sea-coast of the United States during autumn, winter, and early
spring, from Maryland to the extremities of Maine. The younger the
birds, the farther south do they proceed to spend the winter, and it
is rare to see an old bird, of either sex, at any season to the south
of the Bay of Boston. Farther eastward they become more common, and
they may be said to be plentiful towards the entrance of the Bay of
Fundy, in the vicinity of which a few remain and breed. I found some
in December, January, and February at Boston, where I procured males,
females, and young birds. The old had the red patch on the throat
rather darker than in the breeding season; the delicate grey and
white lines on the neck were as pure as I observed them to be during
summer in Labrador; and I have since been convinced that birds of this
family undergo very little if any change of colouring after they have
once acquired their perfect plumage, the Loon and the Black-throated
Diver being included in this remark; while, on the contrary, all the
Grebes with which I am acquainted, lose the beauty of their plumage
as soon as the breeding season is over. This remarkable difference
between the Divers and the Grebes would of itself be sufficient to
separate the two genera, were there not also other distinctions.
The Divers, moreover, live on the sea during the greater part of the
year, and resort to ponds, lakes, or the borders of rivers to breed;
whilst the Grebes spend most of their time on inland lakes, marshes,
and streams. Immediately after the breeding season, as soon as the
young are able to fly, the families of Divers make their way to the
arms and inlets of the sea, rarely entering the fresh waters until
the following spring.
The Red-throated Diver is at all times an extremely shy and vigilant
bird, ever on the alert to elude its numerous enemies. The sight of
man seems invariably to alarm it, even in the wildest countries in
which it breeds. I have often observed that, while yet several hundred
yards from them, they marked my approach with great watchfulness.
First they would dive and make their way to the farther end of the
pond, after which, with outstretched necks, they would remain silent
and motionless, until I approached within about a hundred yards, when,
instead of diving again, as the Loon always does, they at once, with
a single spring, rose from the water, and ere I had proceeded a few
yards, they were already eight or ten feet above it. If I crept towards
them through the tangled mosses or shrubs, they would swim about with
their heads elevated, as if determined to make their escape on the
appearance of imminent danger. In many instances, my party observed
this species in small flocks of five or six in the same lake, when
it happened to be of considerable extent; and as this was during the
height of the breeding season, we concluded that these associated
birds were barren, as I ascertained that males and females, when once
paired, remain together until their young are able to fly, when they
part company, until the next pairing season, which is about the first
of March.
This species begins to breed in Labrador in the beginning of June, and
about a fortnight earlier along the Bay of Fundy. The numerous nests
which our party found in the former district were all placed on small
sequestered islands in the middle of lakes or large ponds of fresh
water, rarely more than one mile distant from the sea-shore. These
nests consisted merely of a few blades of rank grasses loosely put
together, and were quite flat, without any down to warm or conceal
the eggs at any period of incubation. The nest was placed within a
few feet of the water, and well-beaten tracks, such as are made by
otters, led to it. Whenever the birds went to this spot they walked
nearly erect in an awkward manner, but when they sat in their nest
they laid themselves flat on the eggs, in the manner of a Goose or
Duck. In no instance did they alight on the islands, but always on
the water, at some distance, when, after examining all around them
for a while, they crawled silently out, and moved to the spot which
contained their treasure.
Having been told that the Red-throated Diver covers its eggs with down
in the manner of many ducks, I was surprised to find the assertion
incorrect, and having killed several individuals during the period
of incubation and immediately after it, I carefully examined them,
and found all of them fully covered with down, they being, in this
respect, quite different from the Eider Duck, the Velvet Duck, the
Harlequin Duck, and other species of that family, nay even from the
Black Guillemot, of which I shall speak in the present volume. Probably
it is on account of those birds breeding much farther north, that,
according to Dr Richardson, they there line their nest with down. We
also found the _Colymbus glacialis_ incubating without any in its
nest. The idea generally entertained that this species never lays
more than two eggs I found equally incorrect, for of five nests, two
contained two eggs each, two had three each, and the fifth had three
young birds. The eggs measure 3 inches in length by 1-3/4 in breadth,
and are of an elongated elliptical form, nearly equally rounded at
both ends; they are of a deep olive-brown colour, irregularly marked
with spots of a darker dull brown. The male incubates as well as the
female, and both are extremely solicitous about the safety of their
young, which betake themselves to the water on the day succeeding
that of their escape from the egg, and are from the first most expert
swimmers and divers. Two of the young were shot by Captain EMERY,
having been easily approached in the absence of their parents, at
which he had shot without success, they not having yet learned from
experience the danger of the proximity of man. They dived beautifully,
and swam with great buoyancy, inclining their necks forwards, in the
manner of the old birds. This was on the 5th July 1833. On the 15th
of the same month, THOMAS LINCOLN and my son JOHN WOODHOUSE, saw
several young ones, which, although quite small, were equally expert at
diving. When swimming by the side of their mother they floated high,
with the neck quite erect, while the old bird swam deep, with her
neck inclined forward. When the little ones dived, they moved under
the water like so many turtles, and at last were caught on the bottom
of the pond, which was small and shallow, by placing the gun-rods
upon them. So averse from moving are the old birds when sitting on
their eggs, that they will not bestir themselves until in imminent
danger, on which, however, they scramble to the water, dive, and, on
emerging, immediately rise on wing without uttering any note. The
male only is noisy on such occasions, and more especially when it
returns from afar to its mate, when it evinces its satisfaction by
calling aloud, as it repeatedly passes and repasses over the spot,
and then alights in a pompous manner on the water.
The sexes differ materially in size, the male birds being much larger
than the females, and weighing at an average fully a pound more. These
birds are extremely tenacious of life. One which my son shot on the
wing fell, dived instantly, and swam to a considerable distance under
water, but returned to the surface, back downwards, and quite dead.
The notes of the Red-throated Diver are harsh and rather loud; they
resemble the syllables _cac, cac, cac, carah, carah_, enounced in
rapid succession. In some instances the young men of my party found
that the most successful method of approaching these birds whilst
on the water, was to run as fast as possible towards them and shout
loudly, for on such occasions the birds dived instead of flying at
once, and on emerging again, afforded them much better chances as
they took to wing. At certain times, when approached while they have
young, they utter a soft plaintive note, which evidently conveys to
their offspring their wish that they should remain quiet in their
hiding-places.
The Red-throated Diver does not acquire the full beauty of its plumage
until its fourth year. The young are at first covered with thick
hairy down, of a blackish colour, inclining to brown. Before they
are fully able to fly, this is changed into a dull grey on the upper
parts, thickly sprinkled with white dots on the extremity of each
feather, the lower parts being of a sullied white. During the second
year these tints are firmer, there are fewer spots above, and the
texture of the lower parts is more silky. In the third, both sexes
assume the fine grey of the hind-neck, with its longitudinal white
stripes, and here and there a few spots of red on the lower part of
the throat. The next spring their plumage is perfect.
I have never observed any of these birds on our inland lakes or
rivers. In the neighbourhood of Boston, and along the Bay of Fundy,
they are best known by the names of “Scape-grace” and “Cape-racer.”
By the 9th of August the young birds had left the fresh-water lakes
and ponds for the bays on the coast, and we were informed by the
settlers, both in Newfoundland and Labrador, that, by the last days
of September, none were to be found in those countries.
The dislike which this species shews to fresh-water after the
breeding-season is such, that they are rarely seen in the upper part
of large bays, but prefer for their winter residence the shores of
sea-islands and barren rocks. Thus, at that season, they are met
with about the outer islands of the Bay of Fundy, and those along
our eastern coast.
While in fresh water, the Red-throated Diver feeds principally on
small fish, shrimps, leeches, snails, and aquatic insects. The masses
of feather-like substances often found in the stomachs of Grebes,
I have never met with in this species. Its flesh is oily, tough,
dark-coloured, and disagreeable to the taste, although I saw some
Mountain Indians feeding upon it at Labrador with apparent pleasure.
COLYMBUS SEPTENTRIONALIS, _Linn._ Syst. Nat. vol. i. p.
220.—_Lath._ Ind. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 801.—Ch. Bonap.
Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 421.
RED-THROATED DIVER, COLYMBUS SEPTENTRIONALIS, _Richards.
and Swains._ Fauna Bor. Amer. part ii. p. 476.—_Nuttall_,
Manual, vol. ii. p. 519.
Adult Male in summer. Plate CCII. Fig. 1.
Bill as long as the head, slender but strong, straight, rather
compressed, tapering to a point. Upper mandible with the dorsal line
almost straight, the ridge convex, as are the sides, the edges sharp
and involute; nasal groove basal, short; nostrils basal, lateral,
direct, oblong, pervious. Lower mandible with the angle extremely
narrow and extending beyond the middle, the dorsal line straight and
sloping upwards to the point, the ridge convex, but narrower than
that of the upper mandible, the edges sharp and involute; the point
of both mandibles rather sharp.
Head of moderate size, oblong, narrowed before. Neck rather long and
slender. Eyes rather small. Body elongated, somewhat depressed. Wings
small. Feet short, rather large, placed very far back; tibia almost
entirely concealed; tarsus short, exceedingly compressed, sharp-edged
before and behind, covered all over with reticulated angular scales;
hind toe extremely small, connected with the second by a very small
membrane; the anterior toes united by reticulated membranes, the fourth
longest, the third a little shorter, the second considerably shorter
than the third; all covered anteriorly with very narrow transverse
scutella, the second toe with a free two-lobed membrane; claws very
small, depressed, rounded.
Plumage short and dense; of the head and neck very short, blended;
of the lower parts blended, short, and with a silky gloss; of the
upper slightly glossed and somewhat compact; the feathers in general
oblong and rounded. Wings proportionally very small and narrow,
curved; primaries strong, tapering, first longest, second almost as
long, the rest rapidly graduated; secondaries broad, rounded. Tail
extremely short, rounded, of twenty rounded feathers.
Bill bluish-black. Iris deep bright red. Feet brownish-black, the
anterior edge of the tarsus, the upper surface of the toes, the claws,
and part of the webs, pale livid flesh-colour. Fore part and sides of
the head, throat, and sides of the neck, of a fine bluish-grey; fore
part of the neck rich brownish-red; hind part of the head and hind
neck longitudinally streaked with greenish-black and pure white, each
feather black in the middle, with the sides white, the colours disposed
in lines. The upper surface brownish-black, tinged with green, more
or less mottled with white according to age, excepting the primary
quills and the tail-feathers, the latter of which are merely paler at
the end. The whole under surface pure white, excepting the feathers
on the sides under the wings, some of those about the vent, and the
lower tail-coverts, which are greyish-brown, with white margins and
tips.
Length to end of tail 25-1/2 inches, to end of claws 27, extent of
wings 43-1/12; bill 2-2/12; gape 3-3/8; tarsus 3, fourth toe and claw
3-3/4; wing from flexure 11-3/4, tail 3. Weight 4 lb.
Adult Female in summer. Plate CCII. Fig. 3.
The female is precisely similar to the male in form and colouring,
but is considerably smaller.
Length to end of tail 25 inches, to end of claws 28-1/12; extent of
wings 43. Weight 3 lb.
Male in winter immature. Plate CCII. Fig. 2.
In this state the principal differences are the following:—The fore
part of the neck, instead of being of a uniform rich brownish-red,
is merely mottled with that colour; all the feathers of the upper
surface have each two white spots towards the end; the tail-feathers
are edged and terminated with white; the colouring in general is
somewhat less pure and deep, and the bill is of a much paler tint.
Young bird unfledged. Plate CCII. Fig. 4.
The young are at first covered with a dense elastic down of a greyish
black colour, tinged with brown. The bill is bluish-black, its basal
edges yellow; the iris reddish-brown.
THE GREAT RED-BREASTED RAIL, OR FRESHWATER MARSH-HEN.
_RALLUS ELEGANS._
PLATE CCIII. MALE AND YOUNG.
No doubt exists in my mind that Wilson considered this beautiful bird
as merely the adult of _Rallus crepitans_, the manners of which he
described, as studied at Great Egg Harbour in New Jersey, while he
gave in his works the figure and colouring of the present species. My
friend THOMAS NUTTALL has done the same, without, I apprehend, having
seen the two birds together. Always unwilling to find faults in so
ardent a student of nature as WILSON, I felt almost mortified when,
after having, in the company of my worthy and learned friend, the
Reverend JOHN BACHMAN, carefully examined the habits of both species,
which, in form and general appearance, are closely allied, I discovered
the error which he had in this instance committed. Independently of
the great difference as to size between the two species, there are
circumstances connected with their habits which mark them as distinct.
The _Rallus elegans_ is altogether a fresh-water bird, while the _R.
crepitans_ never removes from the salt-water marshes, that are met
with along our eastern Atlantic coasts, from the Jerseys to the Gulf
of Mexico. Nay, the present species is found at considerable distances
inland, where it breeds and spends the whole year; whereas the latter
never goes farther from its maritime haunts than the borders of the
salt-marshes, and this merely on certain occasions, when driven thither
by the high risings of tides. The Fresh-water Marsh-hen, besides, is
confined to the Southern States, a few stragglers only having been
observed farther eastward than the State of Pennsylvania, and these
only in fresh-water meadows.
So long ago as the year 1810, on the 29th May, I caught one of these
birds, a female, at Henderson, in the State of Kentucky, when I made
the following memorandum respecting it:—“It is an excessively shy
bird, runs with great celerity, and when caught, cries like a common
fowl.” It weighed eleven ounces avoirdupois; its total length was
20-1/2 inches, and its alar extent 22.
This species constantly resides in the fresh-water marshes and
ponds in the interior of South Carolina, Georgia, the Floridas, and
Louisiana, from which a few migrate, and probably breed as far to the
eastward as the wet meadows of the Delaware and Schuylkil rivers,
in the vicinity of which I killed one female in New Jersey, a few
miles from Camden, in July 1832, in company with my friends EDWARD
HARRIS and Mr OGDEN, of that city. On inquiring of numerous hunters,
I was told by several of them that they now and then obtained a few
of these birds, which they considered as very rare, and knew only by
the name of “King Rails.” On recently examining the museums of our
eastern cities my friend JOHN BACHMAN saw only one specimen; and Mr
WILLIAM COOPER of New York assured him that he had never seen any
other individuals than those sent to him from Charleston. Mr BACHMAN
was present at the killing of a specimen near Philadelphia, which was
_considered_ as a very old individual of the _Rallus crepitans_. In
Louisiana, the Creoles know this bird by the name of _Grand Râle de
Prairie_.
As the Fresh-water Marsh-Hen is abundant in South Carolina, I shall
attempt to describe its habits as observed in that State, both by
myself and by my friend JOHN BACHMAN, of whose notes, delivered to
me for the purpose, I shall make free use. “Although not nearly so
numerous as the other species, they are not rare in that country, in
certain favourable situations. Wherever there are extensive marshes by
the sides of sluggish streams, where the bellowings of the alligator
are heard at intervals, and the pipings of myriads of frogs fill the
air, there is found the Fresh-water Marsh-hen, and there it may be
seen gliding swiftly among the tangled rank grasses and aquatic weeds,
or standing on the broad leaves of the yellow Cyamus and fragrant
Water-lily, or forcing its way through the dense foliage of Pontederiæ;
and Sagittariæ. There, during the sickly season, it remains secure
from the search of man, and there, on some hillock or little island
of the marsh, it builds its nest. In such places I have found so many
as twenty pairs breeding within a space having a diameter of thirty
yards. The nests were placed _on the ground_, and raised to the height
of six or eight inches by means of withered weeds and grasses. The
number of eggs was nine or ten. About the middle of March I found a
few nests containing two or three eggs each; but, in my opinion, the
greater number of these birds commence breeding about the middle of
April. They appear to repair their nests from time to time, and to
return to them several years in succession.”
The young, which are at first black, leave the nest as soon as
they burst the shell, and follow their mother, who leads them along
the borders of the streams and pools, where they find abundance of
food, consisting of grass-seeds, insects, tadpoles, leeches, and
small crayfish. At this early period, when running among the grass,
which they do with great activity, they may easily be mistaken for
meadow-mice. My friend BACHMAN, who had several times attempted to
raise these birds, with the view of domesticating them, did not
succeed, principally, he thinks, on account of the difficulty of
procuring enough of their accustomed food. They all died in a few
days, although the greatest attention was paid to them.
When grown they feed on a variety of substances, and it has appeared
to me that they eat a much greater proportion of seeds and other
vegetable matters than the Salt-water Marsh-Hens. It is true, however,
that, in the gizzard of the latter we find portions of the _Spartina
glabra_; but when that kind of food is not to be procured, which is
the case during three-fourths of the year, they feed principally on
“Fiddlers,” small fish, and mollusca. In the gizzard of the present
species, besides the food already mentioned, I have always found a much
greater quantity of the seeds of such grasses as grow in the places
frequented by them. On one occasion I found the gizzard crammed with
seeds of the cane (_Arundo tecta_); and that of another contained a
large quantity of the seed of the common oat, which had evidently
been picked up on a newly sown field adjoining to the marsh. In
autumn I have killed this species in cornfields, in the company of
JOHN BACHMAN, PAUL H. LEES, Esq. and others. These birds are rarely
shot by common gunners, on account of the difficulty of raising them,
and because they generally confine themselves to places so swampy
and covered with briars, smilaxes, and rough weeds, that they are
scarcely accessible. But although they are thus safe from man, they
are not without numerous enemies.
My friend BACHMAN once killed a large Moccasin snake, on opening which
he found an old bird of this species, that had evidently been swallowed
but a short time before. Its feathers are frequently found lying on the
banks of rice-fields, ponds, and lagoons, in places where the tracks
of the minx plainly disclose the plunderer. The Barred Owl and the
Great Horned Owl also occasionally succeed in capturing them in the
dusk. “On one occasion,” says my friend BACHMAN, in a note addressed
to me, “while placed on a stand for deer, I saw a wild cat creeping
through a marsh that was near to me, evidently following by stealthy
steps something that he was desirous of making his prey. Presently he
made a sudden pounce into a bunch of grass, when I immediately heard
the piercing cries of the Marsh-Hen, and shortly after came passing
by me the successful murderer with the bird in his mouth.”
“In seasons of great drought, when the marshes which are their
favourite haunts become dry, these birds have been known entirely to
disappear from the neighbourhood, and not to return until after heavy
rains, having in the mean time, no doubt, retired to the shores of
the larger and deeper ponds of the swamps of the interior.”
The young of this species acquire the redness of their plumage during
the first summer, and increase in size and beauty for several years,
without experiencing any change in their colouring after the spring
following that of their birth. The sexes are scarcely distinguishable
otherwise than by the difference of size, the males being considerably
larger than the females. I am not aware that this species raises
more than one brood in the season, although, when its eggs have been
destroyed, it may lay a second time.
The flight of this Rail resembles that of the salt-water kind, but
is considerably stronger and more protracted. When suddenly flushed,
they rise and go off with a chuck, their legs dangling beneath, and
generally proceed in a straight line for some distance, after which
they drop among the thickest grass, and run off with surprising
speed. In several instances they have been known to stand before
a careful pointer. They are less apt to take to the water than the
_Rallus crepitans_, and are by no means so expert at diving. Their
number does not appear to be diminished in winter by any migratory
movements. Their cries, which do not differ much from those of the
other species, are less frequently repeated after the breeding season.
Few birds afford better food than this species: during autumn, when,
feeding chiefly on grass seeds, they are juicy and tender; in spring,
however, they are less delicate. Their superiority in size over all
other birds of the genus that occur in the United States, renders
them valuable game to the knowing sportsman and epicure. Their eggs
also are excellent as food, being much preferable to those of the
common fowl.
I regret that I am obliged to conclude this account, without being
able to describe the eggs, which, although well known to my friend
JOHN BACHMAN, have not yet come under my inspection, but which I trust
I shall have an opportunity of figuring in the concluding plates of
my work.
GREAT RED-BREASTED RAIL, OR FRESH-WATER MARSH HEN.
RALLUS ELEGANS.
Adult Male. Plate CCIII. Fig. 1.
Bill much longer than the head, slender, compressed, very slightly
curved, deep at the base. Upper mandible with the dorsal line almost
straight until towards the end, where it is slightly curved, the ridge
flattish at the base, and extending a little on the forehead, convex
towards the end; a deep groove runs on either side parallel to the
ridge for two-thirds of the whole length; the edges inflected, with a
very slight notch close to the tip. Nostrils lateral, linear, direct,
open and pervious. Lower mandible with the angle very long, extremely
narrow, the sides erect, slightly convex, the edges inflected, the
tip narrowed.