beautiful, although a stiff breeze blew from the south-west. I landed
with my party at an early hour, and we felt as if at a half-way house
on our journey from Nova Scotia to Labrador. Some of us ascended
the more elevated parts of those interesting islands, while others
walked along the shores. A clean sand-beach lay before us, and we
proceeded over it, until having reached a kind of peninsula, we were
brought to a stand. The Piping Plover ran and flew swiftly before
us, emitting its soft and mellow notes, while some dozens of Arctic
Terns were plunging into the waters, capturing a tiny fish or shrimp
at every dash. Until that moment this Tern had not been familiar to
me, and as I admired its easy and graceful motions, I felt agitated
with a desire to possess it. Our guns were accordingly charged with
mustard-seed shot, and one after another you might have seen the gentle
birds come whirling down upon the waters. But previous to this I had
marked their mode of flight, their manner of procuring their prey, and
their notes, that I might be able to finish the picture from life.
Alas, poor things! how well do I remember the pain it gave me, to
be thus obliged to pass and execute sentence upon them. At that very
moment I thought of those long-past times, when individuals of my own
species were similarly treated; but I excused myself with the plea
of necessity, as I recharged my double gun. As soon as a sufficient
number of males and females lay dead at our feet, we retired from
the water’s edge, to watch the motions of the survivors, among whom
confusion and dismay prevailed, as they dashed close over our heads,
and vociferated their maledictions. We did not, however, depart until
we had tried a curious experiment for the third time. A female had
been shot, and lay dead on the water for a considerable while. Her
mate, whom I was unwilling to destroy, alighted upon her, and attempted
to caress her, as if she had been alive. The same circumstance took
place three different times, on our throwing the dead bird on the
water. Something of the same nature I have related in my article on
the Wild Turkey. All this happened in the month of June 1833, when
none of the Arctic Terns had yet produced eggs, although we found
them nearly ready to lay, as were the Piping Plovers.
Our schooner now sailed onward, and carried us to the dreary shores
of Labrador. There, after some search, we met with a great flock of
Arctic Terns breeding on a small island slightly elevated above the
sea. Myriads of these birds were there sitting on their eggs. The
individuals were older than those which we had seen on the Magdeleine
Islands; for the more advanced in life the individuals of any species
are, the more anxious are they to reproduce, the sooner do they proceed
to their summer residence, and the more extensive is the range of their
migration northward. On the other hand, the younger the bird is, the
farther south it removes during winter, both because it thus enjoys
a milder climate, and requires less exertion in procuring its food;
whereas the older individuals not only have a stronger constitution,
but are more expert in discovering and securing their prey, so that
it is not necessary for them to extend their journey so far.
The Arctic Tern is found with us on the eastern coasts of the
United States only, where it appears, from the shores of New Jersey
northwards, in autumn, and whence it departs in early spring. No
sooner have the winter tempests subsided, than it is observed gliding
along the coast, together with many other birds. In the beginning
of March, you see it following the sinuosities of the shores, some
passing directly from the Sable Islands off the Bay of Fundy and
Newfoundland into Baffin’s Bay; others, younger, and unwilling to
encounter the perils of a more extended flight, passing up the Gulf
of St Lawrence, either through the Straits of Cansso, or the broader
channel between Cape Breton and Newfoundland, and betaking themselves
to the Magdaleine Islands and the coasts of Labrador.
While at American Harbour in June 1833, my son and some of his
companions met with a low rocky island, on which hundreds of these
Terns had deposited their eggs. No other species was seen there; the
birds were mostly sitting, and, on the landing of the party, they all
rose as if in the greatest consternation, hovered over their heads,
and left their eggs to the mercy of the intruders who carried off a
basketful of them, with a few of the birds themselves.
On the 18th of the same month, the Arctic Terns were found breeding
on another island in considerable numbers; many dozens of their eggs
were gathered, and delicious food indeed they proved to be. The full
number of their eggs is three, but as it was early in the season many
had only two. Their average dimensions were an inch and a quarter
in length, and five-eighths in their greatest breadth; they were
oval, but rather sharp at the smaller ends; their ground-colour a
light-olive, irregularly covered with patches of dark umber, larger
towards the round end. They were deposited on the rocks wherever there
was any grass, but no nest had been formed for their reception. They
differed extremely in their colour, indeed quite as much as those of
the Sandwich Tern. As we approached the little island, they all rose
in the air, and flew high over our heads, screaming loudly, which
they continued to do until we left the place. Several were shot, and
as each fell the rest immediately plunged through the air after it.
Whenever one was wounded so slightly as to be able to make off, it
was lost to us, and the rest followed it. Only a very few of those
which we saw and shot had the bill entirely red, and those which had
were evidently older birds. Some exhibited a considerable portion of
the point tinged with brownish-black, yet all of them could easily
be distinguished from the _Sterna Hirundo_, first by their smaller
size, shorter tarsi, more delicate bill, and greater curvature of
the outer part of their wings; and secondly, by the leaden tint of
their lower parts, from the neck to the tail, those parts in _Sterna
Hirundo_ being pure white. The back is also of a deeper blue in the
Arctic Tern. The long tail-feathers were much shorter in the females
than in the males, but M. TEMMINCK is wrong in saying that this
bird has the tail proportionally longer than that of other species,
the Roseate Tern having it of much greater length, considering its
diminutive size.
At the beginning of the first autumn, the plumage of the young so much
resembles that of the young of _Sterna Hirundo_, that a person, not
paying attention to the tarsi and feet, might readily confound them
together. Yet even at this early age, there are strong indications
of the bluish tint on the under parts. The longest tail-feathers at
this period do not extend more than two inches beyond the rest; the
upper parts of the body are mottled with brown, as in all the other
species, and in Gulls. The mantle of this, as of all other Terns,
assumes its permanent hue before any part of the wings. On the 5th
of August, in Labrador, the young birds were gambolling along with
their parents, over the shores of Bras d’Or Harbour, and when we left
that country the Terns still remained, so that I am unable to state
at what particular period they commence their journey southward.
The notes of this species resemble the syllables _creek_, _creek_,
and are often repeated while the bird is on wing. During autumn it
follows the sinuosities of the shores of the bays and inlets, ascending
against the ebb, and, returning to meet the tide, which enables it
to procure its food in succession while it keeps on its course. I
have only farther to mention a curious fact, which is, that all the
Terns which breed in the northern parts of the United States, and in
regions still nearer the pole, sit closely on their eggs, while the
small species that breed to the southward incubate only during night,
or in rainy weather.
STERNA ARCTICA, _Temm._ Man. d’Ornith. part ii. p. 742.—_Ch.
Bonaparte_, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p.
354.—_Swains. and Richards._ Fauna Bor. Amer. part ii. p.
414.
ARCTIC TERN, _Nuttall_, Manual, vol. ii. p. 275.
Adult Male in Spring. Plate CCL.
Bill about the same length as the head, slender, tapering, compressed,
nearly straight, very acute. Upper mandible with the dorsal line
slightly arched, the ridge rather broad and convex at the base, narrow
towards the end, the sides convex, the edges sharp and inflected, the
tip acute. Nasal groove extended beyond the nostrils nearly to the
tip; nostrils basal, linear, direct, pervious. Lower mandible with
the angle extremely narrow, very acute, extending beyond the middle,
the dorsal line straight, the sides erect and slightly convex, the
sharp edges inflected, the tip extremely acute.
Head of moderate size, oblong; neck of moderate length; body very
slender. Feet very small; tibia bare for a considerable space; tarsus
extremely short, slender, roundish, covered anteriorly with small
scutella, laterally and behind with reticular scales; toes very small,
slender, the first extremely small, the third longest, the fourth
nearly as long, the second much shorter, all scutellate above, the
anterior connected by reticulated webs having a concave margin; claws
arched, compressed, acute, that of hind toe smallest, of middle toe
by much the largest, and having the inner edge thin and dilated.
Plumage soft, close, blended, very short on the fore part of the head;
the feathers in general broad and rounded. Wings very long, narrow
and pointed; primary quills tapering, slightly curved inwards, the
first longest, the rest rapidly graduated; secondary short, broad,
incurved, rounded, the inner more tapering. Tail long, very deeply
forked, of twelve feathers, of which the outer are tapering, the
middle short and rounded.
Bill, mouth, and feet vermilion tinged with carmine. Iris brown.
The upper part of the head and elongated occipital feathers
greenish-black; the sides of the head and chin white; the upper parts
pale greyish-blue, the rump lighter, the tail white, excepting the
outer webs of the two lateral feathers which are dusky grey, primaries
dusky towards the ends, the two outer with their outer webs blackish,
all with the greater part of the inner web white; secondaries tipped
with white. Neck, breast and sides pale greyish-blue, like the upper
parts, but lighter; abdomen, under tail-coverts, and lower surfaces
of wings and tail white.
Length to end of tail 15-1/2 inches, to end of wings 13-1/2, to end of
claws 9-3/4; extent of wings 32; wing from flexure 10-1/2; tail to end
of shortest feathers 3-1/4, to end of longest 7-1/2; bill along the
ridge 1-1/4, along the edge of lower mandible 1-10/12; tarsus 8/12;
middle toe (8-1/2)/12, its claw (2-1/2)/12. Weight 2-3/4 oz.
A TOUGH WALK FOR A YOUTH.
About twelve years ago I was conveyed, along with my son VICTOR, from
Bayou Sarah to the mouth of the Ohio, on board the steamer Magnet,
commanded by Mr M’KNIGHT, to whom I here again offer my best thanks for
his attentions. The very sight of the waters of that beautiful river
filled me with joy as we approached the little village of Trinity,
where we were landed along with several other passengers, the water
being too low to enable the vessel to proceed to Louisville. No horses
could be procured, and as I was anxious to continue my journey without
delay, I consigned my effects to the care of the tavern-keeper, who
engaged to have them forwarded by the first opportunity. My son, who
was not fourteen, with all the ardour of youth, considered himself able
to accomplish on foot the long journey which we contemplated. Two of
the passengers evinced a desire to accompany us, “provided,” said the
tallest and stoutest of them, “the lad can keep up. My business,” he
continued, “is urgent, and I shall push for Frankfort pretty fast.”
Dinner, to which we had contributed some fish from the river, being
over, my boy and I took a ramble along the shores of Cash Creek, on
which some years before I had been detained several weeks by ice. We
slept at the tavern, and next morning prepared for our journey, and
were joined by our companions, although it was past twelve before we
crossed the creek.
One of our fellow-travellers, named ROSE, who was a delicate and
gentlemanly person, acknowledged that he was not a good walker, and
said he was glad that my son was with us, as he might be able to
keep up with the lively youth. The other, a burly personage, at once
pushed forward. We walked in Indian file along the narrow track cut
through the canes, passed a wood-yard, and entered the burnt forest,
in which we met with so many logs and briars, that we judged it better
to make for the river, the course of which we followed over a bed of
pebbles, my son sometimes a-head, and again falling back, until we
reached America, a village having a fine situation, but with a shallow
approach to the shore. Here we halted at the best house, as every
traveller ought to do, whether pedestrian or equestrian, for he is
there sure of being well treated, and will not have more to pay than
in an inferior place. Now we constituted Mr ROSE purser. We had walked
twelve miles over rugged paths and pebbly shores, and soon proceeded
along the edge of the river. Seven tough miles ended, we found a house
near the bank, and in it we determined to pass the night. The first
person we met with was a woman picking cotton in a small field. On
asking her if we might stay in her cabin for the night, she answered
we might, and hoped we could make a shift with the fare on which she
and her husband lived. While she went to the house to prepare supper,
I took my son and Mr ROSE to the water, knowing how much we should
be refreshed by a bath. Our fellow-traveller refused, and stretched
himself on a bench by the door. The sun was setting; thousands of
robins were flying southward in the calm and clear air; the Ohio was
spread before us smooth as a mirror, and into its waters we leaped
with pleasure. In a short time the goodman of the hut called us to
supper, and in a trice we were at his heels. He was a tall raw-boned
fellow, with an honest bronzed face. After our frugal meal, we all
four lay down in a large bed spread on the floor, while the good
people went up to a loft.
The woodsman having, agreeably to our instructions, roused us at
day-break, told us that about seven miles farther we should meet
with a breakfast much better than the last supper we had. He refused
any pecuniary compensation, but accepted from me a knife. So we
again started. My dear boy appeared very weak at first, but soon
recovered, and our stout companion, whom I shall call S., evidently
shewed symptoms of lassitude. On arriving at the cabin of a lazy man
blessed with an industrious wife and six healthy children, all of
whom laboured for his support, we were welcomed by the woman, whose
motions and language indicated her right to belong to a much higher
class. Better breakfast I never ate: the bread was made of new corn
ground on a tin-grater by the beautiful hands of our blue-eyed hostess;
the chickens had been prepared by one of her lovely daughters; some
good coffee was added, and my son had fresh milk. The good woman,
who now held a babe to her bosom, seemed pleased to see how heartily
we all ate; the children went to work, and the lazy husband went to
the door to smoke a corn-cob pipe. A dollar was put into the ruddy
hand of the chubby urchin, and we bade its mother farewell. Again we
trudged along the beach, but after a while betook ourselves to the
woods. My son became faint. Dear boy! never can I forget how he lay
exhausted on a log, large tears rolling down his cheeks. I bathed
his temples, spoke soothingly to him, and chancing to see a fine
turkey cock run close by, directed his attention to it, when, as if
suddenly refreshed, he got up and ran a few yards towards the bird.
From that moment he seemed to acquire new vigour, and at length we
reached Wilcox’s, where we stopped for the night. We were reluctantly
received at the house, and had little attention paid to us, but we
had a meal and went to bed.
The sun rose in all its splendour, and the Ohio reflected its ruddy
beams. A finer view of that river can scarcely be obtained than that
from the house which we were leaving. Two miles through intricate woods
brought us to Belgrade, and having passed Fort Massacre, we halted
and took breakfast. S. gave us to understand that the want of roads
made travelling very unpleasant; he was not, he added, in the habit
of “skulking through the bushes or tramping over stony bars in the
full sunshine,” but how else he had travelled was not explained. Mr
ROSE kept up about as well as VICTOR, and I now led the way. Towards
sunset we reached the shores of the river, opposite the mouth of the
Cumberland. On a hill, the property of a Major B., we found a house,
and a solitary woman, wretchedly poor, but very kind. She assured
us, that if we could not cross the river, she would give us food and
shelter for the night, but said that as the moon was up, she could
get us put over when her skiff came back. Hungry and fatigued we laid
us down on the brown grass, waiting either a scanty meal, or the
skiff that was to convey us across the river. I had already grated
the corn for our supper, run down the chickens, and made a fire, when
a cry of “Boat coming” roused us all. We crossed half of the Ohio,
walked over Cumberland Isle, and after a short ferry found ourselves
in Kentucky, the native land of my beloved sons. I was now within a
few miles of the spot where, some years before, I had a horse killed
under me by lightning.
It is unnecessary to detain you with a long narrative, and state every
occurrence until we reached the banks of Green River. We had left
Trinity at 12 o’clock of the 15th October, and on the morning of the
18th four travellers descending a hill, were admiring the reflection
of the sun’s rays on the forest-margined horizon. The frost which
lay thick on the ground and the fences, glittered in the sheen, and
dissolved away; all nature seemed beautiful in its calm repose; but
the pleasure which I felt on gazing on the scene was damped by the
fatigue of my son, who now limped like a lamed turkey, although, as
the rest of the party were not much better off, he smiled, straightened
himself, and strove to keep up with us. Poor S. was panting many yards
behind, and was talking of purchasing a horse. We had now, however,
a tolerably good road, and in the evening got to a house where I
inquired if we could have a supper and beds. When I came out, VICTOR
was asleep on the grass, Mr ROSE looking at his sore toes, and S.
just finishing a jug of monongahela. Here we resolved that, instead
of going by Henderson, we should take a cut across to the right, and
make direct for Smith’s Ferry, by way of Highland Lick Creek.
Next day we trudged along, but nothing very remarkable occurred
excepting that we saw a fine black wolf quite tame and gentle, the
owner of which had refused a hundred dollars for it. Mr ROSE, who was
an engineer, and a man of taste, amused us with his flageolet, and
frequently spoke of his wife, his children, and his fireside, which
increased my good opinion of him. At an orchard we filled our pockets
with October peaches, and when we came to Trade Water River we found
it quite low. The acorns were already drifted on its shallows, and
the Wood Ducks were running about picking them up. Passing a flat
bottom, we saw a large Buffalo Lick. Where now are the bulls which
erst scraped its earth away, bellowing forth their love or their anger?
Good Mr ROSE’s feet became sorer and sorer each succeeding day; Mr
S. at length nearly gave up; my son had grown brisker. The 20th was
cloudy, and we dreaded rain, as we knew the country to be flat and
clayey. In Union County, we came to a large opening, and found the
house of a Justice, who led us kindly to the main road, and accompanied
us for a mile, giving us excellent descriptions of brooks, woods and
barrens, notwithstanding which we should have been much puzzled, had
not a neighbour on horseback engaged to shew us the way. The rain now
fell in torrents, and rendered us very uncomfortable, but at length we
reached Highland Lick, where we stumbled on a cabin, the door of which
we thrust open, overturning a chair that had been placed behind it.
On a dirty bed lay a man, a table with a journal or perhaps a ledger
before him, a small cask in a corner near him, a brass pistol on a
nail over his head, and a long Spanish dagger by his side. He rose
and asked what was wanted. “The way to a better place, the road to
SUGGS’s.” “Follow the road, and you’ll get to his house in about five
miles!” My party were waiting for me, warming themselves by the fires
of the salt-kettles. The being I had seen was an overseer. By-and-by
we crossed a creek; the country was hilly, clayey and slippery; Mr
S. was cursing, ROSE limped like a lame duck, but VICTOR kept up like
a veteran.
Another day, kind Reader, and I shall for a while shut my journal.
The morning of the 21st was beautiful; we had slept comfortably at
SUGGS’s, and we soon found ourselves on pleasant barrens, with an
agreeable road. ROSE and S. were so nearly knocked up, that they
proposed to us to go on without them. We halted and talked a few
minutes on the subject, when our companions stated their resolution
to proceed at a slower pace. So we bade them adieu. I asked my son
how he felt; he laughed and quickened his steps; and in a short time
our former associates were left out of sight. In about two hours we
were seated in the Green River ferry-boat, with our legs hanging in
the water. At Smith’s Ferry this stream looks like a deep lake; and
the thick cane on its banks, the large overhanging willows, and its
dark green waters, never fail to form a fine picture, more especially
in the calm of an autumnal evening. Mr SMITH gave us a good supper,
sparkling cider, and a comfortable bed. It was arranged that he should
drive us to Louisville in his dearborne; and so here ended our walk
of two hundred and fifty miles. Should you wish to accompany us during
the remainder of our journey, I have only to refer you to the article
“Hospitality in the Woods,” which you will find in a former volume.
THE BROWN PELICAN.
_PELECANUS FUSCUS_, LINN.
PLATE CCLI. MALE.
The Brown Pelican, which is one of the most interesting of our American
birds, is a constant resident in the Floridas, where it resorts to
the Keys and the salt-water inlets, but never enters fresh-water
streams, as the White Pelican is wont to do. It is rarely seen farther
eastward than Cape Hatteras, but is found to the south far beyond the
limits of the United States. Within the recollection of persons still
living, its numbers have been considerably reduced, so much indeed
that in the inner Bay of Charleston, where twenty or thirty years ago
it was quite abundant, very few individuals are now seen, and these
chiefly during a continuance of tempestuous weather. There is a naked
bar, a few miles distant from the main land, between Charleston and
the mouth of the Santee, on which my friend JOHN BACHMAN some years
ago saw a great number of these birds, of which he procured several;
but at the present day, few are known to breed farther east than the
salt-water inlets running parallel to the coast of Florida, forty
or fifty miles south of St Augustine, where I for the first time met
with this Pelican in considerable numbers.