United States, to British Columbia; east to Colorado; winters south of
United States; more common in Pacific coast states.
[Illustration: 423.]
=423. Chimney Swift= (_ChA|tura pelagica_). L. 5.4; W. 4.9. Tail with
protruding spines. _Ads._ Above sooty, rump and underparts paler;
throat whitish. _Notes._ A rolling twitter.
Range.--Eastern North America, west to the Plains; breeds from Florida
to Labrador and Manitoba; winters south of United States, to Central
America.
[Illustration: 424.]
=424. Vaux Swift= (_ChA|tura vauxii_). L. 4.5; W. 4.4. _Ads._ Similar
to No. 423, but smaller and somewhat browner. _Notes._ Resemble those
of No. 423, but are less frequently uttered. (Bendire.)
Range.--Western United States; breeds on Pacific coast, locally, north
to British Columbia; east casually to Montana and Arizona; winters
south of United States to Central America.
[Illustration: 425.]
=425. White-throated Swift= (_AA"ronautes melanoleucus_). L. 6.5. Tail
forked, without spines. _Ads._ Above sooty brownish black; breast,
middle of belly and flank patches white. _Notes._ A sharp, metallic
twitter.
Range.--Western United States; east to western Nebraska and Black
Hills; breeds in Rocky Mountains north to Montana; on Pacific coast
north to Lat. 38A deg.; winters south of United States to Central America.
Hummingbirds
[Illustration: 426.]
=426. Rivoli Hummingbird= (_Eugenes fulgens_). L. 5.1. A small white
spot behind eye. _Ad._ [Male]. Crown purple, throat bright green, back
bronzy green; tail somewhat more bronzy. _Ad._ [Female]. Above bronzy
green, all but central tail-feathers with blackish ends and narrow
grayish tips; below grayish, all but throat feathers _green
centrally_. _Yng._ [Male]. Throat with more or less green, belly and
above more bronzy than in [Female].
Range.--Nicaragua, north in mountains to mountains of southeastern
Arizona, and southwest New Mexico; winters south of United States.
[Illustration: 429.]
=429. Black-chinned Hummingbird= (_Trochilus alexandri_). L. 3.5; W.
1.7. _Ad._ [Male]. Chin and upper throat black, lower throat amethyst;
tail forked, feathers pointed. _Ad._ [Female]. Throat grayish white;
_chin buffy_; tail feathers more rounded, three outer ones tipped with
white. _Yng._ [Male]. Similar [Female], but throat with dusky spots.
Range.--Western United States; breeds from San Antonio, Texas, New
Mexico, Arizona, and California north to Montana and British Columbia;
rare on Pacific coast north of southern California; winters south of
United States.
[Illustration: 430.]
=430. Costa Hummingbird= (_Calypte costA|_). L. 3.1. No rusty in
plumage. _Ad._ [Male]. Crown, throat and lengthened neck-feathers
amethyst, back dull green. _Ad._ [Female]. Below grayish white; above
grayish green; outer tail-feathers _gray_ at base, then black and at
tip white. _Yng._ [Male]. Similar to [Female], but throat usually with
some amethyst spots; tip of outer tail-feather grayish.
Range.--Northwestern Mexico; breeds north throughout Lower California,
to southern California, northern Nevada, southwestern Utah, and
southwestern New Mexico; winters from Mexican border southward.
[Illustration: 437.]
=437. Lucifer Hummingbird= (_Calothorax lucifer_). L. 3.6; B. .8. _Ad._
[Male]. Throat purplish pink, feathers at its side much lengthened;
tail feathers very narrow, the outer ones less than .05 in. wide on
end half. _Ad._ [Female]. Below nearly uniform _rusty buff_, above
bronzy green; tail-feathers white-tipped.
Range.--"From western Texas and southern Arizona south to the city of
Mexico and Puebla." (Bailey.)
[Illustration: 440.]
=440. Xantus Hummingbird= (_Basilinna xantusi_). L. 3.6. A white
streak behind eye. _Ad._ [Male]. Chin, forehead and cheeks _black_;
throat green; tail rusty brown. _Ad._ [Female]. Below uniform rusty,
above green; outer tail-feathers rusty brown.
Range.--Lower California, north to Lat. 29A deg.; most common in Cape
Region.
[Illustration: 427.]
=427. Blue-throated Hummingbird= (_CA"ligena clemenciA|_). L. 5.2. A
white _stripe_ behind, and a smaller one before eye. _Ad._ [Male].
Throat blue; belly grayish; back green; tail blue-black, outer
feathers broadly white tipped. _Ad._ [Female]. Similar but throat
dusky gray.
Range.--Southern Mexico north. In mountains to mountains of
southwestern New Mexico and southern Arizona; winters south of United
States.
[Illustration: 438.]
=438. Reiffer Hummingbird= (_Amazilis tzacatl_). L. 4.1. _Ads._ Above,
_throat_ and _breast_ shining green; belly _grayish_; tail square,
rusty brown, _narrowly_ margined with coppery. _Yng._ Similar but more
rusty above.
Range.--Northern South America; north, rarely, to Lower Rio Grande
Valley, Texas.
[Illustration: 439.]
=439. Buff-bellied Hummingbird= (_Amazilis cerviniventris
chalconota_). Similar to No. 438, but belly _rusty gray_, tail forked
and _broadly_ margined with coppery green.
Range.--Central America, north, in spring, to Lower Rio Grande Valley,
Texas.
[Illustration: 440.1]
=440.1. White-eared Hummingbird= (_Basilinna leucotis_). L. 3.7. A
white line behind eye. _Ad._ [Male]. Chin, forehead and cheeks _blue_,
throat and breast green, tail blackish bronzy green. _Ad._ [Female].
Crown rusty, back bronzy green, below gray spotted with green; outer
tail-feathers tipped with gray. _Yng._ [Male]. Similar.
Range.--Nicaragua north, in spring, through mountains to southern
Arizona.
[Illustration: 441.]
=441. Broad-billed Hummingbird= (_Iache latirostris_). L. 4. _Ad._
[Male]. Above green; below darker; throat purplish blue; tail darker.
_Ad._ [Female]. Below gray; outer tail-feathers green at base, then
bluish black tipped with gray. _Yng._ [Male]. Similar to _Ad._
[Female], but tail blue black with faint gray tips; throat with
metallic green feathers.
Range.--Southern Mexico; breeds north through mountains to southern
Arizona and southwestern New Mexico.
[Illustration: 428.]
=428. Ruby-throated Hummingbird= (_Trochilus colubris_). L. 3.5;
W. 1.5. _Ad._ [Male]. Throat ruby, chin blackish; tail forked,
the feathers pointed. _Ad._ [Female]. Throat grayish, tail-feathers
rounded, three outer ones tipped with white. _Yng._ [Male]. Like
[Female] but throat with dusky spots. (See next page)
Range.--Eastern North America, west to about Long. 100A deg.; breeds from
Florida and eastern Mexico, north to Labrador and Hudson Bay region;
winters from southern Florida to Central America.
[Illustration: 431.]
=431. Anna Hummingbird= (_Calypte annA|_). L. 3.6. _Ad._ [Male].
_Crown_ and throat glittering purplish pink; feathers at sides of
throat much lengthened. _Ad._ [Female]. Above green; below grayish
washed with green; throat usually with pink feathers; tail with a
narrow white tip. _Yng._ Similar but browner above.
Range.--Western United States, from northern Lower California north to
northern California; east to southern Arizona; south in winter to
Mexico; recorded from Guadalupe Island.
[Illustration: 432.]
=432. Broad-tailed Hummingbird= (_Selasphorus platycercus_). L. 4.
_Ad._ [Male]. Outer primary very narrow, end sharp; crown green,
throat _pink_; tail green above, purplish below without white tips.
_Ad._ [Female]. Outer tail-feathers rusty at base, then black with a
broad white tip; middle feathers _entirely_ green; above bronzy green;
throat feathers with dusky centers; sides rusty.
Range.--Rocky Mountains: west, rarely to eastern California; north to
southern Wyoming and Idaho; winters south of United States.
[Illustration: 433.]
=433. Rufous Hummingbird= (_Selasphorus rufus_), L. 3.6. _Ad._ [Male].
Next to middle pair of tail-feathers _notched_ near tip of inner web;
back _reddish brown_ sometimes washed with green. _Ad._ [Female].
Sides _rusty_, back green, throat spotted with green and sometimes
ruby, outer tail-feathers rusty at base, then black and a white tip,
the feather _more_ than .12 wide; middle tail-feathers green at base,
end black. _Yng._ [Male]. Similar to [Female] but _all_ tail-feathers
rusty at base.
Range.--Western United States; breeds from the higher mountains of
southern California and Arizona, north to Lat. 61A deg. in Alaska; during
migrations east to Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, and western
Texas; winters in southern Mexico.
[Illustration: 434.]
=434. Allen Hummingbird= (_Selasphorus alleni_). L. 3.6. _Ad._ [Male].
Crown and _back green_, and tail rusty tipped with dusky, no notch in
tail-feathers; in other respects like No. 433. _Ad._ [Female] _and
Yng._ [Male]. Like the same of No. 433, but outer tail-feather less
than .12 in. wide.
Range.--Pacific coast, from Monterey, California, north to British
Columbia; migrates south through Arizona, and southern California to
Mexico.
=435. Morcom Hummingbird= (_Atthis morcomi_). L. 2.9. _Ad._ [Female].
Above bronzy green; middle tail-feathers bronzy green tinged with
rusty on basal half; rest of tail-feathers rusty brown, then green,
then black and tipped with white; below white, sides rusty, throat
spotted with bronze-green. (Ridgw.) Male unknown.
Range.--Huachuca Mountains, southern Arizona, (known from one
specimen.)
[Illustration: 436.]
=436. Calliope Hummingbird= (_Stellula calliope_). L. 3. _Ad._ [Male].
Throat purplish pink, white at base _showing through_; above green.
_Ad._ [Female]. Sides rusty, throat with green spots, above green,
outer tail-feathers gray at base, then black, then white _in nearly
equal amounts_. _Yng._ [Male]. Similar to [Female].
Range.--Mountains of western United States; breeds north to Montana,
Idaho, and British Columbia; west to eastern Oregon and eastern
California; winters, south of United States; rare on Pacific coast of
United States.
Order XVII. PERCHING BIRDS.
PASSERES.
Family 1. FLYCATCHERS. TyrannidA|. 32 species, 7 subspecies.
Family 2. LARKS. AlaudidA|. 1 species, 13 subspecies.
Family 3. CROWS AND JAYS. CorvidA|. 21 species, 14 subspecies.
Family 4. BLACKBIRDS, ORIOLES, ETC. IcteridA|. 18 species,
14 subspecies.
Family 5. FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. FringillidA|. 87 species,
92 subspecies.
Family 6. TANAGERS. TanagridA|. 4 species, 1 subspecies.
Family 7. SWALLOWS. HirundinidA|. 9 species, 2 subspecies.
Family 8. WAXWINGS. AmpelidA|. 3 species.
Family 9. SHRIKES. LaniidA|. 2 species, 3 subspecies.
Family 10. VIREOS. VireonidA|. 13 species, 10 subspecies.
Family 11. WARBLERS. MniotiltidA|. 55 species, 18 subspecies.
Family 12. WAGTAILS. MotacillidA|. 3 species.
Family 13. DIPPERS. CinclidA|. 1 species.
Family 14. WRENS, THRASHERS, ETC. TroglodytidA|. 26 species,
24 subspecies.
Family 15. CREEPERS. CerthiidA|. 1 species, 4 subspecies.
Family 16. NUTHATCHES AND TITS. ParidA|. 21 species, 20 subspecies.
Family 17. KINGLETS, GNATCATCHERS, ETC. SylviidA|. 7 species,
3 subspecies.
Family 18. THRUSHES, BLUEBIRDS, ETC. TurdidA|. 13 species,
14 subspecies.
The North American members of the Order PASSERES are placed in two
Suborders, the _Clamatores_, or so-called Songless Perching Birds,
which includes all the Flycatchers, and the Suborder _Oscines_, or
Singing Perching Birds, which includes all our remaining Perching
Birds. While the Flycatchers are therefore technically classed as
songless birds, it does not follow that they have no songs. Sing they
do, but because of the less developed condition of their
voice-producing organ, they cannot give utterance to the longer and
more musical songs of the Oscines, which are supplied with a better
musical instrument.
The Flycatchers, (Family TyrannidA|) number somewhat over three hundred
and fifty species, and are found only in America, where they are most
abundant in the tropics. Feeding almost exclusively on insects, those
species which visit the United States are of necessity migratory, not
more than half a dozen of the thirty species which nest with us,
remaining in the United States during the winter, and these are found
only on our southern borders.
Flycatchers as a rule, capture their prey on the wing. When perching,
their pose is usually erect and hawk-like. They often raise their
crown feathers, which in many species are somewhat lengthened, a habit
giving them a certain big-headed appearance.
Flycatchers are most useful birds. The food of the Kingbird, for
example, a species which is erroneously believed to destroy honey
bees, has been found to consist of 90 per cent. insects, mostly
injurious species, while only fourteen out of two hundred and
eighty-one stomachs contained the remains of honey bees; forty of the
fifty bees found being drones.
The true Larks, (Family _AlaudidA|_) are chiefly Old World birds, the
Skylark being the best known member of the Family. In America we have
only the Horned or Shore Larks, one species of which shows so much
climatic variation in color throughout its wide range, that no less
than thirteen subspecies or geographical races of it are recognized in
the United States.
The Horned Lark is a bird of the plains and prairies and is less
common in the Atlantic States than westward. Like the Skylark it sings
in the air, but its vocal powers are limited and not to be compared
with those of its famous relative.
The Crows and Jays, (Family _CorvidA|_) number about two hundred
species of which some twenty-five inhabit the western hemisphere. To
this family belong the Raven, Rook, Magpie and Jackdaw, all birds of
marked intelligence; and our Crows and Jays are fully worthy of being
classed with these widely known and distinguished members of their
family.
The Crows and Jays, by varying their food with the season, are rarely
at loss for supplies of one kind or another and most species are
represented throughout their ranges at all times of the year. In the
more northern parts of their homes, however, some of these birds are
migratory, and Crows, as is well known, gather in great flocks during
the winter, returning each night to a roost frequented, in some
instances, by two or three hundred thousand Crows.
While the Crows and Jays are technically 'Song Birds' their voices are
far from musical. Nevertheless they possess much range of expression
and several species learn to enunciate words with more or less ease.
The Starlings, (Family _SturnidA|_) are Old World birds represented in
America only by the European Starling which was introduced into
Central Park, New York City, in 1890 and is now common in the
surrounding country.
The Blackbirds, Orioles, and Meadowlarks, (Family _IcteridA|_) number
about one hundred and fifty species and are found only in the New
World. The Blackbirds are most numerous in North America, where,
migrating in vast armies and often living in large colonies, they
become among the most characteristic and conspicuous of our birds.
The Orioles are most numerous in the tropics, where some thirty
species are known. Apparently all of them are remarkable as nest
builders, the large Cassiques, nearly related, great yellow and black
birds, weaving pouches three and four feet long, several dozen of
which, all occupied, may be seen swinging from the branches of a
single tree.
The Finches, Sparrows, Grosbeaks, etc., (Family _FringillidA|_) number
nearly six hundred species, a greater number than is contained in any
other family of birds. They are distributed throughout the world,
except in the Australian region, some ninety odd species inhabiting
North America.
Varying widely in color, the FringillidA| all agree in possessing
stout, conical bills, which are of service to them in crushing the
seeds on which they feed so largely.
The streaked, brownish Sparrows, often so difficult of identification,
are usually inhabitants of plains, fields, or marshes, where they are
rendered inconspicuous by their dull colors. The more gayly attired
Grosbeaks, Buntings, Cardinals etc., frequent trees or bushy growths,
where their plumage either harmonizes with their surroundings or where
they have the protection afforded by the vegetation.
Most of the members of this family are good singers, some of them
indeed being noted for their powers of song. They are less migratory
than insect-eating birds and some species are with us at all seasons.
Their abundance, musical gifts, and constant presence render them,
from the field student's point of view, highly important members of
the great class Aves.
From an economic standpoint the FringillidA| are no less deserving of
our esteem. Some species are of incalculable value as destroyers of
the seeds of noxious weeds. Fifteen hundred seeds have been found in
the stomach of one Snowflake or Snowbunting, and it has been estimated
by Professor Beal, of the Biological Survey of the United States
Department of Agriculture, that during the winter season, in the
single State of Iowa, where his studies were made, Tree Sparrows
devour no less than 875 _tons_ of weed seeds, chiefly of the ragweed.
The Tanagers, (Family _TanagridA|_) are found only in the New World,
where they are most numerously represented in the tropics. As a family
they are remarkable for the brilliancy of their colors; the common,
but mistaken idea that most tropical birds are brightly clad being in
no small part due to the abundance of Tanagers and beauty of their
plumage.
Only five of the some three hundred and fifty known species reach the
United States and these are migratory, coming to us in the spring and
returning to the tropics in the fall. Tanagers, as a rule, are not
possessed of much vocal ability, our species ranking high in their
family as songsters, the notes of many species being far less musical.
Like most gaily costumed birds the plumages of many Tanagers undergo
striking changes in color with age and season. The male of our Scarlet
Tanager, for example, is olive-green with black wing-coverts during
his first winter, the scarlet plumage not being acquired until the
following spring. It is worn, however, only during the nesting season
after which the less conspicuous olive-green dress is again acquired,
the wings and tail, however, remaining black.
Swallows, (Family _HirundinidA|_) are of world-wide distribution, and
as might be expected in birds possessing such remarkable powers of
flight, many of the species have unusually extended ranges. Our Barn
Swallow, for example, is found throughout North America in summer, and
in the winter it migrates as far south as southern Brazil.
Birds of the air, the aA"rial habits of Swallows are reflected in their
long wings and small, weak feet; while their small bills and broad,
widely opening mouths indicate their manner of feeding.
In spite of their poor equipment of tools, Swallows take high rank as
nest builders, and it is interesting to observe that although the
birds are structurally much alike, their nests often differ widely in
character. Compare for instance, the mud-made dwellings of the Barn
and Cliff Swallows with the tunneled hole of the Bank Swallow and one
realizes how little the character of a bird's home may depend on the
structure of it's builder.
The food of Swallows, remarks Professor Beal, "consists of many small
species of beetles which are much on the wing, many species of diptera
(mosquitoes and their allies), with large quantities of flying ants
and a few insects of similar kinds. Most of them are either injurious
or annoying, and the numbers destroyed by Swallows are not only beyond
calculation, but almost beyond imagination."
The true Waxwings, (Family _AmpelidA|_) number only three species with
representatives in the northern parts of both hemispheres. Their
notes, as a rule are limited to a few unmusical calls, which, with our
Cedar Waxwing, are usually uttered when the bird is about to fly.
Waxwings are found in small flocks during the greater part of the year
and roam about the country as though they were quite as much at home
in one place as in another, provided food be plenty. Small fruits,
chiefly wild ones, constitute their usual fare, but they also feed on
insects, the injurious elm beetle being among their victims.
The Shrikes, (Family _LaniidA|_) are represented in America by only two
species, the remaining two hundred or more members of this family
being found in the Old World. Shrikes are noted for their singular
habit of impaling their prey on thorns or similarly sharp-pointed
growths, or occasionally they may hang it in the crotch of a limb.
This proceeding enables them to tear it to pieces more readily, for it
will be observed that while Shrikes have a hawk-like bill, their feet
are comparatively weak and sparrow-like and evidently of no assistance
to them in dissecting their food.
Our Northern Shrike, or Butcherbird, feeds chiefly on small birds and
mice, while the southern species, or Loggerhead, is a great destroyer
of grasshoppers and he also eats lizards and small snakes.
The Vireos, (Family _VireonidA|_) number fifty species, all American.
They search the foliage carefully for leaf-eating insects and their
eggs, and examine the crevices in the bark for eggs of the injurious
wood-boring insects. They are therefore unusually beneficial birds.
Bearing a general resemblance in size and color to many of the
Warblers, Vireos are sometimes confused with members of that family.
They are, however, as a rule, more deliberate in their motions and not
such active flutterers as are many of the Warblers. They are also more
musical, all the Vireos having characteristic songs, which if not
always highly musical, are generally noticeable, pronounced and
unmistakable.
The nests of all our Vireos are pendant, deeply cup-shaped structures
usually hung between the forks of a crotch, to the arms of which they
are most skilfully woven.
The Warblers, (Family _MniotiltidA|_) like the Vireos are distinctly
American birds, indeed they may be called characteristic North
American birds since most of the one hundred odd species are found
north of Mexico. Between thirty and forty species of these active,
beautiful little creatures may be found in the course of a year at a
single locality in the Eastern States and they therefore constitute an
exceedingly important element in our bird-life. Most of them come in
May at the height of the spring migration; when the woods often swarm
with them as they flit from limb to limb in pursuit of their insect
food. The larger number of them pass onward to their northern homes
and in September they return to us in increased numbers.
The beauty of their plumage, the briefness but regularity of their
visits, the rarity of certain species, combine to make the Warblers
especially attractive to the field student and their charms are
heightened by the difficulty with which many of them are identified.
Study them as we may there are still species which have escaped us.
By far the larger number of Warblers may be described as flutterers
that feed agilely about the terminal branches, (genera _Dendroica_ and
_Helminthophila_); others are true flycatchers, so far as feeding
habit is concerned, (genera _Setophaga_ and _Wilsonia_,) while others
still feed in the undergrowth or on the ground, (genera _Geothlypis_
and _Seiurus_). Insects constitute almost their entire fare and they
are among our most beneficial birds.
Most of the Wagtails (Family _MotacillidA|_), are inhabitants of the
Old World, only three of the sixty odd species being found in this
country. Our Pipit or Titlark is our best known, most widely
distributed species.
Like other members of its family it has the habit of wagging or
tipping its tail both when walking (for it should be noted that these
birds are ground-inhabiting and walkers) and at rest.
The Dippers (Family _CinclidA|_) though numbering only twelve species
are distributed throughout the larger part of the world from the Andes
of South America to the mountains of Alaska, Europe, Asia and Africa.