The Woodcock and the Snipe, it is true, are probers as well as it, but
their task requires less ingenuity than is exercised by the White or
the Red Ibis. It is also true that the White Ibis frequently seizes on
small crabs, slugs and snails, and even at times on flying insects;
but its usual mode of procuring food is a strong proof that cunning
enters as a principal ingredient in its instinct. The Cray-fish often
burrows to the depth of three or four feet in dry weather, for before
it can be comfortable it must reach the water. This is generally the
case during the prolonged heats of summer, at which time the White
Ibis is most pushed for food. The bird, to procure the Cray-fish,
walks with remarkable care towards the mounds of mud which the latter
throws up while forming its hole, and breaks up the upper part of
the fabric, dropping the fragments into the deep cavity that has
been made by the animal. Then the Ibis retires a single step, and
patiently waits the result. The Cray-fish, incommoded by the load of
earth, instantly sets to work anew, and at last reaches the entrance
of its burrow; but the moment it comes in sight, the Ibis seizes it
with his bill.
Whilst at Indian Key, I observed an immense quantity of beautiful
tree snails, of a pyramidal or shortly conical form, some pure white,
others curiously marked with spiral lines of bright red, yellow and
black. They were crawling vigorously on every branch of each bush
where there was not a nest of the White Ibis; but wherever that bird
had fixed its habitation, not a live snail was to be seen, although
hundreds lay dead beneath. Was this caused by the corrosive quality
of the bird’s ordure?
There is a curious though not altogether general difference between
the sexes of this species as to the plumage:—the male has five of
its primaries tipped with glossy black for several inches, while the
female, which is very little smaller than the male, has only four
marked in this manner. On examining more than a hundred individuals
of each sex, I found only four exceptions, which occurred in females
that were very old birds, and which, as happens in some other species,
might perhaps have been undergoing the curious change exhibited by
ducks, pheasants, and some other birds, the females of which when
old sometimes assume the livery of the males.
Much, as you are aware, good Reader, has been said respecting the “oil
bags” of birds. I dislike controversy, simply because I never saw the
least indications of it in the ways of the Almighty Creator. Should
I err, forgive me, but my opinion is, that these organs were not made
without an object. Why should they consist of matter so conveniently
placed, and so disposed as to issue under the least pressure, through
apertures in the form of well defined tubes? The White Ibis, as well
as the Wood Ibis, and all the other species of this genus, when in
full health, has these oil bags of great size, and, if my eyes have
not deceived me, makes great use of their contents. Should you feel
anxious to satisfy yourself on this subject, I request of you to keep
some Ibises alive for several weeks, as I have done, and you will have
an opportunity of judging. And again, tell me if the fat contained
in these bags is not the very best _lip-salve_ that can be procured.
When any species of Ibis with which I am acquainted falls into the
water on being wounded, it swims tolerably well; but I have never
observed any taking to the water and swimming either by choice or to
escape pursuit. While in the company of Mr JOSEPH MASON, a young man
who was for some time employed by me, and who has drawn plants to some
of my birds, although not so successfully as my amiable friend Miss
MARTIN, or GEORGE LEHMAN, who finish those they draw as beautifully as
my learned and valued friend WILLIAM MACGILLIVRAY of Edinburgh does
his faithful drawings of birds, I chanced one morning to be on the
look-out for White Ibises, in a delightful swamp not many miles from
Bayou Sara. It was in the end of summer, and all around was pure and
calm as the clear sky, the bright azure of which was reflected by the
lake before us. The trees had already exchanged the verdure of their
foliage for more mellow tints of diversified hue; the mast dropped
from the boughs; some of the Warblers had begun to think of removing
farther south; the Night Hawk, in company with the Chimney Swallow,
was passing swiftly towards the land of their winter residence, and
the Ibises had all departed for the Florida coasts, excepting a few of
the white species, one of which we at length espied. It was perched
about fifty yards from us towards the centre of the pool, and as
the report of one of our guns echoed among the tall cypresses, down
to the water, broken-winged, it fell. The exertions which it made
to reach the shore seemed to awaken the half-torpid alligators that
lay in the deep mud at the bottom of the pool. One shewed his head
above the water, then a second and a third. All gave chase to the
poor wounded bird, which, on seeing its dreaded and deadly foes, made
double speed towards the very spot where we stood. I was surprised to
see how much faster the bird swam than the reptiles, who, with jaws
widely opened, urged their heavy bodies through the water. The Ibis
was now within a few yards of us. It was the alligator’s last chance.
Springing forward as it were, he raised his body almost out of the
water; his jaws nearly touched the terrified bird; when pulling three
triggers at once, we lodged the contents of our guns in the throat
of the monster. Thrashing furiously with his tail, and rolling his
body in agony, the alligator at last sunk to the mud; and the Ibis,
as if in gratitude, walked to our very feet, and there lying down,
surrendered itself to us. I kept this bird until the succeeding spring,
and by care and good nursing, had the pleasure of seeing its broken
wing perfectly mended, when, after its long captivity, I restored it
to liberty, in the midst of its loved swamps and woods.
The young bird of this species which I kept alive for some time,
fed freely, after a few days captivity, on soaked Indian corn meal,
but evinced great pleasure when cray-fishes were offered to it. On
seizing one, it beat it sideways on the ground, until the claws and
legs were broken off, after which it swallowed the body whole. It
was fond of lying on its side in the sun for an hour or so at a time,
pluming its body and nursing the sore wing. It walked lightly and very
gracefully, though not so much so as the Herons. It did not molest
its companions, and became very gentle and tame, following those who
fed it like a common fowl.
The Creoles of Louisiana call this species “_Bee croche_,” and also
“_Petit Flaman_,” though it is also generally known by the name of
“Spanish Curlew.” The flesh, which, as well as the skin, is of a dull
orange colour, is extremely fishy, although the birds are often sold
in our southernmost markets, and are frequently eaten by the Indians.
The White Ibis has been shot eastward as far as New Jersey. Of this
I have been made aware by my generous friend EDWARD HARRIS, Esq. I
never saw one farther up the Mississippi than Memphis.
TANTALUS ALBUS, _Linn._ Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 242.—_Lath._
Ind. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 705.
WHITE IBIS, TANTALUS ALBUS, _Wils._ Amer. Ornith. vol. viii.
p. 43. pl. 66. fig. 3.—_Nuttall_, Manual, vol. ii. p. 86.
IBIS ALBA, _Ch. Bonaparte_, Synops. of Birds of the United
States, p. 312.
Adult Male. Plate CCXXII. Fig. 1.
Bill very long, slender, deeper than broad, compressed, tapering,
arcuate, obtuse at the tip. Upper mandible with the dorsal line
arched in its whole length, the ridge convex, broader towards the
end, the sides at the base nearly erect, towards the end very convex
and narrow, the ridge separated in its whole length from the sides
by a deep narrow groove, the edges inflected and sharp. Nostrils
basal, dorsal, linear, direct. Lower mandible nearly equal to upper,
its angle very narrow, and protracted in the form of a groove to the
tip, the sides convex, the edges sharp, but strong.
Head small, compressed; neck long and slender; body slender, deeper
than broad; wings rather large. Feet very long, slender; tibiæ long,
bare about half their length, and covered all round with hexagonal
scales; tarsi long, slender, anteriorly covered with numerous broad
scutella, the rest with hexagonal scales; toes slender, the first much
smaller, the third longest, the fourth considerably shorter, the second
very little shorter than the fourth, all covered above with numerous
scutella, laterally with angular scales, beneath flattened with thick
soft margins; the anterior connected at the base by membranes, of
which the outer is longer; claws small, arched, compressed, obtuse,
the middle one with a sharp thin edge.
Head and throat bare to beyond the eyes, as are the tibiæ nearly
half way up. Plumage in general soft, unglossed, the feathers rather
blended, those of the head and neck narrow and more blended. Wings
long, ample, some of the secondaries as long as the longest primary
when the wings are closed; third quill longest, but second and
fourth almost as long, first longer than fifth; secondaries broad
and rounded. Tail short, slightly emarginate and rounded, of twelve
rounded feathers.
Bare parts of the head light orange-red; bill the same, but towards
the tip dusky. Iris of a fine pearly blue. Legs and toes paler than
the bill; claws dusky, tipped with horn colour. Plumage pure white,
excepting the ends of from three to five of the outer primaries,
which are deep black, with blue and green reflexions.
Length to end of tail 24-1/2 inches, to end of wings 27, to end of
claws 31-1/2; extent of wings 40; wing from flexure 12-1/2; tail
4-3/4; bill along the back 5-1/4, along the edge 5-3/4; bare space
of tibia 1-3/4, tarsus 3-1/4, middle toe 2-1/8, its claw 3/8. Weight
2 lb.
The adults vary considerably in size, and remarkably in the length of
the bill. The extent of the bare space on the head varies according
to age. In the breeding season the bill and legs are bright carmine;
during the rest of the year paler.
Young bird killed in September. Plate CCXXII. Fig. 2.
In its first plumage this species is of a dull brown colour all over,
excepting the rump, which is whitish, and the tail, which is tinged
with grey.
After the first moult, the bill is pale yellowish-orange, toward the
base greenish; the naked parts of the head are pale orange-yellow,
inclining to flesh-colour; the eye dark brown; the feet pale blue.
The plumage is of a dull olivaceous brown, the quills darker, the
tail rather lighter, the hind part of the back white, the breast and
abdomen white.
The Crayfish represented in the plate will be found described in the
article entitled “the White Perch and its favourite bait.”
THE AMERICAN OYSTER-CATCHER.
_HÆMATOPUS PALLIATUS_, TEMM.
PLATE CCXXIII. MALE.
Our Oyster-Catcher has a very extensive range. It spends the winter
along the coast from Maryland to the Gulf of Mexico, and being then
abundant on the shores of the Floridas, may be considered a constant
resident in the United States. At the approach of spring, it removes
toward the Middle States, where, as well as in North Carolina, it
breeds. It seems scarcer between Long Island and Portland in Maine,
where you again see it, and whence it occurs all the way to Labrador,
in which country I found that several were breeding in the month
of July. Unless in winter, when these birds assemble in parties of
twenty-five or thirty individuals, they are seldom met with in greater
numbers than from one to four pairs, with their families, which appear
to remain with the parent birds until the following spring. It is
never found inland, nor even far up our largest rivers, but is fond
of remaining at all times on the sandy beaches and rocky shores of
our salt-water bays or marshes. In Labrador, I met with it farther
from the open sea than in any other part, yet always near salt-water.
I have never met with any other species on the coasts of North America.
Shy, vigilant, and ever on the alert, the Oyster-Catcher walks with
a certain appearance of dignity, greatly enhanced by its handsome
plumage and remarkable bill. If you stop to watch it, that instant it
sounds a loud shrill note of alarm; and should you advance farther
towards it, when it has neither nest nor young, off it flies quite
out of sight. Few birds, indeed, are more difficult to be approached,
and the only means of studying its habits I found to be the use of
an excellent telescope, with which I could trace its motions when
at the distance of a quarter of a mile, and pursuing its avocations
without apprehension of danger. In this manner I have seen it probe
the sand to the full length of its bill, knock off limpets from
the rocks on the coast of Labrador, using its weapon sideways and
insinuating it between the rock and the shell like a chisel, seize the
bodies of gaping oysters on what are called in the Southern States
and the Floridas “Racoon oyster beds,” and at other times take up a
“razor-handle” or solen, and lash it against the sands until the shell
was broken and the contents swallowed. Now and then they seem to suck
the sea-urchins, driving in the mouth, and introducing their bill by
the aperture, without breaking the shell; again they are seen wading
up to their bodies from one place to another, seizing on shrimps and
other crustacea, and even swimming for a few yards, should this be
necessary to enable them to remove from one bank to another without
flying. Small crabs, fiddlers, and sea-worms, are also caught by it,
the shells of which in a broken state I have found in its gizzard in
greater or less quantity. Frequently, while on wet sea-beaches, it
pats the sand, to force out the insects; and in one instance I saw an
individual run from the water to the dry sand, with a small flounder
in its bill, which it afterwards devoured.
This bird forms no regular nest, but is contented with scratching
the dry sand above high-water mark, so as to form a slight hollow,
in which it deposits its eggs. On the coast of Labrador, and in the
Bay of Fundy, it lays its eggs on the bare rock. When the eggs are
on sand, it seldom sits on them during the heat of the sun; but in
Labrador, it was found sitting as closely as any other bird. Here,
then, is another instance of the extraordinary difference of habit
in the same bird under different circumstances. It struck me so much
that had I not procured a specimen in Labrador, and another in our
Middle Districts, during the breeding season, and found them on the
closest examination to be the same, I should perhaps have thought the
birds different. Everywhere, however, I observed that this bird is
fond of places covered with broken shells and drifted sea-weeds or
grasses, as a place of security for its eggs, and where, in fact, it
is no very easy matter to discover them. The eggs are two or three,
measure two inches and one-eighth in length, by an inch and a half in
breadth, and are of the form of those of a common hen. They are of a
pale cream colour, spotted with irregular marks of brownish-black,
and others of a paler tint, pretty equally dispersed all over. The
birds, even when not sitting on them, are so very anxious about them,
that on the least appearance of an enemy, they scream out loudly,
and if you approach the nest, fly over and around you, although
always at a considerable distance. When you meet with the young,
which run as soon as they are hatched, the old birds manifest the
greatest anxiety. They run before you, or fly around you, with great
swiftness, and emit peculiar notes, which at once induce their little
ones to squat among the sand and broken shells, where, on account of
their dull greyish-colour, it is very difficult to see them unless
you pass within a foot or two of them, when they run off emitting a
plaintive note, which renders the parents doubly angry. Their shape
is now almost round, and the streaks of their back and rump, as well
as the curved points of their bills, might induce you to believe them
to be any thing but the young of an Oyster-Catcher. I have caught
some, which I thought were more than a month old, and yet were unable
to fly, although full feathered. They appeared weakened by their
fatness, and were overtaken by running after them on the sands. There
were no parent birds near or in sight of them; yet I much doubt if
they procured their own food at this period, and have more reason to
believe that, like some other species of birds, they were visited and
supplied with food at particular hours of the day or of the night,
as is the case with Herons and Ibises, for the Oyster-Catcher is
scarcely nocturnal.
By the beginning of October these birds return to the south. I saw
them at Labrador until the 11th of August, but cannot say at what
period they leave that country. When wounded while wading or on the
shore, they make for the water, on which they float buoyantly and
move with ease.
The flight of the American Oyster-catcher is powerful, swift, elegant
at times, and greatly protracted. While they are on wing, their
beauties are as effectually displayed as those of the Ivory-billed
Woodpecker of our woods, the colours of which are somewhat similar.
The transparent white of their wings contrasts with their jetty tips,
and is enriched by the coral hue of the bill, while the beautiful
white of their lower parts has a very pleasing effect. Their loud
cries, too, of _wheep, wheep, wheeop_, which sound in your ears,
are quite different from any you have heard; and as they perform
their various evolutions, all charming in themselves, you cannot,
if unacquainted with the bird, refrain from asking what it is? Now
wheeling with wonderful impetuosity, they pass within a hundred yards
of you, and suddenly checking their flight return, not low over the
waters as before, but high in the air. Again, they form their ranks
in a broad front, and again, as if suddenly alarmed by the report of
a distant gun, they close pell-mell, and dip towards the sands or
the waters. Shoot one at such a moment, and you may expect to kill
another; but as this is done, the wary birds, as if suddenly become
aware of your intentions, form themselves into a straggling line,
and before a minute has elapsed, far beyond reach, and fading on the
view, are the remaining Oyster-catchers.
The gullet of this species is capable of being considerably distended.
When your finger is introduced into it, it passes with ease into a
sort of crop, where the food is apparently prepared before entering
the gizzard, which is rather muscular. How this bird disposes of the
hard particles of shells, pebbles, and other matters, with which its
food is mixed, is beyond my comprehension, and one which I gladly
leave for your solution. Their flesh is dark, tough, and unfit for
eating, unless in cases of extreme necessity.
The females and young are dark olive-brown above, like the males,
but of a browner shade. I have represented a male bird. I have never
met with the European Oyster-catcher, _Hæmatopus Ostralegus_, in
any part of the United States, and, although I cannot of course aver
that it does not occur there, I believe that the American or Mantled
Oyster-catcher has been confounded with it by WILSON and others.
Indeed, the figure given by WILSON resembles that of the European
bird, but his description of the female and young almost agrees with
the present species, the dimensions also being nearly the same.
HÆMATOPUS PALLIATUS, _Temm._ Man. d’Ornith. part ii. p. 532.
MANTLED OYSTER-CATCHER, HÆMATOPUS PALLIATUS, _Nuttall_,
Manual, vol. ii. p. 15.
Plate CCXXIII. Male in June.
Bill long, slender but strong, straight, deeper than broad at the
base, towards the end extremely compressed, terminating in a very
thin wedge-shaped point. Upper mandible with the dorsal line at the
base straight and slightly sloping, convex beyond the nostrils, then
straight and sloping to the point, the ridge broad and flattened
as far as the prominence, afterwards extremely narrow, the sides
sloping at the base, perpendicular towards the end, the edges rather
sharp. Nasal groove basal, long; nostrils basal, in the middle of
the groove, linear, direct, placed nearer the margin than the dorsal
line, pervious. Lower mandible straight, the dorsal line at the base
sloping upwards, at one-third of the length of the bill bulging,
then straightish and slightly ascending, the tip narrower than that
of the upper mandible, the sides at the base sloping upwards, and
having a shallow groove, towards the end becoming perpendicular. The
bill differs from that of the _Hæmatopus Ostralegus_ in being much
deeper at the bulging part, much more attenuated towards the point,
and proportionally longer.
Head of moderate size, oblong, the forehead rounded. Neck rather long.
Body stout, compact, deeper than broad. Wings long. Feet of moderate
length, rather stout; tibia bare for a fourth of its length, and,
like the slightly compressed tarsus, covered all round with hexagonal
scales; toes rather short and fleshy, the hind toe wanting, the second
a little shorter than the fourth, the third much longer, all scaly
at the base above, scutellate towards the end, flattened and broad
beneath, with thick margins, which are covered with prominent thick
scales, and connected at the base by short webs of which the outer
is longer; claws small, blunt, rather compressed, that of the middle
toe largest, and with a dilated thin inner edge.
Plumage of the head and neck short, blended, of the back compact, and
slightly glossed, of the lower parts close and rather blended, the
feathers in general incurved, broad, and rounded. Wings long, acute;
primaries rather narrow and tapering, the first longest, the second
slightly shorter, the rest rapidly graduated; secondaries broad and
rounded, the inner much elongated and tapering. Tail short, rounded
of twelve rather broad, rounded feathers.
Bill vermilion, lighter at the base. Edges of eyelids vermilion; iris
bright yellow. Feet very pale flesh-colour; claws brownish-black. Head
and neck dull black tinged with bluish-grey; lower eyelid white; the
bases of the feathers on the chin white. The general colour of the
upper parts is light greyish-brown, tinged with olive, and in certain
lights with faint reddish-purple reflections; the edge of the wing,
the tips of the secondary coverts, the secondary quills, excepting
the inner elongated ones, pure white; as are the breast, sides, under
wing-coverts, abdomen, sides of the rump, the upper and the lower
tail-coverts. Basal half of the tail white, the rest greyish-brown,
like the back.
Length to end of tail 17-1/2, to end of claws 19-1/2; wing from
flexure 10-1/2, tail 4-1/4; extent of wings 36; bill along the back
3-5/8; along the edge 3-7/8; bill at the base 9/12, at the deepest
part in the middle 8/12; naked part of tibia 1; tarsus 2-1/4; middle
toe 1-8/12, its claw (3-1/2)/12. Weight 1 lb. 4-1/2 oz.
The bill varies considerably in length and depth. Individuals vary
in length from 17 to 18 inches.
The Female is precisely similar to the male.
THE KITTIWAKE GULL.
_LARUS TRIDACTYLUS_, LATH.
PLATE CCXXIV. ADULT IN SUMMER, AND YOUNG IN WINTER.
This beautiful Gull ranges, during the autumnal and winter months,
along the whole of our extensive coasts. I have procured it from
the mouth of the Mississippi to the coast of Maine, and have traced
it from the latter district to Labrador. Yet I never saw it on any
of our great lakes or rivers, nor in any part of the interior. From
New York to Eastport it is extremely abundant, and many breed on the
Island of Grand Manan, off the entrance of the Bay of Fundy.