem to keep more about low bushes, hunting minute insects
in small companies or in pairs, and their habits are hardly
distinguishable from those of Warblers in most respects.

The food of this species is chiefly small winged insects and their
larvæ. It is an expert insect-catcher, taking its prey on the wing
with great celerity. All its movements are very rapid, the bird
seeming to be constantly in motion as if ever in quest of insects,
moving from one part of the tree to the other, but generally
preferring the upper branches.

Nuttall and Audubon, copying Wilson, speak of the nest of this
Gnatcatcher as a very frail receptacle for its eggs, and as hardly
strong enough to bear the weight of the parent bird. This, however,
all my observations attest to be not the fact. The nest is, on the
contrary, very elaborately and carefully constructed; large for the
size of the bird, remarkably deep, and with thick, warm walls composed
of soft and downy materials, but abundantly strong for its builder,
who is one of our smallest birds both in size and in weight. Like the
nests of the Wood Pewee and the Humming-Bird, they are models of
architectural beauty and ingenious design. With walls made of a soft
felted material, they are deep and purse-like. They are not pensile,
but are woven to small upright twigs, usually near the tree-top, and
sway with each breeze, but the depth of the cavity and its small
diameter prevent the eggs from rolling out. Externally the nest is
covered with a beautiful periphery of gray lichens, assimilating it to
the bark of the deciduous trees in which it is constructed.

Occasionally these nests have been found at the height of ten feet
from the ground, but they are more frequently built at a much greater
elevation, even to the height of fifty feet or more. They are made in
the shape of a truncated cone, three inches in diameter at the base
and but two at the top, and three and a half inches in height. The
diameter of the opening is an inch and a half. In Northern Georgia
they nest about the middle of May, and are so abundant that the late
Dr. Gerhardt would often find not less than five in a single day, and
very rarely were any of them less than sixty feet from the ground. Dr.
Gerhardt, who was an accurate and careful observer, speaks of these as
the best built nests he had met with in this country, both in regard
to strength and its ingeniously contrived aperture, so narrowed at the
top that it is impossible for the eggs to roll out even in the
severest wind. They have two broods in the season in the Southern
States, one in April and again in July.

This Flycatcher lays usually five eggs. These are of a short oval
form, somewhat pointed at one end and rounded at the other, and
measure .56 of an inch in length by .44 in breadth. Their ground-color
is a greenish-white, marked and dotted with small blotches and spots
of varying and blending shades of reddish-brown, lilac, and slate.


Polioptila plumbea, BAIRD.

LEAD-COLORED GNATCATCHER; ARIZONA GNATCATCHER.

  _Polioptila plumbea_, BAIRD, Pr. A. N. Sc. VII, June, 1854, 118.—IB.
    Birds N. Am. 1858, 382, pl. xxxiii, fig. 1; Review, 74.—COOPER,
    Birds Cal. 1, 37.

SP. CHAR. Above bluish-gray; the forehead uniform with the crown.
Eyelids white. A pale grayish-white line over the eye, above which is
another of black, much concealed by the feathers, and which does not
reach to the bill. Lower parts dull white, tinged with bluish on the
sides and with brownish behind. Tail-feathers black; the first and
second edged and tipped with white, involving the entire outer web of
the first, and most of that of the second; the third with only a very
faint edging of the same. Female duller, without the black
superciliary line. Length, 4.40; wing, 1.80; tail, 2.30 (7,189).

HAB. Arizona.

This species differs from _P. cærulea_, in having the ash above less
bluish, especially on the forehead; the black superciliary streak is
only a horizontal bar, not reaching the bill, whereas in _cærulea_ it
not only reaches the bill, but also extends across the forehead; the
light superciliary stripe is more distinct. The tail is entirely
different, the lateral feathers being almost entirely black, instead
of the reverse.

From immature specimens of _P. melanura_ it may be distinguished by
larger size and purer white lower parts, and greater amount of white
on outer webs of lateral tail-feathers.

HABITS. But little is known in regard to the distribution or history
of this species. It appears to be peculiar to Arizona and Mexico.
There is no good reason to suppose that it differs materially in any
of its habits from the other species of this genus. Dr. Cooper, who
observed this species at Fort Mojave, states that it is a winter
resident of that region in small numbers; and, so far as he observed,
is undistinguishable either in habit or general appearance from either
of the other species which at that season are also found there. Its
cry of alarm resembles that of the common wren.


Polioptila melanura, LAWR.

BLACK-CAPPED GNATCATCHER.

  _Culicivora atricapilla_, LAWRENCE, Ann. N. Y. Lyc. V, Sept. 1851,
    124 (not of SWAINSON). _Culicivora mexicana_, CASSIN, Illust. I,
    1854, 164, pl. xxvii (not of BON.). _Polioptila melanura_,
    LAWRENCE, Ann. N. Y. Lyc. VI, Dec. 1856, 168.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am.
    1858, 382; Review, 68.—HEERMANN, P. R. R. R. vol. X (Williamson),
    1859, 39.—COOPER, Birds Cal. 1, 37.

SP. CHAR. Above plumbeous-blue. Whole crown, to bill and eyes, with
tail, lustrous blue-black. Beneath pale bluish-gray, almost white on
chin and anal region; the flanks and crissum tinged with brown. Edge
of eyelids, and margin and tip of outer web of first and second
lateral tail-feathers, white. Female and young without the black of
the crown. Length, 4.15; wing, 1.85; tail, 2.10.

HAB. San Diego to Fort Yuma and Cape St. Lucas. Arizona, COUES.

Specimens of this species from Cape St. Lucas differ from those of San
Diego described in the P. R. R. Report (7,191) in having the whole of
the outer web of the outer tail-feather white, and in a rather larger
white tip. The colors beneath are a little less ashy, though not of a
pure white. The ash of the back is rather lighter and purer. The lores
are rather lighter. The first primary is a little larger and broader.

It is possible that the restriction of the white of the outer web of
the exterior tail-feather to the outer half only is an unusual
circumstance, as both Mr. Cassin and Mr. Lawrence, in their
descriptions, speak of the entire outer web being white,—the second
feather being of the former character. Under these circumstances there
will be little specific difference between the tails of _P. melanura_
and _plumbea_. The female birds will then be separated by the light
superciliary line and much shorter tarsi of _P. plumbea_,—the latter
measuring .63 instead of nearly .70 of an inch.

HABITS. This species was first noticed as belonging to the North
American fauna by Captain McCown, who obtained it near Ringgold
Barracks in 1850. It has since been noticed at Fort Yuma and at San
Diego, and obtained in greater abundance at Cape St. Lucas. It is also
found in Mexico. Dr. Cooper says that it is common all winter both at
San Diego and at Fort Mohave. It has been traced as far north as
latitude 30° in the Sierra Nevada. Its song he describes as a harsh
ditty of five parts, something like a wren’s song, with notes like
those of a swallow, and also closely resembling the song of _Vireo
belli_. Their scolding note is a faint mew, like that of a cat.

The habits of this species appear to be not unlike those of the
peculiar family to which it belongs. All its members are among our
smallest birds, are almost exclusively inhabitants of woods, and
resemble the _Reguli_ in their restless activity in pursuit of the
smallest insects on which they feed. This bird is described as
particularly active, quick in its movements, searching with great
activity for its food, and preferring low trees and bushes. At times
it will dart about in the air in pursuit of small insects.

Mr. John Xantus found these birds to be quite abundant at Cape St.
Lucas, and obtained several of their nests. They were generally built
among the interlacing tendrils of a wild vine (_Antigonon leptopus_),
and so closely interwoven with the smaller branches as to be
inseparable. The nests, like those of all this family, are structures
of great beauty and delicacy. They have a height and an external
diameter of about 2¼ inches. The cavity is 1½ inches wide at the rim,
and fully two inches deep. This great proportionate depth of the nest
seems to be characteristic of this genus. The external portion of this
nest is composed of a composite blending of various vegetable
materials, fine hempen fibres of plants, strips of delicate bark from
smaller shrubs, silken fragments of cocoons and downy cotton-like
substance, all very closely impacted and felted together, somewhat
after the manner of the Humming-Bird. The whole is very softly and
warmly lined with a beautifully interwoven and silky fabric composed
of the soft down of various plants.

The walls of the nest, though of the softest materials, are so thick
and so firmly impacted as to make it a structure remarkably firm and
secure against accidents.

The eggs, four in number, measure .55 of an inch in length by .45 in
breadth. They are of an oblong-oval shape, their ground-color is a
pale greenish-white sprinkled over the entire surface with fine
dottings of purple, reddish-brown, and black.




FAMILY CHAMÆADÆ.—THE GROUND-TITS.


CHAR. Bill compressed, short, rather conical, not notched nor
decurved. Culmen sharp-ridged. Nostrils linear, with an incumbent
scale. Rictal bristles reaching beyond nostrils, which are scantily
overhung by bristly feathers. Loral feathers bristly and directed
forwards. Tarsi booted, or covered with a continuous plate anteriorly,
with faint indications of scutellæ on the inner side. Basal joint of
middle toe attached for about half its length on either side.
Primaries ten; sixth quill longest. Plumage very lax.

  [Line drawing: _Chamæa fasciata._
                  5924]

We have found it impossible to assign the genus _Chamæa_ to any
recognized family of American birds, and have accordingly been obliged
to give it independent rank in this respect, although it may properly
belong to some Old World group with which we are not acquainted. In
its general appearance it approaches the _Paridæ_ in loose plumage,
bristly lores, want of notch to bill, etc.; but differs in the very
much bristled rictus, sharp-ridged culmen, linear nostrils, booted
tarsi, less amount of adhesion of the toes, etc. It approaches the
_Sylviidæ_ in the sharp-ridged culmen and bristly gape, but is
otherwise very different. The excessively rounded wing is a peculiar
feature, the sixth primary being the longest.

  [Illustration: _Chamæa fasciata._]

The family may, perhaps, be best placed between the _Sylviidæ_ and
_Paridæ_.

This family has but one representative (_Chamæa fasciata_), and this
confined to the coast region of California. The characters of the
genus are those of the family.


GENUS CHAMÆA, GAMBEL.

  _Chamæa_, GAMBEL, Pr. A. N. Sc. Phil. III, 1847, 154. (Type, _Parus
    fasciatus_.)

But one species of this genus has as yet been described.


Chamæa fasciata, GAMB.

GROUND-TIT; WREN-TIT.

  _Parus fasciatus_, GAMBEL, Pr. A. N. Sc. Aug. 1845, 265 (California).
    _Chamæa fasciata_, GAMBEL, Pr. A. N. Sc. III, 1847, 154.—IB. J.
    A. N. Sc. 2d series, I, 1847, 34, pl. viii, fig. 3.—CABANIS,
    Wiegmann’s Archiv, 1848, I, 102.—CASSIN, Illust. I, 1853, 39, pl.
    vii.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 370.—IB. Review, 76.—COOPER,
    Birds Cal. 1, 39.

SP. CHAR. Wings scarcely two thirds the length of the tail; both very
much graduated. Upper and outer parts generally (including the whole
tail) olivaceous-brown, tinged with gray on the head; beneath pale
brownish-cinnamon, with obsolete streaks of dusky on the throat and
breast. Sides and under tail-coverts tinged with olive-brown. Lores
and a spot above the eye obscurely whitish. Tail-feathers with
obsolete transverse bars. Total length, 6.20; wing, 2.30; tail, 3.50,
graduation, 1.20; exposed portion of first primary, .85, of second,
1.30, of longest, sixth (measured from exposed base of first primary),
1.80; length of bill from forehead, .52, from nostril, .30; along
gape, .60; tarsus, 1.05; middle toe and claw, .78; claw alone, .23;
hind toe and claw, .55; claw alone, .30. Eggs light blue, unspotted;
nest on low bushes.

HAB. Coast region of California.

HABITS. This very interesting species, which seems to combine within
itself the principal characteristics of the Wren and the Titmouse, was
first described by the late Dr. Gambel of Philadelphia. So far as is
now known, it is confined to the coast country of California, from
Fort Tejon to the shore and from San Diego to the Sacramento. Dr.
Gambel’s attention was first directed to it by the continued sound of
a loud, crepitant, grating scold which he was constantly hearing in
fields of dead mustard-stalks and other similar places. He at last
discovered it to be this species, which from its peculiar habits he
called a Wren-tit. It kept close to the ground, was difficult to be
seen, and eluded pursuit by diving into the thickest bunches of weeds,
uttering, when approached, its peculiar grating wren-like notes. When
quietly watched it could be seen to search for insects, climbing twigs
and dry stalks sideways, jerking its long tail, or holding it erect in
the manner of a wren, which, in this position, it very much resembles.
He describes it as at times uttering a slow, monotonous singing note
like a chick-a-dee, represented by _pee-pee-pee-peep_. At other times
its song is a varied succession of whistling. In spring it was heard,
in pairs, calling and answering, in a less solemn strain, and in a
manner not unlike a sparrow, with a brief _pit-pit-pit_, ending with a
prolonged trill. If disturbed, they at once resumed their usual
scolding cries.

Mr. Bell found this species chiefly frequenting damp places, and
speaks of it as of pert habit, and not easily frightened. Its white
iris, when observed in its native retreats, makes it easily
recognized. This feature is as conspicuous in this bird as it is in
the White-eyed Vireo. Its skin is remarkably strong, the muscles of
the thighs powerful and well developed, and its whole muscular system
exhibits an unusual strength and firmness.

Dr. Cooper’s observations in regard to this bird are a little
different in some respects. He found it common everywhere west of the
Sierra Nevada on dry plains and hillsides, among the shrubby
undergrowth, but not in the forests. Instead of preferring damp
places, he found it living where there is no water, except occasional
fogs, for six or eight months at a time. Their movements can be
observed by patient watching and keeping perfectly quiet, when they
seem attracted by curiosity to such a degree as to approach one within
a few feet, and fearlessly hop round him as if fascinated.

Dr. Cooper found their nests near San Diego built about three feet
from the ground in low shrubs. They were composed of straw and twigs
mixed with feathers and firmly interwoven. The cavity, about two
inches wide and an inch and three fourths deep, is lined with grass
and hair. The eggs, three or four in number, are of a pale
greenish-blue, and measure .70 by .52 of an inch.




FAMILY PARIDÆ.—THE TITMICE.

CHAR. Bill generally short, conical, not notched nor decurved at tip.
Culmen broad and rounded, not sharp-ridged at base. Nostrils rounded,
basal, and concealed by dense bristles or bristly feathers. Loral
feathers rough and bristly, directed forwards. Tarsi distinctly
scutellate; basal joints of anterior toes abbreviated, that of middle
toe united about equally for three fourths its length to the lateral:
in _Parinæ_ forming a kind of palm for grasping; outer lateral toe
decidedly longer than the inner. Primaries ten, the first much shorter
than the second. Tail-feathers with soft tips. Nest in holes of trees;
eggs white, spotted with reddish.

With Cabanis we include the Nuthatches in the same family with the
Titmice, and have prepared the above diagnosis to embrace both groups.
They agree in having a conical bill, not notched nor decurved, with
much rounded culmen, and nearly straight commissure, and rounded
nostrils covered with dense bristles. These characters will readily
distinguish them, in connection with the ten primaries, and tarsi with
scutellæ on the anterior half only (as compared with _Alaudidæ_), from
any other American _Oscines_.

The two subfamilies may be thus distinguished:—

  Parinæ. Body compressed. Bill shorter than the head. Wings rounded,
    equal to or shorter than the rounded tail. Second quill as short
    as the tenth. Tarsus longer than the middle toe and claw, which
    are about equal to the hinder; soles of toes widened into a palm.
    Plumage rather soft and lax.

  Sittinæ. Body depressed. Bill about equal to or longer than the head.
    Wings much pointed, much longer than the nearly even tail. Tarsus
    shorter than the middle toe and claw, which are about equal to the
    hinder. Plumage more compact.


SUBFAMILY PARINÆ.

The characters of the subfamily will be found sufficiently detailed
above. The genera are as follows:—

  _Bill with curved outlines._

Head with a long pointed crest. Wings and tail rounded.

     Body full and large. Tail about equal to wings …  _Lophophanes._

Head with feathers full, but not crested. Wings and tail rounded.

     Body full. Tail about equal to wings; rounded …         _Parus._

     Body slender. Tail much longer than wings; much graduated …
                                                      _Psaltriparus._

  _Bill with outlines nearly straight._

Head with compact feathers. Wings pointed.

     Body slender. Tail rather shorter than the wings; nearly even …
                                                         _Auriparus._

  [Illustration: PLATE VI.

  1. Lophophanes bicolor, _Bon._ Ill., 29679.
  2.      “      atricristatus, _Cass._ Tex., 12107.
  3.      “      inornatus, _Cass._ Cal., 37051.
  4.      “      wollweberi, _Bon._ Ariz., 40742.
  5. Polioptila cærulea, _Scl._ Ill., 10213.
  6.     “      plumbea, _Baird_. Ariz., 11541.
  7.     “      melanura, _Lawr._ Cal., 7191.
  8. Chamæa fasciata, _Gamb._ Cal., 5924.]


GENUS LOPHOFHANES, KAUP.

  _Lophophanes_, KAUP, Entw. Gesch. Europ. Thierwelt, 1829. (Type,
    _Parus cristatus_.)
  _Bæolophus_, CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1850, 1851, 91. (Type, _Parus
    bicolor_, L.)

GEN. CHAR. Crown with a conspicuous crest. Bill conical; both upper
and lower outlines convex. Wings graduated; first quill very short.
Tail moderately long and rounded. Nests in hollow trees; eggs white
with fine red dottings.

  [Line drawing: _Lophophanes bicolor._
                  823 ♂]

Of this genus there are several North American species, all agreeing
in general characters. One of these, the _L. wollweberi_, is given by
Cabanis as typical, while he separates the _L. bicolor_ generically
under the name of _Bæolophus_, as having a rather different form of
crest, stouter bill and feet, and longer wings. All of our species,
however, vary in these characters, each one showing a different
combination, so that we prefer to consider all as belonging to the
same genus with _P. cristatus_.

The species, all of which have the under parts uniform whitish, may be
arranged as follows:—

L. bicolor. Above plumbeous; forehead black; crown much like the back.
_Hab._ Eastern Province United States.

L. atricristatus. Above plumbeous; forehead whitish; crown black.
_Hab._ East Mexico, north to Rio Grande.

L. inornatus. Above olivaceous; forehead and crown like the back.
_Hab._ South of Middle and Western Provinces of United States.

L. wollweberi. Sides of head banded black and white; crown ash; throat
black. _Hab._ S. Rocky Mountains of United States; Mexico to Oaxaca.


Lophophanes bicolor, BONAP.

TUFTED TITMOUSE; BLACK-FRONTED TITMOUSE.

  _Parus bicolor_, LINN. Syst. Nat. 12th ed. I, 1766, 340 (based on
    _Parus cristatus_, CATESBY, I, pl. lvii).—PR. MAX. Cab. Jour. VI,
    1858, 118. _Lophophanes bicolor_, BON. List Birds Europe,
    1842.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 384; Review, 78.—SCLATER, Catal.
    1861, 14, no. 87. _Bæolophus bicolor_, CAB. Mus. Hein. I, 1850, 91
    (type of genus). _Lophophanes missouriensis_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am.
    1858, 384 (var. from Missouri River).
  Figures: WILSON, Am. Orn. I, pl. viii, fig. 5.—AUD. Orn. Biog. I,
    pl. ccci; IB. Birds Am. II, pl. cxxv.

SP. CHAR. Above ashy; a black frontal band. Beneath dull whitish;
sides brownish-chestnut, of more or less intensity. Length, 6.25
inches; wing, 3.17.

HAB. United States, from Missouri Valley eastward.

  [Illustration: _Lophophanes inornatus._]

Feathers of the crown elongated into a flattened crest, which extends
back as far as the occiput. Bill conical; lower edge of upper mandible
nearly straight at the base. Fourth and fifth quills equal; third a
little shorter than seventh; second rather shorter than the
secondaries. Tail nearly even, the outer about .20 of an inch shorter
than the longest. Upper parts ash-color, with a tinge of olivaceous.
Forehead dark sooty-brown. The feathers of the upper part of the head
and crest obscurely streaked with lighter brown. Under parts of head
and body, sides of head, including auriculars, and a narrow space
above the eye, dirty yellowish-white, tinged with brown; purest on the
side of head, the white very distinct in the loral region, and
including the tuft of bristly feathers over the nostrils, excepting
the tips of those in contact with the bill, which are blackish. The
sides of the body and the under tail-coverts are tinged with
yellowish-brown. The quills and tail-feathers are edged with the color
of the back, without any whitish. Bill black. Feet lead-color.

Specimens from the West are larger, the colors all more strongly
marked.

HABITS. The Tufted Titmouse is a common and well-known species in the
Southern States, from the seaboard to the Rocky Mountains. Its
northern limits are in Pennsylvania, Missouri, and Kansas. Farther
north than this its occurrence appears to be only occasional and
accidental. The statement of Mr. Audubon that they are found in the
Northern States, even to Nova Scotia, was evidently a mistake. They do
not occur in Massachusetts, nor, so far as I am aware, have they been
met with in any part of New England.

They are abundant in Northern Georgia, where, according to the
observations of Dr. Gerhardt, they are among the first birds to breed,
having fledglings fully grown as early as the first of May. Dr.
Woodhouse found them very common in the Indian Territory, but none of
the other exploring parties met with it farther west, where it is
replaced by its kindred species.

It is perhaps the most abundant bird in Southern Illinois, where it is
resident, being excessively numerous in winter, and in that season
often a positive nuisance from their impertinent vehement scolding as
they appear to follow the hunter in troops through the woods. In
winter it is a constant inhabitant of the door-yards and shrubbery,
particularly fruit-trees in the towns, where it is associated with the
Carolina Chickadee (_Parus carolinensis_) and other winter birds, but
exceeding them all in familiarity and boldness. (Ridgway.)

Mr. Nuttall, who never met with this bird north of Pennsylvania, found
it very common in the winter and spring in the Southern States, where
it displayed all the habits and uttered the usual notes of the family.
In the dreariest solitudes of the Southern States these birds were his
constant and amusing companions. Their sprightly movements and their
varied musical talents made it even more peculiarly interesting at a
time when all the other tenants of the forest were silent. The notes
of this bird, which, when expressed by this writer on paper, seem only
quaint and eccentric articulations, were characterized by him as
lively, cheering, and varied, delivered with a delicacy, energy,
pathos, and variety of expression to which it was far beyond the power
of description to do justice.

These notes, at times, even partook of the high-echoing and
clear tones of the Oriole. The usual song of this Titmouse is
presented by Mr. Nuttall by the following characteristics:
“_Whip-tom-killy-killy-dāy-dāy-dā-it-tshica-dēē-dee_,” varied with
“_Kāī-tee-did-did-did_,” etc., etc. Later in the season, under the
milder influences of spring, these Titmice pursued the insects from
branch to branch, calling restlessly and with loud and echoing voices,
_peto-peto-peto_, with frequent quaint variations too numerous to be
repeated. Their song even consisted of successions of playful,
pathetic, or querulous calls, never exhibiting any trills after the
manner of the Warblers, yet the compass and tones of their voice,
their capricious variety, and their general effect are described as
quite as pleasing as the more exquisite notes of our summer songsters.

When wounded this Titmouse resists with great spirit any attempt to
take him alive, but soon becomes tame and familiar in confinement,
subsisting on seeds, broken nuts, etc. Impatient of restraint, it
incessantly attempts to work its way out of its cage.

The general habits of these birds correspond closely with those of the
large family to which they belong. They move usually in small flocks
of from five to ten through the branches of trees and bushes in quest
of insects, examine the cracks and crevices of the bark, hang on the
under side of small branches, move sideways around the trunks of
trees, probe the openings in acorns, pine-cones, nuts, etc., for its
food, and retain apparently the family group until the spring, when
they separate into pairs.

One of these birds kept in confinement by Dr. Bachman of Charleston
was in the habit of hiding its food in the corner of its cage, in a
small crevice, and of creeping at night into a small box, where it lay
doubled up like a ball till the first light of the morning, when it
resumed its restless habits.

The Tufted Titmouse passes its nights and days, when the weather is
inclement, in the hollows of decayed trees or the deserted holes of
the woodpeckers. In such places it also builds its nests. It has been
known to excavate a hole for itself even in hard sound wood. Its nest
is simply a rude lining of the selected cavity, composed of various
soft and warm materials. In this are deposited from six to eight eggs.
But a single brood is raised in a season. The young birds, as soon as
they are fledged, hunt in company with their parents, and remain
associated with them until the following spring. The eggs of this bird
have a length of .75 of an inch and a breadth of .56. They are of a
rounded oval in shape, and are thickly sprinkled with fine
rust-colored dots, intermingled with a few larger markings of lilac,
on a white ground.


Lophophanes atricristatus, CASSIN.

BLACK-TUFTED TITMOUSE; TEXAS TITMOUSE.

  _Parus atricristatus_, CASSIN, Pr. A. N. Sc. Phil. V, 1850, 103,
    pl. ii (Texas). _Lophophanes atricristatus_, CASSIN, Ill. Birds
    Texas, etc. I, 1853, 13, pl. iii.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 385;
    Review, 78.—COOPER, Birds Cal. 1, 43.

SP. CHAR. Crest very long and pointed (1.25 inches). Above
ash-colored. A broad band on the forehead dirty white, rest of head
above, with crest, black, tinged with ash on the sides. Color of the
back shading insensibly into the dull ashy-white of the under parts.
Sides of body pale brownish-chestnut. Female with the crest duller
black. Iris dark brown. Length, about 5.25 inches; wing, 3.00.

HAB. Valley of Rio Grande, south, into Mexico. San Antonio. Texas.
Vera Cruz, SCLATER.

This species is not rare in Texas, where it has been noticed as far
east as San Antonio.

HABITS. So far as known, the Black-crested Titmouse is restricted in
its distribution to the valley of the Rio Grande, including portions
of Mexico and Western Texas. It was first met with in the latter State
by John W. Audubon, and described by Mr. Cassin in the Proceedings of
the Philadelphia Academy.

In its general appearance and in all its habits it is mentioned as
having so close a resemblance to the common Tufted Titmouse as to be
hardly distinguishable from that bird. Dr. Woodhouse met with this
species near San Antonio, Texas, in March, 1851. While his party was
encamped on the Rio Salado he observed these birds busily engaged in
capturing insects among the trees on the banks of the stream. Like all
the members of this family, it was incessantly in motion and very
noisy. Later in the season, on the 8th of May, the same party, when
encamped on the Quihi, again found this species very abundant among
the oaks. The young males, then fully grown, closely resembled the
adult females, both wanting the black crest that distinguishes the
mature male. He afterward noticed this species occurring at intervals
along his route as far as the head waters of the Rio San Francisco in
New Mexico. He observed it almost exclusively among the trees that
bordered streams of water. The females and the young males invariably
had crests of the same cinereous color as their general plumage, but
in the latter slightly tinged with brown. They occurred in small
parties, were very lively and sociable in their habits, and in their
general appearance and even in their notes so very closely resembled
the Eastern species as, at a short distance, to be hardly
distinguishable from it.

Dr. Heermann, in his report on the birds of Lieutenant Parke’s survey,
mentions having first observed this species near Fort Clarke, in
Texas, where it was very abundant. He describes it as sprightly and
active in its movements, searching with great assiduity for insects in
the crevices of the bark and among the branches of trees. While thus
engaged it keeps up a chattering note, varied with an occasional low
and plaintive whistle. Its habits appeared to him to resemble most
those of the common _Parus atricapillus_. Dr. Heermann states that it
builds its nest in the hollow of trees, and that it lays from twelve
to sixteen eggs. He does not, however, say that he ever met with its
eggs, nor does he give any description of them. The nest, he states,
is composed of fine dry grasses, feathers, wool, mosses, etc.

General Couch’s description of this species and its habits is very
similar. He observed it in the province of New Leon, in Mexico, where
he found it very abundant along the San Juan into the Sierra Madre. He
describes it as a very lively bird, with a very perfect whistle of a
single note.

Mr. Henry A. Dresser sought very diligently for its nest and eggs near
San Antonio and Houston, in Texas, where he found the bird very
common, and where he was sure many pairs remained to breed, but its
nest was very hard to find, and the birds very wary. He succeeded in
finding one nest, in a hollow tree, near the head springs of the San
Antonio River, but it contained young. The nest he does not describe,
nor does he mention the number of young it contained.


Lophophanes inornatus, CASSIN.

GRAY-TUFTED TITMOUSE; CALIFORNIA TITMOUSE.

  _Parus inornatus_, GAMBEL, Pr. A. N. Sc. Phil. Aug. 1845, 265 (Upper
    California).—IB. J. A. N. Sc. new ser. I, 1847, 35, pl. vii.
    _Lophophanes inornatus_, CASSIN, Ill. 1853, 19.—BAIRD, Birds N.
    Am. 1858, 386; Review, 78.—SCLATER, Catal. 1861, 14, no.
    88.—ELLIOT, Illust. I, pl. iii.—COOPER, Birds Cal. 1, 42.

SP. CHAR. Crest elongated. Color above olivaceous-ashy, beneath
whitish. Sides of body and under tail-coverts very faintly tinged with
brownish, scarcely appreciable. Sides of head scarcely different from
the crown. Forehead obscurely whitish. Length, 5 inches; wing, 2.55.

HAB. Southern United States, from Rocky Mountains to Pacific; Western
Nevada (RIDGWAY). W. Arizona (COUES).

The bill and feet of this species are lead-color. The third, fourth,
and fifth quills are longest; the third and eighth about equal; the
second is shorter than the shortest primaries. The lateral
tail-feathers are a little shorter than the others.

A specimen from Fort Thorn has the crest longer than in other
specimens before me, measuring 1.35 inches from base of bill to its
tip. This may be a characteristic of the male, the sexes being
otherwise alike.

HABITS. The Gray Titmouse belongs essentially to the Pacific coast,
coming eastward only as far as the banks of the Rio Grande in Texas.
It was first discovered and described by Dr. Gambel, in his Birds of
California. It has since been met with not only throughout California,
but also in all the southern portions of the Rocky Mountains, in New
Mexico, and from Mimbres to the Rio Grande.

Dr. Woodhouse met with this species in the San Francisco Mountains,
near the Little Colorado River, New Mexico. He found it very abundant,
feeding among the tall pines in company with the _Sitta pygmæa_, _S.
aculeata_, and _Parus montanus_.

Dr. Gambel first noticed this species near Monterey on the 20th of
November. It was flitting actively about among the evergreen oaks of
that vicinity in company with large flocks of several kindred species.
They were all in restless activity, searching every branch for
insects. As well as he could distinguish its notes among those of the
busy throng in the midst of which he observed it, they appeared to
resemble very closely those of the common _P. atricapillus_. Upon his
following it up, it would utter a loud scolding outcry, erect its high
and pointed crest, and appear as angry as possible at the intrusion.
He found it very common, frequenting tall bushes in small flocks,
searching branches of low trees, uttering weak and slender cries,
resembling the syllables _tsēē dāy-dāy_.

Dr. Heermann found it one of the most common of the birds of
California, where it is resident throughout the year. He describes
their notes as possessing an almost endless variety, so much so that
he was repeatedly prompted to follow it as a new species. He met with
a nest of this bird in a deserted woodpecker’s hole, which contained
young.

Dr. Cooper has met with this species in February near San Diego, but
not on the Colorado. They seem to prefer the evergreen-oak groves
toward the middle of the State, but are not found in the higher Sierra
Nevada. They are residents throughout the year in the evergreen oaks
near San Francisco. He adds that they are seen in small parties,
scattered about the trees, and calling to each other with a variety of
sweet and loud notes, some of which are said to equal those of our
best singers. It also has certain powers of imitation like the Eastern
crested species and the same cry of _pēto-pēto_.

It feeds on acorns as well as insects, and often goes to the ground in
search of them. It cracks the acorns with its bill, and hammers at
bark and decayed wood with the industry of a woodpecker.

Mr. Ridgway met with this species among the pines of the eastern slope
of the Sierra Nevada, but nowhere in abundance. Among the cedars it
was almost the only bird seen. He describes its manners as greatly
resembling those of the other species. Its notes, though differing
from those of the Eastern _L. bicolor_, being weaker and less
distinct, retain its vehement and characteristic manner of utterance.


Lophophanes wollweberi, BONAP.

WOLLWEBER’S TITMOUSE; STRIPED-HEADED TITMOUSE.

  _Lophophanes wollweberi_, BON. C. R. XXXI, Sept. 1850, 478.—
    WESTERMANN, Bijdr. Dierkunde, III, 1851, 15, plate.—BAIRD, Birds
    N. Am. 1858, 386, pl. liii, fig. 1; Review, 79.—SCLATER, P. Z. S.
    1858, 299 (Oaxaca, high lands).—IB. Catal. 1861, 14, no.
    89.—COOPER, Birds Cal. 1, 43. _Parus annexus_, CASSIN, Pr. A. N.
    Sc. V, Oct. 1850, 103, pl. i. _Lophophanes galeatus_, CABANIS,
    Mus. Hein. 1850, 1851, 90.

SP. CHAR. Central portion of crest ash, encircled by black, commencing
as a frontal band, and passing over the eye. Chin, throat, and a line
from behind the eye and curving round the auriculars to the throat
(bordered behind by white), as also some occipital feathers, black. A
white line from above the eye margining the crest, with the cheeks
below the eye and under parts generally white. A black half-collar on
the nape. Upper parts of body ashy. Length, about 4.50; wing, 2.50.

HAB. Southern Rocky Mountains of United States, and along table-lands
through Mexico, to Oaxaca (high regions, SCLATER). Orizaba (Alpine
regions, SUM.).

HABITS. Wollweber’s Titmouse, so far as its distribution is known, is
a bird of Western Texas, the high table-lands of Mexico, and of the
whole of New Mexico. It was described by Bonaparte and by Cassin
nearly simultaneously, in 1850. It bears a very close resemblance to
the _Lophophanes cristatus_ of Europe.

Although comparatively nothing is known in reference to the specific
habits of this species, they may be very readily inferred from those
of the other members of this genus, whose characteristics are all so
well marked and so uniform. Dr. Kennerly is the only one of our
naturalists who has mentioned meeting the species in its living form.
In his Report upon the Birds of Lieutenant Whipple’s Survey he states
that he found it in the thick bushes along the Pueblo Creek. Wherever
noticed it was constantly in motion, hopping from twig to twig in
search of its food. He also found it among the pines of the Aztec
Mountains. No mention is made of its nest or eggs, and its
nidification remains to be ascertained.


GENUS PARUS, LINNÆUS.

  _Parus_, LINNÆUS, Syst. Nat. 1735. (Type, _P. major_.)

GEN. CHAR. Head not crested. Body and head full. Tail moderately long,
and slightly rounded. Bill conical, not very stout; the upper and
under outlines very gently and slightly convex. Tarsus but little
longer than middle toe. Head and neck generally black or brown, with
sides white. Nest in holes. Eggs white, sprinkled with red.

In the group, as defined above, are embraced several genera of modern
systematists. The true black-capped American Titmice belong to the
section _Pœcile_ of Kaup, and exhibit but three well-marked forms;
one, _P. montanus_, with a white stripe over the eye; one,
_atricapillus_, without it, with black head; and one, _hudsonicus_,
also without it, and with brown head. The species may be arranged as
follows:—

  1. _Head and neck, above and beneath, black; their sides white._

A. A broad white stripe above the eye, meeting across forehead.

    1. P. montanus. Edges of wing-coverts, secondaries, and tail
    scarcely paler than general tint above. Beneath ashy-whitish,
    medially. Wing, 2.85; tail, 2.50; bill (along culmen), .50;
    tarsus, .69; middle toe, .43; wing-formula, 45, 36, 7, 2;
    graduation of tail, .18. _Hab._ Mountain regions of Middle
    and Western United States.

B. No white stripe above the eye.

  _a._ Tail as long as, or longer than, wing. Conspicuous white
  edgings to wing-coverts, secondaries, and tail-feathers.

    2. P. atricapillus.

    Dorsal region yellowish-cinereous, wings and tail purer ash;
    sides light ochraceous. White edgings of tail-feathers _not_
    margining their ends. Wing, 2.60; tail, 2.60; bill, .40;
    tarsus, .62; middle toe, .36; wing-formula, 4, 5, 6, 3, 7, 8,
    29; graduation of tail, .30. (12,851 ♂: Brooklyn, N. Y.)
    _Hab._ Eastern Province of North America, north of about 39° …
                                                 var. _atricapillus_.

    Dorsal region and sides with scarcely a perceptible yellowish
    tinge; white edgings of tail-feathers passing around their
    ends. Beneath whitish. Wing, 2.75; tail, 2.80; culmen, .35;
    tarsus, .65; middle toe, .40; wing-formula, 5, 4 = 6, 3 = 7, 8,
    2 = 9; graduation of tail, .50. (3704 ♂? Salt Lake City, Utah.)
    _Hab._ Region of Missouri River and Rocky Mountains …
                                              var. _septentrionalis_.

    Colors as in _atricapillus_, but much darker. Beneath more
    ochraceous. Wing, 2.40; tail, 2.50; culmen, .40; tarsus, .60;
    middle toe, .40; wing-formula, 4th, 5th, and 6th equal, 3 = 7,
    2 = 10; graduation of tail, .25. (6762 ♂? Fort Vancouver,
    Washington Territory.) _Hab._ Pacific Province of North
    America …                                    var. _occidentalis_.

  _b._ Tail shorter than wing; no conspicuous white edgings to
  wings and tail.

    3. P. meridionalis.[27] Beneath ashy (nearly dark as upper
    surface), whitish medially. Wing, 2.60; tail, 2.20; culmen,
    .40; tarsus, .63; middle toe, .40; wing-formula, 4, 5, 6,
    3 = 7, 2 = 10; graduation of tail, .10. (10,203, Mexico.) _Hab._
    Eastern Mexico.

    4. P. carolinensis. Beneath pale soiled ochraceous-whitish,
    scarcely lighter medially. Wing, 2.55; tail, 2.30; culmen,
    .35; tarsus, .53; middle toe, .38; wing-formula, 5, 4, 6, 7,
    3, 8, 2 = 9; graduation of tail, .10. (706 ♂, Washington, D.
    C.) _Hab._ Eastern Province of United States, south of about
    40°.

  2. _Head and neck, above and beneath, brown, the throat darkest;
  their sides white._

C. Back, scapulars, rump, and sides rusty-chestnut.

    5. P. rufescens. Side of neck pure white. Wing, 2.35; tail,
    2.00; tarsus, .61; middle toe, .40. Tail scarcely graduated.
    _Hab._ Pacific coast of North America.

D. Back, etc., grayish or ochraceous brown.

    6. P. hudsonicus. Side of neck grayish. Back, etc.,
    smoky-gray. Sides dark rusty-brown. Wing, 2.45; tail, 2.45;
    tarsus, .62; middle toe, .35; graduation of tail, .30.
    (17,101, Halifax, N. S.) _Hab._ Arctic America; south to
    northern boundary of the United States (except to westward).

    7. P. sibiricus.[28] Side of neck white. Back, etc., rusty
    ochraceous-gray. Sides rusty ochraceous. Wing, 2.70; tail,
    2.80; tarsus, .66; middle toe, .36; graduation of tail, .30.
    _Hab._ Europe.


Parus montanus, GAMBEL.

MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE: WHITE-BROWED CHICKADEE.

  _Parus montanus_, GAMBEL, Pr. A. N. S. Phila. April, 1843, 259;
     Journ. A. N. Sc. 2d Series, I, 1847, 35, pl. viii, f.
     1.—BAIRD, B. N. A. 1858, 394; Review Am. B. I, 1864,
     82.—ELLIOT, Illust.—COOPER, Birds Cal. 1, 46.

SP. CHAR. Head and neck above, with under part of head and throat,
glossy black; forehead, stripe above the eye and band below it,
involving the auriculars, white. These stripes embracing between them
a black band through the eye and confluent with the black of the head.
Above ashy; beneath similar, but paler; the upper part of breast and
middle line of belly white. Length about 5 inches; wing, 2.60; tail,
2.40.

HAB. Mountain region of Middle and Western United States.

  [Line drawing: _Parus atricapillus._
                  12851]

HABITS. The Mountain Chickadee was first met with by Dr. Gambel in
journeying westward from Santa Fé, in New Mexico, and from thence was
found in all the ranges of the Rocky Mountains nearly to California.
Its notes and habits are said to closely resemble those of the common
Chickadee, but weaker and more varied. It keeps more in low bushes,
where it moves from branch to branch with untiring activity, searching
each minutely for small insects. It also frequently descends to the
ground to pick up small seeds. While thus occupied it will
occasionally stop, look round, and, uttering a slender _te-de-de_, and
then its usual note, _to-de-de-dait_, will fly to another bush.

On the Rio Colorado they kept chiefly among the cotton-wood trees that
grew along its banks, and its familiar notes were almost the only
sounds heard. They were observed in large and busy flocks along the
smaller streams in company with the Least Tit and the _Reguli_. Dr.
Gambel did not find them, however, so abundant on the California sides
of the ridge, where other species took their place.

Dr. Heermann found this Titmouse abundant among the mountains
surrounding the Volcano in the southern mines, and subsequently met
with them on the summit of the Tejon Pass. He thinks their notes and
habits very similar to those of the _atricapillus_. Dr. Suckley
obtained a single specimen at Fort Dalles, but regarded it as
extremely rare in that locality. Dr. Woodhouse found it quite abundant
in the San Francisco Mountains of New Mexico, where it was feeding
among the tall pines in company with kindred species.

  [Illustration: _Parus montanus._]

Mr. Ridgway found this species in great abundance among the pines on
the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, as well as in all
the extensive cedar-groves on the mountains to the eastward. Around
Carson City this species was found throughout the winter. In its
manners and notes, particularly the latter, it was hardly
distinguishable from _P. carolinensis_. The notes are described as
louder and more distinct, though their calls in spring are rather less
clearly articulated.


Parus atricapillus, LINN.

EASTERN CHICKADEE; BLACK-CAPPED TITMOUSE.

  _Parus atricapillus_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 341 (based on _Parus
    atricapillus canadensis_, BRISSON, III, 553, tab. xxix, fig.
    1).—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 390; Review, 80.—SCLATER, Catal.
    1861, 13, no. 80.—DALL & BANNISTER (Alaska).—SAMUELS, 182.
    _Pœcile atricapilla_, BON. Consp. 1850, 230. _Parus palustris_,
    NUTT. Man. I, 1832, 79.
  Figured by AUDUBON, WILSON, etc.

SP. CHAR. Second quill as long as the secondaries. Tail very slightly
rounded; lateral feathers about .10 shorter than middle. Back
brownish-ashy. Top of head and throat black, sides of head between
them white. Beneath whitish; brownish-white on the sides. Sides of
outer tail-feathers, some of primaries, and secondaries conspicuously
margined with white. Length, 5.00; wing, 2.50; tail, 2.50.

HAB. Eastern North America, north of 39th parallel.

In this species the first quill is spurious; the fourth quill is
longest; the fifth and sixth successively a little shorter; the third
is about equal to, or a little shorter than, the eighth; the second is
a very little longer than the secondaries. The tail is a little
rounded, the innermost feather longest, the rest successively a little
shorter. The greatest difference in length of tail-feathers amounts to
.30 of an inch.

  [Illustration: PLATE VII.

   1. Parus atricapillus, _Linn._ ♂ N. York, 12851.
   2.   “   _var._ septentrionalis, _Harris_. Mission Valley.
   3.   “   _var._ occidentalis, _Baird_. Washington Territory.
   4.   “   carolinensis, _Aud._ ♂ D. C., 706.
   5.   “   montanus, _Gambel_. Nevada, 53456.
   6.   “   rufescens, _Towns._ Pacific coast, 45946.
   7.   “   hudsonicus, _Forst._ N. Scotia.
   8. Psaltriparus melanotis, _Bon._ Mexico.
   9.      “       minimus, _Towns._ Cal., 22417.
  10.      “       _var._ plumbeus, _Baird_. Arizona.
  11. Auriparus flaviceps, _Sund._ 42210.]

The entire crown, from the bill to the upper part of the back, coming
down on the sides to the lower level of the eye, is pure black,
although the edge alone of the lower eyelid is of this color. A second
black patch begins at the lower mandible and occupies the entire under
surface of the head and throat, but not extending as far back within a
quarter of an inch as that on the upper part of the neck. The space
between these two patches, on the sides of the head and neck, is
white, this color extending along the black of the back of the neck as
far as its truncated extremity, but not bordering it behind. The
middle of the breast and belly, as far as the vent, is dull white,
that immediately behind the black of the throat a little clearer. The
sides of the breast and body under the wings, with the under
tail-coverts, are pale, dull brownish-white. The back, rump, and upper
tail-coverts are of a dirty bluish-ash, washed with yellowish-brown,
especially on the rump. The wings are brown; the outer edges of the
third to the seventh primaries narrowly edged with whitish; the
innermost secondaries more broadly and conspicuously edged with the
same; larger coverts edged with dirty whitish. Outer webs of
tail-feathers edged with white, purest and occupying half the web in
the external one, narrowing and less clear to the central feathers,
the basal portions, especially, assuming more the color of the back.

HABITS. The common Chickadee or Black-capped Titmouse is so well known
throughout the greater portion of the United States as to be generally
accepted, by common consent, as the typical representative of its
numerous family. Until recently it has been supposed to be universally
distributed over the continent, and while this is now questioned, it
is not quite clear where its limits occur. In Eastern Maine the _Parus
hudsonicus_ and this species meet. In the District of Columbia it
crosses the northern limits of _P. carolinensis_, and in the northern
Mississippi Valley it mingles with the var. _septentrionalis_. It
remains to be ascertained how far the species exceeds these bounds.

A few individuals of this species were observed by Mr. Dall, December
12, at Nulato, where, however, it was not common. They were also
obtained by Bischoff at Sitka and Kodiak.

As in very many essential respects the whole family of _Paridæ_ are
alike in their characteristics of habits, their manner of collecting
food, their restless, uneasy movements, the similarity of their cries,
their residence in hollow trees or branches, and their nesting in
similar places, with the exception only of a few species that
construct their own pouch-like nests, we have taken the best known as
the common point of comparison. Except in the variations in plumage,
the points of difference are never great or very noticeable.

In New England the Black-Cap is one of our most common and familiar
birds. In the vicinity of Calais, Mr. Boardman speaks of it as
resident and abundant. The writer did not meet with it in Nova Scotia,
nor even in the islands of the Bay of Fundy, where the _hudsonicus_ is
a common bird.

It is a resident species, nesting early in May, and having
full-fledged nestlings early in June. While it seems to prefer the
edges of woods as best affording the means of food and shelter, it by
no means confines itself to these localities, not only appearing
familiarly around the dwellings in the winter season, but also
occasionally breeding in open and exposed places. A hollow post of a
fence in the midst of open cultivated fields, a decayed stump near the
side of a public highway, a hollow log in a frequented farmyard, and
even the side of an inhabited dwelling, are localities these birds
have been known to select in which to rear their young. In the winter
they not unfrequently extend their visits, in search of food, into the
very heart of large and crowded cities, where they seem as much at
home and as free from alarm as in the seclusion of the forest,
searching every crack where insect larvæ or eggs can be hid. On one
occasion a pair had built its nest over a covered well which connects
with the dwelling by a side door, through which water was drawn at all
hours of the day by means of buckets and a rope, the wheel for which
was in close proximity to their nest. They manifested, however, no
uneasiness, and even after the young were ready to fly, the whole
family would return to the place for shelter at night and during
inclement weather.

Their courage and devotion to their young is a remarkable trait with
the whole race, and with none more than with the present species. On
one occasion a Black-Cap was seen to fly into a rotten stump near the
roadside in Brookline. The stump was so much decayed that its top was
readily broken off and the nest exposed. The mother refused to leave
until forcibly taken off by the hand, and twice returned to the nest
when thus removed, and it was only by holding her in the hand that an
opportunity was given to ascertain there were seven young birds in her
nest. She made no complaints, uttered no outcries, but resolutely and
devotedly thrust herself between her nestlings and the seeming danger.
When released she immediately flew back to them, covered them under
her sheltering wings, and looked up in the face of her tormentors with
a quiet and resolute courage that could not be surpassed.

The nest of the Chickadee is usually a warm and soft felted mass of
the hair and fur of the smaller quadrupeds, downy feathers, fine dry
grasses and mosses, lining the cavity in which it is placed and
contracting it into a deep and purse-like opening if the cavity be
larger than is necessary. Usually the site selected is already in
existence, and only enlarged or altered to suit the wishes of the
pair. But not unfrequently, at some pains, they will excavate an
opening for themselves, not only in decaying wood, but even into limbs
or trunks that are entirely sound.

These birds in winter collect around the camps of the log-cutters,
become very tame, and seek on all occasions to share with their
occupants their food, often soliciting their portion with plaintive
tones. Though nearly omnivorous in the matter of food, they prefer
insects to everything else, and the amount of good conferred by them
on the farmers and the owners of woodlands in the destruction of
insects in all their forms—egg, caterpillar, larva, or imago—must be
very great. No chrysalis is too large to resist their penetrating
bill, and no eggs so well hidden that they cannot find them out. I
have known one to attack and fly off with the chrysalis of a
“Woolly-bear” or salt-marsh caterpillar (_Leucarctia acræa_). When
thus foraging for their food they seem totally unconscious of the near
presence of man, and unmindful of what is passing around them, so
intent are they upon the object of their pursuit.

The notes of the Chickadee exhibit a great variety of sounds and
combinations. As they roam through the country in small flocks in
quest of food, their refrain is a continued and lively succession of
varying notes sounding like a quaint chant. When annoyed by any
intrusion, their cry is louder and harsher. They are rarely thus
disturbed by the presence of man, and even when their nest is
approached by him they present only a passive and silent resistance.
Not so when a cat or a squirrel is observed in unwelcome vicinity.
These are pursued with great and noisy pertinacity and hoarse cries of
_dāy, dāy, dāy_, in which they are often joined by others of the same
species.

So far as we have observed them, they are apparently affectionate,
gentle, and loving to each other. We utterly discredit the accusation
that they will treacherously beat out the brains of feeble birds of
their own race. It is unsupported by testimony, and in the instance
cited by Wilson he gives no evidence that this injury may not have
been done by some other species, and not by one of its own kindred.

Their nest is usually near the ground, and the number of eggs rarely
if ever exceeds eight. They are said to have two broods in the season,
but this statement seems to be contradicted by their continued
presence after June in small flocks, evidently the parents and their
first and only brood, who apparently remain together nine or ten
months.

The eggs of this species vary somewhat in regard to the distribution
and number of the reddish-brown markings with which their white ground
is more or less sprinkled. In some they are chiefly gathered in a ring
about the larger end; in others they are distributed over the entire
egg. Their eggs are smaller and a little less spherical in shape than
those of the _septentrionalis_, averaging .58 by .47 of an inch.


Parus atricapillus, var. septentrionalis, HARRIS.

LONG-TAILED CHICKADEE.

  _Parus septentrionalis_, HARRIS, Pr. A. N. Sc. II, 1845, 300.—CASSIN,
    Illust. I, 1853, 17, 80, pl. xiv.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 389;
    Review, 79.—SCLATER, Catal. 1861, 14, no. 82. _Parus
    septentrionalis_, var. _albescens_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858,
    xxxvii. _? Parus atricapillus_, PR. MAX. Cab. Jour. VI, 1858, 119.

SP. CHAR. Length about 5.50 inches; wing, 2.70; tail about 3 inches.
Head above and below black, separated by white on the sides of the
head; back brownish-ash. Beneath white, tinged with pale
brownish-white on the sides. Outer tail-feathers, primaries, and
secondaries broadly edged with white, involving nearly the whole outer
web of outer tail-feather. Tail much graduated; the outer feather
about .50 of an inch shorter than the middle. Second quill about as
long as the secondaries.

HAB. Region of Missouri River to Rocky Mountains.

This race is very similar to the _P. atricapillus_, but differs from
it somewhat as _atricapillus_ does from _carolinensis_. Its size is
much greater; the tail proportionally longer, and much more graduated;
the white of wing and tail purer and more extended. The bill appears
to be stouter and more conical. The back has, perhaps, a little more
yellowish. The spurious or first primary is larger.

It will be a difficult matter to retain this as a species distinct
from _atricapillus_, in view of the insensible gradation from one form
to the other; and it may be looked upon, with scarcely a doubt, as
simply a long-tailed Western variety of the common species. _P.
occidentalis_, and, probably, even _P. carolinensis_, may even fall
under the same category, their peculiarities of color and size being
precisely such as would _a priori_ be expected from their geographical
distribution.

HABITS. The Long-tailed Titmouse appears to have an extended
distribution between the Mississippi Valley and the Rocky Mountains,
from Texas into the British Possessions, specimens having been
received from Fort Simpson and Lake Winnipeg. Among the notes of the
late Robert Kennicott is one dated Lake Winnipeg, June 6, mentioning
the dissection of a female of this species found to contain a
full-sized egg. A memorandum made by Mr. Ross, dated at Fort William,
May 15, speaks of this bird as abundant at Fort Simpson, from August
until November, the last having been seen November 10. One was shot,
June 2, on Winnipeg River, “a female, who was about to lay her egg.”

In regard to its distinct individual history but little is as yet
known. It was discovered and first described by the late Edward
Harris, of New Jersey, who accompanied Mr. Audubon in his expedition
to the upper branches of the Missouri River, and who obtained this
bird on the Yellowstone, about thirty miles above its junction with
the Missouri, on the 26th of July. He describes its notes as similar
to those of the common _atricapillus_, but less harsh and querulous,
and more liquid in their utterance. Subsequently specimens were
obtained by Mr. Kern, artist to the exploring expedition under Fremont
in 1846.

It is the largest species of this genus in America. In its
breeding-habits it is not different from the Eastern representatives.
Mr. B. F. Goss found this species breeding abundantly at Neosho Falls,
in Kansas. They nest in decayed stumps, hollow trees, branches, logs,
etc., after the manner of the _atricapillus_. The excavation is
usually ten or twelve inches, and even more, in depth. The nest is
warmly made of a loose soft felt composed of the fur and fine hair of
small quadrupeds, feathers, and the finer mosses.

The eggs, usually five, occasionally eight, in number, are of a
rounded oval shape, measuring .60 by .50 of an inch. They have a pure
dull-white ground, and the entire egg is very uniformly and pretty
thickly covered with fine markings and small blotches of red and
reddish-brown intermingled with a few dots of purplish.


Parus atricapillus, var. occidentalis, BAIRD.

WESTERN CHICKADEE.

  _Parus occidentalis_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 391 (W. Territory);
    Review, 81.—SCLATER, Catal. 1861, 14, no. 82.—ELLIOT, Illust. 1,
    pl. viii.—COOPER, Birds Cal. 1, 45.

SP. CHAR. Tarsi lengthened. Tail graduated; outer feather about .25 of
an inch shorter than the middle. Above dark brownish-ash; head and
neck above and below black, separated on the sides by white; beneath
light, dirty, rusty yellowish-brown, scarcely whiter along the middle
of body. Tail and wings not quite so much edged with whitish as in _P.
atricapillus_. Length about 4.75; wing, 2.40; tail, 2.40.

HAB. Northwest coast region of the United States.

This race is of the same size as _P. atricapillus_, and resembles it
in its markings; the ashy of the back is, however, washed with a
darker shade of yellowish-brown. The brown of the under parts is so
much darker as to cause the predominant color there to be a pale
yellowish-brown, instead of brownish-white. The fourth quill is
longest; the fifth and sixth a little shorter than the third; the
second is about as long as the secondaries. The tail is rounded,
rather more so than in most _atricapillus_, the difference in the
lengths of the feathers amounting to about .25 of an inch. The amount
of light margining to the quills and tail-feathers is much as in
_atricapillus_, but rather less, perhaps, on the tail.

This seems to be the Pacific coast representative of the _P.
atricapillus_, as _septentrionalis_ belongs to the middle region,
corresponding in its differences with other Western representatives of
Eastern species.

HABITS. Dr. Cooper, in his Birds of Washington Territory, says of this
variety: “The common Black-capped Chickadee, so abundant in the
Eastern States, is, in Washington Territory, represented by the
Western Titmouse, frequenting the low thickets and trees, where it is
always busily employed seeking food.” He observed its nest near Puget
Sound, burrowed in soft rotten wood. Dr. Suckley found it quite
abundant in the valley of the Willamette, and also at Fort Vancouver
during winter. In habits it closely resembles the Black-Cap of the
Eastern States.

It is chiefly found in Oregon and Washington Territory, visiting the
northern part of California in winter, when it is also abundant near
the Columbia River. At this season it is generally found among the
deciduous trees along streams and oak groves, seeking its food among
the branches. It feeds on seeds and insects, and is very fond of fresh
meat, fat, and crumbs of bread. They migrate but little, remaining at
the Columbia River even when the ground is covered with snow. The eggs
are as yet unknown, but without doubt they closely resemble those of
the Eastern species.


Parus carolinensis, AUDUBON.

SOUTHERN CHICKADEE.

  _Parus carolinensis_, AUD. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 474, pl. clx.—IB.
    Birds Am. II, 1841, 152, pl. cxxvii.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858,
    392; Review, 81.—SCLATER, Catal. 1861, 13, no. 81. _Pœcile
    carolinensis_, BON. Consp. 1850, 230.

SP. CHAR. Second quill appreciably longer than secondaries. Tail very
little rounded. Length about 4.50 inches; wing less than 2.50; tail,
2.40. Back brownish-ash. Head above, and throat, black, separated on
sides of head by white. Beneath white; brownish-white on sides. Outer
tail-feathers, primaries, and secondaries, not edged with white.

HAB. South Atlantic and gulf region of United States, north to
Washington, D. C., Texas and the Mississippi Valley; north to Central
Illinois; the only species in the southern portion of the latter State.

This species is, in general, rather smaller than _P. atricapillus_,
although the tail and wing appear to be of much the same size. The
body and feet are, however, smaller, and the extent of wing is three
quarters of an inch less. The bill is apparently shorter and stouter.

The primaries are proportionally and absolutely considerably longer
than the secondaries in the present species, the difference being .55
of an inch, instead of .45. The tail is rather more rounded, the
feathers narrower.

The tail is considerably shorter than the wing, instead of longer; the
black of the throat extends much farther back, is more dense and more
sharply defined behind, than in _atricapillus_. Taking into view these
differences, and others of color, we feel justified in retaining this
as a species distinct from _atricapillus_, and, in fact, having
_meridionalis_ as its nearest relative (see Synoptical Table). Both
this species and _atricapillus_ are found together in the Middle
States, each preserving its characteristics.

HABITS. South of the once famous line of Mason and Dixon this smaller
counterpart of the Chickadee seems to entirely replace it, although in
New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and occasionally even as far to the north
as New York City, the two occur together. Its range is presumed to be
all the States south of the Potomac and the Ohio, as far to the west
as the Rio Grande. It was probably this species, and not the
_atricapillus_, which was met with by Dr. Woodhouse in the Indian
Territory. Without much doubt it breeds in all the States south of
Pennsylvania.

In Southern Illinois, as far north in the Wabash Valley as the mouth
of White River, this is the only species, unless the _P. atricapillus_
occasionally occurs in winter. Specimens from this region are
undistinguishable from those taken in Georgia and the extreme Southern
States, and do not present the peculiar features of _P. atricapillus_.
It is a very abundant species, and resident, being in winter one of
the most common, as well as one of the most familiar birds, inhabiting
_all_ localities, giving preference neither to swampy woods nor to
door-yards, for it is as often seen in one place as another. It is
never gregarious, though many may often be seen or heard at the same
moment. It begins incubation early in April, generally selecting the
wild plum and red-bud trees in the woods. This species very often
constructs its own nesting-places, and the soft wood of these trees is
very easily excavated. The excavation is generally made in a
horizontal dead limb, with the opening on the under side; this is neat
and regular, and as elaborate as those of any of the woodpeckers.
Sometimes, however, a natural cavity is selected, frequently in a
prostrate stump or “snag.” The nest is almost always a very elaborate
structure, being a strong compact cup or bed of “felt,” whose main
material is rabbit-fur and cow-hair.

In its habits it seems to resemble more closely the _P. palustris_ of
Europe than the _atricapillus_, being generally found only in the
immediate vicinity of ponds and deep, marshy, moist woods. It is also
rarely found other than singly or in pairs, the parent birds, unlike
most of this family, separating from their young soon after the latter
are able to provide for themselves. It rarely or never moves in
flocks.

Their notes are said to be less sonorous and less frequent than those
of our Black-capped Titmouse. In the winter a portion retire from the
coast in South Carolina into the interior of the State and into
Florida, where Mr. Audubon found them, in the winter of 1831 and 1832,
much more abundant than he had ever seen them elsewhere. He found them
breeding as early as February, occasionally in the nests deserted by
the Brown-headed Nuthatch. A nest obtained by Dr. Bachman from a
hollow stump, about four feet from the ground, was in form cup-shaped,
measuring two inches internally in diameter at the mouth, and three
externally, with a depth of two inches. It was constructed of cotton,
fine wool, a few fibres of plants, and so elaborately felted together
as to be of uniform thickness throughout.

Mr. Audubon was in error in regard to the eggs, which he describes as
pure white. Their ground-color is of pure crystalline whiteness, but
they are freely and boldly marked all over with deep reddish-brown and
red spots. These, so far as we have compared the eggs, are larger,
more numerous, and more deeply marked than are any eggs of the
_atricapillus_ we have ever met with.

According to the observations of the late Dr. Alexander Gerhardt of
Whitfield County, Georgia, these birds usually breed in holes that
have been previously dug out by the _Picus pubescens_, or in decaying
stumps not more than five or six feet from the ground. He never met
with its nest in living trees. The eggs are from five to seven in
number, and are usually deposited in Georgia from the 10th to the last
of April.

The eggs of this species are slightly larger than those of the
_atricapillus_, and the reddish-brown blotches with which they are
profusely covered are much more distinctly marked. They are of a
spheroidal oval in shape, have a pure white ground, very uniformly and
generally sprinkled with blotches of a reddish-brown. They measure .60
by .50 of an inch.


Parus rufescens, TOWNS.

CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEE.

  _Parus rufescens_, TOWNSEND, J. A. N. Sc. Phil. VII, II, 1837,
    190.—AUD. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 371, pl. cccliii.—IB. Birds Am.
    1841, 158, pl. cxxix.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 394; Review,
    83.—COOPER & SUCKLEY, P. R. R. Rep. XII, II, 1859, 194
    (nesting).—SCLATER, Catal. 1861, 14, no. 86.—DALL & BANNISTER
    (Alaska).—COOPER, Birds Cal. 1, 47. _Pœcile rufescens_, BONAP.
    Consp. 1850, 230.

SP. CHAR. Whole head and neck above, and throat from bill to upper
part of breast, sooty blackish-brown. Sides of head and neck, upper
part of breast, and middle of body, white; back and sides dark
brownish-chestnut. Length, 4.75 inches; wing, 2.36; tail, 2.16.

HAB. Western United States, near Pacific coast.

HABITS. The Chestnut-backed Titmouse was first obtained by Townsend on
the banks of the Columbia River, and described in the Journal of the
Philadelphia Academy. It is a resident, throughout the year, of the
forests of the Columbia, and is found throughout California. Like all
of this familiar family, they may be seen in small flocks, of all
ages, in the autumn and winter, moving briskly about, uttering a
number of feeble querulous notes, after the manner of the
_atricapillus_, but never joining in anything like the quaint and
jingling song of that bird. They occasionally have a confused warbling
chatter. These busy little groups may be often seen in company with
the _Parus occidentalis_ and the _Regulus satrapa_, moving through the
bushes and thickets, carefully collecting insects, their larvæ and
eggs, for a few moments, and then flying off for some other place.
They are supposed to rear their young in the midst of the densest
forests.

Mr. Nuttall states that when the gun thins their ranks the survivors
display surprising courage and solicitude, following their destroyer
with wailing cries, entreating for their companions.

Dr. Gambel found the young of this species in great abundance around
Monterey in the fall and winter months. Dr. Heermann saw them in June,
1852, feeding their young in the vicinity of San Francisco, where,
however, they are rare.

In Washington Territory, Dr. Cooper found this the most abundant
species. It preferred the dense evergreens, where large parties could
be found at all seasons busily seeking food among the leaves and
branches, ascending even to the highest tops. They were usually in
company with the _Reguli_ and the other Titmice. Mr. Bischoff found
them abundant at Sitka.

They nest, like all the others of this genus, in holes in soft decayed
trunks and large limbs of trees a few feet from the ground. Their eggs
are not as yet known.


Parus hudsonicus, FORST.

HUDSON’S BAY CHICKADEE; BROWN-CAPPED CHICKADEE.

  _Parus hudsonicus_, FORSTER, Philos. Trans. LXII, 1772, 383, 430.—
    AUD. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 543, pl. cxciv.—IB. Birds Am. II, 1841,
    155, pl. cxxviii.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 395; Review,
    82.—SAMUELS, 185.—DALL & BANNISTER (Alaska). _Parus hudsonicus_
    var. _littoralis_, BRYANT, Pr. Bost. Soc. N. H. IX. 1863, 368.

SP. CHAR. Above yellowish olivaceous-brown; top of head purer brown,
not very different in tint. Chin and throat dark sooty-brown. Sides of
head white. Beneath white; sides and anal region light brownish-chestnut.
No whitish on wings or tail. Tail nearly even, or slightly emarginate
and rounded. Lateral feathers about .20 shortest. Length about 5
inches; wing, 2.40; tail, 2.66.

HAB. Northern portions of North America, from Atlantic to Pacific.

Specimens from the most northern localities appear larger than those
from Maine and Nova Scotia (_P. littoralis_, BRYANT), with
proportionally longer tails (3.00 inches, instead of 2.40). We can,
however, detect no other difference.

The _Parus sibiricus_ of Europe is very similar in coloration and
characters to the _P. hudsonicus_. The principal difference is seen in
the cheeks, which in _sibiricus_ are pure white, this color extending
along the entire side of the neck, widening behind, and extending
round towards the back. In _hudsonicus_ the cheeks behind the eyes and
sides of the neck are ash-gray, the white being confined to the region
below or near the eye. The smoky-gray of the upper part of head and
neck in _sibiricus_ is in a stronger contrast with the brighter
rufescent-gray of the back, and is separated from it by an obscure,
concealed, whitish dorsal half-collar, represented in _hudsonicus_
only by a dull grayish shade in the plumage.

HABITS. This interesting species, one of the liveliest and most
animated of its family, belongs to the northern and eastern sections
of North America. It is found in the eastern and northern portions of
Maine, and probably also in the northern parts of New York, Vermont,
and New Hampshire. In the heavily wooded mountain-valley of Errol, in
the latter State, Mr. Maynard met with this bird in the latter part of
October, in company with the common _atricapillus_. In the same month
he also obtained two birds in Albany, in the northwestern corner of
Maine. A single specimen was taken at Concord, Massachusetts, October
29, by Mr. William Brewster.

Near Calais it is resident, but not common. It is more abundant in the
islands of the Bay of Fundy, where it takes the place, almost
exclusively, of the _atricapillus_. The writer first met with these
lively little wood-sprites in 1850, in the thick swampy woods which
cover one of the small islands near Grand Menan. Their general
appearance as they flitted through the woods, or rustled restlessly
among the tangled débris of decaying trees and underbrush with which
the forest was choked, was not unlike that of our common Black-Cap.
Yet there was an indescribable something both in their cries and in
their manners that at once suggested a difference of species. To my
ear their cries were sharper, clearer, and a trifle harsher. There was
none of that resonant jingle so full of charm in the Chickadee. Their
notes, too, were more articulate, more like distinct words, and were
brought out at certain times with an emphasis the effect of which was
very striking. Beginning with _tschā-dēē_, the _dēē-dēē-dēē_ was
reiterated with an almost incessant volubility.

It seemed to be a more retiring bird, never frequenting the houses,
but keeping closely to thick and retired woods. Yet it is not a timid
species, but seemed entirely unmindful of our presence, or, when
mindful of it, to resent it as an impropriety, rather than to fear it
as a danger. They apparently had nests or young at the time of my
visit, though I could not detect their locality. One pair became at
last so annoyed at my prolonged presence as to manifest their
uneasiness by keeping within a few feet of my head, following me
wherever I went, and without ceasing from their close surveillance
until I finally left their grove and emerged into the open country.
All the time they brought out the cry of _dēē-dēē_ with a clear,
ringing emphasis that was almost startling.

A few days later, being at Halifax, Mr. Andrew Downes, the naturalist,
took me to the nest of these birds in a small grove in the vicinity of
that city. The nest was in a small beech-tree, and had been cut
through the living wood. The excavation, which was not more than two
feet from the ground, was about ten inches in depth, was in a
horizontal position only about two inches, where it turned abruptly
downward, and from a width of an inch and a half assumed a width of
three, and a depth of seven or eight inches. This was warmly lined
with feathers and soft fur. The nest contained young birds. These
particulars we only ascertained when we had laid bare the excavation
by a sharp hatchet. Though disappointed in our search for eggs, yet we
witnessed a very touching manifestation of devotion on the part of the
parents, and of neighborly solicitude in various other inmates of the
grove, which was at once most interesting and a scene long to be
remembered.

With all the self-sacrificing devotion of the Black-Cap, these birds
displayed a boldness and an aggressive intrepidity that at once
commanded our respect and admiration. I never witnessed anything quite
equal to it. They flew at our faces, assailed our arms as we wielded
the invading hatchet, and it was difficult not to do them even
unintentional injury without abandoning our purpose. Before we could
examine the nest they had entered, and had to be again and again
removed. As soon as we were satisfied that the nest of this heroic
pair did not contain what we sought, we left them, and turned to look
with equal admiration upon the indignant assembly of feathered
remonstrants by which we were surrounded. The neighboring trees
swarmed with a variety of birds, several of which we had never before
seen in their summer homes. There were the Red-Poll Warbler, the Black
and Yellow Warbler, and many others, all earnestly and eloquently
crying out shame upon our proceedings.

Dr. Bryant, in his Notes on the Birds of Yarmouth, N. S., etc.,
mentions finding quite a number of this species on Big Mud Island,
near that place. A pair of these birds with their young were seen by
him near Yarmouth on the 3d of July. Their habits seemed to him
identical with those of the Black-Cap. The young were fully grown and
could fly with ease, yet their parents were so solicitous about their
safety that he could almost catch them with his hand. Their notes
appeared to him similar to those of our common species, but sharper
and more filing, and can be readily imitated by repeating, with one’s
front teeth shut together, the syllables _tzēē-dēē-dēē-dēē_.

Mr. Audubon found a nest of this Titmouse in Labrador. It was built in
a decayed stump about three feet from the ground, was purse-shaped,
eight inches in depth, two in diameter, and its sides an inch thick.
It was entirely composed of the finest fur of various quadrupeds,
chiefly of the northern hare, and all so thickly and ingeniously
matted throughout as to seem as if felted by the hand of man. It was
wider at the bottom than at the top. The birds vehemently assailed the
party.

Mr. Ross, in notes communicated to the late Mr. Kennicott, mentions
that specimens of this species were shot at Fort Simpson, October 13,
in company with _P. septentrionalis_, and others were afterwards seen
towards the mountains. The notes he describes as harsher than those of
the _septentrionalis_. The Smithsonian museum contains specimens from
Fort Yukon and Great Slave Lake, besides the localities already
referred to. Mr. Dall found it the commonest Titmouse at Nulato,
abundant in the winter, but not present in the spring.

The eggs of this species measure .56 by .47 of an inch, are of a
rounded oval shape, and with a white ground are somewhat sparingly
marked with a few reddish-brown spots. These are usually grouped in a
ring around the larger end.


GENUS PSALTRIPARUS, BONAP.

  _Psaltriparus_, BONAP. Comptes Rendus, XXXI, 1850, 478. (Type, _P.
    melanotis_.)
  _Ægithaliscus_, CABANIS, Museum Heineanum, 1851, 90. (Type, _Parus
    erythrocephalus_.)
  _Psaltria_, CASSIN, Ill. N. Am. Birds, 1853, 19.

GEN. CHAR. Size very small and slender. Bill very small, short,
compressed, and with its upper outline much curved for the terminal
half. Upper mandible much deeper than under. Tail long, slender, much
graduated; much longer than the wings; the feathers very narrow. Tarsi
considerably longer than the middle toe. No black on the crown or
throat. Eyes white in some specimens, brown in others. Nest
purse-shaped; eggs unspotted, white.

No bird of this genus belongs to the eastern portion of the United
States. The three species may be defined as follows:—

A. Head striped with black on the sides.

  P. melanotis. The stripes passing under the eye and uniting on
  the occiput. _Hab._ Eastern Mexico

B. No stripes on the head.

  P. minimus. Back ashy; crown light brown. _Hab._ Pacific
  Province of United States …                         var. _minimus._


  Back and crown uniform ashy. _Hab._ Middle Province and
  southern Rocky Mountains of United States …         var. _plumbeus._


Psaltriparus melanotis, BONAP.

BLACK-EARED BUSH-TITMOUSE.

  _Parus melanotis_, HARTLAUB, Rev. Zoöl. 1844, 216. _Pœcile melanotis_,
    BP. Consp. 1850, 230. _Ægithaliscus melanotis_, CAB. Mus. Hein. I,
    1850, 1851, 90. _Psaltria melanotis_, WESTERMANN, Bijd. Dierk.
    1851, 16, plate. _Psaltriparus melanotis_, BONAP. C. R. XXXVIII,
    1854.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1858, 299.—IB. 1864, 172 (City
    Mex.).—SALVIN, Ibis, 1866, 190 (Guatemala).—BAIRD, Birds N. Am.
    1858, 386, pl. liii, fig. 3; Review, 84. _Psaltriparus
    personatus_, BONAP. C. R. XXXI, Sept. 1850, 478.

SP. CHAR. A black patch on each cheek, nearly meeting behind. Crown
and edges of the wing and tail ash-gray; rest of upper parts
yellowish-brown, lighter on the rump. Beneath whitish; anal region
tinged with yellowish-brown. Length about 4 inches; wing, 1.90; tail,
2.30.

HAB. Eastern Mexico; south to Guatemala; Oaxaca (high region),
SCLATER. East Humboldt Mountains, Nevada? RIDGWAY.

  [Line drawing: _Psaltriparus minimus._
                  29711 ♂]

HABITS. In regard to the specific peculiarities and the distinct
individual habits of the members of this pretty little species, little
is at present known. Its mode of nesting has not been observed, and no
mention is made, by those who have met with it, of its peculiarities
of song, nor have we any information in regard to any of its habits.
Its geographical distribution, so far as ascertained, is from the
south side of the valley of the Rio Grande of Mexico to Guatemala, and
there is no reliable evidence of its crossing the United States
boundary line, unless Mr. Ridgway is correct in his assurance that he
saw it in the East Humboldt Mountains of Nevada, near Fort Ruby. It
was first described from Guatemalan specimens. Mr. O. Salvin (Ibis,
1866, p. 190) states that on more than one occasion he observed what
he believed to be this species, in the pine-woods of the mountains
near Solola, and above the lake of Atitlan.


Psaltriparus minimus, var. minimus, BONAP.

LEAST BUSH-TITMOUSE.

  _Parus minimus_, TOWNSEND, J. A. N. Sc. VII, ii, 1837, 190.—AUD.
    Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 382, pl. ccclxxxii, figs. 5, 6.—IB. Birds
    Am. II, 1841, 160, pl. cxxx. _Pœcile minima_, BON. Consp. 1850,
    230. _Psaltria minima_, CASSIN, Illust. 1853, 20. _Psaltriparus
    minimus_, BON. C. R. XXXVIII, 1854, 62.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858,
    397; Review, 84.—COOPER & SUCKLEY, P. R. R. Rep. XII, ii, 1859,
    195.—COOPER, Birds Cal. 1, 48.

SP. CHAR. Tail long, feathers graduated. Above rather dark
olivaceous-cinereous; top and sides of head smoky-brown. Beneath pale
whitish-brown, darker on the sides. Length about 4 inches; wing, 1.90;
tail, 2.25.

HAB. Pacific coast of United States.

There is quite an appreciable difference between specimens of this
species from Washington Territory and California; the latter are
smaller, the under parts paler. In the series before us, however, we
see no grounds for specific distinction.

  [Illustration: _Psaltriparus minimus._]

HABITS. This interesting little species was first added to our fauna
by the indefatigable Mr. Townsend in 1837. It is abundant throughout
the Pacific coast from Fort Steilacoom to Fort Tejon. Dr. Gambel found
it exceedingly abundant both in the Rocky Mountains and throughout
California. During the winter the otherwise cheerless woods were alive
with the busy and noisy troops of these restless and industrious
birds, gleaning their scanty fare in company with the _Reguli_, in
every possible position and manner, from bush and tree. He describes
their anxious solicitous search for food as quite curious. They kept
up a continual twittering, and so intent were they in their employment
that they appeared to lose sight of all danger, and it was by no means
unusual to be so surrounded by a flock as almost to render it possible
to catch them in the hand.

Dr. Cooper found this species abundant in Washington Territory, but
never met with it north of the Columbia River. Dr. Suckley says it is
quite common at Fort Steilacoom. He could not, however, detect any
difference in its habits from those of other species of this family.
He saw none in Washington Territory during the winter, and presumes
they all migrate to the South, though the _rufescens_ and the
_occidentalis_ are found there throughout the winter. Townsend,
however, speaks of it as a constant resident about the Columbia River,
hopping around among the bushes, hanging from the twigs in the manner
of other Titmice, twittering all the while with a rapid enunciation
resembling the words _thshish tshist-tsee-twee_.

Mr. Nuttall first observed their arrival on the banks of the Wahlamet
River about the middle of May. They were very industriously engaged in
quest of insects, and were by no means shy, but kept always in the low
bushes in the skirts of the woods. On one occasion the male bird was
so solicitous in regard to the safety of the nest as to attract him to
the place where, suspended from a low bush, about four feet from the
ground, hung their curious home. It was formed like a long purse, with
a round hole for entrance near the top, and made of moss, down, lint
of plants, and lined with feathers. The eggs were six in number, pure
white, and already far gone toward hatching. In the following June, in
a dark wood near Fort Vancouver, he saw a flock of about twelve,
which, by imitating their chirping, he was able to call around him,
and which kept up an incessant and querulous chirping.

A nest of this bird presented by Mr. Nuttall to Audubon was
cylindrical in form, nine inches in length and three and a half in
diameter. It was suspended from the fork of a small twig, and was
composed externally of hypnum, lichens, and fibrous roots so
interwoven as to present a smooth surface, with a few stems of grasses
and feathers intermingled. The aperture was at the top, and did not
exceed seven eighths of an inch in diameter. The diameter of the
internal passage for two thirds of its length was two inches. This was
lined with the cottony down of willows and a vast quantity of soft
feathers. The eggs were nine in number, pure white, .56 of an inch by
.44 in their measurement.

Dr. Cooper found them throughout the year near San Francisco. He found
one of their nests at San Diego as early as the first of March. The
nest is so large, compared with the size of the birds, as to suggest
the idea that the flock unite to build it. He gives the measurements
as eight inches in length and three in diameter, outside; the cavity
five inches long, one and a half in diameter. It was cylindrical, and
suspended by one end from a low branch.

When one of these birds is killed, Dr. Cooper says that the others
come round it with great show of anxiety, and call plaintively until
they find it will not follow them, becoming so fearless as almost to
allow of their being taken by the hand.


Psaltriparus minimus, var. plumbeus, BAIRD.

LEAD-COLORED BUSH-TITMOUSE.

  _Psaltria plumbea_, BAIRD, Pr. A. N. S. VII, June, 1854, 118 (Little
    Colorado). _Psaltriparus plumbeus_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 398,
    pl. xxxiii, fig. 2; Review, 84.—SCLATER, Catal. 1861, 398, no.
    77.—COOPER, Birds Cal. 1, 49.

SP. CHAR. Tail long, feathers graduated. Above rather light
olivaceous-cinereous. Top of head rather clearer; forehead, chin, and
sides of head, pale smoky-brown. Beneath brownish-white, scarcely
darker on the sides. Length about 4.20 inches; wing, 2.15; tail, 2.50.

HAB. Southern Rocky Mountain region of United States, from mountains
of West Arizona to Green River, Wyoming; west to Carson City, Nevada
(RIDGWAY).

This variety is very similar to the _Psaltriparus minimus_ of the west
coast, which it represents in the Rocky Mountain region. It is,
however, appreciably larger, the wings and tail proportionally longer.
The top of the head is plumbeous, uniform with the back, instead of
smoky-brown. The back is a paler ash, the under parts darker.

HABITS. Of the history of this variety but little is known. It is
found in the southern portion of the Rocky Mountain regions, within
the United States, in Arizona and New Mexico. The extent of its area
of distribution remains to be ascertained. Dr. Kennerly met with it on
Little Colorado River, where he observed it among the scattered bushes
along the banks of the river, occurring in large flocks. These passed
rapidly from place to place, uttering their short, quick notes. He
afterward met with them along the head waters of Bill Williams Fork,
inhabiting the tops of the cotton-wood trees. When attracted to them
by their notes, they could only be seen after a very careful search.
He obtained no knowledge as to their mode of nesting, and no
information, so far as we are aware, has been obtained in regard to
their eggs. It may, however, be safely conjectured that they are
white, and hardly distinguishable from those of the _minimus_. Dr.
Coues found them common near Fort Whipple, Arizona.

Mr. Ridgway met with this bird in especial abundance among the cañons
of West Humboldt Mountains in September. He found it also in all
suitable places westward to the very base of the Sierra Nevada
Mountains. It was met with principally in the thick brushwood
bordering the streams, in ever-restless companies, continually
twittering as they flew from bush to bush, in single rows. Mr. Ridgway
describes these birds as remarkably active in their movements. If
unmolested, they were exceedingly unsuspicious and familiar. During
November he found them inhabiting the cedars, always associating in
scattered flocks.


GENUS AURIPARUS, BAIRD.

  _Auriparus_, BAIRD, Rev. Am. Birds, 1864, 85. (Type, _Ægithalus
    flaviceps_, SUND.)

GEN. CHAR. Form sylvicoline. Bill conical, nearly straight, and very
acute; the commissure very slightly and gently curved. Nostrils
concealed by decumbent bristles. Wings long, little rounded; the first
quill half the second; third, fourth, and fifth quills nearly equal,
and longest. Tail slightly graduated. Lateral toes equal, the anterior
united at the extreme base. Hind toe small, about equal to the
lateral. Tarsus but little longer than the middle toe.

This genus is closely allied to _Paroides_ of Europe, as shown in
Birds of North America (p. 399), though sufficiently different. It is
much more sylvicoline in appearance than the other American _Paridæ_.


Auriparus flaviceps, BAIRD.

YELLOW-HEADED BUSH-TITMOUSE; VERDIN.

  _Ægithalus flaviceps_, SUNDEVALL, Ofversigt af Vet. Ak. Förh. VII,
    v, 1850, 129. _Psaltria flaviceps_, SCL. P. Z. S. XXIV, March,
    1856, 37. _Psaltriparus flaviceps_, SCL. Catal. Am. Birds, 1861,
    13, no. 79. _Paroides flaviceps_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 400,
    pl. liii, fig. 2. _Auriparus flaviceps_, BAIRD, Review, 1864,
    85.—COOPER, Birds Cal. 1, 51. _Conirostrum ornatum_, LAWRENCE,
    Ann. N. Y. Lyc. May, 1851, 113, pl. v, fig. 1 (Texas).

SP. CHAR. Above cinereous; head, all round, yellow; lesser
wing-coverts chestnut; beneath brownish-white. Length, 4.50 inches;
wing, 2.16; tail, 2.35.

HAB. Valleys of the Rio Grande and Colorado; Cape St. Lucas.

  [Line drawing: _Auriparus flaviceps._
                  6764]

HABITS. This new and interesting little species was first added to our
fauna by Mr. Lawrence in 1851, only a year after its first description
as a bird of Mexico. Notwithstanding the abundance in which it has
been in certain localities, less has been developed in regard to its
habits and specific characteristics than we seem to have had a right
to anticipate.

It was found in Western Texas, in Mexico, in the lower valleys of New
Mexico and Arizona, and is very abundant at Cape St. Lucas. Of the
eighteen species of birds found by Mr. John Xantus breeding in the
last-named locality, this one was regarded as the most abundant. In a
letter from that gentleman, written in August, 1859, he mentioned that
he had collected over one hundred eggs of this species, during that
season, in the immediate vicinity of Cape St. Lucas.

  [Illustration: _Auriparus flaviceps._]

Dr. Heermann, in his report on the birds observed in Lieutenant
Williamson’s explorations, states that he first discovered this
species in Southern California, at the terminus of the Mohave River.
Owing to their extreme wildness, he was not able to obtain any
specimens. In searching for their food, he states that they often
remained suspended with their backs downward, after the manner of the
Titmice. He found their nests quite abundant, though from the lateness
of the season few of the birds were remaining, in the neighborhood of
Fort Yuma. Dr. Heermann describes their nests as spherical, formed of
twigs, and having the entrance on one side. The interior was lined
with down and feathers, and contained usually from four to six eggs.
These he describes as having, when fresh, a ground-color of pale blue,
dashed all over with small black spots.

Dr. Kennerly, in his Report on the Birds of the Mexican Boundary
Survey, states that he met with this species in the vicinity of the
Rio Grande. They were very wild, flew rapidly, and to quite a distance
before they alighted. They seemed to frequent the low mezquite-bushes
on the hillsides.

Mr. Xantus found this species, when he first arrived at San Lucas, on
the 4th of April, with young birds already fully fledged, although
others were still breeding and continued to breed until the middle of
July. Two fifths of all the eggs he collected that season, he writes,
were of this species. This may, however, have been in part owing to
the conspicuous prominence of their nests, as well as to their
abundance. Xantus found the nest in various positions. In one instance
it was suspended from a leafless branch not three feet from the
ground, with its entrance nearly to the ground. In another instance it
was on an acacia twenty feet from the ground. For the most part they
are hung from low acacia-trees, on the extreme outer branches. In all
cases the entrance to the nest was from the lower end, or towards the
ground.

Dr. J. G. Cooper, in his History of the Birds of California, speaks of
finding a large number of this beautiful little bird during the whole
winter frequenting the thickets of algarobia and other shrubs, and
with habits intermediate between those of Titmice and Warblers,
corresponding with their intermediate form. Their song resembles that
of the Chickadee, and they also uttered a loud cry, as they sat on
high twigs, with a triple lisping note resembling _tzee-tee-tee_. Dr.
Cooper found a pair building on the 10th of March. They first formed a
wall, nearly spherical in outline, of the thorny twigs of the
algarobia, in which tree the nest was usually built. They then lined
it with softer twigs, leaves, the down of plants, and feathers. They
covered the outside with thorns, until it became a mass as large as a
man’s head, or nine inches by five and a half on the outside. The
cavity is four and a half inches by two, with an opening on one side
just large enough for the bird to enter. On the 27th of March, Dr.
Cooper found the first nest containing eggs. These were in all
instances four in number, pale blue, with numerous small brown spots,
chiefly near the larger end, though some had very few spots and were
paler. Their size he gives as .60 by .44 of an inch. In one nest,
which he closely observed, the eggs were hatched after about ten days’
incubation, and in two weeks more the young were ready to leave their
nest.


SUBFAMILY SITTINÆ.

The characters of the _Sittinæ_ are expressed with sufficient detail
on page 86. The section is represented in America by a single genus,
confined mainly to the northern portion.


GENUS SITTA, LINNÆUS.

  _Sitta_, LINNÆUS, Syst. Nat. 1735. (Agassiz.)

  [Line drawing: _Sitta carolinensis._
                  1761 ♀]

GEN. CHAR. Bill subulate, acutely pointed, compressed, about as long
as the head; culmen and commissure nearly straight; gonys convex and
ascending; nostrils covered by a tuft of bristles directed forward.
Tarsi stout, scutellate, about equal to the middle toe, much shorter
than the hinder, the claw of which is half the total length. Outer
lateral toe much longer than inner, and nearly equal to the middle.
Tail very short, broad, and nearly even; the feathers soft and
truncate. Wings reaching nearly to the end of the tail, long and
acute, the first primary one third of (or less) the third, or longest.
Iris brown. Nest in holes of trees. Eggs white, spotted with reddish.

The North American species may be arranged as follows:—

A. Crown black.

  S. carolinensis. Belly white; no black stripe through eye.

    Bill, .70 long, .17 deep. Black spots on tertials sharply
    defined. _Hab._ Eastern Province North America …
                                                 var. _carolinensis_.

    Bill, .80 long, .14 deep. Black spots on tertials obsolete.
    _Hab._ Middle and Western Province United States, south to
    Cordova, Mexico …                                var. _aculeata_.

  S. canadensis. Belly brownish-rusty. A black stripe through
  eye. _Hab._ Whole of North America.

B. Crown not black.

  S. pusilla. Crown light hair-brown; hind toe much longer than
  the middle one. _Hab._ South Atlantic and Gulf States.

  S. pygmæa. Crown greenish-plumbeous; hind toe about equal to
  middle one. _Hab._ Western and Middle Province United States,
  south to Xalapa.


Sitta carolinensis, var. carolinensis, LATH.

WHITE-BELLIED NUTHATCH.

  _Sitta europæa_, var. γ, _carolinensis_, GM. S. N. I, 1788, 440.
    _Sitta carolinensis_, LATH. Ind. Orn. I, 1790, 262; also of
    all other American writers.—REICHENBACH, Handbuch, Abh. II,
    1853, 153, tab. dxiii, figs. 3563, 3564.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am.
    1858, 374, pl. xxxiii, fig. 4; Review, 86.—MAX. Cab. Jour.
    VI, 1858, 106. _Sitta melanocephala_, VIEILL. Gal. I, 1834,
    171, pl. clxxi.
  Other figures: WILSON, Am. Orn. I, pl. ii, fig. 3.—AUD. Orn. Biog.
    II, pl. clii.—IB. B. A. IV, pl. ccxlvii.

  [Illustration: PLATE VIII.

   1. Sitta carolinensis, _Gm._ ♂ Pa., 59324.
   2.   “        “          “   ♀
   3. Salpinctes obsoletus, _Say._ Cal., 7157.
   4. Catherpes mexicanus, _Sw._, _var._ Mex., 53425.
   5. Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus, _Lafr._ ♂ Cal., 7149.
   6.       “         affinis, _Xantus._ ♂ Cape St. Lucas, 12965.
   7. Sitta canadensis, _Linn._ ♂ Pa., 818.
   8.   “       “          “    ♀ Pa., 2073.
   9.   “   pusilla, _Lath._ Ga., 1925.
  10.   “   pygmæa, _Vig._ Cal., 3342.
  11. Certhia americana, _Bon._ ♂ Pa., 827.]

SP. CHAR. Above ashy-blue. Top of head and neck black. Under parts and
sides of head to a short distance above the eye white. Under
tail-coverts and tibial feathers brown; concealed primaries white.
Bill stout. Female with black of head glossed with ashy. Length about
6 inches; wing about 3.75.

HAB. United States and British Provinces; west to the Valley of the
Missouri.

  [Illustration: _Sitta aculeata._]

HABITS. The common White-bellied Nuthatch has an extended distribution
throughout nearly the whole of Eastern North America, from the
Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains. West of the great central plains it
is replaced by the var. _aculeata_. It has not been met with, so far
as I am aware, farther north than Nova Scotia. It is a resident of
Eastern Maine, and is quite common in the southern and western
portions of the same State. In Massachusetts it is rather common than
abundant, and more plentiful in the western than in the eastern
portions of that State.

The habits of this and the other species of Nuthatches partake
somewhat of those of the smaller Woodpeckers and of the Titmice.
Without the noisy and restless activity of the latter, they seek their
food in a similar manner, and not unfrequently do so in their company,
moving up or down the trunks and over or under the branches of trees,
searching every crack and crevice of the bark for insects, larvæ, or
eggs. Like the Woodpeckers, they dig industriously into decayed
branches for the hidden grub, and like both Woodpeckers and Chickadees
they industriously excavate for themselves a place for their nests in
the decayed trunks of forest trees. Their nest, however, is usually at
a greater elevation, often some twenty or thirty feet from the ground.
The European Nuthatch is said to plaster up the entrance to its nest,
to contract its opening and lessen the dangers of unfriendly
intrusion. This habit has never been observed in any of the American
species.

All our ornithological writers have noticed the assiduities of the
male bird to his sitting mate, and the attention with which he
supplies her with food. He keeps ever in the vicinity of the nest,
calls her from time to time to come to the mouth of the hole to take
her food, or else to receive his endearments and caresses, and at the
approach of danger fearlessly intervenes to warn her of it. When
feeding together, the male bird keeps up his peculiar nasal cry of
_hŏnk-hŏnk_, repeating it from time to time, as he moves around the
trunk or over the branches.

Their favorite food is insects, in every condition. With this, when
abundant, they seem content, and rarely wander from their accustomed
woods in summer. In winter, when snow or ice covers the branches or
closes against them the trunks of trees, they seek the dwellings and
out-houses for their necessary food, and will even alight on the
ground in quest of seeds. In searching for food among the trees, they
move as readily with their heads downward as in any other position.
Their motion is a uniform and steady progression, somewhat in the
manner of a mouse, but never, like the Woodpecker, by occasional hops.

The European species collect and store away the fruit of the hazel and
other nut-bearing trees. Our bird has been supposed to do the same
thing, but this is by no means an indisputable fact.

In some parts of the country absurd prejudices prevail against these
interesting little birds. They are indiscriminately confounded with
the smaller Woodpeckers, called, with them, Sap-Suckers, and because
in the spring and fall they frequent old orchards are most unwisely,
as well as unjustly, persecuted. They are among the most active and
serviceable of the fruit-grower’s benefactors. His worst enemies are
their favorite food. It is to be hoped that soon a better-informed
public opinion will prevail, cherishing and protecting, rather than
seeking to destroy, this useful, affectionate, and attractive species.

Interesting accounts are given in English works of the confiding
tameness of the European species. When kindly treated, it will come
regularly for its food, approaching within a foot or two of the hand
of its benefactor, and catching with its bill the food thrown to it
before it can reach the ground.

The pair work together in constructing the perforation in which they
make their nest. When the excavation has been well begun, they relieve
each other at the task. The one not engaged in cutting attends upon
its mate, and carries out the chips as they are made. These
nesting-places are often quite deep, not unfrequently from fifteen to
twenty inches. Audubon states that they build no nest, but this does
not correspond with my observations. In all the instances that have
come to my knowledge, warm and soft nests were found, composed of
down, fur, hair, or feathers loosely thrown together, and, though not
large in bulk, yet sufficient for a lining for the enlarged cavity
that completes their excavation. Soon after they are hatched, the
young climb to the opening of the nest to receive their food, and,
before they are ready to fly, venture out upon the trunk to try their
legs and claws before their wings are prepared for use, retiring at
night to their nest. In the Southern States they are said to have two
broods in a season.

The eggs of this Nuthatch measure .80 by .62 of an inch. Their
ground-color is white, but when the egg is fresh it has a beautiful
roseate tinge, and generally receives an apparently reddish hue from
the very general distribution of the spots and blotches of rusty-brown
and purplish with which the eggs are so closely covered. These
markings vary greatly in size, from fine dots to well-marked blotches.
Their color is usually a reddish-brown; occasionally the markings are
largely intermixed with purple.


Sitta carolinensis, var. aculeata, CASS.

SLENDER-BILLED NUTHATCH.

  _Sitta aculeata_, CASSIN, Pr. A. N. Sc. VIII, Oct. 1856, 254.—BAIRD,
    Birds N. Am. 1858, 375, pl. xxxiii, fig. 3; Review, 86.—COOPER,
    Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 54. _? Sitta carolinensis_, SCLATER, P. Z. S.
    1856, 293 (Cordova); 1858, 300 (Oaxaca); 1859, 363 (Xalapa), 373
    (Oaxaca).

SP. CHAR. Very similar to _carolinensis_; but upper secondaries with
only obscure blackish blotches, instead of sharply defined
longitudinal spots of clear black. Bill slenderer and more attenuated.

HAB. Western and Middle Provinces of the United States, south to
Cordova, Mex. Orizaba (Alpine regions), SUMICH.

The characters given above express the essential differences between
this and the Eastern race of _S. carolinensis_. In the present form,
the depth of the bill opposite its base is .14, the width .17, and .80
or more in length from the forehead; while these same measurements in
var. _carolinensis_ are .17, .22, and .70. The obsolete character of
the black spots on the secondaries is a persistent feature in the var.
_aculeata_.

HABITS. This bird chiefly differs from its eastern congener in its
more slender bill. There appears to be no difference in regard to
their habits, at least none have been noticed, and it is probable
there is none other than trivial changes caused by its opportunities
of procuring food, and the kinds upon which it subsists. It is
supposed to be distributed throughout Western North America, from the
British Possessions to Mexico, though Dr. Cooper thinks that it is not
a common bird south of San Francisco, and only to be seen there in the
colder months. It has been met with at San Diego in February. He did
not observe any in the Coast Mountains, near Santa Cruz, but northward
they are numerous in the summer, frequenting chiefly the groves of the
deciduous oaks, creeping constantly about their trunks and branches in
search of insects, which they also occasionally seek on the roofs and
walls of houses. Their habits are similar to those of _S. canadensis_,
but their movements are said to be slower, and their note is a single
harsh call, uttered occasionally, and responded to by their comrades.
Dr. Cooper found them quite common in Washington Territory and at
Puget Sound. Dr. Suckley also mentions their great abundance.

Dr. Kennerly met with this species a hundred miles west of
Albuquerque, New Mexico, and quite abundant among the pines of the
Sierra Madre. He speaks of its note as being peculiar.

Mr. J. K. Lord states that this species remained about Colville during
the winter, when the thermometer was 30° below zero. He also mentions
that he found them nesting, in June, in the branches of the tallest
pine-trees, so high up as to render the obtaining their eggs almost an
impossibility.

Mr. Ridgway found the Slender-billed Nuthatch abundant, throughout the
year, in the vicinity of Carson City, among the pines on the Sierra
Nevada Mountains. He noted its great similarity in manners to the
_carolinensis_; at the same time the well-marked difference in the
notes did not escape his attention. These notes are much weaker, and
are uttered in a finer tone, and some of them are said to be entirely
different.


Sitta canadensis, LINN.

RED-BELLIED NUTHATCH.

  _Sitta canadensis_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 177.—AUD. Orn. Biog.
    II, 1834, pl. cviii.—IB. Birds Am. IV, pl. ccxlviii.—REICH.
    Handb. Abh. II, 1853, 152, tab. dxiii, figs. 3561, 3562.—BAIRD,
    Birds N. Am. 1858, 376; Review, 87.—SCLATER, Catal. 1861, 15, no.
    91.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 54. _Sitta varia_, WILS. Am. Orn.
    I, 1808, 40, pl. ii.

SP. CHAR. Above ashy-blue. Top of head black; a white line above and a
black one through the eye. Chin white; rest of under parts
brownish-rusty. Length about 4.50 inches; wing, 2.66. Female with the
black of head mixed with ashy; beneath paler, more of a muddy-white.

HAB. Whole United States and British Provinces. North to Lake Winnipeg.

HABITS. The common Red-bellied Nuthatch, though nowhere a very
abundant species, is found throughout the whole of North America, from
Florida to high northern regions, and from ocean to ocean. The
Smithsonian Institution possesses specimens from Georgia, Selkirk
Settlement, California, and Washington Territory. Mr. Gambel found
them quite common in the mountains in the interior of California, in
October, roving in company with busy flocks of the _Parus montanus_.

Dr. Cooper met with them abundantly in Washington Territory, where
they preferred the oaks and other deciduous trees, and never
frequented the interior of the dense forest. He observed this bird and
the Slender-billed Nuthatch, along the 49th parallel, east of the
Cascade Mountains, as late as the middle of October. Dr. Suckley also
met both birds west of the same mountains.

This Nuthatch was observed by Mr. Ridgway among the aspen groves
bordering the streams that flow from the East Humboldt Mountains. In
that locality it was common through the month of September, though not
abundant. It was again seen in June among the pine-woods of the
Wahsatch Mountains, but it was not common.

While a few of these birds are resident of the Northern States, they
are, to a considerable extent, of migratory habits. Wilson observed
them leaving in large numbers for the Southern States in October, and
returning again in April. On the 20th of May, 1867, the writer
observed a small flock in Eastern Massachusetts, evidently just
arrived from the South. They were apparently fatigued and hungry, and
paid no attention to the near presence of workmen engaged in setting
bean-poles. They visited and carefully examined each pole, and bored
holes into several in search of hidden larvæ, often within a few feet
of persons at work.

While on the Pacific coast they are said to prefer the forests of
deciduous trees, and to be rarely found in the dark evergreen forests,
in the Eastern States they seem to be particularly fond of the seeds
of pine-trees, and in the winter are seldom found in the woods of
deciduous trees.

They feed in pairs and climb about in all directions, usually in
company with the white-breasted species, Chickadees, and the smaller
Woodpeckers. They are restless and rapid in their motions, and have a
voice at least an octave higher than any other of this family. The
note is a monotone, and is unmusical. Mr. Nuttall represents their cry
as consisting of three syllables, represented by _dāy-dāy-dāit_, and
compares it to the sound of a child’s trumpet.

Those wintering at the North occasionally visit farm-yards and
orchards, and examine the eaves of outbuildings for food.

Audubon found this species more plentiful in the woods of Maine and
Nova Scotia than anywhere else. He never met any south of Maryland,
saw none in Newfoundland, and only met with one in Labrador. At
Eastport he found a pair breeding as early as the 19th of April,
before the Bluebirds had made their appearance, and while ice was
still remaining on the northern exposures. An excavation had been made
in a low dead stump, less than four feet from the ground, both male
and female birds working by turns until they had reached the depth of
fourteen inches. The eggs, four in number, were of a white
ground-color, tinged with a deep blush when fresh, and sprinkled with
reddish dots. They raise but a single brood in a season.

C. S. Paine, of East Bethel, Vt., found a nest of this species about
the middle of May, in a small beech-tree, the excavation having been
made at the height of twelve feet from the ground. The hole was about
as large as that made by the Downy Woodpecker. When first noticed, the
bird was looking out of the hole. Having been started out, she flew to
a limb close by and watched the party some time. When she flew back,
she buzzed before the hole in the manner of a Humming-Bird, and then
darted in. While Mr. Paine was looking on, the male came several times
to feed his mate, who would meet him at the opening with a clamorous
noise, to receive his bounty. The nest contained five eggs.

In Western Massachusetts, Mr. Allen speaks of this species as chiefly
a winter resident, appearing the first week in October, and leaving
the last of April.

The eggs of this species measure .62 by .48 of an inch, and are of an
oblong-oval shape. Their ground-color is a clear crystal white, marked
principally about the larger end with a wreath of purple and roseate
markings.


Sitta pygmæa, VIG.

PIGMY NUTHATCH.

  _Sitta pygmæa_, VIGORS, Zoöl. Beechey’s Voy. 1839, 25, pl. iv.—AUD.
    Orn. Biog. V, 1839, pl. ccccxv.—IB. Birds Am. IV, pl.
    ccl.—REICH. Handb. 1853, 153, tab. dxiv, figs. 3365,
    3366.—NEWBERRY, P. R. R. Rep. VI, IV, 1857, 79.—BAIRD, Birds N.
    Am. 1858, 378; Review, 88.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1859, 363
    (Xalapa).—IB. Catal. 1861, 15, no. 93.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1,
    1870, 55.

SP. CHAR. Above ashy-blue; head and upper part of neck greenish
ashy-brown, its lower border passing a little below the eye, where it
is darker; nape with an obscure whitish spot. Chin and throat whitish;
rest of lower parts brownish-white; the sides and behind like the
back, but paler. Middle tail-feather like the back; its basal half
with a long white spot; its outer web edged with black at the base.
Length about 4 inches; wing, 2.40.

HAB. Western and Middle Provinces of United States; south to Xalapa.

This species is closely related to _Sitta pusilla_ of the Southern
States. The brown of the head has, however, an olivaceous-green tinge
not seen in the other; the white spot on the nape less distinct. The
middle tail-feather has its basal half white and the outer web edged
with black at the base. This black edging is never seen in the other,
and the white patch is reduced to a faint trace, only visible in very
highly plumaged specimens.

HABITS. This diminutive species of Nuthatch is found throughout our
Pacific coast and on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains, from
Washington Territory to Southern California. It is also to be found in
New Mexico, and specimens have been procured from Mexico.

Dr. Kennerly found them quite abundant in the Sierra Madre and San
Francisco Mountains, even as high up as the snow-line, seeking their
insect food among the tops of the lofty pines. Dr. Newberry frequently
met with these Nuthatches in the most wooded places on his route,
where water was near and any considerable amount of animal life
visible. He, however, never met with them in the forests of yellow
pines. Dr. Gambel mentions their almost extraordinary abundance, in
the winter months, in Upper California. Around Monterey, at times, the
trees appeared almost alive with them, as they ran up and down and
around the branches and trunks, uttering their monotonous and
querulous cries. Their note he describes as a repeated whistling
_wit-wit_. When one utters this cry, the rest join in. They also have
a whistling trill while they are busily searching the tree in every
part, and they never leave till they have pretty thoroughly searched
every crack.

Dr. Cooper only met with this Nuthatch in the open pine-forests about
Fort Colville, near the 49th parallel. They were associated in small
flocks about the 20th of October, when there were heavy frosts at
night. The chirping noise they made resembled the cries of young
chickens. Their habits were very similar to those of the _Psaltriparus
minimus_.

Mr. J. K. Lord found this Nuthatch an abundant bird along the entire
length of the boundary line from the coast to the Rocky Mountains. It
was also common on Vancouver Island. They were seen in large flocks in
company with the Chickadees, except during the nesting-time, which is
in June. A few were winter residents at Colville, but the greater
number left in November. He describes it as a very active bird, always
on the move. After nesting they congregate in large flocks and move
about from tree to tree, twittering a low sweet note as if singing to
themselves, now climbing back downwards along the under sides of the
topmost branches of tall pines, searching into every crevice for
insects, or, descending to the ground, clinging to the slender
flower-stalks for other insects. They nest in June, make a hole in the
dead branch of a pine, and deposit their eggs on the bare chips of the
wood. This account does not agree with the experience of California
ornithologists, who have found a loose nest within the excavation.

Mr. Ridgway found this Nuthatch abundant among the pines of the Sierra
Nevada, in the vicinity of Carson City. They were found generally in
pairs. Its note is said to greatly resemble the vociferous peeping of
some of the small Sandpipers, being sharp, loud, and distinct, and
vigorously and continuously uttered, whether climbing or flying. He
found it exceedingly hard to discover this bird among the branches, or
even when flying, owing to the swiftness and irregularity of its
flight. When the female of a pair had been killed, the male bird was
extremely loud in his lamentations. Diminutive as this bird is, Mr.
Ridgway states that it is also the noisiest of all the feathered
inhabitants of the pines, though it is less active in the pursuit of
insects than the larger species.

Nests of this bird obtained near Monterey appear to be as well made as
those of any of this genus, lining the cavity in which they are placed
and conforming to it in size and shape, the materials sufficiently
interwoven to permit removal and preservation, and warmly constructed
of feathers, wool, vegetable down, hair, and the silky efflorescence
of seeds.

Their eggs, seven in number, resemble those of the _S. canadensis_,
but are of smaller size and a little more pointed at one end. Their
ground-color is crystalline-white. This is covered more or less
thickly with red spots, most numerous at the larger end. Their measure
varies from .65 by .50 to .60 by .47 of an inch. The first eggs of
this bird brought to the notice of naturalists were procured at Fort
Crook on the Upper Sacramento of California, and not far from Mount
Shasta, by Sergeant John Feilner, U. S. A., forming part of a very
extensive collection of birds and eggs transmitted by him to the
Smithsonian Institution. Promoted to a lieutenancy for gallant
conduct, this gentleman finally attained the rank of captain of
cavalry, and was killed by the Sioux during an exploring expedition
into Dacotah under General Sully.


Sitta pusilla, LATH.

BROWN-HEADED NUTHATCH.

  _Sitta pusilla_, LATH. Ind. Orn. I, 1790, 263.—WILS. Am. Orn. II,
    1810, 105, pl. XV.—AUD. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, pl. cxxv.—IB. Birds
    Am. IV, pl. ccxlix.—REICH. Handb. 1853, 153, tab. dxiv, figs.
    3567, 3568.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 377; Review, 88.—SCLATER,
    Catal. 1861, 15.

SP. CHAR. Above ashy-blue; top of head and upper part of neck rather
light hair-brown, divided on the nape by white. Eye involved in the
brown, which is deeper on the lower border. Beneath muddy-whitish;
sides and behind paler than the back. Middle tail-feathers almost
entirely like the back. Length of female, 4 inches; wing, 2.50.

HAB. South Atlantic and Gulf States. Ohio! KIRTLAND.

HABITS. The Brown-headed Nuthatch has a much more restricted
distribution than the other members of this family in this country.
The specimens in the Smithsonian Museum are chiefly from Georgia.
Wilson met with it in Virginia, and states that it is found in the
other Southern States. I have received its eggs from Cheraw, S. C.,
and from Florida.

Wilson’s description of its habits makes them almost identical with
those of _Sitta canadensis_, while its notes are more shrill and
chirping. Like that bird, it is very fond of the seeds of the pines.
Wherever found, it is a constant resident, and does not migrate.

Audubon states that this bird never goes farther north than Maryland,
and that it is the most abundant in Florida, Georgia, and the
Carolinas. In Louisiana it is rare, and it is not found in Kentucky.
Its notes, he states, are several octaves higher than those of the
_carolinensis_, and more shrill, and at least an octave and a half
higher than those of the _canadensis_.

Although apparently preferring pines and pine barrens, it by no means
confines itself to them, but is not unfrequently seen on low trees and
fences, mounting, descending, and turning in every direction, and with
so much quickness of motion as to render it difficult to shoot it. It
examines every hole and every crevice in the bark of trees, as well as
their leaves and twigs, among which it finds abundance of food at all
seasons. During the breeding-season they go about in pairs and are
very noisy. Their only note is a monotonous cry, described as
resembling _dĕnd, dĕnd_. Mr. Audubon further states that when the
first brood leaves the nest, the young birds keep together, moving
from tree to tree with all the activity of their parents, who join
them when the second brood is able to keep them company. In Florida
they pair in the beginning of February, having eggs as early as the
middle of that month. In South Carolina they breed one month later.
Their nest is usually excavated by the birds themselves in the dead
portion of a low stump or sapling, sometimes only a few feet from the
ground, but not unfrequently at the height of thirty or forty feet.
Both birds are said to work in concert with great earnestness for
several days, until the hole, which is round, and not larger at the
entrance than the body of the bird, is dug ten or twelve inches deep,
widening at the bottom. The eggs, according to Mr. Audubon, are laid
on the bare wood. This, however, is probably not their constant habit.
The eggs, from four to six in number, and not much larger than those
of the Humming-Bird, have a white ground, thickly sprinkled with fine
reddish-brown dots. They are said to raise two, and even three, broods
in a season. According to the observations of the late Dr. Gerhardt of
Northern Georgia, the Brown-headed Nuthatch breeds in that part of the
country about the 19th of April.

The eggs of this Nuthatch are of a rounded oval shape, measuring .60
by .50 of an inch. Their white ground-color is so completely overlaid
by a profusion of fine dottings of a dark purplish-brown as to be
entirely concealed, and the egg appears almost as if a uniform
chocolate or brown color.




FAMILY CERTHIADÆ.—THE CREEPERS.


CHAR. Primaries ten; first very short; less than half the second. Tail
long, wedge-shaped, the feathers stiffened and acute. Bill slender,
much compressed and curved. Outer lateral toe much longest; hind toe
exceeding both the middle toe and the tarsus, which is scutellate
anteriorly and very short. Entire basal joint of middle toe united to
the lateral.


GENUS CERTHIA, LINN.

  _Certhia_, LINNÆUS, Syst. Nat. ed. 10th, 1758, 112. (Type, _C.
    familiaris_.) (See REICHENBACH, Handbuch, I, II, 1853, 256, for a
    monograph of the genus.)

  [Line drawing: _Certhia americana._
                  827 ♂]

GEN. CHAR. Plumage soft and loose. Bill as long as head, not notched,
compressed; all its lateral outlines decurved. Nostrils not overhung
by feathers, linear, with an incumbent thickened scale, as in
_Troglodytes_. No rictal bristles, and the loral and frontal feathers
smooth, without bristly shafts. Tarsus scutellate anteriorly, shorter
than middle toe, which again is shorter than hind toe. All claws very
long, much curved and compressed; outer lateral toe much the longer;
basal joint of middle toe entirely adherent to adjacent ones. Wings
rather pointed, about equal to the tail, the feathers of which are
much pointed, with stiffened shafts. Primaries ten; first less than
half the second. Nest in holes of trees; eggs white, sprinkled with
reddish.

  [Illustration: _Certhia americana._]

Of the _Certhiadæ_ but one genus belongs to America,—_Certhia_, with
its one small species of considerable variability with locality. The
characters above given include both family and generic characters,
derived from this one genus. This is readily distinguished by the
decurved, compressed bill; absence of notch and bristles; exposed
linear nostrils with incumbent scales; connate middle toe, very long
claws, short tarsi, pointed and stiffened tail-feathers, etc.

The American and European varieties (they can scarcely be called
species) resemble each other very closely, though they appear to be
distinguished by such differences as the following:—

The two European races, _C. familiaris_ and _C. costæ_, both differ
from all the American varieties in having the crissum scarcely tinged
with yellowish. _C. familiaris_ is more ashy beneath than any others,
and _C. costæ_ is purest white beneath of all. Nearest _C.
familiaris_, in the American series, as regards tints of the upper
parts, are the Pacific coast specimens of _C. americana_,—while the
latter are most like the Atlantic region specimens of the same. _C.
mexicana_ is to be compared only with the North American forms, though
it is the only one approaching _familiaris_ in the ashy lower parts.

_C. familiaris_ is at once separated from the rest by having the tail
shorter than the wing.

_C. costæ_ is almost precisely like Eastern specimens of _C.
americana_ in colors, but is absolutely pure white below, and without
the distinctly yellowish crissum of the American bird. The bill and
claws, however, are considerably longer than in Eastern _americana_,
though their size is almost equalled by those of Western specimens;
the colors are, however, more decidedly different.

There is never any deviation from the generic _pattern_ of coloration;
but the variation, _among individuals of each form_, in length of the
bill and claws, as well as the tail, is remarkable.


Certhia familiaris, var. americana, BONAP.

BROWN CREEPER.

  _Certhia fusca_, BARTON, Fragments of the Natural History of
    Pennsylvania, 1799, II. _Certhia familiaris_, VIEILL. Ois. Am.
    Sept. II, 1807, 70 (not the European bird); also of WILSON and
    AUDUBON.—MAYNARD, Birds E. Mass. 1870, 93. _Certhia americana_,
    BONAP. Comp. List. 1838.—REICH. Handb. I, 1853, 265, pl. dcxv,
    figs. 4102, 4103.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 372; Review,
    89.—MAX. Cab. Jour. 1858, 105.—COOPER & SUCKLEY, P. R. R. Rep.
    XII, II, 1859, 192.—HAMLIN, Pr. Bost. Soc. N. H. 1864—66, 80.
    _Certhia mexicana_, COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 58.

SP. CHAR. Bill about the length of the head. Above dark brown, with a
slightly rufous shade, each feather streaked centrally, but not
abruptly, with whitish; rump rusty. Beneath almost silky-white; the
under tail-coverts with a faint rusty tinge. A white streak over the
eye; the ear-coverts streaked with whitish. Tail-feathers brown
centrally, the edges paler yellowish-brown. Wings with a transverse
bar of pale reddish-white across both webs. Length, 5.50; wing, 2.60;
tail, 2.90. (No. 827.)

_Young._ (5945, Steilacoom, W. T.; Dr. J. S. Cooper.) Resembling the
adult, but streaks above indistinct, and the feathers there tipped
indistinctly with blackish; the rufous restricted to the upper
tail-coverts. Breast and jugulum with very minute blackish wavings or
indistinct bars.

HAB. Whole of United States, to Red River Settlement.

Specimens from the far west are purer white beneath, much as in
_costæ_, but those from the northwest coast have the white tinged with
light rusty. Though purer white below, these specimens are much
browner above than Eastern ones,—sometimes more so than in
_familiaris_, but then there is the yellowish crissum never seen in
this “species,” and the proportions are quite different. Thus it will
be seen the _C. americana_ may always be distinguished from the other
forms; when most resembling _costæ_ in the grayish tints of the upper
plumage (as in Eastern examples), the lower parts are less purely
white, and the bill and claws smaller; when like it in the proportions
and pure white of the lower parts (as in Western specimens), the
colors above are altogether more brown. The yellowish crissum of
_americanus_ will also distinguish them. Though often resembling
_familiaris_ in the colors of the upper parts, the latter may always
be distinguished by its ashy lower parts without yellowish crissum,
the shorter tail, with its less acute feathers, and stouter bill.

_C. mexicanus_ is still more different in colors, for which see that
variety.

HABITS. Our common Creeper, so closely resembling the Creeper of
Europe as by many to be supposed identical with it, is distributed
over the whole of North America, from the Gulf of Mexico to high
northern latitudes. At different seasons it may be found in every one
of the several States and Territories, yet it is never very abundant.
The Smithsonian possesses specimens from various parts of the country,
from Georgia to Fort Steilacoom on the Pacific, but of these none
appear to have been secured during the period of reproduction. Dr.
Heermann found them very common in the more mountainous districts of
California. Dr. Cooper found these birds abundant in the forests of
Washington Territory, but difficult to detect from the similarity of
their color to that of the bark over which they crept. They were
apparently constant residents in that Territory. Dr. Suckley, who
obtained several specimens of this species in the oak groves in the
vicinity of Fort Steilacoom, states that in their habits the Western
birds resemble those of the Atlantic States.

Mr. Ridgway found this Creeper inhabiting both the pine forests of the
Sierra Nevada, where it was the more common, and also, in winter,
among the willows of the river valleys. He did not meet with it east
of the Truckee River, nor until he had reached the Wahsatch Mountains.

Dr. Woodhouse found the Brown Creeper generally distributed throughout
the Indian Territory, Texas, New Mexico, and California, and adds that
it was especially abundant in the San Francisco Mountains of New
Mexico.

Dr. Cooper states that he has met with this form in the winter
throughout the higher mountains and among the Coast Range as far south
as Santa Cruz. He found them chiefly frequenting the coniferous trees,
creeping up and down their trunks and branches, searching for insects
in their crevices, and so nearly resembling the bark in their general
color, that they can be detected only with great difficulty, except
when in motion.

He adds that their notes are shrill and wiry, and are often heard when
the bird is scarcely visible, without a careful search, their cry
appearing to be from a greater distance than the real performer. In
March, Dr. Cooper heard them giving out a faint but sharp-toned song,
resembling that of a Wren. If Dr. Cooper is correct in his account of
the notes, they do not correspond with those of our Eastern bird.

Dr. Kennerly, in his Report on the birds observed by him near the 35th
parallel, states that he found our common Creeper very abundant among
the rough-barked cedars in the Aztec Mountains. It usually attracted
notice, and its place of retreat was discovered, by his hearing its
quick and sharp notes. A close and careful search generally enabled
him to perceive it proceeding leisurely upward and downward, in
straight or spiral lines, toward the top of the tree, dodging
dexterously to the opposite side from the observer, and only resuming
its occupation when assured of solitude and safety.

The observations of Dr. Kennerly, if they are to be received as
characteristic of the Western Creepers, do not correspond with those
of our Eastern birds, as far as we have observed them. None of our
birds are more easily approached, and when they are pursuing their
search for food, none are more regardless of observation. The
statement that our Creeper, when watched, moves to the opposite side
of the tree from the looker-on, has found a certain currency in our
books. We are, however, of the opinion that this is owing to its
restless activity, prompting it to constant changes of place and
position, and not to its timidity or caution. We have uniformly found
them either unconscious or regardless of our near presence.

They are solitary in their habits, and frequent, especially in the
summer, deep woods, searching for their favorite food in high places
where it is difficult to reach them, but this is no necessary evidence
of their shyness. They often hunt for their food in very exposed
places, with equal courage and recklessness. It is an active, restless
bird, associating with Titmice and the smaller Woodpeckers, moving
with great rapidity from side to side and from place to place. They
breed in hollow trees, in the deserted holes of the Woodpeckers, and
in the decayed stumps and branches of trees. Their nest is a loose
aggregation of soft, warm materials, not interwoven, but simply
collected with regard to no other requisite than warmth.

In the summer of 1851 our party, in their visit to one of the smaller
Grand Menan Islands, was so fortunate as to meet with the nest of this
bird. It was built in a decayed birch-tree, only a few feet from the
ground, and contained five eggs nearly ready to hatch. This was on the
20th of June. The nest was an intermingling of decayed wood, the fur
of small quadrupeds, and feathers, but with so little adherence or
consistency of form that it was impossible to retain the materials in
position after removal.

So far from evincing any timidity, the birds refused to leave their
nest, and could hardly be prevented from following it when removed
from the woods to a house on the island. One of our companions,
returning to the woods in order to secure the birds for the sake of
identification, found the pair still lingering round the place of
their rifled nest. Upon his approach they began to circle round his
head with reproachful cries, and continued to keep so close to him
that it was impossible to shoot one without mutilating it. At length
one of the birds alighted on a small branch held over his head by a
lad who accompanied him, and in this position was secured by shooting
it with a pistol loaded with the finest shot. Its mate could have been
secured, as she persisted in pursuing them, but she was not molested.
Throughout there was not a trace of timidity on the part of either
bird, but the most reckless and daring devotion.

Besides the single call-note or the sharp outcry with which the
Creepers signalize their movements, and which they utter from time to
time as they rapidly and busily move up and down the trunks and limbs,
or flit from tree to tree, they have been generally regarded as having
no song. But this is not the fact. The careful observations of Mr.
William Brewster of Cambridge have satisfied him that these birds have
a very distinct and varied song. During the winter these birds are not
uncommon in the vicinity of Boston, coming about the houses with all
the tameness and confidence of the _Parus atricapillus_, and permit a
very near approach. They are very easily attracted by suspending from
a piazza a piece of fat meat. Mr. Brewster has observed them commence
singing as early as the 14th of March. Their notes are varied and
warbling and somewhat confused; some of them are loud, powerful, and
surpassingly sweet, others are more feeble and plaintive; their song
usually ends with their accustomed cry, which may be represented by
_crēē-crēē-crē-ēp_. Mr. Brewster, besides repeatedly hearing them sing
in Massachusetts in the early spring, has also listened to their song
in Maine in the month of June.

Their eggs are small in proportion to the size of the bird, are nearly
oval in shape, with a grayish-white ground, sparingly sprinkled with
small, fine, red and reddish-brown spots. They measure .55 by .43 of
an inch.


Certhia familiaris, var. mexicana, GLOG.

MEXICAN CREEPER.

  _Certhia mexicana_, “GLOGER, Handbuch,” REICHENBACH, Handbuch, I,
    1853, 265, pl. dlxii, figs. 3841, 3842.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1856,
    290; 1858, 297; 1859, 362, 372.—SALVIN, Ibis, 1866, 190 (Volcan
    de Fuego, Guat.).—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 373 (under _C.
    americana_), pl. lxxxiii, fig. 2; Review, 90.

SP. CHAR. Ground-color above very dark sepia-brown, each feather with
a sharply defined medial streak of grayish-white, these streaks
becoming broader posteriorly, where they are discontinued at the
beginning of the rump. Whole rump and upper tail-coverts
chestnut-rufous. Beneath pale ashy, becoming almost white on the
throat; crissal feathers deep ochraceous except at the tips, which are
whitish. Markings of the wings as usual. Measurements (8176, Mexico):
wing, 2.50; tail, 2.70; bill (from nostril), .48; hind claw, .30.

HAB. Guatemala and Mexico; probably extending along the table-lands
into the United States.

This is one of the best marked of the various races that have been
discussed (see p. 124). The ground-color of the upper parts is
altogether darker than in any of the others, and the streaks are more
sharply defined and narrower; the rufous of the rump is of a
castaneous, instead of yellowish cast; the wings appear more uniform
with the back, owing to the dark color of the latter, and their pale
markings have little of that yellowish tinge so noticeable in the
others. In the ashy tinge of the lower parts there is a resemblance to
_familiaris_ of Europe; but the latter has not the ochraceous crissum
so noticeable in the present bird. There is little resemblance to
Western and Rocky Mountain specimens of the _C. americana_ and if
these are to be considered as separable from the Eastern (which,
however, would not, in our opinion, be advisable) they must not be
referred to _mexicana_.

The Mexican Creeper is introduced here on account of the probability
of its occurrence in the Southern Rocky Mountains.

HABITS. Mr. Salvin found the Mexican Tree-Creeper by no means uncommon
in the pine forests of the upper zone of the Volcan de Fuego. He also
observed it frequenting pine-trees in the district of Chilasco, Vera
Paz, at about 6,000 feet above the sea.




FAMILY TROGLODYTIDÆ.—THE WRENS.


CHAR. Rictal bristles wanting; the loral feathers with bristly points;
the frontal feathers generally not reaching to nostrils. Nostrils
varied, exposed or not covered by feathers, and generally overhung by
a scale-like membrane. Bill usually without notch (except in some
Middle American genera). Wings much rounded, about equal to tail,
which is graduated. Primaries ten, the first generally about half the
second. Basal joint of middle toe usually united to half the basal
joint of inner, and the whole of that of the outer, or more. Lateral
toes about equal, or the outer a little the longer. Tarsi scutellate.

The impossibility of defining any large group of animals, so as to
separate it stringently and abruptly from all others, is well
understood among naturalists; and the _Troglodytidæ_ form no exception
to the rule. Some bear so close a resemblance to the Mocking Thrushes
as to have been combined with them; while others again exhibit a close
approximation to other subfamilies. The general affinities of the
family, however, appear to be to the _Turdidæ_, and one of the best
characters for separating the two families appears to exist in the
structure of the feet.

In the _Turdidæ_ the basal joint of the outer lateral toe is united to
the middle toe, sometimes only a part of it; and the inner toe is
cleft almost to its very base, so as to be opposable to the hind toe,
separate from the others. In the _Troglodytidæ_, on the contrary, the
inner toe is united by half its basal joint to the middle toe,
sometimes by the whole of this joint; and the second joint of the
outer toe enters wholly or partially into this union, instead of the
basal joint only. In addition to this character, the open, exposed
nostrils, the usually lengthened bill, the generally equal lateral
toes, the short rounded wings, the graduated tail, etc., furnish
points of distinction.


Genera.

A. Lateral toes very unequal.

  _a._ Culmen depressed basally, the interval between the
  nostrils wider than the much compressed anterior half of the
  bill. Plate on the posterior half of the tarsus continuous.
  Catherpes.

  _b._ Culmen compressed basally, the interval between the
  nostrils narrower than the rather depressed anterior half of
  the bill. Plate on the posterior half of the tarsus broken into
  smaller scales. Salpinctes.

B. Lateral toes equal.

  _c._ Length about 8 inches. Campylorhynchus.

  _d._ Length less than 6 inches.

    Bill abruptly decurved or hooked at the tip. Outstretched
    feet not reaching near to end of tail. Thryothorus.

      Tail longer than the wing, the feathers black, variegated
      terminally with whitish …                Subgenus _Thryomanes_.

      Tail shorter than the wing, the feathers rusty, not
      variegated with whitish …               Subgenus _Thryothorus_.

    Bill only gently curved at the tip. Outstretched feet
    reaching nearly to or beyond the end of the tail.

    Back without streaks. No distinct superciliary stripe.
    Troglodytes.

      Bill curved, sub-conical. Tail as long as wing.…
                                              Subgenus _Troglodytes_.

      Bill straight, subulate. Tail much shorter than wing.…
                                                Subgenus _Anorthura_.

    Back streaked with black and white. Cistothorus.

      Bill short, stout; its depth equal to one half its length
      from the nostril; gonys straight or even convex, ascending.
      Crown streaked; no distinct superciliary stripe.…
                                              Subgenus _Cistothorus_.

      Bill elongated, slender; its depth less than one third its
      length from the nostril; gonys slightly concave, declining.
      Crown not streaked; a conspicuous superciliary stripe.…
                                             Subgenus _Telmatodytes_.


GENUS CAMPYLORHYNCHUS, SPIX.

  _Campylorhynchus_, SPIX, Av. Bras. I, 1824, 77. (Type, _C.
    scolopaceus_, SPIX = _Turdus variegatus_, GMEL.)

  [Line drawing: _Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus._
                  7149]

GEN. CHAR. Bill stout, compressed, as long as, or longer than the
head, without notch or rictal bristles; culmen and commissure
curved; gonys nearly straight. Nostrils in the antero-inferior
part of nasal groove, in advance of the frontal feathers, with an
overhanging scale with thickened edge, as in _Thryothorus_;
sometimes, as in the type, reduced to a slight ridge along the
upper side of the nasal groove. Lateral septum not projecting
below or anteriorly into the nasal cavity, but concealed by the
nasal scale. Tarsus a little longer than middle toe and claw;
claws strong, much curved, and very sharp; middle toe with basal
joint adherent almost throughout. Wings and tail about equal, the
latter graduated; the exterior webs of lateral feathers broad.

This genus embraces the largest species of the family, and is
well represented in Middle and South America, two species only
reaching into North America, which may be distinguished as
follows:—

Top of head and post-ocular stripe reddish-brown; back streaked
longitudinally and linearly with white. All the feathers beneath
conspicuously spotted. Crissum and flanks with rounded or
elongated spots. Iris reddish. Nostrils inferior, linear,
overhung by a scale. Nests large and purse-shaped; eggs white,
profusely marked with salmon-colored or reddish spots.

  _a._ Spots much larger on throat and jugulum than elsewhere.
  Inner webs of second to fifth tail-feathers (between middle
  and outer feathers) black, except at tips. Length, 8.00; wing,
  3.40; tail, 3.55. _Hab._ Adjacent borders of United States
  and Mexico …                                     _brunneicapillus._

  _b._ Spots on throat and jugulum little larger than elsewhere.
  Inner webs of intermediate tail-feathers banded with white like
  the outer. Length, 7.50. _Hab._ Cape St. Lucas …         _affinis._


Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus, GRAY.

CACTUS WREN.

  _Picolaptes brunneicapillus_, LAFRESNAYE, Mag. de Zool. 1835, 61,
    pl. xlvii.—LAWR. Ann. N. Y. Lyc. V, 1851, 114.—CASSIN, Birds
    Cal. Tex. 1854, 156, pl. xxv.—HEERMANN, J. A. N. Sc. II, 1853,
    263. _C. brunneicapillus_, GRAY, Genera, I, 1847, 159.—BP. Consp.
    1850, 223.—SCL. P. A. N. S. 156, 264.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858,
    355; Pr. Phil. Acad. 1859, 3, etc.; Rev. 99.—HEERMANN, P. R. R.
    X, 1859.—DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 482 (Texas).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1,
    1870, 61.

SP. CHAR. Bill as long as the head. Above brown; darkest on the head,
which is unspotted. Feathers on the back streaked centrally with
white. Beneath whitish, tinged with rusty on the belly; the feathers
of the throat and upper parts, and under tail-coverts, with large
rounded black spots; those of the remaining under parts with smaller,
more linear ones. Chin and line over the eye white. Tail-feathers
black beneath, barred subterminally (the outer one throughout) with
white. Iris, reddish-yellow. Length, 8 inches; wing, 3.40; tail, 3.55.

HAB. Adjacent borders of the United States and Mexico, from the mouth
of the Rio Grande to the Valley of the Colorado, and to the Pacific
coast of Southern California. Replaced at Cape St. Lucas by _C.
affinis_.

This species is found abundantly along the line of the Rio Grande and
Gila, extending northward some distance, and everywhere conspicuous by
its wren-like habits and enormous nest.

  [Illustration: _Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus._]

HABITS. The Brown-headed Creeper is a comparatively recent addition to
the fauna of the United States, but appears to be common along the
southwestern borders of the United States, from the valley of the Rio
Grande to San Diego, in California. In Lower California it is replaced
by the _C. affinis_.

It was first added to our avifauna by Mr. Lawrence in 1851, on the
strength of a specimen obtained in Texas by Captain McCown.

Dr. Heermann, in his paper on the Birds of California, speaks of
finding it in the arid country back of Guymas, on the Gulf of
California. This country, presenting only broken surfaces and a
confused mass of volcanic rocks, covered by a scanty vegetation of
thorny bushes and cacti, among other interesting birds, was found to
contain this species in abundance. He describes it as a lively,
sprightly species, uttering, at intervals, clear, loud, ringing notes.
Its nest, composed of grasses and lined with feathers, was in the
shape of a long purse, enormous for the size of the bird, and laid
flat between the forks or on the branches of a cactus. The entrance
was a covered passage, varying from six to ten inches in length. The
eggs, six in number, he described as being of a delicate salmon-color,
very pale, and often so thickly speckled with ash and darker
salmon-colored spots as to give quite a rich cast to the whole surface
of the egg.

Lieutenant Couch met with these birds near Monterey. He states that
they have a rich, powerful song. Of the nest he gives substantially
the same description as that furnished by Dr. Heermann.

The eggs are of an oblong-oval shape, slightly more pointed at one
end, and are so equally and generally covered, over a white ground,
with fine salmon-colored spots, as to present a uniform and almost
homogeneous appearance. They vary in length from an inch to 1.02
inches, and have an average breadth of .68 of an inch.


Campylorhynchus affinis, XANTUS.

THE CAPE CACTUS WREN.

  _Campylorhynchus affinis_, XANTUS, Pr. A. N. Sc. 1859, 298 (Cape St.
    Lucas).—BAIRD, Pr. A. N. Sc. 1859, 303; Rev. 100.—SCL. Catal.
    1861, 17, no. 108.—ELLIOT, Illust. B. N. A. I, IV.—COOPER, Orn.
    Cal. 1, 1870, 62.

SP. CHAR. Cap of head reddish-brown; the concealed centres of feathers
dusky. Rest of upper parts grayish-brown, all the feathers of body and
scapulars with broad central or shaft streaks of whitish edged with
black; the streaks irregular in outline, on some feathers nearly
linear, in others widening at intervals along the shaft. Outer webs of
the wing-feathers crossed by about seven rows of whitish semicircular
spots, with corresponding series of more circular ones on the inner
web. Tail-feathers black, all of them with a series of about eight
quadrate white spots on each web, which are alternate to each other,
not opposite, and extend from or near the black shaft to the edge; the
extreme tips of the feathers black; the two central feathers, however,
more like the back, with irregular mottling of grayish and black.
Upper tail-coverts barred transversely with black.

Under parts white, faintly tinged with rusty posteriorly; each feather
spotted with black, excepting on the immaculate chin. These spots are
rather larger and more quadrate on the jugulum, where they are
sometimes on the sides of the feathers (on one or both sides);
posteriorly, however, they are elongated or tear-shaped, and strung
along the shaft, one or two on each. On the crissum they are large and
much rounded, three or four on each longer feather. Legs rather dusky.
Bill lead-color, pale at the base below; iris reddish-brown. A broad
white stripe from bill over the eye and nape; edged above and below
with black; line behind the eye like the crown; cheek-feathers white,
edged with blackish.

Immature specimens exhibit a tendency to a whitish spotting in the
ends of the feathers of the cap. A very young bird does not, however,
differ materially, except in having the spots less distinct beneath,
the white streaks less conspicuous above, the white of the wings
soiled with rufous. Specimens vary considerably in the proportional as
well as absolute thickness and length of the bill; thus, No. 32,167
measures .80 from nostril to end of bill, instead of .60, as given
below for No. 12,965.

12,965. Total length, 7.50; wing, 3.30; tail, 3.40; its graduation,
.45; exposed portion of first primary, 1.42, of second, 2.15, of
longest, or fourth (measured from exposed base of first primary),
2.45; length of bill from forehead, .90, from nostril, .60; along
gape, 1.07; tarsus, 1.02; middle toe and claw, .90; claw alone, .25;
hind toe and claw, .76; claw alone, .35.

HAB. Only observed at Cape St. Lucas, Lower California.

This species is most nearly allied to _C. brunneicapillus_; the most
apparent difference at first sight being in the greater concentration
of black on the throat and jugulum in _brunneicapillus_, and the much
smaller size of the remaining spots on the under parts, with the
decided light-cinnamon of the posterior portion of the body. The outer
and central tail-feathers alone are marked as in _C. affinis_, the
intermediate ones being entirely black, with the exception of a white
subterminal band.

This is one of the most characteristic birds constituting the isolated
fauna of Cape St. Lucas. Like nearly all the species peculiar to this
remarkable locality, it is exceedingly abundant, breeding in immense
numbers. It has not yet been detected elsewhere, though it may
possibly be found on the Lower Colorado.

HABITS. This recently described species was first discovered by Mr.
Xantus, and has, so far as is known, a somewhat restricted locality,
having been met with only at the southern extremity of Lower
California, where it is an exceedingly abundant bird. Mr. Xantus has
published no observations in regard to its habits, which, however, are
probably very nearly identical with those of the more common species.
From the brief memoranda given by him in the general register of his
collections, made at Cape St. Lucas, we gather that their nests were
built almost exclusively in opuntias, cacti, and the prickly pear, and
were generally only four or five feet from the ground, but
occasionally at the height of ten feet.

The nests are large purse-shaped collections of twigs and coarse
grasses, very similar to, and hardly distinguishable in any respect
from, those of the more northern species. The eggs vary from 1.05 to 1
inch in length, and from .65 to .70 of an inch in breadth, and have a
reddish-white ground very uniformly dotted with fine markings of
reddish-brown, purple, and slate.


SUBGENUS SALPINCTES, CABANIS.

  _Salpinctes_, CABANIS, Wiegmann’s Archiv, 1847, I, 323. (Type,
    _Troglodytes obsoletus_, SAY.)

GEN. CHAR. Bill as long as the head; all the outlines nearly straight
to the tip, then decurved; nostrils oval. Feet weak; tarsi decidedly
longer than the middle toe; outer lateral toe much longer, reaching to
the base of the middle claw, and equal to the hinder. Wings about one
fifth longer than the tail; the exposed portion of the first primary
about half that of the second, and two fifths that of the fourth and
fifth. Tail-feathers very broad, plane, nearly even or slightly
rounded; the lateral moderately graduated.

Of this genus but one species is so far known in the United States,
the Rock Wren of the earlier ornithologists. It is peculiar among its
cognate genera by having the two continuous plates on each side the
tarsus divided into seven or more smaller plates, with a naked
interval between them and the anterior scutellæ. Other characters will
be found detailed in the Review of American Birds, p. 109.


Salpinctes obsoletus, CABAN.

ROCK WREN.

  _Troglodytes obsoletus_, SAY, Long’s Exped. II, 1823, 4 (south fork
    of Platte).—AUD. Orn. Biog. IV, pl. ccclx.—IB. B. A. II, pl.
    cxvi.—NEWBERRY, P. R. R. Rep. VI, IV, 1857, 80.—HEERMANN, P. R.
    R. Rep. X, 1859, 41. _Salpinctes obsoletus_, CAB. Wiegmann’s
    Archiv, 1847, I, 323.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 357; Rev.
    110.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1859, 371 (Oaxaca).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1,
    1870, 64. _? Troglodytes latisfasciatus_, LICHT. Preis-Verzeich.
    1831, no. 82.

  [Line drawing: _Salpinctes obsoletus._
                  7157 ♂]

SP. CHAR. Plumage very soft and lax. Bill about as long as the head.
Upper parts brownish-gray, each feather with a central line and
(except on the head) transverse bars of dusky, and a small dull
brownish-white spot at the end (seen also on the tips of the
secondaries). Rump, sides of the body, and posterior part of belly and
under tail-coverts dull cinnamon, darker above. Rest of under parts
dirty white; feathers of throat and breast with dusky central streaks.
Lower tail-coverts banded broadly with black. Inner tail-feathers like
the back, the others with a broad black bar near the end; the tips
cinnamon; the outer on each side alternately banded with this color
and black. A dull white line above and behind the eye. Iris brown.
Length, 5.70; wing, 2.82; tail, 2.40. Young not marked or banded
beneath. Eggs white, spotted with red.

HAB. Central regions of the United States, to Mexico, east to mouth of
Yellowstone River. Cape St. Lucas. Not recorded from Pacific slope. W.
Arizona, Coues. Oaxaca, SCLATER.

  [Illustration: _Salpinctes obsoletus._]

HABITS. The Rock Wren, so far as its distribution is known, is
principally restricted to the high central plains of the Rocky
Mountains, from Nebraska to the coast ranges near the Pacific, and
from Oregon to Mexico and Lower California. According to Dr. Cooper it
is an abundant species throughout the dry, rocky, and barren districts
of California, especially in the southern portions, where it comes
nearer the coast. They are numerous among the plains on both sides of
the Rocky Mountains. Their favorite places are among the rocks, where
they are always busily engaged in hunting for insects in the crevices.
Dr. Cooper found nests at San Diego in cavities under the tiled roofs
of houses, but they all contained young as early as May. At Fort
Mojave they began to sing in February, and their song continued
throughout the spring. They range to a high elevation among the
mountains, having been found by Dr. Newberry at Klamath Lake in
Oregon. Dr. Cooper does not describe their song, but Dr. Heermann
speaks of it as only a very weak trill. The latter met with them in
the mountainous districts of California, where they were searching for
their food among the crevices of the rocks. He afterwards met with
them in New Mexico and Texas. They were quite abundant in the Tejon
Valley, passing in and out, among and under the boulders profusely
scattered over the mountains, searching for spiders, worms, and small
insects, in pursuit of which they uttered at intervals a loud and
quick note of a peculiarly thrilling character. Lieutenant Couch found
them in the sandstone ranges near Patos, in the province of Coahuila.
Some of their habits are spoken of as sparrow-like, and, while they
have the usual wren-like grating noises, they also possess a song of
great variety and sweetness.

Dr. Kennerly met with them among the bushes in the vicinity of the Rio
Grande. Their flight he describes as short, the bird generally soon
alighting on the ground and running off very rapidly.

This Wren was first discovered by Mr. Say near the Arkansas River,
inhabiting a sterile district devoid of trees, hopping along the
ground or flitting through the low, stunted junipers on the banks of
the river, usually in small flocks of five or six. Nuttall afterwards
found them in July on the Western Colorado. The note of the female was
_charr-charr-te-aigh_, with a strong guttural accent, and with a
shrill call similar to the note of the Carolina Wren. The old birds
were feeding a brood of five young, which, though full grown, were
cherished with querulous assiduity. He found them nesting among the
rocky ledges, in the crevices of which they hide themselves when
disturbed. Mr. Nuttall also met with this species near Fort Vancouver.
Mr. Salvin states that in several instances it has been met with in
Guatemala.

The eggs of this Wren obtained by Dr. Palmer in Arizona have a clear
white ground, sparingly spotted with well-defined, distinct dottings
of brownish-red. These are chiefly distributed around the larger end.
They vary somewhat in size and shape, some being of a more rounded
form, though all have one end more pointed than the other. The length
is pretty uniform, .77 of an inch. The breadth varies from .60 to .66
of an inch. They are larger and more oblong than the eggs of any other
Wren, except perhaps the _mexicanus_, and bear little resemblance to
any other eggs of this family with which I am acquainted, except those
of the Winter Wren, and the egg attributed to _T. americanus_.

The nest is homogeneous in structure, composed entirely of thin strips
of reddish-colored bark and fine roots, interspersed with a few small
bits of wool. It is distorted by packing, so that measurements of it
would be valueless; its dimensions in its pressed condition are:
diameter, 5 inches; depth, 2 inches. The cavity is shallow and
saucer-shaped.

From Mr. Ridgway we learn that from the summit of the Sierra Nevada
eastward, as far as the party explored, he found this Wren universally
distributed. In the middle provinces of the Rocky Mountains it was the
most abundant species of the family, but was not so abundant in the
Wahsatch Mountains. The general resort of this species was among rocky
or stony hill-slopes, though it was not confined to such localities.
At Carson City he found it particularly partial to the rubbish of the
decaying pine-logs. At Virginia City it was the only Wren seen
frequenting the old buildings and abandoned mining-shafts, in its
predilection for such places reminding him very much of the
_Thryothorus ludovicianus_, which in its manners it very strongly
resembles.

Mr. Ridgway noticed a wonderful variety in the notes of this Wren. Its
peculiarly guttural _turee_ was repeatedly heard, and its song in
spring had a slight resemblance in modulation to that of the Carolina
Wren, though altogether lacking the power and richness so
characteristic of the superb song of that bird. Frequently its song
was changed into a prolonged monotonous trill, similar to the
tremulous spring-call of the _Junco hyemalis_.

This species is not so wary as the _Catherpes mexicanus_. Upon
suddenly starting up an individual of this kind, he would fly to the
nearest boulder, turn with his breast towards the party, swing oddly
from side to side, all the while ludicrously bowing and scolding the
intruder with his peculiar sharp expressions of displeasure.

Dr. Cooper, in his paper on the Fauna of the Territory of Montana,
states that he observed this bird occasionally through the main Rocky
Mountain chain to near the crossing of the Bitterroot, but it was less
common than among the cliffs and rocks of the barren plain along their
eastern slope. Though he did not find it in the western part of
Washington Territory, he has no doubt that it frequents parts of the
rocky cañons of the Columbia Plain. A nest with nine eggs was found in
a log-cabin below Fort Benton.


GENUS CATHERPES, BAIRD.

  _Catherpes_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 357. (Type, _Thryothorus
    mexicanus_, SW.)

GEN. CHAR. Bill longer than the head, slender; all the outlines nearly
straight to the tip, then gently decurved, gonys least so; nostrils
linear; tarsus short, about equal to the middle toe, which reaches to
the middle of the middle claw. Outer toe considerably longer than the
inner, reaching beyond the base of the middle claw. Wings a little
longer than the tail; the exposed portion of the first primary about
half that of the fourth and fifth. Tail-feathers very broad and
perfectly plane; tail nearly even; the two lateral graduated; the
outer about eleven twelfths of the middle.

  [Line drawing: _Catherpes mexicanus._
                  3969 ♂]

This genus agrees with _Salpinctes_ in the broad, plane tail-feathers,
but the bill is much longer, the nostrils linear, not oval, the feet
much stouter, the outer toe rather longer; the tarsus shorter, being
equal to the middle toe, not longer; the hind toe much longer than the
outer lateral, instead of equal to it. The wings are but little longer
than the tail, and shorter than in _Salpinctes_.

This genus is confined to the western portions, where a single
species, _C. mexicanus_, occurs in two well-marked varieties:—

C. mexicanus.

  Culmen almost straight, the tip decurved, gonys straight. Above
  blackish-brown; wings and back sparsely sprinkled with minute
  white specks; _no such markings on head or neck_. Bars on tail
  very broad, .12 in width on outer feathers. Wing, 2.84; tail,
  2.40; culmen, .96; tarsus, .75; middle toe, .68; posterior,
  .47; outer, .52; inner, .49 (52,791, Mazatlan, Mexico). _Hab._
  Mexico …                                          var. _mexicanus_.

  Culmen and gonys both gently curved, the latter somewhat
  concave. Above cinnamon-ashy, more reddish on rump and wings;
  head and neck above with numerous dots of white; very few of
  these on back and wings. Tail-bars very narrow and thread-like.
  Wing, 2.48; tail, 2.12; culmen, .83; tarsus, .56; middle toe,
  .52; posterior, .35; outer, .44; inner, .36 (53,425 ♂, Fort
  Churchill, Nevada). _Hab._ Middle (and Pacific?) Province of
  United States …                                  var. _conspersus_.

  [Illustration: _Catherpes mexicanus._]

In var. _mexicanus_ the white of throat is more abruptly defined
against the rufous of abdomen than in var. _conspersus_, in which the
transition is very gradual. The latter has the secondaries rufous with
narrow isolated bars of black; the former has them blackish,
_indented_ on lower webs with dark rufous. In _mexicanus_ the feet are
very stout, and dark brown; in _conspersus_ they are much weaker, and
deep black.

All specimens from south of the United States (including Giraud’s type
of _Certhia albifrons_) belong to the restricted _mexicanus_, while
all from the United States are of the var. _conspersus_.


Catherpes mexicanus, var. conspersus, RIDGWAY.

CAÑON WREN; WHITE-THROATED ROCK WREN.

  _Troglodytes mexicanus_, HEERMANN, J. A. N. Sc. 2d ser. II, 1853,
    63.—IB. P. R. R. Rep. X, 1859, 41.—CASSIN, Illust. Birds Cal. I,
    1854, 173, pl. xxx. _Catherpes mexicanus_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am.
    1858, 356 (in part); Rev. III (in part).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1,
    1870, 66. _Catherpes mexicanus_ var. _conspersus_, RIDGWAY.

SP. CHAR. (No. 53,425 ♂, near Fort Churchill, Nevada, December 7,
1867; R. RIDGWAY). Above, brownish-ashy on the anterior, and bright
cinnamon-rufous on the posterior half, the two colors shading
insensibly together. The anterior, or grayish portion thickly
sprinkled with numerous small circular dots of white, each preceded by
a smaller speck of dusky; a few of these dots on the rump. Wings with
obsolete, ragged, narrow, _isolated_ bars of dusky, these most sharply
defined on the secondaries. Tail clear rufous, crossed with about nine
very narrow, thread-like, somewhat zigzag bars of black,—these about
.02 wide on the middle, and .07 on the outer feather. Beneath,
anterior third, pure silky-white, shading insensibly into soft
ochraceous on the breast, this soon darkening into deep ferruginous,
the color of all the posterior lower parts; the whole of this
ferruginous surface, with very obsolete transverse spots of white,
each preceded by a narrower dusky one. Length, 5.75; extent of wings,
7.50 (fresh); wing, 2.48; tail, 2.13; culmen, .83; tarsus, .56. Bill
deep slate, paler, and with lilaceous tinge, at base of lower
mandible; iris umber; tarsi and toes black (fresh colors).

HAB. Central region of North America, from boundary of United States
northward. Extends up Valley of Colorado. Western Nevada, resident;
RIDGWAY.

The above characters apply to all specimens of _Catherpes_ from north
of Mexico, as substantiated by a sufficient series in the collection.
It is a remarkable fact that this northern race should be so much
smaller than the Mexican one, especially in view of the fact that it
is a resident bird in even the most northern parts of its ascertained
habitat.

HABITS. The geographical distribution of this race of the
White-throated Wren, so far as known, is confined to the line of the
United States and Mexican boundary, extending northward up the Valley
of the Colorado, as far as Western Nevada. The corresponding Mexican
race reaches some distance southward, but has not yet been detected
beyond the limits of Mexico. The habits of both races, however, are
quite similar, as far as known.

Dr. Heermann first met with this Wren in the spring of 1851, on the
Cosumnes River. In the following year he procured three specimens on
the Calaveras River. He describes it as an active, sprightly bird,
having a loud and pleasing song that may be heard a great distance,
and which it repeats at short intervals. When found, it was occupied
with searching for insects, between and under the large boulders of
rock that, in some portions of the river, are thrown together in
confused masses, as if by some terrific convulsion of nature.

Dr. Kennerly also met with this species in similar localities among
the hills bordering upon the Big Sandy, where the rocks are also
described as piled up thick and high. They were darting from rock to
rock and creeping among the crevices with great activity, constantly
repeating their peculiar and singular note. The great rapidity of
their motions rendered it difficult to procure a specimen. He did not
observe this bird anywhere else.

Their occurrence equally in such wild and desolate regions and in the
midst of crowded cities indicates that the abundance of their food in
either place, and not the absence or presence of man, determines this
choice of residence. When first observed they were supposed to nest
exclusively in deep and inaccessible crevices of rocks, where they
were not likely to be traced. Mr. H. E. Dresser afterwards met with
its nest and eggs in Western Texas, though he gives no description of
either. He found this species rather common near San Antonio, where it
remained to breed. One pair frequented a printing-office at that
place, an old half-ruined building, where their familiar habits made
them great favorites with the workmen, who informed him that the
previous spring they had built a nest and reared their young in an old
wall close by, and that they became very tame. At Dr. Heermann’s
rancho on the Medina he procured the eggs of this bird, as well as
those of the Louisiana and Bewick’s Wren, by nailing up cigar-boxes,
with holes cut in front, wherever these birds were likely to build.

Mr. Sumichrast describes its nest[29] as very skilfully wrought with
spiders’ webs, and built in the crevices of old walls, or in the
interstices between the tiles under the roofs of the houses. A nest
with four eggs, supposed to be those of this species, was obtained in
Western Texas by Mr. J. H. Clark; it was cup-shaped, not large, and
with only a slight depression. The eggs, four in number, were
unusually oblong and pointed for eggs of this family, and measured .80
by .60 of an inch, with a crystalline-white ground, profusely covered
with numerous and large blotches of a reddish or cinnamon brown.

So far as the observations of Mr. Ridgway enabled him to notice this
bird, he found it much less common than the _Salpinctes obsoletus_,
and inhabiting only the most secluded and rocky recesses of the
mountains. Its common note of alarm is described as a peculiarly
ringing _dīnk_. It has a remarkably odd and indescribably singular
chant, utterly unlike anything else Mr. Ridgway ever heard. This
consisted of a series of detached whistles, beginning in a high fine
key, every note clear, smooth, and of equal length, each in succession
being a degree lower than the preceding one, and only ending when the
bottom of the scale is reached. The tone is soft, rich, and silvery,
resembling somewhat the whistling of the Cardinal Grosbeak.

It was often seen to fly nearly perpendicularly up the face of a rocky
wall, and was also noticed to cling to the roof of a cave with all the
facility of a true Creeper.


GENUS THRYOTHORUS, VIEILL.

  _Thryothorus_, VIEILLOT, Analyse, 1816, 45. (Type, _Troglodytes
     arundinaceus_, “_Troglodyte des Roseaux_,” VIEILL. Ois. Am. Sept.
     II, 1807, 55 = _Sylvia ludoviciana_, LATH.)

  [Line drawing: _Thryothorus ludovicianus_
                  7113]

GEN. CHAR. Bill compressed, rather slender; height about one fourth
the length above. Culmen and commissure gently curved throughout;
gonys straight; tip very obsoletely notched. Nostrils in the lower
edge of anterior extremity of the nasal groove, narrowly elliptical,
overhung by a stiff scale-like roof of the thickened membrane of the
upper part of the nasal groove, the crescentic edge rounded. The
septum of nostrils imperforate; the posterior part of the nasal cavity
with a short septum projecting into it parallel with the central, not
perpendicular as in _Microcerculus_. Wings and tail about equal, the
latter moderately rounded; the first primary more than half the
second, about half the longest. Tarsi rather short, scarcely exceeding
middle toe. Anterior scutellæ distinct, rest of each side of tarsi in
a continuous plate. Lateral toes equal.

The diagnoses of the North American species are as follows:—


Species and Varieties.

COMMON CHARACTERS. Head above, and back, of much the same color.
Crissum barred transversely; rest of under parts plain. Upper
tail-coverts and exposed surface of wings barred. Iris hazel.
Nest in holes or with an arched covering. Eggs reddish-white,
spotted with red and purple.

  _a. Thryothorus._

  T. ludovicianus. Tail-feathers reddish-brown, barred with
  black. Greater wing-coverts spotted with whitish.

    Beneath yellow-whitish, washed occasionally with rusty. Sides
    plain. Bill from nostril, .45. Length, 6.00. _Hab._ Eastern
    Province United States …                     var. _ludovicianus_.

    Beneath rufous; lighter on throat and along median line.
    Sides obsoletely barred with dusky. Bill from nostril, .56.
    Length, 5.25. _Hab._ Lower Rio Grande …       var. _berlandieri_.

  _b. Telmatodytes._

  T. bewickii. Tail-feathers, except central, black; the exposed
  surface and tips only varied with white. Length, 5.50.

    Above dark rufous-brown; beneath plumbeous-white; flanks
    tinged with brown. Rump and exposed secondaries distinctly
    banded. Quills and middle tail-feathers brownish-black.
    Length from nostril, .39; along gape, .70. _Hab._ Eastern
    Province United States …                         var. _bewickii_.

    Above ashy-brown; beneath, including flanks, clear white;
    rump ashy, and, like secondaries, very obsoletely barred.
    Quills and middle tail-feathers grayish-brown. _Hab._
    Southern border of United States, into Mexico …
                                                  var. _leucogaster_.

    Colors intermediate between the two last. Bill longer, from
    nostril, .50, from gape, .81. _Hab._ Pacific Province …
                                                     var. _spilurus_.


SUBGENUS THRYOTHORUS, VIEILL.


Thryothorus ludovicianus, var. ludovicianus, BONAP.

GREAT CAROLINA WREN.

  _Sylvia ludoviciana_, LATH. Ind. Orn. II, 1790, 548. _Troglodytes
    ludovicianus_, LICHT. Verz. 1823, 35; also of BONAPARTE, AUDUBON,
    and PRINCE MAX. _Thryothorus ludovicianus_, BON. List. 1838,
    etc.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 361; Rev. 123. _Troglodytes
    arundinaceus_, VIEILL. Ois. Am. Sept. II, 1807, 55, pl. cviii.
    (Certainly this species; the habits those of _C. palustris_.)
    _Certhia caroliniana_, WILSON, Am. Orn. II, 1810, 61, pl. xii,
    fig. 5. _Thryothorus littoralis_, VIEILL. Nouv. Dict. XXXIV. 1819,
    56. _Thryothorus louisianæ_, LESSON, Rev. Zoöl. 1840, 262.
  Additional figures: AUD. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, pl. lxxvii.—IB. Birds
    Am. II, 1841, pl. cxvii.

SP. CHAR. Exposed portion of the bill shorter than the head. Above
reddish-brown, most vivid on the rump. A whitish streak over the eye,
bordered above with dark brown. Throat whitish; rest of under parts
pale yellow-rusty, darkest towards the under tail-coverts, which are
conspicuously barred with black. Exposed surface of the wings and tail
(including the upper coverts) barred throughout with brown, the outer
edges of tail-feathers and quills showing series of alternating
whitish and dusky spots. Legs flesh-colored. Length, 6 inches; wing,
2.60; tail, 2.45.

HAB. Eastern Province of United States, from New York southward to the
Gulf.

  [Illustration: _Thryothorus bewickii._]

HABITS. The Great Carolina or Mocking Wren is found in all the
Southeastern and Southern States from Florida to Maryland, and from
the Atlantic to Kansas and the Valley of the Rio Grande. It is not
common about Washington, but is much more abundant in the Southern
States. Occasionally it has been found as far north as Philadelphia,
and in one or two instances near New York, where Mr. Lawrence has
twice seen it, and where on one occasion it appeared to be breeding.
Dr. Woodhouse found it very abundant throughout Texas and the Indian
Territory. It is also abundant, and resident, in Southern Illinois, as
far north as latitude 38° 20′ 20″.

The habits and movements of this species, as described by those who
have had the best opportunities for observing it, correspond with
those of the whole family of Wrens. Its flight is usually only in
short distances, and is accompanied with short flappings of the wings,
and violent jerkings of the body and the tail. The latter is usually
kept erect. It moves with quick jerks, and with sharp, rapid notes
uttered as if in anger. It is in sight one moment and out the next,
passes in at one place and out at another with the rapidity of
thought. Mr. Audubon often saw it singing from the roof of an
abandoned flat-boat, near New Orleans, and when its song was ended it
would creep from one board to the next, enter an augur-hole at one
place to reappear at another, catching numerous spiders and other
insects all the while.

  [Illustration: PLATE IX.

   1. Thryothorus ludovicianus, _Lath._ Pa., 1784.
   2.      “      berlandieri, _Couch_. Texas.
   3.      “      bewickii, _Aud._ ♂ Pa., 2047.
   4.      “          “        “     _var._
   5. Troglodyta ædon, _Vieill._ D. C.
   6. Cistothorus palustris, _Wils._ Pa., 1454.
   7.      “      stellaris, _Licht._ Ga., 3073.
   8. Troglodytes alascensis, _Baird_. Alaska, 54447.
   9.      “      hyemalis, _Vieill._ ♂ Va., 31045.
  10.      “         “      _var._ pacificus, _Baird_. W. T., 17434.]

Occasionally its movements are like those of a Creeper, ascending to
the upper branches of trees of a moderate height, or climbing a
grapevine, searching diligently among the leaves and in the crevices
of the bark for insects.

This species possesses a great variety and power of song. It is also
said to have and to exhibit remarkable powers of imitation, with a
great variety in its appropriated notes of other birds, giving, with
modulations, the hoarse rattle of the Kingfisher, the lively notes of
the Tufted Titmouse, the simple refrain of the Ground Robin, with
those of the Grakles, the Meadow Lark, the Bluebird, and others. Like
the common Wren, the Carolina generally builds its nest in the hollow
of some tree or stump, or any other convenient cavity. At other times
it constructs its own habitation without any other protection than the
thick branches of a vine or shrub. In these situations they are long
and deep, and have an artificial roofing, often separate from the nest
itself. The materials employed in their construction are hay, grasses,
leaves, feathers, horse-hair, and dry fibres of the long Spanish moss.
They are softly and warmly lined with fur, hair, and feathers. The
nest is not unfrequently five or six inches in depth, while the
opening is not large enough to admit more than one bird at a time.
They sometimes raise three broods in a season.

It breeds as far north as Philadelphia, Mr. Audubon having found its
nest in a swamp in New Jersey, opposite that city.

Although seemingly studious of concealment, and shy and retiring in
its habits, Nuttall frequently observed it in Tuscaloosa and other
large towns in Alabama, appearing on the tops of barns and out-houses,
singing with great energy.

Dr. Cooper, who enjoyed a favorable opportunity of watching these
birds in Florida, in the spring and summer of 1859, found a nest of
this Wren in the middle of March. It was built in a small box on a
shelf in a mill, and was about four feet from the ground. It was
arched over at the top, though this was not necessary to shelter it.
This covering was formed of shavings, with a few small sticks and
straws. Four eggs were laid. The birds were very tame, and were not
alarmed by the loud noise of the mill, nor by a cat almost always
present. Another nest found by Dr. Cooper was built in a small hole in
the trunk of a tree, not more than six inches from the ground. This
nest was not arched over. Its close proximity to a dwelling-house
alone protected it from wild animals.

The eggs of this Wren are usually six or seven in number, and vary in
size and shape. They are for the most part of a spheroidal-oval shape,
though some are more oblong than others. Their length varies from .75
to .70 of an inch, and their greatest breadth from .60 to .65. The
ground-color is a reddish-white, profusely covered with blotches of
purple, slate, reddish-brown, and red. These are generally and pretty
equally diffused, and are not more abundant at the larger end than
elsewhere.


Thryothorus ludovicianus, var. berlandieri, COUCH.

BERLANDIER’S WREN.

  _Thryothorus berlandieri_, COUCH, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 362,
    pl. lxxxiii, fig. 1 (New Leon); Rev. 124.

SP. CHAR. Exposed portion of bill nearly as long as the head. Above
dark rusty-brown, most vivid on the rump. A whitish streak over the
eye, bordered above with brown. Chin white; rest of under parts dark
brownish-red; the under tail-coverts and sides of the body barred with
dusky. Exposed surface of wings and tail barred throughout with dusky.
Legs flesh-color. Length, 5.25; wing, 2.25; tail, 2.12.

HAB. Valley of Rio Grande.

The distinctive features of this race will be found indicated on page
141. This form bears to the _T. ludovicianus_ about the same relation
that _Harporhynchus longirostris_ does to _H. rufus_; and is hardly to
be considered a distinct “species” from it. It should be noted that in
both cases the lengthened bill and deeper color belong to the Rio
Grande. It has not yet been met with north of the Rio Grande, but
doubtless extends into Texas. Nothing is known of its habits.


SUBGENUS THRYOMANES, SCLAT.

_Thryomanes_, SCLATER, Catal. Am. Birds, 1861, 21. (Type _Troglodytes
    bewickii_.)

  [Line drawing: _Thryothorus bewickii._
                  2047 ♂]

There are three strongly marked geographical varieties of “Bewick’s
Wren,” separable by quite constant characters. Of these the Mexican
(_leucogaster_) and the typical form from eastern North America
(_bewickii_) differ most in coloration, while the western (_spilurus_)
is intermediate in this respect, but with a longer bill than in the
other two. The peculiarities of the three forms are expressed on
page 141.


Thryothorus bewickii, var. bewickii, BONAP.

BEWICK’S WREN; LONG-TAILED HOUSE WREN.

  _Troglodytes bewickii_, AUD. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, 96, pl. xviii.—IB.
    Birds Am. II, 1841, 120, pl. cxviii. _Thryothorus bewickii_,
    BONAP. List, 1838.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 363. _Telmatodytes
    bewickii_, CAB. Mus. Hein. I, 1850, 78. _Thryothorus bewickii_,
    var. _bewickii_, BAIRD, Rev. Am. B. 1864, 126.

SP. CHAR. Above dark rufous-brown; rump and middle tail-feathers
sometimes a little paler, and very slightly tinged with gray, and
together with the exposed surface of secondaries distinctly barred
with dusky. Beneath soiled plumbeous-whitish; flanks brown. Crissum
banded; ground-color of quills and tail-feathers brownish-black.
Length, 5.50; wing, 2.25; tail, 2.50. Length from nostril, 39; along
gape, 70.

HAB. Eastern Province of United States.

HABITS. This interesting species of Wren was first met with by Audubon
in Louisiana. A number of individuals were observed at the time, but
nothing of its history was known for several years afterward. In
shape, color, and habits it most resembled the Carolina Wren, but was
less rapid in movement, and not so lively. Fourteen years later Dr.
Bachman again met with birds of this species, in 1835, at the Salt
Sulphur Springs of Virginia. They comprised a family of two parents
and five young, nearly full grown. Their notes were like those of the
Winter Wren, neither louder nor more connected. They seemed of
restless habit, creeping actively among fences, stumps, and logs. One
ascended an oak, nearly to the top, in the manner of a Creeper. This
species proved to be quite common in that locality, and to be the only
Wren abundant among the mountains. Dr. Gibbs detected it near
Columbia, S. C., and Dr. Trudeau afterwards found it quite common in
Louisiana.

It was first observed breeding by Professor Baird in Carlisle, Penn.,
in 1844. In all respects the nests and their location corresponded
with those of the common Wren. Dr. Woodhouse found it very abundant in
the Indian Territory, and describes its habits as similar to those of
other Wrens. Lieutenant Couch observed this Wren at Santa Rosalio in
Mexico, early in March. It was seeking its food among the low
prickly-pears. He was informed that they deposited their eggs wherever
they could do so without making much of a nest, inside the cabins
under the rafters, but in New Leon he found one of its nests quite
elaborately constructed in a thatched roof. He describes the song as
quite varied, and one of the sweetest that he heard in that country.

The late Dr. Gerhardt of Varnell’s Station, Ga., met with this species
among the mountainous portions of Northern Georgia, where it generally
nested in holes in stumps. In one instance the nest was constructed
five inches in length, and four in diameter, with a cavity two inches
in depth, and the walls of great proportionate thickness, made
externally of coarse roots, finer on the inside, and lined with
various kinds of animal fur and with feathers. Both birds worked
together in constructing their nest, beginning on the 11th of April,
and on the 27th of the same month this contained seven eggs. The nest
was not covered at the top, in the manner of the Carolina Wren. In the
following season another pair commenced building their nest in his
bed, in a log-house. Driven from these impossible quarters, they tried
the same experiment in various other parts of the house, but only to
abandon it, and at last finished by making a successful attempt in the
hay-loft. Their visits to that portion of Georgia, he informed me,
were irregular and only occasional. In 1859 he had not met with any
birds of this species for the space of five years.

The eggs measure .67 by .50 of an inch in their average proportions,
resembling somewhat those of the Carolina Wren, but having a lighter
ground, with fewer and finer markings of slate and reddish-brown. The
ground-color is of a pinkish-white.

Mr. A. Boucard obtained specimens of these birds in the winter months,
in the State of Oaxaca, Mexico, probably of the var. _leucogaster_.

We learn from Mr. Ridgway that in Southern Illinois (as far north as
latitude 38° 20′ 20″) this Wren is very abundant, and the most
familiar species of the family. In certain localities (as in the
Valley of the Wabash) it entirely replaces the _Troglodytes ædon_, the
latter being wholly unknown. In its habits it is even more familiar
than that species, always preferring the out-buildings, even in large
towns, to the neighborhood of the woods, and still further increases
its attractions by possessing a charming song, a real _song_, of sweet
notes finely modulated, and uttered, generally, as the bird perches
upon a fence or the stable roof, its head thrown back, and its long
tail pendent as it sings. The confused, gabbling sputter of _T. ædon_,
uttered as it pauses just for an instant in its restless hopping
through the ivy, cannot be compared to the chant of liquid musical
notes of this species, which resembles more nearly, both in modulation
and power, that of the Song Sparrow (_Melospiza melodia_), though far
superior to it. On ordinary occasions the note of Bewick’s Wren is a
soft, low _plit_, uttered as the bird hops about the fence or stable,
its long tail carried upright, and jerked to one side at each hop. In
its movements it is altogether more deliberate and less restless than
the _T. ludovicianus_, or _Troglodytes ædon_, neither of which it much
resembles in motion, and still less in notes. The nest of this Wren is
usually built about the out-houses, a mortise-hole or some
well-concealed corner being generally selected. Old stables and
ash-hoppers are especially frequented as nesting-places. Mr. Ridgway
found one in the bottom of the conical portion of a quail-net which
was hung up in a shed, and another in a piece of stove-pipe which lay
horizontally in the garret of a smoke-house; another rested upon a
flat board over the door of an out-house, while a fourth was placed
behind the weather-boarding of a building. The nest is generally very
bulky, though the bulk is regulated to suit the size of the cavity in
which the nest is placed. Its materials are usually sticks, straws,
coarse feathers, fine chips, etc., exteriorly fastened together with
masses of spider’s-webs, the lining being of finer and more downy
materials, generally soft spider’s-webs, tow, and especially the downy
feathers of barnyard fowls.


Thryothorus bewickii, var. leucogaster, GOULD.

  _Troglodytes leucogastra_, GOULD, P. Z. S. 1836, 89 (Tamaulipas).—
    BON. Notes Delattre, 1854, 43. ? _Thryothorus bewickii_, SCLATER,
    P. Z. S. 1859, 372 (Oaxaca). _Thryothorus bewickii_, var.
    _leucogaster_, BAIRD, Rev. Am. B. 127.

SP. CHAR. Above ashy-brown; rump and middle tail-feathers
brownish-ash, the former nearly pure ash; without appreciable bars;
bars on secondaries obsolete. Beneath, including inside of wing, pure
white, with little or no brownish on the sides. Crissum banded;
ground-color of the quills and tail-feathers grayish-brown. Size of
var. _bewickii_.

HAB. Southern borders of United States, into Mexico.

HABITS. Nothing is on record of the habits of this variety as
distinguished from var. _bewickii_.


Thryothorus bewickii, var. spilurus, VIGORS.

  _Troglodytes spilurus_, VIGORS, Zoöl. Beechey’s Voyage, 1839, 18,
    pl. iv, fig. 1 (California). _Thryothorus spilurus_, COOPER, Orn.
    Cal. 1, 1870, 69. _Troglodytes bewickii_, NEWBERRY, P. R. R. Rept.
    VI, IV, 1857, 80.—COOPER & SUCKLEY, IB. XII, II, 1860, 190.
    _Thryothorus bewickii_, SCLATER, Catal. 1861, 22, no. 141 (in
    part). _Thryothorus bewickii_, var. _spilurus_, BAIRD, Rev. 126.

SP. CHAR. Similar to _bewickii_ in color, the bill considerably
longer. Length from nostril, .50, gape, .81, instead of .39 and .70.

HAB. Pacific slope of United States.

Young birds from all the localities differ from adults merely in
having the feathers of the throat and breast very narrowly and
inconspicuously edged with blackish.

HABITS. This variety of Bewick’s Wren is exclusively an inhabitant of
the Western coast. According to Dr. Cooper, they abound throughout the
wooded parts of California and northward, frequenting the densest
forests as well as the open groves. During the winter they were found
in the vicinity of Fort Mojave, but left in April, probably for the
mountains. They also winter throughout the mild regions towards the
coast as far north as Puget Sound. They are known as Mocking-Wrens,
though Dr. Cooper thinks they do not really imitate other birds, but
rather have a great variety of their own notes, some of which resemble
those of other birds and are well calculated to deceive one
unaccustomed to them. He was often led to search in vain for some new
form, which he thought he heard singing, only to find it to be a bird
of this species. Near San Diego, in April, 1862, he discovered one of
its nests built in a low bush, only three feet from the ground. It was
quite open above, formed of twigs, grass, etc., and contained five
eggs just ready to hatch, described as white with brown specks near
the larger end.

Messrs. Nuttall and Townsend observed these birds in the marshy
meadows of the Wahlamet, accompanied by their young, as early as May.
They seemed to have all the habits of Marsh Wrens. Drs. Gambel and
Heermann, who observed them in California, describe them as keeping in
low bushes and piles of brush, as well as about old dead trees and
logs, over and around which they were flitting with the greatest
activity, uttering, when approached, the usual grating scold of the
Wrens.

In Washington Territory Dr. Cooper states that this and the Winter
Wren are among the few birds that enliven the long rainy season with
their songs, which were as constantly heard in the dullest weather as
in the sunny spring. The young broods make their first appearance
there in June. Dr. Suckley found this species very abundant at Puget
Sound, where it is a constant resident throughout the year. On sunny
days in January and in February it was found among low thickets in
company with the smaller species. At this season they were very tame,
allowing a person to approach them without apparent fear. He speaks of
the voice of the male as being harsh and loud during the
breeding-season, and not unlike that of the common House Wren.


GENUS TROGLODYTES, VIEILL.

  _Troglodytes_, VIEILLOT, Ois. Am. Sept. II, 1807, 52. (Type,
    _Troglodytes ædon_.)

The characters of this genus are sufficiently indicated in the
synopsis on page 131. They come very close to those of _Thryothorus_,
the nostrils, especially, being linear and overhung by a scale. In
this respect both differ from _Thryophilus_ of Middle America. The
bill is shorter or not longer than the head; straight, slender, and
without notch. The tail is graduated, and shorter than the much
rounded wings, the feathers narrow. The light superciliary line of
_Thryothorus_ is almost entirely wanting.


Species and Varieties.

  _a. Troglodytes._

Tail and wings about equal.

  T. ædon. Beneath grayish-white. Crissum and flanks distinctly
  barred. Wing-coverts spotted with whitish. Dark bars of tail
  about half the width of their interspaces.

    First primary nearly half the longest. Color above
    dark-brown, rufous towards tail. _Hab._ Eastern Province
    United States …                                      var. _ædon_.

    Wing similar. Above paler brown. _Hab._ Eastern Mexico, from
    Rio Grande southward …                            var. _aztecus_.

    First primary half the second. Above paler brown. _Hab._
    Middle and Western Province United States …     var. _parkmanni_.

  _b. Anorthura._

Tail very short; only about two thirds the wing.

  T. hyemalis.

  _a._ Size of _ædon_ except for shorter tail, wing about 2.00;
  culmen very straight. _Hab._ Aleutian Islands …  var. _alascensis_.

  _b._ Much smaller than _ædon_, wing about 1.75.

    Pale reddish-brown; dusky bars of upper parts with whitish
    spots or interspaces. _Hab._ Eastern Province United States;
    Cordova? …                                       var. _hyemalis_.

    Dark rufous above and below; upper parts with few or almost
    no whitish spots. _Hab._ Pacific Province North America …
                                                    var. _pacificus_.


Troglodytes ædon, VIEILL.

HOUSE WREN; WOOD WREN.

  _Troglodytes ædon_, VIEILL. Ois. Am. Sept. II, 1807, 52, pl. cvii.—
    IB. Nouv. Dict. XXXIV, 1819, 506.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 366;
    Rev. 138.—SCLATER, Catal. 1861, 22, no. 145.—MAYNARD, B. E.
    Mass. _Hylemathrous ædon_, Cab. Jour. 1860, 407. _Sylvia
    domestica_, WILSON, Am. Orn. I, 1808, 129, pl. vii. _Troglodytes
    fulvus_, NUTT. Man. I, 1832, 422. ? _Troglodytes americanus_, AUD.
    Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 452; V, 1839, 469, pl. clxxix.—IB. Birds Am.
    II, 1841, 123, pl. cxix.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 368; Rev. I,
    141.
  Other figures: AUD. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, pl. lxxxiii.—IB. Birds Am.
    II, 1841, pl. cxx.

SP. CHAR. Tail and wings about equal. Bill shorter than the head.
Above reddish-brown, darker towards the head, brighter on the rump.
The feathers everywhere, except on the head and neck, barred with
dusky; obscurely so on the back, and still less on the rump. All the
tail-feathers barred from the base; the contrast more vivid on the
exterior one. Beneath pale fulvous-white, tinged with light brownish
across the breast; the posterior parts rather dark brown, obscurely
banded. Under tail-coverts whitish, with dusky bars. An indistinct
line over the eye, eyelids, and loral region, whitish. Cheeks brown,
streaked with whitish. Length, 4.90; wing, 2.08; tail, 2.00.

HAB. Eastern Province of the United States, from Atlantic to the
Missouri River.

In the Review of American Birds (p. 139), I have established a
variety, _aztecus_, to embrace specimens from Mexico paler than
_ædon_, and with a brownish tinge on the breast, and smaller size.

There can scarcely be any doubt that the _T. americanus_ of Audubon is
nothing more than this species in dark, accidentally soiled plumage
(from charcoal of burnt trees, etc.).

  [Line drawing: _Troglodytes ædon._
                  28941]

HABITS. The common House Wren is found throughout the United States,
from the Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains, though it is not everywhere
equally abundant. Thus, while in some parts of Massachusetts it occurs
in considerable numbers every year, in other portions not twenty miles
distant it is never seen. West of the Rocky Mountains it is replaced
by Parkman’s Wren, which is rather a race than a distinct species, the
differences in plumage being very slight, and in habits, nest, and
eggs not appreciable, though Dr. Cooper thinks there is a difference
in their song. Another race or a closely allied species, _T. aztecus_,
is found in Mexico, near the borders of the United States, but does
not have an extended range. It is found in the winter in Guatemala.

  [Illustration: _Troglodytes ædon._]

This species does not appear to be found beyond the southwestern
portion of Maine and the southern portions of New Hampshire and
Vermont. It makes its first appearance in Washington early in April,
and for a while is very abundant, visiting very familiarly the public
grounds of the capitol, private gardens, out-buildings, and the eaves
of dwellings. It does not appear in the New England States until after
the first week in May, and leaves for the South about the last of
September. It is not observed in any portion of the United States
after the first of November.

The hollows of decaying trees, crevices in rocks, or the centre of
meshes of interlacing vines, are their natural resorts. These they
readily relinquish for the facilities offered in the society of man.
They are bold, sociable, confiding birds, and will enter into the
closest relations with those who cultivate their acquaintance,
building their nests from preference under the eaves of houses, in
corners of the wood-shed, a clothes-line box, olive-jars,
martin-boxes, open gourds, an old hat, the skull of an ox placed on a
pole, the pocket of a carriage, or even the sleeve of an old coat left
hanging in an out-building. In the spring of 1855 a pair of these
Wrens nested within the house, and over the door of the room of the
late Robert Kennicott, where they raised their broods in safety. They
built a second nest on a shelf in the same room, which they entered
through a knot-hole in the unceiled wall. At first shy, they soon
became quite tame, and did not regard the presence of members of the
family. The male bird was more shy than his mate, and though equally
industrious in collecting insects would rarely bring them nearer than
the knot-hole, where the female would receive them. The female with
her brood was destroyed by a cat, but this did not deter the male bird
from appearing the following season with another mate and building
their nest in the same place. Another instance of a singular selection
of a breeding-place has been given by the same authority. Dr.
Kennicott, the father of Robert, a country physician, drove an old
two-wheeled open gig, in the back of which was a box, a foot in length
by three inches in width, open at the top. In this a pair of Wrens
insisted, time after time, in building their nest. Though removed each
time the vehicle was used, the pair for a long while persisted in
their attempts to make use of this place, at last even depositing
their eggs on the bare bottom of the box. It was two or three weeks
before they finally desisted from their vain attempts.

Sometimes this bird will build a nest in a large cavity, holding
perhaps a bushel. Before the cup of the nest is completed, the birds
will generally endeavor to fill the entire space with sticks and
various other convenient substances. Where the entrance is
unnecessarily large they will generally contract it by building about
it a barricade of sticks, leaving only a small entrance. In the midst
of these masses of material they construct a compact, cup-shaped,
inner nest, hemispherical in shape, composed of finer materials and
warmly lined with the fur of small quadrupeds, and with soft feathers.
If the eggs are taken as the female is depositing them, she will
continue to lay quite a long while. In one instance eighteen were
taken, after which the birds were let alone and raised a brood of
seven.

During the months of May and June the male is a constant and
remarkable singer. His song is loud, clear, and shrill, given with
great animation and rapidity, the performer evincing great jealousy of
any interruption, often leaving off abruptly in the midst of his song
to literally “pitch in” upon any rival who may presume to compete with
him.

If a cat or any unwelcome visitor approach the nest, angry
vociferations succeed to his sprightly song, and he will swoop in
rapid flights across the head or back of the intruder, even at the
apparent risk of his life.

Where several pairs occupy the same garden, their contests are
frequent, noisy, and generally quite amusing. In their fights with
other birds for the possession of a coveted hollow, their skill at
barricading frequently enables the Wrens to keep triumphant possession
against birds much more powerful than themselves.

Their food is exclusively insectivorous, and of a class of destructive
insects that render them great benefactors to the farmer. Mr.
Kennicott ascertained that a single pair of Wrens carried to their
young about a thousand insects in a single day.

The young, when they leave their nest, keep together for some time,
moving about, an interesting, sociable, and active group, under the
charge of their mother, but industrious in supplying their own wants.

The eggs of the Wren, usually from seven to nine in number, are of a
rounded-oval shape, at times nearly as broad as long. Their
ground-color is white, but they are so thickly studded with markings
and fine spots of reddish-brown, with a few occasional points of
purplish-slate, as to conceal their ground. Their shape varies from
nearly spherical to an oblong-oval, some measuring .60 by .55 of an
inch, others with the same breadth having a length of .67 of an inch.

Under the name of _Troglodytes americanus_, or Wood Wren, Mr. Audubon
figured and described as a distinct species what is probably only a
somewhat larger and darker form of the present species, hardly
distinct enough to be treated even as a race. Mr. Audubon met with an
individual near Eastport in 1832. The young were following their
parents through the tangled recesses of a dark forest, in search of
food. Others were obtained in the same part of Maine, near
Dennisville, where Mr. Lincoln informed Mr. Audubon that this bird was
the common Wren of the neighborhood, and that they bred in hollow logs
in the woods, but seldom approached farm-houses.

In the winter following, at Charleston, S. C., Mr. Audubon again met
individuals of this supposed species, showing the same habits as in
Maine, remaining in thick hedges, along ditches in the woods, not far
from plantations. The notes are described as differing considerably
from those of the House Wren. It has not been seen by Mr. Boardman,
though residing in the region where it is said to be the common Wren.
Professor Verrill mentions it as a rare bird in Western Maine.

Mr. Charles S. Paine, of Randolph, Vt., is the only naturalist who has
met with what he supposes were its nest and eggs. The following is his
account, communicated by letter.

     “The Wood Wren comes among us in the spring about the 10th
     or 15th of April, and sings habitually as it skips among the
     brush and logs and under the roots and stumps of trees. In
     one instance I have known it to make its appearance in
     midwinter, and to be about the house and barn some time. It
     is only occasionally that they spend the summer here
     (Central Vermont). The nest from which I obtained the egg
     you now have, I found about the first of July, just as the
     young were about to fly. There were five young birds and one
     egg. The nest was built on the hanging bark of a decaying
     beech-log, close under the log. A great quantity of moss and
     rotten wood had been collected and filled in around the
     nest, and a little round hole left for the entrance. The
     nest was lined with a soft, downy substance. I have no doubt
     that they sometimes commence to breed as early as the middle
     of May, as I have seen their young out in early June.”

Mr. Paine discredits the statement that they build their nests in
holes in the ground. The egg referred to by Mr. Paine is oval in
shape, slightly more pointed at one end, measuring .75 of an inch in
length by .53 in breadth. The ground is a dead chalky-white, over
which are sprinkled a few very fine dots of a light yellowish-brown,
slightly more numerous at the larger end. This egg, while it bears
some resemblance to that of the Winter Wren, is totally unlike that of
the House Wren.


Troglodytes ædon, var. parkmanni, AUD.

PARKMAN’S WREN; WESTERN WOOD WREN.

  _Troglodytes parkmanni_, AUD. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 310.—IB. Synopsis,
    1839, 76.—IB. Birds Am. II, 1841, 133, pl. cxxii.—BAIRD, Birds
    N. Am. 1858, 367; Rev. 140.—COOPER & SUCKLEY, P. R. R. Rep. XII,
    II, 1860, 191 (nest).—SCLATER, Catal. 1861, 23, no. 146.—COOPER,
    Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 71. _Troglodytes sylvestris_, GAMBEL, Pr. A. N.
    Sc. III, 1846, 113 (California, quotes erroneously AUD. _T.
    americanus_).

HAB. Western and Middle Provinces of United States. East to the
Missouri River. Western Arizona, COUES.

Although the differences between the eastern and western House Wrens,
as stated in the Birds of North America, are not very appreciable, yet
a comparison of an extensive series shows that they can hardly be
considered as identical. The general color of _parkmanni_ above is
paler and grayer, and there is little or none of the rufous of the
lower back and rump. The bars on the upper surface are rather more
distinct. The under parts are more alike, as, while ædon sometimes has
flanks and crissum strongly tinged with rufous, other specimens are as
pale as in _T. parkmanni_.

Perhaps the most appreciable differences between the two are to be
found in the size and proportions of wing and tail. The wing in
_parkmanni_ is quite decidedly longer than in _ædon_, measuring, in
males, 2.12 to 2.15, instead of 2.00 to 2.05. This is due not so much
to a larger size as to a greater development of the primaries. The
first quill is equal to or barely more than half the second in
_parkmanni_; and the difference between the longest primary and the
tenth amounts to .32 of an inch, instead of about .20 in _ædon_, where
the first quill is nearly half the length of the third, and much more
than half the length of the second.

HABITS. This western form, hardly distinguishable from the common
House Wren of the Eastern States, if recognized as a distinct species,
is its complete analogue in regard to habits, nest, eggs, etc. It was
first obtained by Townsend on the Columbia River, and described by
Audubon in 1839. It has since been observed in various parts of the
country, from the Mississippi Valley to the Pacific Coast, and from
Cape St. Lucas to Oregon.

Dr. Cooper, in his Birds of Washington Territory, speaks of this Wren
as common about Puget Sound, where it appeared to be much less
familiar than our common Wren, though its habits and song seemed to be
very similar. It there frequented chiefly the vicinity of woods and
piles of logs, neither seeking nor dwelling in the vicinity of houses.
It arrives there about the 20th of April. As observed about Vancouver
in 1853, its song appeared to Dr. Cooper different from that of the
_T. ædon_. He found one of their nests built in a horse’s skull that
had been stuck upon a fence. Dr. Suckley, who observed these birds
about Fort Steilacoom, describes their voice as harsh and unmusical.

Dr. Cooper has since observed them in California, and in the winter,
in the Colorado Valley, where they roosted at night under the eaves of
the garrison buildings. They make their appearance at San Francisco as
early as March 16, and nest at San Diego in April. He has found their
nests in hollow trees at various heights, from five to forty feet, all
composed of a floor and barricade of long dry twigs, grass, and bark,
loosely placed, but so interwoven as to leave only just space for the
birds to squeeze in over them. They are warmly lined with a large
quantity of feathers. Their eggs he gives as from five to nine in
number.

The late Mr. Hepburn has furnished more full and exact information in
regard to this species. We give it in his own words.

“The _T. parkmanni_ is the common wren of Vancouver Island, far more
so than of California, where I have found the Bewick’s Wren (_T.
bewickii_) much more numerous. Parkman’s Wren builds its nest in
hollow trees in Vancouver Island, about the middle of May, forming it
of small sticks laid at the bottom of the hole, neatly and comfortably
lining it on the inside with feathers that arch over the eggs. It will
also readily avail itself of any similar and equally convenient
cavity. I have known these birds to build under the roof of a frame
house, entering by a hole between the topmost board and the shingles;
also in a hole in a gate-post, through which gate people were
continually passing; and also over a doorway, getting in by a loose
board, in a place where the nest could be reached by the hand. In 1852
I put a cigar-box, with a hole cut in one end, between the forks of a
tree in a garden at Victoria. A pair of Wrens speedily took possession
of it and formed their nest therein, laying seven eggs, the first on
the 18th of May. The eggs of this Wren are white, thickly freckled
with pink spots, so much so in some specimens as to give a general
pink appearance to the egg itself, but forming a zone of a darker hue
near the larger end. They are .81 of an inch in length by .50 in
width.”

Their eggs resemble those of the _T. ædon_ so as to be hardly
distinguishable, yet on comparing several sets of each there seem to
be these constant differences. The spots of the western species are
finer, less marked, more numerous, and of a pinker shade of
reddish-brown. The eggs, too, range a little smaller in size, though
exhibiting great variations. In one nest the average measurement of
its seven eggs is .60 by .50, that of another set of the same number
.70 by .50 of an inch.

In all respects, habits, manners, and notes, Parkman’s Wren is a
perfect counterpart of the eastern House Wren. In the country east of
the Sierra Nevada it almost wholly replaces the western Bewick’s Wren
(_Thryothorus bewickii_, var. _spilurus_), and inhabits any wooded
localities, as little preference being given to the cottonwoods of the
river valleys as to the aspen groves high up in the mountains.


Troglodytes parvulus, var. hyemalis, VIEILL.

WINTER WREN.

  _Sylvia troglodytes_, WILSON, Am. Orn. I, 1808, 139, pl. viii, f. 6.
    _Troglodytes hyemalis_, VIEILLOT, Nouv. Dict. XXXIV, 1819,
    514.—AUD. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 430, pl. ccclx.—IB. Birds Am. II,
    1841, 128, pl. cxxi.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 369; Rev.
    144.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1856, 290 (Cordova, Mex.).—IB. Catal.
    1861, 23, no. 152.—DALL & BANNISTER (Alaska).—COOPER, Orn. Cal.
    I, 1870, 73.

SP. CHAR. Bill very straight, slender, and conical; shorter than the
head. Tail considerably shorter than the wings, which reach to its
middle. Upper parts reddish-brown; becoming brighter to the rump and
tail; everywhere, except on the head and upper part of the back, with
transverse bars of dusky and of lighter. Scapulars and wing-coverts
with spots of white. Beneath pale reddish-brown, barred on the
posterior half of the body with dusky and whitish, and spotted with
white more anteriorly; outer web of primaries similarly spotted with
pale brownish-white. An indistinct pale line over the eye. Length,
about 4 inches; wing, 1.66; tail, 1.26.

HAB. North America generally. South to Cordova, Mex.

Western specimens may be separated as a variety _pacificus_ (BAIRD,
Rev. Am. Birds, 1864, 145), based on the much darker colors and the
almost entire absence of the whitish spots among the dark bars. The
under parts are more rufous; the tarsi are shorter, the claws larger,
the bill straighter and more slender.

The Winter Wren is very closely related to the common Wren (_T.
parvulus_, KOCH) of Europe, so much so, in fact, that the two almost
seem to be varieties of one species. The differences, as shown in a
large series from both continents, are the following: In _T. parvulus_
there is a tendency to more uniform shades; and the prevailing tint
anteriorly, beneath, is a pale yellowish-ash, almost immaculate,
instead of brownish-ochraceous, showing minute specks and darker edges
to the feathers. In extreme specimens of _T. parvulus_ the bars even
on the tail and wings (except primaries, where they are always
distinct) are very obsolete, while on the lower parts they are
confined to the flanks and crissum. Sometimes, however, specimens of
the two are found which are almost undistinguishable from each other.
In fact, it is only by taking the plainer European birds and comparing
them with the darker American examples from the northwest coast, that
the difference between _T. parvulus_ and _T. hyemalis_ is readily
appreciable.

HABITS. The Winter Wren, nowhere very abundant, seems to be
distributed over the whole of North America. Hardly distinguishable
from the common Wren of Europe, it can scarcely be considered as
distinct. The habits of our species certainly seem to be very
different from those assigned to the European bird, which in England
appears to be as common and as familiar a bird as even the Redbreast.
The small size and retiring habits of our species, as well as its
unfrequent occurrence, and only in wild places, combine to keep its
history in doubt and obscurity. It is supposed to be northern in its
distribution during the breeding-season, yet only a single specimen
was obtained by Sir John Richardson, and that on the northern shores
of Lake Huron.

On the Pacific coast Dr. Cooper regarded the Winter Wren as the most
common species in the forests of Washington Territory, where it
frequented even the densest portions, and where its lively song was
almost the only sound to be heard. It was most commonly seen in
winter, retiring in summer to the mountains to breed. He observed
young birds on the Coast Mountains in July.

Dr. Suckley also states that this Wren was found at Fort Steilacoom
more abundantly in the winter than any other species. It was very
unsuspicious, allowing a very near approach. The dense fir forests,
among fallen logs, were its usual places of resort during the long,
damp, and dreary winters of Oregon. Dr. Suckley regarded the habits of
this species and those of the Parkman Wren as nearly identical. Mr.
Bischoff obtained four specimens in Sitka.

Mr. Audubon found this species at Eastport, on the 9th of May, in full
song and quite abundant. A month later he found them equally plentiful
in the Magdalen Islands, and afterwards, about the middle of July, in
Labrador. He described its song as excelling that of any bird of its
size with which he was acquainted, being full of cadence, energy, and
melody, and as truly musical. Its power of continuance is said to be
very surprising.

The characteristics of the Winter Wren are those of the whole family.
They move with rapidity and precision from place to place, in short,
sudden hops and flights, bending downward and keeping their tails
erect. They will run under a large root, through a hollow stump or
log, or between the interstices of rocks, more in the manner of a
mouse than of a bird.

The writer has several times observed these Wrens on the steep sides
of Mount Washington, in the month of June, moving about in active
unrest, disappearing and reappearing among the broken masses of
granite with which these slopes are strewn. This was even in the most
thickly wooded portions. Though they evidently had nests in the
neighborhood, they could not be discovered. They were unsuspicious,
could be approached within a few feet, but uttered querulous
complaints if one persisted in searching too long in the places they
entered.

This Wren, as I am informed by Mr. Boardman, is a common summer
resident near Calais, Me.

Mr. Audubon met with its nest in a thick forest in Pennsylvania. He
followed a pair of these birds until they disappeared in the hollow of
a protuberance, covered with moss and lichens, resembling the
excrescences often seen on forest trees. The aperture was perfectly
rounded and quite smooth. He put in his finger and felt the pecking of
the bird’s bill and heard its querulous cry. He was obliged to remove
the parent bird in order to see the eggs, which were six in number.
The parent birds made a great clamor as he was examining them. The
nest was seven inches in length and four and a half in breadth. Its
walls were composed of mosses and lichens, and were nearly two inches
in thickness. The cavity was very warmly lined with the fur of the
American hare and a few soft feathers. Another nest found on the
Mohawk, in New York, was similar, but smaller, and built against the
side of a rock near its bottom.

Mr. William F. Hall met with the nest and eggs of this bird at Camp
Sebois in the central eastern portion of Maine. It was built in an
unoccupied log-hut, among the fir-leaves and mosses in a crevice
between the logs. It was large and bulky, composed externally of
mosses and lined with the fur of hedge-hogs, and the feathers of the
spruce partridge and other birds. It was in the shape of a pouch, and
the entrance was neatly framed with fine pine sticks. The eggs were
six in number, and somewhat resembled those of the _Parus
atricapillus_. The female was seen and fully identified.

In this nest, which measured five and three quarters inches by five in
breadth, the size, solidity, and strength, in view of the diminutive
proportions of its tiny architect, are quite remarkable. The walls
were two inches in thickness and very strongly impacted and
interwoven. The cavity was an inch and a quarter wide and four inches
deep. Its hemlock framework had been made of green materials, and
their strong and agreeable odor pervaded the structure. The eggs
measured .65 by .48 of an inch, and were spotted with a bright
reddish-brown and a few pale markings of purplish-slate, on a pure
white ground. Compared with the eggs of the European Wren their eggs
are larger, less oval in shape, and the spots much more marked in
their character and distinctness.


Troglodytes parvulus, var. alascensis, BAIRD.

ALASKA WREN.

  _Troglodytes alascensis_, BAIRD, Trans. Chicago Acad. Sc. I, ii, 315,
    pl. xxx, fig. 3, 1869.—DALL & BANNISTER (Alaska).—FRIESCH,
    Ornith. N. W. Amerikas, 1872, 30.

SP. CHAR. ♂ ad., 61,329, Amaknak Island, Unalaschka, Oct. 21, 1871; W.
H. Dall. Above umber-brown, more rufescent on the wings, rump, and
tail; secondaries and tail-feathers showing indistinct transverse
dusky bars; primaries about equally barred with blackish and dilute
umber or brownish-white; middle-coverts tipped with a small white dot,
preceded by a black one. Lower part, including a rather distinct
superciliary stripe, pale ochraceous-umber; sides, flanks, abdomen,
and crissum distinctly barred with dusky and whitish on a rusty
ground; crissum with sagittate spots of white. Wing, 2.20; tail, 1.60;
culmen, .65; tarsus, .75.

HAB. Aleutian and Pribylow Islands, Alaska.

The specimen above described represents about the average of a large
series obtained on Amaknak Island by Mr. Dall. They vary somewhat
among themselves as regards dimensions, but all are very much larger
than any specimens of _T. hyemalis_, from which it also differs in
longer, straighter, and more subulate bill (the gonys slightly
ascending). The type specimen from St. George’s Island was immature,
and we embrace the opportunity of giving the description of an adult
sent down with several others in the autumn of 1871 by Mr. Dall from
Unalaschka.

This form bears the same relation to _T. hyemalis_ that _Melospiza
unalaschkensis_ does to _M. melodia_; _T. pacificus_, like _M.
rufina_, being an intermediate form.

HABITS. Of this new variety, the Alaska Wren, but little is as yet
known as to its personal history. Mr. Dall states that it is found in
abundance all the year round on St. George’s Island, and that it
breeds in May, building a nest of moss in the crevices of the rocks,
and, according to the Aleuts, lays six eggs. Mr. Dall subsequently
found it quite common at Unalaschka in the summer of 1871.


GENUS CISTOTHORUS, CABAN.

  _Cistothorus_, CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1850, 1851, 77. (Type,
    _Troglodytes stellaris_.)
  _Telmatodytes_, CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1850, 1851, 78. (Type, _Certhia
    palustris_.)
  _Thryothorus_, VIEILLOT, Analyse, 1816, according to G. R. Gray.

  [Line drawing: _Cistothorus palustris._
                  1454 ♂]

GEN. CHAR. Bill about as long as the head or much shorter, much
compressed, not notched, gently decurved from the middle; the gonys
slightly concave or straight. Toes reaching to the end of the tail.
Tarsus longer than the middle toe. Hind toe longer than the lateral,
shorter than the middle. Lateral toes about equal. Hind toe longer
than or equal to its digit. Wings rather longer than the tail, all the
feathers of which are much graduated; the lateral only two thirds the
middle. The feathers narrow. Back black, conspicuously streaked with
white.

Of this genus there are two sections, _Cistothorus_ proper and
_Telmatodytes_, the diagnoses of which have already been given. The
two North American species present the feature, unique among our
Wrens, of white streaks on the back.

A. Cistothorus. Bill half length of head. No white superciliary
streak. Head and rump and back streaked with white. Tail dusky,
barred with brown …                                   _C. stellaris._

B. Telmatodytes. Bill length of head. A white superciliary
stripe. Back alone streaked with white. Tail-feathers black,
barred with whitish …                                 _C. palustris._


Cistothorus stellaris, CABAN.

SHORT-BILLED MARSH-WREN.

  _Troglodytes stellaris_, “LICHT.” NAUMANN, Vögel Deutschlands, III,
    1823, 724 (Carolina). _Cistothorus stellaris_, CAB. Mus. Hein.
    77.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 365; Rev. 146.—SCLATER, Catal. 22,
    no. 142 (in part). _Troglodytes brevirostris_, NUTT. Man. I, 1832,
    436.—AUD. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 427, pl. clxxv.—IB. Birds Am. II,
    1841, 138, pl. cxxiv. _C. elegans_, SCLATER & SALVIN, Ibis, 1859,
    8.

SP. CHAR. Bill very short, scarcely half the length of the head. Wing
and tail about equal. Hinder part of the crown and the scapular and
interscapular region of the back and rump almost black, streaked with
white. Tail dusky, the feathers barred throughout with brown (the
color grayish on the under surface). Beneath white; the sides, upper
part of breast, and under tail-coverts reddish-brown. Upper parts,
with the exceptions mentioned, reddish-brown. Length, 4.50; wing,
1.75; tail, 1.75.

HAB. Eastern Province of United States, west to Loup Fork of Platte.

There is a closely allied variety from Mexico and Guatemala (_C.
elegans_, SCLATER & SALVIN, Pr. Z. S., 1859, 8) which differs in the
characters stated below.

  White dorsal streaks extending to the rump, which is
     conspicuously banded with brown, and somewhat spotted with
     whitish. Beneath, including lining of wings, light
     cinnamon-brown; throat and belly paler, almost white; sides
     and crissum very obsoletely barred with darker, and faintly
     spotted with whitish. Feathers of jugulum like sides, but
     with the color obscured by the paler edges. Tarsus, .65
     long. _Hab._ Eastern Province of United States … _C. stellaris._

  Streaks on back confined to interscapular region; rump and upper
     tail-coverts almost plain reddish-brown. Beneath much paler
     than in _stellaris_, without any appreciable indication of
     bars or spots on sides and crissum, or of the fulvous of the
     jugular feathers. Inside of wings snowy-white. Tarsus, .72
     long. _Hab._ Mexico and Guatemala; Brazil? …       _C. elegans._

The differences between these two varieties are just barely
appreciable when specimens of the two, of corresponding seasons, are
compared. Two Mexican examples (_elegans_) differ more from each other
than one does from North American specimens; because one (a typical
specimen received from Salvin) is in the worn, faded, midsummer
plumage, and the other in the perfect autumnal dress. Besides the
longer tarsi of these Mexican birds, their tails, and even their
bills, are longer than seen in North American skins. But while these
differences between the North American and Mexican birds are just
appreciable, there is one from Brazil (51,017, Sr. Don Fred.
Albuquerque) which is exactly intermediate between these two varieties
in color, while in size it is even smaller than the North American
ones, measuring as follows: wing, 1.60; tail, 1.60; culmen, .45,
tarsus, .61.

Even if recognizable as belonging to different varieties, these
specimens are certainly all referable to one species.

HABITS. The Short-billed Marsh Wren is very irregularly distributed
throughout the United States, being found from Georgia to the British
Provinces, and from the Atlantic to the Upper Missouri. It is nowhere
abundant, and in many large portions of intervening territory has
never been found.

  [Illustration: _Cistothorus palustris._]

It is exclusively an inhabitant of low, fresh-water marshes, open
swamps, and meadows, is never found on high ground, and is very shy
and difficult of approach. It makes its first appearance in
Massachusetts early in May, and leaves early in September. In winter
it has been found in all the Gulf States, from Florida to Texas.

According to Nuttall, this Wren has a lively and quaint song,
delivered earnestly and as if in haste, and at short intervals, either
from a tuft of sedge or from a low bush on the edge of a marsh. When
approached, the song becomes harsher and more hurried, and rises into
an angry and petulant cry. In the early part of the season the male is
quite lively and musical. These Wrens spend their time chiefly in the
long, rank grass of the swamps and meadows searching for insects,
their favorite food.

Their nest is constructed in the midst of a tussock of coarse high
grass, the tops of which are ingeniously interwoven into a coarse and
strong covering, spherical in shape and closed on every side, except
one small aperture left for an entrance. The strong wiry grass of the
tussock is also interwoven with finer materials, making the whole
impervious to the weather. The inner nest is composed of grasses and
finer sedges, and lined with soft, vegetable down. The eggs are nine
in number, pure white, and rather small for the bird. They are
exceedingly delicate and fragile, more so than is usual even in the
eggs of Humming-Birds. They are of an oval shape, and measure .60 by
.45 of an inch.

Mr. Nuttall conjectured that occasionally two females occupied the
same nest, and states that he has known the male bird to busy itself
in constructing several nests, not more than one of which would be
used. As these birds rear a second brood, it is probable that these
nests are built from an instinctive desire to have a new one in
readiness for the second brood. This peculiarity has been noticed in
other Wrens, where the female sometimes takes possession of the new
abode, lays and sits upon her second set of eggs before her first
brood are ready to fly, which are left to the charge of her mate.

Mr. Audubon found this Wren breeding in Texas. Dr. Trudeau met them on
the marshes of the Delaware River, and their nest and eggs have been
sent to us from the Koskonong marshes of Wisconsin. It has also been
found in the marshes of Connecticut River, near Hartford; and in
Illinois Mr. Kennicott found it among the long grasses bordering on
the prairie sloughs.

In Massachusetts I have occasionally met with their nests, but only
late in July, when the rank grass of the low meadows has been cut.
These were probably their second brood. The nest being built close to
the ground, and made of the living grasses externally, they are not
distinguishable from the unoccupied tussocks that surround them.


Cistothorus palustris, BAIRD.

LONG-BILLED MARSH WREN.

Var. palustris.

  _Certhia palustris_, WILSON, Am. Orn. II, 1810, 58, pl. xii, fig. 4
    (Penna). _Troglodytes palustris_, BON. Obs. Wils. 1824, no.
    66.—AUD. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, 500, pl. c.—IB. Birds Am. II, 1841,
    135, pl. cxxiii.—REINHARDT, Ibis, 1861, 5 (Godthaab, Greenland).
    _Thryothorus palustris_, NUTT. Man. I, 1832, 439. _Cistothorus
    (Telmatodytes) palustris_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 364; Rev.
    147.—SCLATER, Catal. 1861, 22. _Thryothorus arundinaceus_,
    VIEILLOT, Nouv. Dict. XXXIV, 1819, 58 (not _Trog. arundinaceus_,
    VIEILLOT). _Thryothorus arundinaceus_, BON. Consp. 1850, 220.
    _Telmatodytes arundinaceus_, CAB. Mus. Hein. 1850, 78.

HAB. Eastern United States, from the Missouri River; Greenland?
REINHARDT; Mexico, and Guatemala? Cordova, SCLATER.

Var. paludicola.

  _Cistothorus palustris_, var. _paludicola_, BAIRD, Rev. Am. B. 1864,
    148. _Troglodytes palustris_, NEWB. P. R. Rep. VI, IV, 1857, 80
    (Pacific region). _Cistothorus palustris_, COOPER & SUCKLEY, P. R.
    Rep. X, II, 1859, 190 (W. T.)—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1. 1870, 75.
    _Certhia palustris_, LORD, Pr. R. Art. Inst. IV, 117.

SP. CHAR. Bill about as long as head. Tail and wing nearly equal.
Upper parts of a dull reddish-brown, except on the crown,
interscapular region, outer surface of tertials, and tail-feathers,
which are almost black; the first with a median patch like the
ground-color; the second with short streaks of white, extending round
on the sides of the neck; the third indented with brown; the fourth
barred with whitish, decreasing in amount from the outer feather,
which is marked from the base to the fifth, where it is confined to
the tips; the two middle feathers above like the back, and barred
throughout with dusky. Beneath rather pure white, the sides and under
tail-coverts of a lighter shade of brown than the back; a white streak
over the eye. Length, 5.50; wing, 2.08; tail, 2.00. (1,454.)

HAB. Pacific Coast and Middle Province of United States.

In comparing a series of Marsh Wrens of eastern North America with
western, we find that they differ very appreciably in certain
characteristics, which may be expressed by the following diagnoses:—

  Bill lengthened, equal to tarsus. Tail-coverts above and below
     either perfectly plain, or with very obsolete bands, reduced
     to obscure spots beneath. Bands on tail broken; scarcely
     appreciable on the middle feathers …           var. _palustris_.

  Bill shorter than tarsus. Tail-coverts distinctly banded all
     across. Bands on tail quite distinct; appreciable on the
     central feathers …                            var. _paludicola_.

The differences between these two races is much more appreciable than
those between _Troglodytes ædon_ and _T. “parkmanni”_; the most
striking character is the much longer bill of the var. _palustris_.

Specimens of the var. _paludicola_ from the interior are paler and
more grayish-brown above, and have less distinct bars on the
tail-coverts and tail, than in Pacific coast specimens, while on the
crown the brown, instead of the black, largely predominates.

HABITS. The common Marsh Wren appears to have a nearly unrestricted
range throughout North America. It occurs on the Atlantic coast from
Massachusetts to Florida, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and as
far north as Washington Territory on the west coast. A single specimen
was procured in Greenland. It is not, however, at all common in these
more northern latitudes. Mr. Drummond, of Sir John Richardson’s party,
met with it in the 55th parallel on the eastern declivity of the Rocky
Mountains and in the Saskatchewan Valley. Dr. Cooper found it early in
March in the salt marshes along the coast of Washington Territory, and
thinks it winters in that section. On the Eastern coast it is not
common as far north as Massachusetts, a few being found at Cambridge
and in Barnstable County. It is abundant near Washington, D. C., and
throughout the country in all suitable locations south and west from
Pennsylvania. Mr. Ridgway found it plentiful in Utah.

They frequent low marshy grounds, whether near the sea or in the
interior, and build in low bushes, a few feet from the ground, a
well-constructed globular nest. On the Potomac, where the river is
subject to irregular tides, they are generally not less than five feet
from the ground.

These nests are nearly spherical, and both in size and shape resemble
a cocoanut. They are made externally of coarse sedges firmly
interwoven, the interstices being cemented with clay or mud, and are
impervious to the weather. A small round orifice is left on one side
for entrance, the upper side of which is also protected from the rain
by a projecting edge. The inside is lined with fine grasses, feathers,
the down of the silk-weed, and other soft and warm vegetable
substances. These birds arrive in the Middle States early in May and
leave early in September. They have two broods in the season, and each
time construct and occupy a new nest.

Audubon describes its nest as built among sedges, and as usually
partly constructed of the sedges among which the nest is built. This
is the usual manner in which the _C. stellaris_ builds its nest, but I
have never known one of the present species building in this manner,
and in the localities in which they breed, near the coast, being
subject to irregular heights of tides, it could not be done with
safety.

The note of the Marsh Wren is a low, harsh, grating cry, neither loud
nor musical, and more resembling the noise of an insect than the vocal
utterances of a bird.

Their food consists chiefly of small aquatic insects, minute mollusks,
and the like, and these they are very expert in securing.

The eggs of this species average .65 of an inch in length and .50 in
breadth. They are, in color, in striking contrast with those of the
_C. stellaris_, being so thickly marked with blotches and spots of a
deep chocolate-brown as to be almost of one uniform color in
appearance. They are of an oval shape, at times almost spheroidal, one
end being but slightly more pointed than the other. They number from
six to nine.

In a few instances eggs of this species from the Mississippi Valley
and from California are of a light ashy-gray color, the markings being
smaller and of a much lighter color.

       *     *     *     *     *

We have thus completed the account of the Oscine Singing-Birds with
slender bills not hooked at the end, and which have ten distinct
primaries; the first or outer one, however, either quite small or else
considerably shorter than the second. We now come to a series with
only nine primaries, the first being entirely wanting, and the second,
now the outermost, nearly or quite as long as the third. In the
preliminary tables of general arrangement will be found the
comparative characters of the different families of _Oscines_, but the
diagnosis of the series referred to is presented here, as follows:—

COMMON CHARACTERS. Primaries nine; the first quill nearly as long as
the second or third. Tarsi distinctly scutellate the whole length
anteriorly. Bill conical, but slender or depressed, usually, except in
_Cærebidæ_, half the length of the head; more or less bristled, or
notched. Nostrils oval or rounded. Lateral toes nearly or quite equal,
and shorter than the middle; the basal joint of the middle free nearly
to its base externally, united for about half internally.

Motacillidæ. Bill slender. Culmen slightly concave at base. Legs long;
claws but little curved. Hind toe considerably longer than the middle
one; its claw much longer (twice) than the middle claw; all the claws
but slightly curved. Innermost secondaries (so-called tertials)
elongated, much longer than the outer secondaries; and the fifth
primary emarginated at end. Nest on ground.

Sylvicolidæ. Bill rather slender, conical, or depressed. Culmen
straight or convex. Hind toe shorter than the middle; the claws all
much curved. Hind claw not conspicuously longer than the middle one.
When the hind toe is lengthened, it is usually in the digit, not the
claw. Tertials generally not longer than the secondaries, and not
emarginated. Gape wide; tongue slightly split at end. Nest variously
placed.

Cærebidæ. Similar to _Sylvicolidæ_. Bill generally longer; equal to
head or more. Gape of mouth narrow; tongue generally much fringed at
the end. Nest on trees.

The _Tanagridæ_, the _Fringillidæ_, and even the _Icteridæ_, come very
near these families, as will be explained farther on, all agreeing in
having the nine primaries, and in many other characters.




FAMILY MOTACILLIDÆ.—THE WAGTAILS.


CHAR. Bill slender, conical, nearly as high as wide at the base, with
slight notch at the tip; the culmen slightly concave above the
anterior extremity of the nostrils; short bristles at gape, which,
however, do not extend forward to nostrils. Loral feathers soft and
dense, but with bristly points; nasal groove filled with naked
membrane, with the elongated nostrils in lower edge; the frontal
feathers coming up to the aperture, but not directed forward nor
overhanging it. Wings lengthened and sharp-pointed; the primaries nine
(without spurious first), of which the first three to five,
considerably longer than the succeeding, form the tip; the exterior
secondaries generally much emarginated at the ends; the inner
secondaries (so-called tertials) nearly equal to the longest
primaries. The tail rather narrow, emarginate. Tarsi lengthened,
scutellate anteriorly only, the hind claw usually very long, acute,
and but slightly curved (except in _Motacilla_). Inner toe cleft
almost to the very base, outer adherent for basal joint only.

The combination of naked nostrils, notched bill, and nine primaries,
with the tarsi scutellate anteriorly only, will at once distinguish
the _Anthinæ_ of this family from the _Alaudidæ_, which they so
closely resemble in coloration, habits, and lengthened hind claw. The
lengthened, slightly curved hind claw, much pointed wings, emarginated
secondaries,—the inner ones nearly as long as the primaries,—distinguish
the family from the _Sylvicolidæ_, with which also it has near
relationships.


Subfamilies and Genera.

Motacillinæ. Tail longer than or equal to wings; the two central
feathers rather longer than lateral; the feathers broadest in
middle, whence they taper gradually to the rounded tip. Colors
uniform: gray, black, yellowish; without pale edges to feathers
above, or streaks below.

  Tail from coccyx considerably longer than the wings, doubly
  forked. Hind claw shorter than the toe; decidedly curved …
                                                         _Motacilla._

  Tail from coccyx equal to the wings, slightly graduated. Hind
  claw decidedly longer than the toe, slightly curved …    _Budytes._

Anthinæ. Tail shorter than the wings, emarginate at end, the two
central shorter than lateral; the feathers broadest near the end,
and rounding rapidly at end. Above grayish-brown, the feathers
edged with paler. Under parts streaked.

  Wings much pointed and lengthened.

    Hind toe and claw shorter than tarsus; outstretched toes
    falling short of tip of tail …                          _Anthus._

    Hind toe and claw longer than tarsus; outstretched toes
    extending beyond tip of tail …                        _Neocorys._


  Wings short and rounded.

    Point of wings formed by outer four primaries of nearly equal
    length …                                        _Notiocorys._[30]

    Point of wing formed by outer five primaries, the first
    shorter than the third …                        _Pediocorys._[31]

  [Illustration: PLATE X.

   1. Motacilla alba, _Linn._ Europe.
   2. Budytes flava, _Linn._ Alaska, 45912.
   3. Anthus ludovicianus, _Gm._ Labrador, 18081.
   4.   “    pratensis, _Linn._ Europe, 18590.
   5. Neocorys spraguei, _Aud._ ♀ Dacota, 1884.
   6. Mniotilta varia, _Linn._ ♂ 18685.
   7. Parula americana, _Linn._ ♂ Pa., 53385.
   8. Protonotaria citrea, _Bodd._ Ill., 1011.
   9. Helmitherus swainsoni, _Aud._ S. C., 1054.
  10.     “       vermivorus, _Gm._ Pa., 2148.]


SUBFAMILY MOTACILLINÆ.


GENUS MOTACILLA, LINN.

_Motacilla_, LINN. Syst. Nat. (Type, _Motacilla alba_.)

The diagnosis already given of _Motacilla_ will serve to define it.
The genus is an Old World one, represented by several species, only
one of which (_M. alba_) is entitled to a place here from occurring in
Greenland.


Motacilla alba, LINN.

WHITE WAGTAIL.

  _Motacilla alba_, LINN. Syst. Nat. 12th ed. 1766, 331.—KEYS. & BLAS.
    Wirb. Europ. 1840, xlix, and 174.—DEGLAND, Orn. Europ. I, 1849,
    433.—REINHARDT, Ibis, 1861, 6 (Greenland).—NEWTON,
    Baring-Gould’s Iceland, 1863, App. (“rather plentiful”).—BAIRD,
    Rev. Am. B. 1864, 152.
  Figure: GOULD, Birds Europe, 143.

  [Line drawing: _Motacilla alba._
                  28489]

SP. CHAR. (9,410 ♂, Nürnberg). Forehead as far back as above the eyes,
with sides of head and neck, white; the remaining portion of head and
neck above and below to the jugulum, black; the rest of under parts
white. Upper parts ashy-gray, including rump; the upper tail-coverts
tinged with black. Wings with two conspicuous bands and the outer
edges of the secondaries white. Tail-feathers black; the outer two
white, edged with black internally. Bill and legs black. Tip of wing
formed by outer three primaries; the distance between the third and
fourth about one third that between the fourth and fifth. Tarsi
lengthened; claw small; hind toe and claw shorter than the middle, its
claw short, considerably curved, less than the toe alone; lateral toes
nearly equal. Length, 7.30; wing, 3.45; tail, 3.90; bill from nostril,
.37; tarsus, .86; hind toe and claw, .50.

HAB. Continental Europe, rarer in England; Iceland; Greenland (only
two specimens seen); Siberia; Syria; Nubia, etc.

_Motacilla yarrelli_, a closely allied species, by some considered a
variety only, differs in having the rump black, the ashy of the back
glossed with blackish, and with the black edging of the lateral
tail-feathers broader.

  [Illustration: _Motacilla alba._]

HABITS. The common White Wagtail of Europe claims a place in the North
American fauna as an occasional visitant of Greenland, where in two
instances single specimens have been procured. It is found in all
portions of the European Continent, from the islands of the
Mediterranean as far north as the Arctic regions. It appears in Sweden
in April, and leaves there in October. Mr. Gould states also that it
is found in the northern portions of Africa, and in the highlands of
India. It also occurs, though less frequently, in England, where it is
replaced by a local race, or an allied species, _Motacilla yarrelli_
of Gould. The _Motacilla alba_ is said by Temminck to inhabit meadows
in the vicinity of streams of water, villages, and old houses. Its
food is chiefly insects in various stages and of different kinds.

It builds its nest on the ground among the grass of the meadow, in
fissures in rocks or decayed buildings, among the roots of trees, on
the banks of streams, in piles of wood and fagots, or under the arch
of a bridge. The nests are somewhat coarsely constructed of interwoven
dry bent stems of plants and reeds, with a finer lining of the same.
The eggs, six in number, are of a bluish-white ground thickly
sprinkled with fine dottings, which are most usually of a
blackish-brown color, sometimes ashy-gray or reddish-brown.

The Pied Wagtail, _M. yarrelli_, Degland and Gerbe regard as a race,
and not a species. It has a limited habitat, confined to Norway,
Sweden, and the British Islands, in the latter of which it is a
resident throughout the year. Besides their difference in plumage, Mr.
Yarrell has noticed certain differences also of habit. The _alba_ is
said not to be so partial to water as the pied species, and though
often found near ploughed land, does not, like its kindred species,
follow the plough in search of insects. Mr. Hewitson also states that
it has a hoarser voice.

Like all the birds of this family, the Wagtail is much admired for the
elegance of its form, its activity, and the airy lightness of its
motions. It seems ever on the move, runs with great rapidity a quick
succession of steps in pursuit of its food, and goes from place to
place in short undulating flights. It has a cheerful chirping note
which it utters while on the wing. When it alights, it gives a
graceful fanning movement with its tail, from which it derives its
name.

The Pied Wagtail, whose habits have been more closely observed by
English naturalists, has frequently been seen to wade into the water
in search of aquatic insects, and probably also of small fish, as in
confinement they have been known to catch and feed on minnows in a
fountain in the centre of their aviary. It is probable that the habits
of the White Wagtail are not dissimilar.

They leave their breeding-places in October, collecting and moving in
small flocks.

Their eggs measure .79 of an inch in length and .59 in breadth. The
ground-color is of a grayish-white so thickly flecked with fine
ash-colored and black dots as to give the entire egg the effect of a
uniform dark ashen hue.


GENUS BUDYTES, CUVIER.

  _Budytes_, CUVIER, R. A. 1817. (Type, _Motacilla flava_, LINN.)

  [Line drawing: _Budytes flava._
                  45912]

The recent discovery of a species of yellow-bellied Wagtail in Norton
Sound, by the naturalists of the Russian Telegraph Expedition, adds
another member of an Old World family to the list of American birds.
Much confusion exists as to the precise number of species in the
genus, some grouping together as varieties what others consider as
distinct species. There is an unusual degree of variation with age,
sex, and season, and this, combined with strongly marked geographical
peculiarities, renders the proper solution of the problem impossible
to any but those having access to large series.


Budytes flava, LINN.

YELLOW WAGTAIL.

  _Motacilla flava_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I (1766), 33.—FINSCH & HARTLAUB,
    Vögel Ostafrikas, 268. _Budytes flava_, BON. (1838).—MIDDENDORFF,
    Sibirische Reise, II, ii (1852), 168.—DEGLAND & GERBE, Ornith.
    Europ. I (1867), 376.—BAIRD, Trans. Chicago Acad. Sci. I, ii, p.
    312, pl. xxx, fig. 1; 1869.—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Ch. Ac. I,
    1869, 127.—TRISTRAM, Ibis, 1871, 231.—FINSCH, 1872.

SP. CHAR. Description of specimen No. 45,912, taken at St. Michael’s,
Norton Sound, June 6, 1866, by H. M. Bannister. Above, including edges
of upper tail-coverts, rich olive-green, the top and sides of the head
and neck pure ash-gray; chin and well-marked stripe from nostrils over
the eye to the nape, white; all under parts rich yellow, tinged with
olive on the sides. Stripe from corner of mouth through the eye, and
involving the ear-coverts, blackish-ash. Feathers of wings and tail
dark brown; the coverts and secondaries edged with olive (showing the
obscure light wing-bars), the longest of the latter edged externally
with white; innermost quills edged externally with white. Outer three
quills nearly equal and longest (the prolonged secondaries as long),
the others graduating less. Outer tail-feathers and shaft white; the
inner web edged externally with dusky, which, beginning at the base,
runs out gradually to the edge, about half an inch from tip of
feathers; second feather with rather less white, and with a narrow
line of brown along the outer side of the shaft to within half an inch
of the tip. Bill and legs blackish.

  [Illustration: _Budytes flava._]

Dimensions (prepared specimen). Total length, 6.00; wing, 3.00; tail,
3.00; exposed portion of first primary, 2.30. Bill: length from
forehead, 0.58; from nostril, 0.35; along gape, 0.57. Legs: tarsus,
0.91; middle toe and claw, 0.70; claw alone, 0.16; hind toe and claw,
0.65; claw alone, 0.36.

A second specimen (No. 45,910) differs in having ashy color of head
obscured with olivaceous-brown; and the yellow on breast showing
brownish bases. The light markings on the wings more distinct and
whiter.

Another bird (No. 45,913), taken on shipboard, about ninety miles west
of St. Matthew’s Island, Behring’s Sea, August 10, 1866, appears to be
of the same species, in autumnal dress. Here the upper colors are more
brown; the lower parts yellowish-white tinged with brownish-fulvous
across the breast and flank. Kamtschatkan specimens of the same stage
of plumage are very similar.

I am unable to distinguish this species from the Protean _Budytes
flava_ of Europe and Asia. Many different races appear to be found
throughout this wide circle of distribution, many of them more or less
local, but the proportions and general character are the same in all,
and the general tendency appears to be to unite all into one species.
The sexes and ages of all the species, real or supposed, vary very
much, and, in the absence of a large series, I can throw no light upon
the obscurities of the subject. I cite above the latest general work
on the birds of Europe, in which will be found the principal
synonymes.

The specimens from Alaska submitted for examination to Mr. H. B.
Tristram were identified by him as the _B. flava_.

HABITS. The Gray-headed Wagtail of Europe finds a place in the fauna
of North America as a bird of Alaska, where specimens have been
obtained, and where it is, at least, an occasional visitant. It is not
a common bird of the British Islands, where it is replaced by a
closely allied species. Only seven or eight instances of its
occurrence were known to Mr. Yarrell.

On the continent of Europe it is quite an abundant species, inhabiting
wet springy places in moist meadows, and frequenting the vicinity of
water and the gravelly edges of rivers. It is numerous in all the
central portions of Europe. It has also an extensive northern and
eastern geographical range, appearing in Norway and Sweden as early as
April and remaining there until September. Linnæus met with it in
Lapland on the 22d of May. It occurs in Algeria, Nubia, and Egypt. Mr.
Gould has received it from the Himalayas, and Temminck gives it as a
bird of Japan.

According to Degland, this bird is a very abundant species in France,
where it nests on the ground in the cornfields, in open fields,
meadows, and amidst the standing grain. It lays from four to six eggs,
of a brownish-yellow on a reddish-white ground, profusely covered with
fine dots of reddish-gray, which are more or less confluent. A few
zigzag lines of dark brown or black are found on the larger end. They
measure .63 of an inch in length and .55 in breadth. Its food is
flies, moths, small green caterpillars, and aquatic insects.

Ray’s Wagtail, recognized by some authors as a distinct species, is
probably only an insular race, chiefly found in the British Islands
and in Western France. In the latter place both birds occur, and here
also they have been known to mate the one with the other. Their nests
and eggs are so alike as not to be distinguishable. The former are
constructed of fine fibrous roots and fine stems of grasses, and are
lined with hair.

These birds are remarkably social, collecting in small flocks soon
after leaving their nests, and until their autumnal migrations
following the older birds in quest of food. They have two call-notes
which are quite shrill, and are repeated in succession, the second
being lower in tone. No mention is made by the naturalists of the
Telegraph Expedition of their having any song other than these notes.

Mr. Bannister first observed this species at St. Michael’s, on the 9th
or 10th of June, and from that time until late in August they were
among the most abundant of the land-birds. During the month of June he
observed them in flocks of twenty or thirty individuals. It seemed to
be a rather shy bird. He described its flight as like that of our
common Goldfinch, rising with a few strokes of its wings, then closing
them and describing a sort of paraboloidal curve in the air. The only
note which he heard and identified as uttered by this species was a
kind of faint chirp, hardly to be called a song. These birds seemed to
prefer the open country, and were rarely observed in the low brush,
the only approach to woods found on the island.


SUBFAMILY ANTHINÆ.

The characters of this subfamily have already been detailed. The
American sections may be defined as follows, although whether entitled
to rank as genera may be questioned:—

COMMON CHARACTERS. Tail decidedly shorter than the wings; less
than half the whole length of bird; simply emarginate and
rounded. Hind claw lengthened; only slightly curved. Feathers of
back with paler edges; breast streaked with dusky. Nest on the
ground; eggs finely mottled so as almost to be uniform dark brown
(in North American species).

  _a. Wings much pointed, and lengthened._

  Point of wing formed by four outer primaries, of which the
  fourth sometimes a little shorter than the third. Hind toe and
  claw as long as middle, shorter than tarsus, the claw alone
  usually a little longer than the toe itself, and slightly
  curved; inner toe and claw longer than the outer; outstretched
  toes falling short of the tip of tail; hind toe and claw
  shorter than tarsus …                                     _Anthus_.

  Point of wings formed by four outer primaries, the first
  longest, or as long as others. Legs stout, the outstretched
  toes reaching almost to tip of tail. Hind toe and claw longer
  than tarsus, the claw very long, but equal to the toe proper …
                                                          _Neocorys_.

  _b. Wings short, rounded._

  Point of wings formed by four outer primaries of nearly equal
  length …                                          _Notiocorys_.[32]

  Point of wings formed by five outer primaries, the first
  shorter than third …                              _Pediocorys_.[33]


GENUS ANTHUS, BECHST.

  _Anthus_, BECHST. Gemein. Naturg. Deutschl. 1802. (Type, _Alauda
    spinoletta_.)

  [Line drawing: _Anthus ludovicianus._
                  328]

CHAR. Bill slender, much attenuated, and distinctly notched. A few
short bristles at the base. Culmen concave at the base. Tarsi quite
distinctly scutellate; longer than the middle toe; inner lateral toe
the longer. Hind toe rather shorter than the tarsus, but longer than
the middle toe, owing to the long, attenuated, and moderately curved
hind claw, which is considerably more than half the total length of
the toe. Tail rather long, emarginate. Wing very long, considerably
longer than the lengthened tail, reaching to its middle. The first
primary nearly equal to the longest. The tertials almost as long as
the primaries.

But one species of this genus belongs properly to North America,
although a second is accidental in Greenland and Alaska. The diagnoses
are as follows:—

  Bill and feet blackish. Prevailing color above olive-brown.
    Beneath buff. Edge and inside of wings white. Shafts of middle
    tail-feathers above dark brown …               _A. ludovicianus._

  Bill and feet dusky flesh-color. Prevailing color above
    olive-green; more distinctly streaked. Beneath greenish-white.
    Edge and inside of wings greenish-yellow. Shafts of middle
    tail-feathers above whitish …                     _A. pratensis._

ZANDER (Cabanis Journal, Extraheft I, 1853, 64) states that _Anthus
cervinus_, PALLAS, is found in the Aleutian Islands. It is described
as having

     The feet yellowish-brown; the two longest under tail-coverts
     with a blackish longitudinal spot; the longest tertial
     almost equal to the longest primary; the shaft of the first
     tail-feather mostly white; no green on the plumage; the
     throat rust-color.

BALDAMUS (Naumannia, 1857, 202) says he has received _Anthus aquaticus_
and its eggs from Labrador. This statement, however, requires
verification.


Anthus ludovicianus, LICHT.

TITLARK; AMERICAN PIPIT.

  _Alauda ludoviciana_, GM. S. N. I, 1788, 793. _Anthus ludovicianus_,
    LICHT. Verz. 1823, 37; also of AUDUBON & BONAPARTE.—BAIRD, Birds
    N. Am. 1858, 232; Rev. 153.—COUES, Pr. A. N. S. 1861, 220
    (Labrador).—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1856, 296 (Cordova).—IB. Catal.
    1861, 24, no. 153. SCL. & SALV. Ibis, 1859, 9 (Guatemala).—JONES,
    Nat. in Bermuda, 1859, 29, autumn.—BLAKISTON, Ibis, 1862, 4
    (Saskatchewan).—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Chic. Ac. I, 1869,
    277.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 78. _Alauda rubra_, GM.; _Alauda
    rufa_, WILS.; _Anthus spinoletta_, BON., AUD.; _Alauda
    pennsylvanica_, BRISS.; _? Alauda pennsylvanica_, BONN. Encycl.
    Méth. I, 1790, 319. _? Motacilla hudsonica_, LATH. Ind. Orn. II,
    1790, 503.—VIEILLOT, Encycl. Méth. II, 1823, 447. _Anthus
    pennsylvanica_, ZANDER; _Anthus aquaticus_, AUD.; _Anthus
    pipiens_, AUD.; _Anthus rubens_, MERREM; _Anthus reinhardtii_,
    HÖLBOLL, Fauna Grönlands (ed. Paulsen), 1846, 25 (Greenland).
  Figures: AUD. Birds Am. III, pl. cxl.—IB. Orn. Biog. I, pl. lxxx.—
   WILSON, V. pl. lxxxix.

SP. CHAR. (_Female_, in spring.) Above olive-brown, each feather
slightly darker towards the central portion; beneath pale dull-buff,
or yellowish-brown, with a maxillary series of dark-brown spots and
streaks across the breast and along sides. Ring round the eye, and
superciliary stripe, yellowish. Central tail-feathers like the back,
others dark blackish-brown; the external one white, except at the base
within; a white spot at the end of the second. Primaries edged with
whitish, other quills with pale brownish. Length, 6.50; wing, 3.45;
tail, 2.95.

HAB. Whole of North America; Greenland; Bermuda; south to Orizaba,
Guatemala, and even Peru? Heligoland, Europe. (GÄTKE.) Not noted in
West Indies.

  [Illustration: _Anthus ludovicianus._]

Spring specimens from Labrador, collected by Dr. Coues, have the upper
parts ashy without any tinge of olive, almost bluish on the head; the
lower parts deeper and more reddish-buff than in autumnal and winter
specimens. Tarsi black in spring, brown in winter; toes always black.

HABITS. At different seasons of the year the Brown Titlark is found
throughout the continent, and abundant for the time in the several
parts of the country, chiefly frequenting the least cultivated
portions and apparently preferring the sterile and least attractive
regions. It is one of the most extensively distributed of all our
North American birds, being found in immense numbers over the whole
length and breadth of North America. Gambel met them in large numbers
in New Mexico and California; Richardson found them on the plains of
the Saskatchewan; it is abundant in the Arctic regions from May to
October, and is equally common on the coast of Labrador; Mr. Dall
found it universal from British Columbia north. It is also found in
Florida, Cape St. Lucas, Mexico, and Central America. Accidental
specimens have occurred in Europe.

This lark is a bird of easy and beautiful flight, passing and
repassing through the air with graceful evolutions, and when moving to
new localities, sweeping over the place several times before
alighting. It also moves rapidly on the ground and after the manner of
the true larks, jerking the tail like our Water-Thrushes and the
European Wagtails.

When feeding on the open ground in the interior, their food is chiefly
insects and small seeds. On the banks of rivers and on the seashore
they are fond of running along the edge of the water, searching among
the drift for insects, small shells, and crustaceans. Near New Orleans
and Charleston, in the winter, Mr. Audubon found them feeding, in
company with the Turkey Buzzard, upon garbage.

Dr. Coues found the Titlark abundant in every locality visited by him
in Labrador, giving him an ample opportunity to observe its habits
during the breeding-season. He found them on some of the most rocky
and barren islands along the coast. They frequented only the open,
bare, and exposed situations, such as that coast everywhere afforded,
and were never found in wooded localities. The nests of this species
found by him were identical in situation, form, and construction,
placed on the sides of steep, precipitous chasms, in small cavities in
the earth, into which dry moss had been introduced to keep the nest
from the damp ground. They were composed entirely of coarse, dry
grasses loosely put together, without any lining. Their external
diameter was six inches, and the depth of the cavity two inches.

Dr. Coues describes the song of the male bird as very sweet and
pleasant. Mr. Audubon speaks of it as consisting of a few clear and
mellow notes when on the wing, and when standing erect on the rocks it
produces a clearer and louder song.

Dr. Coues speaks of their flight as undulating and unsteady, and never
protracted to any great distance. They never alight on bushes, but
always on the ground, where they run with great ease and rapidity. At
low tides they resorted to the muddy flats, where they ran about upon
the eel-grass, searching for their food in company with the small
Sandpipers and in a similar manner, finding there an abundance of
food. At all times they exhibited a heedless familiarity and an entire
want of fear of man, feeding unconcernedly around the doors of the
houses, and searching for their insect food on the roofs of the sheds
and dwellings.

Both birds incubate and sit so closely that they may almost be trodden
upon before they are willing to leave their nest, and even then only
flutter off to a short distance, with loud cries of distress that soon
bring the mate and other pairs of the same species to join in the
lamentations. They hover over the heads of the intruders, at times
approaching within a few feet, expressing their distress by the most
plaintive cries, and even when the intruders withdraw following them
to a considerable distance.

All the nests of this lark that I have seen are remarkable for the
thickness of their walls, and the strength, compactness, and elaborate
care with which the materials are put together, particularly for nests
built on the ground. They are well suited to protect their contents
from the cold, damp ground on which they are placed; and their upper
portions are composed of stout vegetable stems, lichens, and grasses
strongly interwoven, and forming a strong rim around the upper part of
the nest.

Dr. Coues describes their eggs as of a dark chocolate-color,
indistinctly marked with numerous small lines and streaks of black.
Audubon describes them as having a ground-color of a deep
reddish-chestnut, darkened by numerous dots of deeper reddish-brown
and lines of various sizes, especially toward the larger end. Those in
my possession, received from Labrador by Thienemann, measure from .75
to .78 of an inch in length, and from .59 to .62 in breadth, and have
a light-brown or clay-colored ground, so thickly covered with spots as
to be almost concealed. These spots are of a purplish chocolate-brown,
with occasional darker lines about the larger end. In others the
markings are bolder and larger and of brighter hues. Like the eggs of
the _Anthus arboreus_ of Europe, it is probable that those of this
Titlark exhibit great variations, both in ground-color and in the
shades of their markings.


Anthus pratensis, BECHST.

EUROPEAN PIPIT.

  _Alauda pratensis_, LINN. Syst. Nat. 1766, 287. _Anthus pratensis_,
    BECHST. Deutsch. Vögel, III, 1807, 732.—KEYS. & BLAS. Wirb.
    Europas, 1840, 172.—ZANDER, Cab. Jour. I, extraheft, 1853,
    60.—PAULSEN, ed. HÖLBOLL, Faun. Grönlands, 1846, 24.—REINHARDT,
    Ibis, 1861, 6.—NEWTON, Baring-Gould’s Iceland, 1863.—BAIRD, Rev.
    Am. B. 1864, 155.
  Figures: GOULD’S Birds Europe, pl. cxxxvi.

HAB. Europe generally; common in Lapland; accidental in Greenland; St.
Michael’s, Norton Sound.

This species in general form resembles the _A. ludovicianus_, the
fifth primary in both being abruptly and considerably shorter than the
outer four; the bill and legs quite similar. The average size appears
much the same. The upper parts are, however (especially the head and
back), more distinctly streaked with dusky; the edge and inside of
wing greenish-yellow, not white, and the upper plumage and outer edges
of the quills decidedly olive-green. The shafts of the middle
tail-feathers above are whitish, not dark brown; the under parts
greenish-white, conspicuously streaked with dark brown. The bill is
dusky, the base and edges paler; the legs dusky flesh-color, not dark
brown.

The occurrence of this species in Greenland was noticed in the Review;
and since the publication of that work a specimen has been obtained at
St. Michael’s, in Alaska, by Mr. W. H. Dall, and is now in the
Smithsonian collection. The specimen in question appears to be the
true _pratensis_.

HABITS. This European species claims a place in the North American
fauna on the ground of a single specimen having been found in
Greenland, in 1845, and one at St. Michael’s, Norton Sound. In the Old
World it is the counterpart of our _ludovicianus_, which, in all
respects, it closely resembles. It is the most common and the best
known of European Titlarks. In Great Britain, where it is found
throughout the year, it appears to prefer the uncultivated districts,
inhabiting commons and waste lands, and in the more northern parts
frequenting the moors. It is also found in meadows and marsh lands, in
winter seeking more sheltered places. It is rarely seen to alight on a
branch or to sit on a rail. Its song is soft and musical, and is
usually uttered when on the wing or when vibrating over its nest. It
seeks its food altogether on the ground, running nimbly in pursuit of
insects, slugs, and worms. According to Yarrell its nest is built on
the ground, generally among the grass. It is composed externally of
dried sedges, lined with finer materials and some hair. The eggs are
six in number, of a reddish-brown color, mottled over with darker
shades of the same, and measure .80 by .60 of an inch.

According to the observations of English naturalists, this bird
resorts to various ingenious devices to conceal its nest, or to draw
aside attention from it, such as feigning lameness when it is
approached, and concealing it by artificial covering when it has been
once discovered.

The Meadow Pipit is common during the summer months in Denmark,
Sweden, and Norway, visiting also the Faroe Islands and Iceland. It
inhabits the whole continent of Europe as far south as Spain, Italy,
and Sicily. It has also been found in Northern Africa, and, according
to Gould, in Western Asia. Temminck also states it to be among the
birds of Japan.

According to Degland these larks, after the breeding-season, unite in
small flocks, probably families, and frequent low and damp localities.
In summer they are more often found on high and dry mountain plains.
Their flesh is said to be delicious.


GENUS NEOCORYS, SCLATER.

  _Neocorys_, SCLATER, Pr. Zoöl. Soc. Lond. 1857, 5. (Type, _Alauda
    spraguei_, AUD.)

CHAR. Bill half as long as the head; the culmen concave at the base,
slightly decurved at the tip. Rictus without bristles. Legs stout;
tarsi distinctly scutellate, longer than the middle toe. Hind toe very
long, equal to the tarsus, much longer than the middle toe; its claw
but slightly curved, and about half the total length. Inner lateral
toe rather longer than outer. Wings much longer than tail; first quill
longest. Tertials considerably longer than secondaries. Tail rather
short, emarginate.

But one species of this genus is known, it being peculiar to the
Western plains.


Neocorys spraguei, SCLAT.

MISSOURI SKYLARK; SPRAGUE’S PIPIT

  _Alauda spraguei_, AUD. Birds Am. VII, 1843, 335, pl. cccclxxxvi.
    _Agrodoma spraguei_, BAIRD, Stansbury’s Rep. 1852, 329. _Neocorys
    spraguei_, SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1857, 5.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858,
    234.—BLAKISTON, Ibis, 1862, 4 (Saskatchewan).—COOPER, Orn. Cal.
    I, 1870, 80. _Anthus (Neocorys) spraguei_, BAIRD, Rev. 155.

SP. CHAR. Above wood-brown, all the feathers edged with paler,
especially on the neck, where there is a brownish-yellow tinge. The
under parts are dull white, with a collar of sharply defined narrow
brown streaks across the forepart and along the sides of the breast.
Lores and a superciliary line whitish. Tail-feathers, except the
middle ones, dark brown; the outer one white, the second white, with
the inner margin brown. The outer primary is edged with white, and
there are two dull whitish bands across the wings. Bill and feet
yellow, the former brown above. Length (female), 5.75; wing, 3.35;
tail, 2.50.

HAB. Plains of Yellowstone and Upper Missouri to Saskatchewan;
Nebraska.

  [Line drawing: _Neocorys spraguei._
                  16766]

This little-known species has the general appearance of a Titlark, but
is readily distinguished from _Anthus ludovicianus_ by the purer white
of its under parts, the much darker centres and much paler margins to
the feathers above, the entirely white external tail-feather, and the
yellow legs and bill, as well as by its generic peculiarities. In its
song and general habits it approaches nearer the European Skylark than
any bird belonging to our fauna.

HABITS. This interesting species was first described by Audubon, in
the supplementary portion of his Birds of America. It was obtained by
the party which accompanied him to the Upper Missouri in 1843. It was
first met with on the 19th of June near Fort Union, in Dacotah
Territory. It has since been found on the fork of the Saskatchewan,
but little additional information respecting its habits has been
obtained since its first discovery.

  [Illustration: _Neocorys spraguei._]

It seems to more nearly approach, in its habits, the European Skylark
than any other of our North American birds. Mr. Edward Harris was
completely misled, at first, by the sound of their song, so that on
several occasions he sought for them on the ground. Their voices
appeared to come to him from the earth’s surface. After having
travelled in quest of them, to no purpose, to many distant parts of
the prairies, he at last discovered that these sounds proceeded from
several of these birds soaring at so great an elevation as to make
them difficult to discover by the eye, even in the transparent
atmosphere of that country.

They are described as running gracefully on the ground, at times
squatting to observe the movements of the intruders, and again
elevating their bodies as if to meet their approach. Rising from the
ground, they fly in an undulating manner, so that it is extremely
difficult to shoot them on the wing. They continue thus to fly in
increasing circles until about a hundred yards high, when they begin
to sing. After a while, suddenly closing their wings, they drop to the
ground. They could be easily approached in a light wagon, and in this
manner several specimens were obtained.

Captain Blakiston (Ibis, V. 61) found this Skylark common on the
prairies of the Saskatchewan during the breeding-season. He first met
with it on the 6th of May, near Fort Carlton. When disturbed from the
grass, its usual haunt, it utters a single chirp, and immediately
mounts in the air by a circuitous course, with a very undulating
flight, to a great height, where with outstretched wings it soars in a
peculiar manner, and utters a very striking song. This is described as
consisting of a quick succession of notes, in a descending scale, each
note being lower than the preceding. The bird then descends to the
ground with great rapidity, almost like a stone, and somewhat in the
manner of a hawk swooping on its prey. It was difficult of approach,
and not easily killed. He also observed these birds in Northern
Minnesota, May 4, 1859.

A nest of this bird was built on the ground and placed in a hollow. It
was made of fine grasses interwoven into a circular form, but without
any lining. The eggs were four or five in number, an oblong oval in
shape, much pointed at one end, and measuring .87 of an inch in length
by .63 in breadth. Their ground-color was a dull white, so minutely
dotted with a grayish-purple as to give the whole egg a homogeneous
appearance, as of that uniform color.

The young larks, soon after being hatched, followed their parents on
the ground, and were fed with seeds of the smaller plants and with
insects. They had already begun to associate in small flocks of from
eight to a dozen before the party left, and on the 16th of August had
commenced their southern migrations.




FAMILY SYLVICOLIDÆ.—THE WARBLERS.


The _Sylvicolidæ_ are essentially characterized among the Oscines with
nine primaries, by their small size, the usually slender and conical
insectivorous bill, shorter than the head, without angle in the gape
near the base; the toes deeply cleft so as to leave the inner one free
almost to its very base (except in _Mniotiltæ_), etc. The shallow
notch at the end of the tongue, instead of a deeply fissured tip,
distinguishes the family from the _Cærebidæ_, to some of which there
is otherwise so great a resemblance. The absence of abrupt hook and
notch in both mandibles separates it from such of the _Vireonidæ_ as
have nine primaries.

The American _Motacillidæ_ are distinguished from the _Sylvicolidæ_ by
the emargination of the outer and the great elongation of the inner
secondaries, as well as by other features referred to under that
family. _Anthus_, in particular, differs in the lengthened and
slightly curved hind claw. There is little difficulty in distinguishing
the _Sylvicolidæ_, however, from any families excepting the
slender-billed forms of the _Tanagridæ_, as _Chlorospingus_,
_Nemosia_, _Chlorochrysa_, etc., and the conirostral _Cœrebidæ_. In
fact, some ornithologists are inclined to include all three of the
families thus mentioned in one, from the difficulty of marking their
boundaries respectively.

In fact, we are of the opinion that no violence would be done by
adopting this view, and would even include with the above-mentioned
families the _Fringillidæ_ also. The order of their relation to one
another would be thus: _Fringillidæ, Tanagridæ, Sylvicolidæ,
Cœrebidæ_; there being scarcely any break in the transition between
the two extremes, unless there are many genera referred to the wrong
family, as seems very likely to be the case with many included in the
_Tanagridæ_. The _fringilline_ forms of the latter family are such
genera as _Buarremon_ and _Arremon_, they being so closely related to
some _fringilline_ genera by so many features—as rounded concave
wing, lax plumage, and spizine coloration—as to be scarcely
separable. Either these two families are connected so perfectly by
intermediate forms as to be inseparable, or the term _Tanagridæ_
covers too great a diversity of forms. With the same regularity that
we proceed from the _Fringillidæ_ to the typical forms of the
_Tanagridæ_ (_Pyranga_, _Tanagra_, _Calliste_, etc.), we pass down the
scale from these to the _Sylvicolidæ_; while between many genera of
the latter family, and others referred to the _Cærebidæ_, no
difference in external anatomy can be discovered, much less expressed
in a description.

In the following synopsis we attempt to define the higher groups of
the _Sylvicolidæ_, although in the large number of species and their
close relationships it is very difficult to express clearly their
distinctive features.


Subfamilies.

A. Bill conical, its bristles very weak, or wanting.

  _a._ Bill sub-conical, the culmen and commissure nearly
  straight.

    Sylvicolinæ. Feet weak, not reaching near the end of the
    tail. Wing pointed, considerably longer than the nearly even
    or slightly emarginated tail. Feet dark-colored (except in
    _Helmitherus_, _Helinaia_, and _Parula_). _Arboreal._

    Geothlypinæ. Feet strong, reaching nearly to end of the
    tail. Wing rounded. Feet pinkish-white. _Terrestrial._

  _b._ Bill high and compressed, the culmen and commissure much
  curved.

    Icterianæ. Bill without notch or rictal bristles; wing much
    rounded, shorter than the tail.

B. Bill depressed, its bristles strong.

    Setophaginæ. Bill, _tyrannine_, considerably broader than
    high, the tip more or less hooked, and with a distinct notch.
    Rictal bristles reaching half-way, or more, to the tip.


Sections and Genera.

SYLVICOLINÆ.

1. Middle toe, with claw, longer than tarsus.

    Mniotilteæ. Bill much compressed for terminal half, the
    lateral outline decidedly concave; culmen and gonys decidedly
    convex; commissure moderately concave. Rictal bristles very
    inconspicuous; notch just perceptible …              _Mniotilta._

2. Middle toe, with claw, not longer than tarsus.

    Vermivoreæ. Bill without a distinct notch, or lacking it
    entirely; rictal bristles wanting, or very minute; culmen and
    gonys nearly straight; bill only very moderately compressed.

  _a._ Middle toe and claw about equal to tarsus.

      Bill not acute; culmen and gonys decidedly convex; notch
      just perceptible; bristles apparent …           _Protonotaria._

      Bill moderately acute, robust; no notch; culmen straight,
      its base elevated and slightly arched; bristles not
      apparent …                                          _Helinaia._

      Bill moderately acute; robust; no notch; culmen convex, its
      base not elevated; bristles apparent …           _Helmitherus._

  _b._ Middle toe and claw considerably shorter than tarsus.

      Bill very acute, its outlines nearly straight; notch not
      perceptible; bristles not apparent …          _Helminthophaga._

      Bill very acute, its outlines nearly straight; notch just
      perceptible; bristles strong …                        _Parula._

    Sylvicoleæ. Bill distinctly notched; rictal bristles strong;
    outlines generally slightly curved.

      Bill acute, gonys slightly concave …            _Perissoglossa._

      Bill not acute, gonys convex …                      _Dendroica._

GEOTHLYPINÆ.

3. Wings pointed, longer than the nearly even tail.

    Seiureæ.

      Above olive-brown; beneath white with dark streaks … _Seiurus._

      Above olive-green; beneath yellow without streaks …
                                                         _Oporornis._

4. Wings rounded, shorter than the graduated tail.

    Geothlypeæ.

      Above olive-green; beneath yellow, without streaks …
                                                        _Geothlypis._

ICTERIANÆ.

5. Bill very deep and compressed; tail graduated; outer toe
deeply cleft.

    Icterieæ.

      Olive-green above; bright yellow anteriorly beneath. Upper
      mandible deeper than the lower …                     _Icteria._

      Plumbeous-blue above; red, black, and white beneath. Upper
      mandible not so deep as the lower …              _Granatellus._

6. Bill slender, sub-conical, but curved; tail nearly even; outer
toe adherent for basal half.

    Teretristeæ.

      Above olive-gray; beneath whitish posteriorly, and yellow
      anteriorly …                                     _Teretristis._

SETOPHAGINÆ.

7. Bill _tyrannine_. Tail broad, equal to or longer than the
wing, and much rounded.

    Setophageæ. Colors mainly black, red, and white.

      Tail not longer than the wing. Above black, wing variegated …
                                                         _Setophaga._

      Tail longer than the wing. Above plumbeous, wing
      unvariegated …                                     _Myioborus._

8. Bill _sylvicoline_. Tail narrow, almost even; shorter than the
wing.

    Myiodiocteæ. Colors yellow beneath, olive-green or ashy
    above.

      Black markings about the head in the ♂ …         _Myiodioctes._

9. Bill somewhat _parine_. Tail equal to the wing, almost even.

    Cardellineæ. Colors mainly red, or red, ashy, and white.

      Bill weak, almost cylindrical; wings rounded, the quills
      broad and soft at ends. Tail slightly rounded, the feathers
      soft. Colors mainly red …                          _Ergaticus._

      Bill stout, the culmen and gonys very convex; wings
      pointed, the quills emarginated and hard at ends. Tail
      even, the feathers hard. Color ashy above; rump and beneath
      white. Head red and black …                       _Cardellina._

Of the above, _Granatellus_, _Myioborus_, _Ergaticus_, and
_Cardellina_ belong to Central and South America, _Teretristis_ to
Cuba.


SUBFAMILY SYLVICOLINÆ.


SECTION MNIOTILTEÆ.

CHAR. Bill slightly notched some distance from the tip. Rictal
bristles minute. Hind toe considerably developed, longer than the
lateral toe; its claw decidedly longer than its digit. First quill
nearly or quite as long as the second. Wings long, pointed; much
longer than the tail, which is nearly even. Tail-feathers with white
spots. Bill much compressed for terminal half, the commissure and
lateral outlines decidedly concave; the culmen and gonys convex.


GENUS MNIOTILTA, VIEILLOT.

  _Mniotilta_, VIEILLOT, Analyse, 1816, 45. (Type, _Motacilla varia_,
    L.)

GEN. CHAR. General form sylvicoline; bill rather long, compressed,
shorter than the head, with very short rictal bristles and a shallow
notch. Wings considerably longer than the tail, which is slightly
rounded; first quill shorter than second and third. Tarsi rather
short; toes long, middle one equal to the tarsus; hind toe nearly as
long, the claw considerably shorter than its digit. Color white,
streaked with black. Nest on ground; eggs white, blotched with red.

This genus differs from other Sylvicolines in the elongation of the
toes, especially the hinder one, by means of which the species is
enabled to move up and down the trunks of trees, like the true
Creepers. But one species is recognized as North American, although
Nuttall describes a second.


Mniotilta varia, VIEILL.

BLACK AND WHITE CREEPING WARBLER.

  _Motacilla varia_, LINN. S. N. I, 1766, 333. _Certhia varia_,
    VIEILLOT; AUDUBON. _Mniotilta varia_, VIEILLOT, Gal. Ois. I, 1834,
    276, pl. clxix.—AUDUBON.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 235; Rev.
    167.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1858, 298 (Oaxaca, Xalapa); 1859, 363
    (Xalapa); 1855, 143 (Bogota); 1856, 291 (Cordova); 1864, 172 (City
    of Mex.)—IB. Catal. 1861, 25, no. 162.—SCL. & SALV. Ibis, 1859,
    10 (Guatemala).—NEWTON, Ibis, 1859, 143 (Santa Cruz;
    winter).—CAB. Jour. III, 475 (Cuba; winter).—BRYANT, Pr. Bost.
    Soc. 1859 (Bahamas; April 20).—GOSSE, Birds Jam. 134 (Jamaica;
    winter).—JONES, Nat. Bermuda, 1859, 29 (October).—CAB. Jour.
    1860, 328 (Costa Rica).—LAWRENCE, Ann. N.Y. Lyc. 1861, 322
    (Panama R. R.; winter).—GUNDL. Cab. Journ. 1861, 326 (Cuba; very
    common). _Certhia maculata_, WILS. _Mniotilta borealis_, NUTT.
    _Mniotilta varia_, var. _longirostris_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858,
    xxxi, no. 167.—IB. Catal. in 8vo, 1869, no. 167.
  Figures: AUD. Orn. Biog. V, pl. xc; Birds Am. II, pl. cxiv.—WILSON,
    Am. Orn. III, pl. xix.

  [Line drawing: _Mniotilta varia_, Vieill.]

SP. CHAR. Bill with the upper mandible considerably decurved, the
lower straight. General color of the male black, the feathers broadly
edged with white; the head all round black, with a median stripe in
the crown and neck above, a superciliary and a maxillary one of white.
Middle of belly, two conspicuous bands on the wings, outer edges of
tertials and inner of all the wing and tail feathers, and a spot on
the inner webs of the outer two tail-feathers, white. Rump and upper
tail-coverts black, edged externally with white. Female similar; the
under parts white, obsoletely streaked with black on the sides and
under tail-coverts. Length, 5 inches; wing, 2.85; tail, 2.25.

HAB. Eastern Province of North America, and north to Fort Simpson.
Both coasts of Mexico (as far north as Mazatlan, on west side), and
southward to Bogota. Whole of West Indies and Bermuda.

_Localities quoted._ Bahamas; Bermuda; Cuba; Jamaica; Santa Cruz; West
Indies; Cordova, Xalapa, Oaxaca, Mex.; Guatemala; Panama R.R.; Bogota.

Specimens breeding in the Southern States differ in rather longer bill
and less amount of black, but are otherwise undistinguishable.

  [Illustration: _Mniotilta varia._
                  18685]

HABITS. The Black and White Creeper, nowhere an abundant species, is
met with in various sections of the country. It occurs in all parts of
New England and New York, and has been found in the interior as far
north as Fort Simpson. It has been met with on the Pacific coast only
at Mazatlan, is common in the Bahamas and most of the West India
Islands, generally as a migrant. It has also been found in Texas, in
the Indian Territory, and in Mexico, and throughout Central America.
In the last-named region Mr. Salvin states it to be pretty equally and
generally spread over the whole country. It is there migratory,
leaving in spring. It was also detected in Colombia, South America, by
Mr. C. W. Wyatt. Mr. Newton also met with it as a winter visitant in
St. Croix, leaving that island at the end of March. He regards this
species as almost a thorough Creeper in habits. In Jamaica a few are
resident throughout the year, according to the observations of Mr.
March, and though its nests have never been found there, a son of Mr.
March saw a pair carrying materials with which to construct one.

Dr. Coues states that this Warbler is a very common summer resident
near Washington, but is more abundant there in the spring and in the
fall, the greater number going farther north to breed. They arrive in
Washington during the first week in April, and are exceedingly
numerous until May. He adds that they are generally found in high open
woods, and that they “breed in holes in trees.” This is probably an
error, or, if ever known to occur, an entirely exceptional case.

Our bird is also a common summer visitant at Calais, arriving there
about the 1st of May, and by the 10th becoming rather abundant. Mr.
Boardman has frequently found their nests there, and always on the
ground, in rocky places and usually under small trees.

It does not appear to have been met with on the Pacific coast north of
Mazatlan, nor in any portion of Western North America, beyond the
valleys of the Mississippi and the Rio Grande.

In its habits this bird seems to be more of a Creeper than a Warbler.
It is an expert and nimble climber, and rarely, if ever, perches on
the branch of a tree or shrub. In the manner of the smaller
Woodpeckers, the Creepers, Nuthatches, and Titmice, it moves rapidly
around the trunks and larger limbs of the trees of the forest in
search of small insects and their larvæ. It is graceful and rapid in
movement, and is often so intent upon its hunt as to be unmindful of
the near presence of man.

It is found chiefly in thickets, but this is probably owing to the
fact that there its food is principally to be obtained. It is
occasionally seen in more open country, and has been known to breed in
the immediate vicinity of a dwelling.

Wilson regarded this bird as a true Creeper, and objected to its being
classed as a Warbler. He even denied to it the possession of any song.
In this he was quite mistaken. Though never loud, prolonged, or
powerful, the song of this Warbler is very sweet and pleasing. It
begins to sing from its first appearance in May, and continues to
repeat its brief refrain at intervals almost until its departure in
August and September. Nuttall speaks of it as being at first a
monotonous ditty, and as uttered in a strong but shrill and filing
tone. These notes, he adds, as the season advances, become more mellow
and warbling, and, though feeble, are pleasing, and are similar to
those of the Redstart. But this statement does not do full justice to
the varied and agreeable notes with which, in early spring, these
birds accompany their lively hunt for food among the tops of the
forest trees. They are diversified and sweet, and seem suggestive of a
genial and happy nature.

These birds make their appearance in New England early in May, and
remain there, among the thick woods, until the middle of October, and
in the Southern States until the verge of winter.

Their movements in search of food are like those of the Titmice,
keeping the feet together and moving in a succession of short rapid
hops up the trunks of trees and along the limbs, passing again to the
bottom by longer flights than in the ascent. They make but short
flights from tree to tree, but are apparently not incapable of more
prolonged ones.

So far as I know, these birds always build their nests on the ground.
Mr. Nuttall found one in Roxbury containing young about a week old.
The nest was on the ground, on the surface of a shelving rock, made of
coarse strips of the inner bark of the _Abies canadensis_ externally,
and internally of soft decayed leaves and dry grasses, and lined with
a thin layer of black hair. The parents fed their young in his
presence with affectionate attention, and manifested no uneasiness,
creeping, head downward, about the trunks of the neighboring trees,
carrying large smooth caterpillars to their young. The nests of this
bird are strongly and compactly built, externally of coarse strips of
various kinds of bark, and lined within with hair and fine stems of
grasses. In several instances I have known them to be roofed over at
the top, in the manner of the Golden-crowned Thrush. They measure
about three inches in their external diameter, and are equally deep.

The nests appear to be a favorite receptacle for the parasitic eggs of
the Cow-Bunting. Mr. Robert Ridgway obtained a nest at Mt. Carmel,
Ill., in which were four eggs of the _Molothrus_ and only two of the
parent birds; and Mr. T. M. Trippe, of Orange, N.Y., also found a nest
of this Creeper in which were but three of its own and five of the
parasite.

The eggs vary in shape from a rounded to an oblong oval, and in size
from .69 to .75 of an inch in length, and from .51 to .53 of an inch
in breadth. Their ground-color is a creamy-white, to which the deep
red markings impart an apparently pinkish tinge. They are marked more
or less profusely with bright red dots, points, and blotches. These
vary in number and in distribution. In some they are very fine, and
are chiefly confined to the larger end. In others they are larger,
more diffused, and occasionally there are intermingled marks and
blotches of slate-color. The effect of these variations is, at times,
to give the appearance of greater differences to these eggs than
really exists, the ground-color and the shade of the red markings
really presenting but little modifications.

The color of the young nestlings is closely assimilated to that of the
objects that usually surround the nest, and helps to conceal them. Mr.
Burroughs once came accidentally upon a nest with young of this
species. He says: “A Black and White Creeping Warbler suddenly became
much alarmed as I approached a crumbling old stump in a dense part of
the forest. He alighted upon it, chirped sharply, ran up and down its
sides, and finally left it with much reluctance. The nest, which
contained three young birds nearly fledged, was placed upon the ground
at the foot of the stump, and in such a position that the color of the
young harmonized perfectly with the bits of bark, sticks, etc., lying
about. My eye rested upon them for the second time before I made them
out. They hugged the nest very closely, but as I put down my hand they
all scampered off with loud cries for help, which caused the parent
birds to place themselves almost within my reach.”


SECTION VERMIVOREÆ.


GENUS PROTONOTARIA, BAIRD.

  _Protonotaria_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 239. (Type, _Motacilla
    citrea_, BODD.)

  [Line drawing: _Protonotaria citrea_, Baird.]

GEN. CHAR. Characterized by its long, distinctly notched bill, and
long wings, which are an inch longer than the slightly graduated tail
(the lateral feathers about .12 of an inch shorter). The under
tail-coverts are very long, reaching within half an inch of the tip of
the tail. The tarsi and hind toe are proportionally longer than in the
true Warblers. The notch and great size of the bill distinguish it
from the Swamp Warblers. Nest in holes; eggs much blotched with
reddish.

The only North American species belonging to the group appears to be
the old _Sylvia protonotaria_ of Gmelin.


Protonotaria citrea, BAIRD.

PROTHONOTARY WARBLER; GOLDEN SWAMP WARBLER.

  _Motacilla citrea_, BODD. Tabl. 1783 (Pl. enl. 704, fig. 2).
    _Protonotaria citrea_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 239; Rev.
    173.—SCLATER, Catal. 1861, 26, no. 166.—GUNDL. Cab. Jour. 1861,
    324 (Cuba; very rare). _Helminthophaga citrea_, Cab. Jour. 1861,
    85 (Costa Rica). _Motacilla protonotarius_, GM. _Sylvia prot._
    LATH.—VIEILL. Ois. Am. Sept. II, pl. lxxxiii.—WILSON, Am. Orn.
    III, pl. xxiv. fig. 2.—AUD. Orn. Biog. II, pl. iii. _Vermivora
    prot._ BON. _Helinaia prot._ AUD. _Helmitherus prot._ BON.
    _Compsothlypis prot._ CAB. Jour. _Motacilla auricollis_, GMEL. I,
    1788, 984. _Sylvia aur._ LATH., etc. (based on _Le Grand Figuier
    du Canada_, BRISSON, Ois. III, 1760, 508, pl. xxvi, fig. 1).
    Female. _Sylvicola aur._ NUTT. Man. I, 1840, 431.

SP. CHAR. Bill very large; as long as the head. Head and neck all
round, with the entire under parts, including the tibiæ, rich yellow,
excepting the anal region and under tail-coverts, which are white.
Back dark olive-green, with a tinge of yellow; rump, upper
tail-coverts, wings, and tail above, bluish ash-color. Inner margin of
quills and the tail-feathers (except the innermost) white; the outer
webs and tips like the back. Length, 5.40; wing, 2.90; tail, 2.25.

HAB. Eastern Province of United States (Southern region); Cuba, Costa
Rica, and Panama R.R. Not recorded from Mexico or Guatemala.
Accidental in New Brunswick (G. A. BOARDMAN in letter). Yucatan
(LAWRENCE).

This is one of the very handsomest of American Warblers, the yellow of
the head and lower parts being of a pureness and mellowness scarcely
approached by any other species. In a highly colored male from
Southern Illinois (No. 10,111, Mississippi Bottom, Union Co., April
23; R. Kennicott) it is stained in spots, particularly over the eyes
and on the neck, with a beautiful cadmium-orange.

  [Illustration: _Protonotaria citrea._
                  7516]

HABITS. In regard to the habits of this beautiful and interesting
Warbler we receive but little light from the observations of older
ornithological writers. Its geographical distribution is somewhat
erratic and irregular. It does not appear to be distributed over a
very wide range. It occurs as a migrant in the West Indies and in
Central America. In the United States it is found in the Southern
region, but farther west the range widens, and in the Mississippi
Valley it is found as far north as Kansas, Southern and Central
Illinois, and Missouri. Accidental specimens have been obtained as far
to the northeast as Calais, though unknown to all the Eastern States
as far south as Southern Virginia. It was met with by none of the
government parties except by Dr. Woodhouse, who found it abundant in
Texas.

Mr. Audubon observed them, near Louisville, Kentucky, frequenting
creeks and lagoons overshadowed by large trees. These were their
favorite places of resort. They also preferred the borders of sheets
of water to the interior of the forest. They return in spring to the
Southern States early in March, but to Kentucky not before the last of
April. They leave in October, and raise but a single brood in a
season. Audubon describes their nest, but it differs so essentially
from their known mode of breeding, that he was evidently in error in
regard to his supposed identification of the nest of this species.

Dr. Bachman, who often met them on the borders of small streams near
Charleston, was confident that they breed in that State, and noticed a
pair with four young birds as early as June 1, in 1836.

Recently more light has been thrown upon their habits by Mr. B. F.
Goss, who, in May, 1863, found them breeding near Neosho Falls, in
Kansas. The nest was built within a Woodpecker’s hole in the stump of
a tree, not more than three feet high. The nest was not rounded in
shape, but made to conform to the irregular cavity in which it was
built. It was of oblong shape, and its cavity was deepest, not in the
centre, but at one end, upon a closely impacted base made up of
fragments of dried leaves, broken bits of grasses, stems, mosses, and
lichens, decayed wood, and other material, the upper portion
consisting of an interweaving of fine roots of wooded plants, varying
in size, but all strong, wiry, and slender. It was lined with hair.

Other nests since discovered are of more uniform forms, circular in
shape, and of coarser materials, and all are built with unusual
strength and care for a nest occupying a sheltered cavity.

In one instance their nest was built in a brace-hole within a mill,
where the birds could be closely watched as they carried in the
materials, and the parent was afterward taken by hand by Mr. Goss from
its nest. It was quite tame, and approached within two yards of him.

Since then Mr. Ridgway has obtained a nest at Mt. Carmel, Ill. It was
built in a hollow snag, about five feet from the ground, in the river
bottom. So far from being noisy and vociferous, as its name would seem
to imply, Mr. Ridgway describes it as one of the shyest and most
silent of all the Warblers.

The eggs of this Warbler have an average breadth of .55 of an inch and
a length varying from .65 to .70 of an inch. They are of a
rounded-oval form, one end being but slightly less rounded than the
other. Their ground-color is a yellowish or creamy white, more or less
profusely marked over their entire surface with lilac, purple, and a
dark purplish-brown.

Mr. Ridgway states that it is always an abundant summer bird in the
Wabash bottoms, where it inhabits principally bushy swamps and the
willows around the borders of stagnant lagoons or “ponds” near the
river, and in such localities, in company with the White-bellied
Swallow (_Hirundo bicolor_), takes possession of the holes of the
Downy Woodpecker (_Picus pubescens_) and Chickadee (_Parus
carolinensis_), in which to build its nest.

Mr. Ridgway adds that in its movements this Warbler is slow and
deliberate, like the _Helmitherus vermivorus_, strikingly different in
this respect from the sprightly, active _Dendroecæ_. Its common note
is a sharp _piph_, remarkably like the winter note of the _Zonotrichia
albicollis_.

It has been taken as far north as Rock Island, Ill., and Dr. Coues
mentions the occurrence of one individual near Washington, D. C., seen
in a swampy brier-patch, May 2, 1861. This was perhaps only an
accidental visitor. If regularly found there, it is probably
exceedingly rare. It has not been met with between Washington and St.
Stephens, New Brunswick, where its occurrence was unquestionably
purely accidental.


GENUS HELMITHERUS, RAF.

  _Helmitherus_, RAFINESQUE, Journal de Physique, LXXXVIII, 1819, 417.
    (Type, _Motacilla vermivora_.)
  _Vermivora_, SWAINSON, Zoöl. Jour. IV. 1827, 170 (not of MEYER,
    1822).
  _Helinaia_, AUD. Synopsis, 1839, 66. (Type, _Sylvia swainsoni_, AUD.)

  [Line drawing: _Helmitherus vermivorus_, Bonap.]

GEN. CHAR. Bill large and stout, compressed, almost tanagrine; nearly
or quite as long as the head. Culmen very slightly curved; gonys
straight; no notch in the bill; rictal bristles wanting. Tarsi short,
but little longer, if any, than the middle toe. Tail considerably
shorter than the wings; rather rounded. Wings rather long, the first
quill a little shorter than the second and third.

  [Illustration: _Helmitherus vermivorus._
                  2148]

The birds of this division are very plain in their colors, more so
than any other American Warblers. There are but two species referable
to the genus, of which the _H. swainsoni_ differs from the type in
having a considerably longer and more compressed bill, the ridge of
which is compressed, elevated, and appears to extend backwards on the
forehead, as well as to be in a straight line with the upper part of
the head. The wings are longer; the tail forked; not rounded; the
feathers narrower and more pointed; the tarsi shorter than in the
type. It appears to be at least a distinct subgenus to which the name
_Helinaia_, AUD., is to be applied.


Species.

COMMON CHARACTERS. Colors plain. Above olivaceous, beneath nearly
white. No spots or bands on wing or tail.

  H. vermivorus. Above olive-green. Head yellowish, with a
  black stripe above and one behind each eye. Tail rounded.
  _Hab._ Eastern Province of United States; south to Costa Rica;
  Cuba. (_Helmitherus._)

  H. swainsoni. Above dull olive-green, tinged with brown.
  Stripes on the head somewhat as in the last, but reddish-brown;
  the median light stripe on the crown scarcely visible. Tail
  slightly forked. _Hab._ South Carolina and Georgia; Cuba (very
  rare). (_Helinaia._)


Helmitherus vermivorus, BONAP.

WORM-EATING SWAMP WARBLER.

  _Motacilla vermivora_, GMEL. Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 951. ? _Sylvia
    vermivora_, LATH. Ind. Orn. II, 1790, 499.—WILS. III, pl. xxiv,
    fig. 4.—AUD. Orn. Biog. I, pl. xxxiv. _Sylvicola vermivora_,
    RICH. _Helinaia vermivora_, AUD. Birds Am. II, pl. cv.—LEMBEYE,
    Av. Cuba, 1850, 35, pl. vi, fig. 4. _Helmitherus vermivorus_,
    BON.; CAB.; BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 252; Rev. 179.—SCLATER, P.
    Z. S. 1859, 363 (Xalapa).—IB. Catal. 1861, 28, no. 175.—SCLATER
    & SALVIN, Ibis, I, 1859, 11 (Guatemala); Cab. Jour. 1860, 329
    (Costa Rica); IB. 1856 (Cuba).—GUNDLACH, Cab. Jour. 1861, 326
    (Cuba; somewhat rare). _Vermivora pennsylvanica_, BON., GOSSE, B.
    Jamaica, 1847, 150. _Helmitherus migratorius_, RAF. J. de Phys.
    88, 1819, 417.—HARTLAUB; _Vermivora fulvicapilla_, SWAINSON,
    Birds, II, 1837, 245.

SP. CHAR. Bill nearly as long as the head; upper parts generally
rather clear olive-green. Head with four black stripes and three
brownish-yellow ones, namely, a black one on each side of the crown
and one from behind the eye (extending, in fact, a little anterior to
it), a broader median yellow one on the crown, and a superciliary from
the bill. Under parts pale brownish-yellow; tinged with buff across
the breast and with olivaceous on the sides. Tail unspotted. Female
nearly similar. Length, 5.50; wing, 3.00; tail, 2.35.

In autumnal specimens the light stripes on the head are deeper buff
than in spring.

HAB. Eastern Province of United States (rather Southern); Southeastern
Mexico; Guatemala; Cuba; Costa Rica; Veragua; Orizaba (winter,
SUMICHRAST); Yucatan (LAWRENCE).

HABITS. Much remains to be ascertained in regard to the history,
habits, and distribution of this interesting species. So far as is now
known it is hardly anywhere very common during the breeding-season.
Yet its abundance and wide distribution as a migrant during the winter
months in various extended localities appear to warrant the belief
that it must be correspondingly abundant in summer in localities that
have escaped our attention. It has been occasionally met with in the
Central and Southern States, as far west as Eastern Mexico, and as far
to the north as Southeastern New York. Specimens have been procured
from Cuba, Mexico, Central America, and the northern portions of South
America. It is a regular winter visitant of Jamaica, whither it goes
in the autumn in considerable numbers, and is very widely diffused.

It reaches Pennsylvania about the middle of May, and leaves in
September. Wilson noticed a pair feeding their young about the 25th of
June. He supposed this bird to have a more northern distribution than
belongs to it. In the interior they are met with, according to
Audubon, as far north as the southern shores of Lake Erie, where he
found them in the autumn. Mr. Audubon found them more numerous in New
Jersey than anywhere else. In Ohio and Kentucky they are comparatively
rare. Mr. Ridgway informs me that this is a rather common species in
Southern Illinois in the thickest damp woods in the bottom-lands along
the Wabash River.

According to Wilson, these birds are among the nimblest of its family,
and are remarkably fond of spiders, darting about wherever there is a
probability of finding these insects. Where branches are broken and
the leaves withered, it searches among them in preference, making a
great rustling as it hunts for its prey. Their stomachs are generally
found full of spiders and caterpillars.

These birds are arboreal in their preferences, residing in the
interior of woods, and are seldom seen in the open fields. They resort
to the ground and turn over the dry leaves in quest of insects. They
are very unsuspicious and easy of approach.

Nuttall describes their notes and their habits as resembling the
common _Parus atricapillus_, and remarks that they are constantly
uttering a complaining call, sounding like _tshe-dē-dē_.

Until quite recently, nothing has been positively known in regard to
its nesting. Audubon has described its nest as made of dry mosses and
the fallen bloom of the hickory and the chestnut, and as built in
bushes several feet from the ground. He describes the eggs as
cream-colored, marked about the larger end with reddish-brown. These
descriptions have not been confirmed, and all our information has led
us to look for its nest on the ground.

Mr. Trippe states that it is found, but is not at all common, near
Orange, N.Y., where it arrives about the middle of May. It has, at
that time, a rapid, chattering note, and it always, he says, keeps
near the ground, and, besides its chattering song, has in June a
series of odd notes, much like those of the White-breasted Nuthatch,
but more varied and musical, yet hardly entitled to be called a song.

Mr. T. H. Jackson of Westchester, Penn., in the American Naturalist
for December, 1869, mentions finding the nest and eggs of this bird.
We give his account in his own words: “On the 6th of June, 1869, I
found a nest of this species containing five eggs. It was placed in a
hollow on the ground, much like the nests of the Oven-Bird (_Seiurus
aurocapillus_), and was hidden from sight by the dry leaves that lay
thickly around. The nest was composed externally of dead leaves,
mostly those of the beech, while the interior was prettily lined with
the fine, thread-like stalks of the hair-moss, (_Polytrichium_).
Altogether it was a very neat structure, and looked to me as though
the owner was habitually a ground nester. The eggs most nearly
resemble those of the White-bellied Nuthatch (_Sitta carolinensis_),
though the markings are fewer and less distinct. So close did the
female sit that I captured her without difficulty by placing my hat
over the nest.”

The same observing ornithologist informs me that this Warbler arrives
in Pennsylvania early in May, and makes the most solitary part of the
woods its home, outside of which it is rarely seen. True to its name,
it is ever busy hunting out and devouring the worms that lurk among
the forest foliage, pursuing its avocation in silence, with the
exception of a faint note uttered occasionally. This species is not as
shy as many of our Warblers that frequent the woods. Towards the
latter part of May they commence constructing their nests. Mr. Jackson
adds that the nest above referred to was found on a thickly wooded
hillside, a few yards above a running stream. So neatly was it
embedded in the ground and covered with dry leaves, that discovery
would have been impossible had not the female betrayed its position.
Both birds exhibited the greatest alarm at his presence, but on his
retiring to a short distance the female returned to the nest, where
she was easily captured. The base and periphery of the nest were
composed of dry beech-leaves, while the inner lining was made of fine
hair-mosses (_Polytrichium_).

In the latter part of June, 1871, Mr. Jackson found another nest of
this species, containing five young birds about half grown. He was
seated on a log, resting after a hard tramp, when a Worm-eating
Warbler alighted near him, having a large green worm in its beak.
After at first manifesting much uneasiness, and scolding as well as
she could, she suddenly became silent and flew to the ground. On his
going to the spot both parents flew from the nest. It was in all
respects, in regard to materials, manner of construction, and
situation, the exact counterpart of the other. Both were placed on
steep, wooded hillsides, facing the east.

Two of the eggs of this Warbler thus identified by Mr. Jackson, and
kindly loaned to me by him, are of a somewhat rounded-oval shape, less
obtuse at one end. They have a clear, crystal-white ground, and are
spotted with minute dottings of a bright red-brown. These are much
more numerous in one than in the other, and in both are confluent at
the larger end, where they are beautifully intermingled with cloudings
of lilac-brown. These eggs measure, the one .78 by .60 of an inch; the
other, .70 by .56 of an inch.

Another nest of this species, found by Mr. Joseph H. Batty of New
York, on the side of a hill near Montclair, N.J., was also built on
the ground, in a part of the woods where there was no underbrush, and
was placed in a slight hollow, with dry oak-leaves collected around
it, and partly covering it. The nest was made of dry leaves, and lined
with grasses and fine roots. It contained four eggs, alike in their
marking, and corresponding exactly with those obtained by Mr. Jackson.
Mr. Batty nearly stepped on the bird without her leaving the nest.

Dr. Coues found the Worm-eating Warbler a rather uncommon summer
resident near Washington, breeding there but sparingly. It arrives
there during the first week in May, and remains until the third week
in September. He describes it as slow and sedate in its movements.


Helmitherus swainsoni, AUD.

SWAINSON’S SWAMP WARBLER.

  _Sylvia swainsoni_, AUD. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 563, pl. cxcviii.
    _Sylvicola sw._ RICH. _Vermivora sw._ BON. _Helinaia sw._ AUD.
    Birds Am. II, 1841, pl. civ (type of genus). _Helmitherus sw._
    BON.; CAB.; BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 252; Rev. 180.

SP. CHAR. Bill as long as the head. Upper parts dull olive-green,
tinged with reddish-brown on the wings, and still more on the crown
and nape; a superciliary stripe and the under parts of the body are
white, tinged with yellow, but palest on the tail-coverts; the sides
pale olive-brown. There is an obscure indication of a median yellowish
stripe on the forehead. The lores are dusky. No spots nor bands on
wings or tail. Length, 5.60; wing, 2.85; tail, 2.20.

HAB. Coast of South Carolina and Georgia; Cuba (very rare).

A young bird (No. 32,241 Liberty Co., Georgia) is very similar to the
adult described, but differs in the following respects: the lower
parts have a decided soiled, sulphur-yellow tinge, while the brown of
the upper parts is much more reddish, there being no difference in
tint between the crown and back; also the superciliary stripe is more
sharply defined.

HABITS. This species is comparatively rare, and, so far as is known,
has a very restricted distribution. It was first discovered by Rev.
Dr. Bachman, in the vicinity of Charleston, S. C., near the banks of
the Edisto River. This was in the spring of 1832. He was first
attracted by the novelty of its notes, which were four or five in
number and repeated at intervals of a few minutes. These notes were
loud and clear, and more like a whistle than a song. They resembled
the sounds of some extraordinary ventriloquist,—so much so that he at
first supposed the bird to be much farther off than it really was. He
was so fortunate as to secure it. The shape of the bill he at once
noticed as being different from that of any other American bird then
known to him. In the course of that season he obtained two other
specimens. Toward the close of the same season he saw an old female,
accompanied by its four young. One of the latter, which he procured,
did not differ materially from the old birds.

He met with them only in swampy and muddy places, and when opened, he
always found their stomachs filled with fragments of coleopterous
insects, as well as small green worms, such as are common on
water-plants. The habits of this species most resemble those of the
Prothonotary Warbler, as the latter skips among the low bushes growing
about ponds or in marshy places. It is seldom seen on high trees.
Nothing is known as to their nesting or eggs.


GENUS HELMINTHOPHAGA, CABAN.

  _Helminthophaga_, CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1850, 1851, 20. (Type, _Sylvia
    ruficapilla_, WILS.)

  [Line drawing: _Helminthophaga ruficapilla._
                  2238]

GEN. CHAR. Bill elongated, conical, very acute; the outlines very
nearly straight, sometimes slightly decurved; no trace of notch at the
tip, nor of bristles on the rictus. Wings long and pointed; the first
quill nearly or quite the longest. Tail nearly even or slightly
emarginate; short and rather slender. Tarsi longer than the middle toe
and claw.

The species of this section are well characterized by the attenuation
and acuteness of the bill, and the absence of any notch. There are,
however, considerable subordinate differences in the different
species. In some the bill is larger and more acute than others; in one
species, the _H. peregrina_, the wings are unusually lengthened, the
tail being only about seven twelfths as long.


Species and Varieties.

COMMON CHARACTERS. Iris brown. Length about 5.00. Nest on the
ground, in grass or dead leaves. Eggs clear white, thickest at
end, with minute dots of brown of various shades and faint purple.

A. Tail with a conspicuous patch of white.

  _a._ A black patch covering throat and breast.

    1. chrysoptera. Above ash, beneath white. Forehead and a
    patch on the wing yellow. _Hab._ Eastern Province of United
    States, south to Bogota; Cuba.

    2. bachmani. Above olive-green; beneath, with forehead,
    yellow; crown ash, bounded anteriorly with a black bar. No
    yellow on wing. _Hab._ South Carolina and Georgia. Cuba in
    winter.

  _b._ No black on throat or breast.

    3. pinus. Above olive-green; beneath, with forehead, yellow;
    wings ash, with two white bands; lores black. _Hab._ Eastern
    Province of United States, south into Guatemala.

B. Tail without a conspicuous white patch.

  _c._ Crown with a concealed patch of rufous (obsolete in ♀).

    4. ruficapilla. Above olive-green; head ashy; beneath
    continuous yellow; a light orbital ring. _Hab._ North America
    (very rare in Middle and Western Provinces); Greenland. South
    to Southern Mexico (Oaxaca, Cordova, Orizaba).

      Yellow of throat spreading over cheeks, and staining lores
      and eyelids. Atlantic States. (Carlisle, Penn., specimens.) …
                                                  var. _ruficapilla_.

      Yellow of throat confined within the maxillæ; lores and
      eyelids clear white. Mississippi Valley. (Chicago
      specimens.) …                                  var. _ocularis_.

      Yellow of throat restricted to a medial stripe, leaving its
      sides ashy. Middle Province. (Specimen from Fort Tejon,
      Cal., and East Humboldt Mountains, Nevada.) …
                                                   var. _gutturalis_.

    5. virginiæ. Above ash to the rump, beneath white.  A patch
    on the jugulum, with the upper and lower tail-coverts,
    yellow. _Hab._ Rocky Mountains of United States, west to East
    Humboldt Mountains.

    6. luciæ. Above ash, beneath continuous white. Upper
    tail-coverts chestnut. _Hab._ Colorado region of Middle
    Province.

    7. celata. Above continuous olive-green, below continuous
    pale yellow. (Orange on crown in ♂ only?) …        var. _celata_.

      Above ashy-olive, beneath yellowish olivaceous-white; inner
      webs of tail-feathers broadly edged with white. (Middle
      regions of North America; Mexico.) …          var. _lutescens_.

      Above greenish-olive, beneath bright greenish-yellow; white
      edges to inner webs of tail-feathers obsolete. (Pacific
      Province of North America.) …                   var. _obscura_.

      Similar to var. _celata_, but plumage darker and more
      dingy. No white edgings to tail-feathers, and apparently
      _no rufous_ on the crown in either sex. (Georgia, Florida,
      etc.)

  _d._ No rufous on crown.

    8. peregrina. Above olive-green; head and neck pure ash;
    beneath continuous white. _Hab._ Eastern Province of North
    America north to Fort Simpson, H. B. T. south to Panama. Cuba
    (rare).


Helminthophaga chrysoptera, CABAN.

GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER.

  _Motacilla chrysoptera_, LINN. S. Nat. I, 1766, 333. _Sylvia chr._
    LATH.—WILS. Am. Orn. II, pl. xv. fig. 5.—BON. _Sylvicola chr._
    BON. _Helinaia chr._ AUD. Birds Am. II, pl. cvii. _Helmitherus
    chr._ BON.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1855, 143 (Bogota). _Helminthophaga
    chrysoptera_, CAB. Mus. Hein.; Journ. f. Orn. 1860, 328 (Costa
    Rica).—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 255; Rev. 175.—SCLATER &
    SALVIN, Ibis, II, 1860, 397 (Choctum, Guatemala).—SALVIN, 1867,
    135.—DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 477 (San Antonio).—LAWRENCE, Ann. N.
    Y. Lyc. VII, 1861, 293 (Panama).—GUNDL. Cab. Journ. 1861, 326
    (Cuba, rare). _Motacilla flavifrons_, GMELIN. _Sylvia flavifrons_,
    LATH.

  [Illustration: _Helminthophaga celata._]

SP. CHAR. Upper parts uniform bluish-gray; the head above and a large
patch on the wings yellow. A broad streak from the bill through and
behind the eye, with the chin, throat, and forepart of the breast,
black. The external edge of the yellow crown continuous with a broad
patch on the side of the occiput above the auriculars, a broad
maxillary stripe widening on the side of the neck, the under parts
generally, with most of the inner webs of the outer three
tail-feathers, white; the sides of the body pale ash-color. _Female_
similar, but duller. Length about 5 inches; wing, 2.65; tail, 2.25.

HAB. Eastern Province of United States, San Antonio (DRESSER); Cuba
(rare); Guatemala; Costa Rica; Panama; Bogota. Recorded in West Indies
from Cuba only; not from Mexico. Veragua; Chiriqui (SALVIN).

HABITS. So far as our present knowledge of this Warbler extends, it is
nowhere a common species, and is distributed over a comparatively
small extent of territory. Wilson met with it in Pennsylvania during
the last of April and the first of May, believing it to be only a
migrant species on its way to more northern regions. Nuttall was
sceptical of these conclusions, as he never met with the species in
the New England States. Audubon observed these birds in their
migrations through Louisiana, which State they entered from Texas in
the month of April. He procured several specimens in Louisiana and
Kentucky, and one in New Jersey. He knew nothing as to its breeding,
and seems to have accepted Wilson’s inferences in regard to its
northern migrations. He never met with this bird in the fall, when, if
a Northern species, it should be returning south, and thence inferred
that it migrated by night.

Professor Baird has obtained this bird near Carlisle, Penn., in July,
rendering probable its breeding in that vicinity. W. S. Wood met with
it near St. Louis, May 13, 1857, and two days previously in the same
year Mr. Kennicott procured an individual in Southern Illinois.
Occasionally specimens have been obtained in Massachusetts, and of
late these occurrences have become more frequent or more observed. It
was first noticed near Boston by J. Eliot Cabot, Esq., who shot one in
May, 1838, near Fresh Pond. This was, he thinks, on the 20th of that
month. Since then Mr. J. A. Allen has known of several specimens taken
within the State. Mr. Jillson has observed it spending the summer in
Bolton, and evidently breeding, as has also Mr. Allen at Springfield,
and Mr. Bennett at Holyoke. In the summer of 1870, Mr. Maynard
obtained its nest and eggs in Newton.

The late Dr. Gerhardt found it breeding among the high grounds of
Northern Georgia. It has also been taken at Racine, Wis., by Dr. Hoy,
and in Ohio. These data seem to show that it is sparingly found from
Georgia to Massachusetts, and from New Jersey to Missouri and
Wisconsin. Its western limits may be more extended. It was not met
with by any of the exploring parties beyond St. Louis, but its
retiring habits and its sparse distribution may account for this.

Dr. Samuel Cabot was the first naturalist to meet with the nest and
eggs of this bird. This was in May, 1837, in Greenbrier County, Va.
The nest was constructed in the midst of a low bush on high ground,
and contained four eggs.

The late Dr. Alexander Gerhardt found the nest and eggs of this
Warbler in the spring of 1859, in Whitfield County, Ga. It contained
four eggs, and was built on the ground. It was very large for the
bird, being five inches in height and four in diameter. The cavity was
also quite large and deep for so small a bird, exceeding three inches
both in depth and in diameter. The outer and under portions of this
nest were almost entirely composed of the dry leaves of several kinds
of deciduous trees. These were interwoven with and strongly bound
together by black vegetable roots, dry sedges, and fine strips of
pliant bark, and the whole lined with a close network of fine leaves,
dry grasses, and fibrous roots. Dr. Gerhardt informed me that these
birds usually build on or near the ground, under tussocks of grass, in
clumps of bushes, or pine-brush, and that they lay from four to five
eggs, from the 6th to the 15th of May.

The eggs of this species are of a beautiful, clear crystal-white, with
a few bright reddish-brown spots around the larger end. Eggs from
Racine, Wis., and from Northern Georgia, differ greatly in their
relative size. The former measure .70 of an inch in length and .53 in
breadth; the latter, .63 by .49.

A single specimen of this species was obtained by Mr. Salvin, at
Choctum, in Guatemala.


Helminthophaga bachmani, CABAN.

BACHMAN’S WARBLER.

  _Sylvia bachmani_, AUD. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 483, pl. clxxxiii.
    _Sylvicola b._ RICH. _Vermivora b._ BON. _Helinaia b._ AUD. Syn.
    Birds Am. II, 1841, 93, pl. cviii.—LEMBEYE, Av. Cuba, 1850, 36,
    pl. vi. fig. 1. _Helmitherus b._ BON. _Helminthophaga b._ CAB.
    Jour. III, 1855, 475 (Cuba, in winter).—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858,
    255; Rev. 175.—GUNDLACH, Cab. Jour. 1861, 326 (Cuba, rare);
    Repert. 65, 232.

SP. CHAR. Above olive-green, as also are the sides of the head and
neck. Hind head tinged with ash. A broad patch on the forehead,
bordered behind by black; chin, stripe from this along the side of the
throat, and the entire under parts, deep yellow. Throat and forepart
of breast black. A patch on the inner web of the outer two
tail-feathers near the end white. Length, 4.50; wing, 2.35; tail,
2.05. _Female_ with merely a patch of dusky on the jugulum, and with
the black bar on vertex obsolete.

HAB. Coast of South Carolina and Georgia; Cuba in winter.

HABITS. Bachman’s Warbler is a comparatively new and but little known
species of this interesting group. It was first discovered, July,
1833, by Rev. Dr. John Bachman, a few miles from Charleston, S. C.,
and in the same vicinity he afterwards discovered a few others of both
sexes. He described it as a lively, active bird, gliding among the
branches of the thick bushes, occasionally mounting on the wing and
seizing insects in the air, in the manner of a Flycatcher. The
individual first obtained was an old female which had, to all
appearances, just reared a brood of young. With this partial
exception, nothing is known in relation to its habits. As all the
species of this genus, without any at present known exception,
construct their nests upon the ground, it is a natural inference that
it probably nests in a similar situation.

The Smithsonian Institution possesses but a single specimen of this
bird, obtained near Charleston, S. C. It was not observed by any
naturalist of the several governmental exploring expeditions, and, so
far as we are at present informed, its only known places of abode are
South Carolina and Cuba, where it is extremely rare. Its nest and eggs
still remain unknown.

  [Illustration: PLATE XI.

   1. Helminthophaga pinus, _Linn._ ♂ Pa., 2229.
   2.        “       chrysoptera, _Linn._ ♂ 10156.
   3.        “       bachmani, _Aud._ ♂ S. C., 2903.
   4. H. celata, _Say. var._ Cape St. Lucas, 16949.
   5.      “     _Say. var._ Rocky Mts.
   6.      “     _Say. var._ Florida.
   7. H. ruficapilla, _Wils._ Pa., 2238.
   8.        “        _Wils. var._ Cal.
   9. H. luciæ, _Cooper_. Cal., 31892.
  10. H. peregrina, _Wils._ 19496. In spring.
  11.        “      _Wils._ In autumn.
  12. H. virginiæ, _Bd._ Arizona, 58334.]


Helminthophaga pinus, BAIRD.

BLUE-WINGED YELLOW WARBLER.

  _Certhia pinus_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 187. _Sylvia pinus_,
    LATH., VIEILL. (not of WILSON). _Helminthophaga pinus_, BAIRD,
    Birds N. Am. 1858, 254; Rev. 174.—SCLATER & SALVIN, Ibis, 1,
    1859, 11 (Guatemala).—SCLATER, Catal. 1861, 28, no. 176. _Sylvia
    solitaria_, WILSON, Am. Orn. II, pl. xv.—AUD. Orn. Biog. I, pl.
    xx. _Sylvicola sol._ RICH. _Vermivora sol._ SW. _Helinaia sol._
    AUD. Birds Am. II, pl. cxi. _Helmitherus sol._ BON.—SCLATER, P.
    Z. S. 1856, 291 (Cordova). _Helminthophaga sol._ CAB.

SP. CHAR. Upper parts and cheeks olive-green, brightest on the rump;
the wings, tail, and upper tail-coverts, in part, bluish-gray. An
intensely black patch from the blue-black bill to the eye, continued a
short distance behind it. Crown, except behind, and the under parts
generally, rich orange-yellow. The inner wing and under tail-coverts
white. Eyelids, and a short line above and behind the eye, brighter
yellow. Wing with two white bands. Two outer tail-feathers with most
of the inner web, third one with a spot at the end, white. _Female_
and _young_ similar, duller, with more olivaceous on the crown.
Length, 4.50; wing, 2.40; tail, 2.10.

HAB. Eastern United States and Mexico to Guatemala (Cordova; Coban).
Not noted from West Indies.

HABITS. The Blue-winged Yellow Warbler is not known so far to the
north as New England, and is rare even in Eastern and Southern New
York. It seems to be distributed through the United States from
Pennsylvania to Florida, and from the Mississippi Valley eastward. It
has also been taken in Central America. Mr. Trippe states that it
breeds in the vicinity of Orange, N. Y. Mr. Audubon found it abundant
in the barrens of Kentucky, and as far north on the Mississippi as St.
Genevieve.

In regard to the song of this bird, Mr. Trippe states that its notes
are very forcible and characteristic. Once heard, they will always be
remembered. He describes them as a rapid chirrup resembling
_chūūchich, k´-a-re-r´r´r´r´r_, uttered very quickly. According to Mr.
Ridgway, they are wonderfully similar to the rude lisping chirrup of
the _Coturniculus passerinus_.

Wilson says that these Warblers come from the South early in May,
frequenting thickets and shrubberies in search of insects, which they
seek in the branches. They are also fond of visiting gardens and
orchards, gleaning for insects among the low bushes. They generally
build their nests on the edge of sequestered woods. These Mr. Wilson
states to have been, in every instance observed by him, fixed on the
ground, in a thick tussock of long grass, and built in the form of an
inverted cone, the sides being formed of the dry bark of strong
fibrous weeds lined with fine dry grasses. These materials, he
remarks, are not arranged in the usual circular manner, but shelve
downward from the top, the mouth being wide and the bottom narrow. He
describes the eggs as five in number, pure white, with a few faint
dots of reddish near the larger end. The young appear the first week
in June. The nests were always in an open but retired part of the
woods, and were all as thus described.

According to Mr. Audubon its song consists of a few weak notes that
are by no means interesting. His description of its nest agrees with
that of Wilson. He states that it usually has two broods in the
season, one in May, the other in July. The young disperse as soon as
they are able to provide for themselves.

He describes them as of solitary habits, and adds that they leave
Louisiana for the South early in October. Its flight is short,
undetermined, and performed in zigzag lines. It will ascend twenty or
thirty yards in the air as if about to go to a greater distance, when,
suddenly turning round, it will descend to the place from which it set
out. It rarely pursues insects on the wing, feeding chiefly on the
smaller kind of spiders, and seizing other insects as they come within
its reach.

The above accounts of its breeding, and especially of its nest, do not
correspond with the observations of Mr. Ridgway, near Mt. Carmel,
Ill., where the bird is abundant. A nest collected by him is a very
loose open structure, composed chiefly of broad, thin, and flexible
strips of the inner bark of deciduous trees, chiefly the bass-wood. It
contained five eggs, and was obtained May 8. It was first discovered
by noticing the bird with materials in her bill. The situation of this
nest “was in no wise,” says Mr. Ridgway, “as described by Wilson, not
having any covered entrance.” The nest was very bulky, and so loosely
made that only the inner portion could be secured. “I have found other
nests,” adds Mr. Ridgway, “all corresponding with this one. There can
be no doubt as to its identity, as the birds were seen building the
nest, and were closely watched in their movements. Both male and
female were seen several times.” (No. 10,140, Smith. Coll.)

The eggs of this species measure .70 of an inch in length by .53 in
breadth. Their ground-color is white, sprinkled with a few
reddish-brown spots.


Helminthophaga ruficapilla, BAIRD.

NASHVILLE WARBLER.

_Sylvia ruficapilla_, WILS. Am. Orn. III, 1811, 120, pl. xxvii, fig.
    3.—AUD. Orn. Biog. I, 1832, 450, pl. lxxxix. _Helminthophaga
    ruficapilla_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 256; Rev. 175.—SCLATER,
    P. Z. S. 1859, 373 (Xalapa).—DRESSER, Ibis, 65, 477
    (Texas).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 82. _Sylvia rubricapilla_,
    WILS. Am. Orn. VI, 1812, 15, General Index.—NUTT., BON.
    _Sylvicola rub._ RICH. _Vermivora rub._ BON.—REINHARDT, Vid. Med.
    for 1853, 1854, 82 (Greenland).—BREWER, Pr. Bost. Soc. N. H. VI,
    1856, 4 (nest and eggs). _Helinaia rub._ AUD. Birds Am. II, pl.
    cxiii. _Helmitherus rub._ BON.—SCL. P. Z. S. 1856, 291 (Cordova);
    1859, 363 (Xalapa). _Helminthophaga rub._ CAB.—SCLATER, P. Z. S.
    1858, 298 (Oaxaca; Feb. and Aug.). _Mniotilta rub._ REINHARDT,
    Ibis, 1861, 6 (Greenland). _Sylvia leucogastra_, SHAW, Gen. Zoöl.
    X, II, 1817, 622. “_Sylvia nashvillei_,” VIEILLOT.—GRAY. _Sylvia
    mexicana_, HOLBÖLL.

SP. CHAR. Head and neck above and on sides ash-gray, the crown with a
patch of concealed dark brownish-orange hidden by ashy tips to the
feathers. Upper parts olive-green, brightest on the rump. Under parts
generally, with the edge of the wing, deep yellow; the anal region
paler; the sides tinged with olive. A broad yellowish-white ring round
the eye; the lores yellowish; no superciliary stripe. The inner edges
of the tail-feathers margined with dull white. _Female_ similar, but
duller; the under parts paler, and with more white; but little trace
of the red of the crown. Length, 4.65; wing, 2.42; tail, 2.05.

HAB. Eastern Province of North America; rare in the Middle Province
(Fort Tejon, Cal., and East Humboldt Mountains, Nev.); Greenland
(REINHARDT); Oaxaca (February and August, SCLATER); Xalapa and Cordova
(SCLATER); Orizaba (winter, SUMICHRAST). Not recorded from West Indies.

It is an interesting fact, that, in this species, we find in the
yellow a tendency to become more and more restricted as we pass
westward. In adult spring males from the Atlantic States this color
invades the cheeks, and even stains the lores and eyelids. In two
adult spring males from Chicago it is confined within the maxillæ, the
cheeks being clear ash, and the loral streak and orbital ring pure
white; while in an adult male (autumnal, however) from the East
Humboldt Mountains (Nevada, No. 53,354, U. S. Geol. Expl., 40th par.)
the yellow is restricted to a medial strip, even the sides of the
throat being ashy; the ash invades the back too, almost to the rump,
while in Eastern specimens it extends no farther back than the nape. A
male (No. 10,656, J. Xantus) from Fort Tejon, Cal., is much like the
Nevada specimen, though the peculiar features of the remote Western
form are less exaggerated; it is about intermediate between the other
specimen and the specimens from Chicago. As there is not,
unfortunately, a sufficiently large series of these birds before us,
we cannot say to what extent these variations with longitude are
constant.

HABITS. The Nashville Warbler appears to be a species of somewhat
irregular occurrence; at one time it will be rather abundant, though
never very numerous, and at another time comparatively rare. For a
long while our older naturalists regarded it as a very rare species,
and knew nothing as to its habits or distribution. Wilson, who first
met with it in 1811, never found more than three specimens, which he
procured near Nashville, Tenn. Audubon only met with three or four,
and these he obtained in Louisiana and Kentucky. These and a few
others in Titian Peale’s collection, supposed to have been obtained in
Pennsylvania, were all he ever saw. Mr. Nuttall at first regarded it
as very rare, and as a Southern species. In that writer’s later
edition he speaks of it as a bird having a Northern distribution as
far as Labrador. Dr. Richardson records the occurrence of a single
straggler in the fur country. So far as known, it occurs as a migrant
in all the States east of the Missouri, and is a summer resident north
of the 40th parallel. It probably breeds in the high ground of
Pennsylvania, though this fact is inferred rather than known. It
breeds in Connecticut and Massachusetts, and in Maine in the vicinity
of Calais, being more abundant there than anywhere else, as far as has
been ascertained.

Two individuals of this species have been taken in Greenland: one at
Godthaab, in 1835; and the other at Fiskenæsset, August 31, 1840.

In Massachusetts it has so far been found in only a few restricted
localities, Andover, Lynn, and Hudson, though it undoubtedly occurs
elsewhere. About the time Wilson obtained his first specimen, a living
bird of this species flew into the parlor of the late Colonel Thomas
H. Perkins of Brookline, and is now in the collection of his grandson,
Dr. Cabot. The latter gentleman states that when he first began making
collections this Warbler was a very rare visitant to his neighborhood,
but has of late become much more common, though varying greatly in
this respect in different seasons. Specimens have been obtained in
Western Iowa by Mr. H. W. Parker, of Grinnell.

A few instances of its occurrence west of the Mississippi Valley are
known. One of these was by Xantus near Fort Tejon; another near Lake
Tahoe, in the Sierra Nevada, by Mr. Gruber; and in the East Humboldt
Mountains, Nevada, by Mr. Ridgway. Specimens of this Warbler were
obtained in the winter by M. Boucard at Oaxaca, Mexico.

In the summer of 1854, Mr. Charles S. Paine found it breeding in
Randolph, Vt., but was unable to discover the nest. “They spend the
summer,” he wrote, “among low bushes, and probably build their nests
among the thickets. I have watched their movements on several
occasions. Once I detected an old bird with food in her bill about to
feed her young. I could hear the young birds, yet was unable to find
the nest.” Two years later, Mr. George O. Welch, of Lynn, found the
nest of this Warbler on the ground in a small thicket. It contained
young partially fledged, and one egg unhatched. The nest was built in
a slight depression, in a dry place, among fallen leaves and in the
shelter of a thicket of young oak-trees. This egg in shape was of a
rounded oval, and measured .59 by .50 of an inch; one end was slightly
more pointed than the other. The ground-color was white, slightly
tinged with pink, and marked over the entire surface with
purplish-brown dots. Around the larger end these spots form a
beautiful wreath of confluent markings. Since then other nests have
been found in the same locality, all on the ground and built in like
situations. They have a diameter of four and a height of two inches.
The cavity has a diameter of two and a depth of one and a quarter
inches. The outer portions are built of dry mosses, intermingled with
strips of the bark of the wild grape and the red cedar and a few
herbaceous twigs, and lined with a thick layer of dried carices, small
leaves of the white pine, and fine grasses. The whole structure is
loosely put together. The nests are generally concealed by overarching
leaves, which, however, form no part of the nest itself.

The late Elijah P. Barrow, of Andover, Mass., a young naturalist of
much promise, found several nests of this rare Warbler, all of which
were concealed by grass. The eggs he found varied in length from .59
to .61 of an inch, and in breadth from .50 to .51 of an inch. Both
parents, as observed by him, were entirely silent.

The Nashville Warbler has been said to be a comparatively silent and
songless bird, rarely giving forth any sounds, and these are compared
by Dr. Richardson to the creaking noise made by the whetting of a saw.
Wilson compares these sounds to the cracking of dry twigs or the
striking together of small pebbles. Mr. J. A. Allen speaks of its song
as being similar to that of the Chestnut-sided Warbler, which latter
bird, as is well known, has notes so closely resembling those of the
Summer Yellow-Bird that it is difficult to distinguish one from the
other by their notes. Mr. T. M. Trippe states, also, that this Warbler
has a very fine song, resembling that of the Summer Yellow-Bird more
nearly than any other.

These Warblers arrive in Massachusetts about the first of May, and
remain about three weeks, when the larger portion move farther north.

More recently Mr. Paine writes me that the Nashville Warbler has of
late years become a common bird in certain localities in Central
Vermont. They come and keep company with the Canada Warbler, but are
more restless than that species at the time of their first appearance.
They always in the breeding-season take up their abode in thickets,
where there are also tall trees. Mr. Paine adds that their song
consists of repetitions of single notes, the last terminating somewhat
abruptly. Their song ceases by the 10th of June. After their young are
ready to fly, they disperse about the woods and fields, and are then
not readily discovered.


Helminthophaga virginiæ, BAIRD.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN WARBLER; VIRGINIA’S WARBLER.

  _Helminthophaga virginiæ_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. under explanation of
    plates, 1860, xi, pl. lxxix, fig. I (Fort Burgwyn, N. M.); Rev.
    177.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 85.

SP. CHAR. Somewhat like _H. ruficapilla_. _Male._ Top and sides of
head, back, and wings light ashy-plumbeous; quills and tail-feathers
brown, edged with pure ashy-plumbeous, the latter indistinctly and
narrowly margined with whitish internally and at the end. Rump, with
upper and lower tail-coverts, bright yellow, in vivid contrast with
the rest of the body. Crown with a concealed patch of rich chestnut.
Rest of under parts brownish-white, with a patch of rich yellow on the
jugulum. Inside of wings and axillars pure white. A white ring round
the eye. Bill and legs dusky. The colors much duller in autumn.

_Female, spring._ Similar to the male, but chestnut spot on crown
obsolete, the yellow jugular patch less distinct, the upper
tail-coverts more greenish, and the lower less rich yellow.

Length, 5.00; extent, 7.25; wing, 2.50 when fresh. Dried skin: length,
4.90; wing, 2.50; tail, 2.20; tarsus, .67.

HAB. Southern Rocky Mountains (Middle Province of United States); East
Humboldt, Wahsatch, and Uintah Mountains.

A young bird (No. 53,355, East Humboldt Mountains, Nevada, August 5)
is olive-gray above, becoming green on the rump and upper
tail-coverts; the middle and secondary coverts narrowly tipped with
pale grayish-buff, producing two indistinct bands. The lower parts are
pale dirty-buff, except the lower tail-coverts, which are
lemon-yellow; there is scarcely a tinge of yellow on the jugulum, and
not a trace of chestnut on the crown.

HABITS. But little is as yet known in regard to the habits and
distribution of this somewhat rare and recently discovered species. It
was first met with by Dr. W. W. Anderson, at Fort Burgwyn in New
Mexico, and described by Professor Baird in 1860, in a note to the
explanation of Vol. II. of the Birds of North America. It was named in
honor of Mrs. Virginia Anderson, the wife of its discoverer. An
immature individual of this species was obtained August 15, 1864, by
Dr. Coues, at Fort Whipple, near Prescott, in the Territory of
Arizona. As it bears a close resemblance to the _Helminthophaga
ruficapilla_, it is not improbable that its habits bear a very close
resemblance to those of that species.

In the summer of 1869, Mr. Robert Ridgway was so fortunate as to meet
with the nest and eggs of this bird near Salt Lake, Utah (Smith. Coll.
15,239). This was June 9. The nest was embedded in the deposits of
dead or decaying leaves, on ground covered by dense oak-brush. Its rim
was just even with the surface. It was built on the side of a narrow
ravine at the bottom of which was a small stream. The nest itself is
two inches in depth by three and a half in diameter. It consists of a
loose but intricate interweaving of fine strips of the inner bark of
the mountain mahogany, fine stems of grasses, roots, and mosses, and
is lined with the same with the addition of the fur and hair of the
smaller animals.

The eggs were four in number, and measure .64 by .47 of an inch. They
are of a rounded-ovoid shape, have a white ground with a slightly
roseate tinge, and are profusely spotted with numerous small blotches
and dots of purplish-brown and lilac, forming a crown around the
larger end.

This bird was first observed by Mr. Ridgway among the cedars and pines
of the East Humboldt Mountains, where in July it was quite common. It
was very abundant in the Wahsatch Mountains near Salt Lake City,
throughout the summer chiefly inhabiting the thickets of scrub-oak on
the slopes of the cañons in which they nested, and where they were
daily seen, but where, owing to the thickness of the bushes, they were
with difficulty obtained. He describes its song as almost exactly like
that of _Dendroica æstiva_. The usual note is a soft _pit_, quite
different from the sharp _chip_ of _H. celata_.


Helminthophaga luciæ, COOPER.

LUCY’S WARBLER.

  _Helminthophaga luciæ_, COOPER, Pr. Cal. Acad. July, 1861, 120 (Fort
    Mohave).—BAIRD, Rev. Am. B. 1864, 178.—ELLIOT, Illust. Birds N.
    Am. I, v.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 84.

SP. CHAR. General form and size that of _H. ruficapilla_. Above
light-cinereous; beneath white, having a soiled, very pale buff,
almost white tinge on the throat, breast, and flanks. A patch on the
vertex, as in _H. ruficapilla_, and the upper tail-coverts, dark
chestnut-brown. Lores to nostrils and region round the eye, like the
throat, in rather decided contrast to the ash of the crown. Quills and
tail-feathers brown, narrowly edged externally with gray. An obsolete
terminal white patch on the inner web of the outer feather; this web
in most of the other tail-feathers likewise narrowly edged with white.
Axillars and inner face of wings white. Iris brown. Tarsi blue.
Length, in life, 4.40; extent, 6.90; wing, 2.40. Length of skin, 3.90;
wing, 2.33; tail, 1.86; tarsus, .64; middle toe and claw, .50; bill
above, .35; gape, .50.

HAB. Fort Mohave, Colorado River (Middle Province of United States);
Fort Whipple, Arizona.

HABITS. This is also a new or recently discovered species of this
interesting group of Warblers. In regard to its nest and eggs nothing
is positively ascertained, yet as all the birds of this genus are
known to build on the ground, and to have a great uniformity in the
characteristics of their eggs, it seems to be a matter of natural
inference that this species also is a ground builder, and has eggs
similar to those of the Nashville Warbler. For the little we know in
regard to its habits and distribution, we are indebted to the
observations of Dr. J. G. Cooper of California, who first discovered
it, and to Dr. Coues, who has since met with it in Arizona.

Dr. Cooper first observed this species near Fort Mohave, where it made
its appearance about the last of March. His attention was called to it
by its peculiar notes, resembling those of some _Dendroicæ_, but
fainter. After considerable watching and scrambling through dense
mezquite thickets in its pursuit, he succeeded in shooting one, and
found it to be a new species. Afterwards they became more numerous,
frequenting the tops of the mezquite-trees in pursuit of insects, and
constantly uttering their short but pleasing notes. About ten days
after the first appearance of the males, Dr. Cooper obtained the first
female, and thinks that without doubt they are much later in their
migrations, as is the case with other Warblers. He was not able to
discover their nest, having to leave the valley late in May.

Mr. Holden obtained other specimens of this bird, near the 34th
parallel, in March of 1863.

Dr. Coues met with three individuals of this species near Fort
Whipple, where it is a summer resident. It arrives there between the
15th and the 20th of April, and remains until the latter part of
September. It mates about the last of April, and the young birds
appear early in June.

Dr. Coues regards its habits as more like those of the true Ground
Warblers than those of the other species of this group. It shows a
decided preference for thickets and copses, rather than for high open
woods, and is also an exceedingly shy and retiring species. To the
extreme difficulty of observing or procuring it Dr. Coues attributes
its having so long remained unnoticed.

It is described as exceedingly active in all its motions, and quite as
restless as a _Polioptila_, to which class, in its colors, it also
bears a close resemblance. The only note Dr. Coues ever heard it utter
was a quick and often repeated _tsip_, as slender and as wiry as that
of a Gnatcatcher. Dr. Cooper, however, has described its song as rich
and pleasing, the little performer being mounted on the top of some
mezquite or other bush. Dr. Cooper supposes this species to breed, not
in the Colorado Valley, but in the more mountainous regions.

Dr. Coues hazards the conjecture that this bird builds in low bushes.
Should it prove so, it would in this respect differ from all the other
members of this well-marked group, and from the other Ground Warblers,
which, in its general habits, it so much resembles.


Helminthophaga celata, var. celata, BAIRD.

ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER.

  _Sylvia celata_, SAY, Long’s Exp. R. Mts. I, 1823, 169.—BON. Am.
    Orn. I, pl. v, fig. 2.—AUD. Orn. Biog. II, pl. clxxviii.
    _Sylvicola cel._ RICH. _Vermivora cel._ JARD. _Helinaia cel._ AUD.
    Birds Am. II, pl. cxii. _Helmitherus cel._ BON.—SCLATER, P. Z. S.
    1857, 212 (Orizaba). _Helminthophaga cel._ BAIRD, Birds N. Am.
    1858, 257; Rev. Am. Birds, I, 1865, 176 (in part).—DALL &
    BANNISTER (Alaska).—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1858, 298 (Oaxaca,
    December); 1859, 373; 1862, 19 (La Parada). _H. celata_, var.
    _celata_, RIDGW. Rept. U. S. Geol. Expl. 40th Par.

SP. CHAR. Above grayish olive-green, rather brighter on the rump.
Beneath entirely greenish yellowish-white, except a little whitish
about the anus; the sides tinged with grayish-olivaceous. A concealed
patch of pale orange-rufous on the crown, hidden by the grayish tips
to the feathers. Eyelids and an obscure superciliary line
yellowish-white, a dusky obscure streak through the eye. Inner webs of
tail-feathers broadly edged with white. _Female_ with little or none
of the orange on the crown, and the white edgings to inner webs of
tail-feathers. _Young_ lacking the orange entirely, and with two
fulvous-whitish bands on the wing. Length, 4.70; wing, 2.25; tail,
2.00.

HAB. Middle Province of North America; Yukon and McKenzie River
district. Very rare in the Eastern Province of United States; Mexico
in winter; Oaxaca, La Parada, (SCLATER); Orizaba, winter (SUMICHRAST).

This variety inhabits the interior regions of North America, from the
Yukon southward into Mexico; westward, its range meets that of the
var. _lutescens_ at about the meridian of 116°, while eastward it
extends beyond the Mississippi, though rare east of the latter region.
Specimens from Southern Illinois (where it is abundant in its
migrations) and from Wisconsin are precisely like Rocky Mountain
examples; but several in the collection before us from the South
Atlantic States (Florida, Georgia, etc.) are so different as almost to
warrant their separation as a different variety. These individuals are
most like the style of the interior,—var. _celata_,—but are even less
yellowish, and the whole plumage is very dark and dingy; all of them,
too, lack any trace whatever of orange on the crown. Should all
specimens from this region agree in the latter respect, the series
from the Southeastern States is certainly entitled to recognition as a
variety, for which we propose the name _obscura_.

HABITS. The geographical distribution of _H. celata_ is involved in
some doubt, owing probably to its irregularity of migration. In a few
occasional instances this species has been observed in the Atlantic
States. Several have been obtained near Philadelphia. Mr. Audubon
affirms to having seen it in the Middle States about the 10th of May,
and in Maine later in the month. Beyond that he did not trace it. Mr.
J. A. Allen procured one specimen of this bird in Springfield, Mass.,
May 15, 1863. There were quite a number among the fruit-trees of the
garden and orchard, then in bloom, and, mistaking them for
_Helminthophaga ruficapilla_, he at first neglected to shoot any,
until, being in doubt, he procured one, and found it the Orange-Crown.
The group passed on, and one was all he obtained. It is not given by
Mr. Turnbull as one of the birds of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, nor
by Mr. Boardman or Professor Verrill as occurring in Maine. I am
informed by Mr. Ridgway that it is a regular spring and autumn migrant
in Southern Illinois, and in some seasons is quite common.

It was taken as a migratory species at Oaxaca, Mexico, during the
winter months, by M. A. Boucard.

Mr. Audubon’s account of the habits and movements of this species must
be received with much caution. His description of its nest is entirely
inaccurate, and much that he attributes to this species we have reason
to believe relates to the habits of other birds.

On the Pacific coast it seems to be quite abundant, at different
seasons, from Cape St. Lucas to the arctic regions, where it breeds.
Mr. Kennicott obtained several specimens at Fort Yukon and at Fort
Resolution, and Mr. Boss met with them at Fort Simpson. Xantus
obtained these birds both at Fort Tejon and at Cape St. Lucas. It is
common in Southern California during the winter, frequenting low
bushes and the margins of streams. Dr. Gambel met with it in early
spring on the island of Santa Catalina, where he had an opportunity of
listening to its simple and lively song. This he describes as
commencing in a low, sweet trill, and ending in _tshe-up_. It is
sometimes considerably varied, but is described as generally
resembling _er-r,r,r,r-shè-up_.

Dr. Cooper speaks of this Warbler as an abundant and constant resident
of California, near the coast, and found in summer throughout the
Sierra Nevada. In March they begin to sing their simple trill, which,
he says, is rather musical, and audible for a long distance.

Dr. Coues met with this Warbler in Arizona, at Fort Yuma, September
17, at Fort Mohave, October 1, and also at the head-waters of Bill
Williams River. Lieutenant Couch found it at Brownsville, Tex.,
seeking its food and making its home among the low shrubbery.

Dr. Suckley found it very abundant at Fort Steilacoom, in Washington
Territory, where it kept in shady places among thick brush, generally
in the vicinity of watercourses. Dr. Heermann found a few pairs
incubating near the summits of the highest mountains on the Colorado
River. The nests of this species, seen by Mr. Kennicott, were
uniformly on the ground, generally among clumps of low bushes, often
in the side of a bank, and usually hidden by the dry leaves among
which they were placed. He met with these nests in the middle of June
in the vicinity of Great Slave Lake. They were large for the size of
the bird, having an external diameter of four inches, and a height of
two and a half, and appearing as if made of two or three distinct
fabrics, one within the other, of nearly the same materials. The
external portions of these nests were composed almost entirely of
long, coarse strips of bark loosely interwoven with a few dry grasses
and stems of plants. Within it is a more elaborately interwoven
structure of finer dry grasses and mosses. These are softly and warmly
lined with hair and fur of small animals.

Nests from more arctic regions are of a different style of structure,
homogeneous in materials,—which are chiefly stems of small plants and
the finer grasses,—and are of a more compact make and smaller in size.

Their eggs are from four to six in number, and vary in length from .70
to .60 of an inch, and in breadth from .50 to .45 of an inch. They
have a clear white ground, marked with spots and small blotches of
reddish-brown and fainter marking of purplish-slate. The number of
spots varies greatly, some eggs being nearly unspotted, others
profusely covered.

Mr. Ridgway met with this Warbler in great abundance during its
autumnal migration among the shrubbery along the streams of the Sierra
Nevada, at all altitudes. In summer it was only seen among the high
aspen woods on the Wahsatch Mountains. Fully fledged young birds were
numerous in July and August. Their usual note was a sharp _chip_.

This bird was found breeding near Fort Resolution, on the Yukon, at
Fort Rae, and at Fort Anderson.

The notice of geographical distribution of the different races, at the
beginning of the article, will serve to show to what varieties the
preceding remarks severally belong.


Helminthophaga celata, var. lutescens, RIDGWAY.

PACIFIC ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER.

  _Helminthophaga celata_, COOPER & SUCKLEY, P. R. R. XII, ii, 1859,
    178.—LORD, Pr. R. Art. Inst. Woolwich, IV, 1864, 115.—BAIRD, Rev.
    Am. Birds, I, 1865, 176 (in part).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 83.
    _H. celata_, var. _lutescens_, RIDGWAY, Report U. S. Geol. Expl.
    40th Par.

SP. CHAR. _Male._ Upper surface continuous bright olive-green. Whole
lower parts, including superciliary stripe and eyelids, bright yellow,
almost gamboge; abdomen somewhat whitish. Inner webs of tail-feathers
just perceptibly edged with white. Whole crown bright orange-rufous,
scarcely concealed. Wing, 2.40; tail, 1.90; bill, .40; tarsus, .67;
middle toe, .45. Wing-formula, 2, 3, 1, 4. _Female._ Similar, but
orange of crown almost obsolete. Wing, 2.30; tail, 1.90. _Young of the
year._ Similar to adult, but with a brownish tinge above; middle and
secondary coverts tipped with dull fulvous, furry, inconspicuous
bands. No trace of orange on the crown.

HAB. Pacific Province of North America, from Alaska to Cape St. Lucas.
Straggling eastward to about the 116th meridian. Not found in Mexico?

The differences between the Pacific coast specimens of the _H. celata_
and those from the interior regions—first pointed out in the Review of
American Birds—are very readily appreciable upon a comparison of
specimens. The present bird is a coast variety, entirely replacing the
true _celata_ (var. _celata_) in the region above indicated.


Helminthophaga peregrina, CABAN.

TENNESSEE WARBLER.

  _Sylvia peregrina_, WILS. Am. Orn. IV, 1811, 83, pl. xxv, fig. 2.—AUD.
    Orn. Biog. II, pl. cliv. _Sylvicola per._ RICH. _Vermivora per._
    BON. _Helinaia per._ AUD. Birds Am. II, pl. cx. _Helmitherus per._
    BON. _Helminthophaga per._ CAB. Mus. Hein.—IB. Jour. Orn. 1861, 85
    (Costa Rica).—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 258; Rev. 178.—SCLATER &
    SALVIN, Ibis, 1860, 31 (Guatemala).—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1859, 373
    (Oaxaca); Catal. 1861, 29, no. 180.—LAWRENCE, Ann. N. Y. Lyc.
    1861, 322 (Panama).—GUNDLACH, Cab. Jour. 1861, 326 (Cuba, very
    rare). _Sylvia tennessæi_, VIEILLOT, Encycl. Méth. II, 1823, 452.
    _? Sylvia missuriensis_, MAX. Cab. Jour. VI, 1858, 117.

SP. CHAR. Top and sides of the head and neck ash-gray; rest of upper
parts olive-green, brightest on the rump. Beneath dull white, faintly
tinged in places, especially on the sides, with yellowish-olive.
Eyelids and a stripe over the eye whitish; a dusky line from the eye
to the bill. Outer tail-feather with a white spot along the inner edge
near the tip. _Female_ with the ash of the head less conspicuous; the
under parts more tinged with olive-yellow. Length, 4.50; wing, 2.75;
tail, 1.85.

HAB. Eastern Province of North America; Calais, Me.; north to Fort
Simpson, H. B. T.; Mexico; Oaxaca? Guatemala; Costa Rica; Panama R. R.
Very rare in Cuba. Veragua (SALVIN). Chiriqui (LAWRENCE).

Autumnal specimens and young birds are sometimes so strongly tinged
with greenish-yellow as to be scarcely distinguishable from _H.
celata_. The wing is, however, always longer, and the obscure whitish
patch on the inner edge of the exterior tail-feather, near its tip, is
almost always appreciable. In _celata_ this edge is very narrowly and
uniformly margined with whitish.

A young bird of the year, from Port Simpson (27,228), has two distinct
greenish-white bands on the wings, and the forehead and cheeks
greenish-yellow. A corresponding age of _H. celata_ has the wing-bands
more reddish-brown, the wings shorter, and no white patch on the outer
tail-feather.

HABITS. Like the Nashville Warbler the present species has received a
name inappropriate to one with so northern a distribution. It was
first obtained on the banks of the Cumberland River by Wilson, and has
since been known as the Tennessee Warbler. But two specimens were ever
obtained by him, and he regarded it as a very rare species. He found
them hunting nimbly among the young leaves, and thought they possessed
many of the habits of the Titmice. Their notes he described as few and
weak, and in their stomachs he found, upon dissection, small green
caterpillars and a few winged insects.

Mr. Audubon also regarded it as a rare species, and only three
specimens ever fell within his observations. These were obtained in
Louisiana and at Key West. He describes them as appearing to be
nimble, active birds, expert catchers of flies, and fond of hanging to
the extremities of branches, uttering a single mellow _tweet_ as they
fly from branch to branch in search of food, or while on the wing.

Mr. Nuttall appears not to have met with it. Dr. Richardson procured
only a single specimen at Cumberland House, in the latter part of May.
This was in a dense thicket of small trees, and was flying about among
the lower branches. He was unable to discover its nest, or to learn
anything in regard to its habits.

A little more light has since then been given both as to its
geographical distribution and its mode of nesting. Specimens of this
species have been obtained in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Oaxaca, Mexico,
and Panama. A specimen of this species was also taken in Colombia, S.
A., by Mr. C. W. Wyatt. Dr. Gundlach mentions it as occasionally found
in Cuba. Mr. Drexler secured specimens of it at Moose Factory and at
Fort George in the arctic regions. Specimens were taken by Mr. Bernard
R. Ross at Fort Simpson. Mr. Robert Kennicott met with it on the
northern shores of Lake Winnipeg, June 6. They were then abundant, and
had already mated. He again met with them at Fort Resolution, and Mr.
Clarke found them at Fort Rae, Mr. W. F. Hall in Maine, Mr. Bell on
the Upper Missouri, and Professor Baird in Pennsylvania. Mr. Ridgway
has obtained it both in spring and in fall in Southern Illinois, where
it is abundant in some seasons. It does not appear to occur on the
Pacific coast.

Mr. Boardman writes that the Tennessee Warbler is, in the summer time,
quite a common bird in St. Stephens and vicinity. Its notes, he adds,
resemble the low, subdued whistle of the common Summer Yellow-Bird.

Mr. Maynard found this Warbler very common near Lake Umbagog during
the breeding-season. It was found in all the wooded localities in the
regions north of the neighboring mountains. Its song, he states,
resembles that of _H. ruficapilla_, the notes of the first part being
more divided, while the latter part is shriller.

A nest of this Warbler (Smith. Coll., 3476), obtained on the northern
shore of Lake Superior by Mr. George Barnston, is but little more than
a nearly flat bed of dry, matted stems of grass, and is less than an
inch in thickness, with a diameter of about three inches. It is not
circular in shape, and its width is not uniform. Its position must
have been on some flat surface, probably the ground. The eggs resemble
those of all the family in having a white ground, over which are
profusely distributed numerous small dots and points of a
reddish-brown, and a few of a purplish-slate. They are of an
oblong-oval shape, and measure .68 by .50 of an inch.

A nest from near Springfield, Mass., obtained by Professor Horsford,
the parent bird having been secured, was built in a low clump of
bushes, just above the ground. It is well made, woven of fine hempen
fibres of vegetables, slender stems of grass, delicate mosses, and
other like materials, and very thoroughly lined with hair. It measures
two and three fourths inches in diameter and two in height. The cavity
is two inches wide and one and three fourths deep. The eggs measure
.60 by .50 of an inch, are oblong-oval in shape, their ground-color a
pearly white, marked in a corona, about the larger end, with brown and
purplish-brown spots.


GENUS PARULA, BONAP.

  _Chloris_, BOIE, Isis, 1826, 972 (not of Moehring, 1752). (Type,
    _Parus americanus_.)
  _Sylvicola_, SWAINSON, Zoöl. Journ. III, July, 1827, 169. (Not of
    Humphrey, Mus. Calonnianum, 1797, 60; genus of land mollusks.)
    (Same type.)
  _Parula_, BONAP. Geog. & Comp. List, 1838. (Same type.)
  _Compsothlypis_, CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1850, 1851, 20. (Same type.)

GEN. CHAR. In the species of this genus the bill is conical and acute;
the culmen very gently curved from the base; the commissure slightly
concave. The notch when visible is further from the tip than in
_Dendroica_, but usually is either obsolete or entirely wanting.
Bristles weak. The tarsi are longer than the middle toe. The tail is
nearly even, and considerably shorter than the wing. Color, blue
above, with a triangular patch of green on the back; anterior lower
parts yellow.

Two species—one with three varieties—of this genus, as lately
restricted, are known in America, only one, however, has as yet been
detected within the limits of the United States. They may be
distinguished as follows:—

P. americana. Eyelids white. Yellow beneath restricted to
anterior half.

  Two white bands on wing; a dusky collar across the jugulum.
  _Hab._ Eastern Province of United States, south to Guatemala;
  Bahamas; Cuba; Jamaica; St. Croix; St. Thomas.

P. pitiayumi. Eyelids dusky. Yellow beneath, extending back
along sides to the crissum.

_Two white bands on wing._

  Above plumbeous-blue; lores and eyelids deep black. Abdomen
  wholly yellow. Wing, 2.20; tail, 1.75. _Hab._ South America
  from Bogota to Paraguay …                     var. _pitiayumi_.[34]

  Above ashy-blue; lores and eyelids scarcely darker. Abdomen
  wholly white. Wing, 2.35; tail, 2.05. _Hab._ Tres Marias
  Islands, Western Mexico …                     var. _insularis_.[35]

_Only a trace of white on wings, or none at all._

  Above indigo-blue. Wing, 2.10; tail, 1.70. _Hab._ Costa Rica
  and Guatemala …                                var. _inornata_.[36]

  [Line drawing: _Parula americana_, Bonap.]

_Compsothlypis gutturalis_, CABANIS (_Parula gut._, BAIRD, Rev. Am.
B.), and _Conirostrum superciliosum_, HARTLAUB (_Parula superciliosa_,
BAIRD, Rev.), have been referred by later systematists to this genus;
but they are much more closely related to _Conirostrum_,—a genus
usually assigned to the _Cærebidæ_. The _“P.” gutturalis_ is confined
to Costa Rica; but _“P.” superciliosa_ is a species of the table-lands
of Mexico, and likely to be detected in Arizona or New Mexico. The
characters of this species are as follows:—

_Conirostrum superciliosum_, HARTL. R. Z. 1844, 215. Whole dorsal
region, including rump, olive-green; rest of upper parts ashy.
Anterior half beneath yellow, with a crescentic bar of chestnut-brown
across the jugulum; posterior lower parts white, ashy laterally. A
conspicuous superciliary stripe of white. Wing, 2.60; tail, 2.10.


Parula americana, BONAP.

BLUE YELLOW-BACKED WARBLER.

  _Parus americanus_, LINN. Syst. Nat. 10th ed. I, 1758, 190. _Motacilla
    am._ GMELIN. _Sylvia am._ LATH., AUD. _Sylvicola am._ RICH.,
    AUD.—JONES, Nat. in Bermuda, 1839, 59. _Parula am._ BON. List
    Birds N. Am. 1838.—GOSSE, Birds Jam. 1847, 154 (Jamaica).—BAIRD,
    Birds N. Am. 1858, 238; Rev. 169.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1857, 202
    (Xalapa).—IB. Ibis, 1859, 10 (Guatemala).—IB. Catal. 1861, 26,
    163.—NEWTON, Ibis, 1859, 143 (Santa Cruz; winter).—CASSIN, Pr. A.
    N. S. 1860, 376 (St. Thomas).—GUNDLACH, Cab. Jour. 1861, 326
    (Cuba; very common). _Compsothlypis am._ CAB. Mus. Hein. 1850,
    20.—IB. Jour. III, 1855, 476 (Cuba). _Ficedula ludoviciana_,
    BRISSON. _Motacilla lud._ GM. _Motacilla eques_, BODD. _Sylvia
    torquata_, VIEILL. _Thryothorus torq._ STEPHENS. _Sylvia pusilla_,
    WILS. _Sylvicola pus._ SWAINS.
  Figures: AUD. Orn. Biog. I, pl. xv.—IB. Birds Am. II, pl. xci.—VIEILL.
    Ois. Am. II, pl. xcix.—WILS. Am. Orn. IV, pl. xxviii.—BUFFON, pl.
    enl. dccxxxi, fig. 1; dccix, fig. 1.

SP. CHAR. Above blue, the middle of the back with a patch of
yellowish-green. Beneath yellow anteriorly, white behind. A
reddish-brown tinge across the breast. Lores and space round the eye
dusky; a small white spot on either eyelid; sides of head and neck
like the crown. Two conspicuous white bands on the wings. Outer two
tail-feathers with a conspicuous spot of white. _Female_ similar, with
less brown on the breast. Length, 4.75; wing, 2.34; tail, 1.90. Nest
of long moss.

HAB. Eastern Province of United States, north to the Lakes
(“Greenland”), west to the Missouri Valley; in winter, south to
Guatemala (not seen on the west coast of Mexico). West Indies;
Bahamas; Cuba; Jamaica; St. Croix; St. Thomas; Jalapa, Guatemala
(SCLATER); Orizaba, winter (SUMICHRAST); Yucatan (LAWRENCE); Porto
Rico and Inagua (BRYANT).

Autumnal males are browner on the chin, yellower on the throat and
jugulum. Head tinged with greenish; secondaries edged with
greenish-yellow. Autumnal females are light greenish-olive above,
dirty-white beneath.

  [Illustration: _Parula americana._
                  2219]

In very brightly colored spring males, there is frequently (as in
58,335, Philadelphia) a well-defined, broad blackish band across the
jugulum, anterior to an equally distinct and rather broader one across
the breast, of a brown tint, spotted with black, while the sides are
much spotted with chestnut-brown; the blue above is very pure, and the
green patch on the back very sharply defined.

HABITS. The Blue Yellow-Back is one of our most interesting and
attractive Warblers. Nowhere very abundant, it has a well-marked and
restricted area within which it is sparingly distributed. It is found
from the Mississippi Valley to the Atlantic, and from Canada
southward. In its winter migrations it visits the West Indies, the
Bahamas, and Central and South America. Halifax on the east, and
Platte River on the west, appear to be the northern limit of its
distribution. Dr. Woodhouse met with it in the Indian Territory during
the breeding-season. Mr. Alfred Newton found this species, apparently
only a winter visitant, in the island of St. Croix. Most of the birds
left about the middle of March, though a few remained until early in
May.

A single specimen of this species was taken at South Greenland in
1857.

This Warbler has been found breeding as far to the south as
Tuckertown, N. J., by Mr. W. S. Wood; and at Cape May, in the same
State, by Mr. John Krider. At Washington, Dr. Coues found it only a
spring and autumn visitant, exceedingly abundant from April 25 to May
15. Possibly a few remained to breed, as he met with them in the first
week of August. In the fall they were again abundant from August 25 to
the second week in October. He found them inhabiting exclusively high
open woods, and usually seen in the tops of the trees, or at the
extremities of the branches, in the tufts of leaves and blossoms.

Even where most common it is not an abundant species, and is to be
found only in certain localities, somewhat open and swampy thickets,
usually not of great extent, and prefers those well covered with the
long gray lichens known as Spanish moss. In such localities only, so
far as I know, do they breed.

This Warbler has also been ascertained to breed in Southern Illinois,
where Mr. Ridgway found it in July, engaged in feeding fully fledged
young birds. It is there most common in spring and fall.

A true Warbler in most of its attributes, this bird has many of the
habits of Titmice. Like these it frequents the tops of the taller
trees, feeding on the small winged insects and caterpillars that
abound among the young leaves and blossoms. It has no song, properly
so called, its notes are feeble and few, and can be heard only a short
distance.

The song of this species is said by Mr. Trippe, of Orange, N. Y., to
be a somewhat sharp and lisping, yet quite varied and pleasing, series
of notes.

Mr. Audubon speaks of this species as breeding in Louisiana, but his
description of the nest differs so entirely from such as are met with
in Massachusetts as to suggest doubts as to the correctness of the
identification. He describes them as flitting over damp places, the
edges of ponds and streams, and pursuing their prey with great
activity. They resort to the woods as soon as the foliage appears on
the forest trees, and glean among the leaves for the smaller winged
insects.

The nests of this Warbler, so far as has fallen under my observation,
have always been made of long gray lichens still attached to the trees
on which they grow. With great skill do these tiny architects gather
up, fasten together, and interweave, one with the other, the hanging
ends and longer branches. By an elaborate intertwining of these long
fibres they form the principal part, sometimes the whole, of their
nests. These structures are at once simple, beautiful, ingenious, and
skilfully wrought. When first made, they are somewhat rude and
unfinished, but as their family are gathered, the eggs deposited,
incubated, and hatched, a change has been going on. Little by little
has the male bird busied himself, when not procuring food for his
mate, in improving, strengthening, and enlarging the nest. These same
acts of improvement upon the original nests are noticed with
Humming-Birds, Vireos, and a few other birds.

The nests are sometimes constructed on the sides of trunks of trees,
when covered with the long gray lichens, but are more frequently found
hanging from branches usually not more than six or eight feet from the
ground. Thus surrounded by long hanging mosses in clumps not
distinguishable from the nests themselves, they would not be readily
recognized were it not that those familiar with the habits of the bird
may be readily guided to the spot by the artless movements of the
unsuspecting parents.

These birds are confiding, easily approached, and rarely exhibit any
signs of alarm. Even when their nest is disturbed they make but little
complaint, and do not manifest any very great signs of emotion. When
built against a trunk these nests consist only of an interweaving of
the moss above and below a very small opening, within which a small
cup-shaped flooring has been made of the same material, and usually
cannot be removed without destroying all semblance of a nest. When
pensile they are imperfectly circular in shape, with an entrance on
one side, and rarely with any lining. Occasionally they are models of
symmetry and beauty.

The eggs, four or five in number, have a clear white ground, and are
sparingly spotted with markings of reddish-brown, slate, purple, and
lilac. In some the first predominate, in other the last three shades
are more abundant, and usually form a confluent ring around the larger
end. They measure from .62 to .65 of an inch in length, and from .49
to .50 in breadth.


SECTION SYLVICOLEÆ.

This section has been already characterized as having a distinctly
notched bill, well provided with bristles. Of the two genera one,
_Perissoglossa_, has the bill slender, acute, something like
_Helminthophaga_, and with the tongue lengthened and much lacerated at
end; the other, _Dendroica_, with less acute bill and tongue shorter,
merely notched at tip, and a little fringed only.


GENUS PERISSOGLOSSA, BAIRD.

  _Perissoglossa_, BAIRD, Rev. Am. Birds, 1864, 181. (Type, _Motacilla
    tigrina_, GM.)

  [Line drawing: _Perissoglossa tigrina_, Baird.]

GEN. CHAR. Form of _Dendroica_, but bill slender, acute, with very
obsolete notch; the commissure gently arched or curved from the base;
the gonys also straight, or even slightly concave. Tongue lengthened,
narrow, deeply bifid (for one third), and deeply lacerated or fringed
externally at the end; the edge along the median portion folded over
on the upper surface, but not adherent.

The curvature of the bill in _Perissoglossa tigrina_ is quite peculiar
among the _Sylvicolidæ_ with notched bills. Some Helminthophagas
(without notch) approximate this character, though in none, excepting
_H. bachmani_, is it in equal amount,—all the others having the gonys
very slightly convex, instead of straight, or even slightly concave.

It is most probable that the _Helinaia carbonata_ of Audubon belongs
here, as it appears very closely allied to the type of this genus. The
two species may be distinguished as follows:—

COMMON CHARACTERS. _Male._ Top of head black. Above olive,
becoming yellowish on rump. Head, neck, and lower parts bright
yellow, becoming whitish posteriorly. Dorsal feathers with black
centres; breast and sides streaked with black. A black streak
through the eye.

  P. tigrina. Large white patches on inner webs of
  tail-feathers.

    Sides of head and middle of throat tinged with chestnut. One
    large white patch on wing, covering both rows of coverts.
    Outer web of lateral tail-feather blackish.

  P. carbonata. No white patches on tail-feathers.

    No chestnut about head. Two bands on the wing, the anterior
    one white, the posterior yellow. Outer web of lateral
    tail-feather whitish.



Perissoglossa tigrina, BAIRD.

CAPE MAY WARBLER.

  _Motacilla tigrina_, GMELIN, Syn. Nat. I, 1788, 985. _Sylvia tig._
    LATH. _Dendroica tig._ BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 286.—SCLATER,
    Catal. 1861, 33, no. 198; P. Z. S. 1861, 71 (Jamaica,
    April).—MARCH, Pr. An. Sc. 1863, 293 (Jamaica; breeds).—A. & E.
    NEWTON, Ibis, 1859, 144 (St. Croix. Notes on anatomy of
    tongue).—GUNDLACH, Cab. Jour. 1861, 326 (Cuba; not rare).—SAMUELS,
    240. _Perissoglossa tigrina_, BAIRD, Rev. Am. Birds, 1864, 181.
    _Sylvia maritima_, WILSON, Am. Orn. VI, 1812, 99, pl. liv, fig.
    3.—BON.; NUTT.; AUD. Orn. Biog. V, pl. ccccxiv.—D’ORB. La Sagra’s
    Cub. 1840, 70, pl. x. _Sylvicola mar._ JARD., BON., AUD. Birds Am.
    II, pl. lxxxv. _Certhiola mar._ GOSSE, Birds Jam. 1847, 81.—IB.
    Illust. _Rhimamphus mar._ CAB. Jour. III, 1855, 474 (Cuba.)

SP. CHAR. Bill very acute, conical, and decidedly curved. Bill and
feet black. Upper part of head dull black, some of the feathers
faintly margined with light yellowish-brown. Collar scarcely meeting
behind; rump and under parts generally rich yellow. Throat, forepart
of breast, and sides, streaked with black. Abdomen and lower
tail-coverts pale yellow, brighter about the vent. Ear-coverts light
reddish-chestnut. Back part of a yellow line from nostrils over the
eye of this same color; chin and throat tinged also with it. A black
line from commissure through the eye, and running into the chestnut of
the ear-coverts. Back, shoulder, edges of the wing and tail,
yellowish-olive; the former spotted with dusky. One row of small
coverts, and outer bases of the secondary coverts, form a large patch
of white, tinged with pale yellow. Tertials rather broadly edged with
brownish-white. Quills and tail dark brown, the three outer feathers
of the latter largely marked with white on the inner web; edge of the
outer web of the outer feathers white, more perceptible towards the
base. Length, 5.25; wing, 2.84; tail, 2.15.

_Female._ Above olivaceous-ash, most yellowish on rump; no black nor
chestnut on head. Wing-coverts inconspicuously edged with whitish.
Tail-spots very inconspicuous. Beneath dull white tinged with
yellowish on the breast, and streaked as in the male, but with dusky
grayish instead of black.

HAB. Eastern Province of United States, north to Lake Winnipeg and
Moose Factory; all the West Indies to St. Croix. Breeds in Jamaica.
Not recorded from Mexico or Central America.

The chestnut about the head in adult males varies in amount with the
individual; sometimes (as in 20,633, May, Moose Factory, Hudson’s Bay
Territory) there is an oblong spot of chestnut in the middle of the
crown, but generally this is absent. Very frequently the chestnut
tinges the throat. All variations in these respects appear, however,
to be individual, and not dependent at all on locality. West Indian
specimens appear to be absolutely identical with those from North
America.

Autumnal specimens are browner, the chestnut markings much obscured.

  [Illustration: PLATE XII.

   1. Perissoglossa tigrina, _Gm._ ♂ H. B. Ter., 20633.
   2.       “          “       “   ♀ Pa., 678.
   3.       “       carbonata, _Aud._ (Copied from Audubon).
   4. Dendroica virens, _Gm._ ♂ Pa., 941.
   5.     “     occidentalis, _Towns._ ♂ Cal., 5518.
   6.     “     chrysopareia, _Scl. & Salv._ ♂.
   7.     “     townsendi, _Nutt._ ♂ Guat., 8017.
   8.     “     nigrescens, _Towns._ ♂ Ariz., 1908.
   9.     “     coronata, _Linn._ ♂ Pa., 8384.
  10.     “     cærulescens, _Linn._ ♂ Pa., 3419.
  11.     “          “          “    ♀ Pa., 2308.
  12.     “     coronata, _Linn._ ♀.]

HABITS. This somewhat rare species, so far as its history and
distribution are known with certainty, is migratory in the principal
portions of the United States, in the spring and fall passing to the
north of the 42d parallel to breed. The first specimen was obtained
near the extreme southern point of New Jersey by George Ord, in 1811,
and described and figured by Wilson. From this accidental circumstance
it derives its inappropriate name of Cape May Warbler. Wilson never
met with a second specimen, and Mr. Nuttall was wholly unacquainted
with it. Mr. Audubon also never met with a specimen in all his
wanderings, and was able to add nothing to its history. Those figured
by him were procured by Mr. Edward Harris, near Philadelphia, through
which region these birds appear to pass rapidly in their northern
migrations.

Mr. J. A. Allen obtained a specimen near Springfield, Mass., May 15,
1863, and specimens have also been procured at East Windsor Hill,
Conn., by Dr. Wood. It was not met with in Western Maine by Mr.
Verrill, but in Eastern Maine and in New Brunswick Mr. Boardman has
found it a not uncommon summer visitant, though of irregular
frequency. He has no doubt that they remain there to breed. They reach
Calais as early as the second week in May, or as early as their
appearance usually in the neighborhood of Philadelphia has been
noticed. Mr. Kumlien has also obtained specimens from year to year,
about the middle of May, in Southern Wisconsin, where they do not
remain to breed, and Mr. Ridgway has taken them in the beginning of
May in Southern Illinois.

It is also by no means uncommon in Cuba; was met by the Newtons as a
migrant in St. Croix, and is not only one of the birds of Jamaica, but
is resident and breeds in the highlands of that island. It is not
known to occur in Central America, Mexico, or west of the Mississippi
River. Specimens were procured at Moose Factory about May 28.

Its nests and eggs have not been, with certainty, obtained in the
United States, though an egg obtained in Coventry, Vt., in 1836, and
attributed at the time to this bird, closely resembles its identified
eggs from Jamaica. Specimens of the bird, as well as its nests and
eggs, have also been received from St. Domingo by Mr. Turnbull of
Philadelphia. In the summer of 1871 a nest of this species was found
by Mr. H. B. Bailey on the Richardson Lakes, in the extreme
northwestern part of Maine. The nest was in a low spruce-tree, less
than five feet from the ground, and when found contained only a single
egg. Unfortunately it was left until more eggs were deposited, and in
the mean while the tree was cut, and the nest and eggs were destroyed.

Mr. W. T. March of Jamaica, in his notes on the birds of that island,
states that this species may always be found, in its various changes
of plumage, about the mangrove swamps and river-banks. During the
summer months it was common about Healthshire and Great Salt Pond, and
at other times very generally distributed over the island. He also met
with several specimens of its nests and eggs, but their position was
not stated. The nests had apparently been taken from a bush or tree,
were three and one fourth inches in diameter by two and one half in
height, with cavities unusually large and deep for the size of the
nests. They were wrought almost entirely of long strips of thin
flexible bark, strongly and firmly interwoven. The outer portions
consisted of coarser and longer strips, the inner being much finer and
more delicate. With the outer portions were also interwoven bits of
mosses, lichens, and the outer bark of deciduous trees. The entire
fabric was a remarkable one.

The eggs measure .70 by .55 of an inch, have a pinkish-white ground,
blotched with purple and brown of various shades and tints. They are
disposed chiefly about the larger end, usually in a ring. The eggs are
oval in shape and slightly pointed at one end.


Perissoglossa carbonata, BAIRD.

CARBONATED WARBLER.

  _Sylvia carbonata_, AUD. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, 308, pl. lx
    (Kentucky).—NUTT. _Helinaia carbonata_, AUD. Syn.—IB. Birds Am.
    II, 1841, 95, pl. cix. _Dendroica carbonata_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am.
    1858, 287; Rev. Am. Birds, 207.

SP. CHAR. Bill brownish-black above, light blue beneath. Iris hazel.
Feet light flesh-color. Upper part of the head black. Forepart of the
back, lesser wing-coverts, and sides dusky, spotted with black. Lower
back dull yellowish-green, as is the tail, of which the outer web of
the outer feather is whitish. Tip of the second row of coverts white,
of the first row yellow; quills dusky, their outer webs tinged with
yellow. A line from the lore over the eye; sides of the neck and the
throat bright yellow. A dusky line behind the eye. The rest of the
under parts dull yellow, excepting the sides. Length, 4.75 inches;
bill above, 4.42; tarsus, .75. (AUDUBON).

HAB. Kentucky.

This species continues to be known only by the description and figure
of Audubon.

Judging from the description, this species is closely related to _P.
tigrina_, but seems to be distinct in the pure black of the top of the
head, the absence of orange-brown on the cheeks, the white of the wing
being on the middle coverts instead of the greater, and the
tail-feathers being yellowish-green; the outer web of outer feather
white, instead of a large spot on the inner web, etc. The back appears
more distinctly streaked.

HABITS. Two specimens of this Warbler, obtained near Henderson, Ky.,
May, 1811, by Mr. Audubon, are all its claim to be recognized as a
good species. None have since been seen. These birds are described as
having been busily engaged in collecting insects among the branches of
a dogwood tree. Their motions were like those of other Warblers. This
is all we as yet know as to the history of this species, and its
claims to be regarded as a good and distinct species are involved in
doubt.


GENUS DENDROICA, GRAY.

  _Sylvicola_, GRAY, Genera Birds, 2d ed. 1841, 32. (Not of Humphreys
    nor Swainson.)
  _Dendroica_, GRAY, Genera Birds, Appendix, 1842, 8.
  _Rhimamphus_, HARTLAUB, Rev. Zool. 1845, 342. (Not of Rafinesque,
    Am. Monthly Mag. 1818, and Jour. de Phys. 1819.)

  [Line drawing: _Dendroica coronata._
                  38714]

GEN. CHAR. Bill conical, attenuated, depressed at the base, where it
is, however, scarcely broader than high, compressed from the middle.
Culmen straight for the basal half, then rather rapidly curving, the
lower edge of upper mandible also concave. Gonys slightly convex and
ascending. A distinct notch near the end of the bill. Bristles, though
short, generally quite distinct at the base of the bill. Tarsi long;
decidedly longer than middle toe, which is longer than the hinder one;
the claws rather small and much curved; the hind claw nearly as long
as its digit. The wings long and pointed; the second quill usually a
very little longer than the first. The tail slightly rounded and
emarginate.

_Colors._ Tail always with a white or yellow spot; its ground-color
never clear olive-green. In _D. æstiva_ edged internally with yellow.

Eggs usually with a white or a bluish-white ground, marked with
purplish-brown and obscure lilac; in some, mingled with varying shades
of sienna-brown. Nest, so far as known, in bushes and trees, except
_D. palmarum_, which is on the ground.

  [Illustration: _Dendroica auduboni._]

The genus _Dendroica_ is one of the most extensive as to species of
any in North America, and scarcely admits of any subdivision. There is
a little variation in the bill, wings, etc., the chief peculiarities
being in _D. castanea_ and _pennsylvanica_, in which the bill is
broader, and more depressed, with longer bristles; in _D. striata_,
where the bill is narrow with scarcely any bristles; and in _D.
palmarum_ and _kirtlandi_, where the wings are very short, scarcely
longer than the tail. _D. palmarum_ has the tarsus unusually long. The
colors in all are strongly marked, and the species are among the most
beautiful of all belonging to our fauna, and are the most conspicuous
for their numbers and in their migrations.

The difference in manners between certain members of this genus is
remarkable; thus, the _D. palmarum_ is very terrestrial in its habits,
walking upon the ground with the ease and grace of a Titlark
(_Anthus_), and, like these birds, it has a wagging motion of the
tail. On the other hand, the _Dendroica dominica_ is as much a Creeper
as is the _Mniotilta varia_; creeping not only along the branches, but
the cornices and lattices of buildings, with the facility of a
Nuthatch (_Sitta_). Both these species, however, may often be seen
hopping among the foliage of the trees, now and then snapping an
insect on the wing, in the manner of others of the family.

Species and Varieties.

  Inner webs of tail-feathers with a large patch, or broad
  edge, of yellow                                            GROUP A.

  Inner webs of tail-feathers with a large patch, or broad
  edge, of white.
    Wings with conspicuous white markings                    GROUP B.
    Wings without conspicuous white markings[37]             GROUP C.

Group A.—_Golden Warblers._

  Rump and crissum without rufous markings                _Series I._
  Rump and crissum with rufous markings                  _Series II._

_Series I._

Prevailing color rich yellow, shaded on upper parts with
olive-green. ♂ with streaks of chestnut across the breast and
along the sides, and with or without a greater or less tinge of
the same on the crown. ♀ with the streaks beneath obsolete or
entirely wanting; no rufous on crown. _Juv._ paler and duller
than the ♀, sometimes quite ashy.

A. Tarsus less than .65 of an inch. Outer webs of tail-feathers
with yellow predominating.

    1. D. æstiva. Crown generally pure yellow, sometimes with
    only a tinge of rufous; lower webs of wing-coverts and
    tertials pure yellow; rump and upper tail-coverts much mixed
    with the same. Wing-formula,[38] 12, 3; wing, 2.60; tail,
    2.05; bill, from nostril, .30; tarsus, .62. _Hab._ Entire
    continent of North America; in winter south to Bogota and
    Cayenne; Trinidad (only locality in West Indies).

B. Tarsus not less than .70 of an inch. Outer webs of
tail-feathers with dusky predominating.

  _a._ Crown without any rufous, or with only a tinge.

    2. D. petechia. _Nape olive-green_ (except in _juv._);
    _sides streaked_ (except in _juv._). Crown greenish,
    sometimes tinged with orange-rufous anteriorly; lower webs of
    wing-coverts, etc., not pure yellow, and rump and upper
    tail-coverts without any admixture of yellow. _Hab._ West
    Indies (except Barbadoes and Trinidad); not on the Continent.

      Lower part of throat streaked; outer webs of wing-coverts
      hardly appreciably different from the general surface.
      Above golden yellowish-olive; crown generally without a
      trace of rufous. Wing-formula, 23, 4, 1, 5; wing, 2.55;
      tail, 2.10; bill, .30; tarsus, .80. _Hab._ Cuba and the
      Bahamas …                                 var. _gundlachi_.[39]

      Lower part of throat not streaked; outer webs of
      wing-coverts decidedly yellowish, and quite different from
      the general surface. Above greenish yellow-olive; crown
      almost always strongly tinged with rufous. Wing-formula, 4,
      3, 2, 5, 1, 6; wing, 2.70; tail, 2.25; bill, .35; tarsus,
      .79. _Hab._ Jamaica and Hayti? …           var. _petechia_.[40]

      Whole throat sometimes streaked; back also sometimes with
      streaks of dark castaneous; green above lighter than in
      var. _petechia_, the rump sometimes tinged with yellow.
      Wing-formula, 2, 3, and 4 equal, 51; wing, 2.50; tail,
      2.00; bill, .34; tarsus, .78. _Hab._ Porto Rico, St.
      Thomas, St. Croix, and St. Bartholomew …
                                              var. _ruficapilla_.[41]

    3. D. aureola.[42] _Nape always ashy; sides never
    streaked._ Abdomen, anal region, and axillars nearly white;
    forehead and crown strongly tinged with rufous; nape dark
    ashy. Wing-formula, 2, 3, and 4 equal, 5, 16; wing, 2.55;
    tail, 2.00; bill, .32; tarsus, .75. _Hab._ Galapagos Islands.

  _b._ Crown with only a sharply defined ovate patch of dark
  purplish-rufous.

    4. D. capitalis.[43] A broad superciliary stripe of pure
    yellow; wing-formula, 3 = 4, 2, 1 = 5; wing, 2.30; tail, 2.00;
    bill, .30; tarsus, .70. (♀ distinguishable from that of the
    varieties of _petechia_ by the distinctly yellow upper
    eyelid, and considerably shorter tarsus.) _Hab._ Barbadoes
    Island, West Indies.

  _c._ Head all round rufous.

    5. D. vieilloti. (♀ not distinguishable from that of other
    species.) _Hab._ Continental Middle America.

_Breast and sides with broad streaks of rufous; outer webs of
wing-coverts and tertials pure yellow._

      Rufous of the throat with the posterior outline sharply
      defined against yellow of jugulum. Wing-formula, 3, 4, 2,
      1, 5; wing, 2.75; tail, 2.10; bill, .34; tarsus, .75.
      _Hab._ New Granada (Carthagena, etc.) …   var. _vieilloti_.[44]

      Rufous of the throat covering the jugulum and blending with
      the streaks of the breast. Wing-formula, 3, 2, 4, 1, 5;
      wing, 2.45; tail, 2.05; bill, .27; tarsus, .64. _Hab._
      Isthmus of Panama …                        var. _rufigula_.[45]

_Breast and sides with only very narrow or scarcely appreciable
streaks of rufous; outer webs of wing-coverts, etc., scarcely
different from general surface._

      Rufous of the head confined to it, and abruptly defined all
      round. Wing-formula, 3, 2 = 4, 1, 5; wing, 2.70; tail,
      2.25; bill, .31; tarsus, .72. _Hab._ Mexico (from Honduras
      and Yucatan to Mazatlan) …                  var. _bryanti_.[46]

_Series II._

Prevailing color yellow; crown, rump, and crissum with spots of
rufous; a band of the same on the side of the head, from bill
(meeting both on forehead and on chin) around eye and over
ear-coverts.

    6. D. eoa.[47] _Hab._ Jamaica (GOSSE).


Group B.

Base of primaries with white patch.

  Two white bands on wing                                 _Series I._
  No white bands on wing                                 _Series II._

Base of primaries without white patch.

  Rump yellow.
    Crown with a yellow spot                            _Series III._
    Crown without a yellow spot                          _Series IV._
  Rump not yellow.
    Throat white (with black streaks in _striata_
      and _pharetra_)                                      _Series V._
    Throat yellow or orange                               _Series VI._
    Throat black, or mixed with black                    _Series VII._

_Series I._

    7. D. olivacea. ♂. Head and neck, all round, fine light
    orange-rufous; a broad black “spectacle” along side of the
    head. ♀. Head yellowish, dusky on top; spectacle obsolete.
    _Hab._ Whole of Eastern Mexico; Guatemala.

_Series II._

    8. D. cærulescens. ♂. Head dark blue above and black
    underneath; a black patch covering whole lateral and under
    side of head and lateral lower parts. Rest of upper parts
    dark blue; bases of primaries and abdomen pure white. ♀.
    Above olive, with a light superciliary stripe; beneath wholly
    light greenish-buff; base of primaries white. _Hab._ Eastern
    Province of United States; in winter south into Cuba,
    Jamaica, and St. Domingo.

_Series III._

    9. D. coronata. A yellow patch on each side of the breast;
    above ashy streaked with black; belly white. ♂. Breast more
    or less black; upper parts ash with a bluish tinge. ♀. Breast
    only streaked with black; ash of upper part grayish or
    brownish.

      Throat white; a white superciliary streak; two white bands
      on wing. _Hab._ Eastern Province of North America, north to
      Alaska and Greenland; in winter south to Panama and West
      Indies (resident in Jamaica!) …                var. _coronata_.

      Throat yellow; no white superciliary streak; one white
      patch formed by the fusion of the two bands on the wing.
      _Hab._ Western Province of North America from British
      Columbia, south to Cape St. Lucas and Jalisco, Western
      Mexico; east to Rocky Mountains. …             var. _auduboni_.

_Series IV._

    10. D. maculosa. Whole lower parts bright yellow; black
    streaks across breast and along sides; crown ash; lores,
    auriculars, and back black. ♀ scarcely different. _Hab._
    Eastern Province of North America, from Fort Simpson to
    Panama; Cuba and Bahamas.

_Series V._

A. Above ashy-blue, or soft bluish-green.

    11. D. cærulea. Lower parts pure white or greenish-white;
    with or without a narrow band across the breast; above fine
    ashy-blue, or soft bluish-green; if blue (♂), the back and
    crown streaked with black; if green (♀ and _juv._), these
    streaks obsolete. _Hab._ Eastern Province of United States
    (rare northward except in Mississippi Valley), south to
    Bogota in winter; Cuba.

B. Above not ashy-blue nor bluish-green, but streaked with
black upon an ashy greenish-olive or yellowish ground, or else
bright olive-green.

  _a._ Sides more or less rufous, and without black or dusky
  streaks on under surfaces.

    12. D. pennsylvanica. ♂. Crown pure yellow; throat and
    auriculars pure white; ♀ _ad._ similar, but crown greenish,
    and more or less streaked. _Juv._ Above bright olive-green,
    nearly grass-green, _without streaks_ except on the back;
    side of head, and sides, clear ashy, the latter with or
    without a trace of chestnut; eyelids and medial lower parts
    pure white. _Hab._ Eastern Province of United States, south
    to Panama; Bahamas.

    13. D. castanea. ♂. Crown reddish-chestnut; throat and
    sides rufous; auriculars black. ♀ similar, but crown thickly
    streaked, sometimes without a trace of rufous; jugulum and
    throat only tinged with rufous. _Juv._ Above greenish-olive,
    streaks obsolete; beneath, _including lower tail-coverts_,
    pale greenish-buff, or whitish-buff, and without any trace of
    streaks on the sides (distinction from ♀ of _D. striata_) the
    sides usually with a tinge of chestnut. _Hab._ Eastern
    Province of North America, from Hudson’s Bay Territory to New
    Granada.

  _b._ Sides without any rufous, and with black or dusky streaks.

_Medial lower parts not streaked; inner webs of tail-feathers
with broad patch of white._

    14. D. striata. ♂. Crown deep black; auriculars and lower
    parts white; throat with two series of black streaks,
    converging and forming an angle on the chin. Above ashy
    streaked with black. ♀ similar, but crown greenish streaked
    with black; lower parts tinged with greenish. _Juv._ Above
    greenish-olive, the streaks obsolete; beneath pale
    greenish-yellow; _the lower tail-coverts pure white_. _Hab._
    Eastern Province of North America, north to Greenland and
    Kodiak, south to Bogota, Cuba, and Bahamas.

_Medial lower parts streaked with black; inner webs of
tail-feathers merely edged with white._

    15. D. pharetra.[48] ♂. Above grayish-white, with broad
    streaks of black; posteriorly, plain brownish-gray; lower
    parts with cuneate spots of black. _Hab._ Jamaica.

_Series VI._

A. A black “mask” around the eye and on auriculars, and
extending down the side of the throat; a light superciliary
stripe continued back into a large space, of similar color, on
side of neck.

    16. D. blackburniæ. Crown with an orange or yellowish spot
    (exposed or concealed); superciliary stripe, side of neck and
    throat, intense orange-red (♂ ad.), or varying from this to
    pale buff (_juv._). ♀ intense black above; back streaked with
    white or yellowish. ♀ olive-gray above, streaked with black.
    _Juv._ olive-gray above without distinct streaks. _Hab._
    Eastern Province of United States, south to Ecuador; Bahamas.

    17. D. dominica. Crown without an orange or yellowish spot;
    superciliary stripe and side of neck pure white; throat
    gamboge-yellow; above ash, without streaks.

      Superciliary stripe bright yellow anterior to the eye.
      Bill, .45; tarsus, .60; wing, 2.60; tail, 2.00. _Hab._
      Atlantic United States and West Indies …       var. _dominica_.

      Superciliary stripe pure white anterior to the eye. Bill,
      .35; tarsus, .60; wing, 2.70; tail, 2.20. _Hab._
      Mississippi region of United States; Mexico (Yucatan on
      east coast, and Colima on west coast); Guatemala and
      Honduras …                                     var. _albilora_.

B. No black “mask.” Superciliary stripe scarcely reaching
behind the eye. Sides of neck ashy like the back.

    18. D. graciæ. Auriculars, neck, crown, and upper parts
    generally, ashy; a supra-loral stripe, a crescent on the
    lower eyelid, and the anterior lower parts gamboge-yellow.
    Crissum white.

_Back and sides streaked with black; abdomen white._

      Yellow of throat terminating abruptly at the jugulum;
      supra-loral stripe extending about .20 of an inch past the
      eye, this portion of it white; dorsal streaks broad. Wing,
      2.60; tail, 2.20. _Hab._ Arizona (Fort Whipple) …
                                                       var. _graciæ_.

       Yellow of throat covering whole jugulum, and not ending
       abruptly; supra-loral stripe scarcely passing the eye, and
       wholly yellow; dorsal streaks narrow. Wing, 2.20; tail,
       1.95. _Hab._ British Honduras (Belize) …        var. _decora_.

_Back and sides not streaked with black; abdomen yellow._

      Yellow of throat extending back to the crissum; supra-loral
      stripe as in the last; dorsal streaks wanting. Wing, 2.10;
      tail, 1.95. _Hab._ Porto Rico …            var. _adelaidæ_.[49]

_Series VII._

Throat black in ♂, mixed with black in ♀.

A. Sides streaked; black of throat with its posterior outline
concave.

  _a._ Side of head white and black.

    19. D. nigrescens. A small yellow spot over the lore; above
    ash; beneath white. ♂. Whole crown, uniform glossy black;
    back streaked with black. ♀. Crown ash streaked with black;
    throat mixed with white anteriorly. _Juv._ Crown and cheeks
    ashy; throat mostly white; back without streaks. _Hab._
    Western and Middle Province of United States, south, in
    winter, into Western Mexico (Oaxaca).

  _b._ Side of head yellow and black, or yellow and olive.

_Black of throat covering jugulum; a hidden yellow spot in middle
of forehead._

    20. D. chrysopareia. Black above, pure white below; no
    tinge of yellow behind the black jugular patch. _Hab._
    Eastern Middle America, from Guatemala to Texas (San
    Antonio).

    21. D. virens. Olive-green above, the crown and back
    without streaks; beneath white, the breast and anal region
    tinged with black. _Hab._ Eastern Province of North America,
    from Greenland to Panama; Cuba; Oaxaca; Heligoland, Europe!

_Black of throat confined anteriorly to the jugulum; no yellow
spot on forehead._

    22. D. townsendi. Above olive-green, the crown and back
    with conspicuous black streaks; beneath yellow anteriorly,
    and white posteriorly. ♀, black of throat mixed with yellow;
    _juv._, no black on throat, and streaks on back obsolete.
    _Hab._ North and Middle Province of United States, south, in
    winter, into Guatemala.

B. Sides not streaked; black of throat with its posterior
outline convex.

    23. D. occidentalis. Above ash tinged with olive; beneath
    white. Head nearly all yellow. ♂. Top of head yellow with a
    few small black spots; nape black; back streaked with black;
    sides pure white. (♀ not seen.) _Juv._ Yellow of crown
    overlaid by olive; above greenish-plumbeous, without any
    black on nape or back; throat yellowish-whitish; sides tinged
    with ashy. _Hab._ Western and Middle Province of United
    States, south to Guatemala.


Group C.

A. Above ash; no supra-loral stripe; eyelids not yellow.

    24. D. kirtlandi. Above, including side of head and neck,
    bluish-ash; crown and back streaked with black; beneath
    (except crissum) pale yellow; breast speckled, and sides
    streaked with black; lores and orbital region, black; eyelids
    white. _Hab._ Eastern Province of United States (Cleveland,
    Ohio), and Bahamas.

    25. D. pityophila.[50] Above, including side of head and
    neck, dull ash; the forehead and crown olive-green; crown and
    back not streaked; beneath white; the throat and jugulum
    yellow; sides ashy; no specks on breast, nor streaks on
    sides, but a few along side of neck, between the ash and
    yellow. _Hab._ Cuba.

B. Olive-green or brown above; a supra-loral stripe of yellow;
eyelids yellow.

  _a._ Above olive-green, without streaks; crissum white; sides
  of breast with obsolete grayish streaks.

    26. D. pinus. Forehead and ear-coverts olive; abdomen
    white; yellow supra-loral stripe not continued behind the
    eye. ♀ more grayish; _juv._ above umber, beneath light
    grayish-brown, tinged with yellow. _Hab._ Eastern Province of
    United States; Bahamas.

    ? 27. D. montana. Forehead and ear-coverts yellow; abdomen
    yellow; yellow supra-loral stripe continued past the eye into
    the yellow of the auriculars. (♀ and other stages unknown.)
    _Hab._ “Blue Mountains of Virginia.”

  _b._ Above olive-green, the back streaked with chestnut;
  crissum yellow; streaks of black on sides.

    28. D. discolor. Bright gamboge-yellow beneath; streak on
    lores and along side of neck, as well as along sides and
    flanks, deep black; dorsal feathers chestnut medially. ♀
    duller, but similar; _juv._ not seen. _Hab._ Eastern Province
    of United States: in winter, throughout West Indies.

  _c._ Above olive-brown, the back not streaked; crissum
  gamboge-yellow; streaks of reddish-chestnut on sides.

    29. D. palmarum. _Ad._ Forehead and crown deep rufous;
    superciliary stripe bright yellow, continued back over
    auriculars; sexes alike. _Juv._ and _ad._ in winter. Crown
    brownish, streaked with dusky; streaks on sides more dusky.
    _Hab._ Eastern Province of North America, north to Fort
    Simpson and Hudson’s Bay; Bahamas; Cuba, St. Domingo, and
    Jamaica, in winter.


Dendroica æstiva, BAIRD.

YELLOW WARBLER; SUMMER YELLOW-BIRD.

  _Motacilla æstiva_, GM. Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 996.—_Sylvia æstiva_,
    LATH.; VIEILL. II, pl. xcv.—AUD. Orn. Biog. I, pl. xxxv. 93.
    _Sylvicola æst._ SWAINS.—AUD. Birds. Am. II, pl. lxxxviii.
    _Rhimamphus æst._ BON.; CAB. Jour. III, 472 (Cuba). _Dendroica
    æst._ BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 282; Rev. 195.—SCLATER, Catal.
    1861, 32, no. 194 (Ecuador, Cayenne, N. Granada).—TAYLOR, Ibis,
    1864, 81 (Trinidad).—COOPER & SUCKLEY, P. R. R. XII, II, 1859, 181
    (N. W. coast).—SAMUELS, 237.—DALL & BANNISTER, (Alaska).—COOPER,
    Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 87. _Sylvia carolinensis_, LATH. Ind. Orn. II,
    1790, 551. _? Sylvia flava_, VIEILLOT, II, 1807, 31, pl. lxxxi.
    _Sylvia citrinella_, WILS. II, pl. xv, fig. 5. _Sylvia childreni_,
    AUD. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, pl. xxxv (young). _? Sylvia rathbonia_,
    AUD. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, pl. lxv. _Sylvicola r._ AUD. Birds Am.
    II, pl. lxxxix. _Motacilla rubiginosa_, PALLAS, Zoög. Rosso-Asiat.
    I, 1831, 496 (Kodiak). _Rhimamphus chryseolus_, BON. Bull. Soc.
    Linn. Caen, II, 1851, 32 (_D. æstiva_, from South America;
    Cayenne).
  Other localities: _Xalapa_, SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1859, 363. _Guatemala_,
    SCLATER & SALVIN, Ibis, 1859, page 11. _Panama_, winter, LAWR.
    Ann. N. Y. Lyc. 1861, 322. _Turbo, N. Granada_, CASS. Pr. A. N.
    Sc. 1860, 191. _Bogota_, SCLATER, Pr. 1855, 143. _City of Mexico_,
    IB. 1864, 172.

SP. CHAR. Bill lead-color. Head all round, and under parts generally,
bright yellow; rest of upper parts yellow-olivaceous, brightest on the
rump. Back with obsolete streaks of dusky reddish-brown. Fore breast
and sides of the body streaked with brownish-red. Tail-feathers bright
yellow; the outer webs and tips, with the whole upper surfaces of the
innermost one, brown; extreme outer edges of wing and tail-feathers
olivaceous like the back; the middle and greater coverts and tertials
edged with yellow, forming two bands on the wings. _Female_ similar,
with the crown olivaceous like the back, and the streaks wanting on
the back, and much restricted on the under parts. Tail with more
brown. Length of male, 5.25; wing, 2.66; tail. 2.25. (No. 940.)
_Young._ Dull brownish-olive above; pale ochraceous-yellow beneath,
with the throat more whitish; the yellow of tail restricted to inner
half of inner webs. The latter feature will serve to distinguish it
from any other North American species.

HAB. Entire North America, and in winter into South America as far as
Ecuador, Cayenne, and Trinidad. Not recorded from West Indies, where
replaced by allied species.

In the great abundance of this species and its wide range of
distribution, there are many variations in size and color, though none
that are not readily understood. In young birds the yellow of the
tail-feathers is more restricted, sometimes confined to the edge of
the inner webs. In adults there is occasionally a tinge of orange in
the forehead.

_Sylvia rathbonia_ of Audubon is described with even tail, and the
tail-feathers brown, edged externally with yellow; the reverse of
_æstiva_. It is generally, however, considered a synonyme.

Birds of this type (“Golden Warblers”) of six or eight additional
species are known to occur in the West Indies, the Galapagos, and in
Middle America; one of them, _D. bryanti_, possibly to be met with in
Southern Arizona. (See Baird, Review Am. Birds, 193.)

After comparing a series of about one hundred and twenty North and
Central American specimens (the latter being winter visitors to the
region where obtained), nothing really characteristic of any
particular region can be detected. Specimens from the Pacific coast of
the United States are perfectly identical in colors with those from
the Atlantic States; and they agree in size and proportions, except of
the bill, which is appreciably longer and broader in the Eastern than
in the Western birds. The most highly colored examples are from the
interior regions, along the Mississippi Valley from Louisiana to
Northern Illinois, and over the plains north to Fort Simpson. The
majority of the specimens from this region are just appreciably
different from others, in having the yellow more intense and
prevalent, almost subduing the olive shades above; the crown more
tinged with orange. Sometimes (as in No. 4,301, Calcasieu Pass, La.)
the rump and upper tail-coverts are absolutely _pure_ yellow, only a
medial stripe on the feathers being olivaceous like the back. The
orange-rufous tinge on the crown is deepest in Nos. 4,665, Fort
Lookout, and 4,300, Calcasieu Pass.

Three adult summer males from Alaska (Nos. 54,429, Kodiak; 54,425,
Yukon River; and 27,267, Fort Yukon), as well as one from Maine
(52,378, Calais), differ from others in having the olive pervading the
whole surface above, even to the bill, the forehead being only tinged
with yellow, and the edges of wing-coverts merely inclining to this
color. The lower parts are much as in Southern specimens, though the
yellow is less intense.

Females from Arizona (as 49,712, Camp Grant, May; 40,664, Fort
Whipple, May; and 34,340, Los Pinos, New Mexico, June) differ from
others in very bleached plumage, the lower parts being almost white,
and the upper surface quite ashy. But this is, in fact, an actual
bleaching, frequently to be seen in birds from that region.

HABITS. The geographical range of the common Summer Yellow-Bird is
very nearly coextensive with North America. In its northern
distribution it is found as far toward the arctic shores as any of our
land birds. Richardson speaks of it as well known throughout the fur
countries as far as the woods extend, and mentions meeting with it
among the earliest arrivals in spring, coming in company with the
equally well-known Robin and the Grakle. At Fort Franklin, latitude
66°, he saw it the 15th of May, about the time of its first appearance
in New England. This was supposed to be the limit of its northern
range, but more recent observations give abundant evidence of its
presence, in considerable numbers, to the very shores of the Arctic
Ocean. The late Mr. Hepburn, in manuscript notes, states it to be a
common summer visitant both of California and Vancouver’s Island, and
that along the coast he has traced it as far north as the frontier
line of 54° 40′, where it arrives at the beginning of May, but does
not nest until the end of the month.

Mr. Dall, in his notes on the birds of Alaska, states that this
Warbler is a rather common bird all through that territory, and gives
its arrival as about the 10th of May.

Its extreme southern limit is not so distinctly traced, but is at
least as far as the northern portions of South America, inclusive of
Cayenne and Ecuador. In all of the West Indies except Trinidad it is
replaced by several closely allied species or local races. In
Trinidad, Mr. E. C. Taylor states that he found this species common,
and could perceive no difference from North American specimens. In
Guatemala it is abundant in the winter.

Dr. Coues found this Warbler abundant in Arizona, where it is a summer
resident, from April 25 to the middle of September. There, as
elsewhere, its preference for watercourses was noticed. Wherever
found, it is always most abundant in alluvial meadows, and more rare
in other localities.

Dr. Samuel Cabot found this Warbler common in Central America, and Dr.
Cragin, of Surinam, sent the Boston Society several specimens from
Guiana. Dr. Woodhouse found it abundant in Texas and New Mexico, as
did Drs. Suckley and Cooper in Washington Territory and California. It
breeds over the whole area of North America, from Georgia on the
southeast and from Mexico, northward. Dr. Sumichrast found it, only as
a migratory bird, abundant on the plains of Mexico.

The notes of Mr. Kennicott and the memoranda of Messrs. McFarlane,
Ross, and Lockhart attest the extreme abundance of this species in the
farthest Arctic regions. In nearly every instance the nests were
placed in willows from two to five feet from the ground, and near
water. In one instance Mr. Ross found the eggs of this species in the
nest of _Turdus swainsoni_, which had either been deserted or the
parent killed, as the eggs were in it, and would probably have been
hatched by the Warbler with her own.

Dr. Cooper found this Warbler very abundant in Washington Territory,
and noticed their arrival in large numbers at the Straits of Fuca as
early as April 8.

The Summer Yellow-Bird arrives in New England with great uniformity
from the first to the middle of May. Its coming is usually the
harbinger of the opening summer and expanding leaves. Unlike most of
its family, it is confiding and familiar, easily encouraged, by
attention to its wants, to cultivate the society of man. It
confidingly builds its nest in gardens, often in close vicinity to
dwellings, and in the midst of large villages and cities, among the
shrubbery of frequented parks. This Warbler, soon after its arrival,
begins the construction of its nest. It is usually placed in low
bushes, three or four feet from the ground. Occasionally very
different positions are chosen. Hedges of buckthorn and hawthorn,
barberry-bushes, and other low shrubs, are their favorite places of
resort. On one occasion the nest was placed some forty feet from the
ground, in the top of a horse-chestnut tree overhanging the main
street of a village. Such high positions are, however, not very
common.

The nest is invariably fastened to several twigs with great firmness,
and with a remarkable neatness and skill. A great variety of materials
is employed in the construction of their nests, though not often in
the same nest, which is usually quite homogeneous. The more common
materials are the hempen fibres of plants, fibrous strips of bark,
slender stems of plants and leaves, and down of asclepias. Interwoven
with these, forming the inner materials, are the down from willow
catkins, the woolly furze from fern-stalks and the _Eriophorum
virginicum_, and similar substances. These are lined with soft, fine
grasses, hair, feathers, and other warm materials. Cotton, where
procurable, is a favorite material; as also is wool, where abundant. I
have known instances where nests were built almost exclusively of one
or the other material. A pair of these birds, in 1836, built their
nest under a parlor window in Roxbury, where all their operations
could be closely watched. When discovered, only the framework, the
fastening to the supporting twigs, had been erected. The work of
completion was simple and rapid. The female was the chief builder,
taking her position in the centre of the nest and arranging the
materials in their places as her mate brought them to her.
Occasionally, with outstretched wings and expanded tail, she would
whirl herself round, giving to the soft and yielding materials their
hemispherical form. At intervals she arrested her revolutions to stop
and regulate with her bill some unyielding portion. When her mate was
dilatory, she made brief excursions and collected material for
herself, and when the materials brought her were deemed unsuitable,
they were rejected in a most summary and amusing manner. The important
part of the tail-feathers in shaping the nest and placing the
materials in position was a striking feature in this interesting
performance. The greater portion of the nest was thus constructed in a
single day.

The wonderful sagacity displayed by this Warbler in avoiding the
disagreeable alternative of either having to abandon its own nest or
of rearing the young of the intrusive Cow Blackbird, when one of these
eggs is dropped in her nest, was first noticed by Mr. Nuttall. The egg
of the parasite, being too large for ejectment, is ingeniously
incarcerated in the bottom of the nest, and a new lining built over
it. Occasionally, either by accident or design, the intrusive egg has
been fractured. Mr. Nuttall states that where the parasitic egg is
laid after her own, the Summer Yellow-Bird acts faithfully the part of
a foster-parent. This, however, is not according to my observations.
In several instances I have known the Summer Yellow-Bird utterly
refuse to act the part of a foster-parent, and, rather than do so,
sacrifice her own eggs. So far as I know, this Warbler will never sit
upon or hatch out the egg of the Cowbird, under any circumstances.
Some powerful instinct, bordering closely upon reason, seems to teach
these intelligent Warblers the character of the intruder, and they
sacrifice their own eggs rather than rear the parasite. In this
dilemma they will always, so far as I know, incarcerate their own eggs
with the Cowbird’s and reconstruct the nest above them. In one
instance the same pair of Yellow-Birds twice, in the same nest,
covered up alien eggs in this manner, building, in fact, three nests
one above the other, between the walls of which had been successively
included two eggs of the Cowbird. This three-storied nest measured
seven inches in length, and was built almost exclusively of raw
cotton. The covering of the imprisoned eggs was about two thirds of an
inch thick. In both instances the Cowbird’s eggs had been broken,
apparently by design.

So far as I am aware this Warbler raises but one brood in
Massachusetts in a season. In Pennsylvania it is said to raise two,
and even three. The eggs are usually five and occasionally six in
number.

This Warbler is conspicuous in its devotion to its young, evincing a
strong attachment and an anxiety in regard even to an unoccupied nest,
and betraying the site by this solicitude. They will also resort to
various expedients to draw one away from their nest, by feigned
lameness and other stratagems and manœuvres.

The song of the Summer Yellow-Bird is simple but pleasing, and is
easily recognized when once known, though liable to be confounded with
that of the Maryland Yellow-Throat, and also said to resemble the song
of several other Warblers.

In confinement they usually become very tame, confiding, and
reconciled to their imprisonment, and have been known to perch on an
outstretched finger, and to catch flies in a room.

Their eggs vary in length from .61 to .70 of an inch, and in breadth
from .49 to .52. They have a ground-color of a light green. Their dots
and blotches vary greatly in number, size, and manner of distribution.
Their colors are light purple, darker purplish-brown, and other shades
of brown and lilac.


Dendroica coronata, GRAY.

YELLOW-RUMP WARBLER; MYRTLE WARBLER.

  _Motacilla coronata_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 333. _Sylvia
    coronata_, LATH.; VIEILLOT; WILS.; NUTT.; AUD. Orn. Biog. II, pl.
    cliii. _Sylvicola coronata_, SWAINS.; BON.; AUD. Birds, Am. II,
    pl. lxxvi.—JONES, Nat. Bermuda, 59 (abundant in April). _Dendroica
    coronata_, GRAY, Genera, 1842, 2.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 272;
    Rev. 187.—MARCH, P. A. N. Sc. 1863, 292 (Jamaica, in summer;
    breeding).—GUNDL. Cab. Jour. 1861, 326 (Cuba; common).—COOPER &
    SUCKLEY, P. R. R. XII, ii, 1859, 180 (Puget Sound).—SAMUELS,
    226.—DALL & BANNISTER (Alaska).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 89.
    _Rhimanphus cor._ CAB. Jour. 1855, 473 (Cuba). _Motacilla
    canadensis_, LINN. 12th ed. 1766, 334 (_Ficedula canadensis
    cinerea_, Br. III, 524, pl xxvii, fig. 1). _Parus virginianus_,
    LINN. 12th ed. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 342. _Motacilla umbria, cincta,
    pinguis_, GM. _Sylvia xanthopygia_, VIEILL. _Sylvia xanthoroa_,
    VIEILL.
  Localities quoted: _S. Greenland_, REINHARDT, Ibis, 1861, 5.
    _Cordova_, SCL. P. Z. S. 1856, 291. _Xalapa_, IB. 1859, 363.
    _Guatemala_, SCL. & SALV. 1859, 11. _Panama_, LAWR. Ann. N. Y.
    Lyc. VIII, 63. _Cuba_, winter, CAB. Jour. III, 473. _Bahamas_,
    winter, BRYANT, Bost. Pr. VII, 1859. _Jamaica_, GOSSE, Birds Jam.
    155. _St. Domingo_, SALLÉ, P. Z. S. 1857, 231. _Costa Rica_, LAWR.
    _Orizaba_, winter, SUMICHRAST.

SP. CHAR. Above bluish-ash, streaked with black. Under parts white.
The forepart of breast and the sides black, the feathers mostly edged
narrowly with white. Crown, rump, and sides of breast yellow. Cheeks
and lores black. The eyelids and a superciliary stripe, two bands on
the wing and spots on the outer three tail-feathers, white. _Female_
of duller plumage and browner above. Length, 5.65; wing, 3.00; tail,
2.50.

HAB. Eastern Province of North America, and northward, extending
sparsely along United States boundary to Pacific Ocean; Denver City,
Colorado; Fort Yukon; Greenland; Eastern Mexico to Panama R. R.;
Western West Indies and Bermuda. Breeds in Jamaica!

Autumnal and winter birds are very much duller and more obscurely
colored, the upper parts of an umber cast with the streaks almost
obsolete; the black of the breast wanting or but just indicated, and
the yellow patches on crown almost concealed by the brown tips to the
feathers, and those on side of breast quite dull.

A spring male (52,283) from Washington is remarkable in having the
adjoining series of feathers down the middle of the back with their
inner webs broadly edged with yellow. In this respect it differs from
all others that we have noticed.

HABITS. The Yellow-crowned Wood Warbler is one of the most common
species of this genus, as well as one of the most widely distributed.
It is found, at different seasons, throughout the eastern part of the
continent, as far west as the Great Plains, extending at the far north
to the Pacific Ocean. It has been found in Greenland, three specimens
having been taken within twenty years, and on the shores of the Arctic
Ocean, and during the winter in the West India Islands, Mexico, and
Central America. Specimens from Florida and Fort Steilacoom, Panama,
Guatemala, and Jamaica, and from Fort Rae, Anderson River, and the
Yukon, in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution, attest its
wide distribution. In Jamaica, in the neighborhood of Spanishtown,
this species has been known to breed. In view of the fact that this
bird is regarded, with good reason, as one of our most northern
species, breeding to the very shores of the frozen seas, the
occurrence seems erratic and remarkable. Yet it is not without
corresponding vagaries in other species, the _cærulescens_ breeding in
Cuba and the _tigrina_ in St. Domingo and Jamaica.

Mr. Paine, of East Randolph, Vt., states that these Warblers arrive in
his vicinity about the first of May, and remain there nearly two
weeks, and then all pass north. They do not return on their southern
flight until the last of September, when they remain about three
weeks. It is a very active, restless bird, chirping continually and
very sharply as it flies around in search of insects, but has not, so
far as he knows, any song.

In Southern Illinois, as Mr. Ridgway informs me, this bird is a common
winter sojourner, remaining late in spring with the migratory species.
It is very abundant throughout the winter in woods, orchards, and
door-yards.

Mr. Salvin found this species frequenting the more open districts
about Duenas, Guatemala, apparently preferring scattered bushes to the
denser underwood, and was an abundant species there throughout the
winter season.

It is but quite recently that we have known with certainty its place
and manner of breeding. Neither Wilson, Nuttall, nor Audubon appear to
have met with its nest, though the latter received one from Professor
McCulloch of Halifax.

In the summer of 1855, early in July, I obtained a nest of this
species in Parsboro’, Nova Scotia. It was built in a low bush, in the
midst of a small village, and contained six eggs. The parents were
very shy, and it was with great difficulty that one of them was
secured for identification. Though late in the season, incubation had
but just commenced.

The nest was built on a horizontal branch, the smaller twigs of which
were so interlaced as to admit of its being built upon them, though
their extremities were interwoven into its rim. The nest was small for
the bird, being only two inches in depth and four and a half in
diameter. The cavity is one and a half inches deep and two and a half
wide. Its base and external portions consist of fine, light, dry
stalks of wild grasses, and slender twigs and roots. Of the last the
firm, strong rim of the nest is exclusively woven. Within, the nest is
composed of soft, fine grasses, downy feathers, and the fine hair of
the smaller mammals.

Mr. Audubon, who observed very closely the habits of these birds
during a winter in Florida, describes them as very social among
themselves, skipping along the piazza, balancing themselves in the air
opposite the sides of the house in search of spiders and insects,
diving through the low bushes of the garden after larvæ and worms, and
at night roosting among the orange-trees. In his visit to Maine he
found them very abundant in early May. The woods seemed alive with
them, and wherever he landed, on his way to Labrador, he found them in
great numbers.

  [Illustration: PLATE XIII.

   1. Dendroica auduboni, _Towns._ ♂ Rocky Mts., 11965.
   2.     “     blackburniæ, _Gm._ ♂ Pa., 939.
   3.     “          “         “   ♀ Pa., 944.
   4. Dendroica castanea, _Wils._ ♂ Pa., 2231.
   5.     “          “       “    ♀ Pa., 949.
   6.     “     pinus, _Wils._ ♂ Pa., 2942.
   7. Dendroica pennsylvanica, _Linn._ ♂ Pa., 2233.
   8.     “           “           “    ♂ _juv._, Ill., 60883.
   9.     “     striata, _Forst._ ♂ Pa., 1545.
  10. Dendroica cærulea, _Wils._ ♂ Ohio, 7349.
  11.     “        “        “    ♀ Mo., 6980.
  12.     “ striata, _Forst._ ♀ Pa., 978.]

This Warbler is an expert flycatcher, feeds chiefly on insects, and is
a great devourer of small caterpillars; but in the winter its food is
largely composed of berries, especially those of the _Myrica
cerifera_. It will also feed on grass-seeds. In the warmer wintry days
in Florida, when insects are abundant, Mr. Audubon states that these
birds are particularly active in their pursuit, and the trees seem
full of them. At this time they emit, at each movement, a single note,
_twēēt_, so very peculiar that they may be at once recognized by the
cry.

Wilson states that these Warblers appear in Pennsylvania, from the
North, early in October, and stay there several weeks. Some of them
remain in the Southern States all winter. They feed with great avidity
upon the berries of the red cedar.

In Western Massachusetts it is a very abundant spring and autumn
visitant, making but a brief stay in spring, but passing northward in
large numbers. In autumn it remains longer, and passes south more
leisurely. Mr. B. P. Mann found its nest and eggs in Concord, but this
was probably an exceptional instance. In Eastern Maine it arrives May
25, and, as Mr. Boardman thinks, remains to breed. Both Dr. Suckley
and Dr. Cooper met with this species in Washington Territory, where it
is very rare.

No writers have observed or noted the song of this bird, except Mr. T.
M. Trippe (American Nat., II. p. 171), who states that during its
spring migrations it has a very sweet song or warble, uttered at short
intervals.

It reaches the high northern latitudes late in May, and leaves that
region in September. The observations of Mr. McFarlane show that the
nests of this bird are moderately common at Anderson River, and are
generally built in low spruce-trees four or five feet from the ground.
In one or two instances it was placed on the ground.

The eggs of this Warbler vary from .72 to .80 of an inch in length,
and from .50 to .55 in breadth. Their ground-color is white, often
tinged with a bluish shade, and blotched and spotted with
reddish-brown, purple, and darker shades of brown. They are of a
rounded oval shape.


Dendroica auduboni, BAIRD.

AUDUBON’S WARBLER; WESTERN YELLOW-RUMP.

  _Sylvia auduboni_, TOWNSEND, J. A. N. Sc. VII, II, 1837.—IB.
    Narrative, 1839, 342.—AUD. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 52, pl. cccxcv.
    _Sylvicola auduboni_, BON. List. 1838.—AUD. Birds Am. II, 1841,
    26, pl. lxxvii. _Dendroica auduboni_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858,
    273; Rev. 188.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1858, 298 (Oaxaca; October);
    1860, 250 (Orizaba).—SCLATER & SALVIN, Ibis, 1860, 273 (San
    Geronimo, Guat.).—COOPER & SUCKLEY, P. R. R. Rep. XII, II, 1859,
    181.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1864, 172 (City of Mexico).—COOPER, Orn.
    Cal. 1, 1870, 88.

SP. CHAR. Above bluish-ash, streaked with black, most marked on the
middle of the back; on the head and neck bluish-ash. Middle of crown,
rump, chin, and throat, and a patch on the side of the breast,
gamboge-yellow; space beneath and anterior to the eyes, forepart of
breast and sides, black; this color extending behind on the sides in
streaks. Middle of belly, under tail-coverts, a portion of upper and
lower eyelids, and a broad band on the wings, with a spot on each of
the four or five exterior tail-feathers, white; rest of tail-feathers
black. _Female_ brown above; the other markings less conspicuous and
less black. Length, 5.25; wings, 3.20; tail, 2.25. _Young_, first
plumage, whole body, including head all round and rump, conspicuously
streaked with slaty-black upon an ashy ground above and white below.
No yellow on crown, rump, breast, or throat. Wings and tail as in
autumnal adult.

HAB. Western and Middle Provinces of the United States; Cape St.
Lucas; Western Mexico and Orizaba? Oaxaca (cold regions, October,
SCLATER); Guatemala (SALVIN).

This bird is very closely allied to _D. coronata_, but is
distinguished by the yellow (not white) throat; the absence of a
superciliary white stripe (the eyelids white, however); the
restriction of the black of the face to the lores, and to a suffusion
round the eye; and the presence of one broad band on the wings,
instead of two narrow ones.

HABITS. This beautiful Warbler, so strikingly simulating the _D.
coronata_ in the character of its markings, and now so well known as a
common species on the Pacific coast, was first met with by Mr.
Townsend near the Columbia River, where he found it very abundant. His
account of its habits is inconsistent, and probably not reliable. Mr.
Nuttall, who was with Mr. Townsend, differs, also, essentially in his
account. He states that he first saw them about the middle of April,
and that their song bore a very close resemblance to that of the _D.
æstiva_, but was delivered in a much superior style. They remained his
summer companions, breeding among the shady firs on the borders of
prairie openings, where there was an abundant supply of insect food.
By the 8th of June he found their young already out, in small and busy
flocks, solicitously attended by their parents. They greatly resembled
the young of the _coronata_. These birds frequented large trees,
particularly the water-oaks, and the lower branches of gigantic firs.

Dr. Cooper found this Warbler one of the most abundant species of
Washington Territory, and believed them to be, to some extent, a
resident species, as he met them about the Straits of Fuca in March.
He speaks of its song as lively, and heard everywhere on the borders
of the woods, even near the coast, where few of the smaller species
ever visit. In the fall he noticed straggling flocks of the young
wandering about the low shrubbery in large numbers. The same writer
also states that this species is in winter a very abundant bird in the
southern part of California, flitting about among the bushes and low
trees. The males are then in the dull plumage of the females, and do
not put on their richer hues until March or April. He saw none south
of San Francisco after May 1, but they began to reappear in September.
As he found newly fledged young near Lake Tahoe, he thinks they breed
throughout the higher Sierra Nevada. At the sea level in latitude 37°
they appear late in September, and remain until March 20.

Dr. Suckley regarded this bird as the most abundant species visiting
the western portion of Washington Territory. Near Fort Steilacoom it
was found principally among the oak-trees on the plains.

Dr. Woodhouse found it abundant in New Mexico, confining itself to the
timbered and mountainous districts, and especially plentiful among the
San Francisco Mountains, feeding among the tall pines. Dr. Coues found
it exceedingly common in Arizona, where some spend the winter, and a
few possibly remain in the summer to breed.

Dr. Heermann found them remaining in the Sacramento Valley throughout
the winter, and quotes Dr. Kennerly as finding these birds on the Boca
Grande and at different points in Sonora. Mr. Gambel found these
Warblers on all his route from New Mexico to California in great
abundance, their habits greatly resembling those of the _D. coronata_.
They display a great deal of familiarity, entering the towns,
resorting to the gardens and hedge-rows, and even the corrals of the
houses, descending also to the ground in company with Blackbirds and
Sparrows.

This Warbler is thus shown to have a very extended distribution. It is
now known to be found, at different seasons, from Central America to
British Columbia, and from New Mexico to the Pacific.

We are indebted to the late Mr. Hepburn for all the knowledge we
possess in reference to its nests, eggs, and breeding-habits. He
procured their nests and eggs in Vancouver’s Island. They were built
in the forked branches of small shrubs. Around these the materials of
which they were built were strongly bound, and to it the nests were
thus securely fastened. They were quite long and large for the bird,
being four inches in height, and three and a half in diameter. The
cavity is small, but deep. The external periphery of the nest is made
of coarse strips of bark, long dry leaves of wild grasses, and strong
stalks of plants, intermingled with finer grasses, pieces of cotton
cloth, and other materials. The inner nest is also a singular
combination of various materials, yet carefully and elaborately put
together. It is made up of fine grasses, feathers, lichens, mosses,
fine roots, etc., all felted together and lined with a warm bedding of
fur and feathers. Mr. Hepburn’s observations, so far as they go, seem
to show that this bird does not usually build in such lofty positions
as Nuttall and others conjectured.

According to Mr. Hepburn, they arrive in Vancouver’s Island in the
middle of April, and generally frequent high trees, constructing their
nests in the upper branches, though also frequently building in low
bushes, a few feet from the ground. The number of their eggs is four.
These, he states, have a pure white ground, and are spotted, usually
chiefly about the larger end, with red markings.

Mr. Salvin met with both this species and the _D. coronata_ at San
Geronimo, November, 1859. They congregated together on the ground,
where they principally obtained their food.

Dr. Cooper, in his paper on the fauna of Montana, mentions this
Warbler as the only one of the genus seen by him between Fort Benton
and Fort Vancouver. It was very common throughout the mountains, and
he found it in every portion of the country west of them, even where
scarcely a bush was to be seen.

According to the careful observations of Mr. Robert Ridgway, this
Warbler, during the summer months, in the Great Basin, chiefly
inhabits the pines of the high mountain ranges, as well as the cedar
and piñon woods of the desert mountains. In winter it descends to the
lower portions, being then found among the willows, or, in small
roving companies, hopping among the tree-tops in the river valleys. In
manners it is said by him to resemble the _coronata_, but in their
notes they differ very widely. A nest, containing three young, was
found by Mr. Ridgway near the extremity of a horizontal branch of a
pine-tree, about ten feet from the ground.

The eggs of the Audubon Warbler do not resemble those of any
_Dendroica_ with which I am acquainted, but are most like those of the
Hooded Warbler. They measure .70 by .50 of an inch, have a reddish or
pinkish white ground, and are sparingly marked with fine brown
markings, tinted with a crimson shading.


Dendroica maculosa, BAIRD.

BLACK AND YELLOW WARBLER.

  _Motacilla maculosa_, GM. Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 984. _Sylvia m._ LATH.;
    VIEILL.; BON.; NUTT.; AUD. Orn. Biog. I, II, V, pl. 1. 123.
    _Sylvicola m._ SWAINS.; BON.; AUD. Birds Am. II, pl. xcvi.
    _Rhimanphus m._ CAB. Jour. III, 1855, 474 (Cuba). _Dendroica m._
    BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 284; Review, 206.—SCLATER, P. Z. S.
    1859, 363, 373 (Xalapa).—BRYANT, Pr. Bost. Soc. VII, 1859
    (Bahamas).—SCLATER & SALVIN, Ibis, 1859, 11 (Guatemala).—LAWRENCE,
    Ann. N. Y. Lyc. 1861, 322 (Panama; winter).—GUNDLACH, Cab. Jour.
    1861, 326 (Cuba; very rare).—SAMUELS, 238. _Sylvia magnolia_,
    WILS. III, pl. xxiii, fig. 3.

SP. CHAR. _Male, in spring._ Bill dark bluish-black, rather lighter
beneath. Tail dusky. Top of head light grayish-blue. Front, lore,
cheek, and a stripe under the eye, black, running into a large
triangular patch on the back between the wings, which is also black.
Eyelids and a stripe from the eye along the head white. Upper
tail-coverts black, some of the feathers tipped with grayish. Abdomen
and lower tail-coverts white. Rump and under parts, except as
described, yellow. Lower throat, breast, and sides streaked with
black; the streaks closer on the lower throat and fore breast. Lesser
wing-coverts, and edges of the wing and tail, bluish-gray, the former
spotted with black. Quills and tail almost black; the latter with a
square patch of white on the inner webs of all the tail-feathers (but
the two inner) beyond the middle of the tail. Two white bands across
the wings (sometimes coalesced into one) formed by the middle and
secondary coverts. Part of the edge of the inner webs of the quills
white. Feathers margining the black patch on the back behind and on
the sides tinged with greenish. Length, 5 inches; wing, 2.50; tail,
2.25. Autumnal males differ in absence of black of back, front, sides
of head, and to a considerable degree beneath, and in much less white
on the wings and head.

_Female in spring._ Similar, but all the colors duller. Black of the
back restricted to a central triangular patch.

HAB. Eastern Province of North America to Fort Simpson; Eastern Mexico
to Guatemala and Panama; Bahamas; Cuba (very rare).

HABITS. The Black and Yellow Warbler, one of the most beautiful of
this attractive family, was supposed by our earlier writers to be
exceedingly rare. Wilson never met with more than two specimens,—one
in Ohio, the other on the Mississippi,—and spoke of it as a very
scarce species. In regard to its song he was quite at fault, denying
to it any notes deserving the name of song. Nuttall, who had only seen
it occasionally in Massachusetts, in the middle of May, regarded it as
rare, and was unacquainted with its notes. Its history is now much
better known, and neither its great rarity nor its deficiency as to
melody can any longer be admitted.

At certain seasons and in particular places it is a very common
species. It may be found during the breeding-season throughout North
America east of the Great Plains, between latitude 44° and Fort
Simpson in the fur country. During its migrations it may be met with
in most of the Eastern States, in Eastern Mexico, and the northern
portions of South America. It has been found in the Bahamas, and also
in Cuba, where it is not common. Specimens have been received from
Mexico, Guatemala, and Panama, and from Fort Resolution, Rupert House,
and Fort Simpson, in Arctic America, and as far to the west as the
mouth of Vermilion River. Dr. Bryant met with it in the Bahamas as
early as the 15th of March, where it was quite common. M. Boucard
found it at Playa Vicente, in the hot portion of the State of Oaxaca,
Mexico.

In Western Massachusetts, Mr. Allen found it a common spring and
autumn visitor, occurring in its northern flights from the middle of
May to the first of June, and in the autumn as late as September 20.
Professor Verrill found it in Western Maine, but not common, both in
spring and fall, but had no reason to believe that it bred there. Mr.
Boardman does not include it in his list of Calais birds, and I did
not find it among the islands in the Bay of Fundy. In the vicinity of
Halifax, during the months of June and July, it is one of the most
common of the Warblers, occurring in every direction.

Mr. Audubon observed these Warblers in Louisiana, in their migrations,
as early as the middle of March; but its appearance there, as well as
in Kentucky and Ohio, appeared to be occasional and accidental. In
autumn he has met with them in large numbers among the mountains of
Northern Pennsylvania, They were passing southward with their young.
While on his way to Labrador he noticed them in Maine, near Eastport,
in May, very abundant along the roads, the fields, and the low woods,
as well as in the orchards and gardens. The season was then not
advanced, the weather cold; and these birds sheltered themselves by
night among the evergreens, and were often so chilled as to be readily
taken by the hand. He also met them wherever he landed in the
neighboring islands in the Bay of Fundy and at Labrador.

The song of this Warbler is clear and sweetly modulated, and surpasses
that of most of this family. It seems to prefer the interior of low
woods, where its notes may chiefly be heard during the early summer,
as it sings while it is searching for its food among the branches, in
the manner of the Vireos.

Like nearly all the members of this family, in its search for food it
blends the habits of the Creepers with those of the Flycatchers,
feeding upon insects in their every form, running up and down the
trunks for the ova, larvæ, and pupæ, expertly catching the insect on
the wing, and equally skilful in hovering over the expanded bud and
searching the opening leaves.

Mr. Audubon found its nest placed deep among the branches of low
fir-trees, supported by horizontal twigs, constructed of moss and
lichens, and lined with fibrous roots and feathers. One found in
Labrador, in the beginning of July, contained five eggs, small and
rather more elongated than is common in this genus. They were white,
and sprinkled with reddish dots at the larger end. The female
fluttered among the branches, spreading her wings and tail in great
distress, and returning to her nest as soon as the intruders were a
few yards off. In August he saw a number of their young already
following their parents and moving southward. In his expedition to
Texas, Mr. Audubon again met this bird, in considerable numbers, early
in April. Their eggs, he states, measure three fourths of an inch in
length by nine sixteenths in breadth. In some the ground-color,
instead of pure white, is of a yellowish tinge.

The writer found this Warbler abundant near Halifax in the early
summer of 1850, frequenting the thick hemlock woods, confiding in its
habits, unsuspicious, and easily approached. The distress, as
described by Audubon, manifested in behalf of its own young, it is as
ready to exhibit when the nest of a feathered neighbor is disturbed. A
pair of Hudson’s Bay Titmice, protesting against the invasion of their
home, by their outcries brought a pair of these Warblers to their
sympathetic assistance; and the latter manifested, in a more gentle
way, quite as much distress and anxiety as the real parents. With
expanded tail and half-extended wings they fluttered overhead among
the branches, approaching us almost within reach, uttering the most
piteous outcries.

Sir John Richardson found this Warbler as common and as familiar as
the _D. æstiva_ on the Saskatchewan, and greatly resembling it in
habits, though gifted with a much more varied and agreeable song.

Mr. Kennicott met this Warbler on Great Slave Lake, June 12, 1860,
where he obtained a female, nest, and five eggs. The nest, loosely
built, was placed in a small spruce about two feet from the ground,
and in thick woods. The bird was rather bold, coming to her nest while
he stood by it. This nest was only one and a half inches deep, with a
diameter of three and a half inches; the cavity only one inch deep,
with a diameter of two and a half inches. It was made almost entirely
of fine stems of plants and slender grasses, and a few mosses. The
cavity was lined with finer stems, and fine black roots of herbaceous
plants.

The eggs of this Warbler are, in shape, a rounded oval, one end being
but slightly more pointed than the other. They measure .62 of an inch
in length and .49 in breadth. Their ground-color is a light ashen hue,
or a dull white, and this is more or less sprinkled with fine dots and
blotches of a light brown. For the most part these are grouped in a
ring about the larger end.

Mr. R. Deane, of Cambridge, found this bird breeding near Lake
Umbagog. Its nest was in the fork of a low spruce about three feet
from the ground. The nest contained four eggs, and was made of dry
grasses, spruce twigs, and rootlets. It was lined with fine black
roots, being a rather coarse structure for a Warbler. The eggs were
nearly spherical, averaging .62 by .51 of an inch. Their ground-color
was a creamy-white, sparsely marked with a few large blotches of lilac
and umber.


Dendroica cærulea, BAIRD.

CÆRULEAN WARBLER; WHITE-THROATED BLUE WARBLER.

  _Sylvia cærulea_, WILS. Am. Orn. II, 1810, 141, pl. xvii, fig. 5.
    _Sylvicola c._ SWAINS.; JARD.; RICH.; BON.; AUD. Orn. Biog. I, pl.
    xlix; NUTT. _Dendroica c._ BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 280; Rev.
    191.—GUNDL. Cab. Jour. 1861, 326 (Cuba; very rare).—SAMUELS, 579.
    _Sylvia rara_, WILSON, II, pl. xxvii, fig. 2.—BON.; AUD. Orn.
    Biog. I, pl. xlix. _Sylvia azurea_, STEPH. Shaw, Zoöl. X,
    1817.—BON. Am. Orn. II, 1828, pl. xxvii (♀).—AUD. Orn. Biog. I,
    pl. xlviii, xlix; NUTT. _Sylvia bifasciata_, SAY, Long’s Exped. I,
    1823, 170. _Sylvia populorum_, VIEILL. Encyc. Méth. II, 1823, 449
    (from Wilson).
  Other localities: _Bogota_, SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1857, 18. _Panama R.
    R._, LAWRENCE, Ann. N. Y. Lyc. 1861, 322. _Yucatan_, LAWR.
    _Veragua_, SALV.

SP. CHAR. _Male._ Above bright blue, darkest on the crown, tinged with
ash on the rump; middle of back, scapulars, upper tail-coverts, and
sides of the crown, streaked with black. Beneath white; a collar
across the breast, and streaks on the sides, dusky-blue. Lores, and a
line through and behind the eye (where it is bordered above by
whitish), dusky-blue; paler on the cheeks. Two white bands on the
wings. All the tail-feathers except the innermost with a white patch
on the inner web near the end. _Female_, greenish-blue above,
brightest on the crown; beneath white, tinged with greenish-yellow,
and obsoletely streaked on the sides; eyelids and a superciliary line
greenish-white. Length, 4.25; wing, 2.65; tail, 1.90.

HAB. Eastern United States, north to Niagara Falls; Cuba (very rare);
Guatemala; Veragua, Panama, and Bogota. Not recorded from Mexico
(except Yucatan), or West Indies (except Cuba).

The autumnal adult plumage of both sexes is, in every respect, exactly
like the spring dress. Young males in late summer are very similar to
adult females, but are purer white below, and less uniform
greenish-blue above, the dark stripes on sides of the crown and black
centres to scapulars being quite conspicuous; the young female, at the
same season, is similar in pattern to the adult, but is dull green
above, without any tinge of blue, and light buffy-yellow below.

There is considerable variation in adult males, especially in the
width of the pectoral collar; one (No. 60,877, Mt. Carmel, Wabash Co.,
Ill., Aug. 9) has this entirely interrupted. In this individual there
is no trace of a whitish supra-auricular streak; while others from the
same locality, and obtained at the same date, have the band across the
jugulum continuous, and a quite distinct white streak over the
ear-coverts.

HABITS. Of this somewhat rare Warbler very little is as yet well
known. Its habits and distribution during the breeding-season need
more light than we now possess to enable us to give its story with any
degree of exactness. Its appearance in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois,
and Missouri early in May, when Warblers that go north to breed are on
their way, at first suggested its belonging to that class. It is not
known to proceed any farther north, except in accidental instances;
though the writer has been assured, and has no reason to doubt the
fact, that it abounds and breeds in the neighborhood of Niagara Falls.
I can find no good evidence that it ever occurs in Massachusetts.
Individuals have been obtained in northern South America, Panama, and
Cuba. Dr. Woodhouse describes it as quite common in Texas and in the
Indian Territory, where it breeds, as he obtained both the old and the
young birds. It was also abundant among the timbered lands of the
Arkansas and its tributaries. It was not obtained in any other of the
government expeditions, nor was it found in Arizona by Dr. Coues. Mr.
T. M. Trippe noticed a single individual near Orange, N. Y. Wilson
supposed them to breed in Pennsylvania, though he was never able to
find their nests. He usually met with these birds in marshes or on the
borders of streams among the branches of poplars. Their habits were
those of the Flycatchers. He saw none later than the 20th of August.
Describing this species as the Blue-green Warbler, as met with by him
on the banks of the Cumberland early in April, he mentions its
gleaning for food among the upper branches of the tallest trees,
rendering it difficult to be procured. Its resemblance, in habits, to
Flycatchers, he again remarks. Its only note was a feeble _cheep_.

According to Audubon, this Warbler appears in Louisiana, where it also
breeds early in spring, and leaves the first of October. Like all its
family, it is quite lively, has a similar flight, moves sideways up
and down the branches, and hangs from the ends of the twigs in its
search for insects.

Mr. Audubon also states that the liveliness of the notes of this
Warbler renders it conspicuous in the forests, the skirts of which it
frequents. Its song, though neither loud nor of long continuance, he
speaks of as extremely sweet and mellow. He found it as numerous in
the State of Louisiana as any other Warbler, so that he could
sometimes obtain five or six in a single walk.

The nest he describes as placed in the forks of a low tree or bush,
partly pensile, projecting a little above the twigs to which it is
attached, and extending below them nearly two inches. The outer part
is composed of the fibres of vines and the stalks of herbaceous
plants, with slender roots arranged in a circular manner. The nest is
lined with fine dry fibres of the Spanish moss. The eggs are five in
number, of a pure white with a few reddish spots about the larger end.
When disturbed during incubation, the female is said to trail along
the branches with drooping wings and plaintive notes, in the manner of
_D. æstiva_. After the young have left the nest, they move and hunt
together, in company with their parents, evincing great activity in
the pursuit of insects. They are also said to have a great partiality
for trees the tops of which are thickly covered with grapevines, and
to occasionally alight on tall weeds, feeding upon their seeds.

In his visit to Texas, Mr. Audubon met a large number of these birds
apparently coming from Mexico. On one occasion he encountered a large
flock on a small island.

Mr. Nuttall mentions finding these birds very abundant in Tennessee
and also in West Florida.

In only a single instance has the writer met with this Warbler. This
was about the middle of June, at the Fairmount Water Works in the city
of Philadelphia, where, among the tops of the trees, a single
individual was busily engaged in hunting insects, undisturbed by the
large numbers and vicinity of visitors to the grounds. It kept in the
tops of the trees, moving about with great agility.

Mr. Ridgway gives the Cærulean Warbler as the most abundant species of
its genus in the Lower Wabash Valley, not only during the spring and
fall migrations, but also in the summer, when it breeds more
plentifully even than the _D. æstiva_. It inhabits, however, only the
deep woods of the bottom lands, where it is seldom seen, and only to
be distinguished by the naturalist. Inhabiting, mostly, the tree-tops,
it is an inconspicuous bird, and thus one that easily escapes notice.
In its habits it is perhaps less interesting than others of its genus,
being so retired, and possessing only the most feeble notes.


Dendroica blackburniæ, BAIRD.

BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER; ORANGE-THROATED WARBLER.

  _Motacilla blackburniæ_, GMELIN, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 977. _Sylvia
    bl._ LATH.; WILSON, III, pl. xxiii.—NUTT.; AUD. Orn. Biog. II, V,
    pl. cxxxv, cccxcix. _Sylvicola bl._ JARD.; RICH.; AUD. Birds Am.
    II, pl. lxxxvii. _Rhimanphus bl._ CAB. Mus. Hein. 1850, 19.
    _Dendroica bl._ BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 274; Rev. 189.—SCLATER &
    SALVIN, Ibis, 1859, 11 (Guatemala).—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1859, 363
    (Xalapa); IB. 1860, 64 (Ecuador).—IB. Catal. 1861, 30, no. 187
    (Pallatanga and Nanegal, Ecuador).—SAMUELS, 227.—SUNDEVALL, Ofv.
    1869, 611.—DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 478. _? Motacilla chrysocephala_,
    GMELIN, I, 1788, 971 (_Figuier orangé et F. étranger_, BUFF. V,
    313, pl. lviii, fig. 3, Guiana). _Sylvia parus_, WILS. V, pl.
    xliv, fig. 3.—AUD. Orn. Biog. II, pl. cxxxiv. _Sylvicola parus_,
    AUD. Birds Am. II, pl. lxxxiii. _Sylvia lateralis_, STEPH. _?
    Motacilla incana_, GMEL. I, 1788, 976. _Sylvia incana_, LATH.;
    VIEILL. _? Sylvia melanorhoa_, VIEILL. Nouv. Dict. XI, 1817, 180
    (Martinique).—IB. Encycl. Méth. II, 444.
  Localities quoted: _Bogota_, SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1855, 143. _Panama_,
    LAWR. Ann. N. Y. Lyc. VII, 62. _Costa Rica_, CAB. Jour. 1860, 328.
    _Bahamas_, BRYANT, Bost. Pr. VII, 1859. _Veragua_, SALVIN.
    _Orizaba_ (winter; rare), SUMICHRAST.

SP. CHAR. Upper parts nearly uniform black, with a whitish scapular
stripe and a large white patch in the middle of the wing-coverts. An
oblong patch in the middle of the crown, and the entire side of the
head and neck (including a superciliary stripe from the nostrils), the
chin, throat, and forepart of the breast, bright orange-red. A black
stripe from the commissure passing around the lower half of the eye,
and including the ear-coverts; with, however, an orange crescent in
it, just below the eye, the extreme lid being black. Rest of under
parts white, strongly tinged with yellowish-orange on the breast and
belly, and streaked with black on the sides. Outer three tail-feathers
white, the shafts and tips dark brown; the fourth and fifth spotted
much with white; the other tail-feathers and quills almost black.
_Female_ similar; the colors duller; the feathers of the upper parts
with olivaceous edges. Length, 5.50; wing, 2.83; tail, 2.25.

HAB. Eastern Province of United States; Eastern Mexico, and south to
Bogota and Ecuador; Bahamas alone of West Indies with certainty.

Autumnal males resemble the females. They have two white bands instead
of one; the black stripes on the sides are larger; under parts
yellowish; the throat yellowish, passing into purer yellow behind.

Autumnal young birds have the same pattern of coloration, but the dark
portions are dull grayish-umber, with the streaks very obsolete, and
the light parts dull buffy-white, tinged with yellow on the jugulum;
there is neither clear black, bright yellow, nor pure white on the
plumage, except the latter on the wing-bands and tail-patches.

HABITS. This somewhat rare and very beautiful Warbler requires
additional investigation into its habits before its history can be
regarded as satisfactorily known. Save in reference to its wider
distribution during its southern migrations, little more is known as
to its habits than where Audubon left its history nearly thirty years
since. The Smithsonian collection has specimens from Pennsylvania,
Ohio, Wisconsin, Missouri, Illinois, and from Central America. Mr.
Sclater has received specimens from Mexico, and from Ecuador in South
America. Other writers mention having specimens from Guiana,
Martinique, and Panama, and Dr. Bryant found it in the Bahamas. It is
thus known to have a wide distribution from the Atlantic to the
Mississippi River, as far to the north probably as Labrador. Its area
of reproduction is not known with exactness, but the southern limit is
supposed to be the high wooded districts of Pennsylvania, New York,
and New England. A young bird was taken by Holböll, October 16, 1845,
at Frederikshaab, Greenland. In 1837 an egg was sent me from Coventry,
Vt., which purported to belong to this bird; and in the following
summer its nest and eggs were procured in a wild, secluded part of
Roxbury, Mass. In neither case was the identification entirely free
from doubt.

Dr. Bachman states that when a resident of Lansingburg, N. Y., in
1833, he saw a pair of these birds in the act of constructing their
nest. Mr. Allen has no doubt that a few breed in the vicinity of
Springfield, Mass., as he has obtained them as late as June 24. He
found it most common in mixed or hard-wood forests. It arrives about
the middle of May. Professor Verrill gives it as a summer resident of
Western Maine, though rarely seen on account of its habit of keeping
concealed among the dense foliage. Mr. Boardman gives the same account
of its residence in summer in the neighborhood of Calais.

Mr. Audubon did not regard this bird and his “Hemlock Warbler” as the
same species, but gave distinct and different accounts of their
habits. We have therefore to receive with caution these records of
peculiarities. He found the Blackburnian Warbler breeding in
Northeastern Maine, in New Brunswick, in the Magdaleine Islands, and
in Labrador and Newfoundland. He states, correctly, that it has a very
sweet song of five or six notes, much louder than seemed possible from
the size of the bird. It pursues its insect prey among the branches of
the fir-trees, moving along after the manner of the common Redstart.

Mr. McCulloch, of Halifax, gave Mr. Audubon a nest of this bird with
three eggs. The nest was formed externally of different textures,
lined with fine delicate strips of bark and a thick bed of feathers
and horse-hair. The eggs were small, conical, with a white ground
spotted with light red at the larger end. The nest was in the small
fork of a tree five feet from the ground, and near a brook.

The nest obtained in Roxbury was in a bush, a few feet from the
ground, in a very wild region of forest and rocks. Externally, except
in its length, which was less, it resembled a nest of the _G.
trichas_, being made of coarse, dry grasses. Internally it was much
more warmly lined with feathers and soft fur than is the case in nests
of the Yellow-Throat. The eggs were of a crystal whiteness, marked at
their larger end with dark purple, and but for their smaller size
might have been mistaken for those of _G. trichas_. The position of
the nest, however, was conclusive in regard to this point. The egg
from Coventry was substantially similar, except that reddish-brown
dots were mingled with the purple markings, in the form of a wreath
around the larger end.

Wilson describes this Warbler as songless, but attributes to its
counterpart, the Hemlock Warbler, a very sweet song of a few low
notes,—a very different account from that given by Audubon of the song
of the Blackburnian.

Mr. Paine states that this species is resident during the summer
months in Randolph, Vt. It is, he says, a very close companion of the
_D. virens_, arriving at the same time with it even to a day, or about
the 10th of May. Its dry chirping song may then be heard in striking
contrast with the sweet notes of the _virens_. He was not able to find
its nest.

Mr. C. W. Wyatt met with this species as a winter resident at Alto, in
Colombia, South America. Its upward range seemed to be terminated only
by the paramos. Among the oaks on the Pamplona road he found it very
common just under the paramo, the bright orange throat of the male
making it a very conspicuous bird. He was led to believe that they
were not found there at a lower elevation than five thousand feet.


Dendroica dominica, BAIRD.

YELLOW-THROATED GRAY WARBLER.

  _Motacilla dominica_, L. Syst. Nat. 12th ed. 1766, 334 (_Ficedula
    dominica cinerea_, BRISS. III, 520, pl. xxvii, fig. 3). _Dendroica
    dominica_, BAIRD, Rev. Am. Birds, 209. _Motacilla superciliosa_,
    BODDÆRT, Tableau Pl. enl. 686, fig. 1, 1783. _Dendroica
    superciliosa_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 289.—SCLATER (Xalapa,
    Oaxaca, Jamaica, Mexico).—SCLATER & SALVIN, Ibis, 1860, 274
    (Duenas, Guat.; Sept.).—MARCH, Pr. A. N. Sc. 1863, 293
    (Jamaica).—GUNDLACH, Cab. Jour. 1861, 326 (Cuba; very common).
    _Motacilla flavicollis_, GMELIN, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 959. _Sylvia
    fl._ LATH.; WILS. II, pl. xii, fig. 6. _Motacilla pensilis_,
    GMELIN, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 960. _Sylvia p._ LATH.; VIEILL. (St.
    Domingo).—BON.; AUD. Orn. Biog. I, pl. lxxxv; NUTT. _Sylvicola
    pens._ RICH; BON.; AUD. Birds Am. II, pl. lxxix.—GOSSE, Birds Jam.
    1847, 156 (Jamaica). _Rhimanphus pens._ CAB. Jour. III, 474 (Cuba).
  Other localities: _Cordova_, SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1856, 291. _St.
    Domingo_, SALLÉ, P. Z. S. 1857, 231. _Jamaica_, GOSSE, Birds Jam.
    156.

SP. CHAR. Upper parts uniform grayish-blue. Chin and throat bright
yellow; under parts white. Forehead, and sometimes most of crown,
lores and cheeks, sides of throat, and numerous streaks on the sides
of the breast, black. A stripe from the nostrils over and behind the
eye, a crescent on the lower eyelid, the sides of the neck behind the
black cheekpatch, and two conspicuous bands on the wings, white.
Terminal half of the outer webs of the outer two, and terminal third
of the third tail-feathers, white. _Female_ almost precisely similar.
Length, 5.10; wing, 2.60; tail, 2.30. (3,322.)

HAB. Eastern Province of United States, north to Washington and
Cleveland; in winter abundant in Cuba; St. Domingo and Jamaica; Mexico
(Colima on west coast), and Guatemala. Resident in Jamaica?

An autumnal male (No. 1,098, Washington, D. C.) has the bluish-ash
above obscured by a wash of brown; the black “mask” less sharply
defined, the streaks on forehead wanting; the yellow paler and duller,
and the white beneath soiled with brownish.

In general pattern of coloration this species resembles two others;
one from Arizona, the other from Porto Rico. The diagnoses are as
follows:—

COMMON CHARACTERS. Upper parts ash-gray, the forehead and sides
of vertex black. A line from nostril to above eye (passing into
white behind), chin, and throat, yellow, margined laterally with
blackish; crissum, inside of wings, axillars; and two bands on
wings, white.

  Superciliary line extending to the nape, and white, excepting
  sometimes anterior to the eye. Cheeks black, separated from the
  ash of the neck by a white patch. Eyelids and infra-ocular
  crescent white. Back not streaked. Bill lengthened, gonys
  almost concave.

    Yellow confined to jugulum; rest of under parts white; the
    sides streaked with black …                           _dominica_.

  Superciliary line scarcely extending beyond the eye, and
  yellow, excepting at extreme end. Cheeks ashy, like sides of
  neck; dusky only near the eye, and not bordered on side of neck
  behind by white. Eyelids and infra-ocular crescent yellow. Back
  streaked. Bill short, gonys slightly convex.

    Yellow of under parts confined to jugulum; rest of under
    parts white; the sides streaked with black …            _graciæ_.

    Yellow of under parts extending to crissum. Sides scarcely
    streaked …                                        _adelaidæ._[51]

  [Illustration: PLATE XIV.

   1. Dendroica æstiva, _Gm._ ♂ Pa., 940.
   2.    “      maculosa, _Gm._ ♂ D. C., 20634.
   3.    “      montana. (From Audubon.)
   4.    “      olivacea, _Giraud_. ♂ Mex., 30692.
   5. Dendroica kirtlandi, _Baird_. ♂ Ohio, 4363.
   6.    “      dominica, _Linn._ ♂ Ga., 3322.
   7.    “         “    , _var._ albilora, _Ridgw._ ♂ Ohio, 7701.
   8. Dendroica palmarum, _Gm._ ♂ N. S., 26929.
   9.    “      discolor, _Vieill._ ♂ Pa., 1091.
  10.    “      graciæ, _Coues_. ♂ Ariz., 40680.
  11. Seiurus aurocapillus, _Linn._ ♂ Pa., 1433.
  12.    “    noveboracensis, _Gm._ ♂ Pa., 2434.
  13.    “    ludovicianus, _Aud._ ♂ Pa., 964.]

In the Review (p. 209) several variations in this species are noted;
but at that time there was not a sufficient number of specimens to
warrant our coming to a conclusion as to their value. Now, however, we
have better material before us, and upon the examination of about
thirty specimens, including two series of nearly equal numbers,—one
from the Atlantic States and the West Indies, the other from the
Mississippi region and Middle America,—find that there are two
appreciably different races, to be distinguished from each other by
points of constant difference. All birds of the first series have the
bill longer than any of the latter, the difference in a majority of
the specimens being very considerable; they also have the superciliary
stripe bright yellow anteriorly, while among the latter there is never
more than a trace of yellow over the lores, and even this minimum
amount is discernible only in one or two individuals. The West Indian
form is, of course, the true _dominica_, and to be distinguished as
var. _dominica_; as none of the synonymes of this species were founded
upon the Mexican one, however, it will be necessary to propose a new
name; accordingly, the term var. _albilora_ is selected as being most
descriptive of its peculiar features.

The following synopsis, taken from typical specimens, shows the
differences between these two races:—

  (No. 3,322, ♂, Liberty County, Georgia.) Bill (from nostril),
    .45; tarsus, .60; wing, 2.60; tail, 2.00. Superciliary
    stripe, anterior to eye, wholly bright yellow; yellow of chin
    and maxillæ extending to the bill. _Hab._ In summer, Atlantic
    States of United States, north to Washington. In winter, and
    possibly all the year, in Cuba, Santo Domingo, and Jamaica …
                                                     var. _dominica_.

  (No. 61,136, ♂, Belize, Honduras.) Bill (from nostril), .35;
    tarsus, .60; wing, 2.70; tail, 2.20. Superciliary stripe
    wholly white; yellow of chin and maxillæ bordered narrowly
    next the bill with white. _Hab._ In summer, the Mississippi
    region of United States, north to Lake Erie; common in South
    Illinois. In winter, and possibly all the year, in Mexico,
    south to Guatemala, Yucatan on the Atlantic, and Colima on
    the Pacific side …                               var. _albilora_.

HABITS. The history of the Yellow-throated Warbler is very imperfectly
known. Its geographical distribution is irregular and apparently
eccentric. Found occasionally, rather than frequently, in the Southern
Atlantic and Gulf States, it occurs irregularly as far north as
Washington, New York City, Cleveland, O., Union County, Ill., and
Kansas. In the last place it is supposed also occasionally to breed.
West of this it has not been traced in any portion of the United
States. It was obtained in Tamaulipas, Mexico, by Lieutenant Couch,
and on the western coast Mr. Xantus found it at Colima. Mr. Sclater
has also procured it from other portions of Mexico, and M. Boucard
took it at Oaxaca. It has been obtained in Guatemala and Jamaica. In
the latter place it is found the entire season. In Cuba, in the
winter, it is quite common. It has also been found in St. Domingo, and
probably in the other West India Islands. Mr. Gosse states that these
birds do not appear in Jamaica before the 16th of August, and that
they leave by the first of April. On the other hand, Mr. March, in his
notes on the birds of that island, states that on the 8th of August he
obtained an old bird and two young, the latter of which he was
confident had been hatched on the island, and his son had met with the
birds all through the summer, and had procured a specimen on the 4th
of June.

Wilson states that the habits of this species partake more of those of
the Creeper than of the true Warbler. He met with it in Georgia in the
month of February. He speaks of its notes as loud, and as resembling
those of the Indigo-Bird. It remained some time creeping around the
branches of the same pine, in the manner of a _Parus_, uttering its
song every few minutes. When it flew to another tree, it would alight
on the trunk and run nimbly up and down in search of insects. They are
said to arrive in Georgia in February, after an absence of only three
months. Wilson states that they occur as far north as Pennsylvania,
but does not give his authority. The food of this species appears to
be larvæ and pupæ, rather than winged insects. Those dissected by Mr.
Gosse in Jamaica were found to have quite large stomachs, containing
caterpillars of various kinds.

Nuttall and Audubon are very contradictory in their statements
touching its nesting, and it is not probable that the accounts given
by either are founded upon any reliable authorities. The former
describes a nest remarkable both for structure and situation, said to
have been found in West Florida, suspended by a kind of rope from the
end of branches over a stream or a ravine. This nest, entirely
pensile, is impervious to rain, and with an entrance at the bottom. He
gives a very full and minute description of this nest, but gives no
authority and no data to establish its authenticity. We can therefore
only dismiss it as probably erroneous.

On the other hand, Mr. Audubon claims to have seen its nest, of which
he gives a very different account. He describes it as very prettily
constructed, like the nests of any other of this genus, its outer
parts made of dry lichens and soft mosses, the inner of silky
substances and fibres of the Spanish moss. The eggs are said to be
four in number, with a white ground-color and a few purple dots near
the larger end. He thinks they raise two broods in a season in
Louisiana. These nests are not pensile, but are placed on the
horizontal branch of the cypress, from twenty to fifty feet above the
ground. It closely resembles a knot or a tuft of moss, and therefore
is not easily discovered from below.

A nest containing a single egg, found by Mr. Gosse near Neosho Falls,
and supposed to belong to this species, but not fully identified, was
built in a low sapling a few feet from the ground, and is a very neat
structure, such as is described by Audubon. The egg is pure
crystal-white, oblong and pointed, and marked with purple and brown.

Mr. Ridgway informs me that in Southern Illinois, at least in the
valley of the Lower Wabash, the Yellow-throated Warbler may be said to
be at least a regular, though not common, summer sojourner. Though it
inhabits chiefly the swampy portions of the bottom-lands, it makes
frequent visits to the orchards and door-yards, less often, however,
in the breeding than in the migrating season. In its manners it is
almost as much of a Creeper as the _Mniotilta varia_, being frequently
seen creeping not only along the branches of trees, but over the eaves
and cornices of buildings, with all the facility of a Nuthatch.

Eggs supposed to be of this species, taken near Wilmington, N. C., by
Mr. Norwood Giles (16,199, Smith. Coll.), have a ground-color of dull
ashy-white, with a livid tinge. They are thickly speckled, chiefly
around the larger end, with irregular markings of rufous, and fainter
ones of lilac interspersed with a very few minute specks of black.
They are broadly ovate in form, and measure .70 by .55 of an inch.


Dendroica graciæ, COUES.

ARIZONA WARBLER.

  _Dendroica graciæ_ (COUES), BAIRD, Rev. Am. Birds, I, April, 1865;
    p. 210.—ELLIOT, Illust. Birds N. Am. I, vi.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1,
    1870, 563 (Appendix).

SP. CHAR. _Adult male_ (No. 40,680, May 1, 1865, Dr. E. Coues). Whole
upper parts, including ear-coverts and sides of neck, ash-gray; small
cuneate streaks over the crown, coalesced laterally into a broad
stripe on each side, with larger cuneate streaks on the interscapular
region, and inconspicuous linear streaks on upper tail-coverts, black.
Two conspicuous white bands across the wing, formed by the tips of
middle and secondary coverts; secondaries passing externally into
light ash. Lateral tail-feather entirely white, except about the basal
third of the inner web (the dusky running some distance toward the end
along the edge), and a broad streak covering most of the terminal
fourth of the outer web, which are clear dusky; the next feather has
the outer web exactly the same, but almost the basal half of the inner
is dusky; on the next the white is confined to an oblong spot (not
touching the inner edge) on about the terminal third, while the outer
web is only edged with white; the rest have no white at all. A
superciliary stripe extending about .20 of an inch behind the eye
(that portion behind the eye white), the lower eyelid, maxillæ, chin,
throat, and jugulum pure gamboge-yellow. Rest of lower parts,
including lining of wing, pure white; the sides conspicuously streaked
with black; lores, and a few obsolete streaks along the junction of
the ash and yellow, dusky. Wing, 2.60; tail, 2.20; bill (from
nostril), .30; tarsus, .60. _Adult female_ (40,685, May 24). Similar
to the male, but colors duller, and markings less sharply defined.
Wing, 2.45; tail, 2.00. _Young_ (36,992, August 11). Above
brownish-gray _without streaks_. Beneath ochraceous-white, obsoletely
streaked along the sides. Yellow superciliary stripe not well defined,
and only a tinge of yellow on the jugulum, the throat being
grayish-white. Wings and tail nearly as in the adult. The young in
autumnal plumage is similar, but the yellow occupies its usual area;
it is, however, much duller, as well as lighter, than in the adult.

HAB. Fort Whipple, near Prescott, Arizona. Belize, British Honduras
(var. _decora_).

This species is most closely related to _D. adelaidæ_, from Porto
Rico; but in the latter the yellow beneath extends back to the
crissum, covering even the sides; there are also no streaks on the
sides or back; the proportions, too, are quite different, the wings
and tail being scarcely three fourths as long, while the bill and feet
are much the same size, the tarsi even much shorter. A specimen (No.
41,808 ♂) from Belize, Honduras, differs so essentially from the Fort
Whipple specimens, that it is, beyond doubt, entitled to a distinctive
name. The differences between these two very well marked races can
best be expressed in a table, as follows:—

  (40,680, ♂, Fort Whipple, Arizona). Bill (from nostril), .30;
    tarsus, .60; wing, 2.60; tail, 2.20. Superciliary stripe
    extending .20 behind the eye, that portion behind the eye
    white; yellow of jugulum not spreading over breast (ending
    1.35 from the bill). Streaks of crown coalesced into a broad
    stripe on each side; those of back broad, and those on upper
    tail-coverts almost obsolete. Wing-bands, .20 wide. Lore
    dusky-grayish. _Hab._ Fort Whipple, near Prescott, Arizona;
    abundant, breeding (COUES) …                       var. _graciæ_.

  (41,808, ♂, Belize). Bill, .30; tarsus, .60; wing, 2.20; tail,
    1.95. Superciliary stripe scarcely passing the eye, wholly
    yellow; yellow of jugulum spreading over breast (ending 1.60
    from the bill). Streaks of the crown scarcely coalesced along
    its sides; those on back not longer than those on crown, and
    those on upper tail-coverts very conspicuous. Wing-bands, .10
    wide. Lore deep black. _Hab._ Belize, Honduras, resident? …
                                                       var. _decora_.

HABITS. We are indebted to Dr. Elliott Coues for all that we at
present know in reference to this recently discovered species. He
first met with it July 2, 1864, in the Territory of Arizona. Dr. Coues
first noticed this bird among the pine woods covering the summit of
Whipple’s Pass of the Rocky Mountains. He saw no more in his journey
into Central Arizona until he was again among the pines at Port
Whipple. There he again found it, and it proved to be a very common
bird. Dr. Coues anticipates that this species will yet be found to
occur in the forests of the San Francisco Mountains, and that its
range will be ascertained to include all the pine tracts of New Mexico
and Arizona, from the valley of the Rio Grande to that of the Great
Colorado River. He also has no doubt that it breeds near and around
Fort Whipple.

Specimens found at Belize, first believed to be identical with those
from Arizona, are now referred to a race called _decora_.

According to Dr. Coues’s observations, the Warbler arrives at Fort
Whipple about the 20th of April, and remains in that neighborhood
until the third week in September. It is found almost exclusively in
pine woods, is active, industrious, and noisy, and possesses very
marked flycatching habits, flying out from its perch to catch passing
insects. It has been, so far, found almost exclusively among the
tallest trees.

In regard to the song of this species, Dr. Coues states that it
appears to have several different notes. One of these is the ordinary
_tsip_, given out at all times by both old and young of all kinds of
small insectivorous birds. Its true song, heard only in spring,
consists of two or three loud sweet whistles, sometimes slurred,
followed by several continuous notes, resembling _chir-r-r_, in a wiry
but clear tone. Their notes are of great power for the size of the
bird. It also has another and quite different song, which Dr. Coues
thought greatly resembled the notes of the common American Redstart.

As all the birds he noticed had mated by the first of May, he has no
doubt that they raise two broods in a season; and the fact that he
found newly fledged young as late as the middle of August seems to
corroborate the correctness of his supposition. In regard to the eggs,
nest, or breeding-habits of this species, we have as yet no
information.


Dendroica pennsylvanica, BAIRD.

CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER.

  _Motacilla pennsylvanica_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 333, no. 19;
    GMELIN. _Sylvia p._ LATH.; WILSON, I, pl. xiv, fig. 5. _Dendroica
    p._ BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 279; Rev. 191.—SCLATER & SALVIN,
    Ibis, 1859, 11; 1860, 273 (Coban, Guat.; November).—SAMUELS, 231.
    _Sylvia icterocephala_, LATH. Ind. Orn. II, 1790, 538.—VIEILL.;
    BON.; AUD. Orn. Biog. I, pl. lix. _Sylvicola ict._ SWAINS.; JARD.;
    AUD. Birds Am. II, pl. lxxxi. _Dendroica ict._ SCLATER, P. Z. S.
    1859, 363 (Xalapa), 373 (Oaxaca).
  Other localities: _Bahamas_, BRYANT, Pr. Bost. Soc. VII, 1859. _Costa
    Rica_, CAB. Jour. 1860, 328. _Panama_, winter, LAWR., Ann. N. Y.
    Lyc. 1861, 322. _Yucatan_, LAWR. _Veragua_, SALV.

SP. CHAR. _Male._ Upper parts streaked with black and pale
bluish-gray, which becomes nearly white on the forepart of the back;
the middle of the back glossed with greenish-yellow. The crown is
continuous yellow, bordered by a frontal and superciliary band, and
behind by a square spot of white. Loral region black, sending off a
line over the eye, and another below it. Ear-coverts and lower eyelid
and entire under parts pure white, a purplish-chestnut stripe starting
on each side in a line with the black mustache, and extending back to
the thighs. Wing and tail-feathers dark brown, edged with bluish-gray,
except the secondaries and tertials, which are bordered with light
yellowish-green. The shoulders with two greenish-white bands. Three
outer tail-feathers with white patches near the end of the inner webs.

_Female_ like the male, except that the upper parts are
yellowish-green, streaked with black; the black mustache scarcely
appreciable. Length, 5.00; wing, 2.50; tail, 2.20.

HAB. Eastern Province of the United States; Bahamas; Guatemala to
Costa Rica and Panama R. R. Not recorded from Mexico proper or West
Indies, except Bahamas.

The young in autumn is very different from either male or female in
spring. The entire upper parts are of a continuous light olive-green;
the under parts white; the sides of the head, neck, and breast
ash-gray, shading insensibly into and tingeing the white of the chin
and throat. No black streaks are visible above or on the cheeks, and
the eye is surrounded by a continuous ring of white not seen in
spring. In this plumage it has frequently been considered as a
distinct species.

The male in this plumage may usually be distinguished from the female
by possessing a trace, or a distinct stripe, of chestnut on the
flanks, the young female at least lacking it.

HABITS. The geographical distribution of this common species during
its season of reproduction is inferred rather than positively known.
So far as I am aware, it is not known to breed farther south than
Massachusetts. Yet it is probable that, when we know its history more
exactly, it will be found during the breeding-season in different
suitable localities from Pennsylvania to Canada. Mr. H. W. Parker, of
Grinnell, Iowa, mentions this bird as common in that neighborhood.

Until recently it was regarded as a rather rare species, and to a
large extent it had escaped the notice of our older ornithological
writers. Wilson could give but little account of its habits. It passed
rapidly by him in its spring migrations. He did not regard it as
common, presumed that it has no song, and nearly all that he says in
regard to it is conjectural. Mr. Audubon met with this species but
once, and knew nothing as to its habits or distribution. Mr. Nuttall,
who observed it in Massachusetts, where it is now known to be not
uncommon in certain localities, also regarded it as very rare. His
account of it is somewhat hypothetical and inexact. Its song he very
accurately describes as similar to that of the _D. æstiva_, only less
of a whistle and somewhat louder. He represents it as expressed by
_tsh-tsh-tsh-tshyia_, given at intervals of half a minute, and often
answered by its mate from her nest. Its lay is characterized as simple
and lively. Late in June, 1831, he observed a pair collecting food for
their young on the margin of the Fresh Pond swamps in Cambridge.

Mr. Allen has found this species quite common in Western
Massachusetts, arriving there about the 9th of May, and remaining
through the summer to breed. He states—and his observations in this
respect correspond with my own—that during the breeding-season they
frequent low woods and swampy thickets, nesting in bushes, and adds
that they are rarely found among high trees. They leave there early in
September.

Professor Verrill found this Warbler a common summer visitant in
Western Maine, arriving about the second week in May, and remaining
there to breed. Mr. Boardman thinks it reaches Eastern Maine about the
middle of May, and is a common summer resident. I did not meet this
species either in New Brunswick or Nova Scotia, nor was Dr. Bryant
more fortunate, but Lieutenant Bland gives it in his manuscript list
of the birds found in the neighborhood of Halifax.

Mr. Ridgway informs me that this species breeds in the oak openings
and among the prairie thickets of Southern Illinois.

During the eight months that are not included in their season of
reproduction, this species is scattered over a wide extent of
territory. Their earliest appearance in the Northern States (at
Plattesmouth) is April 26, and they all disappear early in September.
At other times they have been met with in the Bahamas, in Mexico,
Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Panama. It has not yet been detected in the
West Indies. M. Boucard obtained specimens at Playa Vicente, in the
hot country of Oaxaca, Mexico.

In the neighborhood of Calais, Mr. Boardman informs me that this
Warbler is common, and that its habits resemble those of the
Black-poll Warbler more than those of any other of the genus. It
always nests in bushes or in low trees, and in the vicinity of swamps.

Among the memoranda furnished to the late Mr. Kennicott by Mr. Ross is
one to the effect that the Chestnut-sided Warbler was observed at Lake
of the Woods, May 29. How common it is at this point is not stated.

Mr. C. S. Paine regards the Chestnut-sided Warbler as one of the
sweetest singers that visit Vermont. He describes it as very confiding
and gentle in its habits. It is chiefly found inhabiting low bushes,
in the neighborhood of taller trees, and it always builds its nest in
the fork of a low bush, not more than from three to five feet from the
ground. He has seen many of their nests, and they have all been in
similar situations. They will permit a very near approach without
leaving their nests. These are constructed about the last of May.
Their song continues until about the last of June. After this they are
seldom heard.

J. Elliot Cabot, Esq., had the good fortune to be the first of our
naturalists to discover in June, 1839, the nest and eggs of this
Warbler. It was fixed on the horizontal forked branch of an oak
sapling, in Brookline, Mass. The female remained sitting on her nest
until so closely approached as to be distinctly seen. The nest was of
strips of red-cedar bark, and well lined with coarse hair, and was
compact, elastic, and shallow. It contained four eggs, the
ground-color of which was white, over which were distributed numerous
distinct spots of umber-brown. These were of different sizes, more
numerous towards the larger end.

In regard to their breeding in Pennsylvania, Mr. Nuttall mentions in
the second edition of his work that he met them among the Alleghanies
at Farranville in full song, and had no doubt that they were nesting
there at the time.

The Chestnut-sided Warbler usually constructs its nest in localities
apart from cultivated grounds, on the edges of low and swampy woods,
but in places more or less open. Quite a number of their nests have
been met with by Mr. George O. Welch, of Lynn, Mass. Their more common
situation has been barberry-bushes. The nests vary from about two and
a half to three and a half inches in external height, and have a
diameter of from three to four inches. The cavity is about two inches
deep. They are usually composed externally of loosely intertwined
strips of the bark of the smaller vegetables, strengthened by a few
stems and bits of dry grasses, and lined with woolly vegetable fibres
and a few soft hairs of the smaller animals. They are usually very
firmly bound to the smaller branches by silky fibres from the cocoons
of various insects. These nests were all found in open places, in low,
wild marshy localities, but none far from a cultivated neighborhood,
and the situations chosen for the nests do not differ materially from
those usually selected by the common _D. æstiva_.

The eggs of this Warbler are of an oblong-oval shape, have a
ground-color of a rich creamy-white, and are beautifully spotted,
chiefly about the larger end, with two shades of purple and
purplish-brown. They measure .65 by .49 of an inch.


Dendroica striata, BAIRD.

BLACK-POLL WARBLER.

  _Muscicapa striata_, FORSTER, Phil. Trans. LXII, 383, 428. _Motacilla
    s._ GMELIN. _Sylvia s._ LATH.; VIEILLOT; WILS.; BON.; NUTT.; AUD.
    Orn. Biog. II, pl. cxxxiii.—LEMBEYE, Av. Cuba, 1850, 33.
    _Sylvicola s._ SWAINSON; BON.; AUD. Birds Am. II, pl.
    lxxviii.—REINHARDT, Vid. Med. for 1853, 1854, 73 (Greenland).—MAX.
    Cab. Jour. VI, 1858, 113. _Mniotilta s._ REINH. Ibis, 1861, 6
    (Greenland). _Rhimanphus s._ CAB. Jour. III, 475 (Cuba).
    _Dendroica s._ BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 280; Rev. 192.—COUES, Pr.
    A. N. Sc. 1861, 220 (Labrador coast).—GUNDL. Cab. Jour. 1861, 326
    (Cuba; rare).—SAMUELS, 233.—DALL & BANNISTER (Alaska). _? D.
    atricapilla_, LANDBECK, Wiegmann’s Archiv, 1864, 56 (Chile).
  Other localities quoted: _Bogota_, SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1855, 143.
    _Bahamas_, BRYANT, Pr. Bost. Soc. VII, 1839.

SP. CHAR. _Male._ Crown, nape, and upper half of the head black; the
lower half, including the ear-coverts, white, the separating line
passing through the middle of the eye. Rest of upper parts
grayish-ash, tinged with brown, and conspicuously streaked with black.
Wing and tail-feathers brown, edged externally (except the inner
tail-feathers) with dull olive-green. Two conspicuous bars of white on
the wing-coverts, the tertials edged with the same. Under parts white,
with a narrow line on each side of the throat from the chin to the
sides of the neck, where it runs into a close patch of black streaks
continued along the breast and sides to the root of the tail. Outer
two tail-feathers with an oblique patch on the inner web near the end;
the others edged internally with white. _Female_ similar, except that
the upper parts are olivaceous, and, even on the crown, streaked with
black; the white on the sides and across the breast tinged with
yellowish; a ring of the same round the eye cut by a dusky line
through it. Length of male, 5.75; wing, 3.00; tail, 2.25.

HAB. Eastern Province of all North America to Arctic Ocean; Alaska;
Greenland; Cuba, in winter (rare); Bahamas; Bogota. Chile? Not
recorded from intermediate localities.

The autumnal dress of young birds is very different from that of
spring. The upper parts are light olive-green, obsoletely streaked
with brown; beneath greenish-yellow, obsoletely streaked on the breast
and sides, the under tail-coverts pure white, a yellowish ring round
the eye, and a superciliary one of the same color. In this dress it is
scarcely possible to distinguish it from the immature _D. castanea_.
The differences, as far as tangible, will be found detailed under the
head of the latter species.

The young bird in its first dress is also quite different, again, from
the autumnal-plumaged birds. The upper parts are hoary-grayish, the
lower white; each feather of the whole body, except lower
tail-coverts, with a terminal bar or transverse spot of blackish,
those on the upper parts approaching the base of the feathers along
the shaft. Wings and tail much as in the autumnal plumage.

HABITS. The appearance of this beautiful and familiar Warbler in New
England is the sure harbinger of the summer. The last of the migrants
that do not tarry, it brings up the rear of the hosts of hyperborean
visitors. This species ranges over the whole extent of eastern North
America, from Mexico to the Arctic seas. It has not been found farther
west than the Great Plains and the Rio Grande. Wherever found it is
abundant, and its lively and attractive manners and appearance render
it a pleasing feature. It is not known to stop to breed in
Massachusetts, but it lingers with us till the last blossom of the
apple falls, and until the Bluebird and the Robin have already
well-fledged broods, sometimes as late as the 10th of June, and then
suddenly disappears.

Dr. Woodhouse found it abundant in Texas and the Indian Territory, and
individuals have been procured in Missouri and Nebraska. It has been
found abundant in the Arctic regions, around Fort Anderson, Fort
Yukon, and Fort Good Hope. A single specimen was taken near Godhaab,
Greenland, in 1853, as recorded by Professor Reinhardt. Dr. Bryant met
with it in the Bahamas, in the spring of 1859, where it was abundant
from the 1st to the 10th of May. He describes its habits as similar to
those of the _Mniotilta varia_, climbing around the trunks of trees in
search of insects with the same facility. Single specimens have been
procured from Greenland on the northeast, and from Bogota and Cuba.
Dr. Coues found it abundant in Labrador in all well-wooded situations,
and describes it as a most expert flycatcher, taking insects on the
wing in the manner of the _Contopus virens_.

Mr. Allen has never noted the arrival of this bird in Western
Massachusetts before the 20th of May, nor later than the 1st of June.
They again become abundant the last of September, and remain into
October. In Eastern Maine Mr. Boardman reports them abundant, and as
remaining to breed. They are there more numerous about open pastures
than most Warblers. They nest in low trees, about swampy places.

In Central Vermont, Mr. Paine states, the Black-Poll is the last of
all the migrant birds that come from the South, and is seen only a few
days in the first of June. It seldom stays more than a day or two, and
then passes north. It appears singular that a bird coming so late
should go yet farther north to breed. He states that its song consists
only of a few low, lisping peeps. It may usually be seen wandering
over fields in which there are a few scattered trees, and seems to be
a very active, restless bird.

The writer also met with them in great abundance about Eastport, and
in the islands of the Grand Menan group. It was the most common
Warbler in that locality. The low swampy woods seemed filled with
them, and were vocal with their peculiar love-notes.

Wilson states that he occasionally found this Warbler in Pennsylvania
and New Jersey, and was confident they would be found to breed in
those States, but this has never been confirmed. He regarded it as a
silent bird, and Mr. Audubon does not compliment its vocal powers. Yet
it is a pleasing and varied, if not a powerful singer. Mr. Trippe
speaks of its song as faint and lisping, and as consisting of four or
five syllables.

None of our birds, before its history was well known, has been made
the occasion for more ill-founded conjectures than the Black-Poll.
Wilson was at fault as to its song and its Southern breeding, and
imagined it would be found to nest in high tree-tops, so as not to be
readily detected. Nuttall, on the other hand, predicted that it would
be found to breed on the ground, after the manner of the _Mniotiltae_,
or else in hollow trees. Mr. Audubon, finding its nest in Labrador,
indulges in flights of fancy over its supposed rarity, which, seen in
the light of our present knowledge, as an abundant bird in the
locality where his expedition was fitted out, are somewhat amusing.
That nest was in a thicket of low trees, contained four eggs, and was
placed about four feet from the ground, in the fork of a small branch,
close to the main stem of a fir-tree. Its internal diameter was two
inches, and its depth one and a half. It was formed, externally, of
green and white moss and lichens, intermingled with coarse dry
grasses. It was lined, with great care, with fine, dry, dark-colored
mosses, resembling horse-hair, with a thick bed of soft feathers of
ducks and willow grouse.

In passing north, these Warblers, says Audubon, reach Louisiana early
in February, where they glean their food among the upper branches of
the trees overhanging the water. He never met with them in maritime
parts of the South, yet they are abundant in the State of New Jersey
near the sea-shore. As they pass northward their habits seem to
undergo a change, and to partake more of the nature of Creepers. They
move along the trunks and lower limbs, searching in their chinks for
larvæ and pupæ. Later in the season, in more northern localities, we
again find them expert flycatchers, darting after insects in all
directions, chasing them while on the wing, and making the clicking
sound of the true Flycatcher.

They usually reach Massachusetts after the middle of May, and their
stay varies from one, usually, to nearly four weeks, especially when
their insect-food is abundant. In our orchards they feed eagerly upon
the canker-worm, which is just appearing as they pass through.

Around Eastport and at Grand Menan they confine themselves to the
thick swampy groves of evergreens, where they breed on the edges of
the woods. All of the several nests I met with in these localities
were built in thick spruce-trees, about eight feet from the ground,
and in the midst of foliage so dense as hardly to be noticeable. Yet
the nests were large and bulky for so small a bird, being nearly five
inches in diameter and three in height. The cavity is, however, small,
being only two inches in diameter, and one and a fourth to one and a
half in depth. They were constructed chiefly of a collection of
slender young ends of branches of pines, firs, and spruce, interwoven
with and tied together by long branches of the _Cladonia_ lichens,
slender herbaceous roots, and finer sedges. The nests were strongly
built, compact and homogeneous, and were elaborately lined with fine
panicles of grasses and fine straw. In all the nests found, the number
of eggs was five.

It is a somewhat noticeable fact, that though this species is seen in
New England only by the middle of May, others of its kind have long
before reached high Arctic localities. Richardson records its presence
at the Cumberland House in May, and Engineer Cantonment by the 26th of
April. Mr. Lockhart procured a nest and five eggs at Fort Yukon, June
9. All the nests taken in these localities were of smaller size, were
built within two feet of the ground, and all were much more warmly
lined than were those from Grand Menan. In a few instances Mr.
McFarlane found the nests of this species actually built upon the
ground. This, however, is an abnormal position, and only occasioned by
the want of suitable situations in protected localities. In one
instance a nest was taken on the first of June, containing
well-developed embryos. Yet this same species has frequently been
observed lingering in Massachusetts a week or more after others of its
species have already built their nests and begun hatching.

The eggs of this species measure .72 by .50 of an inch. Their shape is
an oblong-oval. Their ground-color is a beautiful white, with a slight
tinge of pink, when fresh. They are blotched and dotted over the
entire surface with profuse markings of a subdued lavender, and deeper
markings of a dark purple intermixed with lighter spots of
reddish-brown. The usual number is five, though six are occasionally
found in a nest.


Dendroica castanea, BAIRD.

BAY-BREASTED WARBLER.

  _Sylvia castanea_, WILS. Am. Orn. II, 1810, 97, pl. xiv, fig. 4.—BON.;
    NUTT.; AUD. Orn. Biog. I, pl. lxix. _Sylvicola castanea_, SWAINS.;
    JARD.; RICH.; BON.; AUD. Birds Am. II, pl. lxxx. _Rhimanphus
    castaneus_, CAB. _Dendroica castanea_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858,
    276; Rev. 189.—SCLATER & SALVIN, Ibis, 1859, 11 (Guatemala).—CASSIN,
    Pr. A. N. Sc. 1860, 193 (Isthmus Darien; winter).—LAWRENCE, Ann.
    N. Y. Lyc. 1861, 322 (Isthmus Panama; winter).—SAMUELS, 228.
    _Sylvia autumnalis_, WILS. III, pl. xxiii, fig. 2.—AUD. Orn. Biog.
    I, pl. lxxxviii.

SP. CHAR. _Male._ Crown dark reddish-chestnut; forehead and cheeks,
including a space above the eye, black; a patch of buff-yellow behind
the cheeks. Rest of upper parts bluish-gray streaked with black, the
edges of the interscapulars tinged with yellowish, of the scapulars
with olivaceous. Primaries and tail-feathers edged externally with
bluish-gray, the extreme outer ones with white; the secondaries edged
with olivaceous. Two bands on the wing and the edges of the tertials
white. The under parts are whitish with a tinge of buff; the chin,
throat, forepart of breast, and the sides, chestnut-brown, lighter
than the crown. Two outer tail-feathers with a patch of white on the
inner web near the end; the others edged internally with the same.
_Female_ with the upper parts olive, streaked throughout with black,
and an occasional tinge of chestnut on the crown. Lower parts with
traces of chestnut, but no stripes. Length of male, 5.00; wing, 3.05;
tail, 2.40.

HAB. Eastern Province of North America to Hudson’s Bay; Guatemala,
south to Isthmus of Darien. Not recorded from Mexico or West Indies.

The female and immature males of this species differ much from the
spring males, and are often confounded with other species, especially
with _D. striata_. A careful comparison of an extensive series of
immature specimens of the two species shows that in _castanea_ the
under parts are seldom washed uniformly on the throat and breast with
yellowish-green, but while this may be seen on the sides of the neck
and breast, or even across the latter, the chin and throat are nearly
white, the sides tinged with dirty brown, even if the (generally
present) trace of chestnut be wanting on the sides. There is a buff
tinge to the under tail-coverts; the quills are abruptly margined with
white, and there are no traces (however obsolete) of streaks on the
breast. In _D. striata_ the under parts are quite uniformly washed
with greenish-yellow nearly as far back as the vent, the sides of the
breast and sometimes of the belly with obsolete streaks; no trace of
the uniform dirty reddish-brown on the sides; the under tail-coverts
are pure white. The quills are only gradually paler towards the inner
edge, instead of being rather abruptly white.

HABITS. The Bay-breasted Warbler is one of the many species belonging
to this genus whose history is yet very imperfectly known. Everywhere
quite rare, it is yet distributed from the Atlantic to the Great
Plains, and from the Gulf of Mexico far into the Hudson Bay Territory.
In the winter it is known to extend its migrations as far to the south
as the northern portions of South America. It has not been traced to
Mexico nor to the West India Islands, but has been procured by Mr.
Salvin in Guatemala. Nearly all the specimens obtained in the United
States have either been taken before the 12th of May or in the autumn,
indicative of a more northern breeding-place. In Eastern Massachusetts
it is exceedingly rare, passing through after the middle of May and
returning in September. Mr. Maynard has obtained a specimen as late as
June 19, which, though not necessarily proving that any breed there,
indicates that the line of their area of reproduction cannot be
distant. In the western part of the same State, Mr. Allen has found it
from May 20 to the 25th, and has obtained one specimen in July. In
Western Maine, Mr. Verrill has noted its occurrence from the middle of
May to June, but it is very rare; and Mr. Boardman reports the same
for Eastern Maine, where it is a summer resident. He writes that he
has several times shot specimens in the early summer, but that he
could never find the nest. It is also given by Lieutenant Bland as one
of the birds found in the vicinity of Halifax. It was not observed by
any of the governmental exploring expeditions, nor found in Arizona by
Dr. Coues. Mr. Lawrence has received specimens from Panama, obtained
in winter, Mr. Cassin from Darien, and Mr. Sclater from Guatemala.

This species so far eluded the notice of Mr. Audubon as to prevent him
from giving any account of its habits. He only mentions its occasional
arrival in Pennsylvania and New Jersey early in April, and its almost
immediate and sudden disappearance. He several times obtained them at
that period, and yet has also shot them in Louisiana as late as June,
while busily searching for food among the blossoms of the
cotton-plant.

Wilson also regarded this species as very rare. He reports it as
passing through Pennsylvania about the middle of May, but soon
disappearing. He describes these birds as having many of the habits of
Titmice, and displaying all their activity. It hangs about the
extremity of the twigs, and darts about from place to place with
restless diligence in search of various kinds of larvæ. Wilson never
met with it in the summer, and very rarely in the fall.

Mr. Nuttall noticed this species passing through Massachusetts about
the 15th of April. He regarded it as an active insect-hunter, keeping
in the tops of the highest trees, darting about with great activity,
and hanging from the twigs with fluttering wings. One of these birds
that had been wounded soon became reconciled to its confinement, and
greedily caught at and devoured the flies that were offered. In its
habits and manners it seemed to him to greatly resemble the
Chestnut-sided Warbler.

Mr. T. M. Trippe speaks of this Warbler as one of the last to arrive
near Orange, N. Y. Owing to the fact that at that time the foliage is
pretty dense, and that it makes but a short stay, it is not often
seen. He speaks of it as not quite so active as the other Warblers,
keeping more on the lower boughs, and seldom ascending to the tops of
the trees.

Mr. C. W. Wyatt met with this species at Naranjo, in Colombia, South
America.

Eggs of this bird obtained by Mr. George Bush at Coldwater, near Lake
Superior, are of an oblong-oval shape, measuring .75 by .52 of an
inch, and except in their superior size and fewer markings might be
mistaken for eggs of _D. æstiva_. Their ground-color is a bluish or
greenish white. The markings are very few and fine, except those in
the crown around the larger end, and there the blotches are deeper and
more numerous. Their colors are dark reddish-brown and purple.

Mr. Maynard found this species the most abundant of the _Sylvicolidæ_
at Lake Umbagog, where it breeds. Two nests were taken in June. One
was found June 3, in a tree by the side of a cart-path in the woods,
just completed. It was built in the horizontal branch of a hemlock,
twenty feet from the ground, and five or six from the trunk of the
tree. By the 8th of June it contained three fresh eggs. The other was
built in a similar situation, fifteen feet from the ground, and
contained two fresh eggs.

These nests were large for the bird, and resembled those of the Purple
Finch. They were composed outwardly of fine twigs of the hackmatack,
with which was mingled some of the long hanging _Usnea_ mosses. They
were very smoothly and neatly lined with black fibrous roots, the
seed-stalks of _Cladonia_ mosses, and a few hairs. They had a diameter
of about six inches, and a height of about two and a half inches. The
cavity was three inches wide and an inch and a quarter deep. The eggs
varied in length from .71 to .65 of an inch, and in breadth from .53
to .50. Their ground-color was a bluish-green, thickly spotted with
brown, and generally with a ring of confluent blotches of brown and
lilac around the larger end. Occasionally the spots proved to be more
or less of an umber-brown, and in some specimens the spots were less
numerous than in others.

These birds were found in all the wooded sections of that region,
where they frequented the tops of tall trees. Their song, he states,
in its opening, is like that of the Black-Poll, with a terminal warble
similar to that of the Redstart, but given with less energy.


Dendroica cærulescens, BAIRD.

BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER.

  _Motacilla canadensis_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 336 (not p. 334,
    which is _D. coronata_). _Sylvia canadensis_, LATH.; WILSON.—AUD.
    Orn. Biog. II, pl. cxlviii, clv.—SALLÉ, P. Z. S. 1857, 231 (St.
    Domingo). _Sylvicola canadensis_, SWAINS.; JARD.; BON.; AUD. Birds
    Am. II, pl. xcv. _Rhimanphus can._ CAB. _Dendroica canadensis_,
    BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 271.—IB. P. Z. S. 1861, 70
    (Jamaica).—GUNDL. Cab. Jour. 1861, 326 (Cuba; very
    common).—SAMUELS, 224. _Motacilla cærulescens_, GM. S. Nat. I,
    1788, 960. _Sylvia cær._ LATH.; VIEILL. II, pl. lxxx.—D’ORB.
    Sagra’s Cuba, Ois. 1840, 63, pl. ix, figs. 1, 2. _Dendroica cær._
    BAIRD, Rev. Am. B. 1864, 186. _Sylvia pusilla_, WILS. V, pl.
    xliii, fig. 3 (Juv.). _Sylvia leucoptera_, WILS. _Sylvia
    palustris_, STEPH. _Sylvia macropus_, VIEILLOT. _Sylvia
    sphagnosa_, BON.; NUTTALL; AUD. _Sylvicola pannosa_, GOSSE, Birds
    Jam. 1847, 162 (female).—IB. Illust. no. 37.

SP. CHAR. Above uniform continuous grayish-blue, including the outer
edges of the quill and tail-feathers. A narrow frontal line, the
entire sides of head and neck, chin and throat, lustrous black; this
color extending in a broad lateral stripe to the tail. Rest of under
parts, including the axillary region, white. Wings and tail black
above, the former with a conspicuous white patch formed by the bases
of all the primaries (except the first); the inner webs of the
secondaries and tertials with similar patches towards the base and
along the inner margin. All the tail-feathers, except the innermost,
with a white patch on the inner web near the end. Length, 5.50; wing,
2.60; tail, 2.25.

_Female_, olive-green above and dull yellow beneath. Sides of head
dusky olive, the eyelids and a superciliary stripe whitish. Traces of
the white patches at the base of the primaries and of the tail.

HAB. Eastern Province of United States; Jamaica, Cuba, and St. Domingo
in winter; very abundant; Bahamas (BRYANT). Not recorded from Mexico
or Central America.

The white patch at the base of the primary, together with the total
absence of outer markings on the wings, is peculiar to this species,
and is found in both sexes. The female is more different from the male
than that of any other species.

The plumage of the male in autumn is similar to the spring dress, but
the back and wings are washed with greenish, and the black of the
throat variegated with white edges to the feathers. A younger male
(788, October 10, Carlisle, Penn.) differs in having the black
appearing in patches, the throat being mostly white; there is also a
narrow white superciliary stripe.

HABITS. The Black-throated Blue Warbler, at different seasons of the
year, is distributed over nearly the whole eastern portion of North
America. Abundant in the West Indies in winter, as also in the South
Atlantic States in early spring and late in fall, it is found during
the breeding-season from Northern New York and New England nearly to
the Arctic regions. A few probably stop to breed in the high portions
of Massachusetts, and in late seasons they linger about the orchards
until June. They undoubtedly breed in Vermont, New Hampshire, and
Maine.

Dr. Woodhouse states that he found it abundant in Texas; but this is
the only instance, so far as is known, of its occurring west of the
Mississippi Valley.

Towards the close of the remarkably mild winter of 1866, a pair of
these birds were observed for several days in a sheltered portion of
Boston. They were in excellent condition, and were very busily
employed hunting for the larvæ and eggs of insects and spiders in the
corners and crevices of the walls of houses and out-buildings,
evidently obtaining a full supply. In Southern Illinois, Mr. Ridgway
cites this Warbler as one of the least common of the spring and fall
visitants.

Audubon found this species in nearly every Southern and Southwestern
State during their migrations. They arrive in South Carolina late in
March, are most abundant in April, and leave early in May. They keep
in the deep woods, passing among the branches about twenty feet from
the ground. He traced them as far north as the Magdaleine Islands, but
found none in Newfoundland, and but a single specimen in Labrador.
They breed in Nova Scotia, and a nest was given him found near Halifax
by Dr. MacCulloch. These were said to be usually placed on the
horizontal branch of a fir-tree, seven or eight feet from the ground,
and to be composed of fine strips of bark, mosses, and fibrous roots,
and lined with fine grasses and a warm bed of feathers. The eggs, five
in number, were white, with a rosy tint, and sprinkled with
reddish-brown dots, chiefly at the larger end.

This Warbler is an expert catcher of the smaller winged insects,
pursuing them quite a distance, and, when seizing them, making the
clicking sound of the true Flycatcher. So far as they have been
observed, they have no song, only a monotonous and sad-sounding
_cheep_.

Nuttall, in the second edition of his Manual, mentions having observed
several pairs near Farranville, Penn., on the Susquehanna, and among
the Alleghanies. It was in May, and in a thick and shady wood of
hemlock. They were busy foraging for food, and were uttering what he
describes as slender, wiry notes.

In Western Massachusetts, Mr. Allen states it to be common from the
15th to the 25th of May, and again in September. They were found by
Mr. C. W. Bennett on Mount Holyoke during the breeding-season, and by
Mr. B. Hosford on the western ridges during the same period. They are
common, Mr. Boardman states, in the thick woods about Calais, through
all the breeding-season.

In Jamaica, during the winter, it exclusively frequents the edges of
tall woods in unfrequented mountainous localities. They are found in
that island from October 7 until the 9th of April. Mr. Gosse, who has
closely observed their habits during winter, speaks of their playing
together with much spirit for half an hour at a time, chasing each
other swiftly round and round, occasionally dodging through the
bushes, and uttering at intervals a pebbly _cheep_. They never remain
long alighted, and are difficult to kill. Restlessness is their great
characteristic. They often alight transversely on the long pendent
vines or slender trees, hopping up and down without a moment’s
intermission, pecking at insects. They are usually very plump and fat.

De la Sagra states that this bird occasionally breeds in Cuba, young
birds having been killed that had evidently been hatched there. The
record of this Warbler, as presented by different authors, is
apparently inconsistent and contradictory: rare with some observers,
abundant with others; remaining in Jamaica until well into April, yet
common in South Carolina in March, and even appearing in Massachusetts
in midwinter; supposed to breed in the highlands of Cuba, yet, except
in the case of the nest taken near Halifax, its manner of breeding was
unknown until lately. It is probably rare in lowlands everywhere, and
nowhere common except among mountains, and, while able to endure an
inclement season where food is abundant, is influenced in its
migratory movements by instinctive promptings to change its quarters
entirely in reference to a supply of food, and not by the temperature
merely. Its presence in Boston in winter was of course a singular
accident; but its plump condition, and its contented stay so long as
its supply of food was abundant, sufficiently attested its ability to
endure severe weather for at least a limited period, and while its
food was not wanting. Mr. Trippe states that these birds reach
Northern New Jersey during the first week of May, and stay a whole
month, remaining there longer than any other species. At first they
have no note but a simple chirp; but, before they leave, the males are
said to have a singular drawling song of four or five notes.

Mr. Paine states that this Warbler is a resident, but not very common
bird, in Randolph, Vt. He has usually noticed it in the midst of thick
woods, not generally in tall trees, but among the lower branches or in
bushes. The song he describes as very short and insignificant, its
tones sharp and wiry, and not to be heard at any great distance. He
knows nothing as to its nest. They arrive at Randolph from the South
about the middle of May.

We are indebted to Mr. John Burroughs for all the knowledge we possess
in relation to the nest and eggs of this species, which had previously
baffled the search of other naturalists. He was so fortunate as to
meet with their nest in the summer of 1871. Early in July, in company
with his nephew, Mr. C. B. Deyoe, Mr. Burroughs visited the same
woods, in Roxbury, Delaware County, N. Y., in which he had in a
previous year found the nest of the Mourning Ground Warbler. The trees
were mostly hemlock, with an undergrowth of birch and beech. They
first noticed the parent birds with food in their bills, and then set
about deliberately to find their nest by watching their movements. But
the birds were equally vigilant, and watched them quite as
determinedly. “It was diamond cut diamond.” They were so suspicious,
that, after loading their beaks with food, they would swallow it
themselves, rather than run the risk of betraying their secret by
approaching the nest. They even apparently attempted to mislead them
by being very private and confidential at a point some distance from
the nest. The two watched the birds for over an hour, when the
mosquitoes made it too hot for them to hold out any longer, and they
made a rush upon the ground, determined to hunt it over inch by inch.
The birds then manifested the greatest consternation, and when, on
leaping over an old log, the young sprang out with a scream, but a few
feet from them, the distracted pair fairly threw themselves under
their very feet. The male bird trailed his bright new plumage in the
dust; and his much more humbly clad mate was, if anything, more
solicitous and venturesome, coming within easy reach. The nest was
placed in the fork of a small hemlock, about fifteen inches from the
ground. There were four, and perhaps five, young in the nest, and one
egg unhatched, which, on blowing, proved to have been fresh.

The nest measures three and a half inches in diameter, and a trifle
more than two in height. The cavity is broad and deep, two and a third
inches in diameter at the rim, and one and a half deep. Its base and
periphery are loose aggregations of strips of decayed inner bark from
dead deciduous trees, chiefly basswood, strengthened by fine twigs,
rootlets, and bits of wood and bark. Within this is a firm, compact,
well-woven nest, made by an elaborate interweaving of slender roots
and twigs, hair, fine pine-needles, and similar materials.

The egg is oval in shape, less obtuse, but not pointed, at one end,
with a grayish-white ground, pinkish when unblown, and marked around
the larger end with a wreath, chiefly of a bright umber-brown with
lighter markings of reddish-brown and obscure purple.  A few smaller
dottings of the same are sparingly distributed over the rest of the
egg. Its measurements are .70 by .50 of an inch. It more nearly
resembles the eggs of the _D. maculosa_ than any other, is about five
per cent larger, a little more oblong, and the spots differ in their
reddish and purplish tinge, so far as one specimen may be taken as a
criterion.


Dendroica olivacea, SCLAT.

OLIVE-HEADED WARBLER.

  _Sylvia olivacea_, GIRAUD, Birds Texas, 1841, 14, pl. vii, fig. 2.—
    SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1855, 66. _Sylvicola olivacea_, CASSIN, Ill.
    Birds Texas, etc. 1855, 283, pl. xlviii. _Rhimamphus olivaceus_,
    SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1856, 291 (Cordova). _Dendroica olivacea_,
    SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1858, 298 (Oaxaca; cold region).—IB. P. Z. S.
    1859, 363 (Jalapa).—IB. Catal. 1861, 31, no. 190.—BAIRD, Rev. Am.
    B. 1864, 205. _Sylvia tæniata_, DUBUS, Bull. Acad. Brux. XIV,
    1847, 104.—IB. Rev. Z. 1848, 245. _Sylvicola tæniata_, BON. Consp.
    1850, 309.

SP. CHAR. Head and neck all round, with jugulum, brownish-saffron,
with a greenish tinge on the nape. Rest of upper parts ashy. Middle
and tips of greater wing-coverts white, forming two bands on the wing;
a third white patch at the bases of the primaries (except the outer
two), and extending forwards along the outer edges. Secondaries edged
externally with olive-green. Inner webs of quills conspicuously edged
with white. Under parts, except as described, white, tinged with
brownish on the sides; a narrow frontal band, and a broad stripe from
this through eye and over ear-coverts, black. Outer tail-feather
white, except at base and towards tip; greater portion of inner web of
next feather also white, much more restricted on the third. Length,
4.60; wing, 2.88; tail, 2.15; tarsus, .75.

A female specimen (14,369), perhaps also in autumnal plumage, has the
saffron replaced by clear yellowish, except on the top of head and
nape, which are olive-green. The black frontal and lateral bands are
replaced by whitish, leaving only a dusky patch on the ears.

HAB. Mexico (both coasts to the southward); Guatemala.

This species is given by Mr. Giraud as occurring in Texas, but it is
possible that he may have been misled as to the true locality. It may,
however, be yet detected along the southern border of the United
States.

Nothing is known of its habits.


Dendroica nigrescens, BAIRD.

BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER.

  _Sylvia nigrescens_, TOWNSEND, J. A. N. Sc. VII, II, 1837, 191
    (Columbia River).—AUD. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 57, pl. cccxcv.
    _Vermivora nig._ BON.; NUTT. _Sylvicola nig._ AUD. Birds Am. II,
    pl. xciv. _Rhimanphus nig._ CAB. 1850. _Dendroica nig._ BAIRD,
    Birds N. Am. 1858, 270; Rev. 186.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1858, 298;
    1859, 374 (Oaxaca; high mountains in March).—HEERMANN, P. R. R.
    Rep. X, iv, 40.—COOPER & SUCKLEY, P. R. R. Rep. XII, ii, 1859,
    180.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 90. _? Sylvia halseii_, GIRAUD,
    Birds Texas, 1838, pl. iii, fig. 1, ♀ (suggested by Sclater).

SP. CHAR. Head all round, forepart of the breast, and streaks on the
side of the body, black; rest of under parts, a stripe on the side of
the head, beginning acutely just above the middle of the eye, and
another parallel to it, beginning at the base of the under jaw (the
stripes of opposite sides confluent on the chin), and running further
back, white. A yellow spot in front of the eye. Rest of upper parts
bluish-gray. The interscapular region and upper tail-coverts streaked
with black. Wing-coverts black, with two narrow white bands; quills
and tail-feathers brown, the two outer of the latter white, with the
shafts and a terminal streak brown; the third brown, with a terminal
narrow white streak. Bill black; feet brown. Length, 4.70; wing, 2.30;
tail, 2.10.

HAB. Western and Middle Provinces of United States. Migratory
southward into Western Mexico (Oaxaca); Orizaba (winter, SUMICHRAST).

Female (53,373, East Humboldt Mountains, Nev., July 14). Similar to
the male, but crown ash medially streaked with black, instead of
continuous black; the streaks on back narrow and inconspicuous; the
black of the throat confined to the jugulum, appearing in spots only
on anterior half. A young female (No. 53,376, East Humboldt Mountains,
August 10) is plain brownish-ash above, lacking entirely the streaks
on the back, and those on sides of crown extremely obsolete. There is
no black whatever on throat or jugulum, which, with the well-defined
supra-loral stripe and lower parts in general, are soiled white, more
brownish laterally. The other features, including the yellow spot over
the lores, with the wing and tail markings, are much as in the adult.
A young male (53,375), same locality and date, differs from the last
in having the sides of the crown black, and the throat-patch almost
complete, but much hidden by the broad white borders to the feathers.
An adult autumnal male (7,690, Calaveras River) is like the spring
adult, but the ash is overspread by brownish, nearly obliterating the
dorsal streaks, and dividing the black of the crown; the black
throat-patch is perfectly defined, but much obscured by white borders
to the feathers.

HABITS. The Black-throated Gray or Dusky Warbler, so far as is now
known, belongs to the Western and Middle Provinces, occurring
certainly as far to the south as San Diego, in California, and as far
to the north as Fort Steilacoom, in Washington Territory, penetrating
in winter into Mexico. The most easterly localities in which it has
been met with are in Arizona and New Mexico. The Smithsonian
Institution has received specimens also from Columbia River,
Calaveras, Cal., and Fort Defiance.

This species was first obtained and described by Mr. Townsend, who
found it abundant in the forests of the Columbia, where it breeds and
remains until nearly winter. Its nest, which he there met with,
resembles that of _Parula americana_, only it is made of the long and
fibrous green moss, or _Usnea_, peculiar to that region, and is placed
among the upper branches of oak-trees, suspended between two small
twigs.

Mr. Nuttall states that it arrives on the Columbia early in May, and
from the manner in which its song was delivered at intervals, in the
tops of deciduous trees, he had no doubt that they were breeding in
those forests as early as May 23. This song he describes as delicate,
but monotonous, uttered as it busily and intently searches every leafy
bough and expanding bud for insects and their larvæ in the spreading
oak, in which it utters its solitary notes. Its song is repeated at
short and regular intervals, and is said by Mr. Nuttall to bear some
resemblance to _t-shee-tshāy-tshaitshee_, varying the feeble sound
very little, and with the concluding note somewhat slenderly and
plaintively raised. Dr. Suckley speaks of this bird as moderately
abundant near Fort Steilacoom, generally met with on oaks, and very
much resembling _Dendroica auduboni_ in its habits. Its arrival there
he gives as occurring in the first week in April, or a month earlier
than stated by Nuttall.

Dr. Cooper met with a pair at Puget Sound that appeared to have a
nest, though he sought for it in vain. He describes its note as faint
and unvaried.

Dr. Coues met with this Warbler in the vicinity of Fort Whipple,
Arizona. He speaks of it as common there as a spring and autumn
migrant. He thinks that a few remain to breed. It arrives in that
Territory about April 20, and is found until late in September. It is
most common among the pine-trees, and in its general habits is stated
to resemble the new species _D. graciæ_.

Dr. Heermann found a few birds of this species near Sacramento, and
also on the range of mountains dividing the Calaveras and the
Mokelumne Rivers. During the survey by Lieutenant Williamson’s party,
Dr. Heermann met with a single specimen among the mountains, near the
summit of the Tejon Pass. It was in company with other small birds,
migrating southward, and gleaning its food from among the topmost
branches of the tallest oaks. He states that its notes closely
resemble the sounds of the locust.

Dr. Cooper states that these birds appear at San Diego by the 20th of
April, in small flocks migrating northward, and then uttering only a
faint chirp. They frequent low bushes along the coast, but as they
proceed farther north they take to the deciduous oaks as the leaves
begin to expand, early in May, at which time they reach the Columbia
River. He has never met with any in California after April.

Mr. Ridgway observed this species only in the pine and cedar woods of
the East Humboldt Mountains, where, in all probability, they were
breeding. He observed numerous families of young birds following their
parents in the months of July and August. He met with them only among
the cedars and the woods of the nut-pine, and never among the
brushwood of the cañons and ravines. He states that the common note of
this bird greatly resembles the sharp chirp of the _Dendroica
coronata_, and is louder and more distinct than that of _D. auduboni_.

Mr. A. Boucard obtained specimens of these birds at Oaxaca, Mexico,
during the winter months.


Dendroica chrysopareia, SCL. & SALV.

YELLOW-CHEEKED WARBLER.

  _Dendroica chrysopareia_, SCLATER & SALVIN, P. Z. S. 1860, 298.—IB.
   Ibis, 1860, 273 (Vera Paz, Guatemala).—IB. 1865.—DRESSER, Ibis,
   1865, 477.—BAIRD, Rev. Am. B. 1864, 183.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870,
   93.

SP. CHAR. (229, Salvin collection.) Head and body above black, the
feathers with olive-green edges, especially on the back, obscuring the
ground-color; rump clear black. Entire side of head (extending to
nostrils and on lower jaw), and the partially concealed bases of the
feathers on the median line of the forehead, yellow, with a narrow
black line from lores, through the eye, widening behind, but not
crossing through the yellow. Beneath, including inside of wings,
white; a large patch of black covering the chin and throat, and
occupying the entire space between the yellow patches of the two sides
of the head and neck, and extended along the sides in a series of
streaks. Feathers of crissum with black centres. Wings above ashy,
with two white bands across the coverts, the scapulars streaked with
blackish; first quill edged externally with white, the rest with gray.
Tail-feathers blackish, edged externally with ashy, the lateral with
white at the base. Outer tail-feather white on the inner web, except a
stripe along the shaft near the end; second similar, but the white not
reaching so far towards the base; third with a short patch of white in
the end. Bill and legs brownish-black. Bill unusually thick. Length,
4.50; wing, 2.50; tail, 2.40; tarsus, 2.75.

HAB. Vera Paz, Guatemala; San Antonio, and Medina River, Texas.
(HEERMANN and DRESSER.)

The capture of specimens of this species at San Antonio, Texas, by Dr.
Heermann, and on the Medina River by Mr. Dresser, entitles it to a
place in our fauna. The specimen described above is Mr. Salvin’s type.

HABITS. A single specimen is said to have been taken near San Antonio,
Texas, by Dr. Heermann. It is thought to be probably a bird belonging
to the fauna of Arizona and New Mexico, and is given hypothetically by
Dr. Cooper among the birds of California. In its appearance it
resembles _D. virens_, _D. townsendii_, and _D. occidentalis_. It was
originally described by Salvin from a single specimen obtained in
Guatemala. Another pair was afterward obtained by Mr. Salvin on the
highest point of the road between Salama and Tactic. In regard to its
habits, nothing is on record.


Dendroica virens, BAIRD.

BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER.

  _Motacilla virens_, GMELIN, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 985. _Sylvia virens_,
   LATH.; VIEILLOT; WILS. II; NUTT.; BON.; AUD. Orn. Biog. IV, pl.
   cccxcix.—GÄTKE, Naumannia, 1858, 423 (Heligoland, Europe, an
   original description). _Sylvicola virens_, SW.; AUD. Birds Am. II,
   pl. lxxxiv.—REINHARDT, Vid. Med. for 1853, 1854, 72, 81
   (Greenland). _Rhimanphus virens_, CAB. Mus. Hein. Jour. III, 1855,
   474 (Cuba; winter).—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1856, 291 (Cordova).
   _Dendroica virens_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 267; Rev.
   182.—SCLATER & SALVIN, Ibis, 1859, 1 (Guatemala).—SCLATER, P. Z. S.
   1859, 363 (Oaxaca?); 373 (Xalapa); Ibis, 1865, 89.—LAWRENCE, Ann.
   N. Y. Lyc. VII, 1861, 293 (Panama).—GUNDL. Cab. Jour. 1861, 326
   (Cuba).—DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 232.—SAMUELS, 222. _Mniotilta virens_,
   REINHARDT, Ibis, III, 1861, 5 (Julianhaab, Greenland).

SP. CHAR. Male. Upper parts, exclusive of wing and tail, clear yellow
olive-green; the feathers of the back with hidden streaks of black.
Forehead and sides of head and neck, including a superciliary stripe,
bright yellow. A dusky olive line from the bill through the eye, and
another below it. Chin, throat, and forepart of the breast, extending
some distance along on the sides, continuous black; rest of under
parts white, tinged with yellow on the breast and flanks. Wings and
tail-feathers dark brown, edged with bluish-gray; two white bands on
the wing; the greater part of the three outer tail-feathers white.
_Female_ similar, but duller; the throat yellow; the black of breast
much concealed by white edges; the sides streaked with black. Length,
5 inches; wing, 2.58; tail, 2.30.

HAB. Eastern Province of United States; Greenland; Heligoland, Europe;
south to Panama R. R. In Mexico, Xalapa, Cordova, and Oaxaca? Cuba
alone in West Indies. Mexico (everywhere in winter, SUMICHRAST).

The autumnal male has the black of throat and breast obscured by
whitish tips. Females are yellowish-white beneath, tinged with grayish
towards the tail.

As shown in the generic chapter, _D. virens_ is the type of a section
of olivaceous Warblers with black chin and throat. The following more
elaborate diagnoses of the group may facilitate its study, the species
being quite closely related:—

COMMON CHARACTERS. Upper parts more or less olivaceous-green, with the
feathers streaked centrally with black (sometimes concealed). Sides of
head yellow. Chin and throat black; rest of the under parts, including
inside of wings, white, with or without yellow on breast. Wings with
two white bands. Inner web of lateral tail-feather almost entirely
white from the base.

  Above bright olive-green with concealed black streaks;
  tail-coverts ashy. Sides conspicuously streaked with black;
  crissum unspotted. Jugulum sometimes faintly tinged with
  yellowish. An obscure dusky-olive stripe through the eye, and a
  crescentic patch of the same some distance beneath it …
                                                            _virens_.

  Above olivaceous-ashy (rump pure ash), with more distinct black
  spots. Top and sides of head clear yellow, the feathers of the
  crown tipped with black, or clouded with dusky plumbeous. No
  dark markings or stripes on side of head. No distinct black
  streaks beneath; black of throat restricted to front of neck …
                                                      _occidentalis_.

  Prevailing color of upper parts black, with olivaceous edgings
  on the back; rump and upper tail-covert pure black. Sides and
  crissum streaked with black. A simple black stripe through the
  eye; no patch beneath it …                          _chrysopareia_.

  Above olive-green. Upper tail-coverts ashy, with central black
  streaks. Feathers of head above black, with olive-green edges.
  A broad olivaceous black stripe through eye from lores,
  involving the ears, in which is a yellowish crescentic patch
  below the eye. Black feathers of throat and chin edged with
  yellow. Jugulum and sides of breast also yellow. Sides streaked
  with black. No distinct black streaks on crissum …    _townsendii_.

HABITS.—The Black-throated Green Warbler, like nearly all the members
of this highly interesting genus, has, to a very great degree, escaped
the closer observations of our older ornithologists. Wilson only
noticed it as it passed through Pennsylvania in its early spring
migrations. He mentions its frequenting the higher branches of forest
trees in search of the larvæ of the smaller insects that feed upon the
opening buds, and describes it as a lively, active bird, having only a
few chirping notes. All had passed on by the 12th of May. Their return
he was never able to notice, and he became afterwards satisfied that a
few remained all the summer in the higher grounds of that State,
having obtained several in June, 1809.

Audubon met with this bird from Newfoundland to Texas, but never found
it breeding. Nowhere abundant, there were large tracts of country
where he never met with it, or where it was of rare occurrence. He
found it most abundant in the vicinity of Eastport, Me. He also met
with it during summer, in New England generally, Northern
Pennsylvania, and New York, but not in Labrador. He describes its
habits as a mingling of those of the Warblers and of the Vireo, and
its notes as resembling those of the latter. In its search for food he
found it quite regardless of the near presence of man. In its spring
migrations it passes through the woods usually in pairs, in the fall
reappearing in flocks of six or seven. In breeding it occurs only in
single pairs, and each pair appropriates to itself a large tract of
territory within which no other is usually found. After October, all
have passed beyond the limits of the United States.

During the winter months it appears to be quite common in different
parts of Mexico and Central America. In the large collection of
Guatemalan skins collected by Dr. Van Patten, and purchased by the
Boston Natural History Society, this bird was one of the most abundant
of the migratory species. Specimens were taken by Mr. Boucard at Playa
Vicente, in the hot country of Oaxaca, Mexico.

Dr. Woodhouse found this Warbler common in the Indian Territory and in
Texas, and Lieutenant Couch met with it in Tamaulipas, Mexico, in
March, 1853. With these exceptions it has not been observed in any of
the government surveys, or found west of the valley of the Rio Grande.
Besides the points named, it has been obtained in Ohio, Illinois,
Missouri, and in the West Indies, in Central and in the northern
portions of South America. Reinhardt gives it as accidental in
Greenland. A single stray specimen was obtained in Heligoland, Europe,
October 19, 1858.

Mr. Paine, of Randolph, Vt., notes the arrival of this bird about the
10th of May. He speaks of it as a very sweet singer, and as usually
seen in the tops of tall trees, the hemlock being its favorite resort.
There it chants its sweet sad notes through even the heat of the day.
It continues in song nearly throughout the summer. Later in the season
it frequents the open fields, in which it is seldom seen in the
breeding-season. Its food, which it catches on the wing in the manner
of Vireos, consists of the smaller winged insects, caterpillars, and
other larvæ. In the fall, according to Mr. Audubon, it feeds upon
various kinds of small berries.

It reaches Massachusetts the first of May, and is most numerous about
the 15th, when the larger proportion pass farther north. In Western
Maine, Professor Verrill states it to be a summer but not a common
visitant; and near Calais, Mr. Boardman has found it breeding, but
does not regard it as at all common, though in the year 1867 he found
it quite abundant in the thick woods in that neighborhood during its
breeding-season. Dr. Bryant also speaks of it as one of the most
common of the Warblers observed by him near Yarmouth, N. S. A single
specimen was taken at Julianhaab, Greenland, in 1853, and sent to the
Royal Museum of Copenhagen.

In the vicinity of Boston, especially in the high grounds of Norfolk
and Essex Counties, it is a not uncommon species, and its nests are
found in certain favorite localities. Nuttall regards May 12 as the
average of their first appearance. Busy, quiet, and unsuspicious of
man, they were seen by him, collecting, in early October, in small
groups, and moving restlessly through the forests preparatory to
departing south. June 8, 1830, he found a nest of this species in a
solitary situation among the Blue Hills of Milton, Mass. The nest was
in a low and stunted juniper (a very unusual location). As he
approached, the female remained motionless on the edge of the nest, in
such a manner as to be mistaken for a young bird. She then darted to
the ground, and, moving away expertly, disappeared. The nest contained
four eggs, which he describes as white inclining to flesh-color,
variegated at the larger end with pale purplish points interspersed
with brown and black. The nest was formed of fine strips of the inner
bark of the juniper, and tough white fibrous bark of other plants,
lined with soft feathers and the slender tops of grass. The male
bird was singing his simple chant, resembling the syllables
_tē-dē-teritsé-a_, pronounced loud and slow, at the distance of a
quarter of a mile from the nest. He describes his song as simple,
drawling, and plaintive. He was constantly interrupting his song to
catch small flies, keeping up a perpetual snapping of his bill.

Several nests of this bird, given me by Mr. George O. Welch of Lynn,
have been found by him in high trees in thick woods on the western
borders of that city. They are all small, snug, compact structures,
built on a base of fine strips of bark, bits of leaves, and stems of
plants. The upper rims are a circular intertwining of fine slender
twigs, interwoven with a few fine stems of the most delicate grasses.
The inner portions of these nests are very softly and warmly bedded
with the fine down and silky stems of plants. They have a diameter of
three and a quarter inches, and a height of one and a half. The cavity
is two inches in diameter, and one and a half in depth. The eggs
measure .70 by .50 of an inch, have a white or purplish-white ground,
and are blotched and dotted with markings of reddish and purplish
brown, diffused over the entire egg, but more numerous about the
larger end. One end is much more pointed than the other.


Dendroica townsendi, BAIRD.

TOWNSEND’S WARBLER.

  _Sylvia townsendi_, “NUTTALL,” TOWNSEND, J. A. N. Sc. VII, II, 1837,
    191.—AUD. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, pl. cccxciii. _Sylvicola t._ BON.;
    AUD. Birds Am. II, 1841, pl. xcii. _Dendroica t._ BAIRD, Birds N.
    Am. 1858, 269; Rev. 185.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1858, 298 (Oaxaca; high
    lands in winter); 1859, 374 (Totontepec; winter); Ibis, 1865,
    89.—SCLATER & SALVIN, Ibis, 1859, 11 (Guatemala).—COOPER &
    SUCKLEY, P. R. R. XII, II, 1859, 179 (Cal.).—TURNBULL, Birds of
    East Penn., etc. 1869, 42.—SUNDEVAL, Ofvers. 1869, 610
    (Sitka).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 91.

SP. CHAR. _Spring male._ Above bright olive-green; the feathers all
black in the centre, showing more or less as streaks, especially on
the crown, where the black predominates. Quills, tail, and upper
tail-covert feathers dark brown, edged with bluish-gray; the wings
with two white bands on the coverts; the two outer tail-feathers white
with a brown streak near the end; a white streak only in the end of
the third feather. Under parts as far as the middle of the body, with
the sides of head and neck, including a superciliary stripe and a spot
beneath the eye, yellow; the median portion of the side of the head,
the chin and throat, with streaks on the sides of the breast, flanks,
and under tail-coverts, black; the remainder of the under parts white.
Length, 5 inches; wing, 2.65; tail, 2.25.

_Spring female._ Resembling the male, but the black patch on the
throat replaced by irregular blotches upon a pure yellow ground.

HAB. Western Province of United States, north to Sitka; Mexico, into
Guatemala. Migratory. Accidental near Philadelphia.

The autumnal adult male is much like the spring female, but the black
throat-patch is perfectly defined, though much obscured by the yellow
edges of the feathers, instead of broken into small blotches. The
young male in autumn is similar in general appearance, but there are
no streaks above, except on the crown, where they are mostly
concealed; the stripe on side of head is olivaceous, instead of black;
and nearly all the black on the throat is concealed.

A fine adult male of this species was taken near Philadelphia, Penn.,
in the spring of 1868, and is now in the collection of the late W. P.
Turnbull, Esq., of that city.

HABITS. In regard to the habits of this very rare Western Warbler very
little is as yet positively known, and nothing whatever has been
ascertained as to its nesting or eggs. The species was first met with
by Mr. Townsend, October 28, 1835, on the banks of the Columbia River,
and was named by Mr. Nuttall in honor of its discoverer. It is spoken
of by these gentlemen as having been a transient visitor only,
stopping but a few days, on its way north, to recruit and feed,
previous to its departing for the higher latitudes in which it spends
the breeding-season. It is, however, quite as probable that they
disperse by pairs into solitary places, where for a while they escape
observation. When the season again compels them to migrate, they
reappear on the same path, only this time in small and silent flocks,
as they slowly move toward their winter quarters. These birds also are
chiefly to be found in the tops of the loftiest firs and other
evergreens of the forests, where it is almost impossible to procure
them.

Dr. Cooper observed one of this species at Shoalwater Bay, December
20, 1854. It was in company with a flock of Titmice and other small
birds. The following year, in November, he saw a small flock in
California, frequenting the willows in a low wet meadow, and was so
fortunate as to procure a pair.

Ridgway met with it in the East Humboldt Mountains, where it was
rather common in September, inhabiting the thickets of aspens, alders,
etc., along the streams.

Mr. P. L. Sclater obtained several fine specimens of this Warbler from
the west coast of Central America, and Mr. Salvin found it a winter
visitant at Duenas, where he met with it even more frequently than the
_Dendroica virens_, with which he found it associated. Skins were
found among the birds taken by Dr. Van Patten in Guatemala. A single
specimen has been taken in Pennsylvania.

Mr. A. Boucard obtained specimens of this species in the mountainous
district of Totontepec, in the State of Oaxaca, Mexico.


Dendroica occidentalis, BAIRD.

WESTERN WARBLER.

  _Sylvia occidentalis_, TOWNSEND, J. A. N. Sc. VII, ii, 1837, 190
    (Columbia River).—IB. Narrative, 1839, 340.—AUD. Orn. Biog. V, pl.
    lv. _Sylvicola occ._ BON.; AUD. Birds Am. II, pl. xciii.
    _Dendroica occ._ BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 268; Rev. 183.—COOPER &
    SUCKLEY, R. R. Rep. XII, ii, 1859, 178 (N. W. coast).—COOPER, Orn.
    Cal. 1, 1870, 92. _Dendroica chrysopareia_, SCLATER, P. Z. S.
    1862, 19 (La Parada, Mex.) (not of P. Z. S. 1860, 19); Ibis, 1865,
    89; 1866, 191. _Dendroica niveiventris_, SALVIN, P. Z. S. May 26,
    1863, 187, pl. xxiv, fig. 2 (Guatemala).

SP. CHAR. _Spring male._ Crown with sides of the head and neck
continuous bright yellow, feathers of the former edged narrowly with
black; rest of upper parts dark brown, edged with bluish-gray, so much
so on the back and rump feathers as to obscure the brown, and with an
olivaceous shade. Chin, throat, and forepart of breast (ending
convexly behind in a subcrescentic outline), with the nape, black;
rest of under parts white, very faintly streaked on the sides with
black. Two white bands on the wing, two outer tail-feathers, and the
terminal portion of a third, white; the shafts, and an internal streak
towards the end, dark brown. Bill jet-black; legs brown. Length, 4.70;
wing, 2.70; tail, 2.30.

_Spring female._ Similar, but duller gray above; the yellow of the
head less extended, and the throat whitish spotted with dusky.

HAB. Western Province of United States and Mexico (Moyapam, winter,
SUMICHRAST) to Guatemala. Not seen at Cape St. Lucas.

An autumnal adult male (30,681, Guatemala, December, received from Mr.
Salvin, and a type specimen of his “_niveiventris_”) is much like the
spring male, having the throat wholly black, the feathers, however,
faintly margined with whitish; there are no black spots on the crown,
but, instead, an olivaceous stain; the nape is olivaceous instead of
black, and the black centres to dorsal feathers more concealed; the
ash above is less pure, and there is no trace of streaks on the sides.
A female (autumnal?)—38,141—from Orizaba, Mexico, is grayish-olivaceous
above, including the whole top of the head, except beneath the
surface; the feathers on top of head have conspicuous black centres,
but there are none on the back; the sides of the head, and the bases
of the feathers on its top, are soiled yellow; the throat is dirty
white, with the feathers dusky beneath the surface; the breast and
sides have a strong brownish tinge. Another female, and an autumnal
one (probably of the year), is more brown above, the specks on the top
of the head exceedingly minute; there are also obscure streaks along
the sides, where there is a strong brownish tinge.

HABITS. The Western or Hermit Wood Warbler, so far as known, is
limited in its distribution to the Pacific coast from Central America
to Washington Territory. Specimens procured from Volcan de Fuego,
Mexico, Arizona, and California, are in the collection of the
Smithsonian Institution. But little is positively known as to its
history or habits. Nuttall, who first met with it in the forests on
the banks of the Columbia, had no doubt that it breeds in the dark
forests bordering on that river. He described it as a remarkably shy
and solitary bird, retiring into the darkest and most silent recesses
of the evergreens, and apparently living among the loftiest branches
of the gigantic firs of that region. In consequence of its peculiar
habits it was with extreme difficulty that his party could get a sight
of this retiring species. Its song, which he frequently heard from
these high tree-tops at very regular intervals for an hour or two at a
time, he describes as a faint, moody, and monotonous note, delivered
when the bird is at rest on some lofty twig, and within convenient
hearing of its mate.

Mr. Townsend, who was one of the same party, shot a pair of these
birds near Fort Vancouver, May 28, 1835. They were flitting among the
tops of the pine-trees in the depths of the forest, where he
frequently saw them hanging from the twigs, in the manner of Titmice.
Their notes, uttered at different intervals, he describes as very
similar to those of the Black-throated Blue Warbler (_D.
cærulescens_).

Dr. Suckley obtained, June, 1856, two specimens at Fort Steilacoom. He
also describes them as very shy, feeding and spending most of their
time in the tops of the highest firs, so high up as to be almost out
of the reach of fine shot. The species he regards as not at all rare
on the Pacific coast, but only difficult of procuring, on account of
the almost inaccessible nature of its haunts.

Dr. Coues procured a single specimen of this species in Arizona early
in September. It was taken in thick scrub-oak bushes. He thinks it may
be a summer resident of that Territory, but, if so, very rare.

A single specimen was also obtained at Petuluma, Cal., by Mr. Emanuel
Samuels, May 1, 1856.

It was also observed, August 29, by Mr. Ridgway,
among the bushes of a cañon among the East Humboldt Mountains. He
describes its single note as a lisped _pzeet_.

Three individuals of this species were collected by Mr. Boucard in
Southern Mexico in 1862, and were referred by Dr. Sclater to _D.
chrysopœia_ (P. Z. S., 1862, p. 19). Subsequently Mr. Salvin described
as a new species, under the name of _D. niveiventris_, other
individuals of the _D. occidentalis_ obtained by him in Guatemala. The
true specific relations of the specimens both from Southern Mexico and
Central America have since been made clear by Dr. Sclater, Ibis, 1865,
p. 87, enabling us to give this species as a winter visitant of the
countries above named. Mr. Salvin states (Ibis, 1866, p. 191) that
these birds were found in most of the elevated districts where pines
abound. He procured specimens in the Volcan de Fuego, in the hills
above the Plain of Salama, and near the mines of Alotepeque.


Dendroica pinus, BAIRD.

PINE-CREEPING WARBLER.

  _Sylvia pinus_, WILS. Am. Orn. III, 1811, 25, pl. xix, fig. 4.—BON.;
    NUTT.—AUD. Orn. Biog. II, pl. cxi. _Thryothorus pinus_, STEPH.
    _Sylvicola pinus_, JARD.; RICH.; BON.; AUD. Birds Am. II, pl.
    lxxxii.—JONES, Nat. Bermuda, 1859, 59 (abundant in Oct.).
    _Rhimanphus pinus_, BON. _Dendroica pinus_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am.
    1858, 277; Rev. 190.—SCLATER, Catal. 1861, 31, no. 189.—COUES, Pr.
    A. N. Sc. 1861, 220 (Labrador coast).—SAMUELS, 229.—BRYANT, Pr.
    Bost. Soc. 1867, 67 (Inagua). _Sylvia vigorsii_, AUD. Orn. Biog.
    I, 1832, 153, pl. xxx. _Vireo vigorsii_. NUTT.

SP. CHAR. _Spring male._ Upper parts nearly uniform and clear
olive-green, the feathers of the crown with rather darker shafts.
Under parts generally, except the middle of the belly behind, and
under tail-coverts (which are white), bright gamboge-yellow, with
obsolete streaks of dusky on the sides of the breast and body. Sides
of head and neck olive-green like the back, with a broad superciliary
stripe; the eyelids and a spot beneath the eye very obscurely yellow;
wings and tail brown; the feathers edged with dirty white, and two
bands of the same across the coverts. Inner web of the first
tail-feather with nearly the terminal half, of the second with nearly
the terminal third, dull inconspicuous white. Length, 5.50; wing,
3.00; tail, 2.40. (1,356.)

_Spring female._ Similar, but more grayish above, and almost
grayish-white, with a tinge of yellow beneath, instead of bright
yellow. _Young._ Umber-brown above, and dingy pale ashy beneath, with
a slight yellowish tinge on the abdomen. Wing and tail much as in the
autumnal adult.

HAB. Eastern Province of United States, north to Massachusetts;
winters in United States. Not recorded in West Indies or Middle
America (except Bahamas and Bermuda?).

Autumnal males are much like spring individuals, but the yellow
beneath is softer and somewhat richer, and the olive above overlaid
with a reddish-umber tint.

HABITS. The Pine-creeping Warbler is found more or less abundantly
throughout the United States from the Atlantic to the Valley of the
Mississippi. Dr. Woodhouse states that it is common in Texas and New
Mexico. It was not, however, met with by any other of the government
exploring parties. Dr. Gerhardt found it quite common in Northern
Georgia, where it remains all the winter, and where it breeds very
early in the season. On the 19th of April he found a nest of these
birds with nearly full-grown young. It has not been found in Maine by
Professor Verrill nor by Mr. Boardman, nor in Nova Scotia by
Lieutenant Bland. Mr. Allen has found it breeding abundantly in the
western part of Massachusetts, where it is one of the earliest
Warblers to arrive, and where it remains until October. In 1861 they
were abundant in the pine woods near Springfield as early as April 4,
although the ground at that time was covered with snow. During the
last weeks of April and the early part of May they frequent the open
fields, obtaining much of their food from the ground in company with
_D. palmarum_, the habits of which, at this time, it closely follows.
Later in the season they retire to the pine forests, where they remain
almost exclusively throughout the summer, chiefly on the tops of the
tallest trees. For a few weeks preceding the first of October they
again come about the orchards and fields. In its winter migrations it
does not appear to leave this country, and has not been found in any
of the West India Islands, in Mexico, nor in South or Central America.
It breeds sparingly in Southern Illinois.

Mr. Jones found these birds numerous in Bermuda late in September, but
they all disappeared a few weeks later. Dr. Bryant found them at
Inagua, Bahamas.

Wilson first noticed this Warbler in the pine woods of the Southern
States, where he found it resident all the year. He describes it as
running along the bark of pine-trees, though occasionally alighting
and feeding on the ground. When disturbed, it always flies up and
clings to the trunks of trees. The farther south, the more numerous he
found it. Its principal food is the seeds of the Southern pitch-pine
and various kinds of insects. It was associated in flocks of thirty in
the depths of the pine barrens, easily recognized by their manner of
rising from the ground and alighting on the trunks of trees.

Audubon also speaks of this bird as the most abundant of its tribe. He
met with them on the sandy barrens of East Florida on the St. John’s
River early in February, at which period they already had nests. In
their habits he regarded them as quite closely allied to the Creepers,
ascending the trunks and larger branches of trees, hopping along the
bark searching for concealed larvæ. At one moment it moves sideways
along a branch a few steps, then stops and moves in another direction,
carefully examining each twig. It is active and restless, generally
searching for insects among the leaves and blossoms of the pine, or in
the crevices of the bark, but occasionally pursuing them on the wing.
It is found exclusively in low lands, never in mountainous districts,
and chiefly near the sea.

Its nest is usually placed at considerable height, sometimes fifty
feet or more from the ground, and is usually fastened to the twigs of
a small branch. In Massachusetts it has but a single brood in a
season, but at the South it is said to have three.

The flight of this Warbler is short, and exhibits undulating curves of
great elegance. Its song is described as monotonous, consisting merely
of continuous and tremulous sounds. Mr. Audubon found none beyond New
Brunswick, and it has never been found in Nova Scotia so far as I am
aware.

Both old and young birds remain in Massachusetts until late in
October, and occasionally birds are seen as far to the north as
Philadelphia in midwinter. At this season they abound in the pine
forests of the Southern States, where they are at that time the most
numerous of the Warblers, and where some are to be found throughout
the year.

In the summer their food consists of the larvæ and eggs of certain
kinds of insects. In the autumn they frequent the Southern gardens,
feeding on the berries of the cornel, the box grape, and other small
fruit. Mr. Nuttall states that their song is deficient both in
compass and in variety, though not disagreeable. At times, he states,
it approaches the simpler trills of the canary; but is usually
a reverberating, gently rising or murmuring sound like
_er-r´-r´r´r´r´r´-ah_, or in the springtime like _twe twe-tw tw tw-tw
tw_, and sometimes like _tsh-tsh-tsh-tw-tw-tw-tw_, exhibiting a
pleasing variety in its cadences. The note of the female is not unlike
that of the Black and White Creeper.

On the 7th of June, Mr. Nuttall discovered a nest of this Warbler in a
Virginia juniper-tree in Mount Auburn, some forty feet from the
ground, and firmly fixed in the upright twigs of a close branch. It
was a thin but very neat structure. Its principal material was the old
and wiry stems of the _Polygonum tenue_, or knot-weed. These were
circularly interlaced and inter-wound with rough linty fibres of
asclepias and caterpillars’ webs. It was lined with a few bristles,
slender root-fibres, a mat of the down of fern-stalks, and a few
feathers. Mr. Nuttall saw several of these nests, all made in a
similar manner. The eggs in the nest described were four, and far
advanced towards hatching. They were white, with a slight tinge of
green, and were freely sprinkled with small pale-brown spots, most
numerous at the larger end, where they were aggregated on a more
purplish ground. The female made some slight complaint, but
immediately returned to the nest, though two of the eggs had been
taken.

Mr. Nuttall kept a male of this species in confinement. It at once
became very tame, fed gratefully from the hand, from the moment it was
caught, on flies, small earthworms, and minced flesh, and would sit
contentedly on any hand, walking directly into a dish of water offered
for drink, without any precautions, or any signs of fear.

Mr. J. G. Shute found a nest of these Warblers in Woburn as early as
May 8. It contained four eggs, the incubation of which had commenced.
Three other nests were also found by him in the same locality, all of
them between the 8th and the 24th of May, and all built on branches of
the red pine and near the top. Several nests of this Warbler, found in
Lynn, Mass., by Mr. George O. Welch, are alike in their mode of
construction, and differ in their materials from other accounts. They
are all somewhat loosely put together, and are composed externally of
fine strips of the bark of the red cedar, fine inner bark of several
deciduous trees, dry stalks of plants, the exuviæ of insects, and fine
dry grasses. The cavities of these nests, which are comparatively
large and deep, were lined with the fur of the smaller mammals, the
silky down of plants, and feathers. A few fine wiry roots were also
intermingled. These nests are about two and a half inches in height
and three in diameter.

The eggs of this Warbler are of a rounded oval shape, have an average
length of .72 of an inch, and a breadth of .55. They resemble in size
and appearance the eggs of the _D. castanea_, but the spots are more
numerous, and the blotches larger and more generally distributed. The
ground-color is a bluish-white. Scattered over this are subdued
tintings of a fine delicate shade of purple, and upon this are
distributed dots and blotches of a dark purplish-brown, mingled with a
few lines almost black.


Dendroica montana, BAIRD.

BLUE MOUNTAIN WARBLER.

  _Sylvia montana_, WILS. Am. Orn. V, 1812, 113, pl. xliv, fig. 2
    (“Blue Mountains of Pennsylvania”).—AUD. Orn. Biog. V, 294
    (“California”!) _Sylvicola montana_, JARD.; AUD. Birds Am. II,
    1841, 69, pl. xcviii. _Dendroica montana_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am.
    1858, 279; Rev. 190. _Sylvia tigrina_, VIEILL. Ois. Am. Sept. II,
    1807, 34, pl. xciv (U. S. and St. Domingo).

SP. CHAR. This species is four inches and three quarters in length;
the upper parts a rich yellow-olive; front, cheeks, and chin yellow,
also the sides of the neck; breast and belly pale yellow, streaked
with black or dusky; vent plain pale yellow. Wings black; first and
second rows of coverts broadly tipped with pale yellowish-white;
tertials the same; the rest of the quills edged with whitish. Tail
black, handsomely rounded, edged with pale olive; the two exterior
feathers on each side white on the inner vanes from the middle to the
tips, and edged on the outer side with white. Bill dark brown. Legs
and feet purple-brown; soles yellow. Eye dark hazel. (Wilson.)

HAB. “Blue Mountains of Virginia.” St. Domingo?

This species is only known from the description of Wilson, Vieillot,
and Audubon, and we are not aware that a specimen is to be found in
any collection. If described correctly, it appears different from any
established species, although the most nearly related to _D. pinus_,
which, however, differs in the absence of a yellow frontlet, in having
a greener back, less distinct streaks beneath, and in the white of the
anal region.

HABITS. Whether the Blue Mountain Warbler is a genuine species or an
unfamiliar plumage of a bird better known to us in a different dress
is a question not altogether settled to the minds of some. It was
described by Wilson from a single specimen obtained near the Blue
Ridge of Virginia. Audubon found another in the collection of the
Zoölogical Society. From this he made his drawing. A third has also
been met with and described by Vieillot. We know nothing in regard to
its habits, except that its song is said to be a single _screep_,
three or four times repeated. Its breeding-habits, its manner of
migration, and the place of its more abundant occurrence, yet remain
entirely unknown.


Dendroica kirtlandi, BAIRD.

KIRTLAND’S WARBLER.

  _Sylvicola kirtlandi_, BAIRD, Ann. N. Y. Lyc. V, June, 1852, 217,
    pl. vi (Cleveland, Ohio).—CASSIN, Illust. I, 1855, 278, pl. xlvii.
    _Dendroica kirtlandi_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 286; Rev. 206.

SP. CHAR. Above slate-blue, the feathers of the crown with a narrow,
those of the middle of the back with a broader, streak of black; a
narrow frontlet involving the lores, the anterior end of the eye, and
the space beneath it (possibly the whole auriculars), black; the rest
of the eyelids white. The under parts are clear yellow (almost white
on the under tail-coverts); the breast with small spots and sides of
the body with short streaks of black. The greater and middle
wing-coverts, quills, and tail-feathers are edged with dull whitish.
The two outer tail-feathers have a dull white spot near the end of the
inner web, largest on the first. Length, 5.50; wing, 2.80; tail, 2.70.
(4,363.)

HAB. Northern Ohio, and Bahamas.

In addition to the type which is in the collection of the Smithsonian
Institution, a second specimen was obtained by Dr. Samuel Cabot, of
Boston, taken at sea between the islands of Abaco and Cuba. It must,
however, be considered as one of the rarest of American birds.

HABITS. Kirtland’s Warbler is so far known by only a few rare
specimens as a bird of North America, and its biography is utterly
unknown. The first specimen of this species, so far as is known, was
obtained by Dr. Jared P. Kirtland, of Cleveland, O., in May, 1851. It
was shot by that naturalist in woods near that city, and was by him
given to Professor Baird, who described it in the Annals of the New
York Lyceum. It appears to be closely allied to both the _D. coronata_
and _D. auduboni_, and yet to be a specifically distinct bird. A
second specimen, in the cabinet of Dr. Samuel Cabot, Jr., of Boston,
was obtained at sea, between the islands of Cuba and Abaco. A third
specimen was obtained June 9, 1860, near Cleveland, and is in the
collection of Mr. R. K. Winslow, of that city. Another specimen is
also reported as having been obtained in the same neighborhood, but
not preserved; and Dr. Hoy, of Racine, Wis., is confident that he has
seen it in the neighborhood of that place. At present all that we can
give in regard to its history, habits, or distribution must be
inferred from these few and meagre facts.


Dendroica palmarum, BAIRD.

YELLOW RED-POLL WARBLER.

  _Motacilla palmarum_, GMEL. Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 951 (based on Palm
    Warbler, LATHAM, Syn. II, p. 498, no. 131, St. Domingo). _Sylvia
    p._ LATH.; VIEILLOT, II, pl. lxxiii.—BON.; D’ORB. Sagra’s Cuba,
    Ois. 1840, 61, pl. viii. _Sylvicola p._ SALLÉ, P. Z. S. 1857, 231
    (St. Domingo). _Dendroica p._ BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 288; Rev.
    207.—SCLATER, Catal. 1861, 33, no. 199.—IB. P. Z. S. 1861, 71
    (Jamaica; April).—BRYANT, Pr. Bost. Soc. VII, 1859 (Bahamas).—IB.
    1867, 91 (Hayti).—BREWER, Pr. Bost. Soc. 1867, 139.—GUNDLACH, Cab.
    Jour. 1861, 326 (Cuba; very common).—SAMUELS, 240. _Sylvia
    petechia_, WILS. VI, pl. xxviii, fig. 4.—BON.; NUTT.; AUD. Orn.
    Biog. II, pl. clxiii, clxiv. _Sylvicola petechia_, SWAINS.; AUD.
    Birds Am. II, pl. xc. _Sylvicola ruficapilla_, BON. _Rhimanphus
    ruf._ CAB. Jour. III, 1855, 473 (Cuba; winter).

SP. CHAR. _Adult in spring._ Head above chestnut-red; rest of upper
parts brownish olive-gray; the feathers with darker centres, the color
brightening on the rump, upper tail-coverts, and outer margins of wing
and tail-feathers, to greenish-yellow. A streak from nostrils over the
eye, and under parts generally, including the tail-coverts, bright
yellow; paler on the body. A maxillary line; breast and sides finely
but rather obsoletely streaked with reddish-brown. Cheeks brownish (in
highest spring plumage chestnut like the head); the eyelids and a spot
under the eye olive-brown. Lores dusky. A white spot on the inner web
of the outer two tail-feathers, at the end. Length, 5 inches; wing,
2.42; tail, 2.25. Sexes nearly alike.

Autumnal males are more reddish above; under parts tinged with brown,
the axillars yellow.

HAB. Eastern Province of North America to Fort Simpson and Hudson’s
Bay; Bahamas, Jamaica, Cuba, and St. Domingo in winter. Not noted from
Mexico or Central America.

This species varies considerably in different stages, but can
generally be recognized. Immature specimens resemble those of _P.
tigrina_, but differ in the chestnut crown, browner back, less bright
rump, brighter yellow of under tail-coverts, smaller blotches on tail,
no white bands on the wings, etc., as well as in the shape of the
bill.

HABITS. The Red-Poll Warbler belongs, in its geographical
distribution, to that large class of birds which visit high northern
latitudes to breed, passing back and forth over a wide extent of
territory, from the West India Islands to the extreme northern
portions of the continent. Specimens have been procured from Cuba,
Jamaica, St. Domingo, and the Bahamas, in fall, winter, and spring,
where, at such times, they seem to be generally quite common. It has
not been observed in Mexico or in Central or South America. It has
been met with on the western shore of Lake Michigan, but nowhere
farther to the west. It has been found in the Red River Settlement,
Fort George, Fort Simpson, and Fort Resolution, in the Hudson Bay
Territory. It is not known, so far as I am aware, to breed south of
latitude 44°. Wilson and Nuttall both state that this bird remains in
Pennsylvania through the summer, but they were probably misinformed;
at least, there is no recent evidence to this effect. Wilson also
states that he shot specimens in Georgia, near Savannah, early in
February, and infers that some pass the entire winter in Georgia,
which is not improbable, as this bird can endure severe weather
without any apparent inconvenience.

There are several marked peculiarities in the habits of this Warbler
which distinguish it from every other of its genus. Alone of all the
_Dendroicæ_, so far as is known, it builds its nest on the ground, and
is quite terrestrial in its habits, and, notwithstanding the
statements of earlier writers, these are quite different from all
others of this genus. It has very little of the habits of the Creeper
and still less of the Flycatcher, while it has all the manners of the
true Ground Warbler, and even approximates, in this respect, to the
Titlarks.

My attention was first called to these peculiarities by Mr. Downes of
Halifax, in the summer of 1851; and I was surprised to find it nesting
on the ground, and yet more to note that in all its movements it
appeared fully as terrestrial as the Maryland Yellow-Throat, or the
Towhee Finch. Since then Mr. Boardman and other naturalists have found
its nest, which is always on the ground.

Mr. MacCulloch, in the fourth volume of the Journal of the Boston
Natural History Society, has given an interesting paper upon the
terrestrial peculiarities of this species, showing them to be nearly
identical with those of the _seiuri_, with whom he thinks it should be
classed. In its terrestrial movements this bird is shown to be quite
at home, while other Warblers, when driven by necessity to feed upon
the ground, are awkward, and manifest a want of adaptation.

Dr. Henry Bryant, another very close and accurate observer, in his
notes on the birds of the Bahamas, referring to this Warbler, speaks
of it as extremely abundant, but confined to the sea-shore. “Its
habits,” he adds, apparently with some surprise, “are decidedly
terrestrial, and it approaches, in this respect, to the Titlarks. They
were constantly running along the edges of the road, or else hopping
amongst the low branches in the pastures. I did not see a single
individual seeking for food amidst the large trees. These birds could
be constantly seen running up and down in the market in search of
small flies. These they caught either on the ground or else by hopping
up a few inches, scarcely opening the wings, and alighting directly.”

Mr. J. A. Allen, in his Birds observed in Western Massachusetts, shows
that these peculiarities of habits in this Warbler had not escaped his
notice. He speaks of it as “frequenting, in company with _D. pinus_,
the edges of thickets, orchards, and open fields, _and is much on the
ground_.”

Mr. George A. Boardman, writing me from St. Stephen, March, 1867,
says: “The Yellow Red-Poll is one of our most common Warblers, and,
unlike most other Warblers, spends much of its time feeding upon the
ground. It is no uncommon thing to see a dozen or two on the ground in
my garden at a time, in early spring. Later in the season they have
more of the habits of other Warblers, and are in summer expert
flycatchers. In the fall we again see them mostly upon the ground,
feeding with the Blue Snowbirds (_Junco hyemalis_) and the Chipping
Sparrow. They breed in old brushy pastures, and very early, nesting
alongside of some little knoll, and, I think, always upon the ground.
The nest is very warmly lined with feathers.”

Mr. MacCulloch, in the paper already referred to, states that during
their autumnal migrations they seem invariably to exhibit the habits
of true _Sylvicolidæ_, gleaning among branches of trees for the
smaller insects, and not unfrequently visiting the windows of
dwellings in search of spiders and insects.

In their migrations through Massachusetts these Warblers are
everywhere quite abundant in the spring, but in their return in autumn
are not observed in the eastern part of the State, though very common
in the western from September into November, remaining long after all
the other Warblers are gone. None remain during the summer.

In Western Maine, Mr. Verrill states, it is quite common both in
spring and in fall, arriving in April, earlier than any other Warbler,
and again becoming abundant the last of September.

I found it plentiful in the vicinity of Halifax, where it occurs
throughout the summer from May to September.

Mr. Ridgway gives this species as perhaps the most numerous of the
transient visitants, in spring and fall, in Southern Illinois. It is
very terrestrial in its habits, keeping much on the ground, in
orchards and open places, and its movements are said to be wonderfully
like those of _Anthus ludovicianus_.

In the vibratory motions of its tail, especially when upon the ground,
these birds greatly resemble the Wagtails of Europe. They have no
other song than a few simple and feeble notes, so thin and weak that
they might almost be mistaken for the sounds made by the common
grasshopper.

The Red-Poll usually selects for the site of its nest the edge of a
swampy thicket, more or less open, placing it invariably upon the
ground. This is usually not large, about three and a half inches in
diameter and two and a half in depth, the diameter and depth of the
cavity each averaging only half an inch less. The walls are compactly
and elaborately constructed of an interweaving of various fine
materials, chiefly fine dry grasses, slender strips of bark, stems of
the smaller plants, hypnum, and other mosses. Within, the nest is
warmly and softly lined with down and feathers.

Mr. Kennicott met with a nest of this bird at Fort Resolution, June
18. It was on the ground, on a hummock, at the foot of a small spruce,
in a swamp. When found, it contained five young birds.

Their eggs are of a rounded-oval shape, and measure .70 of an inch in
length by .55 in breadth. Their ground-color is a yellowish or
creamy-white, and their blotches, chiefly about the larger end, are a
blending of purple, lilac, and reddish-brown.


Dendroica discolor, BAIRD.

PRAIRIE WARBLER.

  _Sylvia discolor_, VIEILL. Ois. Am. Sept. II, 1807, 37, pl. xcviii.—
    BON.; AUD. Orn. Biog. I, pl. xiv; NUTT.—LEMBEYE, Aves Cuba, 1850,
    32, pl. vi, fig. 2. _Sylvicola discolor_, JARD.; RICH.; BON.; AUD.
    Birds Am. II, pl. xcvii.—GOSSE, Birds Jam. 1847, 159. _Rhimanphus
    discolor_, CAB. Jour. III, 1855, 474 (Cuba; winter). _Dendroica
    discolor_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 290; Rev. 213.—NEWTON, Ibis,
    1859, 144 (St. Croix).—BRYANT, Pr. Bost. Soc. VII, 1859
    (Bahamas).—IB. 1866 (Porto Rico); 1867, 91 (Hayti).—GUNDLACH, Cab.
    Jour. 1861, 326 (Cuba; very common).—SAMUELS, 241. _Sylvia
    minuta_, WILSON, III, pl. xxv. fig. 4.

SP. CHAR. _Spring male._ Above uniform olive-green; the interscapular
region with chestnut-red centres to feathers. Under parts and sides of
the head, including a broad superciliary line from the nostrils to a
little behind the eye, bright yellow, brightest anteriorly. A
well-defined narrow stripe from the commissure of the mouth through
the eye, and another from the same point curving gently below it, also
a series of streaks on each side of the body, extending from the
throat to the flanks, black. Quills and tail-feathers brown, edged
with white; the terminal half of the inner web of the first and second
tail-feathers white. Two yellowish bands on the wings. _Female_
similar, but duller. The dorsal streaks indistinct. Length, 4.86;
wing, 2.25; tail, 2.10.

First plumage of the young not seen.

HAB. Atlantic region of United States, north to Massachusetts; South
Illinois; in winter very abundant throughout all the West India
Islands, as far, at least, as the Virgin Islands. Not recorded from
Mexico or Central America.

Autumnal specimens have the plumage more blended, but the markings not
changed. A young male in autumnal dress is wholly brownish olive-green
above, the whole wing uniform; the forehead ashy, the markings about
the head rather obsolete, the chestnut spots on the back and the black
ones on the sides nearly concealed.

HABITS. The Prairie Warbler, nowhere an abundant species, is pretty
generally, though somewhat irregularly, distributed through the
eastern portion of the United States from Massachusetts to Georgia
during its breeding-season. The Smithsonian Museum embraces no
specimens taken west of Philadelphia or Washington. I have had its
nest and eggs found in Central New York. Mr. Audubon speaks of its
occurring in Louisiana, but his accounts of its nesting are so
obviously inaccurate that we must receive this statement also with
misgivings. Wilson, however, obtained specimens in Kentucky, and gave
to it the inappropriate name of _Prairie_ Warbler. Nuttall regarded it
as rare in New England, which opinion more careful observations do not
confirm. They certainly are not rare in certain portions of
Massachusetts. In Essex County, and, according to Mr. Allen, in the
vicinity of Springfield, they are rather common. The Smithsonian
possesses specimens from the Bahamas, Jamaica, St. Croix, St. Thomas,
and other West India islands. Dr. Gundlach speaks of it as common in
Cuba. In the Bahamas, Dr. Bryant found these Warblers more abundant
than he had ever known them in the United States. In January all the
males were in winter plumage, some not having changed by April to
their summer costume. He regarded them as constant residents of those
islands. They had all paired off by the middle of April.

In the island of St. Croix, Mr. Edward Newton observed these Warblers
from the 10th of September to the 27th of March. They were present on
the island about two thirds of the year, and while they were found
were very common.

In Jamaica, according to Mr. March, they are numerous throughout the
entire year, though less abundant during the summer months. They were
always plentiful in the gardens about the _Malpighia glabra_,
capturing small insects from the ripe fruit.

Mr. Gosse, on the contrary, regarded it as only a winter visitant of
that island, appearing by the 18th of August, and disappearing by the
11th of April. He observed them among low bushes and herbaceous weeds,
along the roadside, near the ground, examining every stalk and twig
for insects. Others flew from bushes by the wayside to the middle of
the road, where, hovering in the air, a few feet from the ground, they
seemed to be catching small dipterous insects. Their stomachs were
filled with fragments of insects.

Wilson found them usually in open plains and thinly wooded tracts,
searching most leisurely among the foliage, carefully examining every
leaf or blade of grass for insects, uttering, at short intervals, a
brief _chirr_. They did not appear to be easily alarmed, and he has
known one of these birds to remain half an hour at a time on the lower
branch of a tree, and allow him to approach the foot, without being in
the least disturbed. He found their food consisted of winged insects
and small caterpillars.

In 1858, Mr. John Cassin wrote me: “The Prairie Warbler certainly
breeds in New Jersey, near Philadelphia. I have seen it all summer for
the last twelve years, and have seen the young just able to fly, but
never found the nest. It has a very peculiar note, which I know as
well as I do the Catbird’s, having often followed and searched it out.
It frequents cedar-trees, and I suspect breeds in and about them.”

Dr. Coues found the Prairie Warbler mostly a spring and autumn
visitant in the vicinity of Washington, being quite abundant during
those seasons. A few were observed to remain during the
breeding-season. They arrive earlier than most of this family of
birds, or about the 20th of April. He found them frequenting, almost
exclusively, cedar-patches and pine-trees, and speaks of their having
very peculiar manners and notes.

Both Wilson and Audubon were evidently at fault in their descriptions
of the nest and eggs. These do not correspond with more recent and
positive observations. Its nest is never pensile. Mr. Nuttall’s
descriptions, on the other hand, are made from his own observations,
and are evidently correct. He describes a nest that came under his
observation as scarcely distinguishable from that of the _D. æstiva_.
It was not pensile, but fixed in a forked branch, and formed of strips
of the inner bark of the red cedar, fibres of asclepia, and
caterpillars’ silk, and thickly lined with the down of the
_Gnaphalium plantagineum_. He describes the eggs as having a white
ground, sharp at one end, and marked with spots of lilac-purple and of
two shades of brown, more numerous at the larger end, where they
formed a ring. He speaks of their note as slender, and noticed their
arrival about the second week of May, leaving the middle of September.

At another time Mr. Nuttall was attracted by the slender, filing notes
of this bird, resembling the suppressed syllables _’tsh-’tsh-’tsh-’tshea_,
beginning low and gradually growing louder. With its mate it was
busily engaged collecting flies and larvæ about a clump of
locust-trees in Mount Auburn. Their nest was near, and the female,
without any precautions, went directly to it. Mr. Nuttall removed two
eggs, which he afterwards replaced. Each time, on his withdrawal, she
returned to the nest, and resorted to no expedients to entice him away.

Several nests of this Warbler have been obtained by Mr. Welch in Lynn.
One was built on a wild rose, only a few feet from the ground. It is a
snug, compact, and elaborately woven structure, having a height and a
diameter of about two and a half inches. The cavity is two inches wide
and one and a half deep. The materials of which the outer parts are
woven are chiefly the soft inner bark of small shrubs, mingled with
dry rose-leaves, bits of vegetables, wood, woody fibres, decayed stems
of plants, spiders’ webs, etc. The whole is bound together like a web
by cotton-like fibres of a vegetable origin. The upper rim of this
nest is a marked feature, being a strongly interlaced weaving of
vegetable roots and strips of bark. The lining of the nest is composed
of fine vegetable fibres and a few horse-hairs. This nest, in its
general mode of construction, resembles all that I have seen; only in
others the materials vary,—in some dead and decayed leaves, in others
remains of old cocoons, and in others the pappus of composite plants,
being more prominent than the fine strips of bark. The nests are
usually within four feet of the ground. The eggs vary from three to
five, and even six.

The late Dr. Gerhardt found this bird the most common Warbler in
Northern Georgia. There its nests were similar in size, structure, and
position, but differed more or less in the materials of which they
were made. The nests were a trifle larger and the walls thinner, the
cavities being correspondingly larger. The materials were more
invariably fine strips of inner bark and flax-like vegetable fibres,
and were lined with the finest stems of plants, in one case with the
feathers of the Great Horned Owl. In that neighborhood the eggs were
deposited by the 15th of May.

In Massachusetts the Prairie Warbler invariably selects wild
pasture-land, often not far from villages, and always open or very
thinly wooded. In Georgia their nests were built in almost every kind
of bush or low tree, or on the lower limbs of post-oaks, at the height
of from four to seven feet. Eggs were found once as early as the 2d of
May, and once as late as the 10th of June. The birds arrived there by
the 10th of April, and seemed to prefer hillsides, but were found in
almost any open locality.

In Southern Illinois, Mr. Ridgway cites this species as a rather rare
bird among the oak barrens where it breeds. He also met with it in
orchards in the wooded portions, in April, during the northward
migration of the _Sylvicolidæ_.

The eggs are of an oval shape, pointed at one end, and measure .68 by
.48 of an inch. They have a white ground, marked with spots of lilac
and purple and two shades of umber-brown.


SUBFAMILY GEOTHLYPINÆ.


SECTION SEIUREÆ.

The diagnosis of the subfamily will be found on page 178. The
_Seiureæ_, as there stated, have the wings pointed, and rather longer
than the nearly even tail, which is unspotted. The genera differ in
proportion rather than absolutely, _Oporornis_ having longer wings and
larger claws. The coloration, however, is always distinctive, as
follows:—

  Under part white or whitish, thickly streaked …          _Seiurus._
  Beneath yellow, without spots …                        _Oporornis._


GENUS SEIURUS, SWAINSON.

  _Seiurus_, SWAINSON, Zoöl. Jour. III, 1827, 171. (Sufficiently
    distinct from _Sciurus_.) (Type, _Motacilla aurocapilla_, L.)
  _Henicocichla_, GRAY, List of Genera, 1840.

  [Line drawing: _Seiurus aurocapillus._
                  1433]

GEN. CHAR. Bill rather sylvicoline, compressed, with a distinct notch.
Gonys ascending. Rictal bristles very short. Wings moderate, about
three quarters of an inch longer than the tail; first quill scarcely
shorter than the second. Tail slightly rounded; feathers acuminate.
Tarsi about as long as the skull, considerably exceeding the middle
toe. Under tail-coverts reaching within about half an inch of the end
of the tail. Color above olivaceous; beneath whitish, thickly streaked
on the breast and sides. Wings and tail immaculate. Nests on the
ground, often arched or sheltered by position or dry leaves. Eggs
white, marked with red, brown, and purple.

This genus is decidedly sylvicoline in general appearance, although
the spots on the breast resemble somewhat those of the Thrushes. The
three species may be grouped as follows:—

A. Middle of crown brownish-orange, bordered by blackish. No
white superciliary streak …                        _S. aurocapillus._

B. Crown like the back. A well-defined superciliary light
stripe.

  Thickly streaked beneath, including crissum. Ground-color and
  superciliary stripe yellowish. Bill small …    _S. noveboracensis._

  Sparsely streaked beneath; throat and crissum immaculate.
  Ground-color and superciliary stripe white. Bill very large …
                                                   _S. ludovicianus._


Seiurus aurocapillus, SWAINS.

GOLDEN-CROWNED THRUSH.

  _Motacilla aurocapilla_, LINN. S. N. I, 1766, 334. _Turdus aur._
    LATH.; WILS. Am. Orn. II, pl. xiv, fig. 2.—AUD. Orn. Biog. II, pl.
    cxliii. _Sylvia aur._ BON. _Seiurus aur._ SWAINSON, Zoöl. Jour.
    III, 1827, 171.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 260; Rev. 214.—MOORE, P.
    Z. S. 1859, 55 (Honduras).—MAX. Cab. Jour. 1858, 177.—JONES, Nat.
    Bermuda, 27. _Henicocichla aur._ SCLATER, Catal. 1861, 25, no.
    159.—GUNDLACH, Cab. Jour. 1861, 326 (Cuba). _Seiurus aur._ D’ORB.
    Sagra’s Cuba, 1840, 55.—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Chic. Ac. I, 1869,
    278 (Alaska).—SAMUELS, 218. _Turdus coronatus_, VIEILL. Ois. II.
    1807, 8.
  Other localities quoted: _Cordova_, SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1856, 293. _St.
    Domingo_, SALLÉ, P. Z. S. 1857, 231. _Guatemala_, SCLATER &
    SALVIN, Ibis, I, 1859, 10. _Santa Cruz_ (winter), NEWTON, Ibis,
    1859, 142. _Cuba_ (winter), Cab. Jour. III, 471. _Jamaica_, GOSSE,
    Birds, 152.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1861, 70. _Costa Rica_, CAB. Jour.
    1861, 84. _Orizaba_ (winter), SUMICHRAST. _Yucatan_, LAWR.
    _Chiriqui_, SALV.

SP. CHAR. Above uniform olive-green, with a tinge of yellow. Crown
with two narrow streaks of black from the bill, enclosing a median and
much broader one of brownish-orange. Beneath white; the breast, sides
of the body, and a maxillary line, streaked with black. The female and
young of the year are not appreciably different. Length, 6.00; wing,
3.00; tail, 2.40.

HAB. Eastern Province of North America, north to English River, H. B.
T., and Alaska; west to mouth of Platte, and Denver City, Colorado;
Mazatlan; whole West Indies; Eastern Mexico; Honduras, Guatemala, and
Costa Rica; Bermuda in autumn and winter (JONES).

  [Illustration: _Seiurus aurocapillus._]

HABITS. The Golden-crowned Thrush, or Oven-Bird, as in some portions
of the country it is exclusively called, inhabits the whole of eastern
North America, as far to the west as the Great Plains, and to the
north at least as far as English River. In the winter season it has
been found in Mexico, St. Domingo, Jamaica, Cuba, and other West India
islands, and in Central America is also very common. Mr. Sumichrast
also speaks of it as common at Orizaba during the same season, and it
has been found in the Bermudas and the Bahamas. In all these places it
usually appears early in the autumn and remains until the ensuing
spring. It breeds as far to the north as it has been known to go.
Richardson met with its nest on the banks of the Saskatchewan, and was
convinced that it bred at even still higher latitudes. Among some
memoranda I received from the late Mr. Kennicott is one stating that
he met with this Thrush breeding near English River, July 15. These
birds arrive in the fur country about the first of May. How far to the
south they breed we have no positive information. I have never
received its eggs from any point south of Philadelphia, nor did I ever
meet with it or hear its notes in summer in the vicinity of
Washington. Audubon was of the opinion that a few remain to breed even
in Louisiana, and states that he found them abundant in Texas in the
middle of May, but he may have confounded this species with the
Louisiana Thrush.

In Jamaica, where its habits have been carefully studied by Mr. Gosse,
it arrives in September and leaves about the 20th of April. Mr.
Würdemann obtained specimens at Cape Florida, September 24 and 25. Mr.
Audubon mentions their appearing in Louisiana as early as the first of
March. Wilson never noticed it in Louisiana before the last of April,
nor after September. The Smithsonian possesses no specimen obtained
earlier than May 1, except some procured April 25 from the mouth of
Platte River. Mr. Allen notes its arrival in Western Massachusetts May
10. Mr. Verrill gives the early part of May as the time of its
reaching Western Maine, and Mr. Boardman May 1 for the vicinity of
Calais.

Though not found on the California coast, specimens of this bird have
been taken in winter near Mazatlan, Mexico, showing probably that in
their migrations they cross the mountains of Northern Mexico, as do
the _Mniotilta varia_ and a few other of our Eastern species.

In Eastern Massachusetts it usually appears from the 1st to the 10th
of May, just as the first leaves of the trees are expanding, and is to
be found only in thick woods, often near their edges. Occasionally
found perched on the low limbs of trees, it is quite terrestrial in
its habits, keeps a good deal on the ground, running about among the
fallen leaves, more in the manner of a small quadruped than a bird.
Mr. Audubon speaks of its frequenting shady woods, watered by creeks
and rivulets. I have found them rather more abundant in woods upon
high and dry ground, usually upon slopes of wooded hillsides. In this
respect it appears to differ in a marked manner from its near of kin,
the Water Thrush (_S. noveboracensis_).

This bird, and indeed all of this genus, have the peculiar vibratory
motions of the tail noticed in the Wagtail of Europe, and also
observed in our own Red-poll Warbler, and in the Titlarks. In
consequence of these peculiarities this species is known, in Jamaica,
as _Land Kickup_, and the _noveboracensis_ as the _Water Kickup_. Mr.
Gosse found in its stomach gravel, various seeds, mud-insects,
caterpillars, and small turbinate shells.

The usual and more common song of this species is a very peculiar and
striking one, unlike that of any other of our birds. It is said to
somewhat resemble the song of the _Accentor modularis_ of Europe. It
is loud and clear, enunciated with great rapidity, and uttered with
great emphasis at its close. It is characterized by energy and power,
rather than variety or sweetness, yet it is not unpleasing. Audubon
calls it a “simple lay,” and again “a short succession of simple
notes,”—expressions that would give one who had never heard its song
an altogether incorrect idea of its true character. Wilson is still
more in error when he states that this bird has no song, but an
energetic twitter, when, in fact, it has two very distinct songs, each
in its way remarkable. Nuttall describes its song as “a simple, long,
reiterated note, rising from low to high, and shrill”; Richardson
speaks of it as “a loud, clear, and remarkably pleasing ditty”; and
Mr. Allen calls it “a loud, echoing song, heard everywhere in the deep
woods.” In reference to the songs of this bird, and the injustice that
has been done by writers to this and other species of our birds, Mr.
Boardman of St. Stephen has written me the following just
observations.

     “Many of our common Warblers, Thrushes, and other birds,
     have rare songs they reserve for some extra occasions, and
     many of our common birds do not get credit for half their
     real power of song. Once last spring, as I was watching for
     some birds, I heard a new and very pretty warble, something
     like the trill of a Winter Wren, and found that it came from
     our common slate-colored Snowbird (_Junco hyemalis_), a bird
     that I see every day that I go to the woods, and yet these
     notes I had never heard before. It is the same with the
     Golden-crowned Thrush. When it gets into the top of a tall
     tree, its strain is so rare and beautiful that but few know
     it as from that bird. The same is true of the Water Thrush,
     and also of both _Turdus pallasi_ and _Turdus swainsoni_.”

The Oven-Bird always nests on the ground, and generally constructs
nests with arched or domed roofs, with an entrance on one side, like
the mouth of an oven, and hence its common name. This arched covering
is not, however, universal. For a site this species usually selects
the wooded slope of a hill, and the nests are usually sunk in the
ground. When placed under the shelter of a projecting root, or in a
thick clump of bushes, the nest has no other cover than a few loose
leaves resting on, but forming no part of it.

A nest from Racine, Wis., obtained by Dr. Hoy, is a fine typical
specimen of the domed nests of this species. The roof is very perfect,
and the whole presents the appearance of two shallow nests united at
the rim, and leaving only a small opening at one side. This nest was
five inches in diameter from front to back, six inches from side to
side, and four inches high. The opening was two and a quarter inches
wide, one and three quarters high. The cavity was two inches deep,
below the brim. At the entrance the roof recedes about an inch,
obviously to allow of a freer entrance and exit from the nest.
Externally this nest is made of wood, mosses, lichens, and dry leaves,
with a few stems and broken fragments of plants. The entrance is
strongly built of stout twigs, and its upper portion is composed of a
strong framework of fine twigs, roots, stems, mosses, dry plants,
etc., all firmly interwoven, and lined with finer materials of the
same.

On the 7th of June, 1858, I came accidentally upon a nest of this bird
of a very different style of structure. It was in a thick wood in
Hingham. The nest was built in a depression in the ground at the foot
of some low bushes, and its top was completely covered by surrounding
vines and wild flowers. It would probably have escaped notice had not
my daughter, then a child of four years, attempted to gather some wild
flowers growing directly over its entrance. This flushed the mother,
who until then had remained quiet, although we were standing with our
feet almost upon the nest, and the bird fluttered and tumbled about at
our feet with well-feigned manœuvres to distract our attention. The
child in great glee sought to catch it, but it eluded her grasp, and,
running off like a mouse, disappeared. The nest contained six eggs,
was entirely open, and with no other cover than the wild plants that
clustered above it. As to its identity there was no doubt, as the
parent was afterwards snared upon its nest. This nest was somewhat
loosely constructed of skeleton leaves, dry slender stalks, grasses,
and pine-needles, and was lined with a few slender grasses and leaves.
It had a diameter of six inches, and was two and a half inches deep.
The cup had a diameter of three and a half inches and a depth of two,
being very large for the size of the bird, probably owing to the shape
of the cavity in which it was sunk.

The nest of this bird seems to be a favorite place of resort for the
Cow Blackbird to deposit its egg. In one nest, found by Mr. Vickary in
Lynn, no less than three eggs of these parasites had been placed.

The eggs of the Golden-crowned Thrush are subject to considerable
variations. Their markings differ in their colors and shades, and yet
more in number, size, and manner of distribution. The eggs are oval in
shape, one end being but very slightly smaller than the other. Their
average length is .82 of an inch, and their breadth is .55 of an inch.
Their ground-color is a beautiful creamy-white. They are marked,
usually principally about the larger end, with dots and blotches,
intermingled, of red, reddish-brown, lilac, darker purple, and
ferruginous. Occasionally these make a beautiful crown around the
larger end, leaving the rest of the surface nearly free from spots.


Seiurus noveboracensis, NUTT.

SMALL-BILLED WATER THRUSH.

  _Motacilla noveboracensis_, GMELIN, S. N. I, 1788, 958. _Sylvia nov._
    LATH.; VIEILLOT, Ois. Am. Sept. II, pl. lxxxii. _Seiurus nov._
    NUTT.; BON.; AUD. Birds Am. III, pl. cxcix.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am.
    1858, 261, pl. lxxx, fig. 1; Rev. 215.—MAX. Cab. Jour. 1858,
    121.—DALL & BANNISTER (Alaska).—SAMUELS, 220. _Henicocichla nov._
    CAB. Schom. Guiana, III, 666; Jour. 1860, 324 (Costa
    Rica).—SCLATER (Tobago).—GUNDLACH, Cab. Jour. 1861, 326 (Cuba).
    _Mniotilta nov._ GRAY. _?? Motacilla fuscescens_, GMELIN, S. N.
    984 (based on _Ficedula jamaicensis_, BRISSON, III, 512, Jamaica).
    _Turdus aquaticus_, WILS.; AUD. Orn. Biog. 1839, 284, pl.
    ccccxxxiii. _Sylvia anthoides_, VIEILLOT, Nouv. Dict. XI, 1817,
    208. _Seiurus tenuirostris_, SW. 1827; GAMB. _Seiurus_
    _sulfurascens_, D’ORBIGNY, Sagra’s Cuba, 1840, 57, pl. vi.
    _Seiurus gosse_, BON. Consp. 1850, 306 (Jamaica). _? Anthus
    l’herminieri_, LESS. Rev. Z. 1839, 101 (Colombia).
  Other localities quoted: _Xalapa_, SCLATER. _Guatemala_, SCLATER &
    SALVIN. _Panama_, LAWRENCE. _Carthagena_, CASSIN. _Santa Cruz_
    (winter), NEWTON. _Cuba_, CAB. _Jamaica_, GOSSE.; SCL.
    _Venezuela_, SCL. & SALV. _Yucatan_, LAWR. _St. Bartholemy_, SUND.
    _Veragua_, SALV.

SP. CHAR. Bill, from rictus, about the length of the skull. Above
olive-brown, with a shade of green; beneath pale sulphur-yellow,
brightest on the abdomen. Region about the base of the lower mandible,
and a superciliary line from the base of the bill to the nape,
brownish-yellow. A dusky line from the bill through the eye; chin and
throat finely spotted. All the remaining under parts and sides of the
body, except the abdomen, and including the under tail-coverts,
conspicuously and thickly streaked with olivaceous-brown, almost black
on the breast. Length, 6.15; wing, 3.12; tail, 2.40. Bill, from
rictus, .64. Sexes similar.

HAB. Eastern Province of North America, north to Arctic Ocean and
Yukon (westward along northern border of United States to Cascade
Mountains); Fort Bridger, (DREXLER); Arizona (COUES); whole West
Indies; Southeastern Mexico; all Central America; Panama and Eastern
South America (Bogota; Carthagena; Brazil).

A very young bird (22,619, Fort Simpson, August 10) is very different
from the adult in coloration. The upper parts are fuliginous-black,
each feather with a broad terminal bar of pale ochraceous,
wing-coverts tipped with the same, forming two distinct bands; streaks
below as in the adult, but broader and less sharply defined.

HABITS. This species has a general distribution, at certain seasons,
throughout the whole of eastern North America as far to the north as
the Arctic Ocean. North of the United States it is also found on the
Pacific coast as far south as the Cascade Mountains. In the winter it
is quite common in all the West India Islands, in Southeastern Mexico,
Central America, Panama, and the eastern part of South America to
Brazil. From about latitude 43° northward it breeds throughout all
North America. Sir John Richardson met with it at the Carlton House,
where it was found frequenting the moist and thickly wooded banks of
the river. These birds made their first appearance in May, and the
greater portion soon after disappeared, as if proceeding still farther
north to breed.

Among other memoranda given me by the late Mr. Kennicott was one
furnished him by Mr. Lockhart, to the effect that, at Yukon River,
June 21, 1859, he had shot a female Water Thrush as she flew from her
nest. This contained five eggs, and was concealed under a small pile
of drift, close to the river, but under large willow-trees. This was
not lined with down. At the same locality another nest with six eggs
was also obtained. This also was on the ground at the foot of some
willows near the water. It was made of moss, and lined with very fine
grass.

All that has been given by our earlier authors as to the habits of
this species must be received with more or less uncertainty. The
difference between this bird and that known as the Louisiana Thrush
has not been sufficiently clear to these writers to enable us always
to determine which of the two they had in view. And even now the
distribution in summer of the _ludovicianus_ is hardly definable with
precision.

Wilson describes the habits of those he observed in Pennsylvania as
evincing a remarkable partiality for brooks, rivers, ponds, and the
vicinity of water generally, wading in shallow pools in search of
aquatic insects, and giving, as it moves it along, an almost
continuously vibratory motion to its tail. He speaks of it as very
shy, darting away with signs of alarm whenever approached, and
uttering a sharp cry. In all other respects his account of this bird
probably refers to the Louisiana species.

This is also, without doubt, true of nearly all Audubon gives in
connection with the history of this Thrush, which in all probability
does not breed in Louisiana, nor remain there through April, being at
that time well on its way to more northern regions.

Mr. Gosse, in his notes on the birds of Jamaica, states that this bird
reappears in that island about the end of August. He noticed them
about the muddy margins of ponds, and they soon became abundant.
Individuals were also to be seen running on the road, especially near
the sea-shore, and by the edges of morasses. They ran rapidly, often
waded up to their tibiæ in water, or ran along the twigs of a fallen
tree at the brink, and now and then flew up into the branches of a
pimento or an orange-tree. Whether running or standing, they were
continually flirting up their tails, after the manner of the European
Wagtail. During its winter residence in Jamaica it has no song, only a
monotonous cry, a sharp _chip_. Its stomach was found to contain
water-insects and shells. Mr. March has noticed their arrival in
Jamaica as early as August 5. They all leave by the first of April.

Mr. Allen found these birds not uncommon both in spring and in fall in
the vicinity of Springfield. He thinks a few breed there, as he has
met with them in the months of June, July, and August, very sparingly
however. They arrive about the 12th of May. I have once, at least, met
with its nest and eggs near Boston.

Dr. Coues says this bird is quite common, both in the spring and fall,
near Washington, and breeds sparingly, having been found there in
July. They arrive about the first of May, are eminently aquatic,
frequent swampy thickets and thick dark woods interspersed with pools,
where they associate with the Solitary Tatler.

In Southern Illinois this species, Mr. Ridgway states, is found only
during its migrations and in mild winters. He never met with it in the
breeding-season, when the _S. ludovicianus_ is so abundant. But it
returns early from the North, and he has shot numbers of them in
August. During the whole fall they are common about all swampy places,
or the margin of creeks in the woods; and in mild winters a few are
found in the swamps of the bottom-lands, where the dense forest
affords them comfortable shelter. On warm days in December and
January, he has heard them singing with all the vigor of spring in
such localities. In notes, as well as in manners, Mr. Ridgway has
noticed little difference between this species and _S. ludovicianus_.
The song, however, is decidedly weaker, though scarcely less sweet,
and the two are very easily distinguished at sight by one familiar
with them.

These birds breed, though they are not very abundant, in the vicinity
of Calais, and also in the western part of Maine. Professor Verrill
states that they reached the neighborhood of Norway, Me., about the
first of May, a fortnight earlier than Mr. Allen noted their arrival
in Springfield. Mr. Verrill demonstrated the fact of their breeding in
Western Maine, by finding, June 8, 1861, a nest and eggs in a dense
cedar swamp near Norway. This was built in an excavation in the side
of a decayed moss-covered log, the excavation itself forming an arch
over the nest in the manner of, yet different from, that of the
Golden-crowned. The nest itself was an exceeding beautiful structure,
four and a half inches in diameter, but only an inch and a half in
depth, being very nearly flat, the cavity only half an inch deep. The
entire base was made of loose hypnum mosses, interspersed with a few
dead leaves and stems. The whole inner structure or lining was made up
of the fruit-stems of the same moss, densely impacted. The outer
circumference was made up of mosses and intertwined small black
vegetable roots.

This nest contained five eggs, the brilliant white ground of which,
with their delicately shaded spots of reddish-brown, contrasted with
the bright green of the mossy exterior, and set off to advantage by
the conspicuous and unique lining, produce a very beautiful effect.

Mr. George A. Boardman of Calais, Me., an observing and accurate
naturalist, has furnished me with the following interesting account of
the habits of this species and its congener, the _aurocapillus_, in a
letter dated St. Stephen, March 23, 1867. “Did you ever notice their
walk on the ground? You know that most of our birds are hoppers. These
two, _S. noveboracensis_ and _S. aurocapillus_, have a beautiful
gliding walk, and of all our other birds I only remember two that are
not hoppers, the _Anthus ludovicianus_ and _Molothrus pecoris_. I do
not think that a naturalist should ever say, as Wilson was constantly
doing, that any bird has no note or song whatever, unless he is well
acquainted with them, at all times, especially while breeding. Many
birds seem really to have nothing to say except when mating. I think
that our little walker, the Water Thrush, has been particularly ill
used by writers in this respect, for I regard him as one of our
liveliest singers. Its note is very high and clear, begins with a
sudden outburst of melody, so as almost to startle you, is very clear
and ringing, as if the bird had just found its mate after a long
absence. It then keeps falling until you can hardly hear it. Its note
is very sweet, and can be heard when you are in a canoe or boat a very
long ways. Like most of our Warblers and Thrushes, when singing, they
do not like intrusion, and it was a long while before I could make out
the bird that uttered these notes. I could only do it by going in a
boat or canoe. They hide in thick trees, over the water, where it is
impossible to walk up to them. I almost always find them on some
island, in a river, that, has been overflowed, and always very near
the water.”

Their eggs vary in length from .81 to .87 of an inch, and in breadth
from .65 to .69. They have an oblong-oval shape, tapering to a point
at one end and rounded at the other. Their ground is a clear
crystal-white, and they are more or less marked with lines, dots, and
dashes of varying shades of umber-brown. These markings are more
numerous around the larger end, and are much larger and bolder in some
than in others, in many being mere points and fine dots, and in such
cases equally distributed over the whole egg. In others a ring of
large confluent blotches is grouped around the larger end, leaving the
rest of the egg nearly unmarked.


Seiurus ludovicianus, BONAP.

LOUISIANA WATER THRUSH.

  _Turdus ludovicianus_, AUD. Orn. Biog. I, 1832, 99, pl. xix. _Seiurus
    ludovicianus_, BON.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 262, pl. lxxx, fig.
    2; Rev. 217.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1859, 363 (Xalapa); 373 (Oaxaca);
    1861, 70 (Jamaica).—SCLATER & SALVIN, Ibis, 1860, 273
    (Guatemala).—SAMUELS, 579. _Henicocichla lud._ SCLATER, Catal.
    1861, 25, no. 161 (Orizaba). _? Turdus motacilla_, VIEILL. Ois.
    Am. Sept. II, 1807, 9, pl. lxv (Kentucky). _Seiurus motacilla_,
    BON. 1850. _Henicocichla mot._ CAB. Jour. 1857, 240
    (Cuba).—GUNDLACH, Jour. Orn. 1861, 326. _Henicocichla major_, CAB.
    Mus. Hein. 1850 (Xalapa).

SP. CHAR. Bill longer than the skull. Upper parts olive-brown with a
shade of greenish. A conspicuous white superciliary line from the bill
to the nape, involving the upper lid, with a brown one from the bill
through the eye, widening behind. Under parts white, with a very faint
shade of pale buff behind, especially on the tail-coverts. A dusky
maxillary line; the forepart of breast and sides of body with
arrow-shaped streaks of the same color. Chin, throat, belly, and under
tail-coverts, entirely immaculate. Length, 6.33; wing, 3.25; tail,
2.40; bill, from rictus, .75. Sexes similar. Young not seen.

HAB. Eastern Province of United States as far north as Carlisle,
Penn., and Michigan; Cuba and Jamaica; Southern Mexico (Colima) to
Guatemala.

  [Line drawing: _Seiurus ludovicianus_, Bonap.]

  [Line drawing: _Seiurus noveboracensis_, Nutt.
                  2434]

Autumnal specimens have a more or less strong wash of ochraceous over
the flanks and crissum, and the brown above rather darker and less
grayish than in spring birds.

This species is very similar to _S. noveboracensis_, although readily
distinguishable by the characters given in the diagnoses. The
differences in the bill there referred to are illustrated in the
accompanying diagram.

HABITS. The Water Thrush described by Wilson as most abundant in the
lower part of the Mississippi Valley, as well as that given by Audubon
as the Louisiana Water Thrush, though its position as a genuine
species was afterwards abandoned, are undoubtedly referable to a
closely allied but apparently distinct _Seiurus_, now known as the
Louisiana Water Thrush. This bird has a very close resemblance to the
_noveboracensis_, differing chiefly in size and in having a larger
bill. Although its distribution is not yet fully determined, it seems
to belong rather to the South and Southwestern States, and only
accidentally to be found north of the Middle States. Still a single
specimen has been obtained in Massachusetts, and it has been several
times found in Michigan and Missouri. Specimens of this bird have also
been procured in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Tamaulipas, Mexico, Cuba,
Jamaica, and Guatemala.

Its recognition as a distinct species from the common Water Thrush is
so recent, and the two species so closely resemble each other, that as
yet its habits and history are imperfectly known. Wilson refers to the
birds he had met with in Mississippi and Louisiana, which we presume
to have been the same, as being there in abundance, and eminently
distinguished by the loudness, sweetness, and expressive vivacity of
their notes. These he describes as beginning very high and clear, and
as falling with an almost imperceptible gradation until they are
scarcely articulated,—a description that would also answer very well
for the song of the true Water Thrush. During their song, he adds,
they are perched on the middle branches of a tree over the brook or
river-bank, pouring out a charming melody, so loud and distinct that
it may be heard at the distance of nearly half a mile. The voice of
this bird appeared to him so exquisitely sweet and expressive that he
was never tired of listening to it.

It is also quite probable that nearly all of Audubon’s accounts of the
habits of the Water Thrush were derived from his observation of this
species, and not of its Northern congener. He describes its song as
fully equal to that of the Nightingale, its notes as powerful and
mellow, and at times as varied. He states that it is to be found at
all seasons in the deepest and most swampy of the canebrakes of
Mississippi and Louisiana. Its song is to be heard even in the winter,
when the weather is calm and warm.

He describes its flight as easy and continued, just above the brakes,
or close to the ground. When on the ground, it is continually
vibrating its body, jerking out its tail and then closing it again. It
walks gracefully along the branches or on the ground, but never hops.
He states that it feeds on insects and their larvæ, and often pursues
the former on the wing.

He describes the nest as placed at the foot and among the roots of a
tree, or by the side of a decayed log, and says they are often easily
discovered. They are commenced the first week of April. The outer
portions are formed of dry leaves and mosses, the inner of fine
grasses, with a few hairs or the dry fibres of the Spanish moss.

The eggs, four in number, are described as flesh-colored, sprinkled
with dark red at the larger end. They are hatched in fourteen days.
The young leave the nest in about ten days, and follow the parent on
the ground from place to place. When disturbed on her nest in the
earlier periods of incubation, she merely flies off; but later, or
when she has young, she tumbles about on the ground, spreads her wings
and tail, utters piteous cries, and seems as if in the last agonies of
despair. This species Mr. Audubon never met with farther east than
Georgia, nor farther north than Henderson, Ky.

Of late years, or since attention has been more drawn to the specific
difference between this species and the Water Thrush, it has
apparently become more numerous, and has been obtained in considerable
numbers in the vicinity of Washington. In that neighborhood, once
considered so rare, it was found by Dr. Coues to be not at all
uncommon at certain seasons and in particular localities. From the
10th of April to the 20th of May it was always to be met with among
the dense laurel-brakes that border the banks of and fill the ravines
leading into Rock Creek and Piney Branch. He believes they breed
there, but they were not observed in the fall. They were usually very
shy, darting at once into the most impenetrable brakes, but were at
other times easily approached. He always found them in pairs, even as
early as the 20th of April. Their call-note was a sparrow-like chirp,
as if made by striking two pebbles together. They also had a loud,
beautiful, and melodious song, the singularity of which first drew his
attention to the bird.

Mr. Ridgway informs me that in the Wabash Valley this bird, familiarly
known as the “Water Wagtail,” is an abundant summer sojourner. It
inhabits the dampest situations in the bottom-lands, the borders of
creeks, lagoons, and swamps, living there in company with the
Prothonotary Warbler (_Protonotaria citrea_). In its movements it is
one of the quickest as well as the most restless of the _Sylvicolidæ_,
though it is eminently terrestrial in its habits. It is usually seen
upon the wet ground, in a horizontal position, or even the posterior
part of its body more elevated, and its body continually tilting up
and down; if it fancies itself unobserved, it runs slyly beneath the
brushwood overhanging the shore; but if startled, it flies up suddenly
with a sharp and startling chatter. He adds that in early spring (from
the latter part of February to the beginning of April) its rich loud
song may be heard before the trees are in leaf, for it is one of the
earliest of the Warblers to arrive. When singing, it is usually
perched upon the lower branches of a tree overhanging the water, but
he has frequently seen it among the topmost branches. Wilson and
Audubon have not exaggerated the merits of the song of this bird, for
among all its family there is certainly not one of our North American
species that compares with it. In richness and volume of its very
liquid notes it is almost unrivalled, though the song itself may not
be considered otherwise remarkable.

Mr. Salvin met this species in different portions of Guatemala in the
months of August, September, and November, 1859. A dry watercourse in
the forest, or in the bottom of a barranco, seemed to be its favorite
resort, while its near congener, the _noveboracensis_, was observed to
seek rather the more open streams.


GENUS OPORORNIS, BAIRD.

  _Oporornis_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 246. (Type, _Sylvia agilis_,
    WILS.)

  [Line drawing: _Oporornis formosus._
                  517]

GEN. CHAR. Bill sylvicoline, rather compressed; distinctly notched at
tip; rictal bristles very much reduced. Wings elongated, pointed, much
longer than the tail; the first quill nearly or quite the longest.
Tail very slightly rounded; tail-feathers acuminate, pointed; the
under coverts reaching to within less than half an inch of their tip.
Tarsi elongated, longer than the head; claws large, the hinder one as
long as its digit, and longer than the lateral toes. Above
olive-green; beneath yellow; tail and wings immaculate. Legs yellow.

This group of American Warblers is very distinct from any other. The
typical species is quite similar in color to _Geothlypis
philadelphia_, but is at once to be distinguished by much longer
wings, more even tail, and larger toes and claws. It is also very
similar to _Seiurus_, differing chiefly in the longer wings, larger
claws, and absence of spots beneath.

  Throat and crown ash-color; a white ring round the eye. No
  black on the side of the head …                        _O. agilis._

  Throat and superciliary stripe yellow; top of the head and a
  streak beneath the eye black …                       _O. formosus._


Oporornis agilis, BAIRD.

CONNECTICUT WARBLER.

  _Sylvia agilis_, WILS. Am. Orn. V, 1812, 64, pl. xxxix, fig. 4.—AUD.
    Orn. Biog. II, pl. cxxxviii; BON. _Sylvicola ag._ JARD.; AUD.
    Birds Am. II, pl. xcix. _Trichas ag._ NUTT. _Oporornis ag._ BAIRD,
    Birds N. Am. 1858, 246, pl. lxxix, fig. 2: Rev. 218. _? Trichas
    tephrocotis_, NUTT. Man. 2d ed. 1840, 462 (Chester Co., Penn.; top
    of head pure ash).—SAMUELS, 208.

SP. CHAR. _Spring male._ Upper parts and sides of the body uniform
olive-green, very slightly tinged with ash on the crown. Sides of the
head ash, tinged with dusky beneath, the eye. (Entire head sometimes
ash.) Chin and throat grayish-ash, gradually becoming darker to the
upper part of the breast, where it becomes tinged with dark ash. Sides
of the neck, breast, and body olive, like the back; rest of under
parts light yellow. A broad continuous white ring round the eye. Wings
and tail-feathers olive (especially the latter), without any trace of
bars or spots. Bill brown above. Feet yellow. Length, 6 inches; wing,
3.00; tail, 2.25. _Female._ The olive-green reaching to the bill, and
covering sides of head; throat and jugulum pale ashy-buff. _Young_ not
seen. Nesting unknown.

Autumnal specimen nearly uniform olive above; the throat tinged with
brownish so as to obscure the ash.

HAB. Eastern Province of United States.

  [Illustration: PLATE XV.

   1. Oporornis agilis, _Wils._ ♂ Ill., 35031.
   2.     “        “       “    ♀.
   3.     “     formosas, _Wils._ ♂ Ill., 60873.
   4. Geothlypis macgillivrayi, _Aud._ ♂ Oreg., 1861.
   5.     “            “          “    ♀.
   6.     “      philadelphia, _Wils._ ♂ Pa., 689.
   7.     “      trichas, _Linn._ ♂ D. C., 26024.
   8.     “        “         “    ♀ Pa., 385.
   9.     “      philadelphia, _Wils._ ♀ Pa., 1037.
  10. Myiodioctes mitratus, _Gm._ ♂ Pa., 2226.
  11.    “          “         “   ♀ Pa., 2228.
  12. Icteria virens, _Linn._ ♂ Pa., 2260.]

A specimen in the collection of the Philadelphia Academy, killed by
Mr. Krider, has the darker ash of the jugulum of a decided sooty
tinge.

A peculiarity in the history of this species is shown in the fact that
it is quite abundant in Illinois, Wisconsin, etc., in the spring, and
very rare in the autumn; precisely the reverse being the case near the
Atlantic border, where only two or three spring specimens have been
announced as captured by collectors. It is possible that they go north
in spring, along the valley of the Mississippi, and return in autumn
through the Atlantic States. Their summer abode and breeding-place are
as yet unknown.

  [Illustration: _Oporornis agilis._]

HABITS. Of the history of this rare and beautiful species but little
is as yet known. It was first met with by Wilson, in the State of
Connecticut, and he afterwards obtained two other specimens near
Philadelphia. Others have since been procured at Carlisle, Penn., at
Washington, Loudon County, Va., near Chicago, Racine, and in Southern
Illinois. September 25 to October 1, and May, from the 15th to the
28th, appears to be the epoch of their fall and spring occurrence.
They are more frequently noticed in the autumn. It is supposed to be a
migratory bird, going north to breed.

It was found by Wilson, in every case, among low thickets, and seemed
to be more than commonly active, not remaining for a moment in the
same position. Mr. Audubon obtained only two specimens, a pair,
opposite Philadelphia in New Jersey. When he first observed them they
were hopping and skipping from one low bush to another, and among the
tall reeds of the marsh, emitting an oft-repeated _tweet_ at every
move. They were chasing a species of spider that ran nimbly over the
water, and which they caught by gliding over it. Upon dissecting them,
he found a number of these spiders in their stomachs, and no other
food. These two birds were not at all shy, and seemed to take very
little notice of him, even when close to them.

Mr. Trumbull, in his list of the birds of Eastern Pennsylvania, marks
it as a summer resident of that State, which is probably not the fact.
Mr. Lawrence includes it in his list of birds found near New York
City. It is not given by Mr. Verrill or Mr. Boardman as occurring in
any part of Maine, and has not been detected in Western Massachusetts
by Mr. Allen, though it has been occasionally met with in the eastern
part of the State by Dr. Cabot, Mr. Maynard, and others. More
recently, in the fall of 1870, and again in that of 1871, this species
has been found quite abundant in a restricted locality in the eastern
part of that State. It was first observed by Mr. H. W. Henshaw,
a promising young naturalist, in the early part of September, 1870,
among the Fresh Pond marshes in Cambridge. They appeared to be quite
numerous, and several specimens were obtained. He communicated the
discovery to his friend, Mr. William Brewster, and more than fifty
specimens of this rare Warbler were obtained during that season. In
the following autumn, in September and during the first few days of
October, these birds were observed in the same locality, apparently in
greater numbers, and more specimens were obtained.

Mr. Henshaw writes me that he first saw this species, September 7,
1870, when he obtained a single specimen. From that time until
September 27 it was very common throughout the Fresh Pond swamps, to
which locality it seemed to be restricted. It again made its
appearance in 1871, and at about the same time, and remained until
October 5. It was in even greater numbers than during the preceding
year.

Their habits, while with us in the fall, appear to be very different
from those of the individuals observed by Wilson and Audubon, which
were described as being of a remarkably lively disposition, and hence
the name of _agilis_. Mr. Henshaw found them almost constantly engaged
in seeking their food upon the ground. When startled, they would fly
up to the nearest bush, upon which they would sit perfectly
motionless, in a manner closely resembling the Thrushes. If not
further disturbed, they immediately returned to the ground and resumed
the search for food among the leaves. If greatly startled, they took a
long flight among the bushes, and could rarely be found again. The
only note he heard them utter was a single sharp chirp, emitted
occasionally, when surprised. They were all remarkably fat, so much so
as to make it difficult to obtain a good specimen.

About sunset, standing on the skirts of the swamp, he has repeatedly
observed these birds alight, in great numbers, on the edge, and
immediately pass in, evidently intending to remain there over night.
He judged that they migrate entirely by day. On only one or two
occasions did he observe these birds feeding in the tops of
willow-trees. At such times they appeared equally lively in their
movements with the _Dendroica striata_, in company with which they
were associated. The birds he saw were nearly all in immature plumage,
adults being comparatively rare.

Dr. Coues states that the Connecticut Warbler is found near Washington
in the month of October, but that it is rather uncommon. He did not
meet with it in spring. He speaks of its frequenting old buckwheat and
corn fields, searching for food among the dry, rank weeds, and also in
swampy places among low thickets.


Oporornis formosus, BAIRD.

KENTUCKY WARBLER.

  _? Sylvia æquinoctialis_, VIEILL. Ois. Am. Sept. II, 1807, 26, pl.
    lxxxi, Penn. (not of GMELIN). _Sylvia formosa_, WILS. Am. Orn.
    III, 1811, 85, pl. xxv, fig. 3.—NUTT.; AUD. Orn. Biog. I, pl.
    xxxviii. _Sylvicola formosa_, JARD.; RICH.; BON.; MAX.
    _Myiodioctes formosus_, AUD. Syn.—IB. Birds Am. II, pl.
    lxxiv.—LEMBEYE, Av. Cuba, 1850, 37. GUNDLACH, Cab. Jour. 1861, 326
    (Cuba). _Oporornis formosus_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 247; Rev.
    218.—SCLATER & SALVIN, Ibis, I, 1859, 10 (Guatemala).
  Other localities cited: _Mexico_, SCLATER. _Isthmus Panama_,
    LAWRENCE. _Veragua_, SALV. _Costa Rica_, LAWR.

SP. CHAR. _Adult male._ Upper parts and sides dark olive-green. Crown
and sides of the head, including a triangular patch from behind the
eye down the side of the neck, black, the feathers of the crown
narrowly lunulated at tips with dark ash. A line from nostrils over
the eye and encircling it (except anteriorly), with the entire under
parts, bright yellow. No white on the tail. _Female_ similar, with
less black on the head. Length, 5 inches; wing, 2.95; tail, 2.25.
_Young_ not seen.

The adults in autumn are exactly the same as in spring.

HAB. Eastern Province of United States, north to Washington and
Chicago; west to Republican Fork of Kansas River (Coues). Cuba,
Guatemala, and Isthmus Panama. Not recorded from West Indies except
Cuba.

HABITS. The Kentucky Warbler is an abundant species in the Southern
and Southwestern States, and has been found, though more rarely, as
far to the north as Southern New York in the east and to Southern
Wisconsin in the west. It has also been obtained at Fort Riley, in
Kansas. Its nest and eggs have been procured near Cleveland, O., by
Dr. J. P Kirtland, and also in Chester County, Penn., by Mr. Norris.
It is a winter inhabitant in Mexico, Panama, Guatemala, and Cuba.

Wilson speaks of having met with this bird in abundance from Kentucky
to the mouth of the Mississippi, everywhere quite common, but most
especially so in the States of Tennessee and Kentucky. At the Balize
he several times heard it twittering among the high rank grass of
those solitary morasses. He found it frequenting low damp woods, and
building its nest either in the middle of thick tufts of rank grass,
in the fork of a low bush, or on the ground. The materials of which
these nests were made were loose dry grass, mixed with the pith of
wood, and lined with hair. He found the eggs from four to six in
number, pure white, sprinkled with reddish specks. He met with the
female sitting upon her eggs as early as May. These birds, he adds,
are seldom seen among high branches, but prefer to frequent low bushes
and canebrakes. In their habits they are very lively and sprightly.
The song is loud, comprising three notes, and resembles
_tweedle-tweedle-dweedle_. It makes its appearance in Kentucky from
the South about the middle of April, and leaves the region about New
Orleans on the approach of cold weather. Wilson was assured that it
never remains there during the winter.

Wilson characterizes these birds as a reckless fighting species,
almost always engaged in pursuing its fellows.

Mr. Audubon states that this Warbler is the most common and abundant
species that visits the State of Louisiana and the whole region about
the Mississippi River, but is not so common in Kentucky or Ohio. He
describes it as an extremely lively and active bird, found in all the
low grounds and damp places near watercourses, and generally among the
tall rank weeds and low bushes growing in rich alluvial soil. It is
continually in motion, hopping from stalk to stalk, and from twig to
twig, preying upon insects, larvæ, or small berries, rarely pursuing
an insect on the wing. He describes its song as agreeable and
emphatic. He has never known this species fly farther than a few yards
at a time. Its flight is low, and is performed in a gliding manner. It
makes its first appearance about the middle of March, and remains
until the middle or last of September. He states that it rears two
broods in a season. His description of its nest, as “small,
beautifully constructed, and attached to several stems of rank weeds,”
etc., does not agree in position, size, or appearance with any that I
have ever seen.

According to Mr. Audubon, it feeds largely upon spiders, which it
obtains by turning over the withered leaves on the ground. The young
birds resemble their mother until the following season, when the males
attain the full beauty of their plumage. They remain with their
parents until they migrate.

The late Dr. Alexander Gerhardt, an accurate and observing naturalist
of Northern Georgia, informed me, by letter, that the nest of the
Kentucky Warbler is usually built on the ground, under a tuft of
grass, often on a hillside and always in dry places. The eggs are
deposited from the 4th to the 15th of May. Nearly all the nests he met
with were made externally of a loose aggregation of dry oak and
chestnut leaves, so rudely thrown together as hardly to possess any
coherence, and requiring to be sewed to be kept in place. The interior
or inner nests were more compactly interwoven, usually composed of
fine dark-brown roots. Instead of being small, they are large for the
bird, and are inelegantly and clumsily made. They measure four inches
in their diameter, three in height, and two in the depth of their
cavity. One nest, the last received from Dr. Gerhardt, obtained by him
at Varnell’s Station, in Northern Georgia, June 5, 1860, is large and
peculiar in its construction. It is nearly spherical in shape, with an
entrance partially on one side and nearly arched over. The periphery
of this nest is composed exclusively of partially decayed deciduous
leaves, impacted together, yet somewhat loosely. Within this outer
covering is a fine framework of stems, twigs, and rootlets, and within
this a snug, compact lining of hair and finer rootlets and fibres.
This nest is six inches in diameter and five in height. It contained
four eggs.

These eggs have an average length of .69 of an inch and a breadth of
.56 of an inch. They have an oblong-oval shape, a crystalline-white
ground, and the entire surface is sprinkled over with fine dots of red
and reddish-brown. These, though most abundant about the larger end,
are nowhere confluent, and do not form a crown.

A nest of this bird from Chester County, Penn., is a very flat
structure, evidently built in a bed of fallen leaves. It has a
diameter of six inches and a height of only two. The cup is a mere
depression only half an inch in depth. Its base is loosely constructed
of dried leaves, upon which is interwoven a coarse lining of long,
dry, and wiry rootlets and stems of plants. It was given to Mr. J. P.
Norris, from whom I received it, and it is now in the Boston
collection.

Mr. Robert Ridgway furnishes the following valuable information in
regard to the abundance and general habits of this species as observed
in Southern Illinois: “It is a very common summer bird in Southern
Illinois, where it arrives in the Wabash Valley towards the last of
April. It is a wood-loving species, and of terrestrial habits, like
the _Seiurus aurocapillus_, but generally frequents rather different
situations from the latter bird, liking better the undergrowth of
‘bottom’ woods than that of dry forests. In all its manners it closely
resembles the _Seiuri_, especially the two aquatic species,
_ludovicianus_ and _noveboracensis_, having the same tilting motion of
the body, and horizontal attitude when perching, so characteristic of
these birds. The nest I have never found, though well aware of its
actual situation. I knew of one somewhere among the ‘top’ of a fallen
tree, but it was so well concealed that the closest search did not
enable me to discover it. In most cases the nest is probably on the
ground, among the rubbish of fallen tree-tops, or low brushwood.

     “The usual note of this Warbler is a sharp _tship_, almost
     precisely like that of the Pewee (_Sayornis fuscus_),
     uttered as the bird perches on a twig near the ground,
     continually tilting its body, or is changed into a sharp
     rapid twitter as one chases another through the thicket.
     Their song is very pretty, consisting of a fine whistle,
     delivered very much in the style of the Cardinal Grosbeak
     (_Cardinalis virginianus_), though finer in tone, and
     weaker.”

Dr. Coues found this Warbler rare at Washington, and chiefly in low
woods with thick undergrowth, and in ravines. They were very silent,
but not shy, and a few breed there.


SECTION GEOTHLYPEÆ.

GENUS GEOTHLYPIS, CABAN.

  _Trichas_, SWAINSON, Zoöl. Journ. III, July, 1827, 167 (not of
    Gloger, March, 1827, equal to _Criniger_, Temm.).
  _Geothlypis_, CABANIS, Wiegmann’s Archiv, 1847, I, 316, 349.—IB.
    Schomburgk’s Reise, Guiana, 1848.

GEN. CHAR. Bill sylvicoline, rather depressed, and distinctly notched;
rictal bristles very short or wanting. Wings short, rounded, scarcely
longer than the tail; the first quill shorter than the fourth. Tail
long; much rounded or graduated. Legs stout; tarsi elongated, as long
as the head. Olive-green above, belly yellow. Tail-feathers
immaculate. Legs yellow.


Synopsis of Species.

  Throat yellow …                                         _Series I._
  Throat ash …                                           _Series II._

_Series I._

A. Black mask extending beneath the eye and on the auriculars.

  1. G. trichas. Black mask bordered along its posterior edge
  with pale ashy or whitish; maxillæ black. Sexes dissimilar. ♀.
  Olive-brown above; throat only, distinctly yellow; no black
  mask. _Juv._ Without either black or pure yellow; above
  olive-brown, like ♀, beneath pale ochraceous-buff.

    Abdomen almost always whitish; occiput russet-olive. Bill,
    from nostril, .30;. tarsus, .70; wing, 2.25; tail, 2.15.
    _Hab._ Whole of United States; in winter most of West Indies,
    and Middle America, north to Guatemala …          var. _trichas_.

    Colors similar; abdomen yellow. Bill, .45; tarsus, .90; wing,
    2.50; tail, 2.50. _Hab._ Nassau; New Providence; Bahamas …
                                                 var. _rostrata_.[52]

    Abdomen bright yellow; occiput whitish-ash tinged with
    yellow. Bill, .32; tarsus, .75; wing, 2.45; tail, 2.50.
    _Hab._ Eastern Mexico (Jalapa?) …            var. _melanops_.[53]

  2. G. æquinoctialis. Black mask not bordered posteriorly by
  ashy or whitish; much narrower on forehead than on auriculars;
  maxillæ yellow. Sexes similar.

    Black of the auriculars bordered posteriorly by the
    olive-green of the neck. Bill, .17 deep; wing, 2.50; tail,
    2.35. _Hab._ Northeast South America (Cayenne, Trinidad,
    etc.) …                                 var. _æquinoctialis_.[54]

    Black of the auriculars bordered posteriorly by the ash of
    the crown. Bill, .14 deep; wing, 2.40; tail, 2.50. _Hab._
    Brazil …                                       var. _velata_.[55]

B. Black mask not extending underneath the eye, but confined to
lores and frontlet.

  3. G. poliocephala. Bill much as in _Granatellus_. Above
  olive-green; the crown light ash; beneath yellow. Sexes
  dissimilar.

    Eyelids white; nape and auriculars olive-green; abdomen
    whitish. Bill, .30, .15 deep; wing, 2.20; tail, 2.50. _Hab._
    West Mexico (Mazatlan) …                 var. _poliocephala_.[56]

    Eyelids black; nape and auriculars ashy; abdomen wholly
    yellow. Bill, .35, .18 deep; wing, 2.40; tail, 2.50. _Hab._
    Guatemala (Retaluleu) …                     var. _caninucha_.[57]

_Series II._

  4. G. philadelphia. Head all round ashy; lores only, black.
  Sexes nearly similar.

    Eyelids dusky (except in ♀); a black patch on jugulum of ♂.
    ♀. Throat tinged with yellow. _Hab._ Eastern Province of
    North America; in winter south to Panama …   var. _philadelphia_.

    Eyelids white; no black patch on jugulum. ♀. Throat not
    tinged with yellow. _Hab._ Western and Middle Province of
    United States; in winter south to Costa Rica (Western Coast) …
                                                var. _macgillivrayi_.


Geothlypis trichas, CABAN.

MARYLAND YELLOW-THROAT; BLACK-MASKED GROUND WARBLER.

  _Turdus trichas_, LINN. S. N. 1766, 293. _Sylvia trichas_, LATH.;
    AUD., etc. _Geothlypis trichas_, CAB. Mus. Hein. 1850, 16.—BAIRD,
    Birds N. Am. 241; Rev. 220.—GUNDLACH, Cab. Jour. 1861, 326
    (Cuba).—SCLATER, Catal. 1861, 27, no. 167.—MARCH, Pr. A. N. Sc.
    1863, 293.—LORD, Pr. R. Art. Inst. Woolwich, IV, 1864, 115 (N. W.
    Boundary).—JONES, Nat. Bermuda, 29.—SAMUELS, 205.—COOPER, Orn.
    Cal. 1, 1870, 95. _Sylvia marilandica_, WILSON. _Trichas mar._
    BON. _Regulus mystaceus_, STEPHENS. _Trichas personatus_,
    SWAINSON. _Sylvia roscoe_, AUD. _Trichas brachydactylus_, SWAINS.
  Other localities quoted: _Xalapa_, _Oaxaca_, _Cordova_, SCL.
    _Guatemala_, SCL. & SALV. _Bahamas_, BRYANT. _Costa Rica_, CAB.;
    LAWR. _Orizaba_ (autumn), SUM. _Yucatan_, LAWR.
  Figures: VIEILL. Ois. II, pl. xxviii, xxix.—AUD. Orn. Biog. I,
    II, V, pl. xxiii, cii, ccxl.—WILS. I, pl. vi, fig. 1.—BUFFON, Pl.
    enl. 709, fig. 2.

  [Line drawing: _Geothlypis trichas._
                  26017]

SP. CHAR. (No. 26,024 ♂.) Wings a little shorter than the somewhat
graduated tail. Bill slender, the depth contained about two and a half
times in distance from nostrils to tip. First quill about equal to
seventh. Forehead to above the anterior edge of the eye, and across
the entire cheeks, ears, and jaws, and ending in an angle on sides of
neck, black, with a suffusion of hoary bluish-gray behind it on the
crown and sides of neck; the occipital and nuchal region
grayish-brown, passing insensibly into the olive-green of the upper
parts. Chin, throat, jugulum, edge of wing and crissum rich yellow
(the latter paler); rest of under parts, with lining of wings,
yellowish-white, the sides tinged with brownish; outer primary edged
with whitish, the others with olive-green. Bill black; legs yellowish.
Total length, 4.40; wing, 2.15; tail, 2.30; graduation, .25; width of
outer tail-feather, .28; difference between first and third quills,
.15; length of bill from forehead, .52; from nostril, .30; along gape,
.60; tarsus, .75; middle toe and claw, .66; claw alone, .18; hind toe
and claw, .48; claw alone, .26.

Male in winter, and the female, without the black mask; the forehead
tinged with brown, the yellow of the throat less extended, the eyelids
whitish, and a yellowish superciliary line.

HAB. The whole United States, from Atlantic to Pacific, and south to
Costa Rica; Bermuda (October); Bahamas; Cuba; Jamaica.

The young bird is brownish-olive above, becoming more virescent on the
rump and tail; eyelids, and whole lower parts, soft light buff, with a
faint tinge of yellow on the breast and lower tail-coverts.

  [Illustration: _Geothlypis trichas._]

There is very much variation manifested in a large series (containing
more than one hundred and thirty specimens, principally North
American), though but very little that accords with any distinctions
of habitat. As a rule, however, those from the Atlantic States are the
smallest of the series, and have most white on the abdomen, the yellow
being restricted to the throat and jugulum, and the lower
tail-coverts. In most specimens from the Mississippi Valley the yellow
beneath is quite continuous, and the size considerably larger than in
the series above mentioned, in these respects approaching the _G.
melanops_ from Eastern Mexico, in which the yellow pervades the whole
surface beneath; but in this the whitish border above the black mask
is extended over the whole crown, leaving the nape only distinctly
brownish, and the size larger than the average of the series alluded
to. However, No. 61,135 ♂, Liberty County, Ga., has even more white on
top of the head, the whole occiput being of this color; while No.
7,922 ♂, from Racine, Wis., is quite as long as the type of _melanops_
(the tail only, shorter), and there is nearly as much yellow beneath.
The Georgia specimen, however, in other respects, is most like the
Atlantic style. Specimens from the Pacific coast have just appreciably
longer tails than Eastern ones, and the olive-green above is brighter.
Jamaican and Guatemalan specimens are identical with many from the
United States. The _G. rostratus_ of Bryant, from the Bahamas, appears
to be merely a gigantic insular race of the common species.

HABITS. This well-known and beautiful little Ground Warbler is a
common, abundant, and widely diffused species, occurring throughout
the United States from ocean to ocean, and from the Gulf of Mexico to
Canada and Nova Scotia. It is found, during the winter months, in
Cuba, Jamaica, Mexico, Yucatan, Guatemala, Costa Rica, the Bahamas,
and, in the fall, in Bermuda. On the Pacific coast it has been found
from Cape St. Lucas to the British territories. It breeds from
Northern Georgia to Halifax, inclusive.

In Central America, Mr. Salvin states that this Warbler is by far the
most common of the _Mniotiltidæ_, but is wholly migratory. It was
usually found in the neighborhood of water, frequenting the reeds that
surrounded Lake Duenas, and the bushes on the banks of its outlet. It
was also taken by Mr. Boucard at Totontepec, among the mountains of
Oaxaca, Mexico.

It was observed as far to the north as Lake of the Woods, by Mr.
Kennicott. Several were there observed, both males and females, May
29. It is everywhere quite common, and is, I think, as numerous in New
England as in the Middle States.

For the most part it seems to prefer wild lands, especially those
overgrown with briers and low bushes, to open or cultivated grounds.
Yet this preference is not exclusive, as I have known a pair, or their
offspring, to visit the same garden nine or ten successive summers. It
is also more generally found in low lands than in high, and is
probably attracted to moist thickets of briers and underbrush by the
greater abundance of its favorite food. This Warbler is eminently
terrestrial in its habits, never being found among higher limbs, but
always either on the ground or among the lower branches of bushes,
vines, and weeds. It is a diligent rather than an active or nimble
bird, is always on the move, and incessantly in search of its food.
This consists of insects in all their forms, but more particularly of
larvæ, small beetles, and spiders. They are of great service in the
destruction of several forms of injurious grubs, and but that their
mode of life exposes them to destruction by prowling cats, I doubt not
they would readily adapt themselves to living in our gardens.
Occasionally they are found in fields of grain, where their presence
is due to the abundance of destructive insects.

The Yellow-Throat appears shy and retiring because it prefers to move
back and forth among low shrubs and brambles, where it most readily
procures its food, but it is not a timid bird. They are unsuspecting,
and will as readily permit as fly from the near presence of man. I
have frequently had them approach within a few feet, especially when
at rest; and even when in motion they will continue their lively song,
as they move about from twig to twig. Though able to capture an insect
on the wing, they are not expert fly-catchers, and chiefly take their
prey when it is at rest.

Their song is a very lively and agreeable refrain, easily recognized,
though exhibiting at times marked differences, and occasionally
closely resembling the song of the Summer Yellow-Bird. The same brief
series of notes, usually sounding like _whi-ti-tēē-tēē_, is constantly
repeated at short intervals, while the singer continues his perpetual
hunt for insects.

The male is very affectionate and devoted to both mate and offspring.
The pair are never far apart, and during incubation the male is
assiduous in the collection of food, feeding its mate, and afterwards
assisting in collecting for their young. They rely upon concealment
for the protection of their nest, and rarely show any open solicitude
until it is discovered. Then they will make the most vehement
demonstrations of alarm and distress, flying about the intruder and
fearlessly approaching him to within a few feet. In Massachusetts they
rarely, if ever, have more than one brood in a season. The young are
able to take care of themselves early in July. At that time the song
of the male ceases, or is abbreviated to a single _whit_, and parents
and young form a family group and together hunt in the more secluded
thickets, the edges of woods, and other retired places, for their
food. Early in September they take their departure.

The Yellow-Throat is distributed, in suitable localities, over a large
area, and wherever found is apparently equally common. Dr. Gerhardt
found it quite abundant in Northern Georgia. Wilson and Audubon
thought it more common in the Middle States than farther north, but I
have found it quite as numerous about Halifax and Eastport as I have
at Washington. Dr. Cooper speaks of it as “very common” in Washington
Territory, though not so abundant as MacGillivray’s Warbler. The same
writer also states it to be a “very common bird” in California. Their
earliest arrival at San Diego was on the 17th of April, about the time
they reach Pennsylvania. They appear in New England early in May.

Their nest is almost invariably upon the ground, usually in a thick
bed of fallen leaves, a clump of grass or weeds, at the roots of low
bushes or briers, or under the shelter of a brush-pile. Occasionally
it has been found among high weeds, built in a matted cluster of
branches, four or five feet from the ground. Sometimes it is sunk in a
depression in the ground, and often its top is covered by loose
overlying leaves. I have never found this top interwoven with or
forming any part of the nest itself.

The nest is usually both large and deep for the size of the bird, its
loose periphery of leaves and dry sedges adding to its size, and it
often has a depth of from five to six inches from its rim to its base.
The cavity is usually three inches deep and two and a quarter wide.
Generally these nests are constructed on a base of dry leaves. An
external framework, rudely put together, of dry grasses, sedge leaves,
strips of dry bark, twigs, and decaying vegetables, covers an inner
nest, or lining, of finer materials, and more carefully woven. At the
rim of the nest these materials sometimes project like a rude palisade
or hedge. Usually the lining is of fine grasses, without hair or
feathers of any kind.

In some nests the outer portion and base are composed almost entirely
of fine dry strips of the inner bark of the wild grape.

The eggs vary from four to six in number, and also differ greatly in
their size, so much so that the question has arisen if there are not
two species, closely resembling, but differing chiefly in their size.
Of this, however, there is no evidence other than in these marked
variations in the eggs.

In the Great Basin, Mr. Ridgway found this bird abundant in all the
bushy localities in the vicinity of water, but it was confined to the
lower portions, never being seen high up on the mountains, nor even in
the lower portions of the mountain cañons.

Their eggs exhibit a variation in length of from .55 to .72 of an
inch, and in breadth from .48 to .58 of an inch; the smallest being
from Georgia, and the largest from Kansas. They are of a beautiful
clear crystalline-white ground, and are dotted, blotched, and marbled
around the larger end with purple, reddish-brown, and dark umber.


Geothlypis philadelphia, BAIRD.

MOURNING WARBLER.

  _Sylvia philadelphia_, WILS. Am. Orn. II, 1810, 101, pl. xiv; AUD.;
    NUTT. _Trichas philadelphia_, JARD.—REINHARDT, Vidensk. Meddel.
    for 1853, and Ibis, 1861, 6 (Greenland). _Geothlypis phila._
    BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 243, pl. lxxix, fig. 3; Rev.
    226.—SCLATER, Catal. 1861, 27 (Orizaba).—LAWRENCE, Ann. N. Y. Lyc.
    1861, 322 (Panama).—SAMUELS, 207.—DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 476.
  Figures: WILS. Am. Orn. II, pl. xiv.—AUD. Birds Am. II, pl. ci.

SP. CHAR. Wings but little longer than the tail, reaching but little
beyond its base. _Adult male._ Head and neck all round, with throat
and forepart of breast, ash-gray, paler beneath. The feathers of the
chin, throat, and fore breast in reality black, but with narrow ashy
margins more or less concealing the black, except on the breast. Lores
and region round the eye dusky, without any trace of a pale ring.
Upper parts and sides of the body clear olive-green; the under parts
bright yellow. Tail-feathers uniform olive; first primary, with the
outer half of the outer web, nearly white. _Female_ with the gray of
the crown glossed with olive; the chin and throat paler centrally, and
tinged with fulvous; a dull whitish ring round the eye. Length, 5.50;
wing, 2.45; tail, 2.25. _Young_ not seen.

HAB. Eastern Province of United States to British America; Greenland;
Southeastern Mexico, Panama R. R., and Colombia. Not recorded from
West Indies or Guatemala. Costa Rica (LAWR.).

Specimens vary in the amount of black on the jugulum, and the purity
of the ash of the throat. The species is often confounded with
_Oporornis agilis_, to which the resemblance is quite close. They may,
however, be distinguished by the much longer and more pointed wings,
and more even tail, shorter legs, etc., of _agilis_. The white ring
round the eye in the female _philadelphia_ increases the difficulty of
separation.

The adult male in autumn is scarcely different from the spring bird,
there being merely a faint olive-tinge to the ash on top of the head,
and the black jugular patch more restricted, being more concealed by
the ashy borders to the feathers; the yellow beneath somewhat deeper.

HABITS. The Mourning Warbler was first discovered and described by
Wilson, who captured it in the early part of June, on the borders of a
marsh, within a few miles of Philadelphia. This was the only specimen
he ever met with. He found it flitting from one low bush to another in
search of insects. It had a sprightly and pleasant warbling song, the
novelty of which first attracted his attention. For a long while
Wilson’s single bird remained unique, and from its excessive rarity
Bonaparte conjectured that it might be an accidental variety of the
Yellow-Throat. At present, though still of unfrequent occurrence, it
is by no means a doubtful, though generally a comparatively rare
species. Audubon mentions having received several specimens of this
Warbler, procured in the neighborhood of Philadelphia, New York, and
Vermont, all of which were obtained in the spring or summer months. He
met with a single specimen in Louisiana, and thinks its habits closely
resemble those of the Maryland Yellow-Throat.

Nuttall met with what he presumes to have been one of these birds in
the Botanical Garden at Cambridge. It had all the manners of the
Yellow-Throat, was busy in the search of insects in the low bushes,
and, at intervals, warbled out some very pleasant notes, which partly
resembled the lively chant of the _Trichas_, and in some degree the
song of the Summer Yellow-Bird.

Professor Reinhardt states that two individuals of this species have
been taken in Greenland,—one in Fiskenæsset, in 1846, and the other at
Julianhaab, in 1853.

Mr. Turnbull gives it as still quite rare in Eastern Pennsylvania,
arriving there in the middle of May on its way farther north. Mr.
Lawrence includes it in his list of the birds of New York. Mr. Dresser
obtained five specimens early in May, in Southern Texas.

It has been met with as far to the north as Greenland by Reinhardt,
and in Selkirk Settlement by Donald Gunn. It has been procured in
Eastern Mexico, in Panama, in Carlisle, Penn., Southern Illinois,
Missouri, Nova Scotia, and various other places. It has been known to
breed in Waterville, Me., and is not uncommon in Northwestern and
Northern New York. A single specimen of this bird was obtained at
Ocana, in Colombia, South America, by Mr. C. W. Wyatt.

Late in May, 1838, I have a note of having met with this species in
Mount Auburn. The bird was fearless and unsuspecting, busily engaged,
among some low shrubbery, in search of insects. It suffered our near
presence, was often within a few feet, and was so readily
distinguishable that my companion, with no acquaintance with birds, at
once recognized it from Audubon’s plates. Its habits were the exact
counterpart of those of the Yellow-Throat. We did not notice its song.

Mr. Maynard states that, May 21, 1866, Mr. William Brewster shot a
male of this species in Cambridge, on the top of a tall tree. Another
specimen was taken at Franconia Mountains, New Hampshire, August 3,
1867. It was in company with four fully fledged young, which it was
feeding. The young were shy, and could not be procured. The old bird
was catching flies, after the manner of Flycatchers. Mr. Maynard has
met this species but once in Massachusetts, and then in May, among low
bushes and in a swampy place. He has since found it rather common at
Lake Umbagog, Maine, in June, where it breeds. He states that it
frequents the bushes along fences, stone walls, and the edges of
woods. The male often perches and sings in the early morning on the
top rail of a fence, or the dead branch of a tree. Its song he speaks
of as loud and clear, somewhat resembling that of the _Seiurus
noveboracensis_.

Mr. Paine considers this Warbler to be very rare in Vermont. He once
observed a pair, with their young, at Randolph. The male was singing a
quite pleasing, though somewhat monotonous song.

Mr. George Welch met with these birds in the Adirondack region, New
York, in June, 1870. They seemed rather abundant, and were evidently
breeding there. He obtained a single specimen.

Mr. John Burroughs, of Washington, was so fortunate as to obtain the
nest and eggs of this Warbler near the head-waters of the Delaware
River, in Roxbury, Delaware County, N. Y. “The nest,” he writes me,
“was in the edge of an old bark-peeling, in a hemlock wood, and was
placed in some ferns about one foot from the ground. The nest was
quite massive, its outer portions being composed of small dry stalks
and leaves. The cavity was very deep, and was lined with fine black
roots. I have frequently observed this Warbler in that section. About
the head of the Neversink and Esopus, in the northwest part of Ulster
County, New York, they are the prevailing Warbler, and their song may
be heard all day long. Their song suggests that of the Kentucky Ground
Warbler, but is not so loud and fine.” Mr. Burroughs states elsewhere
that “the eggs, three in number, were of light flesh-color, uniformly
speckled with fine brown specks. The cavity of the nest was so deep
that the back of the sitting bird sank below the edge.”

Their eggs are of an oblong-oval shape, pointed at one end. They
measure .75 by .55 of an inch. Their ground-color is a pinkish-white,
and they are marked with dots and blotches, of varying size, of dark
purplish-brown.


Geothlypis macgillivrayi, BAIRD.

MACGILLIVRAY’S GROUND WARBLER.

  _Sylvia macgillivrayi_, AUD. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 75, pl. cccxcix.
    _Trichas macg._ AUD. _Geothlypis macg._ BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858,
    244, pl. lxxix, fig. 4; Rev. 227.—SCLATER, Catal. 1861, 27 (Jalapa
    and Guat.).—IB. P. Z. S. 1859, 363, 373 (Xalapa, Oaxaca).—CAB.
    Jour. 1861, 84 (Costa Rica).—COOPER & SUCKLEY, P. R. R. Rep. XII,
    II, 1859, 177.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 96. _Sylvicola macg._
    MAX. Cab. Jour. VI, 1858, 118. _Sylvia tolmiæi_, TOWNS. J. A. N.
    Sc. 1839. _Trichas tolmiæi_, NUTT. Man. I. _Trichas vegeta_
    (LICHT.), BP. Consp. 1850, 310; _fide_ Cab. Jour. 1861, 84
    (Mexico).

SP. CHAR. _Adult male._ Head and neck all round, throat and forepart
of the breast, dark ash-color; a narrow frontlet, loral region, and
space round the eye (scarcely complete behind), black. The eyelids
above and below the eye (not in a continuous ring) white. The feathers
of the chin, throat, and fore breast really black, with ashy-gray tips
more or less concealing the black. Rest of upper parts dark
olive-green (sides under the wings paler); of lower, bright yellow.
_Female_ with the throat paler and without any black. Length of male,
5 inches; wing, 2.45; tail, 2.45. _Young_ not seen.

HAB. Western and Middle Provinces of United States, to northern
boundary; east to Fort Laramie; south to Costa Rica.

The white eyelids of this species distinguish its males from those of
_G. philadelphia_, in which there is a black jugular patch not seen in
the present species. The females can only be known by the slenderer
bill and more rounded wing, the first quill being intermediate between
the fifth and sixth, instead of being considerably longer than the
fifth.

The autumnal adult male is as described above, except that there is a
faint tinge of green on the crown, and the ashy borders to feathers of
throat and jugulum broader, concealing more the black. The adult
female in autumn is considerably more dully colored than in spring.

HABITS. This comparatively new Warbler was first met with by Townsend,
and described by Audubon in the last volume of his Ornithological
Biography. It has since been found to have a wide range throughout the
western portion of North America, from Cape St. Lucas to British
America, and from the Plains to the Pacific. It has also been obtained
at Choapan in the State of Orizaba, Mexico, by Mr. Boucard, and in
Guatemala by Mr. Salvin, who states that throughout the district
between the volcanoes of Agua and Fuego this was a common species,
frequenting the outskirts of the forests and the edges of the
clearings. It breeds in abundance in Utah, Montana, Idaho, Oregon,
Washington Territory, and probably also in Northern California.

Townsend first met with it on the banks of the Columbia. He states
that it was mostly solitary and extremely wary, keeping chiefly in the
most impenetrable thickets, and gliding through them in a cautious and
suspicious manner. Sometimes it might be seen, at midday, perched upon
a dead twig, over its favorite places of concealment, at such times
warbling a very sprightly and pleasant little song, raising its head
until its bill is nearly vertical.

Mr. Nuttall informed Mr. Audubon that this Warbler is one of the most
common summer residents of the woods and plains of the Columbia, where
it appears early in May, and remains until the approach of winter. It
keeps near the ground, and gleans its subsistence among the low
bushes. It is shy, and when surprised or closely watched it
immediately skulks off, often uttering a loud _click_. Its notes, he
states, resemble those of the _Seiurus aurocapillus_. On the 12th of
June a nest was brought to Mr. Nuttall, containing two young birds
quite fledged, in the plumage of the mother. The nest was chiefly made
of strips of the inner bark of the _Thuja occidentalis_, lined with
slender wiry stalks. It was built near the ground in the dead,
moss-covered limbs of a fallen oak, and was partly hidden by long
tufts of _usnea_. It was less artificial than the Yellow-Throat’s
nest, but was of the same general appearance. On his restoring the
nest to its place, the parents immediately approached to feed their
charge.

Dr. Suckley found this Warbler very abundant between the Cascade
Mountains and the Pacific coast. Like all Ground Warblers it was
entirely insectivorous, all the stomachs examined containing
coleoptera and other insects. He did not find them shy, but as they
frequented thick brush they were very difficult to procure.

Dr. Cooper found this species very common about Puget Sound,
frequenting the underbrush in dry woods, occasionally singing a song
from a low tree, similar to that of the Yellow-Throat. He found its
nest built in a bush, a foot from the ground. It was of straw, loosely
made, and without any soft lining. Dr. Cooper found this species as
far east as Fort Laramie, in Wyoming. They reach the Columbia River by
the 3d of May.

The same writer noticed the first of this species at Fort Mojave,
April 24. He regarded their habits as varying in some respects from
those of the _Trichas_, as they prefer dry localities, and hunt for
insects not only in low bushes but also in trees, like the
_Dendroicæ_. Dr. Cooper twice describes their eggs as white, which is
inaccurate. He thinks that some of them winter in the warmer portions
of California. He regards them as shy, if watched, seeking the densest
thickets, but brought out again by their curiosity if a person waits
for them, and the birds will approach within a few feet, keeping up a
scolding chirp.

The nests of this species obtained by Dr. Kennerly from Puget Sound
were all built on the ground, and were constructed almost exclusively
of beautifully delicate mosses, peculiar to that country. They are
shallow nests, with a diameter of four and a height of two inches, the
cavity occupying a large proportion of the nest. Its walls and base
are of uniform thickness, averaging about one inch. The nests are
lined with finer mosses and a few slender stems and fibres.

Mr. Ridgway found these Warblers breeding in great numbers, June 23,
1869, at Parley’s Park, Utah, among the Wahsatch Mountains. One of
these nests (S. I., 15,238) was in a bunch of weeds, among the
underbrush of a willow-thicket along a cañon stream. It was situated
about eight inches from the ground, is cuplike in shape, two inches in
height, three in diameter, and somewhat loosely constructed of slender
strips of bark, decayed stalks of plants, dry grasses, intermixed with
a few fine roots, and lined with finer materials of the same. The
cavity is one and a half inches in depth, and two in diameter at the
rim.

The eggs, four in number, are .75 of an inch in length and .50 in
breadth. Their ground-color is a pinkish-white, marbled and spotted
with purple, lilac, reddish-brown, and dark brown, approaching black.
The blotches of the last color vary much in size, in one instance
having a length of .21 of an inch, and having the appearance of
hieroglyphics. When these spots are large, they are very sparse.

“This species,” Mr. Ridgway writes, “inhabits exclusively the
brushwood along the streams of the mountain cañons and ravines. Among
the weeds in such localities numerous nests were found. In no case
were they on the ground, though they were always near it; being fixed
between upright stalks of herbs, occasionally, perhaps, in a brier,
from about one to two feet above the ground. The note of the parent
bird, when a nest was disturbed, was a strong _chip_, much like that
of the _Cyanospiza amæna_ or _C. cyanea_.” He also states that it was
abundant in the East Humboldt Mountains in August and in September,
and also throughout the summer. A pair of fully fledged young was
caught on the 21st of July.




SUBFAMILY ICTERIANÆ.

SECTION ICTERIEÆ.


In this section there are two American genera; one found in the United
States, the other not. The diagnoses are as follows:—

  Size large (about 8 inches). Lower jaw not deeper than upper
  anterior to nostrils. Tail moderate. Partly yellow beneath,
  olive-green above …                                      _Icteria_.

  Size smaller (about 6 inches). Lower jaw deeper than upper.
  Tail almost fan-shaped. Partly red beneath, plumbeous-blue
  above …                                          _Granatellus_.[58]


GENUS ICTERIA, VIEILL.

  _Icteria_, VIEILLOT, Ois. Am. Sept. I, 1807, iii and 85. (Type,
    MUSCICAPA VIRIDIS, GM. _Turdus virens_, LINN.)

  [Line drawing: _Icteria virens._
                  2260]

GEN. CHAR. Bill broad at base, but contracting rapidly and becoming
attenuated when viewed from above; high at the base (higher than broad
opposite the nostrils); the culmen and commissure much curved from
base; the gonys straight. Upper jaw deeper than the lower; bill
without notch or rictal bristles. Nostrils circular, edged above with
membrane, the feathers close to their borders. Wings shorter than
tail, considerably rounded; first quill rather shorter than the sixth.
Tail moderately graduated; the feathers rounded, but narrow. Middle
toe without claw about two thirds the length of tarsus, which has the
scutellæ fused externally in part into one plate.

The precise systematic position of the genus _Icteria_ is a matter of
much contrariety of opinion among ornithologists; but we have little
hesitation in including it among the _Sylvicolidæ_. It has been most
frequently assigned to the _Vireonidæ_, but differs essentially in the
deeply cleft inner toe (not half united as in _Vireo_), the partially
booted tarsi, the lengthened middle toe, the slightly curved claws,
the entire absence of notch or hook in the bill, and the short,
rounded wing with only nine primaries. The wing of _Vireo_, when much
rounded, has ten primaries,—nine only being met with when the wing is
very long and pointed.

Of this genus only one species is known, although two races are
recognized by naturalists, differing in the length of the tail.

I. virens. Above olive-green; beneath gamboge-yellow for the
anterior half, and white for the posterior. A white stripe over the
eye.

    Length of tail, 3.30 inches. _Hab._ Eastern United States to
    the Plains; in winter through Eastern Mexico to Guatemala …
                                                       var. _virens_.

    Length of tail, 3.70 inches. _Hab._ Western United States
    from the Plains to the Pacific; Western Mexico in winter …
                                                   var. _longicauda_.


Icteria virens, BAIRD.

YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT.

  _Turdus virens_, LINN. Syst. Nat. 10th ed. 1758, 171, no. 16 (based
    on _Œnanthe americana_, _pectore luteo_, Yellow-breasted Chat,
    CATESBY, Carol. I, tab. 50). _Icteria virens_, BAIRD, Rev. Am. B.
    1864, 228. _Muscicapa viridis_, GMELIN, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 936.
    _Icteria viridis_, BON.; AUD. Orn. Biog. II, pl. cxxxvii.—BAIRD,
    Birds N. Am. 1858, 248. _Icteria dumecola_, VIEILL. _Pipra
    polyglotta_, WILS. _? Icteria velasquezi_, BON. P. Z. S. 1837, 117
    (Mexico).—SCLATER & SALV. Ibis, I, 1859, 12 (Guatemala).
  Localities quoted: _Costa Rica_, CABAN. _Orizaba_ (winter), SUM.
    _Yucatan_, LAWR.

SP. CHAR. Third and fourth quills longest; second and fifth little
shorter; first nearly equal to the sixth. Tail graduated. Upper parts
uniform olive-green; under parts, including the inside of wing,
gamboge-yellow as far as nearly half-way from the point of the bill to
the tip of the tail; rest of under parts white, tinged with brown on
the sides; the outer side of the tibiæ plumbeous; a slight tinge of
orange across the breast. Forehead and sides of the head ash, the
lores and region below the eye blackish. A white stripe from the
nostrils over the eye and involving the upper eyelid; a patch on the
lower lid, and a short stripe from the side of the lower mandible, and
running to a point opposite the hinder border of the eye, white. Bill
black; feet brown. Female like the male, but smaller; the markings
indistinct; the lower mandible not pure black. Length, 7.40; wing,
3.25; tail, 3.30. Nest in thickets, near the ground. Eggs white,
spotted with reddish.

_Hab._ Eastern United States, west to Arkansas; rare north of
Pennsylvania; south to Eastern Mexico and Guatemala. Not noticed in
West Indies.

  [Illustration: _Icteria virens._]

Both sexes in winter apparently have the base of lower mandible
light-colored, the olive more brown, the sides and crissum with a
strong ochraceous tinge. It is this plumage that has been recognized
as _I. velasquezi_.

HABITS. The Yellow-breasted Chat is found throughout the Eastern
United States, from Massachusetts to Florida, and as far to the west
as Fort Riley and Eastern Kansas. Mr. Say met with it among the Rocky
Mountains as far north as the sources of the Arkansas. It is not very
rare in Massachusetts, but a few breed in that State as far north as
Lynn. It has been found in Mexico and Guatemala, but not, so far as I
am aware, in the West Indies.

Probably no one of our birds has more distinctly marked or greater
peculiarities of voice, manners, and habits than this very singular
bird. It is somewhat terrestrial in its life, frequenting tangled
thickets of vines, briers, and brambles, and keeping itself very
carefully concealed. It is noisy and vociferous, constantly changing
its position and moving from place to place.

It is not abundant north of Pennsylvania, where it arrives early in
May and leaves the last of August. The males are said always to arrive
three or four days before their mates.

This species is described by Wilson as very much attached to certain
localities where they have once taken up their residence, appearing
very jealous, and offended at the least intrusion. They scold
vehemently at every one who approaches or even passes by their places
of retreat, giving utterance to a great variety of odd and uncouth
sounds. Wilson states that these sounds may be easily imitated, so as
to deceive the bird itself, and to draw it after one; the bird
following repeating its cries, but never permitting itself to be seen.
Such responses he describes as constant and rapid, and strongly
expressive both of anger and anxiety, their voice, as it shifts,
unseen, from place to place, seeming to be more like that of a spirit
than a bird. These sounds Wilson compares to the whistling of the
wings of a duck, being repetitions of short notes, beginning loud and
rapid, and falling lower and lower. Again a succession of other notes,
said to closely resemble the barking of young puppies, is followed by
a variety of hollow, guttural sounds, each eight or ten times
repeated, at times resembling the mewing of a cat, only hoarser,—all
of these, as he states, uttered with great vehemence, in different
keys and with peculiar modulations, now as if at a considerable
distance, and the next moment as if close by your side; so that, by
these tricks of ventriloquism, one is utterly at a loss to ascertain
from what particular quarter they proceed. In mild weather this
strange melody of sounds is kept up throughout the night during the
first of the pairing-season, but ceases as soon as incubation
commences.

They construct their nest about the middle of May. These are placed
within a few feet of the ground, in the midst of low brambles, vines,
and bushes, generally in a tangled thicket. They build a rude but
strongly woven nest, the outer portions more loosely made of dry
leaves; within these are interwoven thin strips of the bark of the
wild grape, fibrous roots, and fine dry grasses.

The eggs, four or five in number, are usually hatched out within
twelve days, and in about as many more the young are ready to leave
their nest.

While the female is sitting, and still more after the young are
hatched, the cries of the male are loud and incessant when his nest is
approached. He no longer seeks to conceal himself, but rises in the
air, his legs dangling in a peculiar manner, ascending and descending
in sudden jerks that betray his great irritation.

The food of this bird consists chiefly of beetles and other insects,
and of different kinds of berries and small fruit, and it said to be
especially fond of wild strawberries.

Audubon states that in their migrations they move from bush to bush by
day, and frequently continue their march by night. Their flight at all
times is short and irregular. He also states that when on the ground
they squat, jerk their tails, spring on their legs, and are ever in a
state of great activity. Although the existence of this bird north of
Pennsylvania is generally disputed, I have no doubt that it has always
been, and still is, a constant visitor of Massachusetts, and has been
found to within a score of miles of the New Hampshire line. Among my
notes I find that a nest was found in Brookline, in 1852, by Mr.
Theodore Lyman; in Danvers, by Mr. Byron Goodale; in Lynn, by Messrs.
Vickary and Welch; and in many other parts of the State. It certainly
breeds as far south as Georgia on the coast, and in Louisiana and
Texas in the southwest. On the Pacific coast it is replaced by the
long-tailed variety, _longicauda_.

A nest of this species from Concord, Mass., obtained by Mr. B. P.
Mann, and now in the collection of the Boston Natural History Society,
has a diameter of four inches and a height of three and a half. The
cavity has a depth of two and a quarter inches, and is two and a half
wide. This is built upon a base of coarse skeleton leaves, and is made
of coarse sedges, dried grasses, and stems of plants, and lined with
long, dry, and wiry stems of plants, resembling pine-needles. Another
from Pomfret, Conn., obtained by Mr. Sessions, is a much larger nest,
measuring five inches in diameter and three and three quarters in
height. The cup is two and a half inches deep by three in width. It is
made of an interweaving of leaves, bark of the grapevine, and stems of
plants, and is lined with fine, long wiry stems and pine-needles.

Their eggs are of a slightly rounded oval shape, vary in length from
.85 to .95 of an inch, and in breadth from .65 to .70. They have a
white ground with a very slight tinge of yellow, and are marked with
reddish-brown and a few fainter purplish and lilac spots.


Icteria virens, var. longicauda, LAWR.

LONG-TAILED CHAT.

  _Icteria longicauda_, LAWRENCE, Ann. N. Y. Lyc. VI, April, 1853,
    4.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 249, pl. xxxiv, fig. 2; Rev.
    230.—SCLATER, Catal. 42, no. 253.—FINSCH, Abh. Nat. Brem. 1870,
    331 (Mazatlan).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 98. _? Icteria
    auricollis_ (LICHT. Mus. Berl.), BON. Consp. 1850, 331.

SP. CHAR. Similar to var. _virens_. Fourth quill longest; third and
fifth shorter; first shorter than the seventh. Above ash-color, tinged
with olive on the back and neck; the outer surface of the wings and
tail olive. The under parts as far as the middle of the belly bright
gamboge-yellow, with a tinge of orange; the remaining portions white.
The superciliary and maxillary white stripes extend some distance
behind the eye. Outer edge of the first primary white. Length, 7
inches; wing, 3.20; tail, 3.70.

_Young_ (8,841, Loup Fork of Platte, August 5; F. V. Hayden). Above
light grayish-brown; beneath yellow on anterior half as in adult, but
yellow less pure; rest of under parts (except abdomen) ochraceous;
markings on head obsolete, the eyelids only being distinctly white.

HAB. Western and Middle Provinces of United States, east to Missouri
River and Texas; Cape St. Lucas and Western Mexico.

The most tangible difference between this bird and typical _virens_
consists in the longer tail. In addition, the upper plumage is
grayish, with hardly any olive tinge, and the white maxillary stripe
extends farther back; the bill is not so deep as that of the Eastern
bird. All these differences, however, are in strict accordance with
various laws; the more grayish cast of plumage is what we should
expect in birds from the Middle Province, while the restriction of the
yellow from the maxillæ we see also in Western specimens of
_Helminthophaga ruficapilla_; the longer tail, also, is a well-known
characteristic of Western birds, as distinguished from Eastern of the
same species.

Upon the whole, therefore, taking into consideration the absolute
identity of their habits and notes, we can only consider the _I.
longicauda_ and _I. virens_ as restricted, as being merely
geographical races of one species.

This variety, as well as the Eastern, has in autumn and winter a
slightly different plumage. A pair (53,348 ♂, and 53,347 ♀, West
Humboldt Mountains, Nevada) obtained September 4 differ in the
following respects from spring adults: the upper plumage is decidedly
brown, with even a russet tinge,—not gray, with a greenish wash; the
lores are less purely black, and the sides and crissum are deep
cream-color, instead of pure white; the female has a shade of olive
across the jugulum; both male and female have the lower mandible
almost wholly white, and the commissure broadly edged with the same.

No. 38,402 ♂, Laramie Peak, June, has the throat and jugulum strongly
stained with deep cadmium-orange.

HABITS. The Western or Long-tailed Chat has an exclusively Western
distribution, and has been found from Mexico and Cape St. Lucas to
Oregon, on the Pacific coast, and as far to the east as the Upper
Missouri.

According to Dr. Cooper, these birds appear in San Diego and at Fort
Mojave in the latter part of April. They are said to inhabit chiefly
the warmer valleys near streams and marshes, rarely on the coast. At
Fort Mojave, Dr. Cooper found a nest of this bird May 19, built in a
dense thicket of algarobia. It contained three eggs, and one of the
_Molothrus_. The nest was built of slender green twigs and leaves,
lined with grass and hair. The eggs were white, sprinkled with
cinnamon, somewhat in the form of a ring near the larger end, and
measured .75 by .64 of an inch.

These nests were usually very closely concealed, but one that he found
at Santa Cruz, near the coast, was in a very open situation, only two
feet above the ground. When the nest is approached, the old birds are
very bold, keeping up a constant scolding, and almost flying in the
face of an intruder. At other times they are very shy. The notes and
sounds uttered by the Western bird Dr. Cooper states to be the same as
those of the Eastern species, and with the same grotesqueness. They
leave the State of California on or before the first of September.

Dr. Gambel states that the Chat appears in California about the middle
of April, resorting to the hedges, vineyards, and bushy portions of
gardens to breed.

Mr. Xantus found a nest of this bird (S. I., 896) at Fort Tejon,
California, in May. It is a very symmetrical and exactly circular
nest, six inches wide and three in height. The cavity has a diameter
of three inches at the brim, and a depth of two. It is built of soft
strips of bark, large stems, and branches of dry plants, leaves,
twigs, and other vegetable substances. These are very neatly and
compactly interwoven. The nest is elaborately lined with finer stems
and flexible grasses. Another nest (S. I., 1816), obtained at Neosho
Falls, Kansas, by Mr. B. F. Goss, is of irregular shape. Its height is
four inches, and its diameter varies from three and three quarters to
five inches. It was built in a depression in the ground, and its shape
adapted to its location. The base is composed entirely of leaves,
impacted when in a moist and decaying condition. Within these is
interwoven a strong basket-like structure, made of long and slender
stems, strips of bark, and fine rootlets, lined with finer grasses and
stems of plants.

A nest of this species from Sacramento is composed, externally, of
fine strips of inner bark of the grape and of deciduous trees, coarse
straws, stems of plants, twigs, and dried remains of weeds, etc. It is
lined with finer stems and long wiry roots, resembling hair. This nest
has a diameter of four inches and a height of three. The cavity has a
diameter of three inches at the rim, and a depth of two.

In regard to this variety Mr. Ridgway writes: “In no respect that I
could discover does this Western bird differ from the Eastern in
habits, manners, or notes. The nesting-habits are exactly the same.”

The eggs of this species are, for the most part, larger than are those
of the _virens_. They vary in length from .95 to 1.00 of an inch, and
have an average breadth of .70 of an inch. Their markings do not
differ essentially in shadings from those of the common species.


SUBFAMILY SETOPHAGINÆ.

GEN. CHAR. Sylvicoline birds with the characters of Flycatchers; the
bill notched at tip, depressed and broad at the base, though quite
deep; the rictus with well-developed bristles reaching beyond the
nostrils, sometimes to the end of the bill. First quill rather less
than the fourth, or still shorter. Size of the species rarely
exceeding six inches. Colors red, yellow, and olive.

The species of this section resemble the small Flycatchers of the
family _Tyrannidæ_ in the structure of the bill, etc., and in the
habit of capturing insects more or less on the wing, though they are
more restless in their movements, seeking their prey among trees or in
bushes, rapidly changing their place, instead of occupying a perch and
returning to it after pursuing an insect through the air. The yellow
or orange crown found in many species also carries out the analogy;
but the strictly Oscine characters of the tarsal scutellæ and the nine
primaries will serve to distinguish them.

The _Setophaginæ_ have their greatest development in Middle and South
America, no less than nine genera and subgenera being on record, of
which only two extend into the United States. Of one of these,
_Setophaga_, we have only a single species of the many described; the
other, _Myiodioctes_, has no members other than those found in the
United States.

The following diagnosis is prepared to distinguish our genera from the
South American:—

A. Wings pointed; the first quill longer than the fifth; the
third as long as or longer than the fourth. Tail nearly even, or
slightly rounded (the difference of the feathers less than .20);
the feathers broad and firm; the outer webs of exterior feathers
narrow at base, but widening to nearly double the width near the
end.

    1. Bill from gape nearly as long as skull, broad at base and
    much depressed; rictal bristles reaching half-way from
    nostrils to tip. Culmen and commissure nearly straight. Wings
    equal to the tail. Tarsi long; toes short; middle toe without
    claw, about half the tarsus …                        _Setophaga_.

    2. Bill from gape nearly as long as skull, broad at base, but
    deep and more sylvicoline; rictal bristles reaching but
    little beyond nostrils. Culmen and commissure straight to the
    tip. Wings longer than the almost even tail. Middle toe
    without claw, three fifths the tarsus …            _Myiodioctes_.

    3. Bill from gape much shorter than head, wide at base, but
    compressed and high; the culmen and commissure much curved
    from base, scarcely notched at tip; rictal bristles reaching
    nearly half-way from nostrils to tip. Wings about equal to
    the almost even tail. Middle toe without claw, about three
    fifths the rather short tarsus …                    _Cardellina_.

B. Wings rounded; the first quill shorter than in the preceding
section; always less than the fifth. South American genera.[59]

Several species of _Setophaginæ_ have, on not very well established
grounds, been assigned to the southern borders of the United States.
They are as follows:—

  Cardellina rubra, BAIRD, Rev. Am. Birds, 1865, 264. (_Setophaga
    rubra_, SWAINSON.) _Parus leucotis_, GIRAUD, Birds Texas.
    _Hab._ Mexico. Rich carmine-red. Wing and tail-feathers
    brown. Ear-coverts silvery white. Length, 4.70; wing, 2.40;
    tail, 2.55.

  Basileuterus culicivorus, BAIRD, Rev. Am. Birds, 1865, 246. (_Sylvia
    culicivora_, LICHT.) _Muscicapa brasieri_, GIRAUD, Texas
    Birds. _Hab._ Southern Mexico; Guatemala and Costa Rica. Top
    of head with two black stripes enclosing a median of yellow.
    Back olivaceous-ash. Beneath entirely yellow. No rufous on
    side of head. Length, 4.90; wing, 2.40; tail, 2.25.

  Basileuterus belli, BAIRD, Rev. Am. Birds, 1865, 247. _Muscicapa
    belli_, GIRAUD, Texas Birds. _Hab._ Mexico and Guatemala. Top
    of head and face chestnut. A yellow superciliary stripe
    bordered above by dusky. Back olive; beneath yellow. Length,
    5.10; wing, 2.28; tail, 2.50.


GENUS MYIODIOCTES, AUD.

  _Myiodioctes_, AUDUBON, Synopsis, 1839, 48. (Type, _Motacilla
    mitrata_, GM.)—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 291.
  _Wilsonia_, BONAP. List. 1838 (preoccupied in botany).
  _Myioctonus_, CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1850, 18. (Type, _Motacilla mitrata_.)

  [Line drawing: _Myiodioctes mitratus._
                  2226]

GEN. CHAR. Bill broad, depressed; the lateral outlines a little
concave; the bristles reaching not quite half-way from nostrils to
tip. Culmen and commissure nearly straight to near the tip. Nostrils
oval, with membrane above. Wings pointed, rather longer than the
nearly even but slightly rounded tail; first quill shorter than the
fourth, much longer than the fifth; the second and third quills
longest. Tarsi rather lengthened, the scutellar divisions rather
indistinct; the middle toe without claw, about three fifths the
tarsus.

This genus is distinguished from _Setophaga_, mainly by stouter feet
and longer toes; shorter and more even tail, narrower bill, etc. The
species are decidedly muscicapine in general appearance, as shown by
the depressed bill with bristly rictus. The type _M. mitratus_ is very
similar in character of bill to _Dendroica castanea_, but the wings
are much shorter; the tail longer and more graduated; the legs and
hind toe longer, and the first primary shorter than the fourth (.15 of
an inch less than the longest), not almost equal to the longest. The
species are plain olive or plumbeous above, and yellow beneath. They
may be grouped as follows:—

A. Tail with white patches on the inner feathers.

  1. M. mitratus. Head and neck black. Front, cheeks, and under
  parts yellow. Back olive-green. _Hab._ Eastern Province of
  United States, south to Panama and West Indies.

  2. M. minutus. Olive above; yellowish beneath. Two white
  bands on the wings. _Hab._ Eastern United States.

B. Tail without white patch on the outer feathers.

  3. M. pusillus. Crown black. Forehead, cheeks, and under
  parts yellow. Back olive.

    Yellow of forehead without an orange tinge; upper parts dull
    olive-green; pileum with very dull steel-blue lustre. _Hab._
    Eastern Province and Rocky Mountains of North America, south
    to Costa Rica …                                  var. _pusillus_.

    Yellow of forehead with an orange cast; upper parts bright
    yellowish-green; pileum with a bright steel-blue lustre.
    _Hab._ Pacific Province of North America, from Sitka to Costa
    Rica …                                          var. _pileolata_.

  4. M. canadensis. Streaks on the crown, stripes on sides of
  head and neck, with pectoral collar of streaks, black. Rest of
  under parts, and line to and around the eye, yellow. Back
  bluish. _Hab._ Eastern Province of United States, south to
  Ecuador.


Myiodioctes mitratus, AUD.

HOODED WARBLER.

  _Motacilla mitrata_, GMELIN, S. N. I, 1788, 293. _Sylvia m._ LATH.;
    VIEILL.; BON.; NUTT.; AUD. Orn. Biog. II, pl. cx. _Sylvicola m._
    MAX. _Sylvania m._ NUTTALL, Man. I, 1840, 333. _Setophaga m._
    JARD. _Wilsonia m._ BON. 1838.—ALLEN, Pr. Essex Inst. 1864.
    _Myiodioctes m._ AUD. Syn. 1839, 48.—IB. Birds Am. II, pl.
    lxxi.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1856, 291 (Cordova); 1858, 358
    (Honduras).—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 292; Rev. 239.—JONES, Nat.
    Bermuda, 1859, 26 (March).—SCLATER & SALVIN, Ibis, 1859, 11
    (Guatemala).—LAWRENCE, Ann. N. Y. Lyc. VIII, 63 (Panama R.
    R.).—GUNDLACH, Cab. Jour. 1861, 326 (Cuba).—SAMUELS, 245.
    _Myioctonus m._ CAB. Mus. Hein. 1851.—IB. Jour. Orn. III, 1855,
    472 (Cuba). _Muscicapa cucullata_, WILSON, III, pl. xxvi, fig. 3.
    _Muscicapa selbyi_, AUD. Orn. Biog. I, pl. ix.

SP. CHAR. _Male._ Bill black; feet pale yellow. Head and neck all
round and forepart of the breast black. A broad patch on the forehead
extending round on the entire cheeks and ear-coverts, with the under
parts, bright yellow. Upper parts and sides of the body olive-green.
Greater portion of inner web of outer three tail-feathers white.

_Female_ similar, but without the black; the crown like the back; the
forehead yellowish; the sides of the head yellow, tinged with olive on
the lores and ear-coverts. Throat bright yellow.

Length, 5.00; wing, 2.75; tail, 2.55. (Skin.)

HAB. Eastern Province of United States, rather southern; Bermuda;
Cuba; Jamaica; Eastern Mexico; Honduras and Guatemala to Panama R. R.
Orizaba (autumn, SUMICHRAST); Yucatan (LAWRENCE).

A young male in second year (2,245, Carlisle, Penn., May) is similar
to the female, but the hood is sharply defined anteriorly, though only
bordered with black, the olive-green reaching forward almost to the
yellow; there are only very slight indications of black on the throat.
Apparently the male of this species does not attain the full plumage
until at least the third year, as is the case with _Setophaga
ruticilla_.

  [Illustration: _Myiodioctes pusillus._]

HABITS. This beautiful and singularly marked Warbler is a Southern
species, though not exclusively so. It is more abundant in South
Carolina than any other State, so far as I am aware. It is, however,
found as far to the north as Northern New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and
Southern New York, and, farther west, as far north as the shores of
Lake Erie. It has also been found in Bermuda, Cuba, Jamaica, Eastern
Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala. Throughout Central America it appears
to be abundant during the winter.

Mr. Audubon also states that it abounds in Louisiana and along the
banks of the Mississippi and the Ohio. It occurs on the Hudson to some
distance above New York. It appears from the South early in March, and
has young already hatched, in Louisiana, early in May.

It is said to be one of the liveliest of its tribe, and to be almost
constantly in motion. It is fond of secluded places, and is equally
common in the thick canebrakes, both of the high and the low lands,
and in the tangled undergrowth of impenetrable swamps. It has a
peculiarly graceful manner of closing and opening its broad tail, that
at once distinguishes it from every other bird, as it gambols from
tree to tree, now in sight, and now hid from the eye, but ever within
hearing.

Mr. Audubon adds that its call-note so closely resembles that of the
_Spiza ciris_ that it requires a practised ear to distinguish them.
But its song is very different. This consists of three notes, and is
loud, lively, and pleasing. This song is said to be made of sounds
resembling the syllables _weet, weet, weetēē_. Extremely vocal in the
early spring, it becomes nearly silent as soon as its brood is
hatched. It resumes its song when its mate is again sitting on her
eggs, as they have more than one brood in a season.

They are described as expert flycatchers, full of activity and spirit,
flying swiftly after their insect prey; and catching the greater part
on the wing. Their flight is low, gliding, and often protracted.

Mr. Bachman narrates a striking instance of its courage and conjugal
devotion. While a pair of these Warblers were constructing a nest, a
Sharp-shinned Hawk pounced upon and bore off the female. The male
followed close after the Hawk, flying within a few inches and darting
at him in all directions, and so continued until quite out of sight.

Wilson states that it builds a very neat and compact nest, generally
in the fork of a small bush. It is formed of moss and flaxen fibres of
plants, and lined with hair or feathers. The eggs, five in number, he
describes as of a grayish-white, with red spots at the larger end. He
noticed its arrival at Savannah as early as the 20th of March. Mr.
Audubon adds that these nests are always placed in low situations, a
few feet from the ground.

The late Dr. Gerhardt, of Varnell’s Station, Georgia, informed me, by
letter, that the Hooded Warbler deposits her eggs about the middle of
May, laying four. The nest is not unlike that of the _Spiza cyanea_,
but is larger. It is constructed of dry leaves and coarse grass on the
outside, and within of dry pine-needles, interwoven with long yellow
grasses and sometimes with horsehair. They are built, for the most
part, in the neighborhood of brooks and creeks, in oak bushes, four or
five feet from the ground. The female sits so closely, and is so
fearless, that Dr. Gerhardt states he has sometimes nearly caught her
in his hand.

In another letter Dr. Gerhardt describes a nest of this species as
measuring three inches in height, three in external diameter, and an
inch and a quarter in the depth of its cavity. Externally it was built
of dry leaves and coarse grasses, lined inside with horsehair, fine
leaves of pine, and dry slender grasses. It was constructed on a small
oak growing in low bottom-land, and was three feet from the ground.
The complement of eggs is four.

Mr. Ridgway states that this species is a common summer resident in
the bottom-lands along the Lower Wabash, in Southern Illinois,
inhabiting the cane-brakes and the margins of bushy swamps.

The eggs of this Warbler are oval in shape, with one end quite
pointed. They measure .70 by .50 of an inch. Their ground-color is a
beautiful bright white, when the egg is fresh, strongly tinged with
flesh-color. The spots are of a fine red, with a few markings of a
subdued purple.


Myiodioctes minutus, BAIRD.

SMALL-HEADED FLYCATCHER.

  _Muscicapa minuta_, WILSON, Am. Orn. VI, 1812, 62, pl. 1, fig. 5.—
    AUD. Orn. Biog. V, pl. ccccxxxiv, fig. 3.—IB. Birds Am. I, pl.
    lxvii. _Sylvia minuta_, BON. _Wilsonia m._ BON. List, 1838.
    _Myiodioctes minutus_, BAIRD, Rev. Am. Birds, 1864, 241. _Sylvania
    pumilia_, NUTT. Man. I, 1840, 334.

SP. CHAR. Wings short, the second quills longest. Tail of
moderate-length, even. General color of upper parts light
greenish-brown; wings and tail dark olive-brown, the outer feathers of
the latter with a terminal white spot on the inner web; a narrow white
ring surrounding the eye; two bands of dull white on the wings; sides
of the head and neck greenish-yellow; the rest of the lower parts pale
yellow, gradually fading into white behind. Male, 5 inches long;
extent, 8.25 inches.

HAB. Eastern United States.

HABITS. All that is known in regard to this species we receive from
Wilson and Audubon, and there is a decided discrepancy in their
several statements. Wilson states that his figure was taken from a
young male shot on the 24th of April, but in what locality he does not
mention. He adds that he afterwards shot several individuals in
various parts of New Jersey, particularly in swamps. He found these in
June, and has no doubt they breed there.

Audubon claims that Wilson’s drawing was a copy from his own of a bird
shot by him in Kentucky on the margin of a pond. He throws a doubt as
to the correctness of Wilson’s statement that they have been found in
New Jersey, as no one else has ever met with any there. That may be,
however, and Wilson’s statement yet be correct. The same argument
carried out would reject the very existence of the bird itself, as no
well-authenticated records of its occurrence since then can be found.
They are at least too doubtful to be received as unquestionable until
the genuine bird can be produced. Mr. Nuttall, it is true, states that
Mr. Charles Pickering obtained a specimen of this bird many years ago,
near Salem, Mass., and that he had himself also seen it in the same
State, at the approach of winter. In the fall of 1836, when the writer
resided in Roxbury, a cat caught and brought into the house a small
Flycatcher, which was supposed to be of this species. It was given to
Mr. Audubon, who assented to its correct identification, but
afterwards made no mention of it. The presumption, therefore, is that
we may have been mistaken.

In regard to its habits, Wilson represents it as “remarkably active,
running, climbing, and darting about among the opening buds and
blossoms with extraordinary agility.” Audubon states that in its
habits it is closely allied with the _pusillus_ and the _mitratus_,
being fond of low thick coverts in swamps and by the margin of pools.
He also attributes to it a song of rather pleasing notes, enunciated
at regular intervals, loud enough to be heard at the distance of sixty
yards. These peculiarities seem to separate it from the true
Flycatchers and to place it among the Warblers.


Myiodioctes pusillus, BONAP.

GREEN BLACK-CAPPED FLYCATCHER.

  _Muscicapa pusilla_, WILSON, Am. Orn. III, 1811, 103, pl. xxvi,
    fig. 4. _Wilsonia pus._ BON. _Sylvania pus._ NUTT. _Myiodioctes
    pus._ BON. Consp. 1850, 315.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1856, 291
    (Cordova); 1858, 299 (Oaxaca Mts.; Dec.); 1859, 363 (Xalapa);
    373.—IB. Catal. 1861, 34, no. 203.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 293
    (in part); Rev. 240 (in part).—SCLATER & SALVIN, Ibis, 1859, 11
    (Guatemala).—SAMUELS, 246. _Myioctonus pus._ CAB. M. H. 1851,
    18.—IB. Jour. 1860, 325 (Costa Rica). _Sylvia wilsoni_, BON.;
    NUTT. _Muscicapa wilsoni_, AUD. Orn. Biog. II, pl. cxxiv.
    _Setophaga wilsoni_, JARD. _Myiodioctes wilsoni_, AUD. Birds Am.
    II, pl. lxxv. _Sylvia petasodes_, LICHT. Preis-Verz. 1830.

SP. CHAR. Forehead, line over and around the eye, and under parts
generally, bright yellow. Upper part olive-green; a square patch on
the crown lustrous-black. Sides of body and cheeks tinged with olive.
No white on wings or tail. Female similar, the black of the crown
replaced by olive-green. Length, 4.75; wing, 2.25; tail, 2.30.

HAB. Eastern portions of United States, west to the Snake and Humboldt
Rivers; north to Alaska, south through Eastern Mexico and Guatemala to
Costa Rica; Chiriqui (SALVIN).

HABITS. Wilson’s Black-Cap is found throughout the United States from
ocean to ocean, and as far to the north as Alaska and the Arctic
shores, where, however, it is not common. Mr. Dall shot a specimen,
May 30, on the Yukon River, where it was breeding. Mr. Bischoff
obtained others with nests and eggs at Sitka, and afterwards found it
more abundant at Kodiak. On the Pacific coast Dr. Suckley found it
very abundant in the neighborhood of Fort Steilacoom, where it
frequented thickets and small scrub-oak groves, in its habits
resembling the _Helminthophaga celata_, flitting about among the dense
foliage of bushes and low trees in a busy, restless manner. He
describes its cry as a short _chit-chat_ call. In California, Dr.
Cooper notes their first arrival early in May, and states that they
migrate along the coast, up at least to the Straits of Fuca. At Santa
Cruz he noted their arrival, in 1866, about the 20th of April. They
were then gathering materials for a nest, the male bird singing
merrily during his employment. As they have been observed in Oregon as
early as this, it has been conjectured that some may remain all winter
among the dense shrubbery of the forests.

This bird winters in large numbers in Central America, where it is
apparently very generally distributed. Mr. Salvin found it very common
at Duenas. It was taken at Totontepec, among the mountains of Oaxaca,
Mexico, by Mr. Boucard.

Mr. Ridgway found it very common during the summer and autumn months
among the willows of the fertile river valleys, and among the rank
shrubbery bordering upon the streams of the cañons of the higher
interior range of mountains. It was found in similar situations with
the _Dendroica æstiva_, but it was much more numerous. During
September it was most abundant among the thickets and copses of the
East Humboldt Mountains, and in Ruby Valley, at all altitudes,
frequenting the bushes along the streams, from their sources in the
snow to the valleys.

Wilson first met with and described this species from specimens
obtained in Delaware and New Jersey. He regarded it as an inhabitant
of the swamps of the Southern States, and characterized its song as “a
sharp, squeaking note, in no wise musical.” It is said by him to leave
the Southern States in October.

Audubon states that it is never found in the Southern States in the
summer months, but passes rapidly through them on its way to the
northern districts, where it breeds, reaching Labrador early in June
and returning by the middle of August. He describes it as having all
the habits of a true Flycatcher, feeding on small insects, which it
catches on the wing, snapping its bill with a sharp clicking sound. It
frequents the borders of lakes and streams fringed with low bushes.

Mr. Nuttall observed this species in Oregon, where it arrived early in
May. He calls it a “little cheerful songster, the very counterpart of
our brilliant and cheerful Yellow-Bird.” Their song he describes as
like _’tsh-’tsh-’tsh-tshea_. Their call is brief, and not so loud. It
appeared familiar and unsuspicious, kept in bushes busily collecting
its insect fare, and only varied its employment by an occasional and
earnest warble. By the 12th of May some were already feeding their
full-fledged young. Yet on the 16th of the same month he found a nest
containing four eggs with incubation only just commenced. This nest
was in a branch of a small service-bush, laid very adroitly, as to
concealment, upon a mass of _Usnea_. It was built chiefly of hypnum
mosses, with a thick lining of dry, wiry, slender grasses. The female,
when approached, slipped off the nest, and ran along the ground like a
mouse. The eggs were very similar to those of _Dendroica æstiva_, with
spots of a pale olive-brown, confluent at the greater end.

A nest found by Audubon in Labrador was placed on the extremity of a
small horizontal branch, among the thick foliage of a dwarf fir, a few
feet from the ground and in the very centre of a thicket. It was made
of bits of dry mosses and delicate pine twigs, agglutinated together
and to the branches and leaves around it, from which it was suspended.
It was lined with fine vegetable fibres. The diameter of the nest was
three and a half and the depth one and a half inches. He describes the
eggs, which were four, as white; spotted with reddish and brown dots,
the markings being principally around the larger end, forming a
circle, leaving the extremity plain.

In this instance the parents showed much uneasiness at the approach of
intruders, moving about among the twigs, snapping their bills, and
uttering a plaintive note. In Newfoundland these birds had already
begun to migrate on the 20th of August. He met with them in
considerable numbers in Northern Maine in October, 1832. Mr. Turnbull
mentions it as a rather abundant bird of Eastern Pennsylvania,
appearing there early in May, _in transitu_, and again in October.

Mr. T. M. Trippe has observed this species at Orange, N. J., from the
19th to the 30th of May. It is said to keep low down in the trees, and
is fond of haunting thickets and open brush fields. Occasionally he
has heard it utter a loud chattering song, which it repeats at short
intervals.

A nest of this species from Fort Yukon (Smith. Coll., 13,346),
obtained May 20, by Mr. McDougal, contained four eggs. These varied
from .60 to .63 of an inch in length, and from .45 to .49 in breadth.
They were obovate in shape, their ground-color was a pure white; this
was finely sprinkled round the larger end with brownish-red and lilac.
No mention is made of the position of the nest, but it is probable
this bird builds on the ground.


Myiodioctes pusillus, var. pileolatus, RIDGWAY.

  _Motacilla pileolata_, PALLAS, Zoög. Rosso Asiat. I, 1831, 497
    (Russian America). _Myiodioctes pusillus_, var. _pileolata_,
    RIDGWAY, Report U. S. Geol. Expl. 40th Par. _Myiodioctes
    pusillus_, AUCT. (all citations from Pacific coast of North and
    Middle America).—LORD, Pr. R. Art. Inst. Woolw. IV, 1864, 115 (Br.
    Col.).—DALL & BANNISTER (Alaska).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 101.

SP. CHAR. Similar to var. _pusillus_, but much richer yellow, scarcely
tinged with olive laterally, and deepened into an almost orange shade
on the front and chin. Above much brighter and more yellowish
olive-green. The black pileum with a brighter steel-blue gloss. Bill
much narrower, and deep, light brown above, instead of nearly black.
Measures (4,222 ♂, San Francisco, Cal.), wing, 2.15; tail, 2.00.

HAB. Pacific coast region of North America, from Kodiak (Alaska);
south through Western Mexico (and Lower California) to Costa Rica.

This is an appreciably different race from that inhabiting the eastern
division of the continent; the differences, tested by a large series
of specimens, being very constant.

A Costa-Rican specimen before me is almost exactly like specimens from
California.

HABITS. The remarks, in the preceding article relative to specimens
from the Pacific coast belong to this variety.


Myiodioctes canadensis, AUD.

CANADA FLYCATCHER.

  _Muscicapa canadensis_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 327. (_Muscicapa
    canadensis cinerea_, BRISSON, II, 406, tab. 39, fig.
    4.)—GMELIN.—WILSON, III, pl. xxvi, fig. 2.—AUD. Orn. Biog. II, pl.
    ciii. _Setophaga can._ SWAINS.; RICH.; GRAY. _Myiodioctes can._
    AUD. Birds Am. II, pl. ciii.—BREWER, Pr. Bost. Soc. VI, 5 (nest
    and eggs).—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1854, 111 (Ecuador; winter); 1855,
    143 (Bogota); 1858, 451 (Ecuador).—IB. Catal. 1861, 34, no.
    204.—SCLATER & SALVIN, Ibis, 1859, 11 (Guatemala).—LAWRENCE, Ann.
    N. Y. Lyc. VI, 1862.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 294; Rev.
    239.—SAMUELS, 247. _Euthlypis can._ CAB. Mus. Hein. 1850, 1851,
    18; Jour. Orn. 1860, 326 (Costa Rica). _Sylvia pardalina_, BON.;
    NUTT. _Sylvicola pardalina_, BON. _Myiodioctes pardalina_, BON. _?
    Muscicapa bonapartei_, AUD. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, 27, pl. v.
    _Setophaga bon._ RICH. _Wilsonia bon._ BON. _Sylvania bon._ NUTT.
    _? Myiodioctes bon._ AUD. Syn.—IB. Birds Am. II, 1841, 17, pl.
    xvii.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 295. _Setophaga nigricincta_,
    LAFR. Rev. Zoöl. 1843, 292; 1844, 79.

SP. CHAR. Upper part bluish-ash; a ring around the eye, with a line
running to the nostrils, and the whole under part (except the
tail-coverts, which are white), bright yellow. Centres of the feathers
in the anterior half of the crown, the cheeks, continuous with a line
on the side of the neck to the breast, and a series of spots across
the forepart of the breast, black. Tail-feathers unspotted. _Female_
similar, with the black of the head and breast less distinct. In the
_young_ obsolete. Length, 5.34; wing, 2.67; tail, 2.50.

HAB. Whole Eastern Province of United States, west to the Missouri;
north to Lake Winnipeg; Eastern Mexico to Guatemala, and south to
Bogota and Ecuador (SCLATER). Not noted from West Indies.

HABITS. This is a migratory species, abundant during its passage, in
most of the Atlantic States. It breeds, though not abundantly, in New
York and Massachusetts, and in the regions north of latitude 42°. How
far northward it is found is not well ascertained, probably as far,
however, as the wooded country extends. It was met with on Winnepeg
River, by Mr. Kennicott, the second of June. It winters in Central and
in Northern South America, having been procured at Bogota, in
Guatemala, and in Costa Rica, in large numbers.

Mr. Audubon states that he found this bird breeding in the mountainous
regions of Pennsylvania, and afterwards in Maine, New Brunswick, Nova
Scotia, Newfoundland, and Labrador. Although he describes with some
minuteness its nests, yet his description of their position and
structure is so entirely different in all respects from those that
have been found in Massachusetts, that I am constrained to believe he
has been mistaken in his identifications, and that those he supposed
to belong to this species were really the nests of a different bird.

“In Vermont,” Mr. Charles S. Paine, of Randolph, informs me, “the
Canada Flycatcher is a summer visitant, and is first seen about the
18th of May. They do not spread themselves over the woods, like most
of our small fly-catching birds, but keep near the borders, where
there is a low growth of bushes, and where they may be heard
throughout the day singing their regular chant. A few pairs may
occasionally be found in the same neighborhood. At other times only a
single pair can be found in quite a wide extent of territory of
similar character. They build their nests, as well as I can judge,
about the first of June, as the young are hatched out and on the wing
about the last of that month, or the first of July. I have never found
a nest, but I think they are built on the ground. They are silent
after the first of July, and are rarely to be seen after that period.”
The song of this bird is a very pleasing one, though heard but seldom,
and only in a few localities in Massachusetts.

Near Washington Dr. Coues found the Canada Flycatcher only a spring
and autumnal visitant, at which seasons they were abundant. They
frequented high open woods, and kept mostly in the lower branches of
the trees, and also in the more open undergrowth of marshy places.
They arrive the last week in April and remain about two weeks,
arriving in fall the first week in September, and remaining until the
last of that month.

The first well-identified nest of this bird that came to my knowledge
was obtained in Lynn, Mass., by Mr. George O. Welch, in June, 1856. It
was built in a tussock of grass, in swampy woods, concealed by the
surrounding rank vegetation, in the midst of which it was placed. It
was constructed entirely of pine-needles and a few fragments of
decayed leaves, grapevine bark, fine stems, and rootlets. These were
so loosely interwoven that the nest could not be removed without great
care to keep its several portions together. Its diameter was three and
a half inches, and it was very nearly flat. Its greatest depth, at the
centre of its depression, was hardly half an inch. It contained four
young, and an unhatched egg.

Another nest found in June, 1864, by the same observing naturalist,
was also obtained in the neighborhood. This was built in a tussock of
meadow-grass, in the midst of a small boggy piece of swamp, in which
were a few scattered trees and bushes. The ground was so marshy that
it could be crossed only with difficulty, and by stepping from one
tussock of reedy herbage to another. In the centre of one of these
bunches the nest was concealed. It measures six inches in its larger
diameter, and has a height of two and a quarter inches. The cavity of
this nest is two and three quarters inches wide, and one and three
quarters deep. It is very strongly constructed of pine-needles,
interwoven with fine strips of bark, dry deciduous leaves, stems of
dry grasses, sedges, etc. The whole is firmly and compactly interwoven
with and strengthened around the rim of the cavity by strong, wiry,
and fibrous roots. The nest is very carefully and elaborately lined
with the black fibrous roots of some plant. The eggs, which were five
in number, measure .72 of an inch in length by .56 in breadth. Their
ground-color is a clear and brilliant white, and this is beautifully
marked with dots and small blotches of blended brown, purple, and
violet, varying in shades and tints, and grouped in a wreath around
the larger end.


GENUS SETOPHAGA, SWAINS.

  _Setophaga_, SWAINSON, Zoöl. Jour. III, Dec. 1827, 360. (Type,
    _Muscicapa ruticilla_, L.)—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 297.
    _Sylvania_, NUTTALL, Man. Orn. I, 1832. (Same type.)

  [Line drawing: _Setophaga ruticilla_, SW.]

GEN. CHAR. Bill much depressed, the lateral outlines straight towards
tip. Bristles reach half-way from nostril to tip. Culmen almost
straight to near the tip; commissure very slightly curved. Nostrils
oval, with membrane above them. Wings rather longer than tail,
pointed; second, third, and fourth quills nearly equal; first
intermediate between fourth and fifth. Tail rather long, rather
rounded; the feathers broad, and widening at ends, the outer web
narrow. Tarsi with scutellar divisions indistinct externally. Legs
slender; toes short, inner cleft nearly to base of first joint, outer
with first joint adherent; middle toe without claw, not quite half the
tarsus.

The genus _Setophaga_ is very largely represented in America, although
of the many species scarcely any agree exactly in form with the type.
In the following diagnosis I give several species, referred to,
perhaps erroneously, as occurring in Texas.

  Belly white. End of lateral tail-feathers black. Sexes
  dissimilar.

    Ground-color black, without vertex spot. Sides of breast and
    bases of quills and tail-feathers reddish-orange in male,
    yellowish in female …                                _ruticilla_.

  Belly vermilion or carmine red. Lateral tail-feathers,
  including their tips, white. Sexes similar.

    Entirely lustrous black, including head and neck. No vertex
    spot. A white patch on the wings …                   _picta_.[60]

    Plumbeous-ash, including head and neck. A chestnut-brown
    vertex spot. No white on wings …                   _miniata_.[61]


Setophaga ruticilla, SWAINS.

AMERICAN REDSTART.

  _Motacilla ruticilla_, LINN. Syst. Nat. 10th ed. 1758, 186 (Catesby,
    Car. tab. 67). _Muscicapa ruticilla_, LINN.; GMELIN;
    VIEILLOT; WILS.; BON.; AUD. Orn. Biog. I, pl. xl. _Setophaga
    rut._ SWAINS. Zoöl. Jour. III, 1827, 358.—BON.; AUD. Birds
    Am.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. (Ecuador, Bogota, Cordova, Oaxaca, City
    of Mexico).—SCLATER & SALVIN, Ibis, 1859, 12
    (Guatemala).—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 297; Rev. 256.—MAX.;
    SALLÉ, P. Z. S. 1857 (St. Domingo).—NEWTON, Ibis, 1859, 143
    (St. Croix; winter).—CAB. Jour. 1856, 472 (Cuba); 1860, 325
    (Costa Rica).—GUNDLACH, IB. 1861, 326 (Cuba).—BRYANT, Pr.
    Bost. Soc. VII, 1859 (Bahamas).—LAWRENCE, Ann. N. Y. Lyc.
    1861, 322 (Panama R. R.).—SAMUELS, 249. _Sylvania rut._
    NUTTALL, Man. I, 1832, 291 (type of genus). _Motacilla
    flavicauda_, GMELIN, I, 1788, 997 (♀).

  [Illustration: PLATE XVI.

   1. Setophaga ruticilla, _Linn._ ♂ Pa., 984.
   2. Myiodioctes minutus, _Aud._ (Copied from Aud.)
   3.      “      pusillus, _Wils._ ♂ Cal., 7683.
   4.      “         “         “    ♀ Pa., 2325.
   5. Setophaga ruticilla, _Linn._ ♀ Pa., 2281.
   6. Myiodioctes canadensis, _Linn._ ♂ Pa., 945.
   7. Progne subis, _Linn._ ♀ 40704.
   8. Tachycineta bicolor, _Vieill._ ♂ Pa., 2896.
   9. Hirundo horreorum, _Bart._ ♂ Pa., 1452.
  10. Progne subis, _Linn._ ♂.
  11. Tachycineta thalassina, _Swains._ ♂ Oreg., 1895.
  12. Stelgidopteryx serripennis, _Aud._ ♂ 32269.
  13. Petrochelidon lunifrons, _Say._ ♂ 6622.
  14. Cotyle riparia, _Linn._ ♂ 20641.]

SP. CHAR. _Male._ Prevailing color black. A central line on the
breast, the abdomen, and under tail-coverts white; some feathers in
the latter strongly tinged with dark brown. Bases of all the quills
except the inner and outer, and basal half of all the tail-feathers
except the middle one, a patch on each side of the breast, and the
axillary region, orange-red, of a vermilion shade on the breast.
_Female_ with the black replaced by olive-green above, by
brownish-white beneath, the red replaced by yellow; the head tinged
with ash; a grayish-white lore and ring round the eye. Length, 5.25;
wing, 2.50; tail, 2.45.

HAB. Eastern and in part Middle Provinces of North America to Fort
Simpson, west to Great Salt Lake; Fort Laramie; Denver City; most of
the West Indies; Mexico to Ecuador.

The young male in early autumn greatly resembles in plumage the adult
female, but has the upper tail-coverts and tail deep black, sharply
contrasted with the olive of the rump, instead of having the upper
tail-coverts olive, the tail simply dusky; in addition the back is
more greenish-olive, and the abdomen and crissum pure white. The male
does not obtain the perfect adult plumage until about the third year.

  [Illustration: _Setophaga ruticilla._
                  984]

HABITS. The so-called Redstart has an extended distribution from the
Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains, and from Florida to high northern
latitudes, having been found breeding at Fort Simpson by Mr. Ross, and
at Fort Resolution by Mr. Kennicott and Mr. Lockhart. It is generally
abundant in suitable localities, and probably breeds wherever found
north of the Potomac. It winters in large numbers in Guatemala and in
other parts of Central America, as well as in the West Indies. It is
common in St. Croix in the spring, and is especially seen about
houses, according to Newton. It remains there until the end of April.

Richardson found this species abundant on the Saskatchewan, as far to
the north as the fifty-eighth parallel. It appeared there the last of
May, and left early in September. He found it frequenting moist, shady
lands, flitting about among the moss-grown and twisted stems of the
tall willows that skirt the marshes. It was easily recognized by the
red lining of its wings as it flitted through the gloomy shades in
pursuit of mosquitoes and other winged insects.

Among the memoranda of the late Mr. Kennicott, we find two to the
effect that on the 26th of May he found both males and females of this
species common near Rainy Lake, and that on the 6th of June he also
observed these birds near Lake Winnepeg. June 14, at Fort Resolution,
he obtained a female Redstart with nest and four eggs. The nest was
built in the fork of a willow, in a thick but low wood of alder and
willow. It was entirely unprotected by leaves or branches. The female
was taken on the nest.

The Newtons found this a very common species in St. Croix, in the
spring of the year, and it was especially seen about houses. For about
a week, at the end of April, 1857, they were extremely numerous. On
their return from their summer quarters, they were first observed
September 6. Mr. Taylor also mentions them as common in Trinidad. Mr.
Ridgway found it a common species among the willow thickets of the
river valleys, west as far as the Great Salt Lake.

This species, in its spring and autumnal migrations, is abundant in
Louisiana and Texas, as well as in the Gulf States. Wilson speaks of
meeting with it in the then “Mississippi Territory.” Audubon gives it
as abundant in Louisiana, and Nuttall as found throughout Louisiana
and Arkansas into Mexico. Mr. Dresser also mentions it as very common
near San Antonio in the spring and autumn, arriving on the Medina the
27th of April.

Dr. Coues says that the Redstart near Washington is chiefly a spring
and autumnal visitant, and but very few remain to breed. In the spring
it is very abundant from April 25 to May 20, and in the fall from the
1st to the 20th of September, in all woody and swampy situations. He
found it in the habit of running along slender twigs, sideways, and
having a note very similar to that of _D. œstiva_.

Although placed among the _Oscines_, where, as an excellent singer, it
clearly has a good right to be classed, it is yet also a true
Flycatcher in habits and manners. It is a lively, active bird, ever on
the wing, and continually in pursuit of insects. In this pursuit it
never awaits the approach of its prey, but, espying them at a
distance, darts with great velocity in pursuit, and the continued
clicks of its bill attest the rapidity and frequency with which it
will overtake and catch insect after insect. Even when lamenting the
loss of a part of its brood, and flying around with cries of distress,
the sight of passing insects is a temptation not to be resisted, and
the parent bird will stop her lamentations to catch small flies.

Its notes are a varied twitter, rather than a song, a repetition of
two simple notes, uttered every few seconds as it seeks its prey,
flying among the thick foliage usually in dense groves. Its common
habit is to glide along a branch, between its smaller twigs, at times
darting forth into more open spaces in quest of insects it has espied.

Their nests are usually, though not always, built in a low branch,
eight or ten feet from the ground, in the midst of a thick grove. I
have known it to build in an open field and in close proximity to a
dwelling. It keeps to groves and thickets, and frequents moist places
rather than dry, evidently because of the greater abundance of
insects, and not because of timid or retiring habits. It is indeed far
from being timid, and will permit a near approach without any
exhibitions of uneasiness. When its nest is visited, the male bird
manifests great disturbance, and flies back and forth around the head
of the intruder with cries of distress. The female is far less
demonstrative, and even when her nest is despoiled before her eyes is
quite moderate in the expression of her grief.

Its flight is graceful, easy, and rapid, varied by circumstances as it
glides in its intricate course among small interlacing branches, or
darts rapidly forth into more open space. As it moves, it is
continually opening out, closing, or flirting from side to side its
conspicuous tail, the white spots in its expanded feathers constantly
appearing and disappearing.

In the construction of the nest there is a general uniformity of
character, although the materials differ and the localities are far
apart. They are never pendent, but are placed among three or more
small upright branches, around which it is firmly woven with vegetable
flax-like fibres. A nest obtained in Lynn, by Mr. George O. Welch (S.
I. 3,778), in June, measures two inches in height by three in
diameter. It is a small, compact, and homogeneous nest, composed
almost entirely of shreds of savin-bark intermixed with soft vegetable
wool. Within are loosely intertwined minute vegetable fibres and
strips of bark, and a lining of horsehair, fine pine leaves, and dry
grasses. The nest contained four eggs. Another nest found in Grand
Menan, June 24, 1851, was very similar in size, structure, and
materials. It was in the centre of a thick, swampy thicket, five feet
from the ground, and contained five eggs.

Another nest of this bird, obtained in Lynn by Mr. Welch, is only a
reconstruction of a nest begun by a pair of _Dendroica œstiva_, and
either abandoned by them, or from which they had been driven. Above
the original nest of the Warbler the Redstarts had constructed their
own. The base is composed of the downy covering of the under sides of
the leaves of ferns, mixed with a few herbaceous stems and leaves.
Within this was built an entirely distinct nest, composed of long and
slender strips of bark, pine-needles, and stems of grasses. These are
firmly and elaborately interwoven together.

A nest found in Hingham, built in a tree in an open space near a
dwelling, was seven feet from the ground, and of the usual size and
shape. In this the more usual strips of bark were replaced by hempen
fibres of vegetables, thistle-down, bits of newspaper, and other
fragments. Within is a strong lining of hair and fine stems of
grasses. In this nest there were two young, about half fledged, and
two eggs nearly fresh. The latter were taken, the female parent being
present and making only a very slight protest, stopping, from time to
time, to catch insects.

The eggs of the Redstart vary considerably in their size and in their
general appearance, but resemble somewhat those of the common Summer
Yellow-Bird. They vary in length from .55 to .68 of an inch, and in
their breadth from .45 to .53. Their ground-color is a grayish-white,
blotched and clotted with purple, lilac, and brown.




FAMILY HIRUNDINIDÆ.—THE SWALLOWS.


CHAR. Bill short, triangular, very broad at base (nearly as wide as
long) and much depressed, narrowing rapidly to a compressed, notched
tip; mouth opening nearly to the eyes. Primaries nine, graduating
rapidly less from the exterior one; tail-feathers twelve. Feet weak;
tarsi scutellate, shorter than middle toe and claw. Number of joints
in toes normal; basal joint of middle toe partially or entirely
adherent to lateral toes. Wings long, falcate. Tail forked. Eyes
small. Plumage compact, usually lustrous. All the American species
with a white patch on the sides under the wing, and with the irids
hazel or brown.

The _Hirundinidæ_ form a very well marked group of birds easily
distinguished from all others. They exhibit a close resemblance, in
external appearance and habits, to the _Cypselidæ_; from which, apart
from the internal structure, they are readily distinguished by the
possession of nine, instead of ten primaries; twelve, instead of ten
tail-feathers; scutellate tarsi, toes with normal number of joints (1,
2, 3, and 4, respectively, exclusive of ungual phalanges), instead of
a different proportion; differently shaped nostrils, etc. In both
families the wings are developed to an extraordinary degree; the outer
primary nearly twice or more than twice the length of the inner, and
enabling its possessor to sustain flight almost indefinitely. The
relations of the family among the _Oscines_ appear closest to the Old
World _Muscicapidæ_.

In comparing the wings of the _Hirundinidæ_ with those of the
_Cypselidæ_ we readily notice one of the essential characters of the
_Oscines_, namely, that the greater wing-coverts hide only half or
less than half of the secondary quills, instead of reaching much
beyond their middle, or nearly to the end. (See Sundevall, Ornith.
Syst.)

The precise character of scutellation of tarsus is somewhat difficult
to make out, owing to a tendency to fusion of the plates, although not
essentially different from most _Oscines_. There is a series of
scutellæ along the anterior face of the tarsus, and a longitudinal
plate on each side, meeting, but not coalescing, behind. The anterior
scutellæ sometimes appear to fuse into the outer lateral plate; or
sometimes the latter is more or less subdivided; the inner plate is
generally more distinct from the anterior scutellæ, and usually
entire, except perhaps at the lower extremity.


Genera of North American Hirundinidæ.

A. Nostrils broadly oval, or circular; opening upwards and
forward, and exposed; without overhanging membrane.

  _a._ Edge of wing smooth. Tarsus short, stout; equal to middle
  toe without claw; feathered on the inner side above. Nostrils
  almost or entirely without membrane.

    Bill stout; culmen and commissure much curved. Frontal
    feathers without bristles. Tail deeply forked. Color
    lustrous-black; belly and crissum sometimes white …     _Progne_.

    Bill rather weaker; commissure and culmen nearly straight to
    near tip. Frontal feathers bristly. Tail nearly even. Throat,
    rump, and crissum, and usually forehead, rufous; belly white …
                                                     _Petrochelidon_.

  _b._ Edge of wing smooth. Tarsus longer than in last; equal to
  middle toe and half the claw. Nostrils bordered along posterior
  half by membrane, but not overhung internally. Bill very small.
  Tail forked. Crissum dusky except in _Neochelidon fucata_.
  Various genera and subgenera, none North American, as
  _Atticora_, _Notiochelidon_, _Neochelidon_, and _Pygochelidon_.

  _c._ Edge of wing armed with stiff recurved hooks. Tarsus as in
  preceding (tarsus and toes much as in _Pygochelidon_). Bill
  larger and more depressed. Tail emarginate only. Crissum white …
                                                    _Stelgidopteryx_.

B. Nostrils lateral; bordered behind and inside, or overhung by
membrane, the outer edge of which is straight, and directed
either parallel with axis of bill or diverging from it.

  _a._ Tarsus short; about equal to middle toe without claw.
  Tibial joint feathered; feathers extending along inside of
  upper end of tarsus.

    Tarsus bare at lower end. Lateral claws reaching only to base
    of middle.

      Tail very deeply forked, much longer than closed wings;
      lateral feathers linear and very narrow at end, twice the
      length of central. Upper parts and pectoral collar
      steel-blue; front and throat, sometimes under parts,
      rufous. Tail-feathers with large spots …             _Hirundo_.

      Tail with shallow fork, not exceeding half an inch, shorter
      than closed wings. Feathers broad. Color blue or green
      above, with or without white rump; white beneath.
      Tail-feathers without spots …                    _Tachycineta_.

    Tarsus with a tuft of feathers at lower end. Lateral claws
    lengthened, reaching beyond base of middle claw.

      Tail slightly forked. Color dull-brown above; beneath
      white, with brown pectoral collar …                   _Cotyle_.

    _b._ Tarsus long; equal to middle toe and half claw; entirely
    bare. Tail considerably forked, about equal to closed wing.
    Color green above; white beneath …           _Callichelidon._[62]


GENUS PROGNE, BOIE.

  _Progne_, BOIE, Isis, 1826, 971. (Type, _Hirundo purpurea_ vel
    _subis_, L.)—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 314.

GEN. CHAR. Body stout. Bill robust, lengthened; lower or commissural
edge of maxilla sinuated, decidedly convex for basal half, then as
concave to the tip, the lower mandible falling within its chord.
Nostrils superior, broadly open, and nearly circular, without any
adjacent membrane, the edges rounded. Legs stout. Tarsus equal to
middle toe without claw; the joint feathered; lateral toes about
equal; the basal joint of the middle toe half free internally, rather
less so externally. Claws strong, much curved. Nest in hollow trees.
Eggs white.

The species of this genus are the most powerful and robust of the
Swallows. Some are entirely glossy-black, others whitish below. The
following diagnosis will show the relationship of the several forms
usually recognized as distinct species:—


Species and Varieties.

P. subis. Above lustrous blue-black; beneath lustrous blue-black or brownish-gray,
uniform, or with the abdomen and crissum white, or whitish. Females
always with the throat and jugulum gray.

A. Adult males entirely steel-blue.

  _a._ Females and young males with the abdomen pure white.

_Feathers about the anus smoky-gray beneath the surface._

    Wing about 6.00; fork of tail, .80 deep. ♀ and _Juv._
    Abdominal and crissal feathers always with dusky shafts, and
    with the concealed portion grayish. Forehead and nape hoary
    grayish. _Hab._ Continental North America, south into
    Northern Mexico …                                   var. _subis_.

    Wing, 5.25; fork of tail considerably less. ♀ and _Juv._
    unknown. _Hab._ Galapagos …                  var. _concolor_.[63]

    Wing, 5.80; fork of tail, 1.10 deep. ♀ and _Juv._ unknown.
    _Hab._ Chili …                                var. _furcata_.[64]

_Feathers about the anus snowy-white beneath the surface._

    Wing. 5.50; fork of tail, .90 deep. ♀ and _juv._ Abdominal
    and crissal feathers entirely snowy-white,—never with dusky
    shafts (except ♂ _juv._ in transition). Forehead dusky
    grayish-brown; nape steel-blue. _Hab._ Cuba and Florida Keys …
                                                  var. _cryptoleuca_.

  _b._ Females and young with the abdomen dusky grayish-brown.

    Wing, 5.50; fork of tail, .80. ♀. Lower parts dusky
    grayish-brown, the feathers bordered with lighter grayish,
    producing a squamate appearance. _Juv._ similar, but feathers
    of the upper parts bordered with whitish. _Hab._ Paraguay
    (Vermejo River) …                             var. _elegans_.[65]

B. Adult males with the abdomen and crissum pure white.

  _a._ Lower tail-coverts with the shafts pure white. ♂ (adult)
  with the throat, jugulum, and sides steel-blue.

    ♀ and _juv._ scarcely distinguishable from those of
    _cryptoleuca_. _Hab._ Porto Rico and Jamaica (St. Domingo
    also?) …                                 var. _dominicensis_.[66]

  _b._ Lower tail-coverts with their shafts dusky. ♂ (adult) with
  throat, jugulum, and sides brownish-gray.

    Sides of the jugulum with a blue-black patch in the ♂. Wing,
    5.50; fork of tail, .70 deep. _Hab._ Bolivia …
                                                var. _domestica_.[67]

    Sides of the jugulum without a blue-black patch in the ♂.
    Wing, 5.20; fork of tail, .55 deep. _Hab._ Middle America,
    from Southern Mexico to New Granada …     var. _leucogaster_.[68]


Progne subis, BAIRD.

PURPLE MARTIN.

  _Hirundo subis_, LINN. S. N. 10th ed. 1758, 192 (_Hirundo cœrulea
    canadensis_, EDWARDS, Av. tab. 120, Hudson’s Bay). _Progne subis_,
    BAIRD, Rev. Am. Birds, 1864, 274. _H. purpurea_, LINN. S. N. 12th
    ed. 1766, 344 (_H. purpurea_, CATESBY, Car. tab. 51).—AUD. Orn.
    Biog. I, pl. xxiii.—IB. Birds Am. I, pl. xlv.—YARRELL, Br. Birds,
    II, 232, 274 (England and Ireland, Sept. 1842).—JONES, Nat.
    Bermuda, 34 (Sept. 22, 1849). _Progne purpurea_, BOIE, Isis, 1826,
    971.—BREWER, N. Am. Ool. I, 1857, 103, pl. iv, fig. 47
    (eggs).—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 314.—COOPER & SUCKLEY, P. R. R.
    Rep. XII, 2, 186 (Fort Steilacoom).—BLAKISTON, Ibis, 1863, 65
    (Saskatchewan)—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 113.—SAMUELS, 260.
    _Hirundo violacea_, GM. _H. cœrulea_, VIEILL. _H. versicolor_,
    VIEILL. _H. ludoviciana_, CUV.

  [Line drawing: _Progne subis._
                  1561]

SP. CHAR. (No. 1,561 ♂.) Entirely lustrous steel-blue, with a purplish
gloss; the tail-feathers and the wings, except the lesser and middle
coverts, and edge inside, dull black scarcely glossed. Tibiæ dark
brownish. A concealed patch of white on the sides under the wings.
Concealed central portion of anal feathers light whitish-gray.

(No. 1,129 ♀.) Above somewhat similar, but much duller. Beneath smoky
brownish-gray, without lustre, paler behind, and becoming sometimes
quite whitish on belly and crissum, but all the feathers always with
dusky shafts, and more or less clouded with gray centrally, even
though fading into whitish to the edges. This is particularly
appreciable in the longer crissal feathers. The edges of the dark
feathers of throat and jugulum are usually paler, imparting somewhat
of a lunulated appearance, their centres sometimes considerably
darker, causing an appearance of obsolete spots. There is a tendency
to a grayish collar on sides of neck, and generally traceable to the
nape; this, in one specimen (5,492) from California, being hoary gray,
the forehead similar.

The young male of the second year is similar to the female, with the
steel-blue appearing in patches.

Total length (of 1,561), 7.50; wing, 6.00; tail, 3.40; difference
between inner and outer feather, .75; difference between first and
ninth quills, 2.88; length of bill from forehead, .55; from nostril,
.34; along gape, .94; width of gape, .74; tarsus, .61; middle toe and
claw, .80; claw alone, .25; hind toe and claw, .54; claw alone, .27.

HAB. The whole of the United States and the Provinces; Saskatchewan;
Cape St. Lucas and Northern Mexico (winter); Orizaba (SUMICHRAST);
Bermuda. Accidental in England. South American and West Indian birds
apparently belong to other races.

Many Western adult males are considerably less violaceous than any
Eastern one; but there is so much variation in this respect among
specimens from one locality, that this difference in lustre does not
seem of much importance.

  [Illustration: _Progne subis._]

An adult female (No. 61,361, G. A. Boardman) from Lake Harney,
Florida, is so unlike all other specimens in the collection as to
almost warrant our considering it as representing a distinct local
race. It differs from females and young males of all the other races
(except _elegans_, from which it differs in other striking
particulars) in the following respects: Above, the lustrous steel-blue
is uninterrupted, the forehead and nape being uniform with the other
portions; beneath, dark smoky-gray, inclining to whitish on the middle
of the abdomen; the jugulum and crissum have a faint gloss of
steel-blue, the feathers of the latter bordered with grayish-white.
The chief difference from _elegans_ is in lacking the conspicuous
grayish-white border to the feathers of the whole lower part, the
surface being uniform instead of conspicuously squamated. Wing, 5.60;
tail, 3.00; fork of tail, .80 deep.

HABITS. The Purple Martin is emphatically a bird common to the whole
of North America. It breeds from Florida to high northern latitudes,
and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It is very abundant in Florida,
as it is in various other parts of the country farther north, and the
large flocks of migrating birds of this species which pass through
Eastern Massachusetts the last of September attest its equal abundance
north of the latter State. It occurs in Bermuda, is resident in the
alpine regions of Mexico, and is also found at Cape St. Lucas.
Accidental specimens have been detected in England and in Ireland. It
is abundant on the Saskatchewan. Burmeister states that this species
is common in the vicinity of Rio de Janeiro, and that it is
distributed in moderate abundance through the whole of tropical South
America. Von Pelzeln also cites it as occurring on the Rio Negro and
at Manaqueri through the three winter months, nesting in old buildings
and in holes in the rocks. It is, however, quite possible that they
refer to an allied but distinct species.

In a wild state the natural resort of this species, for nesting and
shelter, was to hollow trees and crevasses in rocks. The introduction
of civilized life, and with it of other safer and more convenient
places, better adapted to their wants, has wrought an entire change in
its habits. It is now very rarely known to resort to a hollow tree,
though it will do so where better provision is not to be had.
Comfortable and convenient boxes, of various devices, in our cities
and large towns, attract them to build in small communities around the
dwellings of man, where their social, familiar, and confiding
disposition make them general favorites. There they find abundance of
insect food, and repay their benefactors by the destruction of
numerous injurious and noxious kinds, and there, too, they are also
comparatively safe from their own enemies. These conveniences vary
from the elegant martin-houses that adorn private grounds in our
Eastern cities to the ruder gourds and calabashes which are said to be
frequently placed near the humbler cabins of the Southern negroes. In
Washington the columns of the public buildings, and the eaves and
sheltered portions of the piazzas, afford a convenient protection to
large numbers around the Patent Office and the Post-Office buildings.

The abundance of this species varies in different parts of the
country, from causes not always apparent. In the vicinity of Boston it
is quite unusual, though said to have been, forty years since, quite
common. There their places are taken by the _H. bicolor_, who occupy
almost exclusively the martin-houses, and very rarely build in hollow
trees.

Sir John Richardson states that it arrives within the Arctic Circle
earlier than any other of its family. It made its first appearance at
Great Bear Lake as early as the 17th of May, when the ground was
covered with snow, and the rivers and lakes were all icebound.

In the Southern States it is said to raise three broods in a season;
in its more northern distribution it raises but one. Their early
migrations expose the Martins to severe exposure and suffering from
changes of weather, in which large numbers have been known to perish.
An occurrence of this kind is said to have taken place in Eastern
Massachusetts, where nearly all the birds of this species were
destroyed, and where to this day their places have never been supplied.

Within its selected compartment the Martin prepares a loose and
irregular nest. This is composed of various materials, such as fine
dry leaves, straws, stems of grasses, fine twigs, bits of string,
rags, etc. These are carelessly thrown together, and the whole is
usually warmly lined with feathers or other soft materials. This nest
is occupied year after year by the same pair, but with each new brood
the nest is thoroughly repaired, and often increased in size by the
accumulation of new materials.

The Martins do not winter in the United States, but enter the extreme
Southern portions early in February. Audubon states that they arrive
often in prodigious flocks. On the Ohio their advent is about the 15th
of March, and in Missouri, Ohio, and Pennsylvania about the 10th of
April. About Boston their appearance is from the 25th of April to the
middle of May. Mr. Audubon states that they all return to the Southern
States about the 20th of August, but this is hardly correct. Their
departure varies very much with the season. In the fall of 1870 they
were to be found in large flocks, slowly moving southward, but often
remaining several days at a time at the same place, and then
proceeding to their next halt. Their favorite places for such stops
are usually a high and uninhabited hillside near the sea.

The Martin is a bold and courageous bird, prompt to meet and repel
dangers, especially when threatened by winged enemies, never
hesitating to attack and drive them away from its neighborhood. It is
therefore a valuable protection to the barnyard. Its food is the
larger kinds of insects, especially beetles, in destroying which it
again does good service to the husbandman. The song of the Martin is a
succession of twitters, which, without being musical, are far from
being unpleasant; they begin with the earliest dawn, and during the
earlier periods of incubation are almost incessantly repeated. The
eggs of the Purple Martin measure .94 of an inch in length by .79 in
breadth. They are of an oblong-oval shape, are pointed at one end, are
of a uniform creamy-white, and are never spotted. They are quite
uniform in size and shape. Eggs from Florida are proportionally
smaller than those from the Northern States.


Progne subis, var. cryptoleuca, BAIRD.

CUBAN MARTIN.

  _Progne cryptoleuca_, BAIRD, Rev. Am. Birds, 1864, 277. _Hirundo
    purpurea_, D’ORB. Sagra’s Cuba, Ois. 1840, 94 (excl. syn.).
    _Progne purpurea_, CAB. Jour. 1856, 3.—GUNDLACH, Cab. Jour. 1861.

SP. CHAR. (No. 34,242, ♂). Color much as in _P. subis_,—rich
steel-blue, with purple or violet gloss; the wings and tail, however,
much more decidedly glossed, and with a shade of greenish. The
feathers around the anus and in the anterior portion of crissum with
dark bluish down at base, pure snowy-white in the middle, and then
blackish, passing into the usual steel-blue. The white is entirely
concealed, and its amount and purity diminish as the feathers are more
and more distant, until it fades into the usual gray median portion of
the feather. The usual concealed white patch on the sides under the
wings. Total length, 7.60; wing, 5.50; tail, 3.40; perpendicular depth
of fork, .86; difference between first and ninth primary, 2.75; length
of bill from forehead, .55; from nostril, .34; along gape, .86; width,
.58; tarsus, .53; middle toe and claw, .79; claw alone, .24; hind toe
and claw, .52; claw alone, .25.

_Female_ (17,730, Monte Verde, Cuba, May 2; C. Wright). Above
steel-blue, less glossy than in the male, and becoming lustreless dark
smoky-brown on the forehead. Head, laterally and beneath, with jugulum
and sides, uniform brownish-gray (without darker shafts or lighter
borders to feathers, as in _subis_); whole abdomen, anal region, and
crissum snowy-white, including the shafts. Wing, 5.40; tail, 2.80;
fork of tail, .70 deep.

_Young male_ (10,368, Cape Florida, May 18, 1858; G. Wurdemann).
Similar to the female, but the steel-blue above more brilliant and
continuous, the forehead and wings being nearly as lustrous as the
back; throat and jugulum mixed with steel-blue feathers, and crissum
with some feathers of steel-blue bordered with whitish. Wing. 5.40;
tail, 2.90; fork of tail, .80 deep.

HAB. Cuba, and Florida Keys? (Perhaps Bahamas.)

This species has a close external resemblance to _P. subis_, for which
it has usually been mistaken. It is of nearly the same size, but the
feet are disproportionately smaller and weaker; while the wings are
shorter, the tail is as long and more deeply forked; the feathers
considerably narrower, and more attenuated (the outer .40 wide,
instead of .46). The colors above are more brilliant, and extend more
over the greater wing-coverts and lining of wings, while the quills
and tail-feathers have a richer gloss of purplish, changing to
greenish. An apparently good diagnostic feature is the concealed pure
white of the feathers about the anal regions, replaced in _subis_ by
grayish, rarely approximating to whitish.

A _Progne_ collected by Mr. Wright, at Monte Verde, is duller in color
than that from Remedios, but has still more concealed white below, in
the median portion, not only of the anal feathers, but of those of the
entire crissum and of the belly. A female bird, which I presume to be
the same species, can scarcely be distinguished from the female of
_dominicensis_, except in the brownish shafts of the longer crissal
feathers, and an almost imperceptible tinge of brownish in the webs of
the same feathers. It is almost exactly like the _P. leucogaster_ of
Mexico and Central America.

This species is included in the North American fauna in consequence of
the capture of a specimen (No. 10,368 ♂ _juv._, May 18, 1858) at Cape
Florida, which is with scarcely a doubt referable to it. This specimen
is a young male in its second year, so that it is difficult to
ascertain positively its relationship to the two allied species; but
as it agrees perfectly in its proportions with _cryptoleuca_, and its
plumage differs from the corresponding one of _subis_ in essential
respects, we have little hesitation in referring it to the former.

Nothing distinctive is recorded as to the habits of this bird.


GENUS PETROCHELIDON, CABANIS.

  _Petrochelidon_, CAB. Mus. Hein. 1850, 1851, 47. (Type, _Hirundo
    melanogaster_, SWAINS. = _P. swainsoni_, SCL.)

  [Line drawing: _Petrochelidon lunifrons._
                  18322]

GEN. CHAR. Bill stout and deep, somewhat as in _Progne_. Nostrils
entirely superior, open, without overhanging membrane on the inner (or
upper) side, but somewhat overhung by short bristles, seen also along
base of inner mandible and in chin. Legs stout; the tarsi short, not
exceeding the middle toe exclusive of its claw; feathered all round
for basal third or fourth, though no feathers are inserted on the
posterior face. Tail falling short of the closed wings, nearly square
or slightly emarginate; the lateral feathers broad to near the ends,
and not attenuated.

Of this genus as restricted we have but one species in North America,
although several others occur in the West Indies and the southern
parts of the continent. All have the back steel-blue, with concealed
streaks of white; the rump, crissum, and a narrow nuchal band, and
usually the forehead, chestnut.


Petrochelidon lunifrons, BAIRD.

CLIFF SWALLOW; EAVE SWALLOW.

  _Hirundo lunifrons_, SAY, Long’s Exp. II, 1823, 47 (Rocky Mts.).—
    CASSIN; BREWER, N. A. Ool. I, 1857, 94, pl. v, no. 68-73
    (eggs).—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 309.—LAWRENCE, Ann. N. Y. Lyc.
    1861, 317 (Panama R. R.; winter).—VERRILL, Pr. Bost. N. H. Soc.
    1864, 276 (migration and history).—LORD, Pr. R. A. Inst. Woolwich,
    IV, 1864, 16 (Br. Col.; nesting).—COOPER & SUCKLEY, P. R. R. XII,
    II, 184 (Wash. Terr.).—DALL & BANNISTER, 279 (Alaska).—COOPER,
    Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 104.—SAMUELS, 256. _Petrochelidon l._ BAIRD,
    Review, 1864, 288. _H. opifex_, CLINTON, 1824. _H. respublicana_,
    AUD. 1824. _H. fulva_, BON. (not of VIEILLOT).—AUD. Orn. Biog. I,
    pl. lviii.—IB. Birds Am. I, pl. xlvii.—MAXIM. Cab. Jour. VI, 1858,
    100.

SP. CHAR. (No. 18,322 ♂.) Top of head glossy black, with greenish
lustre; back and scapulars similar, but rather duller, and somewhat
streaked by the appearance of the white sides of the feathers,—the
bases of the feathers, however, being plumbeous. Chin, throat, and
sides of head, chestnut-brown, this extending round on the nape as a
distinct continuous collar, which is bounded posteriorly by dull
grayish. The chestnut darkest on the chin, with a rich purplish tinge.
Rump above and on sides paler chestnut (sometimes fading into
whitish). Upper tail-coverts grayish-brown, edged with paler, lighter
than the plain brown of the wings and tail. Forehead, for the length
of the bill, creamy-white, somewhat lunate, or extending in an acute
angle, a little over the eye; a very narrow blackish frontlet; loral
region dusky to the bill. A patch of glossy black in the lower part of
the breast, and a few black feathers in the extreme chin, the latter
sometimes scarcely appreciable. Under parts dull white, tinged with
reddish-gray on the sides and inside of the wings. Feathers of crissum
brownish-gray, edged with whitish, with a tinge of rufous anteriorly
(sometimes almost inappreciable). Nest of mud, lined; built against
rocks or beams; opening sometimes circular, on the side; sometimes
open above; eggs spotted.

Total length, 5.10; wing, 4.50; tail, 2.40, nearly even; difference of
primary quills, 2.10; length of bill from forehead, .38, from nostril,
.25, along gape, .60, width, .50; tarsus, .48; middle toe and claw,
.72; claw alone, .22; hind toe and claw, .44; claw alone, .20.

HAB. Entire United States from Atlantic to Pacific, and along central
region to Arctic Ocean and Fort Yukon; Panama in winter. Not noted at
Cape St. Lucas, in Mexico, or in West Indies.

There is no difference between the sexes, but the young bird is very
different from the adult in the following particulars: the steel-blue
above is replaced by a lustreless dusky-brown, the feathers (except on
head) being margined with a creamy tint; the neck merely tinged with
rufous; the throat has only a dusky suffusion, and the chin is much
mixed with white; the frontal patch is obsolete.

A closely allied species from Mexico, _P. swainsoni_ (see Baird, Rev.
Am. Birds, 1865, 290), possibly yet to be found near our southern
border, differs as follows:—

  Frontlet reddish-white, with narrow band of black along upper
  mandible …                                             _lunifrons_.

  Frontlet chestnut-brown, without black at base of upper mandible.
  Size smaller …                                         _swainsoni_.

Sometimes (as in 11,027 ♀ and 11,025 ♂, Fort Bridger) the black patch
extends upward, somewhat broken, however, to the bill.

HABITS. The early history of the Cliff Swallow must always remain
involved in some obscurity, so far as concerns its numbers and
distribution before the first settlement of the country, and even down
to the early portion of the present century. Its existence was unknown
to Mr. Wilson, and it was unknown to other naturalists until obtained
by Say, in Long’s expedition to the Rocky Mountains in 1820. It is now
known to occur nearly throughout North America, and to breed from
Pennsylvania to the Arctic regions, and from the Atlantic to the
Pacific. Yet to many parts of the country it is a new-comer, where, a
few years since, it was entirely unknown. It seems to be probable that
at first this species was to be found only in certain localities that
offered favorable places whereon to construct their nests. Where high
limestone cliffs abound, these birds may have always occurred,
although escaping observation.

In the same year that Long discovered this species among the Rocky
Mountains (1820), Sir John Franklin’s party also met with it between
the Cumberland House and Fort Enterprise, and on the banks of Point
Lake, in latitude 65°. In June, 1825, a number of these birds made
their first appearance at Fort Chippewyan, and built their nests under
the eaves of the house. This fort had then existed many years, and
trading-posts had been in existence a century and a half, and yet this
was the first instance of its placing itself under the protection of
man throughout that wide extent of territory. Mr. Audubon met with
this species at Henderson, on the Ohio, in 1815. Two years later he
found a colony breeding in Newport, Ky., which dated back to the same
year. Several other colonies in that neighborhood also first appeared
in the same year. In 1837 I received their eggs from Coventry, Vt., at
which time they were a new species to me. They were there known as the
“Eave Swallow,” and the time of their first appearance could not be
determined. I first met with them in 1839, at Jaffrey, N. H., where
they had made their first appearance the year before, and were not
then known to be anywhere else in that vicinity. The same year I
afterwards found them in Burlington, Vt., where they had been known
only for three years. When or where they first appeared in
Massachusetts is not known. I first observed a large colony of them in
Attleborough in 1842. Its size indicated the existence of these birds
in that place for several years. The same year they also appeared,
apparently for the first time, in Boston, Hingham, and in other places
in the neighborhood.

In 1824, De Witt Clinton read a paper to the New York Lyceum, stating
that he had met with these birds at Whitehall, N. Y., at the southern
end of Lake Champlain, in 1817, about the time of their first
appearance on the Ohio; and Rev. Zadock Thompson met with them in
Randolph, Vt., at about the same period. General Dearborn noticed them
for the first time in Winthrop, Me., in 1830. They first appeared at
Carlisle, Penn., in 1841.

Professor Verrill discovered, in 1861, a large colony of these birds
breeding on the high limestone cliffs of Anticosti, apparently in
their original condition, and entirely removed from the influences of
man. This suggested an inquiry as to their early presence in
Northeastern America. From the information he received, he was led to
conclude that this Swallow was known to certain parts of Maine earlier
than its first discovery anywhere in the West. Whether these birds
were indigenous to the West or not cannot now be determined. That they
were discovered there only so recently as 1820 proves nothing. We only
know that in certain localities—such as Rock River on the Mississippi,
and at Anticosti on the St. Lawrence—their occurrence in large numbers
in their former normal condition of independence suggests in either
locality an equally remote beginning. It is possible, and even
probable, that in favorable localities in various parts of the country
they existed in isolated colonies. The settlement of the country, and
the multiplication of convenient, sheltered, and safe places for their
nests, gradually wrought a change in their habits, and greatly
multiplied their numbers. At St. Stephen, N. B., and in that
neighborhood, Mr. Boardman found this species as abundant in 1828 as
they have been at any time since. They were then very plentiful under
the eaves of several old barns in that part of the country. Yet twelve
years afterward they were entirely unknown on the lower Kennebeck.

Dr. Cooper found this to be an abundant species in California, on the
coast, where they breed on the cliffs, and have all the appearance of
being indigenous. They appear at San Diego as early as March 15, a
week before the Barn Swallow, and do not leave until October. They
build even in the noisy streets of San Francisco. Dr. Cooper observed
them catching young grasshoppers, which is certainly unusual food for
Swallows, and one that has proved fatal to young Barn Swallows when
fed to the latter in confinement. At Santa Cruz they bred as early as
April 12, and had second broods July 5.

The nests of this Swallow, when built on the side of a cliff or in any
exposed position, are constructed in the shape of a retort, the larger
portion adhering to the wall, arched over at the top and projecting in
front, with a covered passage-way opening at the bottom. The normal
original nest, in a state of nature, is an elaborate and remarkably
ingenious structure, sheltering its inmates from the weather and from
their many enemies. Since they have sought the shelter of man and
built under the eaves of barns and houses, the old style of their
nests has been greatly changed, and the retort-like shape has nearly
disappeared.

In building and in repairing their nests they work with great
industry, and often complete their task with wonderful celerity. Where
they exist in a large colony, it is not an uncommon thing to see
several birds at work upon the same nest,—one bird, apparently the
female owner, always assisting and directing the whole. After the work
of construction has gone so far as to permit the occupation of the
nest, it is often to be observed that the task of completing and
improving the structure is kept up by the male. In a large colony of
these Swallows, whose nests were built under the projecting roof of a
barn in a small island in the Bay of Fundy, every nest was as open as
are those of the Barn Swallow. These birds had been encouraged to
build by the owner, and boards had been placed above and below their
nests, of which they at once took advantage to build an unusual nest.
These nests are made of various kinds of adhesive earth and mud. They
are neatly and warmly lined with fine dry grasses and leaves,
intermingled with feathers, wool, and other soft, warm substances. It
has been thought that the mud of which these nests are composed is
agglutinated by the saliva of the birds; but of this I have never been
able to detect any evidence in the nests themselves, the crumbling
nature of which when dry is against this supposition; and the birds
themselves are often to be seen about puddles of water, apparently
gathering materials.

When the nests of a large colony are invaded, the birds manifest great
uneasiness, collecting in a swarm over the head of the intruder,
wheeling around in circles, uttering loud outcries, and even flying
close to his head, as if to attack him, with loud snapping of the
bills.

The song of this Swallow is an unmusical creak, rather than a twitter,
frequent rather than loud, and occasionally harsh, yet so earnest and
genial in its expression that its effect is far from being unpleasant.

The ground-color of their eggs is white, and they are marked with
dots, blotches, and points of reddish-brown. These markings vary
greatly in size, number, and distribution. They are usually chiefly
about the larger end. In shape they are usually less elongated than
those of the Barn Swallow, and their markings are larger. This is not,
however, invariable, and the two kinds are not always distinguishable.
In length they vary from .875 of an inch to .75, and their average
breadth is .60.


GENUS HIRUNDO, LINN.

  _Hirundo_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 10th ed. 1758, 191. (Type, _H.
    rustica_, LINN.)

  [Line drawing: _Hirundo horreorum._
                  1452]

Under the generic head of _Hirundo_ I propose to combine several
groups of American Swallows agreeing in moderate, depressed bill, with
straight commissure, and lateral nostrils overhung by membrane; the
tarsi feathered only at the upper end, or else entirely bare; the
lateral claws moderate, not extending beyond the base of the median;
the edge of the outer primary without hooks; the tail variable in
character, from a very deep fork to a slight emargination only.


Subgenera.

Tarsi slightly feathered on inner face at upper end; equal in
length to middle toe without claw.

  Tail very deeply forked …                                _Hirundo_.
  Tail slightly forked or emarginate …                 _Tachycineta_.

Tarsi entirely naked; lengthened equal to middle toe and half
its claw.

  Tail considerably forked …                     _Callichelidon_.[69]


SUBGENUS HIRUNDO, LINN.

GEN. CHAR. Nostrils lateral. Tarsi short, not exceeding middle toe
without its claw; the upper joint covered with feathers, which extend
a short distance along the inner face of tarsus. Tail very deeply
forked; the lateral feather much attenuated, twice as long as the
middle. Basal joint of middle toe free for terminal fourth on outside,
for half on inside. Nest partly of mud, and lined with feathers; eggs
spotted.

In type, and in American species, the forehead and throat rufous; a
black pectoral collar; tail-feathers with large light spots on inner
webs.

But one species, so far as known, of this subgenus as restricted,
belongs to America. There are, however, quite a number known in the
Old World.


Hirundo horreorum, BARTON.

BARN SWALLOW.

  _Hirundo horreorum_, BARTON, Fragments N. H. Penna. 1799, 17.—BAIRD,
    Birds N. Am. 1858, 308; Rev. 294.—A. & E. NEWTON, Ibis, 1859, 66
    (Sta. Cruz; transient).—SCLATER & SALVIN, Ibis, 1859, 13
    (Guatemala).—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1864, 173 (City of Mex.)—LAWRENCE,
    Ann. N. Y. Lyc. 1861, 316 (Panama).—COOPER & SUCKLEY, P. R. R.
    Rep. XII, II, 184 (south of Columbia River).—DALL & BANNISTER, 279
    (Alaska).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 103.—SAMUELS, 254. _Hirundo
    rufa_, VIEILL.—CASSIN, Ill.—BREWER, N. Am. Ool. I, 1857, 91, pl.
    v, fig. 63-67 (eggs).—CAB. Jour. IV, 1856, 3 (Cuba; spring and
    autumn).—REINHARDT, Ibis, 1861, 5 (Greenland; two
    specimens).—GUNDLACH, Cab. Jour. 1861, 328 (Cuba; common).
    _Hirundo americana_, WILSON; RICH.; LEMBEYE, Aves de Cuba, 1850,
    44, lam. vii, fig. 2. _Hirundo rustica_, AUD. Orn. Biog. II, pl.
    clxxiii.—IB. Birds Am. I, pl. xlviii.—JONES, Nat. Hist. Bermuda,
    34 (Bermudas; Aug. and Sept.).

  [Illustration: _Hirundo horreorum._]

SP. CHAR. Tail very deeply forked; outer feathers several inches
longer than the inner, very narrow towards the end. Above glossy blue,
with concealed white in the middle of the back. Throat chestnut; rest
of lower part reddish-white, not conspicuously different. A steel-blue
collar on the upper part of the breast, interrupted in the middle.
Tail-feathers with a white spot near the middle, on the inner web.
Female with the outer tail-feather not quite so long. Length, 6.90
inches; wing, 5.00; tail, 4.50.

HAB. Whole of the United States; north to Fort Rae, Slave Lake;
Greenland; south in winter to Central America and West Indies; Panama
(LAWR.); Plateau of Mexico (breeds, SUMICHRAST); Veragua, Chiriqui
(SALVIN). Not found at Cape St. Lucas. South America?

In young birds, the frontal chestnut band is maller and less distinct.

It is still a question whether a South American resident species (_H.
erythrogaster_) is identical or not. The only two specimens of the
latter (21,007 and 21,008, Vermejo, Feb., 1860; C. Wood) have a very
much less violaceous upper plumage than North American examples, the
blue above having even a greenish tinge. They are moulting,
unfortunately, so that they cannot be satisfactorily compared; except
in the respect pointed out, however, they appear to be identical with
North American examples.

The European _H. rustica_ is perfectly distinct, though closely
allied. It differs essentially from the American _H. horreorum_ in
much longer outer tail-feathers, and in having a very broad,
continuous collar of steel-blue across the jugulum, entirely isolating
the chestnut of the throat; the abdomen appears to be much more
whitish than in the American species.

Many specimens of _H. horreorum_ show a continuous collar, but then
the two lateral crescents are but just barely connected. In No. 2,191
♀, Carlisle, Penn., May, there is an indication of as broad a collar
as in the European species; but the area, though sharply bounded, is
not uniformly black, being much mixed centrally with light rufous.

Specimens of _H. horreorum_ from both coasts of North America appear
to be perfectly identical.

HABITS. No one of all our North American birds is more widely
diffused, more generally abundant, wherever found, or better known,
than the graceful and familiar Barn Swallow. And no one is more
universally or more deservedly a favorite. Found throughout North
America from Florida to Greenland and from ocean to ocean, and
breeding nearly throughout the same wide extent, its distribution is
universal. Venturing with a confiding trust into our crowded cities,
and building their elaborate nests in the porches of the dwellings, as
well as entering in greater numbers the barns and farm-buildings of
the agriculturists and placing themselves under the protection of man,
they rarely fail to win for themselves the interest and good-will they
so well deserve. Innocent and blameless in their lives, there is no
evil blended with the many benefits they confer on man. They are his
ever-constant benefactor and friend, and are never known, even
indirectly, to do him any injury. For their daily food, and for that
of their offspring, they destroy the insects that annoy his cattle,
injure his fruit-trees, sting his fruit, or molest his person. Social,
affectionate, and kind in their intercourse with each other; faithful
and devoted in the discharge of their conjugal and parental duties;
exemplary, watchful, and tender alike to their own family and to all
their race; sympathizing and benevolent when their fellows are in any
trouble,—these lovely and beautiful birds are bright examples to all,
in their blameless and useful lives.

This Swallow passes the winter months in Central and South America as
far south as Brazil and Paraguay, and the West Indies, and is found
throughout the year in the Plateau of Mexico. It appears in the
Southern States in March, and in the Central States early in April. In
the latter part of this month it reaches New York and New England,
becoming abundant near Boston about the first of May. Sir John
Richardson found them breeding as far north as latitude 67° 30′. They
reached Fort Chippewyan, latitude 57°, as early as the 15th of May,
taking possession of their nests. It has been found throughout Canada
and in all the British Provinces, has been met with in New Mexico, and
is common in certain portions of Texas and the Indian Territory. Dr.
Cooper states it to be less abundant on the Pacific than on the
Eastern coast,—a fact attributable to the lack of suitable places in
which to build. As settlements have multiplied, these birds have
gradually increased about farms near the coast. In the wild districts
they build in the caves that abound in the bluffs along the sea-shore
from San Domingo to Columbia River. Dr. Suckley found them also
moderately abundant about the basaltic cliffs, near Fort Dalles,
Oregon. They are much more abundant about the coast than farther
inland.

Mr. Ridgway found this Swallow a very common species in all the rocky
localities in the vicinity of water, but not so numerous as the
_lunifrons_.

In May it was particularly numerous in the neighborhood of Pyramid
Lake, where its nests were built among the “tufa domes,” attached to
the roofs of the caves. It was seldom that more than one or two pairs
were found together.

In July he found a nest that contained young, in a cave among the
limestone cliffs of the cañons of the East Humboldt Mountains, at an
altitude of about eight thousand feet. Many of their nests were found
in May, in the caves of the tufa rocks, on the shores of Pyramid Lake,
as well as on the islands in the lake.

Mr. Hepburn writes that he found this Swallow widely diffused along
the Pacific coast, as far to the north as Sitka. In California he
found it very local, common near the coast, rare inland. Its earliest
appearance is March 26, the great bulk leave in August, and the last
stragglers are gone before the last of September. They breed in caves
and crevices of rocks, and also under the sides of the wooden bridges
that span the gullies at San Francisco. Two broods are hatched in a
year. The earliest egg was found on the 30th of April, but they are
usually a fortnight later. The second laying is about the first of
July, and no eggs were found later than the 4th of August. It is at
all times quite common to find nests with fresh eggs close to others
with half-grown young.

Mr. J. K. Lord publishes an interesting account of a visit made by a
solitary pair of Barn Swallows to his party when encamped at
Schyakwateen, in British Columbia. A small shanty, loosely built of
poles, and tightly roofed, was in constant use as a blacksmith’s shop.
Early one summer morning late in June, a pair of Swallows perched on
the roof of this shed, without exhibiting the slightest fear of the
noise made by the bellows or the showers of sparks that flew all
around. Presently they entered the house and carefully examined the
roof and its supporting poles, twittering to each other all the while
in the most excited manner. At length the important question appeared
to be settled, and the following day they commenced building on one of
the poles immediately over the anvil. Though the hammer was constantly
passing close to their structure, these birds kept steadily at their
work. In about three days the rough outline of the nest had been
constructed. Curious to see from whence they procured their materials,
Mr. Lord tracked them to the stream where, on its edge, they worked up
the clay and fine sand into a kind of mortar with their beaks. They
worked incessantly, and in a few days their nest was finished, the mud
walls having finally been warmly lined with soft dry grasses and the
feathers and down of ducks and geese. This trustful pair seemed to
know no fear. The narrator often stood on a log to watch them, with
his face so near that their feathers frequently brushed against it as
they toiled at their work. Soon the nest was completed. Five eggs were
laid, which were never left once uncovered until they were hatched,
the female sitting the greater part of the time. They were fed with
great assiduity by the parents, and grew rapidly. In leaving the nest,
two of the young birds fell to the ground, but were picked up by the
blacksmith, and placed with the others on their roosting-place. A few
days’ training taught them the use of their wings, and they soon after
took their departure.

Professor Reinhardt records its occurrence in Greenland, at
Fiskenæsset and at Nenontalik.

The natural breeding-places of these birds, before the settlement of
the country, were caves, overhanging rocky cliffs, and similar
localities. Swallow Cave, at Nahant, was once a favorite place of
resort, and in the unsettled portions of the country they are only
found in such situations. As the country is settled they forsake these
places for the buildings of the farm, and their numbers rapidly
increase. In the fur countries and in all the Pacific coast, they
still breed in and inhabit caves, chiefly among limestone rocks.

Where the opportunity offers, they prefer to place their nests on the
horizontal rafters of barns. Built in this situation, the nests have
an average height and a breadth of about five inches. The cavity is
two inches deep and three inches wide, at the rim. The nests are
constructed of distinct layers of mud, from ten to twelve in number,
and each separated by strata of fine dry grasses. These layers are
each made up of small pellets of mud, that have been worked over by
the birds and placed one by one in juxtaposition until each layer is
complete. These mud walls are an inch in thickness. When they are
completed, they are warmly stuffed with fine soft grasses and lined
with downy feathers. When built against the side of a house, a strong
foundation of mud is first constructed, upon which the nest is
erected. In this case the nest is much more elongate in shape and more
strongly made.

A striking peculiarity of these nests is frequently an extra platform,
built against, but distinct from the nest itself, designed as a
roosting-place for the parents, used by one during incubation at night
or when not engaged in procuring food, and by both when the young are
large enough to occupy the whole nest. One of these I found to be a
separate structure from the nest, but of similar materials, three
inches in length and one and a half in breadth. This nest had been for
several years occupied by the same pair, though none of their
offspring ever returned to the same roof to breed in their turn. Yet
in some instances as many as fifty pairs have been known to occupy the
rafters of the same barn.

In one instance Mr. Allen has known a pair of these Swallows to take
possession of the nest of a pair of Cliff Swallows, placed under the
eaves of a barn, driving off the rightful owners. The next year they
built a nest in the same place, the old one having fallen down. But
such instances are rare, and the attempt is often a failure.

The wonderful activity of this bird, its rapidity and powers of
flight, are too striking a peculiarity of this species not to be
mentioned. During their stay with us, from May to September, from morn
to night they seem to be ever in motion, especially so before
incubation, or after their young have flown. The rapidity of their
tortuous evolutions, their intricate, involved, and repeated zigzag
flights, are altogether indescribable, and must be witnessed to be
appreciated. Wilson estimated that these birds fly at the rate of a
mile a minute, but any one who has witnessed the ease and celerity
with which they seem to delight in overtaking, passing, and repassing
a train of cars moving at the rate of thirty miles an hour must
realize that this estimate is far from doing full justice to their
real speed.

The song of this Swallow, especially when on the wing, is very
pleasing and sprightly. It is a succession of twittering notes uttered
with great rapidity and animation. When alighted, their notes are
delivered more slowly and with much less animation.

The attention of these birds to each other when sitting upon the nest,
and to their young when hatched, is unremitting. The estimated numbers
of small insects they collect for their own consumption and that of
their nestlings is almost incredible. When the young are old enough to
leave their nests the manœuvres of the parents to draw them out, and
their assistance to them when practising their first short flights,
are among the most curious and interesting scenes one can witness in
his ornithological experiences; but space would fail me were I to
attempt their details.

The number of the young is from four to six, and there are often two
broods in a season. As soon as the second brood can fly, or early in
September, they all prepare to leave. They usually collect in flocks
of from one to several hundred, and depart within a few days of their
first assembling. Large flocks pass along the coast of Massachusetts,
from the north and east, early in September, often uniting as they
meet, and passing rapidly on.

Their eggs have a ground-color of clear white, with a roseate tint
when unblown. They are marked with spots of reddish and
purplish-brown, varying in size and number, and chiefly at the larger
end. They are smaller and more elongate than those of the _lunifrons_,
and the markings are usually finer. Their greatest length is .94 of an
inch, their least .75, and their mean .78. Their mean breadth is .56
of an inch, the greatest .62, and the least .50.


SUBGENUS TACHYCINETA, CAB.

  _Tachycineta_, CAB. Mus. Hein. 1850, 1851, 48. (Type, _H. thalassina_,
    SW.)

  [Line drawing: _Hirundo thalassina._
                  1895]

GEN. CHAR. Nostrils lateral, overhung or bordered internally by
incumbent membrane. Tarsi with the tibial joint covered by overhanging
feathers, adherent a short distance along inner face, about equal to
middle toe without claw. Lateral toes equal. Adhesion of basal joint
of middle toe variable. Tail emarginate only, or slightly forked; fork
not exceeding half an inch in depth. Color blue or green above, with
or without metallic gloss; with or without white rump. Entirely white
beneath. Nest usually in holes of trees or rocks; eggs pure white,
unspotted.

Of this section there are two North American species, differing as
follows, both being green above and white beneath:—


Species.

Plumage above soft and velvety without metallic gloss. Sides of
head, space around eyes, and whole under parts, white; with the
feathers all plumbeous at base. Female duller in plumage. Young
with bases of throat-feathers gray to roots.

  T. thalassina. Above velvety-green, with various shades and
  tinges of violet and purple.

Plumage above compact, and with rich green metallic gloss. Sides
of head to line with eyes like its upper part. Beneath white; the
feathers of chin and throat, and generally of crissum, white to
base. A concealed spot in jugulum. Female duller. Young with
bases of throat-feathers pure white to roots.

  T. bicolor. Above metallic-green. Inside of wings and
  axillars ash-color.


Hirundo bicolor, VIEILL.

WHITE-BELLIED SWALLOW.

  _Hirundo bicolor_, VIEILL. Ois. Am. Sept. I, 1807, 61, pl. xxxi.—AUD.
    Orn. Biog. I, pl. xcviii.—IB. Birds Am. I, pl.
    xlvi.—CASSIN.—BREWER, N. Am. Oöl. I, 1857, 100, pl. iv, fig. 47
    (eggs).—LEMBEYE, Aves de Cuba, 1850, 46, lam. vii, fig. 2.—BAIRD,
    Birds N. Am. 1858, 310.—LORD, Pr. R. A. Inst. Woolwich, IV, 1864,
    15 (Br. Columbia; nesting).—JONES, Bermudas, 34 (Sept. 22,
    1849).—COOPER & SUCKLEY, P. R. R. Rep. XII, II, 184.—DALL &
    BANNISTER, 279 (Alaska).—SAMUELS, 257.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870,
    106. _Petrochelidon bicolor_, SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1857, 201.—IB.
    1859, 364 (Xalapa).—SCLATER & SALVIN, Ibis, 1859, 13 (Guatemala).
    _Tachycineta bicolor_, CAB. Mus. Hein. 1850, 48; Jour. Orn. 1856,
    4 (Cuba).—GUNDLACH, Jour. Orn. 1861, 330 (common in Cuba).
    _Hirundo_ (_Tachycineta_) _bicolor_, BAIRD, Rev. Am. B. 1864, 296.
    _Hirundo viridis_, WILS. _Hirundo leucogaster_, STEPHENS.

SP. CHAR. Glossy metallic bluish-green above; entirely white beneath.
_Female_ duller in color. Length, 6.25 inches; wing, 5.00; tail, 2.65.

_Young bird_ dull sooty-gray above, much like that of _H. thalassina_;
but may readily be distinguished by the feathers of the throat being
pure white to their roots, instead of having the concealed bases
grayish as in that species.

HAB. Whole United States, and north to Slave Lake, south to Guatemala;
Bermuda; Cuba, common in winter. Breeds on table-lands of Mexico.

  [Illustration: _Hirundo bicolor._]

HABITS. This Swallow has quite an extended distribution. Found
throughout North America in the seasons of its migrations, or
breeding, it is only a little less restricted in its area of nesting
than the preceding species. It breeds from latitude 38° to high Arctic
regions, and is also resident throughout the year in the Plateau of
Mexico. It is abundant in winter in the West Indies, in Central
America, and in Northern South America. It is a common bird about
Boston, where it replaces the Purple Martin, and is even more abundant
in the British Provinces. Dr. Cooper also found it a very common
species in the western portions of Washington Territory, where it was
invariably found to breed in hollow trees. In California he states it
to be a more or less constant resident, a few wintering in the
southern portion of the State. He met with it both at San Diego and at
Stockton, in February. He regards them as the hardiest of the
Swallows, preferring the coast and the mountain-tops for their
residence in that State. At Santa Cruz five or six pairs in 1866 were
resident through the winter, where he saw them in January during the
coldest of the season. They roosted in the knot-holes in the houses in
which they had previously raised their young.

This Swallow, in the more thickly settled portions of the country in
which it breeds, exhibits a marked departure in many of its habits
from those observed in wilder regions. In the latter places we find it
a comparatively wild species, avoiding the society of man, and
breeding exclusively in hollow trees and stumps, and deserving the
name by which it is known in the British Provinces, of the “Wood
Swallow.” In the islands of Grand Menan, in 1851, where repeated
attempts had been made to induce these birds to build in martin-boxes,
the endeavor had been entirely unsuccessful. Yet the birds were so
abundant that hardly a hollow tree or stump, on certain of the smaller
islands, could be found, that did not contain a nest of this species.
This is still the case on the Pacific coast, though not exclusively
so. It was not until after the publication of his Ornithological
Biography that Audubon was aware of any departure from this mode of
nesting on the part of this Swallow, although it had not escaped the
notice of Wilson.

In Eastern Massachusetts these birds have undergone an entire change
of habit, breeding there exclusively in martin-boxes, and rarely, if
ever, nesting in hollow trees,—a fact perhaps attributable to the
scarcity of these opportunities along the sea-coast, where this bird
is principally found. In Western Massachusetts, Mr. Allen states them
to be not very common and the least abundant of the Swallows. Any
sheltered and accessible box, however rough it may be, will answer its
purpose, whether the more elaborate martin-house, or a mere candle-box
with an open end. Mr. Audubon has known them to drive away a Barn
Swallow from its nest, and to take possession, but this was probably
exceptional. In one case, two small houses for birds put up in the
same yard were taken possession of by a single pair of Swallows, and
nests built in each; only one, however, of these was made use of.
Whether this freak was the result of indecision or from a grasping
selfishness, it is not possible to conclude, but apparently the
former.

In the rural districts, even on the coast, these birds are not so
abundant as in the cities, as in the latter they are less annoyed by
other birds. The common Robin is often especially aggressive, seeking
to drive them off his assumed premises. In one instance the Robin has
been known to station himself on a platform in front of its nest for
hours, and persistently refuse to permit its visits. Assistance was
sought, and all the Swallows in the neighborhood came to the rescue.
They sailed with angry cries over the head of the offender, at times
darting down upon him as if to strike at him, but accomplishing
nothing. The besieger maintained his ground until the writer
intervened and drove him away, when the Swallows once more took
possession, and fed their hungry nestlings in peace.

This species breeds from about latitude 38° to the extreme northern
regions, and along the Arctic seas, wherever facilities for nesting
are found. Richardson found them breeding in hollow trees on the
Mackenzie River, in latitude 65°. Everywhere on both coasts they are
very common, but are less numerous in the interior. Mr. Dall found it
in Alaska from Fort Yukon to the sea. It was known to the Russians as
the River Swallow. It was also met with in Sitka, by Bischoff. It has
not been observed in Greenland.

During the breeding-season this species is more quarrelsome than any
of its kindred, and is often more than a match for larger birds.
Coming earlier in the season than the Purple Martin, it will often
intrude itself into its premises and maintain possession. They are
devotedly attached to their offspring, and bewail any accidents to
them or any threatened peril. The same pair will return year after
year to the same premises, and they soon become on familiar terms with
the members of a family they frequently meet, so much so as to watch,
when they have received materials for their nests, for a further
supply, and will fly close to the person from whom they receive them.
A pair which had thus, year after year, received supplies of feathers
for their nests from the younger members of the family in whose yard
their nest was built, would almost take them from the hands of their
providers. This pair sat so close as to permit themselves to be taken
from their nest, and when released would at once fly back to their
brood. They build a loose, soft, and warm nest of fine soft leaves and
hay, abundantly lined with down and feathers, with which the eggs are
not unfrequently covered. The addition of soft and warm materials is
often made during incubation, and the nest is thoroughly repaired
before it is used for a second brood, of which they usually have two
in a season.

The eggs are of a uniform pure white, and are never spotted. They have
a delicate pinkish shade before they are blown. They are of an
oblong-oval shape, one end more pointed than the other, and they vary
considerably in size. They vary in length from .75 to .875 of an inch,
and in breadth from .50 to .56.

Mr. Hepburn states that the great mass of these birds leave California
in August, but that a few are resident during the winter. The
principal accession to their numbers takes place about the end of
February, and they become quite abundant by the end of March. In
Vancouver they are a month later. In 1853 Mr. Hepburn states that a
pair constructed their nest in a piece of canvass at the end of the
yard-arm of a store-ship that lay off the levee at Sacramento. He
first noticed them on the 28th of April, when the nest had already
made some progress. By the 19th of May there were seven eggs in it
which were slightly incubated. The nest was a great mass of hay and
dried grasses, in the midst of which was a cup-shaped depression very
neatly lined with feathers, some of which bent over, forming a slight
dome.


Hirundo thalassina, SWAINS.

VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW.

  _Hirundo thalassina_, SWAINSON, Phil. Mag. I, 1827, 365 (Mexico).—
    AUD.—BREWER, N. A. Oöl. I, 1857, 102 (the fig. pl. v, fig. lxxiv
    of egg belongs to another species).—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858,
    311.—LORD, Pr. R. A. Inst. Woolwich, IV, 1864, 115 (Vancouver
    Isl.; nests in holes of trees).—COOPER & SUCKLEY, P. R. R. Rep.
    XII, II, 185 (W. T.).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 107. _Chelidon
    thalassina_, BOIE, Isis, 1844, 171. _Tachycineta thalassina_, CAB.
    Mus. Hein. 1850, 48. _Hirundo_ (_Tachycineta_) _thalassina_,
    BAIRD, Rev. Am. B. 1864, 299. _Petrochelidon thalassina_, SCLATER
    & SALVIN, Ibis, 1859, 13 (Guatemala).—IB. P. Z. S. 1864, 173 (City
    of Mex.).

SP. CHAR. Tail acutely emarginate. Beneath pure white. Above soft
velvety-green, with a very faint shade of purplish-violet concentrated
on the nape into a transverse band. Rump rather more vivid green;
tail-coverts showing a good deal of purple. Colors of female much more
obscure. Length, 4.75; wing, 4.50; tail, 2.00.

HAB. Western and Middle Provinces of United States., south to
Guatemala, east to the Upper Missouri. Breeds on Plateau of Mexico
(SUMICHRAST).

Young birds are of a dull velvety grayish-brown, not unlike the shade
of color of _Cotyle riparia_, but may be distinguished by the absence
of the tuft of feathers at base of toes, and the gray (not white)
bases of the feathers of under parts. There is only an ashy shade
across the breast, not a pectoral band.

There is much variation among individuals regarding the distribution
of the semi-metallic tints of the upper parts; generally the whole
dorsal region is overlaid by a “dusting,” as it were, of soft
brownish-purple; in specimens colored thus, the upper tail-coverts are
pure dark-green, without a tinge of purple. In other specimens, on the
contrary, the dorsal region is nearly pure green, that of the upper
tail-coverts less golden, and mixed with a very beautiful rich soft
violet.

Winter specimens from Guatemala and Mexico have the upper secondaries
very sharply and broadly bordered terminally with pure white.

HABITS. The Violet-green Swallow is a common bird, from the central
plains of North America to the Pacific coast, and is found at
different seasons from Washington Territory to South America. It has
been found as far east as Nebraska, and in abundance at Fort Bridger,
in Utah.

As observed, in Washington Territory, by Drs. Suckley and Cooper, it
is said to arrive at Puget Sound early in May, and to frequent
entirely the high prairies bordered with oak and other deciduous
trees, in the knot-holes of which, or in deserted Woodpeckers’ holes,
it breeds. Its song is described as pleasing and varied, but rather
weak. They found it to be quite abundant in the interior of Oregon and
of Washington Territory, and in its habits and mode of flight hardly
distinguishable from the _bicolor_.

In California, according to the observations of Dr. Cooper, it arrives
in Santa Clara Valley as early as March 15, where it chiefly frequents
the groves of oaks along the sides of the valleys, across the whole
Coast Range, excepting in the immediate neighborhood of the sea. Their
nest, so far as known, is always in the knot-holes of oaks, and they
have never been known to breed in the immediate vicinity of dwellings,
excepting only when their favorite trees were so situated. It is
generally in an inaccessible place, and their eggs are not often
obtained. These are pure white, resembling those of the _bicolor_ and
the _riparia_. Townsend states that he found them nesting in the
deserted nests of the _H. lunifrons_, but in this he may have been
mistaken. The eggs he gave to Mr. Audubon as those of this species
undoubtedly belonged to the _lunifrons_. They leave California for the
south in September.

Dr. Coues also found this Swallow in Arizona, where it was the most
abundant and characteristic Swallow of the pine regions of that
Territory. It is a summer resident at Fort Whipple, where it arrives
about March 20, and remains until late in September.

In the Province of Vera Cruz, Mr. Sumichrast found this Swallow
resident, not only in the hot belt of the coast, but also in the
temperate region and throughout the plateau, at almost all heights,
and was almost everywhere very common.

Mr. Salvin also states that early in March great numbers occur near
Duenas, Guatemala, where they remain for a short time. During that
time they are to be found flying over the open land to the south of
the Lake of Duenas.

Mr. Hepburn states that this Swallow has quite an extensive range
along the Pacific coast, but is restricted as to the localities it
inhabits. At the Pulgas Ranche, near San Francisco, it is even more
common than the _bicolor_, while a few miles from thence not one is to
be seen. He has also seen it on the banks of the Fresno, near its
junction with the San Joaquin River, and again in the Yosemite Valley,
without meeting with a single specimen in the intervening country.
About Victoria this was the prevailing species. These Swallows, so far
as Mr. Hepburn observed, always build in holes of trees. Their nest,
he states, is formed of a few fine dry stems of grass, placed at the
bottom of the hole, covered over with a thick mass of feathers. The
eggs, he adds, are pure white, large for the size of the bird,
measuring .81 of an inch in length by .50 in breadth. These Swallows
have two broods in a season. In 1864 he noted their arrival in San
Mateo County on the 28th of March.

Mr. Ridgway writes that he first met with the Violet-green Swallow in
May, on the islands in Pyramid Lake. He there found it very abundant
among the cliffs of calcareous tufa of which the island was composed.
They were seen to enter the fissures of the rock to their nests
within, which it was found impossible to reach. They were again seen
in July among the limestone cliffs along the cañons of the East
Humboldt Mountains, associated with the White-throated Swift, building
like them in the small horizontal crevices or fissures on the face of
the precipice. He was not able to get at more than two of their nests,
the first in a horizontal fissure just wide enough to admit the hand,
and about eight inches from the entrance. It contained five young. The
nest was similar to that of the Bank Swallow, and was composed of
sticks, straws, and feathers. In the other the female was dead on her
nest, and the eggs were broken. They were white, like those of the _H.
bicolor_.

In its flight this bird is said to greatly resemble the White-bellied
Swallow, but is distinguishable by the contrast of the three colors of
its upper plumage. These two species are rarely to be seen in the same
localities, the _bicolor_ preferring wooded, and this species rocky
localities.

Mr. Lord states that this beautiful Swallow was common from the coast
along the entire course of the boundary line, to the summit of the
Rocky Mountains. They were among the earliest visitors at Colville,
arriving in small flocks in March, but in greater numbers in May and
June. They build in June, making their nests in holes in dead trees as
high as they can get, and lay four or five eggs. The nest is made of
feathers and soft hair. They assemble in large flocks before migrating
in September. Mr. Lord felt pretty sure their nesting-holes were
excavated in the soft wood by themselves, though their soft beak seems
ill adapted to perform such labor.


GENUS STELGIDOPTERYX, BAIRD.

  _Stelgidopteryx_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 312. (Type, _Hirundo
    serripennis_, AUD.)

  [Line drawing: _Cotyle serripennis._
                  32269]

GEN. CHAR. Bill rather small; nostrils oval, superior, margined
behind, but scarcely laterally by membrane, but not at all overhung;
the axes of the outline converging. Frontal feathers soft, and, like
chin, without bristles. Tarsi equal to middle toe without claw; the
upper end covered with feathers all round, none at lower end. Basal
joint of middle toe adherent externally nearly to end; internally,
scarcely half. Lateral toes about equal, their claws not reaching
beyond base of middle claw. Tail slightly emarginate; the feathers
broad, and obliquely rounded at end. Edge of the wing rough to the
touch; the shafts of the fibrillæ of outer web of outer primary
prolonged and bent at right angles into a short stiff hook. Nest (of
_S. serripennis_) in holes in banks; eggs pure white, unspotted.

Color dull brown above.

The great peculiarity of this genus consists in the remarkable
roughness of the edge of the wing, said to occur also in
_Psalidoprocne_, CAB. The object is uncertain, but is probably to
enable the bird to secure a foothold on vertical or inclined rocks,
among or on which it makes its nest. A favorite breeding-place of _S.
serripennis_ is in the piers and abutments of bridges, and these hooks
might render essential aid in entering into their holes.

The birds of this genus have usually been referred to _Cotyle_, which,
however, they resemble only in color. The nostrils are exposed,
instead of being overhung; the tarsus is bare below, not feathered,
and the lateral claws are considerably curved, and not reaching beyond
the base of the lateral, as in _Cotyle_. The structure of the wing is
very different.

There are at least five species or races of this genus in America,
although only one belongs with certainty to the United States. A
second, however, (_S. fulvipennis_), Mexican and Guatemalan, is not
unlikely to occur in Arizona or New Mexico. This differs in having the
chin and throat reddish-fulvous, not mouse-gray; the belly tinged with
yellow.


Stelgidopteryx serripennis, BAIRD.

ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW.

  _Hirundo serripennis_, AUD. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 593.—IB. Birds Am.
    I, 1840, 193, pl. li. _Cotyle s._ BON. Consp. 1850,
    342.—CASSIN.—BREWER, N. Am. Oöl. I, 1857, 106, pl. iv, fig. 50
    (eggs):—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 313.—LORD, Pr. R. A. Inst. IV,
    1864, 116 (Br. Columbia).—COOPER & SUCKLEY, P. R. R. Rep. XII, II,
    186 (W. Terr.).—HEERMANN, P. R. R. X; Williamson’s Rep. 36 (San
    Antonio, Tex.; breeding).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 110.
    _Stelgidopteryx s._ BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 312; Rev. 314.

SP. CHAR. (No. 32,269 ♂.) Above smoky-brown, rather deeper on the
head, perhaps a little paler on the rump. Larger quills and
tail-feathers dusky-brown; the secondaries and greater coverts
sometimes lighter along their external edges. The under parts (for
about half the total length) from bill to and including breast, with
the sides of body and lining of wings, mouse-gray, rather lighter
along the throat; the rest of under parts, including crissum, white,
the latter with the shafts sometimes dusky, and very rarely with dusky
blotches at the ends of the longer feathers.

Young birds (as in 1,120) differ in a tinge of reddish-fulvous on the
upper parts; the wing-coverts, secondaries, and inner primaries
margined more or less broadly with a brighter shade of the same. The
gray of the under parts is also washed with this color, especially on
the chin and across the breast. The hooks of the edge of the wing have
not yet become developed.

(No. 32,269 ♂, fresh specimen before being skinned.) Total length,
5.40; expanse of wings, 12.20; wing from carpal joint, 4.50.

(No. 32,269 ♂, prepared specimen.) Total length, 5.20; wing, 4.50;
tail, 2.25, depth of fork, .15; difference of primaries, 2.28; length
of bill from forehead, .40, from nostril, .24, along gape, .56, width
of gape, .43; tarsus, .45; middle toe and claw, .57; claw alone, .19;
hind toe and claw, .41; claw alone, .16.

HAB. Whole United States (exclusive of Northeastern States?) south to
Central Mexico.

HABITS. The Rough-winged Swallow was first met with by Audubon, in
Louisiana, but described by him from specimens afterwards procured
near Charleston, S. C. He knew nothing in regard to its habits, and
its distribution was equally unknown to him. It has since been found,
but nowhere very abundantly, in various parts of the United States. It
has not been met with on the Atlantic coast farther to the north than
New Jersey and Pennsylvania. On the Pacific coast it is more common.
Dr. Suckley speaks of it as quite abundant both in Oregon and in
Washington Territory. Dr. Cooper, in his Zoölogy of Washington
Territory, speaks of it as common about the sandy cliffs of the bays
and inlets of that coast, arriving near the Columbia in May, and
remaining only until the middle of August, when all these Swallows go
southwards, though their last brood is hardly able to fly. He says
that they burrow holes in the soft sandy banks near the tops of
cliffs, and have generally the same habits as the common Bank Swallow.
They have no song, only a few chirping calls.

Dr. Cooper, in his Report on the birds of California, further states
that this Swallow, in summer, is found throughout the lower portions
of that State. He saw them at Fort Mojave as early as the 27th of
February, and as he has met with them at San Diego in November, and
also in January, he thinks they may winter within the State. He
describes their burrows in the sandy banks of rivers as being to the
depth of three feet, crowded very near together, and near the upper
edge of the bank, in no wise different from the nesting of the common
_C. riparia_. The nests are composed chiefly of dry grasses, with a
few feathers, and contain five white eggs. Occasionally, however, they
resort to natural clefts in the bank or in buildings, and to knotholes
in trees. In the fall they congregate in great numbers about certain
favorite spots, and keep much together in flocks. At night they roost
in their burrows. In Arizona, according to Dr. Coues, they are summer
residents, breeding abundantly, arriving late in April and remaining
until nearly the last of September.

At Eagle Pass, Mr. Dresser met these birds, arriving from the South,
on the 21st of February. There, and also at San Antonio, they were
very common, breeding in the towns, making their nests under the eaves
and in holes in the old walls, depositing their eggs by the 25th of
April. Dr. Kennerly also found this Swallow very abundant along the
Colorado River in February. Its flight seemed to him to be like that
of the common Barn Swallow. Dr. Heermann frequently met with this
species during the journey from the junction of the Gila and Colorado
Rivers through Mexico, New Mexico, and Texas, to San Antonio. In the
latter place he found them breeding almost entirely in crevices in the
walls of houses.

In the vicinity of Washington, Dr. Coues found this Swallow a summer
resident, but rather rare, arriving in the third week of April, and
leaving about the middle of September.

Mr. Ridgway speaks of this bird as one of the most abundant Swallows
of the West, inhabiting the river valleys, and breeding in holes in
the banks of the rivers. He says that in Southern Illinois it is much
more abundant than the _C. riparia_, though both nest in the same
banks.

This species was first found breeding in Carlisle, Penn., by Professor
Baird, in the summer of 1843. The following year I visited this
locality early in June, and had an opportunity to study its habits
during its breeding-season. We found the bird rather common, and
examined a number of their nests. None that we met with were in places
that had been excavated by the birds, although the previous season
several had been found that had apparently been excavated in banks in
the same manner with the Bank Swallow. All the nests (seven in number)
that we then met with were in situations accidentally adapted to their
need, and all were directly over running water. Some were constructed
in crevices between the stones in the walls and arches of bridges. In
several instances the nests were but little above the surface of the
stream. In one, the first laying had been flooded, and the eggs
chilled. The birds had constructed another nest above the first one,
in which were six fresh eggs, as many as in the other. One nest had
been built between the stones of the wall that formed one of the sides
of the flume of a mill. Two feet above it was a frequented footpath,
and, at the same distance below, the water of the mill-stream. Another
nest was between the boards of a small building in which revolved a
water-wheel. The entrance to it was through a knot-hole in the outer
partition, and the nest rested on a small rafter between the outer and
the inner boardings.

The nests were similar in their construction to those of the Bank
Swallow, composed of dry grasses, straws, and leaves, and lined with a
few feathers; but a much greater amount of material was made use of,
owing, perhaps, to the exposed positions in which they were built.

The eggs, six in number, in every instance that we noticed, were pure
white, about the size of those of the _riparia_, but a little more
uniformly oblong in shape and pointed at one end. Their length varies
from .78 to .69 of an inch, the average being .75. Their average
breadth is .53 of an inch.


GENUS COTYLE, BOIE.

  _Cotyle_, BOIE, Isis, 1822, 550. (Type, _Hirundo riparia_, L.)

GEN. CHAR. Bill small; nostrils lateral, overhung by a straight-edged
membrane. Tarsus about equal to middle toe without claw; feathered at
upper end, especially on inner face, and having also a small tuft of
feathers attached to posterior edge near the hind toe. Middle toe with
basal joint adherent externally to near the end, half-way internally,
the claws comparatively little curved, the lateral reaching beyond the
base of the middle. Tail slightly forked. Color dull lustreless brown
above, in _riparia_ white beneath with gray pectoral band. Nests in
holes in banks; eggs white.

  [Line drawing: _Cotyle riparia._
                  20641]

Many American birds have been referred to _Cotyle_, but the only one
really belonging to the genus is the cosmopolitan _C. riparia_. The
peculiarity of the genus consists essentially in the tuft of tarsal
feathers at the base of the hind toe, and the unusual length of the
lateral claws, combined with the lateral nostrils overhung by
membrane. By these characters the genus is very easily distinguished
from _Stelgidopteryx_.


Cotyle riparia, BOIE.

BANK SWALLOW; SAND MARTIN.

  _Hirundo riparia_, LINN. S. N. I, 1766, 344.—WILS.; AUD.—LEMBEYE,
    Aves de Cuba, 1850, 47, lam. vii, fig. 3.—JONES, Nat. Hist.
    Bermuda, 34 (occasional, Aug. and Sept.). _Cotyle riparia_, BOIE,
    Isis, 1822, 550.—CASSIN.—BREWER, N. A. Oöl. I, 1857, 105, pl. iv,
    fig. 49 (eggs).—CAB. Jour. 1856, 4 (Cuba).—BAIRD, Birds N. Am.
    1858, 313; Rev. 1864, 319.—IB. 1861, 93 (Costa Rica
    [?]).—GUNDLACH, Cab. Jour. 1861, 330 (very rare in Cuba).—MARCH,
    Pr. A. N. Sc. 1863, 297 (Jamaica; very rare). HEERMANN, P. R. R.
    X, 36 (California; abundant?).—DALL & BANNISTER, 280
    (Alaska).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 110.—SAMUELS, 258. _Hirundo
    cinerea_, VIEILL. _Hirundo riparia americana_, MAX.

SP. CHAR. _Adult._ Above grayish-brown, somewhat fuliginous, with a
tendency to paler margins of the feathers. Beneath pure white, with a
band across the breast and the sides of the body like the back.
Length, 4.75; wing, 4.00; tail, 2.00.

Young birds have less emarginate tails, and the feathers of back,
rump, and wings edged with whitish.

HAB. The whole of North America; Bermudas; Greater Antilles; Costa
Rica; Western Brazil (PELZ.). Also found in the northern parts of the
Old World.

A critical examination has failed to reveal any difference between
European and American specimens of this bird.

  [Illustration: _Cotyle riparia._]

HABITS. The common Bank Swallow as we know it, or Sand Martin as it is
called in England, is nearly or quite cosmopolitan in its
distribution. Found throughout Europe in the season of reproduction,
and in portions of Africa in the winter months, it is equally common
throughout North America in the summer, and probably winters in Mexico
and in Central and South America, though it is not mentioned by
Sumichrast as a bird of Vera Cruz. It is said to occur in various
parts of the continent of Africa, and in Europe it extends its
migrations to the extreme northern regions. It has also been met with
in India and in Siberia. Mr. Salvin obtained several specimens at
Duenas, Guatemala, in September, 1861, having previously observed it
about the Lake of Yzabah.

On both continents it is somewhat local in its distribution, in
favorable localities being quite abundant, and in others not known to
exist. It is an early spring visitant wherever found, appearing in
England by the 24th of March, and even in our high Arctic regions
early in May, often in such inclement weather that it is obliged to
take refuge in holes. Mr. Dall met with this species in Alaska, in
favorable situations, in immense numbers. He counted on the face of
one sand-bluff over seven hundred nest-holes made by these birds, and
all of them apparently occupied, so that the bluff presented the
appearance of an immense honeycomb alive with bees. He states that it
takes the bird four days to excavate its nest. Rev. F. O. Morris, on
the other hand, who has closely watched their operations in England,
says that it requires a fortnight, and that the weight of sand a pair
of these birds removes is twenty ounces in a day. Pebbles of more than
two ounces in weight have been known to be taken out by them.

The flight of this species is rapid, but unsteady and flickering. In
searching for their food they skim low over the surface of both land
and water, dropping upon the latter, as they fly, to drink or to
bathe. Their food consists of the smaller kinds of winged insects,
which they pursue and capture, dashing at them at times even on the
water. They usually feed their young with larger kinds than they eat
themselves.

It has not been observed in Greenland, but Richardson found it in
colonies of thousands at the mouth of Mackenzie’s River, in the 68th
parallel. It is a very social bird, usually breeding together in large
communities, and is more independent of man than most of its family,
owing him no other favors than those incident to excavations through
sand-banks, of which it avails itself. The nests of these Swallows are
placed in excavations made by them in the banks of rivers, cliffs by
the sea-shore, and similar favorable situations. These are usually as
near the surface of the ground as the nature of the soil permits to be
readily penetrated, though the bird has been known to work its way
even through hard gravel. Their depth varies from fourteen inches to
four feet, though two feet is the usual distance.

Mr. Augustus Fowler mentions a remarkable instance of sagacity and
provident forethought in these birds, not easily separable from
reason. In the town of Beverly, in a stratum of sandy loam, he
observed each season a colony of some twenty or thirty pairs of these
birds. In this place these birds never burrowed more than two or three
feet. Within a mile of this place another colony excavated a bank in
which the layer of loam was mixed with small stones. In this bank they
excavated to the depth of five, seven, and even nine feet. Why was
there this extraordinary difference in the length of burrows made by
the same species, in situations not more than a mile apart? The reason
for this difference, upon examination, became very obvious. We give
the explanation in Mr. Fowler’s own words: “In one bank, where the
earth was of a fine sandy loam, easily perforated, from the entrance
to the extremity the burrows did not exceed three feet in length;
while in the other bank, with harder loam to work in, one burrow was
found nine feet in length. After examining six holes of nearly equal
length, it appeared that these little birds had sufficient reason for
extending their labors so far into the earth. In every instance, where
they met with a spot free from stones they finished their burrows;
thus showing great care for the welfare of their eggs or young by
avoiding, in the stony soil, a catastrophe so great as would befall
their treasures if by accident one of these stones should fall upon
them.”

The work of perforation they perform with their closed bill, swaying
the body round on the feet, beginning at the centre and working
outwards. This long and often winding gallery gradually expands into a
small spherical apartment, on the floor of which they form a rude nest
of straw and feathers. The time occupied in making these excavations
varies greatly with the nature of the soil, from four or five days to
twice that number.

Their eggs are five in number, pure white, and when unblown have a
fine roseate hue. They are oval in shape, larger at one end, and
pointed at the smaller. Their average length is .72 of an inch, and
their average breadth .47.

       *     *     *     *     *

We now come to the consideration of three families of Oscine birds, of
pre-eminently dentirostral type, having certain common characters by
which they are distinguishable, with but little difficulty, from all
others. In their close relationship it has been questioned by many
whether they do not all belong under one head, but they are more
generally considered distinct. The common characters, and those
peculiar to each, are as follows:—

COMMON CHARACTERS. Bill stout, and considerably hooked at tip, or with
the point bent abruptly downward; with a deep notch, and sometimes a
tooth or lobe just behind the notch; the tip of the lower mandible
likewise frequently bent up, and with a notch behind it. The nostrils
lateral, the bristles of the mouth generally well developed. The
primaries are ten (except in a few _Vireos_), the outer from one
fourth to one half the second. Tail variable. Tarsi scutellate
anteriorly; sometimes with a tendency to division on the lateral
plates; hitherto not met with. Basal joints of toes more adherent.
Separated from _Turdidæ_ by greater adhesion of toes; from
_Troglodytidæ_ by notched and hooked bill, etc.

A. Basal phalanx of anterior toes abbreviated; that of median toe
decidedly shorter than the basal of inner, or the two basal of outer,
and adherent for its whole length on both sides to the lateral (i. e.
not free at all). Lateral plates of tarsus undivided, except at
extreme lower end.

  Vireonidæ. Gonys more than half the length of lower jaw (from tip
  to angle of mouth), usually longer than width of mouth, which is
  narrow. Bill conical, much compressed, decurved at end and notched,
  but scarcely toothed. Frontal feathers bristly and erect, or bent
  but slightly forward. Nostrils overhung by membrane. Tarsus longer
  than middle toe and claw. Lateral toes generally unequal; outer claw
  reaching half-way along middle claw.

B. Basal phalanx of middle toe about as long as the basal of inner,
or the two basal of outer; free externally, at least for about one
third its length, internally for about one half. Lateral plates of
tarsus with decided tendency to subdivision (except in _Myiadestinæ_).

  Ampelidæ. Gonys decidedly less than half the length of lower jaw,
  or than width of mouth, which is very broad and deeply cleft. Bill
  triangular, much depressed, decurved at end and notched, with
  moderate though decided tooth. Frontal feathers rather soft,
  scarcely bristly or erect. Nostrils overhung by membrane. Tarsus
  equal to or shorter than middle toe and claw. Lateral toes nearly
  equal; outer claw reaching only to base of middle claw.

  Laniidæ. Gonys about half the length of lower jaw; about equal to
  width of mouth. Bill very powerful and raptorial, much compressed,
  with a strongly marked hook, notch, and tooth at end. Frontal
  feathers very bristly, and directed forwards, so as to conceal
  nostrils and base of bill. Nostrils with bony walls, except behind.
  Tarsus longer than middle toe and claw, sometimes much scutellate on
  sides. Lateral claws nearly equal; outer claw reaching a little
  beyond base of middle claw.




FAMILY VIREONIDÆ.—THE VIREOS.


The essential features of this family appear to consist in the
combination of the dentirostral bill, notched in both mandibles; the
ten primaries (except _Vireosylvia_), of which the outer is usually
from one fourth to one half the second; the rather short, nearly even
tail, with narrow feathers, and the great amount of adhesion of the
anterior toes,—the whole basal joint of the middle being generally
united on both sides to the adjacent joints, and decidedly shorter
than the basal of inner or two basal of outer. The outer lateral toe
is generally appreciably longer than the inner, reaching considerably
beyond the base of the middle claw. The tarsi are always distinctly
scutellate anteriorly. The young are never spotted, or streaked as in
the Thrushes; nor, indeed, do the adults exhibit such markings.

The _Vireonidæ_ are peculiar to the New World, and are widely
distributed, although but one genus belongs to the United States.


GENUS VIREO, VIEILL.

  _Vireo_, VIEILL. Ois. Am. Sept. I, 1807, 83. (Type, _Muscicapa
    noveboracensis_, GM.)

No great violence will be done by considering all the American Vireos
as belonging to one genus, divisible into three subgenera, as, however
different the extremes of the series may be from each other, the
gradation is quite complete.

The North American species take a wide range during their southern
winter migration, only paralleled in this respect by the
_Sylvicolidæ_; they do not visit the West Indies, save as very rare
stragglers to Cuba (_V. olivaceus_, _solitarius_, _flavifrons_, and
_noveboracensis_). They all have a melodious song, and, so far as
known, make a deep nest, suspended by its upper edge between the forks
of a horizontal twig. The eggs are white, generally with a few reddish
or brown blotches.

Quite a number are characterized by having the eyes white, red, or
yellow.


Subgenera.

Vireosylvia. Bill compressed, narrow; culmen and commissure
straight, the tip abruptly curved (or, if this is not the case,
there is no trace of light bands on the wing; see section “_b_”).
Superciliary stripe continued back to the occiput. No trace of
light bands on the wing. No conspicuous ring round the eye.

  _a._ No spurious primary. Bill compressed, its tip abruptly
  hooked; culmen and commissure straight. Crown decidedly more
  ashy than the back …
     Sp. _flavoviridis_, _barbatulus_, _olivaceus_, _philadelphicus_.

  _b._ An acute spurious primary. Bill depressed, the tip only
  slightly hooked; culmen slightly curved. Crown scarcely more
  ashy than back …                                      Sp. _gilvus_.

Lanivireo. Bill compressed, stout; culmen arched from the base,
commissure curved. Superciliary stripe stopping at posterior
angle of the eye and curving under it, enclosing the eye in a
conspicuous orbital ring, interrupted only in front. Two
conspicuous white bands on the wing.

  _a._ No spurious primary …                        Sp. _flavifrons_.

  _b._ With an acute spurious primary … Sp. _solitarius_, _plumbeus_.

Vireo. Bill stout, scarcely compressed, sub-cylindrical. First
primary not spurious, or, if so, not acute.

  _a._ Two conspicuous light bands on wing …
                     Sp. _atricapillus_, _noveboracensis_, _huttoni_.

  _b._ One distinct light band on wing, and this not sharply
  defined, the anterior one being almost obsolete …
                                 Sp. _belli_, _pusillus_, _vicinior_.


SUBGENUS VIREOSYLVIA, BON.

  _Vireosylvia_, BON. Geog. Comp. List, 1838. (Type, _Muscicapa
    olivacea_, LIN.)
  _Phyllomanes_, CAB. Arch. 1847, I, 321. (No type mentioned; name
    proposed as substitute for _Vireosylvia_.)

  [Line drawing: _Vireo olivaceus._
                  40089]

GEN. CHAR. Wings long and pointed, one third or one fourth longer than
the nearly even or slightly rounded tail. First quill very small (less
than one third the second), sometimes apparently wanting. Second quill
longer than the seventh, much longer than the secondaries. Tarsi short
(scarcely exceeding .70 of an inch); toes rather long. Body slender
and elongated. Bill slender, narrow, straight; the culmen straight for
its basal half, the commissure quite straight; light horn-color, paler
beneath. Feet weak. Type, _V. olivaceus_.


Species and Varieties.

COMMON CHARACTERS. All species olive above, white or yellowish
beneath. An ashy or brownish cap, contrasting more or less
abruptly with the olive back. A whitish superciliary stripe
extending to the nape, and a dusky one to and behind the eye. No
light bands on the coverts. Inside of wings (flanks sometimes)
and crissum yellowish, otherwise usually white beneath.

  No spurious primary …                                  _Series I_.
  A spurious primary …                                   _Series II_.

_Series I._ (_No spurious primary._)

A. A dusky “mustache” or cheek stripe along each side of the
throat.

  1. V. calidris. Eyes red?

    _a._ No distinct dusky line along side of the crown.

      Light stripes of the head dingy brownish-buff; crown scarcely
      ashy; back olive-brown; crissum and lining of the wing pure
      pale yellow. Wing, 3.20; tail, 2.25; bill, .42. _Hab._
      Jamaica; Santo Domingo, Porto Rico, Santa Cruz, St. Thomas,
      and Sombrero …                             var. _calidris_.[70]

      Light stripes of the head dingy grayish-white; crown
      distinctly ashy; back grayish-olive; crissum and lining of
      the wing scarcely yellow. Wing, 3.20; tail, 2.35; bill,
      .42. _Hab._ Cuba, Bahamas, and South Florida …
                                                   var. _barbatulus_.

    _b._ A distinct dusky line along each side of crown.

      Colors as in _barbatula_, but “mustache” broader and more
      conspicuous, and crown much purer ash. Wing, 3.30; tail,
      2.50; bill, .48. _Hab._ Barbadoes …      var. _barbadense_.[71]

B. No “mustache.”

  _a._ A dusky line along each side of crown.

    2. V. olivaceus. Grayish olive-green above; beneath white,
    tinged laterally with dull olive; crissum and lining of wing
    scarcely yellow; inner edges of quills white. Eyes red.

      1. Wing, 3.30; tail, 2.40; bill, .38. _Hab._ Eastern
      Province of North America, south to Northern South America …
                                                    var. _olivaceus_.

      2. Wing, 2.50; tail, 1.80; bill, .33. _Hab._ Eastern South
      America …                                     var. _chivi_.[72]

   3. V. flavoviridis. Yellowish olive-green above; beneath
   white medially, bright greenish olive-yellow laterally;
   crissum, lining of wings, and inner edges of quills, light
   yellow. Eyes yellow.

      1. Wing, 3.15; tail, 2.55; bill, .41. _Hab._ Middle America
      north of Panama …                          var. _flavoviridis_.

      2. Wing, 2.80; tail, 2.25; bill, .36. _Hab._ South America,
      from Buenos Ayres northward; Guatemala …     var. _agilis_.[73]

  _b._ No dusky line on side of crown.

    4. V. magister.[74] Large. Above sooty-olive, more
    virescent posteriorly; crown without ashy tinge. Beneath
    similar, but lighter, whitish medially. Crissum and lining of
    wing very faintly yellow; inner edges of quills white. Eyes?
    Wing, 3.05; tail, 2.40; bill, .45. _Hab._ Honduras (Belize).

    5. V. philadelphicus. Small. Above grayish-green; crown
    ashy. Beneath light yellow, deepest on the jugulum, whitish
    on belly. Eyes? Wing, 2.70; tail, 1.95; bill, .27. _Hab._
    Eastern Province of North America; in winter south to Costa
    Rica.

_Series II._ (_A spurious primary._)

C. No dusky line along side of crown. No “mustache.”

    6. V. gilva. Eyes hazel (in all?).

  _a._ Crown nearly like the back.

      Above olive-gray, rump more virescent; crown more ashy.
      Beneath dingy whitish, with a strong tinge of dingy buff
      from bill along sides and across breast. Bill, .14 deep,
      .30 long; wing, 2.85; tail, 2.05. _Hab._ Eastern Province
      of United States …                               var. _gilvus_.

      Similar, but above more grayish, and beneath with the buff
      tinge almost absent. Bill, .11 deep, and .22 long; wing,
      2.80; tail, 2.15. _Hab._ Western Province of United States …
                                                    var. _swainsoni_.

  _b._ Crown very different from the back (dark brown).

      Above olive-brown; rump more virescent; crown dark
      snuff-brown. Beneath uniform light yellow, throat whitish.
      Bill, .15 deep, .30 long; wing, 2.60; tail, 2.10. _Hab._
      Middle America, from Ecuador to Honduras …  var. _josephæ_.[75]


Vireosylvia calidris, var. barbatulus, BAIRD.

FLORIDA GREENLET.

  _Phyllomanes barbatulus_, CAB. Jour. III, 1855, 467 (Cuba).—GUNDLACH,
    Cab. Jour. 1861, 324 (Cuba).—IB. Repertorio, Cuba, 1865.
    _Vireosylvia barbatula_, BAIRD, Rev. Am. B. 1864, 331. _Vireo
    altiloquus_, GAMBEL, Pr. A. N. Sc. 1848, 127 (Florida).—BAIRD,
    Birds N. Am. 1858, 354 (Florida). _Vireosylvia altiloqua_, CASSIN,
    Pr. A. N. Sc. 1851, 152.—IB. Illust. 1854, 8, and 221, pl. xxxvii
    (Florida).—BRYANT, Pr. Bost. Soc. V, 1859, 113
    (Bahamas).—LAWRENCE, Ann. N. Y. Lyc. 1860 (Cuba).

SP. CHAR. (No. 25,958 ♂, Cuba.) Proportion of quills as in var.
_calidris_, 2 = 3, 4, 1, 5, but the tips of the quills closer
together, and the first quill about half or a little less than half
the distance between fifth and fourth; the quills narrower.

  [Line drawing: _Vireosylvia barbatulus._
                  25958]

Colors similar to those of var. _calidris_, but of a purer and paler
olive above; the back tinged with ash; the cap purer ash, and better
defined, without olivaceous wash, its dusky edge more distinct. The
superciliary stripe whitish or grayish, with the cheeks paler, and
both, as well as the chin, without the buff tinge. Under parts nearly
pure white, very faintly tinged across the breast with ashy; the sides
olivaceous; the crissum and axillars pale sulphur-yellow. Total
length, 5.50; wing, 3.15; tail, 2.50; difference of first and second
quills, .18; of fifth and second, .22; length of bill from forehead,
.82, from nostril, .46, along gape, .89; tarsus, .72; middle toe and
claw, .60; claw alone, .21; hind toe and claw, .50; claw alone, .23.

HAB. Cuba; the Bahamas; and Charlotte Harbor, Florida. (Western
Coast.)

  [Illustration: PLATE XVII.

   1. Vireosylvia barbatula, _Caban._ ♂ Fla., 24282.
   2.     “       olivacea, _Linn._ ♂ Pa., 1440.
   3.     “       gilvus, _Vieill._ ♂ Pa., 988.
   4.     “       philadelphica, _Cass._
   5. Lanivireo flavifrons, _Vieill._ ♂ Pa., 2217.
   6. Vireo atricapillus, _Woodh._ ♂ Tex., 6818
   7.   “   vicinior, _Coues_. ♂ Ariz., 40697.
   8. Lanivireo solitaria, _Wils._ ♂ D. C., 37497.
   9.    “      cassini, _Xantus_. ♂.
  10.    “      plumbea, _Coues_. ♂ Ariz., 37011.
  11. Vireo noveboracensis, _Gm._ ♂ D. C., 29248.
  12.   “   huttoni, _Cass._ ♂ Cal., 3725.
  13.   “   belli, _Aud._ ♂ Neb., 1296.
  14.   “   pusillus, _Coues_. ♂ Cape St. Lucas, 16354.]

This _Vireo_ has been taken several times at Charlotte Harbor, in
Florida, and is thus entitled to a place in our fauna. Its distinction
from a closely allied race in Jamaica, Hayti, etc., var. _calidris_,
is shown on page 359.

A specimen belonging to Mr. Salvin (“No. 187”), from “Isthmus of
Panama,” we cannot distinguish satisfactorily from typical examples of
the present race, with which it is to be compared, and not with
_calidris_. The colors are quite identical with those of _barbatulus_.
In size it is slightly larger, the wing measuring 3.25 instead of
3.15; the tail 2.50, instead of 2.35 (from exposed base of feathers);
the bill is thicker, being .20 instead of .18 deep; the third quill is
longest, the second intermediate between it and the fourth; the first
intermediate between the fourth and fifth. In _barbatulus_ the second
is longest, the third and fourth successively a little shorter. It is
not improbable that other specimens from that locality may show
greater differences, as the specimen under examination is in rather
worn plumage, and has the tip of the bill broken off.

HABITS. This species only claims a place in our avifauna on the ground
of its presence in Florida. How abundant it is there is not
determined, further than it has been observed within a restricted
locality by Dr. Heermann. This was at Charlotte Harbor, on the
southwestern coast. They appeared to be visitors only, from a more
southern clime. They reached Florida in their northern migrations,
remaining only for a short season, but evidently staying long enough
to breed. Dr. Heermann states that this species resembles, in manners
and in appearance, the common Red-eyed Vireo of the more northern
States. He describes its song as clear and musical, and very
distinctly uttered. It was constantly on the search for insects, and
appeared even more active than any of the northern species, darting
among the foliage, peering into crevices and cobwebs, suspended from
branches with its back downward, and occasionally chasing a flying
insect in the manner of a true Flycatcher. These movements were
usually accompanied by a song. This species was not abundant, though
Dr. Heermann saw it frequently, and obtained several specimens.

Dr. Bryant found this species very abundant at the Bahamas, arriving
there about the first of May. All the specimens he obtained were
males, the females not arriving there until after the 13th of May. The
notes of these birds, he states, vary, though the most common one
resembles _whīp tom kĕllȳ pheūū_, pronouncing the first word
distinctly.

This bird,[76] in Brown’s History of Jamaica, is called
“Whip-tom-kelly,” from the supposed resemblance of its notes to these
articulate sounds, and this popular appellation has been given it by
various other writers. Mr. Gosse, however, in his Birds of Jamaica,
calls this bird “John-to-whit,” and can find no resemblance in its
notes to the words referred to. He describes its song as uttered with
incessant iteration and untiring energy, and as resembling
_Sweet-John! John to whit! sweet John to whit!_ After July the notes
change to _to-whit-to-whoo_, and sometimes to a soft, simple chirp,
whispered so gently as scarcely to be audible. The name of
Whip-tom-kelly Mr. Gosse never heard applied to it in Jamaica. Yet it
is a bird often heard, and one whose notes have a similarity to
articulate sounds, and naturally suggest a common appellation. It is
very vociferous and pertinacious in its calls, repeating them with
energy every two or three seconds.

This species, he states, does not ordinarily sit on a prominent twig,
or dart out after insects, though it has been seen in eager pursuit of
a butterfly. It seems to live in the centre of thick woods. It does
not pass the winter in Jamaica, but leaves at the beginning of
October, returning as early as the 20th of March. Its food he states
to be both animal and vegetable, as he found in its stomach the seeds
of the tropical plants and berries. In April, Mr. Gosse observed it
hunting insects by the borders of the Bluefields River, and so intent
upon its occupation as to allow of a very near approach. It sought
insects among the grass and low herbage, perching on the stalks of
weeds, and darting out after both vagrant and stationary prey. They
incubate in June and July.

Like all this genus the Long-billed Vireo builds a pensile nest of
great architectural ingenuity and beauty. It is a deep cup, usually
about two thirds of a sphere in shape, truncated at the top. The
materials of which it is made are often somewhat coarse. Mr. Gosse
describes it as about as large as an ordinary teacup, narrowed at the
mouth, composed of dry grasses, silk, cotton, lichens, and
spiders’-web. It is usually suspended from the fork of two twigs, the
margin very neatly overwoven to embrace them. The materials are well
interwoven, and the walls firm and close, though not very thick. The
whole is smoothly lined with slender vegetable fibres resembling human
hair. One nest had its cavity nearly filled with a mass of white
cotton, interwoven with the other materials, which, being picked
cotton, had evidently been taken from some yard or building.

The eggs of this species are three in number, of a brilliant white,
delicately tinted with pink, and marked with a few fine red and
red-brown spots, usually about the larger end.

An egg of the variety from Cuba is of an oblong-oval shape, slightly
pointed at one end, and the markings of faint purple and of dark
purplish-brown, in bold dashes, are all about the larger end. Another
from the same locality is more distinctly rounded at one and pointed
at the other end, and is marked with fine brown dots distributed over
the whole egg. These eggs measure, one .825 by .55 of an inch, and the
other .78 by .55. An egg from Jamaica is of an extremely oblong-oval,
measuring .88 by .55 of an inch, and is boldly marked more or less
over the entire egg with large blotches of purplish-brown.

The Messrs. Newton describe the nest of the _calidris_ of St. Croix as
a beautiful structure, shaped like an inverted cone, composed
outwardly of dried blades of grass, dried leaves, and wool, woven
round the twigs, to which it was attached with spiders’-webs, lined
inside with finer blades of grass, and about three inches and a half
in diameter, and five in height. The eggs, three in number, were
white, with a few black spots, chiefly disposed about the larger end.


Vireosylvia olivaceus, BONAP.

RED-EYED GREENLET.

  _Muscicapa olivacea_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 327 (based on
    EDWARDS, tab. 253, and CATESBY, pl. liv).—WILS. _Lanius
    olivaceus_, LICHT. Verz. 1823, 49 (N. Amer.). _Vireo olivaceus_,
    VIEILL.; BON.; SWAINS. II.—AUD.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858,
    331.—SAMUELS, Birds N. Eng. 270. _Vireosylvia oliv._ BON. Geog.
    Comp. List, 1838.—IB. Consp. 1850, 329.—REINHARDT, Vid. Med. f.
    1853, 1854, 82 (Greenland).—IB. Ibis, III, 7.—SCLATER, P. Z. S.
    1855, 151 (Bogota); 1859, 137, 363 (Xalapa).—A. & E. NEWTON, Ibis,
    1859, 145.—SCLATER & SALVIN, Ibis, 1859, 12 (Guatemala).—LAWRENCE,
    Ann. N. Y. Lyc. VII, 1860, 246 (Cuba).—? Ibis, 1864, 394 (Derby,
    Engl. May, 1859).—BAIRD, Rev. Am. B. 1864, 333. _Phyllomanes
    oliv._ CAB. Mus. Hein. 1850-51, 63.—IB. Jour. 1860, 404 (Costa
    Rica).—GUNDL. Cab. Jour. 1861, 324 (Cuba; very rare). _? Vireo
    virescens_, VIEILL. Ois. Am. Sept. I, 1807, 84, pl. liii
    (Penna.).—? GRAY, Genera, I, 267, pl. lxv. _Vireo bogotensis_,
    BRYANT, Pr. Bost. Soc. VII, 1860, 227 (Bogota).—LAWRENCE, Ann. N.
    Y. Lyc. 1863 (Birds Panama, IV, No. 378).

  [Line drawing: _Vireo olivaceus._
                  40089]

SP. CHAR. (No. 1,418 ♂, Carlisle, Penn., May, 1844.) Upper parts
olive-green. Top of head, from bill to nape, ash-color. A white line
from nostrils above and beyond the eye, bordered above by a dusky line
forming the edge of the ashy cap, and below by a similar, perhaps
paler, loral and post-ocular cheek-stripe. Beneath, including tibiæ,
white, with perhaps a tinge of olivaceous-ash across the breast; the
sides of the neck like the back; sides of the body with a faint wash
of olive. Axillars and crissum faintly tinged with sulphur-yellow;
lining of wings and its edge, the latter especially, nearly white.
Quills blackish-brown, edged externally, except at ends of primaries,
with olive, internally with white. Tail-feathers lighter brown, edged
externally like the back, internally with pale olivaceous-white. Bill
dusky above, pale below; tarsi plumbeous; iris red. Length, 6.33;
extent of wings, 10.25; wing, 3.33; tail, 2.50.

_Female_ similar, but duller in plumage.

HAB. Whole of Eastern North America (Greenland, Halifax, Fort
Simpson), west to base of Rocky Mountains, reaching Fort Bridger, and
still farther northward to Bitterroot Mountains and Kootenay; south to
Panama and Bogota, in winter (Xalapa only in Mexico); very rare in
Cuba (only West Indian locality). Accidental in England. Trinidad.
(FINSCH.)

  [Illustration: _Vireo olivaceus._]

HABITS. The common Red-eyed Vireo is an abundant species throughout
Eastern North America, from Florida to Nova Scotia on the northeast,
to Lake Winnepeg on the northwest, and as far west as the Rocky
Mountains. It apparently breeds wherever found, and in especial
abundance in the Central States. It is a familiar and fearless
species, often found, like the Warbling Vireo, in the very midst of
crowded cities, and making its lively and pleasant notes heard in
their public squares and private gardens, amid the ruder sounds of the
neighboring streets. It breeds in Texas and Louisiana, at the
Southwest, and also in abundance, at least as far as Halifax, in the
opposite direction. At Fort Resolution, at the Cumberland House, and
at Fort Simpson, the nests and eggs of this species were procured by
Kennicott and Ross. A single specimen of the bird has been procured in
Greenland, and another accidental specimen was shot in England.
Specimens have also been procured in Central America.

This Vireo, like all of its peculiar and well-marked genus, prefers
the forests or the tops of large and shady trees, obtains its food
usually among, their upper branches, and very rarely approaches the
ground. It is not exclusively sylvan, as at times it may be found
around dwellings, hunting for insects and spiders; and although it
hunts for food among the tree-tops, its nest is not always in such
high situations, often not more than four or five feet from the
ground.

In their migrations these birds enter the United States early in
March, but do not make their appearance in Pennsylvania until the last
of April, or in New England until the middle of May.

The Vireos procure their food, for the most part, by moving about and
along branches, and among the twigs of trees, hopping from one
position to another, and securing their prey without the click of a
Flycatcher. The insects they capture are usually not in motion, though
occasionally they will take them on the wing. They also feed on
several kinds of ripe berries in the autumn.

The song of this Vireo is loud, musical, simple, and pleasing. It is
uttered in short, emphatic bars, and at times has a very marked
resemblance to the melodious chant of the Robin, though without its
volume and power. This Vireo is one of the earliest of our spring
musicians, as it is also one of the most constant and untiring in its
song, continuing to sing long after most of the other vocalists have
become silent, and even until it is about to leave us, at the close of
September. The tender and pathetic utterances of this Vireo, uttered
with so much apparent animation, to judge from their sound, are in
striking contrast to the apparent indifference or unconsciousness of
the little vocalist who, while thus delighting the ear of the
listener, seems to be all the while chiefly bent on procuring its
daily supply of food, which it pursues with unabated ardor.

This Vireo builds the neat pensile nest of its race, suspending it
from the fork of two or more twigs of a forest tree, at various
heights of from five to fifty feet from the ground. It is cup-like in
shape, and always dependent from small twigs, around which its upper
edges are firmly bound. Externally it is woven of various materials,
fine strips of bark, the hempen fibres of vegetables, and webs of
spiders and of various caterpillars. These are compactly pressed and
woven, and, as some suppose, agglutinated by the saliva of the
builder. Sometimes the unmanageable materials give to the outside of
the nest a rude and unfinished appearance, at others they are evenly
and smoothly wrought. They are very strong, uninjured by the storms of
winter, and are often made use of by other birds, by mice, and even by
the same bird a second season.

A nest of this bird (S. I. Coll., 3,353) was obtained at the
Cumberland House by Mr. Kennicott. It is pensile, like all others, but
is composed almost exclusively of pine-needles,—a dry and hard
material, difficult of management in making such a nest. With these
are intermingled a few bits of moss, fine strips of bark, and
flax-like vegetable fibres. Within this rude basket is an inner nest,
made up of fine dry grasses, strips of bark, and pine leaves. The
external fabric is loosely put together,—an unusual feature,—but the
inner portion, in the firmness and strength with which it was made, is
in remarkable contrast.

The Red-eyed Vireo’s nest is often chosen by the Cowbird for the
deposition of her parasitic eggs, and these foster-parents are
singularly devoted in the care of their alien guests, whom they
tenderly nurture, even to the neglect of their own offspring. In one
instance three eggs of a Cowbird were deposited in the nest of the
Vireo before any of her own, and, without laying any, the female Vireo
proceeded to sit upon and hatch the intruders. In another case, where
two of the Vireo’s had been laid, two Cowbird’s eggs were added. The
Vireo stopped laying, and proceeded to incubate. In each instance the
female Vireo seemed to forego her own natural aspirations, and at once
conform to the new situation.

The male Vireo often evinces great courage and spirit in the defence
of his nest, when the young are hatched driving away intruders, and
even flying in the face of a man who approaches too near.

Mr. Nuttall states that the young of the Red-eyed Vireo feed eagerly
upon the berries of the cornel and the _Viburnum dentatum_, and other
shrubs. A young bird kept in confinement soon became very gentle, and
readily ate flies and grasshoppers from his hand, and viburnum
berries. A tame Kingbird in the same room was very jealous of and
tyrannized over him, so as to compel him to seek protection from his
captor. The Vireos, like Flycatchers, have the power to regurgitate by
the bill pellets of indigestible portions of their food.

The eggs of this Vireo vary greatly in size, according to the
locality; the farther south the smaller they are found. One, marked on
the shell East Tennessee, June 1, 1858, Alex. Gerhardt, measures .78
by .52 of an inch, while one from Halifax, Nova Scotia, measures .95
by .65. The ground-color of all is a clear crystal-white, and they are
marked chiefly at the larger end with spots and finer dots of
red-brown.

Mr. Robert Kennicott, in his notes, speaks of finding a nest of the
Red-eyed Vireo at the Cumberland House, Saskatchewan, June 28.
Incubation had not yet commenced. The pensile and neatly built nest
was suspended about four feet from the ground, upon a hazel-bush. The
parent, when scared from it, remained near until she was killed.


Vireosylvia flavoviridis, CASSIN.

YELLOW-GREEN VIREO.

  _Vireosylvia flav._ CASSIN, Pr. A. N. Sc. V, Feb. 1851, 152.—IB. VI.
    pl. ii (Panama).—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1856, 298 (Cordova).—IB. 1859,
    375 (Oaxaca; April).—IB. Catal. 1861, 44, no. 264.—SCLATER &
    SALVIN, Ibis, I, 1859, 12 (Guatemala).—BAIRD, Rev. 336. _Vireo
    flav._ BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 332. _Phyllomanes flav._ CAB.
    Jour. 1861, 93 (Costa Rica).

  [Line drawing: _Vireo flavoviridis._
                  38929]

SP. CHAR. (No. 3,976 ♂.) Above olive-green; the whole top of head and
nape ash-color, the edges of this cap and a loral line dusky, but not
very decidedly so. A grayish-white line from nostrils over the eye.
Beneath white, the sides of the neck, breast, and body bright
olivaceous-yellow; the axillars and crissum rich sulphur-yellow. On
the breast the yellow extends almost to the median line, the color of
opposite sides separated by a narrow interval. Quills dusky-brown;
margined externally, except at ends of primaries, with olive-green,
internally with grayish-white of a decided yellow shade. Tail-feathers
dark olivaceous-brown, bright olive externally, internally
olivaceous-yellow. Iris yellow or “red.”

Bill horn-color, paler below. Legs plumbeous. Wings long and pointed.
Second and third quills nearly equal; fourth a little less; first
about intermediate between fourth and fifth. Total length, 6.00; wing,
3.20; tail, 2.60.

HAB. From northern border of Mexico to Isthmus of Panama, especially
on west side.

This species has not yet been recorded as taken within the limits of
the United States, but it comes so near to our southern border that it
doubtless sometimes crosses the line. Nothing distinctive appears to
be known of its habits.


Vireosylvia philadelphicus, CASSIN.

PHILADELPHIA GREENLET.

  _Vireosylvia philadelphica_, CASSIN, Pr. A. N. Sc. V, Feb. 1857,
    153.—IB. VI, pl. i, fig. 1 (Philadelphia).—SCLATER & SALVIN, Ibis,
    I, 1859, 12 (Guatemala).—BAIRD, Rev. Am. Birds, 340. _Vireo
    philadelphicus_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 335, pl. lxxviii, fig.
    3. _Vireosylvia cobanensis_, SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1860, 463
    (Coban).—IB. Ann. Mag. N. H. 1861, 328.

  [Line drawing: _V. philadelphicus._
                  4364]

SP. CHAR. (No. 20,643 ♂.) Above dark olive-green, tinged with
plumbeous-ash except on the rump; top of head and nape purer
plumbeous-ash, not edged with dusky, the line of demarcation
indistinct. Beneath light sulphur-yellow, paler and almost white on
chin and middle of abdomen; sides more olivaceous. A whitish stripe
from bill over eye, as also a patch beneath it and the eyelids. A
dusky loral and post-ocular spot. Quills and rectrices brown, edged
externally with olive, internally with whitish; the larger coverts
with paler outer edges. Bill blackish, paler plumbeous below. Legs
plumbeous. Spurious outer or first quill (seen in _gilva_) wanting;
the outer about equal to fifth; third longest; second and fourth not
much shorter. Total length, 4.80; wing, 2.60; tail, 2.25.

HAB. Eastern North America to Hudson’s Bay and Maine, south (in
winter) to Costa Rica and Guatemala. Veragua (SALVIN). Not recorded
from Mexico or West Indies.

Specimens vary somewhat in purity of tints, and especially in
intensity of yellow of under parts, which color is deeper in autumnal
skins.

Specimens from Costa Rica and Guatemala, being merely winter visitors
to that region, are quite identical with North American examples.

HABITS. This but little known species was first described by Mr.
Cassin, in 1851, from a specimen shot by him in some woods near
Philadelphia nine years previously, which was then unique, and
remained so for some time after. This fact, and its resemblance to _V.
gilva_, led to the impression that it might be only a variety of that
species. Since the publication of the description other specimens have
been procured from different localities,—Moose Factory, Maine, Ohio,
Wisconsin, Costa Rica, and Guatemala. But little is as yet known in
regard to its habits or its distribution. It is quite abundant in the
spring in Southern Wisconsin, where it appears only as a migrant
passing north, none remaining to breed. As it makes its appearance
late in May, and usually passes rapidly on, it seems natural to infer
that it cannot be far from its breeding-place at the period of its
appearance. The specimen obtained by Mr. Cassin was shot in September,
on its southward journey. It was in the upper branches of a high tree,
capturing insects; and his attention was drawn to it by its slow and
deliberate movements.

Mr. Thure Kumlien, of Dane County, Wis., informs me that he has been
familiar with this Vireo since 1849, and has collected it every year
since that period, finding it both in the spring and fall. It appears
occasionally as early as the 10th of May, the time varying with the
season from the 10th to the 27th. In 1857, when the season was very
backward and May very cold, they did not arrive until June 2. They
were unusually numerous, and remained only a day or two. So far as he
has been able to ascertain, none stop to breed. They are very quiet,
have no song at the time they are passing, and seem only intent on
collecting their food and in proceeding on their way. They are very
tame and unsuspecting, and one can readily get to within a few feet of
them. In the fall they are returning south from the 7th to the 19th of
September.

The nest and eggs remain to be obtained.


Vireosylvia gilvus, CASSIN.

WARBLING GREENLET.

  _Muscicapa gilva_, VIEILL. Ois. I, 1807, 65, pl. xxxiv. _Vireo
    gilvus_, BON. Obs. Wils. 1825, no. 123.—AUD. Orn. Biog. II, pl.
    cxviii.—IB. Birds Am. IV, pl. ccxli.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858,
    335.—SAMUELS, Birds N. Eng. 273. _Vireosylvia gilva_, CASSIN, Pr.
    A. N. Sc. 1851, 153.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1856, 298 (Cordova); (?)
    1858, 302 (Oaxaca; June) (perhaps _V. swainsoni_).—BAIRD, Rev. Am.
    B. 342. _Muscicapa melodia_, WILS. Am. Orn. V, 1812, 85, pl. xlii,
    fig. 2.

  [Line drawing: _Vireo gilvus._
                  988]

SP. CHAR. (No. 1,017 ♀) Above olive-green, strongly glossed with ashy;
the head and nape above more distinctly ashy, but without decided line
of demarcation behind, and without dusky edge; rump pure olive. Stripe
from nostrils over eye to nape, eyelids, and space below eye,
creamy-white. A rather dusky post-ocular and loral spot, the latter
not extending to the bill. Under parts white, with tinge of
greenish-yellow (occasionally of creamy fulvous or buff), especially
on breast; sides more olivaceous. Crissum and axillars scarcely more
yellowish. Quills and rectrices wood-brown, edged internally with
whitish, externally with olivaceous, except perhaps on longer
primaries. Edge of wing white. Larger wing-coverts grayish-brown, with
paler edges, and no trace of olivaceous. Bill horn-color above, paler
below.

First quill very short or spurious; second about equal to, generally
rather longer than sixth; third longest; fourth, then fifth a little
shorter.

Fresh specimen: Total length, 5.33; expanse of wings, 8.35; wing from
carpal joint 2.85. Prepared specimen: Total length, 4.80; wing, 2.75;
tail, 2.25. Sexes alike. Iris brown.

HAB. Eastern North America to Fort Simpson. Cordova and Oaxaca only
southern localities recorded. Not West Indian.

A very young bird has a very cottony plumage, and differs in tints,
having the top of the head and the nape a soft whitish isabella-color,
this tingeing the back; the lower parts are wholly unsoiled white; the
middle and secondary coverts are obscurely tipped with light brown,
forming two indistinct bands across the wing.

A specimen (No. 54,262) from Orizaba is, in positively every respect,
exactly intermediate between this species and _V. josephæ_ of Costa
Rica, Ecuador, etc. (See footnote on page 360.) The crown is brown,
decidedly darker than, and different in tint from, the back, but less
so than in _josephæ_; the back is less olive than in the latter, and
less gray than in the former. The lower parts are more yellow than in
_gilvus_, and less so than in _josephæ_, the superciliary stripe
whiter and extending farther back than in the former, and less pure
white and shorter than in the latter, etc.

HABITS. The Warbling Vireo has only a slightly less extended
distribution than the Red-eyed, being found throughout all Eastern
North America, as far north as Fort Simpson and Selkirk Settlement,
and west to the Missouri River, and breeding as far south as
Louisiana. It is stated by Audubon to be found on the Columbia River,
but in this he probably referred to the Western race, _V. swainsoni_.
That writer never observed this species in Louisiana or Kentucky, nor
in the maritime part of Georgia, and its manner of entering the United
States he was unable to ascertain. Where it moves to in the winter is
also unknown, none having been met with in the West Indies, and only
at a few points in Mexico, Cordova, Oaxaca, and the State of Vera
Cruz. It was, however, found breeding at Calcasieu, Louisiana, by Mr.
Würdemann.

It breeds abundantly from Virginia to Nova Scotia, and throughout the
Northwestern States. West of the Rocky Mountains it is replaced by a
closely allied species, the _V. swainsoni_. This Vireo, more than any
other of its genus, if not exclusively, is to a large extent a
resident of villages, towns, and even cities. It is by far the
sweetest singer that ventures within their crowded streets and public
squares,—although Mr. Cassin gives his preference to the notes of the
Red-eyed,—and the melody of its song is exquisitely soft and
beautiful. It is chiefly to be found among the tall trees, in the
vicinity of dwellings, where it seems to delight to stay, and from
their highest tops to suspend its pensile nest. It is especially
abundant among the elms on Boston Common, where at almost any hour of
the day, from early in the month of May until long after summer has
gone, may be heard the prolonged notes of this, one of the sweetest
and most constant of our singers. Its voice is not powerful, but its
melody is flute-like and tender. Throughout the last of May, and in
June and July, their charming song may be heard amid the din of the
city from earliest dawn till nightfall, and rarely ceases even in the
noontide heat, when all other birds are silent. It is ever in motion,
while thus singing; and its sweetest notes are given forth as it moves
among the tree-tops in search of insects. It is not only one of our
most constant singers, but it remains musical almost until its
departure for the South in October.

The Warbling Vireo appears in the Middle States about the 15th of
April, and reaches New England early in May. The path of its northern
migrations, and of its return, is somewhat in doubt. It is abundant in
winter, according to Sumichrast, about Orizaba, and probably enters
Texas and passes north and east along the Mississippi and the Ohio
Rivers. In certain portions of the country this species is evidently
on the increase, becoming more and more common as the country is
settled, and towns and villages spring up.

The Warbling Vireo builds its nest usually in more elevated positions
than any others of this family. For the most part in the vicinity of
dwellings, often over frequented streets, they suspend their
elaborately woven and beautiful little basket-like nest, secure from
intrusion from their human neighbors, and protected by the near
presence of man from all their more dreaded enemies. Audubon narrates,
in an interesting manner, the building of their nest by a pair of
these birds on a poplar-tree, near his window, in Camden, N. J. It was
suspended between the body of the tree and a branch coming out at an
acute angle. The pair were at work, morning and evening, eight days,
first attaching slender blades of grass to the knots on the branch and
the bark of the trunk, and thence working downward and outward. They
varied their materials, from time to time, until at last he traced
them, after a prolonged absence, to a distant haystack, from which
they brought fine, slender, dry grasses, with which they completed and
lined their nest.

The nests of the Warbling Vireo, while they resemble closely those of
the other species in all the characteristics of this well-marked
family, are yet, as a rule, more carefully, neatly, and closely built.
They are usually suspended at the height of from thirty to fifty feet,
in the fork of twigs, under and near the extremity of the tree-top,
often an elm, protected from the sun and storm by a canopy of leaves,
and quite out of reach of most enemies. They vary little in size,
being about two inches in height and three and a half in their
greatest diameter, narrowing, toward their junction with the twigs, to
two inches. They are all secured in a very firm manner to the twigs
from which they are suspended by a felting of various materials,
chiefly soft, flexible, flax-like strips of vegetable fibres, leaves,
stems of plants, and strips of bark. With these are interwoven, and
carried out around the outer portions of the nest, long strips of soft
flexible bark of deciduous trees. They are softly and compactly filled
in and lined with fine stems of plants.

The eggs are usually five in number, and, like those of all the
Vireos, are of a brilliant crystal-white, sparingly spotted at the
larger end with markings of dark brown, and others of a lighter shade.
They are less marked with spots than usual in the genus, and are often
entirely unspotted, and pure white. Occasionally, however, they are
found with well-marked blotches of reddish-brown. They vary in length
from .75 to .70 of an inch, and average about .55 in their breadth.


Vireosylvia gilvus, var. swainsoni, BAIRD.

WESTERN WARBLING GREENLET.

  _Vireo swainsoni_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 336 (Pacific coast).—
    ELLIOT, Illust. Birds N. A. I, vii. _Vireosylvia swainsoni_,
    BAIRD, Rev. Am. B. 343. _Vireosylvia gilva_, var. _swainsoni_,
    COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 116. _Vireo bartramii_, SWAINSON, F. B.
    A. II, 1831, 235 (in part; spec. from Columbia River?).

  [Line drawing: _Vireo swainsoni._
                  12891]

(No. 5,321 ♂.) Similar to _V. gilva_, but smaller; colors paler. Bill
more depressed. Upper mandible almost black. Second quill much shorter
than sixth. Total length, 4.75; wing, 2.71; tail, 2.35; difference
between tenth quill and longest, .58; exposed portion of first
primary, .58, of second, 1.82, of longest (measured from exposed base
of first primary), 2.10; length of bill from forehead, .56, from
nostril, .29, along gape, .65; depth of bill, .13; tarsus, .70; middle
toe and claw, .56; hind toe and claw, .43.

HAB. United States, from Rocky Mountains to Pacific coast.

In the present bird the bill is darker in color, much smaller, and
more depressed, the depth at the base being less than the width,
instead of being equal to it as in var. _gilvus_. The wing is more
rounded, the second quill much shorter than the sixth, generally
shorter or but little longer than the seventh. In var. _gilvus_, the
second quill is about equal to the sixth. The second quill is about
.30 of an inch (or more) shorter than the longest in _swainsoni_,
while in _gilvus_ it is only about .20 shorter. The feet of
_swainsoni_ are weaker, and the colors generally paler and grayer. The
iris, according to Coues, is dark brown.

Young birds in autumnal plumage have the crown decidedly ash, the
sides more greenish; the wing-coverts pass terminally into a light
brownish tint, producing an inconspicuous band.

HABITS. This Western representative of the Warbling Vireo is found
throughout the western portions of our Union, from the Great Plains to
the Pacific, and from Arizona to the extreme northern boundary of
Washington Territory.

Dr. Cooper characterizes this as a lively and familiar songster. It
arrives, he states, at San Diego about April 10, and reaches Puget
Sound toward the middle of May, occupying nearly all the intermediate
country throughout the summer. It frequents the deciduous trees along
the borders of streams and prairies, coming into gardens and orchards
with familiar confidence, wherever cultivation has reclaimed the
wilderness. Like its Eastern prototype, its cheerful and varied song
is heard all day long until quite late in the autumn. They too build
their nests in the shade-trees of the parks of busy cities, singing
ever their delightful strains, unconscious of the busy and noisy crowd
that throngs the neighboring streets.

Dr. Cooper states that its nests are pendent from the forks of a
branch high above the ground, sometimes to the height of a hundred
feet.

Mr. Ridgway, who observed the habits of this species in Utah and
Nevada, speaks of it as the characteristic Vireo of the West. It was
found by him in all the fertile localities, and was one of the most
common birds in the wooded regions. He found it very generally
distributed through the summer, inhabiting the copses along the
streams of the mountain cañons, and the open groves of the parks, as
well as the cottonwoods and willows of the river valleys. In the fall
the berries of a species of the cornel that grows along the mountain
streams constitute its principal food. Its notes and manners are
identical with those of the Eastern species.

The nests of this species are not distinguishable, except in the
necessarily varying materials, from those of the Eastern birds. In
position, size, and shape they are the same. The eggs, four or five in
number, are white, spotted with brown and reddish-brown, and measure
.78 by .58 of an inch. The spots are somewhat darker than those of the
_V. gilvus_, and the shape more of an oblong-oval, in all that I have
seen. But this difference may disappear in the examination of a larger
number.

A nest found by Mr. Ridgway near Fort Churchill, Nevada, June 24, was
suspended from the extremity of a twig of a sapling of the cottonwood,
in a copse of the same growing in a river-bottom. It has a height of
two and a half inches, and a diameter of three. It is composed
externally of an elaborate interweaving of spiders’-webs, willow and
cottonwood down, and strong cord-like strips of fine inner bark. These
are strongly bound around the twigs from which the nest is suspended.
It is one of the most elaborately interwoven, homogeneous, and
well-felted nests of this bird I have ever met with. Another nest,
from Parley’s Park, Utah, obtained June 28, differs in having the
external portion woven almost exclusively of fine strips of bleached
bark, and is lined with fine wiry grasses. In each of these the eggs
were four in number, all oblong-oval in shape, but much more pointed
at one end in the latter nest.

This species was found breeding in Napa Valley, Cal., by Mr. A. J.
Grayson, and at Fort Tejon by Mr. Xantus.


SUBGENUS LANIVIREO, BAIRD.

CHAR. Body stout, head broad. Bill short and stout, broad at the base,
the culmen curved from the base, the commissure considerably arched.
Bill blue-black. Feet stout. Type, _V. flavifrons_. For figure, see
page 379.


Species and Varieties.

COMMON CHARACTERS. A broad stripe from bill to and around, but
not beyond, the eye. Two broad white bands across the wings. Bill
plumbeous-blue, black toward culmen. Iris brown in all species?

1. L. solitarius. Spurious primary exposed. Throat and orbital
ring white.

  _a._ Spurious primary well developed,—.60 or more long, .10
  broad.

    Nape and side of neck plumbeous; upper tail-coverts
    olive-green. Crissum tinged with yellow, but none on side of
    throat, nor across breast. Wing, 3.05; tail, 2.40; bill, from
    nostril, .27; tarsus, .66. _Hab._ Eastern Province of United
    States, straggling westward to the Pacific Coast, especially
    in its migration southward into Mexico, where it penetrates
    in winter as far as Guatemala …                var. _solitarius_.

    Above continuous olive-brown; below ochraceous-white, with a
    buffy tinge across breast, and deeply olivaceous along sides.
    Crissum tinged with yellow. Wing, 2.80; tail, 2.15; bill, 30;
    tarsus, 66. _Hab._ Pacific Province of United States,
    straggling in autumn eastward into the Middle Province …
                                                      var. _cassini_.

    Above continuous ashy-plumbeous. Beneath pure white, ashy
    along sides, and very slightly so across breast. Wing, 3.25;
    tail, 2.50; bill, .30; tarsus, .66. _Hab._ Middle Province of
    United States, south, in winter, through Western Mexico to
    Colima …                                         var. _plumbeus_.

  _b._ Spurious primary very minute,—about .30 long by .04 wide.

    Nape and side of neck olive-green; upper tail-coverts
    plumbeous. Crissum not tinged with yellow, but sides of the
    throat and across the breast are. Wing, 3.10; tail. 2.20;
    bill, .29; tarsus, .64. _Hab._ Coban, Vera Cruz, Guatemala;
    resident? …                                var. _propinquus_.[77]

2. L. flavifrons. Spurious primary concealed. Throat and
orbital ring yellow.

    Anterior half of body olive-green above, lemon-yellow below;
    posterior half plumbeous-ash above, white below. Wing, 3.00;
    tail, 1.90; bill, .32; tarsus, .70. _Hab._ Eastern Province
    of United States, south, in winter, to Costa Rica, and very
    rare in Cuba.


Lanivireo solitarius, BAIRD.

BLUE-HEADED VIREO.

  _Muscicapa solitaria_, WILS. Am. Orn. II, 1810, 143, pl. xvii, fig.
    6. _Vireo solitarius_, VIEILL.—AUD. I.—CASSIN, Sc.—SCLATER, P. Z.
    S. 1856, 298 (Cordova); 1859, 363 (Xalapa); 375 (Oaxaca?).—SCLATER
    & SALVIN, Ibis, 1860, 31 (Guatemala).—CAB. Jour. III, 468
    (Cuba).—GUNDLACH, Cab. Jour. 1861, 324 (Cuba; very rare).—SAMUELS,
    Birds N. Eng. 277. _Vireo_ (_Lanivireo_) _sol._ BAIRD, Birds N.
    Am. 1858, 329. _Vireosylvia_ (_Lanivireo_) _solitaria_, BAIRD,
    Rev. Am. B. 1864, 347.

  [Line drawing: _Lanivireo solitarius._
                  29274]

SP. CHAR. (No. 300 ♂.) Above olive-green, including upper
tail-coverts; the top and sides of head and nape ashy-plumbeous; sides
of the neck plumbeous-olive. Broad line from nostrils to and around
eye, involving the whole lower eyelid, white. A loral line involving
the edge of the eyelid, and a space beneath the eye, dusky plumbeous.
Beneath white; the sides yellow, overlaid with olive, this color not
extending anterior to the breast. Axillars and base of crissum pale
sulphur-yellow, the long feathers of the latter much paler or nearly
white. Wings with two bands and outer edges of innermost secondaries
olivaceous-white; the quills dark brown, edged externally with
olive-green, internally with white; tail-feathers similarly marked,
except that the lateral feather is edged externally also with white,
the central without internal border. Bill and legs blackish-plumbeous.
Iris brown.

First quill spurious, rather more than one fifth the second, which is
intermediate between the fifth and sixth; third longest.

Fresh specimen: Total length, 5.40; expanse of wing, 9.00. Prepared
specimen: Total length, 5.25; wing, 2.95: tail, 2.35.

HAB. United States, from Atlantic to Pacific; Cape St. Lucas. Not
recorded from Southern Rocky Mountains, where replaced by _L.
plumbeus_. South to Mexico and Guatemala. Vera Cruz (winter,
SUMICHRAST). Very rare in Cuba.

Spring specimens show sometimes a gloss of plumbeous on the back,
obscuring the olive, the contrast of colors being greater in the
autumnal and young birds. Sometimes the crissum appears nearly white.
The length of the spurious primary varies considerably, from .45 to
.75 of an inch.

In autumn the colors are similar, but slightly duller and less sharply
defined, while the back is considerably tinged with ashy.

HABITS. The Solitary Vireo appears to be found, irregularly,
throughout the United States. Nowhere abundant, so far as I am aware,
it seems to be more common in California than on the Atlantic, while
there are also large tracks of intervening territory in which we have
no knowledge of its presence. On the Atlantic it has been met with
from Georgia to the Bay of Fundy. In Massachusetts it has been found
in a few restricted localities; in one or two of them, they are as
abundant as the White-eyed. Mr. Dresser found it in Texas, near San
Antonio, late in the autumn, and early in spring, but none remained to
breed. Mr. Boardman gives them as a summer visitant at Calais, but not
common, and Professor Verrill makes a similar statement for Western
Maine, where it arrives in the second week of May. According to Mr.
Allen, it reaches Western Massachusetts by May 1, but it is there
quite rare. A few are presumed to stop and breed.

In California, Mr. Gambel states that it is quite abundant in the
latter part of summer, and throughout the winter, frequenting low
bushes and thickets. Dr. Heermann also frequently met with it. Both at
the East and the West it is undoubtedly only migratory to about the
40th parallel, and does not, except in mountainous localities, breed
south of that line. Professor Baird found it breeding in the South
Mountains, near Carlisle, Penn., in May, 1844. It occurs in Guatemala
in the winter.

Dr. Cooper states that it reaches Puget Sound by the first of May, and
he has also observed it in the Colorado Valley, after the 14th, where
they made themselves conspicuous by their song, but in a few days had
all passed northward. He has met them nesting in May at the eastern
base of the Coast Range, and has also found them quite common, in
summer, on the Columbia River. Their favorite resorts are the
deciduous oaks.

These birds were found breeding at Fort Tejon by Mr. Xantus, and at
Vancouver by Mr. Hepburn.

Mr. Ridgway met with a few in September, in the thickets along the
streams flowing from the Clover Mountains.

This species was taken in winter by Mr. Boucard, at Talew, in the
State of Oaxaca, Mexico.

Mr. Audubon’s statement that this bird is rather abundant, and that it
breeds in Louisiana, is undoubtedly incorrect, and his description of
its nest and eggs belongs rather to the Yellow-throated, and agrees
with none that I have ever seen of this species. That he found them
abundant in Maine, and traced them as far north as Pictou, Nova
Scotia, is more probable. Dr. Bachman speaks of this species becoming
each year more abundant in South Carolina, coming in February and
remaining through March.

Mr. Nuttall, who met with this species on the Columbia, about the
beginning of May, describes its song as a plaintive, deliberate
warble, intermediate between the song of the _olivaceus_ and the
_flavifrons_. Mr. Burroughs describes the love-notes of these birds as
being inexpressibly sweet and tender in both sexes. The song of the
male, as I have heard it, bears no resemblance to that of any other
Vireo. It is a prolonged and very peculiar ditty, repeated at frequent
intervals and always identical. It begins with a lively and pleasant
warble, of a gradually ascending scale, which at a certain pitch
suddenly breaks down into a falsetto note. The song then rises again
in a single high note, and ceases. For several summers the same bird
has been heard, near my house in Hingham, in a wild pasture, on the
edge of a wood, always singing the same singular refrain, during the
month of June.

Mr. Nuttall found a nest of this species suspended from the forked
twig of a wild crab-tree, about ten feet from the ground. The chief
materials were dead and withered grasses, with some cobwebs
agglutinated together, externally partially covered with a few shreds
of hypnum, assimilating it to the branch on which it hung,
intermingled with a few white paper-like capsules of the spiders’
nests, and lined with a few blades of grass and slender root-fibres.

Seven nests of this species, found in Lynn and Hingham, Mass., exhibit
peculiarities of structure substantially identical. In comparison with
the nests of other Vireos, they are all loosely constructed, and seem
to be not so securely fastened to the twigs, from which they are
suspended. One of these nests, typical of the general character,
obtained in Lynn, May 27, 1859, by Mr. George O. Welch, was suspended
from the branches of a young oak, about twelve feet from the ground.
The external depth of this nest was only two and a half inches, the
diameter three and a quarter, and its cavity one and three quarters
inches deep, and two inches wide at the rim. It was constructed
externally of strips of yellow and of gray birch-bark, intermingled
with bits of wool and dry grasses. The external portion was quite
loosely put together, but was lined, in a more compact manner, with
dry leaves of the white pine, arranged in layers. Another nest, found
in Hingham, was but two feet from the ground, on a branch of a hickory
sapling. In its general structure it was the same, only differing in
shape, being made to conform to its position, and being twice as long
as it was broad. It contained four young, when found, about the 10th
of June. One nest alone, built on a bush in Lynn, exhibits even an
average degree of compactness in its external structure. This is
largely composed of cocoons, which are woven together into a somewhat
homogeneous and cloth-like substance. Within, decayed stems of grasses
take the place of the usual pine-needles.

In the summer of 1870 a pair built their nest in a dwarf pear-tree,
within a few rods of my house. They were at first very shy and would
not permit themselves to be seen at their work, and suspended all
labor when any one was occupied near their chosen tree. Soon after the
construction of the nest two Cowbird’s eggs were deposited, which I
removed, although the female only laid two of her own before she began
to sit upon them. By this time she became more familiar, and would not
leave her nest unless I attempted to lay hands upon her. She made no
complaints in the manner of the White-eyed, nor sought to attack like
the Yellow-throated, but kept within a few feet, and watched me with
eager eyes, until I left her. Unfortunately, her nest was pillaged by
a Black-billed Cuckoo, and I was unable to observe her feed her young,
as I had hoped to do.

The eggs are of an oblong-oval shape, moderately pointed at one end,
and of a white ground, less crystalline than in the other species of
its kind. They are spotted pretty uniformly over the entire egg with
dots of dark red and reddish-brown. They are usually five in number.


Lanivireo solitarius, var. cassini, BAIRD.

CASSIN’S VIREO.

  _Vireo cassini_, XANTUS, Pr. A. N. S. Phil. May, 1858, 117.—BAIRD,
    Birds N. Am. 1858, 340, pl. lxxviii, fig. 1; Review Am. B. I,
    1865, 347 (sub _V. solitaria_), RIDGWAY.

SP. CHAR. Third and fourth quills nearly equal, fifth shorter, second
longer than seventh. Spurious primary very narrow, falcate, acute;
less than one third the second quill, and a little more than one
fourth the third. Above, including edges of wing and tail-feathers,
clear olive-green, becoming dusky ashy on the top and sides of head.
Beneath fulvous-white, tinged with ill-defined olive-green on the
sides (scarcely on the crissum). Two broad bands on the wing-coverts
and the outer edges of the innermost secondaries greenish-white; the
outer edge of outer tail-feather, with a broad ring round the eye,
extending to a frontal band, dull white. Length about 5 inches; wing,
2.75; tail, 2.30.

HAB. Fort Tejon, Cal. (XANTUS); West Humboldt Mountains, Nevada
(RIDGWAY).

Since the type of this variety was obtained, two other specimens (Nos.
53,418 ♀ and 53,419 ♂, September, 1867; R. Ridgway) have been secured
by the United States Geological Survey of the 40th Parallel, in
command of Mr. Clarence King, in the West Humboldt Mountains, Nevada.
These specimens are even more different from true _solitarius_ than is
the type of this race, showing that it is really distinct, as a
variety. In the same thickets at the same season, perfectly typical
specimens of _V. solitarius_ were obtained; the latter having, no
doubt, come from their more northern summer home on their passage
southward into Mexico.

In the Humboldt Mountain specimens the crown shows no trace of ash,
and is even darker and more brownish than the back. In fact, the
relation of the _V. cassini_ to _V. solitaria_ is an almost exact
parallel to that of _V. josephæ_ to _V. gilvus_, as far as coloration
is concerned, in each case the extreme being widely different, but
connected by specimens showing intermediate characters.

Nothing is known of the habits of this race.


Lanivireo solitarius, var. plumbeus, COUES.

LEAD-COLORED VIREO.

  _Vireosylvia plumbea_, COUES, Pr. A. N. Sc. Phila. 1866 (Fort Whipple,
    near Prescott, Arizona).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 119.—ELLIOT,
    Illust. Birds N. A. I, vii. _V._ (_Lanivireo_) _plumbea_, BAIRD,
    Rev. 349.

SP. CHAR. (No. 37,011.) Whole upper parts and sides of head uniform
plumbeous; the lower part of the back with a faint wash of olivaceous.
A white line from bill to and around eye; a dusky line from corner of
eye to bill. Sides of breast and flanks plumbeous, paler than the
back; the flanks very slightly tinged with olive-green. Rest of under
parts white; the axillars ashy, edged with white. Wings above with two
conspicuous white bands; the innermost quills edged externally and the
longer ones internally with white, the latter edged externally with
light ash. Bill and legs dark plumbeous, “Iris hazel.” Tail-feathers
narrowly edged all round with white, narrowest internally, and
increasing from central to lateral feathers. Upper tail-coverts clear
ash.

  [Line drawing: _Vireosylvia plumbea._
                  37010]

As the specimen in finest plumage (described above) is moulting the
quills, the measurements are taken from another (37,010). In this the
first quill is not quite one third the second, which equals the sixth,
the third and fourth longest.

(No. 37,010.) Fresh specimen: Total length, 6.10; expanse of wings,
10.80. Prepared specimen: Total length, 5.75; wing, 3.25; tail, 2.70;
difference between tenth and longest quill, .95; exposed portion of
first primary, .75, of second, 2.34, of longest, third (measured from
exposed base of first primary), 2.54; length of bill from forehead,
.55, from nostril, .31, along gape, .70; tarsus, .75; middle toe and
claw, .60, claw alone, .21; hind toe and claw, .50, claw alone, .23.

HAB. Southern Rocky Mountains; East Humboldt Mountains, Nevada
(RIDGWAY). In winter to Colima, Mexico.

While the pattern of coloration is precisely similar to that of
_Lanivireo solitarius_, the difference in the colors appears to be
occasioned merely by removing, as it were, the yellow stain, which on
the plumbeous produces the olive-green tinge, and exists in a purer
tint along the sides, leaving, essentially, only clear plumbeous and
pure white; there is, however, in the most typical specimens, always a
faint tinge of green on the rump, and a stain of yellow along the
side. Though identical with _solitarius_ in most of its proportions,
the wings and tail are considerably longer than in the average of that
form.

There are many specimens from the Rocky Mountains and westward that
are so decidedly intermediate between _solitarius_ and _plumbeus_,
that, considering also the lack of essential difference in form and
coloration between the two, we do not hesitate to consider them, along
with _cassini_ and _propinquus_ (see page 373), as races of a single
species, of which each is the representative in a particular region.
Thus, _V. solitarius_ breeds in the Eastern Province of the United
States (and possibly in the Western, following the same route far to
the northward that many Eastern birds pursue in straggling westward),
and migrates in winter into Middle America as far as Guatemala; those
which breed in the Northwest pass directly southward, thus crossing
the region where _cassini_ and _plumbeus_ breed, which accounts for
their being obtained together. _V. cassini_ is the representative on
the opposite side of the continent; but the history of its migrations
is yet obscure. _V. plumbeus_ is the Middle Province and Rocky
Mountain representative, breeding alone in that region, and in winter
migrating southward through Western Mexico as far as Colima. _V.
propinquus_ is another permanent race, but a local one, being resident
in the country where found, though mixed in winter with visitors of
_solitarius_ from the North.

HABITS. Of this very recently discovered race, very little is at
present known. It was first described by Dr. Coues, who met with it in
Arizona, near Fort Whipple. He says it is especially abundant in the
northern part of that Territory. It was by far the most common Vireo
at Fort Whipple, where it is a summer resident, arriving there about
the 15th of April and remaining until October.

It was found to be common about Laramie Peak, by Dr. R. Hitz, and was
also met with in winter on the plains at Colima, Mexico, by Xantus.

It was seen in the summers of 1868 and 1869, by Mr. Ridgway, among the
cedar and nut-pine woods on the slopes and among the brushwood in the
cañons of the East Humboldt Mountains, being most partial to the
former situations. There, too, it undoubtedly breeds, as in the latter
part of July young birds, unable to fly, were met with by him. He also
states that the common notes of this Vireo very closely resemble those
of the Western Wood Wren (_Troglodytes parkmanni_).


Lanivireo flavifrons, BAIRD.

YELLOW-THROATED VIREO.

  _Vireo flavifrons_, VIEILL. Ois. Am. Sept. I, 1807, 85, pl. liv.—AUD.
    Orn. Biog. II, 1834, pl. cxix.—IB. Birds. Am. IV, pl.
    ccxxxviii.—CASSIN, Pr. A. N. Sc. 1851, 149.—SCLATER, P. Z. S.
    1857, 227 (Vera Cruz); 1860, 257 (Orizaba).—SCLATER & SALVIN,
    Ibis, I, 1859, 12 (Guatemala).—CAB. Jour. III, 468 (Cuba;
    winter).—GUNDLACH, Cab. Jour. 1861, 324 (Cuba; rare).—CAB. Jour.
    1860, 405 (Costa Rica). _Vireo_ (_Lanivireo_) _flav._ BAIRD, Birds
    N. Am. 1858, 341. _Vireosylvia_ (_Lanivireo_) _flavifrons_, BAIRD,
    Rev. 346. _Muscicapa sylvicola_, WILS. Am. Orn. II, 1810, 117, pl.
    vii, f. 3.

  [Line drawing: _Vireosylvia flavifrons._
                  2217]

SP. CHAR. (No. 28,390.) Head and neck above and on sides, with
interscapular region, bright olive-green. Lower back, rump, tail, and
wing-coverts ashy. Wings brown, with two white bands across the
coverts, the outer edges of inner secondaries, and inner edges of all
the quills, with inside of wing, white. Outer primaries edged with
gray, the inner with olive. Tail-feathers brown, entirely encircled by
a narrow edge of white. Under parts to middle of body, a line from
nostrils over eye, eyelids, and patch beneath the eye (bordered behind
by the olive of neck) bright gamboge-yellow; rest of under parts
white, the flanks faintly glossed with ashy. Lores dusky. Bill and
legs plumbeous-black.

No spurious primary evident: second quill longest; first a little
shorter than third.

Length, 5.80; wing, 3.00; tail, 2.00; difference of longest and
innermost quills, .90; tarsus, .73.

HAB. Eastern United States, south to Costa Rica. Veragua (SALVIN).
Very rare in Cuba.

Autumnal birds, perhaps more especially the young, are more glossed
with olivaceous, which invades the ashy portions, and tinges the
white.

HABITS. All the older ornithological writers, in speaking of the
Yellow-throated Vireo, repeat each other in describing it as
peculiarly attracted to the forest, seeking its solitudes and gleaning
its food chiefly among its topmost branches. Such has not been my
experience with this interesting and attractive little songster. I
have found no one of this genus, not even the _gilva_, so common in
the vicinity of dwellings, or more familiar and fearless in its
intercourse with man. All of its nests that I have ever met with have
been built in gardens and orchards, and in close proximity to
dwellings, and they have also been exclusively in comparatively low
positions. In one of the most recent instances a pair of these birds
built one of their beautiful moss-covered nests in a low branch of an
apple-tree that overhung the croquet-ground, within a few rods of my
house. It was first noticed in consequence of its bold little builder
flying in my face whenever I approached too near, even before its nest
contained any eggs. The grounds were in frequent use, and the pair
were at first a good deal disturbed by these constant intrusions, but
they soon became reconciled to their company, and would not leave
their position, even though the game was contested immediately under
their nest, which was thus often brought within a foot of the heads of
the players. Before this nest was quite finished, the female began her
duties of incubation. Her assiduous mate was constantly engaged at
first in completing the external ornamentation of the nest with
lichens and mosses, and then with a renewal of his interrupted
concerts of song. These duties he varied by frequent captures of
insects, winged and creeping, most of which he duly carried to his
mate. His song was varied, sweet, and touchingly beautiful. Less
powerful than the notes of several others of its family, except those
of the _Warbling_, I know of none more charming.

These birds reach New England about the 10th of May, and usually have
their nests constructed early in June. Their habits, in all essential
respects, are the same as those of all its family. They are somewhat
confiding and trustful of man, are readily approached, and soon become
so well acquainted with those among whom they have a home as to
fearlessly come to the windows of the house in pursuit of spiders or
flies, and even to enter them. In the latter case they cannot readily
make their exit, and soon lose their self-possession, beating their
heads against the walls and ceiling in vain attempts to get out,
unless caught and released. In one instance a young bird, that had
entered my barn-chamber, became so entangled in cobwebs, around his
wings and feet, as to be unable to escape again. When taken in the
hand, and his meshes one by one picked out from about his feet and
quills, he was very docile, made no resistance or outcry, nor any
attempt to escape, until he was entirely freed from his bonds,
although it required some time and care to accomplish it. When
entirely freed from these clogs, and permitted to go, he flew away
very deliberately to a short distance, and occupied himself with
dressing his disordered plumage.

The nest of this species is also a pendent structure, and
hemispherical in shape. It may always be readily distinguished from
any other nest of this family by the profusion of lichens and mosses
with which its outer portion is adorned and covered, giving it the
appearance of a large moss-covered knot.

In most of the towns in the vicinity of Boston this species, though
not abundant, is quite common. Their nests, built usually in low and
rather conspicuous positions for birds of this kind, occur most
frequently in gardens and orchards. One of these, found suspended from
a moss-covered branch of an apple-tree in Roxbury, may be taken as
typical of its kind. Its rim was firmly bound around the fork of a
branch by a continuation of the materials that form the outside of the
nest itself. These are an interweaving of spiders’-webs, and silky
threads from insect cocoons, largely intermingled with mosses and
lichens, and thus made to conform closely in appearance to the
moss-grown bark of the tree. The under portion of the nest is
strengthened by long strips of the inner bark of the wild grape.
Within is an inner nest made of fine grassy stems and bark. It forms
exactly a half-sphere in shape, is symmetrical, and is very thoroughly
made. Its diameter is four, and its height two and one fourth inches.

Mr. Nuttall describes a nest of this bird, found by him suspended from
the forked twig of an oak, near a dwelling-house, as coated over with
green lichens, attached very artfully by a slender string of
caterpillars’ silk, the whole afterwards tied over by almost invisible
threads of the same, so nicely done as to appear to be glued on. The
whole fabric was thus made to resemble an accidental knot of the tree,
grown over with moss. Another nest, observed by the same writer, was
fixed on the depending branches of a wild cherry, and was fifty feet
from the ground. So lofty a position as this is probably very unusual.
I have never met with any higher than ten feet from the ground.

The food of this Vireo is chiefly insects, and in the breeding-season
is altogether so. Later in the season they mingle with these various
kinds of small berries.

The eggs of this species vary from .95 to .88 of an inch in length,
and from .65 to .60 in breadth. Their ground-color is white, often
with a very perceptible tint of roseate when fresh. In this respect
they differ in a very marked manner from the eggs of any other of this
genus, except, perhaps, the _barbatula_, and may thus always be very
easily recognized. They are more or less boldly marked with blotches
of a dark roseate-brown, also peculiar to the eggs of this species,
though varying greatly in their size and depth of color.

This Vireo winters, in great numbers, in Central America, and was
largely represented in the collection of Dr. Van Patten from
Guatemala. It was also found at Pirico, in Colombia, South America, by
Mr. C. W. Wyatt. It occurs in abundance as far to the west as
Grinnell, Iowa, where Mr. W. H. Parker found it to be a very common
summer resident.


SUBGENUS VIREO, VIEILL.

  _Vireo_, VIEILL., Ois. Am. Sept. I, 1807, 83. (Type, _Muscicapa
    noveboracensis_, GM.)

  [Line drawing: _Vireo noveboracensis._
                  29248]

CHAR. Wings short and rounded, a little longer than the tail, equal to
it, or shorter. First primary distinct and large, from two fifths to
half or more the length of the second, shorter or not longer than the
eighth.

  [Illustration: _Vireo noveboracensis._]

The characters of _Vireo_ are essentially those of _Vireosylvia_; the
bill, however, is shorter; the first quill always present, better
developed, sometimes more than half the second. The wings are shorter,
and more rounded; the tarsi usually longer. The, sections are as
follows:—

Vireo. Wings pointed; first quill less than half the second, which
is about equal to seventh or eighth, and decidedly longer than the
tenth primary and the secondaries. Type, _V. noveboracensis_.

Vireonella. Wings rounded, scarcely longer than the tail; the first
quill half as long as the second (or more than half), which is not
longer than the tenth primary and secondaries, or even less. Bill and
feet generally much stouter than the preceding. Type, _V. gundlachi_.

None of the species of _Vireonella_ are found in the United States.


Species.

COMMON CHARACTERS. All the species olivaceous or ashy above,
beneath whitish, or olivaceous-yellow. Wings with light bands. A
light stripe from bill over the eye, but not beyond it, except in
_carmioli_. Iris brown, as far as known, except in _V. noveboracensis_,
where it is white.

  A. Two conspicuous light bands on wing.

    _a._ Sexes different. Whole lore white.

      1. V. atricapillus. Above olive-green, outer edges of
      tail-feathers bright yellowish-green; wing-bands
      greenish-white. Sides olivaceous-yellow. _Male._ Head and
      neck (except lore, orbital ring, chin, and throat) deep
      black; lower parts pure white medially. _Female_ with the
      black replaced by dull slate; lower parts ochraceous-white
      medially. Wing, 2.30; tail, 1.80; tarsus, .68; bill, from
      nostril, .24. _Hab._ Southern Texas; Mazatlan, Mexico.

    _b._ Sexes alike. Lore dusky, with light mark above it.

      2. V. carmioli.[78] Above brownish olive-green. Beneath,
      with supra-loral stripe, orbital ring, and light markings
      on the wings, light ochrey-yellow more whitish on the
      throat. Wing, 2.55; tail, 2.00; tarsus, .66; bill, .26.
      _Hab._ Costa Rica.

      3. V. noveboracensis. Above olive-green, ashy across the
      nape. Supra-loral stripe and orbital ring deep yellow.
      Beneath ashy-white on throat, purer white on abdomen;
      sides, and a tinge across the breast, light yellow. Iris
      white. Wing, 2.40; tail, 2.00; tarsus, .63; bill, .26.
      _Hab._ Eastern Province of United States, south (in winter)
      to Guatemala (and Bogota?); very rare in Cuba; abundant and
      resident in Bermuda.

      4. V. huttoni. Above grayish-olive, more olive-green
      toward tail. Below pale grayish-buff. Orbital ring very
      broad, yellowish-white. Wing, 2.50; tail, 2.05; tarsus,
      .67; bill, .24. _Hab._ California; in winter, Western
      Mexico to Oaxaca.

  B. Only one band on wing, and this indistinct.

      5. V. belli. Above ashy-olive, more virescent
      posteriorly. Markings on side of head not well defined.
      Below dull white, with a slight buffy tinge, strongly
      stained with yellow on sides and flanks. Upper feathers of
      middle row of wing-coverts passing into paler at tip,
      producing an indication of an anterior band. Wing, 2.20;
      tail, 1.80; tarsus, .69; bill, .25. _Hab._ Plains between
      the Mississippi Valley and the Rocky Mountains, from Dakota
      to Texas; in winter south to Tehuantepec, Mexico.

      6. V. pusillus. Above grayish-ash, very slightly tinged
      with olive on rump. Below dull white, ashy laterally, the
      flanks with the slightest possible tinge of yellow. Wing,
      2.30; tail, 2.20; tarsus, .69; bill, .24, .13 deep. _Hab._
      Arizona; Cape St. Lucas, Lower California; California north
      to Sacramento City.

      7. V. vicinior. Above bluish-ash, below ashy-white,
      scarcely more ashy laterally. Lores entirely ashy-white.
      Wing, 2.60; tail, 2.40; tarsus, .67; bill, .26, .18 deep.
      _Hab._ Fort Whipple, Arizona.


Vireo atricapillus, WOODHOUSE.

BLACK-CAPPED VIREO.

  _Vireo atricapillus_, WOODHOUSE, Pr. A. N. Sc. 1852, 60 (San Pedro,
    Tex.).—IB. Sitgreaves’s Rep. 1853, 75, pl. i, Birds.—CASSIN,
    Illust. 1854, 153, pl. xxiv.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 337; Rev.
    353.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 121.

  [Line drawing: _Vireo atricapillus._
                  6818]

SP. CHAR. (No. 6,818.) Top and sides of head and neck black; rest of
upper parts olive-green. Wing and tail feathers almost black on their
upper surface, the quills and rectrices edged with olive (paler on the
exterior primaries), the wing-coverts with two greenish-white bands on
a blackish ground. Broad line from bill to and around eye (not meeting
on forehead) with under parts white; the sides of body olivaceous; the
axillars and inner wing-coverts (perhaps crissum) yellowish. Bill
black; feet plumbeous; iris bright red. First quill less than half the
second, which about equals the tenth; third little shorter than fourth
(longest).

_Female._ With the black replaced by dull slate; lower parts
ochraceous-white medially. Possibly a distinct species (Mazatlan).

(No. 6,818.) Fresh specimen: Total length, 4.75; expanse of wings,
7.25; wing from carpal joint, 2.12. Prepared specimen: Total length,
4.10; wing, 2.25; tail, 1.95.

HAB. Southern border of Western Texas; Mazatlan.

The black head of this species, as far as known, makes it unique in
the genus. It is extremely rare, but three or four specimens being
known.

We refer to this species a specimen—probably a female—obtained at
Mazatlan, on the western coast of Mexico, in April, by Colonel Grayson
(S. I., No. 55,046). This specimen differs from those from Texas in
having the black of the head replaced by a dull dark slate-color, the
olive above rather less virescent, and the lower parts not pure white,
but somewhat buffy. As all the other essential characters are
identical, there being in both the white space covering the whole
lore, and orbital ring interrupted on top,—features not seen in any
other species,—we have little hesitation in considering them the same
species; which opinion is moreover strengthened by the fact, that
among the Texas specimens, all with black caps, there are no females.

HABITS. Of the general history and habits of this rare species very
little is known. It was first met with by Dr. Woodhouse, on the 26th
of May, 1851, in Western Texas. This was on the Rio San Pedro, within
ten miles of its source. He found it among some cedars, and was
attracted by its very singular notes. It was in continual motion, like
a Wood Warbler, and was by him at first supposed to be one of those
birds. He obtained two specimens, both of which proved to be males.

Mr. John H. Clark, the naturalist of the Mexican Boundary Commission,
likewise found this species in Texas, and not far from the same
locality in which it was discovered by Dr. Woodhouse. His attention
also was drawn to the bird by its shrill discordant chirp, which it
uttered incessantly in its pursuit of insects. Three specimens only
were seen, and all of them at one locality, the valley of the Rio San
Pedro, to which it seemed to be confined. It was not at all shy, and
showed no concern when Mr. Clark approached within a few rods. Its
constant motion, hopping incessantly from branch to branch, made it a
matter of some difficulty to procure specimens. It was found in June,
and the single specimen shot by Mr. Clark was also a male.


Vireo noveboracensis, BONAP.

WHITE-EYED VIREO.

  _Muscicapa noveboracensis_, GM. Syst. Nat. I 1788, 947 (_Green
    Flycatcher_, PENNANT, Arctic Zoöl. II, 389). _Vireo noveb._ BON.
    Obs. Wilson, 1825.—AUD.; CASSIN.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 338;
    Rev. 354.—MAX.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1857, 204 (Xalapa); 228 (Vera
    Cruz).—SCLATER & SALVIN, Ibis, II, 1860, 274 (Coban,
    Guat.).—JONES, Nat. Bermuda, 1859, 71 (resident).—CAB. Jour. III,
    469 (Cuba).—GUNDLACH, Cab. Jour. 1861, 324 (Cuba; rare).—SAMUELS,
    Birds N. Eng. 275. _Vireo musicus_, VIEILL. Ois. Am. Sept. I,
    1807, 83, pl. liii. _Muscicapa cantatrix_, WILS. II, 1810, 266,
    pl. xviii.
  Figures: AUD. Orn. Biog. pl. lxiii.—IB. Birds N. A. IV, pl. ccxl.

SP. CHAR. (No. 10,193 ♂, Illinois.) First primary about half the
length of second, which is longer than secondaries, and about equal to
the eighth; the fourth longest; third and fifth little shorter.

Above quite olive-green; sides of neck, and a gloss on its upper
surface, ashy. The middle concealed portion of feathers of lower back
and rump pale sulphur-yellowish. Beneath white; the chin and lower
cheeks with a grayish tinge; the sides of breast and body, with
axillars and base of crissum (more faintly), bright yellow; the inner
wing-coverts and rest of crissum much paler, almost white. A broad
yellow line from nostrils to and continuous with a yellow ring round
the eye, which is encircled exteriorly by olivaceous; a dusky loral,
but no post-ocular spot. Wings with two covert-bands and innermost
secondaries externally, broadly yellowish-white; rest of quills edged
externally with olive, except the two outer and tips of other
primaries, which are grayish. Rectrices edged externally with olive,
except outermost, which is bordered by grayish. All the long quills
bordered internally by whitish. Bill blue-black, paler on the edges;
legs dark plumbeous. Iris white. Total length, 4.90; wing, 2.40; tail,
2.20.

HAB. United States, west to base of Rocky Mountains; south to
Guatemala; Bogota? Very rare in Cuba. Abundant and resident in the
Bermudas.

Specimens vary slightly in a greater amount of ashy on the head, and
less brilliancy of the yellow of head and sides. Sometimes there is a
decided ashy shade in the white of throat and jugulum, which again has
a very faint tinge of yellowish.

HABITS. The White-eyed Vireo is one of the most common and one of the
most widely diffused of its genus in all parts of the United States
east of the Rocky Mountains. It apparently breeds in all parts of the
Union, from Texas and the Indian Territory on the southwest to Iowa
and Wisconsin, and as far to the northeast as Massachusetts. In the
last-named State it becomes exceedingly rare, and beyond it is
apparently not found, none having been met with either by Messrs.
Verrill or Boardman in any part of Maine. In Western Massachusetts it
was not found by Mr. Allen, though it occurs in the eastern part,
along the coast. Mr. Dresser found it common in Western Texas, many
remaining there to breed, and Dr. Woodhouse also found it abundant in
Texas, New Mexico, and the Indian Territory, where it frequented the
thickets bordering on the streams. It breeds abundantly in the
Northwest States of Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin. It also breeds in
the islands of Bermuda.

In the winter months this species retires to the more southern States,
and to Mexico and Central and South America, though Sumichrast does
not give it as occurring in the Department of Vera Cruz. Nuttall found
it in South Carolina in the middle of January, and Wilson met with
them in full song in Georgia in February. The fact that it was seven
weeks after this before they made their appearance in Pennsylvania is
given by that writer as evidence of the gradual progression made by
this species in its movements northward, regulated by the development
of the season. Audubon, however, states the first of March as about
the time of its first appearance in Louisiana. He also mentions that
this species is a constant resident in the Floridas during winter, and
also in the lower portions of Alabama and Georgia. A large number also
pass farther south, as is shown by the abundance of the arrivals in
early spring on the coast of Texas. Mr. Audubon states also that
Townsend met with them on the Columbia River, and that he himself
found them along the coast in Maine, Nova Scotia, and Labrador. This,
however, I am inclined to consider a misstatement, as they have not
since been detected either west of Dakota or north of the 42d
parallel.

This Vireo is one of the most conspicuous singers of this family. Its
songs are more earnest and louder than those of any of our Eastern
species, and exhibit the greatest variations, beginning in the earlier
part of the season with a simple low whistle, but changing in May into
a very quaint and peculiar succession of irregular notes. Some of
these are very softly and sweetly whistled, while others are uttered
with a vehemence and shrillness that seem hardly possible in so small
a bird.

This is an unsuspecting and familiar bird, permitting a near approach,
and when whistled to will often stop and eye you with marked
curiosity, and even approach a little nearer, as if to obtain a better
view, entirely unconscious of any danger. This is not so, however,
when they have a nest. On this occasion they exhibit great uneasiness
when their nest is visited, approaching very near to the intruder,
looking down upon him with marked expressions of uneasiness, and
scolding all the while with great earnestness, and with a hoarse
mewing that is very peculiar. This display is continued even after the
fledglings are full grown and able to take care of themselves.

The food of this species in early summer is almost exclusively small
insects, which it gleans with great assiduity. In Eastern
Massachusetts, like all its kindred, it feeds eagerly upon the young
larvæ of the destructive canker-worm, and doubtless, in the wilder
portions of the country, is of considerable service in restricting the
increase of this scourge.

The White-eyed Vireo may usually be found in wild, swampy, open
grounds, near the edges of woods, and where there are small thickets
of smilax and other briers and wild vines, in the midst of which it
often builds its pensile nest. These nests are rarely, if ever, more
than three or four feet from the ground. Two nests of this bird, one
from Neosho Falls, Kansas, the other from Lynn, Mass., may be taken as
characteristic of the species. They are almost exactly hemispherical
in shape, their height and diameter being the same,—three inches. They
were suspended from low bushes, hanging from the extreme ends of the
twigs, among which the nests were fastened by fine impacted masses of
wood-mosses, which are very nicely and elaborately interwoven with the
lower portions of the outer covering of the nest. The latter is
composed of a singular medley of various materials, among which may be
noticed broken fragments of dry leaves, bits of decayed wood and bark,
coarse blades of grass, various vegetable fibres, lichens, fragments
of insects, mosses, straws, stems, etc. These are all wrapped round
and firmly bound together with strong hempen fibres of vegetables.
Within this outer envelope is an inner nest, made of the finer stems
of grasses and dry needles of the white pine, firmly interwoven. For
the size of the bird, these nests are proportionally larger and deeper
than any others of the common kinds. The cavity is two or two and a
half inches deep.

The eggs are usually five in number. One from Georgia measures .77 by
.55 of an inch, and is of an oblong-oval shape; another, from
Massachusetts, is much more broadly ovate, measuring .80 by .62. Their
greatest breadth is .65 of an inch, and their length .80. They have a
clear crystal-white ground, spotted about the larger end with fine
dark-purple and reddish-brown dots.

This species is one of the most common foster-parents of the Cowbird,
the eggs of which are always tenderly cared for, and the offspring
nurtured by them, always to the destruction of their own nestlings.


Vireo huttoni, CASSIN.

HUTTON’S VIREO.

  _Vireo huttoni_, CASSIN, Pr. A. N. Sc. Phila. 1851, 150 (Monterey,
    Cal.).—IB. 1852, pl. i, fig. 1.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 339, pl.
    lxxviii, fig. 2; Rev. 357.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1858, 302 (Oaxaca);
    1862, 19 (La Parada).—IB. Catal. 1861, 358, no. 256.—COOPER, Orn.
    Cal. 1, 1870, 121.

SP. CHAR. (No. 3,725.) First quill rather less than half second, which
about equals the tenth; third a little longer than seventh; fourth and
fifth nearly equal, and longest. Tail slightly rounded, shorter than
wings. Bill very small.

  [Line drawing: _Vireo huttoni._
                  3725]

Above olive-green; brightest behind, especially on rump and edging of
tail, duller and more ashy towards and on top and sides of head and
neck. Wings with two bands on coverts, and outer edges of innermost
secondaries rather broadly olivaceous-white; other quills edged
externally with olive-green, paler towards outer primary; internally
with whitish. Lateral tail-feather edged externally with
yellowish-white. Feathers of rump with much concealed yellowish-gray.

Under parts pale olivaceous-yellowish; purest behind, lightest on the
throat and abdomen; the breast more olivaceous, the sides still deeper
olive-green, the breast soiled with a slight buffy tinge. Axillars and
crissum yellowish; the inside of wings whitish. Loral region and a
narrow space around eye dull-yellowish, in faint contrast to the olive
of head. Bill horn-color above, paler below; legs dusky.

Total length, 4.70; wing, 2.40; tail, 2.05; difference between tenth
and longest quills, .43; exposed portion of first primary, .72, of
second, 1.52, of longest, fourth, and fifth (measured from exposed
base of first primary), 1.90; length of bill from forehead, .45, from
nostril, .29, along gape, .60; tarsus, .72; middle toe and claw, .50,
claw alone, .16; hind toe and claw, .45, claw alone, .22.

HAB. California and Western Mexico, to Oaxaca; La Parada (SCL.);
Orizaba (alpine region, resident, SUMICHR.).

The description just given is based upon the type specimen, probably
in winter plumage. Spring specimens do not vary materially except in
greater purity of white edgings of the feathers. Two Mexican specimens
are rather larger, the wing measuring 2.50, the tail 2.30. No other
differences are appreciable. In general the first primary is about
half the second, sometimes rather less.

This species is readily distinguished from other Vireos, excepting _V.
modestus_, which it greatly resembles in the small bill, form,
coloration, and size; nor indeed is it easy to separate them. In
_modestus_, however, the first quill is usually more than half the
second, not less; the wing shorter, and less pointed; the tail longer.
The upper parts are more uniform, not much brighter towards rump.

HABITS. This species is one of comparatively recent origin, and of its
history but little is as yet known. It was first described by Cassin,
in 1851, from a specimen obtained in Monterey, Cal. It has been found
in various parts of California, in the valley of the Gila, and in the
northern and eastern portions of Mexico. Mr. Sumichrast gives it as a
resident of the alpine region of the Department of Vera Cruz.

Dr. Cooper has observed this bird near San Diego, late in February,
where he at first mistook it for the Ruby-crowned Wren, a bird that
winters there in abundance, and which he states resembles this species
closely in appearance and habits. Two of them came to within a few
feet of where he sat, scolding in a harsh tone. He recognized then
their larger size and different plumage, as well as their remarkably
large eyes, and a peculiar slowness and deliberation in their
movements as they searched the foliage for insects.

Dr. Cooper has since found them wintering plentifully up to latitude
38°. Having observed but few of them in the Coast Range, in May, he
thinks that most of them go farther north in summer. At San Diego,
however, he shot a female, on the 9th of March, containing an egg
nearly ready to be laid. He had not been able to find the nest, which
is presumed to be built in the dense shade of the evergreen oaks
(_Quercus agrifolia_). Their song is said to consist of a few short
and quaint notes. Among the memoranda of Mr. Xantus, made at Fort
Tejon, I find the following: (No. 1,827.) Nest and eggs of _Vireo
huttoni_, found May 8, one foot from the ground, under high trees,
suspended from three high stems of weeds, fastened to them, but very
loosely put together. The eggs had been incubated. He furnished no
further description of nest or eggs.


Vireo belli, AUD.

BELL’S VIREO.

  _Vireo belli_, AUD. Birds Am. VII, 1844, 333, pl. cccclxxxv (Missouri
    River).—CASSIN, Pr. A. N. Sc. Phila. 1851, 150.—BAIRD, Birds N.
    Am. 1858, 337; Rev. 358.—SCLATER, Catal. 1861, 42, no. 258.—BON.
    Consp. 1850, 330.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 123.

  [Line drawing: _Vireo belli._
                  1926]

SP. CHAR. (No. 1,926.) Above olive-green, brightest on the rump;
tinged anteriorly with ashy; the top and sides of head ashy, in faint
contrast. A line from nostrils to eye (scarcely beyond it), and
eyelids very pale yellowish-white; lores dusky. Under parts, including
inner wing-coverts, and edge of wing, creamy-white; the sides,
axillars, and crissum pale yellow (sides of lower neck and of breast
glossed with olivaceous, faintest on the longer feathers of the
latter). Two rather narrow bands on the wing-coverts, and the outer
edges of innermost secondaries white; the other quills edged with
faded olivaceous. Inner edges of quills whitish. Tail-feathers brown,
edged externally with olive; internally fading into paler brown.
Median portion of rump feathers concealed with pale yellowish. Bill
horn-color above, pale below. Legs plumbeous. “Iris brown.”

First quill spurious; not quite half the second, which is about equal
to the eighth; third and fourth quills longest; fifth scarcely
shorter. Tail nearly even, or a little rounded, the feathers narrow.

Total length, 4.20; wing, 2.18; tail, 1.90; tarsus, .75.

HAB. United States, from Missouri River to base of Rocky Mountains;
Tehuantepec, Mexico (October, SUMICHRAST); Missouri (HOY); Iowa
(ALLEN); Southeast Illinois (RIDGWAY).

The above description is taken from a type specimen received from Mr.
Audubon, and represents the average spring plumage. Autumnal skins are
rather brighter, and there is occasionally an ochraceous tinge on the
white of the under parts.

This species at first sight appears like a miniature of _V. gilvus_,
the head being almost exactly similar. The back is, however, much
brighter olive, the sides and crissum deeper yellow. The superciliary
light stripe is shorter. The white markings of the wings are wanting
in _gilvus_. The wing, tail, and feet are entirely different in their
proportions.

HABITS. This species was first procured by Mr. Audubon’s party in the
excursion to the Yellowstone River, in what is now known as Dakota
Territory. In his account of it Mr. Audubon states that it is usually
found in the bottom-lands along the shores of the Upper Missouri
River, from the neighborhood of the Black Snake Hills, as far as they
ascended that river. In its habits he describes it as more nearly
allied to the White-eyed Vireo than any other.

Dr. Woodhouse, in his report of the Zuñi River Expedition, mentions
finding this species abundant in Texas. Mr. Dresser also speaks of it
as not uncommon, during the summer, near San Antonio, and remaining
there to breed. He mentions finding a nest on the 2d of July in a
_wesatche_ bush near the San Pedro, containing three eggs of this
species and one of the Cow-Bunting. Being anxious to procure the
parent bird he left it, but on his return the nest had been torn and
the Vireo’s eggs smashed. Dr. Heermann found a nest on the Medina
about the same time. He describes this nest as beautifully formed of
fine grasses, and hung from the small twigs of a tree. The eggs, four
in number, were very small, white, with an occasional reddish dot at
the larger end. The nest found by Dr. Heermann was attached to the
pendent twigs of a willow. The stomachs of these Vireos were found to
contain small green caterpillars.

Dr. Coues met with this species near Fort Riley, May 23. It appeared
to be quite common, and was found inhabiting thickets and clumps of
bushes, like _V. noveboracensis_, but having a very different song,
the peculiarity of which first attracted his attention. Mr. Ridgway
found it to be a common summer resident in the thickets and copses of
Southern Illinois, especially in the prairie districts. He first met
with it on the 8th of June, 1871, on Fox Prairie, in Richland County.
His attention was drawn to it by its peculiar song, which has a
general resemblance to that of the White-eyed Vireo, having the same
odd delivery, but being more sputtering, reminding one somewhat of the
song of _Troglodytes ædon_.

This Vireo appears to have quite an extended distribution during the
breeding-season, or from Texas to the Upper Missouri, and even as far
as the eastern edge of Southern Illinois. It breeds also as far to the
east as Eastern Kansas. Its western limits are not so clearly defined.
It was not found by Mr. Ridgway in Nevada or Utah, nor by Dr. Coues in
Arizona.

A nest of this species, found in June, near Neosho Falls, Kansas, by
Mr. B. F. Goss (S. I. Coll., 1,875), is pensile; suspended from two
small twigs, which make the basis of three fourths of its rim. Over
these is strongly bound a finely felted webbing of the flax-like
fibres of plants, interwoven with slender stems. With these are
connected and interwoven also the materials that make up the periphery
of the nest itself. This is composed of long and slender strips of
bark, fragments of dry leaves, bits of wood, and various other
fragmentary substances. The nest, unlike others of this family, is
lined with down, and the fine long hair of some animals, instead of
with vegetable stems. The diameter as well as the height of this nest
is about two and a half inches.

Another nest from West Texas, obtained by Captain Pope, is essentially
different in its general characteristics. It is three inches in
diameter, and but one inch and three quarters high. The opening is
circular, but only one and a half inches wide. Below the rim the
cavity widens until it is two and a half inches in diameter. The outer
nest is made up of an interweaving of fine strips of bark and dry
leaves, intermixed with and firmly bound around by strong flax-like
fibres of different plants. Within, it is lined with fine flexible
grasses and stems of plants.

The eggs of this species are from .73 to .76 of an inch in length, and
from .52 to .56 in breadth. They are pure white, sparingly spotted
with fine red dots distributed around the larger end.


Vireo pusillus, COUES.

LEAST VIREO.

  _Vireo pusillus_, COUES, Pr. A. N. Sc. Phila. 1866.—BAIRD, Rev. Am.
    B. 360.—ELLIOT, Illust. Birds N. A. I, vii.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1,
    1870, 124. _? Vireo belli_, COOPER, Pr. Cal. Acad. 1861, 122 (Fort
    Mohave).

  [Line drawing: _Vireo pusillus._
                  31893]

SP. CHAR. Somewhat similar in general appearance to _Vireosylvia
gilva_ and _swainsoni_, but smaller. Bill very small; tarsi
lengthened. Wings about equal to the tail, which is lengthened,
graduated, and with the feathers narrow and pointed. Exposed part of
first primary about half that of the second, which is intermediate
between seventh and eighth; the fourth and fifth longest.

Above grayish-ash, with a tinge of olive behind. Beneath, including
the inside of the wings, white, with a soiled tinge on the sides of
the throat and across the breast. Axillars and flanks exhibiting a
faint trace of greenish-yellow. Eyelids and a short line from the
nostrils to the eye whitish; no other stripe apparent. A dusky loral
spot. Primary coverts edged indistinctly with whitish, producing an
obscure band (a second on the middle coverts hardly appreciable).
Quills and tail-feathers edged externally with pale grayish-olive, the
innermost secondaries with whitish. Bill dusky above, whitish beneath.
Legs plumbeous. Iris of two specimens marked as “light brown,” of
another as “rufous.”

The details of structure taken from No. 23,785, of color from No.
23,788: Length, of 23,785 ♂, 4.80 when fresh, of skin, 4.25; wing,
2.25; tail, 2.25; bill above, .37; tarsus, .73; middle toe and claw,
.50; hind toe and claw, .42. First quill, .70; second, 1.40; longest
(fifth), 1.64. (Cape St. Lucas.)

HAB. Cape St. Lucas; San Diego; Fort Mohave, and Arizona; Sacramento,
California (RIDGWAY).

This species scarcely needs comparison with any other, except,
perhaps, _V. pallens_ of Middle America, which, however, besides
belonging to _Vireonella_, and not _Vireo_, as restricted, differs in
many minor, but no less essential points. The coloration of the two is
remarkably similar, but _pusillus_ has only one indistinct band on the
wing, instead of two sharply defined ones. The bill is much smaller,
and the tail longer, than in _pallens_. _V. belli_ is less ashy above
and less pure white beneath, the sides much more yellowish; the wing
is also longer, and the tail much shorter. _V. vicinior_ is much
larger, with the wing longer than the tail, instead of shorter; the
ash above has a bluish instead of a greenish cast; the lores are
wholly grayish-white, etc.

HABITS. The Least Vireo is a recently described species of its genus,
and one in regard to whose history comparatively little has been
ascertained. It was first met with at Cape St. Lucas by Mr. Xantus,
and described by Dr. Coues in 1866. Dr. Coues assigns as its habitat
Lower and Southern California, Sonora, and Arizona, at least as far
north as Fort Whipple. Dr. Cooper also found it at Fort Mohave. Dr.
Coues met with it fifty miles south of Fort Whipple, where he found it
breeding abundantly. He gives no information in regard to its habits.
Dr. Cooper states that he found it rather common along the upper part
of Mohave River, in June, 1861; and in the following spring, about
April 20, they began to arrive at San Diego in considerable numbers.
In its habits Dr. Cooper thinks it greatly resembles _V. gilvus_,
though it differs entirely in its song. The notes of those that he
heard singing resembled very much those of the Polioptilas uttering a
quaint mixture of the notes of the Wrens, Swallows, and Vireos. They
also seem to possess more or less of imitative powers. At Sacramento
he saw and heard, in the willows along the river, individuals which,
from their peculiar notes, he had no doubt were of this species, but
he did not verify his conjectures. His suppositions were confirmed
later by the observations of Mr. Ridgway, who states that he found
these birds the most abundant as well as the most characteristic
Greenlet in the vicinity of Sacramento. It is a species, he adds,
easily recognized, being in all respects quite distinct from any
other. The character of its notes, as well as its habits, show it to
be a true Vireo. Its song, though weaker, bears a great resemblance to
that of the White-eyed. A nest of this species was found by him near
Sacramento. It was placed about three feet from the ground, in a low
bush in a copse of willows. Like all the nests of this genus it was
pensile, being attached to and suspended from the twigs of a branch.

Two nests of this interesting species were also obtained near Camp
Grant, Arizona, in 1867, by Dr. E. Palmer. They are wrought like all
the nests of this kind, below the small forked branches of a tree,
suspended from the extremity of its twigs. They each have a diameter
of about three and a half inches, a height of two, with a cavity an
inch and a half deep and two wide. The external portion, like the
nests of the _V. belli_, is wrought with woven hemp-like vegetable
fibres, strongly bound around the ends of the twigs and covering the
entire exterior. Within this is placed a strong, firmly made basket,
composed of slender strips of bark and long, fine, and flexible
pine-needles, with a lining of finer materials of the same. In one of
these nests there were three eggs of the Vireo, and one of a
_Molothrus_ (_obscurus?_). The former were of a bright crystalline
whiteness, marked with very minute and hardly discernible spots of
red, and measure .69 by .56 of an inch. The egg of the _Molothrus_,
except in its much smaller size, is hardly distinguishable from those
of the common _M. pecoris_, and measures .75 by .56 of an inch.

In the other nest were also three eggs of the Vireo. They correspond
in size, but are much more distinctly marked with larger spots of a
dark red and reddish-brown. In this nest there is a somewhat larger
proportion of fine strips of inner bark, and mixed with these are also
a few silky insect cocoons, by means of which the nest is firmly bound
around the twigs from which the whole is suspended.


Vireo vicinior, COUES.

ARIZONA VIREO.

  _Vireo vicinior_, COUES, Pr. A. N. Sc. Phila. 1866.—BAIRD, Rev. Am.
    B. 361.—ELLIOT, Illust. Birds N. A. I, vii.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1,
    1870, 125.

  [Line drawing: _Vireo vicinior._
                  40697]

SP. CHAR. (No. 40,697 ♂.) Bill stout, considerably compressed and
deep. Wings moderately pointed, about equal to tail, which is
decidedly graduated; first quill rather more than half the second,
which about equals ninth and the secondaries; the fourth and fifth
longest. Tarsus considerably longer than middle toe and claw; lateral
toes quite conspicuous for their disproportion, the inner claw
reaching only to base of outer, and falling short of base of middle;
the terminal digit of inner toe reaching only to end of second joint
of middle toe.

Upper parts, with sides of head and neck, ashy or light plumbeous,
faintly olivaceous on rump. Beneath white; slightly ashy on sides of
breast. Flanks and inside of wings showing a faint trace of yellow,
only appreciable on raising the wings. An obsolete line from bill to
eye, and a more distinct ring round the eye, white. No bands on the
wing, except a faint edging of whitish on the greater coverts; the
quills edged internally with white. Bill and legs plumbeous. “Iris
brown. Mouth livid, bluish-white.” (COUES.)

Fresh specimen: Total length, 5.60; expanse of wings, 8.60. Prepared
specimen: Total length, 5.10; wing, 2.50; tail, 2.60, its graduation,
.22; difference of tenth and longest quills, .40; exposed portion of
first primary, .85, of second, 1.65, of longest (measured from exposed
base of first primary), 1.95; length of bill from forehead, .50, from
nostril, .32, along gape, .61; depth of bill, .18; tarsus, .72; middle
toe and claw, .51, claw alone, .16; hind toe and claw, .40, claw
alone, .19.

HAB. Prescott, Arizona.

This species might at first sight be taken for a small specimen of _V.
plumbeus_, the colors, character of bill, etc., being very similar,
except that the white of lores and around eye is much less distinct,
the lore without any blackish before the eye, and there is only one
faint band on wing, instead of two conspicuous ones; the
tail-feathers, too, lack the distinct white edgings. The much more
rounded wing, and the first primary half the second or more, will,
however, readily distinguish them. The form of the bird is very much
that of _V. pusillus_, which it resembles considerably also in color.
The outer quill is, however, longer, the bill deeper and more
compressed, the inner lateral toe considerably shorter, and the size
larger. The colors are purer, without the olive of the back or the
yellowish of the under parts; the bill, too, is entirely dark
plumbeous, instead of horn-color, whitish beneath. From _V. pallens_
it is distinguished by a smaller, darker bill; longer tail and wing;
one wing-band, not two; and purer colors.

HABITS. In regard to the habits of this well-marked but very rare
species but little is as yet known. It was first described, in 1866,
by Dr. Coues, from a single specimen obtained by him near Fort
Whipple, Arizona. It was shot May 4, 1865, and is supposed by Dr.
Coues to be a summer resident of Arizona wintering in the Gila and the
Lower Colorado Valleys, or in Sonora.




FAMILY AMPELIDÆ.—THE CHATTERERS.

The characteristics of the _Ampelidæ_ have already been presented in
the synopsis of allied families; chief among them, the short, broad,
depressed, and triangular bill with short gonys, the deeply cleft
mouth, the short tarsus, and the tendency to subdivision of its
lateral plates.

The South American genus, _Dulus_, probably forms the type of a
subfamily _Dulinæ_, characterized by the much arched gape of mouth,
the metatarsal scutellæ in two series, and the body streaked beneath,
as in young _Ampelis_. The two other subfamilies may be defined as
follows:—

Subfamilies.

COMMON CHARACTERS. Grape of mouth nearly straight. Metatarsal
scutellæ in three series. Body plain beneath.

  Ampelinæ. Wings very long and much pointed, longer than the
  short, even tail. First primary excessively rudimentary; the
  outermost about the longest. Gape without bristles. Frontal
  feathers extending forward beyond the nostrils.

  Ptilogonatinæ. Horny appendages like red sealing-wax at end
  of shaft of secondaries. Wings rounded, shorter than the
  graduated tail. First primary nearly half the second. Gape well
  bristled. Frontal feathers falling short of the nostrils. No
  red horny appendage to wing-feathers.


SUBFAMILY AMPELINÆ.

CHAR. Legs moderate. Nostrils elongated, linear, with the frontal
feathers extending close to the edge and to anterior extremity,
concealing them; these feathers short, velvety, and erect, with few
bristles. Wings very long and acute; outer or first primary so much
reduced as to be almost inappreciable; the second nearly the longest.
Wing nearly twice the length of the short, narrow, even tail. Under
coverts of tail reaching almost to its tip. Secondary quills with flat
horny appendages at end of shaft like red sealing-wax. Young birds
streaked beneath as in _Dulus_. Adults plain.

Of this family as restricted, we have but a single genus in America.


GENUS AMPELIS, LINN.

  _Ampelis_, LINN. Syst. Nat. 12th ed. I, 1766, 297. (Type, _Lanius
    garrulus_, L. Named Linnæus in 1735.)

GEN. CHAR. Tail even. Tertials and secondaries with horny appendages
like red sealing-wax. A well-developed soft crest.

A more elaborate diagnosis of this genus could be readily given (see
Rev. Am. Birds, 404), but the above characters, as entirely peculiar,
will serve to establish it.


Species.

COMMON CHARACTERS. A lengthened crest of soft blended feathers.
Colors, soft silky brownish becoming more vinaceous anteriorly,
and ashy posteriorly above. A black stripe on side of head, from
nasal feathers across lores through the eye and behind it beneath
crest, and a patch of the same on chin, with a white streak
between them, on side of lower jaw.

  A. Wing variegated. Lower tail-coverts rufous. Crest much
  developed. Forehead and side of head bright purplish-rufous.
  Black patch covering whole throat, and sharply defined. No
  white line between black of lore, etc., and brown of forehead.
  Inner webs of primaries tipped narrowly with white.

    _a._ Terminal band of tail red.

      A. phœnicopterum.[79] Greater coverts tipped with red,
      producing a band across the wing. No yellow on tips of
      primaries. _Hab._ Japan and Eastern Siberia.

    _b._ Terminal band of tail yellow.

      A. garrulus. Secondaries and primary coverts tipped with
      white, forming two broad short bands. Primaries with outer
      webs tipped with yellow. _Hab._ Arctic regions of both
      hemispheres; in winter south into northern United States,
      and along Rocky Mountains as far as Fort Massachusetts, New
      Mexico.

  B. Wings unvariegated. Lower tail-coverts white. Crest
  moderately developed. Forehead, etc., not different from crest.
  Chin only black, this fading gradually into the brown of
  throat. A white line between black of lore, etc., and brown of
  forehead. Inner webs of primaries not tipped with white.

    _a._ Terminal band of tail yellow.

      A. cedrorum. Wing bluish-ashy. _Hab._ Whole of North
      America, from 52° N., south (in winter?) to Guatemala;
      Jamaica and Cuba in winter.


Ampelis garrulus, LINN.

NORTHERN WAXWING; BOHEMIAN CHATTERER.

  _Lanius garrulus_, LINN. “Fauna Suecica 2, no. 82.”—IB. Syst. Nat.
    10th ed. 1758, 95. _Ampelis garrulus_, LINN. Syst. Nat. 12th ed.
    1766, 297 (Europe).—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 317; Rev.
    405.—BOARDMAN, Pr. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist. IX, 1862, 126 (Calais,
    Me.).—COOPER, Pr. Cal. Acad. II, 1861 (1863), 122 (Fort Mohave,
    Ar.). _Bombycilla garrula_, BON. Zoöl. Jour. III, 1827,
    50.—RICH.—AUD. Orn. Biog. IV, 462, pl. ccclxiii.—IB. Birds Am. IV,
    169, pl. ccxlvi.—MAYNARD, B. E. Mass., 107.—DALL & BANNISTER, 280
    (Alaska).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 127.—SAMUELS, Birds N. Eng.
    264. _Bombycilla garrula_, KEYS. & BLAS. Wirb. Europas, 1840,
    167.—DEGLAND, Ornith. Europ. I, 1849, 349 (European).—WOLLEY, Pr.
    Z. S. 1857, 55 (nest and eggs).—NEWTON, Ibis, 1861, 92, pl. iv
    (nesting).—NORDMANN, Cab. Jour. VI, 1858, 307, and VII, 1859, pl.
    i (nesting). (European.)
  Other figures: BON. Am. Orn. III, pl. xvi.

  [Illustration: PLATE XVIII.

  1. Ampelis garrulus, _Linn._ ♂ Montana, 11055.
  2.    “    cedrorum, _Vieill._ ♂ H. B. T., 42622.
  3. Phænopepla nitens, _Swains._ ♂ Cal., 8275.
  4.     “        “          “         ♀.
  5. Myiadestes townsendi, _Aud._ ♂ Cal., 16168.
  6.     “          “          “  _juv._, N. T., 21444.]

SP. CHAR. Crest lengthened. Body generally soft, silky brownish-ashy,
with a purplish cast, the wing-coverts and scapulars more brownish,
becoming more reddish anteriorly and ashy posteriorly; the rump and
upper tail-coverts, as well as the secondaries, being nearly pure ash.
Anteriorly the color passes gradually into deep vinaceous-chestnut on
the forehead to behind the eye and on the cheeks; abdomen
yellowish-white. Lower tail-coverts deep chestnut. A stripe on side of
the head, covering the lores and nasal feathers (scarcely meeting
across the forehead), involving the eye and continued back toward the
occiput and beneath the crest, with a large patch covering the chin
and throat, deep black; a narrow crescent on lower eyelid, and a short
stripe between the black of the throat and that of the chin at the
base of the lower mandible, two very broad bars on the wing, one
across ends of primary coverts, and the other across ends of
secondaries (the first occupying both webs, and the latter the outer),
white. Primary coverts, primaries, and tail slaty-black, the latter
growing gradually ashy basally. A broad band across end of tail, and a
longitudinal space along end of outer web of primaries,
gamboge-yellow,—the marks on primaries, however, sometimes white, only
stained with yellow. Each of the secondaries with an expanded
continuation of the shaft, in form of flattened, very thin, somewhat
elliptical appendages, of a bright vermilion-red resembling red
sealing-wax. _Male_ with the white of outer web of primaries continued
around end of inner webs also. _Female_ without white on terminal edge
of inner webs of primaries, and with the “sealing-wax” appendages
smaller. _Young_ not seen. Length, 7.40; wing, 4.50; tail, 3.00.

  [Line drawing: _Ampelis garrula._
                  19221]

HAB. Northern parts of Europe, America, and Asia. In America not
hitherto found in the Pacific Province. In winter extending along the
Rocky Mountains and the Plains as far south as Fort Massachusetts and
Fort Riley; regular visitor to shores of Lake Michigan and Lake Erie.
East of this rarely seen along the United States border. Fort Mohave
(???) (COOPER).

The specimen seen by Dr. Cooper, at Fort Mohave, if really of this
species, fixes the most western locality on record.

For many years authentic eggs of the Bohemian Chatterer were greatly
sought after, but it was not until 1856 that any were brought to the
notice of the scientific world, when the late Mr. H. Wolley discovered
them in Lapland. Early duplicates from his collection were sold at
five guineas each, and although a good many have since been obtained,
they are yet considered as great prizes. A nest, with its eggs, of
those collected by Mr. Wolley, has been presented to the Smithsonian
Institution by Mr. Alfred Newton. The only instances on record of
their discovery in America are of a nest and one egg by Mr. Kennicott,
on the Yukon, in 1861, and a nest and single egg on the Anderson
River, by Mr. MacFarlane, both of which, with the female parents, are
in the possession of the Institution. Although there is frequently
considerable difference between individuals, there appears to be no
difference between those from the two continents.

HABITS. The Waxwing is, in many respects, one of the most interesting
and remarkable of the birds of North America. The roving character of
its life, the mystery, still only imperfectly solved, of its habits
and residence during its breeding-season, and its somewhat
cosmopolitan residence in Europe, Asia, and America, impart to it an
interest that attaches to but few other species. Though not common in
any portions of the United States, and only appearing at all during
midwinter, yet in the more northern States, in which it is
occasionally found, it moves in such large flocks, and is so
noticeable and conspicuous a bird, that it never fails to make a
lasting impression, and hardly seems to us so very rare as it
undoubtedly is.

In a single instance, in midwinter, somewhere about 1844, during a
severe snow-storm, a large flock of these birds made their appearance
in Boston, and alighted on a large horse-chestnut tree that stood in
an open and retired place. There were at least twenty or thirty in the
flock; they remained in their shelter undisturbed for some time, and
their true specific character was plainly noticeable.

Several specimens were procured near Worcester, Mass., and given to
Dr. Bryant. Eleven individuals of this species were shot in Bolton by
Mr. S. Jillson, January, 1864, and others have since been noticed in
Watertown by Mr. William Brewster. They have also been obtained near
Hartford, Conn., by Dr. Wood.

Prior to this, as Mr. Audubon states, specimens had been procured near
Philadelphia, and in the winters of 1830 and 1832 several of these
birds were also shot on Long Island.

Mr. Boardman mentions that they are occasional, in winter, near
Calais; and Professor Verrill, who did not meet with it in Norway,
Me., cites it as accidental and rare in the State.

It is not common in the Arctic regions. Specimens of the bird were
obtained on Anderson River, in 1862, by Mr. MacFarlane, but he was not
able to find the nest. At Fort Yukon, July 4, Mr. Kennicott met with
the nest of this species. The nest, which contained but one egg, was
about eighteen feet from the ground, and was built on a side branch of
a small spruce that was growing at the outer edge of a clump of thick
spruces, on low ground. The nest was large, the base being made of
small, dry spruce twigs. Internally it was constructed of fine grass
and moose-hair, and lined thickly with large feathers. The female was
shot, as she rose from her nest, by Mr. Kennicott’s hunter, who had
concealed himself near the spot for that purpose. Mr. Kennicott had
seen the nest and both parents near it before it was taken, and had
thoroughly satisfied himself as to its complete identification.

Ross speaks of them as not rare throughout the district in which they
winter, but yet not numerous. He adds that at Great Bear Lake they are
very plentiful, and that they are reported to nest there. Mr. Dall
states that they were quite common at Nulato, where they did not
arrive before June 10, or later. He obtained a number of skins from
the Indians, taken in his absence. He adds that it breeds, and its
eggs have been obtained at Fort Yukon.

Except in a few instances, where Dr. Cooper noticed this species, in
September, at Fort Laramie, and also when he obtained an individual on
the Colorado, none of these birds have been seen west of the Rocky
Mountains. The bird obtained by Dr. Cooper was, in his opinion, a
straggler from some neighboring mountain. It made its appearance
January 10, after a period of stormy weather, and was shot while
feeding on the berries of the mistletoe.

This bird was first noticed in America, in the spring of 1826, near
the sources of the Athabasca River, by Mr. Drummond, and in the same
season by Sir John Richardson, at Great Bear Lake, latitude 65°. In
the latter region he states that they appeared in flocks about the
24th of May. At that time the spring thaw had exposed the berries of
the _Arbutus_ and the _Vaccinium_, that had been covered during the
winter. It stayed only a few days, and none of the Indians knew where
it bred, or had ever seen its nest. Afterwards, early in May, 1827,
Sir John Richardson saw a large flock of three or four hundred
individuals at Carlton House, on the Saskatchewan. They all alighted
in a grove of poplars, on one or two trees, making a loud twittering
noise. They stayed only about an hour in the morning, and were too shy
to be approached within gunshot.

In England they have been known to appear as early as August. They are
always shy, and not easily approached. In their activity and incessant
change of position and place, they are said to resemble the Titmice.
They feed on the berries of the mountain-ash, the hawthorn, and the
ivy. They will also feed on insects, catching them as dexterously as
Flycatchers. Their call-note is a single chirp, frequently repeated.

Mr. McCulloch, writing to Mr. Audubon, gives a touching account of the
devotion shown by one of these birds to its wounded mate. The latter
had been so crippled that it was hardly able to move. Its mate
stationed itself on the top of the tree in which it had sought
shelter, and with great vehemence continually uttered the notes
_tzee-tzee_, in alarm and warning, and, when danger approached, flew
against it and urged it on to flight, and stayed to share its fate,
rather than leave its partner.

The nest and eggs of this species remained entirely unknown until the
spring of 1856, when the late Mr. John Wolley, an enthusiastic English
oölogist, first discovered them in Lapland. The season was unusually
backward and cold, and the nests contained their full complement by
the 12th of June. One of the nests, obtained in Finland, June 19, 1861
(S. I., 5,327), contained five eggs. It is of remarkable size in
proportion to that of its builder, measuring eight inches in diameter.
It is flattened in shape, and its cavity, though large, is not deep.
The height of the nest is three and a quarter inches, and the depth of
the base is fully two and a half inches. The cavity is less than an
inch deep, and is four inches in diameter. The base and outer
periphery of this nest are of a coarse interlacing of the small ends
of branches of fir and spruce trees. Within this is built a close,
compact inner nest, chiefly composed of a lichen peculiar to Arctic
regions, called tree-hair, which hangs abundantly from the branches of
trees in northern forests. It resembles a mass of delicate black
rootlets. These are not uncommon ingredients in the nests of northern
birds, especially of European. In America, Arctic nests of the _A.
carolinensis_ are occasionally built of similar materials. With these
lichens are also mingled fragments of dry leaves and soft dark-colored
mosses. The rim of the nest is strongly made, almost exclusively of
these fine dark-colored lichens. This kind of lichen is not always
black, but is often brown, and even whitish. In some of these nests
silvery fibres of grass-leaves are mingled with the lichens, and in
one or two there is a slight lining of feathers.

The Lapland nests were built on the branch of a tree, at a distance
from the trunk, and stood up from it unsupported by the surrounding
twigs, and at the height of from six to twelve feet from the ground.
They were generally much exposed, and were, for the most part, built
in the more open portions of the forests. The general number of the
eggs was five, in one instance it was six.

The nest from the Yukon, obtained by Mr. Kennicott (S. Coll., 6,326),
is smaller, and bears but little resemblance to the European. It is
but five inches in diameter, of irregular shape. In height and cavity
it nearly corresponds. In place of the lichens of the European, this
nest is made of fine grass-stems, strips of bark, and a few feathers.

The eggs of this bird, the gift of Mr. Wolley, measure an inch in
length, and from .70 to .67 of an inch in breadth. Their ground-color
varies from a light slate to a yellowish stone-color. They are marked,
blotched, and dotted with spots of various hues and size. These are
chiefly of a dark purple, at times approaching black. Mingled with
these are markings of a yellowish-brown. Nearly all these spots are
surrounded by a peculiar penumbra, or shading, such as forms so marked
a feature in the eggs of the common Cedar-Bird.

The egg obtained by Kennicott on the Yukon is smaller than the
European specimen, measuring .90 by .65 of an inch. Its ground is more
of a greenish-slate or stone-color, and the spots are of a dark brown,
with a deep violet shading.


Ampelis cedrorum, SCL.

SOUTHERN WAXWING; CEDAR-BIRD.

  _Ampelis garrulus_, var. β, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 297.
    _Bombycilla cedrorum_, VIEILLOT, Ois. Am. Sept. I, 1807, 88, pl.
    lvii.—IB. Galerie Ois. I, 1834, 186, pl. cxviii.—CAB. Jour. IV,
    1856, 3 (Cuba).—GUNDLACH, Cab. Jour. 1861, 328 (Cuba; rare).
    _Ampelis cedrorum_, SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1856, 299 (Cordova); 1858,
    302 (Oaxaca; January); 1859, 364 (Xalapa; Cordova); 1864, 172
    (City of Mexico).—SCLATER & SALVIN, Ibis, 1859, 13
    (Guatemala).—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 318; Rev. 407.—TAYLOR,
    Ibis, 1860, 111 (Honduras).—MARCH, Pr. A. N. Sc. Phila. 1863, 294
    (Jamaica).—LORD, Pr. R. Art. Inst. WOOLWICH, IV, 116 (British
    Columbia; nesting).—COOPER & SUCKLEY, P. R. Rep. XII, II, 187
    (Washington Ter.).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 129.—SAMUELS, Birds
    N. Eng. 265. _Ampelis americana_, WILS. Am. Orn. I, 1808, 107, pl.
    vii. _Bombycilla americana_, JONES, Nat. Bermuda, 1859, 29
    (winter).—RICH. _Bombycilla carolinensis_, BRISSON, Orn. II, 1760,
    337 (not binomial).—AUD. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, 227, pl. xliii.—IB.
    Birds Am. IV, 1842, 165, pl. ccxlv.—WAGLER. _Ampelis
    carolinensis_, GOSSE, Birds Jamaica, 1847, 197 (January).—BON.

SP. CHAR. Crest moderate. General color soft vinaceous-cinnamon,
deepest anteriorly, more olivaceous on back, scapulars and
wing-coverts, passing into pure light ash on the rump and upper
tail-coverts, and into dingy yellow on flanks and abdomen. Lower
tail-coverts white. Whole of the wing posterior to the greater coverts
slaty-ash, almost black along end of inner webs of primaries, the
outer webs of which are narrowly edged with hoary whitish. Tail slate
passing into black terminally, tipped with a broad, sharply defined
band of gamboge-yellow. A broad stripe of intense velvety-black on
side of head, starting from nostril, passing across lore, and
involving the eye, continued from it beneath the crest to the occiput;
chin dull black, blending gradually into the brownish of the throat. A
narrow white line across the forehead and along side of crown, between
brown of crown and black of lore, etc., a narrow crescent on lower
eyelid and a stripe between black of lore and that of the throat,
white. _Male_ with each secondary quill terminated by a bright red
horny appendage to the shaft. _Female_ with these very small and few
in number, or entirely absent. _Young._ In general appearance similar
to the adult female. Colors more grayish, with obsolete concealed
whitish streaks on nape and down back, these stripes becoming very
conspicuous on the sides and flanks and across breast. No black on
chin. Rump grayish-brown; abdomen and flanks dingy whitish. No
appendages to secondaries, and the yellow band across end of tail
narrower than in adult.

HAB. Whole of North America as far north as Lake Winnipeg and Hudson’s
Bay, south branch of Saskatchewan, latitude 52½° (RICHARDSON); south
to Guatemala; Jamaica and Cuba in winter.

A specimen from Guatemala (No. 50,455 ♂) is almost identical with
examples from the United States, but differs in having a small spot of
yellow at the tip of each primary; also there are red appendages on
the tip of a few tail-feathers, as well as the longest feather of the
lower tail-coverts. The colors, generally, are softer, the brown more
purplish, and the ash finer and more bluish, than in a fine spring
male from Washington, D. C.

A specimen (No. 53,396 ♂, Humboldt River, Nevada, September 10, 1868,
C. King, R. Ridgway) from the Middle Province of the United States,
differs considerably from any other in the collection. The colors are
much paler, the anterior portions being almost ochraceous, the whole
abdomen nearly white. The white band across the forehead is very
broad; the extreme point of the chin only black. Whether it is a
representative of a style peculiar to the Great Basin, or merely a
bleached individual, cannot be decided without additional specimens
from the same region.

There is so much variation in different specimens in regard to the red
wax-like appendages, that the Guatemalan specimen mentioned above can
hardly be considered as more than a very highly developed individual.

HABITS. The habits of the common Cedar-Bird are eminently nomadic,
and, so far as those of the Waxwing are known, correspond in all
respects, except in the more general and especially the more southern
distribution of the present species. They are found throughout North
America at least so far as the wooded country extends, and they breed
from Florida to the Red River country. They are a common bird in New
England, and would be much more so but that their fondness for
cherries and other small fruits, and their indifference to danger,
makes them an easy and frequent mark for destruction. Their
unpopularity has caused their numbers to be greatly reduced of late
years in the thickly settled portions of the country.

In Southern Texas Mr. Dresser found these birds very common during the
winter at San Antonio and Eagle Pass, but he observed none later than
the middle of April. They were seen in Tamaulipas, by Lieutenant
Couch, in March, and afterwards in April at New Leon, Mexico.
Sumichrast states that these birds are found everywhere and in great
abundance in winter throughout Vera Cruz. They are there known as the
_Chinito_, and are highly appreciated by the Mexican epicures. They
are equally abundant in northern parts of South America, and also
throughout Central America.

In Washington Territory and in Oregon Dr. Cooper speaks of them as
less common than in the Atlantic States, and he only met with a few,
in single pairs, in the summer. Townsend states that he found them in
Oregon, but Dr. Suckley never met with any west of the Rocky
Mountains.

In California Dr. Cooper has seen small flocks in winter, as far south
as San Diego, feeding on the mistletoe berries. He found their nests
at Fort Vancouver, and has no doubt that they also breed in various
parts of California.

Mr. Robert Kennicott states, among other memoranda of his route, that,
May 31, on an island in Winnipeg River, he saw a large flock of these
birds, numbering fifty or more.

With some irregularity as to their appearance, they are found
throughout the year in New England, their presence being usually
regulated by their food. They are, by preference, eaters of berries
and other vegetable food, except in spring and early summer, when they
eat insects almost exclusively, feeding upon the larvæ of the spanworm
and the canker-worm, and small caterpillars, and supplying these to
their young. They also feed their nestlings with various kinds of
berries and small fruits, both cultivated and wild. They do not nest
until late in June or early in July, and with so much irregularity
that I have found them sitting on their unhatched eggs as late as the
12th of October. They are a greedy bird, feeding voraciously where
they have an opportunity. They are very much attached to each other
and to their offspring. Once, when one had been taken in a net spread
over strawberries, its mate refused to leave it, suffered itself to be
taken by the hand, in its anxiety to free its mate, and when set at
liberty would not leave until its mate had also been released and
permitted to go with it. In the summer of 1870 a nestling, hardly half
fledged, fell from its nest, and was found injured by its fall, taken
into the house, and fed. Whenever exposed in its cage its parents came
about it, and supplied it with cherries and other fruit, unmindful of
the near presence of the family. The young bird lived, and became
perfectly tame, feeding from the hand, and preferring to be fed rather
than feed itself. Besides its low lisping call, this bird had a
regular faint attempt at a song of several low notes, uttered in so
low a tone that it would be almost inaudible at even a short distance.
It became perfectly contented in confinement, and appeared fond of
such members of the family as noticed it.

The noticeable feature of the Cedar-Bird, its crest, it has the power
to erect or depress at will. In confinement it generally keeps this
depressed, only erecting it when excited from any cause, such as
alarm, or desire to receive food.

Wilson states that in Pennsylvania they collect in August in large
flocks and retire to the mountains, feeding on the fruit of the
_Vaccinium uliginosum_, which grows there in great abundance. Later in
the season they descend to the lowlands to feed on the berries of the
sour-gum and the red-cedar. In confinement they are very fond of
apples, bread soaked in milk, and almost any kind of soft food. They
are also very fond of flies, and are expert flycatchers, snapping at
all that venture within the cage.

In their migrations their flight is graceful, easy, and continued, and
is performed at a considerable height.

It is unfortunate for the horticulturist that this bird has done so
much to merit his prejudices and reprobation, and that he does not
appreciate to the full the immense services it renders to him each
spring in the destruction of injurious insects. A flock of these birds
will, in a short space of time, devour an immense number of the larvæ
of the destructive canker-worms (_Phalænæ_) that infest the apples and
elms of Massachusetts, and, if permitted, would soon greatly reduce
their numbers. But these prejudices cannot be softened by their good
deeds, and the Cherry-Bird is still hunted and destroyed.

Their nests are usually constructed late in June or early in July, and
are placed in various positions, sometimes in a low bush or tree not
more than three or four feet from the ground, and rarely more than
twenty. Their nests are large and bulky, but strongly made of various
materials. Generally they build a strong external framework, six or
seven inches in diameter, composed of the ends of twigs, coarse stems
of vegetables, and grasses. Within this they build a compact,
well-made fabric of grasses, grapevine bark, and other finer
substances, lining the whole with leaves and fine root-fibres. The
cavity is large and deep for the bird. The parents are fourteen days
in incubating before the young are hatched out, and all this while are
remarkably silent, hardly uttering a sound, even their faintest
lisping note, when the nest is meddled with, though they evince great
anxiety by their fearless indifference to their own danger.

The eggs, usually five, sometimes six, in number, have a marked
resemblance to those of the Waxwing, but are smaller. Their
ground-color varies from a light slate-color to a deep shade of
stone-color, tinged with olive. These are marked with blotches of a
dark purplish-brown, almost black, lighter shades of a dark purple,
and penumbræ of faint purple, sometimes by themselves or surrounding
and continuing the darker spots. They vary in length from .80 to .88
of an inch, and average about .85. In breadth they are from .60 to .70
of an inch, and in shape they differ also from an oblong-oval to one
of a quite rounded form.

Nests of these birds from the Arctic regions are more elaborately
built and more warmly lined, being often largely made up of the fine
dark-colored lichens that cover the forest trees of those regions.


SUBFAMILY PTILOGONATINÆ.

CHAR. Legs moderate. Nostrils oval, with wide naked membrane above and
to some extent behind them; the frontal feathers not reaching to their
border, and rather soft. Wings graduated, shorter than the somewhat
broad, fan-shaped tail; the first quill nearly half the second. Adults
plain.

Although we find it convenient for the present to retain the genera
_Ptilogonys_ and _Myiadestes_ in the same subfamily, there seems
little doubt that they belong to very different families, the latter
being more properly placed in _Turdidæ_, as shown in Rev. Am. Birds.
It is not necessary that the subject be discussed here, however, and
we merely give the diagnosis of the two groups of which these genera
are the types respectively:—

Ptilogonateæ. Tarsi scutellate anteriorly; not longer than middle
toe and claw.

Myiadesteæ. Tarsi with a continuous plate anteriorly; longer than
middle toe and claw.


SECTION PTILOGONATEÆ.

CHAR. Tarsus stout, shorter, or not longer than the middle toe and
claw; conspicuously scutellate anteriorly, and frequently on one or
other or on both sides; sometimes with a row of small plates behind.
Wings much graduated; the second quill not longer than secondaries.
Outline of lateral tail-feathers parallel or widening from base to
near tip. Tail unvaried, or else inornate at end. Quills without light
patch at base. Head crested. Young birds not spotted. Not conspicuous
for song.

There are two genera of this section having in brief the following
characters:—

  Crest narrow, pointed, its feathers stiff, their webs compact;
  outer primaries broad. Tail rounded …                 _Phænopepla_.

  Crest broad, decumbent, soft, the feathers loose; outer
  primaries attenuated. Tail even or cuneate …          _Ptilogonys_.

The genus _Ptilogonys_ has two species, one Mexican, the other
Costa-Rican, neither coming within the limits of the United States.
The type is _P. cinereus_, SWAINSON (BAIRD, Rev. Am. Birds, 412), a
species of the tablelands of Mexico, which may yet be found within the
southern borders of the United States in New Mexico or Arizona.


GENUS PHÆNOPEPLA, SCLATER.

  _Phænopepla_, SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1858, 543. (Type, _Ptiliogonys
    nitens_, SWAINS.)

GEN. CHAR. Crest narrow, pointed behind. Outer primaries broad, not
attenuated nor pointed at end; the first half the second. Tail
rounded, fan-shaped; feathers very broad, wider towards end. Bill
feeble, rather narrow, well bristled; nostrils somewhat overhung by
frontal feathers. Sexes dissimilar; male black; quills with median
white patch on inner webs; tail not varied.

The single known species is glossy black in the male; the female
brownish-ash.


Phænopepla nitens, SCLATER.

SHINING-CRESTED FLYCATCHER.

  _Ptiliogonys nitens_, SW. An. in Menag. 1838, 285.—BON. Consp. 1850,
    335.—HEERMANN, Jour. A. N. Sc. Phila. II, 1853, 263.—CASSIN, Ill.
    Birds Texas, etc. 1854, 169, pl. xxix. _Cichlopsis nitens_, BAIRD,
    Birds N. Am. 1858, 320, 923. _Phænopepla nitens_, SCLATER, P. Z.
    S. 1858, 543; 1864, 173 (City of Mexico).—BAIRD, Rev. Am. B. 1864,
    416.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 131. “_Lepturus galeatus_, LESS.”

SP. CHAR. (No. 8,275 ♂.) Tail broad, almost fan-shaped; graduated
slightly; not at all emarginate, and longer than wing. First quill
broad, slightly falcate, scarcely attenuated; more than half the
second, which about equals the tenth; sixth longest; third equal to
seventh. Feathers on nape rather full, with a lengthened, pointed,
narrow, occipital crest.

_Male_ (No. 8,275) entirely glossy greenish-black; the inner webs of
all the primary quills with a large, lengthened patch of white, which
does not reach the inner margin; their outer webs very narrowly edged
with ashy, as are also lateral tail-feathers externally.

_Female_ (No. 8,274) brownish-ash, paler below; the white of inner
webs of quills obsolete; the greater coverts and quills edged
externally with whitish, the anal and crissal feathers edged and
tipped with the same; the outer tail-feather with narrow edge of white
externally towards end.

Immature birds show every gradation of color between the two extremes
described above.

Total length, 7.60; wing, 3.80; tail, 4.35; length of bill from
forehead, .46, from nostril .31, along gape, .66; tarsus, .70; middle
toe and claw, .65.

  [Line drawing: _Phænopepla nitens._
                  8275]

HAB. Mountainous region of the southern portions of Western and Middle
Provinces of United States, and south to Orizaba; Cape St. Lucas;
Plateau of Mexico (resident, SUMICHRAST).

HABITS. So far as known, this bird occurs in the mountainous portions
of the United States, from Fort Tejon, Cal., to Mexico, and from the
Rio Grande to San Diego. It is closely allied, in its appearance, as
also in many of its habits, both with the Waxwings and the
Flycatchers.

  [Illustration: _Phænopepla nitens._]

This species was first detected within the United States by Colonel
McCall, who obtained it in California in 1852. Its habits, as he
observed them, partook of those of the true Flycatcher. They are said
to be remarkable for their slender, active form, in which their long
and ample tail, and the elongated feathers of their head, capable of
being erected into a crest, are conspicuous features. Colonel McCall
first met with them in a clump of trees on the borders of a mountain
brook, between Valliecita and El Chino. A number of them were together
actively engaged in the pursuit of insects. They were light and
graceful on the wing, though less swift and decided in their motions
than the true Flycatchers. In these evolutions the bright white spot
on the wing, visible only when the wing is spread, was quite
conspicuous, and in fine contrast with the glossy black of the general
plumage. In his journey Colonel McCall afterwards met this bird
several times, either in small companies or singly. They were always
either on mountain sides, or in the timbered borders of mountain
streams.

Dr. Henry met with this species near the Little Lagoon, on the
Colorado Desert. It was perched on a mezquite-tree, jerking its tail
almost incessantly, as do other kinds of Flycatchers, and, from time
to time, dashing in irregular curves high into the air in pursuit of
insects. It became quite abundant as he approached the Colorado,
occurring in companies of twenty and thirty. At Fort Yuma he also met
with them in considerable numbers late in November, as they were
migrating southward. Dr. Henry describes its note as a low, plaintive
whistle. He ascertained that it breeds in California by finding
specimens of young birds. He likewise met with this species near Fort
Webster, in New Mexico; and Dr. Kennerly also noticed it, in February
and March, between Big Sandy Creek and the Colorado River.

Mr. Dresser obtained two specimens of this species at Eagle Pass. One
of these had its stomach filled with the berries of a species of
mistletoe that grows abundantly on the mezquite-trees. He noticed that
it carries its crest erect and much recurved, after the manner of the
European _Parus cristatus_.

Sumichrast states that this species, called _Reyecito_, is well
distributed throughout the Plateau of Mexico, but only ranges in the
valley of the Orizaba, to the height of about 1,500 metres, rarely
coming as far as that. It is also common at Tehauntepec and other
places.

Dr. Cooper found them quite numerous, in winter, near the Colorado. He
also found them common, in December, about the Mohave River, and in
summer, from Los Angeles to San Diego. They were found to prefer the
trees in which the mistletoe grows, on the berries of which they
largely feed, though they occasionally pursue insects in a zigzag
course similar to that of the _Sayornis nigricans_.

They almost constantly utter a loud cry of alarm, and when pursued are
very wild. When wounded, they conceal themselves so closely in the
thick tufts of the mistletoe as to be found with difficulty. Many left
the Colorado Valley in April, but a few remained. Their notes Dr.
Cooper describes as similar to those of the Crested Flycatchers, but
sweeter.

It was found by Feilner, at Fort Crook, in April, 1860, but has not
been met with near the coast so far to the north.

A nest of this bird, obtained by Dr. Cooper, on the 27th of April, was
built on a horizontal branch of the mezquite (_Algarobia_), twelve
feet from the ground. It was found near Fort Mohave, on the Colorado
River. The nest is a very flat structure, four inches in diameter, and
less than two in height. The cavity is less than an inch in depth. The
nest is made almost entirely of hempen or flax-like fibres of plants,
interwoven with fine grasses, stems of plants, and stalks of a larger
size. It is lined with a soft downy substance of a vegetable
character.

The eggs, two in number, are of an oblong-oval shape, nearly equal at
either end, and with a ground-color of a light slate, tinged with a
yellowish-green. They are marked and blotched equally over the entire
egg, with spots and blotches of various lines, from a light, faint,
obscure purple to deeper tints of purplish-brown, even to black. It is
a very marked egg, and unique in its appearance. They measure .90 by
.60 of an inch.

Dr. Coues found this species a summer resident in Arizona, somewhat
rare about Fort Whipple, but found very abundantly a little farther
south, and a permanent resident in the southern portions of that
Territory. It inhabits rather open country in preference to densely
wooded regions. He describes it as a shy, wild, and restless bird,
with a superb song, powerful and finely modulated. Dr. Coues appears
to think that this species has but little affinity with the forms with
which it is usually grouped.


SECTION MYIADESTEÆ.

CHAR. Tarsus slender, longer than middle toe and claw; undivided as in
_Turdidæ_. Toes deeply cleft. Wings more pointed; second quill much
longer than secondaries. Lateral tail-feathers cuneate, or narrowing
from base towards tip; generally whitish at end of inner web. Quills
with their extreme bases, especially of inner webs, buffy yellow,
showing a light patch inside. Head not crested, though the feathers
sometimes full. In the young all the feathers with light rounded
spots. Pre-eminent as melodious singers.

But a single genus of this group belongs to the United States,
although two others (_Cichlopsis_ and _Platycichla?_) occur in South
America. As already stated, the affinities of _Myiadesteæ_ are much
closest to _Turdidæ_, and this would seem the proper family for it.


GENUS MYIADESTES, SWAINSON.

  _Myiadestes_, SWAINSON, Jard. Nat. Library, XIII. Flycatchers, “1838,”
    132. (Type, _M. genibarbis_, SW.)

  [Line drawing: _Myiadestes townsendi._
                  38426
                  16168]

GEN. CHAR. Occipital feathers full and soft. Plumage rather loose.
Bill weak, much depressed. Commissure nearly straight. Hind toe longer
than inner lateral. Toes deeply cleft. Closed wing externally with an
exposed light band across the base of the quills, and another nearer
the end, separated by a darker one. Tail somewhat graduated on the
sides.

Of the ten or more described species of this genus, only one belongs to
the limits of the United States, although several others occupy
adjacent territory in Mexico. Several are peculiar to islands of the
West Indies.

The only two species closely related to the _M. townsendi_ are the _M.
unicolor_ and _M. obscurus_, which belong to Mexico. They may be
distinguished as follows:—

An ochraceous band across base of secondaries and upper primaries,
conspicuous on outer surface.

  1. M. townsendi. Generally dull ashy, paler beneath. Throat and
  abdomen whitish. _Hab._ Middle and Pacific Provinces of United
  States only.

No ochraceous on outer webs of secondaries and primaries.

  2. M. obscurus.[80] Back and wings rusty-olive. Head and beneath
  ashy, top of head deepest ash. _Hab._ Mountains of Mexico and
  Guatemala; Tres Marias Islands.

  3. M. unicolor.[81] Entirely dark bluish slate-color, lighter
  beneath. Lores black. _Hab._ Central Mexico and Guatemala.


Myiadestes townsendi, CABAN.

TOWNSEND’S SOLITAIRE.

  _Ptiliogonys townsendi_, AUD. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 206, pl. ccccxix,
    fig. 2. (For other references see Birds N. Am. 321.)—NEWBERRY, P.
    R. Rep. VI, Whipple’s Rep. Zoöl., 82. _Culicivora towns._ DE KAY,
    N. Y. Zoöl. II, 1844, 110. _Myiadestes towns._ CABANIS, Wieg.
    Arch. 1847, I, 208.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1857, 5; 1858, 97.—BAIRD,
    Birds N. Am. 1858, 321; Rev. 429.—COOPER & SUCKLEY, P. R. Rep.
    XII, II, 187.—KENNERLY, P. R. Rep. X, Whipple’s Rep. 25.—LORD, Pr.
    R. Art. Inst. WOOLWICH, IV, 116 (Br. Col.).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1,
    1870, 134.

SP. CHAR. Tail rather deeply forked. Exposed portion of spurious quill
less than one third that of the second; fourth quill longest; second a
little longer than the sixth. Head not crested. General color
bluish-ash, paler beneath; under wing-coverts white. Quills with a
brownish-yellow bar at the base of both webs mostly concealed, but
showing a little below the greater coverts and alulæ; this succeeded
by a bar of dusky, and next to it another of brownish-yellow across
the outer webs of the central quills only. Tertials tipped with white.
Tail-feathers dark brown; the middle ones more like the back; the
lateral with the outer web and tip, the second with the tip only,
white. A white ring round the eye. Length, 8 inches; wing, 4.50; tail,
3.85. (8,234).

HAB. Mountainous regions of Middle and Western United States. (Not
found at Cape St. Lucas nor in Mexico.)

Young birds have a large triangular pale-ochraceous light spot on the
end of each feather (rather paler below), bounded externally by a
narrow border of blackish; the quill and tail feathers as in the
adult.

HABITS. The first specimen of this somewhat remarkable bird was shot
by Captain Brotchie, at Fort George, Astoria, and presented to Mr.
Townsend, and by the latter given to Mr. Audubon. For some time this
remained unique, and the habits of the species unknown. Through the
government explorations, however, we have been made more familiar with
its habits and peculiarities.

  [Illustration: _Myiadestes townsendi._]

Dr. Newberry, in his report on the Zoölogy of Lieutenant Williamson’s
explorations, mentions finding this bird very abundant in the Des
Chutes Basin. It did not frequent either dense forests or prairies
destitute of trees, but seemed to select surfaces covered with a
scattered growth of pine and cedar. His party first met with it at the
base of Mount Jefferson, in the cañon of Mpto-ly-as River. In picking
his way with infinite difficulty down this gorge, his attention was
drawn by its new and attractive song. There were several of them in
the pines and cedars growing on the face of the cliff. He describes
its song as clear, full, and melodious, like that of a true _Mimus_.
The next day, as he followed down the river, in the bottom of the
cañon the deep gorge was filled with a chorus of sweet sounds from
thousands of these birds. He describes them as having a habit of
sitting on the branch of a tree projecting over a stream, or hanging
from some projecting crag, and at times flying out in narrow circles,
after insects, precisely in the manner of Flycatchers.

Afterwards, in another cañon, the terraced banks of which were
sparsely set with low trees of the Western cedar, he again found these
birds quite numerous, and had every opportunity both of hearing and of
seeing them, watching them for hours while feeding and singing. They
began their songs with the first dawn of day, and at sunrise the
valley was perfectly vocal with their music. He describes their song
as not greatly varied, but speaks of all their notes as particularly
clear and sweet, and with strains of pure gushing melody that were
both spontaneous and inspiring. At that time, September 30, they were
feeding on the berries of the cedar. They were very shy, and could
only be obtained by stratagem.

Dr. Kennerly, in his Report on the birds observed in the explorations
under the charge of Lieutenant Whipple, speaks of meeting with these
birds in the Rocky Mountains, in the vicinity of the Pueblo of Zuñi,
in New Mexico. Thence, westward, he occasionally met with it, and
usually in the cedar thickets.

Dr. Suckley mentions, in his Report on the Zoölogy of Washington
Territory, obtaining a specimen of this species at Fort Steilacoom,
April 28, 1856. It was very wild and difficult of approach. It was the
only specimen obtained, and he considered it accidental west of the
Cascade Mountains. Dr. Cooper, in the same Report, speaks of obtaining
a specimen near Fort Laramie in October, where it seemed to be not
uncommon.

Dr. Cooper, in his Birds of California, dwells with much emphasis upon
the delightful melody of this species. Having always found them
silent, and with habits like the Flycatchers’, he was quite unprepared
to hear them singing in the Sierra Nevada, and, if he had not obtained
the bird, would not have believed that one of this family was capable
of singing with such power. Their song, he says, can be compared with
nothing uttered by any other bird he has ever heard in the United
States; for, he adds, it excels that of the Mocking-Bird in sweetness,
besides being entirely original.

He met with only a few of this species among some junipers on the
western slope near the summit, in September, 1863. He has always met
with them nearly singly. Dr. Henry found them at Fort Webster, New
Mexico, in large numbers, both in fall and in winter. Their home, Dr.
Cooper thinks, seems to be in the vicinity of the great deserts of the
central regions, or the cedar-covered mountains that intersect them.

Dr. Woodhouse obtained several specimens on the Zuñi Mountains in New
Mexico, and from there westward found it exceedingly abundant. Its
food seemed to be exclusively berries, and chiefly those of the cedar.

Dr. Coues also found these birds rare summer residents in Arizona, and
confirms its possession of rare local powers, producing a rich, sweet,
and finely modulated song.

Mr. Robert Ridgway, in accompanying Mr. King’s party of explorations,
writes that he found this curious bird only occasionally, most
frequently among the pines of the Sierra Nevada, and only once or
twice among the mountains east of that range. In July, 1867, he found
a nest of this bird. It was in a deep ravine on the western slope of
the Sierras, at an altitude of five thousand feet. It was placed in a
cavity of the rocks forming the perpendicular upper bank of a sluice
constructed for mining purposes, through which ran the waters of a
considerable mountain stream. The nest was about a foot above the
water, and was as bulky as that of the _Harporhynchus rufus_, and
similarly constructed, being composed almost entirely of sticks. It
contained four young. When he approached, the female was much excited,
flying before, or running on the ground in the manner of a true
Thrush. Mr. Ridgway makes no mention of its song.

Mr. Lord met with these birds only once, and then at Colville, towards
the end of November. All the leaves had fallen, the ground was deeply
covered with snow, and the cold was intense. His attention was first
attracted by hearing a low sweet song, not unlike that of the Song
Thrush of Europe, which at that season was a most unusual sound. On
looking around he saw about twenty of these birds perched on the top
sprays of some white thorn-bushes. In their mode of darting off and
returning again they reminded him of a Shrike. He shot six, and could
detect no material difference in plumage between males and females. In
the stomachs of those he opened were the remains of small coleopterous
insects and a few haws.




FAMILY LANIIDÆ.—THE SHRIKES.


CHAR. Bill very powerful, strong, and much compressed, the tip
abruptly hooked, deeply notched, and with a prominent tooth behind the
notch; both mandibles distinctly notched, the upper with a distinct
tooth behind, the lower with the point bent up. Tarsi longer than the
middle toe, strongly scutellate. Primaries ten; first primary half the
second, or shorter (occasionally wanting). Wings short, rounded; tail
long and much graduated. Sides of tarsi with the plates divided on the
outside.

Of this family only a single genus is known in North America.


GENUS COLLURIO, VIGORS.

  _Collurio_, VIGORS, Pr. Zoöl. Soc. 1831, 42. (Type, _Lanius
    excubitor_, L.)
  _Lanius_, AUCT. (not of LINNÆUS, whose type is _L. cristatus_).
  _Collyrio_, G. R. GRAY.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 323.

  [Line drawing: _Collurio excubitoroides._
                  38423]

GEN. CHAR. Feathers of forehead stiffened; base of bill, including
nostrils, covered by bristly feathers directed forward. Bill shorter
than the head, much compressed, and very powerful. Culmen decurved
from base, the mandible abruptly bent down in a powerful hook with an
acute lobe near the tip. Tip of lower mandible bent upwards in a hook;
the gonys very convex. Rictus with long bristles. Legs stout; the
tarsi rather short, and longer than the middle toe; the lateral equal;
the claws all very sharp and much curved. Wings rounded; the first
primary about half the second, which is equal to the sixth or seventh.
Tail longer than the wings, much graduated, the feathers broad.

But few species of this genus belong to America, and these are
confined to the northern portion. For the purpose of more readily
identifying the species we present a brief diagnosis, and then furnish
descriptions of all (including a European ally) in a single table.


Species.

A. Outer webs of secondaries wholly white for basal half
(mostly concealed by coverts, however). Upper eyelid white.

    C. excubitor.[82] Nasal tufts grayish-white. In other
    respects, as regards colors, like _excubitoroides_. Wing,
    4.20; tail, 4.00; tarsus, .95. _Hab._ Europe.

B. Outer webs of secondaries black to the base. Upper eyelids
black.

  _a._ White crescent on lower eyelid. Beneath with wavy bars of
  dusky in all stages. Tarsus less than 1.00; wing more than
  4.50.

    C. borealis. Upper half of nasal tufts white. Black
    spectacle bordered above the ear-coverts by hoary whitish.
    Scapulars and upper tail-coverts approaching white. Wing,
    4.70; tail, 4.70; tarsus, .93. _Hab._ Arctic America; in
    winter south into United States, especially into the northern
    portions.

_b._ No white crescent on lower eyelid. Beneath without bars,
except in young. Tarsus more than 1.00; wing less than 4.50.

    C. ludovicianus. Black spectacle not bordered over
    ear-coverts with whitish.

_White patch on primaries reaching nearly as far as end of first
quill. Nasal tufts entirely black._

      Black of lores and nasal tufts bordered above with hoary
      whitish. Tail white at base; inner webs of secondaries
      paler toward margin, but not abruptly white. Beneath
      entirely white, without ashy tinge laterally, or across
      breast. Axillars whitish. Upper tail-coverts ashy-white,
      scapulars pure white. Wing, 4.10; tail, 4.20; tarsus, 1.10;
      bill, .50. _Hab._ Western North America from Pacific Coast
      east to a little beyond the Mississippi, and to Texas.
      Nearly all of Mexico …                   var. _excubitoroides_.

      Black of lores, etc., not bordered above by whitish. Tail
      black at base. Inner webs of secondaries pure white to the
      shaft on basal half. Beneath tinged with ashy laterally and
      across breast. Scapulars and upper tail-coverts hardly
      different from back. Bill, .60. _Hab._ California and fur
      countries …                                    var. _robustus_.

_White patch on primaries reaching only about half-way to end of
first quill. Nasal tufts hoary-grayish above._

      Black of lores bordered above by hoary-whitish. Tail as in
      _elegans_,—secondaries as in _excubitoroides_. Beneath very
      strongly tinged with plumbeous laterally and across breast.
      Upper tail-coverts like the back, posterior scapulars only
      inclining to white. Axillars plumbeous. Wing, 3.80; tail,
      3.95; tarsus, 1.00; bill, .50. _Hab._ South Atlantic and
      Gulf States …                              var. _ludovicianus_.

We now proceed to give a more detailed table of these species, and
under the heading of each shall omit any further description:—

GENERAL COLOR. Bluish or plumbeous ash above; the outer edges of
scapulars, sometimes the forehead and rump, paler. Beneath white,
sometimes with waved transverse dark lines. A broad black stripe
from side of upper bill through eye (extending more widely
beneath than above it, sometimes wanting above) to end of
ear-coverts. Wings (except lesser coverts) and tail black; the
former with a white patch across base of primaries, sometimes on
inner webs of secondaries; the secondaries tipped with white; the
tail with broad white tips to the lateral feathers, the concealed
bases of which are also usually white.

  A. Black cheek-stripes involving eyelid only on upper border
  of eye, and not meeting across the forehead. A crescentic patch
  of white in the black below the eye; upper edge of black stripe
  behind the eye bordered by hoary whitish. Breast and belly
  always with distinct, transverse waved lines of dusky. Bill,
  when mature, entirely black. Length about 10 inches.

    Above light ash. Upper tail-coverts and forehead much paler
    than the back, the former without waved lines. Axillars
    whitish.

      Inner webs of secondaries paler towards edges, but not of
      well-defined white. Concealed bases of tail-feathers,
      except sixth, white. Tarsus shorter than the gape of mouth.
      Length, 10.00; extent, 14.50; wing, 4.70; tail, 4.70; bill
      above, .85; tarsus, .93 …                           _borealis_.

  B. Black cheek-stripes not involving upper border of eye or
  upper eyelid, which is whitish, and not meeting across the
  forehead, its upper edge behind the eye with scarcely a lighter
  border. No patch of white on lower eyelid. Under parts unvaried
  white; in female obscurely waved. Base of under mandible
  whitish. Length about 9 inches.

    Above light ash. Upper tail-coverts and forehead decidedly
    paler than the back. Axillars whitish.

      Inner webs of all secondaries (except innermost) white to
      shaft, except for less than terminal half, which is black
      along the shaft. Concealed base of tail white, except on
      sixth feather. Tarsus equal to the gape …          _excubitor_.

  C. Black cheek-stripes involving upper eyelid, as in A, but
  without patch of white below the eye; meeting in a narrow,
  sometimes inconspicuous, line across the forehead, its upper
  edge behind the eye not bordered by lighter. Beneath plain
  white, or very obscurely waved in _ludovicianus_ (the female?).
  Bill, when mature, entirely black. Length about 8.50 inches.

    Above dark plumbeous-ash. Upper tail-coverts and forehead
    scarcely paler than the back. Sides and breast tinged with
    bluish-gray.

      Black of loral space rather hoary along upper border.
      Frontal dark line inappreciable or wanting. Inner webs of
      secondaries paler only along the marginal half, and not
      abruptly white. Axillars plumbeous. Tail-feathers, except
      the innermost, with a concealed well-defined white patch at
      base, largest on the more exterior one. Bill from nostril,
      .50. Under parts often with very obscure faint waved lines
      (in the female?). White patch on wing reaching about to
      middle of first primary. Tarsus equal to the gape. Length,
      8.50; wing, 3.72; tail, 4.10; bill above, .82; tarsus, 1.00 …
                                                      _ludovicianus_.

      Black of loral space without any lightening above it.
      Frontal black band well marked. Inner webs of secondaries
      (except innermost) pure white to shaft, except along rather
      more than terminal half, where the shaft is bordered by
      black. Axillars whitish. Tail-feathers black to base,
      except the loose fibres, which are grayish. Bill from
      nostril, .60. Under parts without waved lines. White patch
      on wing reaching nearly opposite to end of first primary.
      Tarsus about equal to the gape. Length, 8.75; wing, 4.20;
      tail, 4.40; bill above, 1.00; tarsus, 1.20 …         _elegans_.

    Above light ash-color. Upper tail-coverts and forehead much
    lighter than the back, the former sometimes almost white.
    Sides and breast generally nearly pure white.

      Black of loral space with conspicuous hoary margin above
      it. Inner web of secondaries much as in _C. ludovicianus_.
      Axillars whitish. Tail-feathers with concealed white patch
      at bases of all the feathers. Bill from nostril about .50.
      No waved lines beneath. White patch on wing reaching nearly
      opposite to end of first primary. Tarsus longer than the
      gape. Length, 8.50; wing, 4.05; tail, 4.25; bill above,
      .83; tarsus, 1.12 …                           _excubitoroides_.

  [Illustration: PLATE XIX.

  1. Collurio borealis, _Vieill._ ♂ H. B. T., 19549.
  2.     “       “        “     _juv._, 17192.
  3. Collurio excubitoroides, _Swains._ ♂ Neb., 38423.
  4.     “    ludovicianus, _Linn._ ♂.
  5. Certhiola bahamensis, _Reich._ ♂ Bahamas, 11951.]


Collurio borealis, BAIRD.

GREAT NORTHERN SHRIKE, OR BUTCHER-BIRD.

  _Lanius borealis_, VIELLOT, Ois. Am. Sept. I, 1807, 90, pl. 1.—SW.—
    AUD. Syn.—IB. Birds Am. IV, 1842, 130, pl. ccxxxvi.—CASSIN.—MAX.
    Cab. Jour. VI, 1858, 190 (Upper Missouri).—JONES, Nat. Bermuda,
    1857, 51 (Bermuda).—DRESSER & SHARPE, P. Z. S. 1870, 590.
    _Collyrio borealis_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 324.—COOPER &
    SUCKLEY, P. R. Rep. XII, II, 1860, 188 (Washington
    Territory).—DALL & BANNISTER, 280 (Alaska).—SAMUELS, Birds N. Eng.
    268. _Collurio borealis_, BAIRD, Rev. Am. B. 1864, 440. _Lanius
    excubitor,_ FORSTER, Phil. Trans. LXII, 1772, 382 (not of
    LINNÆUS).—WILSON, I, 1808, 74, pl. v, fig. 1. _Lanius
    septentrionalis_, BON. Syn. 1828, 72 (not of GMELIN, which cannot
    be identified as an American species).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870,
    137.—CASSIN, Pr. A. N. Sc. 1857, 213.—MURRAY, Ed. New Phil. Jour.
    XI, 1859, 223 (H. B. T.).

HAB. Whole of America north of United States; in winter south to
Washington, St. Louis, Prescott (Arizona), and North California;
Bermuda (winter, JONES).

  [Illustration: _Collyrio excubitoroides._]

The description of this and the succeeding species will be found on
page 413. In winter, the colors, especially of the immature birds, are
quite different from those described. The plumage of the adult, in
winter, differs from that of spring as follows: the lores and nasal
tufts are whitish, instead of pure, sharply defined black, with,
however, some of the hair-like fibres blackish. The ash above is a
little less clear, the white beneath less pure; the under mandible
whitish at the base. An immature bird, in winter, has the ash above
overlaid by a wash of reddish-brown, producing a prevailing uniform
light-brown tint; the black on side of head is reduced to an obsolete
patch on the ear-coverts. The dull white beneath is everywhere—sometimes
even on the lower tail-coverts—covered with numerous bars of dusky,
more sharply defined, and darker than in the adult.

Eastern specimens appear to have as much white on the rump as Western
ones.

HABITS. In the breeding-season this species of Shrike is found in all
North America north of the United States, and is said to breed also
within our territory, in mountainous districts. Such, at least, is the
statement of Mr. Audubon, and Wilson leaves us to infer the same thing
by giving a minute description of its nest and eggs. But Audubon may
have confounded this species with the _excubitoroides_, and Wilson,
apparently believing our species and the _excubitor_ of Europe to be
identical, may have had the nest and eggs of the European bird in view
in his description. We know of a single recent instance in which this
bird has bred within the limits of the United States, though it may
breed in Northern and Eastern Maine. Mr. Boardman spoke of it as
common only in winter, near Calais, but he has since met with its nest
in New Brunswick, within twelve miles of St. Stephen. It was supposed
by his informant to be the nest of the Canada Jay, but proved, on
shooting the parent, to be that of the Northern Shrike. When found, it
contained four eggs, but these had hatched out before it was secured.
The nest was found on the last of April, and was built in a low
spruce-tree. Mr. Boardman has since seen these birds in his
neighborhood during the summer. Professor Verrill thinks it is only
common in the autumn and winter in Western Maine. In Western
Massachusetts, Mr. Allen cites it as not very common, but a regular
winter visitant, from the last of October to the middle of April.

Mr. Ridgway met with it frequently in the neighborhood of Carson City
during the winter, among the willows bordering the streams that flow
from the mountains. Dr. Coues also found it as far south as Arizona,
though Mr. Dresser did not meet with any in Texas, nor did Dr.
Woodhouse notice any in his expedition to the Zuñi. Captain Feilner
found this species common, in the colder months, in the northeastern
portions of California, and Dr. Cooper gives it as abundant at the
Columbia River in October.

Mr. Audubon further states that in severe winters he has met with it
as far south as Natchez on the Mississippi. It is also not uncommon in
Kentucky during the same season, but he never met with it near the
seaboard.

Mr. Kennicott’s memoranda in reference to this species are to the
effect that he observed one individual at Fort Simpson, September 23,
and again October 22, but on no other occasion. Both of these
specimens, when first observed, were singing. Their notes, he states,
were low and irregular, but were varied and quite musical. Captain
Blakiston found these birds winter residents on the Saskatchewan.

In the fall and winter of 1871, a pair of these birds was attracted to
the Common, in Boston, by the large number of half-domesticated
European Sparrows. For a while they made daily inroads upon these
favorites, killing one or more for several days in succession. They
appeared to keep themselves secreted most of the time, showing
themselves each day early in the forenoon, and pouncing upon their
victims, unaware of their near presence, in the manner of a Hawk,
aiming always at the heads, which were torn off and devoured;
generally the headless remains were left uneaten. In one instance
where a Sparrow had been struck on the back, an ugly wound was made,
the bird escaped alive, and was soon after seen, in the middle of
Tremont Street, apparently not seriously injured. These Shrikes were
so bold and destructive that pains had to be taken to watch for and
shoot them. Three were killed, on different days, and each with a dead
Sparrow in its claws, upon which it was feasting when shot.

Both Mr. Audubon and Mr. Nuttall refer to this Shrike’s imitating the
cries of other birds, apparently to decoy them within its reach. The
former has heard it utter cries like those of the Sparrow screaming in
the claws of a Hawk, to induce them to come out of their coverts and
rescue their suffering fellows, and has seen them dart suddenly into a
thicket in pursuit of one, from which would soon issue the real cries
of the bird it had seized. Nuttall states that in some parts of New
England this Shrike is called a Mocking-Bird, on account of its
imitations of the notes of smaller birds. Its more usual note
resembles the discordant creaking of a signboard hinge. He also states
that it has been known to mimic the quacking of ducks, so that these
would answer to it as to a decoy. He heard one of these birds, as late
as November 10, uttering a low and soft warble, resembling that of the
Song Sparrow, immediately after changing it to the notes of the
Catbird.

When in pursuit of small birds, it will dart down with closed wings,
in the manner of a Hawk, and seldom fails to obtain the object of its
pursuit, following it with rapidity and pertinacity through the
thickets in which it seeks shelter. When it seizes its prey, it
alights on its back, and tears open its head.

Its bold audacity and perseverance are quite remarkable, and are often
displayed, in the fall, in the manner in which it will enter an
apartment through an open window and attack a Canary, even in the
presence of members of the family. It rarely fails, if it gains access
to the cage, to destroy its inmate before the latter can be rescued by
the intervention of those present, and only by great promptness in
sheltering the cage. In one instance the writer was sitting at a
closed window reading, with a Canary hanging above him. Suddenly there
was a severe blow struck at the pane of glass near the cage, and the
frightened Canary uttered cries of alarm and fell to the bottom of its
cage. The cause was soon explained. A Shrike had dashed upon the bird,
unconscious of the intervening glass, and was stretched upon the snow
under the window, stunned by the blow. He revived when taken up, and
lived several days, was sullen, but tame, and utterly devoid of fear.
He refused raw meat, but eagerly tore in pieces and devoured small
birds when given to him. His tameness and indifference to our presence
may have been occasioned by stupor arising from his injury. In another
case a Shrike made a similar attack, but escaped unharmed, and though
he remained about the house several days, was too wary to allow
himself to be decoyed within gunshot.

A nest of the Northern Shrike, containing six eggs, was obtained by R.
R. McFarlane, at Anderson River Fort, June 11, 1863. This is in many
respects in striking contrast with the nests of its kindred species of
the Southern States, far exceeding them in its relative size, in
elaborate finish and warmth. It is altogether a remarkable example of
what are known as felted nests, where various materials are most
elaborately worked together into a homogeneous and symmetrical whole.
It is seven inches in diameter and three and a half in height. The
cavity is proportionately large and deep, having a diameter of four
and a half inches, and a depth of two. Except the base, which is
composed of a few twigs and stalks of coarser plants, the nest is made
entirely of warm and soft materials, most elaborately interworked
together. These materials are feathers from various birds, fine down
of the Eider and other ducks, fine mosses and lichens, slender stems,
grasses, etc., and are skilfully and artistically wrought into a
beautiful and symmetrical nest, strengthened by the interposition of a
few slender twigs and stems without affecting the general felt-like
character of the whole. The egg measures 1.10 inches by .80, and is of
a light greenish ground, marbled and streaked with blotches of
obscure-purple, clay-color, and rufous-brown.

Sir John Richardson found this a by no means uncommon bird in the
woody districts, at least as far as the sixteenth parallel. On account
of its resemblance to the Canada Jay, the Indians called it the “White
Whiskey-John.” It remains all winter in the fur regions, but is much
more numerous in summer. He states that the nest is built in the fork
of a tree, of dry grass and lichens neatly intertwined, and lined with
feathers.


Collurio ludovicianus, BAIRD.

SOUTHERN SHRIKE; LOGGERHEAD.

  _Lanius ludovicianus_, LINN. Syst. Nat. 1766, 134 (based on _Lanius
    ludovicianus_, BRISSON, II, 162, tab. xv, fig. 2).—AUD. Orn. Biog.
    I, 1831, 300, pl. xxxvii.—IB. Birds Am. IV, pl. ccxxxvii.—CASSIN,
    Pr. A. N. Sc. 1857, 213. _Collyrio ludovicianus_, BAIRD, Birds N.
    Am. 1858, 325. _Collurio ludov._ BAIRD, Rev. Am. B. 1864, 443.
    _Lanius ardosiaceus_, VIEILLOT, Ois. Am. Sept. I, 1807, 81, pl.
    li. _Lanius carolinensis_, WILS. Am. Orn. III, 1811, 57, pl. xxii,
    fig. 5.

HAB. South Atlantic (and Gulf?) States.

The young bird is quite different from the adult, differing as does
that of _excubitoroides_, but the colors are all darker than in the
corresponding age of that species.

HABITS. This species, if we regard it as distinct from the
_excubitoroides_, has apparently a very restricted distribution, being
confined to the South Atlantic and Gulf States. I am not aware that it
has been found farther north than North Carolina. It is not common,
according to Audubon, either in Louisiana or Mississippi, and probably
only occurs there in the winter. I have had its eggs from South
Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Dresser speaks of this Shrike as
common in Texas in summer, and Dr. Woodhouse states that he found it
very abundant in Texas and the Indian Territory. These observations
may probably apply to the kindred race, _excubitoroides_, and not to
this form.

It is said to be exclusively a bird of the lowlands, and never to be
met with in the mountainous parts, even of its restricted habitat.

Dr. Coues found this species very common in the neighborhood of
Columbia, S. C., frequenting the wooded streets and waste fields of
that city. On one occasion he observed a Loggerhead busily foraging
for insects in the grounds of the Capitol. From the top of a tall bush
it would occasionally sally out, capture a large grasshopper, and
carry it to a tree near by, full of sharp twigs. It would then proceed
to impale the insect on one of these points, remain awhile watching
the result of its performance, and then resume its post on the bush,
watching for more grasshoppers, some of which, one by one, it caught
and impaled in like manner, others it ate on the spot.

This curious habit of impaling insects, more or less common to the
entire family of Shrikes, seems to admit of no satisfactory
explanation. In this case the bird thus secured them when apparently
hungry, eating some and impaling others. Yet, so far as I know, it
never makes any use of those it thus impales.

Mr. Audubon states that in South Carolina it is quite common along the
fences and hedges about the rice plantations at all seasons, and that
it renders good service to the planters in the destruction of
field-mice, as well as of many of the larger insects. He speaks of its
song as consisting only of shrill, clear, creaking, prolonged notes,
resembling the grating of a rusty hinge. His account differs, in many
respects, from the more minute and exact descriptions of Rev. Dr.
Bachman. In pursuing its prey, he states that it invariably strikes it
with its bill before seizing it with its claws.

In reference to its song, Dr. Bachman states that it has other notes
besides the grating sound mentioned by Audubon. During the
breeding-season, and nearly all the summer, the male bird posts itself
at the top of some tree and makes an effort at a song, which he
compares to the first attempts of a young Brown Thrush. This is a
labored effort, and at times the notes are not unpleasing, but very
irregular.

Dr. Bachman also claims that the male evinces marked evidences of
attachment to his mate, carrying to her, every now and then, a
grasshopper or a cricket, and driving away hawk or crow as they
approach the nest.

He also states that he has usually found the nest on the outer limbs
of trees, often from fifteen to thirty feet from the ground, and only
once on a bush so low as ten feet from the ground. He has occasionally
seen these birds feeding on mice, and also on birds that had been
apparently wounded by the sportsman. It will sometimes catch young
birds and devour them, but its food consists chiefly of grasshoppers,
crickets, coleopterous and other insects, including butterflies and
moths, which it will pursue and capture on the wing. Dr. Bachman has
observed its habit of pinning insects on thorns. In one instance he
saw it occupy itself for hours in sticking up, in this way, small
fishes thrown on the shore, but he has never known them to devour
anything thus impaled.

This Shrike is partially migratory in South Carolina, as a few may be
found all winter, but only one tenth of those seen in summer. It is
also very fond of the little changeable green lizard, which it pursues
with great skill and activity, but not always with success.

It is said also to breed twice in a season. Dr. Bachman describes
their eggs as white, and Mr. Audubon speaks of them as greenish-white.
Neither make any reference to their spots.

All the nests that I have ever seen of this species, in the simplicity
of their structure and in their lack of elaboration, are in remarkable
contrast with the nests of both the _borealis_ and the _excubitoroides_.
They are flat, shallow structures, with a height of about two inches
and a diameter of five. They are made externally of long soft strips
of the inner bark of the basswood, strengthened on the sides with a
few dry twigs, stems, and roots. Within, it is lined with fine grasses
and stems of herbaceous plants.

The eggs, often six in number, are in length from 1.02 to 1.08 inches,
and from .72 to .78 of an inch in breadth; their ground-color is a
yellowish or clayey-white, blotched and marbled with dashes, more or
less confluent, of obscure purple, light brown, and a purplish-gray.
The spots are usually larger and more scattered than in the eggs of
_C. borealis_, and the ground-color is a yellowish and not a bluish
white, as in the eggs of _C. excubitoroides_.


Collurio ludovicianus, var. robustus, BAIRD.

WHITE-WINGED SHRIKE.

  _?? Lanius elegans_, SW. F. B. A. II, 1831, 122.—NUTTALL, Man. I,
    1840, 287.—CASSIN, Pr. A. N. Sc. 1857, 213.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am.
    1858, 327. _Collyrio elegans_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 328.
    _Collurio elegans_, BAIRD, Rev. Am. B. 1864, 444.—COOPER, Orn.
    Cal. 1, 1870, 140. (According to DRESSER & SHARPE, P. Z. S. 1870,
    595, who have examined the type, the _L. elegans_ of Swainson is
    the same as _L. lahtora_, SYKES, of Siberia.)

HAB. California?

The description already given is taken from a specimen in the
collection of the Philadelphia Academy, labelled as having been
collected in California by Dr. Gambel, and is very decidedly different
from any of the recognized North American species. Of nearly the size
of _C. excubitoroides_ and _ludovicianus_, it has a bill even more
powerful than that of _C. borealis_. In its unwaved under parts and
uniform color of the entire upper surface, except scapulars, it
differs from _borealis_ and _excubitoroides_, and resembles
_ludovicianus_. In the extension of white over the inner webs of the
secondaries, it closely resembles _C. excubitor_. The great
restriction of white at the base of the tail—the four central feathers
being entirely black, and the bases of the others grayish-ashy—is
quite peculiar to the species.

The specimen in the Philadelphia Academy we originally referred to the
_L. elegans_ of Swainson, alleged to have come from the fur countries,
as although some appreciable differences presented themselves,
especially in the coloration of the tail, these were considered as
resulting from an imperfect description. Messrs. Sharpe and Dresser,
however, as quoted above, show that Swainson’s type really belongs to
_L. lahtora_, an Old World species. We therefore find it expedient to
give a new name to the variety, having no reason to discredit the
alleged locality of the specimen.


Collurio ludovicianus, var. excubitoroides, BAIRD.

WESTERN LOGGERHEAD; WHITE-RUMPED SHRIKE.

  _Lanius excubitoroides_, SWAINSON, F. B. A. II, 1831, 115
    (Saskatchewan).—GAMBEL, Pr. A. N. Sc. 1847, 200 (Cala.).—CASSIN,
    Pr. A. N. Sc. 1857, 213.—SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1864, 173 (City of
    Mexico). _Collyrio excubitoroides_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 327.
    _Collurio excub._ BAIRD, Rev. Am. B. 1864, 445.—COOPER, Orn. Cal.
    I, 1870, 138. _? Lanius mexicanus_, BREHM, Cab. Jour. II, 1854,
    145.—SCLATER, Catal. 1861, 46 (Mexico). _Lanius ludovicianus_,
    MAX. Cab. Jour. 1858, 191 (Upper Missouri).—DRESSER & SHARPE, P.
    Z. S. 1870, 595.

HAB. Western Province of North America, as far north as Oregon; Middle
North America, to the Saskatchewan, and east to Wisconsin, Michigan,
and Illinois; south to Orizaba and Oaxaca, and City of Mexico; Cape
St. Lucas.

The precise boundaries between this species and _C. ludovicianus_ are
difficult of definition, as the transition is almost insensible.

The young bird is pale fulvous-ash above, everywhere with transverse
crescentic bars of dusky. Two bands of mottled pale fulvous across
wings, on tips of middle and greater coverts. Tail tipped with
ochraceous, the white feathers tinged with the same. Breast and sides
with obsolete bars of dusky. Black band on side of head rather
obsolete.

In its extreme stage of coloration it differs from _ludovicianus_ in
paler and purer color; the ash of back lighter; the under parts
brilliant white, not decidedly plumbeous on the sides as in the other,
and without so great a tendency to the usual obsolete waved lines
(noticed distinctly only in winter or immature birds); the axillars
bluish-white, not plumbeous. The white of wings and tail is more
extended; the hoary of forehead and whitish of scapulars more
distinct. The bristles at base of bill somewhat involving the feathers
are black, forming a narrow frontal line, not seen in the other. The
most striking difference is in the rump and upper tail-coverts, which
are always appreciably and abruptly lighter than the back, sometimes
white or only faintly glossed with plumbeous; while in typical
specimens of _ludovicianus_ these feathers are scarcely lighter at
all, and generally more or less varied with blackish spots at the end.
The legs and tail are apparently longer, the latter less graduated.
These differences are, however, most appreciable in specimens from the
Middle and Western Provinces. Those from the Western States, east of
the Missouri River, as far north as Wisconsin, are more intermediate
between the two, although still nearest to the Rocky Mountain bird as
described; the back darker, the rump and axillars more plumbeous, the
sides more bluish. There is little doubt that the examination of
series from the States along the Mississippi will show a still closer
resemblance to typical _C. ludovicianus_, and that the gradation
between the two extremes will be found to be continuous and unbroken.
It therefore seems reasonable to consider them all as one species,
varying with longitude and region according to the usual law,—the more
western the lighter, with longer tail. The only alternative is to
suppose that two species, originally distinct, have hybridized along
the line of junction of their respective provinces, as is certainly
sometimes the case. The approximation in many respects of coloration
of the Shrikes of the Pacific coast to those of the South Atlantic
States is not without its importance in the discussion of the subject.
However it may be, it is necessary to retain the name of
_excubitoroides_, as representing, whether as species or variety, a
peculiar regional form, which must be kept distinctly in mind. The
comparatively greater size of the bill in the Cape St. Lucas specimens
is seen in other species from this locality (No. 26,438 of adjacent
figure).

  [Line drawings: 26438
                  13600]

The intensity of the black front in this species varies considerably,
being sometimes very distinct, and again entirely wanting. This may
probably be a character of the breeding-season, the dulness of black
anterior to the eye and the lighter color of the bill having a close
relationship here, as in other species, to maturity, sex, and season.

HABITS. This variety was first described from specimens obtained in
the territory of the Hudson’s Bay Co. Richardson states that it was
not found farther north than the fifty-fourth degree, and there only
in the warm and sandy plain of the Saskatchewan. Its manners, he says,
are precisely similar to those of the _borealis_, feeding chiefly on
the grasshoppers, which were very numerous on the plains. Mr. Drummond
found its nest in the beginning of June, in a bush of willows. It was
built of the twigs of the _Artemisia_ and dry grass, and lined with
feathers. The eggs were six in number, of a pale yellowish-gray color,
with many irregular and confluent spots of oil-green, mixed with a few
of smoke-gray.

Mr. Ridgway met with it, in his Western explorations, in all
localities, but most frequently among the _Artemisia_ and in the
meadow-tracts of the river valleys. It is also seen on all parts of
the mountains, among the cedar groves, localities in which the
_ludovicianus_ is said never to be found.

Dr. Cooper describes this bird as abundant in all the plains-region of
California, but not as far as the Columbia River. South of latitude
38°, they reside all the year. They were abundant about Fort Mohave
all winter, and nested as early as the 19th of March in a thorn-bush.
They had young early in April. At San Diego they nested later, about
April 20. He speaks of their singing as an attempt at a song, the
notes being harsh, like those of a Jay, but not imitative. They catch
birds, but do so very rarely, depending upon grasshoppers and other
insects.

The nests of the _excubitoroides_, so far as I have had any
opportunity to examine them, always exhibit a very marked contrast, in
the elaborateness of their structure, to any of the _ludovicianus_
that have fallen under my notice. They resemble those of the
_borealis_ in their size and the felted nature of their walls, but are
more coarsely and rudely put together. They have an external diameter
of about eight inches, and a height of four. The cavity is also large
and deep. These nests are always constructed with much artistic skill
and pains. The base is usually a closely impacted mass of fine
grasses, lichens, mosses, and leaves, intermingled with stout dry
twigs. Upon this is wrought a strong fabric of fine wood-mosses,
flaxen fibres of plants, leaves, grasses, fur of quadrupeds, and other
substances. Intertwined with these are a sufficient number of slender
twigs and stems of plants to give to the whole a remarkable strength
and firmness. This is often still further strengthened by an external
protection woven of stouter twigs and small ends of branches, stems,
etc. The whole is then thoroughly and warmly lined with a soft matting
of the fur of several kinds of small animals, vegetable down, and a
few feathers.

The eggs, five or six in number, measure 1.00 by .73 of an inch, and
strongly resemble those of both the _borealis_ and the _ludovicianus_.
Their ground-color is pale greenish-white, over which are marks and
blotches, more or less confluent, of lilac, purplish-brown, and light
umber.

Mr. Ridgway, who is familiar with this bird in Southern Illinois,
informs me that in that section it is a resident species, being
abundant during the summer and by no means rare in the winter. It is
there, strangely enough, often called the Mocking-Bird, its similar
appearance and fondness for the same locality leading some persons to
confound these very different birds. In districts where the true
_Mimus_ is not common, young birds of this species are frequently
taken from their nests and innocently sold to unsuspecting admirers of
that highly appreciated songster.

This bird inhabits, almost exclusively, open situations, being
particularly fond of waste fields where young honey-locusts
(_Gleditschia triacanthos_) have grown up. Among their thorny branches
its nests are almost utterly inaccessible, if beyond the reach of
poles. In such localities this bird may often be seen perched in an
upright position upon some thorn-bush, or a fence-stake, quietly
watching for its prey, remaining nearly an hour at a time motionless
except for an occasional movement of the head.

The flight of this bird, Mr. Ridgway adds, is quite peculiar, utterly
unlike that of any other bird except the _Oreoscoptes montanus_, which
it only slightly resembles. In leaving its perch it sinks nearly to
the ground, describing a curve as it descends, and, passing but a few
feet above the surface, ascends in the same manner to the object upon
which it is next to light. The flight is performed in an undulating
manner, the bird sustaining itself a short time by a rapid fluttering
of the wings, and sinking as this motion is suspended. As it flies,
the white patch on the wing, with the general appearance of its gray
and white plumage, increases its resemblance to the Mocking-Bird.

Though very partial to thorn-trees (honey-locust), other trees having
a thick foliage—as those canopied by a tangled mass of wild
grapevines—are frequently occupied as nesting-places; while a pair
frequently make their home in an apple-orchard, selecting the old
untrimmed trees. The situation of the nest varies according to the
character of the tree; if in a thorn-bush, it is placed next the
trunk, encased within protecting bunches of thorns; but if in an
apple-tree, it is situated, generally, near the extremity of a
horizontal branch. The number of eggs is generally six, but Mr.
Ridgway has several times found seven in one nest. No bird is more
intrepid in the defence of its nest than the present one; at such
times it loses, apparently, all fear, and becomes almost frenzied with
anger, alighting so near that one might grasp it, were he quick
enough, and with open mouth and spread wings and tail threatening the
intruder, its attacks accompanied by a peculiar crackling noise,
interrupted by a harsh, grating _qua_, _qua_, _qua_, slowly repeated,
but emphatically uttered.

The habit peculiar to the Shrikes of impaling their victims Mr.
Ridgway has observed frequently in this species; for this purpose the
long and extremely sharp thorns of the honey-locust serve it
admirably; and “spitted” upon them he has found shrews, mice,
grasshoppers, spiders, and even a Chimney-Swallow (_Chætura
pelagica_); and, in another instance, but upon the upright broken-off
twig of a dead weed in a field, a large spider. He has also known this
bird to dart at the cage of a Canary-Bird, and frighten the poor
inmate so that it thrust its head between the wires, when it was
immediately torn off by the powerful beak of the Butcher-Bird.

The young of this species becomes a very pleasing and extremely docile
pet. Mr. Ridgway has known one which, though fully grown, with power
of flight uninjured, and in possession of unrestrained freedom, came
to its possessor at his call, and accompanied him through the fields,
its attachment being rewarded by frequent “doses” of grasshoppers,
caught for it. It had been fully feathered before taken from the nest.
Unfortunately the vocal capabilities of this Shrike are not sufficient
to allow its becoming a general favorite as a pet; for, although
possessing considerable talent for mimicry, it imitates only the
rudest sounds, while its own notes, consisting of a grating, sonorous
_qua_ and a peculiar creaking sound, each with several variations, are
anything but delightful.




FAMILY CÆREBIDÆ.—THE CREEPERS.


As already stated on page 177, there is little to distinguish the
_Cærebidæ_ from the _Sylvicolidæ_, except by the longer and more
protracted tongue, and by the narrower gape in some of the forms. The
genera _Certhiola_, _Cæreba_, _Diglossa_, etc., have peculiarities by
which they are easily recognized; but when we come to such members as
_Dacnis_, _Conirostrum_, etc., it becomes very difficult to separate
them from the slender-billed Tanagers, the Wood Warblers, and the
_Helminthophagas_.

Although the family is one widely distributed, in numerous genera,
over Middle and South America, but one, _Certhiola_, belongs to North
America, this being represented by a species, or rather a race,
abundant in the Bahamas, and occasionally met with in the Florida
Keys. We shall therefore give only the diagnosis of this family.


GENUS CERTHIOLA, SUNDEVALL.

  _Certhiola_, SUNDEVALL, Vet. Akad. Handl. Stockholm, 1835, 99. (Type,
    _Certhia flaveola_, LINN.

  [Line drawing: _Certhiola flaveola_, Sund.]

GEN. CHAR. Bill nearly as long as the head; as high as broad at base,
elongated, conical, very acute, and gently decurved from base to tip.
Culmen uniformly convex; gonys concave. No bristles at base of bill.
Tail rounded, rather shorter than the wings. Tarsi longer than the
middle toe. Iris brown? Nest pensile and arched. Eggs with yellowish
ground dotted thickly with rufous spots.

This genus is one of those especially characterizing the West Indies,
almost every island as far as known having its peculiar species,
differing, it is true, in very slight characters, but always constant
to the normal type. Cuba alone has so far furnished no representative
of this genus, its place being supplied apparently by _Cæreba cyanea_.
The specimens from St. Thomas I cannot distinguish from those of Porto
Rico, but this is, so far as the series before me indicates, the only
case where one species occurs on two islands. All the West Indian
species, nine or ten in number, agree in having the whole upper part
nearly uniformly dusky or blackish; the head and back being
concolored, while of the three or four South American all but one (_C.
luteola_) have the back more olivaceous, the head much darker. Again,
the West Indian species, with a single exception (_C. bananivora_),
have both webs of lateral tail-feathers broadly and about equally
tipped with white; while in all the South American this white is more
restricted on the inner web, and on the outer reduced to a narrow
border. _C. caboti_ from Cozumel, near the eastern coast of Yucatan,
exhibits the Continental impress in possessing the character last
mentioned.

  [Illustration: _Certhiola flaveola._
                  38055]

In all the species from the Greater Antilles and the portion of
Continental America west and directly south of this group, there is a
distinct external white patch at base of quills; while this disappears
in the species of the Lesser Antilles and eastern South America, or is
only faintly traceable. Again, in the species of the Lesser Antilles,
with the disappearance of the white wing-patch, the greater and middle
wing-coverts show a faint edging of lighter, by which, as well as by
the darker back, they are distinguished from their South American
allies.

The shape of the white patch at base of the quills on the outer web
furnishes, in combination with the color of the throat, excellent and
permanent specific characters. This in the Jamaican, Haytien, and
Bahaman forms is elongated, extending gradually and uniformly behind
to the outer edge of the quill, while in those of Porto Rico, St.
Thomas, Cozumel, and the South American species, where it exists, the
posterior outline is nearly transverse, and only running out a little
along outer web.

As a general rule South American species have shorter tails than the
West Indian.

It is a nice question what are really species in this genus, and what
merely races or varieties; but it would probably be not far from
correct to assume that the various forms described are simply
modifications of one primitive species, produced by geographical
distribution and external physical conditions. In the following
diagnosis I shall treat all the varieties as occupying the same rank,
without attempting any discrimination. Although but one of these
belongs to the United States, and that as a straggler from the
Bahamas, I give the table of the whole, to show the interesting
relationship between them.

COMMON CHARACTERS. Above dusky-olive or blackish; the rump
olivaceous or yellowish; the head and cheeks always black, and
sometimes darker than back. Chin and throat ashy or black. Rest
of under part yellow, duller behind. A broad white stripe from
bill above eye to nape. A white patch at base of primaries;
generally visible externally, sometimes concealed. Lateral
tail-feathers tipped with white. Bill black; legs dusky.

A. Head uniform in color with rest of upper parts; dark
sooty-brown or blackish. Both webs of outer tail-feather tipped
with white (except in _luteola_). All West Indian except
_luteola_, which, however, occurs in Tobago and Trinidad, and
generally belongs to the shores of the Carribean Sea.

  1. A distinct and conspicuous external white patch at base of
  primaries. Wing-coverts not margined with paler.

    _a._ Throat uniformly but decided dark ash-color, varying in
    shade, never entirely black, however, nor ashy-white.

      Throat very dark ash, not contrasting or appreciably
      different from blackish of cheeks.

        Wing-spot elongated; the white running out gradually
        and obliquely behind to the outer edge of the
        primary, reaching shaft of outer primary. Yellow of
        breast decidedly ochraceous. Rump as bright yellow
        as the belly. _Hab._ Jamaica …                _flaveola_.[83]

        White patch of wing more quadrate on each quill;
        transverse; not tapering off gradually and uniformly
        behind; not reaching the shaft on outer primary.
        Breast without ochraceous; rump olivaceous-yellow;
        the color different from that of belly. _Hab._ Santa
        Cruz …                                         _newtoni_.[84]

    _b._ Chin and throat lighter ash (but not at all whitish); in
    decided and appreciable contrast with blackish of cheeks.
    Jugulum yellow, like under parts generally.

      Lateral tail-feather broadly tipped with white on both
      webs. Rump olivaceous-yellow.

        Wing-spot on each primary nearly quadrate, as in
        _newtoni_. _Hab._ Porto Rico and St. Thomas …
                                                 _portoricensis_.[85]

      Lateral tail-feather with inner web only broadly tipped
      with white. Rump bright yellow like belly. Bill very small.

        White of wing as in _flaveola_, but less extended, and
        margining edge only of outer primary. _Hab._ Hayti and
        St. Domingo …                               _bananivora_.[86]

        White of wing as in _newtoni_. Size much larger; darker
        above. _Hab._ Tobago, Trinidad, and north shore of South
        America …                                      _luteola_.[87]

    _c._ Chin, throat, and jugulum white, with a tinge of ashy.
    Yellow of under parts much restricted.

      Depth of bill less than half distance from nostril to tip.
      Superciliary stripe reaching to nape. Yellow of under part
      restricted to a triangular patch on breast. White spot on
      wing large, tapering off gradually on each primary, as in
      _flaveola_; on the outer reaching shaft. Both webs of outer
      tail-feather about equally tipped. _Hab._ Bahamas and
      Florida Keys …                                _bahamensis_.[88]

      Depth of bill fully half distance from nostril to tip.
      Superciliary stripe reaching the occiput only. Yellow of
      under parts more extended. White spot on wing restricted;
      more quadrate, as in _newtoni_; edge only of outer primary
      involved. Outer web of outer tail-feather scarcely tipped.
      _Hab._ Cozumel Island, Yucatan …                  _caboti_.[89]

  2. No external white patch at base of primary quills.
  Wing-coverts obscurely margined with paler. Both webs of outer
  tail-feathers tipped about equally with white. Rump olivaceous;
  this color of but slight extent.

    _a._ Throat black; continuous with black of cheeks; or else
    very dark plumbeous, scarcely distinguishable from the
    cheeks.

      Median line of throat white, the sides black like the
      cheeks; chin alone black. Superciliary stripes not
      confluent anteriorly. _Hab._ Martinique …    _martinicana_.[90]

      Whole throat blackish. No white frontal band?

        Wing 2.50 inches. Belly ochraceous. _Hab._ Dominica
        Island, West Indies …                       _dominicana_.[91]

        Wing 2.20 inches. Belly more yellow. _Hab._ Barbadoes …
                                                   _barbadensis_.[92]

      Whole throat very dark plumbeous. A whitish frontal broad
      band connecting the superciliary stripes which extend in
      front of the eye. _Hab._ Antigua, West Indies …
                                                     _frontalis_.[93]

      A grayish frontal band; superciliary stripes narrow; not
      extending in front of eye. Trace of white patch at base of
      primaries …                                 _bartholemica_.[94]

B. Head blackish, in distinct contrast to the more olivaceous
back. Outer tail-feather with outer web scarcely tipped with
white. Wing-coverts not margined with paler. Throat light ash, in
distinct contrast to black of cheek.

  1. A distinct external white wing-patch at base of primaries.

        Rump olive-green. _Hab._ Mexico and Central America, but
        hardly reaching line of Panama R. R. …        _mexicana_.[95]

        Rump olive-yellow. _Hab._ Panama R. R.; south along Andes
        to Peru …                                    _peruviana_.[96]

    _a._ No external white wing-patch.

        Rump olive-green. _Hab._ Brazil and Guiana …
                                                    _chloropyga_.[97]

The preceding table is based upon a critical examination of many hundred
specimens belonging to the Smithsonian Institution.—S. F. BAIRD.


Certhiola bahamensis, REICH.

BAHAMA CREEPER.

  _Certhia flaveola_, var. β. LINN. Syst. Nat. ed. 12, I, 1766, 187.
    (“_Certhia_” _bahamensis_, CATESBY, Car. tab. 59. Bahamas.)
    _Certhiola flaveola_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 924, pl. lxxxiii,
    f. 3 (Indian Key, Fla.). _Certhiola bahamensis_, REICH. Handb. I,
    1853, 253 (CATESBY, Car. tab. 59, Bahamas).—CASSIN, Pr. A. N. S.
    Ph. 1864, 271. _C. bairdi_, CABANIS, Jour. Orn. 1865, 412 (_C.
    flaveola_, BAIRD, Birds N. A.).

SP. CHAR. (11,951 ♂, Bahamas.) Above dark dusky-brown; scarcely darker
on the head; the rump yellow. Edge of wing and a triangular patch
covering the front of breast (the angle behind) pale yellow; the rest
of under parts pale ashy-white, purest on front and sides of neck and
on crissum; on flanks somewhat soiled and rather darker. A broad
superciliary white stripe (not crossing the forehead) from bill to
nape, but little lighter than the throat; the line of feathers
immediately behind the nostrils, and a small patch at base of lower
mandible under the tips, with the usual stripe from bill through the
eye, being blackish. White spot at base of quills very distinct
externally; the posterior outline on each outer web of the primaries
not quadrate, but running out obliquely behind and on the outermost
quill reaching the shaft. Edges of quills narrowly margined with
grayish-white; on the secondaries continued round the tips. No
distinct bands on the coverts. Outer tail-feathers broadly tipped with
white; this even involving the innermost, but reduced to a narrow
edge. Total length, 4.40; wing, 2.30; tail, 1.80.

Bill: Length from forehead, .62; from nostril, .41; along gape, .59;
depth at base, .17. Legs: Tarsus, .75; middle toe and claw, .58; claw
alone, .17; hind toe and claw, .45; claw alone, .20.

HAB. Bahamas and Keys of southeast coast of Florida.

A specimen from the Florida Keys (10,367) is rather darker than those
from the Bahamas, the white less extended, and not quite reaching the
shafts in the outer quills.

HABITS. This species, belonging properly to the Bahaman group of the
West Indian Islands, was found at Indian Key, Fla., January 31, 1858,
by Mr. Würdemann, where it appeared to be not at all rare. Nothing is
known of its habits, but they are doubtless nearly the same as those
of the allied species. The _C. flaveola_ is known in Jamaica as the
Banana Quit, Honey-Sucker, and Black and Yellow Creeper. According to
the description of them given by Mr. Gosse, these birds, scarcely
larger than the Humming-Birds, are often seen in company with them,
probing the flowers for similar purposes, but in a very different
manner. Instead of hovering like the Humming-Bird in front of the
blossom, for which its short wings would be incompetent, these birds
alight on the tree and proceed in a very business-like manner. Hopping
from twig to twig in an active manner, they carefully examine each
blossom. In doing this they throw their bodies into a variety of
positions, often clinging by the feet with the back downwards, the
better to reach the interior of a blossom with their curved beaks and
peculiar tongue. The objects of these researches are the small insects
which are always found in the interior of flowers. This bird is
unsuspecting and familiar, and very freely resorts to the blossoming
shrubs of the gardens and yards. Mr. Gosse mentions, in evidence of
this familiarity, that a large moringa-tree under his window, as he
was writing, and which all through the year was profusely set with
fragrant blossoms, and was a favorite resort of these birds, was being
carefully scrutinized by two active little Creepers. Although within a
few feet of his window, they pursued their examinations, perfectly
undisturbed by his looking on. As they move about they utter a soft
sibilant note.

The nests of this little bird are usually built in those low trees and
bushes to which are fastened the nests of the brown wasps, and in
close contiguity to them. Mr. Gosse regards this singular predilection
as a remarkable exercise of instinct, if not of reason, as the evident
object of it is the protection afforded by the presence of those
formidable insects, though upon what terms of amity this defensive
alliance is kept does not appear.

These Creepers incubate during the months of May, June, and July. On
the 4th of May, Mr. Gosse observed one with a bit of “silk-cotton” in
her beak, and found the skeleton of the nest just commenced in a bush
of the _Lantana camara_. It was evidently to be of dome shape, and so
far had been constructed entirely of silk-cotton. The completed nests
are made in the form of a globe, with a small opening below the side.
The walls are very thick, composed of dry grasses intermixed
irregularly with the down of asclepias. One of these nests was fixed
between the twigs of a branch of a _Bauhinia_ projecting over a
highway. Another, found towards the end of June, was built in a bush
of _Lantana_, and of the same structure. It contained two eggs,
greenish-white, thickly but indefinitely dashed with reddish at the
larger end. Mr. Gosse quotes a Mr. Robinson as giving their dimensions
at .44 by .31 of an inch, while his own specimens are much larger than
this, measuring .63 by nearly .50. Two eggs of _C. flaveola_, from
Jamaica, in my cabinet, measure, .68 by .51 and .68 by .49 of an inch.
In one the ground is a dull white, so generally and thickly covered
with minute but confluent dots of reddish-brown as to impart a pinkish
tinge to the whole egg. In the other the ground is a dull white,
sparingly marked with blotches of brown over about three fourths of
its surface, but at the larger end covered with a crown of larger and
confluent blotches of subdued purple and dark umber, intermingled with
a few lines of a darker hue, almost black.

Two eggs of _G. newtoni_, from St. Croix, are of a more rounded-oval
shape, and measure .69 by .45 and .65 by .44 of an inch. They have a
dull white ground, but this is so uniformly and generally covered with
confluent reddish-brown markings as to be nowhere very distinct.

The St. Croix species is called the Sugar-Bird in that island, from
its habit of entering the curing-houses, through the barred windows,
probably attracted thither by the swarms of flies. It is a very
familiar species, haunting gardens, and often entering houses, and
never manifesting any alarm. It keeps in pairs, and breeds from March
to August. Mr. Newton states that it builds a domed and often pensile
nest, with a small porch, or pent-house roof, over the entrance,
generally at the extremity of a leafy bough. The nest is generally
very untidy on the outside, and is composed of coarse grass and
cotton, with feathers on the inside. It deposits its eggs before the
completion of the nest, “rather to the discomfiture of the oölogist,
who delays inserting his finger into the structure while he sees one
or both of the birds busy with a tuft of grass or cotton in their
bills, until at last he finds their eggs already hatched.” Mr. Newton
observed one instance in which two broods were reared in the same
nest, with only an interval of ten days between the time the young
left it and the laying of an egg.




FAMILY TANAGRIDÆ.—THE TANAGERS.


CHAR. Primaries nine. Bill usually conical, sometimes depressed or
attenuated, usually more or less triangular at base, and with the
cutting edges not much inflected; sometimes toothed or notched. Legs
short; claws curved; colors usually brilliant.

We confess our entire inability to present a diagnosis that shall
define and separate satisfactorily by external characters the closely
allied families of _Cærebidæ_, _Sylvicolidæ_, _Tanagridæ_, and
_Fringillidæ_, agreeing as they do in the main in every respect. The
only attempt at distinction is based upon the shape of the bill, and
this in what are generally called _Tanagridæ_ presents every variety
of shape, from the attenuation seen in _Dendroica_ to the stoutest
form of the _Fringillidæ_. The _Cærebidæ_ have peculiarities of the
tongue, not appreciable, however, in the skin. In view, therefore, of
the difficulty in question, we shall copy the conventional names and
unsatisfactory definitions of other authors, in our inability to
present a satisfactory arrangement of our own.

Carus and Gerstæcker in Handbuch der Zoologie, I, 277, adopt a
classification of the _Oscines_ based on the palatine bones in which
_Fringillidæ_ and _Tanagridæ_ are distinguished from the _Sylvicolidæ_
as follows:—

Suborder OSCINES, SUNDEVALL. Of the ten primaries, the first is short,
rudimentary, or wanting; the number of secondaries is rarely more than
nine. Tarsus entirely booted, or else with an undivided plate on the
sides. Lower trachea completely formed by the help of the trachea and
bronchiæ; generally with four pairs of muscles, distributed before and
behind.

GROUP I. SPIZOGNATHÆ. Outer lamella of the palatine bone developed in
a vertical plane, with the hinder border more or less emarginated; the
anterior palatine process broad, and united by a truncated border to
the high and broad upper mandible.

FAMILY 1. _Ploceidæ._ Ten primaries.

FAMILY 2. _Fringillidæ._ Bill encircled by a more or less distinct
swelling at base. Frontal feathers not forming lateral angles. Edges
of the jaws drawn in as far as the corner of the mouth; nine
primaries; the first three usually longest. Legs with undivided plates
behind.

FAMILY 3. _Tanagridæ._ Bill more or less triangular at the base.
Culmen always more or less curved. Frequently a tooth or notch in the
upper bill, sometimes fine serrations. Wings moderate; somewhat
pointed; primaries nine. Tarsus and toes short and stout. Hind toe
stout and long. Claws curved.

GROUP II. CORÆOGNATHÆ. Palatine bone broad and rather flat behind, the
external angles prolonged, not extended into a vertical plate. Base of
bill generally narrower. Primaries nine or ten. This section embraces,
of North American forms:—

  Mniotiltidæ,
  Motacillidæ,
  Alaudidæ,
  Sylviidæ,
  Turdidæ,
  Cærebidæ,
  Hirundinidæ,
  Ampelidæ,
  Laniidæ,
  Troglodytidæ,
  Certhiidæ,
  Paridæ,
  Icteridæ,
  Corvidæ,

all of which have already been described in the present work, with the
exception of the last two.

The family of Tanagers is peculiar to the New World, which abounds in
species of a great variety of forms. Only one genus, _Pyranga_,
actually enters within the limits of the United States, with four
well-marked species, there being many others in Central and South
America.


GENUS PYRANGA, VIEILL.

  _Pyranga_, VIEILLOT, Ois. Am. Sept. I, 1807, iv.—IB. Analyse, 1816,
    32.—SCLATER, Pr. Zoöl. Soc. 1856, 123.
  _Phœnisoma_, SWAINSON, Class. Birds, II, 1837, 284.

GEN. CHAR. Bill somewhat straight; subconical, cylindrical, notched at
tip; culmen moderately curved; commissure with a median acute lobe.
Wings elongated; the four first primaries longest. Tail moderate,
slightly forked. Colors of the male chiefly scarlet, of the female
yellowish.

  [Line drawing: _Pyranga rubra._
                  34177 ♂]

The rictus is well provided with bristles, which bend downwards, but
if brought forward would reach the nostrils. These are rounded, and
are closely crowded by the frontal leathers. The tarsus is shorter
than the middle toe, scutellate anteriorly, and smooth on the sides
behind. The lateral toes are about equal; the basal joint of the
middle toe united for half its length to the inner toe, and by almost
the whole length to the outer.

The following table may serve to distinguish the males of the several
species of this genus. The females of all differ from the males in
having the red replaced, the dusky of upper surface by olive-green,
the brighter tint of lower parts by yellow.—R. RIDGWAY.


Species and Varieties.

A. Wing and tail blackish, or deep black, in more or less
striking contrast to the color of the upper parts. Wing with two
light bands (except in _P. rubra_).

  _a._ Body and head red in the ♂; yellow in the ♀.

_Wings intense black in the ♂; back not streaked._

    1. P. rubra. Wing without any bands, or with merely
    indications of bright scarlet ones. ♂. Intense pure scarlet;
    wings and tail intense black. ♀. Olive-green above (including
    wings and tail), pale yellow below. _Juv._ ♀. Olive-green
    above, yellow below; wings and tail black. _Hab._ Eastern
    Province of United States.

    2. P. erythromelæna. Wing with two bands of pure white. ♂.
    Bright scarlet; wings, tail, and lores intense black. ♀.
    Olive-green above, yellow beneath; wings and tail slaty.

      Forehead, eyelids, and anterior half of cheeks
      velvety-black; red of a carmine shade. _Hab._ Middle
      America, north to Mirador …           var. _erythromelæna_.[98]

      Forehead, eyelids, and anterior half of cheeks scarlet
      (lores only black); red of a scarlet shade. _Hab._ Northern
      South America …                              var. _ardens_.[99]

_Wings brownish-dusky in the ♂; back streaked with black._

    3. P. bidentata.[100] Wing with two bands of pinkish-white
    (♂), or yellowish-white (♀). ♂. Above reddish-brown; head and
    beneath minium-scarlet. ♀. Above olive-green; head and
    beneath yellow. _Hab._ Middle America (both coasts) from
    Costa Rica to Middle Mexico.

  _b._ Body always yellow; head red in the ♂.

_Lesser wing-coverts black or dusky._

    4. P. ludoviciana. Wing with two light yellow bands. ♂.
    Back, wings, and tail intense black; head crimson. ♀. Above
    olive-green, tinged with ashy on the back; beneath pale
    greenish-yellow; wings and tail dusky olive-green; no red on
    head. _Hab._ Western Province of United States.

_Lesser wing-coverts and middle coverts yellow._

    5. P. rubriceps.[101] Wing without light bands. ♂. Back and
    rump olive-green; wings and tail black; head crimson. _Hab._
    New Granada.

B. Wing and tail reddish or greenish, of the same general color
of the upper parts; wing without any light bands.

  _a._ Wing, 3.00. Body always yellow; head red in the ♂.

    6. P. erythrocephala.[102] Above olive-green, beneath
    yellow. ♂. Head red. Wing, 3.00; tail, 2.70. _Hab._ Mexico
    (Temiscaltipec).

  _b._ Wing 3.50 or more. Body and head red in ♂.

_Commissure with a distinct tooth; bill bluish._

    7. P. hepatica. Bill small, not swollen laterally; culmen
    gently curved terminally, straight basally; commissural tooth
    small. ♂. Above reddish-ashy, becoming brighter reddish on
    the head above; beneath minium-scarlet medially, much tinged
    with ashy laterally. ♀. Ashy-green and greenish-yellow,
    instead of reddish. _Juv._ ♂, similar, but throat tinged with
    orange-red.

      Auriculars grayish like the back; eyelids light red; lores
      grayish. Wing, 4.10; tail, 3.40; bill, .50. _Hab._
      Table-lands of Middle America, north into southern Rocky
      Mountains of United States …                   var. _hepatica_.

      Auriculars reddish like the neck; eyelids and lores well
      defined, buffy-white. Wing, 3.60; tail, 3.25; bill, .46.
      _Hab._ Paraguay …                            var. _azaræ_.[103]

    8. P. saira. Bill large, much swollen laterally, the culmen
    curved both terminally and basally. ♂. Above dark
    brownish-red, beneath deep scarlet, duller laterally. ♀.
    Bright olive-green and intense orange-yellow, instead of
    reddish.

      Commissural tooth indistinct; forehead considerably
      brighter reddish or yellowish than the back. ♂. Beneath
      almost entirely pure vermilion-scarlet. ♀. Beneath almost
      wholly pure gamboge-yellow. Wing, 4.00; tail, 3.40; culmen,
      .80. _Hab._ Eastern South America (Brazil and Trinidad) …
                                                   var. _saira_.[104]

      Commissural tooth distinct, prominent; forehead scarcely
      brighter reddish or yellowish than the back. ♂. Beneath
      brownish-scarlet medially, more brownish laterally. ♀.
      Beneath Indian-yellow medially, greenish laterally. Wing,
      3.70; tail, 3.20; culmen, .80. _Hab._ Southern Middle
      America, on the Atlantic (Belize, Rio Manati, Costa Rica,
      Angostura, and Veragua) …                 var. _testacea_.[105]

_Commissure without an appreciable tooth; bill pale brownish._

    9. P. æstiva. ♂. Above purplish-red, beneath pure, fine,
    rosaceous-vermilion. ♀. Above brownish olive-green, beneath
    ochraceous-yellow.

      Head above scarcely brighter reddish or yellowish than the
      back. Bill, .55, or less, from nostril; primaries, .84
      longer than secondaries. Wing, 3.81; tail, 2.96; bill, .52.
      _Hab._ Eastern Province of United States, south, in winter,
      through Eastern Middle America to Peru …         var. _æstiva_.

      Head above decidedly brighter reddish or yellowish than the
      back. Bill, .60 or more, from nostril; primaries, 1.16
      longer than secondaries. Wing, 4.24; tail, 3.68; bill, .64.
      _Hab._ Southern Middle Province of United States (Upper Rio
      Grande region and Lower Colorado Basin); in winter south,
      through Western Mexico, to Colima …             var. _cooperi_.

C. Body ashy; wings, tail, and pileum dull purplish-red;
throat, lining of wing and crissum dilute rose-pink in the ♀.

    10. P. roseigularis.[106] Sides of head, nape, back, and
    scapulars deep ash, the dorsal region with a faint purplish
    cast; lores, eyelids, cheeks, and lower parts in general,
    paler, and with a dingy buff tinge,—paler on the abdomen, and
    more strongly marked with ash across the breast and along
    sides. Whole pileum, from bill to nape and down to the upper
    edge of lores, eyes, and auriculars, wings, upper
    tail-coverts, and tail, dark purplish-red. Whole throat
    dilute vermilion, or rose-pink sharply defined; crissum and
    lining of wings a paler shade of the same. Wing, 3.05; tail,
    2.75; bill, from nostril, .45; its depth at the base, .40,
    its breadth, .30; tarsus, .80. _Hab._ Yucatan.


Pyranga rubra, VIEILL.

THE SCARLET TANAGER.

  _Tanagra rubra_, LINN. I, 1766, 314.—GMELIN, I, 1788, 889.—WILSON,
    Am. Orn. II, 1810, 42; pl. xi, f. 3, 4.—AUD. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838,
    388; pl. cccliv. _Pyranga rubra_, VIEILLOT, Ois. Am. Sept. I,
    1807, iv; pl. i, f. 12 (Head.).—SWAINSON, F. Bor. Am. II, 1831,
    273.—BON. List. 1838.—IB. Conspectus, 1850.—AUD. Syn. 1839,
    136.—IB. Birds Am. II, 1841, 226; pl. ccix.—SCLATER, Pr. Zoöl.
    Soc. 1855, 156.—IB. 1856, 123.—MAX. Cab. Jour. VI, 1858,
    270.—SAMUELS, 251. _Phœnisoma rubra_, SW. Birds, II, 1837, 284.
    _Phœnicosoma rubra_, CAB. Mus. Hein. 1851, 24. _Pyranga
    erythromelas_, VIEILLOT, “Encyc. Méth. 800.”—IB. Nouv. Dict.
    XXVIII, 1817, 293.

SP. CHAR. Bill shorter than the head. Second quill longest; first and
third a little shorter. Tail moderately forked. _Male._ Whole head and
body continuous, pure, intense scarlet, the feathers white beneath the
surface, and grayish at the roots. Wings and tail, with the scapulars,
uniform intense black; the middle-coverts sometimes partly red,
forming an interrupted band. Lining of wing white. A blackish tinge
along sides of the rump, concealed by wings. Bill pea-green; iris
brown; tarsi and toes dull blue. _Female._ Olive-green above,
yellowish beneath. Wing and tail feathers brown, edged with
olivaceous. Length, 7.40; wing, 4.00; tail, 3.00.

_Hab._ Eastern Province North America, north to Winnepeg (west to El
Paso? HEERMANN). In winter, south to Ecuador (Rio Napo, SCL.). Bogota
(SCL.) Cuba (SCL. & GUNDL.); Jamaica (SCL. & GOSSE); Panama (LAWR.);
Costa Rica (LAWR.); Vera Cruz (winter, SUMICHRAST).

  [Illustration: _Pyranga ludoviciana._]

At least three years seem to be required for the assumption of the
perfect plumage of the male. In the first year the young male is like
the female, but has black wings and tail; in the fall red feathers
begin to make their appearance, and the following spring the red
predominates in patches.

HABITS. The Scarlet Tanager is one of the most conspicuous and
brilliant of all our summer visitants. Elegant in its attire, retiring
and modest in manners, sweet in song, and useful in its destruction of
hurtful insects, it well merits a cordial welcome. This Tanager is
distributed over a wide extent of territory, from Texas to Maine, and
from South Carolina to the northern shores of Lake Huron, in all which
localities it breeds. A few are found once in a while as far east as
Calais, in the spring, and they are rather occasional than common in
Eastern Massachusetts, but are more plentiful in the western part of
the State, becoming quite common about Springfield, arriving May 15,
and remaining about four months, breeding in high open woods and old
orchards. In South Carolina it is abundant as a migrant, though a few
remain and breed in the higher lands. Mr. Audubon states, also, that a
few breed in the higher portions of Louisiana, and Dr. Heermann found
them breeding at El Paso, in New Mexico. They are far more abundant,
however, in the States of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, and
throughout the Mississippi Valley, arriving early in May, and leaving
in October. Though occasionally found in the more sparsely settled
portions of the country, in orchards and retired gardens, they are, as
a rule, inhabitants of the edges of forests.

Their more common notes are simple and brief, resembling, according to
Wilson, the sounds _chip-charr_. Mr. Ridgway represents them by
_chip-a-ra´-ree_. This song it repeats at brief intervals and in a
pensive tone, and with a singular faculty of causing it to seem to
come from a greater than the real distance. Besides this it also has a
more varied and musical chant resembling the mellow notes of the
Baltimore Oriole. The female also utters similar notes when her nest
is approached, and in their mating-season, as they move together
through the branches, they both utter a low whispering warble in a
tone of great sweetness and tenderness. As a whole, this bird may be
regarded as a musical performer of very respectable merits.

The food of this species is chiefly gleaned among the upper branches,
and consists of various coleopterous and other insects and their
larvæ. Later in the season they consume various kinds of wild berries.

When their nest is approached, the male bird usually keeps at a
cautious distance, as if fearful of being seen, but his much less
gaudy mate hovers about the intruder in the greatest distress. Wilson
relates quite a touching instance of the devotion of the parent of
this species to its young. Having taken a young bird from the nest,
and carried it to his friend, Mr. Bartram, it was placed in a cage,
and suspended near a nest containing young Orioles, in hopes the
parents of the latter would feed it, which they did not do. Its cries,
however, attracted its own parent, who assiduously attended it and
supplied it with food for several days, became more and more
solicitous for its liberation, and constantly uttered cries of
entreaty to its offspring to come out of its prison. At last this was
more than Mr. Bartram could endure, and he mounted to the cage, took
out the prisoner, and restored it to its parent, who accompanied it in
its flight to the woods with notes of great exultation.

Early in August the male begins to moult, and in the course of a few
days, dressed in the greenish livery of the female, he is not
distinguishable from her or his young family. In this humble garb they
leave us, and do not resume their summer plumage until just as they
are re-entering our southern borders, when they may be seen in various
stages of transformation.

This species is extremely susceptible to cold, and in late and
unusually chilly seasons large numbers often perish in their more
northern haunts, as Massachusetts and Northern New York.

The nests of the Scarlet Tanager are built late in May, or early in
June, on the horizontal branch of a forest tree, usually on the edge
of a wood, but occasionally in an orchard. They are usually very
nearly flat, five or six inches in diameter, and about two in height,
with a depression of only about half an inch. They are of somewhat
irregular shape, or not quite symmetrically circular. Their base is
somewhat loosely constructed of coarse stems of vegetables, strips of
bark, and the rootlets of wooded plants. Upon this is wrought, with
more compactness and neatness, a framework, within which is the
lining, of long slender fibrous roots, interspersed with which are
slender stems of plants and a few strips of fine inner bark.

Mr. Nuttall describes a nest examined by him as composed of rigid
stalks of weeds and slender fir-twigs tied together with narrow strips
of _Apocynum_ and pea-vine runners, and lined with slender wiry stalks
of the _Helianthemum_, the whole so thinly plaited as readily to admit
the light through the interstices.

The eggs, four or five in number, vary in length from an inch to .90,
and have an average breadth of .65. Their ground-color varies from a
well-marked shade of greenish-blue, to a dull white with hardly the
least tinge of blue. The spots vary in size, are more or less
confluent, and are chiefly of a reddish or rufous brown, intermingled
with a few spots of a brownish and obscure purple.


Pyranga ludoviciana, BONAP.

LOUISIANA TANAGER.

  _Tanagra ludoviciana_, WILSON, Am. Orn. III, 1811, 27, pl. xx, f.
    1.—BON. Obs. 1826, 95.—AUD. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 385; V, 1839, 90,
    pl. cccliv, cccc. _Tanagra_ (_Pyranga_) _ludoviciana_, BONAP. Syn.
    1828, 105.—NUTTALL, Man. I, 1832, 471. _Pyranga ludoviciana_,
    RICH. List, 1837.—BONAP. List, 1838.—AUD. Syn. 1839, 137.—IB.
    Birds Am. III, 1841, 211, pl. ccx.—SCLATER, Pr. Zoöl. Soc. 1856,
    125.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 145. _Pyranga erythropis_,
    VIEILLOT, Nouv. Dict. XXVIII, 1819, 291. (“_Tanagra columbiana_,
    JARD. ed. Wilson, I, 317,” according to Sclater, but I cannot find
    such name.)

SP. CHAR. Bill shorter than the head. Tail slightly forked; first
three quills nearly equal. _Male._ Yellow; the middle of the back, the
wings, and the tail black. Head and neck all round strongly tinged
with red; least so on the sides. A band of yellow across the middle
coverts, and of yellowish-white across the greater ones; the tertials
more or less edged with whitish. _Female._ Olive-green above,
yellowish beneath; the feathers of the interscapular region dusky,
margined with olive. The wings and tail rather dark brown, the former
with the same marks as the male. Length, 7.25; wing, 3.60; tail, 2.85.

HAB. Western portions of United States, from the Missouri Plains to
the Pacific; north to Fort Liard, south to Cape St. Lucas. Oaxaca
(SCL.); Guatemala (SCL.); Orizaba (SCL.); Vera Cruz (winter,
SUMICHRAST).

HABITS. This bird is one of the many instances in which Wilson has
been unfortunate in bestowing upon his new species a geographical name
not appropriate at the present time. We have no evidence that this
bird, called the Louisiana Tanager, is ever found within the modern
limits of that State, although it occurs from the Great Plains to the
Pacific, and from Fort Liard, in the northern Rocky Mountains, to
Mexico.

It was first met with by Lewis and Clark’s party, on the Upper
Missouri, a region then known as Louisiana Territory. They were said
to inhabit the extensive plains in what was then called Missouri
Territory, building their nests in low bushes, and even among the
grass, and delighting in the various kinds of berries with which those
fertile prairies were said to abound.

Mr. Nuttall, who met with these birds in his Western excursions,
describes them as continually flitting over those vast downs,
occasionally alighting on the stems of some tall weed, or the bushes
bordering the streams. Their habits are very terrestrial, and from
this he infers that they derive their food from the insects they find
near the ground, as well as from the seeds of the herbage in which
they chiefly dwell. He found them a common and numerous species,
remaining in the country west of the Mississippi until the approach of
October. In his first observations of them he states that though he
had seen many of these birds, yet he had no recollection of hearing
them utter any modulated or musical sounds. They appeared to him shy,
flitting, and almost silent.

He first observed these birds in a thick belt of wood near Laramie’s
Fork of the Platte, at a considerable distance east of the Black
Hills. He afterwards found them very abundant, in the spring, in the
forests of the Columbia, below Fort Vancouver. In these latter
observations he modified his views as to their song, and states that
he could frequently trace them by their notes, which are a loud,
short, and slow, but pleasing warble, not very unlike that of the
common Robin, delivered from the tops of lofty fir-trees. Their music
continues, at short intervals, during the forenoon, and while they are
busily engaged in searching for larvæ and coleopterous insects, on the
small branches of the trees.

Dr. Suckley found this Tanager quite abundant at certain seasons in
the vicinity of Fort Steilacoom. In one year a very limited number
were seen; in another they were very abundant. From frequent
opportunities to examine and to study their habits, he was inclined to
discredit the statement of Nuttall that they descend to low bushes,
the reverse being the rule. He found it very difficult to meet with
any sufficiently low down in the trees for him to kill them with fine
shot. Their favorite abode, in the localities where he observed them,
was among the upper branches of the tall _Abies douglassii_. They
prefer the edge of the forests, rarely retiring to the depths. In
early summer, at Fort Steilacoom, they could be seen during the middle
of the day, sunning themselves in the firs, or darting from one of
those trees to another, or to some of the neighboring white oaks on
the prairie. Later in the season they were to be seen flying very
actively about in quest of insect food for their young. On the 10th of
July he saw one carrying a worm in its mouth, showing that its young
were then hatched out. During the breeding-season they are much less
shy, the males frequently sitting on some low limb, rendering the
neighborhood joyous with their delightful melody.

Their stomachs were found filled with insects, chiefly coleoptera;
among these were many fragments of the large green _Buprestis_, found
on the Douglass fir-trees.

Dr. Cooper adds to this account, that this bird arrives at Puget Sound
about May 15, and becomes a common summer resident in Washington
Territory, especially near the river-banks and among the prairies, on
which are found deciduous trees. He compares its song to that of its
black-winged relative (_P. rubra_), being of a few notes only,
whistled in the manner of the Robin, and sounding as if the bird were
quite distant, when in reality it is very near. He met with these
birds east of the Rocky Mountains and up to the 49th parallel.

In California the same observer noticed their arrival near San Diego,
in small parties, about the 24th of April. The males come in advance
of their mates, and are more bold and conspicuous, the females being
rarely seen. He saw none of them in the Coast Range toward Santa Cruz,
or at Santa Barbara, in summer. He also found them in September, 1860,
in the higher Rocky Mountains, near the sources of the Columbia, in
latitude 47°. In the fall the young and the old associate in families,
all in the same dull-greenish plumage, feeding on the berries of the
elder, and other shrubs, without the timidity they manifest in spring.

Mr. J. K. Lord states that he did not once meet with this species west
of the Cascade Mountains. He found them on the Spokan Plains and at
Colville, where they arrive in June. Male birds were the first to be
seen. On their arrival they perch on the tops of the highest
pine-trees, and continually utter a low piercing chirp. They soon
after pair, and disappear in the forest. Where they breed, Mr. Lord
was not able to discover, though he sought high and low for their
nests. As he never succeeded in finding them, he conjectured that they
must breed on the tops of the loftiest pine-trees. They all leave in
September, but do not assemble in flocks.

These Tanagers breed at least as far to the south as Arizona, Dr.
Coues having found them a summer resident near Fort Whipple, though
rare. They arrive there in the middle of April, and leave late in
September.

Mr. Salvin states that this Tanager was found between the volcanoes of
Agua and Fuego, at an elevation of about five thousand feet. Specimens
were also received from the Vera Paz.

Specimens of this species were taken near Oaxaca, Mexico, by Mr.
Boucard, where they are winter residents.

Mr. Ridgway writes that he first met with these Tanagers in July,
among the pines of the Sierra Nevada. There its sweet song first
attracted his attention, it being almost exactly similar to that of
its eastern relative (_P. rubra_). Afterwards he continually met with
it in wooded portions, whether among the willows and cotton wood of
the river-valleys, or the cedars and piñons of the mountains. In May,
1868, among the willows and buffalo-berry thickets of the Truckee
Valley, near Pyramid Lake, it was very abundant, in company with
Grosbeaks and Orioles, feeding upon the buds of the grease-wood
(_Obione_), and later in the summer among the cedars and nut-pines of
East Humboldt Mountains, where the peculiar notes of the young
arrested his attention, resembling the complaining notes of the
Bluebird, but louder and more distinct. In September he noticed them
feeding, among the thickets bordering the streams, upon the pulpy
fruit of the thorn-apple (_Cratægus_) that grew plentifully in the
thickets. To the eastward it was continually met with, in all wooded
portions, as far as they explored.

In manners, it is very similar to the _P. rubra_. The songs of both
birds are very nearly alike, being equally fine, but that of this
species is more silvery in tone, and uttered more falteringly. Its
usual note of _plit-it_ is quite different from the _chip-a-ra´-ree_
of the _P. rubra_.

He met with their nest and eggs at Parley’s Park, Utah, June 9, 1869.
The nest was on the extreme end of a horizontal branch of a pine, in a
grove, flat, and with only a very slight depression, having a diameter
of four and a half inches, with a height of only an inch. It was
composed externally of only a few twigs and dry wiry stems, and lined
almost entirely with fine vegetable rootlets.

The eggs, usually three in number, measure .95 by .66 of an inch. In
form they are a rounded-oval. Their ground-color is a light
bluish-green, sparingly speckled, chiefly at the larger end, with
marking of umber, intermingled with a few dots of lilac.


Pyranga hepatica, SWAINSON.

  _Pyranga hepatica_, SWAINSON, Phil. Mag. I, 1827, 124.—SCLATER, Pr.
    Zoöl. Soc. 1856, 124.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 302, pl.
    xxxi.—KENNERLY, 131.—RIDGWAY, Pr. A. N. S. 1869, 132.—COOPER, Orn.
    Cal. 1, 1870, 144. _Phœicosoma hepatica_, CAB. Mus. Hein. 1851,
    25. _Pyranga azaræ_, WOODHOUSE, Sitgreave’s Expl. Zuñi, 1853, 82
    (not of other authors).

SP. CHAR. “Length, 8.00”; wing, 4.12; tail, 3.36; culmen, .68; tarsus,
.84. Second quill longest, first intermediate between fourth and
fifth. Bill somewhat shorter than that of _æstiva_, but broader and
higher at the base, becoming compressed toward the end; a distinct
prominent tooth on commissure; its color plumbeous-black, paler, or
more _bluish_ plumbeous on lower mandible. _Male._ Head above
brownish-red, purer anteriorly; rest of upper parts and sides
brownish-ashy, tinged with reddish; edges of primaries, upper
tail-coverts and tail, more reddish. Beneath, medially, fine light
scarlet, most intense on the throat, growing gradually paler
posteriorly. Lores and orbital region grayish-white; eyelids pale-red;
ear-coverts ashy-red.

_Female._ Above ashy-greenish-olivaceous, brightest on forehead; edges
of wing-feathers, upper tail-coverts, and tail more ashy on the back;
beneath nearly uniform olivaceous-yellow, purer medially; lores ashy;
a superciliary stripe of olivaceous-yellow. _Young male_ similar to
the female, but forehead and crown olivaceous-orange, brightest
anteriorly; superciliary stripe bright orange, whole throat, abdomen,
and breast medially rich yellow, most intense, and tinged with
orange-chrome on throat.

HAB. Mountain regions of Mexico and southern Rocky Mountains of United
States. Oaxaca (Oct., SCLATER); Xalapa (SCL.); Guatemala (SCLATER);
Vera Cruz (not to alpine regions, SUMICHRAST).

This species differs from all the others in the great restriction of
the red; this being confined principally to the head above, and median
lower surface, the lateral and upper parts being quite different
reddish-ashy. The _shade_ of red is also peculiar among the North
American species, being very fine and light, of a red-lead cast, and
most intense anteriorly.

HABITS. A single female specimen in full plumage of this beautiful
bird was obtained by Dr. Woodhouse in the San Francisco Mountains of
New Mexico. It was an adult female, and so far is the only one known
to have been found within the limits of the United States. It is not
rare in the highlands of Mexico, whence it probably extends into the
mountainous portions of the United States.

Specimens have also been procured from Guatemala, and Mr. Boucard met
with it at Choapam, a mountainous district in the State of Oaxaca,
Mexico.

Nothing is known of its habits.


Pyranga æstiva, var. æstiva VIEILL.

SUMMER REDBIRD.

  _Muscicapa rubra_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 326. _Tanagra æstiva_,
    GMELIN, I, 1788, 889.—WILSON, I, 1810, 95, pl. vi, f. 3.—AUD. Orn.
    Biog. I, 1831, 232; V, 1839, 518, pl. xliv. _Pyranga æstiva_,
    VIEILL. Nouv. Dict. XXVIII, 1819, 291.—BON. List, 1838.—IB.
    Conspectus, 1850.—AUD. Syn. 1839, 136.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841,
    222, pl. ccviii.—SCLATER, Pr. Zoöl. Soc. 1855, 156.—IB. 1856,
    123.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 301.—HEERMANN, P. R. R. X, p.
    17.—RIDGWAY, Pr. A. N. S. 1869, 130.—MAYNARD, Birds E. Mass. 1870,
    109. _Phœnisoma æstiva_, SW. Birds, II, 1837, 284. _Phœnisoma
    æstiva_, CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1851, 25. _? Loxia virginica_,
    GMELIN, I, 1788, 849. (Male changing.) _? Tanagra
    mississippiensis_, GMELIN, I, 1788, 889. _Pyranga
    mississippiensis_, MAX. Cab. Jour. VI, 1858, 272. _Tanagra
    variegata_, LATH. Ind. Orn. I, 1790, 422. (Male changing.)
    _Tangare du Mississippi_, BUFFON, Ois. V, 63, pl. enl. 741.

SP. CHAR. Bill nearly as long as the head, without any median tooth.
Tail nearly even, or slightly rounded. _Male._ Vermilion-red; a little
darker above, and brightest on the head. Quills brown, the outer webs
like the back. Shafts only of the tail-feathers brown. Bill light
horn-color, more yellowish at the edges. _Female._ Olive above, yellow
beneath, with a tinge of reddish. Length, 7.20; wing, 3.75; tail,
3.00; culmen, .70, tarsus, .68.

HAB. Eastern Province United States, north to about 40°, though
occasionally straying as far as Nova Scotia; west to borders of the
plains. In winter, south through the whole of Middle America (except
the Pacific coast) as far as Ecuador and Peru. Cuba; Jamaica.

In the accompanying cut we give outline of the bill of the two
varieties of _Pyranga æstiva_ as compared with a near ally, _P.
saira_, of South America. (13,190, _P. æstiva_; 34,344, _P. æstiva_
var. _Cooperi_; 50,994, _P. saira_.)

  [Line drawings: 13190
                  34344
                  50994]

This species is one of wide distribution; its habitat in the United
States including the “Eastern Province,” north to Nova Scotia, and
west toward the Rocky Mountains, along the streams watering the
plains, through Texas, into Eastern Mexico, Central America, and the
northern part of South America, as well as some of the West India
islands.

In the different regions of its habitat the species undergoes
considerable variations as regards shades of color and proportions.
Specimens from Texas and Eastern Mexico exhibit a decided tendency to
longer bills and more slender forms than those of the Eastern United
States; the tails longer, and colors rather purer. In Central America
and New Granada the species acquires the greatest perfection in the
intensity and purity of the red tints, all specimens being in this
respect noticeably different from those of any other region.[107]

Specimens in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution, from Peru
(39,849 ♂, 39,849 ♂, and 39,850 ♀, head-waters Huallaga River), are
undistinguishable from those killed in the eastern United States.

The young male exhibits a variegated plumage, the red appearing in
patches upon the other colors of the female; in its changing plumage,
the red generally predominates on the head, and often individuals may
be seen with none anywhere else. In this condition there appears to be
a great resemblance to the _P. erythrocephala_ (see synoptical table),
judging from the description, but which appears to be considerably
smaller, and perhaps has the red of the head more continuous and
sharply defined.

The young male in first summer resembles the female, but has the
yellow tints deeper, the lower tail-coverts approaching orange.

HABITS. The Summer Redbird is found chiefly in the Southern States, as
far north as Southern New Jersey and Illinois. Mr. Audubon speaks of
their occurring in Massachusetts, but Mr. Lawrence has never known of
their having been found farther north than the Magnolia Swamps near
Atlantic City, N. J. One or two recent instances of the capture of
these birds in Massachusetts, as also in New Brunswick and Nova
Scotia, have occurred, but these must be regarded as purely accidental.

This species is said by Mr. Salvin to enjoy an almost universal range
throughout Guatemala. It occurred in December at the mouth of the Rio
Dulce, in the pine ridges near Quisigua, and along the whole road from
Isabel to Guatemala, a distance of eighty leagues.

Mr. C. W. Wyatt met with these birds also, in all varieties of
plumage, throughout Colombia, South America, at Herradura, Cocuta
Valley, and Canta. Mr. Boucard obtained them at Plaza Vicente, Mexico.
Dr. Woodhouse observed this species throughout the Indian Territory,
Texas, and New Mexico, where it seemed solitary in its habits,
frequenting the thick scrubby timber. It has been known to breed at
various points in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Louisiana, and
Texas. To the northward it breeds more or less abundantly, as far as
Washington, D. C., on the east, and Southern Illinois and Kansas on
the west, being much more common in the Mississippi Valley than in the
States on the Atlantic in the same parallel of latitude.

Mr. Dresser found it quite common about San Antonio, Texas, during the
summer season, arriving there about the middle of April, which is just
about the period at which the three specimens were taken near Boston.
It is comparatively rare in Pennsylvania, though abundant in the
southern counties of New Jersey, and in Delaware, Eastern Maryland,
and Virginia. It is also abundant in the Carolinas, in Georgia,
Florida, and the Gulf States.

Wilson, in describing the nest and eggs of this species, has evidently
confounded them and some of their habits with those of the Blue
Grosbeak. Their eggs are not light-blue, nor are the nests, so far as
I know, as described by him. Audubon and Nuttall copy substantially
his errors.

The food of this species during the spring and early summer is chiefly
various kinds of large coleopterous insects, bees, wasps, and others.
Later in the season, when whortleberries are ripe, they feed chiefly
on these and other small fruit. In taking its food it rarely alights
on the ground, but prefers to capture its insects while on the wing.

The usual note of this bird, which Mr. Audubon pronounces unmusical,
resembles the sounds “_chicky-chucky-chuck_.” The same writer states
that during the spring this bird sings pleasantly for nearly half an
hour in succession, that its song resembles that of the Red-eyed
Vireo, and that its notes are sweeter and more varied and nearly equal
to those of the Orchard Oriole.

The late Dr. Gerhardt of Varnell’s Station, in Northern Georgia,
informed me that these birds are quite common in that section of
country. The nest is usually built on one of the lower limbs of a
post-oak, or in a pine sapling, at a height of from six to twenty
feet. They are usually constructed toward the extremity of the limb,
and so far from the trunk as to be very difficult of access. They are
generally built from the middle to the end of May. The eggs are four
in number.

In Southern Illinois, according to Mr. Ridgway, the Summer Redbird
arrives about the 20th of April, staying until the last of September.
It is more abundant than the Scarlet Tanager, and much less retiring
in its habits, frequenting the open groves instead of the deeper woods
and the forests of the bottom-lands, being especially attached to the
parks and groves within the towns. From its similarity in appearance,
manners, and notes to the Scarlet Tanager, it is seldom distinguished
by the common people from that bird, and those who notice the
difference in color between the two generally consider this the
younger stage of plumage of the black-winged species. Its song is said
to be somewhat after the style of the Robin, but in a firmer tone and
more continued. It differs from the song of the _P. rubra_ in being
more vigorous, and delivered in a manner less faltering. Its ordinary
note of anxiety when the nest is approached is a peculiar
_pa-chip´it-tūt-tūt-tūt_, very different from the weaker _chip´-al,
rā-rēē_ of the _P. rubra_. The nest is placed on a low horizontal or
drooping branch, near its extremity, the tree being generally an oak,
or sometimes a hickory, and situated near the roadside or at the edge
of a grove. In its construction it is described as very thin, though
by no means frail, permitting the eggs to be seen through the
interstices from below. Mr. Ridgway never found more than three eggs
in one nest.

A nest of this species (Smith. Coll., 589) from Prairie Mer Rouge,
Louisiana, has a diameter of four inches and a height of two. Like all
the nests of this family, the cavity is very shallow, its deepest
depression being hardly half an inch. So far from corresponding with
the descriptions generally given of it, this nest is well and even
strongly put together, although a portion of the base and some of the
external parts are somewhat openly interwoven, as if for ventilation.
These materials are fragments of plants, catkins, leaves, stems, and
grasses. These seem to constitute a distinct part of the nest, and are
of unequal thicknesses in different parts of the structure. Within
this external frame is a much more artistic and elaborately interwoven
basket, composed entirely of fine, slender, and dry grasses,
homogeneous in character, and evidently gathered just at the time its
seed was ripening. It is of a bright straw-yellow, and forms the whole
internal portion of the nest.

The eggs vary somewhat in size and shape, from an oblong to a rounded
oval. Their length is from .80 of an inch to an inch, and their
breadth averages .68. Their color is a bright light shade of
emerald-green, spotted, marbled, dotted, and blotched with various
shades of lilac, brownish-purple, and dark-brown. These are generally
well diffused equally over the entire egg.

  [Illustration: PLATE XX.

   1. Pyranga cooperi, _Ridgw._ ♂ N. Mex., 34344.
   2.    “       “         “    ♀.
   3.    “    ludoviciana, _Wils._ ♂ Neb., 38388.
   4.    “       “            “    ♀.
   5.    “    æstiva, _Gm._ ♂ Ga., 13190.
   6. Pyranga æstiva, _Gm._ ♀.
   7.    “    rubra, _Linn._ ♂ Iowa, 34177.
   8.    “      “       “    ♀.
   9.    “    hepatica, _Swains._ ♂ Mex., 22414.
  10.    “       “          “     ♀.]


Pyranga æstiva, var. cooperi, RIDGWAY.

  _Pyranga cooperi_, RIDGWAY, Pr. Ac. Nat. Sc. Philad. June, 1869,
    p. 130, fig.  .—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 142.

SP. CHAR. Length, 8.60 (fresh specimen); extent, 13.50; wing, 4.24;
tail, 3.68; culmen, .84; tarsus, .80. _Male._ Generally rich pure
vermilion, similar to that of _æstiva_, but lighter, brighter than in
eastern examples, and less rosaceous than in Central American
specimens. Upper surface scarcely darker than lower, the head above
being hardly different from the throat, and abruptly lighter than the
back, which, with the wings and tail, is of a much lighter dusky-red
than in _æstiva_; exposed tips of primaries pure slaty-umber,
primaries faintly margined terminally with paler (in the type, this
character is not apparent, owing to the feathers being somewhat worn;
in other specimens, however, it is quite a noticeable feature,
although possibly not to be entirely relied on). _Female._ Above
orange-olivaceous, beneath more light yellowish, purest medially;
crissum richer yellow than other lower parts, being in some
individuals (young males?) intense Indian-yellow, with the inner webs
of the tail-feathers margined with the same; quite distinct line of
orange-yellow over the lores.

HAB. Upper Rio Grande and Colorado region of Southern Middle Province;
south, in winter, along Pacific coast of Mexico as far as Colima.

This bird, quite different from Eastern _æstiva_, is, however,
probably only a representative form of the same species in the
Colorado and Upper Rio Grande region, migrating south in winter,
through Western Mexico to Colima, as specimens from Texas and Middle
Mexico appear to be quite intermediate, at least in form.

HABITS. This is a new form, whose claim to distinctness was first made
known by Mr. Ridgway, in 1869. In appearance, it most resembles the
_P. æstiva_, but is larger. It has been found in the Middle Province
of the United States, from Fort Mohave at the north, to Colima and
Mazatlan in Mexico.

Dr. Cooper found this bird quite common near Fort Mohave, after April
25, in the Colorado Valley, latitude 35°. They chiefly frequented the
tall cottonwood, feeding on insects, and occasionally flew down to the
_Larrea_ bushes after a kind of bee found on them. He states also that
they have a call-note sounding like the words _ke-dik_, which, in the
language of the Mojave Indians, signifies “come here.” They sing in a
loud, clear tone, and in a style much like that of the Robin, but with
a power of ventriloquism which makes the sound appear much more
distant than it really is. The only specimens of this species known to
have been obtained in the United States were taken at Los Pinos, New
Mexico, by Dr. Coues, and at Fort Mohave by Dr. Cooper. Other
specimens have been procured from Western Mexico.




FAMILY FRINGILLIDÆ.—THE FINCHES.


CHAR. Primaries nine. Bill very short, abruptly conical, and robust.
Commissure strongly angulated at base of bill. Tarsi scutellate
anteriorly, but the sides with two undivided plates meeting behind
along the median line, as a sharp posterior ridge. Eyes hazel or
brown, except in _Pipilo_, where they are reddish or yellowish. Nest
and eggs very variable as to character and situation.

I still labor under the inability expressed in Birds of North America
(p. 406), in 1858, to satisfactorily define and limit the subfamilies
and genera of the _Fringillidæ_ of North America, and can only hope
that by the aid of the figures of the present work no material
difficulty will be experienced in determining the species. The
distinctions from the allied families are also difficult to draw with
precision. This is especially the case with the _Tanagridæ_, where we
have much the same external anatomy, including the bill, nearly all
the varying peculiarities of this member in the one being repeated in
the other.—S. F. B.

All the United States species may be provisionally divided into four
subfamilies (the European House-Sparrow forming a fifth), briefly
characterizable as follows:—

Coccothraustinæ. Bill variable, from enormously large to quite
small; the base of the upper mandible almost always provided with a
close-pressed fringe of bristly feathers (more or less conspicuous)
concealing the nostrils. Wings very long and pointed, usually one half
to one third longer than the forked or emarginate tail. Tarsi short.

Pyrgitinæ. Bill robust, swollen, arched above without distinct
ridge. Lower mandible at base narrower than upper. Nostrils covered;
side of maxilla with stiff appressed bristles. Tarsi short, not longer
than middle toe. Tail shorter than the somewhat pointed wings. Back
streaked; under parts not streaked.

Spizellinæ. Embracing all the plain-colored sparrow-like species
marked with longitudinal stripes. Bill conical, always rather small;
both mandibles about equal. Tarsi lengthened. Wings and tail variable.
Lateral claws never reaching beyond the base of the middle claw.

Passerellinæ. Sparrow-like species, with triangular spots beneath.
Legs, toes, and claws very stout; the lateral claws reaching nearly to
the end of the middle ones.

Spizinæ. Brightly colored species, usually without streaks. Bill
usually very large and much curved; lower mandible wider than the
upper. Wings moderately long. Tail variable.


SUBFAMILY COCCOTHRAUSTINÆ.—THE TRUE FINCHES.

CHAR. Wings very long and much pointed; generally one third longer
than the more or less forked tail; first quill usually nearly as long
as or longer than the second. Tertiaries but little longer, or equal
to the secondaries, and always much exceeded by the primaries. Bill
very variable in shape and size, the upper mandible, however, as broad
as the lower; nostrils rather more lateral than usual; and always more
or less concealed by a series of small bristly feathers applied along
the base of the upper mandible; no bristles at the base of the bill.
Feet short and rather weak. Hind claw usually considerably longer than
the middle anterior one; sometimes nearly the same size.

In the preceding diagnosis I have combined a number of forms, all
agreeing in the length and acuteness of the wing, the bristly feathers
along the base of the bill, the absence of conspicuous bristles on the
sides of the mouth, and the shortness of the feet. They are all
strongly marked and brightly colored birds, and usually belong to the
more northern regions.

The bill is very variable, even in the same genus, and its shape is to
a considerable extent of specific rather than of generic importance.
The fringe of short bristles along the base of the bill, concealing
the nostrils, is not appreciable in _Plectrophanes_ (except in _P.
nivalis_), but the other characteristics given above are all present.


Genera.

A. Bill enormously large and stout; the lateral outline as long
as that of the skull. Culmen gently curved.

_Colors green, yellow, and black._

  Hesperiphona. First quill equal to the second. Wings one half
  longer than the tail. Lateral claws equal, reaching to the base
  of the middle claw. Claws much curved, obtuse; hinder one but
  little longer than the middle.

B. Bill smaller, with the culmen more or less curved; the
lateral outline not so long as the skull. Wings about one third
longer than the tail, or a little more; first quill shorter than
the second. Claws considerably curved and thickened; hinder most
so, and almost inappreciably longer or even shorter than the
middle anterior one. Tarsus shorter than the middle toes. Lateral
toes unequal.

_a. Colors red, gray, and black, never streaked._

  Pyrrhula. Bill excessively swollen; as broad and as high as
  long, not half length of head; upper outline much curved.
  Tail-coverts covering two thirds the tail, which is nearly
  even, middle and hinder claws about equal.

_b. Colors red and gray, or streaked brown and white._

  Pinicola. Bill moderately swollen; longer than high or broad,
  upper outlines much curved; the tip hooked. Tail-coverts
  reaching over basal half of tail, which is nearly even. Middle
  claw longer than hind; outer lateral claw extending beyond base
  of middle (reaching to it in _Pyrrhula_ and _Carpodacus_). ♀
  and _juv._ not streaked.

  Carpodacus. Bill variable, always more or less curved and
  swollen; longer than high or broad; the tip not hooked.
  Tail-coverts reaching over two thirds the tail, which is
  decidedly forked. Middle and hind claw about equal. ♀ and
  _juv._ streaked.

_c. Colors black and yellow._

  Chrysomitris. Bill nearly straight. Hind claw stouter and
  more curved, but scarcely longer than the middle anterior one.
  Outer lateral toe reaching a little beyond the base of the
  middle claw; shorter than the hind toe. Wings longer and more
  pointed. Tail quite deeply forked.

C. Hind claw considerably longer than the middle anterior one,
with about the same curvature; claws attenuated towards the
point, and acute. Lateral toes about equal. Wings usually almost
one half longer than the tail, which is deeply forked. Tarsus
shorter than middle toe.

_a. Points of mandibles overlapping._

  Curvirostra. Tarsus shorter than middle toe. Bill much
  compressed, elongate falcate, with the points crossing like the
  blades of scissors. Claws very large; lateral extending beyond
  the base of the middle. Colors red or gray. Streaked in _juv._

_b. Points of mandibles not overlapping._

  Ægiothus. Tarsus equal to the middle toe. Bill very acutely
  conical; outlines and commissure perfectly straight. Lateral
  toes reaching beyond the base of the middle one. No ridge on
  the side of the lower mandible. Streaked; a crimson pileum
  (except in one species).

  Leucosticte. Culmen slightly decurved; commissure a little
  concave. Bill obtusely conical; not sharp-pointed. A
  conspicuous ridge on the side of the lower mandible. Claws
  large; the lateral not reaching beyond the base of the middle
  one. Colors red and brown.

D. Hind claw much the largest; decidedly less curved than the
middle anterior one. Tarsus longer than the middle toe. Lateral
toes equal; reaching about to the base of the middle claw. Hind
toe as long or longer than the middle one. Bill very variable;
always more or less curved and blunted. Palate somewhat
tuberculate; margins of lower jaw much inflexed. Tail slightly
emarginate or even. Wings one half longer than the tail. First
quill as long as the second.

  Plectrophanes. Colors black and white. With or without rufous
  nape or elbows. Much white on tail.


GENUS HESPERIPHONA, BONAP.

  _Hesperiphona_, BONAP. Comptes Rendus, XXXI, Sept. 1850, 424. (Type,
    _Fringilla vespertina_.)

  [Line drawing: 16770, _Hesperiphona vespertina_.
                 18597, _Coccothraustes vulgaris_.]

GEN. CHAR. Bill largest and stoutest of all the United States
fringilline birds. Upper mandible much vaulted; culmen nearly
straight, but arched towards the tip; commissure concave. Lower jaw
very large, but not broader than the upper, nor extending back, as in
_Guiraca_; considerably lower than the upper jaw. Gonys unusually
long. Feet short; tarsus less than the middle toe; lateral toes nearly
equal, and reaching to the base of the middle claw. Claws much curved,
stout, and compressed. Wings very long and pointed, reaching beyond
the middle of the tail. Primaries much longer than the nearly equal
secondaries and tertials; outer two quills longest; the others rapidly
graduated. Tail slightly forked; scarcely more than two thirds the
length of the wings, its coverts covering nearly three fourths of its
extent. Nest and eggs unknown.

This genus is allied to the European _Coccothraustes_, but differs in
wanting the curious expansion of the inner secondaries, as shown in
Fig. 18,597. Species are said to occur in Asia, but we have only two
in America,—one peculiar to Mexico (_H. abeillii_), the other _H.
vespertina_.

The American species may be thus distinguished:—


Species and Varieties.

COMMON CHARACTERS. Wings and tail black, the tertials with more
or less whitish; body concolored, with more or less of a
yellowish tinge. ♂. Body yellowish, more olivaceous above; no
white at base of primaries. ♀. Body grayish, merely tinged with
yellow; a white spot at base of primaries. Nest and eggs unknown.

  1. H. vespertina. ♂. Head olivaceous-sepia, with a yellow
  frontal crescent and a black occipital patch. ♀. Crown
  plumbeous-brown; a dusky “bridle” down side of the throat;
  upper tail-coverts tipped with a white spot.

    Yellow frontal crescent broad, as wide as the black behind
    it; inner webs of tertials partially black; secondaries and
    inner webs of tail-feathers tipped with white. _Hab._
    Northern mountain regions of United States and interior of
    British America …                              var. _vespertina_.

    Yellow frontal crescent narrow, less than half as wide as the
    black behind it; inner webs of the tertials without any
    black; secondaries and inner webs of tail-feathers without
    white tips. _Hab._ Southern Rocky Mountains of United States,
    and mountains of Mexico …                         var. _montana_.

  2. H. abeillii.[108] ♂. Head entirely black, sharply defined.
  ♀. Crown (only) black; no dusky “bridle” on side of throat;
  upper tail-coverts without white tips. _Hab._ Mountains of
  Guatemala and Southern Mexico.


Hesperiphona vespertina, BONAP.

EVENING GROSBEAK.

  _Fringilla vespertina_, COOPER, Annals New York Lyceum, N. H. I, ii,
    1825, 220 (Sault St. Marie).—AUD. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 515; V,
    235, pl. ccclxxiii, ccccxxiv. _Fringilla_ (_Coccothraustes_)
    _vespertina_, BON. Syn. 1828, 113.—IB. Am. Orn. II, pl. xv.
    _Coccothraustes vespertina_, SW. F. Bor. Am. II, 1831, 269.—AUD.
    Birds Am. III, 1841, 217, pl. ccvii. _Hesperiphona vespertina_,
    BON. Comptes Rendus, XXXI, Sept. 1850, 424.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am.
    1858, 409.—COOPER & SUCKLEY, 195.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 174.
    _Coccothraustes bonapartii_, LESSON, Illust. de Zoöl. 1834, pl.
    xxxiv. ♀ (Melville Island). _Loxia bonapartii_, LESS. Bull. Sc.
    tab. xxv. _Hesperiphona vespertina_, var. _vespertina_, RIDGWAY
    (new variety from Mexico and the southern Rocky Mountains).

SP. CHAR. Bill yellowish-green, dusky at the base. Anterior half of
the body dusky yellowish-olive, shading into yellow to the rump above,
and the under tail-coverts below. Outer scapulars, a broad frontal
band continued on each side over the eye, axillaries, and middle of
under wing-coverts yellow. Feathers along the extreme base of the
bill, the crown, tibiæ, wings, upper tail-coverts, and tail black;
inner greater wing-coverts and tertiaries white. Length, 7.30; wing,
4.30; tail, 2.75.

The female differs in having the head of a dull olivaceous-brown,
which color also glosses the back. The yellow of the rump and other
parts is replaced by a yellowish-ash. The upper tail-coverts are
spotted with white. The white of the wing is much restricted. There is
an obscure blackish line on each side of the chin.

HAB. (Var. _vespertina_.) Pacific coast to Rocky Mountains; Northern
America east to Lake Superior. (Var. _montana_.) Southern Rocky
Mountains of United States into Mexico; Orizaba! (SCLATER, 1860, 251);
Vera Cruz (alpine regions, breeding) SUMICHRAST, Pr. Bost. Soc. I,
550; Guatemala, SALVIN.

  [Illustration: _Hesperiphona vespertina._]

The variety with broad frontal band and increased amount of white
appears to characterize Northern specimens, while that with narrow
frontlet and the greatest amount of black is found in Guatemala,
Mexico, and the southern Rocky Mountains, and may be called _montana_.

In size it is also a little smaller. Specimens from Mirador (where
breeding) and those from New Mexico are nearly identical in size,
proportions, and colors.

HABITS. This remarkable Grosbeak was first described by Mr. William
Cooper, from specimens obtained by Mr. Schoolcraft in April, 1823,
near the Sault Sainte Marie, in Michigan. Sir John Richardson soon
after found it to be a common inhabitant of the maple groves on the
plains of the Saskatchewan, where it is called by the Indians the
“Sugar-Bird.” He states that it frequents the borders of Lake Superior
also, and the eastern declivity of the Rocky Mountains, in latitude
56°.

Captain Blakiston did not find this Grosbeak on the Saskatchewan
during the summer, but only noticed it there during the winter. He saw
none after the 22d of April, and not again until the middle of
November. They were seen in company with the Pine Grosbeak, feeding on
the keys of the ash-leaved maple. He adds that it has a sharp clear
note in winter, and is an active bird.

Dr. Cooper, in his Notes on the Zoölogy of Washington Territory,
states that this species is a common resident in its forests, but adds
that as it frequents the summits of the tallest trees, its habits have
been but little observed. In January, 1854, during a snow-storm, a
flock descended to some low bushes at Vancouver, and began to eat the
seeds. Since then he had only seen them flying high among the tops of
the poplars, upon the seeds of which they feed. They were uttering
their loud, shrill call-notes as they flew.

The same writer, in his Report on the birds of California, makes
mention of the occurrence of this Grosbeak at Michigan Bluffs, in
Placer County, in about latitude 39°. Specimens were obtained by Mr.
F. Gruber, and were probably the variety designated as _montana_. The
same form doubtless occurs along the summits of the Sierra Nevada, and
they have been traced among the Rocky Mountains to Fort Thorn in New
Mexico.

These birds do not come down near the sea-coast even at the mouth of
the Columbia, and in California have not been met with in the Coast
Range. They are said to feed chiefly on the seeds of the pine, spruce,
and cottonwood trees, occasionally seeking other seeds near the
ground. They are silent when feeding, but utter a loud call-note as
they fly from place to place. In spring, Dr. Cooper states, they have
a short but melodious song, resembling that of the Robin or
Black-headed Grosbeak. He afterwards met with a flock in the winter
near Santa Cruz, where they remained until the end of April. Their
favorite resort was a small grove of alders and willows, close to the
town, where their loud call-notes could be heard at all times of the
day, though he never heard them sing. In the early spring their
favorite food was the young leaves of various wild plants that grew
under the trees. They also fed on the buds of the _Negundo_, and
frequented the large pear-trees in the old mission garden. They were
very tame, and allowed an approach to within a few yards, when
feeding. Mr. Townsend, in 1836, found this Grosbeak abundant about the
Columbia River. Late in May they were quite numerous in the pine
woods. They were very unsuspicious and tame. Under the impression that
these birds were only musical towards night, they have been styled the
Evening Grosbeak. But this, according to Mr. Townsend, is a misnomer.
He also contraverts several other statements made in reference to
their habits. He found them remarkably noisy from morning until night,
when they quietly retire like other birds, and are not heard from
until the next day-dawn. They go in large flocks, and are rarely met
with singly. As they feed upon the seeds of the pine and other trees,
they proceed by a succession of hops to the extremities of the
branches. They also feed largely on the larvæ of the large black ant,
for which object they frequent the tops of the low oaks on the edges
of the forests. Their ordinary voice is said to be a single screaming
note, uttered while feeding. At times, about midday, the male attempts
a song, which Mr. Townsend describes as a miserable failure. It is a
single note, a warbling call like the first note of the Robin, but not
so sweet, and suddenly checked, as if the performer were out of
breath.

Mr. Sumichrast met with the variety of this species designated as
_montana_, May, 1857, in the pine woods of Monte Alto, about twelve
leagues from Mexico; and although he has never found it in the alpine
region of Vera Cruz, he thinks it probable it will be found to be a
resident of that district.

Lake Superior has been stated to be its most eastern point of
occurrence, but, though this may be true as a general rule, several
instances of the accidental appearance of this nomadic species much
farther to the east are known. On February 14, 1871, Mr. Kumlien,
while out in the woods with his son, saw a small flock of these birds
in Dane County, Wisconsin. There were six of them, but, having no gun,
he did not procure any. Later in the season he again met with and
secured specimens. In the following March, Dr. Hoy of Racine also
obtained several near that city. He also informs me that during the
winter of 1870-71 there were large flocks of these birds near
Freeport, Ill. One person procured twenty-four specimens. One season
he noticed them as late as May. They frequent the maple woods, and
feed on the seeds fallen on the ground. They also eat the buds of the
wild cherry. Their visits are made at irregular intervals. In some
years not a single individual can be seen, while in others they make
their appearance in December and continue through the whole winter.

Specimens have also been obtained near Cleveland, Ohio, and at
Hamilton, Canada; and Mr. Thomas McIlwraith states that Mr. T. J.
Cottle of Woodstock, Ontario, shot several of these birds in his
orchard in the month of May. They were quite numerous, and remained
about the place several days.


GENUS PINICOLA, VIEILL.

  _Pinicola_, VIEILLOT, Ois. Am. Sept. I, 1807, 4, pl. i, f. 13.
  “ _Strobilophaga_, VIEILLOT, Analyse, 1816.”
  “ _Corythus_, CUVIER, R. An. 1817.”

CHAR. Bill short, nearly as high as long; upper outline much curved
from the base; the margins of the mandibles rounded; the commissure
gently concave, and abruptly deflexed at the tip; base of the upper
mandible much concealed by the bristly feathers covering the basal
third. Tarsus rather shorter than the middle toe; lateral toes short,
but their long claws reach the base of the middle one, which is longer
than the hind claw. Wings moderate; the first quill rather shorter
than the second, third, and fourth. Tail rather shorter than the
wings; nearly even.

Of this genus one species is found in northern America, and is now
considered as identical with that belonging to the northern regions of
the Old World.

  [Illustration: PLATE XXI.

   1. Pinicola enucleator. ♂ N. Y., 12846.
   2.    “         “       ♀.
   3. Carpodacus frontalis, _var._ frontalis. ♂ Cal., 10223.
   4.    “       cassini. ♂ Rocky Mts., 53471.
   5.    “         “      ♀ Cal., 18027.
   6.    “       frontalis, _var._ frontalis. ♀ Cal., 6429.
   7.    “       purpureus. ♂ Pa., 796.
   8.    “         “        ♀ Pa., 2139.
   9.    “       frontalis, _var._ rhodocolpus. ♂ Cal.
  10.    “       _var._ californicus. ♂ Cal., 10230.
  11.    “                    “       ♀ Cal., 10231.
  12.    “       frontalis, _var._ hæmorrhous. ♂ Mex.]


Pinicola enucleator, CABANIS.

THE PINE GROSBEAK.

  _Coccothraustes canadensis_, BRISSON, Orn. III, 1760, 250, pl. xii,
    f. 3. “_Corythus canadensis_, BREHM, Vögel Deutschlands” (1831?).
    _Pinicola canadensis_, CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1851, 167.—BAIRD, Birds
    N. Am. 1858, 410.—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Chic. Ac. Sc. I, 1869, 281
    (Alaska).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 151.—SAMUELS, Birds N. Eng. 283.
    _Pinicola americana_ (CAB. MSS.), BP. Consp. 1850, 528. _Loxia
    enucleator_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 299.—FORST. Phil. Trans. LXII,
    1772, 383.—WILS. Am. Orn. I, 1808, 80, pl. v. _Pyrrhula
    enucleator_, AUD. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 414, pl. ccclviii.
    _Corythus enucleator_, BONAP. List. 1838.—AUD. Syn. 127.—IB. Birds
    Am. III, 1841, 179, pl. cxcix.—BON. & SCHLEGEL, Mon. des Loxiens,
    1850, 9, pl. ix, xi, xii.—DEGLAND & GERBE, Orn. Europ. I, 258.
    _Pinicola enucleator_, CABANIS, Mus. Hein. I, 1851, 167.

  [Line drawing: _Pinicola enucleator._
                  12846]

SP. CHAR. Bill and legs black. _Male._ General color light carmine-red
or rose, not continuous above, however, except on the head; the
feathers showing brownish centres on the back, where, too, the red is
darker. Loral region, base of lower jaw all round, sides (under the
wing), abdomen, and posterior part of the body, with under
tail-coverts, ashy, whitest behind. Wing with two white bands across
the tips of the greater and middle coverts; the outer edges of the
quills also white, broadest on the tertiaries, on secondaries tinged
with red. _Female_ ashy, brownish above, tinged with greenish-yellow
beneath; top of head, rump, and upper tail-coverts brownish
gamboge-yellow. Wings much as in the male. Length about 8.50; wing,
4.50; tail, 4.00. _Young_ like female, but more ashy.

HAB. Arctic America, south to United States in severe winters.

A careful comparison of American with European specimens of the Pine
Grosbeak does not present any tangible point of distinction, and it
appears inexpedient to preserve the name of _canadensis_ for the bird
of the New World. There is considerable difference in the size, the
proportions of the bill, and the color of different specimens, but
none of appreciable geographical value.

  [Illustration: _Pinicola enucleator._]

A considerable number of specimens from Kodiak (perhaps to be found in
other localities on the northwest coast) compared with eastern have
conspicuously larger bills, almost equal to _cardinalis_ in this
respect. In No. 54,465 the length from forehead is .80; from nostril,
.50; from gape, .66; gonys, .40; greatest depth, .51. In a Brooklyn
skin (12,846) the same measurements are from forehead, .60; from
nostril, .44; from gape, .60; gonys, .34; greatest depth, .40. A
Saskatchewan skin is intermediate. A European specimen has the bill as
long as that from Kodiak, but less swollen. A Himalayan species (_C.
subhimachalus_) is much smaller, and differently colored.

These Kodiak specimens approach the European bird more nearly in form
of the bill, in which there is a tendency to a more abruptly hooked
upper mandible than in the birds from the eastern portions of British
America. As a general thing, the red tint is brighter in American than
in European birds.

HABITS. The Pine Grosbeak is, to a large extent, a resident of the
portions of North America north of the United States. In the northern
parts of New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, as well as in
western America, it is found throughout the year in the dark evergreen
forests. In the winter it is an irregular visitant as far south as
Philadelphia, being in some seasons very abundant, and again for
several winters quite rare.

Mr. Boardman mentions it as abundant, in the winter, about Calais, and
Mr. Verrill gives it as quite common in the vicinity of Norway. It is
found every winter more or less frequently in Eastern Massachusetts,
though Mr. Allen regards it as rare in the vicinity of Springfield. It
is not cited by Dr. Cooper as a bird of Washington Territory, but he
mentions it as not uncommon near the summits of the Sierra Nevada,
latitude 39°, in September. It probably breeds there, as he found two
birds in that region in the young plumage. They were feeding on spruce
seeds when he first saw them, and lingered even after their companions
had been shot, and allowed him to approach within a few feet of them.

Mr. R. Brown (Ibis, 1868) states that during the winter of 1866, while
snow was lying on the ground, two pairs of this species were shot at
Fort Rupert, Vancouver Island.

Wilson met with occasional specimens of these birds in the vicinity of
Philadelphia, generally in immature plumage, and kept one several
months, to note any change in its plumage. In the summer it lost all
its red colors and became of a greenish-yellow. In May and June, its
song, though not so loud as that of some birds, was extremely clear,
mellow, and sweet. This song it warbled out for the whole morning, and
also imitated the notes of a Cardinal, that hung near it. It became
exceedingly tame and familiar, and when in want of food or water,
uttered a continual melancholy and anxious note.

In the winter of 1835, and for several following seasons, these birds
were exceedingly abundant in the vicinity of Boston. They appeared
early in December, and remained until quite late in March, feeding
chiefly on the berries of the red cedar. They were so unsuspecting and
familiar that it was often possible to capture them alive in
butterfly-nets, and to knock them down with poles. Large numbers were
destroyed and brought to market, and many were taken alive and caged.
They were tame, but unhappy in confinement, uttering mournful cries as
the warm weather approached. In the winter of 1869-70 they again made
their appearance in extraordinary numbers, in a few localities on the
sea-coast of Massachusetts, where they did considerable damage to the
fruit-buds of the apple and pear.

Sir John Richardson states that this bird was not observed by his
expedition higher than the 60th parallel. It lives, for the most part,
a very retired life, in the deepest recesses of the pine forests,
where it passes the entire year, having been found by Mr. Drage, near
York Fort, on the 25th of January, 1747. Richardson adds that it
builds its nest on the lower branches of trees, and feeds chiefly on
the seeds of the white spruce.

Dr. Coues speaks of it as not at all rare along the coast of Labrador,
where he obtained several specimens. It was confined entirely to the
thick woods and patches of scrubby juniper. A female remained
unconcernedly on a twig after he had shot her mate, uttering
continually a low soft _shep_, like that of the Fox-colored Sparrow.
Another note was a prolonged whirring chirrup, uttered in a rather low
tone, apparently a note of recognition.

A lady resident in Newfoundland informed Mr. Audubon that she had kept
several of these Grosbeaks in confinement, that they soon became very
familiar, would sing during the night, feeding, during the summer, on
all kinds of fruit and berries, and in the winter on different seeds.
Mr. Audubon also often observed that, when firing at one of their
number, the others, instead of flying away, would move towards him,
often to within a few feet, and remain on the lower branches of the
trees, gazing at him in curiosity, entirely unmingled with any sense
of their own danger. Mr. Audubon quotes from Mr. McCulloch, of Pictou,
an interesting account of the habits of one of these birds, kept in
confinement. The winter had been very severe, the storms violent, and,
in consequence of the depth of snow, many birds had perished from
hunger and cold. The Grosbeaks, driven from the woods, sought food
around the barns and outhouses, and crowded the streets of Pictou. One
of these, taken in a starving condition, soon became so tame as to
feed from his hand, lived at large in his chamber, and would awaken him
early in the morning to receive his allowance of seed. As spring
approached, he began to whistle in the morning, and his notes were
exceedingly rich and full. As the time came when his mates were moving
north, his familiarity entirely disappeared, and he sought constantly,
by day and by night, to escape by dashing against the window-panes,
and during the day filled the house with his piteous wailing cries,
refusing his food, so that in pity he was let out. But no sooner was
he thus released than he seemed indifferent to the privilege, and kept
about the door so persistently that he had at last to be driven away,
lest some accident should befall him.

The Pine Grosbeaks were found by Bischoff at Sitka and at Kodiak, and
are said by Mr. Dall to be extremely common near Nulato, and wherever
there are trees throughout the Yukon Territory. They frequent groves
of willow and poplar, near open places, and especially the water-side
in winter, and in summer seek more retired places for breeding. Their
crops, when opened, were always found to contain the hearts of the
buds of poplars, with the external coverings carefully rejected, and
were never found to include anything else. Mr. Dall noticed no song,
only a twitter and a long chirp. He found them excellent as an article
of food. European eggs of this bird, taken by Mr. Wolley in Finland in
1858, are of an oblong-oval shape, and have a light slate-colored
ground with a marked tinge of greenish, broadly marked and plashed
with faint, subdued cloudy patches of brownish-purple, and sparingly
spotted, chiefly at the larger end, with blackish-brown and dark
purple. They measure 1.02 inches in length by .70 in breadth.

No positively identified eggs of the American Pine Grosbeak are as yet
known in collections, but Mr. Boardman has found a nest, near Calais,
about which there can be little doubt, although the parent was not
seen. This was placed in an alder-bush in a wet meadow, and was about
four feet from the ground. It was composed entirely of coarse green
mosses. The eggs were two, and were not distinguishable from those of
the European _enucleator_.


GENUS PYRRHULA, PALLAS.

_Pyrrhula_, “BRISSON, Orn. 1760.” PALLAS.

  GEN. CHAR. Bill very short and thick, higher than long, swollen.
  Lower jaw broader at base than upper jaw, and broader than length of
  gonys. Nostrils and base of mandible concealed by a thick tuft of
  rather soft feathers. Tail nearly even, shorter than the pointed
  wings; upper coverts reaching over nearly two thirds the tail.
  Middle and hind claws about equal.

This genus is closely related to _Pinicola_, but has a more swollen
and much shorter bill, the lower jaw disproportionately larger, and
wider than long along gonys, instead of being about equal. The nasal
tuft is thicker and more feathery and less bristly than in _Pinicola_.
The upper tail-coverts are much longer, the tail less emarginate.
Other differences exist in the grooves and ridges of the palate, which
need not be here referred to. The middle claw is about equal to hind
claw; not longer, as in _Pinicola_.

  [Line drawing: _Pyrrhula cassini._
                  49955]

The genus _Pyrrhula_ is an Old World one; extending across from the
Atlantic to the Pacific, six or eight species or varieties being
recognized by naturalists. All have the back ash-colored; the wings
and tail, with top of head, lustrous black; the under parts ash,
generally with vermilion on the cheeks and chin, sometimes extending
over the whole under surface; the rump and crissum white: the females
similar, but lacking the vermilion. Its introduction into the North
American fauna rests on the collecting by the naturalists of the
Russian Telegraph Expedition in Alaska of a specimen which—if a
full-plumaged male, as stated—differs from all of its congeners in the
entire absence of any vermilion tint.


Pyrrhula cassini, BAIRD.

CASSIN’S BULLFINCH.

  _P. coccinea_, var. _cassini_, BAIRD, Trans. Chicago, Ac. Sc. I,
    1869, ii, p. 316.—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Chic. Ac. I, 1869, 281
    (Alaska). _P. cassini_, TRISTRAM, Ibis, 1871, 231.—FINSCH, Ornith.
    N. W. Amerikas, 1872, 54.

  [Illustration: _Pyrrhula cassini._]

SP. CHAR. Description of specimen No. 49,955: Upper parts clear
ash-gray, as are the alula, and the lesser and middle secondary and
the primary wing-coverts. Under parts and the sides of head
cinnamon-gray; the inside of wings and axillars, anal region, tibia,
crissum, and rump white; wings and tail, including upper tail-coverts,
the entire top of head (to level of eyes), the base of bill all round,
and the chin, lustrous violet-black. Greater wing-coverts black, with
a broad band of ashy-white across the ends; outer primaries,
externally, with a narrow border of grayish-white near the ends; inner
edges suffused with the same. Outer tail-feathers with an elongated
patch of white in the terminal half, along the shaft, but not reaching
the tip. Bill black; feet dusky.

Dimensions (prepared specimen): Total length, 6.50; wing, 3.55; tail,
3.25. Exposed portion of first primary, 2.65. Bill: Length from
forehead, .44; from nostril, .34. Legs: Tarsus, .75; claw alone, .26;
hind toe and claw, .45; claw alone, .25.

No. 49,955, adult male. Nulato, Yukon River, Alaska. January 10, 1867.
W. H. DALL (No. 553).

The specimen referred to above is the first record of the occurrence
in America of a genus heretofore considered as belonging exclusively
to the Old World.

This bird was described in 1869 as a possible variety of _P. coccinea_
of Europe. On submitting the typical specimens to Mr. H. B. Tristram
of England, it was decided to be a well-marked and distinct species,
as explained in the following extract from a letter received from him.

     “The coloration of the back is the same as in males of _P.
     coccinea_ and _P. rubicilla_, and differs from the coloration of
     the ♀ in all three species. In all the ♀ has the back brown
     instead of slate-colored. Your bird, however, differs from _P.
     coccinea_ in having the under parts of the same color as the ♂ of
     _P. griseiventris_ with a slightly redder hue on the flanks,
     while _P. coccinea_ is a brilliant blazing red. In this your bird
     is like _P. murina_ of the Azores, but that has no white on the
     rump.

     “Nor can it be ♂ juv. of _P. coccinea_, because it has the
     _black_ head, and the young assumes the black head and red breast
     simultaneously, or rather the red begins first. It differs from
     _P. nipalensis_ in having a black head and broad white rump, as
     well as in size.”

Dr. O. Finsch, of Bremen, agrees with Mr. Tristram in considering it
as specifically distinct, and says that the long white shaft-streak on
the outermost tail-feather is to be considered as one of the peculiar
characters, and that in general it resembles the female of _P.
griseiventris_, LAFR., but differs in having the back beautiful
ash-gray.

HABITS. This new species of Bullfinch, having a close resemblance to
the _P. coccinea_ of Europe, was obtained by Mr. Dall, near Nulato,
Alaska, January 10, 1867. An Indian brought it in alive, but badly
wounded, having shot it from a small tree near the fort. He had never
seen anything like it before, nor had any of the Russians. Captain
Everett Smith had, however, met with several flocks of the same
species near Ulukuk. This specimen was a male, with black eyes, feet,
and bill, and was the only bird of the kind met with by Mr. Dall.

In size it is about equal to _P. coccinea_, which is now quite
generally considered to be simply a large race of the common Bullfinch
(_P. vulgaris_), and the habits of the American bird are doubtless
similar to those of its congeners. The European races inhabit the
mountainous regions of Northern and Central Europe, appearing in large
flocks in December and January in the more southern regions. In their
return in spring to their summer quarters, they move in smaller
numbers. They nest in the mountain forests, on trees or bushes. Their
nest is usually but a few feet from the ground, is beautifully wrought
in a cup shape, made externally of small twigs, blades of grass, and
rootlets, lined with coarse hair. They lay five eggs, the ground-color
of which shades from a light blue to a bluish or a greenish white,
with brown and violet-colored spots, that usually form a ring around
the larger end. Their food is grain and small seeds, and, in spring,
the buds of certain trees.

The Bullfinch is a favorite cage-bird, soon reconciled to confinement,
and capable of being taught to whistle whole airs of opera music with
wonderful exactness and beauty.


GENUS CARPODACUS, KAUP.

  _Carpodacus_, KAUP, “Entw. Europ. Thierw. 1829.” (Type, _Loxia
    erythrina_, PALL.)
  _Erythrospiza_, BONAPARTE, Saggio di una dist. met. 1831.
  _Hæmorrhous_, SWAINSON, Class. Birds, II, 1837, 295. (Type, _Fringilla
    purpurea_, GMELIN.)

  [Line drawing: _Carpodacus frontalis._
                  796 ♂]

CHAR. Bill short, stout, vaulted; the culmen decurved towards the end;
the commissure nearly straight to the slightly decurved end. A slight
development of bristly feathers along the sides of the bill,
concealing the nostrils. Tarsus shorter than the middle toe; lateral
claws reaching to the base of the middle one. Claw of hind toe much
curved, smaller than the middle one, and rather less than the digital
portion. Wings long and pointed, reaching to the middle of the tail,
which is considerably shorter than the wing, and moderately forked.
Colors red, or red and brown. _Female_ with the red replaced by brown.

The genus _Carpodacus_, including the American Purple Finches, is
composed of species the males of which are more or less red in full
plumage, while the females are brown-streaked. They are spread over
North America, and species also occur in considerable numbers in
Northern Europe and Asia.


Species and Varieties.

A. Culmen only slightly curved. Tail and wing feathers edged
with reddish in the male.

  _a._ ♂. Crown much brighter purple than the rump or throat. ♀.
  Without lighter superoral and maxillary stripes, the whole head
  being pretty uniformly streaked.

    1. C. cassini. ♂. Crown bright crimson; rest of head,
    breast, rump, etc., much lighter purple-pink; _lower
    tail-coverts with a shaft line of dusky. Hab._ Mountain
    regions of the Middle Province, south, through the
    table-lands and alpine regions of Mexico, to Mirador.

  _b._ ♂. Crown scarcely brighter purple than the rump or throat.
  ♀. With conspicuous superoral and maxillary stripes.

    2. C. purpureus. Crown purple; rest of head, breast, rump,
    etc., nearly similar in tint; _lower tail-coverts_ without
    dusky shaft-lines.

      Purple tints of a rosy carmine cast; first quill longer
      than the fourth. _Hab._ Eastern Province of North America …
                                                    var. _purpureus_.

      Purple tints of a darker purplish-rose cast; first quill
      shorter than the fourth. _Hab._ Pacific Province of North
      America …                                  var. _californicus_.

B. Culmen much curved. Tail and wing feathers edged with
grayish in the male.

    3. C. frontalis. ♂. A frontal and superciliary band of
    crimson; a patch of same on the rump, and another on the
    throat and jugulum; abdomen and crissum streaked with dusky.

      ♂. Red restricted to the portions mentioned above.

        Red of an intense carmine tint, sharply defined, and
        strictly restricted within the limits indicated. _Hab._
        Plateau of Mexico …                   var. _hæmorrhous_.[109]

        Red of a lighter carmine, and with a greater or less
        tendency to escape its boundaries. _Hab._ Middle Province
        of the United States …                      var. _frontalis_.

      ♂. Red not restricted, but spread over the crown, tingeing
      the back and other portions, excepting wings and tail.

        Red tint varying from scarlet to wine-red. _Hab._ Pacific
        Province of United States, including the peninsula of
        Lower California …                        var. _rhodocolpus_.


Carpodacus cassini, BAIRD.

CASSIN’S PURPLE FINCH.

  _Carpodacus cassini_, BAIRD, Pr. A. N. S. Philad. VII, June, 1854,
    119; Birds, N. Am. 1858, 414, pl. xxvii, f. 1.—LORD, Pr. R. A.
    Inst. iv, 1864, 119 (Br. Col. between Rocky Mts. and
    Cascades).—KENNERLY, P. R. R. X, pl. xxvii, f. 1.—COOPER, Orn.
    Cal. 1, 155.

SP. CHAR. Larger than _C. purpureus_. Bill, .55 of an inch above.
Second and third quills longest; first longer than fourth. _Male._
Above pale grayish-brown, the feathers streaked with darker brown, and
with only an occasional gloss of reddish, except on the crown, which
is uniform deep crimson, and on the rump. Sides of the head and neck,
throat, and upper part of breast with rump, pale rose-color; rest of
under parts white, very faintly and sparsely streaked with brown.
_Female_ without any red, and streaked on the head and under parts
with brown. Length, 6.50; wing, 3.60; tail, 2.60.

HAB. Mountainous regions of Middle Province of United States, from
Rocky Mountains to Sierra Nevada. British Columbia (LORD). City of
Mexico (SCLATER & SALVIN, 1869, 362). Breeds in pine region of Mt.
Orizaba.

This species, though somewhat resembling _C. purpureus_, may be easily
distinguished from it by the streaked lower tail-coverts (of both
sexes), and by the pileum being much more intensely red than any other
portion in the male. The female resembles more in markings that of
_frontalis_, but has an entirely different shaped bill, and is much
larger; the streaks above very conspicuous, instead of nearly
obsolete. The side of the head lacks the conspicuous light and dark
longitudinal areas observable in _purpureus_.

The young of both sexes resemble the adult female, but the streaks are
less sharply defined, and the wing-feathers are broadly edged with
light earth-brown.

In autumn and winter, as in all the other species, the red tints are
softer and more purplish than in spring and summer.

  [Illustration: _Carpodacus frontalis._]

HABITS. Cassin’s Purple Finch is the largest of the American birds of
this genus, and is not only conspicuously different from all in size,
but also in other respects. It is found between the great Central
Plains and the coast range of mountains, being one of the common birds
of Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and Eastern California. Dr. Cooper found
these birds in large numbers about Lake Tahoe in California. They were
all in their brown plumage, and seemed so much like the _C.
californicus_ in their habits that he mistook them for that species.
He noticed in them a very peculiar call-note as they flew, reminding
him of that of _Pyranga_, and quite different from the other
_Carpodaci_. The song of these birds, as he afterwards heard it, was
much louder and finer than that of _C. californicus_, and more
original in style. He is not familiar with their other habits, and has
never met with them in the Colorado Valley. They have been procured
from Fort Thorne, Pueblo Creek, and Alberquerque, New Mexico. Mr.
Ridgway met with these birds in the Wahsatch Mountains, June 26, 1869,
in Parley’s Park, Utah, where he found them breeding. Their nest was
in the top of a cottonwood-tree near the cañon stream, about forty
feet from the ground. It is a soft homogeneous structure, flattened in
shape, and with only a slight depression. It is composed principally
of roots and twigs, lined with softer materials of the same,
interspersed with moss, cotton, and other soft substances. It is two
inches in height with a width of four and a half inches. The cavity is
about an inch deep.

In his Report on the birds of Mr. King’s survey, Mr. Ridgway states
that he found this Linnet in the greatest abundance among the pines of
the Sierra Nevada, near Carson City. It was next seen among the cedars
and nut-pines of the East Humboldt Mountains, and again in the pine
woods and cottonwood-trees along the streams on the Wahsatch
Mountains. It breeds in all these localities, and is in its habits
essentially, though not exclusively, resident among the pines. March
21, 1868, Mr. Ridgway observed flocks of these birds near Carson City.
They were found in every portion of the woods, feeding among the
branches of the pine-trees. They were all in full song, the females as
well as the males. A week later he again found them common among the
isolated pines in the fields at the foot of the Sierras, alighting on
the trees in companies. Their notes resemble the song of the _C.
purpureus_, but are finer and more musical. They have a great
resemblance to the warblings of the _Vireo flavifrons_, but the
passages in its song as much excel those of the Vireo in sweetness as
they are surpassed in richness by the warblings of the latter. When
one of two females of this species had been killed, the survivor,
missing her companion, returned immediately to the tree and hopped
from branch to branch, and then alighted on the ground by the side of
her dead associate, lamenting her in sweet and plaintive cries.

By the 4th of April the pine-trees about Carson City were alive with
these handsome birds, all of whom were in full song. So many were
singing simultaneously that the chorus was almost deafening, yet was
most exquisitely pleasing.

The nests of this bird were found by Mr. Ridgway in various
situations, such as a box-elder bush, the tops of cottonwood and aspen
trees, and similar situations. The eggs, four in number, are in size
.82 by .63 of an inch, oval in shape, pointed at the smaller end, of a
light bluish-green ground, dotted around the larger end with slate,
lilac, and a blackish-brown.

Specimens were obtained by Dr. Sartorius, during the breeding-season
(June, 1864), in the pine forests of Mt. Orizaba. A careful comparison
shows no difference from birds procured in the same month in Nevada.


Carpodacus purpureus, GRAY.

EASTERN PURPLE FINCH.

  _Fringilla purpurea_, GMELIN, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 923.—WILSON, Am.
    Orn. I, 1808, 119, pl. vii, f. 4.—IB. V, 1812, 87, pl. xlii, f.
    3.—AUD. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, 24; V, 200, pl. iv. _Hæmorrhous
    purpurea_, SWAINSON, Birds, II, 1837, 295. _Erythrospiza
    purpurea_, BP. List, 1838.—AUD. Birds Am. III, 1841, 170, pl.
    cxcvi. _Carpodacus purpureus_, GRAY’S Genera, 1844-49.—BON. &
    SCHLEGEL, Mon. des Loxiens, 14, tab. xv.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858,
    412.—SAMUELS, Birds N. Eng. 285. _? Loxia violacea_, LINN. Syst.
    Nat. 1766, 306, 43. (Very uncertain.) _Purple Finch_, CATESBY,
    PENNANT, LATH. _Hemp-Bird_, BARTRAM.

SP. CHAR. Second quill longest; first shorter than third, considerably
longer than the fourth. Body crimson, palest on the rump and breast,
darkest across the middle of back and wing-coverts, where the feathers
have dusky centres. The red extends below continuously to the lower
part of the breast, and in spots to the tibiæ. The belly and under
tail-coverts white, streaked faintly with brown, except in the very
middle. Edges of wings and tail-feathers brownish-red; lesser coverts
like the back. Two reddish bands across the wings (over the ends of
the middle and greater coverts). Lores dull grayish. Length, 6.25
inches; wing, 3.34; tail, 2.50; bill above, .46. _Female._
Olivaceous-brown above; brighter on the rump. Beneath white; all the
feathers everywhere streaked with brown, except on the middle of the
belly and under coverts. A superciliary light stripe.

HAB. North America, from Atlantic to the high Central Plains.

HABITS. The Purple Finch is a common species from Georgia to the
plains of the Saskatchewan, and as far west as the Great Plains,
beyond which it seems to be replaced by another race, or closely
allied species. It breeds from about latitude 40° to perhaps 60°, and
in most parts between these parallels is a rather common bird in
suitable localities. A few are occasionally found during the winter in
Massachusetts, but usually they all pass farther south. In the State
of South Carolina they are especially abundant throughout the winter,
or from October until April.

Dr. Coues states that the Purple Finch is a very abundant winter
resident near Washington, arriving early in October and remaining
until May, being eminently gregarious. Stragglers were seen until
nearly June, but the majority had departed as the leaves expanded.
They were most common in high open woods, and were observed to feed
chiefly on tender young buds of trees. They were in full song before
they took their departure.

They make their first appearance in regular migrations, in
Massachusetts, from the 10th to the 20th of May, and occasionally a
few are seen earlier. They are often unwelcome visitors to the
fruit-growers, having a great fondness for the blossoms of the peach,
cherry, plum, and apple. They will also feed upon other kinds of buds
and blossoms. They have a great predilection for evergreen trees,
especially the fir, the spruce, and the red cedar, and most generally
build their nests in these trees. In summer they feed on seeds,
insects, and berries of the honeysuckle and other shrubs.

The Purple Finch, or, as it is generally known in New England, the
Linnet, is one of our sweetest, best, and most constant songsters, and
is often trapped and sold as caged birds. They soon become accustomed
and partially reconciled to their confinement, but sing only during a
small part of the year. When one of these birds, confined in a cage,
is hung outside the house, in the country, he is sure to draw around
him quite a number of his species, and this furnishes the dealer a
ready means of capturing them.

This Finch was once regarded as quite rare in the vicinity of Boston,
so much so that during a four years’ residence in Cambridge, when
collections of nests and eggs had many votaries, not a single nest of
this species was obtained by any one. Since then, from some cause,
probably the increase of gardens, groves of evergreens, and other
localities favorable for their preservation and reproduction, these
graceful little Finches have become quite abundant in places
propitious for their residence. No less than seven pairs of these
favorite songsters took up their abode in my grounds at Hingham in a
single summer, and two had nests in the same tree, one of which was at
least sixty feet from the ground, on the very top of a tall fir. These
several pairs, as a general thing, lived together very harmoniously,
save only when one would approach too near the favorite station of
another, when the latter would begin to bristle up his crest, and give
very evident hints that his near presence was not agreeable. The
extreme southern end of the ridge-pole of the house had been, for
several summers, the favorite post for the patriarch of the flock,
from which at morning and at evening he made the neighborhood vocal
with his melody. If in his absence any other of these birds ventured
to occupy his position, there was always sure to be a disturbance on
his return, if it was not instantly vacated. These encounters were
frequent, and always very amusing. Discretion usually took the place
of valor on the part of the intruder.

The song of the Purple Finch resembles that of the Canary, and though
less varied and powerful, is softer, sweeter, and more touching and
pleasing. The notes of this species may be heard from the last of May
until late in September, and in the long summer evenings are often
continued until after it is quite dark. Their song has all the beauty
and pathos of the Warbling Vireo, and greatly resembles it, but is
more powerful and full in tone. It is a very interesting sight to
watch one of these little performers in the midst of his song. He
appears perfectly absorbed in his work, his form dilates, his crest is
erected, his throat expands, and he seems to be utterly unconscious of
all around him. But let an intruder of his own race appear within a
few feet of the singer, and the song instantly ceases, and in a
violent fit of indignation he chases him away.

The flight of the Purple Finch is said by Mr. Audubon to resemble that
of the Green Finch of Europe. They fly in compact flocks, with an
undulating motion, alighting all at once, and then instantly, as if
suddenly alarmed, take again to flight only to return to the same
tree. They then immediately make each his separate way to the ends of
the branches, and commence eating the buds. The food they take to
their young is juicy berries and the softer portions of the young
cones of the fir and spruce.

They nest generally in firs, spruces, or cedar-trees, though
occasionally on the upper branches of a high apple-tree. Their nests
are usually placed upon a branch, rather than interlaced between its
forked twigs. I have known them not more than five feet from the
ground, and at other times on the highest point of a lofty fir-tree.
The nests are, for the most part, somewhat flat and shallow
structures, not more than two and a half inches in height, and about
three and a half in breadth. The walls of the nest average less than
an inch, and the cavity corresponds to its general shape and form. The
framework of the nest is usually made of small denuded vegetable
fibres, stems of grasses, strips of bark, and woody fragments. The
upper rim of the nest is often a curious intertwining of dry
herbaceous stems, the ends of which project above the nest itself in
the manner of a low palisade. The inner nest is made up of minute
vegetable fibres, closely interwoven. There is usually no other lining
than this. At other times these nests are largely made up of small
dark-colored rootlets of wooded plants, lined with finer materials of
the same, occasionally mingled with the down of birds and the fur of
small animals.

The eggs of the Purple Finch vary greatly in size, and somewhat in
shape. Generally they are of an oblong oval, pointed considerably at
one end. Their length varies from .92 to .81 of an inch, and their
breadth from .70 to .60. Their color is a pale shade of emerald-green,
spotted with dark brown, almost black, chiefly about the larger end.
The ground-color is much brighter when the eggs are fresh, and soon
fades upon exposure to light, and even when kept in a close drawer.


Carpodacus purpureus, var. californicus, BAIRD.

THE CALIFORNIA PURPLE FINCH.

  _Carpodacus californicus_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 413, pl. lxxii,
    f. 23.—COOPER & SUCKLEY, 196.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 154.

SP. CHAR. Similar to _purpureus_. Third quill longest; first shorter
than the fourth. Purple of head and rump much darker than in _C.
purpureus_; the head with a broad supra-orbital lateral band of
lighter purple. Length 6.20; wing, 3.20; tail, 2.60.

HAB. Pacific Province of United States.

The female of the western type differs from that of the eastern in
being more olivaceous above, and in having the streaks below rather
larger, and not so well defined. There appears to be a difference in
the marking of the wings. In eastern _C. purpureus_ there is usually a
well-marked whitish band across the ends of the middle coverts, while
the greater coverts, though margined externally by paler, have a still
lighter bar across the posterior extremity, which is not seen in the
western bird.

HABITS. The Californian Purple Pinch is found throughout the Pacific
coast, from the Straits of Fuca to California, as far south as
Monterey. Dr. Cooper states that this species is rather a northern
bird, being common at the Columbia River, and even farther north,
while in California it has not been found south of Monterey on the
coast, and Fort Tejon in the Sierra Nevada. In summer they frequent
the mountain forests, especially those in part composed of _Coniferæ_.
In winter they descend to the valleys, where they are found
associating with the more common and familiar _C. frontalis_. He met
with them in May on the summits of the coast range toward Santa Cruz,
but they were not very numerous. They then had nests, though he did
not succeed in finding them.

The song of the California Linnet is quite loud and varied, often
resembling that of other birds, especially _Vireos_ and _Dendroicæ_,
for which Dr. Cooper has often mistaken it. Their food consists of
seeds, berries, and the buds of trees. Their nest and eggs are
unknown, but probably resemble those of _C. purpureus_.


Carpodacus frontalis, SCLATER.

HOUSE LINNET; CRIMSON-FRONTED FINCH; BURION.

  _Fringilla frontalis_, SAY, Long’s Exped. R. Mts. II, 1824, 40. (For
    other synonymes see under the different varieties.)

SP. CHAR. Bill short, nearly as deep as broad; culmen much curved,
commissure arched; lower mandible nearly as deep as the upper. Tail
more than three fourths as long as wing, slightly emarginated. Wing
and tail feathers without reddish edges; lower tail-coverts and
abdomen with broad streaks of dusky. General color above, including
wings, tail, and upper tail-coverts, brownish-gray, the feathers with
lighter edges. Beneath white, each feather with a medial streak of
dusky. _Male._ A broad frontal crescent, extending back in a
superciliary stripe to the occiput, a patch on the rump (not the upper
tail-coverts), and an area covering cheeks, chin, throat, and jugulum
red,—bright scarlet in spring, rosy in fall. _Female_ without the red,
which is replaced by a uniform streaking. _Young_ resembling the
female, but streaks less sharply defined; those above more distinct.
Wing-coverts broadly edged with light earth-brown.

This species inhabits the western regions of North America, from the
Rocky Mountains to the Pacific; and Mexico, except, perhaps, the
eastern portion. In this range of distribution it occurs in three
races, which, taking extreme examples, are well marked, but when a
large series is examined are found to grade insensibly into each
other.

The above description is general, being modified only by _additional_
characters in the several races. The normal plumage is perhaps
represented in the central race,—the true _frontalis_, as
restricted,—which inhabits the Middle Province of the United States,
and is nearly as described above; the red of the male of this style is
of a bright scarlet tint, and in nearly all specimens shows a tendency
to escape the boundaries above indicated. As we go south into Mexico,
we find the red strictly confined within those limits, very sharply
defined; and, under the tropical influence, intensified into a very
bright carmine tint; this latter is the _C. hæmorrhous_ of authors.
Following the var. _frontalis_ westward, we find it gradually
changing, the red invading more and more the other portions, until, in
specimens from the coast of California and from Cape St. Lucas, it is
spread over all portions, except the anal region, wing, and
tail,—though always brightest within those outlines which confine it
in the two preceding varieties. In extreme examples of the latter
race,—the _C. rhodocolpus_ of Cabanis,—the red even obliterates the
streaks on the abdomen. The spreading of the red is seen in other
birds of the Pacific region, this case being exactly paralleled by the
_Sphyropicus ruber_, in its relation to _S. nuchalis_ or _S. varius_.

The females and young of the three races are quite difficult to
distinguish from each other, the locality being the best means of
identifying them.


Carpodacus frontalis, var. frontalis, GRAY.

CRIMSON-FRONTED FINCH; BURION.

  _Fringilla frontalis_, SAY, Long’s Exp. II, 1824, 40.—(?) AUD. Orn.
    Biog. V, 1839, 230, pl. ccccxxiv. _Pyrrhula f._ BONAP. Am. Orn. I,
    1825, 49, pl. vi. _Erythrospiza f._ BON. List, 1838.—IB. P. Z. S.
    1837, 112.—(?) AUD. Syn. 1839, 125.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841, 175,
    pl. cxcvii.—GAMB. J. A. N. S. 2d series, I, 1847, 53. _Fringilla
    (Pyrrhula) f._ GAMB. P. A. N. S. I, 1843, 262. _Carpodacus f._
    GRAY, Gen. 1844-49.—MCCALL, P. A. N. S. V, 1851, 219.—BAIRD, Birds
    N. Am. 1858, 415. _? Carpodacus obscurus_, MCCALL, P. A. N. S. V,
    June, 1851, 220, Santa Fé, N. M. _Carpodacus familiaris_, MCCALL,
    P. A. N. S. VII, April, 1852, 61, Santa Fé, N. M.

SP. CHAR. (♂ 58,589, Great Salt Lake City, Utah, June 1, 1869.) Above
brownish-gray, faintly glossed with red on the nape and back; wing and
tail feathers passing into lighter on their edges, and dorsal feathers
with obsolete shaft-streaks of darker. A frontal band, about as wide
as the length of the culmen, continuing back in a superciliary stripe
to the occiput, throat, jugulum, and a patch on the lower part of the
rump (but not on upper tail-coverts) carmine-scarlet. Rest of lower
parts white, each feather with a medial streak of brown like the back.
Wing, 3.10; tail, 2.60; culmen, .38; tarsus, .65; middle toe, .52.

(♀ 58,590, Salt Lake City, June 21, 1869.) Similar, but red entirely
absent, the throat and jugulum being white streaked with brown, and
the front, rump, etc., grayish, obsoletely streaked with darker. Wing,
3.00; tail, 2.40.

(_Juv._ 40,799, Fort Whipple, Arizona, June 5, 1865.) Generally
similar to the ad. ♀, but more brownish, and the wing-feathers passing
into dull buffy-ochraceous on their edges; streaks beneath narrower
and less distinct.

In winter the red is softer and less sharply defined, and usually of a
more purplish tint; the markings generally more blended.

HAB. Middle Province of the United States, from Rocky Mountains to the
interior valleys of California.

HABITS. This form of the House Finch appears to be a very common bird
throughout the interior region of the United States, extending to New
Mexico and Arizona on the south and southeast, and probably to Mexico.
On the Pacific coast it is replaced by another and closely allied
variety.

Dr. Woodhouse states that his attention was first called to this
interesting little songster while at Sante Fé. It was there known to
the American residents as the “Adobe Finch.” By the Mexicans they were
called _Buriones_. He found them exceedingly tame, building about the
dwellings, churches, and other buildings, in every nook and corner,
and even entering the houses to pick up crumbs. They are never
disturbed by the inhabitants. He adds that at the first dawn of the
morning they commence a very sweet and clear warble, which he was
quite unable to do justice to by any verbal description. He has often
in the early morning listened with admiration and gratification to the
song of this bird, which is deservedly a great favorite. He found it
throughout New Mexico, and beyond. He did not distinguish it from the
coast variety.

Dr. Coues also found this bird very abundant in Arizona, where it is a
permanent resident, but most abundant in spring and fall. He describes
it as eminently gregarious. He found it in all situations, but most
common in the spring among the groves of willows and poplars, on the
buds of which it feeds. He met with this species all the way from the
Rio Grande through New Mexico and Arizona to California, and appears
to have noted no differences between this form and the coast variety.
He also mentions finding, during a few days’ stay in the New Mexican
village of Los Pinos, near Alberquerque, on the Rio Grande, this
pretty little Finch the most common and characteristic of the local
birds. It was there breeding indifferently in the courtyards, sheds,
under porticos or eaves, and also in the forks of trees in the
streets. It had sharp conflicts with the Barn Swallows, whose nests it
often took possession of, and was a lively and most agreeable feature
in the dirty towns which it honored with its presence; and its songs
were at once sweet, clear, and exquisitely melodious.

Dr. Cooper met with these birds among the barren and rocky hills near
the Colorado.

Mr. Ridgway, who found these birds breeding in large numbers at
Pyramid Lake, informs me that their nests were usually placed in
clefts in rocks, or in a cave. Near Salt Lake City they were also very
common, building their nests among the shrubs known as the wild
mahogany, on the hills, but never frequenting the higher regions of
the mountains.

The eggs of this bird, which are not distinguishable from those of the
Pacific coast form, have a delicate pale-blue ground-color, which is
very fugitive, and fades even in the drawers of a cabinet. They are
sparingly marked, chiefly around the more obtuse end, with spots and
lines of black and a dark brown. They are of oval shape, elongate and
pointed at one end, and measure .80 of an inch in length by .60 in
breadth.


Carpodacus frontalis, var. rhodocolpus, CABAN.

CALIFORNIA HOUSE-FINCH; RED-HEADED LINNET; BURION.

  _? Pyrrhula cruentata_, LESSON, Rev. Zoöl. 1839, 101. _Carpodacus
    rhodocolpus_, CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1851, 166.—SCLATER, P. Z. S.
    1856, 304. _Carpodacus frontalis_, BON. & SCHLEG. Mon. des Lox.
    1850, tab. xvi, f. 1.—IB. Consp. 1850, 533.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am.
    1858, 415 (in part).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 156. _House Finch_,
    GRAYSON, Hesperian, II, 1859, 7, plate. _Carpodacus familiaris_,
    HEERMANN, X, 50 (nest).

SP. CHAR. (♂ 12,973, Cape St. Lucas.) Head, neck, jugulum, breast,
upper part of abdomen and sides, and rump, bright carmine-scarlet,
dullest on the centre of the crown and auriculars; rest of the upper
parts brownish-gray, glossed with red except on the wings, which have
the feathers with distinctly lighter edges. Anal region, flanks, and
crissum white, the feathers with shaft-streaks of brown. Wing, 3.00;
tail, 2.60; culmen, .45; tarsus, .62; middle toe, .50.

_Female_ and _Juv._ similar to var. _frontalis_, but colors darker.

HAB. Coast region of Pacific Province, and peninsula of Lower
California.

The male described above represents about the average plumage of this
form; an extreme example is No. 26,546, Cape St. Lucas, which is
almost entirely of a wine-red color, this covering the whole lower
parts, except the anal region, and obliterating the streaks; the wings
even are tinged with red. Still, on the head the red (a wine-purple
tint) is brightest within those limits to which it is confined in the
normal plumage.

HABITS. This variety of the House Finch is a very common bird
throughout the Pacific coast, from Oregon to Mexico. Mr. Ridgway
states that he found this species the most common and familiar of all
the birds of the Sacramento Valley. It is a very common cage-bird,
being highly prized for its song, which in power is hardly inferior to
that of the Canary, while it far surpasses it in sweetness. Its
beautiful plumage also renders it still more attractive. The
peculiarly soft and musical _tweet_ of this bird is also very similar
to that of the Canary, and is very different from the common note of
the Purple Finch. This bird breeds very numerously among the
shade-trees in the streets of Sacramento, as well as among the oak
groves on the outskirts of that city. The males are very shy, but the
females, when their nest is disturbed, keep up a lively chirping in an
adjoining tree. The nest is generally situated near the extremity of a
horizontal branch of a small oak, usually in a grove, occasionally in
an isolated tree. In one instance it made use of an abandoned nest of
a Bullock’s Oriole, and in another of that of a Cliff Swallow.

Dr. Cooper speaks of this bird as being especially abundant in all the
southern portions of California, and also, according to Dr. Newberry,
throughout all the valleys northward into Oregon. It is a species that
is everywhere peculiar to the valleys, while the others of this genus
are equally confined to the wooded mountains. Dr. Cooper also met with
this species in the plains near the coast, where there are no plants
higher than the wild mustard, on the seeds of which they feed. They
also frequent the groves and the open forests on the summits of the
coast range, but in small numbers, in company with the _C.
californicus_. They at times feed on buds of trees, and seeds of the
cottonwood and other plants. It is most abundant among ranches and
gardens where, Dr. Cooper states, it does much mischief by destroying
seeds and young plants, fruit and buds. For these depredations even
its cheerful and constant song is not regarded as an adequate
compensation; and unlike the New-Mexicans in their treatment of its
kindred race, the California cultivators wage an unrelenting war upon
these birds.

At San Diego, Dr. Cooper found them building as early as the 15th of
March, and even a little earlier. Both the situation and the materials
of their nest vary. He has found them nesting in trees, on logs and
rocks, on the top rail of a picket fence, inside a window-shutter, in
the holes of walls, under tiles, on the thatch of a roof, in barns and
haystacks, and even between the interstices in the sticks of which the
nest of a Hawk had been made, and once in the old nest of an Oriole.
About dwellings they always seek the protection of man, and seem to be
quite unconscious of having deserved or incurred his enmity. The
materials of their nests are usually coarse grasses and weeds, with a
lining of hair and fine roots. They raise two, sometimes three, broods
in a season, and in the autumn assemble in large flocks, but migrate
very little, if any, to the south.

Dr. Cooper states that their songs are very different from those of
the other species. They are very varied and very lively, and are heard
throughout the year. They are easily kept as cage-birds, but soon lose
the beauty of their plumage in confinement, their bright purple colors
changing to a dirty yellow.

Nuttall did not observe any of this species in Oregon.

The eggs of this bird vary from four to six in number, and are of a
pale blue which readily fades into a bluish-white, and are marked with
spots and lines of a dark brown or black. They are of an elongate-oval
shape, and measure from .82 to .75 of an inch in length, with an
average breadth of .60.


GENUS CHRYSOMITRIS, BOIE.

  _Chrysomitris_, BOIE, Isis, 1828, 322. (Type, _Fringilla spinus_,
    LINN.)
  _Astragalinus_, CAB. Mus. Hein. 1851, 159. (Type, _Fringilla
    tristis_, LINN.)
  _Hypacanthus_, CAB. Mus. Hein. 1851, 161. (Type, _Carduelis
    spinoides_.)

  [Line drawing: _Chrysomitris tristis._
                  1521 ♀]

GEN. CHAR. Bill rather acutely conic, the tip not very sharp; the
culmen slightly convex at the tip; the commissure gently curved.
Nostrils concealed. Obsolete ridges on the upper mandible. Tarsi
shorter than the middle toe; outer toe rather the longer, reaching to
the base of the middle one. Claw of hind toe shorter than the digital
portion. Wings and tail as in _Ægiothus_.

The colors are generally yellow, with black on the crown, throat,
back, wings, and tail, varied sometimes with white.

The females want the bright markings of the male.

This genus differs from _Ægiothus_ in a less acute and more curved
bill, a much less development of the bristly feathers at the base of
the bill, the claw of the hind toe shorter than its digital portion,
the claws shorter and less curved and attenuated, and the outer
lateral toes not extending beyond the base of the middle claw.

The species exhibit many differences among themselves, especially in
the size and shape of the bill, which have been made the basis of
generic distinctions. They may be distinguished as follows:—


Species and Varieties.

A. No streaks anywhere on plumage; base of tail-feathers black
or white. Sexes dissimilar. (_Chrysomitris._)

  _a._ No yellow on the wings.

    1. C. tristis. Inner webs of tail-feathers always whitish
    terminally (except in _Juv._). ♂. Forehead and crown, wings
    and tail, deep black; rest of plumage, including the back,
    rich lemon-yellow; tail-coverts white. ♀. Body grayish above,
    dingy whitish beneath, stained with yellow; no black on head;
    wings and tail duller black. _Juv._ Fulvous-umber above, with
    markings of reddish-ochraceous on the wings; beneath,
    dilute-yellow washed with fulvous. _Hab._ Whole of temperate
    and warm North America.

    2. C. psaltria. Inner webs of tail-feathers never whitish
    terminally. ♂. Beneath yellow, including the lower
    tail-coverts; above black, with or without olive-green on the
    back. ♀. Without any black, the yellow duller.

_Tail with white on inner webs; tertials with large white spots._

      ♂. Auriculars, nape, back, and rump olive-green. _Hab._
      Rocky Mountains of United States …             var. _psaltria_.

      ♂. Auriculars black; nape, back, and rump green clouded
      with black. _Hab._ Arizona …                    var. _arizonæ_.

      ♂. Auriculars, nape, back, and rump entirely black. _Hab._
      Middle America …                               var. _mexicana_.

_Tail without any white on inner webs; tertials without white
spots._

      ♂. Auriculars, nape, back, and rump wholly black. _Hab._
      Panama and New Granada …                     var. _columbiana_.

  _b._ Terminal half of outer webs of wing-coverts and
  secondaries yellow.

    3. C. lawrencii. Prevailing color ashy, lighter beneath. ♂.
    A large patch on the breast, the rump, and most of the outer
    surface of the wing, yellow; forehead, crown, lores, all
    round base of bill, chin, wings (beneath the yellow), and
    tail black. ♀. Lacking the black, and with the yellow only
    indicated. _Hab._ California and Southwestern Arizona.

B. Whole body and head thickly streaked; bases of tail-feathers
yellow. Sexes alike. (_Astragalinus._)

    4. C. pinus. Above brownish-gray, beneath white, with
    conspicuous dusky streaks everywhere; two light bands on the
    wing; bases of secondaries and primaries yellow. _Hab._ Whole
    of North America.

  [Illustration: PLATE XXII.

    1. Hesperiphona vespertina, _var._ vespertina. ♂ H. B. Ter., 16770.
    2. Ægiothus canescens, _var._ exilipes. ♂ H. B. Ter., 19686.
    3.    “     linaria, _var._ fuscescens. ♂ Lab’r, 18098. Summer.
    4. Hesperiphona vespertina, _var._ montana. Mex., 35150.
    5. Ægiothus linaria, _var._ fuscescens. Pa., 900. Winter.
    6.    “     flavirostris, _var._ brewsteri. Autumn.
    7. Chrysomitris tristis. ♂ Pa., 1531. Summer.
    8.     “          “      _ad._, ♂ Pa., 2205. Winter.
    9. Chrysomitris psaltria. ♂ Cal., 6401.
  10.     “           “      ♀ Cal., 3930.
  11.     “        mexicana, _var._ arizonæ. ♂ Ariz., 37091.
  12.     “           “      _var._ mexicana. Mex., 4078.
  13. Chrysomitris psaltria, _var._ mexicana. ♀ Mex., 22432.
  14.     “        lawrencii. ♂ Cal., 6405.
  15.     “            “      ♀ Cal., 40836.
  16.     “        pinus.     ♂ Rocky Mts., 11095.]

Three species of _Chrysomitris_, given by Mr. Audubon, are to be
erased from the list: _C. stanleyi_, _C. yarrelli_, and _C.
magellanica_. If, as he states, he killed specimens of the latter in
Kentucky, they must have belonged to the _C. notata_ of Dubus, a
Mexican species, not since met with in our limits. The other two were
given him as coming from California,—a statement we now know to be
incorrect, both belonging to South America.


Chrysomitris tristis, BON.

YELLOW-BIRD; THISTLE-BIRD.

  _Fringilla tristis_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 320.—WILS. Am. Orn.
    I, 1808, 20, pl. i, f. 2.—AUD. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, 172; V, 510,
    pl. xxxiii. _Carduelis tristis_, BON. Obs. Wils. 1825, No.
    96.—AUD. Birds Am. II, 1841, 129, pl. clxxxi.—MAX. Cab. Journ. vi,
    1858, 281. _Chrysomitris tristis_, BON. List, 1838.—NEWBERRY,
    Zoöl. Cal. & Or. Route; Rep. P. R. R. Surv. VII, IV, 1857,
    87.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 421.—COOPER & SUCKLEY, 197.—COOPER,
    Orn. Cal. 1, 167. _Astragalinus tristis_, CABANIS, Mus. Hein.
    1851, 159 (type). _Carduelis americana_, (EDWARDS,) SW. & RICH. F.
    B. A. II, 1831, 268. _Golden Finch_, PENNANT. _American
    Goldfinch_, EDWARDS. _Chardonneret jaune; Chardonneret du Canada;
    Tarin de la Nouvelle Yorck_, BUFFON.—IB. Pl. enl., pl. ccii, f. 2,
    pl. ccxcii, f. 1.—SAMUELS, Birds N. Eng. 288.

SP. CHAR. _Male._ Bright gamboge-yellow; crown, wings, and tail black.
Lesser wing-coverts, band across the end of greater ones, ends of
secondaries and tertiaries, inner margins of tail-feathers, upper and
under tail-coverts, and tibia white. Length, 5.25 inches; wing, 3.00.
_Female._ Yellowish-gray above; greenish-yellow below. No black on
forehead. Wing and tail much as in the male. _Young._ Reddish-olive
above; fulvous-yellow below; two broad bands across coverts, and broad
edges to last half of secondaries pale rufous.

HAB. North America generally.

In winter the yellow is replaced by a yellowish-brown; the black of
the crown wanting, that of wings and tail browner. The throat is
generally yellowish; the under parts ashy-brown, passing behind into
white.

There are no observable differences between eastern and western
specimens.

  [Illustration: _Chrysomitris tristis._]

HABITS. The common American Goldfinch is found throughout the greater
portion of North America, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Sir John
Richardson met with it in the fur regions, where it is one of the
tardiest of the summer visitors, and whence it departs early in
September. The specimen described by him was taken June 29. At the
extreme South it is not uncommon, according to Dresser, around San
Antonio, and Dr. Woodhouse found it abundant both in Texas and in the
Indian Territory. Dr. Coues did not find it in Arizona, nor does
Sumichrast give it as a bird of Vera Cruz. Dr. Newberry found this
Finch quite common throughout his route to the Columbia, this sweet
songster, he states, having been a constant source of pleasure in the
interior both of California and Oregon, far from the haunts of men,
where everything else was new and strange. But Dr. Suckley, though he
looked carefully for this species about Puget Sound, in the most
appropriate situations, was unable to find any, and did not believe
that any existed there. Dr. Cooper states that it is, however, quite
abundant on the Columbia and along the coast near its mouth.

The last-named writer states that this species is a constant resident
in all the western parts of California, but he met with none on the
Colorado. They become rare on the coast at the Columbia, but farther
in the interior are found as far north as latitude 49°. They breed as
far south as San Diego, but seem to avoid the hot interior valleys, as
well as the mountains. Their favorite resorts are where thistles and
other composite plants abound, and also groves of willow and
cottonwood, upon the seeds of which they feed largely. In winter the
seeds of the buttonwood supply their chief subsistence.

The common Goldfinch was seen in abundance by Mr. Ridgway only in the
vicinity of Sacramento City, associated with the _Carpodacus
frontalis_, and often nesting in the same tree. In the interior this
species was rarely seen, and only one specimen was secured in the
Truckee Valley in May, and not noticed afterwards. It was, however,
found breeding in the Uintah Mountains, where its nest and eggs were
obtained. The nests procured by Mr. Ridgway were all found about June
6, except one, ten days later, showing that these birds are four or
five weeks earlier in their breeding on the Pacific than on the
Atlantic coast. In the Uintah Mountains they were breeding, as at the
East, in July.

The Goldfinch is to a large extent gregarious and nomadic in its
habits, and only for a short portion of the year do these birds
separate into pairs for the purposes of reproduction. During at least
three fourths of the year they associate in small flocks, and wander
about in an irregular and uncertain manner in quest of their food.
They are resident throughout the year in New England, and also
throughout the greater portion of the country, their presence or
absence being regulated to a large extent by the abundance, scarcity,
or absence of their favorite kinds of food. In the winter, the seeds
of the taller weeds are their principal means of subsistence. In the
summer, the seeds of the thistle and other plants and weeds are sought
out by these interesting and busy gleaners. They are abundant in
gardens, and as a general thing do very little harm, and a vast amount
of benefit in the destruction of the seeds of troublesome weeds. As,
however, they do not always discriminate between seeds that are
troublesome and those that are desirable, the Goldfinches are
unwelcome visitors to the farmers who seek to raise their own seeds of
the lettuce, turnip, and other similar vegetables. They are also very
fond of the seeds of the sunflower.

Owing possibly to the scarcity of proper food for their young in the
early summer, the Goldfinches are quite late before they mate and
raise their single brood. It is usually past the 10th of July before
their nests are constructed, and often September before their broods
are ready to fly.

The song of the Goldfinch—very different from their usual plaintive
cry or call-note, uttered as they are flying or when they are
feeding—is very sweet, brilliant, and pleasing; most so, indeed, when
given as a solo, with no other of its kindred within hearing. I know
of none of our common singers that excel it in either respect. Its
notes are higher and more flute-like, and its song is more prolonged
than that of the Purple Finch. Where large flocks are found in the
spring or early summer, the males often join in a very curious and
remarkable concert, in which the voices of the several performers do
not always accord. In spite of this frequent want of harmony, these
concerts are varied and pleasing, now ringing like the loud voices of
the Canary, and now sinking into a low soft warble.

During the warm summer weather the Goldfinch is very fond of bathing,
and the sandy shelving margins of brooks are always their favorite
places of resort for this purpose. I do not think they ever raise more
than a single brood in a season in New England, and are in this
somewhat irregular, depositing their eggs from July 10 to September,
as it may happen.

They usually select a small upright tree, such as a young elm, apple,
or pear, or a tall shrub, for their nest, which they rarely place
higher than ten feet from the ground. Than the nest of our Goldfinch
we have no more beautiful specimen either of the basket in shape or
the felted in structure. Symmetrical in form, delicately and
beautifully woven, and ingeniously and firmly fastened around the
forked twigs with which it is interlaced, it is an exquisite example
of architectural beauty and finish. A beautiful specimen from
Wisconsin may be taken as typical. It measures three inches in
diameter and two in height. The cavity is one and a half inches wide
at the rim, and the depth is the same. The base of this nest is a
commingling of soft vegetable wool, very fine stems of dried grasses,
and fine strips of bark, all being in very fine shreds. The sides,
rim, and general exterior of the nest is made up, to a large extent,
of fine slender vegetable fibres, interwrought with white and
maroon-colored vegetable wool. These materials are closely and densely
felted together. The inner nest is softly and thoroughly lined with a
softer felting made of the plumose appendages or pappus of the seeds
of composite plants.

The eggs, usually five, rarely six in number, are of a uniform
bluish-white, sharply pointed at one and rounded at the other end.
They measure from .65 to .67 of an inch in length and from .50 to .55
in breadth. Dr. Cooper gives their measurement as .60 by .50; but of
the contents of seven nests before me not an egg is less than .65 in
length, and but one so small as .50 in breadth.

A nest of this Finch, built in a young elm-tree in Hingham, eight feet
from the ground, was begun July 27, finished and the first egg laid
August 1. By the 4th five eggs had been deposited, and on the 16th
they had all been hatched.


Chrysomitris psaltria, var. psaltria, BONAP.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOLDFINCH; ARKANSAS GOLDFINCH.

  _Fringilla psaltria_, SAY, Long’s Exped. R. Mts. II, 1823, 40.—AUD.
    Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 85, pl. cccxciv. _Fringilla (Carduelis)
    psaltria_, BON. Am. Orn. I, 1825, 54, pl. vi, f. 3. _Carduelis
    psaltria_, AUD. Syn. 1839, 117.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841, 134, pl.
    clxxxiii. _Chrysomitris psaltria_, BP. List, 1838.—IB. Consp.
    1850, 516.—GAMBEL, Jour. A. N. S. 2d series I, 1847, 52
    (female).—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 422.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 168.

SP. CHAR. _Male._ Upper parts and sides of head and neck olive-green.
Hood, but not sides of head below eyes, lores (or auriculars?), upper
tail-coverts, wings, and tail black. Beneath bright yellow. A band
across the tips of the greater coverts, the ends of nearly all the
quills, the outer edges of the tertiaries, the extreme bases of all
the primaries except the outer two, and a long rectangular patch on
the inner webs of the outer three tail-feathers near the middle,
white. _Female_ with the upper parts generally, and the sides
olive-green; the wings and tail brown, their white marks as in the
male. Length, 4.25; wing, 2.40; tail, 1.85. _Young_ like the female,
but wing-bands more fulvous.

HAB. Southern Rocky Mountains to the coast of California; north to
Salt Lake City (June 19; RIDGWAY), and Siskiyou Co., Cal. (VUILLE);
south to Sonora (Arispe, Feb. 26; E. S. WAKEFIELD).

With quite a small series of specimens, a perfect transition can be
shown from the typical _C. psaltria_, as above described, to the _C.
columbianus_, the opposite extreme (see table, page 471). The former
is the most northern, the latter the most southern form; _arizonæ_ and
_mexicana_, intermediate in habitat, are also as strikingly so in
plumage. The difference is in the _quantity_ of the black, this color
predominating over the olive of the back and the white of wings and
tail, in proportion as we go southward. There cannot, upon the whole,
be any doubt that they are all specifically the same. The females can
scarcely be distinguished.

HABITS. The Arkansas Finch was first discovered in Long’s expedition
to the Rocky Mountains, and described by Say in 1823. It has since
been met with in New Mexico and in various parts of California. Dr.
Cooper did not find this species in the Colorado Valley, although Dr.
Kennerly met with it along Williams Fork, in New Mexico. Dr. Woodhouse
did not see it in his route to the Zuñi River, either in New Mexico or
the Indian Territory.

Dr. Kennerly met with these birds in the month of February. He found
them very abundant all along the banks of the Bill Williams Fork. They
were feeding on the young buds of the cottonwood trees. At that season
they were in small flocks, and the only note he heard from them was a
short chirp, as they hopped from twig to twig, or flew from one tree
to another.

Dr. Heermann states that he found these Finches abundant in the
northern mining regions of California, frequenting and feeding in the
same localities with the _C. lawrencii_, and often associated with the
Pine Finch. He adds that, while thus associated, he shot a large
number of both species. They seemed to be employed, at the time, in
picking out the fine gravel mixed in the mud used as mortar for a
chimney, flying away at each discharge of the gun, but returning, in a
few minutes, to the same place.

Mr. Audubon regarded this species as accidental in Louisiana, having
procured individuals a few miles from Bayou Sara.

The Arkansas Goldfinch was found by Mr. Ridgway among the Wahsatch
Mountains, his attention being at once drawn to it by its curious
notes. He first met with it in “City-Creek Cañon,” near Salt Lake
City, where individuals of it were frequently found mixed in with
flocks of _C. pinus_. The note of this bird is remarkable for its
power and very sad tone. The ordinary note is a plaintive, mellow,
whistling call, impossible to describe, and so inflected as to produce
a very mournful effect. When the bird takes to flight, it is changed
to a simple _cheer_, similar to the anxious notes of the male
_Agelaius phœniceus_, uttered when its nest is disturbed. This species
was quite rare, not being so common as either _C. pinus_ or _C.
tristis_. Its nest was found in Parley’s Park, Wahsatch Mountains,
June 22, in the top of a willow-bush near a stream.

At San Diego, and along the whole coast border of California, Dr.
Cooper thinks that this Finch is rather rare. In the interior valleys
they seem to be quite common. They also breed in small numbers in the
Coast Range, near Santa Cruz. He states that their habits are very
similar to those of the _C. tristis_, though they feed more on the
ground, and more upon weeds than on trees, and are even more
gregarious, remaining associated in flocks up to the first of June.
Their song greatly resembles that of the common Goldfinch, but is much
fainter.

Dr. Cooper never met with their nest, nor has he received any
description of it. Mr. Xantus found one, containing four eggs, on the
branch of an _Obione_, about ten feet from the ground. This was at
Fort Tejon, the first of May. Dr. Canfield has also found their nests,
in considerable numbers, near Monterey. They are built in the forks of
trees, in the same manner with the _tristis_, are structures of
remarkable beauty, and evince great skill in the architects. They
contain usually four or five eggs. Except in size, their eggs greatly
resemble those of the _C. tristis_, being of a uniform greenish-white,
unspotted, of a rounded-oval shape, sharply pointed at one end. They
measure .60 by .50 of an inch.


Chrysomitris psaltria, var. arizonæ, COUES.

ARIZONA GOLDFINCH.

  _Chrysomitris mexicana_, var. _arizonæ_, COUES, P. A. N. S. 1866.—
    COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 170.

SP. CHAR. (♂ 37,092, Fort Wingate, Arizona, June 28, 1864.) Above,
including auriculars, glossy black, with a faint bluish reflection;
nape, back, and rump much mixed with olive-green, this rather
predominating; larger coverts broadly tipped with grayish-white;
tertials, with almost the entire exposed portion of the outer webs,
white; a patch on base of primaries, and the inner webs of the
tail-feathers, except the ends, white. Beneath entirely lemon-yellow.
Wing, 2.50; tail, 1.70; culmen, .35; tarsus, .50.

HAB. Southern boundary of Arizona and New Mexico, extending southward
into Mexico, and gradually changing into _mexicana_, and northward
into _psaltria_.

The specimen described above is from a series collected in Arizona by
Dr. Coues: these examples vary in the relative amount of black and
olive on the back, some having one, and others the other color
predominating; the type selected is one which represents about the
average plumage of this species from Arizona.

HABITS. Dr. Coues found these birds abundant summer residents of
Arizona, where they are said to arrive the last of April and to remain
until the middle of September. In August the males are stated to
assume the dull plumage of the females. In autumn they become
decidedly gregarious, and feed almost exclusively upon buds and seeds.
He thinks they are not so numerous in the southern portions of the
Territory. In a letter received from him he remarks:—

     “This bird was found to be common in New Mexico near Fort
     Wingate, at the eastern base of the main chain of mountains.
     I first observed it on the 28th of June, when I found quite
     a number together, and secured several specimens. They were
     in small troops on a rugged hillside covered with a sparse
     growth of junipers and stunted pines, feeding in company
     with the _Poospiza bilineata_. Judging from their actions,
     and from the fact that none but males were taken, I presume
     they were breeding in the vicinity. I found some difficulty
     in securing specimens, partly owing to the broken nature of
     the locality, and partly to the birds’ timidity in the
     unaccustomed presence of man. Those that were shot were all
     found to have the æsophagus as well as the gizzard crammed
     with seeds. They constantly uttered a plaintive lisping
     whistle as they gathered food, or as they flew from one tree
     to another, but their song did not strike my ear as
     precisely the same as that of the Goldfinch. These specimens
     were all in what I take to be perfect plumage, although the
     back was mixed with olive and black in nearly equal
     proportions, and the black of the pileum did not reach below
     the eyes to cut off the yellow under eyelid from the other
     yellowish parts of the head; thus closely resembling true
     _psaltria_.

     “Upon my arrival at Fort Whipple in July, I found birds of
     this type abundant, and took a good many during the two
     following months, when they disappeared, and I saw none
     until about the first of May. A small ravine close by the
     fort, choked with a rank growth of weeds, was a favorite
     resort; there the birds could be found at nearly all times
     in season, in large troops, feeding in company with Chipping
     Sparrows, and the _Spizella atrigularis_. They were very
     tame during the latter part of the summer, would only rise
     when very closely approached, when they flew in a hesitating
     manner a short distance, and then pitched down again among
     the weeds to resume their busy search for food. In their
     undulating flight they utter their peculiar note, generally
     with each impulse of the wings, and keep up a continual
     chirping when feeding; but I did not hear their true song at
     this season. Some of the specimens taken were very young
     birds, and the species unquestionably breeds here, although
     I never succeeded in finding a nest.

     “I should not omit to add, that whilst at Santa Fé, New
     Mexico, I saw caged birds that were thriving well, and
     apparently reconciled to confinement.”

A nest of this bird, obtained near Camp Grant, Arizona, by Dr. Palmer,
is a flat and shallow structure, having a diameter of three inches,
and a height of one and a quarter. The cavity is only a slight
depression. This nest is made of a felting of various materials,
chiefly the cotton-like down of the cottonwood-tree and other soft
vegetable matter, fine stems of grasses, fragments of mosses, and
various other similar materials, lined with finer materials of the
same. Except in their slightly smaller size, the eggs are not
distinguishably different from the preceding.


Chrysomitris psaltria, var. mexicana, BONAP.

BLACK GOLDFINCH; MEXICAN GOLDFINCH.

  _Carduelis mexicanus_, SWAINS. Syn. Birds Mex. Phil. Mag. 1827,
    435.—WAGLER, Isis, 1831, 525. _Chrysomitris mexicanus_, BP. Consp.
    Av. 1850, 516 (quotes AUD. tab. 427).—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858,
    423, pl. liv, f. 1. _Astragalinus mexicanus_, CAB. Mus. Hein.
    1851, 159.—IB. Journ. für Orn. 1861, 7 (with synonymy).—COUES, P.
    A. N. S. 1866, 82. _Fringilla melanoxantha_ (LICHT.), WAGLER,
    Isis, 1831, 525. _? Fringilla catotol_, GM. Syst. Nat. I, 1788,
    914. _Fringilla texensis_, GIRAUD, 16 Sp. Birds Tex. 1841, pl. v.
    f. 1 (gives white belly).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 169.

SP. CHAR. Upper parts continuously and entirely black; the feathers of
the rump white subterminally, and showing this through the black; a
few of the feathers with greenish-yellow between the white and the
black; a few, perhaps, without black tips. The bases of the third to
seventh primaries, and the ends of the tertiaries externally white.
The tail is black, except the outer three feathers, in which the outer
webs and tips only are this color; the rest white. Inside of wing
black. Under parts of body pale yellow. _Female_ with the black of the
head and body replaced by olive-green. Length, 4.12 inches; wing,
2.25; tail, 2.00.

HAB. Mexican side of the valley of the Rio Grande, southward; Oaxaca,
June (SCL. 1858, 302); Cordova (SCL. 1856, 303); Guatemala (SCL. Ibis
I, 19); Costa Rica (CAB. J. 1861, 7); Panama (LAWR. N. Y. Lyc. 1861,
331; winter).

HABITS. The Mexican Goldfinch is distributed from the western side of
the Rio Grande, through Mexico and Central America, to Panama.
Sumichrast mentions it as found throughout the State of Vera Cruz, but
most abundant in the temperate region. It breeds in the vicinity of
Orizaba. It was taken in Central America, by Mr. Skinner, and has been
reported from Costa Rica, and from Panama in the winter. Of its
distinctive peculiarities we have no information, but they probably do
not differ from those of the other forms of _C. psaltria_.


Chrysomitris lawrencii, BONAP.

LAWRENCE’S GOLDFINCH.

  _Carduelis lawrencii_, CASSIN, Pr. A. N. Sc. V, Oct. 1850, 105, pl. v
    (California). _Chrysomitris lawrencii_, BON. Comptes Rendus, Dec.
    1853, 913.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 424.—HEERM. X, S, 50
    (nest).—ELLIOT, Illust. Am. B. I, pl. viii.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1,
    171.

SP. CHAR. _Male._ Hood, sides of head anterior to the middle of the
eye, chin, and upper part of throat, black. Sides of head, neck, and
body, upper part of neck and the back, and upper tail-coverts,
ash-color. Rump and lesser wing-coverts yellowish-green. Throat below
the black, breast, and outer edges of all the quills (except the first
primary, and passing into white behind), bright greenish-yellow. Wings
black. Tail-feathers black, with a white square patch on the inner
web, near the end; outer edges grayish; quills black. _Female_
similar, with the black of the head replaced by ash. Length, about
4.70; wing, 2.75; tail, 2.30. _Young_ like the female, but wing-bands
pale fulvous, instead of yellow.

HAB. Coast of California; Fort Whipple, Arizona (COUES, P. A. N. S.
1866, 83).

HABITS. This species, now known to be so common throughout the greater
portion of California, was first described by Mr. Cassin in 1850. Dr.
Heermann afterwards found them very abundant throughout the northern
mining regions of California, frequenting the hillsides covered with
brush, the seeds and buds of which they eat with great avidity. Later
in the season he found them at San Diego, in quest of grass-seeds on
the level plains. They were in large flocks, and so closely packed
that he shot thirteen at one discharge. Their nests, he states, are
built in the fork of a bush or stunted oak, and are composed of fine
grasses, lined with hair and feathers. They contain four or five pure
white eggs.

Mr. Ridgway only met with this Goldfinch near the foot of the western
slope of the Sierra Nevada.

Dr. Cooper met with a few of this species at Fort Mohave, on the
Colorado, but found them more numerous near the coast as far north as
San Francisco, at least, and also in the more northern mining regions.
He has seen them about San Francisco in December, and has no doubt
that they remain all the winter throughout the lower country. They
seem to avoid the mountainous regions, and have not been met with in
Oregon.

Their habits and their song are, in general respects, similar to those
of the Goldfinch (_C. tristis_), but their voice is much weaker, and
is higher in its pitch. Their nests, Dr. Cooper thinks, are placed, in
preference, on the live-oaks; at least, he has never met with them in
any other situation. They are built very much in the style of those of
the Goldfinch, but are much smaller, the cavity measuring only an inch
in depth and one and a half in breadth. The eggs he describes as four
or five in number, pure white, and measuring .80 by .46 of an inch. He
adds that they sometimes feed on the ground, on grass-seeds, as well
as on buds and seeds of various weeds and trees. They were regarded by
him as more of a sylvan species than the Goldfinch, and not so fond of
willows and other trees growing along streams and in wet places. In
the Colorado Valley they feed on the seeds of the artemisia. He did
not notice any there after the middle of April. Eggs, in my own
cabinet, from Monterey, identified by Dr. Canfield, are of a uniform
greenish-white, exactly similar to those of _C. psaltria_ and
_tristis_, and measure only .58 by .45 of an inch, or less in length
by .22 than as given by Dr. Cooper.

Three nests of this species obtained at Monterey, Cal., by Dr.
Canfield, all exhibit more or less variations as to material and style
of make. They are all more or less felted, and beautifully wrought,
fully equal in artistic skill to the nests of the Goldfinch. They are
about one and a half inches in height and three in diameter, and the
cavity is an inch in depth and one and three quarters in diameter. The
walls of these nests are soft, warm, and thick, composed of wool, both
vegetable and animal, fine stems of grasses, down, feathers, and other
materials, all closely matted together, and lined with the long hair
of the larger animals. One of these nests is made up entirely of the
finer grasses, strongly matted together.


Chrysomitris pinus, BONAP.

PINE GOLDFINCH.

  _Fringilla pinus_, WILSON, Am. Orn. II, 1810, 133, pl. xvii, f. 1.—
    AUD. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 455; V, 509, pl. clxxx. _Fringilla_
    (_Carduelis_) _pinus_, BON. Obs. Wils. 1825, No. 103. _Linaria
    pinus_, AUD. Synopsis, 1839, 115.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841, 125,
    pl. clxxx. _Chrysomitris pinus_, BONAP. Consp. 1850, 515.—BAIRD,
    Birds N. Am. 1858, 425.—COOPER & SUCKLEY, 197.—COOPER, Orn. Cal.
    I, 172.—SAMUELS, 290. _?? Chrysomitris macroptera_, DUBUS, Esq.
    Orn. tab. 23 (Mexico).—BP. Conspectus, 1850, 515.

  [Line drawing: _Chrysomitris pinus._
                  11096 ♀]

SP. CHAR. Tail deeply forked. Above brownish-olive. Beneath whitish,
every feather streaked distinctly with dusky. Concealed bases of
tail-feathers and quills, together with their inner edges,
sulphur-yellow. Outer edges or quills and tail-feathers
yellowish-green. Two brownish-white bands on the wing. Length. 4.75;
wing, 3.00; tail, 2.20. Sexes alike. _Young_ similar, but the white
below tinged with yellow, the upper parts with reddish-brown, and
there are two pale ochraceous bands on the wing.

HAB. North America from Atlantic to Pacific; Vera Cruz, plateau and
alpine region (SUMICHRAST, I, 550).

Specimens from all parts of North America appear to be the same, but
there is a great deal of variation among individuals. No. 10,225 ♂,
Fort Tejon, California, and 51,636, Colorado Territory, are almost
entirely white beneath, the streaks being hardly observable. 32,765,
Mexico, and 9,524, Washington Territory, are unstreaked medially. No.
11,096, Fort Bridger, has the streaks on the sides unusually broad,
and very black.

In autumn and winter a reddish-brown tinge overspreads the upper
parts.

HABITS. Though classed with the Goldfinches of this country, the Pine
Finch, in many respects more nearly resembles, in its habits and
nidification, the _Carpodaci_. It is found throughout the United
States, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. In the winter it extends its
irregular migrations into the Central States, as far as Northern
California on the Pacific, and Southern Pennsylvania on the Atlantic.
It breeds throughout the British Provinces, Northern Maine, New
Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Michigan, and thence to Washington
Territory, in all the evergreen forests.

At Calais, Me., it is resident throughout the year, and breeds there,
but is much more common in the winter than in the summer. In Western
Maine, Professor Verrill observed it very common, both in the spring
and in the fall, but never found it breeding. He found it very
abundant about the Umbagog lakes in July, where it was evidently
breeding. It breeds also abundantly among the White Mountains.

Mr. Ridgway first saw the Pine Finch on the East Humboldt Mountains,
where, through July and August, it was quite common, and where
undoubtedly it breeds, as a young bird unable to fly was obtained. On
the Wahsatch Mountains it was a very abundant species, inhabiting the
pines as well as the groves of aspens in the alpine regions. It is
gregarious at all times, flying in roving, screeching flocks. The
notes it utters on all occasions resemble a very peculiar
pronunciation of _swe-er_, given in a very sharp tone. When the flock
suddenly takes to flight, this is changed to a more rattling outcry. A
nest, containing no eggs, was found in an aspen-tree; and another,
containing one egg, similar to those described elsewhere, was found in
a fir-tree (_Abies_) situated near the extremity of a horizontal
branch about twenty feet from the ground.

The Pine Finch is also a very common and resident bird in the plateau
of Mexico and in the alpine regions of the State of Vera Cruz. Its
common name there is _Dominiguito montero_. In the alpine regions
Sumichrast states that it is found to the height of six thousand five
hundred feet, and does not, to his knowledge, descend below three
thousand feet. It most especially frequents the plateau.

Captain Blakiston met with this species on the plains of the
Saskatchewan, near the Rocky Mountains, August 6, 1858.

In the eastern portion of Massachusetts it is somewhat irregular in
its movements and appearance, which are supposed to be affected by the
abundance or scarcity of its food elsewhere. Here it feeds chiefly on
seeds of grasses and weeds, probably only after the seeds of the
hemlock and other forest trees have failed it. They are usually most
abundant late in the season and after heavy falls of snow farther
north have diminished their means of subsistence. Mr. Maynard found it
very numerous in the winter of 1859-60, remaining until quite late in
the season, and again in the winter of 1868-69, remaining until the
last week in May. In Western Massachusetts, according to Mr. Allen, it
is a regular winter visitant, but never abundant. It arrives early in
October, and may be seen in small flocks from that time to the third
week in May. It sometimes frequents the apple-orchards, where it feeds
on the _Aphides_. According to Dr. Coues, this species occasionally
strays as far to the south as the Carolinas, but it is not common
there.

Wilson observed these birds near Philadelphia, where they were feeding
on the seeds of the alder. Later in the season they collected in
larger flocks and took up their abode among the pine woods. In one
particular locality, he states, a flock of two or three hundred of
these birds regularly wintered, for many years in succession, where
noble avenues of pines furnished them with abundant food throughout
the season. Early in March they all disappeared. While there, they
were so tame as to allow a person to approach within a few yards. They
fluttered among the branches, frequently hanging from the cones, at
the same time uttering notes closely resembling those of the Goldfinch.

In severe winters Mr. Audubon has met with the Pine Finch as far south
as Henderson, Ky., and Charleston, S. C., but such visits were always
brief. In August, 1832, he met with flocks of these birds in Labrador.
They were in company with the Crossbill, and were feeding on the seeds
of the fir-trees, and also on those of the thistle. When at the
Magdalen Islands he frequently saw flocks moving from various
directions. At Bras d’Or, towards the end of July, they were in great
numbers, and the old birds were accompanied by their young. They
frequented thickets of willows and elders in the vicinity of water,
and were very fearless and gentle. According to his account they sing
while on the wing, and their notes are sweet, varied, clear, and
mellow, and, while somewhat resembling the song of the _C. tristis_,
are perfectly distinct from it. Its flight is exactly similar, both
gliding through the air in graceful and deep curves.

In Washington Territory Dr. Cooper found this Finch an abundant and
constant resident, migrating to the coast in winter, where it feeds on
the seeds of the alder. In summer they were gregarious, even when
occupied with their nests and young. He has never met with any in
California, not even in the Sierra Nevada, though they have been found
by others along its whole western slope, as far south as Fort Tejon.
They feed on the seeds of both coniferous and deciduous trees.

Early in May, 1859, a pair of these birds built their nest in the
garden of Professor Benjamin Peirce, in Cambridge, Mass., near the
colleges. It was found on the 9th by Mr. Frederick Ware, and already
contained its full complement of four eggs, partly incubated. This
nest was three inches in height and four in diameter. The depth of the
cavity, as well as its diameter at the rim, was two inches. The base
of this nest was a mass of loose materials, and the lower portions of
the sides were hardly different. The upper and the inner portions of
this fabric were much more compactly and neatly woven, or rather
felted together. The outer layers consisted of small twigs of the
_Thuja_, dried stems and ends of pine twigs, grasses, sedges, stalks
of small vegetables, fine roots, bits of wool, and coarse hair. The
whole was very closely lined with fine dry roots of herbaceous plants
and the hair of small quadrupeds.

The eggs are of an oblong-oval shape, of a light green ground-color,
spotted, chiefly at the larger end, with markings of a light
rusty-brown. They measure .71 by .50 of an inch. They have a marked
resemblance to the eggs of the _Linariæ_, but the ground-color is of a
slightly lighter shade.

A nest of this species, found May 15, 1868, at Brunich, Canada, was
composed almost entirely of pine twigs interlaced in a very neat and
artistic manner. Its diameter was three and a half inches, and its
height two inches. It was lined with hair. The cavity was one and a
half inches deep and two inches wide.


GENUS LOXIA, LINNÆUS.

  _Loxia, Linnæus_, Syst. Nat. ed. 10, 758. (Type, _Loxia curvirostra_,
     L.)
  _Curvirostra_, “SCOPOLI, 1777.” (Type, _L. curvirostra_.)

  [Line drawing: _Loxia americana._
                  5803 ♂]

GEN. CHAR. Mandibles much elongated, compressed and attenuated;
greatly curved or falcate, the points crossing or overlapping to a
greater or less degree. Tarsi very short; claws all very long, the
lateral extending beyond the middle of the central; hind claw longer
than its digit. Wings very long and pointed, reaching beyond the
middle of the narrow, forked tail.

Colors reddish in the male.

The elongated, compressed, falcate-curved, and overlapping mandibles
readily characterize this genus among birds. This feature, however,
only belongs to grown specimens, the young having a straight bill, as
in other Finches.

The United States species of _Loxia_ are readily distinguished by the
presence of white bands on the wing in _leucoptera_ and their absence
in _americana_. Neither form, however, is to be considered as
specifically distinct from their European allies. The differences are
as follows:—


Species and Varieties.

L. curvirostra. Wings dusky, without white bands.

  1. Bill from forehead, .74; wing, 3.90; tail, 2.40. Lower
  mandible much weaker than the upper. _Hab._ Europe …
                                             var. _curvirostra_.[110]

  2. Bill from forehead, .80 or more; wing, 4.00; tail, 2.50.
  Lower mandible as strong as the upper. Hab. Rocky Mountains of
  United States, and mountainous regions of Mexico … var. _mexicana_.

  3. Bill from forehead, .60 or less; wing, 3.30; tail, 2.20.
  _Hab._ North America generally …                  var. _americana_.

L. leucoptera. Wings deep black, with two broad white bands.

  1. Body and head pomegranate-red; black of scapulars nearly
  meeting across lower back. Hab. Northern North America;
  “Himalayas”; “Japan” …                           var. _leucoptera_.

  2. Body, etc., cinnabar-red; back nearly wholly red. _Hab._
  Europe …                                    var. _bifasciata_.[111]


Loxia curvirostra var. americana, BAIRD.

RED CROSSBILL.

  _Curvirostra americana_, WILS. Am. Orn. IV, 1811, 44, pl. xxxi, f.
    1, 2.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 426.—COOPER & SUCKLEY, 198.—DALL &
    BANNISTER, Tr. Ch. Ac. I, 1869, 281 (Alaska).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1,
    148.—SAMUELS, 291. _Loxia americana_, BON. List, 1838.—BON. &
    SCHLEGEL, Mon. Loxiens, 5, tab. vi.—NEWBERRY, Zoöl. California and
    Oregon Route, P. R. R. Rep. VI, IV, 1857, 87.—BON. & SCHLEGEL,
    Mon. Lox. 5, pl. vi. _Loxia curvirostra_, FORSTER, Phil. Trans.
    LXII, 1772, No. 23. AUD. Biog. II, 1834, 559; V, 511, pl.
    cxcvii.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841, 186, pl. cc. “_Loxia pusilla_,
    ILLIGER” (Bp.). “_Loxia fusca_, VIEILLOT” (Bp.).

SP. CHAR. _Old male_ dull red (the shade differing in the specimen,
sometimes brick-red, sometimes vermilion, etc.); darkest across the
back; wings and tail dark blackish-brown. _Young male_ yellowish.
_Female_ dull greenish-olive above, each feather with a dusky centre;
rump and crown bright greenish-yellow. Beneath grayish; tinged,
especially on the sides of the body, with greenish-yellow. _Young_
olive above; whitish beneath, conspicuously streaked above and below
with blackish. Male about 6 inches; wing, 3.30; tail, 2.25.

  [Illustration: _Loxia americana_.]

HAB. Northern America generally, coming southward in winter. Resident
in the Alleghany and Rocky Mountains.

There are considerable differences both in color and size, especially
of bill, in specimens from various parts of North America, and to a
less degree from the same locality. While those of the Atlantic and
Pacific coast have bills of much the same size, in skins from the
mountains of California this member is much stouter; in this character
approaching the _L. mexicana_ of Strickland, in which the bill
presents its maximum of the North American form.

  [Line drawing: _California_.
                  ♂ 18034]

It would not probably be far out of the way to consider the European
and all the American common Crossbills as the same species, differing
only as races, and perhaps including _L. himalayana_, which is smaller
even than _americana_.

We have not observed any American Crossbills with two reddish bands
across the wing-coverts, corresponding to the variety _rubrifasciata_
of Europe.

_L. pytiopsittacus_ of Europe is much the largest of all the species,
measuring seven inches in length, and with the bill seven lines high
at base.

  [Illustration: PLATE XXIII.

   1. Loxia americana. ♂ W. Ter., 6442.
   2.   “   leucoptera. ♂ Philad., 1215.
   3.   “       “       ♀ Alaska (Yukon), 27360.
   4.   “   americana. ♀.
   5. Leucosticte griseinucha. ♂ Unalaska, 54244.
   6.   “         littoralis. Ft. Simpson, V. I.
   7.   “         campestris. Colorado, 41527.
   8.   “         tephrocotis. Nebraska, 10255. Winter.
   9.   “            “         Colorado. Summer.
  10.   “        arctous. Siberia, 9244.
  11. Pyrrhula cassini. ♂ Alaska (Nulato), 49955.
  12. Pyrgita domestica. Europe.]

In the intensity, as well as the shade of the red in the males, there
is a great range of variation. Generally it is of a tint almost
precisely like that of _L. curvirostra_, though deeper. The most
highly colored specimen is 54,795, Philadelphia (J. H. McIlvaine),
which is entirely continuous deep tile-red, approaching vermilion on
the rump. The abdomen and crissum are light pinkish. In No. 31,459,
Fort Rae, April, the red is of a curious and very unusual purplish
wine-red shade.

The average of western specimens, particularly those from the
northwest coast of the United States, have bills scarcely larger than
in the average of eastern examples; thus, 18,037, Fort Crook, N. Cal.,
has the bill of the same size as No. 5,803, Philadelphia, while No.
53,482, East Humboldt Mountains, has the bill smaller than any other
in the collection.

In color, there are scarcely any tangible differences between the
European _Loxia curvirostra_ and the two American varieties, the
distinctive character being in the form of the bill and the size; the
_C. mexicana_ is the largest of the three, and the bill is quite
peculiar in form, the lower mandible almost equalling the upper in
length, and exceeding it in thickness. _L. curvirostra_ is slightly
smaller, and has the lower mandible much smaller and less, powerful
than the upper, being inferior to it both in length, breadth, and
thickness. The colors also appear to be rather less intense than in
_C. mexicana._

The _C. americana_ is in every way, the bill especially, smaller than
either of the preceding. The lower mandible, although but slightly
shorter than the upper, is still much weaker, as in the European bird.
The majority of western birds have the bill but slightly larger than
eastern, and most of those with large bills are only intermediate
between _americana_ and _mexicana._ In some specimens the bill,
although almost equalling in length that of the latter, has yet the
form of the former; on the other hand, there are specimens with the
proportions of the mandibles as in _mexicana_, while the size is
intermediate.

The following figures will illustrate the differences in the size of
the bills of the different races.

  [Illustration:

  1 Var. _mexicana_. 29703 ♂, Mexico.
  2 Var. _curvirostra_. 17010 ♂, Europe.
  3 Var. _americana_. 18036 ♂, California.
  4 Var. _americana_. 5803 ♂, Philadelphia.]

Specimens from the Columbia River region and northwest coast of the
United States appear to have the red more rosaceous and the bill more
slender than the typical style. One specimen (No. 31,459, Fort Rae) is
altogether a very peculiar one; the shade of red is different from
that of any other specimen, being a dark maroon-carmine, with a clear
ash suffusion on the back. There are two distinct dusky stripes on the
cheek, one over the upper edge of the ear-coverts, the other along the
lower edge. The lining of the wing is without any red tinge, seen in
all specimens of the true _americana_ and _mexicana_; the wings and
tail are pure sepia-brown, quite different from the others; and the
feathers show no red margins. The lower mandible is very much curved.
(May not this be like some Siberian style?)

No 21,868, from Washington Territory, has the bill nearly as slender
as in _C. leucoptera_, but there is nothing else peculiar.

HABITS. The common Red Crossbill of America is a bird of very
irregular distribution, abundant in some places at certain seasons,
and again rarely seen for several years. It is a Northern species,
found in summer chiefly in the more northern portions of the United
States, and also found throughout the year in the Alleghanies, in
Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, to Georgia. A closely allied
variety is also found in the alpine regions of Vera Cruz and other
departments of Mexico.

Dr. Suckley found this species quite abundant at Puget Sound, in
certain seasons. This was especially so in the spring of 1854, though
afterwards he met with but few. He noticed a pair on the ground near a
pool of rain-water. They were very tame, and allowed a near approach.
Dr. Cooper found it very abundant near the coast, where it feeds, in
winter, on the seeds of the black spruce, retiring in summer to the
mountains to breed, but returning in September. He never observed any
in the fir forests of the Coast Range. In the Sierra Nevada, latitude
39°, Dr. Cooper found these birds in considerable numbers, September,
1863, and in winter they have been obtained about San Francisco. They
seem to be most attracted to the forests of spruces, cypresses, and
red-woods, the cones of which are most readily broken. They
occasionally descend to the ground, in the Rocky Mountains, in search
of the seeds of small plants, and also for water.

Mr. Bischoff obtained specimens of this species at Sitka, but it was
not noticed in the territory of the Yukon River by Mr. Dall, or any of
his party, and it was met with by Mr. Ridgway on the East Humboldt
Mountains only. There they were occasionally seen among the willows
and small aspens bordering the streams. Their common note was a fine
and frequently repeated _chick-chick-chick_, very different from the
plaintive notes of the _C. leucoptera._

In New England they are of somewhat irregular occurrence, though in
Maine and in the northern portions of Vermont and New Hampshire they
are more or less resident. In Eastern Massachusetts they are
comparatively rare, excepting that, at irregular intervals, they come
in large flocks during the winter. This was so to a remarkable degree
in the winter of 1832, and more recently in 1862, when, Mr. Maynard
states, they remained until April. They were then in their summer
plumage, and also in full song. In August 1868, they again became
quite numerous, and had just before appeared in large numbers in
Western Maine, doing great damage to the oats, and disappearing as
soon as these had been harvested. Mr. Maynard thinks that these birds
were the same with those afterwards so numerous in Massachusetts.

The same peculiarities of irregular appearance have been observed by
Mr. Allen, in Springfield, where it is often a very abundant visitor,
but generally not so common. In the winter of 1859-60 the pine woods
in the vicinity of that city abounded with them, and in February they
were already in full song. They are at all times gregarious, and are
sometimes seen in large flocks.

They have, as they fly, a loud, peculiar, and not unmusical cry. This
call-note they do not utter when at rest or when feeding. Their song
in the spring and summer is varied and pleasing, but is not powerful,
or in any respect remarkable. This song is especially noticeable in
caged birds, who soon become very tame, and feed readily from the
hand, even when taken at an adult age. Their manners in confinement
are very like those of the Parrots, clinging to the top of the wires
with their claws, hanging with their heads downward, and, when
feeding, holding their food in one claw. On the trees, their habits
and manner are also said to be similar to those of Parrots.

Mr. Audubon has found these birds, in August, in the pine woods of
Pennsylvania, and inferred that they breed there. This does not
necessarily follow. They breed so early at the north as to give ample
time for their migrations, even in midsummer, to remote places.
Professor Baird, however, informs me that during a summer spent in the
mountains of Schuylkill County, Penn., in the coal region, he saw them
nearly every day, moving about or feeding, in pairs.

The Crossbills are extremely gentle and social, are easily approached,
caught in traps, and even knocked down with sticks. Their food is
chiefly the seeds of the _Coniferæ_, and also those of plants.
Audubon’s statement that they destroy apples merely to secure the
seeds is hardly accurate. They are extravagantly fond of this fruit,
and prefer the flesh to its seeds. Their flight is undulating,
somewhat in the manner of the Goldfinch, firm, swift, and often
protracted. As they fly, they always keep up the utterance of their
loud, clear call-notes. They move readily on the ground, up or down
the trunks and limbs of trees, and stand as readily with their heads
downward as upright.

Wilson states that in the interior of Pennsylvania this species
appears in large flocks in the winter, and during the prevalence of
deep snows they keep about the doors of dwellings, pick off the clay
with which these huts are plastered, and are exceedingly tame and not
easily driven off.

So far as is known, these Crossbills breed in midwinter, or very early
in the spring, when the weather is the most inclement. The nest and
eggs of this species were procured by Mr. Charles S. Paine, in East
Randolph, Vt., early in the month of March. The nest was built in an
upper branch of an elm,—which, of course, was leafless,—the ground was
covered with snow, and the weather severe. The birds were very tame
and fearless, refusing to leave their eggs, and had to be several
times taken off by the hand. After its nest had been taken, and as Mr.
Paine was descending with it in his hand, the female again resumed her
place upon it, to protect her eggs from the biting frost. The eggs
were four in number, and measured .85 by .53 of an inch. They have a
greenish-white ground and are beautifully blotched, marbled, and
dotted with various shades of lilac and purplish-brown.


Loxia curvirostra, var. mexicana, STRICKLAND.

MEXICAN CROSSBILL.

  _Loxia mexicana_, STRICKLAND, Jardine Contrib. Orn. 1851, 43.—SCLATER,
    P. Z. S. 1859, 365.—IB. 1864, 174, City of Mexico.—SALVIN, Ibis,
    1866, 193 (Guatemala).

SP. CHAR. Colors of _americana_, but red brighter, more scarlet. Bill
very large, the lower mandible nearly or quite equal to the upper in
strength and length. Wing, 4.00; tail, 2.50; bill (from forehead) .82.

HAB. Mountainous regions of Southern North America, from Guatemala,
north into Rocky Mountains of United States; Mexico, Orizaba.

This bird is quite as well marked as any of the plain-winged
“species,” differing from _curvirostra_ and _americana_ quite as much
as they do from each other.

All specimens from Mexico, as well as from the Central Rocky Mountains
of the United States, are referrible to this form, though in winter
the _americana_ may also be found in the latter region, as a migrant
from the north.

HABITS. The occurrence of this well-marked race among the mountainous
districts of Mexico is a very interesting and suggestive fact in
regard to the distribution of birds, demonstrating, as it does, the
close connection between high latitudes and high elevations as
favoring similar forms. It was first described by Strickland from
specimens obtained on the plateau near the city of Mexico. Another
specimen is referred to by Mr. Sclater as having been received from
Jalapa, Mexico; and Mr. Sumichrast obtained also a single specimen of
this species at Moyoapam, in the alpine region of Orizaba, where it is
known as the _Pico cruzado_. It was taken at an elevation of about
7,500 feet. Mr. Sumichrast was unable to determine whether this bird
was resident, or only a migratory visitant in the winter. I can find
no reference to any distinctive peculiarities of habits.


Loxia leucoptera, GMELIN.

WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL.

  _Loxia, leucoptera_, GM. Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 540.—AUD. Orn. Biog. IV,
    1838, 467, pl. ccclxiv.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841, 190, pl.
    cci.—BON. & SCHL. Mon. Loxiens, 1850, 8, pl. ix.—GOULD, B. Gt.
    Britain, V, 1864 (killed England, Sept. 17). _Curvirostra
    leucoptera_, WILS. Am. Orn. IV, 1811, 48, pl. xxxi, f. 3.—BAIRD,
    Birds N. Am. 1858, 427.—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Ch. Ac. I, 1869, 281
    (Alaska).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 149.—SAMUELS, 293. _Crucirostra
    leucoptera_, BREHM, Naumannia, I, 1853, 254, fig. 20. _Loxia
    falcirostra_, LATH. Index, Orn. I, 1790, 371.

SP. CHAR. Bill greatly compressed, and acute towards the point. Male
carmine red, tinged with dusky across the back; the sides of body
under the wings streaked with brown; from the middle of belly to the
tail-coverts whitish, the latter streaked with brown. Scapulars,
wings, and tail black; two broad bands on the wings across the ends of
greater and median coverts; white spots on the end of the inner
tertiaries. _Female_ brownish, tinged with olive-green in places;
feathers of the back and crown with dusky centres; rump bright
brownish-yellow. Length about 6.25; wing, 3.50; tail, 2.60.

HAB. Northern parts of North America generally; Greenland (REINH.
Ibis, III, 1861, 8); England, (September 17, GOULD, Birds Great
Britain).

The white bands on the wings distinguish this species from the
preceding, although there are some other differences in form of bill,
feet, wing, etc. There is less variation in form and color among
specimens than in the preceding. It differs from the European
analogue, _L. bifasciata_, according to authors, in the more slender
body and bill, and in having the body pomegranate-red, with blackish
back, instead of cinnabar-red, as in _curvirostra_ and _americana_,
Bonaparte and Schlegel quote the American species as occurring in the
Himalaya Mountains, and perhaps Japan, but throw doubts on the
supposed European localities.

HABITS. Both the distribution and habits of this species are probably,
in all essential respects, the same with those of the preceding. It
is, if anything, a more northern bird, and it has not been detected
anywhere on the Pacific coast south of British America. It was found
in the Arctic regions by Sir John Richardson, where the other species
was not observed. He found it inhabiting the dense white-spruce
forests of the fur country, feeding principally on the seeds of their
cones. Up to the sixty-eighth parallel he found them ranging through
the whole breadth of the continent. It is supposed to go as far as
these woods extend, though it has not been traced farther than the
sixty-second degree. It was found feeding on the upper branches,
clinging to them when wounded, and remaining suspended even after
death. In September they collected in small flocks, and flew from tree
to tree with a chattering noise. In the depth of winter they retire
from the coast to the thick woods of the interior.

A few individuals of this species are recorded by Professor Reinhardt
as having been taken in South Greenland.

In Pennsylvania this species is much more rare than the _americana_,
and Wilson only met with a few specimens. Since his day it has been
found more abundantly, occasionally in the neighborhood of
Philadelphia.

Mr. Dall states that these birds were not uncommon near Nulato in the
winter. Several specimens were obtained in February and April. None
were found there in the summer. He speaks of their great expertness in
opening the spruce cones with their curved bills, and extracting the
seeds.

Its appearance in Eastern Massachusetts is much more irregular both as
to numbers and time than that of the other species. In the fall and
winter of 1868 and 1869 they were uncommonly abundant, appearing early
in the fall, and remaining until quite late in the spring. They were
even more fearless and tame than the _americana_, and in one instance
a pair were taken by the hand, and afterwards kept in confinement.
They appeared around Boston in large flocks, and remained through
April. One was shot in Newton by Mr. Maynard, June 13. It was found in
an apple-tree, and its crop was full of canker-worms. In Eastern Maine
it is resident throughout the year, and, like the other species,
breeds in winter. In Western Maine Professor Verrill has found it a
common winter visitant, but it is not known to be resident.

Near Springfield Mr. Allen considered this species a much less
frequent visitor than the preceding. In the winters of 1854 and 1860
he found them very abundant, occurring in large flocks.

Mr. Audubon, on his way to Labrador in 1833, found these birds quite
common, in May, among the islands of the Bay of Fundy, evidently
migrating, on their way to more northern regions. I, however, observed
none there during my visits in the summers of 1850 and 1851, although
a specimen was afterwards obtained on the Murre Islands, on the 30th
of June.

So far as they are known, the habits of this species are exactly
similar to those of the preceding. They feed in the same manner and
upon like food. Their flight is undulating and well sustained, and
their movements in the trees are not perceptibly different.

In the spring of 1869, Mr. Jillson, of Hudson, Mass., sent me a pair
of these birds which he had captured the preceding autumn. They were
very tame, and were exceedingly interesting little pets. Their
movements in the cage were like those of caged parrots in every
respect, except that they were far more easy and rapid. They clung to
the sides and upper wires of the cage with their feet, hung down from
them, and seemed to enjoy the practice of walking with their head
downward. They were in full song, and both the male and the female
were quite good singers. Their songs were irregular and varied, but
sweet and musical. They ate almost every kind of food, but were
especially eager for slices of raw apples. An occasional larch cone
was also a great treat to them. Although while they lived they were
continually bickering over their food, yet when the female was
accidentally choked by a bit of eggshell her mate was inconsolable,
ceased to sing, refused his food, and died of grief in a very few
days.

The White-winged Crossbill was seen more frequently by Mr. Ridgway
among the East Humboldt Mountains than the other species. It was first
noticed on the 12th of August among the cedars on the mountains. Its
fine plaintive cry of “_wēēk_” was entirely different from the
hurriedly uttered notes of the _C. americana_.

Several specimens of this Crossbill have been taken in Europe, where
their occurrence is of course accidental, irregular, and rare.

A nest of this species (S. I., 13,452), taken at Fredericton, New
Brunswick, by Dr. A. Adams, in 1868, is deeply saucer-shaped, and
composed of a rather thin wall of fibrous pale-green lichens, encased
on the outside with spruce twigs, and thinly lined with coarse hairs
and fine shreds of inner bark. Its external diameter is a little less
than four inches, the rim being almost perfectly circular; the cavity
is an inch and a half deep by two and a half broad.

The one egg is pale blue, the large end rather thickly spattered with
fine dots of black and ashy-lilac; is regularly or rather slightly
elongate-oval, the small end rather obtuse. It measures .80 of an inch
in length by .56 in breadth.


GENUS ÆGIOTHUS, CABAN.

  _Acanthis_, BONAP. Conspectus, 1850, not of Bechstein, 1802, nor of
    Keys. & Blas. 1840.
  _Ægiothus_, CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1851, 161. (Type, _Fringilla linaria_,
    LINN.)—COUES, Pr. Acad. Nat. Sc. Phil. 1861, 373; 1863, 40; 1869,
    180.

  [Line drawing: Ægiothus linarius.
                 39364 ♂]

SP. CHAR. Bill very short, conical, acutely pointed, the outlines
sometimes concave; the commissure straight; the base of the upper
mandible and the nostrils concealed by stiff, appressed bristly
feathers; middle of the mandible having several ridges parallel with
the culmen. Inner lateral toe rather the longer, its claw reaching the
middle of the middle claw; the hind toe rather longer, its claw longer
than the digital portion. Wings very long, reaching the middle of the
tail; second quill a little longer than the first and third. Tail
deeply forked.

  [Illustration: _Ægiothus linarius._]

Difficult as it sometimes is to define with precision the characters
of closely allied species of birds, there are few genera where this is
the case more strikingly than in _Ægiothus_. Leaving out of view the
peculiar European species, it has been a mooted question whether North
America, including Greenland, possesses one, two, or six species,
owing to the strictly boreal distribution of these birds, and the fact
that their summer resorts are seldom invaded by the naturalist. The
necessary means of determining the proper distribution of the forms
and the variations with season, locality, and sex, are scarcely to be
met with in any public museum, that of the Smithsonian Institution,
however, being the most complete in this respect.

To Dr. Coues, as quoted above, we owe the most satisfactory
indications of the different species and varieties, his papers in the
Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences (1861,
375; 1863, 40; and 1869, 180) being models of ornithological criticism
and discussion. His labors have enabled us to define with precision
the various forms, both European and American, found in the genus, and
have brought us to satisfactory conclusions in reference to their
limitations.

Mr. Ridgway has lately made a careful revision of the specimens of
_Ægiothus_ in the Smithsonian collection, and with a general
concurrence in the conclusions of Dr. Coues in regard to the
differences observable, he suggests, as an application of the laws
more recently verified by him and myself in our examination of the
North American land-birds, that we may best consider the actual
species to be two in number, namely, _canescens_ and _linarius_,
ranging the other forms under these, either as geographical races or
as seasonal stages. Bearing in mind the general law that the more
boreal or Greenland-born specimens should be larger than the more
southern or Continental, and that the peculiar dark plumage of
_fuscescens_ and _rostratus_ only occurs in summer breeding specimens,
he considers these as identical with _linarius_ and _holbölli_; the
winter plumages respectively of the same two races of one species,
_linarius_; the latter race, _holbölli_, being the larger or Greenland
form. If _fuscescens_ be darker than summer _linarius_ from Europe, it
is simply another instance of the darker tints of Arctic American
birds as compared with European.

_Ægiothus canescens_ and _exilipes_ Mr. Ridgway considers as the
Greenland (larger) and Continental (smaller) races of one species,
which perhaps do not differ so much with season as do those of
_linarius_. The differences in the size and proportions of bill, and
perhaps of feet, Mr. Ridgway does not think of much importance, as
great variations are observable in this respect in specimens from the
same locality, and the actual differences of the bill are obscured by
the greater length of the bristly feathers around its base in winter,
making it appear considerably shorter. Indeed, Professor Alfred Newton
maintains that the same bird will have the bill considerably longer in
summer, after living on soft insect food, and shorter in winter when
worn down by use on hard seeds. Mr. Ridgway finds, too, that specimens
of _linarius_ from Kodiak differ in a much longer and more slender
bill than usual, in this respect resembling Alaska specimens of
several other _Fringillidæ_.

The following synopsis expresses Mr. Ridgway’s views as indicated
above: a critical examination of a series of more than two hundred
specimens, in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution, being the
basis of his conclusions.—S. F. B.


Species and Varieties.

COMMON CHARACTERS. _Adult._ Above streaked with dusky upon a
brownish, or brown and whitish, ground; wing-coverts tipped with
whitish or pale brown. Beneath whitish, streaked on the sides
with dusky. An indistinct, lighter superciliary stripe. _Male._
Rump tinged with rose-pink. _Female._ Rump not tinged with
pinkish. _Juv._ Without any red, and with the whole lower parts
thickly streaked.

A. Crown with a quadrate patch of crimson, in adult; throat and
chin with a dusky spot; quills and tail-feathers not edged
conspicuously with white. ♂ with the breast tinged with red.

  1. A. canescens. Rump unstreaked white (both sexes, at all
  seasons); the lower tail-coverts with white shafts; the red
  tinge on the breast in the ♂, of a delicate pale rosaceous pink
  tint.

    Bill very short and thick, its height through the base nearly
    equalling the length of the culmen. Wing, 3.20; tail, 2.65.
    Bill: culmen, .35; height, .30. _Hab._ Greenland …
                                                    var. _canescens_.

    Bill much smaller, more acute, its height through the base
    much less than the length of the culmen. Wing, 3.00; tail,
    2.50. Bill: culmen, .30; height, .22. _Hab._ Continental
    arctic America …                                 var. _exilipes_.

  2. A. linarius. Rump always streaked; lower tail-coverts with
  dusky shaft-streaks; the red tinge on the breast of the ♂ of a
  rosaceous-carmine tint.

    Bill about .35 in length by .22 in height; wing, 2.80; tail,
    2.40. _Hab._ Continental arctic and cold temperate North
    America …                                        var. _linarius_.

    Bill about .40, or more, in length, by .30 in height; wing,
    3.20; tail, 2.60. _Hab._ Greenland in summer, and Continental
    arctic and cold temperate North America in winter …
                                                     var. _holbölli_.

B. Crown without any red; throat and chin without any dusky
spot; quills and tail-feathers of adult male edged conspicuously
with white. ♂ without red tinge on the breast.

  3. A. flavirostris. Rump rose-pink in the ♂, brown streaked
  with dusky in ♀. No red on crown or breast.

    ♀. Above umber-brown streaked with dusky; ground-color of
    rump light brown; throat and jugulum strongly
    ochraceous-buff. _Hab._ Europe …             var. _flavirostris_.

    ♀. Above olive-brown streaked with dusky; ground-color of
    rump sulphur-yellow; throat and jugulum faintly
    sulphur-yellow, tinged with buff. _Hab._ North America …
                                                    var. _brewsteri_.


Ægiothus linarius, CABANIS.

LESSER RED-POLL.

  _Fringilla linaria_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 322.—AUD. Orn. Biog.
    IV, 1838, 538, pl. ccclxxv. _Fringilla (Acanthis) linaria_,
    KEYS. & BLAS. Wirb. Europ. 1840, No. 115, page 161.—_Acanthis
    linaria_, BP. Conspectus, 1850, 541. _Ægiothus linaria_,
    CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1851, 161.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858,
    428.—COUES, Pr. A. N. S. Nov. 1861, 382.—COOPER & SUCKLEY,
    198.—SAMUELS, 294.—MAYNARD, B. E. Mass. 1870, 110.—DALL &
    BANNISTER, Tr. Chic. Acad. I, 1869, 281.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1,
    159. _Linaria minor_, SW. F. Bor. Am. II, 1831, 267.—AUD.
    Syn. 1839, 114.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841, 122, pl. clxxix. ?
    _Linaria holbölli_, BREHM, Vögel Deutschlands. _Acanthis
    holbölli_, BP. & SCHLEGEL, Mon. Loxiens, 1850, 50, pl. liii.
    _Ægiothus holbölli_, COUES, Pr. A. N. Sc. 1861, 385. _Linaria
    americana_, MAX. Cab. Journ. VI, 1858, 338. _Ægiothus
    fuscescens_, COUES, P. A. N. S. Aug. 1861, 222 (Labrador;
    breeding dress).—IB. p. 380. _Ægiothus rostratus_, ELLIOT,
    Illust. B. Am. I, pl. ix.—COUES, P. A. N. S. Nov. 1861, 378
    (Greenland).—ELLIOT, Illust. Birds N. A. I, pl. x.

I. _Spring and Winter Plumage._

SP. CHAR. _Adult._ Ground-color of the occiput, nape, scapulars, and
interscapulars, brownish-white, each feather with medial streak of
dusky-brown; rump and upper tail-coverts white, with the streaks in
sharper contrast. Wings clear brownish-dusky with two conspicuous
white bands, formed by tips of middle and secondary coverts; tertials
broadly, and secondaries narrowly, edged with white; tail-feathers
narrowly edged with white, this broader on inner webs. A narrow
frontal band (tinged with brownish), an obscure superciliary stripe,
and the lower parts in general, white; sides streaked with dusky, and
lower tail-coverts each with a medial streak of the same. On the
forehead and vertex a somewhat quadrate patch of intense carmine.
Nasal plumuli, lores, and a small, somewhat quadrate, gular spot, dark
silky-brown. Bill yellow, the culmen and gonys black.

♂. Throat, jugulum, and breast, rosaceous-carmine (extending upward
over the maxillæ, and backward over the sides almost to the flanks);
rump tinged with the same.

Var. _linarius_ (21,577, Philadelphia). Wing, 2.80; tail, 2.35; bill,
.35 and .22; tarsus, .55; middle toe, .30.

Var. _holbölli_ (39,263, Quebec). Wing, 3.00; tail, 2.40; bill, .42
and .29; tarsus, .60; middle toe, .37.

Var. _holbölli?_ (52,457, Kodiak). Wing, 3.00; tail, 2.40; bill, .47
and .25; tarsus, .55; middle toe, .35.

♀. No red except on the crown, where its tint is less intense; dusky
gular spot larger, extending farther on to the throat.

Var. _linarius_ (902, Penn.). Wing, 2.70; tail, 2.30; bill, .32 and
.23; tarsus, .55; middle toe, .32.

Var. _holbölli_ (39,362, Quebec). Wing, 3.10; tail, 2.50; bill, .42
and .29; tarsus, .61; middle toe, .39.

Var _holbölli?_ (52,460, Kodiak). Wing, 2.80; tail, 2.30; bill .39 and
.23;. tarsus, .54; middle toe, .32.

II. _Summer or Breeding Plumage._

The pattern the same as above, but the dark tint intensified and
spread so as to almost entirely obliterate any lighter markings,
except the streaks on the rump; the wing-bands as well as the dorsal
streaks obsolete; streaks on the sides broader; frontal band dusky
like the occiput. Red tints slightly intensified. Bill wholly dusky.

♂. Throat, jugulum, breast, and tinge on sides and rump, rosy-carmine.

Var. _linarius_ (type of “_fuscescens_”). Wing, 2.80; tail, 2.30;
bill, .36 and .25; tarsus, .53; middle toe, .33.

Var. _holbölli_ (type of “_rostratus_”). Wing, 3.00; tail, 2.35; bill,
.41 and .30; tarsus, .60; middle toe, .40.

Var. _holbölli?_ (54,477, Kodiak, July). Wing, 2.90; tail, 2.20; bill,
.40 and .25; tarsus, .56; middle toe, .32.

♀. No red except on the crown.

Var. _linarius_ (♀ type of “_fuscescens_”). Wing, 2.80; tail, 2.30;
bill, .35 and .25; tarsus, .52; middle toe, .34.

_Young_ (first plumage). (54,478, Kodiak, July.) Streaks covering
whole head, neck, and breast; no red (RIDGWAY).

HAB. Circumpolar regions. In North America breeding in the sub-arctic
regions, and in winter descending into the northern United States.

The two races of _Æ. linarius_ are quite differently colored in summer
and in winter. In the latter season the plumage is softer and more
lax, and the markings better defined, though in autumn with a
considerable ochraceous suffusion. In spring the colors are purer, and
the markings most sharply defined; in the breeding-season the plumage
assumes a burnt appearance, the dark tints intensify and spread, so
that sometimes the upper parts appear almost uniformly dusky; the bill
appears larger, in consequence of the less development of its basal
tufts, than in winter. In this dusky summer condition these birds form
the _Æ. fuscescens_ and _Æ. rostratus_ of Coues, the latter being the
summer plumage of var. _holbölli_, the former that of var. _linarius_.
In the series of over two hundred examples examined, all midsummer
specimens are in the plumage of _fuscescens_ or _rostratus_, while the
latter is not seen in any autumnal, winter, or spring birds.

Specimens of the var. _holbölli_ have been received from Quebec,
collected by Mr. W. Couper.

HABITS. Accepting as variations due either to locality, latitude, or
season the differences already referred to in the plumage of this
species, it is not necessary to consider the question of races in
connection with our story of their habits. We possess but very little
information as to their peculiarities as races in these respects.
Treating, then, the Lesser Red-Poll, though appearing in four
differing phases, as one species, we claim it to be common to the
northern portions of both hemispheres.

It is found throughout northern North America from the Atlantic to the
Pacific, is abundant in the boreal regions of Europe, and probably of
Asia also. On the Pacific coast, Dr. Cooper has observed it only as
far south as Washington Territory. Farther north it is much more
abundant. Mr. Bannister found it common at St. Michaels, both in
summer and in winter. At Nulato Mr. Dall found this species very
common in winter, and very little less so in summer. He states that
the nest is usually lined with hair, and covered externally with moss,
dry grass, and like materials, built in bushes, near the ground. They
begin to build the 15th of May. The eggs are laid about the 1st of
June, and the young are flying near the end of July. The young of the
first year are dark, with a small patch of brown on the breast. After
their second year the males increase the amount of rose-color on the
head and breast, and the very old birds are quite brilliant in the
breeding-season. At St. Michaels, where there are no trees and very
few bushes; these birds frequently build their nests in the grass.

Mr. Dall states that this bird has no song, but that their cheerful
twittering and chirping, their fearless and sociable ways, their
bright plumage and elegant nests, are quite enough to make them
general favorites.

Richardson found this neat and hardy little bird one of the few
permanent residents of the fur countries, where it was seen, in the
coldest weather, on the banks of lakes and rivers, hopping among the
reeds or clinging to their stalks.

Mr. Lord found this species a rare bird in British Columbia. It was
found in swampy places, where the alders grew thickly, and where there
were large water-plants. To these it clings, pecking at their
seed-pods, or, searching the remaining flowers, feeds upon any insects
they may contain. Their song he describes as a soft and pretty warble,
coming in bursts, the singer perching himself boldly on the top of a
plant, as if to be more plainly heard by his companions. In early
spring they feed on the catkins of the alder and hazel. They winter in
small flocks in Vancouver’s Island.

Holböll states that this species is found irregularly distributed over
Greenland, coming always in the first half of April, a little later
than the Snow-Bunting. It migrates to Greenland from America, and is
much rarer in Iceland. In June it is found nesting near the shore,
and, contrary to the usual nature of birds, is very wild, though at
all times else it is very fearless. At this time the male loses its
beautiful crimson breast, resembles the female, and is much less
gorgeous than in winter. It nests in birches, alders, or willows, and
lays five bluish-white eggs, spotted with clear brown. Towards the end
of August and in September they are seen in small flocks about the
settlements, the male resuming its red breast, and all, both old and
young, being very fearless. In confinement they soon became very tame,
and in a few days would perch upon his hand and struggle with each
other for the hemp-seed that he held to them, though there was plenty
of food in their cage. They feed on seeds and the tops of lichens. By
October they all disappear, and are not seen in Greenland in the
winter.

Wilson states that, in his day, these birds were very common in
Northwestern New York, where they appeared always with the first deep
snow, and were, on that account, called Snow-Birds. In severe winters
they were occasionally, though very rarely, seen in the neighborhood
of Philadelphia, where they were very fond of the seeds of the common
alder, and hung head downwards while feeding, in the manner of our
Goldfinch. They were very unsuspicious, and permitted a near approach
without manifesting any signs of alarm. Mr. Ord, in a subsequent
edition of Wilson, states that these birds rarely visit Philadelphia,
and that it was many years before he could procure specimens. In the
winter of 1813-14 they appeared in a flock of nearly a hundred, and
were so intent in feeding upon the seeds of the _Atriplex hastata_
that they could be closely approached. Their call exactly resembled
that of the Goldfinch. These birds lingered in that neighborhood until
about the middle of April.

Their migration southward in winter is evidently caused more by want
of food than by the state of the temperature. They remain in high
northern regions in the most inclement weather, and often appear among
us in seasons not remarkably cold, and remain until late in the
spring. In 1833, by the 7th of November, the weather still being quite
mild, Nuttall states, they appeared in Massachusetts in considerable
flocks. They regularly assembled in the birch-trees every morning to
feed on the seeds, and were so intent on their employment that it was
often possible to approach the slender trees on which they were
feeding, and strike them off, before they would take wing. They hung
on the twigs with great tenacity, and moved about in reversed
positions, in the manner of the Chickadees. They are described by him
as having a quailing call, similar to that of the Goldfinch, and when
crowding together, in flight, as making a confused chirping, with a
rattling noise, and moving off with a simultaneous twitter. They were
attracted to the pines by the Crossbills, and were busily employed in
collecting the seeds, dropped from the cones as the Crossbills opened
them. They at times fed on the buds of fruit-trees. They were always
found to be fat, even on their first arrival, and there were no
obvious reasons for their movements.

Mr. Boardman speaks of them as common at Calais by the first of the
winter. At Norway, Me., Professor Verrill found them very common in
fall, winter, and spring, and most abundant in March and April. In
Springfield they are, according to Mr. Allen, an irregular and
occasional visitant, coming in very large flocks one year, and again
not seen for several years. In a more recent paper (1870) Mr. Allen
states that during the preceding five years these birds have been
several times very numerous in Massachusetts, appearing in quite large
flocks.

Mr. Audubon met with these birds in Labrador the last of July, and
obtained specimens of different ages. He thinks their notes more like
those of the Siskin of Europe than of our Goldfinch, uttered both when
the birds are on the wing and when they have alighted. They were in
small parties of seven or eight, evidently members of the same family.
They were tame and familiar, and fearlessly returned to the same spot
after having been shot at. They were also remarkably affectionate, and
he frequently observed them passing seeds one to the other in the most
loving manner.

Dr. Coues also observed this bird in Labrador, and described it as _Æ.
fuscescens_. He found it abundant along the coast, and was struck with
its resemblance, in habits, to the _Chrysomitris tristis_. It was
remarkably unsuspicious and familiar, and showed no signs of fear even
when very closely approached. It frequented, almost exclusively, the
scrubby junipers that grow everywhere in open places in thick
impenetrable patches. He describes its flight as irregular, rising and
falling in curves, and seldom protracted to any great distance. While
passing overhead, it uttered a peculiar rattling chirp. He thinks it
has no song.

Dr. Kirtland informs me that early in the winter of 1868 his grandson
picked up a wing-broken male Red-Poll, and placed it in his
greenhouse. It began at once to feed on crumbs of bread and hay-seed,
and rapidly recovered. It soon acquired the habit of leaping from
shelf to shelf, among the plants, and was finally seen climbing up
some stately _Pelargonium_ shrubs, and suspending itself, parrot-like,
by its feet from the limbs, capturing aphides. From that time it took
no other food, living exclusively on the parasitic insects of the
plants. So active was it in capturing these, that for two months it
was not necessary to fumigate the greenhouse to destroy them. From day
to day a female Red-Poll hovered over the building, and her calls were
responded to by the invalid. Later in the season he escaped from his
confinement, and was seen to rejoin his faithful mate, which had
remained near him all the winter. As in Europe, this species in the
Arctic regions of America has been found nesting in low trees and
bushes, from two to six feet from the ground.

The habits and appearance of the birds observed in Europe appear
identical with those of our own. Mr. Yarrell states that of all birds
these are the most easily tamed, and can be readily made to breed in
confinement. In Scotland and in parts of England it is resident
throughout the year, in the summer retiring to the bases of the
mountains, and there breeding in the underwood that skirts the banks
of the mountain streams. It nests in bushes or low trees, such as the
alder and the willow. These are constructed of mosses and the stems of
dry grasses, intermingled with down from the catkins of the willow,
and lined with the same, making them soft and warm. The young are
produced late in the season, and are seldom able to fly before the
first of July. The parent birds are devoted in their attachment.
Pennant relates that in one instance where this bird was sitting on
four eggs, she was so tenacious of her nest as to suffer him to take
her off with his hand, and after having been released she still
refused to leave it. In the winter they descend to the lower grounds,
and there feed on the buds of the birch and alder, to reach which they
are obliged, like the Titmice, to hang from the ends of the branches,
with their backs downward. So intent are they on their work that they
are easily taken alive by means of a long stick smeared with birdlime.
Mr. Selby states that its notes during the breeding-season, though not
delivered in a continuous song, are sweet and pleasing. Captain
Scoresby relates that in his approach to Spitsbergen several of these
birds alighted on his ship. They were so wearied with their long
journey as to be easily caught by the hand. The distance of the
nearest point of Norway renders it difficult to imagine how so
delicate a bird can perform this journey, or why it should seek such a
cold and barren country. European eggs are five in number, of a pale
bluish-green, spotted with orange-brown, principally about the larger
end. They measure .65 by .50 of an inch.

American eggs of this species average .65 by .53 of an inch. Their
color is a light bluish-white, which varies considerably in the depth
of its shading, and this tinge is exceedingly fugitive, it being
difficult to preserve it even in a cabinet. The eggs are generally and
finely dotted with a rusty-brown, and are of a rather rounded oval
shape.


Ægiothus canescens, CABANIS.

MEALY RED-POLL.

  _Linaria canescens_, GOULD, “Birds Europe, pl. cxciii.” _Linota
    canescens_, BONAP. List, 1838. _Acanthis canescens_, BON.
    Conspectus, 1850, 541.—BON. & SCHLEGEL, Mon. Loxiens, 1850, 47,
    tab. li.—ROSS, Ed. Phil. Jour. 1861, 163. _Ægiothus canescens_,
    CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1851, 161.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858,
    429.—COUES, P. A. N. S. 1861, 388.—SAMUELS, 295. “_Fringilla
    borealis_, TEMMINCK, 1835. Not of Vieillot.” Bonaparte. _?
    Fringilla borealis_, AUD. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 87, pl. cccc. _?
    Linaria borealis_, AUD. Birds Am. III, 1841, 120, pl. clxxviii.
    “_Linaria hornemanni_, HOLBÖLL, Kroyer Nat. Tidskr. 1843.”
    _Ægiothus exilipes_, COUES, Pr. A. N. Sc. Nov. 1861, 385.—ELLIOT,
    Illust. N. Am. Birds, I, pl. ix.

SP. CHAR. _Autumnal female._ Greenland race (_canescens_). (23,377,
Greenland, Univ. Zoöl. Mus. Copenhagen.) In general appearance like
the corresponding plumage of _Æ. linarius_, but the whole rump
immaculate white; frontal band more than twice as wide as in
_linarius_, and better defined; lower tail-coverts without streaks,
their shafts even being white. Carmine vertical patch only a little
wider than the whitish frontal patch; head with a strong ochraceous
suffusion. Wing, 3.30; tail, 2.90; bill, .35 and .30; tarsus, .60;
middle toe, .32. Wing-formula, 1, 2, and 3.

HAB. Greenland. Variations with season probably as in smaller
Continental race.

_Adult of both sexes in spring._ Continental race (_exilipes_). As
described for the Greenland form, but without the ochraceous
suffusion. Sides very sparsely streaked.

_Male in spring._ Breast only tinged with delicate peach-blossom-pink,
_this extending farther back medially than laterally_,—just the
reverse of _Æ. linarius_; a very faint tinge of the same in the white
of the rump. Measurements (No. 19,686, Fort Simpson, April 30, 1860;
B. R. ROSS, COUES’S type): Wing, 3.00; tail, 2.55; bill, .29 and .25;
tarsus, .52; middle toe, .30; wing-formula, 2, 1, 3, 4.

_Female in spring._ Similar, but lacking all red except that of the
pileum, which is less intense, though not more restricted, than in the
male. Measurements (No. 19,700, Fort Simpson, April 28; B. R. ROSS):
Wing, 2.80; tail, 2.35; bill, .25 and .22; tarsus, .51; middle toe,
.30.

_Both sexes in autumn._ (♀, Fort Rae.) The white of the whole plumage,
except on the rump, overspread by a wash of pale ochraceous, this
deepest anteriorly; on the anterior upper parts a deep tint of
ochraceous entirely replacing the white; wing-markings broader and
more ochraceous than in the spring plumage. Wing, 2.85; tail, 2.50;
bill, .30 and .25; tarsus, .51; middle toe, .30.

HAB. Continental arctic America. In winter south into the United
States (as far as Mount Carroll, Illinois).

Though _Æ. canescens_ is nearly identical with _Æ. linarius_ in size,
these two species may always be distinguished from each other by
certain well-marked and constant differences in coloration; the
principal of these have been mentioned in the synoptical table, but a
few other points may be noted here. In spring males of _canescens_ the
delicate rosaceous-pink of the breast does not extend up on to the
cheeks, and backward it extends farther medially than laterally,
scarcely tingeing the sides at all; while in _Æ. linarius_ the
intensely rosaceous, almost carmine, tint covers the cheeks, and
extends backward much farther laterally than medially, covering nearly
the whole sides.

Though the weakness, or shortness, of the toes compared with the
tarsus, is a feature distinguishing, upon almost microscopical
comparison, the _Æ. canescens_ in its two races from the races of _Æ.
linarius_, it will not by any means serve to distinguish _canescens_
and _exilipes_, since, as will be seen by the measurements given, the
proportion of the toes to the tarsus is a specific, and not a race,
character. (RIDGWAY.)

HABITS. The history of the Mealy Red-Poll can only be presented with
some doubts and uncertainties. We cannot always determine how far the
accounts given by others may have belonged to this species, and we can
only accept, with some reserve, their statements.

This form, whether species or race, is known to inhabit Greenland,
where, according to Dr. Reinhardt, it is constantly resident, and I
have received its eggs from that country, where its identification was
apparently complete. Whether this bird is resident in, regularly
migratory to, or only accidental in, Europe, is as yet a question by
no means fully settled. Degland gives it as resident in Greenland
only, and as accidental in Germany, Belgium, and the north of France.
He states that it is known to nest in shrubs and in low trees, and
that, in all essential respects, its manners are identical with the
common Red-Poll. One of these birds was taken alive in a snare in the
vicinity of Abbeville, and kept in a cage, making part of the
collection of M. Baillon.

Yarrell thought that sufficient evidence existed of its specific
distinctness, but Mr. Gould regarded it as a matter of doubt whether
the birds found in Europe were natives, or only arrivals from northern
America. He states that among the London dealers this bird, called by
them the Stone Red-Poll, is well known, and is considered distinct,
but that its occurrence is very rare. Occasionally, at great
intervals, they are said to have been abundant.

Mr. Doubleday, of Epping, procured several specimens of this bird in
Colchester, in January, 1836, and afterwards obtained a living pair,
which he kept for some time. Their notes were much sharper than those
of the _linarius_. Its occurrence was most frequent in winter, many
specimens having been obtained in England, and some also in Scotland.
Its habits throughout the year are supposed to be very similar to
those of the common Red-Poll. Its food is said to be chiefly the seeds
of various forest trees.

Mr. Temminck describes what is undoubtedly this species, under the
title of _borealis_. If this supposition be admitted to be correct,
its geographical distribution becomes much more clearly defined. He
states that it is found during the summer in Norway and Sweden, and is
resident of the Arctic Circle throughout the year, and is also found
in Northern Asia, as well as in America and in other parts of Europe.
He has received specimens from Greenland, and also from Japan,
differing in no respect from those found in Europe.

Audubon states that he procured four specimens of this bird in
Newfoundland. In their habits he could see no difference between them
and the common Red-Poll, but did observe a noticeable difference in
their song. He also states that one was shot by Mr. Edward Harris near
Moorestown, N. J.

Mr. John Wolley, in his expeditions to Lapland, found there only one
species of this genus which was clearly referrible to the Mealy
Red-Poll, and was a common resident bird. One of these eggs from
Lapland is larger, and a much lighter-colored egg, than any of the
common _linarius_. The ground is a greenish-white, sparingly spotted
with dark reddish-brown about the larger end. Its measurement is .80
by .58 of an inch. An egg from Greenland is not perceptibly different
in size, color, or markings.

Holböll, in his papers on the fauna of Greenland, demonstrates very
distinctly the specific differences between this bird and the
_linarius_. These are its stronger and broader bill, the difference in
colors at every age, its much greater size, its very different notes,
and its quite different modes of life, the _canescens_ being a
strictly resident species, and the _linarius_ being migratory.

In the summer this species is found to the extreme north of Greenland,
and has never been known to nest farther south than the 69th parallel.
It is more numerous in North Greenland than the _linarius_, which is
rare at the extreme north, while this is very common even at latitude
73°. This bird builds its nests in bushes in the same manner with
_linarius_, and its eggs closely resemble those of that bird. Its
notes, he adds, do not at all resemble those of the Red-Poll, but are
like those of the _Ampelis garrulus_.

It is a resident of Greenland throughout the year, and in the winter
keeps on the mountains in the interior, but is much more numerous at
latitude 66° than farther south. In February, 1826, Holböll saw many
flocks on the mountains between Ritenbank and Omanak, and in the
journey taken in 1830 by a merchant from Holsteinborg into the
interior of the country a great many flocks were observed. They are
also frequently met with by reindeer-hunters, who go far into the
interior. It is rarely found in South Greenland at any time, and never
in the summer. In mild winters they sometimes come about the
settlements, as happened in the winter of 1828-29, and again in
1837-38. In the intervening winters it was not seen at Godhaab, and in
severe winters it is never to be found near the coast, only single
specimens occurring there in spring and autumn.

Mr. MacFarlane thinks this species spends the winter at Fort Anderson,
as he has met with it as late as December and as early as February,
and believes it to have been present in the vicinity in the interval.
It nests in May. Mr. Harriott found one of its nests on the branch of
a tree, about five feet from the ground. It contained five eggs.

The egg of this species resembles that of the _linarius_ except in
size and its lighter ground-color. The ground is a bluish or greenish
white, dotted with a tawny-brown. The egg is of a more oval shape, and
measures .75 by .60 of an inch.


Ægiothus flavirostris,[112] var. brewsteri, RIDGWAY.

BREWSTER’S LINNET.

SP. CHAR. General appearance somewhat that of _Æ. linarius_, but no
red on the crown, and the sides and rump tinged with sulphur-yellow;
no black gular spot. ♀ _ad._ Ground-color above light umber, becoming
sulphur-yellow on the rump, each feather, even on the crown, with a
distinct medial streak of dusky. Beneath white, tinged with
fulvous-yellow anteriorly and along the sides; sides and crissum
streaked with dusky. Wings and tail dusky; the former with two pale
fulvous bands; the secondaries, primaries, and tail-feathers narrowly
skirted with whitish sulphur-yellow. A dusky loral spot, and a rather
distinct lighter superciliary stripe. Wing, 3.00; tail, 2.50; tarsus,
.50; middle toe, .30. Wing-formula, 1, 2, 3, etc.

HAB. Massachusetts.

As the present article on _Ægiothus_ is going to press, we have
received, through the kindness of Dr. Brewer, a specimen of what
appears to be a third species of _Ægiothus_, allied to the _Æ.
flavirostris_ of Europe, obtained in Waltham, Mass., by Mr. William
Brewster, of Cambridge. This bird was killed in a flock of _Æ.
linarius_, of which five were also shot at the same discharge. None of
the others, nor indeed of any of ninety specimens prepared by Mr.
Brewster during the winter, were at all like the present one, which is
entirely different from anything we have ever seen from North America.

The relationship of this bird appears to be nearest to the _Æ.
flavirostris_ of Europe, with the ♀ of which it agrees in many
respects, as distinguished from _linarius_ and _canescens_. The
European bird, however, lacks the sulphur-yellow tinge (which gives it
somewhat the appearance of _Chrysomitris pinus_), has the throat and
jugulum strongly reddish-buff, instead of dingy yellowish-white, and
is much browner above; besides which the tail is longer and less
deeply forked, with narrower feathers.

HABITS. Nothing distinctive was observed by Mr. Brewster in regard to
the habits of the specimen killed by him.


GENUS LEUCOSTICTE, SWAINSON.

  _Leucosticte_, SWAINSON, Fauna Bor. Am. II, 1831, 265. (Type,
    _Linaria tephrocotis_, SW.)

  [Line drawing: _Leucosticte tephrocotis._
                  19255 ♂]

GEN. CHAR. Bill conical, rounded, rather blunt at the tip; the culmen
slightly convex; the commissure slightly concave; the nostrils and
base of commissure concealed by depressed bristly feathers; a
depressed ridge extending about parallel with the culmen above the
middle of the bill. Another more conspicuously angulated one extending
forward from the lower posterior angle of the side of the lower
mandible, nearly parallel with the gonys. Tarsus about equal to the
middle toe and claw. Inner toe almost the longer, its claw not
reaching beyond the base of the middle one. Hind toe rather longer,
its claw longer than the digital portion. Wings very long; first quill
longest; all the primaries longer than the secondaries. Tail forked.

This genus differs from _Ægiothus_ in the more obtuse and curved bill,
the less development of bristly feathers at the base, the ridge on the
lower mandible, the lateral toe not reaching beyond the base of the
middle one, and possibly a longer hind toe. Its relationship to the
other allies will be found expressed in the synoptical table of
_Coccothraustinæ._

  [Illustration: _Leucosticte tephrocotis._]

The number of American species, or at least races, of this genus has
been increased considerably since the publication of Birds of North
America, five now belonging to the American fauna, instead of the
three there mentioned. Of the species usually assigned to the genus,
one, _L. arctoa_, is quite different in form, lacking the ridge of the
mandible, etc., and in having the ends of the secondaries graduated in
the closed wing, instead of being all on the same line. The colors,
too, are normally different; in _arctoa_ being dusky, with
silvery-gray wings and tail, without rose tips to the feathers of the
posterior part of body; and in _Leucosticte_ proper, the wings and
tail being dark-brown narrowly edged with whitish, or more broadly,
like the ends of the feathers of the body behind, with rose-color. For
the present, however, we shall combine the species, not having before
us any American specimens of _L. arctoa_.

From the regular gradation of each form into the other—the extremes
being thus connected by an unbroken chain of intermediate forms—it
seems reasonable to consider all the North American forms as referable
to one species (_L. tephrocotis_, SW., 1831) as geographical races.
They may be distinguished as follows:—

COMMON CHARACTERS. Body anteriorly chocolate-brown; posteriorly
tinged with rose-red. Wing-coverts (broadly) and quills edged
with the same. Head above light ashy or silvery-gray, as are also
the feathers around the base of upper mandible; the forehead and
a patch on crown blackish. Throat dusky.

_Additional Characters._ The chocolate-colored feathers and the
secondary quills, sometimes the tail-feathers and greater
wing-coverts, edged with pale brownish-white or fulvous; the
interscapulars with darker centres. Rose of rump and upper
tail-coverts in form of transverse bands at end of feathers, that
of abdomen more a continuous wash. Lining of wings and axillars
white, tinged with rose at ends of feathers. Feathers of crissum
dark brown, edged with whitish, sometimes tinged with rose. Bill
generally reddish or yellowish, with blackish tip.

  A. Auriculars chocolate-brown.

    1. Whole side of head below the eye, including the
    auriculars, chocolate-brown. Chin not bordered anteriorly
    with ash. In the breeding-season, head darker and ash
    wanting. Wing, 4.35; tail, 3.00; bill, .44; tarsus, .72. Hab.
    Interior regions of North America …           var. _tephrocotis_.

    2. Cheeks, lores, and anterior border of the chin ash-color.
    Wing, 4.00; tail, 2.80; bill, .44; tarsus, .70. Hab. Colorado
    and Wyoming Territories …                      var. _campestris_.

  B. Auriculars ash-color.

    3. Wing, 4.30; tail, 3.00; bill, .40; tarsus (?). Chocolate
    of the breast, etc., light, exactly as in tephrocotis; rose
    beneath restricted to the abdomen; lores and chin light ash.
    Hab. Northwest coast from Kodiak to Fort Simpson, east to
    Wyoming Territory …                            var. _littoralis_.

    4. Wing, 4.60; tail, 3.40; bill, .40; tarsus, .78. Chocolate
    very dark, inclining to sepia; rose extending forward on to
    the breast; lores blackish; chin dusky gray. Hab. Aleutian
    Islands (St. George’s, Unalaschka, and Kodiak) …
                                                  var. _griseinucha_.

A closely allied species[113] from Kamtschatka and the Kurile Island
differs mainly in having the nasal feathers as well as the head
blackish, but without distinct patch on the top, and the nape rusty,
in contrast with the back. It is about the size of _L. tephrocotis_.
This species may yet be detected in the westernmost Aleutians.


Leucosticte tephrocotis,[114] SWAINSON.

GRAY-CROWNED FINCH.

  _Linaria (Leucosticte) tephrocotis_, SW. F. Bor. Am. II, 1831, 255,
    pl. 1. _Leucosticte tephrocotis_, SW. Birds II, 1837.—Bon. Consp.
    1850, 536.—BAIRD, Stansbury’s Salt Lake, 1852, 317.—IB. Birds N.
    Am. 1858, 430.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 164. _Erythrospiza
    tephrocotis_, Bon. List, 1838.—AUD. Syn. 1839.—IB. Birds Am. III,
    1841, 176, pl. cxcviii. _Fringilla tephrocotis_, AUD. Orn. Biog.
    V. 1839, 232, pl. ccccxxiv.

SP. CHAR. (No. 19,255.) _Male in winter._ General color dark
chocolate-brown or umber, lighter and more chestnut below; the
feathers to a considerable degree with paler edges (most evident in
immature specimens), those of back with darker centres. Nasal bristly
feathers, and those along base of maxilla, and the hind head to nape
ash-gray, this color forming a square patch on top of head, and not
extending below level of eyes. A frontal blackish patch extending from
base of bill (excepting the bristly feathers immediately adjacent to
it), and reaching somewhat beyond the line of the eyes, with convex
outline behind, and extending less distinctly on the loral region.
Chin and throat darker chestnut, not grayish anteriorly. Body behind
dusky; the feathers of abdomen and flanks washed, and of crissum,
rump, and upper tail-coverts tipped, with rose-red; wing-coverts, and
to some extent quills, edged with the same; otherwise with white. Bill
yellowish, with dusky tip; feet black. Length before skinning, 6.50;
extent, 11.50. Skin: Length, 6.50; wing, 4.30; tail, 3.00.

_Young._ Pattern of coloration as in the adult of _L. tephrocotis_;
ash similarly restricted, but with the black frontal patch badly
defined. The brown of the plumage, however, is of an entirely
different shade from that of adult specimens of _tephrocotis_, being
of a blackish-sepia cast, much darker, even, than in _griseinucha_;
each feather also broadly bordered terminally with paler, these
borders being whitish on the throat and breast, brownish on the nape
and back, and light rose (broadly) on the scapulars. The whole
abdomen, flanks, and crissum are nearly continuously peach-blossom
pink, which, with that of the lesser and middle wing-coverts and rump,
is of a finer and brighter tint than in adults. The other edgings to
wings are pale ochraceous; under side of wing pure white. Bill dull
yellow, dusky toward tip. Wing, 4.20; tail, 3.80. (60,638, Uintah
Mountains, Utah, September 20, 1870; DR. F. V. HAYDEN.)

The young specimen described was obtained during the summer of 1871 in
the Uintah Mountains; and were it not unmistakably a bird of the year,
it would be considered almost a distinct species, so different is it
from adult specimens of _tephrocotis_.

HABITS. Of the history and habits of this well-marked and strikingly
peculiar bird, but little is known. It was first described by Swainson
from a single specimen, obtained on the Saskatchewan Plains, in May,
by Dr. Richardson’s party. Specimens were afterwards procured in
Captain Stansbury’s expedition, near Salt Lake City, Utah, in March,
1850. Dr. Hayden found them very abundant on the Laramie Plains during
the winter season, and Mr. Pearsall obtained numbers about Fort
Benton. Dr. Cooper has also seen one specimen brought from somewhere
east of Lake Tahoe, in Washoe, by Mr. F. Gruber. They were said to be
plentiful there in the cold winter of 1861-62. Dr. Cooper thinks it
probable that they visit the similar country east of the northern
Sierra Nevada, in California.

A single flock of what is presumed to have been this species was seen
by Mr. Ridgway, on the 5th of January, in the outskirts of Virginia
City, Nevada. The flock was flitting restlessly over the snow in the
manner of the _Plectrophanes_.

Nothing has been ascertained, so far as we are now informed, as to its
nest, eggs, or general distribution during the breeding-season.

Mr. J. K. Lord states that he met with a flock of these rare and
beautiful birds on the summit of the Cascade Mountains. It was late in
October, and he observed a flock of nine or ten birds pecking along
the ground, and feeding somewhat in the manner of Larks. Puzzled to
know what birds they could be at such an altitude so late in the year,
he fired among them and secured three, a female and two males in fine
plumage. (Perhaps var. _littoralis_.)

In July of the following summer, on the summit of the Rocky Mountains,
near the Kootanie Pass, he again saw these birds feeding on the
ground. He shot several, but they were all young birds of the year. It
is therefore rendered probable that these Finches breed on the Cascade
and Rocky Mountains, in both at about the same altitude, or seven
thousand feet, coming into the lowlands during the winter, as it is
not likely that they could endure the cold of the summits, or find
there a sufficiency of food, the winter being very severe, and the
snow three feet, or more in depth.

Mr. Charles N. Holden, a promising young ornithologist of Chicago, who
observed these birds among the Black Hills, near Sherman, at an
altitude of eight thousand feet above the sea, has furnished me with
interesting observations in regard to them. He informs me that he did
not meet with these birds there in summer. They came in small flocks
in the coldest part of winter. Their food consisted of small seeds and
insects. In some instances he found the crops so distended with seeds
as to distort their shape. They become very fat, and are excellent
eating. In one specimen, a young male, the plumage was almost black,
as described at the beginning of this article. These birds were quite
numerous, and nearly forty specimens were secured. He was not able to
learn anything in reference to their breeding-places. Except by
dissection, he found it difficult to distinguish between a young male
of the first year and a female.

If the specimen referred to in the foot-note at the beginning of this
article as collected by Mr. Allen on Mount Lincoln be really this
species, an important advance in its history will have been reached,
showing that their summers are spent in the high mountain summits, and
that the rest of the year is passed lower down on the plains.


Leucosticte tephrocotis, var. campestris, BAIRD.

THE GRAY-CHEEKED FINCH.

  _Leucosticte campestris_, BAIRD, COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 163, 1870.

SP. CHAR. Body light chocolate-brown, the feathers edged with paler,
those of the back with rather darker centres. Feathers of anal region,
flanks behind, crissum, rump, and upper tail-coverts, wing-coverts,
and primary quills, edged with rose-red; secondary quills and
tail-feathers with pale fulvous; little or no trace of rose on under
wings. Forehead and patch on crown blackish; the hind head to nape,
cheeks immediately under the eye (but not including the auriculars,
except, perhaps, the most anterior) and base of lower mandible all
round, ashy-gray. Throat dusky. Bill yellowish, with dusky tip. Legs
dusky.

No. 41,527, near Denver City, Col., January, 1862 (DR. C. WERNIGK).
Length, 7.00; wing, 4.00; tail, 3.00; exposed portion of first
primary, 3.10. Bill from forehead, .60; from nostril, .40; tarsus,
.75; middle toe and claw, .80; claw alone .24; hind toe and claw, .80;
claw alone, .37.

HAB. Colorado Territory (DR. WERNIGK); Wyoming Territory (MR. H. R.
DURKEE).

This form bears a close resemblance to _L. tephrocotis_, and may,
indeed, be a variety of it; but as it differs in the characters that
appear generally to be those most constant in _Leucosticte_, and as,
in fifty skins of the _tephrocotis_ from one locality, we have seen
nothing like it, we are inclined to consider them distinct. The size
and general appearance are much the same, the difference being that in
_tephrocotis_ the whole cheeks are chocolate below the level of the
eye, the chin without any gray; while in _campestris_ the sides of
head below the eye, but not including the ears, with a narrow border
of the chin, are of this color.

From _littoralis_ this form may be distinguished by the less extent of
ash on the cheeks, which in _littoralis_ covers the whole ears, and
extends back farther on the head all round. _L. griseinucha_ is marked
like _littoralis_, and is much larger than either. Possibly it may be
well to entertain the idea of its being a hybrid between _tephrocotis_
and _littoralis_ or _griseinucha_.

The specimen described was presented to the Smithsonian Institution by
Dr. Wernigk, and at the time was supposed to be _L. tephrocotis_.

Of this form, nothing as to its habits is known with certainty. It
probably does not differ in any important respect from the allied
races.


Leucosticte tephrocotis, var. littoralis, BAIRD.

HEPBURN’S FINCH.

  _Leucosticte griseinucha_, ELLIOT, Illust. Birds Am. X. _Leucosticte
    littoralis_, BAIRD, Tr. Ch. A. S. I, 1869, 318, pl. xxviii, f.
    1.—DALL & BANNISTER, IB. p. 282.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 162.

SP. CHAR. Body chocolate-brown, the feathers narrowly margined with
paler, those of the back with rather darker centres. Abdomen, flanks,
crissum, rump, upper tail-coverts, wing-coverts, and quills edged with
rose-red, more or less continuous (least so on the rump); the outer
edges of secondaries and tail-feathers pale fulvous, the latter with a
rosy shade. Head silvery-gray; the forehead and patch on crown black;
the chin gray, continuous with that of cheek; the throat dark brown,
shading into the chocolate of breast. Bill yellowish, the extreme tip
dusky. Nasal feathers white. Length, 7.10; wing. 4.30; tail, 3.10;
exposed portion of first primary, 3.40. Length of bill from forehead,
.60; from nostril, .35. Tarsus, .76.

HAB. Kodiak (BISCHOFF); Sitka (BISCHOFF); Fort Simpson, British
Columbia (HEPBURN); Gilmer, Wyoming (DURKEE).

This race, which we believe to be the Southern coast representative of
_griseinucha_, bears much resemblance to that bird, but is
considerably smaller; the colors are brighter and lighter, more like
those of _tephrocotis_, and the bill is shorter and more conical, the
dark patch on the head more restricted, the chin more ashy, and the
brown of the head not so far forward. From _tephrocotis_ it is
distinguished by the extension of the ash of head below the eye; and
from _campestris_ by having the ear-coverts ashy, instead of the
anterior portion of the cheeks only; and there is apparently a greater
extent of gray on the chin.

Specimens obtained at Kodiak in February are distinguishable from
specimens of _griseinucha_, obtained with them at the same place, only
by their much smaller size, and lighter chocolate tints. The
occurrence of both these races at the same place, at the same time, is
a subject for speculation. A perfectly typical specimen (No. 59,906)
is in the collection from Gilmer, Wyoming Territory, obtained by Mr.
H. R. Durkee, a frequent contributor to the collections of the
Smithsonian Institution, and sent by him along with numerous specimens
of _L. tephrocotis_, with which it appears to have been mixed.


Leucosticte tephrocotis, var. griseinucha, BAIRD.

THE GRAY-EARED FINCH.

  _Passer arctous_, var. γ, PALLAS, Zoög. Rosso-asiat. II (1831), 23.
   _Fringilla (Linaria) griseinucha_, BRANDT, Bull. Acad. St.
   Petersburg, Nov. 1841, 36. _Montifringilla (Leucosticte)
   griseinucha_, BON. & SCHL. Mon. Loxiens (1850), 35, pl. xli.
   _Leucosticte griseinucha_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 430.—KITTLITZ,
   Denkwürdigkeiten (1858), I, 291.—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Ch. Ac. Sc.
   I, 1869, 282.—BAIRD, IB. p. 317, pl. xxviii, f. 2.—ELLIOT, Illust.
   Am. B. pl. xi.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 161. _Leucosticte griseigenys_,
   GOULD, Voy. Sulphur.

SP. CHAR. Description of specimen No. 54,246: General color dark
brownish-chocolate anteriorly, the feathers of back rather darker in
the centre, and with paler edges. Forehead and crown black; rest of
the head, including the cheeks and ears, of a rather silvery gray;
throat blackish, shading off insensibly into the chocolate of breast.
Feathers of abdomen (and hinder part of breast to a less degree),
flanks and crissum, with the rump and upper tail-coverts, and lesser
and middle wing-coverts, tipped with dark pomegranate or rose-red,
allowing more or less of thin dusky bases to be seen, especially
above, where there is an appearance of bars. Wing and tail feathers
brown, nearly all, including the greater wing-coverts, edged with pale
yellowish-gray with only a faint tinge of rose. Bill dusky; darkest at
tip. Legs black.

Dimensions: Total length, 7.50; wing, 4.80; tail, 3.50. Exposed
portion of first primary, 3.50. Bill, from forehead, .69; from
nostril, .42. Legs: tarsus, .95; middle toe and claw, .92; claw alone,
.35; hind toe and claw, .69; claw alone, .38.

HAB. Aleutian Islands (St. George’s and Unalaschka).

This is considerably the largest of the American species of
_Leucosticte_, and has a longer bill. It also has the chocolate and
rose color darker, and the rose extending farther forward on the
breast than in other species. It could only be confounded with _C.
littoralis_ as to color, both having the head above, and on the sides,
ashy, covering the whole ear-coverts; but the dusky patch on the crown
is more extended, the ash of chin more restricted, and the throat
darker. The rose extends farther along the breast, and the tints are
different. The size is much larger.

A specimen, apparently young, perhaps a female, differs in duller
tints, and a tinge of ochreous-yellow on the middle of the abdomen and
crissum. The lining of the wings is without any rose-color.

Bonaparte and Schlegel describe the young of this species as without
rose-color.

Specimens of this bird were obtained at St. George’s Island, with the
eggs (which are white), by Mr. W. H. Dall. Dr. Minor found it at
Unalaschka.

HABITS. The Gray-eared Finch is the largest species of this remarkable
genus known to inhabit North America. Thus far, except in one
instance, it has been met with only in the Aleutian Islands and
Unalaschka. In the latter place they were met with by Dr. T. T. Minor,
and in the former by Mr. Dall.

Mr. R. Brown (Ibis, 1868, p. 432) states that a single specimen of
this very rare bird was taken at Fort Rupert, Vancouver Island, in
June, 1862, by Mr. P. M. Compton, the officer in charge of that
station. This, however, may have belonged to the var. _littoralis_.

Mr. Dall states that they abound on the Pribylow and the other
Aleutian Islands. A number of specimens were obtained on the St.
George’s in August, though at that time they were moulting. At that
season this bird had no song except a clear chirp, sounding like
_wéet-a wèet-a-wée-weet_. It was on the wing a great part of the time,
rarely alighting on the ground, but darting rapidly in a series of
descending and ascending curves. At one time it would swing on the
broad top of an umbelliferous plant, and at another alight on some
ledge of the perpendicular bluff, jumping from point to point, as if
delighting to test its own agility. Mr. Dall adds that its nest is a
simple hollow on one of the ledges, provided with a few straws or a
bit of moss. They deposit their eggs in May, and these are four in
number. In August their young were fully fledged.

They feed on the seeds of grasses and other small plants, but in the
crop of one Mr. Dall found two or three small beetles. They were also
received from Kodiak, through Mr. Bischoff.

Their eggs are of a grayish-white, with a slight tinge of yellowish,
and measure .95 by .70 of an inch.


GENUS PLECTROPHANES, MEYER.

  _Plectrophanes_, MEYER, “Taschenbuch, 1810.” Agassiz. (Type, _Emberiza
    nivalis_.)
  _Centrophanes_, KAUP, “Entw. Gesch. Europ. Thierwelt, 1829.” Agassiz.
    (Type, _E. lapponica_.)

GEN. CHAR. Bill variable; conical; the lower mandible higher than the
upper; the sides of both mandibles (in the typical species) guarded by
a closely applied brush of stiffened bristly feathers directed
forwards, and in the upper jaw concealing the nostrils; the outlines
of the bill nearly straight, or slightly curved; the lower jaw
considerably broader at the base than the upper, and wider than the
gonys is long. Tarsi considerably longer than the middle toe; the
lateral toes nearly equal (the inner claw largest), and reaching to
the base of the middle claw. The hinder claw very long, moderately
curved and acute, considerably longer than its toe; the toe and claw
together reaching to the middle of the middle claw, or beyond its tip.
Wings very long and much pointed, reaching nearly to the end of the
tail; the first quill longest; the others rapidly graduated; the
tertiaries a little longer than the secondaries. Tail moderate, about
two thirds as long as the wings; nearly even, or slightly emarginated.

  [Line drawing: _Plectrophanes nivalis._
                  19632]

The species of this genus are essentially boreal and cosmopolitan,
although America possesses four species not found, like her two
others, in the Old World. They are all ground-birds, collecting in
large flocks, in autumn and winter, on prairies and plains, some of
the species passing far to the southward. There is much variation in
the color, and in the details of structure of bill and feet. In _P.
nivalis_ alone is the fringe of bristly feathers along the side of the
bill very distinct. The gonys also is exceptionally short, being less
than half the length of the culmen.

  [Illustration: _Plectrophanes nivalis._]

The females are less strongly marked than the males, lacking the
distinct patches of black (which, however, are nearly always faintly
indicated), and other characters, and are streaked like the
_Spizellinæ_.


Species and Varieties.

A. Prevailing color white.

    1. P. nivalis. ♂. Back, scapulars, ends of tertials, alula,
    terminal half of primaries and the middle tail-feathers, deep
    black; otherwise pure white. ♀. The black replaced by grayish
    with black spots; crown grayish spotted with black. Young
    considerably tinged with ochraceous. _Hab._ Circumpolar
    regions; south in winter into the United States.

B. Above brown, spotted with black. ♂. Crown black.

  _a._ Six to ten middle tail-feathers almost wholly black; the
  rest without black ends. ♂ with a nuchal collar of rufous or
  buff, and without rufous on the wings.

    2. P. lapponicus. ♂. Head, all round, and jugulum, deep
    black; a post-ocular stripe, running downward behind the
    black jugular patch, and entire lower parts from the jugulum,
    white. Nuchal collar chestnut-rufous. ♀ with the black areas
    merely indicated by a dusky clouding, and merely a tinge of
    rufous round the nape. _Hab._ Circumpolar regions; south in
    winter into the United States.

    3. P. pictus. ♂. Head above and laterally deep black,
    bordered anteriorly and below with white; a post-ocular
    stripe, and an ovate auricular spot of the same. Nuchal
    collar and entire lower surface bright buff. ♀. Pale
    grayish-buff, darker above; above distinctly, and on the
    jugulum obsoletely, streaked with black. _Hab._ Interior
    plains of North America, north to Arctic Ocean.

    4. P. ornatus. ♂ Head above, and whole breast and abdomen,
    black; a superciliary stripe, side of head, chin, throat,
    anal region and crissum, white; nuchal collar rufous. ♀
    hardly distinguishable from that of _P. pictus_.

      _a._ Lesser wing-coverts brownish-gray; black feathers of
      breast, etc., without rufous edges. _Hab._ Interior plains
      of United States …                              var. _ornatus_.

      _b._ Lesser wing-coverts black; black feathers of breast,
      etc., with rufous edges. _Hab._ Southern plains of North
      America, and table-land of Mexico …           var. _melanomus_.

  _b._ Only two middle tail-feathers almost wholly black; the
  rest with black ends. ♂ without a nuchal collar of rufous or
  buff, and with rufous on the wings.

    5. P. maccowni. ♂. Crown, and a broad crescent on the
    jugulum, black; rest of head and neck ashy, approaching white
    on the throat and over the eye; beneath white, above
    grayish-brown, streaked with black; middle wing-coverts
    rufous. ♀. Above yellowish-umber, beneath yellowish-white;
    thickly streaked above, unstreaked beneath. No rufous on
    wings, and no black on head or jugulum. _Hab._ Plains, from
    Texas, northward.

There seems to be no special reason for subdividing this genus,
although this has been done,—_P. nivalis_ being alone retained in
_Plectrophanes_; _P. maccowni_ forming the type and sole member of the
genus _Rhyncophanes_ (Baird, 1858), and the rest coming under
_Centrophanes_ (Kaup). The characters upon which these are based are
very trivial, being mainly the varying degree of size of the bill and
length of the hind claw. In this latter respect there is too much
individual variation in the same species to admit of this being
available as a specific, much less as a subgeneric character, while
the size of the bill is not of more than specific importance.


Plectrophanes nivalis, MEYER.

SNOW-BUNTING.

  _Emberiza nivalis_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 308 (not _Fringilla
    nivalis_, L.).—FORSTER, Phila. Trans. LXII, 1772, 403.—WILSON, Am.
    Orn. III, 1811, 86, pl. xxi.—AUD. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 575; V,
    1839, 496, pl. 189. _Emberiza (Plectrophanes) nivalis_, BON. Obs.
    1825, No. 89. “_Plectrophanes nivalis_, MEYER.”—BON. List,
    1838.—AUD. Syn. 1839, 103.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841, 55, pl.
    155.—MAX. Cab. J. VI, 1858, 345 (Spitzbergen).—BAIRD, Birds N. Am.
    1858, 432.—NEWTON, Ibis, 1865, 502.—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Ch. A.
    S. I, 1869, 282 (Alaska).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 177.—SAMUELS, 296.
    _Emberiza montana_, GMELIN, Syst. I, 1788, 867, 25. _Emberiza
    mustelina_, GMELIN, Syst. I, 1788, 867, 7. _Emberiza glacialis_,
    LATHAM, Ind. Orn. I, 1790, 398.

SP. CHAR. _Male._ Colors, in spring plumage, entirely black and white.
Middle of back between scapulars, terminal half of primaries and
tertiaries, and two innermost tail-feathers, black; elsewhere pure
white. Legs black at all seasons. In winter dress white beneath; the
head and rump yellowish-brown, as also some blotches on the side of
the breast; middle of back brown, streaked with black; white on wings
and tail much more restricted. Length about 6.75; wings, 4.35; tail,
3.05; first quill longest. _Female._ Spring, continuous white beneath
only; above entirely streaked, the feathers having blackish centres
and whitish edges; the black streaks predominate on the back and
crown. _Young._ Light gray above with obsolete dusky streaks on the
back; throat and jugulum paler gray, the latter with obsolete streaks;
rest of lower parts dull white. Wing-coverts, secondaries, and
tail-feathers broadly edged with light ochraceous-brown.

HAB. Northern America from Atlantic to Pacific; south into the United
States in winter, as far as Georgia and Southern Illinois.

Specimens from North America and Europe appear to be quite identical;
there is, however, a great amount of variation among individuals.

HABITS. The common Snow Bunting is found throughout northern North
America to the shores of the Arctic Sea, and in the winter months
extends its migrations into the United States as indicated above.

Mr. Dall states that in Alaska, when observed, they went altogether in
flocks. It was at times excessively common, and at others entirely
absent. It builds its nests on the hillside, generally on the ground,
under the lee of a stone. He obtained a large number of these birds at
Nulato, in the winter of 1867-68. It was much more common there than
the _P. lapponicus_, which was only seen in the spring, while this
bird was there all the year round. Mr. Dall also met with these birds
on St. George’s Island, and Mr. Bischoff obtained them at Sitka.
According to Mr. Bannister’s observations it was altogether less
abundant than the _P. lapponicus_, and seemed to prefer rather
different situations. On St. Michael’s Island he never saw one of this
species far from the shore, while the other species was abundant
everywhere in the interior of the island. During the summer he never
saw more than one or two of these birds at once, nor anywhere except
on rocky points or on small rocky islands near the shore. These
localities they seemed to share with the Ravens and Puffins. In the
autumn they are more gregarious, but still seem to prefer the vicinity
of water. Mr. Bannister also observed this bird at Unalaklik, where it
is common.

Wilson was of the opinion that these birds derive a considerable part
of their food from the seeds of certain aquatic plants, and this he
supposed one of the principal reasons why they prefer remote northern
regions intersected with streams, ponds, lakes, and arms of the sea,
abounding with such plants. On Seneca River, near Lake Ontario, in
October, he met with a large flock feeding on the surface of the
water, supported on the close tops of weeds that rose from the bottom.
They were running about with great activity, and the stomachs of those
he shot were filled not only with the seeds of that plant, but also
with minute shell-fish that adhered to the leaves.

Richardson states that this species breeds in the most northern of our
Arctic islands, and on all the shores of the continent, from
Chesterfield’s Inlet to Behring Strait. The most southerly of its
breeding-places known to him was Southampton Island, in the 62d
parallel, where Captain Lyons found a nest on the grave of an
Esquimaux child. Its nest was usually made of dry grass, neatly lined
with deer’s hair and a few feathers, and is generally fixed in the
crevice of a rock, or in a loose pile of timbers or stones. The eggs
are described as of a greenish-white, with a circle of irregular
umber-brown spots round the larger end, with numerous blotches of
subdued lavender-purple. July 22, in removing some drift timber on a
beach at Cape Parry, he discovered a nest on the ground, containing
four young Snowbirds. Care was taken not to injure them, and while
they were seated at breakfast, at a distance of only two or three
feet, the parent birds made frequent visits to their offspring, each
time bringing grubs in their bills. The Snowbirds are in no apparent
haste to leave for the South on the approach of winter, but linger
about the forts and open places, picking up seeds, until the snow
becomes too deep. It is not until December or January that they retire
to the south of the Saskatchewan. It returns to that river about the
middle of February, by April it has reached the 65th parallel, and by
the beginning of May it is found on the shores of the Polar Sea. At
this period it feeds on the buds of the _Saxifraga oppositifolia_, one
of the earliest of the Arctic plants. The young are fed with insects.

The Snow Bunting is also an inhabitant, during the breeding-season, of
the Arctic regions of Europe and Asia, and the islands of the Arctic
Sea. Scoresby states that it resorts in large flocks to the shores of
Spitzbergen, and Captain Sabine includes it among the birds of
Greenland and the North Georgian Islands, where it is among the
earliest arrivals. Mr. Proctor, who visited Iceland in 1837, found the
Snowbird breeding there in June. He found their nests placed among
large stones or in the fissures of rocks, composed of dry grass lined
with hair and feathers. The eggs were from four to six in number. The
male attends the female during incubation. Mr. Proctor states that he
has seen this bird, when coming from the nest, rise up in the air and
sing sweetly, with its wings and tail spread in the manner of the Tree
Pipit. Linnæus, in his Tour in Lapland, mentions seeing these birds in
that country about the end of May, and also in July. He also mentions
that this bird is the only living thing that has been seen two
thousand feet above the line of perpetual snow in the Lapland Alps.
This bird also breeds on the Faroe Islands. Mr. Hewitson found its
nest in Norway. It contained young, and was built under some loose
stones. Young birds have also been noticed early in August among the
Grampians, in Scotland, rendering it probable that they breed in that
locality, and perhaps in considerable numbers. As the severity of
winter increases, they leave the heaths where they have fed upon the
seeds of grasses, and descend to the lowlands, frequenting the
oat-stubbles, and, when the snow is deep, approaching the coast. Their
call-note is pleasing, and is often repeated during their flight,
which they make in a very compact body. Before settling on the ground
they make sudden wheels, coming almost into collision with each other,
uttering at the same time a peculiar guttural note. They run on the
ground with all the ease of Larks, and rarely perch. Temminck states
that they are very abundant in winter along the sea-coast of Holland.

Their appearance in Massachusetts is usually with the first heavy
falls of snow, in December and January. They are most abundant in the
open places near the sea-coast, and formerly were very numerous in the
marshes between Boston and Brookline. A wounded male in full adult
plumage was taken by me, in 1838, and kept some time in confinement.
It would not accustom itself to a cage, and a large box was prepared
in which it could run more at large. It fed readily on grain and
cracked corn, delighted to bathe itself several times in the day, but
would not be reconciled to my near presence. On my approach it would
rush about its prison, uttering its peculiar call-notes, blending with
them a loud guttural cry of alarm. As the spring approached, it
warbled occasionally a few notes, but uttered from time to time such
mournful cries, as if bewailing its captivity, that it would have been
released, had its crippled condition permitted it to take care of
itself. It was given in charge of a friend, but did not live through
the heat of the ensuing summer.

It is stated that a nest of this bird was found among the White
Mountains by Mr. Kirk Boott, of Boston, in the summer of 1834. It
contained young birds. This, if the identification was correct, was
probably an accidental occurrence. None have been noticed there since,
nor have I ever been able to find any of the permanent residents among
the mountains that have met with these birds in that region, except in
winter.

The only authenticated nest and eggs (10,433) in the Smithsonian
collection were received from Mr. R. MacFarlane, with the parent,
taken on the Arctic coast east of Fort Anderson, and having on the
label, “Nest situated in a cave in a sand-bank.” The nest is deeply
saucer-shaped, and composed of wiry grass-stems, with a few feathers
in the lining; external diameter 3.75 inches, internal about 3.00;
depth, 2.50 externally and 1.50 internally. The eggs, five in number,
are of a dull white, with perhaps a faint bluish cast, sprinkled and
spattered with dilute yellowish-rufous, the markings most numerous
toward the larger end; they measure .95 of an inch in length by .64 in
breadth.


Plectrophanes lapponicus, SELBY.

LAPLAND LONGSPUR.

  “_Fringilla lapponica_, LINN. Fauna Suecica, 1761, sp. 235.”—IB.
    Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 317. FORSTER, Phil. Trans. LXII, 1772, 404.
    _Emberiza (Plectrophanes) lapponica_, SW. F. B. Am. II, 1831, 248,
    pl. xlviii. _Emberiza lapponica_, AUD. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 473,
    pl. 365. _Plectrophanes lapponicus_, “SELBY,” BON. List,
    1838.—AUD. Syn. 1839, 98.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841, 50, pl.
    152.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 433.—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Ch. A.
    S. I, 1869, 283 (Alaska).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 178.—SAMUELS, 300.
    “_Centrophanes lapponicus_, KAUP, Entw. Gesch. Europe Thierw.
    1829.”—CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1851, 127. “_Fringilla calcarata_,
    PALL. Itin. 710, sp. 20,” French ed. III, 1793, 464, pl. i.
    _Centrophanes calcaratus_, GRAY, List Gen. 1841, App. 1842, 11.

SP. CHAR. _Male._ Head all round, and neck black, extending on the
jugulum in a crescentic patch; a broad line from above and behind the
eye, sides of neck, a patch in the black of hind head, and whole under
parts, white; the sides of body streaked broadly with black. A broad
half-collar of chestnut on back of neck, separated from the hood
narrowly, and from the auriculars and throat broadly, by the white
stripe from the eye. Above brownish-black, the feathers sharply edged
with brownish-yellow. Outer tail-feathers white, except the basal
portion of inner web, and a shaft streak at end; next feather with a
white streak in end, rest black. Legs black; bill yellow, tipped with
black. In winter plumage the black and other markings overlaid by
rusty and fulvous; beneath by whitish. _Female_ with the black
feathers of head edged with yellowish-rusty; the throat white,
bordered on the sides and behind by blackish; feathers edged with
grayish-white, the rufous of nape obscure, and streaked with blackish.
Length of male, 6.25; wing, 3.90; tail, 2.80.

  [Line drawing: 19647 ♂]

HAB. Northern portions of the Old and the New World; breeding in
arctic and subarctic regions, and in winter descending southward, as
far at least as New York, Southern Illinois, and Fort Garland, New
Mexico.

Autumnal specimens, of both sexes, differ in having the pattern of
coloration obscured by ochraceous borders to the feathers, and a
general rusty cast to the plumage.

There appears to be no difference between North American and European
specimens of this bird.

HABITS. The Lapland Longspur is an Arctic resident, belonging equally
to the two continents, rarely descending even in winter to temperate
regions, and then chiefly in its immature plumage. In Europe,
according to Yarrell, only a few specimens have been found in the
British Islands, and these were single individuals, mostly found in
company with Larks. They have also been taken in France, in Belgium,
and in different parts of Germany. Degland states that these birds are
occasionally snared on the coast at Dunkirk, and in the neighborhood
of Antwerp, but these are always young males in their winter plumage.

Pennant states that it is found in Siberia, and near the Ural
Mountains, migrating in the winter as far south as Switzerland; and,
according to Necker, they have also been taken, always in company with
Larks, in the vicinity of Geneva. It inhabits Norway, Sweden, the
Faroe Islands, Spitzbergen, Iceland, and Greenland, in the summer.

Richardson mentions that the Lapland Bunting is common in the fur
regions, wintering on the coast of Hudson’s Bay. During its stay it
feeds on grass-seed, the fruit of the juniper, and the pines. As he
never met with these birds during the winter, he suspects that their
principal retreats are on the borders of Lakes Huron and Superior, and
the country westward. In 1827 they appeared on the plains, at the
Carlton House, about the middle of May, in very large flocks, in
company with Shore Larks and the _P. picta_, frequenting the open
spots where the fires had destroyed the grass. In the same season they
came a few days later to the Cumberland House, and kept constantly
about the furrows of the new-ploughed fields. The year before they had
been, in smaller flocks, in the vicinity of Fort Franklin, latitude
65°, in the beginning of May. Their crops were found filled with seeds
of the alpine arbutus.

Mr. Audubon met with them in enormous flocks in Kentucky, about
February 15, 1819. They were in company with the Shore Larks and the
Snow Buntings. None of these were in perfect plumage.

Mr. Ridgway cites this as a common winter visitant in Southern
Illinois, abundant in unusually severe winters, either in large flocks
by itself, or a few individuals mixed up in flocks of Shore Larks.

Mr. Dall gives May 12 as the date of the first arrival of these birds
at Nulato, and adds that it is not at any time a very common bird. He
was not able to find its nest at Nulato, but was informed by the
Indians that it builds on the bare hillsides, in hillocks of grass,
and that it does not leave the nest when any one approaches, but sits
perfectly still, and thus often escapes detection. He considers it a
very fine singer. Specimens were received from Sitka, obtained by
Bischoff. To this account Mr. Bannister adds that it is by far the
most abundant of the land-birds found at St. Michael’s. It appeared on
that island about the 6th of May, and from that time until about the
middle or latter part of September they were observed in great numbers
all over the island. He, too, was not successful in finding its nest,
though the birds were started up by hundreds on every walk over the
island. From this he infers that they must be very carefully
concealed. He often searched for them, but always with the same
result. Mr. Bannister regarded this species as decidedly the best
songster of its family.

In the far North it is an extremely abundant species from one ocean to
the other, in the winter moving farther south, to the United States,
in large flocks. It has not been found in California, but in the
central and eastern regions has been obtained as far south as
Leavenworth, Kan., Racine, Wis., Boston, and New York. It is stated by
different observers, that, like the Lark, it sings only while in
motion in the air, or while suspended, and that its notes are
agreeable and melodious.

According to Richardson, they breed in moist meadows on the shores of
the Arctic Sea, the nest being placed in a small hillock, among moss
and stones. It is composed externally of dry stems of grass,
interwoven to a considerable thickness, and lined very neatly and
compactly with deer’s hair. The eggs, seven in number, he describes as
pale ochre-yellow, spotted with brown. Sir James Ross found them by no
means numerous in the higher northern latitudes, and obtained one
nest, containing five eggs, in July.

According to Holböll, this bird is common along the shores of both
North and South Greenland. They reach Godhaab in the beginning of May,
and Godhaven a month later. Their migrations do not take place all at
once, but they are constantly arriving during the month. It remains in
South Greenland until the beginning of September, and longer if the
deep snows do not drive it away. This bird is never met on shipboard
until the vessels are in Davis Strait, proving that their migrations
must be from America. The Greenlanders call it Narksamatak (inhabitant
of the plains),—an appropriate name, as it only lives on the lowlands
near the sea-shore, where it builds its nest in the manner of the
Lark, in the grass, or among the lichens. Its five eggs, of a dirty
olive-color spotted with brown, are smaller than those of _P.
nivalis_. The song of the male bird, as it hovers in the air or rocks
on a swaying twig, is very clear and melodious. It is even known as
the Greenland Nightingale. Its food is seeds, and it is not known to
seek insect-larvæ on the houses of the Greenlanders, as does the _P.
nivalis_. In their winter dress they all resemble the female in her
summer plumage, only in the male some black is seen in the
head-feathers.

Fabricius describes its eggs as five or six in number, of a
reddish-gray with brownish spots. Degland describes their ground-color
as an ashy-gray, covered with spots of light brown, with lines and
spots of deep brown, and also of clear black.

Eggs from Anderson River exhibit great variations in their appearance,
more from the difference in the distribution of their spots than from
variations in colors. Where distinctly visible, the ground-color
appears to be of yellowish-gray, frequently so thickly spotted as not
to be recognizable. The blotches are of various shades of brown, with
shadings of olive, purple, or red, and at times almost black. In some,
fine olive-brown dots cover the egg so completely as to make it appear
as of one uniform deep color. In others the brown is lighter and more
of a reddish hue, and again in others the markings are in irregular
distribution, and of different shades. They measure .80 by .60 of an
inch.

Nest with eggs (7414), collected on Anderson River, Franklin Bay, June
27, by R. MacFarlane, was built on the ground, and is deeply
saucer-shaped, measuring 3.75 in external and 2.30 in internal
diameter; the depth 2.75 exteriorly and 1.50 interiorly. It is
composed of coarse wiry grass-stems, and softly lined with feathers of
_Lagopus_. The eggs, five in number, have the ground-color light
umber-drab, this faintly blotched with deeper livid slate, and with a
few straggly black lines, much as in certain _Icteridæ_ and in
_Chondestes_. They measure .86 of an inch in length by .63 in breadth.


Plectrophanes pictus, SWAINSON.

SMITH’S BUNTING; PAINTED LONGSPUR.

  _Emberiza (Plectrophanes) picta_, SW. F. B. Am. II, 1831, 250, pl. 49
   (spring).—NUTT. Man. II, 589. _Plectrophanes pictus_, AUD. Syn.
   1839, 99.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841, 52, pl. cliii (Richardson’s
   specimen).—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 434.—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Ch.
   A. S. I, 1869, 283 (Alaska). _Emberiza picta_, AUD. Orn. Biog. V,
   1839, 91, pl. cccc. _Centrophanes pictus_, CAB. Mus. Hein. 1851,
   127. _Plectrophanes smithi_, AUD. Birds Am. VII, 1844, 337, pl.
   cccclxxxvii (winter).

SP. CHAR. _Male._ Spring. Top and sides of head black. A line from
bill over the eye, lores, lower and posterior border of the black
cheeks, ears (encircled by black), and a small patch in the nape,
white. Entire under parts, and extending round neck to nape (where it
bounds abruptly the black of head), buff or light cinnamon-yellow; the
under tail-covert paler; the inside of wings, white. Feathers of upper
surfaces black, edged with yellowish-gray; shoulders or lesser coverts
and the greater black; middle white, forming a conspicuous patch.
Quills edged externally with white, this involving the whole outer web
of outermost primary. Whole of outer and most of second tail-feather
white. Bill dusky; lower mandible and legs yellowish. Length, 5.50;
wing, 3.50; tail, 2.75; bill, .45.

_Female._ The markings of male faintly indicated, but the black and
buff wanting. Head above brown, streaked centrally with paler. A
narrow dark line on each side the throat, and brownish streaks across
the jugulum, and along sides of body. Traces visible of the white
marks of the head. Bill and feet as in the male.

HAB. Prairies of Illinois and Missouri Plains, in winter; in summer
north to the Arctic Ocean.

This species is quite similar in form to _P. lapponicus_, although
with slenderer bill, and perhaps longer hind claw. While the colors of
adult males are very different, the females have a decided
resemblance; they may, however, be distinguished in all stages by the
black or dusky legs of _lapponicus_ and the yellow of _pictus_, and
perhaps by the more dusky upper mandible of the latter.

HABITS. This species was first obtained by Sir John Richardson’s
party, and described by Swainson in the _Fauna Boreali-Americana_. It
was observed associating with the Lapland Buntings on the banks of the
Saskatchewan, but no information was obtained in regard to its
breeding-habits. No specimens in the mature plumage are known to have
been obtained in the United States, but birds in the immature plumage
are not unfrequent, in early spring, throughout Illinois. Mr. Audubon,
in company with Mr. Harris and Mr. Bell, obtained specimens of these
birds near Edwardsville, and described them as a new species. Mr. Bell
states, in regard to these birds, that he found them very abundant on
the low prairie near a lake, a few miles from Edwardsville. They were
generally in large flocks, and when once on the ground they began to
separate. They ran very nimbly, in a manner resembling that of the
Grass Finch, and when they arose, which they rarely did unless they
were nearly approached, they uttered a sharp click, repeated several
times in quick succession, and moved with an easy undulating motion
for a short distance and then alighted very suddenly, seeming to fall
perpendicularly several feet to the ground. They preferred the spots
where the grass was shortest. When in the air they flew in circles, to
and fro, for a few minutes, and then alighted, keeping up a constant
chirping or call, somewhat like that of the Red-Poll.

These birds were observed in large numbers at Fort Anderson, and on
the Lower Anderson River, by Mr. MacFarlane, and a large number of
their nests obtained. These were all on the ground, and usually in
open spaces, but also in the vicinity of trees. The usual number of
eggs found in a nest appears to have been four. The nests, for the
most part, were constructed of fine dry grasses, carefully arranged,
and lined with down, feathers, or finer materials similar to those of
the outer portions. In a few there were no feathers; in others,
feathers in different proportions; and in a few the down and feathers
composed the chief portion of the nest, with only a few leaves as a
base to the nest. They were sometimes sunk in excavations made by the
birds, or placed in a tussock of grass, and, in one instance, placed
in the midst of a bed of Labrador tea.

They were also obtained at Fort Yukon, at the mouth of Porcupine
River, by Strachan Jones. They were much more abundant in the
Mackenzie River district.

Specimens of this bird, in the fall plumage, were obtained from Fort
Simpson, where Mr. B. R. Ross states that it appears on its way north
in May. They resort to the fields around the fort in search of grain.
Although these birds keep entirely apart from the _P. nivalis_, Mr.
Ross has frequently observed several _P. lapponicus_ associating with
them.

When their nests are approached, the female quietly slips off, while
the male bird may be seen hopping or flying from tree to tree in the
neighborhood of the nest, and will at times do all he can to induce
intruders to withdraw from the neighborhood.

The eggs, five in number, have a light clay-colored ground, are marked
with obscure blotches of lavender and darker lines, dots, and blotches
of dark purplish-brown. They measure .80 by .65 of an inch.


Plectrophanes ornatus, TOWNS.

CHESTNUT-COLLARED BUNTING; BLACK-BELLIED LONGSPUR.

  _Plectrophanes ornatus_, TOWNSEND, J. Ac. Nat. Sc. VII, 1837, 189.—IB.
    Narrative, 1839, 344.—AUD. Syn. 1839, 99.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841,
    53, pl. cliv.—NUTT. Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 537.—BAIRD, Birds N.
    Am. 1858, 435. _Emberiza ornata_, AUD. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 44, pl.
    cccxciv, f. 1. _Centrophanes ornatus_, CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1851,
    127.

SP. CHAR. Bill dark plumbeous. _Male._ Crown, a narrow crescent on the
side of the head, with a line running into it from behind the eye,
entire breast and upper part of belly all round, black; throat and
sides of the head, lower part of belly and under tail-coverts, with
bases of the tail-feathers, white. The white on the tail-feathers runs
forward as an acute point. A chestnut band on the back of the neck
extending round on the sides. Rest of upper parts grayish-brown,
streaked with darker. Middle coverts with a white patch. Lesser
wing-coverts like the back. Legs dusky, bill blue, darker at tip.
Length about 5.25 inches; wing, 3.20; tail, 2.30; tarsus, .75.

_Female_ lacking the black and chestnut colors; the black of the
breast indicated by dusky streaks and a line of streaks each side of
the throat.

HAB. Plains of the Upper Missouri. San Antonio, Texas, spring
(DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 486).

HABITS. This species was first discovered by Mr. Townsend, who
procured a single specimen, a male, on the Upper Missouri River. He
describes it as by no means a common bird, keeping in pairs and living
exclusively on the ground. It was remarkably shy, and Mr. Townsend was
not able to procure more than a single specimen.

Mr. Nuttall states that he met with this bird early in May, on the
wide grassy plains of the Platte. The birds were already paired for
the season. He heard them utter no notes other than a chirp, as they
kept busily foraging for their subsistence.

Mr. J. A. Allen (American Naturalist, May, 1872) speaks of this bird
and the Lark Bunting as by far the most interesting species seen by
him in Western Kansas. They were not only characteristic of the
region, but were also among the few birds strictly confined to the
arid plains. They were quite abundant, but were only met with on the
high ridges and dry plateaus, where they seemed to live somewhat in
colonies. At a few localities they were always numerous, but elsewhere
would be frequently not met with in a whole day’s drive. They were
very wary and tenacious of life, often flying a long distance after
having been shot through vital parts. Most of the specimens had to be
killed on the wing, at a long range. They are strong fliers, and seem
to delight in flying in the strongest gales, when all the other birds
appear to move with difficulty, and to keep themselves concealed among
the grass. This bird sings while on the wing.

Mr. H. E. Dresser, in his paper on the birds of Southern Texas,
mentions finding the Chestnut-collared Bunting in flocks early in the
spring, on the prairies near San Antonio, but it was not a common bird
there.

Dr. Woodhouse found this species quite rare in the Indian Territory,
where he was only able to secure a single specimen.

Captain Blakiston met with this species on the Saskatchewan Plains on
the 15th of May, 1858,—a higher range than has been noticed by any one
else.

Dr. Heermann, while on a trip to the Rocky Mountains in 1843, met with
this species in small flocks and pairs, scattered over the prairies of
the Platte River, and was so fortunate as to meet with one of its
nests. It was built on the ground, and was made of an interweaving of
fine grasses and lined with hair. He describes the eggs, which were
four in number, as having a white ground, with black lines at the
larger end, and a few faint blotches of a neutral tint scattered over
their whole surface.

This description does not quite correspond with the eggs collected by
Mr. Audubon on the Upper Missouri. These have a clay-colored ground
with the slightest possible tinge of green, and are marked with fine
dots of purplish-brown, and larger markings, blotches, and short lines
of dark brown. They measure .70 by .55 of an inch, and have a strong
resemblance to the eggs of both _P. pictus_ and _P. maccowni_.

Five eggs of this species, obtained at Fort Hays, Kansas, June 1,
1871, by Mr. J. A. Allen, measure .75 of an inch in length by .58 in
breadth. They are small in proportion to the bird, and are somewhat
pointed at one end. Their ground is a gray or grayish-white shade of
stone-color, and this is somewhat sparingly marked with blotches of
dark brown, almost black, and lighter markings of purplish-brown. The
nest was placed on the ground, and was composed altogether of fine
stems of grasses.


Plectrophanes ornatus, var. melanomus, BAIRD.

BLACK-SHOULDERED LONGSPUR.

  _Plectrophanes melanomus_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 436, pl. lxxiv,
    f. 2.—HEERMANN, X, c, 13.

SP. CHAR. Bill yellowish, dark brown along the culmen. _Male._ Crown,
a short stripe behind the eye, and a short crescent behind the
ear-coverts, entire breast as far back as the thighs, and the lesser
wing-coverts, black. The black on the breast margined with dark
cinnamon. Sides of head, chin, throat, and region behind the black of
the belly, white. A broad half-collar of dark cinnamon-brown on the
back of the neck. Tail-feathers mostly white; the innermost tipped
with dark brown; the white ending in an acute angle. Length, 5.30;
wing, 3.40; tail, 2.60. (No. 6,290.)

HAB. Eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, Mexico, on the table-lands,
north to Upper Missouri. Orizaba (SCLATER, 1860, 251); San Antonio,
Texas, spring (DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 486); Fort Whipple, Arizona
(COUES, P. A. N. S. 1866, 84); Vera Cruz, plateau, breeding
(SUMICHRAST, I, 551).

As already stated, this bird is very similar to _P. ornatus_. It
appears to be a very little larger, or, at any rate, with considerably
longer wings. The bill, however, is shorter and stouter; the hind claw
decidedly longer. The chestnut of the back of the neck is darker. The
white on the outer web of the tertiaries and secondaries is much purer
and wider. The rufous margins of the pectoral feathers we have never
seen in _P. ornatus_. The most striking peculiarity, however, is in
having the shoulders black, instead of brown like the rest of the
wing-feathers, edged with paler. Both have the white posterior row of
lesser wing-coverts.

An immature male (6,291) has the black of the head mixed with brown,
and a maxillary series of spots on each side of the throat. A female
has a similar series of spots; the under parts generally being
brownish-white, the shafts across the breast and along the sides
streaked with brown, the concealed portions of the feathers light
brown, fading out to the whitish exterior. There is no black on the
shoulder, nor chestnut on the nape.

Fully mature specimens of this bird and of _ornatus_ are so rare in
collections as to render it difficult to decide positively as to their
true relationship. It is by no means impossible that they merely
represent different conditions of plumage of one species, but for the
present, at least, we prefer to consider them as distinct. The _P.
melanomus_ is resident on the table-lands of Mexico.

HABITS. Of the habits and general history of this species, very little
is known. Its close resemblance to _P. ornatus_ is suggestive of its
probably equally close similarity in nesting, eggs, and manner of
feeding. Specimens have been received from Mexico, from Fort Thorn,
from New Mexico, Pole Creek, and the Black Hills. From the last-named
places they were obtained in August and September.

Dr. Heermann, in his Report on the birds observed in Lieutenant
Parke’s route near the 32d parallel, mentions having met with these
birds, which he calls the Black-shouldered Longspur, at a large
prairie-dog village some miles west of Puerto del Dado. They were in
flocks, and were associated with _P. maccowni_. From that point to the
Rio Grande he found both of these species abundant wherever they
struck isolated water-holes, these being the only places for miles
around where drink can be procured. When shot at, they rise as if to
go away, but are forced to return, after describing a few curves, to
the only spot where they can procure their necessary drink. They may
thus be killed in great numbers. Dr. Heermann states that he has seen
from a hundred to a hundred and fifty thus brought down in four or
five discharges of a gun.

Mr. Dresser states that on the 4th of April a small flock of what was
at first supposed to be the _P. ornatus_ was noticed near the town of
San Antonio. They were pursued, and found on the banks of the San
Pedro. They were not very shy, and specimens were procured which
proved to be of this species. This is the only time that they have
been observed in that part of the country, though they may have been
mistaken for other species.

  [Illustration: PLATE XXIV.

   1. Plectrophanes maccowni. ♂ Dakota, 35951.
   2.       “       nivalis. ♂ Ft. Resolution, B. A., 19632.
   3.       “       ornatus. ♂ Ft. Union, Dakota, 1907.
   4.       “       pictus. ♂ Ft. Simpson, B. A., 19659.
   5.       “          “    ♀ 19664.
   6.       “       melanomus. ♂ Dakota, 35359.
   7.       “       lapponicus. ♂ Ft. Resolution, B. A., 19647.
   8. Passerculus savanna. D. C., 10145.
   9.      “      sandwichensis. Washington Ter., 6343.
  10.      “      anthinus. Cal. (Petaluma), 5555.
  11.      “      alaudinus. Utah, 53483.
  12.      “      rostratus. Cal. (San Diego), 6340.]

Dr. Coues mentions the taking of a single specimen of this species,
October 17, on the open grassy plains of Arizona.

This species is also given by Mr. Sumichrast as a resident throughout
the year of the great plains of the plateau of Mexico. From them it
occasionally descends to the distant intervals, as far as Orizaba, or
at the elevation, above the gulf-level, of 1,220 metres.


Plectrophanes maccowni, LAWRENCE.

CHESTNUT-SHOULDERED LONGSPUR; MACCOWN’S BUNTING.

  _Plectrophanes maccowni_, LAWRENCE, Ann. N. Y. Lyc. V, Sept. 1851,
    122. Western Texas.—CASSIN, Illust. I, viii, 1855, 228, pl.
    xxxix.—HEERM. X, c, p. 13.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 437.

  [Line drawing: _Plectrophanes maccownii_, Lawr.
                  6282 ♂]

SP. CHAR. _Male in spring._ Top of head, a broad stripe each side the
throat from lower mandible, and a broad crescent on jugulum, black;
side of head including lores and band above the eye, throat, and under
parts, ashy-white; ear-coverts bordered above and behind by blackish,
running out at the maxillary stripe. Breast just behind the black
crescent and sides, showing dark bases of feathers. Upper parts ashy,
tinged with yellowish on the mandible, and streaked with dusky; least
so on nape and rump. Lesser wing-coverts ashy; median chestnut-brown,
with blackish bases sometimes evident; the quills all bordered broadly
externally with whitish, becoming more ashy on secondaries.
Tail-feathers white except at the concealed bases and the ends, which
have a transverse (not oblique) tip of blackish; the outermost white
to the end; the two central like the back. Bill dark plumbeous; legs
blackish. In winter the markings more or less obscured; the bill and
legs more yellowish.

_Female_ lacks the black markings, which, however, are indicated
obsoletely as in other _Plectrophanes_; there is no trace of chestnut
on the wings, no streaks on the breast. Length, 5.50; wing, 3.60;
tail, 2.50; bill, .46.

HAB. Eastern slopes of Rocky Mountains, from Texas to Upper Missouri.

This species varies considerably in markings, but is readily
recognized among other _Plectrophanes_ in all stages by short hind
toe, very stout bill, and the transverse dark bar at the end of all
tail-feathers except the inner and outer.

HABITS. Maccown’s Lark Bunting is yet another of the various species
of our birds whose history is very little known, and in regard to
which the most we are able to state, at present, is that they appear
in different parts of the interior plains of the United States,
between the Rocky Mountains and the Missouri River and the lower
tributaries of the Mississippi, extending from New Mexico and Texas
northward, during the breeding-season, to the northern boundary of the
United States. It was first discovered by Captain Maccown, who
obtained it in Texas, where he found it in company with a flock of
Shore Larks, and where it winters in considerable numbers. Mr. Dresser
afterward met with it in small flocks, early in April, on the prairies
near San Antonio. It was not very common, and he was only able to
obtain two specimens during his stay in that section.

Dr. Heermann found this species congregated in large flocks, in
company with the Black-shouldered Bunting. They were engaged in
gleaning the seeds from the scanty grass, on the vast arid plains of
New Mexico. Insects and berries formed also a part of their food; in
search of these they showed great activity, running about with
celerity and ease. In the spring, large flocks were seen at Fort
Thorn, having migrated thither from the North the previous fall. With
the return of mild weather they again departed for the North for the
purposes of incubation. Among these large flocks Dr. Heermann noticed
also the Shore Lark, but they formed only a small proportion of the
whole number.

In a letter to Mr. Cassin, Dr. Heermann states that he found this
species congregated with large numbers of other birds about the
isolated water-holes in the barren plains of New Mexico.

Mr. J. A. Allen states (Am. Nat., May, 1872) that, during a few weeks’
stay near Fort Hays in midwinter, he found Maccown’s Longspur
tolerably frequent in that vicinity.

An egg of this species, in the collection of the late Dr. Henry
Bryant, measures .80 by .60 of an inch. Its ground-color is a light
bluish clay-color, marbled, dotted, blotched, and lined with light
neutral tints of lavender and darker markings of purplish and reddish
brown. The nest was placed on the ground, and is composed entirely of
coarse grass-stems (No. 3,521, J. Pearsall, Fort Benton).


SUBFAMILY PYRGITINÆ.

The introduction into the United States, at so many distant points, of
the European House Sparrow (_Pyrgita domestica_) renders it necessary
to introduce it with any work treating of the birds of North America,
although totally different in so many features from our own native
forms. I follow Degland and Gerbe in placing the genus _Pyrgita_ in a
separate subfamily (_Pyrgitinæ_, see page 446), without any distinct
idea of its true affinities, as it does not come legitimately within
any of the subfamilies established for the American genera. In some
respects similar to certain _Coccothraustinæ_, in the short tarsi and
covered nostrils, the wings are shorter and more rounded, the sides of
the bill with stiff bristles, etc. The much larger, more vaulted bill,
weaker feet, and covered nostrils, distinguish it from _Spizellinæ_.


GENUS PYRGITA, CUVIER.

  _Pyrgita_, CUVIER, R. A. 1817. (Type, _Fringilla domestica_, LINN.)
  _Passer_, BRISSON, Orn. 1760. Same type. DEGLAND & GERBE, Orn. Europ.
    I, 1867, 239.

GEN. CHAR. Bill robust, swollen, without any distinct ridge; upper and
under outlines curved; margins inflexed; palate vaulted, without any
knob; nostrils covered by sparse, short, incumbent feathers; side of
bill with stiff, appressed bristles. Tarsi short and stout, about
equal to or shorter than the middle toes; claws short, stout, and
considerably curved. Wings longer than tail; somewhat pointed. Tail
nearly even, emarginated, and slightly rounded.


Pyrgita domestica, CUV.

THE HOUSE SPARROW.

  _Fringilla domestica_, LINN. Syst. Nat. 12th ed. 323, 1766. _Pyrgita
    domestica_, CUV. Reg. An. 2d ed. (1829), I, 439. _Passer
    domesticus_, DEGLAND & GERBE, Ornith. Europ. I, 1867, 241.

  [Line drawing: _Pyrgita domestica._
                  18788]

SP. CHAR. _Male._ Above chestnut-brown; the interscapular feathers
streaked by black on inner webs; the top of head and nape, lower back,
rump, and tail-coverts plain ashy; narrow frontal line, lores, chin,
throat, and jugulum black; rest of under parts grayish, nearly white
along median region. A broad chestnut-brown stripe from behind eye,
running into the chestnut of back; cheeks and sides of neck white;
outside of closed wing, pale chestnut-brown, with a broad white band
on the middle coverts, and behind showing the brown quills; the lesser
coverts dark chestnut like the head stripe. Tail dark brown, edged
with pale chestnut. Bill black; feet reddish. Iris brown.

_Female._ Duller of color, and lacking the black of face and throat;
breast and abdomen reddish-ash; cheeks ashy; a yellow-ochre band above
and behind the eyes, and across the wings. Head and neck above
brownish-ash; body above reddish-ash, streaked longitudinally with
black.

_Male in winter._ The colors generally less distinct. Length, 6.00;
wing, 2.85; tail, 2.50; tarsus, .70; middle toe and claw, .60.

The House Sparrow of Europe has been introduced into so many parts of
the United States as to render it probable that at no distant day it
will have become one of our most familiar species. Brought over to the
New World within a comparatively few years, it has commenced to
multiply about the larger cities, especially in the environs of New
York, as also about Portland, Boston, Newark, and Philadelphia. The
first effort made to naturalize it about Washington failed in
consequence of the death of three hundred individuals imported by the
Smithsonian Institution. A second, however, in 1871, was more
successful. One thousand birds were let loose in the public squares of
Philadelphia in the spring of 1869. In and about Havana it is said to
be common, as also about Great Salt Lake, where it was recently
introduced by the Mormons, according to Mr. J. A. Allen.

  [Illustration: _Pyrgita domestica._]

HABITS. The common House Sparrow of Europe has, within the past few
years, achieved a right to a place in the avi-fauna of North America
by its complete introduction, and its reproduction in large numbers,
in various parts of the country, from Portland, Me., to Washington
City, as also about Salt Lake.

The first attempt to introduce these birds, within my knowledge, was
made by a gentleman named Deblois, in Portland, Me., in the fall of
1858. Six birds were set at liberty in a large garden in the central
part of the city. They remained in the neighborhood through the
winter, and in the sheltering porch of a neighboring church they found
places of shelter and security. In the following spring three nests
were built in dwarf pear-trees in the garden in which they were first
set at liberty. One, at least, of these nests, was successfully
occupied, and six young birds were reared from it. A second nest, with
four young, was also hatched by the same pair. Neither of these nests
was globular in shape, but open and coarse, built of hay and straws.
These nests were taken, after their use, and came into my possession.
Since then I have been informed that these birds increased and
multiplied, and for a while were quite abundant in that portion of the
city, and a large colony of this Sparrow appeared in the winter of
1871 in Rockland, Me.

Two years later, Mr. Eugene Schieffelin, of New York, imported and set
at liberty, near Madison Square, in that city, twelve of these birds,
and this he repeated for several successive summers. In 1864, fourteen
birds were set at liberty in Central Park, by the Commissioners. Other
birds were also brought from England, by different parties, in the
Cunard steamers, and released at Jersey City. These have increased
very largely, and have spread to the adjoining cities, until these
birds have become familiar and social residents in all the large
cities and towns within an extended area around New York, as well as
in all parts of that city.

They were introduced into Boston by the City Government in 1868. Two
hundred birds were purchased in Germany, but unfortunately all died on
their passage except about a score. These were set at liberty in June,
but, weakened by their sea-voyage, several of them were found dead in
the deer-park, and the rest disappeared. The following summer more
were imported, but all died except ten. These were well cared for, and
only released when in excellent condition. For some months nothing was
seen of these birds, and the experiment was supposed to be a failure,
when it was ascertained that they had betaken themselves to the
vicinity of stables in the southern part of the city, had increased
and multiplied in large numbers, reappearing in the winter to the
number of one hundred and fifty. They were regularly fed by the city
forester each day in the deer-park, and roosted at night in the thatch
of the roofs of the buildings. Since then they have very largely
increased. About twenty, that same summer, were set at liberty in
Monument Square, Charlestown.

In 1869 about one thousand birds were imported, by the City
Government, into Philadelphia. Fortunately they came in good
condition, and being released early in May immediately separated into
scattered parties and prepared for themselves new homes. Some appeared
in Morristown and other distant towns in New Jersey. Others wandered
to Germantown, and the remoter suburbs of Philadelphia, where they
found the cherry-trees in full blossom, and where their exploits in
stripping the blooms from the trees gave a not very favorable first
impression of these new-comers.

It has been exceedingly interesting to watch the manners and habits of
these strangers in their new homes. They have become quite tame, are
fearless and gentle, and as they have been very kindly treated live in
a condition of semi-domestication. At first they built their nests,
and passed their winters, in New York, among the thick ivies that
cover the walls of so many churches, in such cases building globular
nests. As soon, however, as suitable boxes were prepared for them in
sufficient quantities, these were taken possession of in preference to
anything else.

At the time of their introduction the shade-trees in the parks and
squares of New York, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Newark, and other places,
were greatly infested with the larvæ of the measure-worms that
destroyed their foliage. Since then these worms have almost entirely
disappeared. A doubt has been expressed whether the Sparrows destroy
these insects. That they eat them in the larvæ form I do not know, but
to their destruction of the chrysalis, the moth, and the eggs, I can
testify, having been eye-witness to the act.

Apprehensions have been expressed lest these new-comers may molest and
drive away our own native birds. How this may be when the Sparrows
become more numerous cannot now be determined, but so far they
manifest no such disposition. Since their introduction into Boston the
Chipping Sparrows appear to have increased, and to associate by
preference with their European visitors, feeding with them unmolested.
I have been unable to detect a single instance in which they have been
molested, in any manner, by their larger companions. Their predatory
aggressions, however, upon the rights of the common Robin have been
noticed, and deserve mention. The Sparrows appear to be extravagantly
fond of earthworms, but not able to hunt for them themselves. They
have learned to watch the Robin as it forages for these worms, keeping
around, at a respectful distance, and as soon as one, with much toil,
has dragged a worm from its place of concealment, down swoops the bird
and impudently carries it off. The poor bewildered and plundered Robin
essays a late and vain attempt to protect its food. The Sparrow is too
nimble, and the worm is gone before its rightful owner can turn to
face the robber.

The Sparrows endure the severest of the winter weather without any
apparent inconvenience, appearing as cheerful, contented, and noisy
with the thermometer at zero as at any other time. They are quite
fearless, especially in New York, running about under the feet of the
passers-by with perfect indifference and confidence. In Boston I have
noticed their nests in convenient places, a few feet above crowded
sidewalks. In winter they come regularly about the houses to be fed.

The House Sparrow has also been introduced into Australia, where it
has become acclimated, and was, at the last accounts, rapidly
increasing in that quarter. It is likewise very common about Havana,
Cuba.

In the Old World this bird has a widely extended area of distribution,
and is resident wherever found. It is very abundant in the British
Islands and throughout the northern and central portions of Europe. In
Spain and in Italy it is replaced by two closely allied species or
races. This bird, however, is also found in North Africa, in the
Levant, at Trebizonde, and among the mountains of Nubia. Specimens
have also been received from the Himalayas, from Nepaul, and the
vicinity of Calcutta.

Both in Europe and in this country the Sparrows pair early in the
season. I have known them sitting on their eggs, in Boston, in March.
They are very prolific, have broods of five, six, and even seven at a
time, three or four times in a season. They are full of life and
animation, somewhat disposed to brief and noisy quarrels, which are
always harmless.

Their great attachment and devotion to their young is dwelt upon by
all English writers as quite remarkable. They evince a great
partiality for warmth, and even in midsummer line their nests with all
the feathers they can pick up. In New York it is a favorite amusement
with the children to carry with them to the public parks quantities of
feathers, which they throw, one by one, to the Sparrows, to witness
their amusing contests for possession.

The eggs of this bird are oval in shape, pointed at one end, with a
ground of a light ashen color, blotched, dotted, and streaked with
various shades of ashy and dusky brown. They measure from .85 to .95
of an inch in length, and from .60 to .65 in breadth.


SUBFAMILY SPIZELLINÆ.—THE SPARROWS.

CHAR. Bill variable, usually almost straight; sometimes curved.
Commissure generally nearly straight, or slightly concave. Upper
mandible wider than lower. Nostrils exposed. Wings moderate; the outer
primaries not much rounded. Tail variable. Feet large; tarsi mostly
longer than the middle toe.

The species are usually small, and of dull color, though frequently
handsomely marked. Nearly all are streaked on the back and crown,
often on the belly. None of the United States species have any red,
blue, or orange, and the yellow, when present, is as a superciliary
streak, or on the elbow edge of the wing.

In the arrangement of this subfamily, as of the others belonging to
the _Fringillidæ_, we do not profess to give anything like a natural
system, but merely an attempt at a convenient artificial scheme by
which the determination of the genera may be facilitated.

A. Tail small and short; considerably or decidedly shorter than
the wings, owing either to the elongation of the wing or the
shortening of the tail. Lateral toes shorter than the middle
without its claw. Species streaked above and below. (Passerculeæ.)

  _a._ Thickly streaked everywhere above, on the sides, and
  across the breast. Wing pointed; longest primaries considerably
  longer than the secondaries. Tail forked.

    Centronyx. Hind claw very large; rather longer than its
    digit. The hind toe and claw, together, as long as or longer
    than the middle toe and claw. Other toes as in _Passerculus_.
    Claws gently curved. Tertials shorter than the secondaries.
    Tail forked, but the lateral feathers shorter.

    Passerculus. Hind claw as long as its digit; the toe equal
    to the middle one without its claw; lateral toes falling
    considerably short of the middle claw. Wings very long; first
    primary longest. Tertials as long as the primaries. Tail
    forked; feathers acute.

    Poocætes. Hind claw shorter than its digit; the whole toe
    less than the middle toe without its claw. Lateral toes
    nearly equal to the middle one, without its claw. Tertials
    but little longer than secondaries. Tail stiffened, forked;
    feathers acute, outer ones white.

  _b._ Moderately streaked above, on the sides, and on the
  breast, the latter sometimes unstreaked; the dorsal streaks
  broader, the others fainter than in the last. Wings short,
  reaching a little beyond the base of the tail. Not much
  difference between the primaries and secondaries. Tail short,
  graduated, and the feathers lanceolate, acute.

    Coturniculus. Bill short; thick. Tertials almost equal to
    the primaries; truncate at the end. Claws small, weak; hinder
    one shorter than its digit. Outstretched feet not reaching
    the tip of the tail. Tail-feathers not stiffened. (In one
    species tail nearly equal to the wing.)

    Ammodromus. Bill slender, small at base, and elongated.
    Tertials not longer than the secondaries; rounded at the tip.
    Claws large, hinder one equal to its digit. Outstretched toes
    reaching considerably beyond the end of the stiffened, almost
    scansorial tail.

B. Tail longer and broader; nearly or quite as long as,
sometimes a very little longer than, the wings, which are rather
lengthened. The primaries considerably longer than the secondaries.
None of the species streaked beneath, and the back alone streaked
above. (Spizelleæ.)

  _a._ Tail rounded or slightly graduated.

    Chondestes. Tail considerably graduated, not emarginated.
    Lateral toes considerably shorter than the middle toe,
    without its claw. Wings very long, decidedly longer than the
    tail, reaching the middle of the tail. First quill longest.
    Head striped. Back streaked. White beneath. A white blotch on
    the end of the tail-feathers.

    Zonotrichia. Tail moderately graduated. Wings moderate,
    about as long as the tail, reaching about over the basal
    fourth of the tail; first quill less than the second to
    fourth. Feet large. Head striped with black and white, or
    with brown and ochraceous. Back streaked.

    Junco. Tail very nearly equal to the wings, slightly
    emarginate, and decidedly rounded. Outer toe rather longer
    than inner, reaching the middle claw. No streaks anywhere
    except in young; black or ash-color above; belly white; with
    or without a rufous back and sides. Outer tail-feathers
    white.

    Poospiza. Tail lengthened, slightly graduated; the feathers
    unusually broad to the end. Bill slender. Wings about as long
    as the tail, reaching but little beyond its external base.
    Tertials broad, and, with the secondaries, rather lengthened.
    Second to fifth quills nearly equal, and longest. Bill dark
    lead-color. Tail black. Uniform ashy-brown above; white
    beneath. Sides of head with stripes of black and white.

  _b._ Tail decidedly forked; a little shorter than the wing,
  sometimes a little longer.

    Spizella. Size rather small. Wings long. Lower mandible
    largest. Uniform beneath, or with a pectoral spot or the chin
    black.

C. Tail lengthened and graduated; decidedly longer than the
wings, which are very short, scarcely extending beyond the
external base of the tail. Feet reaching but little beyond the
middle of the tail. Species all streaked above; streaked or
nearly unicolor beneath. No white on wings or tail. Outer lateral
toe the longer. First quill not the shortest of the primaries.
(Melospizeæ.)

    Melospiza. Culmen and commissure nearly straight. Claws
    stout; hinder one as large as its digit. Tail-feathers rather
    broad. Body streaked beneath.

    Peucæa. Culmen and commissure curved. Claws weak; hinder
    one not much curved, decidedly shorter than its digit.
    Tail-feathers narrow. Without streaks beneath, excepting a
    narrow maxillary stripe.

D. Tail rather short, and much graduated; longer than the
wings; the midrib more median. Culmen curved. Tarsus considerably
longer than middle toe. Outer toe longer. But little difference
in the length of the quills; the outer ones much rounded; even
the second quill is shorter than any other primary except the
first.

    Embernagra. Color, olive-green above.


GENUS CENTRONYX, BAIRD.

  _Centronyx_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 440. (Type, _Emberiza bairdi_,
    AUD.)

GEN. CHAR. Bill elongated; the lower mandible smaller; outlines nearly
straight. Tarsus lengthened, considerably exceeding the middle toe.
Lateral toes equal, not reaching the base of the middle claw. Hind toe
very large; the claw rather longer than its digit, and in its
elongation resembling _Plectrophanes_, but more curved; the digit and
claw together rather longer than the middle toe and claw. Wings very
long, reaching beyond the middle of the tail, and beyond the end of
the coverts. Tertials shorter than the primaries, and but little
longer than the secondaries. Tail short, much less than from the
carpal joint to end of secondaries; little more than two thirds the
entire wing. It is slightly forked, and moderately rounded laterally;
the feathers all acute. Color somewhat as in _Passerculus_.

This genus differs from _Passerculus_, as stated in the description of
the species farther on. It would be taken for _Plectrophanes_ on
account of its lengthened hind claw, which, however, is more curved
than in that genus; the tarsi are much longer, the tertials less
elongated, and the coloration different, though closely resembling
that of the female _Plectrophanes_. But one species has thus far been
recognized.


Centronyx bairdi, BAIRD.

BAIRD’S BUNTING.

  _Emberiza bairdi_, AUD. Birds Am. VII, 1843, 359, pl. d.,
    _Coturniculus bairdi_, BON. Syn. 1850, 481. _Centronyx bairdi_,
    BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 441.

  [Line drawing: _Centronyx bairdi, Baird._
                  1885]

SP. CHAR. Somewhat similar in general appearance to _Passerculus
savanna_. Back grayish, streaked with dusky. Crown nearly covered by
black streaks, but divided by a broad median band of brownish-yellow.
Eyelids and a faint superciliary stripe yellowish-white. Beneath
white, with a maxillary blackish stripe and some narrow streaks on the
upper part of the breast, and sides of the throat and body. Outer
edges and tips of tail-feathers white; the two outer feathers
obsoletely white. Bend of wing white. Length, 4.75; wing, 2.80; tail,
2.20.

HAB. Mouth of the Yellowstone River. One specimen only known.

This species has somewhat of the general appearance of _Passerculus
savanna_, but with important differences both of form and color. The
bill is much longer, and more slender in proportion. The wings are
quite unusually long; the primaries more than half an inch longer than
the tertiaries; the first quill as long as the fourth, and but little
less than the second and third. The tail is very short; the feathers
narrow and pointed. The feet are large; the hind claw very long and
considerably curved, as are the other claws generally.

  [Illustration: _Centronyx bairdi._]

The species was based by Mr. Audubon on a skin brought by him from the
mouth of the Yellowstone River, in 1843, in rather defective and worn
plumage. This has hitherto served as the basis of all the descriptions
of the species which is justly considered one of the rarest in the
North American fauna.

HABITS. In regard to the habits, distribution, or general history of
this very rare species, but little is known, only one specimen having
been met with. This was procured by Mr. Audubon’s party to the
Yellowstone River, in Dakota, on the last day of July, 1843. That it
is a resident where obtained, certainly during the breeding-season, is
a natural inference from the circumstances of its capture. That it may
be a common bird in certain other portions of the region, immediately
north of Dakota, is quite probable. Its close habits, as described by
Mr. Audubon, favor its escaping notice wherever it may exist.

The specimen was met with in a wet place, overgrown closely by a kind
of slender rush-like grass, from the midst of which the notes of these
birds were heard, and at first mistaken for those of the Marsh Wren. A
search was immediately instituted for the singers, which Mr. Bell soon
ascertained could not be the Wren in question, the notes being much
softer and more prolonged. Much difficulty was encountered in the
endeavor to raise them from the long close grass to which they closely
confined themselves, and they were several times nearly trodden on
before they would take wing, almost instantaneously realighting within
a few steps, and running like mice through the grass. After a while
two were shot while on the wing, and proved to be adult male and
female. The party found this species quite abundant in all such
situations, and there seems to have been no doubt that it was
breeding.


GENUS PASSERCULUS, BONAP.

  _Passerculus_, BONAP. Comp. List Birds, 1838. (Type, _Fringilla
    savanna_.)

  [Line drawing: _Passerculus savanna._
                  7108]

GEN. CHAR. Bill moderately conical; the lower mandible smaller; both
outlines nearly straight. Tarsus about equal to the middle toe.
Lateral toes about equal, their claws falling far short of the middle
one. Hind toe much longer than the lateral ones, reaching as far as
the middle of the middle claw; its claws moderately curved. Wings
unusually long, reaching to the middle of the tail, and almost to the
end of the upper coverts. The tertials nearly or quite as long as the
primaries; the first primary longest. The tail is quite short,
considerably shorter than the wings; as long as from the carpal joint
to the end of the secondaries. It is emarginate, and slightly rounded;
the feathers pointed and narrow.

The essential characters of this well-marked genus lie in the
elongated wings, longer than the tail, the tertiaries equal to the
primaries, the first quill almost longest. The legs are long, the
outstretched toes reaching to the end of the tail; the lateral toe
considerably shorter than the middle, which is not much longer than
the hinder. The tail is short, narrow, and emarginate; the feathers
acute.


Species and Varieties.

COMMON CHARACTERS. Above grayish-brown, beneath white; whole
upper surface, as well as the breast and sides, streaked with
dusky. A light superciliary stripe, and a whitish maxillary one,
the latter bordered above and below by stripes of coalesced dusky
streaks.

  A. Bill small, the culmen slightly concave in the middle
  portion; a median light stripe on the crown.

    1. P. savanna. Superciliary stripe yellow anteriorly;
    streaks on the back blackish, sharply defined.

_Throat and upper part of abdomen unstreaked; vertex-stripe
without yellow tinge._

      Bill .34 from forehead and .25 in depth at the base; wing,
      2.85; tail, 2.30. Colors deep; outer surface of wing (in
      spring) decidedly reddish. _Hab._ Eastern Province of North
      America …                                       var. _savanna_.

      Bill, .32 and .20, or less; wing, 2.75; tail, 2.10. Colors
      very pale; outer surface of wing (in spring) pale ashy.
      _Hab._ Western Province of North America, except coast of
      California, where replaced by var. _anthinus_ …
                                                    var. _alaudinus_.

      Bill, .37 and .27, or considerably more; wing, 3.10; tail,
      2.40. Colors as in _savanna_. _Hab._ Northwest coast of
      North America …                           var. _sandwichensis_.

_Throat and upper part of abdomen streaked; vertex-stripe
strongly tinged with yellow._

      Bill, .33 and .19; wing, 2.50; tail, 1.90. Colors darker
      than var. savanna, the ground-color more uniform, and the
      black streaks heavier and more numerous. _Hab._ Coast of
      California …                                   var. _anthinus_.

    2. P. princeps. Superciliary stripe white anteriorly;
    streaks on the back sandy-brown, badly defined. Wing, 3.25;
    tail, 2.60; bill, .45 and .23; tarsus, .95; middle toe, .80.
    _Hab._ Eastern Massachusetts (northern regions in summer?).

  B. Bill robust, the culmen arched; no median light stripe on
  the crown. Superciliary stripe white anteriorly; streaks on the
  back sandy-brown, obsolete.

    3. P. rostratus.

      Bill, .43 and .30; wing, 2.90; tail, 2.25. Ground-color
      above fulvous-gray, beneath white; the streaks, above and
      below, sandy-brown. Colors much as in P. _princeps_. _Hab._
      Coast of California, to the mouth of the Colorado River;
      Cape St. Lucas in winter …                    var. _rostratus_.

      Bill, .33 and .22; wing, 2.55; tail, 2.00. Ground-color
      above plumbeous-gray; beneath white; streaks
      blackish-brown. Hab. Cape St. Lucas (resident?) …
                                                     var. _guttatus_.

  [Illustration: _Passerculus savanna._]

A careful examination of the very large series of _Passerculus_ allied
to _savanna_ in the museum of the Smithsonian Institution, recently
made, brings us to the same conclusion as that reached in 1858,
namely, that, granting a single species extending over the whole of
North America, there are several geographical races in different
regions. Thus, taking the eastern bird as the standard, with its dark
colors, reddish wings, and deep yellow superciliary stripe, and the
comparative or entire absence of spots on the lower part of breast, we
have in the middle province, and to some extent in the western, a race
rather smaller, with more attenuated and longer bill, and paler
colors; the wings grayish, the yellow of head being scarcely
appreciable (var. _alaudinus_). On the coast of California, another
series of the size and proportions of the last, but with dark yellow
superciliary stripe,—the vertex-stripe even yellowish,—dark colors,
and the lower part of breast, as well as the throat, decidedly
streaked, as well as the jugulum (var. _anthinus_); and finally on the
northwest coast, from Puget Sound to Kodiak, a fourth race, much
larger than typical _P. savanna_, but absolutely undistinguishable in
color, proportion of bill, etc. (var. _sandwichensis_). _P. anthinus_
is not found north of California, but the other two of the western
race may occur together at any point of the coast north, perhaps, of
the Columbia River.


Passerculus savanna, BONAP.

SAVANNA SPARROW.

  _Fringilla savanna_, WILSON, Am. Orn. III, 1811, 55, pl. xxii, f.
    2.—IB. IV, 1811, 72, pl. xxxiv, f. 4.—AUD. Orn. Biog. II, 1834,
    63; V, 1839, 516, pl. cix. _Passerculus savanna_, BON. List,
    1838.—IB. Conspectus, 1850, 480.—CAB. Mus. Hein. 1851, 131.—BAIRD,
    BIRDS N. Am. 1858, 442.—COUES, P. A. N. S. 1861, 223.—SAMUELS,
    301. _Emberiza savanna_, AUD. Syn. 1839, 103.—IB. Birds Am. III,
    1841, 68, pl. clx. ? _Fringilla hyemalis_, GM. I, 1788,
    922.—LICHT. Verzeichniss, 1823, No. 250. Gmelin’s description,
    based on Pennant Arctic Zoöl. II, 376 (winter Finch), applies
    equally well to a large number of species. _Linaria savanna_,
    RICHARDSON, List, 1837.

SP. CHAR. Feathers of the upper parts generally with a central streak
of blackish-brown; the streaks of the back with a slight rufous
suffusion laterally; the feathers edged with gray, which is lightest
on the scapulars, and forms there two gray stripes. Crown with a broad
median stripe of yellowish-gray. A superciliary streak from the bill
to the back of the head, eyelids, and edge of the elbow, yellow, paler
behind. A yellowish-white mandibular stripe curving behind the
ear-coverts, and margined above and below by brown. The lower margin
is a series of thickly crowded spots on the sides of the throat, which
are also found on the sides of the neck, across the upper part of the
breast, and on the sides of body, a dusky line back of the eye, making
three on the side of head (including the two mandibular). A few faint
spots on the throat and chin. Rest of under parts white. Outer
tail-feathers and primaries edged with white. Length, 5.50; wing,
2.70; tail, 2.10.

_Young._ Ground-color of the upper parts (except wings and tail) light
ochraceous, more brownish on top of head, upper part of back, and on
upper tail-coverts; the streaks blacker and more conspicuous than in
the adult. Beneath with an ochraceous tinge anteriorly, the streaks
broader, and deeper black, than in the adult, though less sharply
defined. The infra-maxillary streak expanded into a broad blackish
elongated blotch.

HAB. Eastern North America to the Missouri plains, and northwest to
Alaska. Cuba, winter (CAB. JOUR. IV, 6).

Specimens vary considerably in size, color, and shape of bill, but the
average is as described. Spring birds have the markings sharper and
clearer, the dark streaks with little or no suffusion of rufous.

HABITS. The Savanna Sparrow is an abundant species throughout North
America, from the Atlantic sea-board to the Great Plains. It is,
however, everywhere much less common in the interior than nearer the
shore. The Smithsonian specimens are from points as far south as
Georgia and Louisiana, and as far west as the Black Hills of Wyoming.
It passes north through Massachusetts, from the first to the middle of
April, and some remain to breed in the eastern part of the State. Mr.
Maynard speaks of it as a common summer resident. This, however, is
true only of a few restricted maritime localities, but is not so of
the entire eastern portion of the State. It occurs both in the salt
marshes of Charles River and in the vicinity of Fresh Pond, but I
could never trace it in any of the neighboring towns. It is
occasionally met with in inland situations where we would not
naturally look for it. In the summer of 1869, Mr. William Brewster
found quite a colony of these birds in an open field near the Glen
House, at the foot of Mt. Washington. They had nests with eggs the
last of July and the first of August.

In Western Massachusetts, according to Mr. Allen, it rarely or never
stops to breed. In Western Maine, Mr. Verrill mentions it as a common
summer visitant, and as breeding there in the latter part of May. In
the vicinity of Eastport, and in all the islands of the Grand Menan
group, I found these Sparrows very abundant. They almost invariably
built their nests in depressions on the edge or just under the
projecting tops of high bluffs of land near the sea. They were by far
the most abundant of the land-birds, and it was quite common to find
their nests in close proximity one to another. They arrive there in
April, and leave in September, passing slowly south more in reference
to the abundance of their food than the severity of the season, until
the weather becomes very severe, when they all disappear. They winter
in the Southern States, from Virginia to Georgia, and are especially
abundant in the Carolinas. Dr. Coues states that they were very common
about Columbia from October to April, moving in large flocks and
associating with other species. Wilson states that he met with this
species, from Savannah to New York, in all the low country, and
regarded it as resident in those places, but rarely found at a
distance from the sea-shore. He found them especially numerous at
Great Egg Harbor, N. J.

Dr. Coues, in his visit to Labrador, in 1860, found this Sparrow
abundant in that region in low moist meadows and marshy tracts near
the sea-shore, but never noticed it in any other situations. He
frequently observed it there feeding on the beds of dried eel-grass
along the rocky shores, searching for food in company with the
Titlarks and small Sandpipers.

During my visits to the islands of the Bay of Fundy, in one of which I
remained a number of days, I had a good opportunity to notice these
birds. In many respects their habits undergo noticeable changes during
the breeding-season. As they pass north or south in their migrations,
they are not particularly shy or difficult to approach, but when they
had nests they seemed to become particularly cautious and mistrustful.
The male and female sat by turns upon their eggs, but generally one
remained within hailing distance, and always gave promptly a signal of
danger when the nest was approached, at which the other would glide
from the nest, running off on the ground like a mouse. I found it
impossible to identify by shooting the parent on the nest, and only
accomplished its identification by means of snares. When once lost in
the tall grass, it was impossible to find it again, or if it
reappeared it was impossible to tell which of the many chirping
Sparrows, all of them out of reach of shot, and keeping a sharp
lookout on my movements, had any connection with the nest. This
manœuvre was gone through with in every nest I found, but I soon
learned to distinguish them without the need of gun or snare.

This Sparrow is eminently terrestrial, confining itself almost
entirely to the ground, and rarely alighting on anything even so high
as a fence. Though frequenting low moist grounds, its nest is always
in a dry spot and usually somewhat elevated. The nest is almost always
sunk into the ground, is made very simply and loosely of dry grasses,
with a lining of softer materials of the same. I have never found any
other material than this in the many nests I have examined, although
nests of var. _alaudinus_, in the vicinity of Fort Anderson, are
frequently lined with feathers or deers’ hair, according to
MacFarlane.

The eggs, five or six in number, vary considerably in their
appearance. In shape they are a rounded oval, one end being much more
pointed than the other. They measure .68 by .55 of an inch. In some
the ground-color, which is of a greenish-white, is plainly visible,
being only partially covered by blotches of brown, shaded with red and
purple. These blotches are more numerous about the larger end,
becoming confluent and forming a corona. In others, the ground-color
is entirely concealed by confluent ferruginous fine dots, over which
are darker markings of brown and purple and a still darker ring of the
same about the larger end.


Passerculus savanna, var. alaudinus, BONAP.

WESTERN SAVANNA SPARROW.

  _Passerculus alaudinus_, BP. Comptes Rendus, XXXVII, Dec. 1853, 918,
    California.—IB. Notes Ornithologiques Delattre, 1854, 18 (reprint
    of preceding).—_Baird_, Birds N. Am. 1858, 446, pl. xlvi.—COOPER &
    SUCKLEY, 197, pl. xxviii, f. 2.—ELLIOT, Illust. Am. B. III.—DALL &
    BANNISTER, Tr. Ch. Ac. I, 1869, 284 (Alaska).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1,
    181. _Passerculus savanna_ and _P. anthinus_, DALL & BANNISTER,
    Tr. Ch. Ac. I, 1869, pp. 283, 284.

SP. CHAR. Similar to _P. savanna_, but smaller; the bill slenderer and
more elongated. Little of yellow in the superciliary stripe (most
distinct anteriorly); the rest of the head without any tinge of the
same. General color much paler and grayer than in _P. savanna_. Breast
with only a few spots. Length, 5.25; wing, 2.75; tail, 2.30.

HAB. Middle and Western Provinces of North America; south to Orizaba,
north to Alaska (Kodiak) and the Arctic coast. Oaxaca (SCL. Oct.);
Vera Cruz (winter, SUMICHRAST).

This western race of _P. savanna_ is smaller, considerably paler in
general colors, the superciliary stripe with little yellow in it, and
the bill more slender, and longer. In coloration, some Atlantic coast
specimens often exhibit an approximation, especially in the pale tint
of the superciliary stripe; but the bill is always decidedly more
attenuated in _alaudinus_.

The Western Savanna Sparrow is a common species throughout the Western
Province of North America, from the plains to California, and from
Alaska to Mexico. In California it appears to be replaced along the
Pacific coast by the variety _anthinus_, a quite different and very
local form. In Alaska, specimens were obtained by the naturalists of
the Russian Telegraph Expedition at various localities, chiefly in the
interior, and on the Yukon it was obtained by Mr. Lockhart. Dr. Cooper
found it at Fort Steilacoom, in Washington Territory, where it was in
company with _P. sandwichensis_, in the wet meadows. In California
this species inhabits chiefly, according to Dr. Cooper, the dry plains
of the interior of the State. The statement of the occurrence of this
form anywhere along the coast of California should be received with
considerable doubt, since in the large series of these birds all
specimens from this region are of the variety _anthinus_, an
exclusively littoral type.

HABITS. The Western Savanna Sparrow was found throughout the Great
Basin, by Mr. Ridgway, in all wet, grassy situations, in which
preference it is like its eastern relative. It was very abundant at
Carson City, inhabiting exclusively the meadows. At Salt Lake City it
was also very abundant, frequenting the wet meadows near the Jordan.

This bird was also obtained at Sitka by Bischoff, and was found on the
Yukon by Mr. Lockhart. It is the only species found in the Valley of
the Mackenzie, up to the Arctic coast.

Dr. Cooper also met with it among the low meadows of Washington
Territory, where they arrived in March, and remained until late in
October. They were usually found among the grass, from which they
rarely rise, except to sing their faint and lisping trill from a weed
or some low bush. Mr. Ridgway represents this song as corresponding
with the syllables _witz-witz-wih´-tzull_. This, he states, is uttered
in a weak and lisping manner, as the bird perches on a bush beside the
brook, or on a fence, or as it nestles among the grass on the ground.

Dr. Cooper speaks of them as only winter visitants in California, and
there residing only on the dry interior plains, as far south as San
Diego, where they remain in large flocks until April. He has never met
with this bird during the summer months, though some are supposed to
remain and breed in the high prairies. He did not meet with any about
the summits of the Sierra Nevada, in September. They appeared to
prefer the dry rolling prairies to marshes, though they were
occasionally found in the latter.

This species is also a migratory visitant to the Department of Vera
Cruz, Mexico, where they are said by Sumichrast to pass the winter.

Their nests are built upon the ground, and are composed almost
entirely of the dry stems of grasses, and are lined with finer
materials of the same. Their eggs measure .75 of an inch in length by
.52 in breadth, have a greenish-white ground, over which are
distributed numerous markings, spots, and blotches of various sizes,
of a light purplish-brown and a deeper red-brown, confluent about the
larger end, where they form a crown.

Near Fort Anderson nests were found in great numbers, no less than two
hundred and four having been obtained during four summers in that
locality. These nests were all taken on the ground, under low grass,
in dry spots in a large marshy prairie, and it is stated that they
were never found in any other situation or locality.


Passerculus savanna, var. sandwichensis, BAIRD.

NORTHWESTERN SAVANNA SPARROW.

  _Emberiza sandwichensis_, GM. I, 1788, 875. _Emberiza arctica_,
    LATHAM, Ind. Orn. I, 1790, 414. _Fringilla arctica_, VIGORS, Zoöl.
    of Blossom, 1839, 20 (perhaps one of the smaller
    species).—“BRANDT, Icon. Ross. 2, 6.” _Euspiza arctica_, BP.
    Conspectus, 1850, 469. _Zonotrichia arctica_, FINSCH, 1872.
    _Emberiza chrysops_, PALLAS, Zoög. Rosso-As. II, 1811, 45, tab.
    xlviii, fig. 1 (Unalaska). _Sandwich Bunting_, LATH. Syn. II,
    1783, 202. _Unalaska Bunting_, PENNANT, Arctic Zoöl. II, 363, 320,
    No. 229 (not of p. 364, No. 233). _Passerculus sandwichensis_,
    BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 444.—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Ch. Ac. I,
    1869, 284.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 180. _Passerculus savanna_, DALL &
    BANNISTER, Tr. Ch. Ac. I, 1869, 283.

SP. CHAR. Almost exactly like _P. savanna_, but half an inch longer,
with much larger bill. Length, 6.12 inches; wing, 3.00; tail, 2.55.
Bill above, .50; below, .36; gape, .56; depth, .27.

HAB. Northwestern coast from the Columbia River to Russian America.

Specimens of this race from Sitka are absolutely undistinguishable
from eastern _P. savanna_ except in size; the colors and proportion of
bill being the same. A young bird (from Kodiak) differs from that of
_savanna_ in larger size, and a bright reddish-fulvous tinge to upper
parts, and a deep yellowish-fulvous tinge on jugulum and along the
sides.

HABITS. This variety is the northwest-coast form of the common Savanna
Sparrow, and is found during the summer from Oregon to Alaska. Dr.
Suckley states that he found this species an abundant spring visitor
at Fort Steilacoom. Dr. Cooper, in his Zoology of Washington
Territory, states it to be only a passenger through that section,
migrating northward, at the end of April, in pairs, and not returning
until the end of September. They come back in flocks, and frequent the
shores and prairies along the sea-coast. Their plumage seems to be the
same at all seasons. Nothing is known of their note. They are supposed
to spend their winters in Southern Oregon and California, though their
actual presence has not been detected in either State. They do not
remain during the summer near the Columbia, but pass to the north, or
to the interior plains east of the Cascade Range. Dr. Cooper states
that their habits closely resemble those of _P. anthinus_.

Mr. Dall states that two specimens of this species were taken at Sitka
by Mr. Bischoff.


Passerculus savanna, var. anthinus, BONAP.

CALIFORNIA SHORE SPARROW.

  _Passerculus anthinus_, BONAP. Comptes Rendus, XXVII, Dec. 1853, 919,
    Russian America.[115]—IB. Notes Ornith. Delattre, 1854, 19.—BAIRD,
    Birds N. Am. 1858, p. 445.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 183.

SP. CHAR. Similar to _P. savanna_, but smaller. Beneath tinged with
reddish. Breast and upper part of belly thickly spotted with sharply
defined sagittate brown spots, exhibiting a tendency to aggregation on
the middle of the belly. Superciliary stripe and one in the middle of
the crown decided greenish-yellow, the head generally tinged with the
same, as also the back and sides of the neck. Under tail-coverts
somewhat streaked. Length, 5.00; wing, 2.66; tail, 2.24.

HAB. Coast of California, near San Francisco; “Russian America,
Kodiak” (BONAPARTE).

This is the most strongly marked of the several races of _P. savanna_,
differing from all the others in several important respects. The
markings beneath are more generally dispersed, extending back upon the
lower part of the breast, and forward over the throat; the lower
tail-coverts have distinct medial blackish streaks, though they are
somewhat concealed. The median stripe on the crown is decidedly
greenish-yellow, not pale ashy; the whitish edges to the interscapular
feathers, so conspicuous in the other races, are more concealed,
presenting a more uniformly brown surface above, with broader black
stripes. The broad lateral stripes of the crown are deep olive or
hair-brown, with narrow, sharply defined, intense black streaks,
instead of pale grayish as in _alaudinus_ (spring dress), or light
brown as in _savanna_ (spring), with broader, less deep, black
streaks.

HABITS. The Shore Sparrow of California is said to be, to a remarkable
degree, the peculiar marsh species of the Pacific coast of that State.
Dr. Cooper states that he very rarely met with these birds out of the
salt marshes, where they lie so close and run so stealthily among the
weeds that they are flushed with difficulty. They rise only to fly a
few rods, and drop again into their covert. They are not at all
gregarious, except when migrating, and are found singly or by pairs.
They are abundant about San Francisco in the winter, though Dr. Cooper
is not sure that any are found so far south in the summer. Near San
Diego, in February, they had already begun to utter their short and
pleasant song, as they perched on the top of some tall weed. Dr.
Cooper observed them in that neighborhood into April, but did not
succeed in finding any of their nests, nor was he ever able to meet
with this species at San Pedro in summer.

Dr. Coues speaks of (Ibis, 1866, p. 268) finding three species of the
difficult group of _Passerculi_, and all of them very abundant, in
Southern California in November. These were _P. rostratus_, _P.
alaudinus_, and _P. anthinus_. The _anthinus_ seemed confined to the
moist salt grass and sedgy weeds of the sea-shore itself. It was
flushed with great difficulty, and then its flight was very rapid and
irregular. It would alight again almost immediately, and run with
great celerity among the roots of the thick grasses, and was therefore
exceedingly difficult to procure. _P. alaudinus_ was common two or
three miles away from the coast, but Dr. Coues did not find one mixing
with _P. anthinus_. It was a brush and weed, rather than a grass,
species, associating with _Anthus ludovicianus_ and _Zonotrichia
coronata_.


Passerculus princeps, MAYNARD.

IPSWICH SPARROW.

  _Centronyx bairdi_, MAYNARD, Naturalist’s Guide, 1870, 117,
    frontispiece (Ipswich, Mass.). _Passerculus princeps_, MAYNARD,
    American Naturalist, 1872.

SP. CHAR. Bill small, exactly the same in form and size as that of
_Centronyx bairdi_; but proportionally smaller; tertials scarcely
exceeding the secondaries; tail emarginate, the feathers acute, the
intermediæ attenuated terminally. Outstretched feet reaching about
half-way to the end of the tail. In color almost exactly like _P.
rostratus_, but different in markings. Above light ashy, the dorsal
feathers light sandy-brown centrally, producing an obsoletely spotted
appearance; shafts of dorsal feathers black. Outer surface of the
wings pale sandy-brown, the feathers darker centrally; tertials with
their outer webs whitish, and with a conspicuous black central area.
Crown becoming darker brown anteriorly, where it is divided by a
rather indistinct line of ochraceous-white; an indistinct superciliary
stripe, and a very conspicuous maxillary stripe of the same; the
latter bordered above, from the rictus to the end of the auriculars,
by a narrow stripe of dusky; lores and sub-orbital region like the
superciliary stripe; auriculars pale brownish like the crown, bordered
along the upper and lower edge with a dusky narrow stripe. Beneath
white, slightly tinged with ashy on the flanks; sides of the throat,
whole breast, sides, and flanks, with narrow streaks of sandy-brown,
more blackish toward the shaft; abdomen, crissum, and lining of the
wing, immaculate; throat with a few minute specks, but along each side
bordered by a “bridle” of suffused streaks.

♂. (Collector’s No. 1,744, Ipswich, Mass. Dec. 4, 1868; C. J.
Maynard.) Wing, 3.25; tail, 2.60; culmen, .45; tarsus, .95; middle
toe, .80; hind claw, .40.

♀. (Collector’s No. 6,245, Ipswich, Oct. 15, 1871; C. J. M.) Wing,
2.90; tail, 2.40; culmen, .50; tarsus, .85; middle toe, .65; hind
claw, .30.

(Collector’s No. 6,224, Ipswich, Oct. 14, 1871; C. J. M.) Wing, 3.00;
tail, 2.30; culmen, .50; tarsus, .85; middle toe, .60; hind claw, .30.

The specimens described above were at first supposed to be _Centronyx
bairdi_, having several points of resemblance to that species, a
comparison with the type in Professor Baird’s collection at first
failing to establish a difference, as it was in faded and much worn
summer plumage, while the Massachusetts specimens were in perfect,
blended fall dress, so that a satisfactory comparison was almost
impossible. A more recent examination, however, with the advantage of
two additional specimens of the Massachusetts bird, has fully
convinced Mr. Maynard that his specimens are not _Centronyx bairdi_,
and that, indeed, they are referrible in all respects to the genus
_Passerculus_.

In carefully examining the type of _Centronyx bairdi_, it is seen that
its characteristic features are the following: Outstretched feet
reaching beyond the end of the tail; hind claw as long as its digit,
and much curved;—whereas in Mr. Maynard’s specimens the outstretched
feet reach to only about the middle of the tail, while the hind claw
is much shorter than its digit, and only slightly curved. With a wing
.10 to .45 of an inch longer, they have the tarsus not any longer, and
proportionally more slender. In coloration they are still more
different. The most striking feature in _C. bairdi_ is a broad and
very conspicuous median stripe of ochraceous-buff on the crown,
bordered on each side by an aggregation of black streaks, which form
the predominating color of the lateral stripes; of this median stripe
there is scarcely any trace in the specimens under consideration,
while the crown generally is grayish-brown, with small dusky streaks;
_C. bairdi_ has broad, conspicuous, black stripes on the back, while
_P. princeps_ has obsolete sandy-brown ones; in _C. bairdi_ there are
only a few small streaks of black across the jugulum and along the
sides and flanks, while in _P. princeps_ the whole breast, as well as
the sides and flanks, are thickly streaked with broader marks of
sandy-brown.

In point of coloration, as well as in the feet, there is in reality a
much closer resemblance to _Passerculus rostratus_; but in this the
very different bill and different arrangement of markings are
sufficient distinctive characters.

Upon the whole, therefore, there can be little doubt that the present
birds are well entitled to the name which Mr. Maynard has given them;
for after making all possible allowance for seasonal differences in
coloration, we have found it impossible to reconcile them with the _C.
bairdi_.

In this species there is a slight superficial resemblance to _Poocætes
gramineus_; but upon comparison it will be found to be entirely
different: thus, _P. gramineus_ lacks the median light stripe on the
crown, has the lesser wing-coverts rufous and the lateral
tail-feathers white, while the streaks are all blackish and the
ground-color different; the generic details, too, are quite different.

HABITS. This species has been obtained only in Eastern Massachusetts,
where, in the neighborhood of Ipswich, it was found among the
sand-hills by the sea-shore. The place where the individuals taken
were met with is a rather remarkable tract, three miles in length and
nearly one in breadth. It is as treeless as the Great Plains, and as
bleak and barren, with no vegetation except a scant growth of coarse
grass. Mr. Maynard obtained his first specimen early in December,
1868. Although others were seen, yet this was all he was then able to
obtain. He has since taken others in the same place and season.
Nothing is known as to its habits. It uttered, as it rose, a short
chirp of alarm.


Passerculus rostratus, BAIRD.

SAN DIEGO SPARROW.

  _Emberiza rostrata_, CASSIN, Pr. A. N. Sc. VI, 1852, 348. _Ammodramus
    rostratus_, CASSIN, Ill. I, 1855, 226, pl. xxxviii. _Passerculus
    rostratus_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 446.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1,
    1870, 184.

SP. CHAR. Bill very long (.55 of an inch above). Whole upper parts and
sides of head and neck pale brownish-gray (almost fulvous), nearly
every feather with a darker central blotch, darkest along the shaft. A
scarcely appreciable central stripe in the crown, an obscure
yellowish-white superciliary, and a whitish maxillary one. Under parts
pure white; streaked on the breast and the sides of throat and body
with dark brown (the streak paler externally). Under tail-coverts
unspotted white. Tail and wing feathers and wings margined with the
color of the back; the edges of tertiaries rather paler. Length, 5.30;
wing, 2.90; tail, 2.30.

HAB. Coast of California, south to Cape St. Lucas; mouth of Colorado
River (DR. PALMER).

The bill of this species is very long and conical, the cutting edge
nearly straight. The wings are rather long, the tertiaries nearly as
long in the closed wing as the primaries; the second, third, and
fourth quills longest, the first rather longer than the fifth. The
tail is short and emarginate, the feathers narrow, acute, and
moderately stiff. The tarsi are long; the claws little curved.

This species resembles the _Passerculus savanna_ rather more than any
of the other sparrows with spotted breasts; the bill is, however, very
much longer and larger, exceeding any of our American species of its
size, the upper outline more convex. Its colors are much paler, and it
lacks the yellow on the head and wing. The much shorter tail and
entire absence of rufous distinguish it from the spotted _Melospizas_.
In shape the bill is like that of _Ammodromus caudacutus_, but it is
larger; the head lacks the yellow, etc.

In some specimens the streaks on the back are almost obsolete.

HABITS. So far as is known, this bird seems to have a somewhat
restricted habitat, being apparently confined to the sea-coast of
Southern California. There it was first met with by Dr. Heermann, in
the neighborhood of San Diego, and was described by Mr. Cassin as an
_Ammodromus_, with which genus of birds it seemed to have many
peculiarities in common. Dr. Heermann first met with this bird in
1851, on the shores of the bay of San Diego, in company with other
species, apparently in search of grass-seed. Afterwards, in the
Pacific Railroad Survey, with Lieutenant Williamson, he again met with
these birds in considerable numbers at Santa Barbara and San Pedro. In
all the places in which he met with it he found it frequenting low
sandy beaches, and the heavy sedge-grass which abounds on the shores.
On the former it seemed to be feeding on marine insects and seeds
thrown up by the tide, and in the latter to find places for easy and
immediate concealment when alarmed or pursued. Naturally it appeared
to be a quiet and unsuspicious bird. He heard it utter no other note
than a short sharp chirp.

Dr. Cooper thinks this species has a much greater affinity to the
_Ammodrami_ than to the _Passerculi_, both in its bill and claws, as
well as in its habits. He found them very abundant, both at San Pedro
and San Diego, at all seasons, and he does not think that they migrate
at all from those localities. He found them frequenting the shores of
the bays and the sea-beaches. They also came confidently and
familiarly about the buildings near the water, feeding on any seeds or
insects they could find. On the beach they run along the sand, in the
rows of drifted sea-weeds, seeking their food, and rarely take to
flight unless surprised, and then only fly a short distance. Dr.
Cooper has never known them to alight on any bush, nor does he think
that they have any song. The only note he has ever heard them utter is
a short chirp. At San Pedro he saw them, in July, feeding their young,
but he has never found a nest that he was certain belonged to this
species.

Dr. Coues found this bird abundant in Southern California, where it
kept among the thick weeds of the dry plain, and was much on the
ground, where it ran as easily as a _Pipilo_, often flying up into the
bushes and resting there quietly. They were to be seen also in great
numbers sunning themselves and catching flies on the piles of lumber
on the wharf, so tame as to be almost liable to be struck by a cane.

It is a winter resident at Cape St. Lucas, where Mr. Xantus found them
abundant. They were not seen there in summer, though it is probable
they reside on the shores in its neighborhood. Their nest and eggs
remain unknown.


Passerculus rostratus, var. guttatus, LAWR.

ST. LUCAS SPARROW.

  _Passerculus guttatus_, LAWRENCE, Ann. N. Y. Lyc. VIII, 1867,
    473.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 185.

SP. CHAR. Above plumbeous-gray; the feathers of the back with dusky
centres and paler edges; the top of head also streaked with dusky and
with an almost inappreciable median stripe of lighter. Upper
tail-coverts slightly darker in the centre. No rufous edgings to the
feathers. Head with a pale yellowish-white band from bill over the
eye; and a mandibular one, nearly white, bordered above and below by
the dusky line of other _Passerculus_. Under parts white, thickly
streaked on jugulum, breast, and flanks with dusky, faintly on under
tail-coverts. Bill and legs rather dusky; iris brown. Length, 5.00;
wing, 2.50; tail, 1.95; tarsus, .80; middle toe and claw, .75; bill
above, .51; gape, .56; greatest height, .25.

HAB. Cape St. Lucas (Dec., 1859).

This bird, of which a single specimen only is so far known, is very
closely related to _P. rostratus_, though very easily distinguished
from it. It is considerably smaller than _rostratus_, the bill more
slender, the upper parts much darker, being plumbeous, not
sandy-colored; the stripes beneath darker; the bill and legs more
dusky. These differences may not indicate a distinct species, but as
the specimen here described differs entirely from all the specimens of
a large number of _P. rostratus_, it is yet entitled to consideration
as a marked variety,—probably the resident race at Cape St. Lucas,
where the var. _rostratus_ is merely a winter visitor.

HABITS. The St. Lucas Finch is a new species, in regard to the habits
of which nothing whatever is as yet known. It was obtained at San
José, in Lower California, by Mr. John Xantus, in December, 1859. It
was found in company with a flock of _Passerculus rostratus_, and the
presumption is that its habits may resemble those of that little-known
species.


GENUS POOCÆTES, BAIRD.

  _Poocætes_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 447. (Type, _Fringilla
    graminea_, GM.)

GEN. CHAR. Bill rather large; upper outline slightly decurved towards
the end, lower straight; commissure slightly concave. Tarsus about
equal to the middle toe; outer toe a little longer than the inner, its
claw reaching to the concealed base of the middle claw; hind toe
reaching to the middle of the middle claw. Wings unusually long,
reaching to the middle of the tail as far as the coverts, and pointed;
the primaries considerably longer than the secondaries, which are not
much surpassed by the tertiaries; second and third quills longest;
first little shorter, about equal to the fourth, shorter than the
tail; the outer feathers scarcely shorter; the feathers rather stiff;
each one acuminate and sharply pointed; the feathers broad nearly to
the end, when they are obliquely truncate. Streaked with brown above
everywhere; beneath, on the breast and sides. The lateral tail-feather
is white. Shoulder chestnut-brown.

  [Illustration: PLATE XXV.

   1. Passerculus guttatus. Cape St. Lucas, 26615.
   2.      “      princeps. Ipswich, Mass. (Type.)
   3. Centronyx bairdii. Ft. Union, Dakota, 1885.
   4. Coturniculus passerinus. Ga., 22405.
   5.      “       henslowi. ♀ S. Ill., 61191.
   6.      “       lecontei. Texas, 50222.
   7. Ammodromus caudacutus. N. J., 609.
   8.      “     maritimus. Pa.
   9. Zonotrichia leucophrys. ♂ _juv._, 817.
  10.      “      leucophrys. ♂ _ad._, Pa., 1506.
  11.      “      gambeli. ♂ _ad._, Nev., 53505.
  12.      “         “     ♂ _juv._, Nev., 53500.]

The essential character of the genus consists in the long and pointed
wings, longer than the tail and without long tertials; and the rather
stiff, forked tail, with its acute feathers. But one species is
recognized at present.


Poocætes gramineus, BAIRD.

GRASS SPARROW; BAY-WINGED BUNTING.

Var. gramineus.

  _Fringilla graminea_, GM. Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 922.—AUD. Orn. Biog.
    I, 1831, 473; V, 502, pl. xc. _Emberiza graminea_, WILSON, Am.
    Orn. IV, 1811, 51, pl. xxxi, f. 5.—AUD. Syn. 1839, 102.—IB. Birds
    Am. III, 1841, 65, pl. clix.—MAX. Cab. Jour. vi, 1858, 342.
    _Fringilla_ (_Zonotrichia_) _graminea_, SWAINSON, F. B. Am. II,
    1831, 254. _Zonotrichia graminea_, BON. List, 1838.—IB.
    Conspectus, 1850, 478. _Poocætes gramineus_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am.
    1858, 447.—SAMUELS, 303.

  [Line drawing: _Poocætes gramineus_.
                  11123 ♀]

SP. CHAR. Tail-feathers rather acute. Above light yellowish-brown; the
feathers everywhere streaked abruptly with dark brown, even on the
sides of the neck, which are paler. Beneath yellowish (sometimes
reddish) white; on the jugulum and sides of neck and body streaked
with brown. A faint light superciliary and maxillary stripe; the
latter margined above and below with dark brown: the upper stripe
continued around the ear-coverts, which are darker than the brown
color elsewhere. Wings with the shoulder light chestnut-brown, and
with two dull whitish bands along the ends of the coverts; the outer
edge of the secondaries also is white. Exposed portion of outer
tail-feather, and edge and tip of the second, white. Length, about
6.20; wing, 3.10; tail, 2.50; bill, .33 from frontal feathers to
point, by .33 in depth at base; tarsus, .72. Bill yellow, dusky above;
legs yellow. (Measurement of No. 10,147 ♀, Washington, D. C.)

HAB. Eastern Province of United States.


Var. confinis.

  _Poocætes gramineus_, var. _confinis_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858,
     p. 448 (in text under _P. gramineus_).
  _Poocætes gramineus_, COOPER & SUCKLEY, 200.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 186.

SP. CHAR. Resembling _P. gramineus_, but colors paler, the dark
streaks narrower. Bill more slender, tarsi longer. (Measurement of
40,803 ♂, Fort Whipple, Arizona: Bill, .36 from point of frontal
feathers by .25 in depth through base; tarsus, .78; wing, 3.35; tail,
2.80).

HAB. Western and Middle Provinces of United States, south into Mexico;
Oaxaca (SCL. 1859, 379; March).

This species is readily identified by the absence of a median stripe
on the head, the chestnut-brown of the shoulder, and the white lateral
tail-feathers. The young birds have the ground-color above more
whitish, the streaks blacker, in sharper contrast; the streaks on
jugulum, etc., less sharply defined;

the general appearance, however, is not different from the adult.
Sometimes there is a decided cinnamon wash beneath. Western specimens
(var. _confinis_) appear to be paler, with longer wings, and longer
and more slender bills, in this respect resembling other Finches
(_Melospiza_, _Passerculus_, etc.).

All specimens from west of the Rocky Mountains are to be referred to
var. _confinis_.

  [Illustration: _Poocætes gramineus._]

HABITS. The Bay-winged or Grass Finch is a very abundant species
wherever found, and has a very extended distribution. Accepting as one
species the slightly variant races above indicated, this bird extends
from Florida and Mexico, on the south, to the 57th parallel of
latitude, and from the eastern to the western shores. It was found by
Richardson frequenting the plains of the Saskatchewan, where it
arrives early in May and leaves in September, and where it nests
abundantly in the short withered grass of that sterile region.
Richardson did not trace it farther north than the 57th parallel, and
it was not obtained on the Yukon or Anderson Rivers by Mr. MacFarlane
or Mr. Lockhart. It breeds from Northern Virginia north.

In the Middle States it is partially resident, a portion remaining all
the winter. South of Washington it is chiefly migratory, only found,
in any numbers, from November to March, and probably but few remaining
to breed. Audubon states that he never saw any of this species in any
portion of Louisiana, Missouri, Kentucky, or Ohio. Mr. Dresser, on the
other hand, found them common about San Antonio in August and
September, and also in May and June, and had no doubt that some remain
to breed.

It is very abundant throughout New England, arriving in some seasons
as early as March 11, and remaining until quite late in the fall,
often through November. It is found chiefly in dry open fields and
pastures, where it nests, with no pains at concealment, on the ground,
in depressions made by its own work. It is an unsuspicious and
fearless species, neither seeking nor avoiding the companionship of
man. It does not usually build near houses, yet is not unfrequently
known to do so. It may be often found perched on fences along the
roadside, chanting its simple and pleasing lay, and quite as
frequently in the road feeding and dusting itself. The latter
operation it is very fond of practising, and almost any day in the
summer these birds may be found in such situations.

West of the Great Plains is found a marked variety of this species,
differing in many respects from the eastern. The western species or
race of this Finch, Mr. Ridgway states, is an abundant summer bird in
all the elevated grassy portions of the West. It is especially
characteristic of the higher grassy slopes of the elevated mountains,
particularly in the Rocky Mountain regions, and its sweet and simple
song is one of the pleasant associations of those regions. It
descends, in the autumn, to the lower districts, having been observed
during September in the greatest abundance among the “rye-grass”
meadows of Senot Valley, at the northern end of the East Humboldt
Range. It nests on the ground in grassy banks, in various situations.

Dr. Suckley found this bird abundant on the Nisqually Plains, about
Puget Sound; and Dr. Cooper says it is common, in summer, on the
prairies of the interior of Washington Territory. Dr. Cooper also
found it wintering in the Colorado Valley, in considerable numbers,
but all disappeared in April. He thinks they breed in Northern
California, though he has never found them doing so. Dr. Newberry
states that they are common in the Sacramento Valley, both in the
summer and in the fall. It was found by Mr. Boucard, in winter, near
Oaxaca, Mexico.

Their song is a very simple and pleasant succession of soft notes,
resembling that of the Canary, but thinner and feebler. It is begun
early in the morning and continued a few hours, and then renewed at
sunset and kept up often until after dark. It is also not unlike the
song of the Song Sparrow, but is neither so varied nor so loud and
strong. It continues to sing until late in the season.

They feed in the road, eating insects, seeds, and grain. They are fond
of searching also in ploughed fields, and keep principally upon the
ground, exclusively so when they are searching for their food.

Although as unsuspicious as the Song Sparrow or the Chipping Sparrow,
this Finch rarely, like them, comes about the house for crumbs of
bread, but seems to prefer to forage for itself in the fields and by
the roadside. Taken from the nest, these birds may be readily tamed,
and soon become very interesting and familiar little pets, though
Nuttall states that where several are thus kept they become very
jealous of each other, and quarrelsome.

Their nest is always placed upon the ground, and is very simply
constructed of dry stems of grasses, with no other lining than soft
fine materials of the same. They have two, and sometimes three, broods
in a season. When their nest is approached, they make use of various
artifices to draw away the intruder, and often vary their devices in a
very striking manner. In May, 1836, crossing a field within a few rods
of my home in Roxbury, I nearly stepped upon a female sitting upon her
nest. She immediately tumbled forward towards me, counterfeiting the
most extraordinary lameness, so much so that I supposed that I had
really stepped upon and severely injured her. I stooped to pick up
what I supposed to be a wounded bird, and found her nest and four
eggs. Visiting her nest again, as I approached she flew from it
quietly and silently, and immediately began the same manœuvres, at
some little distance from her nest, which she discontinued as soon as
she noticed that I was examining her treasures. These devices she
varied several times in a very remarkable manner. In Massachusetts I
have known this species to have its complement of eggs by the 15th of
April.

The eggs of this species are usually five, often four, and rarely six
in number. They are of an oblong-oval shape, the smaller end but
slightly more pointed than the other. They vary greatly in size,
ranging from .90 to .80 of an inch in length, and averaging about .65
in breadth. Their ground-color is a pale greenish-white, marked with
spots, lines, dots, and blotches of various shades of reddish and
purplish brown. In some eggs the spots are few and small, chiefly
confluent in a ring about the larger end, while the ground-color is
very plainly distinguishable. In others the ground is nearly concealed
by the abundance of the spots.


GENUS COTURNICULUS, BONAP.

  _Coturniculus_, BONAP. Geog. List, 1838. (Type, _Fringilla
    passerina_, WILS.)

  [Line drawing: _Coturniculus passerinus._
                  38741 ♂]

GEN. CHAR. Bill very large and stout, (except in _C. lecontei_); the
under mandible broader, but lower than the upper, which is decidedly
convex at the basal portion of its upper outline. Legs moderate,
apparently not reaching to the end of the tail. The tarsus appreciably
longer than the middle toe; the lateral toes equal, and with their
claws falling decidedly short of the middle claw; the hind toe
intermediate between the two. The wings are short and rounded,
reaching to the base of the tail; the tertiaries almost as long as the
primaries; not much difference in length in the primaries, although
the outer three or four are slightly graduated. The tail is short and
narrow, shorter than the wing (except in _C. lecontei_), graduated
laterally, but slightly emarginate; the feathers all lanceolate and
acute, but not stiffened, as in _Ammodromus_.

This genus agrees with _Passerculus_ in the short and narrow tail. The
wings are much shorter and more rounded; the feet shorter, especially
the middle toe, which is not as long as the tarsus. The tail-feathers
are more lanceolate. The bill is much larger, and more swollen at the
base.

The essential characters of this genus consist in the swollen convex
bill; the short toes, compared with the tarsus; the short and rounded
wings; and the very small, narrow, slightly graduated tail, with its
lanceolate acute feathers (except in the South American _C. manimbe_).

In some respects there is a resemblance to _Ammodromus_, in which,
however, the bill is very much more slender; the wings still shorter,
and more rounded; the tail-feathers much stiffer, and even more
lanceolate; the toes extending beyond the tip of the tail; the middle
toe rather longer than the tarsus, instead of considerably shorter.

_C. lecontei_ has the same general form, but a much smaller bill.


Synopsis of Species.

COMMON CHARACTERS. Crown and back streaked with black upon an ashy,
olive, or chestnut ground; beneath whitish, tinged across the breast
with ochraceous or ashy, plain, or with blackish streaks on the
breast. A light superciliary stripe.

  A. Tail-feathers attenuated, acute at ends, much graduated.
  On the crown a median light stripe.

    _a._ A dusky streak on each side of the throat, and one above
    the light ochraceous maxillary stripe.

      1. C. henslowi. Bill very robust, .35 along culmen by .30
      deep at base. Wing, 2.25; tail, 2.20. Head ochraceous or
      greenish olive, lighter on the throat; a blackish stripe on
      each side of the crown. Breast streaked with black at all
      ages. _Hab._ Eastern Province of United States.

    _b._ No dusky streak on side of throat nor above the maxillæ.

      2. C. lecontei. Bill very narrow, only .16 broad by .20
      deep at base. Median stripe of the crown ochraceous for
      anterior third, the remaining part ashy-white; superciliary
      stripe wholly ochraceous; edge of wing white; breast
      sparsely streaked in the adult. Wing, 2.15; tail, 2.20.
      _Hab._ Plains west of the Missouri, from Texas to Dakota.

      3. C. passerinus. Bill robust, .23, or more, broad, by
      .24, or more, deep at base. Median stripe of the crown
      ochraceous throughout; superciliary stripe yellow
      anteriorly, ashy posteriorly; edge of wing bright yellow,
      breast unstreaked in the adult, streaked in the young, in
      which the head stripes are ashy, with no yellow on wing or
      over lore.

        Colors dark, the black markings predominating above.
        _Ad._ Anterior lower parts deep buff at all seasons.
        _Juv._ Dusky streaks on breast very distinct. Bill, .33
        and .30; wing, 2.60; tail, 1.90. _Hab._ Eastern Province
        of United States, and West Indies …        var. _passerinus_.

        Colors pale, the light markings predominating above.
        _Ad._ Buff of the breast scarcely observable in summer.
        _Juv._ Dusky streaks on breast scarcely appreciable.
        Bill, .33 and .24; wing, 2.60; tail, 1.90. _Hab._ Western
        Province of United States …               var. _perpallidus_.

  B. Tail-feathers broad, rounded at ends; only slightly
  rounded. Crown not divided by a median stripe.

      4. C. manimbe. Head clear ashy, whitish on throat; crown
      uniformly streaked with black. Supra-loral streak and edge
      of wing bright yellow. No streaks on breast in adult.

        Breast tinged with ashy; black streaks on upper parts
        much narrower than the intervening ones of the ashy
        ground-color; dorsal feathers rufescent-umber medially,
        edged with ashy, and with a shaft-streak of black. Wing,
        2.35; tail. 2.00. _Hab._ Brazil …             var. _manimbe_.

        Breast tinged with ochraceous; black streaks on upper
        parts much broader than the ashy ones of the
        ground-color; dorsal feathers black, edged with ashy;
        wing, 2.25; tail, 1.90. _Hab._ Buenos Ayres and Uruguay …
                                                     var. _dorsalis_.


Coturniculus henslowi, BONAP.

HENSLOW’S BUNTING.

  _Emberiza henslowi_, AUD. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, 360, pl. lxxvii.—IB.
    Syn. 1839, 104.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841, 75, pl. clxiii.—NUTTALL,
    Man. I, 1832, App. _Coturniculus henslowi_, BON. List, 1838.—IB.
    Conspectus, 1850, 481.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 451.—MAYNARD,
    Birds E. Mass. 1870, 117.—SAMUELS, 306. _Fringilla henslowi_,
    NUTTALL, Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 571.

  [Illustration: _Coturniculus passerinus._]

SP. CHAR. Upper parts yellowish-brown, the hood, neck, and upper parts
of back tinged with greenish-yellow. Interscapular feathers dark
brown, suffused externally with bright brownish-red; each feather with
grayish borders. Tertiaries, rump, and tail-feathers abruptly dark
chestnut-brown, darkest centrally, paler externally, and narrowly
margined with gray. Crown with a broad black spotted stripe on each
side; these spots continued down to the back. Two narrow black
mandibular stripes and one post-ocular on each side of the head, and
an obscure black crescent or spot behind the auriculars. Under parts
light brownish-yellow, paler on the throat and abdomen. The jugulum,
upper part of the breast, and the sides of the body, conspicuously
streaked with black. Edge of wing yellow. A strong tinge of pale
chestnut on the wings and tail. The median tail-feathers and upper
coverts chestnut or rufous brown, with sharply defined shaft-streaks
of black. Length, 5.25; wing, 2.15; tail, 2.15.

HAB. Eastern United States as far north as Massachusetts; westward to
the Loup Fork of Platte.

This species is related to _C. passerinus_, but readily distinguished
by the well-marked stripes on breast and sides, the greenish-yellow,
not chestnut-brown, of head and nape, and the two mandibular dusky
stripes. The middle tail-feathers are reddish with only a very narrow
sharply defined median shaft-streak of black, instead of having the
greater portion of the centre dusky with scalloped edges. I have not
seen young birds, but they probably differ little from the adults.

HABITS. The history and general distribution of Henslow’s Bunting is
still somewhat imperfectly known. Mr. Audubon first met with it, in
1820, in Kentucky, nearly opposite to Cincinnati. It was seen on the
ground, amongst the tall grass, and is said to have exhibited all the
peculiarities of this tribe. He was afterwards informed that this bird
is abundant in the State of New Jersey, and that it breeds there; and
in evidence of this he mentions receiving a specimen from Dr. Trudeau,
obtained by that gentleman himself. Mr. Audubon also mentions that
both Dr. Bachman and he have procured a great number in South
Carolina, where they abound, in the latter part of autumn, and where,
also, a portion remain during the winter. In Florida, Mr. Audubon
again met with these birds in the winter. They were in great numbers
in all the pine barrens of that State, in light and sandy soil, and in
woods but thinly overgrown by tall pines. They never alight on trees,
but spend their time on the ground, running with great rapidity
through the grass, in the manner of a mouse.

In New Jersey they were found in ploughed fields, where they are
presumed to have been overlooked and mistaken for the Yellow-winged
Sparrow. Mr. Audubon supposed that they were not found farther
eastward than that State.

Specimens in the Smithsonian collection have been procured in Georgia
in December; in Maryland in July; at Fort Riley, Kansas, Southern
Illinois, and in Nebraska, in June.

In Massachusetts they are regular summer visitants, though as yet they
have been met with in only a few instances and in a somewhat
restricted locality. They are now met with nearly every year, and
several nests have been taken. Mr. Maynard obtained two specimens, May
10, in a wet meadow in Newton. Their song-note he describes as like
the syllables _see-wick_, the first syllable prolonged, the latter
given quickly. This bird was first obtained in Berlin, in that State,
by Mr. E. S. Wheeler, who discovered its nest and eggs. It was
mistaken for Bachman’s Finch, and was at first so placed on the
record, though the error was immediately corrected. Since then, in
that town, and in one or two others in its neighborhood, other nests
have been met with. Mr. William Brewster obtained several specimens in
Lexington, May 14, 1872. It is quite probable that it has been
confounded with _C. passerinus_, and it is now supposed to be more
common in the eastern part of the State than that bird.

One specimen of this Bunting was taken near Washington, during the
summer season, from which circumstance Dr. Coues gives it as an
exceedingly rare summer resident of the District of Columbia.

In 1871, Mr. Ridgway ascertained that, so far from being rare,
Henslow’s Bunting is very abundant on the prairies of Southern
Illinois, as well as the Yellow-winged species, but far exceeding the
latter in numbers. Though entirely similar to that bird in habits and
manners, it may be readily distinguished by its note, which is said to
be an abrupt _pil-lut_, much more like the common summer-call of the
Shore Lark than the lisped grasshopper-like chirp of the _C.
passerinus_, and to be uttered as the bird perches on the summit of a
tall weed, the tail being depressed, and the head thrown back at each
utterance. A number of unidentified eggs were sent to me several years
since, by Mr. Kennicott, from near Chicago. They resembled somewhat
the eggs of _C. passerinus_, but were not the eggs of that species. I
have now no doubt they belonged to this bird.

The nest is built in the ground, in a depression, or apparently an
excavation scratched out by the bird itself, and is a well-made
structure of coarse, dry, and soft reeds and grasses, well lined with
finer materials of the same description. The eggs, five or six in
number, somewhat resemble those of the _C. passerinus_. Their
ground-color is a clear bright white, and they are spotted with
well-defined reddish-brown markings, and more subdued tints of purple.
The markings, so far as I have seen their eggs, are finer and fewer
than those of _C. passerinus_, and are distributed more exclusively
around the larger end. The eggs measure .78 by .60 of an inch, and are
of a more oblong-oval than those of the common Yellow-Wing.


Coturniculus lecontei, BONAP.

LECONTE’S BUNTING.

  _Emberiza lecontei_, AUD. Birds Am. VII, 1843, 338, pl.
    cccclxxxviii.—MAX. Cab. Jour. VI, 1858, 340. _Coturniculus
    lecontei_, BON. Conspectus, 1850, 481.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858,
    452.

SP. CHAR. Bill much more slender than in _C. henslowi_. First quill
the longest, the rest diminishing rapidly. Tail emarginate and
rounded, with the feathers acute. Upper parts light yellowish-red,
streaked with brownish-black; the margins of the feathers and
scapulars pale yellowish-white. Tail-feathers dusky, margined with
light-yellowish. Lower parts, with the cheeks and a broad band over
the eyes, fine buff. Medial line yellowish anteriorly, nearly white
behind. The buff extending to the femorals and along the sides,
streaked with brownish-black. Throat, neck, and upper parts of the
breast, without any streaks, and plain buff. Length, 4.40; wing, 2.13;
bill along ridge, .37; edge, .50. Legs flesh-color; bill dark blue.

HAB. Mouth of Yellowstone, to Texas.

Since the regret expressed in the Birds of North America (1858) at the
loss of the single specimen known of this species, another has been
received by the Smithsonian Institution from Washington Co., Texas,
collected by Dr. Lincecum. It is in very poor condition, having been
skinned for an alcoholic preparation, and does not admit of a
satisfactory description of the colors. In its unspotted breast, the
rufous feathers of the hind neck, the absence of maxillary stripes,
and apparently in the markings of the wings, it is most like _C.
passerinus_. Although the inner tail-feathers have the narrow stripe
of _henslowi_, the bill is much smaller, as stated by Audubon, than in
the others, and is apparently bluish, not yellow. The vertical stripe
is deep buff anteriorly, and pale ashy posteriorly, instead of buff
throughout, and the superciliary stripe is continuously buff, instead
of yellow anterior to, and ashy behind, the eye. In the comparative
length of wing and tail, it is most nearly related to _henslowi_, but
the bill is very much narrower than in either. Upon the whole, there
can be no doubt of its actual specific distinctness from both its
allies.

HABITS. Leconte’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow was procured by Audubon in his
expedition to the Yellowstone. He speaks of its having very curious
notes, which he describes as of a sharp, querulous nature, and a
general habit of keeping only among the long, slender green grasses
that here and there grew up in patches along the margins of the
creeks. So closely did it keep in the coverts to which it resorted,
that it was very difficult to force it to rise on the wing, when only
it could be procured. Mr. Audubon did not meet with its nest or young,
and they remain unknown.

This type specimen was presented by Audubon to Professor Baird. A
second was sent to the Smithsonian Institution, from Texas, by Dr.
Lincecum.


Coturniculus passerinus, BONAP.

YELLOW-WINGED BUNTING.

  _Fringilla passerina_, WILSON, Am. Orn. III, 1811, 76, pl. xxvi, f.
    5.—AUD. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 180; V, 497, pl. cxxx. _Fringilla
    (Spiza) passerina_, BON. Obs. Wils. 1825, No. 111. _Coturniculus
    passerina_, BON. List, 1838.—IB. Conspectus, 1850, 481.—BAIRD,
    Birds N. Am. 1858, 450.—SAMUELS, 305. _Emberiza passerina_, AUD.
    Syn. 1839.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841, 73, pl. clxii. _Fringilla
    savanarum_, (GM.) NUTTALL, Man. I, 1832, 494.—IB. (2d ed.) 1840,
    570.—(GMELIN, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 921?) _?? Fringilla caudacuta_,
    LATH. Ind. Orn. I, 1790, 459.—NUTT. Man. I, 1832, 505. _?
    Passerina pratensis_, VIEILLOT. _Coturniculus tixicrus_, GOSSE.
  LOCALITIES: Oaxaca, March (SCL. 1859, 379). Guatemala (SCL. Ibis, I,
    18). Cuba (winter, common, CAB. Journ. IV, 7). Costa Rica (CAB.
    Journ. VIII, 1860, 411; LAWR. IX, 103). Vera Cruz (winter, SUM.
    Mem. Bost. Soc. I, 552).

SP. CHAR. Feathers of the upper parts brownish-rufous or
chestnut-brown, margined narrowly and abruptly with ash-color; reddest
on the lower part of the back and rump; the feathers all abruptly
black in the central portion; this color visible on the interscapular
region, where the rufous is more restricted. Crown blackish, with a
central and superciliary stripe of yellowish tinged with brown,
brightest in front of the eye. Bend of the wing bright yellow; lesser
coverts tinged with greenish-yellow. Quills and tail-feathers edged
with whitish; tertiaries much variegated. Lower parts brownish-yellow
or buff, nearly white on the middle of the belly, darkest on the
jugulum. The feathers of the upper breast and sides of the body with
obsoletely darker centres, these sometimes wanting. Sides of breast
against bend of wing with a few black streaks, usually concealed.
Length about 5 inches; wing, 2.40; tail, 2.00.

HAB. Eastern United States; south to Guatemala; Jamaica, resident;
Porto Rico.

The young of this species have the jugulum and sides of the breast
streaked with black, much more distinct than in the adult, and
exhibiting a slight resemblance to _C. henslowi_. The upper parts are
less varied.

Specimens from the Far West have the bill more slender, the reddish of
the back considerably paler, the dark markings of the back restricted,
the light stripe on the head with scarcely any yellow, a decided spot
in front of the eye quite yellow, and little or no ochraceous on the
breast.

The young bird, with streaked jugulum, may be most readily
distinguished from _C. henslowi_ by the grayer plumage without any
shade of chestnut or greenish-yellow, the sparseness of streaks on the
side, the absence of the two mandibular dusky stripes, and the broad
dusky centres of the middle tail-feathers.

Quite a fine series of specimens from Jamaica and other West India
Islands affords ample material to judge of the validity of the _C.
tixicrus_ of Gosse. It is scarcely possible to distinguish these
Jamaican specimens from examples from the Eastern Province of the
United States, though minute differences are observable. Their size is
somewhat smaller, but they are resident in the region where obtained;
and the shades of color are just appreciably darker. There are,
however, no differences sufficient to justify retaining the name
_tixicrus_, to designate even a variety.

All the specimens in the collection from Mexico and Guatemala are in
the autumnal or winter dress, so that it is probable that they are not
resident there; they appear to be identical with North American
specimens, and referrible to the variety _passerinus_ as restricted.

Between summer and winter specimens great differences are observable;
in the former season the edges of the feathers become worn, so that
often the chestnut spots disappear entirely, while the other markings
become poorly defined, leaving the black blotches predominant.

HABITS. The common Yellow-winged Sparrow appears to be a bird of
irregular and unequal distribution, found in certain localities in
great abundance, and not seen in the intervening districts. According
to some writers, it is partial to sandy places near the sea, and this
is certainly true of the neighborhood of New York City, and also of a
large portion of the New Jersey coast. It is likewise the case in
certain portions of Eastern Massachusetts, as, according to Mr.
Maynard, this species is very numerous in Nantucket, where it breeds
abundantly. I have never met with this Sparrow in Massachusetts,
except in a single instance, near Boston, nor in any collections of
eggs have I seen any that I supposed could be those of this species;
yet in the western part of the State, according to Mr. Allen, it is an
abundant summer visitant, arriving there about the first week in May,
and leaving early in September, breeding in dry fields and pastures,
and raising two broods in a season. According to Mr. Boardman, it is
an occasional visitant in the neighborhood of Calais, yet rare;
arriving there the first of April, five weeks earlier than it shows
itself in Springfield. Yet that this bird has ever been met with
between Boston and Calais does not appear. It was not seen in Western
Maine by Professor Verrill.

In the vicinity of Hartford, Conn., this bird appears also to be a not
uncommon summer resident. In 1860, I received from Mr. T. S. Brandigee
several nests found in that neighborhood. They were all constructed on
the ground, in a field of thin grass, and their tops were all nearly
covered over.

Dr. Heermann states that he found this bird a not uncommon species, in
the summer season, near San Antonio; and Mr. Dresser also procured a
specimen there in the early summer. Dr. Lincecum mentions it as a
common resident in Washington County, in the same State. He describes
it as a close-hiding Grass Sparrow, running on the ground in the
manner of a mouse, and never seen to alight on trees. Dr. Coues speaks
of it as a resident species in South Carolina, especially abundant
during the period of migration.

It has been found quite common, during the winter months, in Central
America, specimens having been procured there by Señor Constancia, Mr.
Skinner, and Dr. Van Patten. It was also found at Oaxaca, Mexico, by
Mr. Boucard.

Mr. Nuttall and Mr. Audubon speak of it as occurring in Oregon, but
Dr. Cooper did not meet with it on the Pacific coast. Dr. Kennerly
obtained a single specimen on one of the forks of the Colorado, in
February. Mr. Ridgway met with the western form of this species, in
suitable places, in the Sacramento Valley and the Great Basin, and
proposes for it the name of _perpallidus_.

In the vicinity of Newark, N. J., I have found this species apparently
one of the most abundant in that neighborhood, having obtained there
in the month of June more eggs of this than of any other species.

In Northfield, Ill., near the lake shore, Mr. Robert Kennicott met
with the nests of these birds in great abundance. From these facts I
infer that it is not necessarily or exclusively a bird of the
sea-shore, but that in certain favorable localities it is as abundant
in the interior as on the coast, and that at intervals it may be met
with from Texas to Maine, and from the Atlantic to the interior,
nearly or quite to the Pacific coast.

In Jamaica, Mr. March states, this species is not uncommon in the
savannas and grass lands near Spanish Town. It is a resident in that
island, and breeds there in considerable numbers, nesting in tufts of
grass-roots. It is only common in certain localities.

I have never heard its note to know it. Wilson speaks of it as a
short, weak, interrupted chirp. According to Mr. Ridgway, it bears a
close resemblance to the note of a grasshopper. Nuttall says they sing
in an agreeable voice, something like that of the Purple Finch, though
less vigorously; and Audubon characterizes it as an unmusical ditty,
composed of a few notes weakly enunciated at intervals.

It is terrestrial in its habits, living, nesting, and feeding on or
near the ground. It subsists on larvæ, insects, and the seeds of
grasses and small weeds.

This bird builds its nest on the ground, usually in a small tuft of
grass or in a cluster of plants. It is made of dry grasses, and is
lined with fine bent and horsehair. The young are said to follow their
parents for a short time, but soon separate, and learn to take care of
themselves. This species is not gregarious, and is never seen in
flocks, not even when just about to migrate.

Wilson and Nuttall describe the eggs as grayish-white, sprinkled with
brown. Audubon says they are dingy-white, sprinkled with brown spots.
This is not accurate. The ground-color is a clear crystalline white,
beautifully dashed and marbled with bold markings of an almost golden
brown. These spots vary in size, are often quite large, and
occasionally make a corona about the larger end. The eggs are of a
rounded oval, almost spherical, shape, measuring .75 by .63 of an inch.


Coturniculus passerinus, var. perpallidus, RIDGWAY.

WESTERN YELLOW-WINGED BUNTING.

  _Coturniculus passerinus_, var. _perpallidus_, RIDGWAY, Report of
    U. S. Geol. Expl. 40th Par.
  _Coturniculus passerinus_, COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 189.

SP. CHAR. Adult (No. 58,605 ♂, Antelope I., Great Salt Lake, June 4,
1869; U. S. Geol. Expl. 40th parallel) similar to var. _passerinus_,
but the light tints above prevailing, the ground a pale ash-color, and
the chestnut spots in excess of the black ones. Specks on the nape
very minute. Buff tinge to cheeks, throat, and jugulum so faint as to
be scarcely appreciable. Wing, 2.60; tail, 1.90; bill, .33 from
frontal feathers by .24 in depth at base; tarsus, .70. _Young_ (No.
53,942 Ruby Valley, Nev., July 22, 1868) differing from young of var.
_passerinus_ in a predominance of the light, instead of the dark,
markings on upper surface, streaks across breast so faint as to be
just appreciable, instead of distinct, and nearly black.

HAB. Western Province of United States, from eastern base of Rocky
Mountains to the Pacific.

This very appreciably different race replaces the restricted var.
_passerinus_, in the Western Province of the United States. In its
paler colors and much more slender bill than its eastern
representative, it agrees with _Passerculus alaudinus_, _Poocætes
confinis_, etc., as compared with _P. savanna_, _P. gramineus_, etc.
It is to this race that the biographical notes in the preceding
article refer, as far as based on western specimens.


Genus AMMODROMUS, SWAINSON.

  _Ammodromus_, SWAINSON, Zoöl. Jour. III, 1827. (Type, _Oriolus
    caudacutus_, GM.)

GEN. CHAR. Bill very long, slender, and attenuated, considerably
curved towards the tip above. The gonys straight. A decided lobe in
middle of cutting edge of upper bill. The legs and toes are very long,
and reach considerably beyond the tip of the short tail. The tarsus is
about equal to the elongated middle toe; the lateral toes equal, their
claws falling considerably short of the base of the middle one; the
hind claw equal to the lateral one. Wings short, reaching only to the
base of the tail; much rounded; the secondaries and tertials equal,
and not much shorter than the primaries. The tail is rather shorter
than the wings, and graduated laterally; each feather stiffened,
lanceolate, and acute.

  [Line drawing: _Ammodromus caudacutus._
                  609 ♂]

_Color._ Streaked above and across the breast; very faintly on the
sides.

The essential characters consist in the slender and elongated bill;
the long legs reaching considerably beyond the tail, with the lateral
claws falling considerably short of the middle one; and the very short
rounded wings, rather longer than the cuneate tail, with its stiffened
and lanceolate feathers.

COMMON CHARACTERS. Above olivaceous or ashy, the crown washed
with brown laterally, the dorsal feathers darker centrally;
beneath white, tinged across the jugulum with ochraceous or ashy;
jugulum streaked; a dusky “bridle” on each side of throat; above
it a maxillary stripe of ochraceous or white.

  1. A. caudacutus. _Ad._ Above olive, the dorsal feathers
  darker and edged with whitish-ochraceous; superciliary and
  maxillary stripes deep ochraceous; jugulum and sides tinged
  with the same, and sharply streaked with black. _Juv._ Wholly
  ochraceous, darker above; crown and back streaked with black,
  the former divided medially by a pale-brown stripe; breast and
  sides streaked with black. _Hab._ Atlantic coast of United
  States.

  2. A. maritimus. _Ad._ Above ashy, the dorsal feathers
  obsoletely darker centrally; superciliary stripe
  yellowish-ashy, bright yellow over the lores; maxillary stripe
  white; jugulum and sides tinged with ashy, the former
  obsoletely streaked with dark ashy. _Juv._ Above olivaceous,
  the crown and back streaked with black, the former not divided
  by a lighter median line; breast and sides washed with
  ochraceous and distinctly streaked with black. _Hab._ Atlantic
  coast of United States.


Ammodromus caudacutus, SWAINSON.

SHARP-TAILED BUNTING.

  _Oriolus caudacutus_, GMELIN, I, 1788, 394.—LATHAM, Ind. Orn. I,
    1790, 186 (not _Fringilla caudacuta_, LATH.). _Fringilla
    caudacuta_, WILSON, Am. Orn. IV, 1811, 70, pl. xxxiv, f. 3.—AUD.
    Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 281; V, 499, pl. cxlix. _Fringilla (Spiza)
    caudacuta_, BON. Syn. 1828, 110. _Passerina caudacuta_, VIEILLOT.
    _Ammodramus caudacutus_, SWAINSON, Birds, II, 1837, 289.—AUD.
    Synopsis, 1839, 111.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841, 108, pl.
    clxxiv.—BONAP. Conspectus, 1850, 482.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858,
    453.—SAMUELS, 307. _Fringilla littoralis_, NUTTALL, Man. I, 1832,
    504 (2d ed. 1840, 590). _Sharp-tailed Oriole_, PENNANT, Arctic
    Zoöl. II, 261, New York.

SP. CHAR. Upper parts brownish-olivaceous. Head brownish, streaked
with black on the sides, and a broad central stripe of ashy. Back
blotched with darker; edges of interscapular feathers and inner
secondaries whitish, just exterior to a blackish suffusion. A broad
superciliary and maxillary stripe, meeting behind the ashy
ear-coverts, and a band across the upper breast, buff-yellow. The
sides of the throat with a brown stripe; the upper part of the breast
and the sides of the body streaked with black; rest of under parts
whitish. Edge of wing yellowish-white. Bill yellowish below; dusky
above. The female appears to have more buff on the breast than the
male. Length, 5 inches; wing, 2.30.

HAB. Atlantic coast of the United States.

  [Illustration: _Ammodromus caudacutus._]

The young is of a more yellowish tinge above and below; the streaks on
the back more conspicuous; the scapular feathers without the whitish
edging.

In autumnal and winter specimens the buff tints are much deeper than
in spring; the sides of the crown, as well as the dark markings on the
back, more intensified, and in greater contrast with the lighter ashy
and olive tints.

HABITS. The Sharp-tailed Finch is one of the most striking and
well-characterized of land-birds, and as peculiar to the sea-shore as
the _Tringæ_. In habits it very closely resembles the whole family of
Waders in many striking respects. Like them it feeds upon small
crustaceans and minute marine insects, keeping about the water’s edge,
walking upon the floating weeds and other substances raised by the
tide, preferring this mode of life to a more inland residence, and
only resorting to the uplands to feed upon the seeds of grasses and
sedges when their food fails them at the water’s edge.

Dr. Coues is of the opinion that this bird does not breed in the
neighborhood of Beaufort, N. C., and that it leaves for the North in
May, having a more northern habitat than _A. maritima_. He does not
coincide with those who detect a resemblance between the actions of
the _Ammodrami_ and of the Sandpipers. He thinks the manner in which
they climb the reeds, slide up and down, and hang from them in various
attitudes, is more like that of Nuthatches and Titmice. On the ground
they seem to him unmistakably sparrow-like.

This Sharp-tailed Finch is abundant along the coasts of Connecticut
and Rhode Island, and is also found in Massachusetts, though
sparingly, and only in a few congenial localities. In the marshes of
Charles River, near Boston, this species is occasionally common in the
breeding-season. In the summer of 1869, Mr. H. W. Henshaw found quite
a number of their nests. Mr. Maynard has also taken it among the
marshes of Ipswich, which is probably about its extreme northern
limit. It has not, so far as I am aware, been traced to Maine. In
these localities it probably raises two broods in a season, as it
appears there in May, and remains until into October. They are
eminently terrestrial, run on the ground like mice, are difficult to
flush, and can only be shot while on the wing. They lie close to the
ground, and conceal themselves in the grass.

They are also very numerous in the marshes in the neighborhood of New
York, and especially so in New Jersey, breeding along that coast to
Cape May. How much farther south than this they are found I cannot
state, but I did not meet with any at Cape Charles, where the
_maritimus_ was very abundant.

In the winter this species is found in large flocks along the shores
of South Carolina and Georgia. Mr. Audubon, however, did not find any
in Florida. In the marshes near Charleston they are found in immense
flocks, so much so that Audubon has known of forty being killed at a
single shot. They search in the sedgy marshes for their food when the
tide is out, and, on the approach of the returning waters, retreat to
the higher shores and to the rice embankments.

The flight of this species is quite different from that of any other
bird, and by it they may at once be recognized. In flying, they also
drop their tails very low.

Mr. Audubon states that during the winter the Sharp-tailed Finch is
furnished with an extra quantity of feathers on the rump, for which he
finds it difficult to account.

These birds are essentially maritime, are found only in the vicinity
of the sea, and always keep immediately about the water, except when
the inclemency of the weather drives them to the high grass of the
uplands for shelter. They walk and run, or remain feeding on the
floating weeds and other substances raised by the tide, with all the
ease and fearlessness with which they move on the land. They are
gregarious in the winter, and in the Southern marshes are found
feeding in companies. During the breeding-season they keep more in
pairs, and are found more isolated. At this time they are also shy,
and difficult to detect. Their usual call-note is only a single
_tweet_, and in the love-season their series of twitters Mr. Audubon
thinks hardly worthy to be called a song. They feed indiscriminately
on seeds, insects, small crustaceans, and various forms of refuse
matter floated or thrown up by the tides.

On the coast of New Jersey, where these birds are found in the
greatest abundance, they have at least two broods in a season. Their
nest is on the ground, in a small tussock of grass or sedges, but
little removed from the reach of the tide, and is placed in a
depression apparently excavated for the purpose. They are loosely made
of soft and slender grasses, arranged in a circular form. The nest is
large for the bird, spacious and deep, and is softly lined with finer
and similar materials.

Their eggs, five or six in number, are of a somewhat rounded oval
shape, having an average breadth of .59 of an inch, and vary in length
from .78 to .70. Their ground-color is a light green, occasionally a
dull white, with hardly a perceptible tinge of greenish, thickly
sprinkled equally over the entire egg, with fine rusty-brown dots.
These are of various sizes, but all fine. In a few the larger dots are
confluent in a ring around the larger end; in others, the finer dots
are so small as to be only distinguishable under a glass, concealing
the ground-color, and giving to the egg an almost uniform rusty color.
These eggs vary but little in shape, and are nearly equally rounded at
either end, though never entirely so.


Ammodromus maritimus, SWAINSON.

SEASIDE BUNTING.

  _Fringilla maritima_, WILSON, Am. Orn. IV, 1811, 68, pl. xxxiv, f.
    2.—AUD. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, pl. xciii. _Ammodromus maritimus_, SW.
    Zoöl. Jour. III, 1827, 328.—BONAP. List, 1838.—IB. Consp. 1850,
    482.—AUD. Synopsis, 1839, 110.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841, 103, pl.
    clxxii.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 454.—SAMUELS, 308. _Fringilla
    (Ammodromus) maritima_, NUTT. Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 592.
    _Fringilla macgillivrayi_, AUD. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 285; IV,
    1838, 394; V, 1839, 499, pl. ccclv. _Ammodromus macgillivrayi_,
    BON. List, 1838.—IB. Conspectus, 1850, 482.—AUD. Syn. 1839.—IB.
    Birds Am. III, 1841, 106, pl. clxxiii. _Fringilla (Ammodromus)
    macgillivrayi_, NUTTALL, Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 593.

SP. CHAR. Above olivaceous ashy-brown; nearly uniform, but with the
centres of interscapular feathers darker and edged faintly with paler;
very obsoletely, almost inappreciably streaked elsewhere, especially
on the head, which has a faintly defined median stripe of purer ashy.
Beneath white; the breast and sides and under tail-coverts with rather
indistinct streaks of dark ashy-brown, tending to form a large spot in
centre of breast; an ashy mandibular stripe continued into the ashy
sides of neck, and cutting off and enclosing a white stripe above it.
A spot of yellow anterior to eye, continued over it as an almost
inappreciable grayish stripe. Edge of wing sulphur-yellow. Bill
lead-color; feet dusky. Length about 6 inches; wing, 2.50. In autumn
the breast and sides tinged with fulvous; the back with rufous.

Young birds (_A. macgillivrayi?_) have markings much more distinct,
and closely resemble _A. caudacuta_, though larger. They will be most
readily distinguished by the absence of the fulvous superciliary
stripe.

HAB. Atlantic sea-coast of United States, northward to Long Island
Sound.

The same seasonal differences in coloration are observable in this
species as in _A. caudacutus_.

HABITS. The Seaside Finch has very nearly the same distribution,
habits, and manners of life, as the Sharp-tailed species, and the
description of these in one would answer almost equally well for the
other. There are, however, certain shades of difference in several
respects to be observed.

This bird is, if anything, more southern in its distribution than the
other, and does not extend its visits in summer so far north. While
the Sharp-tailed Finch is not an uncommon bird on the shores of the
New England States, as far to the north as Ipswich, the Seaside Finch
is comparatively rare, much more so now than it was formerly. Mr.
Maynard states that he has searched carefully for it from the
Merrimack to the extreme southern shores of Massachusetts without
finding any specimens, nor could he find any on the island of
Nantucket, a very natural and congenial locality. Dr. Coues states
that it is abundant on the New Hampshire coast, but recent endeavors
have failed to detect it. In 1836 and 1837 a few isolated pairs built
in the marshes of Stony Brook, near Boston, above tide-water, nesting
not on the ground, but in low bushes. They were identified by Mr.
Audubon.

In the summer of 1852 I found this species very abundant on the low
sandy islands of Cape Charles, Va. There, in every instance, their
nests were in low bushes, about a foot from the ground. They were the
only land-birds found on these islands.

Rev. C. M. Jones informs me that at Madison, Conn., on the coast, the
Seaside and the Sharp-tailed Finches occur in about equal numbers in
the salt marshes. He was not able to observe any specific difference
in their mode of nesting, except that the _maritimus_ seemed to be
more common in that part of the marsh nearest the shore, while the
_caudacutus_ was more abundant farther back towards the highlands,
though this was not the invariable rule. He sometimes found the nests
suspended in the salt grass, the latter being interwoven with the
other materials. In all such cases the entrance was on the side of the
nest, in the manner of the Marsh Wren. At other times he found the
nest placed under a quantity of lodged grass, but resting on a portion
still lower. In such cases it is generally open at the top. He has
also found them on the ground, and, when thus placed, always much more
bulky than when built as above, a considerable quantity of dead grass
being laid down to keep the nest above the wet, though not always with
success. On Cobb’s Island, Va., Mr. Jones only found the _maritimus_,
the nests of which were in bushes, from one foot to eighteen inches
from the ground.

The call-note of this species is said to be a monotonous chirp, and
its song hardly to deserve that name. The notes of which it is
composed are few, and have neither variety, emphasis, nor
attractiveness.

Dr. Coues states that this Finch begins to sing when mating, and is
afterwards, during the incubating, particularly earnest and
persevering about it. Each pair usually claims some particular copse,
and the male usually has his favorite singing-post, to which it
continually resorts. He adds that its simple song is something like
that of the Yellow-shouldered Sparrow, beginning with a few slow
notes, then a rapid trill, finally slurred, till it sounds like the
noise made by some of the grasshoppers.

These birds are at all times shy and difficult to be approached. When
their nest is visited, the parents leave it and secrete themselves,
and cannot be traced without great difficulty. When thus hidden, they
will almost suffer themselves to be trodden upon before they will fly
up.

Mr. Audubon thinks they have two broods, their first being hatched out
early in June. Their nests, he states, are usually placed next to the
ground, but not sunk in it. Their food consists of marine insects,
small crabs, and snails, as well as small sand-beetles and seeds.
Their flesh has a rank, unsavory flavor, so much so that, having had
some made into a pie, he could not eat it. He states also that they
are resident in the Southern States, and are found along the Gulf
coast as far as Texas.

The nest is strongly but coarsely woven of dry sedges, stems, and
grasses, and is lined with similar but finer materials. The eggs are
five in number, have a grayish-white ground, and are spotted and
blotched with reddish-brown. The blotches are distributed over the
entire egg, and are much larger than in the _caudacutus_. There is,
indeed, no similarity between the two eggs. They measure .88 by .68 of
an inch.


GENUS CHONDESTES, SWAINSON.

  _Chondestes_, SWAINSON, Phil. Mag. I, 1827, 435.—IB. Fauna Bor.-Am.
    II, 1831. (Type, _Chondestes strigatus_, SW., equal to _Fringilla
    grammaca_, SAY.)

  [Line drawing: _Chondestes grammaca._
                  5557 ♂]

GEN. CHAR. Bill swollen; both outlines gently curved; the lower
mandible as high as the upper; the commissure angulated at the base,
and then slightly sinuated. Lower mandible rather narrower at the base
than the length of the gonys; broader than the upper. Tarsi moderate,
about equal to the middle toe; lateral toes equal and very short,
reaching but little beyond the middle of the penultimate joint of the
middle toe, and falling considerably short of the base of middle claw.
Wings, long, pointed, reaching nearly to the middle of the tail; the
tertials not longer than the secondaries; the first quill shorter than
the second and third, which are equal. The tail is moderately long,
considerably graduated, the feathers rather narrow, and elliptically
rounded at the end.

Streaked on the back. Head with well-defined large stripes. Beneath
white, with a pectoral spot. Only one species recognized.


Chondestes grammaca, BONAP.

LARK SPARROW.

  _Fringilla grammaca_, SAY, in Long’s Exped. R. Mts. I, 1823, 139.—
    BON. Am. Orn. I, 1825, 47, pl. v, f. 3.—AUD. Orn. Biog. V, 1839,
    17, pl. cccxc. _Chondestes grammaca_, BON. List, 1838.—IB.
    Conspectus, 1850, 479.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 456.—COOPER &
    SUCKLEY, 200.—MAYNARD, Birds E. Mass. 1870, 112
    (Massachusetts).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 193. _Emberiza grammaca_,
    AUD. Synopsis, 1839, 101.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841, 63, pl.
    clviii.—MAX. Cab. Jour. VI, 1858, 343. _Chondestes strigatus_,
    SWAINSON, Philos. Mag. I, 1827, 435.

SP. CHAR. Hood chestnut, tinged with black towards the forehead, and
with a median stripe and superciliary stripe of dirty whitish. Rest of
upper parts pale grayish-olive, the interscapular region alone
streaked with dark brown. Beneath white, a round spot on the upper
part of the breast, a broad maxillary stripe cutting off a white
stripe above, and a short line from the bill to the eye, continued
faintly behind it, black. A white crescent under the eye, bordered
below by black and behind by chestnut, on the ear-coverts.
Tail-feathers dark brown, the outermost edged externally and with more
than terminal third white, with transverse outline; the white
decreasing to the next to innermost, tipped broadly with white.
Length, 6 inches; wing, 3.30.

HAB. From Wisconsin and Illinois (also in Michigan and Ohio) to the
Pacific coast; Cape St. Lucas, south to Texas and Mexico. Oaxaca (SCL.
1859, 379); Vera Cruz (winter, SUMICHRAST, 552); Eastern
Massachusetts, accidental (MAYNARD).

The colors of the female are duller than in the male, the chestnut
less bright, the black not so intense; the pattern, however, is the
same.

  [Illustration: _Chondestes grammaca._]

The young bird has the breast and throat with a good many spots of
dark brown instead of the single large one on the breast. The other
markings are more obscure.

HABITS. The Lark Finch is found from Eastern Illinois to the Pacific,
and from Oregon to Texas. Within this wide area of distribution it is
everywhere abundant in the open prairies and plains. It is not found
in wooded regions. This bird was described by Say, and was first met
with by Long’s expedition to the Missouri River. It was not known to
either Wilson or Audubon, and its habits were very imperfectly known
to Nuttall.

Mr. Dresser found this bird very abundant in Texas throughout the
summer, arriving in the neighborhood of San Antonio in March, and
leaving there early in October. He found their nests quite common, and
usually built in a mesquite tree or bush, of fine roots and grasses.
Dr. Heermann also found it abundant in New Mexico. In Arizona, Dr.
Coues found it, chiefly in spring and autumn, a migrant, and, at those
seasons, very numerous. Many remain during the summer to breed, and a
few are found in the winter. It was met with near New Leon, Mexico, by
Lieutenant Couch, but was not obtained in Vera Cruz by Sumichrast. It
was taken near Oaxaca, Mexico, by Mr. Boucard. A single specimen was
obtained at Fort Dalles in Oregon, by Dr. Suckley, but it was not met
with by him west of the Cascade Mountains. Mr. Townsend states that he
also found it in that region.

Dr. Cooper did not find this species in the Colorado Valley, though it
has been obtained at Fort Yuma in December; and, as he has met with
them in large flocks in the valleys of San Diego in February, he
concludes that they winter in the southern part of California. They
breed from San Diego throughout California, and as far north as the
Columbia, where they arrive early in May. Dr. Cooper has never found
their nest in California, but has frequently met with it in Kansas and
Nebraska in May and June. He found them on the ground, and their nests
were constructed chiefly of grass.

He speaks of them as singing very sweetly, and states that in their
song they resemble the Canary more than any other bird. They frequent
the open plains, usually in the neighborhood of trees, upon which they
often alight in flocks. Their food consists of the seeds of grass and
other small plants, which they collect on the ground.

A single specimen of this bird was shot in Massachusetts in 1845, by
Mr. Samuel Jillson. It was taken in Gloucester, on the coast, where
its appearance was, of course, purely accidental.

We are indebted to the careful observations of Mr. Ridgway for the
principal portion of our knowledge of the manners and mode of life of
this species, which he has recently ascertained to be an abundant
summer resident in Southern Illinois. It is probably equally abundant
throughout the State, and is found as far east as Ohio, where it
becomes rare.

The Prairie Lark-Finch was found by that accurate observer very
abundant at Sacramento, Cal., where it frequented alike the oak
groves, the cottonwood and willow copses, and the weedy fields and
meadows. At Sacramento it was eminently arboreal, quite in contrast
with its habits as observed in Illinois. It was also met with in the
interior, wherever the locality was suited to it. Near Salt Lake City
it is one of the most numerous of the birds inhabiting the artemisia
grounds, in the outskirts of the town, in company with _Poospiza
bilineata_ and _Spizella breweri_. It is called by the Utah boys the
Snake-Bird, from the supposed resemblance of its striped head to that
of a snake. At Sacramento it is greatly prized as a cage-bird, and
young birds readily sell there for four dollars a pair. He states that
the delightful song of this bird has no parallel among the North
American _Fringillidæ_, and claims that in this respect it is
pre-eminently superior to that of all the other members of this
family. As it perches upon the summit of a small tree, on the
telegraph wire, or upon a fence, its notes may be heard throughout the
day, in the morning before those of any others, and late in the
evening, when all except for this irrepressible songster is silence.

The song of this species is described as composed of regularly divided
parts, almost perfect in compass, in vigor and continuity unsurpassed,
if not unequalled, by any other North American species. It begins with
a series of chants, the style reminding one somewhat of the
_Cyanospiza cyanea_, but each syllable loud, rich, and clear, and
uttered with a peculiar emotional trill, the whole seemingly delivered
in a hurried manner, in one continuous gush of sprightly silvery
notes, each accompanied by a metallic _tremolo_. As if exhausted, the
singer falters, and the notes become scarcely audible, then suddenly
reviving, as if in great joy, the song is resumed in all its vivacity,
until the bird at last really appears to be overcome by its efforts.

Dr. Coues met with this species in Arizona in the winter. He writes me
as follows: “The most eastern point where I observed this species was
at St. Louis, Mo. I saw a good many in the suburbs of that city in
May, 1865. It is one of the most abundant Sparrows about Fort Whipple,
particularly during the migrations; the majority pass northward in
April and May, but many breed in the vicinity, and some pass the
winter in sheltered situations. It is generally seen in companies,
frequenting the skirts of woods, the underbrush along mountain
rivulets, and similar situations, where the seeds of various plants
are procurable; its general habits resemble those of the species of
_Zonotrichia_.”

The nests were found by Mr. Ridgway in various situations; the larger
number were upon the ground, but several were in trees varying in
height from six to twenty feet from the ground. They were found from
the latter part of May through June. A nest obtained in Southern
Wisconsin by Mr. Thure Kumlien is very homogeneous in structure,
consisting entirely of loosely intertwined stems of dry grasses,
sedges, and carices. It was built on the ground, is nearly flat, and
has only a very shallow cavity. Its entire height is less than two
inches, and the depth of its depression not half an inch. The diameter
of the nest is three and a half inches, and that of the cavity at the
rim three inches.

The maximum number of their eggs is five. Their average measurement is
.85 by .65 of an inch. The ground-color is usually a grayish-white,
rarely a light brown, marbled and streaked with waving lines, and a
few dots of black or a blackish-brown.


GENUS ZONOTRICHIA, SWAINSON.

  _Zonotrichia_, SWAINSON, Fauna Bor.-Am. II, 1831. (Type, _Emberiza
    leucophrys_.)

  [Line drawing: _Zonotrichia leucophrys._
                  1506 ♂]

GEN. CHAR. Body rather stout. Bill conical, slightly notched, somewhat
compressed, excavated inside; the lower mandible rather lower than the
upper; gonys slightly convex; commissure nearly straight. Feet stout;
tarsus rather longer than middle toe; the lateral toes very nearly
equal. Hind toe longer than the lateral ones; their claws just
reaching to base of middle one. Inner claw contained twice in its toe
proper; claws all slender and considerably curved. Wings moderate, not
reaching to the middle of the tail, but beyond the rump; secondaries
and tertials equal and considerably less than longest primaries;
second and third quills longest; first about equal to the fifth, much
longer than tertials. Tail rather long, moderately rounded; the
feathers not very broad.

Back streaked. Rump and under parts immaculate, except in young. Head
black, or with white streaks, entirely different from the back.

This genus embraces some of the most beautiful of American Sparrows,
all of the largest size in their subfamily.

All the species properly belonging to this genus are North American;
several South American species, have, however, been assigned to it;
but they are none of them strictly congeneric with those given below.

COMMON CHARACTERS. Feathers of interscapular region blackish
centrally, passing into rufous-brown and edged with paler. Rump
and upper tail-coverts uniform olivaceous-ashy brown. Two white
bands on the wings; the tertials edged with rufous. Beneath
without streaks. Head above marked with black, and generally with
white. Cheeks plumbeous.

  A. Black of the crown divided by a median light stripe.
  Jugulum ashy.

    _a._ Throat ashy, uniform with the breast.

      1. Z. leucophrys. Median stripe of the crown white. A
      black stripe from behind the eye, and a white superciliary
      stripe.

        α. A black stripe from the eye to forehead, across lore.
        _Hab._ Eastern Province of North America, west throughout
        Rocky Mountains; Cape St. Lucas in winter …
                                                   var. _leucophrys_.

        β. No black streak in front of eye, the lores being
        wholly ashy. _Hab._ Western Province North America, east
        to Rocky Mountains …                          var. _gambeli_.

      2. Z. coronata. Median stripe of crown yellow for
      anterior and ash for posterior half. Black of crown coming
      down to eye and ear coverts, leaving no light superciliary
      stripe. _Hab._ Pacific Province of North America;
      accidental east of Sierra Nevada.

    _b._ Throat pure white, in sharp contrast with the dark ash
    of cheeks and jugulum.

      3. Z. albicollis. Median stripe of crown white. A light
      superciliary stripe, yellow anterior to the eye, and white
      behind it; a black streak along upper edge of ear-coverts.
      _Hab._ Eastern Province of North America.

  B. Black of the crown not divided, but continuous. Jugulum
  white.

      4. Z. querula. Lores, forepart of cheeks, with the chin
      and throat, deep black; whole side of head behind the eye,
      ashy. Lower parts pure white. _Hab._ Missouri Plains.


Zonotrichia leucophrys, SWAINSON.

WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW.

  _Emberiza leucophrys_, FORSTER, Philos. Trans. LXII, 1772, 382,
    426.—GMELIN, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 874.—WILSON, Am. Orn. IV, 1811,
    49, pl. xxxi, f. 4. _Fringilla (Zonotrichia) leucophrys_, SW. F.
    B. Am. II, 1831, 255. _Zonotrichia leucophrys_, BON. List,
    1838.—IB. Consp. 1850, 478.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 458, pl.
    lxix, f. 2.—COUES, P. A. N. S. 1861, 224.—_Maynard_, Birds E.
    Mass. 1870, 118.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 196.—SAMUELS, 309.
    _Fringilla leucophrys_, AUD. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 88; V, 515, pl.
    cxiv.—IB. Syn. 1839, 121.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841, 157, pl. cxcii.
    _? Spizella maxima_, BONAP. Comp. Rend. 1853 (either this or _Z.
    gambeli_). _White-crowned Sparrow_, PENNANT.
  Figured in BUFFON, Ois. IV, 192, pl. ccxxiii, f. 2. Winter.

SP. CHAR. Head above, upper half of loral region from the bill, and a
narrow line through and behind the eye to the occiput, black; a
longitudinal patch in the middle of the crown, and a short line from
above the anterior corner of the eye, the two confluent on the
occiput, white. Sides of the head, forepart of breast, and lower neck
all round, pale ash, lightest beneath, and shading insensibly into the
whitish of the belly and chin; sides of belly and under tail-coverts
tinged with yellowish-brown. Interscapular region streaked broadly
with dark chestnut-brownish. Edges of the tertiaries brownish-chestnut.
Two white bands on the wing.

_Female_ similar, but smaller; immature birds in first winter, with
the black and white stripes on the crown replaced by dark
chestnut-brown and brownish-yellow. Length, 7.10 inches; wing, 3.25.
_Young of the year_ thickly streaked with dusky on the breast. The
lateral stripes of the crown dull brown, the median one streaked
whitish.

  [Illustration: _Zonotrichia leucophrys._]

HAB. United States from the Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains, where
they become associated with _Z. gambeli._ Cape St. Lucas; Greenland
(REINHARDT, Ibis, III, 7). Breed in Wahsatch Mountains (RIDGWAY).

The white of the crown separates two black stripes on either side,
rather narrower than itself. The black line behind the eye is
continued anterior to it into the black at the base of the bill. The
lower eyelid is white. There are some obscure cloudings of darker on
the neck above. The rump is immaculate. No white on the tail, except
very obscure tips. The white on the wings crosses the ends of the
middle and greater coverts.

The character distinguishing the western representative (_Z. gambeli_)
of _leucophrys_ is apparently very trifling, but is very constant.

HABITS. The White-crowned Sparrow is found from the Rocky Mountains
eastward to the Atlantic, and in all the intervening territory, from
the Southern States to the Arctic regions. In the high meadows of the
Wahsatch Mountains, Mr. Ridgway found this bird very abundant, and one
very characteristic, breeding there quite as numerously as any other
species. In all that region Mr. Ridgway did not meet with a single
individual of _Z. gambeli_, its western representative. At the
encampment at Parley’s Park these birds soon became on very familiar
terms with the party. They were very sociable, and paid frequent
visits to the cook’s tent, and picked up, without the slightest signs
of fear, the crumbs from the ground. Their sweet morning carol was, he
states, delightful to the ear, and they were held in great favor by
all. A nest of these birds was found on the ground, at Parley’s Park,
June 26. It was built in a bunch of _Geranium_. Specimens of this
species were obtained, in winter, at Cape St. Lucas, Lower California,
by Mr. Xantus.

Although an eastern species, passing, in its migrations, through the
Southern Atlantic States to Labrador in the spring and returning in
the fall, it is a rare species in all New England. Mr. Boardman says
that it is not common in Eastern Maine, and Mr. Verrill that it is
rare in the western part of that State. In Eastern Massachusetts it is
very rare. Mr. Maynard mentions obtaining a single specimen, May 27,
and regards it as quite a rare migrant. I have never met with the bird
near Boston, and do not believe that it is found there, except singly
and rarely. In the western part of the State, though less rare, it is
very far from being common. It is found there in the spring, from the
20th to the 30th of May, and in October from the 1st to the 15th. Mr.
Allen met with it from May 7 to June 6, in 1861, when these birds were
more common than usual. At this period, farther west, in Ohio, Western
Pennsylvania, and New York, these birds are very abundant. From April
10 to the latter portion of May, in 1852, they were abundant in the
neighborhood of Washington, the Capitol grounds being full of them.
They were familiar and fearless, and seemed to delight to search for
food under the large Norway spruces, branching down to the ground.
Their abundance that spring may have been exceptional, as Wilson
appears to have met with but very few specimens.

Mr. Audubon found these Sparrows very abundant in Labrador, where they
were apparently late in breeding. It was not until the 6th of July
that he found one of their nests. This was placed among the moss at
the foot of a low fir. It was made externally of dry hypnum mosses,
matted in bunches like the coarse hair of some quadruped, and
internally of fine dry grasses, arranged with great neatness, to the
thickness of half an inch, with a full lining of the delicate yellow
fibrous roots of the _Coptis trifolia_. The nest was five inches in
its external diameter, and two in depth, the cavity two and a quarter
wide and one and three quarters deep. The eggs, five in number, he
describes as of a light sea-green color, mottled towards the larger
end with brownish spots and blotches, a few spots of a lighter tint
being dispersed over the whole. All the nests found were placed on the
ground or among the moss, and all were alike in their construction. By
the beginning of August the party met with young that were able to
fly. By the middle of that month they had commenced their southern
migrations.

Dr. Coues also found this Sparrow breeding in great numbers along the
entire coast of Labrador. Found in all situations, it seemed to be
particularly fond of deep, thickly wooded, and secluded ravines,
surrounded by high precipitous cliffs, and, when in more open
districts, confining itself to tangled patches of juniper and scrubby
firs. He describes it as a very active and sprightly bird, almost
continually in motion. It seldom alights without rapidly jerking and
flirting its tail, and uttering its loud chirpings. While the female
is incubating, the male usually mounts to the top of the cliff or a
neighboring tree, and repeats his loud and not unpleasing, though
somewhat monotonous, notes for the space of half an hour or more. He
describes its song as very similar to that of the White-throated
Sparrow, consisting of two long-drawn syllables with a rising
intonation, then three more in a quick, hurried manner, with a falling
cadence,—_pēé-dēé-dē-dē-dē_; the whole is delivered in a mellow
whistle. If approached while thus engaged, the performer becomes
instantly silent, and dives hastily into the nearest cover. The nest
was always placed on the ground, and usually in little patches of low
heath, abundant wherever the ground was dry. He found a nest on the
23d of July, containing young just hatched. The female flutters off in
silence when her nest is disturbed, but the male bird vociferates his
angry remonstrance, flirting his tail and jerking his body in an
energetic manner.

The food of this bird, in Labrador, was found to consist of small
coleopterous insects, grass-seeds, a variety of berries, as well as
minute shell-fish, for which they searched the margins of ponds near
the sea-shore. They were also seen to pursue insects on the wing. Mr.
Audubon speaks of its song as consisting of six or seven notes, and
describes it as loud, clear, and musical, although of a plaintive
nature, diminishing in power to the last note. Its flight he describes
as low, swift, and protracted.

Dr. Coues did not find this bird abundant in South Carolina during the
winter, and conjectures that it does not go so far to the south. Its
migrations do not appear to be well defined, and nowhere is it known
to be abundant during this season. Lieutenant Couch met with it at
Brownville, Texas, and Tamaulipes, Mexico, and at Charco Escondido, in
March, at which time they were in flocks, indicating a more southern
migration than is generally supposed.

It extends its northern migrations to the extreme northern and
northeastern portions of the continent, and also to Greenland. On the
Yukon and Anderson Rivers it is replaced by the _Z. gambeli_. It is
not abundant in Greenland. Holböll obtained a single specimen only in
August; and afterwards met with a flock of young birds. He infers that
they breed in the interior, but are restricted to a very narrow strip
of territory.

Eggs of this species, from Wyoming Territory, measure from .90 to .95
of an inch in length by .70 in breadth, and are of an oblong-oval
shape. The ground-color is a light greenish-white, thickly marked with
reddish-brown and lighter markings of an obscure purplish-brown. The
intensity, depth of coloring, and size of the darker brown markings,
vary. They are principally disposed about the larger end.


Zonotrichia leucophrys var. gambeli, GAMBEL.

WESTERN WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW.

  _Fringilla gambeli_, NUTT. Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 556.—GAMBEL, Pr.
    A. N. Sc. Phila. I, 1843, 262 (California.) _Zonotrichia gambeli_,
    GAMBEL, J. A. N. Sc. 2d series, I, Dec. 1847, 50.—BAIRD, Birds N.
    Am. 1858, 460, pl. lxix, f. 1.—LORD, Pr. R. A. Inst. IV, 1864, 119
    (British Columbia).—COOPER & SUCKLEY, 201.—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr.
    Ch. Ac. I, 1869, 284 (Alaska).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 195.
    _Zonotrichia leucophrys_, NEWBERRY, Zoöl. Cal. & Or. Route; Rep.
    P. R. R. VII, iv, 1857, 87.

SP. CHAR. Precisely similar to _Z. leucophrys_, but rather smaller;
the lores are gray throughout, this color continuous with a white
superciliary stripe along the side of the head. Length, 6.25; wing,
2.83; tail, 3.08.

HAB. Rocky Mountains to the Pacific coast, north to Nulato and Fort
Kenai, east through the valley of the Mackenzie River, and south to
Jalisco and Mazatlan, Mexico.

As stated in the previous article, the only appreciable and constant
difference between this race and _Z. leucophrys_ is found in the
character of the black stripe on the side of the crown. In
_leucophrys_ the black passes down over the upper half of the lores,
and in front of the eye, to a line continuous with the cutting edge of
the bill, and sends back a short branch to the eye, which cuts off the
white superciliary stripe. In _gambeli_ the superciliary stripe passes
continuously forward to the ashy lores, cutting off the black from the
eye. The lower edge of the black anteriorly is much higher than in
_leucophrys_, and nearly on a line with the nostrils.

We cannot give any positive character by which immature specimens of
_leucophrys_ and _gambeli_ may be distinguished, unless that the short
dark line from forehead to eye of the former is indicated by a greater
amount of dusky at the base of the feathers of that region.

The young of this species, like that of _leucophrys_, is streaked with
blackish on side of the throat, across the breast, and on the sides of
body, instead of being entirely unmarked beneath, as in the adult.

One specimen, collected in the West Humboldt Mountains, connects this
form with _leucophrys_, and may possibly be a hybrid. In this there is
a black spot in front of the eye, but separated from the black of the
crown by the usual light superciliary stripe of _gambeli_.

Some specimens from the coast region of California have the ash of
head and breast duller, and with a brownish cast, and the spots on the
back black instead of deep dark brown.

HABITS. The Western White-crowned Sparrow is found in great abundance,
from Mexico to the Arctic Ocean, between the Rocky Mountains and the
Pacific. Dr. Suckley found this bird very abundant at Fort Dalles and
at Puget Sound, at both of which places it is a constant summer
resident. It was always found in excellent condition. He states that
it makes its nest in low bushes, among the stalks of lupins and other
shrub-like weeds. Dr. Cooper also mentions that this bird is very
abundant in all the prairie districts of Washington Territory,
especially where there are low bushes. Unlike most of the Sparrows, it
was also common on the coast prairies, where he found it breeding.
They arrive at the Straits of Fuca at the end of March in large
numbers, and leave for the South in October. He afterwards found them
at Fort Mohave, in the Colorado Valley, quite common throughout the
winter, some remaining until the 15th of May, but he does not think
that any remain there to breed. They are also abundant, in winter,
from San Francisco south, through all the inhabitable country. In
summer they are found in the Sierra Nevada, to their summits, and are
also plentiful in the regions north of the Columbia. A few remain,
during the summer, in the cool district about San Francisco. In June,
1854, Dr. Cooper met with its nest near the mouth of the Columbia. It
was built in a bush, about a foot from the ground, formed of neatly
interwoven grasses, and lined with softer materials. He describes its
song as loud, but short and melancholy, heard at intervals during the
whole year, and frequently at night.

The Western White-crowned Sparrow was first met with by Mr. Ridgway,
at the Summit Meadows, near the summit of Donner Lake Pass of the
Sierra Nevada, at an altitude of about seven thousand feet. It was
there an abundant and characteristic bird. The males were in full song
in all parts of the meadow, and were nesting in such numbers that on
the evening of July 9, on halting for the night, in a hurried search
no less than twenty-seven of their eggs were obtained within about
fifteen minutes. In every instance the nests were embedded under a
species of dwarf-willow, with which the ground was covered. The birds
were extremely unsuspicious, the male often sitting on a bush within a
few feet of the collector, and chanting merrily as the eggs were being
blown. In one instance, having occasion to repass a spot from which a
nest had been taken, the female was found sitting in the cavity from
which its nest had been removed. This species is only a winter
visitant of the lower country, but is there universally distributed,
and always found in bushy localities.

Mr. Bannister states that this bird was tolerably abundant among the
alder-bushes in certain parts of St. Michael’s Island. Mr. Dall found
it common at Nulato, and especially so at Fort Yukon. It arrived at
Nulato about May 20. Its nests and eggs were obtained from Indians at
Nowikakat, on the Yukon River. Dr. Kennerly met with these birds, in
February, at White Cliff Creek, New Mexico. They were first observed
on approaching the Big Sandy, and from thence to the Colorado they
were found in abundance. They were mostly in flocks, and were
generally found among the bushes, in the vicinity of water. He also
met with it in the valley of the Rio Grande, Corralitos, and Janos
Rivers. It seemed to prefer the vicinity of settlements, where it was
always seen in greater numbers than elsewhere.

Mr. Dresser found these birds common about San Antonio, Texas, during
the winter, arriving late in September. Some may remain and breed, as
several were observed there in June. Dr. Coues also found them
abundant in Arizona, where he first observed them September 15. After
this they became exceedingly numerous, and remained so until January.
Later than this only a few stragglers were seen, until April, when
they again became abundant. By far the greater part left, and
proceeded north to breed.

These Sparrows were found breeding on the Yukon and at Fort Anderson
in great numbers by Messrs. MacFarlane, Lockhart, and Ross. Their
nests were in nearly all cases found upon the ground, often in tufts
of grass, clumps of Labrador tea, or other low bushes. They were
composed of hay, and, in nearly every instance, were lined with deer’s
hair, and in a few with feathers. A few were without any lining. In
selecting a situation for their nests, they seemed generally to give
the preference to open or thinly wooded tracts. The male bird was
usually seen, or its note heard, in the immediate vicinity of the
nest. The eggs were obtained from the 4th of June to the 1st of July.
Their maximum number was six; the most common, four.

Mr. B. R. Ross states that this species arrives at the Arctic Circle
from about the 15th to the 20th of May, and at Slave Lake only a few
days earlier. They are then no longer in flocks, but have already
paired. They commence nesting almost immediately upon their arrival at
the Yukon and at Fort Good Hope. Mr. Ross found nests made as early as
May 20 to 25, while there was still considerable snow upon the ground.
They mostly nest, however, in the first half of June, the young
usually hatching between the 15th and 30th, and leaving the nests when
less than a month old. They all leave the Arctic Circle about the
middle of September. A few were seen at Fort Simpson in the latter
part of that month. When starting, they gather in small flocks. The
nest is built on high ground, among low, open bushes, always at the
foot of some shrub or bush, and more or less protected and concealed
by grass. It is never placed in the edges of marshes, like _Melospiza
lincolni_; nor on small prairies, like the _Passerculus savanna_; nor
in thick woods, as does sometimes the _Z. albicollis_. The nest is
neatly built, is more compact and of finer materials than that of the
latter. It is large and deep, formed externally of coarse grass, and
lined with finer materials.

When started from her nest, the female flies off a few yards and
flutters silently along the ground to divert attention. If
unsuccessful, she flies about her nest uttering sharp, harsh notes of
anxiety. The male is less bold on such occasions. Their favorite
habitat is light open bushes, affecting neither open plains nor deep
woods and never perching so high as twenty feet from the ground, and
usually, in all their movements, keeping close to the earth.

Its food, so far as could be observed, consisted almost wholly of
seeds, sought mostly on the ground. It hatches only a single brood in
a year.

Mr. B. R. Boss adds that this is the most abundant Sparrow throughout
the Mackenzie River region, and also the most interesting. Through the
spring and summer its melodious song, which strongly calls to mind the
first notes of the old air, “O Dear! what can the Matter be?” may be
heard from every thicket, both night and day. When sleeping in the
woods, Mr. Boss states that he has often been awakened by several of
these birds singing near him, answering each other, throughout the
short night, when all the other birds were silent. On this account,
but for the richness and melody of its song the bird would have made
itself quite disagreeable.

The Cree Indians name this Sparrow _Wah-si-pis-chan_, because they
think this resembles its notes, the last of which are supposed to
imitate the sound of running water. It sings long after the
breeding-season is past, and its notes may be heard even into August.

The eggs measure .85 of an inch in length by .65 in breadth, and have
a ground of a greenish-white marked with a rusty-brown. They are of a
rounded-oval shape.

  [Illustration: PLATE XXVI.

   1. Zonotrichia coronata. ♂ _ad._, Columb. R., 2780.
   2. Junco oregonus. ♂ _ad._, Cal., 3920.
   3.   “   caniceps. ♂ Utah, 11159.
   4. Zonotrichia querula. ♂ _ad._, Ft. Union, Dakota, 1940.
   5. Junco hyemalis. ♂ Pa., 1287.
   6.   “   aikeni. ♂ Colorado, 61302.
   7. Zonotrichia querula. Autumn.
   8. Poospiza bilineata. ♂ _ad._, N. Mex., 6316.
   9.     “    belli. _Ad._, Nevada, 53516.
  10. Zonotrichia albicollis. ♂ _ad._, Pa., 1434.
  11. Spizella atrigularis. ♂ _ad._, Coahuila, Mex., 4935.
  12.    “          “       ♀ _juv._, Cape St. Lucas, 23866.]


Zonotrichia coronata, BAIRD.

GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW.

  _Emberiza coronata_, PALLAS, Zoög. Rosso-Asiat. II, 1811, 44, plate.
    _Zonotrichia c._, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 461.—HEERM. X, _S_, 48
    (nest).—COOPER & SUCKLEY, 201.—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Ch. Ac. I,
    1869, 284 (Alaska).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 197. _Emberiza
    atricapilla_, AUD. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 47, pl. cccxciv (not of
    GMELIN). _Fringilla atricapilla_, AUD. Synopsis, 1839, 122.—IB.
    Birds Am. III, 1841, 162, pl. cxciii. _Fringilla aurocapilla_,
    NUTTALL, Man. I, (2d. ed.,) 1840, 555. _Zonotrichia aurocapilla_,
    BON. Consp. 1850, 478.—NEWBERRY, Zoöl. Cal. & Or. Route, Rep. P.
    R. R. VI, IV. 1857, 88. _Emberiza atricapilla_, GM. I, 1788, 875
    (in part only).—LATH. Ind. 415. _Black-crowned Bunting_, PENNANT,
    Arc. Zoöl. II, 364.—LATH. II, I, 202, 49, tab. lv.

SP. CHAR. Hood, from bill to upper part of nape, pure black, the
middle longitudinal third occupied by yellow on the anterior half, and
pale ash on the posterior. Sides and under parts of head and neck,
with upper part of breast, ash-color, passing insensibly into whitish
on the middle of the body; sides and under tail-coverts tinged with
brownish. A yellowish spot above the eye, bounded anteriorly by a
short black line from the eye to the black of the forehead. This
yellow spot, however, reduced to a few feathers in spring dress.
Interscapular region, with the feathers, streaked with dark brown,
suffused with dark rufous externally. Two narrow white bands on the
wings. Bill dusky above, paler beneath; legs flesh-color.

Autumnal specimens have more or less of the whole top of head
greenish-yellow; the feathers somewhat spotted with dusky; the black
stripe of the hood reduced to a narrow superciliary line, or else to a
spot anterior to the eye. Length about 7 inches; wing, 3.30.

HAB. Pacific coast from Russian America to Southern California; West
Humboldt Mountains, Nev. Black Hills of Rocky Mountains?

HABITS. This species, described and figured by Mr. Audubon as the
_Fringilla atricapilla_, is found in western North America, from
Alaska to Southern California and Cape St. Lucas, and is almost
entirely confined to the Pacific Province, being known east of the
Cascade Mountains and Sierra Nevada only as stragglers. In its general
habits it is said to greatly resemble the _Z. gambeli_. In the
vicinity of Fort Dalles, and also in the neighborhood of Fort
Steilacoom, Dr. Suckley found it quite abundant in the summer.

Dr. Cooper says that it is only a straggler in the forest regions west
of the Cascade Mountains, but that it probably migrates more
abundantly to the open plains eastward of them. He met with them but
once near Puget Sound, May 10, when they were apparently migrating.
Dr. Cooper found a few of this species wintering as far south as San
Diego, associating with _Z. gambeli_. They were much less familiar,
did not come about the houses, but kept among the dense thickets. They
were then silent, nor has he ever heard them utter any song. He met
with none near the summit of the Sierra Nevada.

Dr. Newberry found these birds abundant in the vicinity of San
Francisco in winter.

Mr. Nuttall met with the young birds of this species on the central
tablelands of the Rocky Mountains, in the prairies. They were running
on the ground. He heard no note from them. He afterwards saw a few
stragglers, in the early part of winter, in the thickets of the
forests of the Columbia River, near Fort Vancouver. He also met with
them, in the winter and until late in the spring, in the woods and
thickets of California.

Dr. Heermann found this species very abundant in the fall season,
generally associated with the California Song Sparrow and the _Z.
gambeli_. It resorts to the deep shady thickets and woods, where it
passes the greater part of its time. In the mountainous districts it
prefers the hillsides, covered with dense undergrowth. It occasionally
breeds in California, as Dr. Heermann found its nest in a bush near
Sacramento City. It was composed of coarse stalks of weeds, and lined
internally with fine roots. The eggs were four in number, and are
described as having been of an ashy-white ground, with markings of
brown umber, at times appearing almost black from the depth of their
shade. They were marked also with a few spots of a neutral tint.

Many of these birds were obtained in Sitka and in Kodiak, by Bischoff,
and also in British Columbia by Elliot.

Only one specimen of this species was met with by Mr. Ridgway in his
explorations with Mr. Clarence King’s survey. This was taken October
7, 1867, in the West Humboldt Mountains, in company with a flock of
_Z. gambeli_.


Zonotrichia albicollis, BONAP.

WHITE-THROATED SPARROW.

  _Fringilla albicollis_, GMELIN, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 926.—WILSON, Am.
    Orn. III, 1811, 51, pl. xxii, f. 2.—LICHT. Verz. Doubl. No. 247
    (1823). _Zonotrichia albicollis_, BP. Consp. 1850, 478.—CAB. Mus.
    Hein. 1851, 132.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 463.—SAMUELS, 311.
    _Passer pennsylvanicus_, BRISSON, 1760, Appendix, 77. _Fringilla
    pennsylvanica_, LATH. Index, I, 1790, 445.—AUD. Orn. Biog. I,
    1831, 42; V, 497, pl. viii.—IB. Syn. 1839, 121.—IB. Birds Am. III,
    1841, 153, pl. cxci.—MAX. Cab. Jour. VI, 1858, 276. _Fringilla
    (Zonotrichia) pennsylvanica_, SW. F. B. Am. II, 1831, 256.
    _Zonotrichia pennsylvanica_, BON. List, 1838.

SP. CHAR. Two black stripes on the crown, separated by a median one of
white. A broad superciliary stripe from the base of the mandible to
the occiput, yellow as far as the middle of the eye and white behind
this. A broad black streak on the side of the head from behind the
eye. Chin white, abruptly defined against the dark ash of the sides of
the head and upper part of the breast, fading into white on the belly,
and margined by a narrow black maxillary line. Edge of wing and
axillaries yellow. Back and edges of secondaries rufous-brown, the
former streaked with dark brown. Two narrow white bands across the
wing-coverts. Length, 7 inches; wing, 3.10; tail, 3.20. Young of the
year not in the collection.

HAB. Eastern Province of North America to the Missouri. Breeding in
most of the northern United States and British Provinces, and
wintering in the United States almost to their southern limit.
Aberdineshire, England, August 17, 1867 (Zoölogist, Feb., 1869, 1547;
P. Z. S. 1857, 52). Scotland (Newton, Pr. Zoöl. Soc. 1870, 52).

Female smaller, and the colors rather duller. Immature and winter
specimens have the white chin-patch less abruptly defined, the white
markings on the top and sides of the head tinged with brown. Some
specimens, apparently mature, show quite distinct streaks on the
breast and sides of throat and body.

HABITS. The White-throated Sparrow is, at certain seasons, an abundant
bird in all parts of North America, from the Great Plains to the
Atlantic, and from Georgia to the extreme Arctic regions. A few breed
in favorable situations in Massachusetts, especially in the extreme
northwestern part of the State. It breeds abundantly in Vermont, New
Hampshire, and Maine, and in all the British Provinces.

Sir John Richardson states that they reach the Saskatchewan in the
middle of May, and spread throughout the fur countries, as far, at
least, as the 66th parallel, to breed. He states that he saw a female
sitting on seven eggs near the Cumberland House, as early as June 4.
The nest was placed under a fallen tree, was made of grass, lined with
deer’s hair and a few feathers. Another, found at Great Bear’s Lake,
was lined with the _setæ_ of the _Bryum uliginosum_. He describes the
eggs as of a pale mountain-green, thickly marbled with reddish-brown.
When the female was disturbed, she ran silently off in a crouching
manner, like a Lark. He describes the note of this bird as a clear
song of two or three notes, uttered very distinctly, but without
variety,—a very incomplete description.

Mr. Kennicott states that this species does not extend its migrations
as far to the north as _Z. gambeli_, and is even much less numerous on
the south shores of the Slave Lake, where he did not observe half so
many of this as of the other. It also nests later, as he found the
first nest observed on the 22d of June, with the eggs quite fresh,
incubation not having commenced, and found others after that date. On
English River he found two nests with eggs on the 9th and 17th of
July, and one near the Cumberland House on the 30th of June. Two of
these were in low swampy ground among large trees, the other on high
ground among small bushes. They were constructed on large bases of
moss, and lined with soft grasses. When startled from her nest, the
female always crept silently away through the grass.

He met with this species in considerable flocks, accompanied by small
numbers of _Z. leucophrys_, on the north shore of Lake Superior, on
the 11th of May. He saw individuals on the 29th of May, near the Lake
of the Woods, and it doubtless breeds as far south as that region. In
the fall it was not seen at Fort Simpson later than the last of
September. As it is a much more eastern bird than _Z. gambeli_, it is
probably in greater abundance on the eastern end of Slave Lake. Its
song he regards as by no means so attractive as that of _Z. gambeli_
or of _Z. leucophrys_. Its general habits are very much like those of
the former, and though by no means a strictly terrestrial bird, it
rarely perches high on trees, and generally flies near the ground,
except in its long migratory flights.

Notwithstanding the slighting manner in which the song of this bird is
spoken of by some writers, in certain parts of the country its clear,
prolonged, and peculiar whistle has given to it quite a local fame and
popularity. Among the White Mountains, where it breeds abundantly, it
is known as the Peabody Bird, and its remarkably clear whistle
resounds in all their glens and secluded recesses. Its song consists
of twelve distinct notes, which are not unfrequently interpreted into
various ludicrous travesties. As this song is repeated with no
variations, and quite frequently from early morning until late in the
evening, it soon becomes quite monotonous.

Among the White Mountains I have repeatedly found its nests. They were
always on the ground, usually sheltered by surrounding grass, and at
the foot of bushes or a tree, or in the woods under a fallen log. In
that region it retained all its wild, shy habits, rarely being found
in the neighborhood of dwellings or in cultivated grounds. But at
Halifax this was not so. There I found them breeding in gardens, on
the edge of the city, and in close proximity to houses, apparently not
more shy than the common Song Sparrow.

Wilson states that these birds winter in most of the States south of
New England, and he found them particularly numerous near the Roanoke
River, collecting in flocks on the borders of swampy thickets, among
long rank weeds, the seeds of which formed their principal food. He
gives the 20th of April as the date of their disappearance, but I have
observed them lingering in the Capitol grounds in Washington several
weeks after that date. They pass through Eastern Massachusetts from
the 10th to the 20th of May, and repass early in October. A few
stragglers sometimes appear at earlier dates, but irregularly. In
Western Maine, where it is quite common, Professor Verrill states that
it sometimes arrives by the middle of April. Near Springfield, Mass.,
Mr. Allen noted their appearance between the last of April and the
20th of May; in fall, from the last of September through October.
Their favorite haunts are moist thickets. The young males do not
acquire their full plumage until the second spring, but sing and breed
in the plumage of the females, as Mr. Allen ascertained by dissection.
Mr. Hildreth observed a pair near Springfield during three successive
summers, and although he could not find the nest, he saw them feeding
their scarcely fledged young birds.

At Columbia, S. C., Dr. Coues found these Sparrows very abundant, from
October through April. They sing, more or less, all winter, and during
the last few weeks of their stay are quite musical. Many hundreds pass
the months of March and April in the gardens of that city, though
during the winter they were mostly to be found in thickets and fields,
in company with many other species.

A single specimen of this bird was killed in Aberdeenshire, August 17,
1867, and a second was lately captured alive near Brighton (P. Z. S.,
June 4, 1872).

Mr. Audubon says that this bird visits Louisiana and all the Southern
districts in winter, remaining from November to March, in great
numbers. They form groups of from thirty to fifty, and live together
in great harmony, feeding upon small seeds. At this time they are
plump to excess, and are regarded as a great delicacy.

When kept in confinement these birds become quite tame, and in the
spring will sing at all hours of the day or night.

The nest of this bird is usually, if not always, on the ground, but in
various situations, as I have found them on a hillside, in the midst
of low underbrush, in a swampy thicket, at the foot of some large tree
in a garden, as at Halifax, by the edge of a small pond, or in a
hollow and decaying stump. Their nest is large, deep, and capacious,
with a base of moss or coarse grasses, woven with finer stems above
and lined with hair, a few feathers, fine rootlets of plants or soft
grasses. The eggs vary from four to seven in number. Their
ground-color is of a pale green or a greenish-white, marked over the
entire egg with a fox-colored or rusty brown. Occasionally these
markings are sparsely scattered, permitting the ground to be plainly
visible, but generally they are so very abundant as to cover the
entire egg so closely as to conceal all other shade, and give to the
whole a deep uniform rufous-brown hue, through which the under color
of light green is hardly distinguishable. They measure .90 by .68 of
an inch.


Zonotrichia querula, GAMBEL.

HARRIS’S SPARROW; BLACK-HOODED SPARROW.

  _Fringilla querula_, NUTTALL, Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 555 (Westport,
    Mo.). _Zonotrichia querula_, GAMBEL, J. A. N. Sc. 2d Ser. I, 1847,
    51.—BONAP. Consp. 1850, 478.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 462.—ALLEN,
    Amer. Naturalist, May, 1872. _Fringilla harrisi_, AUD. Birds Am.
    VII, 1843, 331, pl. cccclxxxiv. _Fringilla comata_, PR. MAX. Reise
    II, 1841.—IB. Cab. Jour. VI, 1858, 279. _Zonotrichia comata_, BP.
    Consp. 1850, 479.

SP. CHAR. Hood and nape, sides of head anterior to and including the
eyes, chin, throat, and a few spots in the middle of the upper part of
the breast and on its sides, black. Sides of head and neck ash-gray,
with the trace of a narrow crescent back of the ear-coverts.
Interscapular region of back with the feathers reddish-brown streaked
with dark brown. Breast and belly clear white. Sides of body light
brownish, streaked. Two narrow white bands across the greater and
middle coverts. Length about 7 inches; wing, 3.40; tail, 3.65.

HAB. Missouri River, above Fort Leavenworth. Chillicothe, Mo. (HOY).
Very common in Eastern Kansas (ALLEN). San Antonio, Texas, spring
(DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 488).

The bill of this species appears to be yellowish-red. More immature
specimens vary in having the black of the head above more restricted,
the nape and sides of the head to the bill pale reddish-brown, lighter
on the latter region. Others have the feathers of the anterior portion
of the hood edged with whitish. In all there is generally a trace of
black anterior to the eye.

This species has a considerably larger bill than _Z. leucophrys_, the
mandible especially.

HABITS. This species was first described in 1840, by Mr. Nuttall, from
specimens obtained by him near Independence, Mo., near the close of
the month of April. He again met with them on the following 5th of
May, when not far from the banks of the Little Vermilion River, a
branch of the Kansas. He found them frequenting thickets, and
uttering, chiefly in the early morning, but also occasionally at other
parts of the day, a long, drawling, faint, solemn, and monotonous
succession of notes, resembling _tē-dē-dē-dē_.

Since then but little additional information has been obtained in
regard to their general habits, their geographical distribution, or
their mode of breeding, single specimens only having been taken at
considerable intervals in the valley of the Missouri and elsewhere
until 1872. Two specimens were secured by Mr. Dresser, near San
Antonio, in Western Texas, occurring on the Medina River during their
spring migrations. More recently this bird was taken twice by Mr. H.
W. Parker, in Jasper County, Iowa. The latest of these was secured May
19.

Professor F. H. Snow, in his List of Kansas Birds, published April,
1872, enumerates this species as a bird frequently taken in Kansas in
the winter, and probably resident; and Mr. J. A. Allen (American
Naturalist, May, 1872) states that Harris’s Finch was, next to the
Cardinal, the most abundant species of the family of Sparrows and
Finches in the vicinity of Leavenworth, as it was also one of the
largest and handsomest. He found it almost exclusively frequenting the
damper parts of the woods, associating with the White-throated
Sparrow, much resembling it both in habits and in song. Nothing has so
far been published respecting the nest and eggs.


GENUS JUNCO, WAGLER.

  _Junco_, WAGLER, Isis, 1831. (Type, _Fringilla cinerea_, SW.)
  _Niphæa_, AUDUBON, Syn. 1839. (Type, _Emberiza hyemalis_, GM.)

  [Line drawing: _Junco oregonus._
                  32411 ♂]

GEN. CHAR. Bill small, conical; culmen curved at the tip; the lower
jaw quite as high as the upper. Tarsus longer than the middle toe;
outer toe longer than the inner, barely reaching to the base of the
middle claw; hind toe reaching as far as the middle of the latter;
extended toes reaching about to the middle of the tail. Wings rather
short; reaching over the basal fourth of the exposed surface of the
tail; primaries, however, considerably longer than the secondaries and
tertials, which are nearly equal. The second quill longest, the third
to fifth successively but little shorter; first longer than sixth,
much exceeding secondaries. Tail moderate, a little shorter than the
wings; slightly emarginate and rounded. Feathers rather narrow; oval
at the end. No streaks on the head or body; color above uniform on the
head, back, or rump, separately or on all together. Belly white; outer
tail-feathers white. Young birds streaked above and below.

The essential characters of this genus are the middle toe rather
shorter than the short tarsus; the lateral toes slightly unequal, the
outer reaching the base of the middle claw; the tail a little shorter
than the wings, slightly emarginate. In _Junco cinereus_ the claws are
longer; the lower mandible a little lower than the upper.


Species and Varieties.

COMMON CHARACTERS. Prevailing color plumbeous; abdomen, crissum,
and lateral tail-feathers white.

  A. Bill entirely light flesh-colored, dusky only at extreme
  point. Color of jugulum (deep ash or plumbeous-black) abruptly
  defined against the pure white of the abdomen.

    _a._ Posterior outline of the dark color of the jugulum
    convex; sides pinkish.

      1. J. oregonus. Back and wings more or less tinged with
      dark rusty, in sharp contrast with the black (♂) or ash (♀)
      of the head and neck. _Hab._ Pacific Province of North
      America, from Sitka southward; east across the Middle
      Province of United States, to the Rocky Mountains (where
      mixed with _J. caniceps_[116]) occasionally to the Plains
      (where mixed with _J. hyemalis_[117]).

    _b._ Posterior outline of the dark color of the jugulum
    concave; sides ashy.

      2. J. hyemalis. Back and wings without rusty tinge.

        Wing without any white; three outer tail-feathers only,
        marked with white. Bill, .40 and .25; wing, 3.10; tail,
        2.80; tarsus, .80. _Hab._ Eastern Province North America.
        Straggling west to Arizona (COUES); in the northern Rocky
        Mountains, mixed with _J. oregonus_ …        var. _hyemalis_.

        Wing with two white bands (on tips of middle and greater
        coverts); four outer tail-feathers marked with white.
        Bill, .50 and .30; wing, 3.40; tail, 3.20. _Hab._ High
        mountains of Colorado (El Paso Co., AIKEN) …   var. _aikeni_.

      3. J. caniceps. Back (interscapulars) rufous; scapulars
      and wings uniform ashy. _Hab._ Central Rocky Mountains of
      United States. (Along southern boundary mixed with _J.
      cinereus_.[118])

  B. Bill with the upper mandible black, the lower yellow. Ash
  of the jugulum fading gradually into the grayish-white of the
  abdomen.

      4. J. cinereus. Whole back, scapulars, wing-coverts, and
      tertials rufous.

        Throat and jugulum pale ash; back bright rufous. Wing,
        3.10; tail, 3.00; bill, .34 and .25; tarsus, .80. _Hab._
        Tablelands and mountains of Mexico …    var. _cinereus_.[119]

        Throat and jugulum deep ash; back dull, or
        olivaceous-rufous. Wing, 3.15; tail, 3.10; bill, .44 and
        .34; tarsus, .90. _Hab._ High mountains of Guatemala …
                                                var. _alticola_.[120]


Junco hyemalis, SCLATER.

SNOWBIRD.

  _Fringilla hyemalis_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, (10th ed.,) 1758, 183 (not
    of GMELIN or LATHAM).—AUD. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, 72; V, 505, pl.
    xiii.—MAX. Cab. Jour. VI, 1858, 277. _Fringilla (Spiza) hyemalis_,
    BON. Syn. 1828, 109. _Emberiza hyemalis_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I,
    1766, 308. _Struthus hyemalis_, BON. List, 1838.—IB. Consp. 1850,
    475. _Niphæa hyemalis_, AUD. Synopsis, 1839, 106.—IB. Birds Am.
    III, 1841, 88, pl. clxvii. _Junco hyemalis_, SCLATER, Pr. Zoöl.
    Soc. 1857, 7.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 468.—COUES, P. A. N. S.
    1861, 224.—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Ch. Ac. I, 1869, 284.—SAMUELS,
    314. _Fringilla hudsonia_, FORSTER, Philos. Trans. LXII, 1772,
    428.—GMELIN, I, 1788, 926.—WILSON’S Index, VI, 1812, p. xiii.
    _Fringilla nivalis_, WILSON, II, 1810, 129, pl. xvi, f. 6.

SP. CHAR. Everywhere of a grayish or dark ashy-black, deepest
anteriorly; the middle of the breast behind and of the belly, the
under tail-coverts, and first and second external tail-feathers,
white; the third tail-feather white, margined with black. Length,
6.25; wing, about 3. Female paler. In winter washed with brownish.
Young streaked above and below.

HAB. Eastern United States to the Missouri, and as far west as Black
Hills. Stragglers at Fort Whipple, Arizona, and mountains of Colorado.

  [Illustration: _Junco oregonus._]

The wing is rounded; the second quill longest; the third, fourth, and
fifth, successively, a little shorter; the first longer than the
sixth. Tail slightly rounded, and a little emarginate. In the full
spring dress there is no trace of any second color on the back, except
an exceedingly faint and scarcely appreciable wash of dull brownish
over the whole upper parts. The markings of the third tail-feather
vary somewhat in specimens. Sometimes the whole tip is margined with
brown; sometimes the white extends to the end; sometimes both webs are
margined with brown; sometimes the outer is white entirely; sometimes
the brownish wash on the back is more distinct.

Some specimens (No. 52,702 and 52,701, males) from Sun River, Dakota,
appear to be hybrids with _oregonus_. They have the general appearance
of _hyemalis_, the back being nearly uniform with the head (with a
wash of sepia-brown, however), and the head and neck of the same dark
plumbeous; the sides, however, are pinkish, and the plumbeous on the
jugulum has its posterior outline convex, as in _oregonus_. If, as
there is every reason to believe, these specimens are really hybrids,
then we have the two extreme forms of the genus connected by specimens
of such a condition; thus, _hyemalis_ with _oregonus_, _oregonus_ with
_caniceps_ (= _annectens_, Baird), and _caniceps_ with _cinereus_
(= _dorsalis_, Henry). It may perhaps be considered a serious question
whether all (including _alticola_) are not, in reality, geographical
races of one species. However, as there is no possibility of ever
proving this, it may be best to consider them as representative
species, and these specimens of intermediate characters as hybrids.

HABITS. The common familiar Snowbird of the Eastern States is found
throughout all North America, east of the Black Hills, from Texas to
the Arctic regions. Wherever found, it is at certain seasons a very
abundant and an equally familiar bird.

It nests as far south, in mountainous regions, as Virginia, and thence
to New York and the northern parts of the New England States, breeding
only in the highlands, but descending more and more into the plains as
we proceed north. As it is a very hardy bird, its migrations are
irregular and uncertain. In some seasons I have observed but few at
irregular intervals; and in others, in which the spring was cold and
backward, I have met with them in every month except July and August.

Mr. Kennicott found but few birds of this species breeding as far
south as Fort Resolution or Slave Lake, and was unable to find any of
their nests, though he met with a few birds that were evidently
breeding there. He found it afterwards nesting in the greatest
abundance about latitude 65°. They were very numerous on the Yukon,
and Mr. MacFarlane found them breeding plentifully on the Anderson
River, at the edge of the barren-ground region.

The nests found by Mr. Kennicott were all on the ground, more or less
concealed in tufts of grass, dry leaves, or projecting roots. Some
were in thick woods, others in more open regions, and were lined with
moose-hair.

Mr. Ross states that this species frequents all the Mackenzie River
region in summer, arriving about the 20th of April, and leaving about
the 10th of October. Besides its call-note, or chirp, it has a very
pretty song.

Mr. Dall also remarks that they were quite common at Nulato in the
spring, not arriving there, however, until about the first of June.

According to Mr. Dresser, it is found occasionally about San Antonio
in winter, and Dr. Woodhouse says that it is also common in the Indian
Territory in fall and winter. According to Mr. Audubon, it makes its
appearance in Louisiana in November, and remains there until early
spring. It is also abundant in South Carolina, arriving there in
October and leaving in April.

This species was observed by Mr. Aiken in Colorado Territory for about
three weeks following March 20, after which they were seen no more.

It breeds more or less abundantly in the northern and eastern portions
of Maine. About Calais and in all the islands of the Bay of Fundy, and
throughout New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, I found this by far the most
common and familiar species, especially at Pictou, where it abounded
in the gardens, in repeated instances coming within the outbuildings
to build its nests. In a woodshed connected with the dwelling of Mr.
Dawson, my attention was called to the nests of several of these
birds, built within reach of the hand, and in places where the family
were passing and repassing throughout the day. In Pictou they were
generally called the Bluebird by the common people. On my ride from
Halifax to Pictou, I also found these birds breeding by the roadside,
often under the shelter of a projecting bank, in the manner of the
_Passerculus savanna_. I afterward found them nesting in similar
situations among the White Mountains, the roadsides seeming to be a
favorite situation. In habits and notes, at Pictou, they reminded me
of the common _Spizella socialis_, but were, if anything, more
fearless and confiding, coming into the room where the family were at
their meals, and only flying away when they had secured a crumb of
sufficient size.

In Western Massachusetts they breed in all parts of the range of Green
Mountains, from Blandford to North Adams. They appear about
Springfield in October and November, and are for a while abundant, and
are then gone until March, when they return in full song, and remain
numerous into April, and less common until into May. In the eastern
part of the State they are found from October to late in May, with
some irregularity and in varying numbers. Mr. Audubon did not meet
with any on the coast of Labrador, and Dr. Coues did not find them so
abundant as he expected, and did not observe any until the latter part
of July, at which time the young were already hatched, and they were
associated in small companies. They kept entirely in the thick woods,
and seemed rather timid.

Their food is small berries, seeds of grasses and small plants,
insects, and larvæ. They seek the latter on the ground, and in the
winter are said to frequent the poultry-yards, and avail themselves of
the services of the fowls in turning up the earth. On the ground they
hop about in a peculiar manner, apparently without moving their feet.
At night and during storms they shelter themselves in the thick
branches of evergreens, and also in stacks of hay and piles of
brushwood.

During the winter the Snowbird appears to be rather more numerous in
the Middle and Southern States than in New England. In the former they
appear late in October, at first on the borders of woods, searching
for food among the fallen and decaying leaves. Later in the season, as
the weather becomes colder, and the snow deprives them of this means
of feeding, they resort to the roadsides and feed on the seeds of the
taller weeds, and to the farm-houses and farm-yards, and even enter
within the limits of large cities, where they become very tame and
familiar. They are much exposed to attacks from several kinds of
Hawks, and the apparent timidity they evince at certain times and
places is due to their apprehensions of this danger. The sudden rustle
of the wings of a harmless fowl will cause the whole flock to take at
once to flight, returning as soon as their alarm is found to be
needless, but repeated again and again when the same dreaded sounds
are heard.

Neither Wilson, Nuttall, nor Audubon appear to have ever met with the
nests or eggs of this bird, though the first met with them breeding
both among the Alleghanies, in Virginia, and the highlands of
Pennsylvania and New York. In Otsego County, in the latter State, Mr.
Edward Appleton was the first to discover and identify their nest and
eggs, as cited by Mr. Audubon in the third volume of his Birds of
America. They were found in considerable numbers in the town of
Otsego. Their nests were on the ground in sheltered positions, some of
them with covered entrances. Their complement of eggs was four. One of
their nests was sent me, and was characteristic of all I have since
seen, having an external diameter of four and a half inches and a
depth of two. The cavity was deep and capacious for the bird. The base
and periphery of the nest were made of slender strips of bark, coarse
straws, fine roots, and horsehair, lined with fine mosses and the fur
of smaller animals. The eggs were of a rounded-oval shape; their
ground-color is a creamy yellowish-white, marked with spots and
blotches of a reddish-brown confluent around the larger portion of the
egg, but rarely covering either end. They measure .75 by .60 of an
inch, not varying in size from those of _J. oregonus_.


Junco hyemalis, var. aikeni, RIDGWAY.

WHITE-WINGED SNOWBIRD.

SP. CHAR. Generally similar to _J. hyemalis_, but considerably larger,
with more robust bill; two white bands on the wing, and three, instead
of two, outer tail-feathers entirely white. No. 61,302 ♂, El Paso Co.,
Colorado, December 11, 1871, C. E. Aiken: Head, neck, jugulum, and
entire upper parts clear ash; the back with a bluish tinge; the lores,
quills, and tail-feathers darker; middle and secondary wing-coverts
rather broadly tipped with white, forming two conspicuous bands. Lower
part of the breast, abdomen, and crissum pure white, the anterior
outline against the ash of the jugulum convex; sides tinged with ash.
Three lateral tail-feathers entirely white, the third, however, with a
narrow streak of dusky on the terminal third of the outer web; the
next feather mostly plumbeous, with the basal fourth of the outer web,
and the terminal half of the inner, along the shaft, white. Wing,
3.40; tail, 3.20; culmen, .50; depth of bill at base, .30; tarsus,
.80.

HAB. El Paso County, Colorado.

At first sight, this bird appears to be a very distinct species, being
larger than any other North American form, and possessing in the white
bands on the wing characters entirely peculiar. Its large size,
however, we can attribute to its alpine habitat, agreeing in this
respect, as compared with _J. hyemalis_, with the _J. alticola_ of
Guatemala, which we can only consider an alpine or somewhat local form
of _J. cinereus_. That the white bands on the wing do not constitute a
character sufficiently important to be considered of specific value is
proved by the fact that in many specimens of _J. oregonus_, and
occasionally in _J. hyemalis_, there is sometimes quite a distinct
tendency to these bands in the form of obscure white tips to the
coverts.

HABITS. But little is known as to the habits of this variety; probably
they do not differ from those of its congeners. It was met with by Mr.
C. E. Aiken, near Fountain, El Paso County, in Colorado Territory, in
the winter of 1871-72. They were rare in the early winter, became
rather common during the latter part of February and the first of
March, and had all disappeared by the first of April. During winter
only males were seen, but, in the spring, the females were the most
numerous. They were usually seen singly, or in companies of two or
three, and not, like the others, in larger flocks.


Junco oregonus, SCLATER.

OREGON SNOWBIRD.

  _Fringilla oregona_, TOWNSEND, J. A. N. Sc. VII, 1837, 188.—IB.
    Narrative, 1839, 345.—AUD. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 68, pl. cccxcviii.
    _Struthus oregonus_, BON. List, 1838.—IB. Consp. 1850,
    475.—NEWBERRY, Zoöl. Cal. & Or. Route; Rep. P. R. R. VI, iv, 1857,
    88. _Niphœa oregona_, AUD. Syn. 1839, 107.—IB. Birds Am. III,
    1841, 91, pl. clxviii.—CAB. Mus. Hein. 1851, 134. _Junco
    oregonus_, SCLATER, Pr. Zoöl. Soc. 1857, 7.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am.
    1858, 466.—LORD, Pr. R. A. Inst. IV, 120 (British
    Columbia).—COOPER & SUCKLEY, 202.—COUES, Pr. Phil. Ac. 1866, 85
    (Arizona).—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Ch. Ac. I, 1869, 284.—COOPER,
    Orn. Cal. 1, 199. _Fringilla hudsonia_, LICHT. Beit. Faun. Cal. in
    Abh. Akad. Wiss. Berlin, for 1838, 1839, 424 (not _F. hudsonia_,
    FORSTER). “_Fringilla atrata_, BRANDT, Icon. Rosso-As. tab. ii, f.
    8” (CAB.).

SP. CHAR. Head and neck all round sooty-black; this color extending to
the upper part of the breast, but not along the sides under the wings,
and with convex outline behind. Interscapular region of the back and
exposed surface of the wing-coverts and secondaries dark rufous-brown,
forming a square patch. A lighter, more pinkish tint of the same on
the sides of breast and belly. Rest of under parts clear white. Rump
brownish-ash. Upper tail-coverts dusky. Outer two tail-feathers white;
the third with only an obscure streak of white. Bill flesh-color,
dusky at tip. Legs flesh-color. Length about 6.50 inches; wing, 3.00.

HAB. Pacific coast of the United States to the eastern side of the
Rocky Mountains, and north to Alaska. Stragglers as far east as Fort
Leavenworth in winter and Great Bend of Missouri.

Sitka and Oregon specimens have the back of a darker rufous than those
from California and the Middle Province, in which this portion of the
body, as well as the sides, is paler, and in more abrupt contrast with
the head.

Immature and the majority of winter specimens do not have the black of
the head and neck so well defined, but edged above more or less with
the color of the back, below with light ashy.

The Oregon Snowbird in full plumage is readily distinguishable from
the eastern species by the purer white of the belly; the more sharply
defined outline of the black of the head passes directly across the
upper part of the breast, and is even convex in its posterior outline,
without extending down the side of the breast, with its posterior
outline strongly concave, as in _hyemalis_. The absence of black or
ashy-brown under the wings, with the rufous tinge, are highly
characteristic of _oregonus_. The head and neck are considerably
blacker; the rufous of the back and wings does not exist in the other.
The wings and quills are more pointed; the second quill usually
longest, instead of the third, etc. The dusky of the throat reaches in
_J. oregonus_ only to the upper part of the breast; to its middle
region in _hyemalis_.

Sometimes, in adult males, the middle and greater wing-coverts are
faintly tipped with white, indicating two inconspicuous bands.

In a large series of _Juncos_ collected at Fort Whipple, Arizona, by
Dr. Coues, are several specimens so decidedly intermediate between _J.
oregonus_ and _J. caniceps_ as to suggest the probability of their
being hybrids; others, from Fort Burgwyn and Fort Bridger, are exactly
like them. With the ashy head and jugulum, and black lores, as well as
bright rufous back, of the latter, the sides are pinkish as in the
former; while, as in this too, the posterior outline of the ash on
jugulum is convex, not concave, and the rufous of the back has a
tendency to tinge the wings, instead of being confined to the
interscapulars. (See foot-note to synoptical table, p. 579.)

HABITS. Dr. Suckley found this bird extremely abundant in Oregon and
Washington Territory, where it holds about the same position that the
_hyemalis_ does in the Eastern States. Dr. Cooper states it to be a
very common bird in Washington Territory, especially in the winter,
when it comes about the houses and farms with precisely the same
habits as the common Atlantic species. In the summer it is seen about
Puget Sound, in which neighborhood it breeds. He met with young
fledglings as early as May 24. At that season they were not
gregarious, and were found principally about the edges of woods.

Mr. Ridgway also regards the western Snowbird as, in all appreciable
respects, an exact counterpart of the eastern _hyemalis_. In summer he
found it inhabiting the pine woods of the mountains, but in winter
descending to the lowlands, and entering the towns and gardens in the
same manner with the eastern species.

Dr. Cooper states this species to be numerous in winter in nearly
every part of California. In the summer it resides among the mountains
down to the 32d parallel. On the coast he has not determined its
residence farther south than Monterey. The coolness of that locality,
and its extensive forests of pines extending to the coast, favor the
residence of such birds during the summer. At San Diego he observed
them until the first of April, when they retired to the neighboring
mountains. A few also were found in the Colorado Valley in the winter.
On the Coast Mountains south of Santa Clara he found them breeding in
large numbers in May, 1864. One nest contained young, just ready to
fly, as early as May 13. This was built in a cavity among the roots of
a large tree on a steep bank. It was made of leaves, grasses, and fine
root-fibres. On the outside it was covered with an abundant coating of
green moss, raised above the surface of the ground. The old birds
betrayed the presence of the nest by their extreme anxiety. On the
20th he found another nest on the very summit of the mountains,
supposed to be a second laying, as it contained but three eggs. It was
slightly sunk in the ground under a fern, and formed like the other,
but with less moss around its edge. It was lined with cows’ and
horses’ hair. The eggs were bluish-white, with blackish-brown spots of
various sizes thickly sprinkled around the larger end, and measuring
.74 by .60 of an inch.

The only song Dr. Cooper noticed, of this species, was a faint trill
much like that of the _Spizella socialis_, delivered from the top of
some low tree in March and April. At other times they have only a
sharp call-note, by which they are distinguishable from other
Sparrows. While some migrate far to the south in winter, others remain
as far north as the Columbia River, frequenting, in large numbers, the
vicinity of barns and houses, especially when the snow is on the
ground. They raise two broods in a season.

Dr. Coues found this species a very common winter resident in Arizona,
arriving at Fort Whipple about October 10, soon becoming very
abundant, and continuing so until the second week in April. Stragglers
were seen until May 10.

Dr. Woodhouse also observed numbers of the western Snowbird on the San
Francisco Mountains, in the month of October, where they were very
abundant. Many specimens were obtained in Sitka by Mr. Bischoff. None
have so far been recorded from the Aleutian Islands.

Dr. Kennerly frequently saw these birds near the Pueblo of Zuñi in New
Mexico; in the months of October and November they were very abundant
among the cedars to the westward of that settlement as far as the
Little Colorado. Dr. Heermann also met with them near Fort Yuma in
December, having previously noticed them during the fall, migrating in
large flocks.

Mr. Aiken frequently found this species throughout the winter in
Colorado. It was very common during March and the first of April. By
May only a few straggling females were seen, and then they all
disappeared.

The nests of this species have a general resemblance in structure to
those of the common _hyemalis_. They are well constructed and
remarkably symmetrical, made externally of mosses and other coarse
materials, within which is very nicely woven an inner nest of fine,
bent stems of grasses, lined with hair. The eggs, four or five in
number, resemble those of the _hyemalis_, but are lighter. They have a
ground-color of greenish-white, marked about the larger end with fine
dots of reddish-brown. Their measurement is .75 by .60 of an inch.


Junco caniceps, BAIRD.

RED-BACKED SNOWBIRD.

  _Struthus caniceps_, WOODHOUSE, Pr. A. N. Sc. Phila. VI, Dec. 1852,
    202 (New Mexico and Texas).—IB. Sitgreaves’s Report Zuñi &
    Colorado, 1853, 83, pl. iii. _Junco caniceps_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am.
    1858, 468, pl. lxxii, f. 1.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 201.

SP. CHAR. Bill yellowish; black at the tip. Above ashy (of the same
shade before and behind); the head and neck all round of this color,
which extends (paling a little) along the sides, leaving the middle of
the belly and crissum quite abruptly white. Lores conspicuously but
not very abruptly darker. Interscapular region abruptly reddish
chestnut-brown, which does not extend on the wings, and makes a
triangular patch. Two outer tail-feathers entirely white; third with a
long white terminal stripe on the inner web. Young streaked with
blackish above and below, except along middle of belly and behind.
Length, 6.00; wing, 3.23; tail, 3.04.

HAB. Rocky Mountains; from Black Hills to San Francisco Mountains,
Arizona. Wahsatch and Uintah Mountains (RIDGWAY).

This species is similar to the common _J. hyemalis_ in color, though
paler; the tint of the under parts and sides is not quite so dark, and
is less abruptly defined against the white. The conspicuous chestnut
patch on the back and the dusky lores will distinguish them. The edge
of the outer web of the third tail-feather is brown, not white. It
differs from _oregonus_ and _cinereus_ in having no chestnut on the
wings, especially the tertials, and from the former in the extension
of the ash of the neck along the sides and much lighter head.

Young birds are streaked above and below as in other species; they may
be distinguished from those of _cinereus_ by the rufous being confined
to the interscapular region, the same as in the adult.

The type skin of _Junco dorsalis_ of Dr. Henry (see foot-note to
synoptical table, p. 580) differs mainly in having the whole upper
mandible entirely black, as in _J. cinereus_; and, as in the latter,
the jugulum is pale ash, fading gradually into the white of the
abdomen, instead of deep ash abruptly defined. It is very probably, as
suggested by Mr. Ridgway, a hybrid with _J. cinereus_.

HABITS. This species was first discovered and described by Dr.
Woodhouse from specimens obtained by him among the San Francisco
Mountains in Arizona. When procured, it was feeding in company with
the _Junco oregonus_ and various species of _Parus_. Its habits
appeared to be very similar to those of the western Snowbird, as well
as to those of the common _J. hyemalis_.

Dr. Coues states that he found this bird a not very common winter
resident at Fort Whipple, where its times of arrival and departure, as
well as its general habits, were identical with those of _J.
oregonus_, with which it very freely associated. From this we may
naturally infer that in New Mexico and Arizona it appears only as a
winter visitant, and that in summer it goes elsewhere to breed. Its
summer resorts, as well as our knowledge of its breeding-habits, nest,
and eggs, remain to be determined, or are only imperfectly known. It
evidently retires to the highlands and to mountain regions to breed,
and probably has a much more extended habitat than that of which we
now have any knowledge. Upon this problem Mr. Ridgway’s observations
have already shed some valuable and suggestive light. He met with this
bird only among the pine woods of the Wahsatch Mountains, where,
however, it was a very common bird, and where it was also breeding.
Its manners and notes were scarcely different from those of _J.
oregonus_. It is, however, a shyer bird than the latter, and its song,
which is only a simple trill, is rather louder than that of either the
_hyemalis_ or the _oregonus_.

Dr. Coues writes me that both “the Gray-head and the Oregon Snowbirds
are common species about Fort Whipple in winter, arriving about the
middle of October, and remaining in numbers until early in April, when
they thin off, although some may usually be observed during the month,
and even a part of the next. _Oregonus_ far outnumbers _caniceps_. So
far as I could see, their habits are precisely the same as those of
the eastern Snowbird. During snow-storms they used to come familiarly
about our quarters, and I once captured several of both species,
enticing them into a tent in which some barley had been strewn, and
having the flap fixed so that it could be pulled down with a string in
a moment. They always associated together, and once, on firing into a
flock, I picked up a number of each kind, and one _Junco hyemalis_.
The latter can only be considered a straggler in this region, although
I secured three specimens one winter.”

This species was very rare in Colorado, according to Mr. Aiken, in the
winter of 1871-72, but became common in March, and a few remained up
to the 3d of May. No females of this species were observed by him.

Mr. J. A. Allen mentions first meeting with this species at an
elevation of seven thousand feet, and from that height it was common,
on the slopes of Mount Lincoln, to the extreme limit of the timber
line.


GENUS POOSPIZA, CABANIS.

  _Poospiza_, CABANIS, Wiegmann’s Archiv, 1847, I, 349. (Type,
    _Emberiza nigro-rufa_, D’ORB., or _Pipilo personata_, SW.)

  [Illustration: _Poospiza bilineata._]

GEN. CHAR. Bill slender, conical, both outlines gently curved. Under
jaw with the edges considerably inflected; not so high as the upper.
Tarsi elongated, slender; considerably longer than the middle toe.
Toes short, weak; the outer decidedly longer than the inner, but not
reaching to the base of the middle claw. Hind toe about equal to the
middle without its claw. All the claws compressed and moderately
curved. Wings rather long, reaching about over the basal fourth of the
exposed portion of the rather long tail. Tertiaries and secondaries
about equal, and not much shorter than the lengthened primaries; the
second to fifth about equal and longest; the first considerably
shorter, and longer than the seventh. Tail long, slightly emarginate,
graduated; the outer feather abruptly shorter than the others.
Feathers broad, linear, and rather obliquely truncate at the ends,
with the corners rounded.

_Color._ Uniform above, without streaks. Beneath white, with or
without a black throat. Black and white stripes on the head.

We are by no means sure that the two North American specimens here
indicated really belong to the genus _Poospiza_, but we know no better
position for them. They may be distinguished as follows:—

COMMON CHARACTERS. Lores and beneath the eye black, a white
orbital ring, white spot above the lore (in _bilineata_ continued
back in a superciliary stripe); a white maxillary stripe. Lateral
tail-feathers, with outer web, and terminal border of inner,
hoary or pure white.

  A. Throat black in adult; sides not streaked.

_A continuous white superciliary stripe._

    1. P. bilineata. Black patch of throat covering jugulum,
    with a convex outline behind. Crown and back without streaks,
    concolored. Wing-coverts without white bands; lesser coverts
    ash. Wing, 2.75; tail, 2.85; bill, from nostril, .37; tarsus,
    .65.

_No white superciliary stripe._

    2. P. mystacalis. Black patch of throat not extending on
    jugulum; its posterior outline truncated. Crown and back with
    distinct black streaks. Back scapulars and rump rufous in
    contrast with the ash of head and neck. Wing-coverts with two
    narrow, sharply defined white bands; lesser coverts black.
    Wing, 2.80; tail, 3.30; bill, .40; tarsus, .80. _Hab._
    Mexico.

  B. Throat white; sides streaked.

    3. P. belli. No white superciliary stripe. A dusky spot in
    middle of the breast. Upper parts ashy, concolored, with
    indistinct streaks on the back. Wings somewhat more brownish,
    the coverts with two indistinct light (not white) bands.

      α. Wing, 2.50; tail, 2.50; bill, .31; tarsus, .74. Dorsal
      streaks obsolete. _Hab._ California …             var. _belli_.

      β. Wing, 3.20; tail, 3.20; bill, .35; tarsus, .76. Dorsal
      streaks distinct. _Hab._ Middle Province of United States …
                                                   var. _nevadensis_.


Poospiza bilineata, SCLATER.

BLACK-THROATED SPARROW.

  _Emberiza bilineata_, CASSIN, Pr. A. N. Sc. Ph. V, Oct. 1850, 104,
    pl. iii, Texas.—IB. Illust. I, v, 1854, 150, pl. xxiii. _Poospiza
    bilineata_, SCLATER, Pr. Zoöl. Soc. 1857, 7.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am.
    1858, 470.—IB. Mex. Bound. II, Birds, 15.—HEERM. X, c. 14.—COOPER,
    Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 203.

  [Line drawing: _Poospiza bilineata._
                  6316]

SP. CHAR. Above uniform unspotted ashy-gray, tinged with light brown;
purer and more plumbeous anteriorly, and on sides of head and neck.
Under parts white, tinged with plumbeous on the sides, and with
yellowish-brown about the thighs. A sharply defined superciliary and
maxillary stripe of pure white, as also the lower eyelid, the former
margined internally with black. Loral region black, passing insensibly
into dark slate on the ears. Chin and throat between the white
maxillary stripes black, ending on the upper part of the breast in a
rounded outline. Tail black, the lateral feathers edged externally and
tipped on inner web with white. Bill blue. Length, 5.40; wing, 2.75;
tail, 2.90. Sexes alike.

HAB. Middle Province of United States north to 40°, between Rocky
Mountains and Sierra Nevada. (As far west as Janos and the Mohave
villages.) Matamoras (rare at San Antonio; DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 488).

This species in external form is very similar to _P. belli_, and will
probably fall in the same genus. The cutting edges of the bill are
much inflexed. The first quill is shorter than the sixth. The tail is
a good deal rounded; the feathers broad.

The white maxillary stripe does not come quite to the base of the
under jaw, which there is black. There is a hoary tinge on the
forehead. The white superciliary stripes almost meet on the forehead.

In the immature bird the throat is white with a dusky clouding along
each side; the upper part of the breast streaked with brown.

HABITS. The Black-throated Sparrow, generically associated with Bell’s
Finch, has several well-marked distinctive peculiarities in habits.
Their eggs are also totally unlike those of the present species, being
much more like those of the _Peucæa_ and of _Leucosticte griseinucha_,
and, like them, white and unspotted.

This species was first described by Mr. Cassin from specimens obtained
in Western Texas by John W. Audubon, and its habitat was at first
supposed to be restricted to the valleys of the Rio Grande and the
Gila, but more recent explorations show it to have a much wider
distribution. It is found from Western Texas through part of Mexico,
New Mexico, the Indian Territory, and Arizona, to Southern California,
and towards the north throughout the region of the Great Basin to an
extent not yet fully determined. In portions at least of this
territory it is migratory, and only resident in the summer months.

Mr. Dresser found this Sparrow very abundant during July and August in
the mesquite thickets in the town of Matamoras. In December it was
equally common at Eagle Pass, but at San Antonio it was quite a rare
bird. He only observed it on two or three occasions at a rancho on the
Medina River, and late in June a nest and four eggs were obtained.
Between Laredo and Matamoras, after crossing the Nueces, he found
these birds very numerous, and near Laredo met with several nests,
some containing young and some eggs nearly hatched. One taken on the
20th of July contained three fresh eggs, probably indicating a second
laying. This nest was in a low bush, carefully concealed. It was
composed of straws and lined with fine roots. The eggs, when fresh,
were nearly white, with a delicate bluish tinge. On his journey down
the river he found many nests, all empty or containing young. Some of
these were partially lined with cotton. Though not wild, the birds
were so restless that he found it difficult to shoot them. Dr.
Woodhouse obtained one specimen on the Rio Pedro, in Texas.

In Mexico this Sparrow was found by Lieutenant Couch to be numerous in
parts of Tamaulipas, Nueva Leon, Coahuila, and other States on the Rio
Grande, immediately south and west of the limits of the territory of
the United States. It was first seen at Santa Rosalio, and specimens
obtained, though none were noticed at Brownsville, only twenty miles
east, during a month’s residence. At Charco Escondido, forty miles
farther in the interior, it was very plentiful, and although it was
early in March, had already reared a brood of young, one specimen
appearing to be a young bird only a few weeks old. Its favorite home
appeared to be the scattered mesquite, on the plains east of the
Sierra Madre. During the warm hours of the day it does not seek the
shade, but may always be found chirping and hopping from one bush to
another. South of Cadoreita the birds disappeared, but after a month’s
loss of their company he again met with them among some flowering
_Leguminosa_, between Pesquieria and Rinconada. He thus found it
several times entirely absent from districts of considerable extent,
but always reappearing again throughout his journey. The usual note of
this bird, at the season in which he met with it, was a simple chirp;
but on one occasion, having halted during a norther in Tamaulipas, he
heard a “gay little black-throated fellow,” regardless of the bitter
wind, from the top of a yellow mimosa then in bloom, give utterance to
a strain of sprightly and sweet notes, that would compare favorably
with those of many more famed songsters.

Dr. Coues found this Sparrow very abundant in the southern and western
portions of Arizona, though rare at Fort Whipple, where the locality
was unsuited to it, as it seemed to prefer open plains, grassy or
covered with sagebrush.

Mr. J. H. Clarke, who met with these birds in Tamaulipas, Texas, and
New Mexico, speaks of them as abundant and widely distributed. He
found them on the lower Rio Grande, but more abundantly in the
interior, seeming to prefer the stunted and sparse vegetation of the
sand-hills and dry plains to the cottonwood groves and willow thickets
of the river valleys, where they were never seen. They would be very
inconspicuous did not the male occasionally perch himself on some
topmost branch and pour forth a continuous strain of music. In the
more barren regions they were the almost exclusive representatives of
the feathered tribes.

Dr. Heermann first remarked this Finch near Tucson, in Arizona, where
he found it associated with other Sparrows in large flocks. They were
flying from bush to bush, alighting on the ground to pick up
grass-seeds and insects. They were quite numerous, and he traced them
as far into Texas as the Dead Man’s Hole, between El Paso and San
Antonio.

Dr. Cooper found a few of these birds on the treeless and waterless
mountains that border the Colorado Valley, in pairs or in small
companies, hopping along the ground, under the scanty shrubbery. In
crossing the Providence Range, in May, Dr. Cooper found their nest,
containing white eggs.

Both species of _Poospiza_, the _belli_ and the _bilineata_, according
to Mr. Ridgway, are entirely peculiar in their manners, habits, and
notes. Both, he states, are birds characteristic of the arid artemisia
plains of the Great Basin, and, with the _Eremophila cornuta_, are
often the only birds met with on those desert wastes. The two species,
he adds, are quite unlike in their habits and manners. They each have
about the same extent of habitat, and even often frequent the same
locality. While the _P. bilineata_ is partial to dry sandy situations,
inhabiting generally the arid _mesa_ extending from the river valleys
back to the mountains, the _P. belli_ is almost confined to the more
thrifty growth of the artemisia, as found in the damper valley
portions. The _P. belli_ is a resident species, and even through the
severest winters is found in abundance. The _P. bilineata_ is
exclusively a summer bird, one of the latest to come from the South,
and much the more shy of the two; its manners also are quite
different.

Both birds have one common characteristic, which renders them worthy
of especial remark. This is the peculiar delivery and accent, and the
strange sad tone of their spring song, which, though unassuming and
simple, is indeed strange in the effect it produces. This song, so
plaintive and mournful, harmonizes with the dull monotony of the
desert landscape.

Mr. Ridgway states that the _P. bilineata_ is not so abundant as the
other species, and is more retiring in its habits. It principally
frequents the desert tracts and sandy wastes, on which are found only
the most stunted forms of sage-brush. Its song, though quite simple,
is exceedingly fine, its modulation being somewhat like
_wut´-wut´-ze-e-e-e-e-e_, the first two syllables being uttered in a
rich metallic tone, while the final trill is in a lower key, and of
the most liquid and tremulous character imaginable. This simple chant
is repeated every few seconds, the singer being perched upon a bush.
He adds that this bird arrives on the Truckee Reservation about the
13th of May. The nest is built in sage-bushes, and the eggs are found
from the 7th to the 21st of June. The nests are usually about one foot
from the ground, or thereabouts.

The eggs vary in size from .70 by .55 of an inch to .75 by .60. They
are of a rounded-oval shape, and of a pure white with a slight tinge
of blue, somewhat resembling the eggs of the Bachman Finch.


Poospiza belli, SCLATER.

BELL’S SPARROW.

  _Emberiza belli_, CASSIN, Pr. A. N. Sc. Phila. V, Oct. 1850, 104,
    pl. iv (San Diego, Cal.). _Poospiza belli_, SCLATER, Pr. Zoöl.
    Soc. 1857, 7.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 470.—HEERM. X, s. p. 46.
    _Zonotrichia belli_, ELLIOT, Illust. Birds N. Am. I, pl.
    xiv.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 204.

SP. CHAR. Upper parts generally, with sides of head and neck, uniform
bluish-ash, tinged with yellowish-gray on the crown and back, and with
a few very obsolete dusky streaks on the interscapular region. Beneath
pure white, tinged with yellowish-brown on the sides and under the
tail. Eyelids, short streak from the bill to above the eye, and small
median spot at the base of culmen, white. A stripe on the sides of the
throat and spot on the upper part of the breast, with a few streaks on
the sides, with the loral space and region round the eyes,
plumbeous-black. Tail-feathers black; the outer edged with white.
Wing-feathers all broadly edged with brownish-yellow; the elbow-joint
tinged with yellowish-green. Bill and feet blue. Length, 5.70; wing,
2.80; tail, 2.90. (Largest specimen, 6,338 ♂, Cosumnes River).

HAB. Southern California.

The colors are softer and more blended in the autumn; the young are
obsoletely streaked on the breast.

HABITS. Bell’s Finch has apparently a more restricted distribution
than the Black-throated species, and is resident wherever found. It
has been met with at Posa Creek, Cal., by Dr. Heermann, at Fort Thorn
by Dr. T. C. Henry, and along the Colorado River by Drs. Kennerly and
Möllhausen. It has likewise been found in Southern California, as far
north as Sacramento Valley, and in the valley of the Gila.

Dr. Cooper states that all the extensive thickets throughout the
southern half of California are the favorite resorts of this bird.
There they apparently live upon small seeds and insects, indifferent
as to water, or depending upon what they obtain from dews or fogs.
They reside all the year in the same localities, and were also
numerous on the island of San Nicolas, eighty miles from the mainland.
In spring the males utter, as Dr. Cooper says, a low monotonous ditty,
from the top of some favorite shrub, answering each other from long
distances. Their nest he found about three feet from the ground,
composed of grasses and slender weeds, lined with hair and other
substances. The eggs, four in number, he describes as pale greenish,
thickly sprinkled over with reddish-brown dots. At San Diego he found
the young hatched out by May 18, but thinks they are sometimes
earlier. It is also a common bird in the chaparral of Santa Clara
Valley, and also, according to Dr. Heermann, along the Cosumnes River.

In Arizona, according to Dr. Coues, it is rather uncommon about Fort
Whipple, owing to the unsuitable nature of the locality, but is
abundant among the sage-brush of the Gila Valley, where it keeps much
on the ground, and where its movements are very much like those of a
_Pipilo_.

Drs. Kennerly and Möllhausen met with these Sparrows on the Little
Colorado River, in California, December 15. They were found during
that month along the banks of the river wherever the weeds and bushes
were thick. It was never observed very far from the water, and its
food, at that season, seemed to consist of the seeds of various kinds
of weeds. Its motions were quick, and, when started up, its flight was
short, rapid, and near the earth.

Dr. Heermann states that in the fall of 1851 he found this species in
the mountains bordering the Cosumnes River, and afterwards on the
broad tract of arid land between Kerr River and the Tejon Pass, and
again on the desert between that and the Mohave River. He often found
them wandering to a great distance from water. With only a few
exceptions, these were the only birds inhabiting the desolate plains,
where the artemisia is the almost exclusive vegetation. When
undisturbed, it chants merrily from some bush-top, but, at the
approach of danger, drops at once to the ground and disappears in the
shrubbery or weeds. Its nest he found built in a bush, composed of
twigs and grasses, and lined with hair. The eggs, four in number, he
describes as of a light greenish-blue, marked with reddish-purple
spots, differing in intensity of shade.


Poospiza belli, var. nevadensis, RIDGWAY.

ARTEMISIA SPARROW.

  _Poospiza belli_, var. _nevadensis_, RIDGWAY, Report on Birds of
    40th Parallel.

SP. CHAR. Resembling _P. belli_, but purer ashy above, with the dorsal
streaks very distinct, instead of almost obsolete. Wing, 3.20 (instead
of 2.50); tail, 3.20 (instead of 2.50); bill (from forehead), .35;
tarsus, .76. (Type, No. 53,516 ♂, Western Humboldt Mountains, Nev.,
United States Geol. Expl. 40th Par.)

_Young._ Streaked above, the crown obsoletely, the back distinctly.
Whole breast and sides with numerous short dusky streaks upon a white
ground. Markings about the head indistinct, wing-bands more distinct
than in the adult.

HAB. Middle Province of United States, north to beyond 40° (resident).

  [Line drawing: _Poospiza belli_, var. _belli_.
                  11211]

The difference in size between the race of the Great Basin and that of
the southern Pacific Province, of this species, is quite remarkable,
being much greater than in any other instance within our knowledge.
This may, perhaps, be explained by the fact that the former is not
migratory, but resident even in the most northern part of its range;
while the California one is also resident, and an inhabitant of only
the southern portion of the coast region, not reaching nearly so far
north as the race of the interior.

The coloration of the two races is quite identical, though in all
specimens of var. _belli_ the dorsal streaks are obsolete, sometimes
even apparently wanting, while in the var. _nevadensis_ they are
always conspicuous. The former appears to be more brownish above than
the latter.

HABITS. These birds, Mr. Ridgway states, have a very general
distribution, extending as far west as the eastern base of the Sierra
Nevada. At Carson City, February 27, he heard for the first time their
sweet sad chant. A week later he found the sage-brush full of these
birds, the males being in full song and answering one another from all
directions. In walking through the sage-brush these Sparrows were seen
on every side, some running upon the ground with their tails elevated,
uttering a chipping twitter, as they sought to conceal themselves
behind the shrubs. Some were seen to alight upon the tops of dead
stalks, where they sit with their tails expanded almost precisely
after the manner of the Kingbird. The song of this bird is feeble, but
is unsurpassed for sweetness and sadness of tone. While its effect is
very like the song of a Meadow Lark singing afar off, there is,
besides its peculiar sadness, something quite unique in its modulation
and delivery. It is a chant, in style somewhat like the spring
warbling of the Shore Lark.

On the 24th of March, at Carson City, he found these Sparrows very
abundant and everywhere the predominating species, as it was also the
most unsuspicious and familiar. It was even difficult to keep them
from under the feet. A pair would often run before him for a distance
of several rods with their unexpanded tails elevated, and when too
nearly approached would only dodge in among the bushes instead of
flying off.

On the 9th of April, walking among the sage-brush near Carson City,
Mr. Ridgway found several nests of this Sparrow, the female parent in
each instance betraying the position of her nest by running out, as he
approached, from the bush beneath which it was concealed. With
elevated tail, running rapidly and silently away, they disappeared
among the shrubbery. In such cases a careful examination of the spot
was sure to result in finding an artfully concealed nest, either
embedded in the ground or a few inches above it in the lower branches
of the bush. He did not find this species east of the northern end of
Great Salt Lake, nor was it seen in the neighborhood of Salt Lake
City, where the other species was so abundant.

The eggs of this species differ very essentially from those of the _P.
bilineata_. They are oblong in shape, have a light greenish ground,
marked all over the egg with very fine dots of a reddish-brown, and
around the larger end with a ring of confluent blotches of dark purple
and lines of a darker brown, almost black. They measure .80 by .60 of
an inch. They resemble very closely a not uncommon variety of the eggs
of the _Spizella pusilla_.




Footnotes:


[1] We are indebted to Professor Theodore N. Gill for the present
account of the characteristics of the class of Birds as distinguished
from other vertebrates, pages XI-XV.

[2] Dr. Coues, in his “Key to North American Birds,” gives an able and
extended article on the general characteristics of birds, and on their
internal and external anatomy, to which we refer our readers. A paper
by Professor E. S. Morse in the “Annals of the New York Lyceum of
Natural History” (X, 1869), “On the Carpus and Tarsus of Birds,” is of
much scientific value.

[3] Carus and Gerstaecker (Handbuch der Zoologie, 1868, 191) present
the following definition of birds as a class:—

Aves. Skin covered wholly or in part with feathers. Anterior pair of
limbs, converted into wings, generally used in flight; sometimes
rudimentary. Occiput with a single condyle. Jaws encased in horny
sheaths, which form a bill; lower jaw of several elements and
articulated behind with a distinct quadrate bone attached to the
skull. Heart with double auricle and double ventricle. Air-spaces
connected to a greater or less extent with the lungs; the skeleton
more or less pneumatic. Diaphragm incomplete. Pelvis generally open.
Reproduction by eggs, fertilized within the body, and hatched
externally, either by incubation or by solar heat; the shells
calcareous and hard.

[4] _Methodi naturalis avium disponendarum tentamen._ Stockholm,
1872-73.

[5] This group is insusceptible of definition. The wading birds, as
usually allocated, do not possess in common one single character not
also to be found in other groups, nor is the collocation of their
characters peculiar.

[6] Corresponding closely with the Linnæan and earlier Sundevallian
acceptation of the term. Equivalent to the later _Oscines_ of
Sundevall.

[7] As remarked by Sundevall, exceptions to the diagnostic pertinence
of these two characters of hind claw and wing-coverts taken together
are scarcely found. For, in those non-passerine birds, as _Raptores_
and some _Herodiones_, in which the claw is enlarged, the wing-coverts
are otherwise disposed; and similarly when, as in many _Pici_ and
elsewhere, the coverts are of a passerine character, the feet are
highly diverse.

[8] _Laminiplantares_ of Sundevall plus _Alaudidæ_.

[9] _Scutelliplantares_ of Sundevall minus _Alaudidæ_.

[10] Nearly equivalent to the Linnæan _Picæ_. Equal to the late (1873)
_Volucres_ of Sundevall.

[11] A polymorphic group, perfectly distinguished from _Passeres_ by
the above characters in which, for the most part, it approximates to
one or another of the following lower groups, from which, severally,
it is distinguished by the inapplicability of the characters noted
beyond. My divisions of _Picariæ_ correspond respectively to the
_Cypselomorphæ_, _Coccygomorphæ_, and _Celeomorphæ_ of Huxley, from
whom many of the characters are borrowed.

[12] Groups G., H., and I. are respectively equal to the
_Charadriomorphæ_, _Pelargomorphæ_, and _Geranomorphæ_ of Huxley.

[13] In the true conirostral or fringilliform genera the under
mandible has high strong tomia, bent at an angle near the base; the
corresponding portion of the upper mandible is deep, so that the
nostrils are nearer the culmen than the tomia. The whole bill is more
or less bent in its axis from the axis of the cranial base, so that
the palate curves down, or is excavated or, as it were, is broken into
two planes meeting at an angle,—one plane the anterior hard
imperforate roof of the mouth, the other the back palate where the
internal nares are situate (Sundevall). The single North American
genus of _Tanagridæ_ (_Pyranga_) is here conventionally ranged on
account of its high nostrils and conic bill, although it does not show
angulation of the tomia. The _Icteridæ_, with obviously angulated
tomia, shade into the _Fringillidæ_ in shortness and thickness of
bill, and into other families in its length and slenderness.

[14] These two genera, _Psilorhinus_ and _Gymnokitta_, of the family
_Corvidæ_, have naked nostrils, as under _dd_, but otherwise show the
characters of _Corvidæ_.

[15] With the _Paridæ_ the authors of this work include the Nuthatches
as a subfamily _Sittinæ_, which I prefer to dissociate and place as a
group of equal grade next to _Certhiidæ_.

[16] In the genus _Ampelis_ and part of the _Vireonidæ_ it is so
extremely short as to appear absent, and is displaced, lying concealed
outside the second (apparently first) primary, like one of the primary
coverts; however, it may always be detected on close examination,
differing from the coverts with which it is associated in some points
of size and shape, if not also of color.

[17] In _Ampelis_ there is tendency to subdivision of the lateral
plates; in _Myiadestes_ the anterior scutella are obsolete.

[18] Excepting _Picoides_, in which the true hind toe (hallux) is
wanting; the outer or fourth toe being, however, reversed as usual,
and taking the place of the hind toe.

[19] Excepting _Sphyrapicus_, in which the tongue is not more
protrusible than in ordinary birds.

[20] Our species falls rather in a restricted family _Aridæ_, as
distinguished from _Psittacidæ_ proper.

[21] In a perfectly fresh specimen of _Turdus mustelinus_, the basal
half of the first phalanx of the inner toe is connected with the first
joint of the middle toe by a membrane which stretches across to within
two fifths of the end of the latter; there appears, however, to be no
ligamentous adhesion. The basal joint of the outer toe is entirely
adherent, and a membrane extends from nearly the basal half of the
second joint to the distal end of the first joint of the middle toe.
When this connecting membrane becomes dried the division of the toes
appears considerably greater.

When the toes are all extended in line with the tarsus, the hind claw
stretches a little beyond the lateral and scarcely reaches the base of
the middle claw.

The plates at the upper surface of the basal joints of the toes are
quadrangular and opposite each other.

[22] See Baird, Review American Birds, I, 1864, 7, 8.

[23] _Harporhynchus ocellatus_, SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1862, p. 18, pl.
iii.

[24] _C. ardesiacus_, SALVIN, Ibis, N. S. III, 121, pl. ii.

[25] _C. pallasi_, TEMM. Man. d’Orn. I, p. 177.—SALVIN, Ibis, III,
1867, 119. (_Sturnus cinclus_, var. PALLAS, Zoögr. R.-As. I, 426.)

[26] _S. azurea_, BAIRD, Rev. Am. Birds, 1864, 62. (_S. azurea_,
SWAINSON.)

[27] _Parus meridionalis_, SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1856, 293.—BAIRD, Rev.
81.

[28] _Parus sibiricus_, GMEL. S. N. 1788, p. 1013.

[29] This remark applies to the Mexican race.

[30] _N. rufa_, BAIRD. (_Alauda rufa_, GMELIN, Syst. Nat. I, 1788,
798.)

[31] _P. bogotensis_, BAIRD. (_Anthus bogotensis_, SCLATER, P. Z. S.
1855, 109, pl. ci.)

[32] _Anthus (Notiocorys) rufus_, BAIRD, Rev. Am. Birds, 1864, 156
(_Alauda rufa_, GM.). _Hab._ Isthmus of Panama.

[33] _Anthus (Pediocorys) bogotensis_, BAIRD, Rev. Am. Birds, 1864,
157 (_Anthus bogotensis_, SCLATER). _Hab._ Ecuador, Colombia.

[34] _Sylvia pitiayumi_, VIEILL. Nouv. Dict. II, 1816, 276. _Parula
pit._ SCLAT. Catal. 26, no. 165.—BAIRD, Rev. Am. Birds, I, 1865, 170.

[35] _Parula insularis_, LAWR. Ann. N. Y. Lyc. X, Feb. 1871.

[36] _Parula inornata_, BAIRD, Rev. Am. Birds, I, 1865, 171.

[37] Or if with white markings, the prevailing color yellow, as in _D.
pinus_, in which only the adult ♂ has the wing-bands ashy-white.

[38] The wing-formula, though varying among individuals, is
nevertheless in a measure characteristic. An average specimen is in
each case chosen.

[39] _D. gundlachi_, BAIRD, Review Am. B. I, 1865, 197.

[40] _Dendroica petechia_, BAIRD, Review, 199. (_Motacilla petechia_,
LINN. 1766.)

A specimen from Port au Prince is smaller, measuring, wing, 2.50;
tail, 2.10; bill, .31; tarsus, .74. It is perhaps lighter green above
than Jamaican specimens. These features may only be characteristic of
the particular individual.

[41] _D. ruficapilla_, BAIRD, Rev. 201.

A single specimen from Porto Rico differs in some respects from the
average of a series from the other islands named. The chief
differences are, less thickly streaked throat, and distinct
shaft-streaks of dark chestnut on the back. However, one or two
specimens of true _ruficapilla_ from St. Thomas have the upper part of
the throat streaked, and one of them has the streaks on the back. In
all probability other specimens from Porto Rico would be more like
typical species of this race as seen in the majority of those from St.
Thomas and St. Bartholomew.

[42] _D. aureola_, BAIRD, Rev. 194. (_Sylvicola a._ GOULD, Voyage
Beagle, 1841, 86.)

[43] _D. capitalis_, LAWR. Pr. Phila. Acad. 1868, 359. Barbadoes.
_Dendroica_, BAIRD, Rev. 201.

[44] _D. vieilloti_, CASSIN, Pr. A. N. S. May, 1860, 192. (Panama,
Carthagena.)—BAIRD, Rev. 203.

[45] _D. rufigula_, BAIRD, Rev. p. 204. The habitat as Martinique, W.
I., was there queried, but without any reason for so doing other than
that this was the locality of Vieillot’s species, with which the type
described in Review nearly agreed. Should _Vieillot’s_ species be
really from Martinique, in all probability the present bird will be
found to be different, and therefore not entitled to the name here
given. Provided such is the case, the name “_ruficeps_,” Cabanis,
cannot with propriety be used, as under that head he includes
specimens from Carthagena (true _vieilloti_), Costa Rica, and Mexico
(the latter _bryanti_).

[46] _D. vieilloti_, var. _bryanti_, RIDGWAY.

[47] _Sylvicola eoa_, GOSSE, Birds of Jamaica, 1847, 158;
Illustrations Birds Jam. _Dendroica eoa_, BAIRD, Rev. 195. The true
position of this species is very uncertain, owing to the imperfect
description, or rather the incomplete plumage, of the types. There is
no doubt, however, that it is entirely different from any other, and
in its having, as expressly stated, the inner webs yellow, thus
bringing it into close relation with the “Golden Warblers.”

[48] _D. pharetra_, BAIRD, Rev. 192. (_Sylvicola pharetra_, GOSSE,
Birds Jam. 1847, 163.)

[49] _D. adelaidæ_, BAIRD, Rev. April, 1865, 212.

[50] _D. pityophila_, BAIRD, Rev. 208. (_Sylvicola p._ GUNDL. Ann. N.
Y. Lyc. Oct. 1855, 160.)

[51] _Dendroica adelaidæ_, BAIRD, Rev. 1865, 212. _Hab._ Porto Rico.

[52] _Geothlypis rostratus_, BRYANT, Pr. Bost. Soc. N. H. March, 1867,
67, Inagua.

[53] _Geothlypis melanops_, BAIRD, Review Am. Birds, I, April, 1865,
p. 222.

[54] _Geothlypis æquinoctialis_ (CABANIS), BAIRD, Rev. I, p. 224.
(_Motacilla æq._ GMELIN, S. N. I, 1788, 972.)

[55] _Geothlypis velata_ (CABANIS), BAIRD, Rev. I, 223. (_Sylvia vel._
VIEILL. Ois. Am. Sept. II, 1807, 22, pl. lxxiv.)

[56] _Geothlypis poliocephala_, BAIRD, Review Am. Birds, I, April,
1865, p. 225.

[57] _Geothlypis poliocephala_, var. _caninucha_, RIDGWAY.

The _G. speciosa_, SCL. (P. Z. 1858, 447; and BAIRD, Rev. 1864, p.
223), from Mexico, and _G. semiflavus_, SCL. (P. Z. S. 1860, 273,
291.—BAIRD, Rev. I, 1864, 223), from Ecuador, are species allied to
_G. trichas_, and possibly referable to it. The original descriptions
afford no tangible distinctive characters. It is barely possible,
however, that they are distinct.

[58] _Granatellus_, DUBUS. BAIRD, Rev. Am. Birds, 1865, 230. (Type,
_G. venustus_, DUBUS.)

[59] Genera _Myioborus_, _Euthlypis_, _Myiothlypis_, _Basileuterus_,
_Idiotes_, and _Ergaticus_. All Middle and South America.

[60] _Setophaga picta_ (SWAINSON), BAIRD, Rev. 1865, 256. _Muscicapa
leucomus_, GIRAUD, Texas Birds. _Hab._ Mexico and Guatemala.

[61] _Setophaga miniata_ (SWAINSON), BAIRD, Rev. 1865, 256. _Muscicapa
derhami_, GIRAUD, Texas Birds. _Hab._ Mexico.

[62] _Hirundo_ (_Callichelidon_) _cyaneoviridis_ (BRYANT), BAIRD, Rev.
Am. Birds, 1865, 303. Bahamas. This species may yet be detected on the
Florida coast.

[63] _Progne subis_, var. _concolor_. _Hirundo concolor_, GOULD, P. Z.
S. 1837, 22 (James I., Galapagos). _Progne c._ BAIRD, Rev. Am. B.
1865, 278. _Progne modesta_, GOULD, Birds Beagle, 39, pl. v. (Same
specimen.)

[64] _Progne subis_, var. _furcata_. _Progne furcata_, BAIRD, Rev. Am.
B. 1865, 278. (Chile.)

[65] _Progne subis_, var. _elegans_. _Progne elegans_, BAIRD, Rev. Am.
B. 1865, 275. (Vermejo River. _? Progne purpurea_, DARWIN, B. Beagle
38 (Montevideo, November), Bahia Blanca, Buenos Ayres, September.)

[66] _Progne_ (_subis_ var?) _dominicensis_. _Hirundo dominicensis_,
GM. S. N. I, 1788, 1025. _Progne d._ MARCH, P. A. N. S. 1863, 295;
BAIRD, Rev. Am. B. 1865, 279.

[67] _Progne_ (_subis_ var?) _domestica_. _Progne domestica_ (VIEILL.)
BAIRD, Rev. Am. B. 1865, 282. (Paraguay and Bolivia.) (_Hirundo
domestica_, VIEILL. Nouv. Dict, xiv, 1817, 521.)

[68] _Progne_, (_subis_ var?) _leucogaster_. _Progne leucogaster_,
BAIRD, Rev. Am. B. 1865, 280. (Southern Mexico to Carthagena.) _Progne
dominicensis_ and _P. chalybea_, AUCH. (nec GMEL.).

From a careful examination of specimens of the above forms, the
opinion that they are all local differentiations of one primitive type
at once presents itself. The differences from the typical _subis_ are
not great, except in the white-bellied group (_dominicensis_ and its
allies), while an approach to the white belly of these is plainly to
be seen in _P. cryptoleuca_; again, some specimens of _dominicensis_
have the crissum mixed with blackish, while others have it wholly
snowy-white. While the male of _cryptoleuca_ is scarcely
distinguishable, at first sight, from that of _subis_, the female is
entirely different, but, on the other hand, scarcely to be
distinguished from that of _dominicensis_ and _leucogaster_. Adult
males of the latter species are much like adult females of
_dominicensis_, while Floridan (resident) specimens of _subis_
approach very decidedly to the rather unique characters of _elegans_.
It is therefore extremely probable that all are merely local
modifications of one species.

[69] _C. cyaneoviridis_, BRYANT; BAIRD, Rev. 303 (Bahamas).

[70] _Vireosylvia calidris_, BAIRD, Rev. Am. Birds, 1865, 329.
(_Motacilla calidris_, L. Syst. Nat. 10th ed. 1758, 184.)

[71] _V. calidris_ var. _barbadense_, RIDGWAY.

[72] _V. olivacea_ var. _Chivi. Vireosylvia chivi_, BAIRD, Rev. 327.
(_Sylvia chivi_, VIEILL. Nouv. Dict. XI, 1817, 174.)

[73] _V. flavoviridis_ var. _agilis_. _Vireosylvia agilis_, BAIRD,
Rev. 338. (_Lanius agilis_, LICHT. Verz. Doubl., 1823, no. 526.)

[74] _V. magister_, BAIRD.

[75] _V. gilva_ var. _josephæ_. _Vireosylvia josephæ_, BAIRD, Rev.
1865, 344 (_Vireo josephæ_, SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1859, 137, pl. cliv).
Comparing typical examples of this “species” with those of _gilvus_
from North America, they appear very widely different indeed, so far
as coloration is concerned, though nearly identical in form. But a
specimen from an intermediate locality (54,262, Orizaba, Mexico, F.
SUMICHRAST) combines so perfectly all the characters of the two, that
it would be impossible to refer it to one or the other as distinct
species. It therefore becomes necessary to assume that the _V.
josephæ_ is a permanently resident tropical race of a species of which
_V. gilvus_ is the northern representative; which theory is
strengthened by the fact that of the latter there are no specimens
found south of the United States, indicating that in winter it does
not pass beyond their limit, or at least not far to the southward.

[76] The Jamaican bird is _V. calidris_, not _barbatulus_. In all
probability, however, they do not differ in habits and notes.—R. R.

[77] _Vireosylvia propinqua_, BAIRD, Rev. 1865, p. 348. This appears
to be merely a permanent resident race of _solitarius_, which itself
visits Guatemala only in winter. Closely resembling the latter, it
differs essentially in the respects pointed out above. The difference
in coloration is produced by a shifting, as it were, toward the head
of the yellow and olive, leaving the upper tail-coverts clear ash, and
the lower pure white, and encroaching upon the ash anteriorly to the
crown and ear-coverts, and the white alongside of the throat. In the
_V. plumbeus_ these tints are simply almost entirely removed, leaving
clear ash and pure white, with a tinge, however, of olive on the rump
and of yellow on the sides. In _V. cassini_ the tints are darkened and
browned by the peculiar influence of the region where found, there
being neither clear ash, nor olive-green, nor pure yellow or white, in
the plumage.

[78] _Vireo carmioli_, BAIRD, Review Am. B. I, 1865, p. 356. _Hab._
Costa Rica.

[79] _Bombycilla phœnicopterum_, TEMM. Pl. Col. II, 1838; pl. 450. The
_A. phœnicopterum_ is stated by Temminck to have the nasal setæ so
short as to leave the nostrils exposed, and to lack the sealing-wax
appendages; the latter condition may, however, result from the
immaturity of the specimen, as it is very common to find the same
thing in individuals of the other species.

[80] _Myiadestes obscurus_ (LAFRES.), BAIRD, Rev. Am. Birds, 1866,
430. _Hab._ Mountains of Mexico to Guatemala and Tres Marias Islands.

[81] _Myiadestes unicolor_ (SCLATER), BAIRD, Rev. Am. Birds, 1866,
428. _Hab._ Central Mexico and Guatemala.

[82] _Lanius excubitor_, LINN. Syst. Nat. ed. 10, 94.

[83] _Certhia flaveola_, LINN. Syst. Nat. ed. 10, 1758, 119.

[84] _C. flaveola_, A. & E. NEWTON, Ibis, 1859, 67. _Hab._ St. Croix.
_C. newtoni_, BAIRD.

[85] _C. flaveola_, var. _portoricensis_, BRYANT, Pr. Bost. Soc. N. H.
Jan. 1866. _Hab_. Porto Rico.

[86] _Motacilla bananivora_, GMELIN, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 951.
(_Bananiste_, Buffon, St. Domingo.)

[87] _Certhiola luteola_, CAB. M. H. 1851, 96. _C. major_, CAB.; _C.
minor_, BON.

[88] _Certhiola bahamensis_, REICH. Handb. I, 1853, 253. _C.
flaveola_, BAIRD, B. N. A.; _C. bairdi_, CAB.

[89] _C. caboti_, BAIRD, MSS.

[90] _C. martinicana_, REICH. Hand. I, 1853, 252. _C. albigula_, BON.

[91] _C. dominicana_, TAYLOR, Ibis, 1864, 167.

[92] _C. barbadensis_, BAIRD, MSS.

[93] _C. frontalis_, BAIRD, MSS.

[94] _C. bartholemica_, SUNDEVALL & SPARRMANN, Vetensk. Akad.
Förhandl. 1869, 622.

[95] _C. mexicana_, SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1856, 286.

[96] _C. peruviana_, CAB. Journ. 1865, 413? Perhaps different.

[97] _C. chloropyga_, CAB. M. H. 1851, 97. _C. brasiliensis_, BP.

[98] _Pyranga erythromelæna_, SCLATER, P. Z. S. Lond. 1856, 126.
(_Tanagra erythromelas_, LICHT. Preis.-Verz. d. Saüg. u. Vög. no. 69;
1831.)

[99] _Pyranga ardens_, SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1856, 126. (_Phœnisoma
ardens_, TSCHUDI. Wieg. Archiv, 1844, 207.)

[100] _Pyranga bidentata_, SWAINS. Philos. Mag. 1827, 428.

[101] _Pyranga rubriceps_, GRAY, Gen. B. fol. p. 364, pl. lxxxix,
1849.

[102] _Pyranga erythrocephala_, BONAP. R. Z. 1851, 178. (_Spermagra
erythrocephala_, SWAINS. Phil. Mag. 1827, 437.) Were it not for the
small size, one would, without seeing a specimen, be inclined to
suspect this as being a young male of _P. æstiva_, which often occurs
in very similar plumage.

[103] _? Pyranga azaræ_, D’ORB. Voy. p. 264. RIDGWAY, Pr. Ac. N. S.
Philad. June, 1869, p. 132, fig. 2.

[104] _Pyranga saira_, SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1856, 124. RIDGWAY, Pr. A. N.
S. June, 1869, p. 131, fig. 1. (_Tanagra saira_, SPIX, Av. Bras. II,
48, fig. 1.)

[105] _Pyranga testacea_, SCLATER & SALVIN, P. Z. S. 1868, 388.
RIDGWAY, Pr. A. N. S. June, 1869, p. 133, f. 1.

[106] _Pyranga roseigularis_, CABOT. (Description from the type.)

[107] Of this highly colored form, the average length of five
specimens is 7.55; in twelve the average is, wing, 3.67; tail, 2.86;
culmen, .67. The bill appears to be slightly darker than in North
American examples.

[108] _Coccothraustes abeillii_, SCLATER, Catal. Am. B. 123 (_Guiraca
abeillii_, LESSON).

[109] _Carpodacus frontalis_, var. _hæmorrhous_, _Carpodacus
hæmorrhous_, SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1856, 304. (_Fringilla hæmorrhous_,
LICHT. Verz. 1831.)

[110] _Loxia curvirostra_, LINN., Syst. Nat. 299.

[111] _Loxia bifasciata_, DE SELYS-LONGCHAMPS, Faune Belge, 76. BONAP.
& SCHLEGEL, Mon. des Loxiens, 7.

[112] _Fringilla linaria_, TEMM. Mass. Orn. 1835, 267 (not of
Linnæus). “_Fringilla rufescens_, VIEILL. Faun. Franç. tab. 41, f. 1.”
_Linota montium_, BP. & SCHLEGEL, Mon. Lox. 1850. “_Linaria
flavirostris_, BREHM.”

[113] _Leucosticte brunneinucha. Fringilla (Linaria) brunneinucha_,
BRANDT, Bull. Acad. St. Petersburg, 1841, 35. _Montifringilla
(Leucosticte) brunneinucha_, BON. & SCHLEGEL, Mon. Loxiens, 1850, 36,
pl. xlii.

[114] As this sheet is going through the press, we have been permitted
by Mr. J. A. Allen to examine a series of birds, obtained by him in
July, 1871, on Mt. Lincoln, Colorado, above the timber line, where
they were breeding abundantly. Although very different from winter _L.
tephrocotis_, they yet strongly suggest the idea of their being that
species in summer dress. They present the following characteristics:—

_Breeding plumage._ Differing from the stage first described above, in
entire absence of any ash about the head, and in deep black, instead
of yellowish bill. ♂ with the red tints intense carmine, instead of
peach-blossom pink, that of the abdomen extending farther forward. ♀
lacking the red, or with only a tinge of it. Hood dark vandyke-brown,
becoming nearly black on the forehead; rest of head light
chocolate-brown, similar to, but more faded than, that of the winter
plumage; nasal tufts grayish-white.

Ten specimens collected by Mr. Allen all agree in the characters
pointed out, by which they differ from the winter plumage of _L.
tephrocotis_. Taking into consideration the fact of their black
instead of yellowish bill, more intense red, and generally more dusky
colors, as well as the other points of distinction from the previously
known plumages of _L. tephrocotis_, and also that they are identical
in size and proportion, while specimens of _L. tephrocotis_ in the
breeding plumage have not before been seen, it seems very reasonable
to suppose that these specimens represent the breeding plumage of that
species. There is some resemblance to _L. brunneinucha_, which, from
the plate in Bonaparte and Schlegel’s monograph of the _Coccothraustinæ_,
seems to differ mainly in being lighter colored. Mr. Allen says that
these birds were breeding abundantly in the locality where they were
found.

[115] From the fact that this form is not found in any part of Alaska,
nor, indeed, north of California, it is probable that the localities
of _anthinus_ and _alaudinus_ were transposed in Bonaparte’s original
descriptions.

[116] Hybrid between _oregonus_ and _caniceps_, = “_annectens_,”
BAIRD, Geol. Surv. Cal. Orn. I, p. 564.

CHAR. Pinkish sides and convex outline to ash of breast, as in
_oregonus_, with the bright rufous back and ashy head, with black
lores of _caniceps_; a tendency in the rufous of back to tinge the
wings, as in _oregonus_. _Hab._ Southern Rocky Mountains. (Fort
Whipple, Arizona, COUES; Fort Bridger, Wyoming, DREXLER; Fort Burgwyn,
Mountains of Colorado, AIKEN.)

[117] Hybrid between _hyemalis_ and _oregonus_.

CHAR. Plumbeous back of _hyemalis_, with pinkish sides of _oregonus_;
or else reddish back of _oregonus_ and plumbeous sides of _hyemalis_,
or colors mixed both above and below. _Hab._ Sun River, Dakota;
McKenzie River District? Fort Whipple, Arizona; and Fort Bridger,
Wyoming.

[118] Hybrid between _caniceps_ and _cinereus_, = “_dorsalis_,” HENRY,
Pr. Phil. Ac. 1858, 117; BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 467.

CHAR. Rufous restricted to interscapular region, as in the former,
with black upper mandible, and pale ash throat of the latter. _Hab._
Fort Thorn, New Mexico.

[119] _Junco cinereus_, CABANIS, Mexican Snowbird. _Fringilla
cinerea_, SW. Syn. Birds Mex. in Phil. Mag. I, 1827, 435. _Junco
cinereus_, CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1850, 134.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858,
465. “_Fringilla rufidorsis_, LICHT.,” BONAPARTE; probably a catalogue
name. _Junco phæonotus_, WAGLER, Isis, 1831, 526.—BONAP. Comptes
Rendus, XXXVII, 518.

SP. CHAR. Ash-color above; with a broad quadrate interscapular patch
of rufous-chestnut, this extending over the wing-coverts and inner
secondaries. Beneath paler ash, lighter in middle region below, but
without distinct line of demarcation. Lores and anterior region of eye
dusky; in decided contrast. Outer three tail-feathers white, but dusky
at base and on outer web at end; the amount increasing internally.
Upper bill entirely black; lower yellow. Length, 6.40; height of bill,
.25; culmen, .46. _Hab._ Table-lands of Mexico.

[120] _Junco alticola_, SALVIN, Guatemalan Snowbird. _Junco alticola_,
SALVIN, P. Z. S. 1863, 189 (Highlands, Guatemala).—IB. Ibis, 1866,
193.

SP. CHAR. Similar to _J. cinereus_, but darker than Mexican species,
with less contrast between the rufous of back and the ash of head.
Tail with less white. Bill much larger: height, .34; culmen, .56.
_Hab._ Highlands of Guatemala.




INDEX TO PLATES OF LAND BIRDS.

  Ægiothus brewsteri,                      I. 501, pl. 22, fig.  6
        exilipes,                      ♂   “  498,    “     “    2
        fuscescens,                    ♂   “  493,    “     “    3
             “                             “   “      “     “    5
  Agelaius gubernator (_shoulder_),    ♂  II.      pl. 33,  “    4
        gubernator,                    ♀   “  163,    “     “    8
        phœniceus,                     ♂   “  159,    “     “    1
             “                         ♀   “   “      “     “    2
             “       (_shoulder_),     ♂   “   “      “     “    3
        tricolor (_shoulder_),         ♂   “  165,    “     “    5
             “                         ♂   “   “      “     “    6
             “                         ♀   “   “      “     “    7
  Alauda arvensis,                         “  136, pl. 32,  “    3
  Ammodromus caudacutus,                   I. 557, pl. 25,  “    7
        maritimus,                         “  560,    “     “    8
  Ampelis cedrorum,                    ♂   “  401, pl. 18,  “    2
        garrulus,                      ♂   “  396,    “     “    1
  Antenor unicinctus,                    III. 250.
  Anthus ludovicianus,                     I. 171, pl. 10,  “    3
        pratensis,                         “  173,    “     “    4
  Antrostomus carolinensis,            ♂  II. 410, pl. 46,  “    1
        nuttalli,                      ♂   “  417,    “     “    3
        vociferus,                     ♂   “  413,    “     “    2
  Aquila canadensis,                     III. 314.
  Archibuteo ferrugineus,                  “  300.
        sancti-johannis,                   “  304.
  Astur atricapillus,                      “  237.
  Asturina plagiata,                       “  246.
  Atthis heloisa,                      ♂  II. 465, pl. 47,  “    6
  Auriparus flaviceps,                     I.      pl. 7,   “   11

  Bonasa sabinei,                        III. 454.
        umbelloides,                       “  453, pl. 61,  “   10
        umbellus,                          “  448,    “     “    3
            “                              “   “      “     “    9
  Bubo arcticus,                           “   64.
        pacificus,                         “   65.
        virginianus,                       “   62.
  Budytes flava,                           I. 167, pl. 10,  “    2
  Buteo borealis,                        III. 281.
        calurus,                           “  286.
        cooperi,                           “  295.
        elegans,                           “  277.
        harlani,                           “  292.
        krideri,                           “  284.
        lineatus,                          “  275.
        lucasanus,                         “  285.
        oxypterus,                         “  266.
        pennsylvanicus,                    “  259.
        swainsoni,                         “  263.
        zonocercus,                        “  272.

  Calamospiza bicolor,                 ♂  II.  61, pl. 29,  “    2
             “                         ♀   “   “      “     “    3
  Callipepla squamata,                 ♂ III. 487, pl. 63,  “    6
  Calypte anna,                        ♂  II. 454, pl. 47,  “    7
        costæ,                         ♂   “  457,    “     “    8
  Campephilus principalis,             ♂   “  496, pl. 49,  “    1
               “                       ♀   “   “      “     “    2
  Campylorhynchus affinis,                 I. 133, pl. 8,   “    6
        brunneicapillus,                   “  132,    “     “    5
  Canace canadensis,                     III. 416, pl. 61,  “    5
            “                          ♀   “   “   pl. 59,  “    6
            “                          ♂   “   “      “     “    5
        franklini,                     ♂   “  419,    “     “    3
        fuliginosus,                       “  495.
        obscurus,                      ♂   “  422,    “     “    1
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “    2
        richardsoni,                   ♂   “  427,    “     “    4
  Cardinalis coccineus,                ♂  II.      pl. 30,  “    8
        igneus,                        ♂   “  103,    “     “    0
        phœniceus,                         “   “      “     “    9
        virginianus,                   ♀   “  100,    “     “    6
            “                          ♂   “   “      “     “    7
  Carpodacus californicus,             ♂   I. 465, pl. 21,  “   10
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “   11
        cassini,                       ♂   “  460,    “     “    4
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “    5
        frontalis,                     ♂   “  465,    “     “    3
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “    6
        hœmorrhous,                    ♂   “   “      “     “   12
        rhodocolpus,                   ♂   “  468,    “     “    9
        purpureus,                     ♂   “  462,    “     “    7
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “    8
  Catharista atrata,                     III. 351.
  Catherpes mexicanus,                     I. 139, pl. 8,   “    4
  Centrocercus urophasianus,           ♂ III.      pl. 60,  “    2
                     “                 ♂   “          “     “    4
                     “                     “  429, pl. 61,  “    6
  Centronyx bairdi,                        I. 531, pl. 25,  “    3
  Centurus aurifrons,                  ♂  II. 557, pl. 52,  “    3
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “    6
        carolinus,                     ♂   “  554,    “     “    1
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “    4
        uropygialis,                   ♂   “  558,    “     “    2
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “    5
  Certhia americana,                       I. 125, pl. 8,   “   11
        mexicana,                          “  128.
  Certhiola bahamensis,                ♂   “  428, pl. 19,  “    5
  Ceryle alcyon,                       ♂  II. 392, pl. 45,  “    6
        cabanisi,                      ♂   “  396,    “     “    9
  Chætura pelagica,                    ♂   “  432, pl. 45,  “    7
        vauxi,                         ♀   “  435,    “     “    8
  Chamæa fasciata,                         I.  84, pl. 6,   “    8
  Chamæpelia passerina,                ♂ III. 389, pl. 58,  “    6
  Chondestes grammaca,                 ♂  II. 562, pl. 31,  “    1
  Chordeiles henryi,                   ♂   “  404, pl. 46,  “    4
        popetue,                           “  407.
        texensis,                      ♂   “  406,    “     “    5
  Chrysomitris lawrenci,               ♂   I. 478, pl. 22,  “   14
                   “                   ♀   “   “      “     “   15
        arizonæ,                       ♂   “  476,    “     “   11
        mexicana,                          “          “     “   12
            “                          ♀   “          “     “   13
        pinus,                         ♂   “  480,    “     “   16
        psaltria,                      ♂   “  474,    “     “    9
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “   10
        tristis (_summer_),            ♂   “  471,    “     “    7
            “   (_winter_),            ♂   “   “      “     “    8
  Cinclus mexicanus,                       “   56, pl. 5,   “    1
  Circus hudsonius,                      III. 214.
  Cistothorus palustris,                   I. 161, pl. 9,   “    6
        stellaris,                         “   “      “     “    7
  Coccygus americanus,                 ♂  II. 477, pl. 48,  “    3
        erythrophthalmus,                  “  484,    “     “    5
        minor,                             “  482,    “     “    4
  Colaptes auratus,                    ♂   “  575, pl. 55,  “    1
              “                        ♀   “   “      “     “    2
        chrysoides,                    ♂   “  583, pl. 54,  “    1
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “    2
        hybridus,                      ♂   “  582,    “     “    3
        mexicanus,                     ♂   “  578, pl. 55,  “    3
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “    4
  Collurio borealis,                   ♂   I. 415, pl. 19,  “    1
            “   (_Juv._)                   “   “      “     “    2
        excubitoroides,                ♂   “  421,    “     “    3
        ludovicianus,                  ♂   “  418,    “     “    4
        robustus,                          “  420.
  Columba fasciata,                    ♂  II. 360, pl. 57,  “    2
        flavirostris,                  ♂   “  366,    “     “    3
        leucocephala,                  ♂   “  363,    “     “    4
  Contopus borealis,                   ♂   “  353, pl. 44,  “    1
        pertinax,                      ♂   “  356,    “     “    2
        richardsonii,                  ♂   “  360,    “     “    4
        vireus,                        ♂   “  357,    “     “    3
  Conurus carolinensis, (_Ad._)            “  587, pl. 56,  “    1
            “   (_Juv._)                   “   “      “     “    2
  Corvus americanus,                   ♂   “  243, pl. 37,  “    5
        carnivorus,                    ♀   “  234,    “     “    6
        caurinus,                      ♂   “  248,    “     “    3
        cryptoleucus,                      “  242,    “     “    8
        floridanus,                        “  247,    “     “    9
        mexicanus,                     ♂   “  233,    “     “    4
        ossifragus,                        “  251,    “     “    7
  Coturniculus henslowi,               ♀   I. 553, pl. 25,  “    5
        leconti,                       ♀   “  552,    “     “    6
        ochrocephalus,                    II.      pl. 46,  “    6
        passerinus,                        I. 553, pl. 25,  “    4
        perpallidus,                       “  556.
  Cotyle riparia,                      ♂   “  353, pl. 16,  “   14
  Crotophaga ani,                      ♀  II. 488, pl. 48,  “    2
  Cupidonia cupido,                      III. 440, pl. 61,  “    1
              “                            “   “      “     “    7
        pallidicincta,                     “  446.
  Cyanocitta arizonæ,                     II. 292, pl. 41,  “    2
        californica,                   ♂   “  288, pl. 40,  “    1
        couchi,                            “  293.
        floridana,                     ♂   “  285,    “     “    4
        sordida,                           “  292, pl. 41,  “    1
        sumichrasti,                   ♂   “       pl. 40,  “    2
        woodhousei,                    ♂   “  291,    “     “    3
  Cyanospiza amœna,                    ♂   “   84, pl. 29,  “   11
           “                           ♀   “   “      “     “   12
        ciris,                         ♂   “   87,    “     “    7
           “                           ♀   “   “      “     “    8
        cyanea,                        ♂   “   82,    “     “   13
           “                           ♀   “   “      “     “   14
        parellina,                     ♂   “          “     “    6
        versicolor,                    ♂   “   86,    “     “    9
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “   10
  Cyanura coronata,                    ♂   “       pl. 39,  “    4
        cristata,                      ♂   “  273, pl. 42,  “    3
        frontalis,                     ♂   “  279, pl. 39,  “    2
        macrolopha,                    ♂   “  281,    “     “    3
        stelleri,                      ♂   “  277,    “     “    1
  Cyrtonyx massena,                      III. 492, pl. 61,  “    2
              “                        ♂   “   “   pl. 64,  “    3
              “                        ♀   “   “      “     “    6

  Dendroica æstiva,                        I. 222, pl. 14,  “    1
        albilora,                      ♂   “  240,    “     “    7
        auduboni,                          “  229, pl. 13,  “    1
        blackburniæ,                   ♂   “  237,    “     “    2
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “    3
        cærulea,                       ♂   “  235,    “     “   10
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “   11
        cærulescens,                   ♂   “  254, pl. 12,  “   10
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “   11
        castanea,                      ♂   “  251, pl. 13,  “    4
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “    5
        chrysopareia,                  ♂   “  260, pl. 12,  “    6
        coronata,                      ♂   “  227,    “     “    9
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “   12
        discolor,                      ♂   “  276, pl. 14,  “    9
        dominica,                      ♂   “  240,    “     “    5
        graciæ,                        ♂   “  243,    “     “   10
        kirtlandi,                     ♂   “  272,    “     “    5
        maculosa,                      ♂   “  232,    “     “    2
        montana,                           “  271,    “     “    3
        nigrescens,                    ♂   “  258, pl. 12,  “    8
        occidentalis,                  ♂   “  266,    “     “    5
        olivacea,                      ♂   “       pl. 14,  “    4
        palmarum,                      ♂   “  273,    “     “    8
        pennsylvanica,                 ♂   “  245, pl. 13,  “    7
            “   (_Juv._)               ♂   “   “      “     “    8
        pinus,                         ♂   “  268,    “     “    6
        striata,                       ♂   “  248,    “     “    9
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “   12
        townsendi,                     ♂   “  265, pl. 12,  “    7
        virens,                        ♂   “  261,    “     “    4
  Dolichonyx orizyvorus,               ♂  II. 149, pl. 32,  “    4
                 “                     ♀   “   “      “     “    5

  Ectopistes migratoria,               ♂   “  368, pl. 57,  “    5
  Elanus leucurus,                       III. 198.
  Embernagra rufivirgata,                 II.  47, pl. 28,  “    3
  Empidonax acadicus,                  ♂   “  374, pl. 44,  “   11
        difficilis,                        “  380.
        flaviventris,                  ♂   “  378,    “     “   12
        hammondii,                     ♂   “  383,    “     “    7
        minimus,                       ♂   “  372,    “     “   10
        obscurus,                      ♂   “  381,    “     “    6
        pusillus,                      ♂   “  366,    “     “    9
        traillii,                      ♂   “  369,    “     “    8
  Eremophila cornuta,                  ♂   “  141, pl. 32,  “    1
                “    (_Juv._)              “   “      “     “    2
  Euspiza americana,                   ♂   “   65, pl. 28,  “   11
              “                        ♀   “   “      “     “   12
        townsendi,                     ♀   “   68,    “     “   13

  Falco anatum,                          III. 132.
        candicans,                         “  111.
        columbarius,                       “  144.
        femoralis,                         “  155.
        isabellinus,                       “  171.
        islandicus,                        “  113.
        labradora,                         “  117.
        pealei,                            “  137.
        polyagrus,                         “  123.
        richardsoni,                       “  148.
        sacer,                             “  115.
        sparverius,                        “  169.
        suckleyi,                          “  147.

  Galeoscoptes carolinensis,               I.  52, pl. 3,   “    5
  Geococcyx californianus,             ♂  II. 492, pl. 48,  “    1
  Geothlypis macgillivrayi,            ♂   I. 303, pl. 15,  “    4
                  “                    ♀   “   “      “     “    5
        philadelphia,                  ♂   “  301,    “     “    6
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “    9
        trichas,                       ♂   “  297,    “     “    7
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “    8
  Glaucidium californicum,               III.  81.
        ferrugineum,                       “   85.
  Guiraca cærulea,                     ♂  II.  77, pl. 29,  “    4
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “    5
  Gymnokitta cyanocephala,             ♂   “  260, pl. 38,  “    2

  Haliaëtus albicilla,                   III. 324.
        leucocephalus,                     “  326.
  Harporhynchus cinereus,                  I.  40, pl. 4,   “    2
        crissalis,                         “   47,    “     “    1
        curvirostris,                      “   41, pl. 3,   “    3
        lecontei,                          “   44, pl. 4,   “    3
        longirostris,                      “   39, pl. 3,   “    2
        palmeri,                           “   43.
        redivivus,                         “   45, pl. 4,   “    4
        rufus,                             “   37, pl. 3,   “    1
  Hedymeles ludovicianus,              ♂  II.  70, pl. 30,  “    4
                “                      ♀   “   “      “     “    5
        melanocephalus,                ♂   “   73,    “     “    1
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “    2
  Heliopædica xantusi,                 ♂   “  467, pl. 47,  “    3
  Helminthophaga bachmani,             ♂   I. 194, pl. 11,  “    3
        celata (_var._ Cape Lucas),        “  204,    “     “    4
            “    (_var._ Florida),         “          “     “    6
            “    (_var._ Rocky Mts.),      I. 202,    “     “    5
        chrysoptera,                   ♂   “  192,    “     “    2
        luciæ,                             “  200,    “     “    9
        peregrina (_in spring_),           “  205,    “     “   10
            “     (_in autumn_),           “   “      “     “   11
        pinus,                         ♂   “  195,    “     “    1
        ruficapilla,                       “  196,    “     “    7
            “    (_var._ Calif.),          “          “     “    8
        virginiæ,                          “  199,    “     “   12
  Helmitherus swainsoni,                   “  190, pl. 10,  “    9
        vermivorus,                        “  187,    “     “   10
  Hesperiphona montana,                    “  449, pl. 22,  “    4
        vespertina,                    ♂   “   “      “     “    1
  Hirundo horreorum,                   ♂   “  339, pl. 16,  “    9
  Hylotomus pileatus,                  ♀  II. 550, pl. 56,  “    4
               “                       ♂   “   “      “     “    5

  Icteria longicauda,                      I. 309.
        virens,                        ♂   “  307, pl. 15,  “   12
  Icterus auduboni,                    ♂  II. 186, pl. 35,  “    1
        baltimore,                     ♂   “  195,    “     “    5
        bullocki,                      ♂   “  199, pl. 34,  “    3
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “    7
        cucullatus,                    ♂   “  193, pl. 35,  “    6
        parisorum,                     ♂   “  188,    “     “    7
        spurius,                       ♂   “  190, pl. 34,  “    4
            “   (_Juv._)               ♂   “   “      “     “    5
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “    6
        wagleri,                       ♂   “       pl. 35,  “    2
  Ictinia mississippiensis,              III. 203.

  Junco aikeni,                        ♂   I. 584, pl. 26,  “    6
        caniceps,                      ♂   “  587,    “     “    3
        hyemalis,                      ♂   “  580,    “     “    5
        oregonus,                      ♂   “  584,    “     “    2

  Lagopus albus,                         III. 457, pl. 61,  “    8
            “   (_summer_),            ♂   “   “   pl. 62,  “    1
            “   (_winter_),            ♂   “   “      “     “    3
            “   (_summer_),            ♀   “   “      “     “    2
        leucurus (_summer_),           ♂   “  464,    “     “    6
        rupestris (_winter_),          ♂   “  462,    “     “    4
            “     (_summer_),          ♀   “   “      “     “    5
  Lanivireo cassini,                   ♂   I. 376, pl. 17,  “    9
        flavifrons,                    ♂   “  379,    “     “    5
        plumbea,                       ♂   “  377,    “     “   10
        solitaria,                     ♂   “  373,    “     “    8
  Leucosticte arctous,                     “       pl. 23,  “   10
        australis,                         “          “     “    9
        campestris,                        “  507,    “     “    7
        griseinucha,                   ♂   “  508,    “     “    5
        littoralis,                        “  507,    “     “    6
        tephrocotis,                       “  504,    “     “    8
  Lophophanes atricristatus,               “   90, pl. 6,   “    2
        bicolor,                           “   87,    “     “    1
        inornatus,                         “   91,    “     “    3
        wollweberi,                        “   93,    “     “    4
  Lophortyx californicus,                III. 479, pl. 61,  “    4
                 “                     ♂   “   “   pl. 64,  “    1
                 “                     ♀   “   “      “     “    2
        gambeli,                       ♂   “  482,    “     “    4
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “    5
  Loxia americana,                     ♂   I. 484, pl. 23,  “    1
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “    4
        leucoptera,                    ♂   “  488,    “     “    2
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “    3
        mexicana,                          “   “

  Melanerpes angustifrons,             ♂  II. 573, pl. 53,  “    3
                “                      ♀   “   “      “     “    4
        erythrocephalus,               ♂   “  564, pl. 54,  “    4
        formicivorus,                  ♂   “  566, pl. 53,  “    1
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “    2
        torquatus,                     ♂   “  561, pl. 54,  “    5
  Meleagris gallopavo,                   III. 404.
        mexicana,                          “  410.
  Melopeleia leucoptera,               ♂   “  376, pl. 58,  “    4
  Melospiza fallax,                    ♀  II.  22, pl. 27,  “   10
        guttata,                           “   27,    “     “   12
        heermanni,                     ♂   “   24,    “     “    9
        insignis,                          “   30,    “     “    8
        lincolni,                          “   31,    “     “   13
        melodia,                           “   19,    “     “    6
        palustris,                     ♂   “   34, pl. 28,  “    1
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “    2
        rufina,                            “   29, pl. 27,  “   11
        samuelis,                          “   26,    “     “    7
  Micrathene whitneyi,                   III.  87.
  Milvulus forficatus,                 ♂  II. 311, pl. 43,  “    1
        tyrannus,                          “  309.
  Mimus polyglottus,                       I.  49, pl. 3,   “    4
  Mitrephorus pallescens,              ♂  II. 386, pl. 44,  “   13
  Mniotilta varia,                     ♂   I. 180, pl. 10,  “    6
  Molothrus pecoris,                   ♀  II. 154, pl. 32,  “    6
               “                       ♀   “   “      “     “    7
        obscurus,                      ♂   “          “     “    8
  Motacilla alba,                          I. 165, pl. 10,  “    1
  Myiadestes townsendi,                ♂   “  409, pl. 18,  “    5
                 “   (_Juv._)              “   “      “     “    6
  Myiarchus cinerascens,               ♂  II. 337, pl. 43,  “    8
        crinitus,                      ♂   “          “     “    7
        lawrencii,                     ♂   “          “     “    9
  Myiodioctes canadensis,              ♂   I. 320, pl. 16,  “    6
        minutus,                           “  316,    “     “    2
        mitratus,                      ♂   “  314, pl. 15,  “   10
            “                          ♀   “          “     “   11
        pileolatus,                        “  319.
        pusillus,                      ♂   “  317, pl. 16,  “    3
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “    4
  Nauclerus forficatus,                  III. 192.
  Neocorys spraguei,                   ♀   I. 175, pl. 10,  “    5
  Nephœcetes niger,                    ♀  II. 429, pl. 45,  “    4
  Nisus cooperi,                         III. 230.
        fuscus,                            “  224.
        mexicanus,                         “  231.
  Nyctale richardsoni,                     “   40.
        acadica,                           “   43.
  Nyctea scandiaca,                        “   70.

  Onychotes gruberi,                       “  254.
  Oporornis agilis,                    ♂   I. 290, pl. 15,  “    1
               “                       ♀   “   “      “     “    2
        formosa,                       ♂   “  293,    “     “    3
  Oreopeleia martinica,                ♂ III. 393, pl. 58,  “    1
  Oreortyx pictus,                     ♂   “  475, pl. 63,  “    5
  Oreoscoptes montanus,                    I.  32, pl.  3,  “    6
  Ortalida macalli,                       II. 398, pl. 57,  “    1
  Ortyx texanus,                       ♀ III. 474, pl. 63,  “    4
            “                          ♂   “   “      “     “    3
        virginianus,                   ♂   “  468,    “     “    1
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “    2
  Otus brachyotus,                         “   22.
        wilsonianus,                       “   18.

  Pandion carolinensis,                    “  184.
  Panyptila melanoleuca,               ♂  II. 424, pl. 45,  “    5
  Parula americana,                    ♂   I. 208, pl. 10,  “    7
  Parus atricapillus,                      “   96, pl.  7,  “    1
        carolinensis,                      “  102,    “     “    4
        hudsonicus,                        “  105,    “     “    7
        montanus,                          “   95,    “     “    5
        occidentalis,                      “  101,    “     “    3
        rufescens,                         “  104,    “     “    6
        septentrionalis,                   “   99,    “     “    2
  Passerculus alaudinus,                   “  537, pl. 24,  “   11
        anthinus,                          “  539,    “     “   10
        caboti,                           II.      pl. 46,  “    9
        guttatus,                          I. 544, pl. 25,  “    1
        princeps,                          “  540,    “     “    2
        rostratus,                         “  542, pl. 24,  “   12
        sandwichensis,                     “  538,    “     “    9
        savanna,                           “  534,    “     “    8
  Passerella iliaca,                      II.  50, pl. 28,  “    7
        megarrhyncha,                      “   57,    “     “   10
        schistacea,                        “   56.
        townsendi,                     ♀   “   53,    “     “    8
  Pediœcetes columbianus,                III. 434, pl. 60,  “    1
        phasianellus,                      “  436,    “     “    3
  Perisoreus canadensis,               ♂  II. 299, pl. 41,  “    3
                “   (_Juv._)               “       pl. 42,  “    4
        capitalis,                     ♂  II. 302, pl. 41,  “    4
        obscurus,                          “   “
  Perissoglossa carbonata,                 I. 214, pl. 12,  “    3
        tigrina,                       ♂   “  212,    “     “    1
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “    2
  Petrochelidon lunifrons,             ♂   “  334, pl. 16,  “   13
  Peucæa æstivalis,                       II.  39, pl. 28,  “    4
        arizonæ,                           “   41.
        carpalis,                          “       pl. 46,  “    8
        cassini,                           “   42, pl. 28,  “    5
        ruficeps,                          “   45,    “     “    6
  Phainopepla nitens,                  ♂   I. 405, pl. 18,  “    3
                “                      ♂   “          “     “    4
  Phonipara zena,                      ♂  II.  93, pl. 29,  “   15
              “                        ♀   “   “      “     “   16
  Phyllopneuste borealis,                  I.      pl.  5,  “    5
  Pica hudsonica,                      ♂  II. 266, pl. 38,  “    1
        nuttalli,                      ♂   “  270,    “     “    3
  Picicorvus columbianus,                  “  255,    “     “    4
  Picoides americanus,                 ♂   “  532, pl. 50,  “    2
        arcticus,                      ♂   “  530,    “     “    1
  Picus albolarvatus,                  ♂   “  526,    “     “    7
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “    8
        borealis,                      ♂   “  524, pl. 49,  “    8
        gairdneri,                         “  512.
        harrisi,                           “  507.
        lucasanus,                         “  519.
        nuttalli,                      ♂   “  521, pl. 50,  “    3
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “    6
        pubescens,                     ♂   “  509, pl. 49,  “    6
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “    7
        scalaris,                      ♂   “  515, pl. 50,  “    4
            “                          ♀   “    “     “     “    5
        villosus,                      ♂   “  503, pl. 49,  “    3
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “    4
            “     (_Juv._)             ♂   “   “      “     “    5
  Pinicola enucleator,                 ♂   I. 453, pl. 21,  “    1
               “                       ♀   “   “      “     “    2
  Pipilo aberti,                       ♂  II. 128, pl. 31,  “    7
        albigula,                      ♂   “  127,    “     “   11
        alleni,                            “  112.
        arcticus,                      ♂   “  119,    “     “    5
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “    6
        chlorura,                      ♂   “  131,    “     “    4
        crissalis,                     ♂   “  122,    “     “    8
        erythrophthalmus,              ♂   “  109,    “     “    2
            “                          ♂   “   “      “     “    3
        megalonyx,                     ♀   “  113,    “     “    9
        mesoleucus,                    ♂   “  125,    “     “   10
        oregonus,                      ♀   “  116,    “     “   12
  Plectrophanes lapponicus,
                                       ♂   I. 515, pl. 24,  “    7
        maccowni,                      ♂   “  523,    “     “    1
        melanomus,                     ♂   “  521,    “     “    6
        nivalis,                       ♂   “  512,    “     “    2
        ornatus,                       ♂   “  520,    “     “    3
        pictus,                        ♂   “  518,    “     “    4
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “    5
  Polioptila cærulea,                      “   78, pl.  6,  “    5
        melanura,                          “   81,    “     “    7
        plumbea,                           “   80,    “     “    6
  Polyborus auduboni,                    III. 178.
  Poocætes gramineus,                     II. 545, pl. 29,  “    1
  Poospiza belli,                          I. 593, pl. 26,  “    9
        bilineata,                     ♂   “  590,    “     “    8
        nevadensis,                        “  594.
  Progne cryptoleuca,                      “  332.
        subis,                         ♀   “  329, pl. 16,  “    7
           “                           ♂   “   “      “     “   10
  Protonotaria citrea,                     “  184, pl. 10,  “    8
  Psaltriparus melanotis,                  “  108, pl. 7,   “    8
        minimus,                           “  109,    “     “    9
        plumbeus,                          “  110,    “     “   10
  Pseudogryphus californianus,           III. 338.
  Psilorhinus morio,                   ♀  II. 304, pl. 42,  “    2
  Pyranga æstiva,                      ♂   I. 441, pl. 20,  “    5
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “    6
        cooperi,                       ♂   “  444,    “     “    1
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “    2
        hepatica,                      ♂   “  440,    “     “    9
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “   10
        ludoviciana,                   ♂   “  437,    “     “    3
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “    4
        rubra,                         ♂   “  435,    “     “    7
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “    8
  Pyrgita domestica,                       “  525, pl. 23,  “   12
  Pyrocephalus mexicanus,              ♂  II. 387, pl. 44,  “    5
  Pyrrhula cassini,                    ♂   I. 457, pl. 23,  “   11
  Pyrrhuloxia sinuata,                 ♂  II.  95, pl. 30,  “    3

  Quiscalus æneus,                         “  218.
        aglæus,                        ♂   “  221, pl. 37,  “    2
        macrourus,                     ♂   “  225, pl. 36,  “    1
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “    2
        major,                         ♂   “  222,    “     “    3
           “                           ♀   “   “      “     “    4
        purpureus,                     ♂   “  214, pl. 37,  “    1

  Regulus calendula,                       I.  75, pl. 5,   “    9
        cuvieri,                           “    “     “     “    7
        satrapa,                           “   73,    “     “    8
  Rhinogryphus aura,                     III. 344.
  Rostrhamus sociabilis,                   “  209.

  Salpinctes obsoletus,                    I. 135, pl. 8,   “    3
  Saxicola œnanthe,                        “   60, pl. 5,   “    6
  Sayornis fuscus,                     ♂  II. 343, pl. 45,  “    2
        nigricans,                     ♂   “  340,    “     “    1
        sayus,                         ♂   “  347,    “     “    3
  Scardafella inca,                    ♂ III. 387, pl. 58,  “    7
  Scolecephalus cyanocephalus,
                                       ♀  II. 206, pl. 35,  “    3
        ferrugineus,                   ♂   “  203,    “     “    4
  Scops asio,                            III.  49.
        flammeola,                         “   58.
        floridana,                         “   57.
        kennicotti,                        “   53.
        maccalli,                          “   52.
  Seiurus aurocapillus,                    I. 280, pl. 14,  “   11
        ludovicianus,                  ♂   “  287,    “     “   13
        noveboracensis,                ♂   “  283,    “     “   12
  Selasphorus platycercus,             ♂  II. 462, pl. 47,  “    5
        rufus,                         ♂   “  459,    “     “    4
  Setophaga picta,                     ♂   “       pl. 46,  “    7
              “                        ♂   “       pl. 56,  “    3
        ruticilla,                     ♂   I. 322, pl. 16,  “    1
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “    5
  Sialia arctica,                          “   67, pl. 5,   “    4
        mexicana,                          “   65,    “     “    2
        sialis,                            “   62,    “     “    3
  Sitta aculeata,                          “  117.
        canadensis,                    ♂   “  118, pl. 8,   “    7
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “    8
        carolinensis,                  ♂   “  114,    “     “    1
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “    2
        pusilla,                           “  122,    “     “    9
        pygmæa,                            “  120,    “     “   10
  Spheotyto hypogæa,                     III.  90.
  Spermophila moreleti,                ♂  II.  91, pl. 29,  “   17
  Sphyropicus nuchalis,                ♂   “  542, pl. 51,  “    3
                 “                     ♀   “   “      “     “    4
        ruber,                         ♂   “  544,    “     “    6
        thyroideus,                    ♂   “  547, pl. 56,  “    6
        varius,                        ♂   “  539, pl. 51,  “    1
            “                          ♀   “   “      “     “    2
        williamsoni,                   ♀   “  545,    “     “    5
  Spizella arizonæ,                        “   11.
        atrigularis,                   ♂   I.  15, pl. 26,  “   11
            “                          ♂   “   “      “     “   12
        breweri,                          II.  13, pl. 27,  “    4
        monticola,                         “    3,    “     “    5
        pallida,                           “   11,    “     “    3
        pusilla,                       ♀   “    5,    “     “    2
        socialis,                          “    7,    “     “    1
  Starnœnas cyanocephala,
                                       ♂ III. 395, pl. 58,  “    5
  Stelgidopteryx serripennis,
                                       ♂   I. 350, pl. 16,  “   12
  Stellula calliope,                   ♂  II. 445, pl. 47,  “    9
  Strix pratincola,                      III.  13.
  Sturnella magna,                     ♂  II. 174, pl. 34,  “    2
        neglecta,                      ♂   “  176,    “     “    1
  Sturnus vulgaris,                    ♂   “  229, pl. 35,  “    8
  Surnia ulula,                          III.  75.
  Syrnium cinereum,                        “   30.
        nebulosum,                         “   34.
        occidentale,                       “   38.

  Tachycineta bicolor,                 ♂   I. 344, pl. 16,  “    8
        thalassina,                    ♂   “  347,    “     “   11
  Thaumatias linnæi,                      II. 468.
  Thryothorus berlandieri,                 I. 144, pl. 9,   “    2
        bewicki,                       ♂   “  145,    “     “    3
            “                              “   “      “     “    4
        leucogaster,                       “  147.
        ludovicianus,                      “  142,    “     “    1
        spilurus,                          “  147.
  Trochilus alexandri,                 ♂  II. 450, pl. 47,  “    1
        colubris,                      ♂   “  448,    “     “    2
  Troglodytes ædon,                        I. 149, pl. 9,   “    5
        alascensis,                        “  157,    “     “    8
        hyemalis,                          “  155,    “     “    9
        pacificus,                         “          “     “   10
        parkmanni,                         “  153.
  Turdus aliciæ,                           “   11, pl. 1,   “    3
        auduboni,                          “   21,    “     “    8
        confinis,                          “   27, pl. 2,   “    1
        fuscescens,                        “    9, pl. 1,   “    5
        iliacus,                           “   23, pl. 2,   “    4
        migratorius,                       “   25,    “     “    3
        mustelinus,                        “    7, pl. 1,   “    1
        nævius,                            “   29, pl. 2,   “    2
        nanus,                             “   20, pl. 1,   “    7
        pallasi,                           “   18,    “     “    6
        swainsoni,                         “   14,    “     “    4
        ustulatus,                         “          “     “    2
  Tyrannus carolinensis,               ♂  II. 316, pl. 43,  “    2
        couchi,                        ♂   “  329,    “     “    6
        dominicensis,                  ♂   “  319,    “     “    3
        verticalis,                    ♂   “  324,    “     “    4
        vociferans,                    ♂   “  327,    “     “    5

  Vireo atricapillus,                  ♂   I. 383, pl. 17,  “    6
        belli,                         ♂   “  389,    “     “   13
        huttoni,                       ♂   “  387,    “     “   12
        noveboracensis,                ♂   “  385,    “     “   11
        pusillus,                      ♂   “  391,    “     “   14
        vicinior,                      ♂   “  393,    “     “    7
  Vireosylvia barbatula,               ♂   “  360,    “     “    1
        flavoriridis,                      “  366.
        gilva,                         ♂   “  368,    “     “    3
        olivacea,                      ♂   “  363,    “     “    2
        philadelphica,                     “  367,    “     “    4
        swainsoni,                         “  371.

  Xanthocephalus icterocephalus,       ♂  II. 167, pl. 32,  “    9
                        “              ♀   “   “   pl. 33,  “    9
  Xanthoura luxuosa,                       “  295, pl. 42,  “    1

  Zenaida amabilis,                    ♂ III. 379, pl. 58,  “    3
  Zenaidura carolinensis,              ♂   “  383,    “     “    2
  Zonotrichia albicollis,              ♂   I. 574, pl. 26,  “   10
        coronata,                      ♂   “  573,    “     “    1
        gambeli,                       ♂   “  569, pl. 25,  “   11
            “    (_Juv._)                  “   “      “     “   12
        leucophrys, (_Juv._)           ♂   “  566,    “     “    9
            “                          ♂   “   “      “     “   10
        querula, (_Ad._)               ♂   “  577, pl. 26,  “    4
            “    (_autumn_)                “   “      “     “    7




INDEX OF ENGLISH NAMES.


  Ani, II. 488.

  Bee Martin, II. 316.
  Bird of Paradise (Texas), II. 311.
  Birds of Prey, III. 1.
  Blackbird, Brewer’s, II. 206.
      Cow, II. 154.
      Crimson-shouldered, II. 163.
      Crow, II. 214.
      Red and White shouldered, II. 165.
      Redwing, II. 159.
      Rusty, II. 203.
      Savanna, II. 488.
      Swamp, II. 159.
      White-winged, II. 61.
      Yellow-headed, II. 167.
  Black Warrior, III. 292.
  Bluebird, Eastern, I. 62.
      California, I. 65.
      Rocky Mountain, I. 67.
  Bobolink, II. 149.
  Bob-White, III. 468.
  Bull-Bat, II. 401.
  Bullfinch, Cassin’s, I. 457.
  Bunting, Arctic, II. 119.
      Baird’s, I. 531.
      Bay-winged, I. 545.
      Black-crowned, I. 573.
      Black-throated, II. 65.
      Blue, II. 82.
      Cañon, II. 125.
      Chestnut-collared, I. 520.
      Green-tailed, II. 131.
      Henslow’s, I. 550.
      Indigo, II. 82.
      Lark, II. 61.
      Leconte’s, I. 552.
      Long-clawed, II. 113.
      Maccown’s, I. 523.
      Painted, II. 87.
      Seaside, I. 560.
      Sharp-tailed, I. 557.
      Smith’s, I. 518.
      Townsend’s, II. 68.
      Varied, II. 86.
      Western Yellow-winged, I. 556.
      Yellow-winged, I. 553.
  Burion, I. 465, 466, 468.
  Bush-Titmouse, Black-eared, I. 108.
      Lead-colored, I. 110.
      Least, I. 109.
      Yellow-headed, I. 112.
  Butcher-Bird, I. 415.
  Buzzard, Harris’s, III. 250.
      Turkey, III.

  Cardinal, Cape, II. 103.
      Grosbeak, II. 100.
      Texas, II. 95.
  Catbird, I. 52.
  Cedar-Bird, I. 401.
  Chacalacca, Texas, III. 398.
  Chaparral Cock, II. 472.
  Chat, Long-tailed, I. 309.
      Yellow-breasted, I. 390.
  Chatterer, Bohemian, I. 396.
  Chewink, II. 109.
      Florida, II. 112.
      White-eyed, II. 112.
  Chickadee, Brown-capped, I. 105.
      Chestnut-backed, I. 104.
      Eastern, I. 96.
      Hudson’s Bay, I. 105.
      Long-tailed, I. 99.
      Mountain, I. 95.
      Southern, I. 102.
      Western, I. 101.
      White-browed, I. 95.
  Chippy, II. 7.
  Chuck-Will’s Widow, II. 410.
  Cock of the Plains, III. 429.
  Condor, California, III. 338.
  Cowbird, II. 154.
  Creepers, I. 124, 425.
  Creeper, Bahama, I. 428.
      Brown, I. 125.
      Mexican, I. 128.
  Crossbill, Mexican, I. 488.
      Red, I. 484.
      White-winged, I. 488.
  Crow, Carrion, III. 351.
      Clarke’s, II. 255.
      Common, II. 243.
      Fish, II. 251.
      Florida, II. 247.
      Northwestern Fish, II. 248.
      White-necked, II. 242.
  Cuckoos, II. 470.
  Cuckoo, Black-billed, II. 484.
      Mangrove, II. 482.
      Yellow-billed, II. 477.
  Curassows, III. 397.

  Dipper, American, I. 56.
  Dove, Carolina, or Common, III. 383.
      Ground, III. 389.
      Red-billed, III. 363.
      Scaly, III. 387.
      White-winged, III. 376.
      Zenaida, III. 379.

  Eagle, American, III. 326.
      Bald, III. 326.
      Caracara, III. 178.
      Golden, III. 314.
      Ring-tailed, III. 314.
      Emerald, Linnæus’s, II. 468.

  Falcons, III. 103.
  Falcon, American Peregrine, III. 132.
      Aplomado, III. 155.
      Black Peregrine, III. 137.
      Prairie, III. 123.
  Finches, I. 466.
  Finch, Black-faced, II. 93.
      Blanding’s, II. 131.
      California Purple, I. 465.
      Cañon, II. 122.
      Cassin’s Purple, I. 460.
      Crimson-fronted, I. 465, 466.
      Eastern Purple, I. 462.
      Gray-cheeked, I. 507.
      Gray-crowned, I. 504.
      Gray-eared, I. 508.
      Hepburn’s, I. 507.
      Lazuli, II. 84.
      Lincoln’s, II. 31.
      Mountain, II. 3.
      Painted, II. 87.
      Summer, II. 39.
      Yellow-throated, II. 65.
  Flicker, II. 575.
      Cape, II. 583.
      Hybrid, II. 582.
      Red-shafted, II. 578.
  Flycatcher, Arkansas, II. 324.
      Ash-throated, II. 337.
      Buff-breasted Least, II. 386.
      Canada, I. 320.
      Cassin’s, II. 327.
      Crested, II. 334.
      Fork-tailed, II. 309.
      Great-crested, II. 334.
      Green Black-capped, I. 317.
      Hammond’s, II. 383.
      Least, II. 372.
      Little, II. 366.
      Mexican Olive-sided, II. 356.
      Olive-sided, II. 353.
      Red, II. 387.
      Shining-crested, I. 405.
      Small-headed, I. 316.
      Small Green-crested, II. 374.
      Swallow-tail, II. 311.
      Traill’s, II. 369.
      Western Yellow-bellied, II. 380.
      Wright’s, II. 381.
      Yellow-bellied, II. 378.

  Gerfalcon, Black, III. 117.
      Iceland, III. 113.
      McFarlane’s, III. 115.
      White, III. 111.
  Gnatcatcher, Arizona, I. 80.
      Black-capped, I. 81.
      Blue-gray, I. 78.
      Eastern, I. 78.
      Lead-colored, I. 80.
  Goatsuckers, II. 398.
  Goatsucker, Long-winged, II. 401.
      Short-winged, II. 410.
  Goldfinch, Arizona, I. 476.
      Arkansas, I. 474.
      Black, I. 478.
      Lawrence’s, I. 478.
      Mexican, I. 478.
      Pine, I. 480.
      Rocky Mountain, I. 474.
  Goshawk, American, III. 237.
  Grakle, Boat-tailed, II. 222.
      Bronzed, II. 218.
      Florida, II. 221.
      Great-tailed, II. 225.
      Purple, II. 215.
  Greenlet, Florida, I. 360.
      Philadelphia, I. 367.
      Red-eyed, I. 363.
      Warbling, I. 368.
      Western Warbling, I. 371.
  Grosbeak, Black-headed, II. 73.
      Blue, II. 77.
      Evening, I. 449.
      Pine, I. 453.
      Rose-breasted, II. 70.
  Ground-Tits, I. 83, 84.
  Grouse, III. 414.
      Canada, III. 416.
      Dusky, III. 422.
      Franklin’s, III. 419.
      Oregon, III. 454.
      Oregon Dusky, III. 425.
      Pinnated, III. 440.
      Richardson’s Dusky, III. 427.
      Ruffled, III. 448.
      Sharp-tailed, III. 434.
      Shoulder-knot, III. 448.
      Spotted, III. 416.
      Willow, III. 457.
  Gyrfalcon. _See_ Gerfalcon.

  Hang-Nest, II. 195.
  Harrier, American, III. 214.
  Hawk, American Sparrow, III. 169.
      Baird’s, III. 263.
      Band-tail, III. 272.
      Black, III. 304.
      Broad-winged, III. 259.
      California Squirrel, III. 300.
      Cooper’s, III. 230.
      Cooper’s Red-tailed, III. 295.
      Duck, III. 132.
      Fish, III. 184.
      Gruber’s, III. 254.
      Harlan’s, III. 292.
      Marsh, III. 214.
      Mexican, III. 246.
      Mexican Blue-backed, III. 231.
      Pigeon, III. 144.
      Red-bellied, III. 277.
      Red-shouldered, III. 275.
      Red-tailed, III. 281.
      Rough-legged, III. 304.
      Sharp-shinned, III. 224.
      Sharp-winged, III. 266.
      Swainson’s, III. 263.
      Swallow-tailed, III. 192.
  Heathcock, Black-spotted, III. 416.
  High-Holder, II. 575.
  Hoot-Owl, III. 34.
  House-Finch, California, I. 468.
  Hummer, Ruffed, II. 457.
  Humming-Birds, II. 437.
  Humming-Bird, Anna, II. 454.
      Black-chinned, II. 450.
      Broad-tailed, II. 462.
      Calliope, II. 445.
      Costa’s, II. 457.
      Heloisa’s, II. 465.
      Ruby-throated, II. 448.
      Rufous-backed, II. 459.
      Xantus’s, II. 467.

  Indigo-Bird, II. 82.

  Jackdaw, II. 222.
  Jay, Alaskan Gray, II. 302.
      Blue, II. 273.
      Brown, II. 304.
      California, II. 288.
      Canada, II. 299.
      Florida, II. 285.
      Green, II. 295.
      Long-crested, II. 281.
      Maximilian’s, II. 260.
      Rocky Mountain Gray, II. 302.
      Sierra, II. 279.
      Steller’s, II. 277.
      Ultramarine, II. 293.
      Woodhouse’s, II. 291.

  Kestrel, American, III. 169.
  Kingbird, II. 316.
      Couch’s, II. 329.
      Gray, II. 319.
  King-Buzzard, III. 178.
  Kingfishers, II. 391.
  Kingfisher, Belted, II. 392.
      Green, II. 396.
      Texas, II. 396.
  Kinglet, Cuvier’s, I. 75.
      Golden-crowned, I. 73.
      Ruby-crowned, I. 75.
  Kite, Black-shouldered, III. 198.
      Blue, III. 203.
      Everglade, III. 203.
      Fork-tailed, III. 192.
      Hook-bill, III. 203.
      Mississippi, III. 203.
      White-tailed, III. 198.

  Lanner, American, III. 123.
  Lark, Meadow, II. 174.
      Old Field, II. 174.
      Western, II. 176.
  Linnet, Brewster’s, I. 501.
      House, I. 465.
      Red-headed, I. 468.
  Log-Cock, II. 550.
  Loggerhead, I. 418.
      Western, I. 421.
  Longspur, Black-bellied, I. 520.
      Black-shouldered, I. 521.
      Chestnut-shouldered, I. 523.
      Lapland, I. 515.
      Painted, I. 518.

  Magpie, II. 266.
      Yellow-billed, II. 270.
  Martin, Cuban, I. 332.
      Purple, I. 329.
      Sand, I. 353.
  Marsh-Wren, Long-billed, I. 161.
      Short-billed, I. 159.
  Merlin, American, III. 144.
      Black, III. 147.
      Richardson’s, III. 148.
  Mocking-Bird, I. 49.
  Moose-Bird, II. 299.

  Night-Hawk, II. 401.
      Texas, II. 406.
      Western, II. 404.
  Nonpareil, II. 87.
  Nuthatch, Brown-headed, I. 122.
      Pygmy, I. 120.
      Red-bellied, I. 118.
      Slender-billed, I. 117.
      White-bellied, I. 114.

  Orioles, II. 147.
  Oriole, Audubon’s, II. 186.
      Baltimore, II. 195.
      Bullock’s, II. 199.
      Hooded, II. 193.
      Orchard, II. 190.
      Red-winged, II. 159.
      Scott’s, II. 188.
  Osprey, American, III. 184.
  Owls, III. 4.
  Owl, American Barn, III. 13.
      American Hawk, III. 75.
      American Snowy, III. 70.
      American Sparrow, III. 40.
      Barred, III. 34.
      Burrowing, III. 90.
      California Pygmy, III. 81.
      Feilner’s, III. 58.
      Great Gray, III. 30.
      Great Horned, III. 62.
      Kennicott’s, III. 53.
      Kirtland’s, III. 43.
      Lesser-horned, III. 18.
      Little Red, III. 49.
      Long-eared, III. 18.
      Marsh, III. 22.
      Mottled, III. 49.
      Red-tailed, III. 85.
      Richardson’s, III. 40.
      Saw-whet, III. 43.
      Short-eared, III. 22.
      Spotted, III. 38.
      Western-barred, III. 38.
      Western Great-horned, III. 64.
      Western-mottled, III. 52.
      White-fronted, III. 43.
      Whitney’s, III. 87.

  Paisano, II. 472.
  Parakeet, II. 587.
  Parrots, II. 585.
  Parrot, Carolina, II. 587.
      Illinois, II. 587.
      Orange-headed, II. 587.
  Partridge, III. 448, 466, 468.
      Massena, III. 492.
      Mountain, III. 453.
      Plumed, III. 475.
      Scaled or Blue, III. 487.
      Spruce, III. 416.
  Pewee, II. 343.
      Black, II. 340.
      Say’s, II. 347.
      Short-legged, II. 360.
      Western Wood, II. 360.
      Wood, II. 357.
  Pheasant, III. 448.
  Phœbe-Bird, II. 343.
  Pigeons, III. 357.
  Pigeon, Band-tailed, III. 360.
      Blue-headed, III. 395.
      Key West, III. 393.
      Passenger, III. 368.
      White-headed, III. 363.
      Wild, III. 368.
  Pipit, American, I. 171.
      European, I. 173.
      Sprague’s, I. 175.
  Poor-Will, II. 417.
  Prairie-Chicken, III. 440.
  Prairie-Hen, III. 440.
      Texas, III. 446.
  Ptarmigan, White, III. 457.
      Rock, III. 462.
      White-tailed, III. 464.

  Quail, III. 468.
      California, III. 479.
      Gambel’s, III. 482.
      Mountain, III. 475.

  Raven, American, II. 234.
  Redbird, II. 100.
      Summer, I. 441.
  Redbreast, American, I. 25.
  Red-Poll, Lesser, I. 493.
      Mealy, I. 498.
  Redstart, American, I. 322.
  Red-Tail, Eastern, III. 282.
      St. Lucas, III. 285.
      White-bellied, III. 284.
  Reedbird, II. 149.
  Ricebird, II. 149.
  Road-Runner, II. 472.
  Robins, I. 25.
  Robin, Cape St. Lucas, I. 27.
      Golden, II. 195.
      Ground, II. 109.
      Oregon, I. 29.
      Oregon Ground, II. 116.

  Sage-Cock, III. 429.
  Sapsucker, Larger, II. 503.
      Lesser, II. 509.
  Scissor-Tail, II. 311.
  Screech-Owl, III. 49.
  Sea-Eagle, Gray, III. 324.
  Seed-Eater, Little, II. 91.
  Sharp-Tail, Columbia, III. 436.
  Shore-Lark, II. 141.
  Shrikes, I. 412.
  Shrike, Great Northern, I. 415.
      Southern, I. 418.
      White-rumped, I. 421.
      White-winged, I. 420.
  Skylark, II. 136.
      Missouri, I. 175.
  Snowbirds, I. 580.
  Snowbird, Oregon, I. 584.
      Red-backed, I. 587.
      White-winged, I. 584.
  Snow-Bunting, I. 512.
  Solitaire, Townsend’s, I. 409.
  Sparrows, I. 528.
  Sparrow, Arizona, II. 41.
      Artemisia, I. 594.
      Bachman’s, II. 39.
      Bell’s, I. 593.
      Black-chinned, II. 15.
      Black-hooded, I. 577.
      Black-throated, I. 590.
      Brewer’s, II. 13.
      California Shore, I. 539.
      Cassin’s, II. 42.
      Chipping, II. 7.
      Clay-colored, II. 11.
      Field, II. 5.
      Fox-colored, II. 50.
      Golden-crowned, I. 573.
      Grass, I. 545.
      Harris’s, I. 577.
      Heermann’s Song, II. 24.
      House, I. 525.
      Ipswich, I. 540.
      Kodiak Song, II. 30.
      Lark, I. 562.
      Little Brown, II. 5.
      Northwest Savanna, I. 538.
      Oregon Song, II. 27.
      Rufous-crowned, II. 45.
      Rusty Song, II. 29.
      St. Lucas, I. 544.
      Samuel’s Song, II. 26.
      San Diego, I. 542.
      Savanna, I. 534.
      Song, II. 19.
      Swamp, II. 34.
      Texas, II. 47.
      Thick-billed, II. 57.
      Townsend’s, II. 53.
      Tree, II. 3.
      Western Chipping, II. 11.
      Western Savanna, I. 537.
      Western Song, II. 22.
      Western White-crowned, I. 569.
      White-crowned, I. 566.
      White-throated, I. 574.
  Starlings, II. 228.
  Starling, II. 229.
  Swallows, I. 326.
  Swallow, Aculeated, II. 432.
      Bank, I. 353.
      Barn, I. 339.
      Chimney, II. 432.
      Cliff, I. 334.
      Eave, I. 334.
      Rough-winged, I. 350.
      Violet-green, I. 347.
      White-bellied, I. 344.
  Swifts, II. 421.
  Swift, Black, II. 429.
      Oregon Chimney, II. 435.
      White-throated, II. 424.

  Tanagers, I. 431.
  Tanager, Louisiana, I. 437.
      Scarlet, I. 435.
  Thistle-Bird, I. 471.
  Thrasher, Brown, I. 37.
      California, I. 45.
      Cape St. Lucas, I. 40.
      Gray Curve-Bill, I. 41.
      Leconte’s, I. 44.
      Palmer’s, I. 43.
      Red-vented, I. 47.
      Sage, I. 32.
      Texas, I. 39.
  Thrushes, I. 1.
  Thrush, Alice’s, I. 11.
      Dwarf Hermit, I. 20.
      Golden-crowned, I. 280.
      Gray-cheeked, I. 11.
      Hermit, I. 18.
      Louisiana Water, I. 287.
      Rocky Mountain Hermit, I. 21.
      Olive-backed, I. 14.
      Oregon, I. 16.
      Red-wing, I. 23.
      Rufous-tailed, I. 18.
      Small-billed Water, I. 283.
      Swainson’s, I. 14.
      Tawny, I. 9.
      Varied, I. 29.
      Wilson’s, I. 9.
      Wood, I. 7.
  Titlark, I. 171.
  Titmice, I. 86.
  Titmouse, Black-capped, I. 96.
      Black-fronted, I. 87.
      Black-tufted, I. 90.
      California, I. 91.
      Gray-tufted, I. 91.
      Striped-headed, I. 93.
      Texas, I. 90.
      Tufted, I. 87.
      Wollweber’s, I. 93.
  Towhees, II. 109.
  Towhee, Abert’s, II. 128.
      Brown, II. 122.
      Cape, II. 127.
  Troupial, II. 184.
  Turkey-Buzzard, III. 344.
  Turkeys, III. 402.
  Turkey, Mexican, III. 410.
      Wild, III. 404.
  Tyrant Flycatchers, II. 306.

  Vireo, Arizona, I. 393.
      Bell’s, I. 389.
      Black-capped, I. 383.
      Blue-headed, I. 373.
      Cassin’s, I. 376.
      Hutton’s, I. 387.
      Lead-colored, I. 377.
      Least, I. 391.
      White-eyed, I. 385.
      Yellow-green, I. 366.
      Yellow-throated, I. 379.
  Vultures, III. 335, 338.
  Vulture, Black, III. 351.
      Red-headed, III. 344.

  Wagler, I. 578.
  Wagtails, I. 164.
  Wagtail, White, I. 165.
      Yellow, I. 167.
  Warblers, I. 177.
  Warbler, Alaska Willow, I. 70.
      Arizona, I. 243.
      Audubon’s, I. 229.
      Bachman’s, I. 194.
      Bay-breasted, I. 251.
      Black and White, I. 180.
      Black and Yellow, I. 232.
      Blackburnian, I. 237.
      Black-masked Ground, I. 297.
      Black-Poll, I. 248.
      Black-throated Blue, I. 254.
      Black-throated Gray, I. 258.
      Black-throated Green, I. 261.
      Blue Mountain, I. 271.
      Blue-winged Yellow, I. 195.
      Blue Yellow-backed, I. 208.
      Cærulean, I. 235.
      Cape May, I. 212.
      Carbonated, I. 214.
      Chestnut-sided, I. 245.
      Connecticut, I. 290.
      Creeping, I. 180.
      Golden Swamp, I. 184.
      Golden-winged, I. 192.
      Hooded, I. 314.
      Kentucky, I. 293.
      Kirtland’s, I. 272.
      Lucy’s, I. 200.
      Macgillivray’s Ground, I. 303.
      Maryland Yellow-throat, I. 297.
      Mourning, I. 301.
      Myrtle, I. 227.
      Nashville, I. 196.
      Olive-headed, I. 258.
      Orange-crowned, I. 202.
      Orange-throated, I. 237.
      Pacific Orange-crowned, I. 204.
      Pine-creeping, I. 268.
      Prairie, I. 276.
      Prothonotary, I. 184.
      Rocky Mountain, I. 199.
      Swainson’s Swamp, I. 190.
      Tennessee, I. 205.
      Townsend’s, I. 265.
      Virginia’s, I. 199.
      Western, I. 266.
      Western Yellow-rump, I. 229.
      White-throated Blue, I. 235.
      Worm-eating Swamp, I. 187.
      Yellow Red-poll, I. 273.
      Yellow-rump, I. 227.
      Yellow-throated Gray, I. 240.
  Water Ouzel, I. 56.
  Waxwing, Northern, I. 396.
      Southern, I. 401.
  Wheat-Ear, I. 60.
  Whippoorwill, II. 413.
      Nuttall’s, II. 417.
  Whiskey-Jack, II. 299.
  Woodcock, Black, II. 550.
  Woodpecker, Black-backed Three-toed, II. 530.
      Brown-headed, II. 547.
      California, II. 566.
      Cape, II. 519.
      Downy, II. 509.
      Gairdner’s, II. 512.
      Gila, II. 558.
      Hairy, II. 503.
      Harris’s, II. 507.
      Ivory-billed, II. 496.
      Ladder-backed, II. 515.
      Lewis’s, II. 561.
      Narrow-fronted, II. 573.
      Nuttall’s, II. 521.
      Pileated, II. 550.
      Red-bellied, II. 554.
      Red-breasted, II. 544.
      Red-cockaded, II. 524.
      Red-headed, II. 564.
      Red-naped, II. 542.
      White-backed, Three-toed, II. 532.
      White-headed, II. 526.
      White-rumped, II. 564.
      Williamson’s, II. 545.
      Yellow-bellied, II. 539, 557.
      Yellow-shafted, II. 575.
  Wrens, I. 130.
  Wren, Alaska, I. 157.
      Berlandier’s, I. 144.
      Bewick’s, I. 145.
      Cactus, I. 132.
      Cañon, I. 139.
      Cape Cactus, I. 133.
      Great Carolina, I. 142.
      House, I. 149.
      Long-tailed House, I. 145.
      Parkman’s, I. 153.
      Rock, I. 135.
      Western Wood, I. 153.
      White-throated Rock, I. 139.
      Winter, I. 155.
      Wood, I. 149.
      Tit, I. 84.

  Yellow-Bird, I. 471.
      Summer, I. 222.




INDEX OF SCIENTIFIC NAMES.


  Aburria, III. 397.
  Acanthis, I. 491.
      canescens, I. 498.
      holbölli, I. 493.
  Acanthylis, II. 431.
      pelagica, II. 432.
      vauxi, II. 435.
  Accipiter, III. 220, 222.
      æsalon, III. 142.
      ardosiacus, III. 225.
      carolinensis, III. 169.
      cauda furcata, III. 192.
      cooperi, III. 220, 222, 230.
      dominicensis, III. 167.
      falco freti hudsonis, III. 111.
      falco islandicus, III. 113.
      falco maculatus, III. 132.
      falco niger, III. 137.
      falco piscator antillarum, III. 184.
      falco piscator carolinensis, III. 184.
      fringillarius, III. 222.
      fringilloides, III. 225.
      fuscus, III. 224, 225.
      gyrfalco, III. 111.
      lithofalco, III. 142.
      mexicanus, III. 231.
      milvus carolinensis, III. 192.
      minor, III. 169.
      palumbarius, III. 144.
      pennsylvanicus, III. 225.
      pileatus, III. 230.
      piscatorius, III. 184.
      ruficaudus, III. 282.
      trinotatus, III. 220, 222.
      velox, III. 225.
  Aëtos, III. 312.
  Ægiothus, I. 448, 491.
      brewsteri, I. 493, 501.
      canescens, I. 493, 498.
      exilipes, I. 493.
      flavirostris, I. 493.
      fuscescens, I. 493.
      holbölli, I. 493.
      linarius, I. 493.
      rostratus, I. 493.
  Ægithaliscus, I. 107.
      melanotis, I. 108.
      flaviceps, I. 111, 112.
  Ægolius, III. 17.
  Æsalon, III. 107, 142.
      columbarius, III. 144.
      lithofalco, III. 142.
  Agelainæ, II. 147, 148.
  Agelaius, II. 148, 158.
      assimilis, II. 159.
      bullocki, II. 199.
      gubernator, II. 159, 163.
      icterocephalus, II. 167.
      longipes, II. 167.
      phœniceus, II. 158, 159.
      tricolor, II. 159, 165.
      xanthocephalus, II. 167.
  Agrodoma spraguei, I. 175.
  Alauda, II. 135; III. 519.
      agrestis, II. 136.
      alpestris, II. 139, 143.
      arvensis, II. 136.
      cælipeta, II. 136.
      chrysolæma, II. 144.
      cornuta, II. 143.
      italica, II. 136.
      ludoviciana, I. 171.
      magna, II. 171, 174.
      minor, II. 144.
      montana, II. 136.
      pennsylvanica, I. 171.
      pratensis, I. 173.
      rubra, I. 171.
      rufa, I. 164, 170, 171; II. 144.
      segetum, II. 136.
      spraguei, I. 174, 175.
      vulgaris, II. 136.
  Alaudidæ, I. 164, 431; II. 135.
  Alcedinidæ, II. 391.
  Alcedo alcyon, II. 391, 392.
      americana, II. 396.
      cabanisi, II. 396.
      guacu, II. 392.
      jaguacate, II. 392.
      rudis, II. 391.
      viridis, II. 396.
  Amazilia xantusi, II. 467.
  Ammodromus, I. 529, 556.
  Ammodromus bachmani, II. 39.
      caudacutus, I. 557.
      macgillivrayi, I. 560.
      maritimus, I. 560; III. 515.
      palustris, II. 34.
      rostratus, I. 542.
      ruficeps, II. 45.
      samuelis, II. 26.
  Ampelidæ, I. 3, 356, 395, 431.
  Ampelinæ, I. 395.
  Ampelis, I. 395.
      americana, I. 401.
      cedrorum, I. 396, 401.
      garrulus, I. 396, 401.
      phœnicopterurn, I. 396.
      sialis, I. 63.
  Angusticolles, II. 492.
  Anorthura, I. 131, 149.
  Antenor, III. 105.
  Anthinæ, I. 164, 169.
  Anthus, I. 149, 170.
      aquaticus, I. 171.
      bogotensis, I. 164, 170.
      l’herminieri, I. 284.
      ludovicianus, I. 170, 171, 175, 286; III. 509.
      pennsylvanica, I. 171.
      pipiens, I. 171.
      pratensis, I. 170, 173.
      reinhardti, I. 171.
      rubens, I. 171.
      rufus, I. 170.
      spinoletta, I. 171.
      spraguei, I. 175.
  Antrostomus, II. 399, 400, 408.
  Antrostomus carolinensis, II. 409, 410; III. 523.
      cubanensis, II. 409.
      macromystax, II. 409.
      nuttalli, II. 409, 417.
      vociferus, II. 409, 413.
  Aphelocoma, II. 282.
      californica, II. 288.
      crissoleucus, II. 529.
      floridana, II. 285.
  Apternus, II. 528.
      americanus, II. 532.
      arcticus, II. 530.
      hirsutus, II. 532.
      kamtchatkensis, II. 529.
      tridactylus, II. 529.
  Aquila, III. 105, 312.
      albicilla, III. 324.
      americana, III. 184.
      canadensis, III. 313, 314.
      chrysaëtus, III. 313.
      fulva, III. 314.
      haliætus, III. 183.
      leucocephala, III. 324, 326.
      melanaëtus, III. 314.
      nobilis, III. 314.
      ossifraga, III. 324.
      piscatrix, III. 184.
      regia, III. 314.
      valeria, III. 313.
  Archibuteo, III. 105, 297.
      ferrugineus, III. 298, 300.
      lagopus, III. 298.
      regalis, III. 300.
      sancti-johannis, III. 299, 304.
  Argyrtria maculata, II. 468.
  Asio, III. 17.
      brachyotus, III. 22.
      bubo virginianus, III. 62.
      crassirostris, III. 61.
      galopagoensis, III. 23.
      hypogæa, III. 25.
      macrorhyncha, III. 61.
      mexicana, III. 61.
      nævia, III. 49.
      otus, III. 17.
      peregrinator, III. 18.
      scops carolinensis, III. 49.
  Astragalinus mexicanus, I. 478.
      tristis, I. 471.
  Astur, III. 220, 236.
      atricapillus, III. 237.
      borealis, III. 282.
      cinerea, III. 245, 246.
      cooperi, III. 230.
      fuscus, III. 224, 275.
      hyemalis, III. 275.
      latissimus, III. 259.
      palumbarius, III. 236, 237.
      pennsylvanicus, III. 225, 259.
      plagiata, III. 245, 246.
      striolatus, III. 245.
      unicinctus, III. 249.
      velox, III. 225.
  Asturina, III. 105, 244.
      nitida, III. 245.
  Asyndesmus, II. 559.
      torquatus, II. 561.
  Athene cunicularia, III. 90.
      ferruginea, III. 85.
      gnoma, III. 81.
      hypogæa, III. 90.
      nana, III. 85.
      noctua, III. 97.
      phalænoides, III. 43.
      socialis, III. 90.
      whitneyi, III. 86, 87.
      wilsoni, III. 43.
  Attagen rupestris, III. 462.
  Atthis, II. 438, 439, 464.
      anna, II. 454.
      heloisæ, II. 445.
  Aulanax, II. 339.
      fuscus, II. 343.
      nigricans, II. 340.
      sayus, II. 347.
  Auriparus, I. 86, 111.
      flaviceps, I. 112.

  Balbusardus, III. 182.
  Basileuterus belli, I. 313.
      culicivorus, I. 312.
  Bathmidurus major, II. 306.
  Bidens aurantius, III. 129.
      dominicensis, III. 166.
      sparverius, III. 166.
  Blacicus pallidus, II. 351.
  Blagrus, III. 320.
  Bæolophus, I. 86, 87.
      bicolor, I. 87.
  Bombycilla americana, I. 401.
      carolinensis, I. 401.
      cedrorum, I. 401.
      phœnicopterum, I. 396.
  Bonasa, III. 414, 446.
      cupido, III. 440.
      sabini, III. 447, 454.
      sylvestris, III. 446.
      umbelloides, III. 447, 453.
      umbellus, III. 446, 448.
  Brachyotus, III. 5, 17, 18.
      americanus, III. 23.
      cassini (_plate_.), III. 23, 102.
      galopagoensis, III. 23.
      palustris, III. 22.
  Bubo, III. 6, 60.
      albifrons, III. 43.
      arcticus, III. 60, 64.
      asio, III. 49.
      clamator, III. 61.
      crassirostris, III. 61.
      ludovicianus, III. 62.
      magellanicus, III. 61, 64.
      maximus, III. 60.
      mexicanus, III. 60, 61.
      otus, III. 17.
      pacificus, III. 61, 65.
      pinicola, III. 62.
      subarcticus, III. 64.
      virginianus (_plate_), III. 60, 62, 64, 65, 98, 99, 100, 101.
      virginianus arcticus, III. 64.
      virginianus atlanticus, III. 62.
      virginianus pacificus, III. 64, 65.
  Budytes, I. 164, 167.
      flava, I. 167, 168.
  Butaëtes, III. 297.
      lagopus, III. 299.
      sancti-johannis, III. 304.
  Butaquila, III. 297.
      strophiata, III. 297.
  Buteo, III. 105, 254.
      albicaudatus, III. 266.
      albonotatus, III. 272.
      americanus, III. 282.
      ater, III. 304.
      bairdi, III. 263.
      borealis, III. 257, 281, 282.
      calurus, III. 258, 292.
      cenchris, III. 203.
      cinereus, III. 263.
      cooperi, III. 258, 275, 295.
      costaricensis, III. 285.
      elegans, III. 257, 277.
      ferrugineocaudus, III. 282.
      fuliginosus, III. 266.
      fulvus, III. 282.
      fuscus, III. 275.
      gallinivorus, III. 282.
      galapagoensis, III. 254.
      gutturalis, III. 263.
      hamatus, III. 209.
      harlani, III. 258, 292.
      harrisi, III. 250.
      hyemalis, III. 275.
      insignatus, III. 263.
      krideri, III. 258, 284.
      lagopus, III. 299, 304.
      leverianus, III. 282.
      lineatus, III. 257, 275.
      lucasanus, III. 285.
      montanus, III. 263.
      niger, III. 304.
      oxypterus, III. 256, 266.
      pennsylvanicus, III. 256, 259.
      sancti-johannis, III. 304.
      spadiceus, III. 304.
      swainsoni, III. 256, 263.
      unicinctus, III. 249, 250.
      vulgaris, III. 263.
      zonocercus, III. 257, 272.

  Cacicus alaudarius, II. 174.
  Cæreba cyanea, I. 425.
  Cærebidæ, I. 163, 425, 431.
  Calamospiza, II. 59, 60.
      bicolor, II. 61.
  Calandritinæ, II. 135.
  Callichelidon, I. 327, 338.
      cyaneoviridis, I. 338.
  Callipepla, III. 466, 487.
      californica, III. 479.
      gambeli, III. 482.
      picta, III. 475.
      squamata, III. 487.
      strenua, III. 487.
      venusta, III. 482.
  Calliphlox anna, II. 454.
  Calocitta, II. 264.
  Calothorax calliope, II. 445.
      cyanopogon, II. 445.
  Calypte, II. 438, 439, 453.
      anna, II. 453, 454.
      costæ, II. 453, 457.
      floresi, II. 453.
      helenæ, II. 453.
  Campephilus, II. 493, 494.
      bairdi, II. 496.
      imperialis, II. 496.
      principalis, II. 494, 496.
  Campylorhynchus, I. 130, 131.
      affinis, I. 131, 133.
      brunneicapillus, I. 131, 132; III. 508.
      scolopaceus, I. 131.
  Canace, III. 415.
      canadensis, III. 416.
      franklini, III. 419.
      fuliginosus, III. 421, 425.
      obscurus, III. 421, 422.
      richardsoni, III. 422, 427.
  Caprimulgidæ, II. 398.
  Caprimulginæ, II. 398.
  Caprimulgus albicollis, II. 399.
      acutipennis, II. 400.
      acutus, II. 400.
      americanus, II. 401.
      brachypterus, II. 410.
      carolinensis, II. 408, 410.
      clamator, II. 413.
      exilis, II. 400.
      macromystax, II. 409.
      nuttalli, II. 417.
      popetue, II. 401.
      pruinosus, II. 400.
      rufus, II. 410.
      semitorquatus, II. 400.
      texensis, II. 406.
      virginianus, II. 400, 401, 413.
      vociferans, II. 413.
      vociferus, II. 413.
  Caracara, III. 176.
      vulgaris, III. 177.
  Cardellina, I. 179, 312.
      rubra, I. 312.
  Cardellineæ, I. 179.
  Cardinalis, II. 60, 99.
      carneus, II. 99.
      coccineus, II. 99.
      igneus, II. 99, 103; III. 518.
      phœniceus, II. 99.
      sinuatus, II. 95.
      virginianus, I. 295; II. 99–101.
  Carduelis lawrenci, I. 478.
      luxuosus, II. 86.
      mexicanus, I. 478.
      spinoides, I. 470.
      psaltria, I. 474.
      tristis, I. 471.
  Carpodacus, I. 447, 459.
      californicus, I. 460, 465.
      cassini, I. 459, 460.
      familiaris, I. 466, 468.
      frontalis, I. 460, 465, 466.
      hæmorrhous, I. 460.
      obscurus, I. 466.
      purpureus, I. 459, 462.
      rhodocolpus, I. 460, 468.
  Catharista, III. 337, 350.
      atrata, III. 355, 356.
      californianus, III. 338.
  Cathartes, III. 337, 339, 343, 350.
      atratus, III. 351.
      aura, III. 344.
      burrovianus, III. 344.
      californianus, III. 338.
      falklandicus, III. 345.
      fœtens, III. 351.
      iota, III. 345, 351.
      ruficollis, III. 345.
      urubu, III. 351.
      vulturinus, III. 338.
  Cathartidæ, III. 1, 335.
  Cathartinæ, III. 335.
  Catharus melpomene, I. 3.
      occidentalis, I. 3.
  Catherpes, I. 130, 137.
      conspersus, I. 139; III. 508.
      mexicanus, I. 137–139.
  Centrocercus, III. 414, 428.
      phasianellus, III. 436.
      urophasianus, III. 429.
  Centrophanes, I. 510.
      calcaratus, I. 515.
      lapponicus, I. 515.
      ornatus, I. 520.
  Centronyx, I. 529, 530.
      bairdi, I. 531, 540; III. 514.
  Centureæ, II. 492, 553.
  Centurus, II. 553.
      aurifrons, II. 554, 557.
      carolinus, II. 553, 554.
      carolinensis, II. 587.
      elegans, II. 557.
      flaviventris, II. 557.
      hoffmanni, II. 554.
      hypopolius, II. 558.
      santacruzi, II. 557.
      subelegans, II. 554.
      sulfureiventer, II. 558.
      tricolor, II. 554.
      uropygialis, II. 554, 558; III. 523.
  Ceophloeus pileatus, II. 550.
  Cerchneis sparverius, III. 169.
  Certhia, I. 124.
      americana, I. 125, 128.
      caroliniana, I. 142.
      costæ, I. 124, 125.
      familiaris, I. 124, 125.
      flaveola, I. 425, 428.
      fusca, I. 125.
      maculata, I. 180.
      mexicana, I. 125, 128.
      palustris, I. 158, 161.
      pinus, I. 195.
  Certhiadæ, I. 124.
  Certhiidæ, I. 431.
  Certhiola, I. 425.
      bahamensis, I. 427, 428.
      bairdi, I. 428.
      bananivora, I. 427.
      barbadensis, I. 428; III. 512.
      bartholemica, I. 428.
      caboti, I. 427; III. 512.
      chloropyga, I. 428.
      dominicana, I. 428.
      flaveola, I. 427, 428.
      frontalis, I. 428; III. 512.
      luteola, I. 427.
      major, I. 427.
      maritima, I. 212.
      martinicana, I. 428.
      mexicana, I. 428.
      minor, I. 427.
      newtoni, I. 427; III. 512.
      peruviana, I. 428.
      portoricensis, I. 427.
  Ceryle, II. 391.
      alcyon, II. 392.
      americana, II. 396.
      cabanisi, II. 396.
  Chætura, II. 422, 427, 431.
      cinereiventris, II. 431.
      pelagica, II. 431, 432.
      pelasgia, II. 432.
      poliura, II. 431.
      sclateri, II. 431.
      spinicauda, II. 432.
      vauxi, II. 431, 435; III. 523.
  Chæturinæ, II. 422, 427.
  Chalcophanes macrurus, II. 225.
      major, II. 222.
      quiscalus, II. 215.
      virescens, II. 203.
  Chamæa, I. 83.
      fasciata, I. 83, 84; III. 507.
  Chamæadæ, I. 83.
  Chamæpelia, III. 375, 389.
      albivitta, III. 389.
      granatina, III. 389.
      pallescens, III. 389.
      passerina, III. 389.
  Chamæpelieæ, III. 375.
  Chamæpetes, III. 397.
  Chelidon thalassina, I. 347.
  Chloris, I. 207.
  Chloroceryle, II. 391.
  Chlorœnas fasciata, III. 360.
      flavirostris, III. 366.
      monilis, III. 360.
  Chondestes, I. 529, 562.
      grammaca, I. 562.
      strigatus, I. 562.
  Chordeiles, II. 399, 400.
      acutipennis, II. 400, 406.
      brasilianus, II. 406.
      henryi, II. 400, 404.
      labeculatus, II. 400.
      minor, II. 400; III. 523.
      peruvianus, II. 400.
      popetue, II. 400, 401.
      saptii, II. 406.
      texensis, II. 400, 406; III. 523.
      virginianus, II. 401.
  Chrysomitris, I. 447, 470.
      arizonæ, I. 471, 476; III. 513.
      columbiana, I. 471.
      lawrenci, I. 471, 478.
      macroptera, I. 480.
      mexicana, I. 471, 476, 478.
      notata, I. 471.
      pinus, I. 471, 480.
      psaltria, 470, 474; III. 513.
      tristis, I. 470, 471.
  Ciccaba, III. 28.
  Cichlopsis nitens, I. 405.
  Cinclidæ, I. 1, 2, 55.
  Cinclus, I. 55.
      americanus, I. 56.
      aquaticus, I. 58.
      ardesiacus, I. 56.
      mexicanus, I. 55, 56.
      mortoni, I. 56.
      pallasi, I. 56.
      townsendi, I. 56.
      unicolor, I. 56.
  Circus, III. 104, 212.
      axillaris, III. 197.
      campestris, III. 214.
      cinereus, III. 214.
      cyaneus, III. 213.
      cyaneus hudsonius, III. 214.
      frenatus, III. 214.
      histrionicus, III. 214.
      hudsonius, III. 214.
      hyemalis, III. 275.
      jardini, III. 212.
      macropterus, III. 212.
      pygargus, III. 213.
      uliginosus, III. 214.
  Cistothorus, I. 131, 158.
      elegans, I. 159.
      paludicola, I. 161.
      palustris, I. 160, 161.
      stellaris, I. 159, 162; III. 509.
  Cladoscopus, II. 535.
      nuchalis, II. 542.
      ruber, II. 544.
      varius, II. 539.
  Cleptes, II. 264.
      hudsonicus, II. 266.
      nuttalli, II. 270.
  Coccoborus, II. 76.
      cæruleus, II. 77.
      ludovicianus, II. 70.
      melanocephalus, II. 73.
  Coccothraustes abeillii, I. 449.
      canadensis, I. 453.
      cardinalis, II. 100.
      ludoviciana, II. 70.
      melanocephala, II. 73.
      rubricollis, II. 70.
      vespertina, I. 449.
      virginiana, II. 100.
      vulgaris, I. 448.
  Coccothraustinæ, I. 446.
  Coccyginæ, II. 470.
  Coccygus, II. 470, 475.
      americanus, II. 476, 477.
      bairdi, II. 477.
      dominicus, II. 472, 477, 484.
      erythrophthalmus, II. 477, 484.
      julieni, II. 477.
      melanocoryphus, II. 476.
      minor, II. 476, 482.
      pyrrhopterus, II. 477.
      seniculus, II. 482.
  Colaptes, II. 492, 573.
      auratus, II. 575.
      ayresii, II. 582.
      chrysocaulosus, II. 575.
      chrysoides, II. 575, 583.
      collaris, II. 578.
      hybridus, II. 582.
      mexicanoides, II. 574.
      mexicanus, II. 574, 578, 582.
      rubricatus, II. 574, 578.
  Collocallia, II. 422.
  Collurio, I. 412.
      borealis, I. 413–415.
      elegans, I. 414, 420.
      excubitor, I. 412, 414.
      excubitoroides, I. 413, 415, 421.
      ludovicianus, I. 413, 414, 418.
      robustus, I. 413, 420; III. 512.
  Columba, III. 357, 358.
      albilinea, III. 359.
      americana, III. 368.
      araucana, III. 359.
      canadensis, III. 368.
      caribœa, III. 359.
      carolinensis, III. 381, 383.
      corensis, III. 360.
      cyanocephala, III. 394, 395.
      denisea, III. 359.
      fasciata, III. 358, 360.
      flavirostris, III. 360, 366.
      griseola, III. 389.
      hoilotl, III. 376.
      inornata, III. 360, 366.
      leucocephala, III. 359, 364.
      leucoptera, III. 376.
      livia, III. 358.
      marginata, III. 383.
      martinica, III. 392.
      meridionalis, III. 359.
      migratoria, III. 367, 368.
      monilis, III. 360.
      montana, III. 393.
      mystacea, III. 393.
      passerina, III. 389.
      rufina, III. 359, 360.
      solitaria, III. 366.
      squamosa, III. 387.
      trudeaui, III. 376.
      zenaida, III. 378.
  Columbidæ, III. 357.
  Columbigallina montana, III. 393.
  Columbinæ, III. 357.
  Compsothlypis, I. 207.
      americanus, I. 208.
      gutturalis, I. 208.
  Conirostrum ornatum, I. 112.
      superciliosum, I. 208.
  Contopus, II. 308, 350.
      bahamensis, II. 352.
      bogotensis, II. 360.
      borealis, II. 350, 353, 356.
      brachytarsus, II. 351.
      caribæus, II. 351.
      cooperi, II. 353.
      hispaniolensis, II. 351.
      lugubris, II. 351.
      mesoleucus, II. 353.
      ochraceus, II. 352.
      pallidus, II. 351.
      pertinax, II. 351, 356.
      plebeius, II. 360.
      punensis, II. 352.
      richardsoni, II. 352, 360.
      schotti, II. 351.
      sordidulus, II. 360.
      virens, I. 249; II. 352, 356, 357.
  Conurus, II. 585, 586.
      carolinensis, II. 587.
      ludovicianus, II. 587.
  Cooperastur, III. 220, 222.
  Coracias, II. 264.
      mexicanus, II. 299.
  Coræognathæ, I. 431.
  Coragypys, III. 350.
  Corthylio, I. 72.
      calendula, I. 75.
  Corveæ, II. 231.
  Corvidæ, I. 431; II. 231.
  Corvinæ, II. 231.
  Corvus, II. 231, 232.
      americanus, II. 243–247.
      cacalotl, II. 234.
      canadensis, II. 297, 299.
      carnivorus, II. 233, 234.
      caurinus, II. 233, 248.
      columbianus, II. 254, 255.
      corax, II. 232.
      corone, II. 243.
      cristatus, II. 271, 273.
      cryptoleucus, II. 233, 242; III. 520.
      floridanus, II. 233, 247, 285.
      hudsonicus, II. 266.
      jamaicensis, II. 234.
      leucognaphalus, II. 234.
      littoralis, II. 234.
      lugubris, II. 234.
      megonyx, II. 255.
      mexicanus, II. 233.
      minutus, II. 234.
      nasicus, II. 234.
      ossifragus, II. 233, 251.
      palliatus, II. 288.
      peruvianus, II. 294.
      pica, II. 264–266.
      stelleri, II. 277.
      ultramarinus, II. 288.
  Corydalina, II. 60.
      bicolor, II. 61.
  Corythus, I. 452.
      canadensis, I. 453.
      enucleator, I. 453.
  Coturniculus, I. 529, 548.
      bairdi, I. 531.
      dorsalis, I. 549.
      henslowi, I. 549, 550.
      lecontei, I. 549, 552.
      manimbe, I. 549.
      mexicanus, II. 38.
      passerinus, I. 195, 549, 553.
      perpallidus, I. 549, 556; III. 515.
      tixicrus, I. 553.
  Cotyle, I. 327, 353.
      riparia, I. 347, 353.
  Cracidæ, III. 397.
  Cracinæ, III. 397.
  Craxirex, III. 248, 254.
      unicinctus, III. 250.
  Crotophaga, II. 470, 486.
      ani, II. 486–488.
      lævirostra, II. 488.
      major, II. 487.
      minor, II. 488.
      rugirostra, II. 488.
      sulcirostris, II. 487.
  Crucirostra leucoptera, I. 488.
  Cuculidæ, II. 469, 470.
  Cuculus americanus, II. 475, 477.
      auratus, II. 573, 575.
      carolinensis, II. 477.
      cinerosus, II. 477.
      dominicensis, II. 477.
      dominicus, II. 477.
      erythrophthalmus, II. 484.
      minor, II. 482.
      seniculus, II. 482.
  Culicivora atricapilla, I. 81.
      cœrulea, I. 78.
      mexicana, I. 78, 81.
      townsendi, I. 409.
  Cuncuma, III. 320.
  Cupidonia, III. 414, 439.
      americana, III. 440.
      cupido, III. 440.
      pallidicinctus, III. 440, 446.
  Cureus americanus, II. 477.
  Curvirostra, I. 448.
      americana, I. 484.
      leucoptera, I. 488.
  Cyanocephalus, II. 259.
  Cyanocitta, II. 264, 271, 282.
      arizonæ, II. 284, 292.
      californica, II. 283, 288; III. 521.
      couchi, II. 284, 293.
      cristata, II. 273.
      floridana, II. 283, 285.
      macrolopha, II. 281.
      sordida, II. 284, 292.
      stelleri, II. 277.
      sumichrasti, II. 283.
      superciliosa, II. 288.
      ultramarina, II. 284.
      unicolor, II. 284.
      woodhousei, II. 283, 291.
  Cyanocorax californicus, II. 288.
      cassini, II. 260.
      cristatus, II. 273.
      cyanicapillus, II. 295.
      floridanus, II. 285.
      luxuosus, II. 295.
      stelleri, II. 277.
      unicolor, II. 284.
      yncas, II. 295.
  Cyanogarrulus cristatus, II. 273.
      stelleri, II. 277.
      ultramarinus, II. 293.
  Cyanoloxia cærulea, II. 77.
  Cyanospiza, II. 59, 81.
      amœna, II. 81, 84.
      ciris, II. 81, 87.
      cyanea, II. 81, 82.
      leclancheri, II. 82.
      versicolor, II. 81, 86.
  Cyanura, II. 264, 271; III. 521.
      coronata, II. 272.
      cristata, II. 271, 273.
      diademata, II. 272.
      frontalis, II. 272, 279.
      galeata, II. 272.
      macrolopha, II. 272, 281.
      stelleri, II. 272, 277.
  Cyanurus cristatus, II. 273.
      floridanus, II. 285.
      stelleri, II. 277.
  Cymindis cinerea, III. 245.
      leucopygus, III. 208.
  Cypselidæ, I. 326; II. 421.
  Cypselinæ, II. 422, 423.
  Cypseloides, II. 422.
  Cypselus, II. 422.
      borealis, II. 429.
      melanoleucus, II. 424.
      niger, II. 429.
      pelasgius, II. 432.
      poliurus, II. 431.
      spinicauda, II. 431.
      spinicaudus, II. 432.
      vauxi, II. 435.
  Cyrtonyx, III. 466, 491.
      massena, III. 492.
      ocellatus, III. 492.

  Dædalion, III. 220, 236.
      nitidum, III. 245.
  Dædalium, III. 220, 236.
  Dendragapus, III. 421.
      obscurus, III. 422.
      richardsoni, III. 427.
  Dendrochelidon, II. 422.
  Dendrocopus principalis, II. 496.
      pubescens, II. 509.
      varius, II. 539.
      villosus, II. 503.
  Dendrofalco, III. 142.
  Dendroica, I. 178, 215.
      adelaidæ, I. 220, 241.
      æstiva, I. 70, 200, 215, 216, 222, 234, 237, 246, 277, 318, 324,
          325.
      albilora, I. 220, 241; III. 510.
      atricapilla, I. 248.
      auduboni, I. 215, 219, 229, 260, 272; III. 509.
      aureola, I. 217.
      blackburniæ, I. 220, 237; III. 510.
      bryanti, I. 218, 223; III. 509.
      cœrulea, I. 219, 235; III. 510.
      cærulescens, I. 218, 254, 267.
      canadensis, I. 254.
      capitalis, I. 217.
      carbonata, I. 214.
      castanea, I. 215, 219, 248, 251, 271, 313; III. 510.
      chrysopareia, I. 221, 260, 262, 266, 268.
      coronata, I. 215, 219, 227, 230, 231, 254, 260, 272.
      decora, I. 220, 244; III. 510.
      discolor, I. 222, 276.
      dominica, I. 215, 220, 240, 241; III. 510.
      eoa, I. 218.
      graciæ, I. 220, 241, 243, 244, 260.
      gundlachi, I. 216.
      kirtlandi, I. 215, 221, 272.
      maculosa, I. 219, 232, 257.
      montana, I. 222, 271.
      nigrescens, I. 221, 258; III. 511.
      niveiventris, I. 266.
      occidentalis, I. 221, 261, 262, 266, 268; III. 511.
      olivacea, I. 218, 258.
      palmarum, I. 215, 222, 269, 273.
      pennsylvanica, I. 215, 219, 245.
      petechia, I. 216, 217.
      pharetra, I. 220.
      pinus, I. 222, 268, 271, 274.
      pityophila, I. 221.
      ruficapilla, I. 217.
      ruficeps, I. 217.
      rufigula, I. 217.
      striata, I. 215, 219, 248.
      superciliosa, I. 240.
      tigrina, I. 212.
      townsendi, I. 221, 261, 262, 265; III. 511.
      vieilloti, I. 217.
      virens, I. 221, 239, 261, 262.
  Despotes tyrannus, II. 309.
  Diplopterus viaticus, II. 472.
  Dolichonyx, II. 148.
      agripennis, II. 149.
      bicolor, II. 61.
      oryzivorus, II. 149; III. 519.
  Dryobates, II. 500, 502.
      harrisi, II. 507.
      homorus, II. 512.
      leucomelas, II. 503.
      pubescens, II. 509.
      turati, II. 512.
      villosus, II. 503.
  Dryocopus pileatus, II. 550.
      principalis, II. 496.
  Dryopicus, II. 548.
      pileatus, II. 550.
  Dryotomus, II. 548.
      pileatus, II. 550.
      principalis, II. 496.
  Dyctiopicus, II. 501, 514.
      scalaris, II. 515.
  Dyctiopipo, II. 514.
      scalaris, II. 515.
  Dysornithia, II. 297.
      canadensis, II. 299.

  Ectopistes, III. 357, 367.
      carolinensis, III. 383.
      marginata, III. 383.
      marginellus, III. 383.
      migratoria, III. 368.
  Elanoides, III. 190.
      cæsius, III. 197.
      furcatus, III. 192.
      yetapa, III. 192.
  Elanus, III. 104, 196.
      axillaris, III. 197.
      cæsius, III. 197.
      cœruleus, III. 197.
      dispar, III. 198.
      furcatus, III. 192.
      leucurus, III. 197, 198.
      minor, III. 197.
      notatus, III. 197.
      scriptus, III. 197.
  Emberiza americana, II. 65.
      amœna, II. 84.
      arctica, I. 538.
      atricapilla, I. 573.
      bairdi, I. 530, 531.
      belli, I. 593.
      bilineata, I. 590.
      cærulea, II. 82.
      canadensis, II. 3.
      chrysops, I. 538.
      cinerea, II. 30.
      ciris, II. 87.
      coronata, I. 573.
      cyanea, II. 82.
      cyanella, II. 82.
      erythrophthalma, II. 109.
      glacialis, I. 512.
      grammaca, I. 562.
      henslowi, I. 550.
      hyemalis, I. 578, 580.
      lapponica, I. 510, 515.
      lateralis, II. 106.
      lecontei, I. 552.
      leucophrys, I. 565, 566.
      mexicana, II. 65.
      montana, I. 512.
      mustelina, I. 512.
      nigro-rufa, I. 589.
      nivalis, I. 510, 512.
      olivacea, II. 93.
      ornata, I. 520.
      oryzivora, II. 148, 149.
      pallida, II. 11, 13.
      passerina, I. 553.
      pecoris, II. 154.
      picta, I. 518.
      pratensis, II. 50.
      pusilla, II. 5.
      rostrata, I. 542.
      rufina, II. 29, 53.
      sandwichensis, I. 538.
      savanna, I. 534.
      shattucki, II. 11.
      townsendi, II. 68.
      unalaschkensis, II. 53.
  Embernagra, I. 530; II. 46.
      blandingiana, II. 131.
      chlorura, II. 131.
      rufivirgata, II. 47.
  Empidias fuscus, II. 344.
  Empidonax, II. 308, 362.
      albigularis, II. 365.
      acadicus, II. 365, 374.
      axillaris, II. 363, 365.
      bahamensis, II. 352.
      bairdi, II. 363.
      brachytarsus, II. 351.
      brunneus, II. 363; III. 521.
      difficilis, II. 364, 378, 380.
      flavescens, II. 363.
      flavipectus, II. 364.
      flaviventris, II. 363, 378.
      fulvifrons, II. 385.
      griseigularis, II. 365.
      griseipectus, II. 365.
      hammondi, II. 364, 383.
      hypoxanthus, II. 378.
      magnirostris, II. 365.
      minimus, II. 364, 372; III. 521.
      obscurus, II. 364, 381; III. 521.
      pectoralis, II. 364.
      pusillus, II. 365, 366.
      rubicundus, II. 385.
      trailli, II. 365, 366, 369.
      wrighti, II. 381.
  Ephialitis, III. 47.
  Ephialtes asio, III. 49.
      choliba, III. 52.
  Eremophila, II. 135, 139.
      alpestris, II. 140, 141.
      chrysolæma, II. 140, 144.
      cornuta, II. 143.
      occidentalis, II. 140.
      peregrina, II. 142, 144.
  Ergaticus, I. 179, 312.
  Erythraca arctica, I. 67.
      wilsoni, I. 63.
  Erythrophrys, II. 475.
      americanus, II. 477.
      erythrophthalmus, II. 484.
      seniculus, II. 482.
  Erythrospiza, I. 459; III. 220, 222.
      frontalis, I. 466.
      purpurea, I. 462.
      tephrocotis, I. 504.
  Euhierax, III. 127.
  Euspina, II. 65.
      americana, II. 65; III. 518.
  Euspiza, II. 59, 65.
      americana, II. 65.
      townsendi, II. 65, 69.
  Eustrinx, II. 10.
  Euthlypis, I. 312.
      canadensis, I. 320.
  Eutolmaëtus, III. 312.

  Falco, III. 103, 106, 107, 127.
      æruginosus, III. 212.
      æsalon, III. 142, 148.
      albicaudus, III. 324.
      albicilla, III. 320.
      albicilla borealis, III. 324.
      albigularis, III. 130.
      americanus, III. 184.
      anatum, III. 128, 132.
      aquilinus, III. 282.
      arundinaceus, III. 183.
      atricapillus, III. 237.
      auduboni, III. 144.
      aurantius, III. 129.
      axillaris, III. 197.
      bonelli, III. 312.
      borealis, III. 254, 282.
      brasiliensis, III. 176, 177.
      buffoni, III. 214.
      buteo, III. 254, 263.
      buteo, β, III. 111.
      buteoides, III. 275.
      cæsius, III. 143.
      canadensis, III. 314.
      candicans, III. 108, 111, 112.
      candicans islandicus, III. 113.
      candidus, III. 327.
      carolinensis, III. 184.
      cassini, III. 132.
      cayennensis, III. 184.
      cenchris, III. 159.
      chrysætos, III. 312.
      chrysaëtus, III. 313.
      cineraceus, III. 212.
      cinereus, III. 115.
      cinnamominus, III. 168.
      clamosus, III. 197.
      cœruleus, III. 197.
      columbarius, III. 143, 144, 225.
      communis, III. 127, 128, 132.
      communis, ζ, η, III. 132.
      cooperi, III. 230.
      cucullatus, III. 130.
      cyanescens, III. 155.
      cyaneus, III. 212, 214.
      deiroleucus, III. 129.
      dispar, III. 198.
      dominicensis, III. 167.
      dubius, III. 225.
      emerillus, III. 143.
      feldeggii, III. 109.
      femoralis, III. 154, 155.
      ferrugineus, III. 300.
      forficatus, III. 190, 192.
      frontalis, III. 127.
      fulvus, III. 314.
      furcatus, III. 190, 192.
      fuscocœrulescens, III. 155.
      fuscus, III. 224.
      gabar, III. 220, 222.
      gracilis, III. 166.
      grœnlandicus, III. 111.
      gyrfalco, III. 107, 108, 113.
      gyrfalco norvegicus, III. 108.
      haliætus, III. 182, 183.
      hamatus, III. 207, 209.
      harlani, III. 292.
      harrisi, III. 248, 250.
      hinularius, III. 324.
      hæmorrhoidalis, III. 130.
      hudsonius, III. 214.
      hyemalis, III. 275.
      icthyaëtus, III. 320.
      imperator, III. 322.
      intermixtus, III. 142, 144.
      isabellinus, III. 171.
      islandicus, III. 108, 111, 113, 114.
      jugger, III. 107, 109.
      labradora, III. 108, 117.
      lagopus, III. 111, 297, 299, 304.
      lanarius, III. 108, 109, 113.
      latissimus, III. 259.
      leucocephalus, III. 326.
      leucogaster, III. 327.
      leucophrys, III. 161.
      leucopterus, III. 322.
      leverianus, III. 282.
      lineatus, III. 275.
      lithofalco, III. 142.
      lugger, III. 109.
      macei, III. 320.
      macropus, III. 129.
      melanaëtus, III. 314.
      melanogenys, III. 129.
      melanopterus, III. 196–198.
      melanotus, III. 324.
      mexicanus, III. 109, 123.
      mississippiensis, III. 202, 203.
      nævius, III. 132.
      niger, III. 137, 304, 314.
      nigriceps, III. 132.
      nisus, III. 220, 222.
      nitidus, III. 244, 245.
      novæhollandiæ, III. 220, 236.
      obscurus, III. 144.
      obsoletus, III. 263.
      orientalis, III. 128, 132.
      ossifragus, III. 324, 327.
      palumbarius, III. 220, 236, 237.
      pealei, III. 129, 137.
      pelagicus, III. 320, 322.
      pennatus, III. 312.
      pennsylvanicus, III. 225, 259.
      peregrinus, III. 127, 128, 132.
      plancus, III. 177.
      plumbea, III. 202.
      plumbeus, III. 203.
      polyagrus, III. 109, 110, 123, 137.
      pterocles, III. 254.
      pygargus, III. 213, 324, 327.
      regulus, III. 142.
      richardsoni, III. 148.
      rostrhamus, III. 208.
      rufigularis, III. 129, 130.
      rusticolus, III. 111.
      sacer, III. 108, 110, 115.
      sancti-johannis, III. 304.
      sibiricus, III. 143.
      spadicens, III. 214.
      spadiceus, III. 304.
      sparverius, III. 159, 166, 169.
      subæsalon, III. 143.
      subbuteo, III. 142.
      sublanarius, III. 109.
      suckleyi, III. 143, 147.
      temerarius, III. 144.
      tharus, III. 177.
      thermophilus, III. 109.
      thoracicus, III. 130, 155.
      tinnunculus, III. 159.
      tinus, III. 220, 222.
      uliginosus, III. 214.
      unicinctus, III. 249.
      velox, III. 225.
      vulturinus, III. 312.
      wilsoni, III. 259.
  Falconidæ, III. 1, 103.
  Falconinæ, III. 103, 106.
  Ficedula canadensis cinerea, I. 227.
      dominica cinerea, I. 240.
      jamaicensis, I. 283.
      ludoviciana, I. 208.
  Fringilla æstiva, II. 39.
      æstivalis, II. 37, 39.
      albicollis, I. 574.
      ambigua, II. 154.
      americana, II. 65.
      amœna, II. 84.
      arborea, II. 3.
      arctica, II. 116.
      atrata, I. 585.
      atricapilla, I. 573.
      aurocapilla, I. 573.
      bachmani, II. 39.
      bicolor, II. 60, 61, 93.
      blandingiana, II. 131.
      borealis, I. 498.
      brunneinucha, I. 504.
      cærulea, II. 77.
      calcarata, I. 515.
      canadensis, II. 1, 3.
      cardinalis, II. 100.
      catatol, I. 478.
      caudacuta, I. 553, 557.
      chlorura, II. 131.
      cinerea, I. 578; II. 27, 30.
      comata, I. 577.
      crissalis, II. 122.
      cyanea, II. 82.
      domestica, I. 525.
      erythrophthalma, II. 104, 109.
      fasciata, II. 19.
      ferruginea, II. 50.
      flavicollis, II. 65.
      frontalis, I. 465, 466.
      gambeli, I. 569.
      georgiana, II. 34.
      graminea, I. 544, 545.
      grammaca, I. 562.
      griseinucha, I. 508.
      henslowi, I. 550.
      hudsonia, I. 580, 585.
      hyemalis, I. 534, 580; II. 19.
      hypoleuca, II. 90.
      iliaca, II. 49, 50.
      juncorum, II. 5, 580.
      lapponica, I. 515.
      leucophrys, I. 566.
      linaria, I. 493, 501.
      lincolni, II. 31.
      littoralis, I. 557.
      ludoviciana, II. 70.
      macgillivrayi, I. 560.
      mariposa, II. 87.
      maritima, I. 560.
      melanocephala, II. 73.
      melanoxantha, I. 478.
      melodia, II. 16, 19.
      meruloides, II. 53.
      monticola, II. 3.
      nivalis, I. 580.
      oregona, I. 584.
      palustris, II. 34.
      passerina, I. 548, 553.
      pecoris, II. 153, 154.
      pennsylvanica, I. 574.
      pinus, I. 480.
      psaltria, I. 474.
      purpurea, I. 459, 462.
      pusilla, II. 5.
      querula, I. 577.
      rufa, II. 50.
      rufescens, I. 501.
      rufidorsis, I. 580.
      savanna, I. 532, 534.
      savanarum, I. 553.
      socialis, II. 1, 7.
      spinus, I. 470.
      tephrocotis, I. 504.
      texensis, I. 478.
      tristis, I. 470, 471.
      townsendi, II. 53.
      xantomaschalis, II. 73.
      vespertina, I. 448, 449.
      zena, II. 93.
  Fringillidæ, I. 431, 446; II. 1.

  Galeoscoptes, I. 3, 51.
      carolinensis, I. 52.
  Gallopavo sylvestris, III. 404.
  Garrulinæ, II. 231, 263.
  Garrulus cærulescens, II. 285.
      californicus, II. 282, 288.
      canadensis, II. 299.
      cristatus, II. 273.
      cyaneus, II. 285.
      floridanus, II. 285.
      fuscus, II. 299.
      luxuosus, II. 295.
      sordidus, II. 284.
      stelleri, II. 277, 281.
      trachyrrhynchus, II. 299.
      ultramarinus, II. 288, 293.
  Gennaia, III. 107.
      lanarius, III. 109.
  Geococcyx, II. 470.
      affinis, II. 471.
      californianus, II. 471, 472; III. 523.
      mexicanus, II. 472.
      variegata, II. 472.
      velox, II. 471.
      viaticus, II. 472.
  Geophilus cyanocephalus, III. 395.
  Geopicus, II. 573.
      campestris, II. 573.
      chrysoides, II. 583.
      rubricatus, II. 574.
  Geothlypeæ, I. 179, 295.
  Geothlypinæ, I. 178, 279.
  Geothlypis, I. 179, 295; III. 511.
      æquinoctialis, I. 296.
      caninucha, I. 296.
      macgillivrayi, I. 297, 303; III. 512.
      melanops, I. 296, 298.
      philadelphia, I. 296, 297, 301, 303.
      poliocephala, I. 296.
      rostratus, I. 296.
      semiflavus, I. 296.
      speciosa, I. 296.
      trichas, I. 296–298; III. 512.
      velatus, I. 296.
  Geotrygon, III. 375.
      martinica, III. 393.
  Glabirostres, II. 399.
  Glaucidium, III. 6, 79.
      californicum, III. 81, 83.
      ferrugineum (_plate_), III. 81, 85, 98–101.
      gnoma, III. 81.
      infuscatum, III. 81.
      passerinum, III. 80.
      siju, III. 79.
  Glaucopteryx, III. 212.
  Goniaphea, II. 69.
      cærulea, II. 77.
      ludoviciana, II. 70.
      melanocephala, II. 73.
  Gracula barita, II. 215, 222.
      ferruginea, II. 203.
      purpurea, II. 215.
      quiscala, II. 212, 215, 222.
  Granatellus, I. 179.
      venustus, I. 306.
  Gryphinæ, III. 335.
  Guiraca, II. 59, 76.
      abeillii, I. 449.
      cærulea, II. 77; III. 518.
      ludoviciana, II. 70.
      melanocephala, II. 73.
      tricolor, II. 73.
  Gymnokitta, II. 232, 259.
      cyanocephala, II. 259, 260.
  Gymnorhinus, II. 259.
      cyanocephalus, II. 260.
  Gypagus, III. 337.
  Gyparchus, III. 337.
  Gypogeranidæ, III. 2.

  Hadrostomus affinis, II. 306.
      aglaiæ, II. 306.
  Hæmorrhous, I. 459.
      purpurea, I. 462.
  Haliaëtus, III. 105, 320.
      albicilla, III. 320, 323, 324.
      icthyaëtus, III. 320.
      leucocephalus, III. 323, 326.
      leucogaster, III. 320.
      nisus, III. 324.
      pelagicus, II. 323.
      vocifer, III. 320.
      washingtoni, III. 327.
  Harpes redivivus, I. 35, 45.
  Harporhynchus, I. 3, 35.
      cinereus, I. 35, 36, 40.
      crissalis, I. 35, 37, 40, 47; III. 505.
      curvirostris, I. 35, 36, 41; III. 505.
      lecontei, I. 44, 47.
      longirostris, I. 39, 41, 144.
      ocellatus, I. 35, 36; III. 504.
      palmeri, I. 43; III. 505.
      redivivus, I. 35, 37, 40, 45, 48; III. 505.
      rufus, I. 33–37, 40, 46, 58; III. 505.
  Hedymeles, II. 59, 69.
      capitalis, II. 70.
      ludovicianus, II. 70.
      melanocephalus, II. 70, 73.
  Heleothreptus, II. 399.
  Heliaptex arcticus, III. 64.
  Helinaia, I. 178, 186.
      bachmani, I. 194.
      carbonata, I. 211, 214.
      celata, I. 202.
      chrysoptera, I. 192.
      peregrina, I. 205.
      protonotaria, I. 184.
      rubricapilla, I. 196.
      solitaria, I. 195.
      swainsoni, I. 190.
      vermivora, I. 187.
  Heliopædica, II. 438, 440, 466.
      castaneocauda, II. 467.
      melanotis, II. 466.
      xantusi, II. 466, 467.
  Helminthophaga, I. 178, 191.
      bachmanni, I. 191, 194.
      celata, I. 192, 200, 202, 204, 205, 317.
      chrysoptera, I. 191, 192.
      citrea, I. 184.
      gutturalis, I. 191.
      luciæ, I. 192, 200; III. 509.
      lutescens, I. 192, 204; III. 509.
      obscura, I. 192.
      ocularis, I. 191.
      peregrina, I. 191, 192, 205.
      pinus, I. 191, 195.
      rubricapilla, I. 191, 196, 199, 201, 203, 206, 310.
      solitaria, I. 195.
      virginiæ, I. 192, 199; III. 509.
  Helmitherus, I. 178, 186.
      bachmani, I. 194.
      chrysopterus, I. 192.
      migratorius, I. 187.
      peregrinus, I. 205.
      protonotarius, I. 184.
      rubricapilla, I. 196.
      solitarius, I. 195.
      swainsoni, I. 186, 187, 190; III. 509.
      vermivorus, I. 186, 187; III. 509.
  Hemiaëtus, III. 297.
  Hemiprocne, II. 427.
      pelasgia, II. 432.
  Henicocichla, I. 279.
      aurocapilla, I. 280.
      ludoviciana, I. 287.
      major, I. 287.
      motacilla, I. 287.
      noveboracensis, I. 283.
  Herpetotheres sociabilis, III. 208.
  Hesperiphona, I. 447, 448.
      abeillii, I. 449.
      montana, I. 449; III. 513.
      vespertina, I. 449.
  Hesperocichla, I. 3, 4, 28.
  Hieracospiza, III. 220, 222.
  Hieraëtus, III. 312.
  Hieraspiza, III. 220, 222.
  Hieroaëtus, III. 312.
  Hierofalco, III. 107.
      candicans, III. 111.
      gyrfalco, III. 108.
      grœnlandicus, III. 111.
      islandicus, III. 113.
  Hirundinidæ, I. 326, 431.
  Hirundo, I. 327, 338.
      americana, I. 339.
      dominicensis, II. 429.
      bicolor, I. 185, 331, 344.
      cærulea canadensis, I. 329.
      cayanensis, II. 423.
      cinerea, I. 353.
      cyaneoviridis, I. 327.
      fulva, I. 334.
      horreorum, I. 339.
      leucogaster, I. 344.
      ludoviciana, I. 329.
      lunifrons, I. 66, 334.
      melanogaster, I. 334.
      nigra, II. 428, 429.
      opifex, I. 334.
      pelagica, II. 432.
      pelasgia, II. 432.
      purpurea, I. 327, 329, 332.
      respublicana, I. 334.
      riparia, I. 353.
      riparia americana, I. 353.
      rufa, I. 339.
      rustica, I. 339.
      serripennis, I. 350.
      subis, I. 329.
      thalassina, I. 344, 347.
      versicolor, I. 329.
      violacea, I. 329.
      viridis, I. 344.
  Holoquiscalus, II. 213.
  Hybris, III. 10.
  Hydrobata, I. 55.
      mexicana, I. 56.
  Hydropsalis, II. 399.
  Hylemathrous ædon, I. 149.
  Hylocichla, I. 4, 22, 28.
  Hylotomus, II. 494, 548.
      pileatus, II. 550.
  Hypacanthus, I. 470.
  Hyphantes abeillei, II. 184.
      baltimore, II. 195.
      bullocki, II. 199.
      solitaria, II. 190.
  Hypomorphnus unicinctus, III. 249.
  Hypotriorchis, III. 142.
      æsalon, III. 142.
      aurantius, III. 129.
      columbarius, III. 144.
      femoralis, III. 155.

  Icteria, I. 179, 306.
      auricollis, I. 309.
      dumecola, I. 307.
      longicauda, I. 307, 309, 310.
      velasquezi, I. 307.
      virens, I. 307.
      viridis, I. 307.
  Icterianæ, I. 178, 179, 306.
  Icteridæ, I. 431; II. 147.
  Icterieæ, I. 179, 306.
  Icterinæ, II. 147, 179.
  Icterus, II. 179.
      abeillei, II. 184.
      agripennis, II. 149.
      auduboni, II. 182, 186.
      auricapillus, II. 183.
      baltimore, II. 183, 195; III. 520.
      bullocki, II. 183, 199; III. 520.
      cucullatus, II. 183, 193; III. 519.
      dominicensis, II. 182.
      emberizoides, II. 154.
      frenatus, II. 167.
      graduacauda, II. 186.
      gubernator, II. 163.
      hypomelas, II. 182.
      icterocephalus, II. 167.
      melanocephalus, II. 182.
      melanochrysura, II. 188.
      parisorum, II. 183, 188.
      pecoris, II. 154.
      perspicillatus, II. 167.
      phœniceus, II. 159.
      portoricensis, II. 182.
      prosthemelas, II. 182.
      scotti, II. 188.
      spurius, II. 183, 190.
      tricolor, II. 165.
      vulgaris, II. 181, 184.
      wagleri, II. 182, 188.
      xanthocephalus, II. 167.
  Icthierax, III. 127.
  Icthyætus, III. 320.
  Ictinia, III. 104, 202.
      mississippiensis, III. 203.
      plumbea, III. 203.
  Idiotes, I. 312.
  Ispida, II. 391.
      ludoviciana, II. 392.

  Jerafalco, III. 107.
  Jeraspiza, III. 220, 222.
  Jerax, III. 220, 222.
  Junco, I. 530, 578; III. 516.
      aikeni, I. 579, 584; III. 516.
      alticola, I. 580, 584.
      caniceps, I. 579, 587.
      cinereus, I. 580, 584.
      hyemalis, I. 137, 274, 282, 579, 580.
      oregonus, I. 579, 584; III. 516.
      phænotus, I. 580.

  Kieneria aberti, II. 128.
      fusca, II. 121, 122.
      rufipilea, II. 131.

  Lagopus, II. 690; III. 414, 456.
      albus, III. 456, 457.
      americanus, III. 462.
      brachydactylus, III. 457.
      ferrugineus, III. 300.
      grœnlandicus, III. 462.
      islandorum, III. 462.
      leucurus, III. 456, 464.
      mutus, III. 456, 462.
      reinhardti, III. 462.
      rupestris, III. 456, 462.
      subalpinus, III. 457.
  Lampornis, II. 438, 440.
      aurulentus, II. 440.
      mango, II. 440.
      porphyrurus, II. 440.
      virginalis, II. 440.
  Laniidæ, I. 356, 412, 431.
  Lanius agilis, I. 359.
      ardosiaceus, I. 418.
      borealis, I. 415.
      carolinensis, I. 418.
      cristatus, I. 412.
      elegans, I. 420.
      excubitor, I. 412, 415.
      excubitoroides, I. 421.
      garrulus, I. 395, 396.
      lahtora, I. 420.
      ludovicianus, I. 418, 421.
      olivaceus, I. 363.
      septentrionalis, I. 415.
      tyrannus, II. 316, 319.
  Lanivireo, I. 358, 372.
      cassini, I. 373, 376.
      flavifrons, I. 358, 373, 379.
      plumbea, I. 358; III. 512.
      plumbeus, I. 373, 377.
      propinquus, I. 373.
      solitaria, I. 358.
      solitarius, I. 373; III. 512.
  Laphyctes, II. 315.
      verticalis, II. 324.
      vociferans, II. 327.
  Leptostoma, II. 470.
      longicauda, II. 472.
  Lepturus galeatus, I. 405.
  Leuconerpes albolarvatus, II. 526.
  Leucospiza, III. 220, 236.
  Leucosticte, I. 448, 502.
      brunneinucha, I. 504.
      campestris, I. 504, 507.
      griseigenys, I. 508.
      griseinucha, I. 504, 507, 508.
      littoralis, I. 504, 507.
      tephrocotis, I. 504; III. 513.
  Ligonirostres, II. 492.
  Linaria americana, I. 493.
      borealis, I. 498.
      canescens, I. 498.
      flavirostris, I. 501.
      holbölli, I. 493.
      hornemanni, I. 498.
      lincolni, II. 31.
      minor, I. 493.
      savanna, I. 534.
      tephrocotis, I. 504.
  Linota canescens, I. 498.
      montium, I. 501.
  Lithofalco columbarius, III. 144.
  Lophophanes, I. 86.
      atricristatus, I. 87, 90.
      bicolor, I. 87, 92.
      cristatus, I. 93.
      galeatus, I. 93.
      inornatus, I. 87, 88, 91; III. 507.
      missouriensis, I. 87.
      wollweberi, I. 87, 93.
  Lophortyx, III. 466, 478.
      californica, III. 479.
      gambeli, III. 479, 482.
      plumifera, III. 475.
  Loxia, I. 483.
      americana, I. 483, 484.
      bifasciata, I. 483; III. 513.
      cærulea, II. 76, 77.
      canora, II. 92, 93.
      cardinalis, II. 99, 100.
      curvirostra, I. 483.
      enucleator, I. 453.
      erythrina, I. 459.
      fusca, I. 484.
      himalayana, I. 484.
      leucoptera, I. 483, 488.
      ludoviciana, II. 69, 70.
      mexicana, I. 483, 488.
      obscura, II. 70.
      pusilla, I. 484.
      pityopsittacus, I. 484.
      rosea, II. 70.
      violacea, I. 462.
      virginica, I. 441.
  Lurocalis, II. 399.

  Macrocercus pachyrhynchus, II. 586.
  Megaceryle alcyon, II. 392.
  Megapicus, II. 494.
  Megaquiscalus, II. 214.
  Megascops, III. 47.
  Melampicus, II. 559.
  Melanerpes, II. 553, 559.
      albolarvatus, II. 526.
      angustifrons, II. 561, 575.
      erythrocephalus, II. 560, 564.
      flavigula, II. 561.
      formicivorus, II. 560, 566.
      ruber, II. 544.
      rubrigularis, II. 545.
      striatipectus, II. 561.
      thyroideus, II. 547.
      torquatus, II. 560, 561.
      williamsoni, II. 545.
  Meleagridæ, III. 402.
  Meleagris, III. 403.
      americana, III. 404.
      fera, III. 404.
      gallopavo, III. 403, 404.
      mexicana, III. 410.
      mexicanus, III. 403.
      ocellatus, III. 404.
      sylvestris, III. 404.
  Melittarchus dominicensis, II. 319.
  Mellisuga heloisa, II. 465.
  Melopelia, III. 375, 376.
      leucoptera, III. 376.
  Melospiza, I. 530; II. 16.
      cinerea, II. 29.
      fallax, II. 18, 22.
      gouldi, II. 26.
      guttata, II. 19, 27, 29.
      heermanni, II. 18, 24.
      insignis, II. 19, 30.
      lincolni, II. 19, 31; III. 516.
      melodia, I. 146, 158; II. 18, 19.
      mexicana, II. 18.
      palustris, II. 19, 34; III. 517.
      pectoralis, II. 18.
      rufina, I. 158; II. 19, 27, 29.
      samuelis, II. 18, 26.
      unalashkensis, I. 158.
  Melospizeæ, I. 530.
  Merula, I. 4.
  Methriopterus, I. 35.
  Micrathene, III. 6, 86.
      whitneyi, III. 87.
  Microglaux, III. 79.
  Micronisus, III. 220, 222.
  Microptynx, III. 79.
      passerina, III. 80.
  Milans, III. 196.
  Milvulus, II. 307, 308.
      forficatus, II. 309, 311.
      savanus, II. 309.
      tyrannus, II. 309.
      violentus, II. 309.
  Milvus cenchris, III. 203.
      dispar, III. 198.
      furcatus, III. 192.
      leucurus, III. 198.
      mississippiensis, III. 203.
  Mimimæ, I. 2, 31, 34.
  Mimus, I. 3, 48.
      carolinensis, I. 52.
      curvirostris, I. 41.
      longirostris, I. 39.
      montanus, I. 32.
      orpheus, I. 49.
      polyglottus, I. 33, 46, 49, 52; III. 506.
  Mitrephorus, II. 308, 385.
      fulvifrons, II. 385.
      pallescens, II. 385, 386.
      phæocercus, II. 385.
  Mniotilta, I. 178, 180.
      borealis, I. 180.
      longirostris, I. 180.
      noveboracensis, I. 283.
      rubricapilla, I. 196.
      striata, I. 248.
      varia, I. 180, 181, 216, 243, 249.
      virens, I. 261.
  Mniotilteæ, I. 178, 179.
  Mniotiltidæ, I. 298, 431.
  Molothrus, I. 182, 310; II. 148, 153.
      obscurus, II. 154.
      pecoris, II. 154.
  Monedula purpurea, II. 215.
  Montifringilla brunneinucha, I. 504.
      griseinucha, I. 508.
  Morphnus unicinctus, III. 249.
  Motacilla, I. 164, 165.
      æquinoctialis, I. 296.
      æstiva, I. 222.
      alba, I. 165.
      americana, I. 208.
      aurocapilla, I. 279, 280.
      auricollis, I. 184.
      bananivora, I. 427.
      blackburniæ, I. 237.
      cærulea, I. 77, 78.
      cærulescens, I. 254.
      calendula, I. 72, 75.
      calidris, I. 359.
      cana, I. 78.
      canadensis, I. 227, 254.
      chrysocephala, I. 237.
      chrysoptera, I. 192.
      cincta, I. 227.
      citrea, I. 183, 184.
      coronata, I. 227.
      dominica, I. 240.
      eques, I. 208.
      flava, I. 167.
      flavicauda, I. 322.
      flavicollis, I. 240.
      flavifrons, I. 192.
      fuscescens, I. 283.
      hudsonica, I. 171.
      incana, I. 237.
      juncorum, II. 5.
      ludoviciana, I. 208.
      maculosa, I. 232.
      mitrata, I. 313, 314.
      noveboracensis, I. 283.
      œnanthe, I. 60.
      palmarum, I. 273.
      pennsylvanica, I. 245.
      pensilis, I. 240.
      pileolata, I. 319.
      pinguis, I. 227.
      protonotaria, I. 184.
      regulus, I. 72.
      rubiginosa, I. 222.
      ruticilla, I. 322.
      sialis, I. 62.
      striata, I. 248.
      superciliosa, I. 240.
      tigrina, I. 211, 212.
      umbria, I. 227.
      varia, I. 180.
      vermivora, I. 186, 187.
      virens, I. 261.
      yarrelli, I. 165.
  Motacillidæ, I. 163, 164, 431.
  Motacillinæ, I. 164, 165.
  Muscicapa, I. 4.
      acadica, II. 374.
      animosa, II. 316.
      atra, II. 343.
      belli, I. 313.
      bonapartei, I. 320.
      brasieri, I. 312.
      canadensis, I. 320.
      cantatrix, I. 385.
      carolinensis, I. 51, 52; II. 344.
      cooperi, II. 353.
      crinita, II. 334.
      cucullata, I. 314.
      derhami, I. 322.
      dominicensis, II. 319.
      forficata, II. 311.
      fulvifrons, II. 385.
      fusca, II. 343.
      gilva, I. 368.
      guttata, I. 18, 20.
      inornata, II. 353.
      ludoviciana, II. 334.
      melodia, I. 368.
      minuta, I. 316.
      nigricans, II. 340.
      noveboracensis, I. 357, 382, 385.
      nunciola, II. 343.
      olivacea, I. 358, 363.
      phœbe, II. 343, 360.
      pusilla, I. 317; II. 366.
      querula, II. 357, 374.
      rapax, II. 357.
      rex, II. 316.
      richardsoni, II. 360.
      rubra, I. 441.
      ruticilla, I. 322.
      savana, II. 309.
      saya, II. 347.
      selbyi, I. 314.
      semiatra, II. 340.
      solitaria, I. 373.
      striata, I. 248.
      sylvicola, I. 379.
      trailli, II. 369.
      tyrannus, II. 309, 316.
      verticalis, II. 324.
      virens, II. 350, 357.
      virginiana cristata, II. 334.
      viridis, I. 306, 307.
      wilsoni, I. 317.
  Muscicapidæ, I. 326.
  Myiadesteæ, I. 408.
  Myiadestes, I. 3, 408.
      genibarbis, I. 408.
      obscurus, I. 409.
      townsendi, I. 22, 409.
      unicolor, I. 409.
  Myiarchus, II. 307, 329; III. 521.
      antillarum, II. 332.
      cinerascens, II. 332, 337.
      cooperi, II. 331.
      crinitus, II. 331, 334.
      erythrocercus, II. 331.
      irritabilis, II. 331.
      lawrencei, II. 333.
      mexicanus, II. 331, 337.
      nigricans, II. 340.
      nigricapillus, II. 333.
      nigriceps, II. 333.
      pertinax, II. 337.
      phæocephalus, II. 330.
      phœbe, II. 332.
      stolidus, II. 331, 332.
      tristis, II. 332, 333.
      tyrannulus, II. 330.
      validus, II. 331.
      yucatanensis, II. 331.
  Myiobius borealis, II. 353.
      crinitus, II. 334.
      nunciola, II. 343.
      pallidus, II. 351.
      sayus, II. 347.
      stolidus, II. 332.
      virens, II. 357.
  Myioborus, I. 179, 312.
  Myioctonus, I. 313.
      mitratus, I. 314.
      pusillus, I. 317.
  Myiodiocteæ, I. 179.
  Myiodioctes, I. 179, 312, 313.
      canadensis, I. 313, 320.
      formosus, I. 293.
      minutus, I. 313, 316.
      mitratus, I. 313, 314.
      pardalina, I. 320.
      pileolata, I. 313, 319; III. 512.
      pusillus, I. 313, 314, 317, 319.
      wilsoni, I. 317.
  Myionax crinitus, II. 334.
  Myiothlypis, I. 312.

  Nauclerus, III. 104, 190.
      forficatus, III. 191, 192.
      furcatus, III. 191, 192.
  Neocorys, I. 164, 170, 174.
      spraguei, I. 175.
  Neophron iota, III. 351.
  Nephœcetes, II. 427, 428.
      niger, II. 429; III. 523.
  Nertus, III. 202.
      mississippiensis, III. 203.
      plumbeus, III. 203.
  Niphæa hyemalis, I. 580.
      oregona, I. 584.
  Nisastur, III. 220, 222.
  Nisus cooperi, III. 224, 230.
      fuscus, III. 224, 225.
      hyemalis, III. 275.
      mexicanus, III. 224, 231.
      pacificus, III. 225.
      pennsylvanicus, III. 225.
      unicinctus, III. 249.
  Noctua aurita minor, III. 49.
      brodiei, III. 79.
      ferruginea, III. 85.
      passerina, III. 80.
  Notiocorys, I. 164, 170.
  Nucifraga columbiana, II. 255.
  Nucifrageæ, II. 232.
  Nudinares, II. 492.
  Nyctale, III. 6, 39.
      abietum, III. 39.
      acadica, III. 40, 43.
      albifrons, III. 43.
      funerea, III. 39.
      harrisi, III. 40.
      kirtlandi, III. 39, 43.
      pinetorum, III. 39.
      planiceps, III. 39.
      richardsoni (_plate_), III. 39–41, 97–101.
      tengmalmi, III. 39.
  Nyctalops stygius, III. 17.
  Nyctea, III. 6, 60, 61.
      arctica, III. 61, 70.
      candida, III. 70.
      nivea (_plate_), III. 61, 70, 98–102.
      scandiaca, III. 61.
  Nyctibius, II. 398.
  Nyctidromus, II. 399, 400.
      affinis, II. 399.
      albicollis, II. 399.
      americanus, II. 399.
      derbyanus, II. 399.
      grallarius, II. 399.
      guianensis, II. 399.

  Ochthæca sayi, II. 347.
  Odontophorus maleagris, III. 492.
  Onychotes gruberi, III. 252–254.
  Oporornis, I. 178, 279, 290.
      agilis, I. 290, 291, 301.
      formosus, I. 290, 293.
  Oreopeleia, III. 392.
      martinica, III. 393.
      montana, III. 393.
  Oreophasinæ, III. 397.
  Oreophasis derbianus, III. 397.
  Oreortyx, III. 466, 475.
      pictus, III. 475.
  Oreoscoptes, I. 2, 31.
      montanus, I. 32, 33, 40, 41.
  Oriolus baltimore, II. 195.
      castaneus, II. 190.
      caudacutus, I. 556, 557.
      costototl, II. 184.
      dominicensis, II. 182.
      ferrugineus, II. 202, 203.
      fuscus, II. 154.
      icterus, II. 184.
      ludovicianus, II. 215.
      mutatus, II. 190.
      niger, II. 203, 215.
      phœniceus, II. 158, 159.
      spurius, II. 190.
      varius, II. 190.
  Oriturus wrangeli, II. 122.
  Ornismya anna, II. 454.
      arsenni, II. 466.
      costæ, II. 453, 457.
      heloisa, II. 464, 465.
      montana, II. 462.
      tricolor, II. 462.
      viridissima, II. 468.
  Orpheus carolinensis, I. 52.
      curvirostris, I. 41.
      leucopterus, I. 49.
      longirostris, I. 39.
      meruloides, I. 29.
      montanus, I. 31, 32.
  Ortalida, III. 397, 398.
      maccalli, III. 398.
      poliocephala, III. 398.
  Ortyginæ, III. 466.
  Ortyx, III. 466, 467.
      californica, III. 479.
      castaneus, III. 468.
      cubanensis, III. 468.
      floridanus, III. 469.
      massena, III. 491, 492.
      montezumæ, III. 492.
      picta, III. 475.
      plumifera, III. 475.
      squamata, III. 487.
      texanus, III. 468, 474.
      virginianus, III. 467, 468.
  Oscines, I. 1, 163, 326.
  Otocoris, II. 139.
      rufa, II. 144.
  Otocorys alpestris, II. 143.
      chrysolæma, II. 144.
      cornuta, II. 143.
      occidentalis, II. 143.
      peregrina, II. 142, 144.
  Otus, III. 5, 17.
      albicollis, III. 17.
      americanus, III. 18.
      arboreus, III. 17.
      asio, III. 17, 52.
      aurita, III. 17.
      brachyotus, III. 18, 22, 24.
      communis, III. 17, 18.
      crassirostris, III. 61.
      europæus, III. 17.
      galopagœnsis, III. 23.
      gracilis, III. 17.
      italicus, III. 17.
      macrorhynchus, III. 61.
      mexicanus, III. 61.
      nævius, III. 49.
      palustris, III. 22.
      siguapa, III. 18.
      stygius, III. 17, 18.
      sylvestris, III. 17.
      virginianus, III. 62.
      vulgaris, III. 17.
      wilsonianus (_plate_), III. 17, 18, 98–101.

  Pachyramphus aglaiæ, II. 306.
      major, II. 306.
  Pandion, III. 104, 182.
      alticeps, III. 183.
      americanus, III. 184.
      carolinensis, III. 183, 184.
      fasciatus, III. 184.
      fluvialis, III. 183.
      haliætus, III. 182, 183.
      indicus, III. 183.
      leucocephalus, III. 183.
      planiceps, III. 183.
  Panyptila, II. 422, 423.
      cayanensis, II. 424.
      melanoleuca, II. 424; III. 523.
      sancti-hieronymi, II. 424.
  Paridæ, I. 69, 86, 431.
  Parinæ, I. 86.
  Paroides flaviceps, I. 112.
  Parula, I. 178, 207.
      americana, I. 207–209, 259; III. 509.
      inornata, I. 208.
      insularis, I. 207.
      pitiayumi, I. 207.
      superciliosa, I. 208.
  Parus, I. 86, 93.
      albescens, I. 99.
      americanus, I. 207, 208.
      annexus, I. 93.
      atricapillus, I. 91–96, 100, 102, 103, 105, 128, 157.
      atricapillus canadensis, I. 96.
      atricristatus, I. 90.
      bicolor, I. 86, 87.
      carolinensis, I. 88, 94, 97, 102, 185.
      cristatus, I. 86, 87.
      erythrocephalus, I. 107.
      fasciatus, I. 83, 84.
      hudsonicus, I. 94, 97, 105.
      inornatus, I. 91.
      leucotis, I. 312.
      littoralis, I. 105.
      major, I. 93.
      meridionalis, I. 94, 102.
      minimus, I. 109.
      montanus, I. 92–95, 118.
      occidentalis, I. 94, 100, 101, 104.
      palustris, I. 96, 103.
      rufescens, I. 94, 104; III. 507.
      septentrionalis, I. 94, 97, 99, 101, 107.
      sibiricus, I. 95, 105.
      virginianus, I. 227.
  Passer, I. 525.
      arctous, I. 508.
      bicolor bahamensis, II. 93.
      canadensis, II. 3.
      domesticus, I. 525.
      pennsylvanicus, I. 574.
  Passerculeæ, I. 529.
  Passerculus, I. 529, 532.
      alaudinus, I. 533, 537; III. 515.
      anthinus, I. 533, 537, 539.
      cassini, II. 42.
      guttatus, I. 533, 544.
      lincolni, II. 31.
      princeps, I. 533, 540; III. 515.
      rostratus, I. 533, 542.
      sandwichensis, I. 533, 538.
      savanna, I. 533, 534.
      zonarius, II. 31.
  Passerella, II. 49; III. 518.
      cinerea, II. 27.
      iliaca, II. 50.
      megarhynchus, II. 49, 57; III. 518.
      obscura, II. 50.
      rufina, II. 29.
      schistacea, II. 49, 56.
      townsendi, II. 29, 49, 53.
      unalashkensis, II. 53.
  Passerellinæ, I. 446; II. 48.
  Passerina, II. 81.
      caudacuta, I. 557.
      ciris, II. 87.
      cyanea, II. 82.
      nigricollis, II. 65.
      oryzivora, II. 149.
      pecoris, II. 154.
      pratensis, I. 553.
  Patagiænas, III. 357.
      leucocephalus, III. 363.
  Pediocætes, III. 414, 433.
      columbianus, III. 434, 436, 446.
      kennikotti, III. 434.
      phasianellus, III. 434.
  Pediocorys, I. 164.
  Pendulinus, II. 179.
      affinis, II. 190.
      ater, II. 203.
      cucullatus, II. 193.
      dominicensis, II. 188.
      flavigaster, II. 182.
      hypomelas, II. 182.
      lessoni, II. 182.
      nigricollis, II. 190.
      portoricensis, II. 182.
      spurius, II. 190.
      viridis, II. 182.
  Penelope, III. 397.
  Penelopina, III. 397.
  Penelopinæ, III. 397.
  Percnopterus aura, III. 345.
      urubu, III. 351.
  Perdicidæ, III. 466.
  Perdix borealis, III. 468.
      californica, III. 479.
      marilandica, III. 468.
      plumifera, III. 475.
      virginiana, III. 468.
  Perisoreus, II. 264, 297.
      canadensis, II. 298, 299.
      capitalis, II. 298, 302.
      infaustus, II. 298.
      obscurus, II. 298, 302.
  Perissoglossa, I. 178, 211.
      carbonata, I. 212, 214.
      tigrina, I. 211, 212.
  Perissura, III. 381.
      carolinensis, III. 383.
  Petrochelidon, I. 327, 334.
      bicolor, I. 344.
      lunifrons, I. 334.
      swainsoni, I. 334.
      thalassina, I. 347.
  Peucæa, I. 530; II. 37.
      æstivalis, II. 34, 38, 39.
      arizonæ, II. 38, 41; III. 517.
      bachmani, II. 39.
      botterii, II. 38.
      boucardi, II. 38.
      carpalis, III. 517.
      cassini, II. 41, 42.
      lincolni, II. 31.
      notosticta, II. 38.
      ruficeps, II. 38, 45.
  Phabotypus, III. 220.
  Phænicosoma æstiva, I. 441.
      hepatica, I. 437.
      rubra, I. 435.
  Phænisoma, I. 432.
      æstiva, I. 441.
      rubra, I. 435.
  Phænopepla, I. 405.
      nitens, I. 405.
  Phæthornithinæ, II. 438.
  Phasianus columbianus, III. 436.
      motmot, III. 398.
  Phileremos, II. 139.
  Phlœotomus, II. 548.
  Pholeoptynx, III. 88.
  Phonipara, II. 60, 92.
      bicolor, II. 93.
      canora, II. 93.
      marchi, II. 93.
      olivacea, II. 93.
      omissa, II. 93.
      pusilla, II. 93.
      zena, II. 93.
  Phrenopicus, II. 501, 523.
  Phrenopipo, II. 523.
      borealis, II. 524.
  Phyllobasileus, I. 72.
  Phyllomanes, I. 358.
      barbatula, I. 360.
      flavoviridis, I. 366.
      olivacea, I. 363.
  Phyllopneuste, I. 69, 70.
      borealis, I. 70, 71.
      kennicotti, I. 70, 71.
      sylvicultrix, I. 71.
      trochilus, I. 71, 72.
  Pica, II. 264.
      albiventris, II. 265.
      cærulescens, II. 285.
      caudata, II. 265.
      chloronota, II. 295.
      cristata, II. 273.
      europea, II. 265.
      hudsonica, II. 265, 266.
      melanoleuca, II. 265, 266.
      morio, II. 303, 304.
      nuttalli, II. 265, 270.
      rusticorum, II. 265.
      stelleri, II. 277.
  Piceæ, II. 492, 493.
  Picicorvus, II. 232, 254.
      columbianus, II. 255.
  Picidæ, II. 469, 491.
  Picinæ, II. 491, 492.
  Pico cruzado, I. 488.
  Picoides, II. 494, 529.
      americanus, II. 529, 532.
      arcticus, II. 528, 530.
      crissoleucus, II. 529.
      dorsalis, II. 529, 532.
      europæus, II. 529.
      hirsutus, II. 532.
      tridactylus, II. 529.
  Picolaptes brunneicapillus, I. 132, 134.
  Picumninæ, II. 491.
  Picus, II. 493, 500.
      albolarvatus, II. 502, 526.
      americanus, II. 532.
      arcticus, II. 530.
      atrothorax, II. 539.
      auduboni, II. 503.
      auratus, II. 575.
      aurifrons, II. 557.
      bairdi, II. 515, 517.
      bogotus, II. 515.
      borealis, II. 501, 523, 524.
      cafer, II. 578.
      canadensis, II. 503.
      carolinus, II. 554.
      chrysoides, II. 583.
      dorsalis, II. 532.
      erythrauchen, II. 554.
      erythrocephalus, II. 559, 564.
      gairdneri, II. 501, 512; III. 523.
      gracilis, II. 515.
      graysoni, II. 501, 515, 517.
      griseus, II. 554.
      harrisi, II. 501, 507.
      hirsutus, II. 532.
      hudsonica, II. 266.
      hybridus aurato-mexicanus, II. 582.
      hylocopus, II. 507.
      inornatus, II. 507.
      jardini, II. 507.
      lathami, II. 578.
      leconti, II. 509.
      leucomelanus, II. 503.
      leucomelas, II. 503.
      leucotis, II. 524.
      lewisii, II. 561.
      lucasanus, II. 501, 517, 519, 520.
      martinæ, II. 503.
      martius, II. 500.
      medianus, II. 509.
      melanopogon, II. 566.
      meridionalis, II. 509, 512.
      mexicanus, II. 578.
      montanus, II. 561.
      nataliæ, II. 547.
      nuttalli, II. 501, 517, 520, 521.
      obscurus, II. 564.
      orizabæ, II. 515.
      ornatus, II. 557.
      parvus, II. 515.
      phillipsi, II. 503.
      pileatus, II. 550.
      principalis, II. 496.
      pubescens, I. 103, 185; II. 501, 502, 509.
      querulus, II. 524.
      ruber, II. 544.
      rubricapillus, II. 503.
      rubicatus, II. 578.
      scalaris, II. 501, 514, 515, 520.
      septentrionalis, II. 503.
      submexicanus, II. 574.
      thyroideus, II. 535, 547.
      torquatus, II. 559, 561.
      tridactylus, II. 528, 530.
      turati, II. 512.
      undatus, II. 532.
      undosus, II. 532.
      undulatus, II. 532.
      varius, II. 535, 539.
      vieilloti, II. 524.
      villosus, II. 500, 503, 520.
      williamsoni, II. 545.
      wilsoni, II. 521.
      zebra, II. 554.
  Pilumnus, II. 535.
      ruber, II. 544.
      thyroideus, II. 547.
      varius, II. 539.
  Pinicola, I. 447, 452.
      americana, I. 453.
      canadensis, I. 453.
      enucleator, I. 453; III. 513.
  Pipile, III. 397.
  Pipilo, I. 34; II. 60, 104.
      aberti, II. 106, 126, 128; III. 519.
      albicollis, II. 121, 122.
      albigula, II. 121, 122, 127.
      alleni, II. 108, 112.
      arcticus, II. 109, 116, 119.
      ater, II. 109.
      carmani, II. 109.
      chlorosoma, II. 105.
      chlorurus, II. 106, 131; III. 519.
      crissalis, II. 121, 122.
      erythrophthalmus, II. 105, 106, 108, 109; III. 518.
      fuscus, II. 106, 121.
      lateralis, II. 106.
      macronyx, II. 105.
      maculatus, II. 105, 108.
      megalonyx, II. 108, 113.
      mesoleucus, II. 121, 122, 125; III. 518.
      oregonus, II. 108, 116.
      personata, I. 589.
      superciliosa, II. 106.
      virescens, II. 105.
  Pipra polyglotta, I. 307.
  Pitylus cardinalis, II. 100.
      guttatus, II. 73.
  Planesticus, I. 4, 22, 24, 28.
  Platypsaris affinis, II. 306.
  Platyrhynchus pusillus, II. 366.
      virescens, I. 374.
  Plectrophanes, I. 448, 510.
      lapponicus, I. 511, 515.
      maccowni, I. 511, 523.
      melanomus, I. 511, 521.
      nivalis, I. 511, 512.
      ornatus, I. 511, 520.
      pictus, I. 511, 518.
      smithi, I. 518.
  Ploceidæ, I. 431.
  Plyctolophinæ, II. 585.
  Podager, II. 399.
  Podagrinæ, II. 398.
  Pœcile atricapilla, I. 96.
      carolinensis, I. 102.
      melanotis, I. 108.
      minima, I. 109.
      rufescens, I. 104.
  Pœcilopternis, III. 254.
      borealis, III. 282.
      lineatus, III. 275.
      wilsoni, III. 259.
  Pœcilornis, III. 159.
      cinnamominus, III. 168.
      sparverius, III. 169.
  Pœcilopteryx, III. 202.
      plumbeus, III. 203.
  Polioaëtus, III. 320.
  Polioptila, I. 77, 201.
      cærulea, I. 78; III. 506.
      lembeyi, I. 78.
      melanura, I. 78, 79, 81; III. 507.
      mexicana, I. 78.
      plumbea, I. 78, 80.
  Polioptilinæ, I. 69, 77.
  Polyborus, III. 103, 176.
      auduboni, III. 178.
      brasiliensis, III. 177, 178.
      cheriway, III. 177.
      tæniurus, III. 249.
      tharus, III. 176–178.
      vulgaris, III. 177, 178.
  Pomatorhinus turdinus, I. 41.
  Pontoaëtus, III. 320.
  Poocætes, I. 529, 544.
      gramineus, I. 545.
  Poospiza, I. 530, 589.
      belli, I. 33, 590, 593; III. 516.
      bilineata, I. 589, 590.
      lateralis, II. 106.
      mystacalis, II. 589.
      nevadensis, I. 590, 594.
  Psittacidæ, II. 469.
  Progne, I. 326, 327.
      concolor, I. 328.
      cryptoleuca, I. 328, 329, 332.
      domestica, I. 328.
      dominicensis, I. 328, 329.
      elegans, I. 328, 330.
      furcata, I. 328.
      leucogaster, I. 329, 333.
      modesta, I. 328.
      purpurea, I. 328, 332.
      subis, I. 328, 329, 332.
  Protonotaria, I. 178, 183.
      citrea, I. 183, 184, 289.
  Psaltria, I. 107.
      flaviceps, I. 112.
      melanotis, I. 108.
      plumbea, I. 110.
  Psaltriparus, I. 86, 107.
      melanotis, I. 107, 108.
      minimus, I. 108, 109, 120.
      personatus, I. 108.
      plumbeus, I. 108, 110.
  Psarocolius auricollis, II. 199.
      baltimore, II. 195.
      caudacutus, II. 149.
      cyanocephalus, II. 206.
      gubernator, II. 163.
      melanocephalus, II. 186.
      pecoris, II. 154.
      perspicillatus, II. 167.
      phœniceus, II. 159.
  Pseudaëtus, II. 312.
  Pseudogryphus, III. 337, 338.
      californianus (_plate_), III. 338, 355, 356.
  Pseudoprocne, II. 423.
  Psilorhinus, II. 264, 303.
      cyanocephalus, II. 260.
      mexicanus, II. 304.
      morio, II. 304.
  Psittaca carolinensis, II. 587.
  Psittacidæ, II. 585.
  Psittacinæ, II. 585.
  Psittacus caroliniensis, II. 587.
      ludovicianus, II. 587.
      militaris, II. 586.
      pascha, II. 586.
      strenuus, II. 586.
      thalassinus, II. 587.
  Pteroaëtus, III. 312.
  Pterocircus, III. 212.
  Ptilogonateæ, I. 404.
  Ptilogonatinæ, I. 395, 404.
  Ptilogonus cinereus, I. 405.
  Ptilogonys, I. 405.
      nitens, I. 405.
      townsendi, I. 409.
  Pipilo rufipileus, II. 131.
  Pulsatrix, III. 28.
  Pygargus, III. 212.
  Pyranga, I. 432.
      æstiva, I. 434, 441.
      ardens, I. 433.
      azaræ, I. 434, 440.
      bidentata, I. 433.
      cooperi, I. 434, 444.
      erythrocephala, I. 433.
      erythromelæna, I. 433, 435.
      erythropis, I. 437.
      hepatica, I. 433, 440; III. 512.
      ludoviciana, I. 433, 435, 437.
      mississippiensis, I. 441.
      roseigularis, I. 434.
      rubra, I. 34, 432, 435.
      rubriceps, I. 433.
      saira, I. 434.
      testacea, I. 434.
  Pyrgita, I. 525.
      arctica, II. 119.
      domestica, I. 525.
  Pyrgitænas passerinus, III. 389.
  Pyrgitinæ, I. 446, 524.
  Pyrocephalus, II. 308, 386.
      mexicanus, II. 387; III. 522.
      nanus, II. 387.
      obscurus, II. 387.
      rubineus, II. 387.
  Pyrrhula, I. 447, 456.
      cassini, I. 457; III. 513.
      coccinea, I. 457.
      cruentata, I. 468.
      enucleator, I. 453.
      falcirostris, II. 90.
      frontalis, I. 466.
      ludoviciana, II. 70.
  Pyrrhuloxia, II. 60, 95.
      sinuata, II. 95.

  Quiscalinæ, II. 147, 202.
  Quiscalus, II. 202, 212.
      æneus, II. 213, 218.
      ænius, II. 218.
      aglæus, II. 213, 221.
      assimilis, II. 214.
      baritus, II. 213, 221.
      brachypterus, II. 213.
      breweri, II. 206.
      ferrugineus, II. 203.
      gundlachi, II. 213.
      inflexirostris, II. 214.
      macrurus, II. 214, 225.
      major, II. 214, 222.
      mexicanus, II. 214.
      niger, II. 213.
      nitens, II. 215.
      palustris, II. 214.
      peruvianus, II. 214.
      purpuratus, II. 215.
      purpureus, II. 213–215.
      tenuirostris, II. 214.
      versicolor, II. 215, 218.

  Raptores, III. 1.
  Regulinæ, I. 69, 72.
  Reguloides proregulus, I. 72.
  Regulus, I. 72.
  Regula calendula, I. 34, 75; III. 506.
      cuvieri, I. 75.
      mystaceus, I. 297.
      rubineus, I. 75.
      satrapa, I. 75, 104.
  Rhimamphus, I. 215.
      æstivus, I. 222.
      blackburniæ, I. 237.
      canadensis, I. 254.
      castaneus, I. 251.
      chryseolus, I. 222.
      coronatus, I. 227.
      discolor, I. 276.
      maculosus, I. 232.
      maritimus, I. 212.
      olivaceus, I. 258.
      pensilis, I. 240.
      pinus, I. 268.
      rufus, I. 273.
      striatus, I. 248.
      tigrina, I. 273.
      virens, I. 261.
  Rhinogryphus, III. 337, 343.
      aura (_plate_), III. 344, 355, 356.
      burrovianus, III. 344.
  Rhinoptynx, III. 60.
  Rhinostrix, III. 60.
  Rhynchodon, III. 127.
  Rhynchofalco, III. 107, 154.
  Rhynchopsitta pachyrhyncha, II. 586.
  Rostrhamus, III. 104, 207.
      hamatus, III. 209.
      niger, III. 208.
      plumbeus, III. 208, 209.
      sociabilis, III. 208.
      tæniurus, III. 209.

  Sagræ, II. 332.
  Salpinctes, I. 130, 134.
      obsoletus, I. 135, 140; III. 508.
  Saltator viridis, II. 46.
  Sarcorhamphidæ, III. 335.
  Sarcorhamphus, III. 336, 337.
      californicus, III. 338.
      gryphus (_plate_), III. 355, 356.
      papa (_plate_), III. 356.
  Saurothera bottæ, II. 472.
      californiana, II. 472.
      marginata, II. 472.
  Saxicola, I. 59.
      œnanthe, I. 59, 60; III. 506.
      œnanthoides, I. 60.
  Saxicolidæ, I. 1, 2, 59, 69.
  Sayornis, II. 307, 339; III. 521.
      aquaticus, II. 340.
      cinerascens, II. 340.
      fuscus, I. 295; II. 343.
      latirostris, II. 340.
      nigricans, II. 340.
      pallidus, II. 347.
      sayus, II. 347.
  Scaphidurus palustris, II. 214.
  Scardafella, III. 375, 387.
      inca, III. 387.
      squamosa, III. 387.
  Scolecophagus, II. 202.
      cyanocephalus, III. 203, 206.
      ferrugineus, I. 77; II. 203.
      mexicanus, II. 206.
      niger, II. 203.
  Scops, III. 6, 47.
      albifrons, III. 43.
      asio (_plate_), III. 48, 49, 51, 98–101.
      enano, III. 48.
      flammeola, III. 58.
      floridanus, III. 48, 51.
      kennicotti, III. 48, 53, 55.
      maccalli, III. 49, 52.
      semitorques, III. 56.
      trichopsis, III. 53.
      zorca, III. 47.
  Scotiaptex, III. 5, 28, 29.
      cinereum (_plate_), III. 29, 30, 98–102.
      lapponicum, III. 29, 30.
  Scotophilus acadicus, III. 43.
  Securirostres, II. 492.
  Seirureæ, I. 178, 279.
  Seiurus, I. 178, 279.
      aurocapillus, I. 279, 280, 295, 304.
      gosse, I. 284.
      ludovicianus, I. 280, 285, 287, 295; III. 511.
      motacilla, I. 287.
      noveboracensis, I. 280, 281, 283, 289.
      sulfurascens, I. 284.
      tenuirostris, I. 283.
  Selasphorus, II. 438, 439, 458.
      costæ, II. 457.
      flammula, II. 459.
      heloisæ, II. 465.
      platycercus, II. 458, 462.
      rufus, II. 459.
      scintilla, II. 459.
  Setirostres, II. 399.
  Setophaga, I. 179, 312, 322.
      bonapartei, I. 320.
      canadensis, I. 320.
      miniata, I. 322.
      nigricincta, I. 320.
      picta, I. 322; III. 512.
      rubra, I. 312.
      ruticilla, I. 322, 323.
      wilsoni, I. 317.
  Setophageæ, I. 179.
  Setophaginæ, I. 178, 179, 311.
  Sialia, I. 59, 62.
      arctica, I. 62, 66–68.
      azurea, I. 62, 63.
      cæruleocollis, I. 65.
      macroptera, I. 67.
      mexicana, I. 62, 65, 66, 68; III. 506.
      occidentalis, I. 65.
      sialis, I. 62, 66, 68.
      wilsoni, I. 62.
  Siphonorhis, II. 399.
  Sitta, I. 114.
      aculeata, I. 92, 114, 115, 117.
      canadensis, I. 114, 117, 118, 121, 122.
      carolinensis, I. 114, 117, 122.
      melanocephala, I. 114.
      pusilla, I. 114, 120, 122; III. 507.
      pygmæa, I. 92, 114, 120; III. 507.
      varia, I. 118.
  Sittace, II. 585.
      militaris, II. 586.
      pachyrhyncha, II. 586.
  Sittacinæ, II. 585.
  Sittinæ, I. 86, 113.
  Sparvius, III. 220.
      cirrhocephalus, III. 220, 222.
      platypterus, III. 259.
  Speotyto, III. 6, 88.
      cunicularia, III. 90.
      domingensis, III. 89, 90.
      fusca, III. 89, 90.
      grallaria, III. 89.
      guadeloupensis, III. 90.
      hypogæa (_plate_), III. 90, 93, 98–101.
  Spermophila, II. 60, 90.
      albigularis, II. 91.
      moreletti, II. 91.
  Spheotyto hypogæa, III. 90.
  Sphyropicus, II. 494, 535.
      nuchalis, II. 538, 542.
      ruber, II. 538, 544.
      thyroideus, II. 538, 547.
      varius, II. 537, 539; III. 521.
      williamsoni, II. 538, 545.
  Spilocircus, III. 212.
  Spinites, II. 1.
      atrigularis, II. 15.
      monticolus, II. 3.
      pusillus, II. 5.
      socialis, II. 7.
  Spiza, II. 81.
      amœna, II. 84.
      ciris, I. 315; II. 87.
      cyanea, I. 315; II. 82.
      versicolor, II. 86.
  Spizacircus, III. 212.
  Spizageranus unicinctus, III. 249.
  Spizella, I. 530; II. 1.
      arizonæ, II. 2, 11.
      atrigularis, II. 3, 15.
      breweri, II. 13; III. 516.
      canadensis, II. 3.
      maxima, I. 566.
      monticola, II. 2, 3; III. 516.
      pallida, II. 2, 11.
      pinetorum, II. 2.
      pusilla, II. 2, 5.
      shattucki, II. 11.
      socialis, II. 2, 7; III. 516.
  Spizelleæ, I. 529.
  Spizellinæ, I. 446, 528.
  Spiziacircus, III. 212.
  Spizinæ, I. 446; II. 58.
  Spizognathæ, I. 431.
  Sporophila, II. 90.
      moreletti, II. 91.
  Starnœnadeæ, III. 375.
  Starnœnas, III. 375, 394.
      cyanocephala, III. 395.
  Steatornis, II. 398.
  Steatornithinæ, II. 398.
  Stegnolæma, III. 397.
  Stelgidopteryx, I. 327, 350.
      serripennis, I. 350.
  Stellula, II. 438, 439, 445.
      calliope, II. 445.
  Stenopsis, II. 399.
  Stolida lucaysiensis, II. 332.
  Stolidus dominicensis, II. 332.
  Streptoceryle, II. 391.
      alcyon, II. 392.
  Stridula, III. 10.
  Strigiceps, III. 212.
      hudsonius, III. 214.
      uliginosus, III. 214.
  Strigidæ, III. 1, 4.
  Stringopinæ, II. 585.
  Strix, III. 5, 10.
      acadica, III. 43, 80.
      acadiensis, III. 43.
      acclamator, III. 30.
      albifrons, III. 43.
      aluco, III. 28.
      americana, III. 13.
      arctica, III. 64, 70.
      asio, III. 47, 49.
      brachyotus, III. 17, 22.
      bubo, III. 60, 62.
      californica, III. 90.
      canadensis, III. 75.
      cinerea, III. 28, 30.
      clamata, III. 61.
      crassirostris, III. 61.
      cunicularia, III. 88, 90.
      delicatula, III. 13.
      eluta, III. 81.
      ferruginea, III. 85.
      flammea, III. 10, 11.
      freti hudsonius, III. 75.
      frontalis, III. 43.
      funerea, III. 75.
      furcata, III. 12.
      guatemalæ, III. 11.
      havanense, III. 79.
      hudsonia, III. 75.
      huhula, III. 28.
      hypogæa, III. 90.
      javanica, III. 13.
      macrorhyncha, III. 61.
      maculata, III. 61.
      maximus, III. 62.
      mexicana, III. 60, 61.
      nævia, III. 49.
      nacuruta, III. 61.
      nebulosa, III. 34.
      nivea, III. 61.
      nyctea, III. 61, 70.
      otus, III. 17.
      passerina, III. 39, 43, 79.
      passerinoides, III. 81.
      peregrinator, III. 18.
      perlata, III. 12, 13.
      phalænoides, III. 43.
      pratincola (_plate_), III. 11, 13, 98–101.
      pusilla, III. 80.
      pygmæa, III. 80.
      scops, III. 47.
      tengmalmi, III. 39, 40.
      torquatus, III. 28.
      ulula, III. 74.
      virginiana, III. 62.
      wapacuthu, III. 64.
  Strobilophaga, I. 452.
  Struthus atrimentalis, II. 15.
      caniceps, I. 587.
      oregonus, I. 584.
  Sturnella, II. 148, 171.
      collaris, II. 174.
      hippocrepis, II. 172, 176.
      ludoviciana, II. 174.
      magna, II. 172, 174.
      meridionalis, II. 172.
      mexicana, II. 172.
      neglecta, I. 33; II. 173, 176.
  Sturnidæ, II. 228.
  Sturnus, II. 228.
      cinclus, I. 55, 56.
      collaris, II. 174.
      junceti, II. 154.
      ludovicianus, II. 174.
      nove-hispaniæ, II. 154.
      obscurus, II. 154.
      prædatorius, II. 159.
      vulgaris, II. 228, 229.
  Surnia, III. 6, 74.
      ferruginea, III. 85.
      hudsonia, III. 75.
      nævia, III. 49.
      passerina, III. 80.
      ulula (_plate_), III. 39, 75, 98–102.
  Sylvania bonapartei, I. 320.
      mitrata, I. 314.
      pumilia, I. 316.
      pusilla, I. 317.
      ruticilla, I. 322.
  Sylvia æquinoctialis, I. 293.
      æstiva, I. 222.
      agilis, I. 290.
      americana, I. 208.
      anthoides, I. 283.
      auduboni, I. 229.
      auricollis, I. 184.
      autumnalis, I. 251.
      azurea, I. 235.
      bachmani, I. 194.
      bifasciata, I. 235.
      blackburniæ, I. 237.
      cærulea, I. 235.
      canadensis, I. 254.
      carbonata, I. 214.
      carolinensis, I. 222.
      castanea, I. 251.
      celata, I. 202.
      childreni, I. 222.
      chivi, I. 359.
      chrysoptera, I. 192.
      citrinella, I. 222.
      coronata, I. 227.
      culicivora, I. 312.
      discolor, I. 276.
      domestica, I. 149.
      flava, I. 222.
      flavicollis, I. 240.
      flavifrons, I. 192.
      formosa, I. 293.
      halseii, I. 258.
      icterocephala, I. 245.
      incana, I. 237.
      juncorum, II. 5.
      lateralis, I. 237.
      leucogastra, I. 196.
      leucoptera, I. 254.
      ludoviciana, I. 141, 142.
      macgillivrayi, I. 303.
      macropus, I. 254.
      maculosa, I. 232.
      magnolia, I. 232.
      marilandica, I. 297.
      maritima, I. 212.
      mexicana, I. 196.
      minuta, I. 276, 316.
      missouriensis, I. 205.
      mitrata, I. 314.
      montana, I. 271.
      nashvillei, I. 196.
      nigrescens, I. 258.
      noveboracensis, I. 283.
      occidentalis, I. 266.
      olivacea, I. 258.
      palmarum, I. 273.
      palustris, I. 254.
      pardalina, I. 320.
      parus, I. 237.
      pennsylvanica, I. 245.
      pensilis, I. 240.
      peregrina, I. 205.
      petasodes, I. 317.
      philadelphia, I. 301.
      pinus, I. 195, 268.
      populorum, I. 235.
      protonotaria, I. 183, 184.
      pusilla, I. 208, 254.
      rathbonia, I. 222, 223.
      ruficapilla, I. 191, 196.
      sialis, I. 63.
      solitaria, I. 195.
      sphagnosa, I. 254.
      striata, I. 248.
      swainsoni, I. 186, 190.
      tæniata, I. 258.
      tigrina, I. 212, 271.
      tolmiæi, I. 303.
      torquata, I. 208.
      townsendi, I. 265.
      trichas, I. 239, 297.
      troglodytes, I. 155.
      velata, I. 296.
      vermivora, I. 187.
      vigorsii, I. 268.
      virens, I. 261.
      wilsoni, I. 317.
      xanthopygia, I. 227.
      xanthocoa, I. 227.
  Sylvicola, I. 207, 215.
      æstiva, I. 222.
      agilis, I. 290.
      americana, I. 208.
      auduboni, I. 229.
      bachmani, I. 194.
      blackburniæ, I. 237.
      cærulea, I. 235.
      canadensis, I. 254.
      castanea, I. 251.
      celata, I. 202.
      chrysoptera, I. 192.
      coronata, I. 227.
      discolor, I. 276.
      formosa, I. 293.
      icterocephala, I. 245.
      kirtlandi, I. 272.
      macgillivrayi, I. 303.
      maculosa, I. 232.
      maritima, I. 212.
      mitrata, I. 314.
      montana, I. 271.
      nigrescens, I. 258.
      occidentalis, I. 266.
      olivacea, I. 258.
      palmarum, I. 273.
      pannosa, I. 254.
      pardalina, I. 320.
      parus, I. 237.
      pensilis, I. 240.
      peregrina, I. 205.
      petechia, I. 273.
      pinus, I. 268.
      pusilla, I. 208.
      rathbonia, I. 222.
      rubricapilla, I. 196.
      ruficapilla, I. 273.
      solitaria, I. 195.
      striata, I. 248.
      swainsoni, I. 190.
      tæniata, I. 258.
      townsendi, I. 265.
      vermivora, I. 187.
      virens, I. 261.
  Sylvicoleæ, I. 178, 211.
  Sylvicolidæ, I. 1, 69, 163, 164, 177.
  Sylvicolinæ, I. 178, 179.
  Svlviidæ, I. 2, 69, 431.
  Sylviinæ, I. 69.
  Syrnia nyctea, III. 70.
  Syrnium, III. 5, 28.
      aluco (_plate_), III. 28, 97.
      cinereum, III. 28, 30, 31.
      fulvescens, III. 29.
      lapponicum, III. 30.
      nebulosum, III. 28, 29, 34.
      occidentale, III. 28, 29, 38.
      sartorii, III. 29.

  Tachycineta, I. 327, 338, 344.
      bicolor, I. 344.
      thalassina, I. 344, 347.
  Tachytriorchis, III. 254.
  Tænioptynx, III. 79.
  Talpacota, III. 375.
  Tanagra æstiva, I. 441.
      columbiana, I. 437.
      cyanea, II. 81, 82.
      ludoviciana, I. 437.
      mississippiensis, I. 441.
      rubra, I. 435.
      variegata, I. 441.
  Tanagridæ, I. 431.
  Telmatodytes, I. 131, 141, 158.
      arundinaceus, I. 161.
      bewickii, I. 141.
      leucogaster, I. 141.
      spilurus, I. 141.
  Teraspiza, III. 220, 222.
  Terestristeæ, I. 179.
  Terestristis, I. 179.
  Tetrao albus, III. 457.
      bonasia, III. 446.
      californicus, III. 478, 479.
      canadensis, III. 415, 416, 419.
      cristata, III. 487.
      cupido, III. 439, 440.
      franklini, III. 415, 419.
      fusca, III. 419.
      guttata, III. 492.
      islandicus, III. 462.
      lagopus, III. 456, 457, 462.
      lagopus islandicus, III. 462.
      lapponicus, III. 457.
      leucurus, III. 464.
      marilandicus, III. 468.
      minor, III. 468.
      mutus, III. 462.
      obscurus, III. 415, 421, 423, 425.
      phasianellus, III. 429, 433, 436.
      rehusak, III. 457.
      richardsoni, III. 427.
      rupestris, III. 462.
      sabini, III. 454.
      saliceti, III. 457.
      togatus, III. 448.
      tympanus, III. 448.
      umbelloides, III. 453.
      umbellus, III. 448, 454.
      urogallus, III. 434.
      urophasianellus, III. 436.
      urophasianus, III. 428.
      virginianus, III. 467, 468.
  Tetraonidæ, III. 414.
  Tetrastes, III. 446.
  Thalassoaëtus, III. 320, 322.
  Thaumatias, II. 440, 468.
      linnæi, II. 468.
  Theromyias saya, II. 347.
  Thryomanes, I. 130, 144.
  Thryothorus, I. 130, 141, 142, 148, 158.
      arundinaceus, I. 161.
      bewickii, I. 142, 145.
      berlandieri, I. 39, 141, 144.
      leucogaster, I. 147; III. 508.
      littoralis, I. 142.
      louisianæ, I. 142.
      ludovicianus, I. 39, 137, 141, 142; III. 508.
      mexicanus, I. 137.
      pinus, I. 268.
      spilurus, I. 147, 154.
      torquatus, I. 208.
  Tiaris omissa, II. 93.
      pusilla, II. 93.
  Tichornis, III. 159.
  Tinnunculus, III. 107, 159.
      alaudarius, III. 159.
      australis, III. 166.
      cinnamominus, III. 168.
      columbarius, III. 144.
      dominicensis, III. 166, 167, 171.
      isabellinus, III. 166, 167.
      leucophrys, III. 161.
      phalœna, III. 169.
      sparveroides, III. 161, 162.
      sparverius, III. 161, 166, 167, 169, 171.
  Tolmaëtus, III. 312.
  Toxostoma curvirostris, I. 41.
      lecontei, I. 44.
      longirostre, I. 39.
      rediviva, I. 45.
      vetula, I. 35, 41.
  Trichas, I. 295.
      agilis, I. 290.
      brachydactylus, I. 297.
      macgillivrayi, I. 303.
      marilandicus, I. 297.
      personatus, I. 297.
      philadelphia, I. 301.
      tephrocotis, I. 290.
      tolmiæi, I. 303.
      vegata, I. 303.
  Trichoglossinæ, II. 585.
  Trichopicus, II. 502.
  Trichopipo, II. 502.
  Tridactylia, II. 509, 528.
      arctica, II. 530.
      dorsalis, II. 532.
      undulata, II. 532.
  Triorchis, III. 182, 297.
  Trochilidæ, II. 437, 466.
  Trochilinæ, II. 438.
  Trochilus, II. 438, 439, 447.
      alexandri, II. 450.
      anna, II. 454.
      aureigaster, II. 448.
      calliope, II. 445.
      colubris, II. 448.
      icterocephalus, II. 454.
      leucotis, II. 466.
      maculatus, II. 468.
      mango, II. 440.
      melanotus, II. 466.
      platycercus, II. 462.
      rufus, II. 458.
      tobaci, II. 468.
      tobagensis, II. 468.
      tobago, II. 468.
  Troglodytes, I. 131, 148.
      ædon, I. 146, 148, 149, 162.
      alascensis, I. 149, 157.
      americanus, I. 136, 149, 151, 153.
      arundinaceus, I. 141, 142.
      aztecus, I. 148.
      bewickii, I. 144, 145, 147.
      brevirostris, I. 159.
      fulvus, I. 149.
      hyemalis, I. 149, 155, 158; III. 508.
      latisfasciatus, I. 135.
      leucogaster, I. 147.
      ludovicianus, I. 142, 146.
      mexicanus, I. 138.
      obsoletus, I. 134, 135.
      pacificus, I. 149, 155, 158.
      palustris, I. 161.
      parkmanni, I. 148, 153, 162.
      spilurus, I. 147.
      stellaris, I. 158, 159.
      sylvestris, I. 153.
  Troglodytidæ, I. 130, 431.
  Trupialis, II. 148.
  Tryphæna heloisa, II. 465.
  Turdidæ, I. 1, 2, 59, 69, 130, 431.
  Turdinæ, I. 2, 3, 31.
  Turdus (_subgenus_), I. 2, 4, 22, 59.
      aliciæ, I. 5, 6, 7, 11, 12, 13, 16.
      aonalaschkæ, I. 20.
      ater, II. 182, 190.
      auduboni, I. 5, 7, 15, 16, 21; III. 504.
      aurocapillus, I. 280, 286.
      carolinensis, I. 52.
      confinis, I. 24, 27.
      coronatus, I. 280.
      densus, I. 8.
      fuscescens, I. 4, 6, 9, 15–21.
      guttatus, I. 18.
      hudsonius, II. 203.
      iliacus, I. 22, 23.
      jamaicensis, I. 24.
      jugularis, II. 182, 190.
      labradorius, II. 203.
      ludovicianus, II. 287.
      melodus, I. 8.
      merula, I. 27.
      migratorius, I. 13, 23–25, 27, 28, 30, 48.
      minimus, I. 14.
      minor, I. 3, 14, 18.
      montanus, I. 32.
      motacilla, II. 287.
      musicus, I. 30.
      mustelinus, I. 1, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 15, 19.
      nævius, I. 28, 29.
      nanus, I. 5, 7, 16, 20, 21; III. 504.
      noveboracensis, II. 203.
      No. 22, II. 203.
      olivaceus, I. 14.
      pallasi, II. 4–7, 11, 12, 14–16, 18, 282.
      pilaris, I. 23.
      polyglottus, I. 48, 49.
      rufus, I. 37, 144.
      silens, I. 9, 21.
      swainsoni, I. 4, 5, 7, 11–13, 14, 16–18, 282.
      trichas, I. 297.
      ustulatus, I. 5, 7, 13, 15, 16, 20, 46.
      variegatus, I. 131.
      virens, I. 306, 307.
      viscivorus, I. 3, 22.
      wilsonii, I. 9.
  Turtur carolinensis, III. 383.
      leucopterus, III. 376.
  Tyranni, II. 307.
  Tyrannidæ, II. 306.
  Tyrannula acadica, II. 374.
      caribæa, II. 351.
      cinerascens, II. 337.
      coronata, II. 387.
      crinita, II. 334.
      flaviventris, II. 378.
      fusca, II. 343.
      hammondi, II. 383.
      minima, II. 372.
      nigricans, II. 340.
      obscura, II. 381.
      pallida, II. 347.
      phœbe, II. 360.
      pusilla, II. 362, 366, 378.
      richardsoni, II. 360.
      saya, II. 347.
  Tyrannula trailli, II. 369.
      virens, II. 357.
  Tyrannuli, II. 307.
  Tyrannus, II. 307, 314.
      acadicus, II. 374.
      antillarum, II. 332.
      atriceps, II. 360.
      borealis, II. 353.
      carolinensis, II. 315, 316.
      cassini, II. 327.
      cooperi, II. 353.
      couchi, II. 315, 329.
      crinitus, II. 334.
      dominicensis, II. 315, 319.
      forticatus, II. 311.
      fuscus, II. 343.
      griseus, II. 319.
      intrepidus, II. 316.
      leucogaster, II. 316.
      ludovicianus, II. 334.
      matutinus, II. 319.
      melancholicus, II. 315, 329.
      mexicanus, II. 311.
      nigricans, II. 340, 353.
      phœbe, II. 332, 360.
      pipiri, II. 316.
      pusillus, II. 366.
      savana, II. 309.
      sayus, II. 347.
      trailli, II. 369.
      verticalis, II. 315, 324.
      virens, II. 357.
      vociferans, II. 315, 327; III. 521.

  Ulula brachyotus, III. 22.
      cunicularia, III. 90.
      flammea, III. 13.
      nebulosa, III. 34.
      otus, III. 17, 18.
      passerina, III. 43.
      virginiana, III. 62.
  Uraspiza, III. 220, 222.
  Uroaëtus, III. 312.
  Urospizia, III. 220, 222.
  Urubitinga unicincta, III. 249.

  Vermivora bachmani, I. 194.
      celata, I. 202.
      fulvicapilla, I. 187.
      nigrescens, I. 258.
      pennsylvanica, I. 187.
      peregrina, I. 205.
      protonotaria, I. 184.
      rubricapilla, I. 196.
      solitaria, I. 195.
      swainsoni, I. 190.
  Vermivoreæ, I. 178, 183.
  Vireo, I. 357, 358, 382.
      atricapillus, I. 358, 382, 383.
      belli, I. 81, 358, 383, 389.
      bogotensis, I. 363.
      carmioli, I. 383.
      cassini, I. 376.
      flavifrons, I. 357, 379.
      flavoviridis, I. 366.
      gilvus, I. 368.
      huttoni, I. 358, 383, 387.
      musicus, I. 385.
      noveboracensis, I. 357, 358, 383, 385.
      olivaceus, I. 357, 363.
      philadelphicus, I. 359, 367.
      pusillus, I. 358, 383, 391; III. 512.
      solitarius, I. 357.
      swainsoni, I. 371.
      vicinior, I. 358, 383, 393.
      vigorsii, I. 268.
      virescens, I. 363.
  Vireonella, I. 382.
      gundlachi, I. 382.
  Vireonidæ, I. 70, 306, 356, 357.
  Vireosylvia, I. 357, 358.
      agilis, I. 359.
      altiloqua, I. 360.
      barbadense, I. 359.
      barbatula, I. 357, 359, 360.
      calidras, I. 358, 359.
      chivi, I. 359.
      cobanensis, I. 367.
      flavifrons, I. 379.
      flavoviridis, I. 357, 359, 366.
      gilva, I. 359, 360, 368, 371.
      gilvus, I. 357.
      josephæ, I. 360.
      magister, I. 359.
      olivacea, I. 357, 359, 363; III. 512.
      philadelphica, I. 357, 367.
      plumbea, I. 377.
      propinquua, I. 373.
      solitaria, I. 373.
      swainsoni, I. 360, 371.
  Vultur albicilla, III. 324, 327.
      atratus, III. 350, 351.
      audax, III. 312.
      aura, III. 343, 344, 351.
      aura niger, β, III. 351.
      californianus, III. 338.
      gryphus, III. 337.
      iota, III. 345, 351.
      papa, III. 337.
      urubu, III. 351.
  Vulturinæ, III. 335.

  Wilsonia, I. 313.
      minuta, I. 316.
      pusilla, I. 317.

  Xanthocephalus, II. 148, 167.
      icterocephalus, II. 167.
      perspicillatus, II. 167.
  Xanthornus, I. 179, 182.
      abeillei, II. 184.
      bullocki, II. 199.
      gubernator, II. 163.
      melanocephalus, II. 186.
      parisorum, II. 188.
      phœniceus, II. 159.
  Xanthoura, II. 264, 294.
      guatemalensis, II. 295.
      incas, II. 295.
      luxuosa, II. 295.
  Xenocraugus, III. 526.
      albolarvatus, II. 526.
  Xenopicus, II. 502, 526.
      albolarvatus, II. 526.

  Yunginæ, II. 491.
  Yphantes, II. 179, 183.

  Zebrapicus, II. 553.
      kaupii, II. 558.
  Zenaida, III. 375, 378.
      amabilis, III. 379.
      aurita, III. 379.
      hypoleuca, III. 379.
      leucoptera, III. 376.
      maculata, III. 379.
      martinicana, III. 379.
      montana, III. 393.
  Zenaideæ, III. 375.
  Zenaidinæ, III. 357, 374.
  Zenaidura, III. 375, 381.
      carolinensis, III. 382, 383.
      graysoni, III. 382.
      marginella, III. 383.
      yucatensis, III. 382.
  Zonotrichia, I. 530, 565.
      albicollis, II. 186, 574.
      aurocapilla, I. 573.
      belli, I. 593.
      boucardi, II. 38.
      cassini, II. 42.
      chlorura, II. 131.
      comata, I. 577.
      coronata, I. 573.
      fallax, II. 22.
      fasciata, II. 22.
      gambeli, I. 566, 569; III. 516.
      graminea, I. 545.
      leucophrys, I. 566.
      melodia, II. 19.
      monticola, II. 3.
      pennsylvanica, I. 574.
      plebeja, II. 47.
      querula, I. 577.
  Zygodactyli, II. 469.




Transcriber’s Note:

Words and phrases in italics are surrounded by underscores, _like
this_. Small capital letters were replaced with all capitals.

The index of English names and index of scientific names appear only
in Volume III; they are reproduced at the end of this book for the
convenience of readers.

Archaic and obsolete spellings were left unchanged, as were variant
spellings of local place names.

Missing punctuation was added to ends of sentences and abbreviations.
Unprinted letters and numbers were added, where appropriate. A
description of the illustration on the title page was added.

Footnotes were renumbered sequentially and moved to the end of the
book, preceding the Index to Plates.

In the discussion of the Florida Greenlet, the author used a ‘y’ with
a breve above it to describe the song sound. As this character is not
easily reproduced in UTF-8, a macron was used instead of a breve.

Obvious printing errors were corrected, such as duplicate words,
upside down letters, numbers printed backwards, and letters or spacing
in the wrong order.

Changes for consistency with other entries: italics were changed to
capital letters for HABITAT, and umlauts were added to Zoö-.

Spelling changes:

    ‘swainsonii’ to ‘swainsoni’, Plate 1, figure 4
   ‘_ludovicicianus_’ to ‘_ludovicianus_’ (caption to illustration ‘7113’)
    ‘moves’ to ‘move’ …They move with rapidity and precision…
    ‘Guatamela’ to ‘Guatemala’ (habitat, Chestnut-sided warbler)
    ‘taill’ to ‘tail’ (Townsend's Warbler)
    ‘Totontopec’ to ‘Totontepec’ …at Totontepec, among the mountains…
    ‘fellows’ to ‘follows’ …They are as follows:…
    ‘Lambeye’ to ‘Lembeye’ (references, Barn Swallow)
    ‘groundcolor’ to ‘ground-color’ …The ground-color of all is…
    ‘subdivison’ to ‘subdivision’ …tendency to subdivision of…
    ‘olivacaceous’ to ‘olivaceous’ …to the more olivaceous back.…
    ‘Phœnicosoma’ to ‘Phœnisoma’ …Phœnisoma æstiva… (references, Summer Redbird)
    ‘Cardueles’ to ‘Carduelis’ (references, Yellow-bird; Thistle-bird)
    ‘Is’ to ‘It’ …It is gregarious at all…
    ‘Linceceum’ to ‘Lincecum’ …from Texas, by Dr. Lincecum…
    figure number of index entry for Cardinalis ignius from ‘0’ to ‘10’
    volume number from ‘II’ to ‘III’ for index entries: Columba fasciata,
       Columba flavirostis, Columba leucocephala, Ectopistes migratoria,
       and Ortalida macalli.