eyes, although the orb of day has yet scarcely withdrawn itself from
our view. How calm is the air! The nocturnal insects and quadrupeds
are abroad; the bear is moving through the dark canebrake, the land
crows are flying towards their roosts, their aquatic brethren towards
the interior of the forests, the squirrel is barking his adieu, and
the Barred Owl glides silently and swiftly from his retreat, to seize
upon the gay and noisy animal. The boat is pushed off from the shore;
the main-line is in my hands; now it shakes; surely some fish have been
hooked. Hand over hand I proceed to the first hook. Nothing there!
But now I feel several jerks stronger and more frequent than before.
Several hooks I pass; but see, what a fine Cat-fish is twisting round
and round the little line to which he is fast! NAT, look to your
gaff—hook him close to the tail. Keep it up, my dear fellow!—there
now, we have him. More are on, and we proceed. When we have reached
the end many goodly fishes are lying in the bottom of our skiff. New
bait has been put on, and, as we return, I congratulate myself and my
companions on the success of our efforts; for there lies fish enough
for ourselves and our neighbours.
A trot-line at this period was perfectly safe at Henderson, should
I have allowed it to remain for weeks at a time. The navigation was
mostly performed by flat-bottomed boats, which during calm nights
floated in the middle current of the river, so that the people on
board could not observe the fish that had been hooked. Not a single
steamer had as yet ever gone down the Ohio; now and then, it is
true, a barge or a keel-boat was propelled by poles and oars; but
the nature of the river is such at that place, that these boats when
ascending were obliged to keep near the Indiana shore, until above
the landing of the village, (below which I always fixed my lines),
when they pulled across the stream.
Several species or varieties of Cat-fish are found in the Ohio, namely
the Blue, the White, and the Mud Cats, which differ considerably in
their form and colour, as well as in their habits. The Mud Cat is
the best, although it seldom attains so great a size as the rest.
The Blue Cat is the coarsest, but when not exceeding from four to six
pounds, it affords tolerable eating. The White Cat is preferable to
the last, but not so common; and the Yellow Mud Cat is the best and
rarest. Of the blue kind some have been caught that weighed a hundred
pounds. Such fishes, however, are looked upon as monsters.
The form in all the varieties inclines to the conical, the head being
disproportionately large, while the body tapers away to the root of the
tail. The eyes, which are small, are placed far apart, and situated
as it were on the top of the forehead, but laterally. Their mouth is
wide, and armed with numerous small and very sharp teeth, while it
is defended by single-sided spines, which, when the fish is in the
agonies of death, stand out at right angles, and are so firmly fixed
as sometimes to break before you can loosen them. The Cat-fish has
also feelers of proportionate length, apparently intended to guide
its motions over the bottom, whilst its eyes are watching the objects
passing above.
Trot-lines cannot be used with much success unless during the middle
stages of the water. When very low, it is too clear, and the fish,
although extremely voracious, will rarely risk its life for a toad.
When the waters are rising rapidly, your trot-lines are likely to be
carried away by one of the numerous trees that float in the stream.
A “happy medium” is therefore best.
When the waters are rising fast and have become muddy, a single line
is used for catching Cat-fish. It is fastened to the elastic branch
of some willow several feet above the water, and must be twenty or
thirty feet in length. The entrails of a Wild Turkey, or a piece of
fresh venison, furnish good bait; and if, when you visit your line the
next morning after you have set it, the water has not risen too much,
the swinging of the willow indicates that a fish has been hooked,
and you have only to haul the prize ashore.
One evening I saw that the river was rising at a great rate, although
it was still within its banks. I knew that the White Perch were
running, that is, ascending the river from the sea, and, anxious to
have a tasting of that fine fish, I baited a line with a cray-fish,
and fastened it to the bough of a tree. Next morning as I pulled in
the line, it felt as if fast at the bottom, yet on drawing it slowly I
found that it came. Presently I felt a strong pull, the line slipped
through my fingers, and next instant a large Cat-fish leaped out of
the water. I played it for a while, until it became exhausted, when
I drew it ashore. It had swallowed the hook, and I cut off the line
close to its head. Then passing a stick through one of the gills, I
and a servant tugged the fish home. On cutting it open, we, to our
surprise, found in its stomach a fine White Perch, dead, but not
in the least injured. The Perch had been lightly hooked, and the
Cat-fish, after swallowing it, had been hooked in the stomach, so
that, although the instrument was small, the torture caused by it
no doubt tended to disable the Cat-fish. The Perch we ate, and the
Cat, which was fine, we divided into four parts, and distributed
among our neighbours. My most worthy friend and relative, NICHOLAS
BERTHOUD, Esq., who formerly resided at Shippingport in Kentucky, but
now in New York, a better fisher than whom I never knew, once placed
a trot-line in “the basin” below “Tarascon’s Mills,” at the foot of
the Rapids of the Ohio. I cannot recollect the bait which was used;
but on taking up the line we obtained a remarkably fine Cat-fish, in
which was found the greater part of a sucking pig!
I may here add, that I have introduced a figure of the Cat-fish in
Plate XXXI. of my first volume of my Illustrations, in which I have
represented the White-headed Eagle.
THE WOOD IBIS.
_TANTALUS LOCULATOR_, LINN.
PLATE CCXVI. MALE.
This very remarkable bird, and all others of the same genus that
are known to occur in the United States, are constant residents in
some part of our Southern Districts, although they perform short
migrations. A few of them now and then stray as far as the Middle
States, but instances of this are rare; and I am not aware that any
have been seen farther to the eastward than the southern portions
of Maryland, excepting a few individuals of the Glossy and the White
Ibises, which have been procured in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New
York. The Carolinas, Georgia, the Floridas, Alabama, Lower Louisiana,
including Opellousas, and Mississippi, are the districts to which
they resort by preference, and in which they spend the whole year.
With the exception of the Glossy Ibis, which may be looked upon as
a bird of the Mexican territories, and which usually appears in the
Union singly or in pairs, they all live socially in immense flocks,
especially during the breeding season. The country which they inhabit
is doubtless the best suited to their habits; the vast and numerous
swamps, lagoons, bayous, and submersed savannahs that occur in the
lower parts of our Southern States, all abounding with fishes and
reptiles; and the temperature of these countries being congenial to
their constitutions.
In treating of the bird now under your notice, Mr WILLIAM BARTRAM says,
“This solitary bird does not associate in flocks, but is generally
seen alone.” This was published by WILSON, and every individual who
has since written on the subject, has copied the assertion without
probably having any other reason than that he believed the authors of
it to state a fact. But the habits of this species are entirely at
variance with the above quotation, to which I direct your attention
not without a feeling of pain, being assured that Mr BARTRAM could
have made such a statement only because he had few opportunities of
studying the bird in question in its proper haunts.
The Wood Ibis is rarely met with single, even after the breeding
season, and it is more easy for a person to see an hundred together
at any period of the year, than to meet with one by itself. Nay, I
have seen flocks composed of several thousands, and that there is
a natural necessity for their flocking together I shall explain to
you. This species feeds entirely on fish and aquatic reptiles, of
which it destroys an enormous quantity, in fact more than it eats;
for if they have been killing fish for half an hour and have gorged
themselves, they suffer the rest to lie on the water untouched, when
it becomes food for alligators, crows, and vultures, whenever these
animals can lay hold of it. To procure its food, the Wood Ibis walks
through shallow muddy lakes or bayous in numbers. As soon as they
have discovered a place abounding in fish, they dance as it were all
through it, until the water becomes thick with the mud stirred from
the bottom by their feet. The fishes, on rising to the surface, are
instantly struck by the beaks of the Ibises, which, on being deprived
of life, they turn over and so remain. In the course of ten or fifteen
minutes, hundreds of fishes, frogs, young alligators, and water-snakes
cover the surface, and the birds greedily swallow them until they
are completely gorged, after which they walk to the nearest margins,
place themselves in long rows, with their breasts all turned towards
the sun, in the manner of Pelicans and Vultures, and thus remain for
an hour or so. When digestion is partially accomplished, they all
take to wing, rise in spiral circlings to an immense height, and sail
about for an hour or more, performing the most beautiful evolutions
that can well be conceived. Their long necks and legs are stretched
out to their full extent, the pure white of their plumage contrasts
beautifully with the jetty black of the tips of their wings. Now in
large circles they seem to ascend toward the upper regions of the
atmosphere; now, they pitch towards the earth; and again, gently
rising, they renew their gyrations. Hunger once more induces them
to go in search of food, and, with extended front, the band sails
rapidly towards another lake or bayou.
Mark the place, reader, and follow their course through cane-brake,
cypress-swamp, and tangled wood. Seldom do they return to the same
feeding place on the same day. You have reached the spot, and are
standing on the margin of a dark-watered bayou, the sinuosities of
which lead your eye into a labyrinth ending in complete darkness. The
tall canes bow to each other from the shores; the majestic trees above
them, all hung with funereal lichen, gently wave in the suffocating
atmosphere; the bullfrog, alarmed, shrinks back into the water; the
alligator raises his head above its surface, probably to see if the
birds have arrived, and the wily cougar is stealthily advancing toward
one of the Ibises, which he expects to carry off into the thicket.
Through the dim light your eye catches a glimpse of the white-plumaged
birds, moving rapidly like spectres to and fro. The loud clacking
of their mandibles apprises you of the havock they commit among the
terrified inhabitants of the waters, while the knell-like sounds of
their feet come with a feeling of dread. Move, gently or not, move
at all, and you infallibly lose your opportunity of observing the
actions of the birds. Some old male has long marked you; whether it
has been with eye or with ear, no matter. The first stick your foot
cracks, his hoarse voice sounds the alarm. Off they all go, battering
down the bending canes with their powerful pinions, and breaking the
smaller twigs of the trees, as they force a passage for themselves.
Talk to me of the stupidity of birds, of the dulness of the Wood Ibis!
say it is fearless, easily approached, and easily shot. I listen, but
it is merely through courtesy; for I have so repeatedly watched its
movements, in all kinds of circumstances, that I am quite convinced
we have not in the United States a more shy, wary, and vigilant bird
than the Wood Ibis. In the course of two years spent, I may say, among
them, for I saw some whenever I pleased during that period, I never
succeeded in surprising one, not even under night, when they were
roosting on trees at a height of nearly a hundred feet, and sometimes
rendered farther secure by being over extensive swamps.
My Journal informs me, that, one autumn while residing near Bayou
Sara, being intent on procuring eight or ten of these birds, to skin
for my learned and kind friend the Prince of Musignano, I took with
me two servants, who were first-rate woodsmen, and capital hands at
the rifle, and that notwithstanding our meeting with many hundreds of
Wood Ibises, it took us three days to shoot fifteen, which were for
the most part killed on wing with rifle-balls, at a distance of about
a hundred yards. On that occasion we discovered that a flock roosted
regularly over a large corn field covered with huge girted trees, the
tops of which were almost all decayed. We stationed ourselves apart
in the field, concealed among the tall ripened corn, and in silence
awaited the arrival of the birds. After the sun had disappeared,
the broad front of a great flock of Ibises was observed advancing
towards us. They soon alighted in great numbers on the large branches
of the dead trees; but whenever one of the branches gave way under
their weight, all at once rose in the air, flew about several times,
and alighted again. One of my companions, having a good opportunity,
fired, and brought two down with a single bullet; but here the sport
was ended. In five minutes after, not an Ibis was within a mile of
the place, nor did any return to roost there for more than a month.
When on the margin of a lake, or even in the centre of it—for all the
lakes they frequent are exceedingly shallow—the first glimpse they
have of a man induces them to exert all their vigilance; and should
he after this advance a few steps, the birds fly off.
The name of “Wood Ibis” given to this bird, is not more applicable to
it than to any other species; for every one with which I am acquainted
resorts quite as much to the woods at particular periods. All our
species may be found on wet savannahs, on islands surrounded even by
the waters of the sea, the Florida Keys for example, or in the most
secluded parts of the darkest woods, provided they are swampy, or are
furnished with ponds. I have found the Wood, the Red, the White, the
Brown, and the Glossy Ibises, around ponds in the centre of immense
forests; and in such places, even in the desolate pine-barrens of the
Floridas; sometimes several hundred miles from the sea coast, on the
Red River, in the State of Louisiana, and above Natchez, in that of
Mississippi, as well as within a few miles of the ocean. Yet, beyond
certain limits, I never saw one of these birds.
One of the most curious circumstances connected with this species is,
that although the birds are, when feeding, almost constantly within
the reach of large alligators, of which they devour the young, these
reptiles never attack them; whereas if a Duck or a Heron comes within
the reach of their tails, it is immediately killed and swallowed. The
Wood Ibis will wade up to its belly in the water, round the edges of
“alligators’ holes,” without ever being injured; but should one of
these birds be shot, an alligator immediately makes towards it and
pulls it under water. The gar-fish is not so courteous, but gives
chase to the Ibises whenever an opportunity occurs. The Snapping
Turtle is also a great enemy to the young birds of this species.
The flight of the Wood Ibis is heavy at its rising from the ground.
Its neck at that moment is deeply curved downward, its wings flap
heavily but with great power, and its long legs are not stretched
out behind until it has proceeded many yards. But as soon as it
has attained a height of eight or ten feet, it ascends with great
celerity, generally in a spiral direction, in silence if not alarmed,
or, if frightened, with a rough croaking guttural note. When fairly
on wing, they proceed in a direct flight, with alternate flappings
and sailings of thirty or forty yards, the sailings more prolonged
than the flappings. They alight on trees with more ease than Herons
generally do, and either stand erect or crouch on the branches, in
the manner of the Wild Turkey, the Herons seldom using the latter
attitude. When they are at rest, they place their bill against the
breast, while the neck shrinks as it were between the shoulders. In
this position you may see fifty on the same tree, or on the ground,
reposing in perfect quiet for hours at a time, although some individual
of the party will be constantly on the look-out, and ready to sound
the alarm.
In the spring months, when these birds collect in large flocks, before
they return to their breeding places, I have seen thousands together,
passing over the woods in a line more than a mile in extent, and
moving with surprising speed at the height of only a few yards above
the trees. When a breeding place has once been chosen, it is resorted
to for years in succession; nor is it easy to make them abandon it
after they have deposited their eggs, although, if much annoyed, they
never return to it after that season.
Besides the great quantity of fishes that these Ibises destroy,
they also devour frogs, young alligators, wood-rats, young rails
and grakles, fiddlers and other crabs, as well as snakes and small
turtles. They never eat the eggs of the alligator, as has been alleged,
although they probably would do so, could they demolish the matted
nests of that animal, a task beyond the power of _any_ bird known
to me. I never saw one eat any thing which either it or some of its
fellows had not killed. Nor will it eat an animal that has been dead
for some time, even although it may have been killed by itself. When
eating, the clacking of their mandibles may be heard at the distance
of several hundred yards.
When wounded, it is dangerous to approach them, for they bite severely.
They may be said to be very tenacious of life. Although usually fat,
they are very tough and oily, and therefore are not fit for food. The
Negroes, however, eat them, having, previous to cooking them, torn off
the skin, as they do with Pelicans and Cormorants. My own attempts,
I may add, were not crowned with success. Many of the Negroes of
Louisiana destroy these birds when young, for the sake of the oil
which their flesh contains, and which they use in greasing machines.
The French Creoles of that State name them “Grands Flamans,” while
the Spaniards of East Florida know them by the name of “Gannets.”
When in the latter country, at St Augustine, I was induced to make an
excursion, to visit a large pond or lake, where I was assured there
were Gannets in abundance, which I might shoot off the trees, provided
I was careful enough. On asking the appearance of the Gannets, I was
told that they were large white birds, with wings black at the end,
a long neck, and a large sharp bill. The description so far agreeing
with that of the Common Gannet or Solan Goose, I proposed no questions
respecting the legs or tail, but went off. Twenty-three miles, Reader,
I trudged through the woods, and at last came in view of the pond;
when, lo! its borders and the trees around it were covered with
Wood Ibises. Now, as the good people who gave the information spoke
according to their knowledge, and agreeably to their custom of calling
the Ibises Gannets, had I not gone to the pond, I might have written
this day that Gannets are found in the interior of the woods in the
Floridas, that they alight on trees, &c. which, if _once_ published,
would in all probability have gone down to future times through the
medium of compilers, and all perhaps without acknowledgment.
The Wood Ibis takes four years in attaining full maturity, although
birds of the second year are now and then found breeding. This is
rare, however, for the young birds live in flocks by themselves,
until they have attained the age of about three years. They are at
first of a dingy brown, each feather edged with paler; the head is
covered to the mandibles with short downy feathers, which gradually
fall off as the bird advances in age. In the third year, the head is
quite bare, as well as a portion of the upper part of the neck. In
the fourth year, the bird is as you see it in the plate. The male is
much larger and heavier than the female, but there is no difference
in colour between the sexes.
TANTALUS LOCULATOR, _Linn._ Syst. Nat. vol. i. p.
240.—_Lath._ Ind. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 702.—_Ch. Bonaparte_,
Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 310.
WOOD IBIS, TANTALUS LOCULATOR, _Wils._ Amer. Ornith. vol.
viii. p. 39. pl. 68. fig. 1. Adult.—_Nuttall_, Manual, vol.
ii. p. 82.
Adult Male. Plate CCXVI.
Bill long, stout, at the base as wide as the face, deeper than broad,
compressed, tapering towards the end, which is curved. Upper mandible
with the dorsal line straight to near the end, then considerably
curved, the ridge rather broad and flattened at the base, narrowed
at the middle, convex towards the end, the sides sloping and rather
flat at the base, towards the end rounded, the edges overlapping,
inflected, sharp but strong, the tip declinate, narrow, rounded, with
a notch on either side. Nostrils basal, close to the ridge, direct,
pervious, oblong; no nasal groove. Lower mandible curved towards the
end, like the upper, its angle rather wide, and having a bare dilatable
membrane, the sides rather flat and erect at the base, afterwards
narrowed and with the back rounded, the edges erect, sharp, with a
groove externally for the insertion of those of the upper mandible.
Head of ordinary size, short, compressed. Neck long. Body rather
slender, deeper than broad. Wings large. Feet very long, slender,
like those of the Herons. Tibia long, slender, bare for one-half
of its length; and with the long, compressed tarsus, covered all
round with hexagonal scales. Toes rather long and slender, the first
smallest, the second next in length, the third longest, the fourth
intermediate between the second and third, all covered above with
numerous scutella, laterally with angular scales, beneath flattened
with soft margins, the anterior connected at the base by pretty large
webs, of which the outer is larger. Claws small, rather compressed,
rounded above, obtuse, the thin edge of that of the third not serrated.
The head all round, and the hind neck half way down, destitute of
feathers, the skin wrinkled and covered with irregular scurfy scales.
Plumage in general rather loose, more so on the neck. Wings long,
ample, primaries strong, the third longest, second almost as long,
fourth about the same length as third, first considerably shorter,
all curved, emarginate, of twelve broad, rounded feathers.
Bill dusky yellowish-brown, the edges yellow. Sides of the head
dark bluish-purple, upper part of the head horn-colour or dull
greyish-yellow, the rest of the bare skin of the same tint, many of
the scales anteriorly blue. Iris deep brown, at a distance seeming
black. Tibia and tarsus indigo-blue. Toes above black, on the lateral
and hind toes, however, many of the scutella bluish-grey; the webs
pale yellowish flesh-colour; claws black.
The general colour of the plumage is pure white with a tinge of yellow.
Alula, primary coverts, primary and secondary quills, excepting the
inner, and tail, black, with green and purplish-blue reflections,
according to the light in which they are viewed.
Length to end of tail 44-1/2 inches, to end of claws 59-1/2, to end of
wings 46-1/2; from flexure 18; tail 6; extent of wings 62; bill along
the back 9-1/2, along the edge 9, its greatest depth 2-1/4; bare part of
tibia 6; tarsus 9; middle toe 4-2/12, its claw 3/4. Weight 11-3/4 lb.
The Female is precisely similar to the Male, differing merely in
being smaller. Its weight is 9-1/4 lb.
The Young are dusky grey all over, the quills and tail brownish-black.
The head all covered with down, excepting just at the base of the
bill. After the first moult, the bare space extends over the head and
cheeks; the downy feathers of the hind head and neck are dusky; the
general colour of the plumage is white, the quills and tail nearly
as in the adult, but with less gloss. A Male of this description shot
in January was in length 35 inches, its bill 7-1/2, tarsus 7, middle toe
4, its claw 1/2; its weight 7-3/4 lb.