along the coast of Florida and on almost all the Keys, excepting
the Tortugas. Those islands which are named Wet Keys are entirely
formed of Mangroves, which raising their crooked and slender stems
from a bed of mud, continue to increase until their roots and pendent
branches afford shelter to the accumulating debris, when the earth
is gradually raised above the surface of the water. No sooner has
this taken place than the Mangroves in the central part of the island
begin to decay, and in the course of time there is only an outer
fringe or fence of trees, while the interior becomes overgrown with
grass and low bushes. Meantime the Mangroves extend towards the sea,
their hanging branches taking root wherever they come in contact with
the bottom, and their seeds also springing up. I am at a loss for an
object with which to compare these trees, in order to afford you an
idea of them; yet if you will figure to yourself a tree reversed, and
standing on its summit, you may obtain a tolerable notion of their
figure and mode of growth. The stem, roots and branches are very tough
and stubborn, and in some places the trees are so intertwined that a
person might find it as easy to crawl over them as to make his way
between them. They are evergreen, and their tops afford a place of
resort to various species of birds at all seasons, while their roots
and submersed branches give shelter to numberless testaceous mollusca
and small fishes. The species represented is rarely observed on the
coast of Florida of a greater height than twenty-five or thirty feet,
and its average height is not above fifteen feet. The Land Mangrove,
of which I have seen only a few, the finest of which were on Key
West, is a tall tree, much larger and better shaped than the other,
with narrower leaves and shorter fruits.
THE FLORIDA CORMORANT.
_PHALACROCORAX FLORIDANUS._
PLATE CCLII. MALE.
Few birds inhabiting the United States are so little known, or have
been so incorrectly described, as the Cormorants. Nay even some of
the European species of this genus are yet not well understood, so
imperfectly have they been studied by writers who, although they have
defined their forms, have not sufficiently studied them in the places
to which they resort during the breeding season. Of the three species
of which I shall speak in this volume, only one has been accurately
described. I allude to the Double-crested Cormorant, _P. dilophus_,
which was met with by the intrepid Dr RICHARDSON in the course of
his Arctic journeys, and introduced to the scientific world in the
Fauna Boreali-Americana, but without a figure, a circumstance to be
regretted, as good representations of birds are fully as necessary
as good descriptions. When the student has perused both, he cannot
fail to recognise the species in whatever part of the world he may
afterwards meet with it.
Our Cormorants are by no means great travellers, although they all
migrate more or less at particular seasons. The three species to which
only I shall at present allude, are each restricted to a comparatively
small portion of North America. The Large Cormorant, _P. Carbo_, rarely
goes farther north than the southern coast of Labrador, and is seldom
seen as far south as the Bay of New York. The Double-crested, _P.
dilophus_, which is next in size, proceeds farther in both directions,
having been met with by Dr RICHARDSON, although my amiable friend
Captain JAMES CLARK ROSS, R. N. does not mention having seen any birds
of this family in the course of his voyages in the arctic seas. It
breeds in great numbers in Labrador, and during winter proceeds along
our eastern coasts sometimes as far as Charleston in South Carolina.
The Florida Cormorant, _P. floridanus_, is a constant resident in
the southern parts of the country from which it derives its name,
and is more especially abundant there in early spring and summer,
breeding on the keys and along the salt-water inlets of the southern
extremity of the peninsula, from which considerable numbers are now
known to visit the waters of the Mississippi and even of the Ohio,
while others proceed as far eastward as Cape Hatteras, all returning
to the Floridas on the approach of cold weather.
The Florida Cormorant seldom goes far out to sea, but prefers the
neighbourhood of the shores, being found in the bays, inlets, and
large rivers. I never met with one at a greater distance from land
than five miles. It is at all seasons gregarious, although it is not
always found in large flocks. The birds of this species never suffer
others of the same genus to resort to their breeding places, although
they sometimes associate with individuals belonging to different
genera. The _P. Carbo_ appropriates to itself the upper shelves of
the most rugged and elevated rocks, whose bases are washed by the
sea; _P. dilophus_ breeds on flat rocky islands at some distance
from the shores of the mainland; and the Florida Cormorant nestles on
trees. In the many breeding places of all these species which I have
visited, I never found individuals of one intermingled with those
of another, although the Large Cormorant did not seem averse from
having the Peregrine Falcon in its vicinity, while the Double-crested
allowed a few Gannets or Guillemots to nestle beside it, and the
Florida Cormorant associated with Herons, Frigate Pelicans, Grakles,
or Pigeons.
This species seldom flies far over land, but follows the sinuosities
of the shores or the waters of rivers, although its course towards
a given point should thus be three times as long. It is the only one
of the three species that, in as far as I have observed in America,
alights on trees. My learned friend, the Prince of Musignano, mentions
in his valuable Synopsis of the Birds of the United States, a species
of Cormorant under the name of _P. Graculus_, which he describes as
being when adult greenish-black, with a few scattered white streaks
on the neck, in winter bronzed, and having a golden-green crest,
the head, neck, and thighs with short small white feathers, and
adds that it “inhabits both continents and both hemispheres: not
uncommon in spring and autumn in the Middle States: very common in
the Floridas, where it breeds, though very abundant in the arctic and
antarctic circles.” Unfortunately no dimensions are given, except
of the bill, which is said to be three and a half inches long. The
Florida Cormorant, however, does not at any season present these
characters, and therefore conceiving it to be different from any
hitherto described, I have taken the liberty of giving it a name,
while the figure and description will enable the scientific to form
a distinct idea of it, and thus to confirm the species, or restore
to it its previous appellation, should it have received one.
On the 26th of April 1832, I and my party visited several small Keys,
not many miles distant from the harbour in which our vessel lay. Mr
THRUSTON had given us his beautiful barge, and accompanied us with his
famous pilot, fisherman and hunter, Mr EGAN. The Keys were separated
by narrow and tortuous channels, from the surface of the clear waters
of which were reflected the dark mangroves, on the branches of which
large colonies of Cormorants had already built their nests, and were
sitting on their eggs. There were many thousands of these birds, and
each tree bore a greater or less number of their nests, some five or
six, others perhaps as many as ten. The leaves, branches, and stems
of the trees, were in a manner white-washed with their dung. The
temperature in the shade was about 90° Fahr., and the effluvia which
impregnated the air of the channels were extremely disagreeable.
Still the mangroves were in full bloom, and the Cormorants in perfect
vigour. Our boat being secured, the people scrambled through the
bushes, in search of the eggs. Many of the birds dropped into the
water, dived, and came up at a safe distance; others in large groups
flew away affrighted; while a great number stood on their nests and
the branches, as if gazing upon beings strange to them. But alas!
they soon became too well acquainted with us, for the discharges
from our guns committed frightful havock among them. The dead were
seen floating on the water, the crippled making towards the open sea,
which here extended to the very Keys on which we were, while groups
of a hundred or more swam about a little beyond reach of our shot,
awaiting the event, and the air was filled with those whose anxiety
to return to their eggs kept them hovering over us in silence. In a
short time the bottom of our boat was covered with the slain, several
hats and caps were filled with eggs; and we may now intermit the work
of destruction. You must try to excuse these murders, which in truth
might not have been nearly so numerous, had I not thought of you
quite as often while on the Florida Keys, with a burning sun over my
head, and my body oozing at every pore, as I do now while peaceably
scratching my paper with an iron-pen, in one of the comfortable and
quite cool houses of the most beautiful of all the cities of old
Scotland.
The Florida Cormorant begins to pair about the first of April, and
commences the construction of its nest about a fortnight after.
Many do not lay quite so early, and I found some going through their
preparations until the middle of May. Their courtships are performed
on the water. On the morning, beautiful but extremely hot, of the 8th
of that month, while rambling over one of the Keys, I arrived at the
entrance of a narrow and rather deep channel, almost covered over by
the boughs of the mangroves and some tall canes, the only tall canes
I had hitherto observed among those islands. I paused, looked at the
water, and observing it to be full of fish, felt confident that no
shark was at hand. Cocking both locks of my gun, I quietly waded in.
Curious sounds now reached my ears, and as the fishes did not appear
to mind me much, I proceeded onward among them for perhaps a hundred
yards, when I observed that they had all disappeared. The sounds were
loud and constantly renewed, as if they came from a joyous multitude.
The inlet suddenly became quite narrow, and the water reached to
my arm-pits. At length I placed myself behind some mangrove trunks,
whence I could see a great number of Cormorants not more than fifteen
or twenty yards from me. None of them, it seemed, had seen or heard
me; they were engaged in going through their nuptial ceremonies. The
males while swimming gracefully round the females, would raise their
wings and tail, draw their head over their back, swell out their neck
for an instant, and with a quick forward thrust of the head utter a
rough guttural note, not unlike the cry of a pig. The female at this
moment would crouch as it were on the water, sinking into it, when
her mate would sink over her until nothing more than his head was to
be seen, and soon afterwards both sprung up and swam joyously round
each other, croaking all the while. Twenty or more pairs at a time
were thus engaged. Indeed, the water was covered with Cormorants,
and, had I chosen, I might have shot several of them. I now advanced
slowly towards them, when they stared at me as you might stare at a
goblin, and began to splash the water with their wings, many diving.
On my proceeding they all dispersed, either plunging beneath or
flying off, and making rapidly towards the mouth of the inlet. Only
a few nests were on the mangroves, and I looked upon the spot as
analogous to the tournament grounds of the Pinnated Grouse, although
no battles took place in my presence. A few beautiful Herons were
sitting peaceably on their nests, the musquitoes were very abundant,
large ugly blue land-crabs crawled among the mangroves, hurrying
towards their retreats, and I retired, as I had arrived, in perfect
silence. While proceeding I could not help remarking the instinctive
knowledge of the fishes, and thought how curious it was that, as soon
as they had observed the Cormorants’ hole, none had gone farther, as
if they were well aware of the danger, but preferred meeting me as I
advanced towards the birds. I emerged from the water almost exhausted
with heat, my eyes aching from the perspiration; but the refreshing
sea-breeze now reached me, and cooled my feverish frame. Thankful,
Reader, did I then feel, and thankful do I feel now, having survived
so many encounters of this kind.
The nest of the Florida Cormorant is of rather a small size, being
only eight or nine inches in diameter. It is formed of sticks crossing
each other, and is flat, without any appearance of finishing. All the
nests are placed on a western exposure, and are usually completely
covered with excrement, as are also frequently the eggs, which are
three or four, and differ in size, their average length, however, being
two inches and a quarter, their greatest breadth one inch and three
and a half eighths. They are rendered rather rough by the coating of
calcareous matter which surrounds them; but when this is removed,
the real shell is found to be of a uniform fine light bluish-green
tint. I was unable to ascertain the period of incubation. The young
are at first blind, naked, black, and extremely uncouth. On placing
some which were quite small on the water, they instantly dived, rose
again, and swam about at random, diving on the least noise. If you
approach them when about a month old, they throw themselves from the
nest and plunge into the water. When undisturbed, they remain in the
nest until they are fully fledged and able to fly, after which they
undergo various changes, and are not perfect until nearly two years
old.
Soon after they are left to shift for themselves, great numbers go to
search for food in the quiet waters of inland streams. Thousands may
now be seen on the lakes of the interior of the Floridas, and on the
large rivers there. At this season many proceed as far as the Capes of
North Carolina, the Mississippi, the Arkansas, the Yazoo, and other
streams, including the fair Ohio, on which they are at times seen
early in October, when they begin to return to the places of their
nativity. During several weeks which I spent on the St John’s River,
while on board the United States’ schooner-of-war the Spark, I was
surprised to see the number of these Cormorants already returning
towards the keys, so much so that had I been the discoverer of that
stream under similar circumstances, I should in all probability have
named it Cormorant River. While we were at anchor near its mouth,
they passed close to us in long single files almost continually, and,
on reaching the sea, bore away towards the south along the shores.
On the Mississippi, in the month of October, when the temperature is
considerably lower than in the Floridas, you see these birds during
the day standing in their usual inclined position, on the sawyers
and planters, as if resting there—so at least was the case in the
autumn of 1820,—or on the dead branches of trees along the shores.
In cloudy days they sailed high in the air, and in wide circles,
after which, as if aware of cold weather being at hand, they swiftly
followed in long lines the meandering course of the stream, at a
considerable elevation. While sailing aloft, they frequently uttered
a note not unlike that of the raven in similar circumstances. When
approached while standing on a planter, instead of taking to wing
at once, although elevated several feet above the water, they prefer
plunging first into the stream, when they almost instantly rise to the
surface, paddle with their feet, and beat with their wings for twenty
or thirty yards, and then rise into the air. Now and then, when of a
sudden the weather becomes cold at night, you see them at early dawn
join in numbers of fifty or perhaps a hundred, rise high in the air,
arrange themselves in angular double files, and fly swiftly southward.
When in fresh water streams they fish principally in the eddies, and
as soon as one of them is depopulated, or proves unworthy of their
farther search, they rise and fly about a foot above the surface to
another place, where they continue to fish. In the inner lakes of the
Floridas they fish at random any where, and this is equally the case
around the Keys, and on the bays and inlets along the coast. In fine
calm weather, when the sun is pouring down a flood of light and heat,
the Cormorants in flocks betake themselves to some clean sand-bar or
rocky isle, or alight on trees, where they spread out their wings,
and bask at times for hours, in the manner of Vultures and Pelicans.
The Florida Cormorant, like all the other species with which I am
acquainted, swims deep, and dives with great expertness, so that
it is almost useless to follow one when wounded, unless it has been
greatly injured. On seeing an enemy approach, it first beats the water
with its wings, as if in play, or as it would do if washing itself,
raises both wings for a minute or more, then paddles off, and takes
to wing. When on a lake, they prefer diving to flying, swim with all
but the neck and head under water, in the manner of the Anhinga or
Snake-bird, and easily dive without shewing their backs.
They procure their food entirely by diving from the surface of the
water, never from on wing, as some compilers assert; nay, the very
form of their bill, and the want of air-cells, such as plunging birds
are usually provided with, prevent them from darting from above into
the water, as is the habit of Gannets and other birds, which seek
for food on wing, go far out to sea, and stand gales such as the
Cormorant, which rarely venture out of sight of the shores, does not
dare to encounter, or of those which, like Gulls, pass swiftly in
curved lines over the surface, picking up their prey. On emerging,
these Cormorants usually swallow their prey if it has been so seized
as to enable them to do so with ease; if not, they throw it up to
a short distance in the air, receive it with open bill, and gulp it
head foremost. If the fish is large, they swim or fly to the shore,
or alight on a tree with it, and there beat and tear it to pieces,
after which they swallow it. Their appetite is scarcely satiable, and
they gorge themselves to the utmost at every convenient opportunity.
The flight of this species is perhaps more rapid than that of the
others mentioned above, and is performed by continued flappings when
the bird is travelling, but by alternate flappings and sailings of
great elegance during the beginning of the breeding season, or when
they collect in large flocks in lowering weather, sometimes also
when about to alight. Their food consists chiefly of fish, and they
generally prefer those of small size. While on the Florida Keys, I
procured five specimens of the Hippocampus, fresh and uninjured, from
the gullets of some of these Cormorants. They are hard to kill, and
live to a great age.
They are easily treated in captivity; but their awkward movements
on the ground, where they often use the tail as a support, render
them less pleasing objects than other feathered pets. Besides, they
eat and mute inordinately, and instead of charming you with songs,
utter no sound excepting a grunt. Their flesh is dark, generally
tough, and has a rank fishy taste, which can suit the palate only of
refined epicures, some of whom I have heard pronounce it excellent.
The Indians and Negroes of the Floridas kill the young when nearly
able to fly, and after skinning them, salt them for food. I have seen
them offered for sale in the New Orleans market, the poorer people
there making gombo soup of them.
A bird of this species, which I shot near its breeding place, and
which, on being examined, proved to be a female, had the feathers of
the tail covered with delicate slender sea-weeds of a bright green
colour, such as I have often observed on marine turtles, and which
appeared to have actually grown there.
The slender feathers on the sides of the head fall off by the time
incubation has commenced, and do not appear during winter, as is
alleged by authors when speaking of the crests or appendages of
Cormorants, nor do they last more than a few weeks, as is also the
case in the Egrets and Herons.
PHALACROCORAX FLORIDANUS.
Plate CCLII. Adult Male in spring.
Bill about the length of the head, rather slender, somewhat compressed,
straight, with the tip curved. Upper mandible with the dorsal line
slightly concave, until near the tip, when it is decurved, the ridge
convex, and separated from the sides by a narrow groove, the sides
erect, convex, the edges sharp and straight as far as the unguis,
which is strong, convex above, incurved, acute. No external nostrils
when full-grown. Lower mandible with the angle long and very narrow
towards the end, filled by an extensible membrane, which extends a
short way down the throat, its dorsal line a little convex, the sides
erect and convex, the edges sharp and inflected, the tip compressed
and obliquely truncate.
Head rather small, oblong, narrowed before. Neck long and slender.
Body rather full, depressed. Feet short, stout, placed far behind;
tibia feathered in its whole length; tarsus very short, strong, much
compressed, covered all round with scales, of which the anterior
and lateral are large and subhexagonal, the posterior very small
and roundish. Toes all placed in the same plane, and connected by
reticulated webs, covered above with very numerous oblique scutella;
first toe smallest, fourth longest. Claws rather small, strong,
compressed, acute, rounded above, arched, that of the third toe
pectinated on its inner edge.
Plumage of the head, neck, lower parts, and posterior portion of the
back glossy, blended, and silky, of the fore part of the back and
wings compact, the feathers with narrow loose glossy margins. From
behind the eye to the length of an inch and a half on each side, a
line of extremely slender loose elongated feathers. Space around the
eye, and to a large extent along the base of the bill, together with
the small gular sac, bare. Wings rather small; primaries very strong,
curved, rather narrow, tapering and obtuse, second longest, third
almost equal, first longer than fourth; secondaries decurved, broad,
broadly rounded, the inner narrower. Tail of moderate length, very
narrow, much rounded, or cuneate, of twelve narrow rounded feathers,
having extremely strong shafts.
Upper mandible black, along the basal margins bright blue; lower
bright blue, curiously spotted with white. Iris light green, margins
of eyelids light blue, spotted with white. Bare space on the head and
gular sac rich orange. Feet and claws greyish-black. All the silky
part of the plumage is greenish-black, at a distance appearing black,
but at hand in a strong light green. The imbricated feathers of the
back and wings greyish-brown, tinged with purple, their fringe-like
margins greenish-black. Primary quills brownish-black, secondary like
the other feathers of the wing. Tail brownish-black. The shafts of
all the feathers brownish-black.
Length to end of tail 29-3/4 inches, to end of wings 25-1/2, to end of
claws 28-1/2; extent of wings 46-1/2; wing from flexure 11-3/4; tail
6; bill along the back 2-5/12, along the edge of lower mandible 3-7/12;
tarsus 2; outer toe 3-5/12, its claw (4-1/2)/12 Weight 3-1/2 lb.
The Female is precisely similar to the male.
The young, after their first moult, have the bill dull yellow, the
ridge of the upper mandible dusky, the unguis or hook horn-colour; the
naked parts about the base of the bill rich yellow, the iris light
green, the feet as in the adult. The feathers of the head and neck
are blended, but not silky; the upper part of the head and the hind
neck are brownish-black, tinged with green, the throat greyish-white,
the fore neck and anterior part of the breast variegated with pale
brownish-grey and black. The rest of the plumage is as in the adult,
but the imbricated feathers of the upper parts are of a lighter
colour, but not bronzed.
This species differs from the Double-crested Cormorant principally in
being smaller, and in having the elongated feathers behind the eye
much fewer. The two species will be more particularly compared when
the latter is described.
THE POMARINE JAGER.
_LESTRIS POMARINUS_, TEMM.
PLATE CCLIII. FEMALE.
This bird I never had an opportunity of examining until I visited
Labrador; nor am I able to give you much information respecting its
habits as obtained by my own observation, and therefore I shall take
the liberty of adding to my description such notices as I may judge
interesting, taken from the works of authors who, having seen for
themselves, are entitled to credit.