mouth, of a rich deep carmine; claws brownish-black. Iris bluish-black.
The head and a portion of the upper part of the neck all round,
blackish lead-grey, darker on the upper part of the head and along the
posterior margin, which descends lower in front, or to the extent of
about two inches and a half from the base of the lower mandible; two
narrow white bands bordering the upper and lower eyelids. Lower neck
all round, the whole lower surface, the rump and tail, pure white;
but the fore part of the neck and the breast, down to the legs, of a
beautiful light rosy tint. The back and wings are greyish-blue, with
a very slight tinge of purple, excepting a large terminal portion of
the secondaries, and the tips of the primaries, which are white. The
first primary is black, with a tinge of grey on the inner web at the
base; the second and third similar, with the grey more extended; on the
fourth it extends over two-thirds; the fifth is black only for an inch
and a half; and on the sixth the black is reduced to two spots near the
end; the other parts and the remaining primaries of the same general
colour as the back.
Length to end of tail 17 inches, to end of wings 20, to end of claws
17; extent of wings 40-3/4; wing from flexure 12-10/12; tail 5-2/12;
bill along the ridge 1-11/12, along the edge of lower mandible 2-1/4;
tarsus 2; hind toe and claw 4/12; middle toe and claw 1-9/12; outer toe
and claw 1-1/2; inner toe and claw 1-3/12.
The female is precisely similar to the male, but considerably smaller.
In winter the head is white, the feathers on its upper part and on the
nape more or less brownish-grey in their concealed part, that colour
appearing in slight patches here and there, and especially along the
posterior margin of the part that is coloured in summer, as well as on
a small space before the eye. The rosy tint of the breast disappears
after the breeding season. In other respects the plumage is as in
summer.
Young fully fledged. Plate CCCXIV. Fig. 2.
Bill, feet, inside of mouth, and edges of eyelids, olivaceous brown.
The upper parts are brownish-grey, the feathers edged with paler; the
hind part of the back light bluish-grey; upper tail-coverts nearly
white; tail pale greyish-blue, with a broad band of brownish-black at
the end, the extreme tips narrowly edged with white, the outer margin
of the lateral feathers of the same colour. The first four primaries
are destitute of white at the tip. A smaller patch before the eye,
two slight bands on the eyelids, and the throat, greyish-white; the
lower part of the neck brownish-grey, the rest of the lower parts
greyish-white, the sides darker, the axillars ash-grey, the lower
surface of the wing dusky-grey.
In an adult male, the tongue is 1-1/4 inch long, slender, tapering,
emarginate at the base, with minute papillæ, the tip horny along
the back. The œsophagus is 6-1/2 inches long, 5 twelfths in diameter
until it enters the thorax, then dilates to 1 inch and 5 twelfths;
its walls are extremely thin, its inner coat longitudinally plaited.
Proventriculus very short, the belt of oblong glandules being only 7
twelfths in breadth. Stomach rather small, oblong, 1-1/2 inch long,
10 twelfths broad; its lateral muscles rather thick, the tendons
large; the inner coat thick, horny, and thrown into very prominent
longitudinal rugæ, its upper margin abrupt, and manifestly not
continuous with the inner coat of the proventriculus, as some have
supposed the epithelium to be in all birds. In the stomach remains of
fishes. Intestines 1 foot 9-1/2 inches long, its general diameter 1/4
inch. Rectum 1-1/2 inch; cœca extremely small, 2-1/2 twelfths long, 1/2
twelfth in diameter.
Trachea 5-1/2 inches long; its rings 110, extremely thin and
feeble; its diameter at the top 4-1/2 twelfths, at the lower part
2-1/2 twelfths. The lateral muscles are scarcely perceptible, the
sterno-tracheal very slender; the inferior larynx small; the bronchi of
moderate length and width, with 25 half-rings.
KNOT OR ASH-COLOURED SANDPIPER.
_TRINGA ISLANDICA_, LINN.
PLATE CCCXV. ADULT IN SUMMER AND WINTER.
The Knot, good Reader, is a handsome and interesting species, whether
in its spring or in its winter plumage, and, provided it be young and
fat, is always welcome to the palate of the connoisseur in dainties.
As to its habits, however, during the breeding season, I am sorry
to inform you that I know nothing at all, for in Labrador, whither I
went to examine them, I did not find a single individual. I have been
informed that several students of nature have visited its breeding
places; but why they have given us no information on the subject,
seeing that not only you and I, but many persons besides, would be glad
to hear about it, is what we cannot account for.
I do not wish you to infer from these remarks, that the persons
alluded to are the only ones who have neglected to note down on the
spot observations which might be interesting and useful. I myself am
very conscious of my own remissness in this respect, and deeply regret
the many opportunities of studying nature which have been in a manner
lost to me, on account of a temporary supineness which has seized
upon me, at the very moment when the objects of my pursuit were placed
within my reach by that bountiful Being to whom we owe all our earthly
enjoyments, and all our hopes of that future happiness which we strive
to merit.
I have traced the Knot along the shores of our Atlantic states, from
Texas to the entrance of the Bay of Fundy, in the months of April and
May, and again in the autumnal months. I have also found it in winter
in East Florida, and therefore feel confident that some of the species
do not proceed beyond our southern limits at that season. Whilst on
the Bay of Galveston, in Texas, in April 1837, I daily observed groups
of Knots arriving there, and proceeding eastward, meandering along the
shores of the Gulf of Mexico. In the interior of the United States I
never observed one, and for this reason I am inclined to think that
the species moves northward along the coast. But as I did not find
any in Nova Scotia, Labrador, or Newfoundland, I consider it probable
that those which betake themselves to the fur countries, turn off from
our Atlantic shores when they have reached the entrance of the Bay of
Fundy. However this may be, it is certain that they reach a very high
latitude, and that some stop to breed about Hudson’s Bay, where Dr
RICHARDSON found them in summer.
On some few occasions I have observed the Knot associating with the
Tell-tale Godwit and Semi-palmated Snipe, about a mile from the sea,
along the margins of ponds of brackish-water; but such localities
seemed in a manner unnatural to them, and it was seldom that more than
two or three were seen there. Along the shores, in spring, I have
not unfrequently thought that they seemed dull, as if they had lost
themselves, for they would allow a person to go very near, and seldom
took to wing unless induced to do so by companions of other species,
who were better aware of their situation. In autumn, when they at times
collect into very large flocks, I have often followed them until I
obtained as many as I wished. WILSON has so beautifully described their
movements at such times, that, although I have often witnessed them
myself, I prefer giving his own words.
“In activity it is superior to the Turnstone; and traces the flowing
and recession of the waves along the sandy beach with great nimbleness,
wading and searching among the loosened particles for its favourite
food, which is a small thin oval bivalve shell-fish, of a white or
pearl-colour, and not larger than the seed of an apple. These usually
lie at a short distance below the surface; but in some places are seen
at low water in heaps, like masses of wet grain, in quantities of more
than a bushel together. During the latter part of summer and autumn,
these minute shell-fish constitute the food of almost all those busy
flocks that run with such activity along the sands, among the flowing
and retreating waves. They are universally swallowed whole; but the
action of the bird’s stomach, assisted by the shells themselves, soon
reduces them to a pulp. Digging for these in the hard sand would be a
work of considerable labour, whereas, when the particles are loosened
by the flowing of the sea, the birds collect them with great ease and
dexterity. It is amusing to observe with what adroitness they follow
and elude the tumbling surf, while at the same time they seem wholly
intent on collecting their food.”
I have however seen the Knot probe the wet sands, on the borders
of oozy salt marshes, thrusting in its bill to the feathers on the
forehead, and this with the same dexterity as several other species.
Its flight is swift, at times rather elevated, and well sustained. At
their first arrival in autumn, when they are occasionally seen in great
numbers in the same flock, their aërial evolutions are very beautiful,
for, like our Parrakeet, Passenger Pigeon, Rice-bird, Red-winged
Starling, and other birds, they follow each other in their course, with
a celerity that seems almost incomprehensible, when the individuals
are so near each other that one might suppose it impossible for them
to turn and wheel without interfering with each other. At such times,
their lower and upper parts are alternately seen, the flock exhibiting
now a dusky appearance, and again gleaming like a meteor.
Many of these young birds continue mottled with dull reddish-orange on
their lower parts until the winter is far advanced. The old individuals
have their whole upper plumage of a uniform grey, and their lower parts
white. As those of the first year have their markings at that season
handsomer than at any other period of their lives, I have given the
figure of one in preference to that of an adult.
It has been supposed by some that two different species of Knot occur
in the United States, but I am of a different opinion. The dimensions
of birds of this family, as well as of many others, are extremely
variable; and, on shooting eight or ten Knots, it would be difficult
to find two of them having exactly the same size and proportions. If I
add to this the very remarkable changes of plumage exhibited by birds
of this family before and after maturity, you will not think it strange
that WILSON should have mistaken the young of the Knot for a separate
species from the old bird in its spring dress. Indeed, I am obliged to
tell you that I have been much puzzled, when, on picking up several of
these birds from the same flock, I have found some having longer and
thicker bills than others, with as strange a difference in the size
of their eyes. These differences I have endeavoured to represent in my
plate.
My friend JOHN BACHMAN states, that this species is quite abundant in
South Carolina, in its autumn and spring migrations, but that he has
never seen it there in full plumage. In that country it is called the
“May Bird,” which, however, is a name also given to the Rice Bird.
Along the coasts of our Middle District, it is usually known by the
name of “Grey-back.”
TRINGA ISLANDICA, CANUTUS, CINEREA, GRISEA, &c. of _Linnæus_
and _Latham, &c._
TRINGA ISLANDICA, _Ch. Bonaparte_, Synopsis of Birds of
United States, p. 350.
RED-BREASTED SANDPIPER, TRINGA RUFA, _Wils._ Amer. Ornith.
vol. vii. p. 43, pl. 57, fig. 5. Summer.
ASH-COLOURED SANDPIPER, TRINGA CINEREA, _Wils._ Amer. Ornith.
vol. vii. p. 36, pl. 57, fig. 2. Winter.
KNOT, or ASH-COLOURED SANDPIPER, _Nuttall_, Manual, vol. ii.
p. 125.
TRINGA CINEREA, _Richards. and Swains._ Fauna Bor.-Amer. vol.
ii. p. 387.
Adult Male in Summer. Plate CCCXV. Fig. 1.
Bill rather longer than the head, slender, straight, compressed,
tapering, with the tip a little enlarged and blunt. Upper mandible with
the dorsal line straight, and slightly declinate, the ridge narrow and
flattened until towards the end, when it becomes considerably broader,
the sides sloping, the tip convex above and ending in a blunt point,
the edges thick and flattened. Nasal groove extending to near the tip;
nostrils basal, linear, pervious. Lower mandible with the angle long
and very narrow, the dorsal line straight, the sides sloping outwards,
with a long narrow groove, the tip a little broader, but tapering.
Head rather small, oblong, compressed. Eyes of moderate size. Neck
of ordinary length. Body rather full. Feet rather long, slender;
tibia bare, a third part of its length; tarsus somewhat compressed,
anteriorly and posteriorly with numerous small scutella; hind toe
very small, the rest of moderate length, slender, the fourth slightly
longer than the second, the third longest; all free, broadly marginate,
flattened beneath, and with numerous scutella above. Claws small,
slightly arched, compressed, rather obtuse, that of the third toe much
larger, with the inner edge dilated.
Plumage very soft, blended on the head, neck, and lower parts, the
feathers rather distinct above. Wings very long and pointed; primaries
tapering, obtuse, the first longest, the second two-twelfths of an
inch shorter, the rest rapidly decreasing; outer secondaries slightly
incurved, inner elongated, straight and tapering, one of them extending
when the wing is closed, to an inch and a quarter from its tip. Tail
rather short, nearly even, of twelve rather broad feathers which taper
to a broad point.
Bill and feet black. Iris dark hazel. Upper part of the head and hind
neck light grey, tinged with buff, and longitudinally streaked with
dusky; fore part of back and scapulars, variegated with brownish-black
and yellowish, and each feather with several spots of the latter
and tipped with whitish; the hind part of the back, rump, and upper
tail-coverts, white, barred with black; wing-coverts ash-grey, edged
with paler. Alula and primary-coverts brownish-black, tipped with
white; primaries similar, their shafts and the outer margins of all
excepting the first three, white, the inner webs towards the base
light grey; secondaries and their coverts grey, margined with white.
Tail-feathers ash-grey tinged with brown, and narrowly edged with
white. The sides of the head, fore part of neck, breast, and abdomen,
rich brownish-orange; lower tail-coverts and feathers of the legs,
white, each of the former with a central dusky narrow-shaped or
elongated spot, axillaries white barred with dusky; lower wing-coverts
dusky with white margins.
Length to end of tail 10-1/4 inches, to end of wings 10-3/4, to end of
claws 11-1/2; extent of wings 21; wing from flexure 7; tail 2-9/12;
bill along the ridge 1-(4-1/2)/12, along the edge of lower mandible
1-(4-1/2)/12; tarsus 1-1/4; hind toe and claw 4/12; middle toe and claw
1-(1-1/2)/12. Weight 5-1/2 oz.
The female is similar to the male, but considerably larger.
Length to end of tail 10-3/4 inches. Weight 6 ounces.
In Winter. Plate CCCXV. Fig. 2.
Bill greenish-black, eye of a darker brown. Feet dull yellowish-green;
claws dusky. The upper parts are deep ash-grey, each feather margined
with whitish; feathers of the rump greyish-white, upper tail-coverts
white, barred with dusky. The quills and tail feathers as in summer.
A band from the bill over the eye to the hind part of head, white;
loral space, cheeks, and sides of neck pale grey, streaked with
darker; throat and lower parts in general, white; the sides, axillar
feathers, and under wing-coverts, barred or spotted with dusky; lower
tail-coverts as in summer.
The young in autumn are of a dull light brownish-grey colour above,
each feather having a narrow whitish margin, within which is a dusky
line. The fore part and sides of the neck, and the fore part of the
breast dull greyish-white, with small dusky-grey longitudinal streaks;
the band over the eye indistinct, the loral space darker. The bill and
feet are of a duller tint, and the eye darker, than in the adult in
winter. Weight 4-1/4 oz.
On the roof of the mouth is a double series of small blunt papillæ. The
tongue is very slender, 1-1/12 inch long, emarginate and papillate at
the base, channelled above, horny beneath, the point rather acute. The
œsophagus is 4-3/4 inches long, narrow, its diameter 3-1/2 twelfths.
The proventriculus is oblong, 5-1/2 twelfths in diameter, 9 twelfths
long. The stomach is an extremely powerful gizzard, of a roundish
form, 1 inch and 5 twelfths long, its greatest breadth 1-1/4 inch;
the cuticular lining thin, horny, with large longitudinal rugæ. The
intestine 25 inches long, its average diameter 3-1/2 twelfths; cœca
cylindrical, 3 twelfths long. The contents of the stomach are fragments
of mussels and gravel, with which part of the intestine is also filled.
The trachea is 3-1/4 inches long, flattened, 2-1/2 twelfths broad
at the top, diminishing to 2 twelfths; its rings very slender and
unossified, 98 in number; the bronchial half-rings about 15. The
lateral muscles very thin, the sterno-tracheal slender.
ANHINGA OR SNAKE-BIRD.
_PLOTUS ANHINGA_, LINN.
PLATE CCCXVI. MALE AND FEMALE.
Reader, the pleasures which I have experienced in the course of this
chequered life of mine have been many;—perhaps many more than would
have fallen to my share, had I not, fortunately for me, become a
devoted and enthusiastic lover of Nature’s beauteous and wondrous
works, which, in truth, I have been from the earliest period to which
my recollection extends; and those who have known me best will not
for a moment consider it extravagant in me to say, that among the
greatest pleasures I have known, has been that derived from pursuing
and faithfully describing such of our American birds as were previously
unknown or but little observed. Many sultry summer days I have passed
amidst the most dismal swamps of the secluded woods of Louisiana,
watching with anxiety and in silence the curious habits of the Anhinga;
the female bird now sitting closely on her eggs, in a nest constructed
by herself and securely placed on the widely extended branch of the
tallest cypress, that, as if by magic planted, stood in the midst of
an ample lake, while with keen eyes she watched every motion of the
wily Buzzard and cunning Crow, lest either of these cowardly marauders
might deprive her of her treasures; the partner of her cares and joys
meanwhile, with outspread wings and fan-like tail, soaring on high, and
glancing first anxiously towards her he loves, then in anger towards
one and all of their numerous enemies. In wider and bolder circles he
moves, rising higher and still higher, until at length, becoming a mere
dusky speck, he almost vanishes from my sight amidst the expanse of the
blue sky; but now, suddenly closing his wings, and rushing downwards
like a meteor, I see him instantly alight erect upon the edge of the
nest, and complacently gaze upon his beloved.
After some time, about three weeks perhaps, I have found the eggshells
beneath the great cypress tree, cast out of the nest by the intelligent
and attentive mother, and floating on the green slime of the stagnant
pool. Climbing to the nest itself, I have seen the tender young clad in
down far softer than our sea-island cottons, writhing their slender and
tremulous necks, and with open mouths and extended pouches seeking, as
all infants are wont to seek, the food suited to their delicate frame.
Then, retiring to some concealed spot, I have seen the mother arrive
with a supply of finely masticated nutriment, compounded of various
fishes from the lake, and furnish each of her progeny by regurgitation
with its due proportion. Thus, also, I have watched the growth of the
younglings, marking their daily progress, which varied according to
the changes of temperature and the state of the atmosphere. At length,
after waiting many days in succession, I have seen them stand, in
an almost erect posture, on a space scarcely large enough to contain
them. The parents seemed aware of the condition of their brood, and,
affectionate as they still appeared to be, I thought their manner
towards them was altered, and I felt grieved. Indeed, sorely grieved I
was when, next week, I saw them discharge, as it were, their children,
and force them from the nest into the waters that were spread below. It
is true that, previous to this, I had seen the young Anhingas trying
the power of their wings as they stood upright on the nest, flapping
them many minutes at a time; yet, although thus convinced that they
were nearly in a state to provide for themselves, it was not without a
feeling of despondency that I saw them hurled into the air, and alight
on the water. But, Reader, Nature in all this had acted beneficially;
and I afterwards found that in thus expelling their young so soon, the
old birds had in view to rear another brood in the same spot, before
the commencement of unfavourable weather.
Many writers have described what they have been pleased to call the
habits of the Anhinga; nay, some have presumed to offer comments upon
them, and to generalize and form theories thereon, or even to inform
us gravely and oracularly what they ought to be, when the basis of all
their fancies was merely a dried skin and feathers appended. Leaving
these ornithologists for the present to amuse themselves in their snug
closets, I proceed to detail the real habits of this curious bird, as
I have observed and studied them in Nature.
The Snake-Bird is a constant resident in the Floridas, and the lower
parts of Louisiana, Alabama, and Georgia. Few remain during winter in
South Carolina, or in any district to the eastward of that State; but
some proceed as far as North Carolina in spring, and breed along the
coast, I have found it in Texas in the month of May, on the waters of
Buffalo Bayou, and the St Jacinto River, where it breeds, and where,
as I was told, it spends the winter. It rarely ascends the Mississippi
beyond the neighbourhood of Natchez, from which most of the individuals
return to the mouths of that great stream, and the numerous lakes,
ponds, and bayous in its vicinity, where I have observed the species at
all seasons, as well as in the Floridas.
Being a bird which, by its habits, rarely fails to attract the notice
of the most indifferent observer, it has received various names. The
Creoles of Louisiana, about New Orleans, and as far up the Mississippi
as Pointe Coup, call it “Bec à Lancette,” on account of the form
of its bill; whilst at the mouths of the river it bears the name
of “Water Crow.” In the southern parts of Florida, it is called the
“Grecian Lady,” and in South Carolina it is best known by the name
of “Cormorant.” Yet in all these parts, it bears also the name of
“Snake-Bird;” but it is nowhere with us called the “Black-bellied
Darter,” which, by the way, could only be with strict propriety applied
to the adult male.