and 56 in the lower series. The tongue is 1-1/12 inch long, with the
sides parallel and furnished with a double row of filaments, numerous
small conical papillæ at the base, a median groove on the upper
surface, and a thin rounded appendage, a twelfth and a half in length
at the tip. The aperture of the glottis is 7-(1/2)/12 long, with very
numerous minute papillæ behind. The œsophagus 12 inches long, of a
uniform diameter of 4/12, until near the lower part of the neck, where
it enlarges to 8/12, again contracts as it enters the thorax, ending
in the proventriculus, which is 1-1/4 long, with numerous oblong
glandules, about a twelfth in length. Gizzard obliquely elliptical,
2-1/4 inches across, 1-8/12 in length, its lateral muscles extremely
large, the left 10/12 in thickness, the right 9/12; their tendons large
and strong; the lower muscle moderately thick; the cuticular lining
firm and rugous, the grinding surfaces nearly smooth. The intestine,
which is 5 feet 7-1/2 inches long, is slender and nearly uniform
in diameter, measuring 4/12 across in the duodenal portion, 3/12 in
the rest of its extent; the rectum 3-1/2 inches long, dilated into
a globular cloaca 1 inch in length, and of nearly the same diameter.
The cæca are 6-1/4 long, (1-1/2)/12 in diameter for 2 inches of their
length, enlarged to 3/12 in the rest of their extent, and terminating
in an obtuse extremity.
The trachea, moderately extended, is 10 inches long. Its lateral or
contractor muscles are strong, and it is furnished with a pair of
cleido-tracheals, and a pair of sterno-tracheals. The number of rings
is 136, besides 12 united rings forming a large inferior larynx, which
has a transversely oblong bony expansion, forming on the left side a
bulging and rounded sac. There are 28 bronchial half rings on the right
side, 26 on the left.
BARTRAMIAN SANDPIPER.
_TOTANUS BARTRAMIUS_, TEMM.
PLATE CCCIII. MALE AND FEMALE.
The Bartramian Sandpiper is the most truly terrestrial of its tribe
with which I am acquainted. It is even more inclined, at all seasons,
to keep away from the water, than the Kildeer Plover, which may often
be seen wading in shallow pools, or searching along the sandy or muddy
margins of the shores of the sea, or of fresh-water lakes and streams.
Although not unfrequently met with in the vicinity of such places, it
never ventures to wade into them; and yet the form and length of its
legs and feet would naturally induce a person not acquainted with its
habits to consider it as a wading bird.
The dry upland plains of those sections of Louisiana called Opellousas
and Attacapas, are amply peopled with this species in early spring, as
well as in autumn. They arrive there from the vast prairies of Texas
and Mexico, where they spend the winter, in the beginning of March,
or about the period of the first appearance of the Martins, _Hirundo
purpurea_, and return about the first of August. They are equally
abundant on all the western prairies on either side of the Missouri,
where, however, they arrive about a month later than in Louisiana,
whence they disperse over the United States, reaching the middle
districts early in May, and the State of Maine by the middle of that
month, or about the same period at which they are seen in Indiana,
Kentucky, and Ohio. Some proceed as far north as the plains adjoining
the Saskatchewan River, where Dr RICHARDSON met with this species in
the month of May.
It has been supposed that the Bartramian Sandpiper never forms large
flocks, but this is not correct, for in the neighbourhood of New
Orleans, where it is called the “Papabote,” it usually arrives in great
bands in spring, and is met with on the open plains and large grassy
savannahs, where it generally remains about two weeks, though sometimes
individuals may be seen as late as the 15th of May. I have observed the
same circumstances on our western prairies, but have thought that they
were afterwards obliged to separate into small flocks, or even into
pairs, as soon as they are ready to seek proper places for breeding
in, for I have seldom found more than two pairs with nests or young
in the same field or piece of ground. On their first arrival, they
are generally thin, but on their return southward, in the beginning
of August, when they tarry in Louisiana until the first of October,
they are fat and juicy. I have observed, that in spring, when they
are poor, they are usually much less shy than in autumn, when they
are exceedingly wary and difficult of approach; but this general
observation is not without exceptions, and the difference, I think,
depends on the nature of the localities in which they happen to be
found at either period. When on newly ploughed fields, which they are
fond of frequenting, they see a person at a greater distance than when
they are searching for food among the slender grasses of the plains. I
have also thought that the size of the flocks may depend upon similar
contingencies, for this bird is by no means fond of the society of man.
Like the Spotted Sandpiper, _Totanus macularius_, they not unfrequently
alight on fences, trees, and out-houses; but whether in such situations
or on the ground, they seldom settle without raising both wings
upright to their full extent, and uttering their loud and prolonged,
but pleasing notes. They run with great activity, stop suddenly,
and vibrate their body once or twice. When earnestly followed by the
sportsman, they lower their heads in the manner of WILSON’s Plover, and
the species called the Piping, and run off rapidly, or squat, according
to the urgency of the occasion. At other times, they partially extend
their wings, run a few steps as if about to fly, and then cunningly
move off sideways, and conceal themselves among the grass, or behind
a clod. You are not unfrequently rendered aware of your being within
sight of them, by unexpectedly hearing their plaintive and mellow
notes, a circumstance, however, which I always concluded to be
indicative of the wariness of their disposition, for although you have
just heard those well-known cries, yet, on searching for the bird,
you nowhere see it, for the cunning creature has slipped away and hid
itself. When wounded in the wing, they run to a great distance, and are
rarely found.
Like all experienced travellers, they appear to accommodate themselves
to circumstances as regards their food, for in Louisiana, they feed
on cantharides and other coleopterous insects; in Massachusetts on
grasshoppers, on which my friend NUTTALL says, they soon grow very fat;
in the Carolinas on crickets and other insects, as well as the seeds of
the crab-grass, _Digitaria sanguinaria_; and in the barrens of Kentucky
they often pick the strawberries. Those which feed much on cantharides,
require to be very carefully cleaned, otherwise persons eating them
are liable to suffer severely. Several gentlemen of New Orleans have
assured me, that they have seen persons at dinner obliged to leave the
room at once, under such circumstances, which cannot well be described
here. When flavoured with the ripe strawberries, on which they have
fed, their flesh is truly delicious.
This species performs its migrations by night as well as by day.
Its flight is rather swift and well sustained. While travelling, it
generally flies so high as to be beyond reach of the gun: but if the
weather be cloudy, or if it blow hard, it flies lower, and may easily
be shot. It generally proceeds in straggling bands, and moves along
with continuous easy beats of the wings, but sails, as it were, when
about to alight, as well as during the love season.
As long ago as 1805 and 1806, I observed this species breeding in the
meadows and green-fields of my plantation of Millgrove, near the banks
of Perkioming Creek. Since then, I have known of its rearing broods
in different parts of Pennsylvania, in the State of New York, and in
various districts to the eastward as far as the confines of Maine; but
I did not find it in Newfoundland or Labrador; and I have reason to
believe that it does not breed to the south of Maryland.
My friend, the Rev. Dr BACHMAN, has informed me that the Bartramian
Sandpiper makes its appearance in South Carolina about the 15th of
July, the hottest period of the year, in considerable numbers, betakes
itself at once to the high grassy lands, and there remains about a
month. He considers it to be then on its return from the north, and
states that it is very fat and affords delicious food. His manner of
shooting them is, to ride in a chair or gig over the fields which
they frequent, or along the roads in their neighbourhood, by which
means they can be approached near enough to enable the sportsman to
shoot with almost a certainty of success, as the bird rises out of
the grass. If one attempts to get near them on foot, they rise at too
great a distance, then sweep in circles over the spot, and alight a
considerable way off. They are seldom met with there in flocks of more
than four or five individuals.
I have found the eggs of this bird laid on the bare earth, in a hollow
scooped out to the depth of about an inch and a half, near the roots of
a tuft of rank grass, in the middle of a meadow, and seen some nests of
the same species formed of loosely arranged grasses, and placed almost
beneath low bushes growing on poor elevated ridges, furnished with a
scanty vegetation. I have also heard my esteemed young friend, JOHN
TRUDEAU, state that he had discovered one on a high part of the bank of
the Delaware River. When disturbed while on its nest, but unobserved,
it runs thirty or forty yards, and then flies off as if severely
wounded. Should it have young, its attempts to decoy you away are quite
enough to induce you to desist from harassing it. The eggs measure an
inch and five and a half eighths, by an inch and a quarter in their
greatest breadth. In form they resemble those of _Totanus macularius_,
being broadly rounded at one end, and rather pointed at the other;
their surface smooth; their ground colour dull greyish-yellow, with
numerous spots of light purple and reddish-brown. They are placed in
the nest in the same manner as those of the Spotted Sandpiper, that
is, with the smaller ends together, which is also the case with those
of the Tell-tale Godwit, Wilson’s Plover, and the Kildeer Plover.
The young, which run about immediately after exclusion, grow rapidly,
and in about a month are able to use their wings, after which, they
and their parents gradually, and according to the temperature of the
season, move southward.
In Massachusetts, and to the eastward of that state, this species is
best known by the name of “Upland Plover,” and in some other districts
it is named the Field Plover. The drawing from which the plate was
engraved was taken from individuals shot near Bayou Sara, in the State
of Mississippi.
TOTANUS BARTRAMIUS, _Ch. Bonap._, Synopsis of Birds of the
United States, p. 262.
TRINGA BARTRAMIA, _Wils._ Amer. Ornith. vol. vii. p. 63. pl.
59. fig. 2.
BARTRAMIAN TATLER, _Nuttall_, Manual, vol. ii. p. 169.
TOTANUS BARTRAMIUS, _Richards. and Swains._ Fauna Bor. Amer.
vol. ii. p. 391.
Adult Male. Plate CCCIII. Fig. 1.
Bill a little longer than the head, slender, straight, slightly
defected at the end. Upper mandible with the dorsal line straight, the
ridge convex, the sides grooved beyond the middle, afterwards convex,
the edges inflected, the tips a little deflected, and tapering to an
obtuse point. Nostrils sub-basal, lateral, linear, pervious, nearer the
edge than the dorsal line. Lower mandible, with the angle very narrow
and elongated, beyond it the outline slightly convex, the sides sloping
outwards and concave until the middle, afterwards flattened, the edges
sharp, the point very narrow.
Head rather small, convex above, compressed. Neck of moderate length,
slender. Body rather slender. Feet long and slender; tibia bare for
about half its length, scutellate before and behind; tarsus long,
slender, having before and behind numerous scutella, the narrow lateral
spaces with very small oblong scales. Toes slender, the first very
short, the second much shorter than the fourth, the third and fourth
connected at the base by a web; the scutella numerous; claws small,
compressed, slightly arched, rather blunt.
Plumage soft, on the neck and lower parts, blended; on the upper rather
distinct. Wings rather long, acute, narrow; primaries tapering, and
rounded, the first longest, the second a little shorter, the rest
rapidly graduated; secondaries obliquely rounded, the inner elongated
and tapering. Tail of moderate length, much rounded, of twelve rather
narrow feathers.
Bill yellowish-green, the tip dusky, the edges towards the base yellow.
Iris dark hazel. Legs and tarsi light yellowish-grey, toes rather
darker, claws brownish-black. Upper part of the head dark brown, with a
median pale yellowish-brown line, the margins of the feathers also of
that colour, which prevails along the sides of the head and the back
of the neck, which are streaked with dusky; the eye surrounded with
yellowish-white. Throat yellowish white, without spots; fore-part and
sides of the neck, with a portion of the breast and sides of the body,
cream-coloured, with dusky lines, which gradually become arrow-shaped
on the breast, forming a double transverse band; the feathers on
the sides barred; the rest of the lower parts yellowish-white, the
lower tail-coverts rich cream-coloured. Axillar feathers and lower
wing-coverts white, banded with brownish-black. On the upper parts the
feathers are dark brown, glossed with green, with rich cream-coloured
margins; the rump darker. On the margins of the scapulars, within the
pale edge, is a series of dusky spots, which towards the end become
continuous. Alula, primary coverts, and primary quills, blackish-brown,
the inner webs crossed by white bands, until about an inch from the
end, the shaft of the first quill white, those of the rest dusky.
Secondaries greyish-brown, their outer margins pale brown, with dusky
spots; the inner darker. The two middle feathers of the tail are dark
olive, tinged with grey, transversely barred with black, the last
bar arrow-shaped, the margins light cream-colour: the next feather on
each side lighter, and tinged with yellowish-red; the rest gradually
lighter, the outer white, all barred with black.
Length to end of tail 12-1/2 inches, to end of wings 11-1/8, to end
of claws 13-1/2; extent of wings 22; wing from flexure 7; tail 3-3/4;
bare part of tibia 9/10; tarsus 1-(1-1/2)/12, first toe 4/12, its claw
1-(1/2)/12; middle-toe 1, its claw (2-1/4)/12; bill along the ridge
1-2/12; along the edge of lower mandible 1-3/12. Weight 6 oz.
Female. Plate CCCIII. Fig. 2.
The female is a little larger, and weighs 7 oz., but resembles the
male in colour. The individual of which the weight is here given was
very fat, but I have never met with any that weighed three-fourths of
a pound, as described by WILSON!
Length to end of tail 13 inches, to end of claws 14, extent of wings
22-3/4.
In an adult bird of this species, the tongue measures seven-twelfths of
an inch in length, and is sagittate at the base, with conical papillæ,
of which the outermost is much larger, then contracted, being deeper
than broad, and tapering to a very acute compressed point. Aperture
of the glottis 2/12 long, with numerous papillæ behind, the middle
two largest. The œsophagus is 5-1/4 inches long, of uniform diameter,
measuring about 3/12 across, and passing along the right side of the
neck, along with the trachea. Proventriculus oblong, 8/12 in diameter,
its glandules extremely numerous, oblong, half a twelfth in length.
The stomach is a strong gizzard of an oblong form; an inch and a
twelfth long, nine-twelfths in breadth, its lateral muscles of moderate
thickness, the right (2-1/2)/12, the left (5-1/2)/12, the central
tendons oblong, 5/12 in diameter. The cuticular lining is tough, of
moderate thickness, longitudinally rugous, the grinding plates scarcely
thicker than the rest. The intestine is 18 inches long, its diameter
generally (3-1/2)/12. The rectum 2-1/4 inches long; the cæca 2-2/12,
very slender, their greatest diameter being only (1-1/2)/12; the cloaca
globular, about 1/2 inch in diameter. The stomach was filled with
remains of grasshoppers, of a deep red colour, with which the inner
coat was tinged, together with the head of a Libellula. No gravel or
other hard substances.
The trachea moderately extended is 3-10/12 inches long, its transverse
diameter (2-1/2)/12, diminishing to (1-1/2)/12. The rings are
unossified and extremely thin, 105 in number; the contractor or lateral
muscles feeble; the inferior larynx simple, with a single pair of
tracheali-bronchiales, and the usual sterno-tracheales; the bronchi of
about 15 half-rings.
This individual presented a very remarkable accumulation of fat over
the abdominal and pectoral muscles, and especially about the furcula.
TURNSTONE.
_STREPSILAS INTERPRES_, ILLIGER.
PLATE CCCIV. ADULT IN SUMMER AND WINTER.
This bird, which, in its full vernal dress, is one of the most
beautiful of its family, is found along the southern coasts of the
United States during winter, from North Carolina to the mouth of the
Sabine River, in considerable numbers, although perhaps as many travel
at that season into Texas and Mexico, where I observed it on its
journey eastward, from the beginning of April to the end of May 1837.
I procured many specimens in the course of my rambles along the shores
of the Florida Keys, and in the neighbourhood of St Augustine, and have
met with it in May and June, as well as in September and October, in
almost every part of our maritime shores, from Maine to Maryland. On
the coast of Labrador I looked for it in vain, although Dr RICHARDSON
mentions their arrival at their breeding quarters on the shores of
Hudson’s Bay and the Arctic Sea up to the seventy-fifth parallel.
In spring the Turnstone is rarely met with in flocks exceeding five
or six individuals, but often associates with other species, such
as the Knot, the Red-backed Sandpiper, and the _Tringa subarquata_.
Towards the end of autumn, however, they collect into large flocks,
and so continue during the winter. I have never seen it on the margins
of rivers or lakes, but always on the shores of the sea, although it
prefers those of the extensive inlets so numerous on our coasts. At
times it rambles to considerable distances from the beach, for I have
found it on rocky islands thirty miles from the mainland; and on two
occasions, whilst crossing the Atlantic, I saw several flocks near
the Great Banks flying swiftly, and rather close to the water around
the ships, after which they shot off toward the south-west, and in a
few minutes were out of sight. It seems to be a hardy bird, for some
of them remain in our Eastern Districts until severe frost prevails.
Having seen some, in the beginning of June, and in superb plumage, on
the high grounds of the Island of Grand Mannan, in the Bay of Fundy,
I supposed that they bred there, although none of my party succeeded
in discovering their nests. Indeed the young, as I have been informed,
are obtained there, and along the coast of Maine, in the latter part of
July.
I have found this bird much more shy when in company with other species
than when in flocks by itself, when it appears to suspect no danger
from man. Many instances of this seeming inattention have occurred to
me, among others the following:—When I was on the island of Galveston
in Texas, my friend EDWARD HARRIS, my son, and some others of our
party, had shot four deer, which the sailors had brought to our little
camp near the shore. Feeling myself rather fatigued, I did not return
to the bushes with the rest, who went in search of more venison for
our numerous crew, but proposed, with the assistance of one of the
sailors, to skin the deer. After each animal was stripped of its hide,
and deprived of its head and feet, which were thrown away, the sailor
and I took it to the water and washed it. To my surprise, I observed
four Turnstones directly in our way to the water. They merely ran to
a little distance out of our course, and on our returning, came back
immediately to the same place; this they did four different times,
and, after we were done, they remained busily engaged in searching for
food. None of them was more than fifteen or twenty yards distant, and
I was delighted to see the ingenuity with which they turned over the
oyster-shells, clods of mud, and other small bodies left exposed by
the retiring tide. Whenever the object was not too large, the bird bent
its legs to half their length, placed its bill beneath it, and with a
sudden quick jerk of the head pushed it off, when it quickly picked up
the food which was thus exposed to view, and walked deliberately to
the next shell to perform the same operation. In several instances,
when the clusters of oyster-shells or clods of mud were too heavy to
be removed in the ordinary way, they would use not only the bill and
head, but also the breast, pushing the object with all their strength,
and reminding me of the labour which I have undergone in turning over
a large turtle. Among the sea-weeds that had been cast on the shore,
they used only the bill, tossing the garbage from side to side, with
a dexterity extremely pleasant to behold. In this manner, I saw these
four Turnstones examine almost every part of the shore along a space
of from thirty to forty yards; after which I drove them away, that our
hunters might not kill them on their return.
On another occasion, when in company with Mr HARRIS, and on the same
island I witnessed the same pleasing proceeding, several Turnstones
being engaged in searching for food in precisely the same manner. At
other times, and especially when in the neighbourhood of St Augustine,
in East Florida, I used to amuse myself with watching these birds on
the racoon-oyster banks, using my glass for the purpose. I observed
that they would search for such oysters as had been killed by the
heat of the sun, and pick out their flesh precisely in the manner of
our Common Oyster-catcher, _Hæmatopus palliatus_, while they would
strike at such small bivalves as had thin shells, and break them, as I
afterwards ascertained, by walking to the spot. While on the Florida
coast, near Cape Sable, I shot one in the month of May, that had its
stomach filled with those beautiful shells, which, on account of their
resemblance to grains of rice, are commonly named rice-shells.
I have always looked upon the Turnstone, while at its avocations, as
a species very nearly allied to the Oyster-catcher; and, although
it certainly differs in some particulars, were I to place it in a
position determined by its affinities, I should remove it at once
from the Tringa family. Its mode of searching for food around pebbles
and other objects, the comparative strength of its legs, its retiring
disposition, and its loud whistling notes while on wing, will, I think,
prove at some period that what I have ventured to advance may be in
accordance with the only true system, by which I mean Nature’s own
system, could one be so fortunate as to understand it.
While this species remains in the United States, although its residence
is protracted to many months, very few individuals are met with in as
complete plumage as the one represented in my plate with the wings
fully extended; for out of a vast number of specimens procured from
the beginning of March to the end of May, or from August to May, I
have scarcely found two to correspond precisely in their markings. For
this reason, no doubt exists in my mind that this species, as well as
the Knot and several others, loses its rich summer plumage soon after
the breeding season, when the oldest become scarcely distinguishable
from the young. In the spring months, however, I have observed that
they gradually improve in beauty, and acquire full-coloured feathers
in patches on the upper and lower surfaces of the body, in the same
manner as the Knot, the Red-breasted Snipe, the Godwits, and several
other species. According to Mr HEWITSON, the eggs are four in number,
rather suddenly pointed towards the smaller end, generally an inch and
four and a half eighths in length, an inch and one and a half eighths
in their greatest breadth, their ground colour pale yellowish-green,
marked with irregular patches and streaks of brownish-red, and a few
lines of black.
My drawing of the Turnstones represented in the plate was made at
Philadelphia, in the end of May 1824; and the beautiful specimen
exhibited in the act of flying, I procured near Camden, while in the
agreeable company of my talented friend LE SUEUR, who, alas! is now no
more.
I have not observed any remarkable difference in the plumage of the
sexes at any season of the year. The males I have generally found to be
somewhat larger than the females, which, as is well known, is not the
case in the Tringa family.