Chapter X: Part 10

That this species is naturally disposed to seek alpine sections of the country for the purpose of reproduction, I obtained abundant proof whilst in Labrador, where I found it plentiful, and breeding on the moss-clad crests of the highest rocks, within short distances of the sea. There are means through which the experienced student of Nature may discover the hidden treasures of birds of this family, which to others would prove useless, and which I shall here point out. At all periods, excepting those at which they have nests containing eggs, or young so small and delicate as to require all the care of their parents, the flight of the present species usually resembles that of the Common Snipe, _Scolopax Wilsonii_; but when startled from the nest, or from any place in its immediate vicinity, it rises on wing, and moves off low over the ground with deeply incurved wings, and with a whirring motion of these organs, which, if as rapid as that of a Partridge, would appear quite similar; but, on such occasions, our bird moves slowly before you, and instead of uttering the note of independence, as it were, which it emits at other times while freely and fearlessly travelling, it gives out sounds weakened as if by grief or anxiety, for the purpose of inducing you to follow it. If on the ground, it acts in a similar manner, moves off slowly, and limping as if crippled, and this at times quite as much as if you had really come upon it while on its nest, or surprised it with its young. On all such occasions, Reader, you ought to mark well the spot from which the bird has started, and, to assure yourself that your eye may not be deceived, throw your cap or hat at your feet to serve as a beacon, should necessity afterwards call for it, to guide you around the place until you have discovered the nest which you are desirous of seeing.

Through these means, on the 20th of July 1838, I after some search found the nest and eggs of this species. The birds flew, to use the words of my Journal, like Partridges, and not like Tringas. I marked them well, for both the female and the male flew from near the nest, and having left my fisher’s hat where I then stood, I walked carefully over the moss hither and thither, until at last I came upon the spot. My pleasure would have been greatly augmented had any of my young companions been near; but the sailors who had rowed me to the foot of the rocks exhibited little more delight than they would have done on finding that their grog had been stopped. For my part, I felt as happy as when, on the same coast, I for the first time saw the nest and eggs of the Black-crowned Warbler, of which you have read an account, in the second volume of this work. Four beautiful eggs, larger than I had expected to see produced by birds of so small a size, lay fairly beneath my eye as I knelt over them for several minutes in perfect ecstasy. The nest had been formed first, apparently, by the patting of the little creature’s feet on the crisp moss, and in the slight hollow thus produced were laid a few blades of slender dry grass bent in a circular manner, the internal diameter of the nest being two inches and a half, and its depth an inch and a quarter. The eggs, which were in shape just like those of the Spotted Sandpiper, _Totanus macularius_, measured seven and a half eighths of an inch in length, and three-fourths of an inch in breadth. Their ground colour was a rich cream-yellow tint, blotched and dotted with very dark umber, the markings larger and more numerous toward the broad end. They were placed with their pointed ends together, and were quite fresh. The nest lay under the lea of a small rock, exposed to all the heat the sun can afford in that country. No sooner had the little creatures felt assured that I had discovered their treasure, than they manifested a great increase of sorrow, flew from the top of one crag to another in quick succession, and emitted notes resembling the syllables _peep_, _peet_, which were by no means agreeable to my feelings, for I was truly sorry to rob them of their eggs, although impelled to do so by the love of science, which affords a convenient excuse for even worse acts.

This pair, however, would seem to have been late in depositing their eggs, for on the 4th of August my party and myself saw young birds almost as large as their parents, and agreeing in almost every point with the descriptions given of _Tringa Temminckii_. Many small flocks of these birds, consisting of old and young, were already departing from Labrador, and were seen on all our excursions. On the 11th of August, we also found adult and young in great numbers. But not a single newly hatched individual of this species could I procure, while the young of the Ring Plover were very abundant.

I was surprised, whilst rambling along the shores of the Raritan River, between New Jersey and New York, to find a great number of Little Sandpipers, on the 29th of July 1832, leading me to believe that they had probably bred on the elevated portions of Staten Island, although on the other hand, they might have been barren birds. I have been equally astonished to see large flocks of this species on the sand-bars along the shores of the Ohio, below the great Rapids, about the middle of August. According to Dr RICHARDSON, it “breeds within the Arctic Circle, arriving as soon as the snow melts. It was observed on the 21st of May, on the swampy borders of small lakes in latitude 66°. The crops of those we killed were filled with a soft blackish earth, and some white worms.” From the above quotation, I would be almost inclined to believe that, like some others of our birds, which are said to be found in northern Europe, this might be one.

The habits of the Little Sandpiper have been described with great care and accuracy by my friend THOMAS NUTTALL. His account is indeed so perfect that I shall here lay it before you in preference to one by myself. “The Peeps, as they have been called, are seen in the salt marshes around Boston, as early as the 8th of July. Indeed, so seldom are they absent from us in the summer season, that they might be taken for denizens of the state, or the neighbouring countries. When they arrive, now and then accompanied by the semi-palmated species, the air is sometimes, as it were, clouded with their flocks. Companies led from place to place in quest of food, are seen whirling suddenly in circles, with a desultory flight, at a distance, resembling a swarm of hiving bees, seeking out some object on which to settle. At this time, deceiving them by an imitation of their sharp and querulous whistle, the fowler approaches, and adds destruction to the confusion of their timorous and restless flight. Flocking together for common security, the fall of their companions, and their plaintive cry, excite so much sympathy among the harmless Peeps, that, forgetting their own safety, or not well perceiving the cause of the fatality which the gun spreads among them, they fall sometimes in such a state of confusion, as to be routed with but little effort, until the greedy sportsman is glutted with his timorous and infatuated game. When much disturbed, they, however, separate into small and wandering parties, and are now seen gleaning their fare of larvæ, worms, minute shell-fish, and insects, in the salt marshes, or on the muddy and sedgy shores of tide rivers and ponds. At such times they may be very nearly approached, betraying rather a heedless familiarity than a timorous mistrust of their most wily enemy; and even when rudely startled, they will often return to the same place in the next instant, to pursue their lowly occupation of scraping in the mud, whence, probably, originated the contemptible appellation of _Humility_, by which they and some other small birds of similar habits have been distinguished. For the discovery of their food, their flexible and sensitive awl-like bills are thrust into the mire, marshy soil, or wet sand, in the manner of the Snipe and Woodcock, and in this way they discover and route from their hiding retreat, the larvæ and soft worms which form a principal part of their fare. At other times, they also give chase to insects, and pursue their calling with amusing alacrity. When at length startled, or about to join the company they have left, a sharp, short, and monotonous whistle, like the word _peet_, or _peep_, is uttered, and they instantly take to wing, and course along with the company they had left. On seeing the larger marsh-birds feeding, as the Yellow-shanks and others, a whirling flock of the Peeps will descend among them, being generally allowed to feed in quiet; and at the approach of the sportsman, these little timorous rovers are ready to give the alarm. At first, a slender _peep_ is heard, which is then followed by two or three others, and presently _peep_, _pip_, _pip’ p’p_, murmurs in a lisping whistle through the quailing ranks, as they rise on the wing, and inevitably entice with them their larger but less watchful associates. Towards evening in fine weather, the marshes almost re-echo with the shrill but rather murmuring or lisping, subdued, and querulous call of _peet_, and then a repetition of _pé-dee_, _pé-dée_, _deĕ-dĕe_, which seems to be the collecting cry of the old birds calling together their brood, for, when assembled, the note changes into a confused murmur of _peet_, _peet_, attended by a short and suppressed whistle.”

During my never-to-be-forgotten residence at Henderson, on the banks of the fair Ohio, I was in the habit of frequently seeing large flocks of these birds on the sandy shores of that river, during the autumnal months, and finding after a while that they could easily be driven into a partridge net, I laid one accordingly on several occasions, when, by using gentle means, I induced many dozens of these tiny, fat, and delicious birds to enter and become prisoners. I clipped the wings of many of them, and turned them loose in my garden, for the purpose of studying their habits in this sort of half-confined state; but they were all soon destroyed by these most destructive pests, the Norway rats, which at that time infested all my premises.

I found these birds quite abundant on the whole coast of Florida, during winter, and I have no doubt that many remain with us all the year; indeed, it would not at all surprise me to hear that some of them actually breed in parts of the alpine districts of our Middle States. I have also found them equally numerous along the whole coast of the Bay of Mexico, during my recent visit to Texas, when, late in April, some of them were still travelling from farther south-west, and proceeding eastward. In South Carolina, they are frequent in spring and autumn, along the borders of the rice fields, and inland fresh-water ponds.

Since writing the above, my friend Dr TOWNSEND has furnished me with a list of some of the birds seen by him on the Rocky Mountains and the Columbia River, in which this species is mentioned as being found along the shores of that celebrated stream of the far west.

TRINGA PUSILLA, _Wils._ Amer. Ornith. vol. v. p. 32, pl. 37,
fig. 4.—_Ch. Bonap._, Synopsis of Birds of the United States,
p. 319.

WILSON’S SANDPIPER, TRINGA WILSONII, _Nuttall_, Manual, vol.
ii. p. 120.

Adult Male in Summer Plumage. Plate CCCXX. Fig. 1.

Bill shorter than the head, slender, straight, compressed, tapering from the base to near the point, which is slightly swelled, but with the tip rather acute. Upper mandible with the dorsal line straight, the ridge narrow and convex, a little broader and flattened towards the end, the sides sloping, with the nasal groove extending to near the tip. Lower mandible with the angle very long and narrow, the dorsal line straight, towards the end slightly declinate, the sides sloping a little outwards, with a groove extending to near the tip.

Head of moderate size, oblong, compressed. Neck rather short. Body compact, ovate. Feet of moderate length and slender; tibia bare a fourth of its length; tarsus of moderate length, compressed, scutellate before and behind, so as to leave scarcely any intermediate space; hind toe extremely small; anterior toes rather long, slender, free, slightly margined, and with numerous scutella above. Claws small, slightly arched, much compressed, that of the third toe larger, with the inner edge a little dilated.

Plumage soft, blended on the neck and lower parts, somewhat compact on the upper. Wings long, pointed; primaries tapering, obtuse, the first longest, the second very little shorter, the third rather more than one-eighth of an inch shorter than the second, the rest rapidly decreasing; outer secondaries incurved, obliquely rounded, inner straight, tapering, one of them reaching to two-twelfths of an inch of the end of the first quill. Tail of moderate length, doubly emarginate, that is with the middle feathers considerably longer than the lateral, which are a little longer than the intermediate.

Bill greenish-dusky; feet pale dull yellowish-green; claws black; iris hazel. The feathers on the upper part of the head, and back, including the scapulars, smaller wing-coverts, and inner secondaries, black, broadly margined with light brownish-red; some of the scapulars margined externally with white, and the larger glossed with green. Alula, primary coverts, primary quills, and outer secondaries, greyish-black, all more or less narrowly tipped with greyish-white; secondary coverts largely tipped with the same; the primaries externally edged with the same toward the base, as are the outer secondaries in a fainter degree, the inner webs of some of the latter greyish-white towards the base. Rump and upper tail-coverts black. The two middle tail-feathers black, with pale brownish-red margins, the next feather on each side greyish-brown, margined with greyish-white, the outer four pale brownish-grey, very narrowly margined externally, more broadly round their points and along the inner edges with greyish-white; lateral tail-coverts with the outer web white. From the forehead over the eye to the occiput, a band of dull greyish-white, faintly streaked with dusky; loral band brownish-dusky, that colour extending to the ear-coverts; the rest of the cheeks dull greyish-white, faintly streaked with dusky; the throat greyish-white; the sides and fore part of the neck of the same colour, faintly streaked with dusky; the rest of the lower parts, including the axillar and lateral rump feathers, pure white; the lower surface of the wing pale brownish-grey, the coverts margined and tipped with greyish-white; the shafts of the primaries white.

Length to end of tail 5-5/8 inches, to end of wings 5-1/8, to end of claws 5-3/4; extent of wings 11-3/8; from tip of bill to carpal joint 2; wing from flexure 3-8/12; tail 1-8/12; bill along the ridge (8-1/2)/12; tarsus (8-3/4)/12; hind toe and claw (2-1/2)/12, middle toe and claw (10-1/2)/12; outer toe and claw 8/12; inner (1/2)/12 shorter.

Adult Female. Plate CCCXX. Fig. 2.

The Female is somewhat larger than the male, but similarly coloured.

In autumn, previous to the moult, the upper parts are of a darker colour, on account of the wearing of the red margins of the feathers.

On the roof of the mouth is a series of papillæ, and the tongue is 7 twelfths long, extremely slender, and tapering to a fine point. The œsophagus is 2 inches and 11 twelfths long, 1 twelfth in diameter; the proventriculus enlarged to 2-1/2 twelfths, its length 5 twelfths. The stomach is a powerful gizzard, 1/2 inch long, 4-1/2 twelfths broad; its lateral muscles large, as are the tendons. Its contents were coleopterous and other insects. The epithelium longitudinally rugous, and of a brownish-red colour. The intestine of moderate length, measuring 9-1/2 inches, its average diameter 1-1/2 twelfths. The cœca 1-1/2 inch long, their greatest diameter 3/4 of a twelfth.

The trachea is 1-8/12 inch long, flattened, unossified, 1-1/2 twelfth in diameter at the top, diminishing to 1 twelfth; the number of rings about 105. Bronchial half-rings 15.

ROSEATE SPOONBILL.

_PLATALEA AJAJA_, LINN.

PLATE CCCXXI. ADULT MALE.

This beautiful and singular bird, although a constant resident in the southern extremities of the peninsula of Florida, seldom extends its journeys in an eastern direction beyond the State of North Carolina. Indeed it is of extremely rare occurrence there, and even in South Carolina, my friend JOHN BACHMAN informs me that he has observed only three individuals in the course of twenty years. He once obtained a specimen in full plumage about ten miles north of Charleston. It is rarely seen in the interior of the country, at any distance from the waters of the Atlantic, or those of the Gulf of Mexico. A specimen sent to WILSON at Philadelphia from the neighbourhood of the city of Natchez, in the State of Mississippi, appears to have lost itself, as during my stay in that section of the country I never heard of another; nor have I ever met with one of these birds farther up the Mississippi than about thirty miles from its mouths. Although rather abundant on some parts of the coast of Florida, I found it more so along the Bay of Mexico, particularly in Galveston Bay in the Texas, where, as well as on the Florida Keys, it breeds in flocks. The Spoonbills are so sensible of cold, that those which spend the winter on the Keys, near Cape Sable in Florida, rarely leave those parts for the neighbourhood of St Augustine before the first days of March. But after this you may find them along most of the water courses running parallel to the coast, and distant about half a mile or a mile from it. I saw none on any part of the St John’s River; and from all the answers which I obtained to my various inquiries respecting this bird, I feel confident that it never breeds in the interior of the peninsula, nor is ever seen there in winter.

The Roseate Spoonbill is found for the most part along the marshy and muddy borders of estuaries, the mouths of rivers, ponds, or sea islands or keys partially overgrown with bushes, and perhaps still more commonly along the shores of those singular salt-water bayous so abundant within a mile or so of the shores, where they can reside and breed in perfect security in the midst of an abundance of food. It is more or less gregarious at all seasons, and it is rare to meet with fewer than half a dozen together, unless they have been dispersed by a tempest, in which case one of them is now and then found in a situation where you would least expect it. At the approach of the breeding season, these small flocks collect to form great bodies, as is the manner of the Ibises, and resort to their former places of residence, to which they regularly return, like Herons. During the moult, which takes place in Florida late in May, the young of the preceding year conceal themselves among the close branches of the mangroves and other trees growing over narrow inlets, between secluded keys, or on bayous, where they spend the whole day, and whence it is difficult to start them. Toward night they return to their feeding grounds, generally keeping apart from the old birds. In the same country the old birds pass through their spring moult early in March, after which they are truly beautiful, presenting the appearance which I have attempted to represent in the plate before you. The sight of a flock of fifteen or twenty of these full-dressed birds is extremely pleasing to the student of nature, should he conceal himself from their view, for then he may observe their movements and manners to advantage. Now, they all stand with their wings widely extended to receive the sun’s rays, or perhaps to court the cooling breeze, or they enjoy either seated on their tarsi. Again, they all stalk about with graceful steps along the margin of the muddy pool, or wade in the shallows in search of food. After a while they rise simultaneously on wing, and gradually ascend in a spiral manner to a great height, where you see them crossing each other in a thousand ways, like so many Vultures or Ibises. At length, tired of this pastime, or perhaps urged by hunger, they return to their feeding grounds in a zigzag course, and plunge through the air, as if displaying their powers of flight before you. These birds fly with their necks stretched forward to their full length, and their legs and feet extended behind, moving otherwise in the manner of Herons, or with easy flappings, until about to alight, when they sail with expanded wings, passing once or twice over the spot, and then gently coming to the ground, on which they run a few steps. When travelling to a distant place they proceed in regular ranks, but on ordinary occasions they fly in a confused manner. When the sun is shining, and they are wheeling on wing previous to alighting, their roseate tints exhibit a richer glow, which is surpassed only by the brilliancy of the Scarlet Ibis, and American Flamingo.

This beautiful bird is usually fond of the company of our different Herons, whose keen sight and vigilance are useful to it in apprising it of danger, and allowing it to take flight in due time. When the Spoonbills are by themselves and feeding, they can easily be approached by those who, like yourself perhaps, are expert at crawling over the mud on hands and knees, through the tall and keen-edged saw-grass. I well recollect my own success when, after having seen three of these precious birds alight on their feeding grounds, about a quarter of a mile from where I stood, I managed after something short of half an hour to get within shot of them. Then, after viewing them for a while unseen, I touched one of my triggers, and two of them fell upon the surface of the shallow water. The other might, I believe, have been as easily shot, for it stood, as I have seen Wild Turkey cocks do on like occasions, looking with curious intensity as it were upon its massacred friends, until, seeing me get up and wade towards them, it hurriedly extended its broad wings, and flew off towards the sea-shore. When wounded in the wing, they make towards deeper water, and, if closely pursued, will swim to some distance, but without ever attempting to dive, and when at last seized, offer no resistance. On the contrary, if their wings are uninjured, though they may otherwise be severely wounded, they rise and fly to a great distance, or drop while on the way. I have considered these birds as tough to kill, and, when on open ground, even without being in company with Herons, as difficult of approach. They are as nocturnal as the night Heron, and, although they seek for food at times during the middle of the day, their principal feeding time is from near sunset until daylight. To all such feeding grounds as are exposed to the tides, they betake themselves when it is low water, and search for food along the shallow margins until driven off by the returning tide. Few birds are better aware of the hours at which the waters are high or low, and when it is near ebb you see them wending their way to the shore. Whenever a feeding place seems to be productive, the Spoonbills are wont to return to it until they have been much disturbed, and persons aware of this fact may waylay them with success, as at such times one may shoot them while passing over head. To procure their food, the Spoonbills first generally alight near the water, into which they then wade up to the tibia, and immerse their bills in the water or soft mud, sometimes with the head and even the whole neck beneath the surface. They frequently withdraw these parts however, and look around to ascertain if danger is near. They move their partially opened mandibles laterally to and fro with a considerable degree of elegance, munching the fry, insects, or small shell-fish, which they secure, before swallowing them. When there are many together, one usually acts as sentinel, unless a Heron should be near; and in either case you may despair of approaching them. I have never seen one of these birds feeding in fresh water, although I have been told that this is sometimes the case. To all those keys in the Floridas in which ponds have been dug for the making of salt, they usually repair in the evening for the purpose of feeding; but the shallow inlets in the great salt marshes of our southern coasts are their favourite places of resort.

The Roseate Spoonbills alight on trees with as much facility as Herons, and even walk on their large branches. They usually nestle on the tops of the mangroves, placing their nests at the distance of a few yards from each other. They are formed of sticks of considerable size and are flat, like most of those of the Heron tribe. The eggs are laid about the middle of April, and are usually three. They measure two inches and five-eighths in length, an inch and seven-eighths in their greatest breadth, are slightly granulated, almost equally rounded at both ends, and have a pure white colour. I have never seen the young when recently hatched; but when able to fly they are greyish-white. The bill is then quite smooth, of a yellowish-green colour, as are the legs and feet, as well as the skin on part of the head. Young birds in their second year have the wings and the lower wing-coverts of a pale roseate tint, the bill more richly coloured, and the legs and feet dark brownish-red, or purplish. At this age, they are unadorned with the curling feathers on the breast; but in the third spring the bird is perfect, although it increases in size for several seasons after. I have never seen one of these birds of the bright red colour assigned to them by some authors.

While on one of the islands of Galveston Bay in Texas, I found eight or ten nests of these birds, placed in low cactuses, amid some hundreds of nests belonging to Herons of different species, but was not rendered aware of the fact until I compared the eggs found there with those procured in the Floridas, although I did at the time mention to my friend EDWARD HARRIS, and to my son, that I thought the eggs and nests of which I speak were those of the Roseate Spoonbill and not of the Herons. What rendered the fact doubtful, however, was, that no Spoonbills were to be seen, as they had all betaken themselves to flight on hearing the reports of our guns.

In connection with the procuring of some of these birds, I find a rather curious occurrence recorded in my journal. On the 2d of May 1837, my party and I went on shore from the Revenue Cutter the “Campbell,” on the island of Galveston, for the purpose of obtaining fish and prawns, the latter of which are in that country extremely abundant, and certainly the largest I have ever seen. Our fishing over, we were on the point of returning, when we saw three Spoonbills alight on a sand-bar, and almost immediately proceed to the water in search of food. My son was despatched after them, and having waded through some muddy parts of the inlet on the shore of which we were standing, he succeeded in getting near, and killed the finest of the three. Almost at the same instant, the back fins of a large fish, resembling those of a shark, were seen meandering above the surface of the shallow waters. My son received prompt intelligence of this, to enable him to make good his return. The monster moved about rather slowly, and JOHN having rammed home a couple of bullets, lodged them in its body, on which it floundered about apparently in great agony. One of our boats immediately pushed toward the spot, and my son was taken on board, while the animal used its best efforts to get into deeper water. Now sailors and all joined in the chase. The gun was again charged with balls, my son waded once more towards it, and lodged the missiles in its body, while from the bow of the boat it received several blows from the oars and gaff-hook. The tars all leaped into the water, and the bleeding fish was at once closely beset. The boatswain at a single lucky stroke cut off its tail, and having afterwards fastened the hook in one of its eyes, we dragged it to the beach. About a hundred Mexican prisoners, Texian soldiers, and officers, were there; but instead of our prize turning out a shark, it proved to be a sawfish, measuring rather more than twelve feet in length. From its body we took out alive ten young ones. It was cut into pieces by the Mexican prisoners, and soon devoured. Five or six of the young were put into rum, and ultimately carried to England.

The feathers of the wings and tail of the Roseate Spoonbill are manufactured into fans by the Indians and Negroes of Florida; and at St Augustine these ornaments form in some degree a regular article of trade. Their flesh is oily and poor eating.

PLATALEA AJAJA, _Linn._ Syst. Nat. vol i. p. 231.—_Lath._
Ind. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 668.—_Ch. Bonaparte_, Synopsis of
Birds of United States, p. 346.

ROSEATE SPOONBILL, PLATALEA AJAJA, _Wils._ Amer. Ornith. vol.
vii. p. 123, pl. 63, fig. 1.—_Nuttall_, Manual, vol. ii. p.
79.

Adult Male. Plate CCCXXI.

Bill very long, excessively depressed, being when viewed laterally very slender, but when seen from above nearly as broad as the head at the base, considerably contracted in the middle, and at the end expanded into a large obovate disk much broader than the head. Upper mandible with the dorsal outline almost straight, descending at the base, at the tip decurved, the ridge extremely broad and flat, gradually widening beyond the nostrils, at the end terminated by the very small, decurved, blunt claw; the sides declinate at the base, horizontally flattened towards the end, separated in their whole length from the ridge by a narrow groove, their margins soft and blunt. Nostrils basal, oblong-linear, of moderate size. Lower mandible with the angle very long, narrow, rounded, the crura narrow, and gradually flattened, the extremity expanded into a flattened disk as in the upper. The mandibles are covered with soft skin, which for half their length is rough with roundish plates having their anterior margin somewhat prominent.

Head of moderate size, flattened above. Neck long and slender. Body compact, ovate. Legs long and rather slender; tibia bare in its lower half, and reticulate; tarsus rather long, stout, roundish, covered all round with reticulated subhexagonal scales; toes rather long, moderately stout, covered above with numerous scutella, but at the base reticulated; first more slender, articulated on the same plane; second considerably shorter than third, which is in the same proportion exceeded by the fourth. Claws moderate, arched, compressed, laterally grooved, rather obtuse.

The head, gular sac, and a small part of the neck, destitute of feathers. Those on the neck linear or lanceolate, small, with disunited barbs; a tuft on the lower and fore part of the neck recurved and silky. The feathers on the other parts are of moderate length, ovate, rather compact above, blended beneath. Wings long and very broad; primaries firm, broad, tapering, but rounded, the second longest, the third next, the first a quarter of an inch shorter; secondaries broad and broadly rounded. Tail short, even, of twelve rather broad, abruptly rounded feathers.

Bill yellowish-grey at the base, mottled with brownish-black, in the rest of its extent pale greenish-blue, light on the margins; base of margin of lower mandible greenish-yellow. Iris bright carmine. Feet pale lake; claws brownish-black. Head yellowish-green; space around the eye and the gular sac orpiment orange; a band of black from the lower mandible to the occiput. Feathers of the neck white. Back and wings of a beautiful delicate rose colour; the lower parts of a deeper tint; the tuft of recurved feathers on the fore neck, a broad band across the wing along the cubitus, and the upper and lower tail-coverts, of a rich and pure carmine with silky lustre. The shafts of all the quills and scapulars are light carmine. On each side of the lower part of the neck and fore part of the body a patch of pale ochre. Tail feathers ochre-yellow, but at the base pale roseate, with the shafts carmine.

Length to end of tail 30-3/4 inches, to end of wings 29-3/4, to end of claws 36; extent of wings 53; bill 7; breadth of gape 1-3/8, depth of pouch 2; breadth of bill at the base 1-5/8; at the end 2-1/12; bare part of tibia 3; tarsus 4; hind toe and claw 1-10/12; second toe and claw 2-8/12; middle toe and claw 3-7/12; outer toe and claw 3-1/12; wing from flexure 15-1/4; tail 4-3/4. Weight 4 lb. 2 oz.

The female is smaller, but resembles the male.

Length to end of tail 28 inches, to end of wings 28, to end of claws 35-3/4; extent of wings 48. Weight 3 lb.

The affinities of this remarkable bird being variously represented by authors, it becomes a matter of considerable interest to determine its relations according to its internal organs. The skin is thin, but tough, and the subcutaneous cellular tissue is largely developed. In these respects its affinity is to the Ibises and Curlews, as much at least as to any other birds. On the roof of the mouth are two rows of blunt papillæ, as in many Scolopacidæ. The tongue is extremely small, being only 3 twelfths of an inch in length, but 7 twelfths in breadth at the base, where it is emarginate and furnished with numerous delicate papillæ, the outer much larger. The gular membrane is very dilatable and of the same general nature as that of the Cormorants and Pelicans, having a longitudinal series of muscular fibres along the centre, with two layers of fasciculi interposed between the external skin and the internal, the inner fasciculi running parallel to the lower mandible, the outer transversely. The bill is similar to that of the Pelican’s modified, the middle part or ridge being flattened, and the unguis abbreviated. The breadth of the mouth is within 1-1/12 inch. The external aperture of the ear is roundish, 4 twelfths in diameter, that of the meatus oblique, oblong, 3 twelfths across. The œsophagus, _a b_, is 17 inches long (including the proventriculus, as in all the other measurements); its diameter at the top 1-1/4 inch, at the distance of six inches, it contracts to 5 twelfths, then for four inches enlarges, having its greatest diameter 1-1/12 inch; between the coracoid bones it again contracts to half an inch, and on entering the thorax enlarges to an inch. The proventriculus is bulbiform, 1-1/2 inch long, its glandules very large, cylindrical, the longest being 1/4 inch, and 1 twelfth in diameter. The stomach, _c d_, is a powerful gizzard of a roundish form, 1 inch 11 twelfths long, and 1 inch 10 twelfths broad; the muscular fibres disposed in large fasciculi all around, but not forming distinct lateral muscles; the central tendons very large, being 10 twelfths in diameter; the cuticular lining excessively thick, of a rather soft texture, divided by deep longitudinal irregular fissures, its greatest thickness being about half an inch. The intestine _d e f_ is very long, measuring 8 feet 9-1/2 inches, of moderate diameter, varying from 4 to 3-1/2 twelfths. It is compactly and beautifully arranged in very numerous somewhat concentric folds, being coiled up like a rope, the duodenum _d e_ curving backwards and upwards over the stomach for five inches, then returning, and enclosing the pancreas, until under the right lobe of the liver where it receives the biliary ducts. The cloaca is globular, 2 inches in diameter when distended; the rectum, exclusive of the cloaca 3-1/2 inches, and having at its upper extremity two bulging knobs in place of cœca. Now, the œsophagus and proventriculus are those of a Numenius, the stomach that of a Heron in the arrangement of its fasciculi, and in the softness of its epithelium; but otherwise it differs in being much larger and more muscular. The intestines are thicker and more muscular than those of Herons, and differ more especially in having two cœcal appendages, which however are extremely short, whereas the herons have merely a single cœcal prominence.

The heart, _g_, is remarkably large, being 1 inch and 10 twelfths long, 1 inch and a half in breadth. The lobes of the liver, _h_, _i_, are very large, and about _equal_, their greatest length being 3 inches; the gall-bladder globular, 8 twelfths in diameter. One of the testes is 11 twelfths long, 9 twelfths broad; the other 10 twelfths by 7 twelfths; their great size being accounted for by the individual’s having been killed in the breeding season.

In a female of much smaller size the œsophagus is 15 inches long; the stomach 2 inches in length, 1 inch and 9 twelfths broad; the intestine 7 feet 7 inches. The contents of the stomach, fishes, shrimps, and fragments of shells.

One of the most remarkable deviations from ordinary forms in this bird is _the division of the trachea previous to its entering the thorax_. It may be described as very short, a little flattened, and quite membranous, the rings being cartilaginous and very thin. Its diameter at the top is 5 twelfths, and it is scarcely less at the lower part, where, half-way down the neck, is formed an inferior larynx, _k_, which is scarcely enlarged. The two bronchi _lm_, _l m_, are in consequence excessively elongated. They are compressed, 5 twelfths in diameter at the commencement, gradually contracting to 3 twelfths, and enlarging a little towards the end; and are singular in this respect that the rings of the upper fourth are incomplete, the tube being completed by membrane in the usual manner, whereas in the rest of their extent, the rings are elliptical, entire, stronger, and those at the lower part united or anchylosed on the inner side. The rings of the trachea are 105, of the two bronchi 73 and 71. The contractor muscles are feeble and terminate at the lower larynx; from which no muscle extends along the bronchi, which, until they enter the thorax, run parallel and in contact, being enclosed within a common sheath of dense cellular tissue. The bronchi have the last ring much enlarged, and open into a funnel, which passing backwards and terminating in one of the abdominal cells, is perforated above with eight or ten transverse elliptical slits, which open into similar tubes or tunnels, opening in the same manner into smaller tubes, and thus ramifying through the lungs.

In the male bird, of which the upper part of the trachea has been destroyed, there are in one bronchus 80, in the other 71 rings, 20 of the upper rings being incomplete.

The vertebræ of the neck have no resemblance to those of Herons, nor does that part curve in the same abrupt manner; and the sternum is in all essential respects similar to that of the Curlews, Tringas, and other birds of that family, it having a very prominent crest, with two deep posterior notches on each side. In fact, the sternum of Tringa Cinclus is almost an exact miniature of it.

The compact form of the body, its great muscularity, the form of the legs, the length and slenderness of the neck, the form and bareness of the head, and the elongation of the bill, especially when it is laterally viewed, all indicate an affinity to the Tantali and Numenii. But the Spoonbills are also allied in various degrees to the Herons and Pelicaninæ; so that they clearly present one of those remarkable centres of radiation, demonstrative of the absurdity of quinary and circular arrangements, founded merely on a comparison of skins.

RED-HEADED DUCK.

_FULIGULA FERINA_, STEPHENS.

PLATE CCCXXII. MALE AND FEMALE.

At New Orleans, this bird is commonly known by the name of “Dos Gris.” It arrives there in great flocks, about the first of November, and departs late in April, or in the beginning of May. On the lakes Borgne, St John, and Ponchartrain, it is very abundant, keeping in large flocks, separate from the other species. In that part of the country its food consists of small fishes, in pursuit of which it is seen constantly diving. It is caught in different sorts of nets, and easily kept in confinement, feeding greedily on Indian corn, whether entire or crushed by the millstone. In 1816, many thousands of these ducks as well as others of different species, were caught in nets by a Frenchman, who usually sent them alive to market in cages from the narrows of the Lakes, especially from those called “La pointe aux herbes,” and the “Isle aux pins.” So many of them, however, were procured by this man, that he after a while gave up sending them alive, on account of the great difficulty he encountered in procuring a sufficient number of cages for their accommodation.

Although Dr RICHARDSON informs us that this species breeds “in all parts of the fur-countries, from the fiftieth parallel to their most northern limits,” I saw none of these birds during the spring and summer months which I spent on the coast of Labrador. I was equally unsuccessful in my search for it in Newfoundland. Indeed, I have never observed it eastward of the State of Massachusetts, although from thence it is more and more abundant the farther south you proceed, until you reach the tributaries of the Mississippi. Beyond the mouths of that river, these birds are rarely seen; and when I was there in April 1837, none were observed by my party or myself after we had left the south-west Pass on our way westward. In the Texas none were even heard of. From these circumstances I have inferred that, along with several other species, the Red-headed Duck reaches the Middle and Southern States by passing overland or following our great streams, such as the Ohio, Missouri, and Mississippi, westward, and the North River, and others eastward, both in its vernal and autumnal migrations. This I am the more inclined to believe, on account of the great numbers which on such occasions I have seen in ponds in the States of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky.

I found it abundant in the marshes near St Augustine, in East Florida, on the 8th November 1831, when the young males of that year had the breast and lower neck mottled with brown and blackish feathers; and yet whilst at General HERNANDEZ’s, in that district, on the 20th of December, they were in almost perfect plumage. At this latter period they were shy, and kept in company with Mallards, American Wigeons, Scaup Ducks, and Spoonbills, generally in shallow fresh-water ponds, at some distance from the sea shore. In South Carolina, these ducks are now much more abundant than they were twenty years ago, especially on the Santee River, where my friend Dr SAMUEL WILSON Has shot many of them, as well as of the Canvass-back species.

The Red-headed Duck may be said to be equally fond of salt and fresh water, and is found in abundance, during its stay with us, on the Chesapeake Bay, especially in the month of March, when it associates with the Canvass-back and other Ducks, and is offered for sale in the Baltimore markets in great numbers. There I have seen them sold at 75 cents the pair, which was lower by 25 cents than their price at New Orleans in April 1837.

Although they dive much and to a great depth, while in our bays and estuaries, yet when in the shallow ponds of the interior, they are seen dabbling the mud along the shores, much in the manner of the Mallard; and on occasionally shooting them there, I have found their stomach crammed with young tadpoles and small water-lizards, as well as blades of the grasses growing around the banks. Nay, on several occasions, I have found pretty large acorns and beech-nuts in their throats, as well as snails, entire or broken, and fragments of the shells of various small unios, together with much gravel.

In confinement, they do not exhibit that degree of awkwardness attributed to them when on land. It is true that the habitual shortening of the neck detracts from their beauty, so that in this state they cannot be said to present a graceful appearance; yet their aspect has always been pleasing to my sight. Their notes are rough and coarse, and bear less resemblance to the cries of those species which are peculiar to fresh water than those of any other of their tribe. Their flight is performed in a hurried manner, and they start from the water pell-mell; yet they can continue very long on wing, and the motions of their pinions, especially at night, produce a clear whistling sound.

The fine pair from which I made the two figures in the plate were given me by my friend DANIEL WEBSTER, Esq. of Boston, Massachusetts, whose talents and accomplishments are too well known to require any eulogium from me.

The flesh of this bird is generally esteemed, insomuch that many persons know no difference between it and that of the Canvass-back Duck, for which it is not unfrequently sold; but I look upon it as far inferior to that of many other ducks. Individuals of both sexes vary much in size. On comparing American with European skins, I am unable to perceive any difference of colour or proportions indicative of specific distinction.

ANAS FERINA, _Linn._ Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 31.—_Lath._ Ind.
Ornith. vol. ii. p. 862.

RED-HEADED DUCK, ANAS FERINA, _Wils._ Amer. Ornith. vol.
viii. p. 110, pl. 70, fig. 6.

FULIGULA FERINA, _Ch. Bonaparte_, Synopsis of Birds of United
States, p. 392.

FULIGULA FERINA, _Richards. and Swains._ Fauna Bor.-Amer.
vol. ii. p. 452.

THE RED-HEADED DUCK, or POCHARD, _Nuttall_, Manual, vol. ii.
p. 434.

Adult Male. Plate CCCXXII. Fig. 1.

Bill as long as the head, deeper than broad at the base, the margins parallel, slightly dilated towards the end, which is rounded, the frontal angles rather narrow and pointed. Upper mandible with the dorsal line at first straight and declinate, then slightly concave, direct for a short space near the tip, where it is incurved, the ridge broad and concave at the base, narrowed at the middle, enlarged and convex at the end; the sides nearly erect at the base, becoming anteriorly more and more declinate and convex, the edges curved, with about 45 lamellæ, the unguis elliptical, and abruptly rounded at the end. Nostrils submedial, oblong, rather large, pervious, near the ridge, in an oblong depression covered with soft membrane. Lower mandible flattened, being but slightly convex, with the angle very long and rather narrow, the dorsal line very short and slightly convex, the erect edges with about 55 inferior lamellæ; the unguis obovate and abrupt.

Head rather large, compressed, convex above. Eyes small. Neck of moderate length, rather thick. Body full, depressed. Wings small. Feet very short, strong, placed rather far behind; tarsus very short, compressed, anteriorly with narrow scutella continuous with those of the middle toe, and having another series commencing half-way down and continuous with those of the outer toe, the rest reticulated with angular scales. Hind toe small, with an inner expanded margin or web; middle toe nearly double the length of the tarsus, outer a little shorter. Claws small, compressed, that of the first toe very small and curved, of the third toe larger and more expanded than the rest.

Plumage dense, soft, blended. Feathers of the upper part of the head small and rather compact, of the rest of the head and neck small, blended, and glossy. Wings shortish, narrow, pointed; primary quills strong, tapering, the first longest, the second almost as long, the rest rapidly diminishing; secondary quills broad and rounded, the inner elongated and tapering. Tail very short, much rounded, or wedge-shaped, of fourteen feathers.

Bill light greyish-blue, with a broad band of black at the end, and a dusky patch anterior to the nostrils. Iris orange-yellow. Head and neck all round, for more than half its length of a rich brownish-red, glossed with carmine above. A broad belt of brownish-black occupies the lower part of the neck, and the fore part of the body, of which the posterior part is of the same colour, more extended on the back than under the tail. Back and scapulars pale greyish-white, very minutely traversed by dark brownish-grey lines; the sides and abdomen similar, the undulations gradually fading away into the greyish-white of the middle of the breast; upper wing-coverts brownish-grey, the feathers faintly undulated with whitish toward the end. Primary quills brownish-grey, dusky along the outer web and at the end; secondaries ash-grey, narrowly tipped with white, the outer faintly tinged with yellow, and almost imperceptibly dotted with whitish, four or five of the inner of a purer tint tinged with blue, and having a narrow brownish-black line along the margin; the innermost like the scapulars but more dusky. Tail brownish-grey, towards the end lighter. Axillar feathers and lower wing-coverts white. Feet dull greyish-blue, the webs dusky, the claws black.

Length to end of tail 20 inches, to end of wings 18-1/2, to end of claws 22; extent of wings 33; wing from flexure 9-2/12; tail 2-8/12; bill along the ridge 2, from the tips of the frontal processes 2-4/12; tarsus 1-1/2, first toe and claw 10/12; second toe 1-10/12, its claw (5-1/2)/12, third toe 2-5/12, its claw (4-1/2)/12; fourth toe 2-6/12, its claw (3-1/2)/12. Weight 2-1/2 lb.

Adult Female. Plate CCCXXII. Fig. 2.

The female has the bill of a dusky bluish-grey, with a broad band of black at the end, and a narrow transverse blue line, narrower than in the male. Iris yellow. Feet as in the male, the head and upper part of the neck dull reddish-brown, darker above, and lighter on the fore part of the cheeks and along a streak behind the eye. The rest of the neck all round, and the upper parts in general, are dull greyish-brown, the feathers paler at their extremity; the flanks and fore part of the neck dull reddish-brown, the feathers broadly tipped with pale greyish-brown. The wings are as in the male, but of a darker tint, and without undulations. The tail as in the male. Lower wing-coverts light grey, those in the middle white; middle of breast greyish-white, hind part of abdomen light brownish-grey.

Length to end of tail 21 inches, to end of claws 23-1/2; extent of wings 32-1/2. Weight 2 lb. 7 oz.

The following account of the digestive organs is taken from a _British specimen_, an adult male, examined by Mr MACGILLIVRAY in March 1836.

The tongue is 1 inch and 10 twelfths long, 6-1/2 twelfths broad, its sides furnished with two series of bristly filaments. The œsophagus is 11 inches long, with a diameter of nearly 5 twelfths at the top, 8 twelfths at the lower part of the neck. The proventriculus has a diameter of 9 twelfths; its glandules are cylindrical, and 2 twelfths long. The stomach is an extremely powerful gizzard, of an elliptical form, compressed, oblique, its length 2-1/2 inches, its breadth 1-3/4; its lateral muscles more than half an inch thick; the cuticular coat rather thin, but very tough, slightly rugous, with two circular thicker parts opposite the centres of the lateral muscles. The upper part forms a small sac, from which the duodenum comes off; the pylorus without valve. The intestine is 5 feet 4 inches long, narrowest in its upper part where its diameter is 4 twelfths, widest at the middle, where it is 6-1/2 twelfths, near the cœca 5/12. The rectum is 5-1/2 inches long, its diameter 6 twelfths; the cœca 7 inches long, nearly cylindrical, 4 twelfths in diameter, a little narrower at the commencement.

BLACK SKIMMER OR RAZOR-BILLED SHEARWATER.

_RYNCHOPS NIGRA_, LINN.

PLATE CCCXXIII. MALE.

This bird, one of the most singularly endowed by nature, is a constant resident on all the sandy and marshy shores of our more southern States, from South Carolina to the Sabine River, and doubtless also in Texas, where I found it quite abundant in the beginning of spring. At this season parties of Black Skimmers extend their movements eastward as far as the sands of Long Island, beyond which however I have not seen them. Indeed in Massachusetts and Maine this bird is known only to such navigators as have observed it in the southern and tropical regions.