rounded. Wings very long, pointed; primary quills tapering, the first
longest, the second considerably shorter, the rest rapidly graduated;
secondaries short, broad, obliquely rounded, the inner not elongated.
Tail of moderate length, graduated, of twelve rounded feathers.
Bill yellowish-green, the tips brownish-black, tinged with green.
Edges of eyelids dark-grey; iris brown. Feet light greenish-grey, webs
and claws yellowish flesh-colour. The upper parts in general are deep
brown, the hind neck paler and tinged with grey; the primary quills
and tail brownish-black. The lower parts are greyish-white; the lower
wing-coverts white, those next the edge of the wing greyish-black
towards the end, the axillary feathers white, greyish-brown towards
the end, lower tail-coverts similar.
Length to end of tail 20 inches, to end of wings 21-1/4; to end of
claws 21-1/4; extent of wings 45; wing from flexure 13-1/4; tail 5;
bill along the back 2-4/12, along the edge of lower mandible 2-3/4;
tarsus 2-1/4; middle toe 2-1/2, its claw 1/2. Weight 1 lb. 9-3/4 oz.
THE PURPLE SANDPIPER.
_TRINGA MARITIMA_, BRUNN.
PLATE CCLXXXIV. ADULT IN SUMMER AND IN WINTER.
I am surprised that my worthy friend THOMAS NUTTALL speaks of this
species as being scarcely ever seen in the United States, where, to
my knowledge, it is on the contrary very abundant, and nowhere more
so than in the neighbourhood of the Harbour of Boston, in the markets
of which city it is sold in autumn and winter. When I was there, a
gunner whom I employed brought me several dozens, which he had killed
in the course of a single afternoon. I have also seen some in the
markets of New York. Farther south, however, they are rarely met with.
Timid though not shy, they are seen in flocks of eight or ten, on
the rocky shores of the sea. They seem to shun sandy beaches, and
seldom advance far inland. While I was on the Bay of Fundy, I observed
numerous small flocks winging their way northward, in the month of
May. On one occasion, a flock alighted almost at my feet, so that I
was obliged to retire to a proper distance before shooting at them.
Their flight is pretty rapid, and when necessary sustained, for I
have observed them flying in compact bodies across the Gulf of St
Lawrence. When started along the shores, they emit a feeble _weet_,
which is repeated two or three times, take a sweep over the water,
and return to the same spot or near it, somewhat in the manner of
the Spotted Sandpiper. They are generally very busy while searching
for food, run nimbly with the body lowered on the legs, which are
much bent, go to the edge of the water, seize on small shell-fish,
shrimps and worms, and search industriously among the sea-weeds for
marine insects. Their marked predilection for rocky shores has caused
them to be named “Rock Snipes” by the gunners of our eastern coast.
In autumn and winter the young birds become fat, and afford delicate
eating.
I was sadly disappointed at not finding them breeding on any part
of the coast of Labrador which I visited, the more so because Dr
RICHARDSON says they are abundant on the shores of Hudson’s Bay,
where they breed. He gives no description of the nest or localities
on which they deposit their eggs, which are said to be “pyriform,
16-1/2 lines long, and an inch across at their greatest breadth. Their
colour is yellowish-grey, interspersed with small irregular spots of
pale brown, crowded at the obtuse end, and rare at the other.”
TRINGA MARITIMA, _Ch. Bonaparte_, Synopsis of Birds of the
United States, p. 318.—_Swains. and Richards._ Fauna Bor.
Amer. part ii. p. 382.
PURPLE SANDPIPER, _Nuttall_, Manual, vol. ii. p. 115.
Adult in summer. Plate CCLXXXIV. Fig. 1.
Bill longer than the head, almost straight, subulate, compressed
at the base, flexible; upper mandible with the dorsal line almost
straight, being slightly deflected towards the end, the ridge narrow
and convex, towards the end broader, the sides sloping, the edges
rather obtuse. Nostrils basal, lateral, linear; nasal groove extending
to near the end of the bill. Lower mandible with the angle long and
very narrow, the dorsal line beyond it slightly concave, the sides
sloping upwards with a narrow groove, the tip rounded.
Head rather small, oblong, compressed. Neck shortish. Body full. Feet
of moderate length, slender; tibia bare for a short space; tarsus
rather short, compressed, anteriorly covered with scutella, laterally
reticulated; toes of moderate length, excepting the first, which is
very small, third longest and including the claw longer than the
tarsus, fourth slightly longer than second; fore toes scutellate
above, without webs at the base, the middle one with an inner thickish
margin, the lateral each with an outer one; claws considerably curved,
compressed, obtuse, that of hind toe very small, of middle toe largest,
with a dilated thin inner edge.
Plumage soft, blended, on the back rather compact, the feathers
rounded. Wings rather long, pointed; primaries tapering, rounded,
the first longest, the second slightly shorter; outer secondaries
short, obliquely truncate, inner elongated and tapering. Tail short,
rounded, the central feathers elongated.
Bill deep orange, towards the end dusky. Edges of eyelids grey, iris
orange. Feet light orange, claws dusky. Head greyish-brown tinged
with purple, its sides and those of the neck deep purple; back and
wings brownish-black, with purple reflections, the margins of the
feathers white; quills brownish-black, their shafts, the tips of
all the secondaries, and the greater part of the middle ones, white;
middle tail-feathers brownish-black, tinged with purple, the lateral
shaded into ash-grey. Upper part of throat greyish-white, fore neck
grey; breast, sides, and abdomen white.
Length to end of tail 9-1/2, to end of wings 9-4/12, to end of claws 10;
extent of wings 14-3/4; wing from flexure 5, tail 2-1/2; bill along the
back 1-5/12, along the edge of lower mandible 1-5/12; tarsus 11/12;
middle toe 11/12, its claw 5/12. Weight 3-1/4 oz.
Adult in Winter. Plate CCLXXXIV. Fig. 2.
The principal differences in the winter plumage are, that the lower
parts are pale grey, while the upper have the purple tints much
fainter, the white edgings substituted by dull grey.
THE FORKED-TAILED GULL.
_LARUS SABINI_, SABINE.
PLATE CCLXXXV. MALE.
On my return from Labrador, I had the pleasure of seeing this
interesting little Gull flying over the harbour of Halifax in Nova
Scotia. It was in company with our Common American Gull. Although I
have not observed it on our eastern shores or farther south on the
coast, it is not improbable that it rambles there in winter along
with other species which, like itself, breed far north. Its flight in
some measure resembles that of the Common Tern, although it is more
decided, and, consequently, more like that of the smaller species of
its own genus. In the course of a voyage from Pictou in Nova Scotia to
Hull in England, lately performed by my friend Mr THOMAS MACCULLOCH,
he saw great numbers of this species when more than a hundred miles
off Newfoundland. They flew around the ship in company with an almost
equal number of Ross’s Gull.
Dr RICHARDSON gives the following account of the Forked-tailed Gull,
in the Fauna Boreali-Americana. “This interesting species of Gull was
discovered by Captain EDWARD SABINE. It was first seen on the 25th
of July at its breeding station on some low rocky islands lying off
the west coast of Greenland, associated in considerable numbers with
the Arctic Tern, the nests of both birds being intermingled. It is
analogous to the Tern not only in its forked tail, and in its choice
of a breeding place, but also in the boldness which it displays in
the protection of its young. The parent birds flew with impetuosity
towards persons approaching their nests, and when one was killed, its
mate, though frequently fired at, continued on the wing close to the
spot. They were observed to get their food on the sea-beach, standing
near the water’s edge, and picking up the marine insects which were
cast on shore. A solitary individual was seen in Prince Regent’s
Inlet, on Sir EDWARD PARRY’s first voyage, and many specimens were
procured in the course of the second voyage on Melville Peninsula.
Captain SABINE also killed a pair at Spitzbergen, so that it is a
pretty general summer visitor to the Arctic Seas, and is entitled to
be enumerated amongst the European as well as the American birds. It
arrives in the high northern latitudes in June, and retires to the
southward in August. Specimens procured in June and July corresponded
exactly with the one described below. When newly killed, they all
had a delicate pink blush on their under plumage. The eggs, two in
number, are deposited on the bare ground, and are hatched in the
last week of July. They are an inch and a half in length, and have
an olive colour with many brown blotches.”
At the approach of autumn, it frequently happens that several species
of gulls associate together, and at times congregate in great numbers
on the outer margins of sand-bars and in the large estuaries. There
they keep up a constant cackling, run about, dress their plumage,
and await the rising of the waters. If disturbed at such times, they
shew greater shyness than perhaps at any other. One of the oldest
birds sounds an alarm, and all simultaneously take to wing, disperse,
and gradually rise to a great elevation, flying in wide circles, and
moving seaward. I have thought it remarkable that these birds seldom
shun the fishermen, while towards any one bearing the semblance of
a gunner they act with extreme caution. Although loquacious when
congregated, they are when separated quite silent, especially when
on wing. In squally and rainy weather they skim low over the water
or the land, always against the wind. They are very tenacious of
life, and often, when wounded, revive after you had considered them
incapable of breathing. The instant they are caught they are wont
to mute and eject the contents of their stomach, as well as when
suddenly compelled to take to wing, or when pursued by predaceous
birds. In particular states of the weather they appear at a distance
much larger than they really are, and, on such occasions, they also
seem much nearer, so that the gunner is greatly deceived, and may
shoot at them when too far off.
LARUS SABINI, _Sabine_, (J.) Linn. Trans, vol. xii. p. 520.
pl. 29.
LARUS SABINII, FORK-TAILED GULL, _Swains. and Richards._
Fauna Bor. Amer. part ii. p. 428.
FORK-TAILED GULL, _Nuttall_, Manual, vol. ii. p. 295.
Adult Male. Plate CCLXXXV. Fig. 1.
Bill rather shorter than the head, nearly straight, rather slender,
compressed. Upper mandible with its dorsal line straight to the middle,
then curved and declinate, the ridge convex, the sides slightly convex,
the edges sharp and inflected, the tip rather obtuse. Nasal groove
rather long and narrow; nostrils in its fore part, longitudinal,
submedial, linear, pervious. Lower mandible with a slight prominence
at the end of the angle, which is long and narrow, the dorsal line
then straight or slightly concave, the ridge convex, the sides nearly
flat.
Head of moderate size. Neck short. Body rather slender. Wings very
long. Feet of moderate length, rather strong; tibia bare below for a
short space, covered behind with narrow scutella; tarsus compressed,
anteriorly covered with numerous scutella and three inferior series
of transverse scales, laterally with rounded scales, posteriorly with
oblique scutella. Toes slender, scutellate above; first extremely
small, second much shorter than fourth, third longest, anterior toes
connected by reticulated webs, the outer and inner slightly marginate;
claws small, compressed, obtuse, that of middle toe with an expanded
inner edge.
Plumage close, soft, blended. Wings very long and pointed; primaries
tapering and rounded, first longest, second almost equal, the rest
rapidly graduated; secondaries obliquely pointed, the rounded extremity
extending beyond the tip of the shaft, which is exterior to it, the
inner feathers more elongated. Tail of moderate length, forked, of
twelve feathers.
Bill black at the base for more than half its length, the rest pure
yellow. Edges of eyelids vermilion, as is the inside of the mouth.
Feet black. Head and upper part of neck all round blackish-grey, that
colour terminated below by a ring of pure black encircling the neck.
Lower neck all round, the whole lower surface, the upper tail-coverts
and the tail, pure white. The back and wings are bluish-grey, excepting
a large terminal portion of the secondaries, and the tips of the
primaries, which are white, the primaries themselves being black,
with their shafts brownish-black. The first quill of the specimen
figured had no white on the tip, but some individuals differ in this
respect.
Length to end of tail 13 inches, to end of wings 14-3/4; extent of wings
33; wing from flexure 10-3/4; tail 5; bill along the ridge 1, along the
edges 1-1/4; tarsus 1-5/12; middle toe 1, its claw 2/12. Weight 7 oz.
The Female is rather less than the male, but in other respects similar.
THE LOST PORTFOLIO.
While I was at Natchez, on the 31st of December 1820, my kind friend
NICHOLAS BERTHOUD, Esq. proposed to me to accompany him in his
keel-boat to New Orleans. At one o’clock, the steam-boat Columbus
hauled off from the landing, and took our bark in tow. The steamer was
soon ploughing along at full speed, and little else engaged our minds
than the thought of our soon arriving at the emporium of the commerce
of the Mississippi. Towards evening, however, several inquiries were
made respecting particular portions of the luggage, among which ought
to have been one of my portfolios containing a number of drawings made
by me while gliding down the Ohio and Mississippi from Cincinnati to
Natchez, and of which some were to me peculiarly valuable, being of
birds previously unfigured, and perhaps undescribed. The portfolio
was nowhere to be found, and I recollected that I had brought it under
my arm to the margin of the stream, and there left it to the care of
one of my friend’s servants, who, in the hurry of our departure, had
neglected to take it on board. Besides the drawings of birds, there
was in this collection a sketch in black chalk, to which I always
felt greatly attached while from home. It is true the features which
it represented were indelibly engraved in my heart; but the portrait
of her to whom I owe so much of the happiness that I have enjoyed was
not the less dear to me. When I thought during the following night of
the loss I had sustained in consequence of my own negligence, imagined
the possible fate of the collection, and saw it in the hands of one
of the numerous boatmen lounging along the shores, who might paste the
drawings to the walls of his cabin, nail them to the steering-oars of
his flat-boat, or distribute them among his fellows, I felt little
less vexed than I did some years before when the rats, as you know,
devoured a much larger collection.
It was useless to fret myself, and so I began to devise a scheme for
recovering the drawings. I wrote to Mr GARNIER and my venerable friend
CHARLES CARRÉ. Mr BERTHOUD also wrote to a mercantile acquaintance.
The letters were forwarded to Natchez from the first landing place
at which we stopped, and in the course of time we reached the great
eddy running by the Levee or artificial embankment at New Orleans.
But before I present you with the answers to the letters sent to
our acquaintances at Natchez, allow me to offer a statement of our
adventures on the Mississippi.
After leaving the eddy at Natchez, we passed a long file of exquisitely
beautiful Bluffs. At the end of twenty hours we reached Bayou Sara,
where we found two brigs at anchor, several steamers, and a number
of flat-boats, the place being of considerable mercantile importance.
Here the Columbus left us to shift for ourselves, her commander being
anxious to get to Baton Rouge by a certain hour, in order to secure
a good cargo of cotton. We now proceeded along the great stream,
sometimes floating and sometimes rowing. The shores gradually became
lower and flatter, orange-trees began to make their appearance around
the dwellings of the wealthy planters, and the verdure along the
banks assumed a brighter tint. The thermometer stood at 68° in the
shade at noon; butterflies fluttered among the flowers, of which many
were in full blow; and we expected to have seen alligators half-awake
floating on the numberless logs that accompanied us in our slow
progress. The eddies were covered with ducks of various kinds, more
especially with the beautiful species that breeds by preference on
the great sycamores that every now and then present themselves along
our southern waters. Baton Rouge is a very handsome place, but at
present I have not time to describe it. Levees now began to stretch
along the river, and wherever there was a sharp point on the shore,
negroes were there amusing themselves by raising shrimps, and now
and then a cat-fish, with scooping-nets.
The river increased in breadth and depth, and the sawyers and planters,
logs so called, diminished in number the nearer we drew towards the
famed city. At every bend we found the plantations increased, and now
the whole country on both sides became so level and destitute of trees
along the water’s edge, that we could see over the points before us,
and observe the great stream stretching along for miles. Within the
levees the land is much lower than the surface of the river when the
water is high; but at this time we could see over the levee from the
deck of our boat only the upper windows of the planters’ houses, or
the tops of the trees about them, and the melancholy looking cypresses
covered with Spanish moss forming the back ground. Persons rode along
the levees at full speed; pelicans, gulls, vultures, and carrion
crows sailed over the stream, and at times there came from the shore
a breeze laden with the delicious perfume of the orange-trees, which
were covered with blossoms and golden fruits.
Having passed Bayou Lafourche, our boat was brought-to on account of
the wind, which blew with violence. We landed, and presently made our
way to the swamps, where we shot a number of those beautiful birds
called Boat-tailed Grakles. The mocking birds on the fence-stakes
saluted us with so much courtesy and with such delightful strains,
that we could not think of injuring them; but we thought it no harm
to shoot a whole covey of partridges. In the swamps we met with
warblers of various kinds, lively and beautiful, waiting in these
their winter retreats for the moment when Boreas should retire to his
icy home, and the gentle gales of the south should waft them toward
their breeding places in the north. Thousands of swallows flew about
us, the cat-birds mewed in answer to their chatterings, the cardinal
grosbeak elevated his glowing crest as he stood perched on the magnolia
branch, the soft notes of the doves echoed among the woods, nature
smiled upon us, and we were happy.
On the fourth of January we stopped at Bonnet Carré, where I entered a
house to ask some questions about birds. I was received by a venerable
French gentleman, whom I found in charge of about a dozen children
of both sexes, and who was delighted to hear that I was a student of
nature. He was well acquainted with my old friend CHARLES CARRÉ, and
must, I thought, be a good man, for he said he never suffered any of
his pupils to rob a bird of her eggs or young, although, said he with
a smile, “they are welcome to peep at them and love them.” The boys
at once surrounded me, and from them I received satisfactory answers
to most of my queries respecting birds.
The sixth of January was so cold that the thermometer fell to 30°,
and we had seen ice on the running boards of our keel boat. This was
quite unlooked for, and we felt uncomfortable; but before the middle
of the day, all nature was again in full play. Several beautiful
steamers passed us. The vegetation seemed not to have suffered from
the frost; green pease, artichokes and other vegetables were in prime
condition. This reminds me that on one of my late journeys, I ate
green pease in December in the Floridas, and had them once a-week at
least in my course over the whole of the Union, until I found myself
and my family feeding on the same vegetable more than a hundred miles
to the North of the St John’s River in New Brunswick.
Early on the seventh, thousands of tall spars, called masts by the
mariners, came in sight; and as we drew nearer, we saw the port filled
with ships of many nations, each bearing the flag of its country.
At length we reached the Levee, and found ourselves once more at New
Orleans. In a short time my companions dispersed, and I commenced a
search for something that might tend to compensate me for the loss
of my drawings.
On the 16th of March following, I had the gratification of receiving a
letter from Mr A. P. BODLEY, of Natchez, informing me that my portfolio
had been found and deposited at the office of “the Mississippi
Republican,” whence an order from me would liberate it. Through the
kindness of Mr GARNIER, I received it on the 5th of April. So very
generous had been the finder of it, that when I carefully examined
the drawings in succession, I found them all present and uninjured,
save one, which had probably been kept by way of commission.
THE WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE.
_ANSER ALBIFRONS_, BECHST.
PLATE CCLXXXVI. MALE.
Neither WILSON nor NUTTALL seem to have been aware of the regularity
with which this species migrates through the United States. When I
shewed a drawing of it to the first of these authors, he pronounced
it to be a young Snow Goose, although I described to him its peculiar
notes. During the whole of my residence in Kentucky, a winter never
passed without my seeing a good number of them; and at that season
they are frequently offered for sale in the markets of New Orleans. An
English gentleman, who was on his way to the settlement of Birkbeck
in the Prairies west of the Ohio, and who spent a few weeks with me
at Henderson, was desirous of having a tasting of some of our game.
His desire was fully gratified, and the first that was placed before
him was a White-fronted Goose. I had killed seven of these birds,
the evening before, in a pond across the Ohio, which was regularly
supplied with flocks from the beginning of October to the end of
March. He pronounced it “delicious,” and I have no reason to dissent
from his opinion. From the numbers seen high on the Arkansas River,
I presume that many winter beyond the southern limits of the United
States. They are exceedingly rare, however, along our Atlantic coast.
In Kentucky they generally arrive before the Canada Goose, betaking
themselves to the grassy ponds; and of the different species which
visit that country they are by far the least shy. The flocks seldom
exceed from thirty to fifty individuals. Their general appearance is
that exhibited in the plate, and which I consider as their winter
plumage, feeling pretty confident that in summer the lower part of
the body becomes pure black.
The flight of the White-fronted is very similar to that of the Canada
Goose, being firm and well sustained. When travelling, these birds
pass at a considerable height, arranged in the same angular order,
and apparently guided by one of the older Ganders. They walk with
ease, and can run with considerable speed when wounded. In feeding
they immerse their necks, like other species; but during continued
rains they visit the cornfields and large savannahs. While in Kentucky
they feed on the beech nuts and acorns that drop along the margins of
their favourite ponds. In the fields they pick up the grains of maize
left by the squirrels and racoons, and nibble the young blades of
grass. In their gizzards I have never found fishes or water lizards,
but often broken shells of different kinds of snails.