_TRINGA PUSILLA_, WILS.
PLATE CCCXX. MALE AND FEMALE.
Before proceeding to detail my observations on the habits of this
humble but extremely interesting bird, I deem it necessary to inform
you that I disclaim as species belonging to the United States, or
even to any part of North America, the following, which however are
given in the Synopsis of the PRINCE of MUSIGNANO, and in the work
of my generous friend THOMAS NUTTALL, viz., _Tringa platyrhincha_
of TEMMINCK, _T. Temminckii_ of LEISLER, _T. minuta_ of LEISLER, _T.
minuta_ of TEMMINCK, and _T. pusilla_ of BECHSTEIN. This opinion of
mine I divulged to the PRINCE of MUSIGNANO in London, and he has on
this account omitted these species in his recently published list.
The extreme confusion that exists with respect to these species, and
many others of the same tribe, is in my opinion caused solely by the
anxiety of authors to discover or invent new species, often founding
distinctions on slight differences in the length of bills, tarsi, or
toes. Now, Reader, if in such large species as the _Grus Americana_,
for example, the young has been palmed on the world of science as a
distinct species for nearly a century past, without any other kind of
reason or proof than that obtained from mere dried skins, can we be
surprised that in birds so small as the present, opportunities should
have occurred of committing errors. My opinion, which I do not present
to you without due consideration, is, that we have in the United
States only the diminutive species badly figured by WILSON, and almost
as carelessly described by that wonderful man. To enter upon a long
discussion as to the identity of the present bird with any of the small
Tringas enumerated by European authors, would be to me quite as irksome
as it would prove unprofitable to you, for there scarcely exists a
single description of these birds sufficiently accurate to enable one
to decide with certainty. All are as nearly as possible of the same
size and colour, excepting in those deviations dependent upon age,
and the different states of plumage. But in the most intimately allied
species there are always marked differences in habits, and especially
in the sound of the voice.
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.