Color Key to North American Birds
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Title: Color Key to North American Birds
Author: Frank M. Chapman
Illustrator: Chester A. Reed
Release date: November 13, 2011 [eBook #38003]
Language: English
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COLOR KEY TO
NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS
+------------------------------------------------------------------+
| By FRANK M. CHAPMAN |
| Curator of Ornithology in the American Museum |
| of Natural History |
+------------------------------------------------------------------+
| HANDBOOK OF BIRDS OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA |
| Third edition. With introductory chapters on the study of |
| Ornithology; how to identify birds and how to collect and |
| preserve birds, their nests and eggs. 20 full-page plates |
| and 150 cuts in the text. 12mo. Library edition. |
| Pocket edition. |
| BIRD-LIFE |
| A guide to the study of our common birds. With 75 full-page |
| colored plates and numerous text drawings by Ernest Thompson |
| Seton. Containing an Appendix, especially designed for |
| teachers. 12mo. Cloth. |
| BIRD STUDIES WITH A CAMERA |
| A fascinating account of the habits of common birds, with |
| descriptions of the largest bird colonies existing in eastern |
| North America. The author's phenomenal success in |
| photographing birds in Nature not only lends to the |
| illustrations the charm of realism, but makes the book a |
| record of surprising achievements with the camera. 12mo. |
| Cloth. |
| WARBLERS OF NORTH AMERICA |
| A full description of our "most beautiful, most abundant, |
| and least known birds." Illustrated with colored plates |
| of every species and photographs of nests and eggs. Imp. 8vo. |
| Illustrated. |
| CAMPS AND CRUISES OF AN ORNITHOLOGIST |
| The story of eight years' experience in travel, in which |
| the author covered over 60,000 miles in his search for |
| material with which to prepare a series of groups of |
| American birds, to exceed in beauty and scientific value |
| anything which had heretofore been attempted in this line. |
| The illustrations, over 250 in number, are from Dr. Chapman's |
| photographs, and beyond question form a remarkable series of |
| pictures of bird-life. 8vo. |
| COLOR KEY TO NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS |
| This work may be described as an illustrated dictionary of |
| North American birds. It is the most complete publication of |
| its kind, and makes an admirable introduction to the study of |
| birds and the literature of Ornithology and at the same time |
| is an authoritative work of reference. Over 800 pictures. |
| OUR WINTER BIRDS |
| An introduction to the study of birds. The author believes |
| that the study of Ornithology should begin with the winter |
| birds as they are fewer in number and easier to approach. |
| Divided into convenient groups such as field birds, forest |
| birds, home birds, etc. Illustrated. 12mo. |
| THE TRAVELS OF BIRDS |
| A series of chapters on bird migration, describing birds as |
| travelers, why they travel, dangers by the way, night flyers |
| and day flyers, etc. Many illustrations from drawings. |
| Illustrated. |
| WHAT BIRD IS THAT? |
| A bird book for beginners with 301 birds in color. |
| ----------------- |
| D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, NEW YORK |
+------------------------------------------------------------------+
[Illustration: TOPOGRAPHY OF A BIRD Bluebird (natural size)]
COLOR KEY TO
NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS
With Bibliographical Appendix
BY
FRANK M. CHAPMAN
CURATOR OF ORNITHOLOGY
IN THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
Author of "Handbook of Birds of Eastern North America,"
"Bird-Life," Etc.
_With Upward of 800 Drawings_
BY
CHESTER A REED, B. S.
_Revised Edition_
[Illustration: Publisher's Logo]
NEW YORK
D. APPLETON & COMPANY
1912
COPYRIGHT,
DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & CO.
1903
COPYRIGHT,
D. APPLETON & CO.
1912
_Published November 1912_
Printed in the United States
PREFACE.
To learn to call a bird by its right name is the first step in the
study of ornithology. We may propose to investigate the structure,
food, and habits of the birds of the world, or desire merely a
superficial knowledge of the species found in our garden, but in
either case we are at once confronted by this question of
identification.
From the scientific point of view there is but one satisfactory way to
identify a bird. A specimen of it should be in hand in order that its
form, color, and size may be accurately determined, when, with the aid
of analytical keys, with which most text-books are provided, it is a
simple matter to ascertain the bird's name.
Wide experience has shown the writer, however, that where one dead
bird is identified, hundreds of attempts are made to name the living
bird in nature. This is to be expected. It is the natural outcome of
the recent remarkable interest in the study of birds which, fostered
by Audubon Societies and nature study teachers, has assumed an
ethical and educational importance of the first magnitude.
We cannot place a gun in the hands of these thousands of bird-lovers
whom we are yearly developing; indeed most of them would refuse to use
it. Specimens, therefore, are rarely available to them and we should
make some special effort to meet their peculiar wants. The present
volume has been prepared with this end in view. Identification of the
bird in the bush is its sole end; an end, however, which we trust will
prove but the beginning of a new and potent interest in nature.
FRANK M. CHAPMAN
_American Museum of Natural History,
New York City, 1903._
PREFACE TO REVISED EDITION.
In the present edition of the Color Key the body of the book, aside
from the correction of typographical errors, remains as it was in the
preceding edition. The Systematic Table has been reset and brought up
to July, 1912, the date of the publication of the latest supplement to
the third edition of the American Ornithologists' Union's 'Check-List
of North American Birds.' Two Appendixes are added. The first includes
all the changes in nomenclature and descriptions of new birds which
have been accepted by the A.O.U. Committee on Classification and
Nomenclature since the publication of the Color Key in 1903; the
second contains a list of faunal ornithological papers which it is
hoped will add greatly to the reference value of the book.
F. M. C.
_American Museum of Natural History,
New York City, October, 1912._
CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION 1
How to Learn a Bird's Name 1
How Birds Are Named 4
SYNOPSIS OF ORDERS AND FAMILIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS 9
COLOR KEY TO NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS 41
SYSTEMATIC TABLE OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS 257
APPENDIX I. ADDITIONS, SUBTRACTIONS, EMENDATIONS 298
APPENDIX II. BIBLIOGRAPHY 305
INDEX 333
ILLUSTRATIONS
The illustrations in this volume are designed to aid the student in
identifying birds in their haunts by giving, in color, those markings
which most quickly catch the eye. They do not pretend to be perfect
reproductions of every shade and tint of the plumage of the species
they figure, but aim to present a bird's characteristic colors as they
appear when seen at a distance. It was impracticable to draw all the
birds to the same scale but all those on the same page are so figured.
Reference should always be made, however, to the measurements given at
the beginning at each description. The figures are based on the male
bird.
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.
[Male]. The sign of Mars, signifying male.
[Female]. The sign of Venus, signifying female.
Ad. Adult, a bird in fully mature plumage.
Yng. Young, a fully grown bird which has not yet acquired the
plumage of the adult.
L. Length, the distance from the tip of the bill to the end of the
tail. This measurement is made from dead birds, birds in life
appear somewhat shorter.
W. Wing, the distance from the 'bend' of the wing to the end of the
longest feather.
T. Tail, the distance from the insertion of the tail-feathers to the
end of the longest one.
Tar. Tarsus, the distance from the heel to the insertion of the toes,
or of the so-called 'leg.'
B. Bill, the distance from the feathers at the base of the bill
above to its tip.
NOTE. All measurements are in inches and tenths, and a
variation of about ten per cent. from the figures given may be
expected. The number before the name of each species is that of
the American Ornithologists' Union's 'Check-List of North
American Birds.'
INTRODUCTION
HOW TO LEARN A BIRD'S NAME
"How can I learn to know the birds?" is the first question of the
seeker after bird-lore. The scientist's reply, "By shooting them and
studying their structure and markings in detail," may do for the few
who, like himself, desire to know the birds scientifically; but it is
emphatically not the answer to give the ninety and nine who, while
they desire to secure an intimate, accurate knowledge of birds, will
not gain it at the sacrifice of bird-life.
In the present volume, therefore, an attempt has been made so to
group, figure, and describe our birds that any species may be named
which has been _definitely seen_. The birds are kept in their
systematic Orders, a natural arrangement, readily comprehended, but,
further than this, accepted classifications have been abandoned and
the birds have been grouped according to color and markings.
A key to the Orders gives the more prominent characters on which they
are based; telling for example, the external differences between a
Duck and a Grebe. In comparatively few instances, however, will the
beginner have much difficulty in deciding to what Order a bird
belongs. Probably eight times, out of ten the unknown bird will belong
to the Order Passeres, or Perching Birds, when one has only to select
the color section in which it should be placed, choose from among the
colored figures the bird whose identity is sought, and verify one's
selection by reading the description of the bird's characteristics and
the outline of its range.
In the case of closely related species, and particularly subspecies,
the subjects of range and season are of the utmost importance. Most
subspecies resemble their nearest allies too closely to be identified
in life by color alone, and in such cases a bird's name is to be
learned by its color in connection with its distribution and the
season in which it is seen.
During the breeding period, unless one chance to be in a region where
two races intergrade, subspecific names may be applied to the bird in
nature with some certainty, for it is a law that only one subspecies
of a species can nest in the same area; but during migrations and in
the winter, when several subspecies of one species may be found
associated, it is frequently impossible to name them with accuracy.
For example, during the summer one need have no hesitancy in calling
the Robins of the lowlands of South Carolina the Southern Robin
(_Planesticus migratorius achrusterus_) but later, when the Northern
Robins (_Planesticus migratorius migratorius_) begin to appear, it
would be difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish them in life
from the resident birds.
If it were possible to impress the student, who proposes to name the
bird in the bush, with the _absolute necessity_ for careful, definite
observation he would be saved many disappointing and discouraging
experiences.
It is not possible to examine your bird too thoroughly. Never be
satisfied with a superficial view and a general impression. Look at
your bird, if you can, from several points of view; study its
appearance in detail, its size, bill, crown, back, tail, wings,
throat, breast, etc., and AT ONCE enter what you see in a note-book
kept for that purpose. In this way, and this way alone, can you expect
to compete with those who use the gun.
It does not follow, however, that because one does not collect
specimens of birds one cannot study them scientifically. While the
student may not be interested in the classification of birds purely
from the standpoint of the systematist, he is strongly urged to
acquaint himself with at least the arrangement of the Orders and
Families of our birds and their leading structural characters.
To the student who desires to prepare himself for his work afield such
a study may well come before he attempts to name the birds. But where
the chief end in view is to learn a bird's name, the more technical
side of the subject may be deferred. In any event, it should not be
neglected. This orderly arrangement of knowledge will not only be
practical benefit in one's future labors but it will bring with it
that sense of satisfaction which accompanies the assurance that we
know what we know.
As one learns to recognize bird after bird it is an admirable plan to
classify systematically one's list of bird acquaintances under their
proper Orders and Families. These may be learned at once from the
systematic table at the end of the book, where the numbers which
precede each species are arranged serially, and hence systematically.
In some instances, as an aid to identification in the field,
descriptions of birds' notes have been included. It is not supposed
that these descriptions will convey an adequate idea of a bird's song
to a person who has never heard it, but it is hoped that they may
occasionally lead to the recognition of calls or songs when they are
heard.
An adequate method of transcribing bird's notes has as yet to be
devised and the author realizes only too well how unsatisfactory the
data here presented will appear to the student. It is hoped, however,
that they may sometimes prove of assistance in naming birds in life.
As has been said before, the aim of this volume is to help students to
learn the names of our birds in their haunts. But we should be doing
scant justice to the possibilities of bird study if, even by silence,
we should imply that they ended with the learning to know the bird.
This is only the beginning of the quest which may bring us into close
intimacy with the secrets of nature. The birds' haunts and food, their
seasons and times of coming and going; their songs and habits during
courtship, their nest-building, egg-laying, incubating and care of
their young, these and a hundred other subjects connected with their
lives may claim our attention and by increasing our knowledge of
bird-life, add to our love of birds.
HOW BIRDS ARE NAMED
Birds have two kinds of names. One is a common, vernacular, or popular
name; the other is a technical or scientific name. The first is
usually given to the living bird by the people of the country it
inhabits. The second is applied to specimens of birds by
ornithologists who classify them.
Common names in their origin and use know no law. Technical names are
bestowed under the system of nomenclature established by LinnA|us and
their formation and application are governed by certain definite,
generally accepted rules. The LinnA|an system, as it is now employed by
most American ornithologists, provides that a bird, in addition to
being grouped in a certain Class, Order, Family, etc., shall have a
generic and specific name which, together, shall not be applied to
any other animal.
Our Robin, therefore, is classified and named as follows:
CLASS AVES,
ORDER PASSERES, Perching Birds.
Suborder _Oscines_, Singing Perching Birds.
Family _TurdidA|_ Thrushes.
Subfamily _TurdinA|_ Thrushes.
Genus, _Planesticus_, Thrushes.
Species, _migratorius_ American Robin.
The Robin's distinctive scientific name, therefore, which it alone
possesses, is _Planesticus migratorius_. There are numerous other
members of the genus _Planesticus_, but not one of them is called
_migratorius_ and this combination of names, therefore, applied to
only one bird.
The questions Why use all these Latin terms? Why not call the bird
"Robin" and be done with it? are easily answered. Widely distributed
birds frequently have different names in different parts of their
range. The Flicker (_Colaptes auratus_), for instance, has over one
hundred common or vernacular names. Again, the same name is often
applied to wholly different birds. Our Robin (_Planesticus
migratorius_) is not even a member of the same family as the European
Robin (_Erithacus rubecola_.) If, therefore, we should write of birds
or attempt to classify them only by their common names, we should be
dealing with such unfixed quantities that the result would be
inaccurate and misleading. But by using one name in a language known
to educated people of all countries, a writer may indicate, without
danger of being misunderstood, the particular animal to which he
refers. Among people speaking the same tongue, where a definite list
of vernacular names of animals has been established, they can of
course be used instead of the scientific names.
Such a list of North American birds has been prepared by the American
Ornithologists' Union. It furnishes a common as well as scientific
name for each of our birds, and is the recognized standard of
nomenclature among American ornithologists. The names and numbers of
birds employed in this Color Key are those of the American
Ornithologists' Union's 'Check-List of North American Birds.'
It will be observed that in this 'Check-List,' and consequently in the
following pages, many birds have three scientific names, a generic,
specific, and subspecific. The Western Robin, for example, appears as
_Planesticus migratorius propinquus_. What is the significance of this
third name?
In the days of LinnA|us, and for many years after, it was supposed that
a species was a distinct creation whose characters never varied. But
in comparatively recent years, as specimens have been gathered from
throughout the country inhabited by a species, comparison frequently
shows that specimens from one part of its range differ from those
taken in another part of its range. At intervening localities,
however, intermediate specimens will be found connecting the extremes.
Generally, these geographical variations, as they are called, are the
result of climatic conditions. For instance, in regions of heavy
rainfall a bird's colors are usually much darker than they are where
the rainfall is light. Song Sparrows, for example, are palest in the
desert region of Arizona, where the annual rainfall may not reach
eight inches, and darkest on the coast of British Columbia and Alaska,
where the annual rainfall may be over one hundred inches. In going
from one region, however, to the other the gradual changes in climate
are accompanied by gradual changes in the colors of the Song Sparrows,
and the wide differences between Arizona and Alaska Song Sparrows are
therefore bridged by a series of intermediates.
Variations of this kind are spoken of as geographic, racial, or
subspecific and the birds exhibiting them are termed subspecies. In
naming them a third name, or trinomial is employed, and the
possession of such a name indicates at once that a bird is a
geographic or racial representative of a species, with one or more
representatives of which it intergrades.
Returning now to the Robin. Our eastern Robins always have the outer
pair of tail-feathers tipped with white and, in adults, the back is
blotched with black; while Robins from the Rocky Mountains and
westward have little or no white on the outer tail-feathers, and the
back is dark gray, without black blotches. These extremes are
connected by intermediate specimens sharing the characters; of both
eastern and western birds. We do not, therefore, treat the latter as a
species, but as a subspecies, and consequently, apply to it a
subspecific name or trinomial, _Planesticus migratorius propinquus_,
(_propinquus_, meaning nearly related.)
A further study of our eastern Robin shows that in the southern parts
of its breeding range (the Carolinas and Georgia), it varies from the
northern type in being smaller in size and much paler and duller in
color; and to this second geographical variety is applied the name
_Planesticus migratorius achrusterus_, (_achrusterus_, meaning less
highly colored).
After the recognition of western and southern races of the Robin under
three names (trinomial) it would obviously be inconsistent to apply
only two names (binomial) to our eastern bird, the former being no
more subspecies of the latter than the latter is of the former. In
other words, to continue to apply only generic and specific names to
the Eastern Robin would imply that it was a full species, while the
use of a trinomial for the Western or the Southern Robin shows them to
be subspecies. As a matter of fact we know that there is but one
species of true Robin in the United States, consequently in accordance
with the logical and now generally accepted method, we apply to that
species the name _Planesticus migratorius_, and this is equally
applicable to Robins from east, south or west. When, however, we learn
that the Eastern Robin is not a species but a subspecies, we repeat
the specific name by which it was made known and call it _Planesticus
migratorius migratorius_.
It may be asked, Why give names to these geographical races? Why not
call Eastern, Western and Southern Robins by one name, _Planesticus
migratorius_, without regard to their climatic variations?
In reply, two excellent reasons may be given for the recognition of
subspecies by name; first, because in some cases they differ from one
another far more than do many species, when it would clearly be
inadvisable to apply the same name to what are obviously different
creatures. For example, it has lately been discovered by Mr. E. W.
Nelson that the small, black-throated, brown-breasted, Quails or
Bob-whites of southern Mexico, through a long series of intermediates
inhabiting the intervening region, intergrade with the large,
white-throated, black-and-white breasted, Bob-white of our northern
states. It would be absurd to call such wholly unlike birds by the
same name, nor could we give a full specific name to the Mexican
Bob-white since at no place can we draw a line definitely separating
it from the northern Bob-white. Furthermore, the use of only two names
would conceal the remarkable fact of the intergradation of two such
strikingly different birds; a fact of the first importance to students
of the evolution of species.
For much the same reason we should name those birds which show less
pronounced variations, such as are exhibited by the Robin. Here we
have a species in the making, and in tracing the relation between
cause and effect, we learn something of the influences which create
species. Thus, climate has been definitely proven so to alter a
species, both in size and color that, as we have seen in the case of
the Song Sparrows, marked climate changes are accompanied by
correspondingly marked changes in the appearance of certain animals.
In naming these animals we are, in effect, giving a 'handle to the
fact' of their evolution by environment.
Since it is evident that a bird may vary much or little, according to
the governing conditions and its tendency to respond to them, no fixed
rule can be laid down which shall decide just what degree of
difference are deserving a name. It follows, therefore, that in some
cases ornithologists do not agree upon a bird's claim to subspecific
rank.
In North America, however, questions of this kind are referred to a
committee of seven experts of the American Ornithologists' Union, and
their decision establishes a nomenclature, which is accepted as the
standard by other American ornithologists and which has been adopted
in this volume.
Foreign birds of wholly accidental occurrence, most of which have been
found in North America but once or twice, are included in the
systematic list of North American birds, but are not described or
figured in the body of the book, where their presence would tend to
convey an erroneous impression of their North American status.
Furthermore, records of the presence of birds so rare as these can be
properly based on only the capture of specimens.
In the preparation of the following pages both author and artist have
had full access to the collections of the American Museum of Natural
History, and they are also glad to acknowledge their indebtedness to
William Brewster of Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Robert Ridgway,
Curator of Birds in the United States National Museum, and to C. Hart
Merriam, Chief of the Biologic Survey, for the loan of specimens for
description and illustration.
SYNOPSIS OF ORDERS AND FAMILIES OF NORTH
AMERICAN BIRDS.
The figures are all life-size, except as stated.
=WATER BIRDS.=
Order I. Grebes, Loons, and Auks. PYGOPODES.
(3 families, 32 species, 3 subspecies.)
Duck-like birds with the bill usually pointed, never wider than high,
and without flutings, 'gutters,' or serrations on its side; wings
short, never with a bright colored patch or 'speculum'; tail
rudimentary, not noticeable; toes webbed or lobed. Color usually
blackish above, white below; the throat often dark. The Grebes and
Loons, when pursued, dive rather than fly; the Auks usually take wing.
[Illustration: PIED-BILLED GREBE.]
Family 1. GREBES. PODICIPIDA†.
Toes four with lobate webs; tipped with a broad nail; tail wanting.
[Illustration: FOOT OF RAZOR-BILLED AUK.]
[Illustration: LOON.]
Family 2. LOONS. GAVIIDA†.
Toes four, webbed; toe-nails not broad and flat; tail present.
Family 3. AUKS, MURRES, AND PUFFINS. ALCIDA†.
Toes three, webbed; toe-nails sharp; tail present.
Order II. Gulls, Terns, Jaegers, Etc. LONGIPENNES.
(3 families, 42 species, 1 subspecies.)
Birds generally seen on the wing, as a rule, over water. Bill strong,
thick; hooked in the Gulls and Jaegers; sharply pointed in the Terns;
often colored in part yellow or red; wings very long, the outer
feathers much the longest; tail usually short and square in the Gulls,
long and forked in the Terns; toes webbed. Color usually pearly gray
above, white below in adult Gull and Terns; Jaegers and many young
Gulls are dark.
[Illustration: PARASITIC JAEGER.]
Family 4. SKUAS AND JAEGERS. StercorariidA|.
Toes four; three front ones webbed; bill with swollen, hooked tip, its
base with a scaly shield.
[Illustration: HERRING GULL.]
[Illustration: COMMON TERN.]
Family 5. GULLS AND TERNS. LaridA|.
Toes usually four, three front ones webbed; upper mandible curved and
hooked; tail usually square (Gulls, subfamily _LarinA|_). Bill straight
and pointed; tail often forked (Terns, subfamily _SterninA|_).
[Illustration: BLACK SKIMMER.]
Family 6. SKIMMERS. RynchopidA|.
Toes four, three front ones webbed; bill thin and blade like, the
maxilla longer than the mandible; tail slightly forked.
Order III. Albatrosses, Shearwaters, Petrels, Etc. TUBINARES.
(2 families, 30 species, 1 subspecies.)
Sea-birds keeping, as a rule, well off shore, and flying low, near the
water, often skimming over the waves. Bill, with upper mandible
hooked; nostrils opening through tubes; wings long and pointed; tail
short; feet webbed; hind-toe rudimentary or absent. Color usually gray
or black and white; no bright markings.
[Illustration: BILL OF SHORT-TAILED ALBATROSS.]
Family 7. ALBATROSSES. DIOMEDEIDA†.
Nostrils opening through tubes, separated and on either side of the bill.
[Illustration: FULMAR.]
[Illustration: LEACH PETREL.]
Family 8. FULMARS, PETRELS AND SHEARWATERS. ProcellariidA|.
Nostrils joined and situated on top of the bill.
Order IV. Cormorants, Pelicans, Gannets, Man-o'war Birds,
and Tropic-Birds. STEGANOPODES.
(6 families, 19 species, 5 subspecies.)
Large birds, two feet or more in length, varying widely in appearance
and habits; in external structure agreeing only in having all four
toes joined by webs.
[Illustration: YELLOW-BILLED TROPIC BIRD.]
Family 9. TROPIC BIRDS. PhaA"thontidA|.
Bill pointed, somewhat tern-like; central tail feathers much
elongated; chin feathered.
[Illustration: GANNET.]
Family 10. GANNETS. SulidA|.
Bill stout, its tip not hooked; chin and eye space bare; tail pointed,
its feathers not 'fluted.'
[Illustration: ANHINGA.]
Family 11. ANHINGAS; SNAKE-BIRDS. AnhingidA|.
Bill straight and slender; chin and eye space bare; tail rounded; its
middle feathers fluted.
[Illustration: VIOLET-GREEN CORMORANT.]
Family 12. CORMORANTS. PhalacrocoracidA|.
Bill with a hooked tip; a small pouch at its base; plumage usually
black or blackish.
[Illustration: BROWN PELICAN.]
Family 13. PELICANS. PelecanidA|.
Bill hooked at tip, with a large pouch; tail short, square; eye space
bare.
[Illustration: MAN-O' WAR BIRD.]
Family 14. MAN-O' WAR BIRDS. FregatidA|.
Bill hooked; pouch small; tail long and forked; eye space feathered.
Order V. Ducks, Geese, and Swans. ANSERES.
(1 family, 49 species, 6 subspecies.)
Birds of familiar form; bill, except in Mergansers or Saw-billed
Ducks, broad and with rows of 'strainers' or 'gutters' on either side;
wings short, in the Ducks usually with a bright colored patch or
speculum; tail generally short; legs short; feet webbed. Most species,
unlike the Grebes, take wing rather than dive when pursued.
[Illustration: RED-BREASTED MERGANSER.]
[Illustration: MALLARD.]
Family 15. DUCKS, GEESE, AND SWANS. AnatidA|.
Bill long, narrow, and rounded with tooth-like projections along its
sides. (Mergansers. Subfamily _MerginA|_.)
Bill broad, flattened, typically duck-like; tarsus or leg with
transverse scales; hind toe without a lobe. (River Ducks. Subfamily
_AnatinA|_.)
Bill and tarsus as in preceding, but hind toe with a broad lobe or
flap. (Sea and Bay Ducks. Subfamily _FuligulinA|_.)
Bill proportionately narrower than in the River or Bay Ducks; gutters
on its sides less developed; scales on front of tarsus rounded.
(Geese. Subfamily _AnserinA|_.)
Large, usually white birds, with bare eye space. (Swans. Subfamily
_CygninA|_.)
Order VI. Flamingoes. ODONTOGLOSSA†.
(1 family, 1 species.)
Bright red or pink and white birds, standing four feet or more in
height; side of the bill with gutters, its end bent downward; wings
rather short; legs long; feet webbed.
[Illustration: AMERICAN FLAMINGO.]
Family 16. FLAMINGOES. PhA"nicopteridA|.
Characters of the Family similar to those of the Order.
Order VII. Herons, Bitterns, Ibises, and Spoonbills. HERODIONES.
(4 families, 19 species, 3 subspecies.)
Long-legged wading birds, generally found along shores or on muddy
flats; bill variable; in the Herons straight and sharply pointed; in
the Ibises, slender, rounded, and curved downward; in the Spoonbill,
flattened: wings rounded; tail short; legs long; toes all on same
level, long, slender, without webs. Herons and Bitterns fly with a
fold in the neck, the head being drawn in; Ibises and Spoonbills fly
with the neck straight, the head being extended.
[Illustration: ROSEATE SPOONBILL.]
Family 17. SPOONBILLS. PlataleidA|.
Bill flattened and much broadened at the end; crown and face bare in
adults; toes partly webbed.
[Illustration: WHITE-FACED GLOSSY IBIS.]
Family 18. IBISES. IbididA|.
Bill long and curved down; its side with grooves; toes partly webbed.
[Illustration: WOOD IBIS.]
Family 19. STORKS AND WOOD IBISES. CICONIIDA†.
Bill stout, without grooves; tarsus reticulate.
[Illustration: GREEN HERON.]
Family 20. HERONS, EGRETS, AND BITTERNS. ArdeidA|.
Bill usually straight and sharply pointed; lores naked; head
feathered; tarsus with transverse scales; middle toe-nail pectinate or
with a comblike edge.
Order VIII. Cranes, Rails, Coots, Gallinules, Etc. PALUDICOLA†.
(3 families, 16 species, 3 subspecies.)
Birds varying greatly in size and appearance, but all agreeing (and
differing from _Herodiones_) in having the hind-toe elevated, that is,
leaving the foot at a higher level than the front toes; tail short;
legs usually long. All fly with the neck extended, a fact by which
Cranes in flight may be known from Herons. Rails are short-winged
skulkers in grassy marshes; Gallinules frequent reedy shores; Coots,
which alone of the Order have webbed (lobate) toes, are as aquatic as
Ducks, from which they may be known by their pointed, white bill,
nodding motion of the head when swimming, and habit of pattering over
the water when alarmed.
[Illustration: SANDHILL CRANE.]
Family 21. CRANES. GruidA|.
Large birds over three feet in length; head partly bare in adults.
[Illustration: LIMPKIN.]
Family 22. COURLANS. AramidA|.
Bill long and slender; head wholly feathered; toes not webbed.
[Illustration: SORA.]
[Illustration: CLAPPER RAIL.]
[Illustration: AMERICAN COOT.]
Family 23. RAILS, COOTS, AND GALLINULES. RallidA|.
Bill variable; toes always long, webbed (lobed) in only one species;
wings short and rounded; tail short.
Order IX. Snipes, Sandpipers, Curlews, Plovers, Etc. LIMICOLA†.
(7 families, 55 species, 4 subspecies.)
Generally long-legged, slender-billed birds of shores and mud flats,
and sometimes fields. Most of them are under a foot in length; none
are so large as the Ibises; wings long and pointed; tail short; toes
long and slender, usually without webs; color generally brown or
blackish above, mottled and streaked with whitish and buff. Many
species utter characteristic piping whistles as they fly or when they
take wing.
[Illustration: NORTHERN PHALAROPE.]
Family 24. PHALAROPES. PhalaropodidA|.
Front toes with lobes or webs; tarsus flattened; plumage thick;
swimming Snipe.
[Illustration: AMERICAN AVOCET.]
[Illustration: BLACK-NECKED STILT.]
Family 25. AVOCETS AND STILTS. RecurvirostridA|.
Long legged, wading Snipe; in Avocets toes four, front three webbed;
bill recurved; in Stilts toes three, almost unwebbed; bill straight.
[Illustration: SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER.]
[Illustration: WOODCOCK.]
[Illustration: HUDSONIAN CURLEW.]
Family 26. SNIPES, SANDPIPERS, CURLEWS, ETC. ScolopacidA|.
Toes usually four; tarsus with transverse scales; bill generally long,
slender, and soft, used as a probe.
[Illustration: KILLDEER.]
[Illustration: BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER.]
Family 27. PLOVERS. CharadriidA|.
Toes usually three, or when four, the fourth rudimentary; tarsus with
rounded scales, bill, as compared with that of Snipe, short and stout.
[Illustration: TURNSTONE.]
Family 28. SURF BIRDS AND TURNSTONES. AphrizidA|.
Toes four, tarsus with transverse scales; bill short, rather hard.
[Illustration: AMERICAN OYSTER-CATCHER.]
Family 29. OYSTER-CATCHERS. HA|matopodidA|.
Toes three, webbed at base; tarsus stout, with rounded scales; bill
heavy, compressed, and said to be used for opening shells.
[Illustration: MEXICAN JACANA.]
Family 30. JACANAS. JacanidA|.
Toes four, with their nails greatly elongated to support the bird
while walking on aquatic vegetation; wing, with a sharp spur; bill
with fleshy lobes at base and, in some species, on its sides.
LAND BIRDS.
Order X. Grouse, Partridges, Bob-Whites, Etc. GALLINA†.
(3 families, 24 species, 25 subspecies.)
Ground-inhabiting birds of chicken-like form; bill stout, hen-like;
wings short and rounded; tail variable; feet strong; hind-toe
elevated. Color usually mixed brown, black, and buff, or bluish gray.
[Illustration: BOB-WHITE.]
[Illustration: RUFFED GROUSE.]
Family 31. GROUSE, PARTRIDGES, ETC. TetraonidA|.
Characters the same as those of the Order; tarsus naked in Partridges
and Quails; more or less feathered in Grouse and Ptarmigan.
[Illustration: TURKEY.]
Family 32. TURKEYS, PHEASANTS, AND CHICKENS. PhasianidA|.
Tarsus naked, often spurred, tail remarkably variable (for example,
Turkey, Peacock); head often with a comb, wattles, or other
excrescences.
[Illustration: CHACHALACA.]
Family 33. CURASSOWS AND GUANS. CracidA|.
Large tree-haunting, pheasant-like birds; toes four, all on same
level.
Order XI. Pigeons and Doves. COLUMBA†.
(1 family, 13 species, 3 subspecies.)
Walking birds, feeding both on the ground and in trees; bill slender,
grooved, nostrils opening in a fleshy membrane; tail variable, short
and square, or long and pointed; feet stout, often reddish. Color
usually grayish brown. Call-notes a characteristic cooing.
[Illustration: MOURNING DOVE.]
Family 34. PIGEONS AND DOVES. ColumbidA|.
Characters those of the Order.
Order XII. Vultures, Hawks, and Owls. RAPTORES.
(4 families, 56 species, 33 subspecies.)
Generally large birds with hooked bill; strong, heavy feet, and long,
curved nails; wings large; tail rather long, usually square.
[Illustration: TURKEY VULTURE.]
Family 35. AMERICAN VULTURES. CathartidA|.
Bill not strongly hooked; toe-nails comparatively weak; nostrils
large, piercing the bill; head and more or less of neck, bare.
[Illustration: RED-TAILED HAWK.]
[Illustration: FOOT OF RED-TAILED HAWK.]
Family 36. FALCONS, HAWKS, EAGLES, ETC.
FalconidA|.
Nostrils opening in a cere at the base of the bill; hook of bill and
claws well developed; plumage firm and close; tarsus usually largely
bare.
[Illustration: BARN OWL.]
Family 37. BARN OWLS. StrigidA|.
Eyes black, set in a somewhat triangular facial disc; bill more or
less concealed by feathers; nostril opening at the edge of a fleshy
cere; inner edge of middle toe-nail serrate; no 'ears'; tarsus
feathered.
[Illustration: SCREECH OWL.]
Family 38. HORNED OWLS, ETC. BubonidA|.
Eyes yellow or black, set in a circular facial disc; bill more or less
concealed by feathers; nostrils opening at the edge of a fleshy cere;
tarsus feathered.
Order XIII. Paroquets and Parrots. PSITTACI.
(1 family, 2 species.)
Usually bright green birds with, a heavy hooked bill, broad
scoop-shaped lower mandible; long, pointed wings; tail, in Parrots,
generally square; in Paroquets, pointed; feet heavy, two toes in front
and two behind.
[Illustration: CAROLINA PAROQUET.]
Family 39. PARROTS AND PAROQUETS. PsittacidA|.
Characters the same as those of Order.
Order XIV. Cuckoos, Trogons, Kingfishers, Etc. COCCYGES.
(3 families, 8 species, 2 subspecies.)
A composite Order of several groups of birds bearing no close relation
to each other. Cuckoos have slightly curved bills, long tails, and two
toes in front and two behind. Trogons have short, rather broad, stout
bills, and soft, loose plumage, often green above, red below;
moderately long tails; small feet with two toes in front, two behind.
Kingfishers have long, rather stout, pointed bills; wings, long; tail,
medium; three toes in front and one behind; middle and outer toes
joined for half their length.
[Illustration: YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO.]
Family 40. CUCKOOS, ANIS. ETC. CuculidA|.
Toes two in front, two behind; bill, usually, more or less decurved;
tail, long and rounded, the outer feathers being, generally, much
shorter than the middle pair.
[Illustration: COPPERY-TAILED TROGON.]
Family 41. TROGONS. TrogonidA|.
Toes two in front, two behind; bill, short; upper mandible decurved
and dentate; tail square; plumage, soft, loose, and generally shining
green above.
[Illustration: BELTED KINGFISHER.]
Family 42. KINGFISHERS. AlcedinidA|.
Legs short; feet small; toes, three in front, one behind; third and
fourth toes joined; bill, stout and long.
Order XV. Woodpeckers. PICI.
(1 family, 24 species, 22 subspecies.)
Climbing birds with stout, pointed bills, bristly nostrils, pointed,
stiffened tail feathers, strong feet and nails; two toes in front and
two behind, except in _Picoides_, which has two in front and one
behind. Prevailing colors, black and white, the males usually with red
on the crown.
[Illustration: FOOT OF THREE-TOED WOODPECKER.]
[Illustration: PILEATED WOODPECKER.]
Family 43. WOODPECKERS. PicidA|.
Characters the same as those of the Order.
Order XVI. Goatsuckers, Swifts, and Hummingbirds. MACROCHIRES.
(3 families, 27 species, 6 subspecies.)
Bill, in the Goatsuckers and Swifts, small; mouth large; in the
Hummingbirds, bill long, slender, needle-like; wings and tail
variable; feet, in all three groups, small and weak. Color, in
Goatsuckers, mixed brown, buff and black; in Swifts, black and white;
in Hummingbirds, usually shining green above with resplendent
throat-patches of varied hues.
[Illustration: WHIP-POOR-WILL.]
Family 44. GOATSUCKERS, ETC. CaprimulgidA|.
Feet usually small and weak; toes, three in front, one behind; middle
toe-nail pectinate or combed; bill small; mouth very large and usually
beset by long bristles.
[Illustration: CHIMNEY SWIFT.]
Family 45. SWIFTS. MicropodidA|.
Bill small, triangular when seen from above; mouth large, no bristles;
tail variable, in _ChA|tura_ with projecting spines; wings long and
narrow; feet small and toes short; plumage usually dark.
[Illustration: RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD.]
Family 46. HUMMINGBIRDS. TrochilidA|.
Bill long and slender; feet slender; wings large and pointed; tail
exceedingly variable, often assuming the most striking shapes.
Order XVII. Flycatchers, Jays, Blackbirds, Finches, Swallows,
Warblers, Thrushes, and Other Perching Birds. PASSERES.
(18 families, about 325 species and 226 subspecies.)
Bill, wings, and tail variable; feet with four toes not connected, the
hind-toe as long as the middle one; its nail generally longer than
that of the middle toe. This Order contains more species than the
remaining sixteen Orders put together. In it will be found over 80 per
cent. of the birds commonly seen by field students. It is difficult of
definition, but almost any small perching bird may, with more or less
certainty, be referred to the _Passeres_.
[Illustration: FOOT OF ROBIN.--(a typical Passerine foot.)]
[Illustration: PHOEBE.]
Family 48. FLYCATCHERS. TyrannidA|.
Bill broad, flat, hooked at tip, its base with bristles; wings rather
pointed, the second to fourth primaries longest; tarsus rounded behind
as well as in front; feathers of crown generally somewhat lengthened,
forming when erected, a small crest; pose, when perching, erect; food
of insects usually captured on the wing; voice generally unmusical.
[Illustration: HORNED LARK.]
Family 49. LARKS. AlaudidA|.
Hind toe-nail much lengthened; bill rounded, straight; tarsus rounded
behind as well as in front; our species with a tuft of feathers on
either side of the head; outer primary short or rudimentary; walking
birds, singing while on the wing.
[Illustration: BLUE JAY.]
Family 50. CROWS AND JAYS. CorvidA|.
Large perching birds, usually twelve inches or more in length; bill
stout; nostrils covered by projecting bristles; feet heavy; outer
tail-feathers usually shortest; fourth to fifth primary longest, first
about half as long.
[Illustration: PURPLE GRACKLE.]
[Illustration: BALTIMORE ORIOLE.]
Family 52. BLACKBIRDS, ORIOLES, ETC. IcteridA|.
Base of bill, between nostrils, extending back and dividing feathers
on forehead; nostrils not concealed by bristles; first three primaries
of equal length.
[Illustration: REDPOLL.]
[Illustration: SONG SPARROW.]
[Illustration: EVENING GROSBEAK.]
[Illustration: CARDINAL.]
Family 53. FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. FringillidA|.
Bill short, stout, conical; third or fourth primaries longest; first
about half an inch shorter; the majority are small birds and but few
are over eight inches in length.
[Illustration: SUMMER TANAGER.]
Family 54. TANAGERS. TanagridA|.
Bill somewhat finch-like but more swollen in outline; the upper
mandible, in typical forms, toothed or dentate.
[Illustration: TREE SWALLOW.]
Family 55. SWALLOWS. HirundinidA|.
Bill short, broad and flat; feet small and weak; wings long and
narrow; tail notched and sometimes forked; birds of the air, feeding
while on the wing.
[Illustration: CEDAR WAXWING.]
Family 56. WAXWINGS. AmpelidA|.
Bill short, stout, and rounded, its tip notched; wings rather long;
head crested.
[Illustration: NORTHERN SHRIKE.]
Family 57. SHRIKES. LaniidA|.
Bill stout, its mandible hooked and hawk-like; feet truly Passerine;
pose, in perching, erect; solitary grayish birds.
[Illustration: RED-EYED VIREO.]
Family 58. VIREOS. VireonidA|.
Bill small, but distinctly hooked; outer primary usually very small
and sometimes apparently wanting; olive-green gleaners among the
leaves.
[Illustration: NASHVILLE WARBLER.]
[Illustration: YELLOW WARBLER.]
[Illustration: AMERICAN REDSTART.]
[Illustration: CHAT.]
Family 60. WARBLERS. MniotiltidA|.
Bill, in most of the species, slender, sharply pointed, and without a
notch or hook at the tip; in the genera _Wilsonia_ and _Setophaga_,
flat and flycatcher-like; in _Icteria_ stout; back of tarsus
compressed into a thin ridge; three outer primaries of nearly equal
length.
[Illustration: AMERICAN PIPIT.]
Family 61. WAGTAILS. MotacillidA|.
Hind toe-nail much lengthened; bill slender, nostril not covered with
bristles, as in true Larks; back of tarsus thin, not rounded;
terrestrial, walking with a wagging motion of the tail.
[Illustration: AMERICAN DIPPER.]
Family 62. DIPPERS. CinclidA|.
Thick-set birds with short wings and tail; plumage thick and
water-proof; tarsus scaled; semi-aquatic in habit, haunting mountain
streams.
[Illustration: BROWN THRASHER.]
[Illustration: HOUSE WREN.]
Family 63. WRENS, THRASHERS, ETC. TroglodytidA|.
Tarsus scaled; tail rounded, the outer feathers being shortest; third
to fourth primary longest, the outer half as long; bill in Thrashers
often decurved, its base with bristles; In Wrens, bill without
bristles; brown or grayish inhabitants of lower growth.
[Illustration: BROWN CREEPER.]
Family 64. CREEPERS. CerthiidA|.
Bill slender and much decurved; tail usually pointed and stiffened.
[Illustration: CHICKADEE.]
[Illustration: RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH.]
Family 65. NUTHATCHES AND TITS. ParidA|.
Fourth or fifth primary longest; first an inch or less in length.
Chickadees (subfamily _ParinA|_) have a short, stout bill, the nostrils
covered with bristles; the tail is rather long and rounded. Nuthatches
(subfamily _SittinA|_) have a long, slender bill, short, square tail,
and large feet.
[Illustration: GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET.]
Family 66. KINGLETS, GNATCATCHERS, ETC. SylviidA|.
Bill slender and Warbler-like, but first primary only one-third as
long as the fourth.
[Illustration: WOOD THRUSH.]
Family 67. THRUSHES, BLUEBIRDS, ETC. TurdidA|.
Tarsus 'booted', without scales, (see foot of Robin under Synopsis of
Order _Passeres_); tail square; mandible notched and slightly hooked;
outer primary an inch or less in length; second to fourth of about
equal length.
COLOR KEY TO
NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS
Order I. DIVING BIRDS.
PYGOPODES.
Family 1. GREBES. PodicipidA|. 6 species.
Family 2. LOONS. GaviidA|. 5 species.
Family 3. AUKS, MURRES, and PUFFINS. AlcidA|. 21 species, 3
subspecies.
Grebes are at home in reed-grown ponds or sloughs where their nests
are made on rafts or islets of water-soaked vegetation. Their eggs
number from four to eight, are dull white in color, and are usually
covered by the bird with a portion of the nesting material when it
leaves its home. Grebes occasionally rest on the shore, but are rarely
found far from the water. When on land they may lie flat on their
breasts or sit erect on their tails and entire foot, or tarsus. Their
progress on land, as a rule, is awkward and they may use their wings
as fore feet to assist them. In diving, Grebes sometimes spring partly
from the water and then plunge downward head first, or they may
quietly sink with scarce a ripple to mark the place of their
disappearance.
Loons generally pass the summer on some large lake, and in the winter
many of them live at sea. They nest, as a rule, on the shore, but so
near the water that the parent bird may slide off its two dark brown,
mottled eggs into its favorite element. Like the Grebes, Loons are
expert divers, and birds of both families so often seek safety under
the water rather than in the air that it is frequently difficult to
make them fly. The young of both Grebes and Loons are born covered
with feathers and take to the water shortly after birth, often using
the back of the parent bird as an ever present island on which they
may rest at will.
The Auks, Murres, and Puffins are sea birds which nest usually in
large colonies on isolated islets or rocky, inaccessible shores of the
northern part of the northern hemisphere. They lay one or two eggs,
sometimes in an exposed position among the rocks with no attempt at
nest-building, sometimes at the end of a burrow excavated by the
birds. In the latter case, the young are reared in the nest; in the
former, they sometimes enter the water at an early age.
The one egg laid by Murres is remarkable both in color and in shape.
In color it varies from bluish green to buff, and is usually heavily
scrawled with black. In outline it is pyriform or pear-shaped. When
moved it does not roll away as would a hen's egg but revolves about
its own tip. In this manner it retains its place on the narrow ledges
often chosen by Murres for nesting-sites.
Grebes and Loons
[Illustration: 2]
=2. HolbA"ll Grebe= (_Colymbus holbA"lli_). L. 19. _Ads._ Crown and
hindneck glossy black; back blackish; throat, cheeks, and underparts
white; foreneck and sides rufous. _Winter._ Above blackish brown;
throat and underparts white; foreneck pale rufous. _Yng._ Similar but
no rufous. _Notes._ "An explosive _kup_" and "An exceedingly loud
harsh voice not unlike that of an angry Crow, but of much greater
volume. The calls were also given more slowly and indeed with singular
deliberation, _car_, _car_, three or four times, sometimes lengthened
to _caar_, and again, broken and quavering like _ca-a-a-r_ or
_ca-a-a-a-r_." (Brewster.)
Range.--North America, eastern Siberia, and Japan; breeds locally in
the interior from about Lat. 50A deg. northward; winters from Maine and
British Columbia southward to South Carolina, Nebraska and Southern
California, chiefly on the coasts.
[Illustration: 3]
=3. Horned Grebe= (_Colymbus auritus_). L. 13.5. _Ads., summer._
Crown, hindneck, and throat glossy black; plumes behind eye deep buff;
back and wings blackish; foreneck, breast, sides, and lores chestnut;
abdomen white. _Winter._ Above grayish black; below white.
Range.--Northern Hemisphere; breeds largely in the interior from
eastern Quebec, northern Illinois, St. Clair Flats, North Dakota, and
British Columbia northward; winters from Maine and British Columbia
south to Gulf States and southern California.
[Illustration: 4]
=4. American Eared Grebe= (_Colymbus nigricollis californicus_). L.
13. _Ads._ Above, neck all around, and _upper breast_ brownish black;
cheek tufts yellowish brown; flanks chestnut; belly white. _Winter._
Grayish brown above; white below.
Range.--Western North America east to Kansas; breeds locally from
Texas and middle California north to Manitoba and British Columbia;
winters from British Columbia, on the Pacific coast, and Texas
southward.
[Illustration: 5]
=5. Least Grebe= (_Colymbus dominicus brachypterus_). L. 10. _Ads._
Throat black; _cheeks slaty_, above blackish; below grayish. _Winter._
Similar but no black or slate on throat or cheeks. Smallest of our
Grebes.
Range.--Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas and southern Lower California
south to northern South America.
[Illustration: 6]
=6. Pied-billed Grebe= (_Podilymbus podiceps_). L. 13.5. _Ads.,
summer._ Above brownish black; throat and band on bill black;
foreneck, breast, and sides brownish; belly white. _Winter._ The same,
but throat white, breast more rusty, bill without black band. _Notes._
A loud, sonorous, "_cow-cow-cow-cow-cow-cow-cow-cow-cow-uh_, _cow-uh_,
_cow-uh_, _cow-uh_."
Range.--Argentine Republic; north through Mexico and West Indies to
Lat. of Hudson Bay; breeds locally throughout its range, but chiefly
northward; winters from New Jersey, Illinois, and southern California
southward.
[Illustration: No label. Assumed 1.]
=1. Western Grebe; Swan Grebe= (_A†chmophorus occidentalis_). L. 26.
_Ads., summer._ Crown and hindneck black; back grayish brown; sides of
head and under parts white. _Winter._ Crown and hindneck like back.
_Notes._ A loud, rattling, grating whistle.
Range.--Western North America; In summer eastward to Shoal Lake,
Manitoba; northward to southern Alaska; breeds locally from northern
California and North Dakota northward; winters from British Columbia
to central Mexico.
[Illustration: 7.]
=7. Loon= (_Gavia imber_). L. 32. _Ads., summer._ Above, including
whole neck, glossy black; throat and neck with white streaks; back and
wings with white spots or bars; belly white. _Winter._ Above blackish
_margined with grayish_; no white spots; below white. _Notes._ A loud,
maniacal laugh.
Range.--Northern hemisphere; in North America, breeds from Maine,
northern Illinois, Minnesota, and northern California north to
Greenland and Alaska; winters from about southern limit of breeding
range south to Gulf of Mexico, chiefly on coasts.
=8. Yellow-billed Loon= (_Gavia adamsii_). L. 36. Similar to No. 7,
but larger and bill yellowish or whitish. _Notes._ Similar to those of
No. 7, but harsher. (Murdoch.)
Range.--"Arctic America west of Hudson Bay, and northern Asia; casual
in northern Europe." (A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 9.]
=9. Black-throated Loon= (_Gavia arctica_). L. 27; W. 12. _Ads.,
summer._ Foreneck and back bluish black; throat, neck, and back
streaked or barred with white; crown and nape _gray_; belly white.
_Winter._ Similar to No. 7, but smaller. _Notes._ A dismal
"_too-too-e-e._" (Turner.)
Range--Northern part of northern hemisphere; in America breeds from
Hudson Bay north to Arctic coast; winters south to British Columbia,
the Great Lakes and, casually, to Long Island.
=10. Pacific Loon= (_Gavia pacifica_). Similar to No. 9, but foreneck
in summer reflecting deep blue or green; hindneck paler; smaller, W.
11. _Notes._ A harsh "_kok, kok, kok._" (Murdoch.)
Range.--Western North America; breeds at Point Barrow, Alaska, and
eastward; winters south along Pacific Coast to Mexico.
[Illustration: 11.]
=11. Red-throated Loon= (_Gavia lumme_). L. 25. _Ads., summer._
Foreneck chestnut, head and neck ashy. _Winter._ Similar to No. 7, in
winter, but back spotted with white. _Notes._ A harsh "_gr-r ga, gr-r,
gr-r-ga, gr-r._" (Nelson.)
Range.--Northern part of northern hemisphere; in North America
breeds from New Brunswick to Greenland and Hudson Bay, and
northwest to Alaska; winters south to South Carolina and southern
California.
Auks, Murres and Puffins
[Illustration: 12.]
=12. Tufted Puffin= (_Lunda cirrhata_). L. 15. _Ads., summer._ Cheeks
white; a pair of long straw color plumes from behind eyes; rest of
plumage sooty. _Winter._ Cheeks sooty, plumes usually absent. _Yng._
Similar to winter adult, but breast and belly whitish.
Range.--Northern Pacific; resident locally from Santa Barbara Islands
north to Alaska. Accidental in Maine.
[Illustration: 13.]
=13. Puffin= (_Fratercula arctica_). L. 13; W. 6; B. 1.8. _Ads._
Above, and foreneck blackish; cheeks and under parts white; bill in
summer touched with bright red. _Notes._ A hoarse croak.
Range.--North Atlantic; breeds from Bay of Fundy north to Greenland;
winters south to Long Island.
=13a. Large-billed Puffin= (_F. a. glacialis_). W. 7; B. 2.1. Similar
to No. 13, but larger.
Range.--Arctic Ocean from Spitzenbergen to northern Greenland.
[Illustration: 14.]
=14. Horned Puffin= (_Fratercula corniculata_). Similar to No. 13, but
in summer with the throat blackish. _Notes._ "A hoarse snuffling,
rattling note" (Nelson.)
Range.--"Northern Pacific from Kuril Islands to British Columbia."
(A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 15.]
=15. Rhinoceros Auklet= (_Cerorhinca monocerata_). L. 15.5. _Ads.,
summer._ A horn on base of bill; _two_ pairs of white tufts; above
blackish; throat and breast grayish; belly white. _Winter._ Similar,
but no horn. _Yng._ Similar to winter ad. but no tufts.
Range.--"North Pacific: breeding south (formerly) to the Farallones;
in winter south to Lower California and Japan." (A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 16.]
=16. Cassin Auklet.= (_Ptycoramphus aleuticus_). L. 9. _Ads._ A white
spot above eye; above blackish; throat and breast grayish; belly
white. Notes. A shrill, squealing "_Come bear-r-r, come bear-r-r._"
Range.--"Pacific Coast of North America from Aleutian Islands to Lower
California; breeding south to San Geronimo Island (Lat. 30A deg.)." (A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 23.]
=23. Marbled Murrelet= (_Brachyramphus marmoratus_). L. 9.7. _Ads.,
summer._ No crest; above dark brown, finely mixed with rusty; below
white, all feathers edged with brown. _Winter._ Wholly different;
above gray; head dark; below white; a nearly complete white nuchal
collar. _Yng._ Similar to winter ad. but blacker above; sprinkled with
blackish below.
Range.--North Pacific; breeds from Vancouver north to Aleutian
Islands; winters south to southern California.
=24. Kittlitz Murrelet= (_Brachyramphus brevirostris_). L. 9.5; B.,
from feathers on top, .4. _Ads., summer._ Above gray, mottled with
buff; breast and sides mottled with buff and black; belly white.
_Winter._ Sides of head, to _above_ eye, and lower parts white; above
gray; outer tail-feathers white.
Range.--Northern Japan, Kamchatka and Aleutian Islands, east to
Unalaska. (A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 25.]
=25. Xantus Murrelet= (_Brachyramphus hypoleucus_). L. 10. Bill
slender. _Ads._ Above slaty black; under surface of wing _white_;
inner webs of outer primaries _white_.
Range.--Pacific Coast from Monterey south to Cape St. Lucas; breeding
as far north as Santa Barbara Island.
=26. Craveri Murrelet= (_Brachyramphus craveri_). L. 10. Bill slender.
_Ads._ Above slaty or brownish black; sides slaty; under surface of
wings _dusky_, sometimes mixed with white.
Range,--Coasts of Lower California, from Cape St. Lucas north to
Espiritu Santo Island in the Gulf of California, and to Natividad
Island (lat. 28A deg.) on the Pacific side. (A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 34.]
=34. Dovekie= (_Alle alle_). L. 8. _Ads., summer._ Above blackish;
inner wing feathers tipped with white; throat and breast blackish
brown. _Winter._ Similar, but throat and breast white or mixed
grayish.
Range--North Atlantic and East Arctic; in America breeds from Lat. 68A deg.
northward; winters south to Long Island, rarely to Virginia.
Accidental in Michigan.
[Illustration: 17.]
=17. Paroquet Auklet= (_Cyclorrhynchus psittaculus_). L. 10. _Ads.,
summer._ _No_ crest; a white plume from behind eye; above blackish;
throat grayer, rest of under parts white. _Winter._ Throat white.
_Notes._ "A low, sonorous, vibrating whistle." (Nelson.)
Range.--"North Pacific, from Sitka and the Kuril Islands northward."
(A.O.U.) Five records for coast off San Francisco in winter.
[Illustration: 18.]
=18. Crested Auklet= (_Simorhynchus cristatellus_). L. 10. _Ads.,
summer._ Bill red; a crest of slender recurved feathers; a pair of
white tufts from behind eye; above sooty black; below grayer. _Yng._
Similar but bill brown; no crest or tufts. _Notes._ "A chirping note,"
(Nelson.)
Range.--"North Pacific from Kadiak and Japan northward." (A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 19.]
=19. Whiskered Auklet= (_Simorhynchus pygmA|us_). L. 7.5. _Ads.,
summer._ White feathers at base of sides of bill and, much lengthened,
from above and below eye; a crest of slender recurved feathers; above,
and throat dark slate fading into white belly. _Yng._ Similar but no
crest; little or no white on head. _Notes._ "A low chattering note."
(Nelson.)
Range--"North Pacific, from Unalaska through the Aleutian chain to
Kamchatka." (A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 20.]
=20. Least Auklet= (_Simorhynchus pusillus_). L. 6.5. _Ads., summer._
No crest; sides of head with white feathers; above blackish; chin
sooty; throat white; under parts white, marked irregularly with sooty.
_Winter._ Little or no sooty on breast. _Yng._ Similar to winter ad.,
but no white plumes.
Range.--"North Pacific, from Sitka and Japan north to Bering Strait."
(A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 21.]
=21. Ancient Murrelet= (_Synthliboramphus antiquus_). L. 10.5. _Ads.,
summer._ No crest; head and _throat_ black; broad white stripes behind
eye; back gray; breast and belly white. _Winter._ Similar but throat
white; no white head stripes. _Notes._ "A low plaintive whistle."
(Nelson.)
Range.--North Pacific, from southern Vancouver Island and Japan
northward; south in winter to Monterey, California; accidental in
Wisconsin.
[Illustration: 27.]
=27. Black Guillemot= (_Cepphus grylle_). L. 13. _Ads., summer._
Black; greater wing-coverts white, black at base; under surface of
wings _white_. _Winter._ Above gray or black tipped with white; below
white.
Range.--Coasts of northern Europe and North Atlantic; in America
breeds from Knox Co., Maine north to southern Greenland; winters south
to Quebec and Massachusetts; rarely to Toronto, Connecticut, and Long
Island.
=28. Mandt Guillemot= (_Cepphus mandtii_). Similar to No. 27, but
bases of greater wing-coverts _white_.
Range.--Arctic regions; breeds from Labrador and Hudson Bay north to
northern Greenland and northern Alaska; in winter migrates but little
southward; no satisfactory United States record.
=29. Pigeon Guillemot= (_Cepphus columba_). Similar to No. 27, but
inner surface of wings _sooty gray_. _Notes._ A squealing, vibrant
whistle.
Range.--North Pacific; breeds from Santa Catalina Island north to
Bering Strait, west through Aleutian Islands to Kamchatka and northern
Japan; winters in same region.
[Illustration: 30.]
=30. Murre= (_Uria troile_). L. 16; B. 1.7. _Ads., summer._ Above and
neck sooty brown; under parts and tips of secondaries white; sides
with blackish streaks. _Winter._ Similar, but throat white washed with
sooty. _Notes._ A hoarse _murre_ and squawking _a-r-r-r-r-r-rh_.
Range.--North Atlantic; breeds in North America from Bird Rock,
Magdalen Islands, north to southern Greenland; winters south to Maine
and, rarely, Ontario.
=30a. California Murre= (_U. t. californica_). Similar to No. 30 but
larger, W. 8.2; B. 1.9.
Range.--North Pacific; breeds from Pribilof Islands south to
Farallones; winters south to southern California.
[Illustration: 31.]
=31. Brunnich Murre= (_Uria lomvia_). Similar to No. 30, but bill
shorter, 1.2. In summer, head and throat browner, lower mandible
swollen at sides and grayish at base.
Range.--North Atlantic and eastern Arctic; breeds in North America
from Bird Rock, Magdalen Islands, north to Greenland; winters south to
New Jersey and along St. Lawrence to Lakes Champlain and Ontario,
rarely to Lake Michigan.
=31a. Pallas Murre= (_U. l. arra_). Similar to No. 31, but larger; W.
8.6; B. 1.5. _Notes._ "A peculiar growling or hoarse chattering note."
(Nelson.)
Range.--North Pacific; south to Kadiak and Kamchatka.
[Illustration: 32.]
=32. Razor-billed Auk= (_Alca torda_). L. 16.5. _Ads., summer._ Above
sooty black, foreneck browner; tips of secondaries, line from bill to
eye, and under parts, white. _Winter._ Similar, but foreneck white.
_Yng._ Similar to winter ad. but without eye line. _Notes._ A hoarse
grunt or groan.
Range.--North Atlantic; breeds from Bird Rock, Magdalen Islands, north
to Greenland; winters south to Long Island and, rarely, to Ontario and
North Carolina.
=33. Great Auk= (_Plautus impennis_). L. 29; W. 5.7. _Ads._ Above
blackish; a large white spot before the eye; secondaries tipped with
white; sides of neck and the throat seal brown; belly, white.
Resembling No. 32 in general appearance but body much larger; wing,
however, _shorter_.
Range.--Formerly, the coasts and islands of North Atlantic, south on
American side to Florida (in winter?); now extinct.
Order II. LONG-WINGED SWIMMERS.
LONGIPENNES.
Family 1. SKUAS and JAEGERS. StercorariidA|. 4 species.
Family 2. GULLS and TERNS. LaridA|. 37 species, 1 subspecies.
Family 3. SKIMMERS. RynchopidA|. 1 species.
Skuas and Jaegers are pirates among the birds of the high seas. Bold
and dashing, they pursue the swift flying Terns or much larger Gulls
with equal success, forcing them to drop the fish they have captured
and catching it ere it reaches the water.
Gulls (Subfamily _LarinA|_) are usually considered so characteristic of
the sea that 'Sea Gull' is the name popularly applied to all members
of the subfamily to which they belong. Several species, however, are
equally at home, both in the winter and when nesting, on the larger
bodies of water in the interior, and one species is rarely or never
found on our sea coasts.
Gulls nest on the ground, on drifts of marsh-grass, on cliffs, and one
species, at least, among American Gulls (the Herring Gull) has as a
result of persecution, acquired the habit of nesting in trees.
Gulls feed from the surface of the water, picking up their food with
their strongly curved bills in passing or while hovering, not by
plunging into the water, as do the Terns. They are, in fact, the
scavengers of the water, and perform a service of great value to
mankind by devouring the bodies of various forms of aquatic animals
which, in dying, come to the surface and, if cast ashore, might, in
decaying, prove a source of disease.
For this reason it was especially unfortunate that the plumage of
these birds became fashionable for millinery purposes, with the result
that thousands of them were destroyed for their wings and breasts. In
this country, however, through the efforts of the American
Ornithologists' Union and the Audubon Societies, laws have been passed
prohibiting the killing of these beautiful and useful birds, and
wardens have been placed on their nesting grounds to protect them.
Gulls often rest in great flocks on the water, sitting high up and
riding the waves buoyantly, but the Terns (Subfamily _SterninA|_),
after they have acquired the power of flight, are rarely seen on the
water. They are lighter, more active birds than the Gulls, with longer
wings and tails, and sharper, more pointed bills. They feed largely on
small fish (the species called silversides being a favorite) of no
value to man, which they secure by darting from the air with great
speed and directness. When looking for food, Terns usually fly with
the bill downward, a habit which will aid in distinguishing them from
the Gulls, whose bill is carried in a line with the body.
Terns usually nest in large colonies on the beach of some isolated
islet either on our sea coasts or in the interior. The nest is
generally composed of a few wisps of sea-weed or grass, or the two or
three eggs are not infrequently laid in a slight hollow in the sand or
among the shells and pebbles.
Like the Gulls, Terns have been slaughtered in enormous numbers for
millinery purposes; but in this country, at least, effective efforts
are now being made to preserve them.
Skimmers nest in numbers on our Atlantic Coast from Virginia
southward, laying their four eggs in a slight depression in the sand.
In feeding, their mouth is held open and the longer, thin, lower
mandible is dropped beneath the surface of the water, when, flying
rapidly, they readily pick up food.
In young Skimmers, however, the two mandibles are of equal length and
the lower mandible does not become appreciably longer than the upper
one until the birds begin to fly. During the flightless period of the
bird's life, the bill may be used to pick up food along the shore, but
when the power of flight is acquired and with it ability to feed in
the characteristic Skimmer manner, then the peculiar bill of these
birds becomes fully developed.
The young of all the Gulls and Terns are born covered with down and
can leave the nest a few hours after birth. The Noddy, however, is
said to be several weeks in its stick nest, which, unlike other
members of its group, it often builds in bushes.
The young are colored to harmonize with their usual surroundings.
Young Skimmers are pale, sandy brown, of the same color as the sand in
which they are hatched. Young Terns are darker, and young Laughing
Gulls born in nests of reeds or meadow grasses, are the darkest of the
three.
All young Gulls and Terns have the habit of squatting low near the
ground in the presence of danger and remaining motionless until
actually touched when they seem to realize that they have been seen
and trust to their legs for safety.
Skua and Jaegers
[Illustration: 35.]
=35. Skua= (_Megalestris skua_). L. 22. _Ads._ Above dark, dirty
brown; below paler. _Yng._ Similar, but more distinctly streaked with
yellowish, especially on head and neck.
Range.--North Atlantic, chiefly eastern; breeds from Shetland Islands
northward; winters south to Gibraltar, and rarely Long Island. One
specimen from California coast.
[Illustration: 36.]
=36. Pomarine Jaeger= (_Stercorarius pomarinus_). L. 20; B. 1.5.
Middle tail feathers rounded. _Ads. light phase._ Cap black; throat,
breast, and neck, all around, white tinged with straw; back, lower
belly, upper and under tail coverts brownish slate. _Ads. dark phase._
Dark brown, paler below. _Yng._ Above blackish brown margined with
rusty; below white margined with dusky and buffy. _Notes._ "A low,
hoarse, chattering cry." (Nelson.)
Range.--Northern hemisphere; breeds north of Lat. 70A deg.; winters, mainly
at sea, south to South America, southern Africa and Australia.
[Illustration: 37.]
=37. Parasitic Jaeger= (_Stercorarius parasiticus_). L. 17; B. 1.1;
its scaly shield _longer_ than distance from end of shield to tip of
bill. _Ads._ Both phases similar in color to No. 36, but central tail
feathers _pointed_, 8.6 long. _Yng._ Similar in color to No. 36 but
smaller, bill shorter, middle tail feathers more pointed. _Notes._
"Loud wailing cries, interspersed with harsh shrieks." (Nelson.)
Range.--Northern hemisphere; breeds in Arctic regions; winters mainly
at sea, from California, Great Lakes, and Massachusetts south to South
America.
[Illustration: 38.]
=38. Long-tailed Jaeger= (_Stercorarius longicaudus_). L. 21; B. 1,
its scaly shield _shorter_ than the distance from its end to the tip
of bill. _Ads._ In both phases resembling No. 36 but central tail
feathers pointed and 12 in. long. _Yng._ Like No. 36 and No. 37, but
to be distinguished by differences in bill measurements. _Notes._
"A hoarse _qua_, a shrill _phAe•A"-phAe•A"-phAe•A"-pheo_, when flying; or a
rattling _kr-r-r-r-_, _kr-r-r-r_, _kr-r-r_, _krAe"-krAe"-_, _krAe"-krAe"_,
the latter syllables shrill and querulous." (Nelson.)
Range.--Northern hemisphere; breeds in Arctic regions; winters mainly
at sea, south to Gibraltar and Gulf of Mexico; one California record.
[Illustration: Bills of 38 and 37 Nat. Size]
Gulls
[Illustration: 39.]
=39. Ivory Gull= (_Pagophila alba_). L. 17. _Ads._ Pure white; bill
yellow; feet black. _Yng._ Similar, but wings and tail tipped with
blackish; throat dusky.
Range.--Breeds in Arctic regions; winters south to Great Lakes and
British Columbia; rarely to Massachusetts.
[Illustration: 40.]
=40. Kittiwake= (_Rissa tridactyla_). L. 16. Hind toe a knob. _Ads._
Head, neck all around, underparts, and tail white; 3 in. or less, of
tips of primaries black. _Yng._ Tip of tail, ear-coverts, nape, and
wing-coverts with black; bill black; inner web of primaries with
white. _Notes._ A rapidly uttered _'kit-a-wake_, _'kit-a-wake_.
Range.--North Atlantic and eastern Arctic regions; breeds in America,
from Gulf of St. Lawrence to Greenland; winters south to Great Lakes,
Long Island and, rarely, Virginia.
=40a. Pacific Kittiwake= (_Rissa tridactyla pollicaris_). Similar to
No. 40, but hind toe more developed; black tips to 3 outer primaries,
3 in. or more in length. _Notes._ "A shrill, harsh cry when disturbed
and a low whistle when communicating with each other." (Nelson.)
Range.--"North Pacific and Bering Sea; south in winter, casually to
southern California." (A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 41.]
=41. Red-legged Kittiwake= (Rissa brevirostris). _Ads._ Similar to Ad.
of No. 40, but legs red, back and inner web of primaries darker; bill
shorter, 1.2. _Yng._ Similar to No. 40, but no black on tail or wings.
Range.--"Coasts and Islands of Bering Sea." (A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 54.]
=54. Ring-billed Gull= (_Larus delawarensis_). L. 18. _Ads., summer._
Rill greenish yellow, a black band across tip; ends of primaries
black, a white spot near tip of outer one. _Ads. Winter._ Similar, but
head and neck streaked with grayish. _Yng._ Tail grayish with a broad
black band; primaries black; back brownish gray and whitish; belly
white; end half of bill black.
Range.--North America, coast and interior; breeds from Newfoundland,
southern Minnesota, and British Columbia northward; winters from Nova
Scotia and British Columbia south to Cuba and Lower California.
[Illustration: 55.]
=55. Short-billed Gull= (_Larus brachyrhynchus_). L. 17; B. 1.50
_Ads., summer._ Head, neck, tail, and underparts white. Two outer
primaries tipped with black, their white spaces followed by black;
remaining primaries tipped with white. _Yng._ Grayish brown; basal
half of tail pearl. _Notes._ "A sharp querulous _kwew-kwew_,"
(Nelson.)
Range.--North Pacific; breeds in Alaska and interior of northern
British Columbia; winters on coast from British Columbia to southern
California.
[Illustration: 42.]
=42. Glaucous Gull= (_Larus glaucus_). L. 28; W. 17.1; B. 2.35. No
black in plumage. _Ads._ Primaries white tinted with pearl; bill with
red spot at end of lower mandible. _Yng._ Dirty white or gray, mottled
with dusky and buffy, chiefly above; primaries white; outer webs
brownish.
Range.--Northern hemisphere; breeds in America, from Labrador
northward; winters south to middle California, Great Lakes and Long
Island.
=42.1. Point Barrow Gull= (_Larus barrovianus_). Similar to No. 42,
but bill through angle not so deep, (.8 as compared with .9 in
_glaucus_); primaries more distinctly tipped with white. _Notes._
"_kA"-kA"-kA"_, _kA"-kA"-kA"_, _kA"-lAe"Ae"-A¨A¨_, _kA"-lAe"Ae"-A¨A¨_, _kA"-lAe"Ae"-A¨A¨_,
_kA"-kA"-kA"_, _kA"-kA"-kA"_, the _kA"-kA"_ hoarse, the rest a shrill
screaming." (Nelson.)
Range.--"Bering Sea and contiguous waters; northeast to Point Barrow,
southwest to Japan." (A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 43.]
=43. Iceland Gull= (_Larus leucopterus_). L. 25; W. 16; B. 1.75.
Similar in color to Nos. 42 and 42.1, but smaller.
Range.--Atlantic; breeds in Greenland; winters south in America to
Great Lakes, and rarely, Long Island.
[Illustration: 44.]
=44. Glaucous-winged Gull= (_Larus glaucescens_). L. 27. _Ads.,
summer._ Head, tail, and underparts white; back pearl; primaries
_pearl_, tipped with _white_. _Ads., winter._ Head and neck streaked
with brownish. _Yng._ Brownish gray, more or less mixed with white,
including wings and tail.
Range.--North Pacific; breeds from British Columbia to Bering
Straits; winters south to southern California.
[Illustration: 45.]
=45. Kumlien Gull= (_Larus kumlieni_). W. 16.2; B. 1.75. Similar to
No. 43, but primaries with well defined ashy gray spaces; outer
primary tipped with white, with ashy gray on outer web and shaft part
of inner web; second primary ashy gray on only shaft part of outer
web.
Range.--"North Atlantic coast of North America, breeding in Cumberland
Gulf; south in winter to the coast of the Middle States." (A.O.U.)
=46. Nelson Gull= (_Larus nelsoni_). "Wing 18.25, culmen 2.35. _Ads._
In plumage exactly like _L. kumlieni_; depth of bill through
angle .80; tarsus 3.05; middle toe (without claw) 2.40." (Ridgway.)
Range.--"Coast of Norton Sound, Alaska." (A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 47.]
=47. Great Black-backed Gull= (_Larus marinus_). L. 29. _Ads.,
summer._ Back and wings slaty black; wing feathers tipped with white.
_Ads., winter._ Similar, but head and neck streaked with dusky. _Yng._
Back grayish brown margined with buffy white; rump whiter; primaries
black; below white more or less marked with dusky. _Notes._ "A braying
_ha-ha-ha_, a deep _keow_, _keow_, a short barking note, and a
long-drawn groan, very loud and decidedly impressive." (Brewster.)
Range.--North Atlantic and northern Europe; breeds in North America
from Nova Scotia to Greenland; winters south to Great Lakes and South
Carolina.
[Illustration: 48.]
=48. Slaty-backed Gull= (_Larus schistisagus_). L. 26. _Ads., summer._
General appearance of No. 47; back lighter; primaries as figured.
_Ads., winter._ Head and neck streaked. _Yng._ Above brown margined
with buff and white; primaries brown; tail brown with little or no
mottling; below brown.
Range.--"North Pacific, chiefly on the Asiatic side; Herald Island,
Arctic Ocean, and Alaskan coast of Bering Sea." (A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 49.]
=49. Western Gull= (_Larus occidentalis_). L. 24. _Ads., summer._
Head, neck, tail, and underparts white; back slaty gray; outer
primaries black, a large white spot near tip of first one. _Ads.,
winter._ Crown and hind neck streaked with brownish. _Yng._ Grayish
brown mixed with white; wings and tail fuscous. _Notes._
_OoAe"Ae"k_, _ooAe"Ae"k_, _ooAe"Ae"k_; _ca-ca-ca_, and other calls.
Range.--Pacific coast; breeds and winters from Lower California to
British Columbia.
[Illustration: 57.]
=57. Heermann Gull= (_Larus heermanni_). L. 17. _Ads., summer._ Bill
red; head and throat white, shading into slate above and below; tail
blackish, tipped with white; primaries black. _Ads., winter._ Head and
neck streaked with grayish brown. _Yng._ Uniform grayish brown.
Range.--Pacific coast of North America; breeds from Mazatlan, Mexico,
north to Lower California; occurs regularly north to Vancouver Island;
winters south to Panama.
[Illustration: 51.]
[Illustration: 51.]
[Illustration: 51. Immature]
=51. Herring Gull= (_Larus argentatus_). L. 24. _Ads., summer._ White
spaces at end of outer primaries sometimes joined. _Ads., winter._
Similar, but head and neck, streaked with grayish. _Yng._ Above ashy
brown, margined and marked with buffy; wings brownish black; tail the
same; sometimes margined with buffy; below ashy brown, sometimes
lightly barred or streaked with dusky. _Notes._ _Cack-cack-cack_;
_hah_, _hah_, _hah_, and other notes.
Range.--Northern hemisphere; breeds in America from Maine, Great
Lakes, Minnesota, and British Columbia northward; winters south to
Cuba and Lower California.
[Illustration: 52.]
=52. Vega Gull= (_Larus vegA|_). Similar to No. 51, but back said to be
darker; feet yellow.
Range.--"Bering Sea and adjacent waters; south in winter to California
and Japan." (A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 53.]
=53. California Gull= (_Larus californicus_). L. 20. _Ads._ Similar to
No. 54 but larger; a red spot near tip of lower mandible; white spot
on outer primary, larger and nearer end. _Yng._ Similar to No. 54 but
darker; tail nearly uniform fuscous.
Range.--Western North America; breeds chiefly in interior, from Utah
to Lat. 68A deg., 30'; winters from British Columbia to Mexico.
[Illustration: 58.]
=58. Laughing Gull= (_Larus atricilla_). L. 16. _Ads., summer._ Head
dark slate; tail white; bill with reddish. _Ads., winter._ Similar,
but head and throat white with grayish on nape and behind eyes. _Yng._
Tail grayish with a broad black band; nape and back ashy brown;
forehead and under parts white. _Notes._ A nasal _cow-ow_, also
_cuk-cuk-cuk_, and a high, long-drawn laugh.
Range.--Eastern North America; breeds from Texas and Florida to Maine
and Nova Scotia; rare in interior; winters from South Carolina to
northern South America.
[Illustration: 59.]
=59. Franklin Gull= (_Larus franklini_). L. 15. _Ads., summer._ Breast
with a rosy tinge; outer primaries with wide black spaces near ends,
bordered at base and tip with white. _Ads., winter._ "Head mainly
white, with [its] sides and back grayish dusky." _Yng._ "Top and sides
of head and back grayish brown; quills dusky, tipped with white; tail
with subterminal band of dusky; rest of tail, under parts, forehead,
and eyelids white." (Bailey.)
Range.--Interior of North America; breeds from Iowa and Minnesota
northward to Great Bear Lake; winters from west Gulf States to South
America.
[Illustration: 60.]
=60. Bonaparte Gull= (_Larus philadelphia_). L. 14. _Ads., summer._
Outer web of outer primaries and tip black; inner web and shaft white;
bill black. _Ads., winter._ Similar, but throat and head white, its
back grayish. _Yng._ Tail white, tipped with black; outer primary
black, inner two-thirds of inner web and space near tip white; rest of
plumage much as in young of No. 58.
Range.--North America; breeds in interior from Hudson Bay and Manitoba
west to the Yukon; winters from British Columbia and Maine to Lower
California and Gulf of Mexico.
[Illustration: 61.]
=61. Ross Gull= (_Rhodostethia rosea_) L. 13.5. Bill small, .7; middle
tail feathers longest. _Ads., summer._ White areas tinged with pink; a
black collar. _Ads., winter._ No collar; a black spot before eye.
_Yng._ Lesser coverts black, margined with whitish; tail white,
central feathers tipped with black; back pearl; ear spot and space
about eye dusky; crown white, washed with pearl.
Range.--"Arctic regions; south in autumn and winter to Kamchatka,
Point Barrow, Alaska and Disco Bay, Greenland." (A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 62.]
=62. Sabine Gull= (_Xema sabinii_). L. 14. Tail slightly forked.
_Ads., summer._ Head and throat slaty black, margined behind with
black; bill black, tipped with yellow; outer primaries black, small
tip and inner half of inner web white. _Ads., winter._ Similar, but
head and throat white; nape region dusky. _Yng._ Tail white, tipped
with black; crown and back ashy brown; forehead and underparts white.
_Notes._ "A single harsh grating note." (Nelson.)
Range.--Arctic regions: breeds in America from St. Michaels, Alaska
and Melville Bay, Greenland, northward; winters south on Atlantic
coast, rarely to New York; casually to Texas, and on Pacific coast to
Peru.
Terns
[Illustration: 64.]
=64. Caspian Tern= (_Sterna caspia_). L. 21. T. 6., forked 1.5.
Largest of our Terns. _Ads., breeding._ Bill red; cap black; above
pearl; below-white; _primaries frosty black_. After breeding, crown
streaked black and white; bill more orange. _Yng._ Similar to last but
wings and tail with blackish. _Notes._ A loud, harsh "_kay-awk_" or
"_key-rak_."
Range.--Cosmopolitan; breeds in North America, locally from Texas to
Newfoundland and Great Slave Lake; winters mostly south of United
States; three California winter records.
[Illustration: 65.]
=65. Royal Tern= (_Sterna maxima_). L. 19; T. 7, forked 3.5; B. 2.5.
_Ads., summer._ _Primaries frosty black_, _white on inner two-thirds
of inner web except at tip_, _where frosty_; bill orange red; crown
black; above pearl; below white. _Ads., winter._ The same, but head
white with black streaks. _Yng._ Similar to winter ad. but wings and
tail with grayish.
Range.--Middle America; breeds from southern Brazil and Peru to Gulf
States, Virginia, and California; wanders north to Great Lakes and
Massachusetts; winters from Gulf States and California southward.
[Illustration: 66.]
=66. Elegant Tern= (_Sterna elegans_). L. 16.5; B. 2.7. Similar to
No. 65, but smaller; bill longer and more slender. _Ads._ Tinged
with shell pink below.
Range.--"Pacific coast of America from California to Chili." (A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 67.]
=67. Cabot Tern= (_Sterna sandvicensis acuflavida_). L. 16; T. 5.5,
forked 2.7. _Ads., breeding._ Bill black, _the tip yellow_; crown
black; above pearl; below white; primaries much as in No. 65. After
breeding, head white; nape with black streaks. _Yng._ Similar to last
but with back and tail with blackish; tip of bill less yellow.
Range.--Tropical America; breeds on east side of Mexico north along
Gulf Coast to Florida, and Atlantic coast to South Carolina; wanders
to Massachusetts; winters south of United States to West Indies and
Central America.
[Illustration: 63.]
=63. Gull-billed Tern= (_Gelochelidon nilotica_). L. 14.5; T. 5.5.
_Ads., summer._ _Bill thick, short, black; tail short, forked only
1.5_; crown black; above pearl; below white. _Ads., winter._ Head
white, with black patch before and behind eye. _Yng._ Similar, but
above edged with buffy; head and neck streaked with grayish. _Notes._
A high, thin, somewhat reedy _tee-tee-tee_, sometimes suggesting a
weak-voiced katydid.
Range.--Cosmopolitan; breeds in North America from Mexico to Florida
and north to Virginia; wanders north rarely to New Brunswick; winters
from southern Texas southward.
[Illustration: 73.]
=73. Aleutian Tern= (_Sterna aleutica_). L. 14. T. 6.7, forked 3.
_Ads., summer._ Above _and below_ pearl gray, browner below; throat
white; crown black; _forehead white; line from bill to eye black_.
_Ads., winter._ "With rather more white on forehead." (Cat. B. M.)
_Notes._ "A thin, clear, trilling whistle." (Nelson.)
Range.--Alaska from Kadiak to Bering Strait, southwest to Japan.
[Illustration: 74.]
=74. Least Tern= (_Sterna antillarum_). L. 9; T. 3.5, forked 1.7.
_Ads., summer._ Bill _yellow_, _black_ at tip; forehead _white_;
_a black line_ from bill to eye; crown black; above pearl; below
white. _Ads., winter._ Crown white; nape black; bill dark; tail
shorter. _Yng._ Similar to last, but above with buffy or brownish.
_Notes._ "A sharp squeak much like the cry of a very young pig
following its mother."
Range.--Western hemisphere; breeds locally from northern South America
northward to Massachusetts, Dakota, and southern California; winters
south of United States.
[Illustration: 76.]
=76. Bridled Tern= (_Sterna anA|thetus_). L. 15. _Ads._ Forehead and
line _over_ eye white; _lores_ and crown black; nape whitish; back
sooty gray or sooty brown; _outer_ tail feathers white, except at tip;
inner ones grayish brown. _Notes._ A soft _qua_.
Range.--Tropical regions; north in Atlantic to the Bahamas; casual in
Florida.
[Illustration: 69.]
=69. Forster Tern= (_Sterna forsteri_). L. 15; T. 7, forked. 4. _Ads.,
summer._ _Inner_ web of outer tail feather dusky; below _pure white_;
bill _orange_, blackish at end; crown black; back pearl. _Ads.,
winter._ Crown white or grayish; _a large black spot about eyes_; bill
black. _Yng._ Similar to winter ad. but above with brownish. _Notes._
A long drawn, deep, reedy _cack_ and _tweet-tweet-tweet-tweet_.
Range.--North America; breeds locally north to California, and from
Texas along coast to Virginia and in interior to Manitoba; wanders to
Massachusetts; winters from southern California and Texas south to
Brazil.
[Illustration: 70.]
=70. Common Tern= (_Sterna hirundo_). L. 15; T. 5.5, forked, 3.2
_Ads., summer._ Outer web of outer tail feather dusky; below white,
_washed with dusky_; bill _red_, blackish at end; crown black; back
pearl. _Ads., winter._ Forehead and underparts white; bill black.
_Yng._ Similar to last, but above with brownish; tail shorter.
_Notes._ A vibrant, purring, _tearrr_, and other calls.
Range.--Northern hemisphere; in America, chiefly east of Plains;
breeds locally on coast and in interior from Gulf States to Barren
Grounds and Greenland; winters south of United States to Brazil.
[Illustration: 71.]
=71. Arctic Tern= (_Sterna paradisA|a_). L. 15.5; T. 7.2 forked 4.5.
Similar to No. 70, but _summer ad._ with bill _wholly bright red_;
tail longer; tarsus shorter, .6 instead of .7. _Notes._ Like _tearr_
of No. 70, but shriller, ending in rising inflection, like squeal of a
pig. (Brewster.)
Range.--Northern hemisphere; breeds from Massachusetts north to
Greenland and northwest to Aleutian Islands and Alaska; winters south
to California and Virginia.
[Illustration: 72.]
=72. Roseate Tern= (_Sterna dougalli_). L. 15.5; T. 7.5, forked, 5.2.
_Ads., summer._ _Bill black, reddish only at the base; below white
tinged with shell pink_; tail wholly white; crown black; back pearl.
_Ads., winter._ Forehead with white; no pink below. Notes. A reedy
cack.
Range.--Temperate and tropical regions; breeds in North America on
east coast only, from Florida north to Nova Scotia; rare north of
Virginia; winters south of United States to Venezuela.
[Illustration: Foot of No. 70 Nat size]
[Illustration: Foot of No. 71 Natural size]
Terns and Skimmer
[Illustration: 75.]
=75. Sooty Tern= (_Sterna fuliginosa_). L. 17. _Ads., summer._
_Above blackish_, forehead and underparts white; tail black, except
outer feathers which are mostly white. _Yng._ Sooty slate; linings
of wings white; scapulars, upper tail coverts, and tail feathers
tipped with white. _Notes._ A squeaky _quack_, a nasal _ker-wacky-wak_,
and other calls.
Range.--"Tropical and subtropical coasts of the globe. In America from
Chili to western Mexico and the Carolinas, and casually to New
England." (A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 77.]
=77. Black Tern= (_Hydrochelidon nigra surinamensis_). L. 10. _Ads.,
summer._ Head and underparts black; back, wings, and tail slate.
_Ads., winter._ Forehead, nape, and underparts _white_; head gray.
_Yng._ Similar to last, but above with brownish margins.
_Notes._ A sharp _peek_.
Range.--Temperate and tropical America; breeds in interior from
California, Kansas, and Illinois to Alaska; irregular migrant on
Atlantic coast from New Brunswick southward; winters south of
United States to Chili.
[Illustration: 79.]
=79. Noddy= (_Anous stolidus_). L. 15. _Ads._ Crown silvery white;
rest of plumage _sooty brown_. _Yng._ Similar, but all sooty brown
except white line from bill to eye. _Notes._ A low reedy _cack_
increasing to a hoarse, guttural _k-r-r-r-r-r-r-r_.
Range.--"Tropical and subtropical regions; in America from Brazil and
Chili north to the Gulf and South Atlantic States." (A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 80.]
=80. Black Skimmer= (_Rynchops nigra_). L. 18. _Ads. Lower mandible
longer than upper_; forehead, underparts, part of secondaries, and
tail white; rest of plumage black. _Yng._ Plumage widely margined with
buffy. _Notes._ Varied, nasal, penny-trumpet-like; also _ca-you_,
_ca-you_, like a hound's voice.
Range.--North America, chiefly eastern; breeds from southern New
Jersey southward; wanders rarely to Nova Scotia; winters from Gulf
States to northern South America.
Order III. TUBE-NOSED SWIMMERS.
TUBINARES.
Family 1. ALBATROSSES. DiomedeidA|. 4 species.
Family 2. FULMARS, SHEARWATERS, and PETRELS. ProcellariidA|.
26 species, 1 subspecies.
The Albatrosses, of which about ten species are known, are birds of
far southern seas, where they nest on isolated islands. After the
young are reared, several species migrate northward and are found off
our Pacific coast. The largest known species, the Wandering Albatross,
which has been made famous by Coleridge's "Rime of the Ancient
Mariner," measures from twelve to fourteen feet in expanse of wing,
and, like other members of this family, is a tireless ocean wanderer.
In the museum of Brown University, there is a mounted Wandering
Albatross, killed off the coast of Chili by Capt. Hiram Luther,
December 20, 1847. When captured, a small bottle was found tied around
the bird's neck, containing a slip of paper from which it was learned
that the bottle had been attached to the bird December 12, 1847, by
Capt. Edwards of the New Bedford Whaler, "Euphrates," when about 800
miles off the coast of New Zealand, or about 3,400 miles from the
point at which, eight days later, the bird was secured.
The Fulmars, (genus _Fulmarus_), are northern birds and nest in
immense numbers on isolated islets, somewhat like certain Gulls.
Comparatively little is known of the nesting places of our
Shearwaters, but it is believed that most of them breed on the islands
of the South Atlantic and South Pacific, and pass their winter, (our
summer) off our coasts.
One of the Petrels, (Wilson Petrel), is known to have this habit. It
has been found nesting on Kerguelen Island, in S. Lat. 49A deg. 54', in
February, and in May it appears off our coasts for the summer.
Petrels nest in holes in the ground, laying one white egg. They are
never seen near their homes during the day, the bird then on the nest
waiting until night to feed, when the one which has been at sea
returns to assume its share of the task of incubation. Those birds are
therefore both diurnal and nocturnal.
Albatrosses
[Illustration: 81.]
=81. Black-footed Albatross= (_Diomedea nigripes_). L. 32. _Ads._
Sooty brown, lighter below; region about base of bill whitish; upper
mandible _broad and rounded at its base_. _Notes._ A whining groan,
uttered when contesting for food. (Turner).
Range.--North Pacific; north to Lat. 52A deg.; south at least to Lower
California.
[Illustration: 82.]
=82. Short-tailed Albatross= (_Diomedea albatrus_). L. 36. _Ads._
White; the head straw; tail and primaries gray brown; upper mandible
broad and rounded at base.
Range.--North Pacific, north to Bering Strait; south, at least, to
Lower California.
[Illustration: 82.1.]
=82.1. Laysan Albatross= (_Diomedea immutabilis_). L. 32. _Ads._ Head,
neck, rump, upper tail coverts, and whole under surface white; lores
next to the eye sooty black; back, wings, and end of the tail dark
sooty brown; interscapular region paler; base of the tail whitish.
(Cat. B. M.)
Range.--Laysan Island, Pacific Ocean; casual off the coast of Lower
California.
=83. Yellow-nosed Albatross= (_Thalassogeron culminatus_). L. 36.
_Ads._ Above slate brown, grayer on head; rump white; below white;
neck sometimes grayish; tail gray.
Range.--"Indian and southern Pacific Oceans; casual off the coast of
Oregon; accidental in the Gulf of St. Lawrence." (A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 84.]
=84. Sooty Albatross= (_PhA"betria fuliginosa_). L. 35. _Ads._ _Sides
of lower mandible conspicuously grooved_; entire plumage sooty brown,
except a white eye-ring.
Range.--"Oceans of southern hemisphere, north to the coast of Oregon."
(A.O.U.)
[Illustration: BILLS VIEWED FROM ABOVE (84 and 81)]
Fulmars and Shearwaters
[Illustration: 86.]
[Illustration: Bill of 86 1/2 Size.]
[Illustration: 86. Gray Phase]
=86. Fulmar= (_Fulmarus glacialis_). L. 19; W. 13; B. 1.5. _Ads. Light
phase._ Head, neck, and under parts white; back, wings, and tail slaty
gray. _Dark phase._ Uniform dark slaty gray. _Notes._ Silent.
Range.--North Atlantic, breeds from Lat. 69A deg. northward; winters south
to Lat. of Massachusetts, and rarely to Virginia.
=86b. Pacific Fulmar= (_F. g. glupischa_). Similar to No. 86, but
nasal tubes light.
Range.--North Pacific; breeds from Bering Sea north; winters south to
Mexico.
=86.1. Rodger Fulmar= (_Fulmarus rodgersii_). Similar to light phase
of No. 86, but back with white feathers; no dark phase.
Range.--"Bering Sea and adjacent parts of North Pacific." (A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 87.]
[Illustration: Bill of 87 1/2ze.]
=87. Slender-billed Fulmar= (_Priocella glacialoides_). L. 18.5.
_Ads._ Head and underparts white; back and tail pearl; primaries
black, _white on inner web_.
Range.--Southern Seas; north on Pacific coast to Washington.
[Illustration: 94.]
[Illustration: Bill of 94 1/2 Size.]
=94. Sooty Shearwater= (_Puffinus fuliginosus_). L. 17. _Ads._ Sooty
gray, lighter below.
Range.--"Atlantic Ocean, breeding in the southern hemisphere; a summer
visitor off our coast, from South Carolina northward." (A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 95.]
=95. Dark-bodied Shearwater= (_Puffinus griseus_). L. 17. _Ads._ Above
dusky black or brownish, paler below; under wing coverts _white_ and
dusky; bill black.
Range.--South Pacific; north in summer on the American coast to
California.
=96.1. Wedge-tailed Shearwater= (_Puffinus cuneatus_). L. 17. T. 5.4,
pointed. _Ads._ Above brown; below white; sides of neck mottled with
gray; middle tail feathers nearly 2. longer than lateral ones. (Cat.
B. M.)
Range.--"North Pacific Ocean, from the Hawaiian Islands north to the
Bonin Group and Lower California." (A.O.U.)
Shearwaters
[Illustration: 88.]
=88. Cory Shearwater= (_Puffinus borealis_). L. 21. _Ads._ Above
grayish brown; below, including under wing coverts and _under tail
coverts, white_.
Range.--North Atlantic; recorded only off the coast from Massachusetts
to Long Island.
[Illustration: 89.]
=89. Greater Shearwater= (_Puffinus gravis_). L. 20. _Ads._ Above
grayish brown or blackish; tips of longer upper tail coverts white;
below white; _middle of belly and under tail coverts ashy gray_.
Range.--"Atlantic Ocean, from Cape Horn and Cape of Good Hope north to
Arctic Circle." (A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 91.]
=91. Pink-footed Shearwater= (_Puffinus creatopus_). L. 19.5. _Ads._
Above dusky gray or brown; below white; sides and lower belly with
grayish; longer under tail coverts dusky brown; feet, flesh-color;
bill yellowish.
Range.--Pacific Ocean north on the American coast in summer and fall
to middle California.
[Illustration: 92.]
=92. Audubon Shearwater= (_Puffinus lherminieri_). L. 12. _Ads._ Above
black or brownish black; below white; _under tail coverts sooty_.
Range.--Middle Atlantic; breeds in West Indies and Bahamas; wanders
north to Long Island.
[Illustration: 93.]
=93. Black-vented Shearwater= (_Puffinus opisthomelas_). L. 15.
_Ads._ Above dusky _black_; below white; sides of breast grayish;
under tail coverts dusky brown; bill black.
Range.--"Pacific Ocean, chiefly southward; coast of Lower California
north to Santa Cruz, Cal." (A.O.U.)
=93.1. Townsend Shearwater= (_Puffinus auricularis_). Similar to No.
93, but bill and feet smaller, B. 1.2; above darker, nearly black;
black of head extending below eye. (Townsend.)
Range.--Pacific Ocean (Clarion Island, Lower California).
[Illustration: 96.]
=96. Slender-billed Shearwater= (_Puffinus tenuirostris_). L. 13.,
bill slender 1.2 _Ads._ "Above dark sooty slate; beneath deep sooty
gray, paler on throat where sometimes inclining to whitish." (Ridgw.)
Range.--North Pacific, from Japan and Kotzebue Sound south on the
American coast to middle California.
Petrels
[Illustration: 98.]
=98. Black-capped Petrel= (_A†strelata hasitata_). L. 15. _Ads._ Above
sooty brown; back of neck and upper tail coverts _white_; base of tail
_white_.
Range.--Tropical Atlantic; irregular in United States (Florida,
Virginia, New York, Kentucky, Vermont, and Ontario.)
[Illustration: 103.]
=103. Least Petrel= (_Halocyptena microsoma_). L. 5.7. _Ads._ Sooty
blackish brown, lighter below.
Range.--"Coast of Lower California south to Panama." (A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 105.]
=105. Forked-tailed Petrel= (_Oceanodroma furcata_). L. 8. 7.
_Ads._ Tail forked; bluish gray, wings darker; a blackish space
about eye.
Range.--North Pacific; breeds in Aleutian Islands; recorded north to
Bering Strait; winters south to California.
=105.1. Kaeding Petrel= (_Oceanodroma kaedingi_). W. 6. _Ads._ Similar
to _O. leucorrhoa_, but much smaller with much less deeply forked
tail. (Anthony.)
Range.--Pacific Ocean; (Socorro Islands, Lower California.)
[Illustration: 108.]
=108. Ashy Petrel= (_Oceanodroma homochroa_). L. 8.5. _Ads._ No white
on rump; tail forked; sooty black above, browner below; wing coverts
grayish.
Range.--"Coast of California; breeds on the Santa Barbara and
Farallone Islands." (A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 104.]
=104. Stormy Petrel; Mother Carey's Chicken= (_Procellaria pelagica_).
L. 5.5. _Ads._ Sooty black, browner below; upper tail coverts white,
_tipped with black_.
Range.--North Atlantic; winters south to western Africa and New
Brunswick.
[Illustration: 106.]
=106. Leach Petrel; Stormy Petrel= (_Oceanodroma leucorhoa_). L. 8.,
W. 6.2. _Ads._ Tail forked; above sooty brownish black; below browner;
_lesser wing coverts grayish brown_; longer upper tail coverts _not_
tipped with black. _Notes._ An elfin-like crow of eight notes.
Range.--North Atlantic and North Pacific; breeds from Maine to
Greenland and from Farallone to Aleutian Islands; winters south to
Virginia and California.
=106.1. Guadalupe Petrel= (_Oceanodroma macrodactyla_). L. 8.4; W.
6.4; T. 3.9, fork 1 in. deep. _Ads._ Similar to _O. leucorhoa_, but
with much longer and more deeply forked tail, larger feet, shorter
bill, and very broad dusky tips to the upper tail coverts. (Ridgw. in
Cat. B. M.)
Range.--Pacific Ocean; (Guadalupe Island, Lower California.)
[Illustration: 107.]
=107. Black Petrel= (_Oceanodroma melania_.) L. 9. _Ads._ Sooty black,
paler below; wing-coverts grayish, tail forked.
Range.--South Pacific, north to Santa Barbara Islands; breeds on
Coronados Islands, southern California.
=108.1 Socorro Petrel= (_Oceanodroma socorroensis_). W. 5.5. _Ads._
Similar to No. 108, but wings longer; tail shorter and less deeply
forked; sides of rump _whitish_; no white on under surface of wing.
(Towns.)
Range.--Pacific Ocean; (Socorro Island, southern California.)
[Illustration: 109.]
=109. Wilson Petrel; Stormy Petrel= (_Oceanites oceanicus_). L. 7.
_Ads._ Webs of feet with yellow patch: tail not forked; longer upper
tail coverts not tipped with black. _Notes._ A weak _weet_, _weet_,
and a hoarse chattering _patret-tu-cuk-cuk-tu-tu_. (Wilson.)
Range.--Atlantic Ocean; breeds in Southern seas, (Kerguelen Island in
February), and migrates north to Newfoundland, spending summer off
coast of eastern United States.
Order IV. TOTIPALMATE SWIMMERS.
STEGANOPODES.
Family 1. TROPIC BIRDS. PhaA"thontidA|. 2 species.
Family 2. GANNETS. SulidA|. 6 species.
Family 3. DARTERS. AnhingidA|. 1 species.
Family 4. CORMORANTS. PhalacrocoracidA|. 6 species, 5 subspecies.
Family 5. PELICANS. PelecanidA|. 3 species.
Family 6. MAN-O'-WAR-BIRDS. FregatidA|. 1 Species.
The members of this Order agree in having all four toes connected by
webs, but in other respects they differ widely in structure and,
consequently, in habit. The young of all the Steganopodes are born
naked, unlike the young of most of the other water birds, which, as a
rule, are hatched covered with feathers and can swim or run about soon
after birth. The nests of the Steganopodes are, of necessity,
therefore, more complex structures than those of birds whose nests are
merely incubators and not cradles as well.
Tropic Birds resemble the larger Terns, when in the air, but their
wing strokes are more rapid. They usually nest in holes in the face of
cliffs, and lay one whitish egg, marked with chocolate.
Gannets are true sea birds, but, as a rule, do not live very far from
the land. When breeding, Gannets are usually associated in great
numbers. Their nests, as a rule, are placed on the ground or on
cliffs, and one or two chalky white eggs are laid. At this season the
birds are exceedingly tame and in localities where they have not been
much molested, one may walk about among the sitting birds without
their taking flight. Gannets are powerful birds on the wing. Their
vigorous wing strokes are interrupted at intervals by short sails.
They feed on fish which they capture by diving from the air.
The Darters or Anhingas number four species, distributed throughout
the tropical parts of the globe, only one species inhabiting America.
This is generally called the Snakebird or Water Turkey in Florida,
where it is a common species on the more isolated rivers and lakes.
The name Snakebird is derived from the bird's habit of swimming with
the body submerged, when the long, sinuous neck, appearing above the
water, readily suggests a snake. At other times Snakebirds mount high
in the air and sail about, like Hawks, in wide circles. They build a
large, well-made nest in a bush or tree, generally over the water, and
lay four bluish white, chalky eggs.
Cormorants nest in large colonies, generally on isolated islets, but
sometimes in remote swamps. The nests are placed closely together on
the ground, in bushes, and less frequently in trees, according to the
nature of the bird's haunts.
Cormorants feed on fish which they catch by pursuing them under the
water. They dive from the surface of the water like Ducks, or from a
low perch, but not from the air, as do the Gannets.
Pelicans nest in colonies, generally on some small island, building
their nests on the ground or in bushes, and laying two or three large,
white, chalky eggs.
Brown Pelicans secure their food by plunging on it from the air,
generally from about twenty feet above the water. The sides of the
bill are then bowed outward, the opening widened, forming, with the
pouch, an effective net in which fish, twelve and fourteen inches
long, are captured.
White Pelicans, on the contrary, feed from the water, scooping up
fishes as they swim. At times a flock of these birds may surround a
school of small fish in shallow water and drive them shoreward, at the
same time actively filling their pouches.
Young Pelicans are fed on fish which they take from the pouch of the
parent bird by thrusting their bills and heads well into it and
prodding actively about for the food to be found there. Young
Cormorants secure their food in a similar manner.
Frigate Birds, of which only two species are known, have a greater
expanse of wing in proportion to the weight of their body than any
other bird. Their power of flight is consequently unexcelled and they
may spend days in the air without tiring. Their feet are as weak as
their wings are strong, and are of use only in perching.
The food of Frigate Birds consists chiefly of fish, which they catch
from near the surface of the water, or rob from Gulls and Terns by
pursuing them, forcing them to disgorge their prey, and catching it
ere it reaches the water.
Tropic Birds and Gannet
[Illustration: 112.]
=112. Yellow-billed Tropic Bird= (_PhaA"thon americanus_). L. 30;
T. 19. _Ads._ Bill yellow; no bars above; middle tail feathers
lengthened. _Yng._ Above barred with black; middle tail feathers not
lengthened.
Range.--Tropical coasts; breeds in West Indies, Bahamas and Bermudas;
casual in Florida; accidental in western New York and Nova Scotia.
[Illustration: 113.]
=113. Red-billed Tropic Bird= (_PhaA"thon A|thereus_). L. 30; T. 20.
_Ads._ Bill red; above barred with black; long middle tail feathers
pure white.
Range.--"Coasts of tropical America, north on the Pacific coast to
Cape Colnett, Lower California; accidental on the Newfoundland Banks.
Breeds on San Pedro Martir and other Islands in the Gulf of
California." (A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 117.]
[Illustration: 117. Immature.]
=117. Gannet= (_Sula bassana_). L. 35. _Ads._ White; head and neck
tinged with straw; primaries blackish. _Yng._ Grayish brown with white
spots. _Notes._ A harsh _gor-r-r-rok_.
Range.--North Atlantic; breeds, in America, only on Bird Rock and
Bonaventure Islands, Gulf of St. Lawrence; winters off the coast,
south to Florida.
Boobies
[Illustration: 114.]
=114. Blue-faced Booby= (_Sula cyanops_). L. 28. _Ads._ Body and
lesser wing coverts white; central tail feathers whitish, others dark
brown. _Yng._ Above plain dark grayish brown with some grayish
streaks; below white; flanks streaked with grayish.
Range.--Tropical seas; north in America to Lower California and
Bahamas; casual in southern Florida.
[Illustration: 114.1.]
=114.1. Blue-footed Booby= (_Sula nebouxii_). L. 33. _Ads._ Head,
neck, and underparts white, the first two streaked with grayish; back
dusky brownish, tipped with whitish; legs and feet bright blue.
(Goss.)
Range:--Pacific coast of America, from Gulf of California to Galapagos
and Chili. (Cat. B. M.)
[Illustration: 115.]
[Illustration: 115. Immature.]
=115. Booby= (_Sula sula_). L. 30. _Ads._ Breast and belly white; bill
and feet yellow. _Yng._ Entirely brownish, lighter below; bill
blackish; feet yellow. _Notes._ A harsh, guttural _bork_, _hork_.
(Audubon).
Range.--"Atlantic coasts of tropical and subtropical America, north to
Georgia. Also, West Pacific and Indian Oceans." (A.O.U.) Accidental
on Long Island. No United States breeding record.
=115.1. Brewster Booby= (_Sula brewsteri_). L. 30. _Ads._ Similar to
No. 115, but head and neck paler, bill blue, feet greenish.
Range,--"Coasts and Islands of the eastern south Pacific Ocean, north
to Lower California; breeding as far north as Georges Island at the
head of the Gulf of California." (A.O.U.)
=116. Red-footed Booby= (_Sula piscator_). L. 28. Feet _reddish_.
_Ads._ White; head and nape straw color; primaries _hoary grayish
brown_; tail _white_. _Yng._ Above sooty brown; head, neck, and lower
parts light smoky gray. (Ridgw.)
Range.--Tropical seas, except Pacific coast of America (Cat. B. M.);
north in Atlantic to Bahamas and, rarely, southern Florida.
Cormorants
[Illustration: 119. Breeding Plumage]
=119. Cormorant= (_Phalacrocorax carbo_). L. 36; T. 7.5, of 14
feathers. _Ads._ Chin and sides of throat whitish; back glossy
brownish, _distinctly_ margined with black; below uniform shining
black. _Breeding plumage._ Head and throat with white plumes; a white
patch on flanks. _Yng._ _Belly white_; above olive grayish brown,
margined with black; throat _whitish_; neck brownish.
Range.--North Atlantic; breeds from Nova Scotia to Greenland; winters
south to Carolinas.
[Illustration: 120. Breeding Plumage]
=120. Double-crested Cormorant= (_Phalacrocorax dilophus_). L. 30; W.
12.5; T. 6.2, of 12 feathers. _Ads._ Back brownish with distinct black
margins; below shining black. _Breeding plumage._ With tufts on either
side of head black, sometimes mixed with white; throat pouch orange.
_Yng._ Back browner; head, neck, and lower belly brown; breast
whitish.
Range.--Eastern North America; breeds locally from Bay of Fundy,
Minnesota, North Dakota, northward; west to Assiniboia; winters from
southern Illinois and Virginia southward.
[Illustration: 120a.]
=120a. Florida Cormorant= (_P. d. floridanus_). Similar to No. 120,
but blacker and smaller. L. 25.
Range.--South Atlantic and Gulf States; breeds north to North Carolina
and southern Illinois.
=120b. White-crested Cormorant= (_P. d. cincinatus_). Similar to No.
120, but larger, L. 36; nuptial crests _white_.
Range.--Pacific coasts; breeds in Alaska; winters south to California.
=120c. Farallone Cormorant= (_P. d. albociliatus_). Similar to 120b.,
but smaller, L. 28.
Range.--Breeds on California coast and in interior, south to Socorro
Island. (Ridgw.)
[Illustration: 121 Breeding Plumage]
=121. Mexican Cormorant= (_Phalacrocorax mexicanus_). L. 25. W. 10.
_Ads._ Narrow border at base of pouch white. _Breeding plumage._ Neck
with white plumes. _Yng._ Head and hindneck brownish; back grayish,
margined with black; throat, foreneck and breast brownish white; belly
black.
Range.--Breeds In West Indies and Central America to west Gulf
States; north in summer rarely to Kansas and southern Illinois.
[Illustration: Hind Toe. Outer Toe. Foot of Cormorant.]
[Illustration: 122. Breeding Plumage.]
=122. Brandt Cormorant= (_Phalacrocorax penicillatus_). L. 35; T. 6.
Chin and sides of throat _buffy white or brownish_. _Ads._ Above blue
black, _faintly_ margined with black; below green black. _Breeding
plumage._ With white, hair-like plumes from back and neck; no white on
flanks; throat pouch blue. _Yng._ Above dark brown; throat and belly
whitish; breast and sides brown.
Range.--Pacific coast from Cape St. Lucas to Washington; resident.
=123. Pelagic Cormorant= (_Phalacrocorax pelagicus_). L. 28; W. 10;
T. 6.2. Forehead _feathered_; back feathers _not_ margined. _Ads._
Above glossy green and purplish black; below bottle green. _Breeding
plumage._ With white plumes on neck and rump and white patches on
flanks; nape and forehead, crested. _Yng._ Above greenish dusky brown,
less green below.
Range.--"Aleutian and Kuril Islands, and Kamchatka, south to Japan."
(A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 123a. Breeding Plumage]
=123a. Violet-green Cormorant= (_P. p. robustus_). Similar to No. 123,
but larger; bill stouter, W. 10.8.
Range.--"Coast of Alaska, from Norton Sound south to Washington."
(A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 123b.]
=123b. Baird Cormorant= (_P. p. resplendens_). Similar to No. 123, but
smaller; bill slenderer; W. 9.5. _Notes._ A croaking, guttural note.
Range.--Pacific coast from Washington south to Mazatlan, Mexico.
[Illustration: 124. Breeding Plumage]
=124. Red-faced Cormorant= (_Phalacrocorax urile_). L. 34. _Forehead_
as well as lores bare. _Ads._ Above green and purple; head and neck
blue black; belly green. _Breeding plumage._ With forehead and nape
crests and white patches on flanks. _Notes._ "A low, droning croak."
(Nelson.)
Range.--"Pribilof, Aleutian, and Kuril Islands, and coast of
Kamchatka. South in winter to northern Japan." (A.O.U.)
Anhinga, Pelicans, and Man-o'-War bird
[Illustration: 118.]
=118. Anhinga; Snakebird; Water Turkey= (_Anhinga anhinga_). L. 36.
_Ad._ [Male]. Black; grayish head and neck plumes which, in winter,
are absent. _Ad._ [Female]. Resembles male but whole head, neck, and
breast brownish. _Yng._ Similar to [Female] but black parts duller.
_Notes._ A rasping, clattering croak, uttered when fighting or in
coming to the nest.
Range.--Tropical and subtropical America; breeds north to southern
Illinois and South Carolina; winters from Gulf States southward.
[Illustration: 125.]
=125. American White Pelican= (_Pelecanus erythrorhynchos_). L. 60.
_Ads._ White; primaries black; bill in breeding season with a knob.
_Yng._ With crown brownish.
Range:--North America; breeds in interior from eastern California,
Utah, Yellowstone Park, Minnesota (?) northward to Lat. 61A deg.; winters
from Gulf States and southern California, south to Central America.
[Illustration: 126.]
=126. Brown Pelican= (_Pelecanus occidentalis_). L. 50; W. 19.5.
_Ads._ Pouch greenish; head white, rarely yellowish; neck brown. In
fall, no brown on neck. _Yng._ Brownish gray, white below. _Notes._
Adults as a rule silent; young before flying, very noisy.
Range:--Atlantic and Gulf coast of tropical and subtropical America;
breeds from northern South America to South Carolina; has strayed to
Illinois and Nova Scotia; winters from Gulf States southward.
=127. California Brown Pelican= (_Pelecanus californicus_). Similar to
No. 126, but larger. L. 54; W. 21; pouch in breeding season, red.
Range.--Pacific coast from Galapagos north to British Columbia; breeds
north only to Los Coronados Islands.
[Illustration: 128.]
=128. Man-o'-War Bird; Frigate Bird= (_Fregata aquila_). L. 40. _Ad._
[Male]. Black, glossy above; pouch "scarlet or orange." _Ad._
[Female]. Browner; breast and belly white. _Yng._ Similar to [Female],
but head and neck white. _Notes._ Usually silent; rarely a croaking
note.
Range:--Tropical and subtropical coasts; in America north to Florida,
Texas, and southern California; casually to Kansas, Ohio and Nova
Scotia; winters from southern Florida and Lower California southward.
Order V. DUCKS, GEESE, AND SWANS.
ANSERES.
Family 1. DUCKS, GEESE, and SWANS. AnatidA|. 49 species, 6 subspecies.
The AnatidA| of North America are placed in five well-marked
subfamilies, the Mergansers (_MerginA|_), River Ducks (_AnatinA|_), Sea
Ducks (_FuligulinA|_), Geese (_AnserinA|_), and Swans (_CygninA|_).
The Mergansers, Saw-bills, or Shelldrakes are fish-eating Ducks and
their rounded bills, set with tooth-like projections along the sides,
are of evident use to them in holding their prey.
The River Ducks include such well-known species as the Mallard, Black
Duck, and Widgeon. They differ from the Bay or Sea Ducks in not having
a well-developed web or flap on the hind-toe. As a rule they feed in
shallow water by tipping, standing on their heads, as it were, while
reaching the bottom for food.
The Bay or Sea Ducks have the hind-toe webbed. They feed, as a rule,
in deeper water than the River Ducks, sometimes descending to the
bottom in water over one hundred feet deep. During the winter they
gather in flocks often of several thousand individuals, and frequent
the larger bodies of water.
With both the River and Bay Ducks the sides of the broad, flat bill
are set with gutters which serve as strainers, retaining the mollusks,
seeds and roots of aquatic plants on which these Ducks feed, while the
mud or water taken in with the food is forced out the sides of the
bill as it closes.
Geese are more terrestrial than Ducks and often visit the land to nip
the grass. This is particularly true in the west where large flocks
of, Geese, especially Snow Geese, may be seen feeding on the prairies.
On the water they feed over shallows by tipping and probing the
bottoms.
Swans also feed from the surface of the water either by simply
immersing the head and neck or by half submerging the body, when, with
the tail pointed to the zenith, the length of their reach is greatly
increased.
In spite of their comparatively short wings the large muscles attached
to them give to the AnatidA| great power of flight. Not only do they
make extended journeys, when migrating, without a rest, but they
attain a speed which is surpassed by but few birds. Some of the
smaller species, when alarmed, doubtless flying at the rate of one
hundred miles an hour.
In common with other diving water birds the Ducks, when molting, lose
most of their wing feathers all at once, and for a time are therefore
unable to fly. During this comparatively helpless period the brightly
colored males assume in part the plumage of the females and are
thereby rendered less conspicuous. With the return of the power of
flight, however, they regain their distinctive, male plumage, which is
usually brighter than that of the female. With our Geese and Swans
there is no sexual difference in color.
Most of our Ducks and Geese breed in the north, some within the Arctic
Circle, and winter from the southern limit of frozen water southward.
The American Merganser, Hooded Merganser, Wood Duck, Buffle-head,
Golden-Eyes, Tree Ducks, and possibly Harlequin Duck nest in hollow
trees, at times some distance from the water. The young of the
American Golden-eye and of the Wood Duck have been seen to reach the
water by jumping from the nest-hole and fluttering down in response to
the calls of the parent below. It is said that they are also brought
down in the bill of the old bird, but this statement apparently lacks
confirmation.
The remaining species of our Ducks, Geese, and Swans, nest as a rule,
on the ground generally near water. From five to fifteen and, in the
case of the Fulvous Tree Duck, possibly as many as thirty eggs are
laid. In color they vary from white to buffy and pale olive and are
always uniformly colored. Incubation is performed by the female alone.
The males at this period among most Ducks deserting their mate to
undergo the partial molt before mentioned. While incubating the
females surround their nest with soft down plucked from their bodies
and when leaving the nest to feed, this down is drawn over the eggs
with the double object, doubtless, of concealing them and of keeping
them warm.
With Eider Ducks this down constitutes the larger part of, if not the
entire nest. Saunders states that in Iceland the down in each nest
weighs about one-sixth of a pound. This is gathered by the natives,
who, however, are careful to afford the sitting bird an opportunity to
raise her brood without further molestation.
The collection of Eider down thus furnishes an admirable illustration
of proper economic relations between man and birds. The down is an
important source of income to the natives of the comparatively barren,
northern countries in which the Eiders nest. So long as man can
remember it has been gathered annually. Still the Ducks continue to
return in numbers year after year to the same region, perhaps the
exact spot in which they nested the year before.
Less intelligent methods would perhaps rob the bird of its second, as
well as of its first nest and, unable to reproduce its kind, the
species would become extinct within a comparatively short period.
The evils which would follow such a course are, however, thoroughly
understood. The Ducks, in the first place, are encouraged in every
way. It is said that should one walk into a peasant's cabin and
preempt his cot as a nesting-site, the peasant would gladly give up
his bed to so valuable a visitor.
Ducks
[Illustration: 129.]
=129. American Merganser= (_Merganser americanus_). L. 25; B. from
nostril, 1.5; nostril midway between eye and tip of bill. _Ad._
[Male]. No band of streaks on breast; no crest. _Ad._ [Female]. and
_Yng._ _Chin white_; crown and throat reddish brown; rest of
underparts and speculum white; above and tail ashy.
Range.--North America; breeds from New Brunswick, rarely mountains of
Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and mountains of Colorado and California
northward; winters from Maine and British Columbia south to South
Carolina and southern California.
[Illustration: 130.]
=130. Red-breasted Merganser= (_Merganser serrator_). L. 22; B. from
nostril, 1.8; nostril nearer to eye than to tip of bill. _Ad._ [Male].
Breast with a broad cinnamon band streaked with black; head feathers
lengthened. _Ad._ [Female] _and Yng_. Crown grayish brown, washed with
rusty. Chin and throat paler; rest of underparts and speculum white:
back and tail ashy. _Notes._ When alarmed, several low, guttural
croaks. (Elliot.)
Range.--Northern hemisphere; breeds, in America, from New Brunswick
and northern Illinois north to Greenland and Alaska; winters from
southern breeding limits, south to Cuba and Lower California.
[Illustration: 131.]
=131. Hooded Merganser= (_Lophodytes cucullatus_). L. 17.5. _Ad._
[Male]. A large, circular black and white crest. _Ad._ [Female] _Yng._
A small cinnamon crest, head, neck and breast grayish brown; back,
blackish; belly white. _Notes._ "A hoarse croak, like a small edition
of that of the Red-breasted Merganser." (Elliot.)
Range.--North America from Cuba and Lower California north to Labrador
and Alaska; breeds locally throughout its range, chiefly in interior
of British America; winters from British Columbia, Illinois, and
Massachusetts southward.
[Illustration: 132.]
=132. Mallard= (_Anas boschas_). L. 23. Speculum (patch in wing)
purple bordered by black and _white_; under surface of wing pure
white. _Ad._ [Male]. Head green; breast chestnut, a white neck-ring.
_Ad._ [Female]. Above blackish and buffy, below rusty buff mottled
with dusky grayish brown. _Notes._ The familiar _quack_ of the
barn-yard Duck.
Range.--Northern hemisphere; breeds, in America, from Labrador,
Indiana, Iowa, and California north to Greenland and Alaska; winters
from British Columbia, Kansas, and New Jersey to Central America and
West Indies.
[Illustration: 143.]
=143. Pintail= (_Dafila acuta_). L. [Male], 28; [Female], 22. _Ad._
[Male]. Central tail feathers black, 7.5 long, pointed. _Ad._
[Female]. Tail 3.5,; feathers _sharply pointed_; brownish black, with
buff bars; under wing-coverts _dusky_ and _buff_; back blackish with
_internal_ buff loops. _Notes._ A loud _quack_, less sonorous than
that of the Mallard; a low mellow whistle, and a harsh rolling note.
(Nelson.)
Range.--Northern hemisphere; breeds, in America, from New Brunswick,
Iowa, Illinois, and British Columbia northward; winters from British
Columbia, Illinois, and Virginia, south to Central America and West
Indies.
[Illustration: 133.]
=133. Black Duck= (_Anas obscura_). L. 22. _Ads._ Speculum bluish
purple tipped with _black_; no white in wing; lining of wing white and
_dusky_; crown _without_ paler margins; throat, usually, without
markings; legs "olivaceous brown," bill "greenish black, dusky olive,
or olive-green." _Notes._ A _quack_ resembling that of the Mallard.
Range.--Eastern North America; chiefly east of Mississippi; breeds
locally from New Jersey and Illinois north to Labrador and Hudson Bay;
winters from Maine to West Indies.
=133a. Red-legged Black Duck= (_A. o. rubripes_). Similar to No. 133
but larger; crown edged with buff or gray; throat spotted; legs red;
bill yellow.
Range.--Summer range not definitely known, but breeding specimens have
been taken in northern Labrador, James Bay, and west shore of Hudson
Bay; in winter south to Virginia and Arkansas.
[Illustration: 134.]
_134. Florida Duck_ (_Anas fulvigula_). L. 20. _Ads._ Throat and front
of neck plain buff, usually unmarked; speculum sometimes tipped with
white; belly rusty buff; broadly _streaked_ with black. _Notes._ A
_quack_ similar to that of No. 133.
Range.--Florida to coast of Louisiana; resident.
=134a. Mottled Duck= (_A. f. maculosa_). Similar to No. 134, but
underparts _mottled_ with black, the markings being _rounder_.
Range.--Eastern Texas; breeds (at least) from Corpus Christi north to
Kansas; winters on west Gulf Coast.
[Illustration: 135.]
=135. Gadwall= (_Chaulelasmus streperus_), L. 19.5. Under wing coverts
and axillars _pure white_. _Ad._ [Male]. Wing-coverts chestnut; breast
_ringed_ with white. _Ad._ [Female]. Head and throat as in [Male],
back fuscous and buffy; breast and _sides_ ochraceous thickly spotted
with blackish; speculum ashy gray and white. _Notes._ A _quack_ like
that of the Mallard but shriller and more often repeated.
Range.--Northern hemisphere; in America, breeds in the interior from
Kansas and California north to Manitoba and Assiniboia; winters from
Maryland to Florida, rare in northeastern Atlantic States.
[Illustration: 136.]
=136. Widgeon= (_Mareca penelope_). L. 18.5. _Ad._ [Male]. Head and
neck reddish brown; crown buff; sides with wavy black and white lines.
_Ad._ [Female]. Head and throat _rusty_, finely streaked and barred
with black; breast and sides rusty; speculum blackish. _Notes._ Of
male, a shrill, whistling _whee-you_; of female, a low, purring growl.
(Saunders.)
Range.--Northern hemisphere; breeds in America, only in the Aleutian
Islands; casual in migrations and in winter in California and on
Atlantic coast from North Carolina to Greenland.
[Illustration: 137.]
=137. Baldpate= (_Mareca americana_). L. 19. No rusty on head. _Ad._
[Male]. Under tail-coverts black; streak from eye to nape glossy
green. _Ad._ [Female]. Head and throat _whitish_ finely marked with
black; breast and sides rusty washed with grayish. _Notes._ "A low,
soft whistle." (Elliot.)
Range.--North America; breeds in the interior from Minnesota and
British Columbia north to Alaska; winters from British Columbia and
Virginia south to South America; only a migrant on northeast Atlantic
coast to Labrador.
[Illustration: 139.]
=139. Green-winged Teal= (_Nettion carolinensis_). L. 14.5.
Wing-coverts gray, tipped with buff or white. _Ad._ [Male]. A white
crescent in front of wing; speculum (wing-patch) green bordered by
black tipped with white. _Ad._ [Female]. Wings as in [Male]; throat
and sides of neck white, finely spotted with black; breast and sides
washed with rusty, marked with black. _Notes._ A "peculiar chirping
almost a twittering" as they fly. (Seton.)
Range.--North America; breeds from New Brunswick, Minnesota, and
British Columbia north to Greenland and Alaska; winters from Virginia,
Kansas, and British Columbia south to Central America and West Indies.
[Illustration: 140.]
=140. Blue-winged Teal= (_Querquedula discors_). Wing-coverts blue.
_Ad._ [Male]. Cheek patch white. _Ad._ [Female]. Resembles [Female] of
No. 139, but wing-coverts blue; speculum greenish brown not distinctly
tipped with white. L. 16.
Range.--North America; chiefly east of Rockies; breeds from New
Brunswick, Kansas, southern Illinois and northern Ohio, north to
Alaska, mainly in interior; winters from Virginia and Lower
Mississippi Valley to northern South America, California, and Lower
California.
[Illustration: 141.]
=141. Cinnamon Teal= (_Querquedula cyanoptera_). _Ad._ [Male]. Head
and neck, breast and sides reddish brown. _Ad._ [Female]. Resembles
[Female] of No. 140, but the underparts, _including throat_, are
usually suffused with rusty; the throat often being blackish or
speckled with dusky. _Notes._ A rather thin, nasal _quack_. L. 16.
Range.--Western North America from British Columbia south to South
America, east to Rockies and south Texas; rarely to Florida.
[Illustration: 142.]
=142. Shoveller= (_Spatula clypeata_). L. 20. Bill much broader at tip
than at base. _Ad._ [Male]. Belly chestnut; breast around to back
white. _Ad._ [Female]. Wing-coverts blue; back conspicuously margined
with buff. _Notes._ "Occasionally a few feeble quacks." (Elliot.)
Range.--Northern hemisphere; in America chiefly in interior; breeds
locally from Texas, and regularly from Minnesota and British Columbia
north to Alaska and Barren Grounds; winters from British Columbia,
Illinois, and Maryland south to northern South America.
[Illustration: 144.]
=144. Wood Duck= (_Aix sponsa_). L. 18.5. _Ad._ [Male]. Head crested;
green, blue, and purple with white stripes. _Ad._ [Female]. A white
streak through and behind eye; crown glossy purplish brown; back
olive-brown glossed with greenish. _Notes._ A frightened, plaintive,
_oo-eek_.
Range.--North America; breeds locally from Florida to Labrador and
British Columbia, winters from British Columbia, southern Illinois,
and southern New Jersey, south to southern California and Cuba.
[Illustration: 146.]
=146. Redhead= (_Aythya americana_). L. 19. _Ad._ [Male]. Head and
_upper_ neck entirely bright reddish brown. _Ad._ [Female]. Throat
white; back grayish brown without fine bars; speculum gray.
_Notes._ "A hoarse guttural rolling sound." (Elliot.)
Range.--North America; breeds chiefly in interior from Maine,
Minnesota, and California north to Labrador and British Columbia;
winters from British Columbia and Maryland south to Lower California
and West Indies.
[Illustration: 147.]
=147. Canvas-back= (_Aythya vallisneria_). L. 21. _Ad._ [Male]. Head
and _whole_ neck _dull_ reddish brown. _Ad._ [Female]. Head and neck
_rusty_ grayish brown; back grayish brown, _finely barred with black
and white_. _Notes._ "A harsh guttural croak." (Elliot.)
Range.--North America; breeds only in interior from Minnesota and
Oregon north to Alaska and the Barren Grounds; winters from British
Columbia and Maryland south to southern California, Mexico and West
Indies.
[Illustration: 148.]
=148. American Scaup Duck= (_Aythya marila_). L. [Male], 18.5;
[Female], 17.5. _Ad._ [Male]. Head glossed with greenish; sides
without distinct black bars. Ad. [Female]. Feathers about base of bill
white; breast and back rusty grayish brown; speculum white. _Notes._
"Similar to the guttural sound made by the Canvas-back, Redhead and
other diving Ducks." (Elliot.)
Range.--Northern parts of northern hemisphere; in America, breeds in
the interior rarely from Minnesota, and regularly from North Dakota
northward; winters from Long Island to northern South America.
[Illustration: 149.]
=149. Lesser Scaup Duck= (_Aythya affinis_). L. [Male] 17; [Female],
16.5. _Ad._ [Male]. Head glossed with purplish; sides with distinct
black bars. _Ad._ [Female]. Similar to [Female] of No. 148, but
smaller.
Range.--North America; breeds only in interior from Iowa rarely, North
Dakota commonly, and British Columbia, north to Barren Grounds;
winters from British Columbia and Virginia south to Guatemala and West
Indies.
[Illustration: 150.]
=150. Ring-necked Duck= (_Aythya collaris_). L. 16.5. _Ad._ [Male]. A
chestnut neck-ring; chin _white_; back _black_; speculum _gray_. _Ad._
[Female]. Feathers about sides of base of bill and throat white, back
and breast _rusty_ grayish brown; speculum gray. Resembles [Female] of
No. 146, but is smaller and rustier.
Range.--North America: breeding only in the interior from Minnesota
northward; winters from Maryland and British Columbia south to
Guatemala and West Indies; rare on Atlantic coast north of Maryland.
[Illustration: 151.]
=151. American Golden-eye= (_Clangula clangula americana_). L. 20.
_Ad._ [Male]. Head _greenish_; white patch at base of bill _circular_.
_Ad._ [Female]. Head and throat brown; breast and back gray, a white
throat-ring; belly and speculum white. _Notes._ Rarely a low croak; a
high whistling sound produced by wings in flight.
Range.--North America; breeds from Maine, northern Minnesota, and
Alberta, north to Arctic Regions; winters from southern Alaska, the
Great Lakes and Maine, south to Mexico and Cuba.
[Illustration: 152.]
=152. Barrow Golden-eye= (_Clangula islandica_). L. 20. _Ad._ [Male].
Head _purplish blue_; white patch at base of bill _twice as high as
wide_. _Ad._ [Female]. Resembles [Female] of No. 151. _Notes._ A high
whistling made by wings in flight, probably also a low croaking as in
No. 151.
Range.--Northern North America; breeds from Gulf of St. Lawrence, and
mountains of Colorado north to southern Greenland; winters south to
Virginia, Illinois, and California.
[Illustration: 153.]
=153. Buffle-head= (_Charitonetta albeola_). L. 14.7. _Ad._ [Male].
Head blue, purple, and green; a white band from eye to eye across
nape. _Ad._ [Female]. A whitish patch on either side of head; throat
and upper parts grayish brown; belly and speculum white. _Notes._ A
single guttural note like a small edition of the Canvas-back's roll.
(Elliot.)
Range.--North America; breeds from Maine, Iowa, and British Columbia
northward; winters from southern limit of breeding range to West
Indies and Mexico.
[Illustration: 167.]
=167. Ruddy Duck= (_Erismatura jamaicensis_). L. 15. Tail-feathers
narrow and stiff; bill short (1.5) and broad. _Ad._ [Male]. Cheeks
white, cap black, back reddish brown. _Ad._ [Female]. A whitish streak
through dusky cheeks; back grayish brown with fine buffy bars; belly
silvery whitish. _Yng._ [Male]. Similar, but cheeks all white or
whitish.
Range.--Western hemisphere from northern South America to Hudson Bay;
breeds locally throughout its range, but chiefly northward; winters
from New Jersey, southern Illinois and California southward.
[Illustration: 168.]
=168. Masked Duck= (_Nomonyx dominicus_). L. 14. Tail-feathers long,
(4.5) narrow, stiff and pointed. _Ad._ [Male]. Front of head black;
behind it reddish brown all around; white in wing. _Ad._ [Female]. A
brownish streak through eye: buffy streaks above and below it; back
blackish regularly _barred_ with buff; below washed with rusty.
Range--Tropical America north to Lower Rio Grande; accidental in
Wisconsin, Lake Champlain, and Massachusetts.
[Illustration: 154. Winter]
[Illustration: 154. Summer]
=154. Old-squaw= (_Harelda hyemalis_). L. [Male], 21; [Female], 16;
T. [Male], 8; [Female], 2.5. No colored speculum. _Ad._ [Male].
Central tail-feathers much lengthened; in winter, crown, nape, throat,
and neck all around white. In summer, black, with rusty markings on
back. _Ad._ [Female]. winter. Cheeks, neck all around, and underparts
white; breast and sides of neck dusky. In summer, crown, cheeks and
nape blackish, throat and breast dusky; a whitish patch back of eye.
_Notes._ In spring, a rich, musical _a-leedle-a_, frequently repeated in
deep, reed-like tones. (Nelson.) Also "_o-onc-o-onc-ough-egh-ough-egh_."
(Mackay.)
Range.--Northern hemisphere; breeds from northern Labrador and
Aleutian Islands north to Arctic Ocean; winters south to Virginia,
Upper Mississippi Valley, and California, "rarely to Florida and
Texas."
[Illustration: 155.]
=155. Harlequin Duck= (_Histrionicus histrionicus_). L. 17. _Ad._
[Male]. Back and breast slaty blue; head darker. _Ad._ [Female]. Front
half of cheeks and spot over ears whitish, above blackish brown; below
dusky and whitish. _Notes._ "A confusion of low gabbling and
chattering notes." (Nelson.)
Range.--"Northern North America, breeding from Newfoundland, the
northern Rocky Mountains, and the Sierra Nevadas (latitude 38A deg.),
northward; south in winter to the Middle States and California;
eastern Asia, Iceland." (A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 156.]
=156. Labrador Duck= (_Camptolaimus labradorius_). L. 20. _Ad._
[Male]. Primaries blackish; rest of wing white. _Ad._ [Female]. Ashy
gray: speculum white. _Yng._ [Male]. Like [Female] but throat and ends
of greater wing-coverts white.
Range.--Formerly North Atlantic coast; bred from Labrador northward;
wintered south to New Jersey; believed to be extinct; last records,
Grand Menan, New Brunswick, 1871; Long Island, 1875.
[Illustration: 157.]
=157. Steller Eider= (_Eniconetta stelleri_). L. 18. _Ad._ [Male].
Throat and neck black nearly divided by a white ring; top and sides
of head white, forehead and nape greenish; breast chestnut. _Ad._
[Female]. Above and below black and rusty, speculum purple bordered
with white; tail feathers pointed.
Range.--"Arctic and subarctic coasts of the northern hemisphere,
Aleutian Islands, east to Unalaska and Kadiak; Kenai Peninsula."
(A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 158.]
=158. Spectacled Eider= (_Arctonetta fischeri_). L. 21. _Ad._ [Male].
Front of head plush-like; cushiony pads around eyes; above largely
white; breast slaty black; belly black.
Range.--"Alaskan coast of Bering Sea and north to Point Barrow."
(A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 159.]
=159. Greenland Eider= (_Somateria mollissima borealis_). L. 23.
Feathers on sides of bill reaching to nostrils, bare spaces on either
side of feathers on culmen _pointed_ at base (posteriorly.) _Ad._
[Male]. Crown black with a white wedge. _Ad._ [Female]. Brownish black
above margined with rusty and buff; below dusky finely margined with
buff. _Yng._ [Male]. Similar to [Female] but more buffy. _Notes._
"A sort of cooing sound" in the breeding season. (Elliot.) A raucous,
moaning, _'ha ho, 'ha ho_; female's like that of Mallard. (Brunnich.)
Range.--Northeastern North America; breeds from Labrador to Greenland;
winters south to Massachusetts.
[Illustration: 160.]
=160. American Eider= (_Somateria dresseri_). L. 23. Similar in color
to No. 159, but bare spaces on either side of feathers of culmen
_rounded_ at the base (posteriorly).
Range.--Northeastern North America; breeds from Isle au Haut, Maine,
to Labrador; winters south to New Jersey and Great Lakes.
[Illustration: 161.]
=161. Pacific Eider= (_Somateria v-nigra_). Similar to No. 159, but
_Ad._ [Male] with a black =V= on throat; sides of bill more broadly
feathered, distance from end of feathers to base of bare space on
culmen less than distance from same place to end of bill.
_Notes._ "A low guttural note." (Nelson.)
Range.--North Pacific from Aleutian Islands north to Arctic Ocean east
to Great Slave Lake.
[Illustration: 162.]
=162. King Eider= (_Somateria spectabilis_). L. 23. Feathers at side
of bill _not_ reaching nostril. _Ad._ [Male]. White patch on either
side of rump, crown ashy blue. _Ad._ [Female] in 1 _Yng._ Resembling
same plumages of No. 159 and No. 160.
Range.--Northern hemisphere; breeds from Labrador and St. Michaels,
Alaska north to Greenland and Arctic Ocean; winters south to New
Jersey (rarely Ga.), and Great Lakes; one California record.
[Illustration: 163.]
=163. American Scoter= (_Oidemia americana_). L. 19. Feathers at base
of bill not extending forward on sides or top. _Ad._ [Male]. Wholly
black; bill black, yellow at base. _Ad._ [Female]. Brownish above,
lighter below; no white on wing or on sides of head. _Notes._ A long
musical whistle. (Elliot.)
Range.--Northern North America; breeds from Labrador and Alaskan
shores of Bering Sea northward; winters south to Virginia, Great
Lakes, Colorado, and California.
[Illustration: 166.]
=166. Surf Scoter= (_Oidemia perspicillata_). L. 20. Feathers
extending forward on top of bill. _Ad._ [Male]. Black, nape and crown
white; bill orange, yellow, and white, a round black patch on its
sides. _Ad._ [Female]. Above black, throat and breast paler; belly
whitish; a whitish patch at base of bill. _Yng._ Similar but with
white patches on ears.
Range.--Northern North America; breeds from Newfoundland northward;
winters south to Virginia, Florida, Illinois, and Lower California.
[Illustration: 165.]
=165. White-winged Scoter= (_Oidemia deglandi_). L. 22. A white patch
on wing; feathers extending forward along _sides and top_ of bill
nearly to nostrils. _Ad._ [Male]. Black, a white spot about eye; bill
orange, black at base. _Ad._ [Female]. Dusky brown above; lighter
below. _Yng._ [Male]. Similar but sides and front of head whitish.
Range.--Northern North America; breeds from Labrador and North Dakota
northward; winters south to Virginia, southern Illinois, and Lower
California.
[Illustration: 177.]
=177. Black-bellied Tree Duck= (_Dendrocygna autumnalis_). L. 22.
_Ads._ belly and tail coverts _black_: foreback and breast gray;
greater wing-coverts whitish. _Notes._ A shrill whistle. (Elliot.)
Range.--Tropical America north to southern Texas.
[Illustration: 178.]
=178. Fulvous Tree Duck= (_Dendrocygna fulva_). L. 22. _Ads._ Belly
uniform rusty brown; upper tail coverts white; a black streak on
hindneck; no white in wing. _Notes._ A squealing whistle.
Range.--Tropical America, north in summer to Texas, Louisiana, Nevada
and central California. "Casual in North Carolina and Missouri." (A.
O. U.)
Geese and Swans
=169. Lesser Snow Goose= (_Chen hyperborea_). L. 23-28, _Ads._ White,
head sometimes rusty; primaries black. _Yng._ Head, neck, and above
grayish.
Range.--"Pacific coast to the Mississippi Valley, breeding in Alaska;
south in winter to southern Illinois and southern California; casually
to New England." (A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 169a.]
=169a. Greater Snow Goose= (_C. h. nivalis_). Similar to No. 169, but
larger, L. 30-38.
Range.--Eastern North America; breeds in Arctic regions; winters from
Chesapeake, New Jersey (rarely) south to Cuba; rare on Atlantic coast
north of Maryland.
[Illustration: 170.]
=170. Ross Snow Goose= (_Chen rossii_). L. 21; B. 1.6. Similar in
color to No. 169, but much smaller; bill particularly smaller.
Range.--Arctic America in summer; Pacific coast to southern California
and east to Montana in winter.
[Illustration: 180.]
=180. Whistling Swan= (_Olor columbianus_). L. 55. Nostril nearer to
tip of bill than to eye. _Ads._ White, bill and feet black; a small
yellow spot before the eye. _Yng._ Head and neck brownish, rest of
plumage washed with grayish. _Notes._ _'whoogh_, _'whoogh_, very loud
and shrill. (Nuttall.)
Range.--North America; breeds within Arctic Circle; winters from
British Columbia (?) Lower Mississippi Valley, Chesapeake Bay, south
to Gulf of Mexico; rare on Atlantic Coast north of Virginia.
[Illustration: 180. Bill of.]
[Illustration: 181. Bill of.]
=181. Trumpeter Swan= (_Clor buccinator_). L. 65. Nostril about in
middle of bill. _Ads._ White, bill and feet black; _no_ yellow on
lores. _Yng._ Head and neck brownish; rest of plumage washed with
grayish. _Notes._ Loud and sonorous in tone like those of a French
horn. (Elliot.)
Range.--"Chiefly the Interior of North America, from the Gulf Coast to
the Fur Countries, breeding from Iowa and the Dakotas northward; west
to the Pacific Coast; rare or casual on the Atlantic." (A.O.U.)
Geese
[Illustration: 169.1]
=169.1. Blue Goose= (_Chen cA|rulescens_). L. 28. _Ads._ Head and neck
white; below brownish gray; foreback like breast; rump gray. _Yng._
Similar but head and neck grayish brown.
Range.--North America; breeds in Hudson Bay region; winters on west
coast of the Gulf of Mexico; two California records; said to have
occurred in New Jersey.
[Illustration: 171a.]
=171a. American White-fronted Goose= (_Anser albifrons gambeli_). L.
28. _Ads._ Forehead and rump white; below spotted with black. _Yng._
Similar but no white on head no black below.
Range.--North America; breeds in Arctic region; winters on Gulf Coast,
California and Mexico; rare on Atlantic coast.
[Illustration: 176.]
=176. Emperor Goose= (_Philacte canagica_). L. 26. _Ads._ Foreneck
blackish; rest of head and neck white sometimes tinged with rusty;
tail mostly white. _Yng._ Body less distinctly scaled; head and
hindneck spotted with grayish. _Notes._ When flying, a deep, hoarse,
strident _clAc-hAc, clAc-hAc, clAc-hAc_; when alarmed and about to fly, a
ringing _A"-lA"gh_,_-A"lA"gh_. (Nelson.)
Range.--"Coast and islands of Alaska north of the Peninsula; chiefly
about Norton Sound and Valley of the Lower Yukon; Commander Islands,
Kamchatka; casually south to Humboldt Bay, California." (A.O.U.)
Geese and Brant
[Illustration: 172.]
=172. Canada Goose= (_Branta canadensis_). L. 38. _Ads._ A white patch
on cheeks and throat; rest of head and neck black; no whitish ring at
base of black neck. _Yng._ Similar but with blackish on white of
throat. _Notes._ A sonorous _honk_.
Range.--North America; breeds from Labrador, Minnesota and British
Columbia, north chiefly in the interior, to Alaska; winters from Long
Island, Illinois and British Columbia south to Mexico and southern
California.
=172a. Hutchins Goose= (_B. c. hutchinsii_). Similar to No. 172, but
smaller; L. 30; tail feathers, 14-16.
Range.--Western North America; breeds in Arctic regions; winters from
British Columbia and Kansas south to Lower California and Mexico.
=172b. White-cheeked Goose= (_B. c. occidentalis_). Size of No. 172,
but throat blackish, lower neck with white collar.
Range.--"Pacific coast region, from Sitka, south in winter to
California." (A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 172c.]
=172c. Cackling Goose= (_B. c. minima_). Similar to No. 172b, but
smaller, L. 24; tail feathers 14-16.
Range.--Western North America; breeds in Alaska; winters from British
Columbia southward; east rarely to Wisconsin.
[Illustration: 173.]
=173. Brant= (_Branta bernicla glaucogastra_). L. 26.
_Ads._ Sides of neck with white markings; belly _whitish_.
_Notes._ A guttural _car-r-rup_, or _r-r-r-rouk_. (Elliot.)
Range.--Northern hemisphere; breeds in Arctic regions; winters in
America, from Mississippi Valley east, and from Illinois and Massachusetts
southward; rare in interior.
[Illustration: 174.]
=174. Black Brant= (_Branta nigricans_). L. 26. _Ads._ _Sides_ and
_front_ of neck with white markings; belly nearly as dark as back.
_Notes._ A low guttural _gr-r-r-r-r_; on alarm repeated often with
emphasis. (Nelson.)
Range.--Western North America; breeds in northern Alaska and eastward;
winters from British Columbia to Lower California; occasional on
Atlantic Coast.
Order VI. FLAMINGOES.
ODONTOGLOSSA†.
Family 1. FLAMINGOES. PhA"nicopteridA|. 1 species.
Flamingoes might be called long-legged Ducks. Their feet are webbed,
and their bill is set with ridges, which serve as sieves or strainers,
as do the 'gutters' on a Duck's bill. They are, however, wading birds
and their webbed feet are of use in supporting them on the soft mud of
shallow lagoons or bays where they search for the favorite food of
small mollusks. In feeding the flat top of the bill is pressed into
the mud when its tip points upward toward the bird's body. Flamingoes
fly with the neck and legs stretched to the utmost presenting on the
wing a picturesque, but by no means so graceful an appearance as do
the Herons. Their voice is a vibrant _honking_ like that of a Goose.
Order VII. HERONS, STORKS, IBISES, ETC.
HERODIONES.
Family 1. SPOONBILLS. PlataleidA|. 1 species.
Family 2. IBISES. IbididA|. 3 species.
Family 3. STORKS and WOOD IBISES. CiconiidA|. 1 species.
Family 4. BITTERNS, HERONS, ETC. ArdhidA|. 14 species, 3 subspecies.
The Roseate Spoonbill was formerly a common bird in Florida and along
the Gulf coast, but so many have been killed for their plumage that in
the United States the species is now exceedingly rare except in the
most remote parts of southern Florida.
Spoonbills build a rude nest of sticks in mangrove bushes or small
trees and lay three to five whitish eggs speckled with shades of
brown.
Ibises are usually found in flocks along the shore of lagoons, lakes,
etc., or in marshy places. They fly with the neck outstretched and are
generally silent. Their nests of reeds, weed stalks, etc., are
sometimes placed in low bushes, at others in grassy marshes. The eggs
number from three to five. They are plain blue in the Glossy Ibis,
greenish white with chocolate markings, in the White Ibis.
The Storks are largely Old World birds, only three of the some twenty
known species inhabiting the Western Hemisphere. But one of these is
found regularly north of the Rio Grande, the so-called Wood Ibis which
is abundant in southern Florida. It lives in flocks and builds a nest
of sticks usually in cypress trees, often forty feet from the ground,
laying two or three white eggs. When flying the neck is extended. It
progresses by alternate flapping and sailing and occasionally soars
high overhead in circles, like a Vulture.
The Bitterns and Herons unlike our other long-legged wading birds, fly
with a fold in the neck. They belong in two subfamilies, the
_BotaurinA|_ and _ArdeinA|_, respectively. The Bitterns are usually
solitary birds inhabiting grassy or reedy marshes where their colors
harmonize with their surroundings and render them difficult to see.
The American Bittern nests on the ground and lays three to five pale
brownish eggs. The Least Bittern usually weaves a platform nest of
reeds among rushes growing in the water and lays four or five bluish
white eggs.
Herons feed along the shore and are consequently more often seen than
Bitterns. With the exception of the Green Heron and the Yellow-crowned
Night Heron, which usually nest in isolated pairs, our species gather
in colonies to nest. Several hundred pairs occupying a limited area
in some wooded or bushy swamp to which, when undisturbed, they return
year after year.
Herons build a rude platform nest of sticks, sometimes placing it in
bushes, sometimes in the tallest trees, and at others on the ground or
beds of reeds in marshes. The eggs are greenish blue in color and
usually four in number. It is among those Herons, which in nesting
time are adorned with delicate plumes or aigrettes, that the greatest
ravages of the millinery hunter have been made. Attacking these birds
when they have gathered on the nesting ground, they are not permitted
to rear their young and the species is thus exterminated branch and
root.
The voice of Herons is a harsh squawk varying in depth of tone with
the size of the bird.
Flamingo, Spoonbill and Ibis
[Illustration: 182.]
=182. Flamingo= (_Phoenicopterus ruber_). L. 45; from toe to bill, 60.
_Ads._ Rosy red, lighter on back; primaries and secondaries black.
_Yng._ Smaller, grayish brown; lighter below. _Notes._ A _honk_
resembling that of a Canada Goose.
Range.--Atlantic coasts of tropical and subtropical America; resident
(breeding?) in southwestern Florida (Monroe county); casual
west to Texas, north to South Carolina.
[Illustration: 183.]
=183. Roseate Spoonbill= (_Ajaia ajaja_). L. 32. _Ads._ Head and
throat bare; sides of breast and end of tail rusty buff; lesser
wing-coverts, upper and under tail-coverts carmine. _Yng._ Head
feathered, buff and carmine replaced by pink.
Range.--Tropical and subtropical America; north to Gulf States.
[Illustration: 185.]
=185. Scarlet Ibis= (_Guara rubra_). L. 24. _Ads._ Scarlet: tips of
primaries black. _Yng._ Grayish brown, lower back, rump, and upper
tail-coverts white; underparts dull white.
Range.--"Florida, Louisiana and Texas, southward to the West Indies
and northern South America. No record of its recent occurrence in the
United States." (A.O.U.)
Ibises
[Illustration: 184.]
=184. White Ibis= (_Guara alba_). L. 25. _Ads._ White, tips of outer
primaries black, face orange red. _Yng._ Grayish brown, rump, breast
and belly white. _Notes._ When near nest, _crook_, _croc_, _croo_;
when disturbed, a loud, hoarse, _bunk_, _bunk_, _hunk_. (Audubon).
Range.--Tropical America; breeds north to Lower California, southern
Indiana, southern Illinois and South Carolina; winters from Gulf
southward; accidental in South Dakota, Connecticut and Long Island.
[Illustration: 186.]
=186. Glossy Ibis= (_Plegadis autumnalis_). L. 24. _Ads._ Front of
head black with greenish reflections. _Yng._ Head and neck fuscous
brown margined with white, rest of underparts fuscous brown; back with
greenish reflections.
Range.--Tropical and subtropical regions in America; rare or local in
southeastern United States; casual north to Massachusetts and
Illinois.
[Illustration: 187.]
=187. White-faced Glossy Ibis= (_Plegadis guarauna_). L. 24. _Ads._
Front of head _white_. _Yng._ Resembles young of No. 186.
Range.--Tropical and subtropical America; north to California, (rarely
British Columbia), Texas, Kansas, east rarely to Florida; winters
south of United States.
[Illustration: 188.]
=188. Wood Ibis= (_Tantalus loculator_). L. 40. _Ads._ Head and
neck bare; white, primaries, secondaries and tail blackish.
_Yng._ Resembles ad. but head and neck feathered, grayish brown.
_Note._ When alarmed, a rough, guttural croak. (Audubon.)
Range.--Tropical and subtropical America; breeds In Gulf States,
(Lower California?), and later may stray as far north as New York,
Wisconsin, and California.
Bitterns
[Illustration: 190.]
=190. American Bittern= (_Botaurus lentiginosus_). L. 28. _Ads._
A glossy black streak on either side of the neck. _Yng._ Similar
to ad. but colors much deeper, more rusty. _Notes._ Call, _quawk_;
song, _pump-er-lunk_.
Range.--North America north to Labrador and British Columbia, breeding
chiefly north of latitude 35A deg.; winters from about latitude 35A deg.
southward.
[Illustration: 191.]
=191. Least Bittern= (_Ardetta exilis_). L. 13. _Ad._ [Male]. Hindneck
rufous, foreneck, underparts, and under tail-coverts white and buff.
_Ad._ [Female]. Similar, but crown and back brown, below streaked with
brownish. _Notes._ Call, an explosive _quab_; song, a soft _coo_
repeated four or five times.
Range.--North America; breeds from Gulf States to New Brunswick and
Manitoba; winters from Gulf States southward. "Less common west of
Rocky Mountains; on the Pacific coast north to northern California."
(A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 191.1]
=191.1. Cory Bittern= (_Ardetta neoxena_). L. 13. _Ad._ [Male].
Hindneck black, foreneck chestnut, belly mixed black and chestnut,
under tail-coverts black. _Ad._ [Female]. Similar, but crown and back
duller.
Range.--Eastern North America; recorded from Florida, Ontario,
(breeding), Massachusetts, and Michigan; about 20 specimens known.
Herons
[Illustration: 192.]
=192. Great White Heron= (_Ardea occidentalis_). _Ads._ White, no
"aigrette" plumes. A white Heron about the size of a Great Blue Heron.
What is supposed to be a gray-blue phase of this bird has been called
_Ardea wuerdmanni_, a bird which resembles No. 194, but has the head
and neck whitish.
Range.--Southern Florida, Cuba and Jamaica.
[Illustration: 196.]
=196. American Egret= (_Herodias egretta_). L. 41. _Ads._ White, about
50 _straight_ "aigrette" plumes grow from the back between the wings;
legs and feet _black_. Ads. when not breeding and Yng., the same, but
no plumes.
Range.--Tropical and temperate America; breeds north to Virginia,
southern Illinois, and California; later strays to New Brunswick,
Minnesota, and Oregon; winters from southern California and Gulf
States southward.
[Illustration: 197.]
=197. Snowy Heron= (_Egretta candidissima_). L. 24. _Ads._ White,
about 50 _recurved_ "aigrette" plumes grow from back between the
wings; legs black, feet _yellow_. Ads. when not breeding and Yng.
The same, but no plumes.
Range.--Tropical and temperate America; bred formerly north to Long
Island, southern Illinois and California; now very rare in eastern
North America; winters from Gulf States and southern California
southward.
[Illustration: 194.]
=194. Great Blue Heron= (_Ardea herodias_). L. 45; W. 18.5; B. 5.5;
Tar. 7. _Ads._ Center of crown white, head crested; legs blackish.
_Yng._ Similar, but no crest, crown wholly black, plumage more
streaked.
Range--Northern South America north to Arctic regions; breeds locally
throughout most of North America range; winters from about latitude
42A deg. southward.
=194a. Northwest Coast Heron= (_A. h. fannini_). Similar to No. 194
but much darker; upperparts bluish slate black; tarsus shorter, 5.3.
Range.--Pacific coast from Vancouver to Sitka.
=194b. Ward Heron= (_A. h. wardi_). Similar to No. 194 but whiter
below, neck darker; legs olive; larger, L. 52; W. 20; B. 6.5; Tar. 8.
Range.--Florida; coast of Texas.
[Illustration: 202.]
=202. Black-crowned Night Heron= (_Nycticorax nycticorax nA|vius_).
L. 24. _Ads._ Crown and back greenish black lower back, wings and
tail ashy; head with two or three rounded white plumes, except just
after breeding season. _Yng._ Grayish brown streaked with white; below
white streaked with blackish; outer webs of primaries, _pale rufous_.
_Notes._ An explosive _qA"awk_.
Range.--Western hemisphere; breeds in North America north to New
Brunswick, Quebec, Manitoba, and Oregon; winters from California and
Gulf States southward.
[Illustration: 203.]
=203. Yellow-crowned Night Heron= (_Nyctanassa violaceus_). L. 23.
_Ads._ Blue-gray; crown and ear-coverts whitish, rest of head black;
scapulars streaked with black; head with two or three rounded, white
plumes, except just after nesting season. _Yng._ Crown _black_,
streaked with whitish; primaries _bluish slate, no rufous_; back
brownish streaked with white; below whitish streaked with blackish.
Range.--Tropical and subtropical America; breeds north to South
Carolina, southern Illinois, and Lower California; strays to
Massachusetts and Colorado; winters from Gulf States southward.
[Illustration: 2198.]
=198. Reddish Egret= (_Dichromanassa rufescens_). L. 29. Two color
phases independent of age. _Ads._ _Dark phase_, Head and neck rufous;
back slate; about 30 "aigrette" plumes. _White phase._ White,
including plumes; tips of primaries sometimes speckled with gray.
_Yng._ Rufous and gray, or white, without plumes.
Range.--West Indies and Central America north to coasts of Gulf
States, Illinois (rarely), and Lower California.
[Illustration: 199.]
=199. Louisiana Heron= (_Hydranassa tricolor ruficollis_). L. 26.
_Ads._ "Aigrette" plumes, short, dirty gray; rump and belly white;
legs blackish. _Yng._ Head and neck brownish; throat and line down
foreneck white; above slaty washed with brownish, rump, and belly
white.
Range.--West Indies and Central America north to Gulf States, casually
to Long Island and Indiana.
[Illustration: 200.]
=200. Little Blue Heron= (_Florida cA"rulea_). L. 22. _Ads._ Head and
neck maroon; rest of plumage slaty blue. _Yng._ White, tips of
primaries bluish, legs _greenish yellow_.
Range.--Tropical America and eastern United States; breeds north to
Virginia and Illinois, later may stray north as far as Nova Scotia;
winters from South Atlantic and Gulf States southward.
[Illustration: 201.]
=201. Little Green Heron= (_Butorides virescens_). L. 17. Smallest of
our Herons. _Ads._ Crown, glossy green-black; throat and line down
foreneck buffy; rest of head and neck purplish chestnut; back green
washed with bluish gray. _Yng._ Neck and below streaked with blackish;
back-feathers not lengthened; duller. _Notes._ A rattling
_oc-oc-oc-oc-oc_, a startling _scow_, and, more rarely, a deep, hollow
groan. (Brewster.)
Range.--Tropical and temperate North America; breeds from Gulf States
north to Nova Scotia and Manitoba; winters from Gulf States southward
to northern South America.
=201a. Frazar Green Heron= (_B. v. frazari_). Similar to No. 201, but
rather larger and darker, neck more purplish, light stripings on
throat and foreneck more restricted. (Brewster.)
Range.--Lower Califorinia.
=201b. Anthony Green Heron= (_B. v. anthonyi_). Similar to No. 201,
but slightly larger, and paler, light markings of wings, neck, and
throat less restricted and whiter. (Mearns.)
Range.--Arid portions of southwestern United States, south into
Mexico.
Order VIII. CRANES, RAILS, ETC.
PALUDICOLA†.
Family 1. CRANES. GruidA|. 3 species.
Family 2. COURLANS. AramidA|. 1 species.
Family 3. RAILS, GALLINULES, and COOTS. RallidA|. 12 species,
3 subspecies.
Cranes bear a general resemblance to Herons in that they are
long-legged, long-necked birds, but when on the wing, they carry the
neck fully extended, a habit which will readily distinguish them from
the curved neck Herons. Cranes are less aquatic than Herons and are
often found feeding on the prairies or pine-barrens where worms,
grasshoppers, lizards, roots, etc., form their fare. They nest on the
ground laying two buffy eggs thickly marked with brown. The young,
unlike the nearly naked, helpless young of Herons, are born covered
with down and can soon follow their parents. The Cranes have loud
sonorous voices; the Herons raucous croaks.
The Limpkin is a singular inhabitant of the more retired Florida
swamps. It feeds upon the ground largely upon a kind of land shell,
but also perches in trees. Its nest of twigs is placed in a small tree
or bush, and it lays from four to seven pale buffy eggs stained and
speckled with cinnamon brown.
The Rails (Subfamily RallinA|) are inhabitants of grassy marshes where,
trusting to their long legs, they more often escape observation by
running than by flying. One may hear their characteristic notes coming
from the dense growth only a few yards distant and still be unable to
catch a glimpse of their maker.
Rails nest on the ground laying six to twelve or fifteen buffy eggs
spotted with reddish brown. The young of all our species are born
covered with a shining black down.
The Gallinules (Subfamily GallinulinA|) are more aquatic than the Rails
and are consequently less difficult to observe.
The Coots (Subfamily FulicinA|) are still more aquatic than the
Gallinules, as might be supposed from their lobed toes, in fact are as
much at home in the water as though they were Ducks. Both Gallinules
and Coots lay eight to sixteen buffy, thickly speckled eggs in a nest
of reeds often built on a pile of rushes in the reeds.
Cranes and Limpkin
[Illustration: 204.]
=204. Whooping Crane= (_Grus americana_). L. 50. _Ads._ White; skin of
top of head dull red; primaries black. _Yng._ Head feathered, plumage
more or less washed with rusty.
Range.--Interior of North America: breeds from northern Mississippi
Valley north to Arctic regions; winters from Gulf States southward.
=205. Little Brown Crane= (_Grus canadensis_). L. 35. W. 18; B. 4.
_Ads._ Skin of top of head dull red; plumage brownish gray. _Yng._
Head feathered, plumage with more or less rusty.
Range.--"Northern North America from Hudson Bay to Alaska, migrating
south through western United States east of Rocky Mountains to
Mexico." (Ridgway.)
[Illustration: 206.]
=206. Sandhill Crane= (_Grus mexicana_). Similar to No. 205, but
larger. L. 44: W. 20; B. 5. _Notes._ A loud, sonorous, grating,
_krrrow_, repeated five or more times.
Range.--North America; breeds locally from Texas, Cuba, Florida north
through Mississippi Valley to Manitoba, British Columbia, and Oregon;
winters from northern California and Gulf States southward.
[Illustration: 207.]
=207. Limpkin= (_Aramus giganteus_). L. 28. _Ads._ Glossy olive-brown,
striped with white; wings and tail more bronzy. _Notes._ A loud
_wah-ree-ow_, repeated and the last note prolonged into a wail.
Range.--Central America and West Indies north to southern Texas and
Florida.
Rails
[Illustration: 208.]
=208. King Rail= (_Rallus elegans_). L. 15. _Ads._ Above olive-brown,
black, and olive-gray; wing-coverts reddish brown; neck and breast
cinnamon; belly and sides _blackish_, _sharply_ and broadly barred
with white. _Notes._ A loud _bup_, _bup_, _bup_, repeated and ending
in a roll.
Range.--Eastern United States; breeds from Florida north to
Connecticut and South Dakota; strays to Maine; winters from Virginia
and Lower Mississippi Valley south to Gulf States.
=209. Belding Rail= (_Rallus beldingi_). Similar to No. 208, but
paler; flank-bars narrower.
Range.--Lower California.
=210. California Clapper Rail= (_Rallus obsoletus_). L. 17. Above
grayish olive-brown streaked with blackish brown; breast cinnamon;
flanks dusky brown narrowly banded with white. Margins to back
feathers much broader than in forms of _crepitans_.
Range.--Salt Marshes of Pacific coast north to Washington.
[Illustration: 212.]
=212. Virginia Rail= (_Rallus virginianus_). L. 9.5; B. 1.5. _Ads._
Above blackish and grayish brown; wing-coverts reddish brown; below
cinnamon, flanks black and white. Resembling a King Rail in color, but
much smaller. _Notes._ Calls, _kep_ or _kik_; song, a grunting sound
and _cut_, _cA"tta-cA"tta-cA"tta_. (Brewster.)
Range.--North America; breeds from Pennsylvania, Long Island, northern
Illinois, and middle California north to Labrador, Manitoba, and
British Columbia; winters from about its southern breeding limits
south to Cuba and Guatemala.
[Illustration: 215.]
=215. Yellow Rail.= (_Porzana noveboracensis_). L. 7; B. .5. _Ads._
Above black and buffy barred with white; breast buffy; sides brownish
barred with white. Notes. An abrupt cackling, _'krA(C)k_, _'krek_,
_'krek_, _'krek_, _kA"k_, _'k'k'k_. (Nuttall.)
Range.--Eastern North America north to New Brunswick, Quebec, and
Hudson Bay, west to Manitoba and rarely California; probably breeds
chiefly north; winters in southern States.
[Illustration: 211.]
=211. Clapper Rail, Marsh Hen= (_Rallus crepitans_). L. 14.5; W. 5;
B. 2.5. _Ads._ Above _pale_ olive bordered by _gray_; wing-coverts
_pale_ grayish brown; breast _pale_ cinnamon; flanks barred _gray_
and white. _Notes._ _Gkak_, _gkak_, _gkak_, at first loud and rapid,
ending lower and slower.
Range.--Salt marshes of the Atlantic coast; breeds from North Carolina
to Connecticut; winters from Long Island (rarely) southward, north
casually to Massachusetts; south casually to Louisiana.
=211a. Louisiana Clapper Rail= (_R. c. saturatus_). Similar to
No. 211, but above rich brown edged with olive; breast darker
cinnamon; bill more slender, 2.3.
Range.--Coast of Louisiana.
[Illustration: 211b.]
=211b. Scott Clapper Rail= (_R. c. scotti_). Similar to No. 211, but
much darker; sooty brown or black above edged with olive-brown or
olive-gray; breast and neck cinnamon, washed with brownish; flanks
brown and white. Darkest bird of group.
Range.--Gulf coast of Florida.
=211c. Wayne Clapper Rail= (_R. c. waynei_). Similar to No. 211, but
darker, back rich olive-brown edged with gray; breast more ashy.
Range.--Atlantic coast, North Carolina to eastern Florida.
=211.2. Caribbean Clapper Rail= (_Rallus longirostris caribA|us_).
L. 14; W. 5.7; B. 2.4. _Ads._ Above olive-brown edged with
olive-ashy, breast cinnamon; flanks _brown_ and white.
Range.--West Indies; coast of southeastern Texas (and northeastern
Mexico?).
[Illustration: 214.]
=214. Carolina Rail= (_Porzana carolina_). L. 8.5; B. 8. _Ads._ Region
about base of bill black. _Yng._ Similar, but no black about base of
bill; breast more cinnamon. _Notes._ Calls, _kuk_ or _peep_, song,
_ker-wee_; and a high, rolling _whinny_.
Range.--North America; breeds from Long Island, Illinois, Kansas, and
southern California, north to Newfoundland, Hudson Bay region, and
British Columbia; winters from South Carolina, southern Illinois, and
northern California south to South America.
[Illustration: 216.]
=216. Little Black Rail= (_Porzana jamaicensis_): L. 5; B. 6. _Ads._
Head, breast, and belly slate; back blackish brown barred with white;
nape reddish brown. _Notes._ Probably, _kik-kik-kik_, _quee'ah_, or
_kik-ki-ki-ki_, _ki_, _quee'ah_, or variants. (Brewster.)
Range.--"Temperate North America north to Massachusetts, northern
Illinois, and Oregon: south to West Indies and Guatemala." (A.O.U.)
Probably breeds throughout its North American range (Connecticut,
Illinois, Kansas).
Gallinules and Coot
[Illustration: 218.]
=218. Purple Gallinule= (_Ionornis martinica_). L. 13. _Ads._
Crown-plate bluish, bill carmine tipped with greenish; back shining
green; below purplish blue; under tail-coverts white. _Yng._ Above
browner; below with white; no red on bill.
Range.--Tropical and subtropical America; breeds only in eastern North
America north to southern Illinois and South Carolina, strays to Maine
and Wisconsin; winters from southern Florida south to South America.
[Illustration: 219.]
=219. Florida Gallinule= (_Gallinula galeata_). L. 13.5. _Ad._
Crown-plate red, bill red tipped with greenish; legs green with a red
ring; back olive-brown; flanks slate _streaked with white_. _Yng._
Crown-plate smaller with bill brownish; no red on legs; below grayish.
_Notes._ An explosive _chuck_ and many loud and varied calls
suggesting a disturbed brooding hen, the squawking of a struggling
hen, etc.
Range.--Temperate and tropical America; breeds locally north to Maine,
Montreal, Minnesota, and northern California; winters from Gulf States
and California southward.
[Illustration: 221.]
=221. American Coot= (_Fulica americana_). L. 15. Toes with scallops.
_Ads._ Bill whitish; crown-plate and two spots on bill brownish; head
and neck black; rest of plumage slate. _Yng._ Whiter below, browner
above, crown-plate smaller. _Notes._ An explosive _cuck_ and noisy
cackling notes.
Range.--North America; breeds in the interior (chiefly northward)
north to the Mackenzie and on Pacific coast to British Columbia;
winters from British Columbia and Gulf States south to Central America
and West Indies.
Order IX. SHORE BIRDS.
LIMICOLA†.
Family 1. PHALAROPES. PhalaropodidA|. 3 species.
Family 2. AVOCETS AND STILTS. RecurvirostridA|. 2 species.
Family 3. SNIPES, SANDPIPERS, ETC. ScolopacidA|. 33 species,
2 subspecies.
Family 4. PLOVERS. CharadriidA|. 9 species, 2 subspecies.
Family 5. SURF BIRDS AND TURNSTONES. AphrizidA|. 4 species.
Family 6. OYSTER-CATCHERS. HA|matopodidA|. 3 species.
Family 7. JACANAS. JacanidA|. 1 species.
The Phalaropes are swimming Snipes. The Northern and Red Phalaropes,
both of which have well-developed lobes or scalloped webs on their
toes, except when nesting, live at sea a hundred miles or more off
shore, where they find an abundance of food in small forms of marine
life. The Wilson Phalarope is a bird of the interior and consequently,
is far less aquatic than the remaining species of the family;
nevertheless it readily takes to water, swimming buoyantly and
gracefully.
Contrary to the general rule, the female Phalarope is larger and more
brightly colored than the male and this difference in size and plumage
is accompanied by similarly unusual habits; the female taking the
place of the male in the Phalarope household. The female of necessity
lays the eggs, but they are hatched by the male alone, who it is said,
cares for the young, also without the assistance of his mate.
The Avocets and Stilts are wading Snipes. The Stilts secure their food
by quick thrusts of the bill, but the Avocets use their singular,
upturned member in a more interesting manner. When in water two or
three inches deep, the bill is dropped below the surface, until the
curved lower mandible evidently touches the bottom; then walking
rapidly, or even running, the bill is swung from side to side and the
bird thus explores the mud in its search for food, which, when it is
felt, is picked up in the usual way.
Many of the members of the family ScolopacidA| are probing Snipe. The
Woodcock, Wilson Snipe, and Dowitcher are good examples. Their bill is
long and sensitive and they can curve or move its tip without opening
it at the base. When the bill is thrust into the mud the tip may
therefore grasp a worm and it thus becomes a finger as well as a
probe.
Though not ranked as song birds, many of the Snipes and Plovers have
pleasing calls and whistles and in the breeding season they become
highly musical or indulge in singular vocal performances.
The song of the Bartramian Sandpiper would attract the attention of
the least observant and the singular aA"rial evolutions of the Snipe
and Woodcock lend an unusual interest to the study of these birds in
the spring. The Pectoral Sandpiper was observed by Nelson in Alaska,
in May, to fill its A"sophagus with air dilating the skin of the neck
and breast and forming a sack as large as the body. Then in the air or
on the ground the bird produced a series of hollow booming notes,
constituting its love song.
The Plovers have shorter, harder bills than the true Snipe and several
of our species frequent the uplands rather than muddy shore or tidal
flats.
The Turnstones are true shore birds. Their home with us is on the
seacoast where they feed along the beach turning over shells and
pebbles in their search for food.
The Oyster-catchers are also strictly maritime. They frequent bars
left bare by the tide and, it is said, use their stout bills to force
open mussels; oysters, or other bivalves left exposed by the water.
This belief, however, does not appear to rest on careful, definite
observation.
The Jacana belongs to a small family of birds with representatives
throughout the tropics. All its members are remarkable for the length
of their toes, the wide extent of which enable these birds to walk
over aquatic vegetation. So, for instance, I have seen them running
over small lily leaves which, sinking slightly beneath the surface,
made the birds appear to be walking on the water.
The LimicolA|, as a rule, nest on the ground. The Phalaropes, Snipes,
and Plovers lay four eggs, the Oyster-catcher three, the Jacanas, it
is said, four in some species to ten in others. The eggs of all are
proportionately large and pointed or pear-shaped and are usually
thickly marked with dark spots. The young are born covered with down
and leave the nest just after hatching.
Shore Birds
[Illustration: _Foot of Phalarope 1/2 Size_]
[Illustration: 222.]
=222. Red Phalarope= (_Crymophilus fulicarius_). L. 8.10; B. 9. Bill
heavy, wider than deep. _Ad._ [Female]. Below entirely reddish brown;
cap black, back black and buff. _Ad._ [Male]. Similar, but smaller;
crown and back streaked with brown, black, and buff. _Yng._ Resemble
[Male], but upper tail-coverts plumbeous, underparts _white_.
_Winter._ _Crown_ and underparts white, hindneck black, back gray.
_Notes._ A musical _clink_, _clink_. (Nelson.)
Range.--"Northern parts of northern hemisphere, breeding in the Arctic
regions and migrating south in winter; in the United States south to
the Middle States. Ohio Valley, and Cape St. Lucas; chiefly maritime."
(A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 223.]
=223. Northern Phalarope= (_Phalaropus lobatus_). L. 7.7; B. .8. Bill
short, slender, sharply pointed. _Ad._ [Female]. Breast rufous; above
slaty gray mixed with ochraceous on back. _Ad._ [Male]. Smaller, less
rufous; on throat; above blackish streaked with rusty. _Yng._
Underparts and _forehead_ white; crown sooty; back blackish streaked
with straw-color. _Winter._ Upperparts gray mixed with white;
underparts white. _Notes._ A low chippering, clicking note.
Range.--Northern hemisphere; breeds from Labrador and northern British
America north to Greenland and Alaska; winters apparently south of
United States where it is known as a migrant chiefly off the coasts.
[Illustration: 224.]
=224. Wilson Phalarope= (_Steganopus tricolor_). L. 9.5; B. 1.3. Bill
long. _Ad._ [Female]. Sides of neck black and chestnut; crown and back
gray. _Ad._ [Male]. Smaller; chestnut and black much less and duller;
crown and back blackish, latter sometimes with rufous. _Yng._ Below
white; crown and back black margined with ochraceous; nape brownish
gray. _Winter._ Above gray, upper tail-coverts white; below white.
_Notes._ A soft, trumpet _yna_, _yna_.
Range.--North America, chiefly in the interior; breeds from northern
Illinois (rarely), Minnesota and Central California, north to latitude
55A deg.; winters south of United States to southern South America.
[Illustration: 283.]
=283. Turnstone= (_Arenaria interpres_). Similar to 283.1 but larger,
W. 6., and upperparts in _ad._ with black prevailing. _Yng._ Blacker
than young of 283.1.
Range.--Eastern hemisphere, in America, only in Greenland and Alaska.
=283.1. Ruddy Turnstone= (_Arenaria morinella_). L. 9.5; W. 5.7.
_Ads._ Reddish brown prevailing in upper surface. _Yng._ Above and
breast grayish brown margined with buffy, throat, abdomen, rump and
long upper tail-coverts _white_ as in ad.; shorter upper tail-coverts
black. _Notes._ When flying, a loud twittering note. (Nuttall.)
Range.--Nearly cosmopolitan; breeds in Arctic regions; winters in
America south of United States to Patagonia.
[Illustration: 288.]
=288. Mexican Jacana= (_Jacana spinosa_). L. 8. Toes over 1.5. _Ads._
Chestnut and black; wings mostly greenish. _Yng._ Forehead, line over
eye, and below white. Above grayish brown, sometimes with rump
chestnut, nape black. _Notes._ A harsh, rapidly repeated _eep_, _eep_,
_eep_.
Range.--Central America and Mexico north to Lower Rio Grande Valley,
Cuba and Haiti.
[Illustration: 225.]
=225. American Avocet= (_Recurvirostra americana_). L. 16.5; B. 3.7.
_Ads._ Head and neck rufous; belly white; wings black and white. _Yng.
and Ads. in winter._ Similar, but head and neck grayish or whitish.
_Notes._ A rather musical, loud _plAe"Ae"-Ae"Ae"k_ hurriedly
repeated.
Range.--North America west of Mississippi; breeds from northern
States, central California and rarely Texas, north in the interior to
latitude 54A deg.: winters from southern California and western Gulf States
to Central America and West Indies; casual on Atlantic coast.
[Illustration: 264.]
=264. Long-billed Curlew= (_Numenius longirostris_). L. 24; B. 6.,
longest among our Snipe. _Ads._ Above black and buffy; tail barred
buffy and black; below buffy, neck and breast finely streaked with
dusky. _Yng._ Similar, but buff deeper.
Range.--North America; breeds on Atlantic coast from Florida to North
Carolina; in interior north to Manitoba and British Columbia; later
strays casually to Newfoundland and Ontario; winters from Gulf States
and southern California southward.
[Illustration: 265.]
=265. Hudsonian Curlew= (_Numenius hudsonicus_). L. 17; B. 3.7. _Ads._
Less buff than No. 264; above dark grayish brown and brownish gray;
tail barred with same; below white, breast streaked; sides barred with
blackish.
Range.--North America; breeds in Arctic region; winters south of
United States to South America.
[Illustration: 266.]
=266. Eskimo Curlew= (_Numenius borealis_). L. 13.5; B. 2. _Ads._ Tail
barred with grayish brown and black; above blackish and buffy; below
buffy, the breast thickly streaked; sides barred with blackish.
Range.--Eastern North America; breeds In Arctic regions; winters south
of United States to South America; migrates chiefly through interior.
[Illustration: 226.]
=226. Black-necked Stilt= (_Himantopus mexicanus_). L. 15; Tar 4.10.
_Ad._ [Male]. Forehead, lower back, and underparts white; crown,
hindneck, upper back, and wings black. _Ad._ [Female]. Similar, but
upper back and scapulars grayish brown. _Yng._ Similar to [Female],
but brown and black feathers lightly margined with buffy.
_Notes._ A sharp, rapidly uttered _ip-ip-ip_ when flying; a hoarse
_k-r-r-r-r-ing_ note when on the ground.
Range.--Temperate and tropical America; breeds north to Gulf States,
(locally and rarely in Mississippi Valley to Minnesota) and
California; winters from southern California and West Indies to
northern South America; rare east of Mississippi except in Gulf
States.
[Illustration: 286.]
=286. American Oyster-catcher= (_HA|matopus palliatus_). L. 19. _Ads._
Base of tail and longer upper tail-coverts white, shorter coverts and
_all_ back blackish brown; white in wings conspicuous in flight.
_Yng._ Similar but feathers above with buffy margins. _Notes._ A sharp
_eep_, _eep_.
Range.--Temperate and tropical America; breeds on sea coasts only,
north to Virginia and western Mexico; winters south of United States
to South America; casual north to Nova Scotia.
=286.1. Frazar Oyster-catcher= (_HA|matopus frazari_). Similar to No.
286, but darker above, black breast passing into white belly through a
mottled black and white band; upper tail coverts with brown markings.
Range.--"Lower California (both coasts), north to Los Coronados
Islands." (A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 287.]
=287. Black Oyster-catcher= (_HA|matopus bachmani_). L. 17. _Ads._
Black. _Yng._ Somewhat browner. _Notes._ A musical, piping whistle.
Range.--"Pacific coast of North America from Aleutian Islands to La
Paz, Lower California."
[Illustration: 228.]
=228. American Woodcock= (_Philohela minor_). L. 11. _Ads._ Below
ochraceous-rufous; _no bars_; forehead slaty crown black with rusty
bars; back mixed black, rusty and slaty. _Notes._ A nasal _peent_ or
_paip_; a whistling of wings and a twittering whistle.
Range.--Eastern North America; breeds locally from Florida to Labrador
and Manitoba, but chiefly northward; winters from southern New Jersey
and southern Illinois to Gulf States.
[Illustration: 230.]
=230. Wilson Snipe= (_Gallinago delicata_). L. 11.2. _Ads._ Throat and
belly white or whitish; breast rusty buff indistinctly streaked; sides
_barred_; above streaked black and cream-buff; tail black and rusty;
outer feathers barred black and white. _Notes._ When taking flight
several sudden, hoarse _scaipes_; a tremulous, penetrating bleating,
thought to be produced by air rushing through the birds wings; a
_kA"k-kA"k-kA"k_. (Brewster.)
Range.--North America; breeds from northern New England (rarely
Connecticut), northern Illinois and northern California north to
Labrador, Hudson Bay, and Alaska; winters from California, southern
Illinois, and South Carolina to northern South America.
[Illustration: 261.]
=261. Bartramian Sandpiper= (_Bartramia longicauda_). L. 11.5. Outer
primary barred black and white. _Ads._ Above black, ochraceous, and
brownish gray; breast and sides with dusky arrowheads; throat and
belly whitish. _Yng._ Similar, but more buffy. _Notes._ Call, a soft,
bubbling whistle; song, a prolonged, mournful, mellow whistle,
"_chr-r-r-r-r-ee-e-e-e-e-e-oo-oo-o-oo_."
Range.--North America chiefly interior; breeds locally from Kansas and
Virginia to Alaska and Nova Scotia; winters south of United States to
South America.
[Illustration: 262.]
=262. Buff-breasted Sandpiper= (_Tryngites subruficollis_). L. 8.5.
Inner border of inner web of primaries beautifully speckled with black
and white. _Ads._ Above black widely margined with grayish brown;
below ochraceous-buff; a few black spots. _Yng._ Above blackish brown,
finely and evenly margined with whitish; below much as in adult.
Range.-"North America especially in the interior; breeds in the Yukon
district and the interior of British America north to the Arctic
coast; south in winter as far as Uruguay and Peru." (A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 281.]
=281. Mountain Plover= (_Podasocys montana_). L. 9. No black on
breast. _Ads._ Lores and crown-band black; above grayish brown washed
with pale rusty. _Yng._ Similar, but no black, rusty wash deeper.
_Winter._ Same as last but rusty paler.
Range.--Western United States; breeds from Kansas to North Dakota;
winters westward to California, south to Lower California and Mexico;
accidental in Florida.
[Illustration: 231.]
=231. Dowitcher= (_Macrorhamphus griseus_) L. 10.5; B. 2.1, pitted at
tip. _Ads._ _Rump_, _tail_, under wing-coverts, and axillars _barred_
black and white; above black margined with rusty; rump, white; below
reddish brown, spotted and barred with black. _Yng._ Similar, but
breast gray tinged with rusty; belly white. _Winter._ Above gray,
breast gray mixed with dusky, belly white.
Range.--Eastern North America; breeds chiefly north and northwest of
Hudson Bay; winters from Florida to northern South America.
[Illustration: 232.]
=232. Long-billed Dowitcher= (_Macrorhamphus scolopaceus_). B. 2.1 to
2.9. Similar to preceding but larger, bill longer; in adult spring
plumage more barred below. _Notes._ A lisping, energetic musical,
_peet-peet_; _pAe•e-ter-wAe•e-too_; _wAe•e-too_ repeated. (Nelson.)
Range.--"Western North America, breeding in Alaska to the Arctic
coast, migrating south in winter through western United States
(including Mississippi Valley) to Mexico, and less commonly along
Atlantic coast." (A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 233.]
=233. Stilt Sandpiper= (_Micropalama himantopus_). L. 8.2; tarsus
long, 1.6. _Ads._ Entire underparts and upper tail-coverts white
barred with black; tail not barred. _Yng._ Resembles ad. but below
white, breast lightly streaked: rump white no bars. _Winter._ Similar
to yng. but back gray.
Range.--Eastern North America; breeds within Arctic Circle; winters
from Florida to South America.
[Illustration: 234.]
=234. Knot= (_Tringa canutus_). L. 10.5; B. 1.3. Upper tail-coverts
with black bars and loops; tail feathers without bars narrowly
margined with white. _Ads._ Mixed black, gray and reddish brown above,
reddish brown below. _Yng._ Above gray, margined with cream-white and
black; below white; breast lightly streaked. _Winter._ Similar, but
above gray.
Range.--Northern hemisphere; breeds within Arctic circle; winters from
Florida to South America: migrates chiefly along the coasts, rare on
Pacific coast of United States.
[Illustration: 244.]
=244. Curlew Sandpiper= (_Erolia ferruginea_). L. 8; B. 1.5, slightly
curved. _Ads._ Below chestnut-rufous, above rusty and black. _Yng._
Above brownish gray margined with whitish; back blacker; below white.
_Winter._ Above plain brownish gray; below white.
Range.--"Old World in general; occasional in Eastern North America and
Alaska." (A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 235.]
=235. Purple Sandpiper= (_Arquatella maritima_). L. 9. _Ads._ Above
black, margined with rusty and cream-buff; below white, breast and
sides heavily marked with black. _Winter._ Head, neck, and breast,
slaty; back blacker, margined with slaty; central secondaries largely
white.
Range.--"Northern portions of the northern hemisphere; in North
America chiefly the northeastern portions, breeding in the high north,
migrating in winter to the Eastern and Middle States (casually to
Florida), the Great Lakes and Upper Mississippi Valley." (A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 236.]
=236. Aleutian Sandpiper= (_Arquatella couesi_). L. 8.5. Similar to
No. 235, but ad. and yng. with more ochraceous; in winter grayish
margins to back lighter and wider. _Notes._ When flying, a low, clear,
musical _tweo-tweo-tweo_; when feeding, _clA"-clA"-clA"_. (Nelson.)
Range.--"Aleutian Islands and coast of Alaska, north to Kowak River,
west to Commander Islands, Kamchatka." (A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 256.]
=256. Solitary Sandpiper= (_Helodromas solitarius_). L. 8.4. Under
wing-coverts, axillars, and all but middle tail-feathers barred black
and white. _Ads._ Above fuscous with a faint greenish tinge; head and
neck streaked, back spotted with whitish; below white; throat and
breast distinctly streaked with dusky. _Yng._ Fewer spots and streaks
above; breast markings fused. _Winter._ Practically no white markings
above.
Range.--Eastern North America; breeds from Northern States (rarely and
sporadically) northward; little known of breeding habits; winters
south of United States to South America.
=256a. Western Solitary Sandpiper= (_H. s. cinnamomeus_). Similar to
No. 256, but spots above buffy, especially in fall; inner margin of
outer primary speckled black and white.
Range.--Western North America; breeds in British Columbia (exact
breeding range unknown); winters south of United States.
[Illustration: 263.]
=263. Spotted Sandpiper= (_Actitis macularia_). L. 7.5. _Ads._ Below
white _thickly_ spotted with black; above brownish gray with a faint
greenish lustre, lightly marked with black. _Yng._ Similar above but
faintly margined with dusky and buff; below white, breast grayer; _no
black marks_. _Winter._ Same but no margins above. _Notes._
_Peet-weet_, repeated.
Range.--North America, north to Hudson Bay; breeds throughout its
North American range; winters from southern California and West Indies
to South America.
[Illustration: 284.]
=284. Black Turnstone= (_Arenaria melanocephala_). L. 9. No rusty;
lower back, longer upper tail-coverts and base of tail white; shorter
upper tail-coverts black. _Ads._ Above and breast brownish black;
belly white. _Yng._ Browner margined with whitish. _Winter._ Same as
Yng, but no margins. _Notes._ A sharp, _weet_, _weet_, _too-weet_.
(Nelson.)
Range.--"Pacific coast of North America from Point Barrow, Alaska to
Santa Margarita Island, Lower California; breeding from Alaska to
British Columbia." (A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 237.]
=237. Pribilof Sandpiper= (_Arquatella ptilocnemis_). L. 10. _Ads._
Similar to No. 236 above but crown much lighter; _breast_ with a
_black patch_. _Yng._ Resemble adult above but breast grayish
indistinctly streaked and with a pale buff band; belly white.
_Winter._ Similar to yng. but slaty gray above.
Range.--"Breeding in the Pribilof Islands, Alaska, and migrating to
coast of adjacent mainland south of Norton Sound." (A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 243a.]
=243a. Red-backed Sandpiper= (_Pelidna alpina pacifica_). L. 8;
B. 1.5; slightly curved. _Ads._ Belly black; back chiefly rusty.
_Yng._ Breast buffy, lightly streaked with dusky; belly white
_spotted_ with black; back black, rusty, and buff. _Winter._ Above
brownish gray; below white; breast grayish, indistinctly streaked.
Range.--North America; breeds in Arctic regions and winters from Gulf
States and California to South America.
[Illustration: 246.]
=246. Semipalmated Sandpiper= (_Ereunetes pusillus_). L. 6.3; B. .6
to .8. Toes webbed at base. _Ads._ Above brownish gray and black;
_little or no rusty_; below white, breast _indistinctly_ streaked.
_Yng._ Above with rusty and whitish margins; below white, breast grayish
no streaks. _Winter._ Above brownish gray with black shaft streaks;
below white. _Notes._ _weet-weet_.
Range.--Eastern North America; breeds in Arctic regions; winters from
Gulf States to South America.
[Illustration: 247.]
=247. Western Sandpiper= (_Ereunetes occidentalis_). Similar to
preceding but bill longer .8 to 1.2; ads. more rusty above, breast
streaks more distinct, and more numerous. _Notes._ Call, a soft
_weet-weet_; song, uttered on the wing, "a rapid, uniform series of
rather musical trills." (Nelson.)
Range.--North America, chiefly west of Mississippi Valley; breeds in
Arctic regions; winters from Gulf States to South America.
[Illustration: 248.]
=248. Sanderling= (_Calidris arenaria_). L. 8. Three toes, tarsus
scaled. _Ads._ Above rusty, black and grayish; below white, breast
spotted with black and _washed with rusty_. _Yng._ Nape grayish, back
_black_, feathers with _two_ white or yellowish white terminal spots;
below silky white. _Winter._ Above brownish gray with dusky shaft
streaks; below silky white.
Range.--"Nearly cosmopolitan, breeding in Arctic and Sub-Arctic
regions, migrating, in America, south to Chili and Patagonia."
(A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 238.]
=238. Sharp-tailed Sandpiper= (_Actodromas acuminata_). L. 8.7. _Tail
feathers pointed._ _Ads._ A white line over eye; breast buff streaked
with blackish. _Yng._ Crown as in ad., back black and rusty; below
white, breast buffy, no streaks. _Winter._ Back grayish brown streaked
with blackish; below as in yng., but breast grayer and with indistinct
streaks. _Notes._ A soft metallic _pleep-pleep_. (Nelson.)
Range.--"Eastern Asia, and coast of Alaska, migrating south to Java
and Australia." (A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 239.]
=239. Pectoral Sandpiper= (_Actodromas maculata_). L. 9. _Ads._ Middle
tail-feathers longest, pointed, blackish margined with rusty; above
black and rusty; below white, breast thickly streaked; upper
tail-coverts _black_. _Yng. and in winter_ much the same. _Notes._
Call, a grating whistle; song, a hollow, resonant, musical
_tA¨A¨-A"_, repeated eight times, made after filling A|sophagus
with air until it is puffed out to size of the body. (Nelson.)
Range.--North America; breeds in Arctic regions; winters south of
United States to South America; rare on Pacific coast.
[Illustration: 240.]
=240. White-rumped Sandpiper= (_Actodromas fuscicollis_). L. 7.5.
Longer upper tail-coverts _white_. _Ads._ Breast white, _distinctly
spotted_ or streaked. _Yng._ More rufous above; breast less distinctly
streaked. _Winter._ Brownish gray above; similar to yng. below.
Range.--Eastern North America; breeds in the interior north of Hudson
Bay; winters south of United States to southern South America; rare on
Pacific coast.
[Illustration: 241.]
=241. Baird Sandpiper= (_Actodromas bairdii_). L. 7.5. No rusty in
plumage. _Ads._ Longest upper tail-coverts _blackish_; breast buffy,
_faintly_ streaked. _Yng._ Similar, but back _conspicuously_ margined
with whitish. _Winter._ Above "buffy grayish brown," no white margins.
Range.--Interior of North America; breeds in the Arctic regions and
winters south of United States to southern South America.
[Illustration: 242.]
=242. Least Sandpiper= (_Actodromas minutilla_). L. 6. Smartest of our
Sandpipers. _Ads._ Above black, buff and rufous; below white breast
lightly streaked. _Yng._ Similar, but breast less distinctly streaked.
_Winter._ Above brownish gray, often streaked with black, below white.
_Notes._ _Peep-peep._
Range.--North America; breeds from Sable Island and Magdalens
northward; winters from Gulf States and California south to South
America.
[Illustration: 249.]
=249. Marbled Godwit= (_Limosa fedoa_). L. 18; B. 4; slightly
recurved. Tail barred, cinnamon and black; under wing-coverts cinnamon
with more or less fine black markings. _Ads._ Above black and
ochraceous; below buffy white finely and uniformly barred with black.
_Yng._ Similar, but with no or with but few bars below.
Range.--North America; breeds in the interior from western Minnesota,
rarely Iowa and Nebraska northward; winters south of United States to
Central America and West Indies.
[Illustration: 250.]
=250. Pacific Godwit= (_Limosa lapponica baueri_). L. 16. B. 3.7,
slightly recurved, tail barred black and white; under wing-coverts
black and white. _Ads._ "Head, neck and lower parts, plain cinnamon
color." (Ridgw.) _Winter._ Above black, grayish and rusty, former
prevailing; below white; throat streaked, elsewhere with irregular,
black bars. _Notes._ "A loud ringing _kA"-we'w_, repeated."
Range.--"Shores and Islands of the Pacific Ocean, from New Zealand and
Australia to Kamchatka and Alaska. On the American coast recorded
south of Alaska only from La Paz, Lower California." (A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 251.]
=251. Hudsonian Godwit= (_Limosa hA|mastica_). L. 15; B. 3.2, slightly
recurved. Under wing-coverts dusky; upper tail-coverts black and
white; tail black at end, white at base. _Ads._ Above black, rusty and
grayish, below chestnut-red barred with blackish and faintly tipped
with white. _Yng._ Similar, but below buffy whitish, breast grayer.
_Winter._ Similar below but above brownish gray.
Range.--Eastern North America chiefly interior; breeds in Arctic
Regions; winters south of United States to South America.
[Illustration: 270.]
=270. Black-bellied Plover= (_Squatarola squatarola_). L. 11. Hind-toe
present, small. _Ads._ Above black and white, no yellowish; below
black. _Yng._ Above grayish brown spotted with white and some
yellowish; below white. _Winter._ Similar to preceding but nearly
uniform brownish above.
Range.--Northern Hemisphere; breeds in Arctic Regions, winters in
America from Florida to Brazil.
[Illustration: 272.]
=272. American Golden Plover= (_Charadrius dominicus_). L. 10.5; W. 7.
No hind-toe; axillars dusky. _Ads._ Above conspicuously spotted with
yellow; below black, sides of breast white. _Yng._ Duller above, below
grayish white with dusky marks and yellowish wash. _Winter._ Similar
but no yellow below. _Notes._ Call, a plaintive _too-lee-e_; song, a
marvelously harmonious succession of notes. (Nelson.)
Range.--Western Hemisphere; breeds in Arctic Regions; winters from
Florida to Patagonia, rare on Pacific coast.
=272a. Pacific Golden Plover= (_C. d. fulvus_). Similar to No. 272 but
wing shorter, 6.5; yellow richer.
Range.--"Breeding from northern Asia to the Pribilof Islands and coast
of Alaska, south in winter through China and India to Australia and
Polynesia." (A.O.U.)
[Illustration: 254.]
=254. Greater Yellow-legs= (_Totanus melanoleucus_). L. 14; B. 2.2.
No rusty; upper tail-coverts mostly white; tail barred with black and
white or gray. _Ads._ Above black margined with whitish; below white
and black. _Yng._ Above grayish margined with whitish; below white,
breast lightly streaked. _Winter._ Similar but white margins less
conspicuous. _Notes._ A whistled _wheu_, _wheu-wheu-wheu-wheu-wheu-wheu_,
_wheu-wheu_.
Range.--North America; breeds from Minnesota, rarely northern
Illinois, and Anticosti northward; winters from Gulf States and
California to southern South America.
[Illustration: 255.]
=255. Yellow-legs= (_Totanus flavipes_). L. 10.7; B. 1.4. Si
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