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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent ia m^thode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 S 6 c CJU\A-^--^l^ 6X- ^H.i f V AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY; f^. NATURAL HISTORY Birds of the United States. ILLUST(RATE(D WITH 'PLATES ENGRAVED FROM DRAWINGS FROM NATURE. BY ALEXANDER WILSON AND CHARLES LUCIAN BONAPARTE. POPULAR EDITION. Vol. I. PHILADELPHIA : PORTER & CO ATES, 882 CHESTNUT STREET. OECoiMi: 502749 CONTENTS OF VOL. I. Editor's Prefaoe, . . Preface to the Life of Wilson, . . . Sketch of the Life of Wilson, Introduction, . . .' . Vuftur aura, Turkey Vulture or Turkey-buzzard, jota, Black Vulture or Carrion Crow, . Falco peregrinuSy Great-footed Hawk, Sparveriut, American Sparrow Hawk, female, male, Columbarius, Pigeon Hawk, kucocephalus, White-headed or Bald Eagle, ossi/ragus, Sea Eagle, /ulvu», Ringtail Eagle, halimtm, Fish-Hawk or Osprey, atricapillus, Ash-colored or Black-cap Hawk, borealis, Red-tailed Hawk, Levertanus, American Buzzard, Pennsylvanicux, Slate-colored Hawk, . velox, Sharp-shinned Hawk, . , Penmylvanicm, Broad-winged Hawk, . /urcatus, Swallow-tailed Hawk, . Mississippieriiis, Mississippi Kite, lagopm, Rough-legged Falcon, niger, Black Hawk, variety, hi/emalis, Winter Falcon, lineatus, Red-shouldered Hawk. uliginosus, Marsh Hawk, Strix nyctea, Snow Owl, Hudtonia, Hawk Owl, nchuloia, Barred Owl, . flammea, White or Barn Owl, patserina, Little Owl, MSI vii \x xi 1 11 16 23 29 31 33 34 42 47 49 58 59 . 61 62 . 64 66 68 70 . 72 74 76 76 . 78 79 81 84 86 88 91 (T) VI CONTENTS OF VOL. I. i ! I Strix hrcKhjfOtoi, Short-eared Owl, . • Virginiana, Great-horned Owl, . otut, Long-eared Owl, nmvia, Mottled Owl, . .- . .ano, Red Owl, .... Lanitu exeubitor, Great American Shrike or Butcher- Oandinentu, Loggerhead Shrike, . PiiUacui Caroltneniit, Carolina Parrot, . Oorvui corax, Raven, .... cofonCj v^row, . • • Cofumbianus, Clark's Crow, . . oui/raffua, Fish Crow, . . pica, Magpie, .... cruto^tM, Blue Jay, . <% . Canaden$it, Canada Jay, . . . Oriohu BtUtimonu, Baltimore Oriole, male, . female, . tnulatut, Orchard Oriole, . . Oraeula /ei-ruginea, Rusty Grakle, . . quitcala, Purple Grakle, . Cucului Carolinensit, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, . trythrophthnlmut, Black-billed Cuckoo, Picut prmcipali$, Ivory-billed Woodpecker, pUeatvs, Pileated Woodpecker, . awatuSy Golden winged Woodpecker, . eryihrocephalui. Red-headed Woodpecker, vartiM, Yellow-bellied Woodpecker, . vilhnu, Hairy Woodpecker, . . pubescen$. Downy Woodpecker, . . queridus, Redcockaded Woodpecker, torguatu», Lewis's Woodpecker, . . Carolinui, Red-bellied Woodpecker, SUta Carolinentis, White-breasted Nuthatch, . varia, Red-bellied Nuthatch, pwdUa, Brown-headed Nuthatch, . . Alcedo alcj/on, Belted Kingfisher, . ,~ Certhia famHiaris, BroT/n Creeper, mnculcta, Black and Whi^e Creeper, Oaroliniana, Great Carolina Wren, , palmtrts, Marsh Wren, . . Trochihu colvhru, Humming Bird, . . . bird, 98 94 07 99 101 102 107 108 116 121 128 129 181 184 140 14t 146 147 164 166 160 162 168 167 169 175 179 181 188 187 188 189 191 194 195 197 199 202 208 206 208 I'l Hull A / I'l.ATK 1.— I, llliK' Jiiy. 2. Yfllow-bliil, or (■oiaiim.li. % Il:illiiiir>ri'-liinl. I'l.ATii 2.— 1. U.mhI riiriisli. 2. Kid-brrastwl Thrusli, ur Itiibiii. ;i. Wliitc-brcnstwl, Ulai'k-<:a|jpi'il Kiillmtrli. 4. Kwi- btlliiil, Hbi(k-iiip|ii.il Niitbiilih. I'l.ATK II.- 1. (ii)lil-»iiij;(il \VoiKl|ic'cki'r. 2. Ulaik-llinmlfd I'i.atk 4 — ••ribiiril Orbilr. 1. IVimilf. 2 uiid 3. .Mali's of liiiiiiiiiif. :t. lllni'-liiMl till' srcoml unil ihiiil yi'»rs. 4, Mali' in coiiipli'li' |iliiiiiage. a. Kdif of tl"' Ori'lianI Orioli-. b. Ken "f H"' Hallimori' nrlolc ^! IM.AIK .'i.- 1. liriiit Aiiii'rii'iui .'"hrikr, ur lliilcliir-liiril. I'iiio (Iroslu'iik. :t. Kiiliy-iriiwrird Willi. 4. Sliori' I.aik. I'l.ATK I'l.— 1. Miiryliiiid Yill'in-ilimul. J. Vi'llow-lirtii.stid t'littl. :t. Sniiimcr Unl-liinl. 4. I'lniiilr. .I. Iiiili;,'i>bir(l. fl. Americun Iti'Uaturt. I'l.ATK 7.-1. Cidiir-hiiil. .' I{i'(l-lji|lii'r:ilf iiml "iil|inkir. ;i. Hairy \Vii.«l|ii(krr. i. iJuwiiy WoiKlpii kcr I'i'iiiiili' lliiiiiiiilii^-l>lril. iii'^l 1111(1 1'Kgs. 9. Tiiwlii' HuiiKiig. li. I'l.ATK 11— I. Ciiiiliiiiil (Jrostn-uk. J. l-iiiKilf aiij l•^!^'. ;i. I'l.ATK I'J.- 1. I!ir.' Iluiiliiii;. 2. I'liuali', :i. llcil-i yi d I'ly- lii'irraiia^iT. I riin;ili' anil i'i;)(. »-iliri>al Wailili'r i:i.- I l'vr;Mit I lyi:il ■lirr. J. Iln;il iri'>t(il ll>- ilii'i-. :i. .Shiiill li]Ut-»iilril Km- liliT. I",, .^I.,llnlill^• \V:iililir. I'l.Mi; |.-.,-l. I[.iU,,,k;l,lMl W. rkrr, L*. IlltiH II .liiii,|,il I'l.Ali; 111 -I. Aiiwiii :iii S|iiiriii\v llii« k :'. 1 h Id >|ii Niilliiii.il. :i. r inriiii lhi»k. t. Illiii-wiiiniil Villnw Wiu- ;i. Tn'r S|i:iiriiw, I. Smu: S|kuiiiw, ."i i l.ic|iiijt S|i;ii i.hv. li. hill- n. (,i.li|i'ii.»ihi!.,l WmiI.I.i r. l;lii.-i\iil Vi lliiw War Siinw lilril M.' |ll:>ik-llilo:llMl llhir Uiill'l.'l r^ N ^^ I'l alhl- I'l.ATi-; 17.— I. AiiirruMii Si>kiii KiiM--hn-a>tctl (■ I'l.ATi: Is. — 1. low Uiiiiliii) IViiiiil,. liiMk. :i . Ciiriilciiii WaiMcT. i; .-^ulil;!!)- Ilyiiililn-r. ivid I'lyiiilchiT. I'l Ml. IIP, I .M.ililnl ii«l. J. Miiiil.iw l.;uk 11. Ilhhk- \'i.\\\: :!".- 1 I.'HiUiariii TaiiiiKir. .iii.|-«liiii' II. r|iii I I'iih-c ri.|iiii|; Warhlir. Ij'uis's \Vii.i.l|.iik.i- 'J. ( l:iik'> Cniw. ;i. r^ M (I i i I'l Mr, U;it, 'J^^'h I'l \11. -'1- I I iiriiiil;l Tiiy Snow liiiiiliiii;, :i. I!u>iy i'i,\ii: --. — 1. s\v;iiii|i S|i ii'i'Mv. J. Wliilr tliroal.ti SpiiiTnw . ■ 1. SiimiiiKili >|i;iiiii«. 1. l'.ix-icilci[i il Si.;nr"\v. ."). l,Hi;jr,.r. Iiciiil siiriki- Ml. -IX I, II' ll.'l KinnH-li.i. ■_'. Ill;i,k-;\ii.|-yfil..\\ \V 111- I'lvii .'I- 1 I'Miiii'il IliMiiiiiL:. J. I Vmiiii', :i, I'loili. \'Wr. ;i. ItlihklMiiniiui \V;ul.l r. I. \iiiiiiiiiKii U;ulilrr. V luiy \V;iil.liT 1 \V..iiii,Miiii.' W.iiI.I.m :. V, ||, U-wilU'i'tl U ^il.'i- riini> llMll row t'l Itllh' lirnHth'Ilk ,**^> ri.Alp. ■.'."i— 1. Ml,,,i>si|,pi Kill'. L'. Tiiiiii''..ti'f WarhliT. I'l.Ai i; Jil— I. fainlin;! I'anut. J. Ciinaila 1 lyralclicr. :). Kiiilii. ky Waililir. 1 I'laiii.' \Viiiti|.T. II'iihI.iI l-lyialilii'i-. I i.ri'i'ii lll:iik-(;iii|)ccl I'lycaltliiT. I'l Ml; 'J: I l'illll:ll.il ( N.l^livilir W.lllil.T r.Misi'. ■.'. Illiii' »;r.-(ii Warl.Ii' I'UTi; ■-■>.- 1, ( ar.iliiia ( iuk"o. •.', lilaik-l.illnl Cuikn lUii.' V.lluH-tia.k W, Mill I- t. \rM.H l!.'.l-|..ill \V;nlil.r. '/ I'l.ATK |»Tki'r. ^ ^ I'nii. :il ^iilHul (11)- iiiiiiiitr. I I'lAii; -Jli -1. Ivniy-liilliil W.MMliirik.r. J. ril.ali.l \V...>.1. I'l.Air-. :iii.--l. Itid-wltiKid SinrliiiK. ••. IVmiile. .1. Blai-k- licckrr. :• U'cl-hrailicl WnodinckiT. |Mill Warlilcr. I. U'ssn Ki'ii-pcill. ■|\ii. :il.- 1 AiniTi. an ^'rl'^^llill. '.'. I'liiiulr. :i. \\ hiif ii_Mi I rll^-llill. I \Vliitc-ir"»rhcl Uiiiitiiit; "v liuv-w iiij;i rl-('lirc»l. Kiiiili. 4. Saniiiiiuli 1 iin h. I'UAIK IC).— 1 Wiiilir raliMii. 1. Matliii'. ^1. Ciim I'l.ATK :iT.- I. ri>li-liii»k \ I^'iivl Snlpi' '-'. ri.-.|i I iiiw. :t. Killer I'luvrr. j-Tw*«i I «| I I'LATK :W.-\Vlllli-li.-».lc(l K jiKli- ri.ATKH«.-l llii.ii Swullow. ■.>. I'l^uiulc :i Wliiiv-lH-lluil Swnlliiw ^. Hunk Swullnw iffrr :: •i B ni i! ^ i ! i ,/ V,, ■ -, v! I! I'l .\TK li'.i.— 1. ('Iiiiniity Swallii" J ruipli' Miijliii. 1. iiiKili'. 4. fi.nintliriil Wurlil.'i- I'l.AII. 10- 1. Nii;lil-liii«k -J I'limilc. I'lMK II —I \Vhi|>-p""l-«ill .' I'llliuli . I'l.AII I.'.- I. Kill i>wl .' \\ iiililiiii; ll\. :il< liiM, .1, I'm pjr riihti I Ur"«M I.i.vl, J IP* !!! I'i.at; ■I'iilu-li. Wr h: U i >i i-i i ' ' I'l.A lll'llllc \-h.r. I'l.ATK .1(1.— 1. (Ircnl llnriicil Owl. J U^inidwl .">. Sniull liiiidc'il Klyi'iilrlHT. li. Iliiwkdwl I'l.ATK .ll.— I. Loiit'-i'iiri'il i>«l. J. Mar-li Hawk. :!. .-^Wiil. Iiiw-lnili'cl lliiwli l"i \ir: .'i:;.- 1 lf..l-i;iil.il II;ih k .' AiiirniMii llii^-zanl ri \ii: .".1.— 1 lllii.k lliwk. J. V;irlilyiil lilai k lluwk. :t. Iti.;l-»lMMil.lvnil lliiwk I l'.ni;ili' lliiliitiwiif nrU'U\ 'i. I-'i-- iriali' TdwIiO lliililiiii; I mT ^i 1"! ATi; r.4.— I. Iliimil-wiiipil Ihiuk. J. <'li\ii k-Hill's-wiiluw. a Cniic .M;iy WarlilcT. 1. I'.'iiiiilr IllMik-i'iij) WhiIiIct. I'l.ATK W— 1. KiiiK-tuil Kimlc. ii. Sva Kiltie'. I'l.All. .M'i.--l. i;M|iiiMi;iii\ 1 luli'W. •-'. Uid-liiiiki.l -Mi|u'. ;i. .-ii'iui-iialiiiiili'il •• ■I. M.irlili'il (iiHlwit. 'iiipp. 1 ■ n ,%' n 'f^ , 1 - T JL "i f r f 1> It ■1 H i K ? _ n I 3 ri ^ i i: i^^ S. o- a C S 5* 1. I I \ \i^ ri.iiK \\\ hill, I'lAllMil— I. liniii lIlTllll. ■.' NIkIiI III IiiIJ c.rnil Wlilti' ll.n.ll. "»H- ri.Aii; I'li. -I. Kii-.iiii' >| iiMII. .'. Aiiii'iicMii .\\ii: llycalclifr. 1. l-'i'inali- ilulilrii-civ^lnl Wivii. I'l.Mi: II. :i.>|. V.'|ln»-lii':ial Cr.uv ltlaikl>iril. 'i. I'miali' '» 9 r m k I'l.; I" I I'l \n: H, ■>.— 1 ri'iiiiili' iH .si.skili, 4. riiiiali' Aimrkaii .I;iv J. l..iplaiMl LmiK^lPi h !•■ I'lMi 11, II.- I. ! Iiirliln .lay. J. N"rili..rii Tlirii..tiu.(l W.,.«lli.rkii-. ;l. Vmiiiii; lliilli.ail.il \V...,il|,iikir. I'iMi. It, l.'i.— I. Kvi'iiiiiK (lrii>lii.iik. J. I'l-inuli- lt..M.- I.I..1.I..1 ■..iis.lii.iili. :i. IriJial.. Wliili'-wiiini'il (■^l^»l.il]. 1. K.I.I..I, lliillun l.'il.ill l'i..^ll. II, !■■,.- 1. I'allas' liiiiiiir. 'J. li..luiniaii \Va\ttiiii{. . I I'liiali' rill.' liiilltiii.'li. 1 ; i \l I ! ■ {!: i- Lh- v|: I' ll • Platk II. ■.".'- Vuimi: Mi.l,. ( „ikI,, I" w ¥H I h I 3 3 o S? ft ?! c i 1 I iil I'l.ATK It, M.— 1. IValo'it Kgrol lloron. 2. SculopacooiiH Courlaii. :i. i:»i|iilmiiux <'iirli'w. I'l.Aii It ■.•: - I I |,.li,|;i (,allll,lll,V IS.Ml ■J ^ill.iw-l.rcn*!!!! I! f iiUlli ' it raws! II:.: I y! 1 t t i LI PREFACE TO THE LIFE OF WILSON. In the preface to the first edition of this biographical sketch, the motives of the publication are stated, and the peculiar circumstances under which its author was placed, in respect to materials, are detailed ; there is, therefore, no need of repeating them. It has been thought proper to augment the volume, by a selection from the series of interesting letters, which were put into the writer's hands by some of Wilson's personal friends, who were anxious that thc'ie memorials should not be lost. It may be, perhaps, objected, that some of them are of too trifling a nature for publication ; but let it bo observed that they all, more or less, tend to throw light upon the em- ployments, and peculiarities of character, of an individual of no every day occurrence ; one of those to whose genius we would render homage, and the memory of whom we delight to cherish. For the particulars of Wilson's early life, the writer has been indebted to a narrative, in manuscript, which was communicated to him by Mr. William Duncan. This information, coming from a nephew of Wilson's, and his confidential friend for many years, must be deemed authentic ; and we have to regret that the plan and limits of our publication, did not allow us to make a freer use of what was so kindly placed at our disposal. To Mr. Duncan, Mr. Miller, and Mr. Lawson, the writer owes many obligations, for the promptitude with which they intrusted to him their letters : and his acknowledgments are equally due to Colonel Robert Carr, who furnished him with the letters to the late William Bartram. The friendsliip which subsisted between Wilson and the latter was of the most exalted kind ; and the warm expressions of confidence and regard which characterize these letters, will afford a proof of how much of tho *i I ■ X PUEFACE TO LIFE OF WILSON. writer's happiness was derived from this amiable intercourse. The reader's obligations to Colonel Carr will not bo lessened, when it ia stated, that the greater part of these interesting epistles were mislaid daring the latter days of the venerable botanist to whom they wore addressed ; and that it was through the care of the above-mentioned gentleman they were rescued from oblivion. It will be long ere the lovers of science will cease to deplore the event, which snatched from us one so eminently gifted for natural investigations, by his zeal, his industry, his activity, and his intelligence ; one who, after a successful prosecution of his great undertaking through a series of eventful years, was deprived of his merited reward, at the moment when he was about putting the finishing hand to those labors, which have secured to him an imperishable renown. "The hand of death," says Pliny, "is ever, in my estimation, too severe, and too sudden, when it falls upon such as arc employed in some immortal work. The sons of sensuality, who have no other views beyond the present hour, terminate with each day the whole purpose of their lives ; but those who look forward to posterity, and endeavor to extend their memories to future generations by useful labors; — to such, death is always immature, as it still snatches them from amidst some unfinished design." But although that Being, who so often frustrates human purposes, thought proper, in his wisdom, to terminate the " unfinished design" of ' our lamented friend, yet were his aspirations after an honorable distinc- tion in society fully answered. The poor despised weaver of Paisley takes his rank among the writers of our country ; and after ages shall look up to the Father of American Ornithology, and bless that Provi- dence, which, by inscrutable ways, led him to the only spot, perhaps, of the civilized earth, where his extraordinary talents would be encour- aged to develop themselves, and his estimable qualities of heart would be duly appreciated. Wilson has proved to us what genius and industry can effect in despite of obstacles, which men of ordinary abilities would consider insurmount- able. His example will not be disregarded; and his success will be productive of benefits, the extent of which cannot now be estimated. I if SKETCH Off THE AUTHOR'S LIFE, Alexander Wilson was born in the town of Paisley, in the west of Scot' land, CD the sixth day of July, 1700. His father, who was alao nanind Alex* ander, followed the distilling bu.sincHS ; an humble occupation, which neither allowed him much time for the improvement of his mind, nor yielded him much more than the necessaries of life. He was illiterate and poor; and died on the 5th June, 1816, at the age of eighty-eight. His mother was a native of Jura, one of the Hebrides or Western Islands of Scotland. She is said to have been a woman of delicate health, but of good understanding, and pas- sionately fond of Scotch music, a taste for which she early inculcated on her son, who, in his riper years, cultivated it as one of the principal uniuscments of his life. She died when Alexander was about ten years old, leaving him, and two sisters, to mourn their irreparable loss; a lo.s8 which her affectionate son never ceased to deplore, as it deprived him of his best friend ; one who had fostered his infant mind, and who had looked forward, with fond expectiu tion, to that day, " When, clad in sablo gown, with solemn air, " The walls of God'8 own house should echo bark his prayer :" for it appears to have been her wish that he should be educated for the ministry. At a school in Paisley, Wilson was tnught the common rudiments of learn- ing. But what proficiency he made, whether he was tlistinguishcd from his schoolmates or not, my memorials of his early life do not inform me It appears that he was initiated in the elements of the Latin tongue; but having been re- moved from school at the age of twelve or thirteen, the amount of knowledge acquired could not have been great, and I have reason to believe that he never ailerwards resumed the study. His early productions show that his English education had not only been greatly circumscribed, but very imperfect. He wrote, as all xelf-taught authors write, carelessly and incorrectly. His sen- XII LIFK OF WILSON. UncoH, construi'tod liy the ear, dIIoii dispIoMO oiio by thoir gri)«w violntionn of tho riilis (tf ),'riuumiir, an cHsoiitial part of leorninj,' to which ho never scriouHly applio"! hiiiiscif until, iillor hiH arrival in Aniorica, he found it nooessary to quuliiy liiiiiMcir fur iin instructor of youth. Wilson's liitlier, ffclinj,' tho want of a helper in tho novorninont of an infant family, again entered into the matrimonial Htato. Tho niaidun naiiio of this second wife wii.s Brown. It was the intention of the father that Alexander t«hould he educated fur a physician ; hut this dosij;n was not relished by tho son, who had, through tho impertinent interferenci' orted by her industry, her husband, when he became by age and infirniilics, incapable of labor. At an early jieriod of hi.s life Wilson evinced a strong desire for learning; and this was encouraged by a spirit of emulation which prevailed among his youthful ac(|naintance, who. like himsc-lf. ha]>pily dcvot4>(l many of their vacant hours to literary pursuits. He bad f n e acces.s to a colleetion of inagazlnes and essays, which, by some good luck, his father had become possessed of; and these, as he himself of^cn asserted. " were the first Ixxiks that gave bini a fondntss lor reading and reflection." This remarkable instance id' the benefi- cial tendency of periodical publications we record with pleasure; and it may be adduced as an arguinent in favor (d" affording patronage, in our young coun- try, to a species of literature so well adajitcd to the leisure of a commercial people; and which, since tho dayx of .\ddison, has had so powerful an influ- ence on the taste and morals of the liritish natiim. Caleiliinia is fruitful i>f verscmon : every village hxs itH poets; and so prcva- J LIFE OF WILSON. Ziii lent in tho habit of jinglinf< rhyinoN, thnt n acholar in ooriHidurcd a8 pogHesfling DO tOHto, if ho do not uttiino tho Hcottixh lyre to thimo thiMiicH which tho amor patn'te, tho iiutionitl prido of a Uootoman, haH idcntiliud with hitt very ozivU onoo. That pootry would attract tho rc^^ard of WJ'non waH to bo oxpootod ; it was tho vohicio of BontiiiiontH which wuro in uuiHon with Iuh mmguino teinpura- niont; ho hud oiirly imbibed a lnvo of virtue, and it no\f aHHiitnud u ruiimntio caHt by asMiiniintion with the hi^h-wrou^lit offortx uf fancy, combined with tho muhidy of Hong. Aftor an appronticoxhip of about fivo ycarfl, Wilson bocanio his own master; and, relinquishing tho occupation of weaving, hu resolved to gratify his taste for rural scenery, by journoying into the interior of tho country in tho capacity of a peddler. Ho was now about eighteen, full of ardor and vivacity; had a constitution capable of groat exertion; and a mind which promiNcd resources amid every ditBculty. Having been initiated in the art of trading, hu shoul- dered his pack, and chot^rfully set out in (|ucst of riches. In a mind of u romantic turn, Scotland atlords situations abundantly calculated Uj arouse all those associations which tho sublime and beautiful in nature inspire. Wilson was an enthusiiist ; and the chiirnis of tho«*o mountains, valleys, and streams, which had been immortjilizud in song, tilled his soul with rapture, and incited some of tho earliest etforts of his youthful muso. To him who would accunuilate wealth by trade, tho Muses must not be pro- pitious. That abstraction of mind from worldly concerns which letters re- quire, but ill qualifies one to descend to those arts, which, in order to bo suo- rcHsfully practised, must be the unceasing objects of solicitude and attention. While tho trader was feasting his eyes upon the beauties of a landscape, or i uiting an elegy or a song, the auspicious moment to drive a bargain was ne- glected, or some more fortunate rival was allnwed to sup|)lunt him. From the habit of surveying the works of nature arose an indifTerence to the eni{iloynicnt of trading, which became more di.sgusting at each interview with tlu .^I^ses; and nothing but tho dread of poverty induced him to conform to the vulgar avocations of common life. Hums was now the favorite of the public; and from the unexampled succosa of this Iiumble son of genius many aspired to tho honors of the laurel, who otherwise would have oinlineil tlieir^ lews of renown to the limited circle of their family or acquaintance, .\inong this number may be reckoned our Wilson ; who, believing that he posses-scd tite talent of poetical expression, ventured to exhibit his es.says to his frieiiils, whose approbiition encouraged him to renewed perse- verance, in the hojn' uf emerging from that condition in society which his as- piring soul could not but disdain. In con.se(|uence of his literary attainments and correct luorul deportment, he Was admitted to tho society of several gentlemen of talents and respectability, who descried in our youth the promise of eminence. Flattered by attentions, which are always grateful to the ingenuous mind, he was emboldened to the purpose of collecting and publishing his poetical attempts, hoping thereby to secure funds suthcient to enable liini to persevere in the wuILl' of learning, which, to his glowing fancy, appeared to bo strewed with flowers. ZIT LIFE OF WILSON. Fill '111 ,i ' ;*l ! 1 ! . •^ V. i n In pursuance of this design ho printed proposals; and being " resolved," to adopt his own language, " to make one bold push for the united interests of Pack and Poems," ho once more »et out to sell his merchandise, and obtain patronage to his work. This expedition was unprofitable : ho neither advanced his fortune nor re- ceived the encouragement of many sabscriptions. Fortunate would it have been for him if, instead of giving vent to his spleen at the supposed want of discernment of rising merit, or lack of taste for the effusions of genius, he had permitted himself to be admonished of his imprudence by the indifference of the public, and had taken that for an aot of friendship which his wounded feelings did not fail to construe into contempt. hrt in dc6ance of discouragement he published his volume, under the title of " Po<.ms, Humorous, Satirical and Serious." The writer of this sketch has it now before him; and finds in it the following remark,!, in the handwriting of the author himself; " I published these poems when only twenty-two — an age more abundant in sail than ballast. Header, let this soften the rigor of criti» cism a little." Dated, "(Jray's Ferry, July 0th, 1804." These poems were, in truth, the productions of a boy, who composed them under the most disad- vantageous circumstances. They answered the purpose for which they were originally intended — to gratify the partiality of friendship, and alleviate mo- ments of solitude and despondency. Their author, in his riper years, lamented his rashness in giving them to the world; and it is to be hoped that no one will be so officijus as to draw them from that obscurity to which ho himself sin- cerely rejoiced to see them condemned. They went through two small editions in octavo, the last of which appeared in ITUI. The author reaped no benefit from the publication. Mortified at the ill success of his literary undertaking, and probably with the view of withdrawing himself from associates T; ho, instead of advancing, rather tended to retard his studies, Wilson relired to the little village of Loch- winnoch, situated in a delightful valley, a few miles from I'aisley. In this ■oquest«red place he had before resided, and he now resorted to it under the pressure of disappuintnit-nt, mid southed his mind with the employment of let- ters, and sjKjnt his vacant hours amid the ronmntie scunery of a country which Via? well calculated to captivate one who had devoted him-elf to the bervice of tLc muses. While residing nt Lochwinnoch he contributed some short prose essays to The Hee, a periodical work which was published at Kdinburgh by Dr. Ander- •on. Of the merits ui' thc^c essays I cannot s|)eak, as I have never seen them. He alxo occasionally visited the latter place, tv fretjuent the Paj^theon, wherein a society for debate; held their meetings. In .his assembly of minor wits lio delivered several poetical discourses, which obtained him considerable applause. The {Kirticiilars of these literary peregrinations have be.!!! minutely relat^id to 010 ; but at thi.s time I will merely state, that he always |>erfurnied his journeys on foot, and that his ardor to obtain distinction diowing him away from his profession, the only means of procuring subsistence, he was freijucntly reduced to the want of the necessaries of life. WiLoii, in common with many, wu desiroua of becoming pcnxinallj LIFE OF WILSON. XV acquainted with the poet Burns, who was now in the lenith of bis glory ; and an accidental oircumstanee brought them together. The interview appeared to be pleasing to both ; and they parted with the intention of continuing their ac- quaintance by a correspondence. But this design, though happily begun, was frustrated by an imprudent act of the former, who, in a criticism on the tale of Tam O'Shanter, remarked of a certain passage that there was " too much of the brute" in it. The paragraph alluded to is that which begins thus ; " Now, Tam, O Tam I had thae been queans," Burns, in reply, observed : " If ever you write again to so irritable a creature as a poet, I beg you will use a gentler epithet than to say there is ' too much of the hrutt' in anything he says or docs." Here the correspondence closed. From Luchwinnoch Wilson roturuod to Paisley, and again sought subsistence by mechanical labor. But at this period the result of the French Kevolution had become evident by the wars enkindled on the continent ; and their influ- ence on the manufactures of Great Britain, particularly those of Paisley, began to be felt. Kevolution principles had also ct-cpt in among the artisans, which, superadded to the decline of business, were the means of many being thrown out of stated employment; and the distress of others was not a little aggravated by exactions which, it was supposed, neither policy nor justice ought to have dict&ted. Hence arose a misunderstanding between the manufacturers and the weavers, which soon grew into a controversy, that awakened the zeal of both parties; and WIIhod, incited by principle as well as interest, remained not idle on an occasion which seemed to demand the exercise of his talents iix the benefit of the pcKtr and the oppressed. Amon<;; the mauufueturcrs there was one of considerable wealth and influ- ence, wh u short imprisonment, and to burn, with his own hund.M, the poem at the public crus.s in the town of Paisley. Wilson un- derwent the sentence of the law surrouiuled by his friends, a gallant and numerous band, who viewed him us a martyr to the cause of honor and truth ; and who, while his character wus exalted in their opinion, failed not to stig- matize that of his adversary in all the bitterness of contempt. The printer, it is said, was fined for his share in the publication. In the your I7l>2, Wilson wrote his characteristic tale of" Watty and Meg," the lust poem which ho compixscd in Scotland. It was published without » name ; and, possessing considerable merit, was, by many, attributed to Burns. This a.>tcription certainly showed u want of discrimination, as this production displays none of those felicities of diction, none of that peculiar intcrmixtur'* XVI LIFE OF WILSON. \ Mi of pathos and humor, which are so conspicuous in the writings of Burns. I| has obtained more popularity iu Scotland than any of the minor essays of our author ; anil has been ranked with the best productions »./ the Scottish muse. Cromek, in his sketch of Wilson's life, adverting to the prosecution above mentioned, says, that " the remembrance of this misfortune dwelt upon his mind, and rendered him dissatisfied with his country. Another cause of Wil- son's dejection was the rising fame of Burns, and the indifference of the public to his own productions. Ho may bo said to have envied the Ayrshire hard and to this envy may bo attributed his best production, ' Watty and Meg,' which he wrote at Edinburgh in 1793 (1792). He sent it to Nielson, printer, at Paisley, who had suffered by the publication of his formei- poems. Ad it was, by the advice of his friends, published anonymously, it was generally as- cribed to Burns, and went rapidly through seven or eight editions. Wilson however, shared no part of the profits, willing to compensate for the former losses his publiI^her had sustained." * The sketoh abt>vo mentioned the author of this narrative showed to Wilson and the latter told him that the relation was wanting in correctness, lie pointedly denied the charge of envying the Ayrshire bard, and felt not a little scandalized at the unworthy imputation. He added, that no one entertained a more exalt<.Hl idea of Burns's genius, or rejoiced more at his merited success than liiiiiMcIf Wilson now began to bo dissatisfied with his lot. Ho was poor, and had no pnwpcct of bettering his condition in his native country. Having heard flat- tering accounts of America, he conceived the design of emigrating thither, and settling in the United States. It was some time in the latter part of the year 1793 that the resolution was formed of for»aking the land of his forefathers. His eye having boon acci- dentally directed U) a newspaper advcrti.soment, which stated (hat the American ship Swift would sail from the port of Beltiist, in Ireland, on the first of May following, with pa.s.sengers for i'hiladelphia, he communicatod his scheme, in confidence, to his nephew, William Huncan, then a lad of sixteen, who con- sented to become his fellow-traveller in the voyage ; and an agreement was en- tered iiit'i r.f departing in the above-mentioned ship. The iieit subject of consideration wa« the procuring of funds ; and as weav- ing present«'d the most eligible plan for this purpose, to the loom Wilson ap- plied hiiiiHi'lf, for four months, with u diligence and economy alnutst surpassing belief; the wiiolo of hi^t cxjvenses during this period amountitig to less than one Khilling per week. All matters being finally arranjred, he set out on foot for I'ort I'atri k whence he embarked for Ireland. On reaching Belfast it was fuind that tli(> ship had her complement of passengers ; but, rather than remain aft<:r mi niucli I'Xt'rtiiin. Wil.son and his companion consented to sleep u'>on deck, and, ionHO(| lien fly. they wi-re j>erujitted to depart in the ship, which sailed about the middle of .May, and arrived at Newcastle, in the stato of Delaware, on the fourteenth of .July, 1794. ' • Cromek'i " Helect Scouuh SonKt," vol. 2, p. tt«. I, l«10. LIFE OF WILSON. XVU We now behold Alexander Wilson in a strange land, without an acquaint- ance on whose counsels and hospitality ho could rely in that state of uncer- tainty to which, having no particular object in view, he was of course subjected ; without a single letter of introduction, and with not a shilling in his pocket* IJut every care was forgotten in his transport at finding himself in the land of freedom. lie had oft<3n cast a wishful look towards the western hemisphere, and his warm fancy had suggested thp idea that among that people, only, who maintained the doctrine of an equality of rights, could political justice be Ibund. He had become indignant at beholding the influence of the wealthy converted into the means of oppression j and had imputed the wrongs and suf- ferrings of the poor, not to the condition of society, but to the luiture and constitution of the government. He was now free; and exulted in his release, as a bird rejoices which escapes from the confinement of the cage. Impatient to set his foot upon the soil of the New World, he landed at the town of New- castle, and, shouldering his fowling-piece, he directed his stops towards Phila- delphia, distant about thirty-three miles. The writer of this biography has a distinct recollection of a conversation with Wilson on this part of his history, wherein ho described his sensations on viewing the first bird that presented itself as ho entered the forests of Delaware ; it was a red-headed woodpecker, which he shot, and considered tho most beautiful bird he had ever beheld. On his arrival at Philadelphia, he deliberated upon the most eligible mode of obtaining a livelihood, to which the stat< revealed with so much lustre. On his return from this trading adventure, he opened s, school on the Ox- ford road, about five miles to the north of Frankford, Pennsylvania j '>ut being dissati.«fit'(l with this situation, he removed to Milestown, and taught in the 8ch(wl-house of that village. In this latter place ho continued for several years, and, being deficient in the various branches of learning necessary to qualify him for a.i instructor of youth, he applied himself to study with great diliirenee ; and acquired all his knowledge of the mathematics, which was con- siderable, solely by his own exertions. To teaching ho superadded the vocation of surveying, and was occasionally employed by the neighboring farmers ia this business. Whilst residing at ^lilestown, he made a journey, on fcwt, to the Genesee country, in the state of New York, fir the purpose of visiting his nephew, >Ir. William Puncan, who resided upon a small farm, which was their joint property. This farm they hud been enabled to purchase through the assist^inco of Mr. Sullivan, the gentleman in whuse emplny Wilson had been, as before stated. The object of this purchase, which some might deem an act of im- prudence in those whose slender funds did not suffice without the aid of a loan, was to procure an nsylum for Mr. Ihincan's mother and her family of small children, whom poverty and misfortune had, a short time befure, driven to this country. This was somewhat a fatiguing journey to a pedestrian, who, in the spare of twenty-eight ilays. travelled nearly eight hundred miles. The life of Wilson miw becomes intere.>'tiiig, as wo are enabled, by a selection from his letters, to present him to the reader as his own biographer. To Mr. William Duncan.* MiLEiTowN, July 1, 1800. •• Dear Bill " I hud the pleasure of yours by the hands of Mr. P. this day, and about four weeks ago I had another, directed tii .^fr. Dobson's care, both of which were as welcome to me as anything, but your own self, could bo. 1 am just as you lefl me, only my school has been thinner this season than formerly. * Mr. Dunmn at thi« time reiiiiloni a defective mode of study, ing Nature : a mode which, while it led them to the repositories of dried skins and preparations and to a reliance on hearsay evidence, subjected them to tho imputation of ignorance, which their lives, devoted to tho cultivation and pro- motion of science, certainly would not justify. Wilson's improvement was now rapid ; and the jmlicious crilicisms whi(h ho made on tho abovo-nientioiu'd authors gratified his friend iind instructor, who redoubled liis encouraging as- sistance, in orde^ to further him in a pursuit for which his genius, now begin- ning to doveh'p itself, was evidently fitted. I :| if : 'ill pitti "To Mn. WiLUAM Dl NPAN. * ■ •'Orav's FtRRV, October 30th, 1802. " Deak Billy. • I was favored with your dcspatchw) a few hours ago, through the kind- ness of Colonel Sullivan, who called on me for that purpose. 1 have road and re-read, over and over again, their contents ; anjxt , I Illy or August perhapi*, a time when you must of necessity l)e at homo. Vour coming down, considering loss of time and expenses, and calculating what you might do on the iarm. or at the loom, or at other jobs, would not cii'iir you more than twenty dollars difference, unle.HS you intended to rein;iin here live or six months, in which time n\uch might be done by you and Alex- (ler on the place. I am sorry he has bcei. bo soon discouraged with farming. Were my strength but e(|Uiil to my spirit, I would abandon my school forever for such an employment. Habit will rcci ncile him to all difficulties. It is more healthy, more independent and agveeable than to be cooped up in u sub- terraneous dungeon, surrounded by gliMiiny damps, and breathing an unwhide- sumo air from morning to night, shut out fri)m Nature's fairest scenes and the pure air of heaven. When ni.'cessity tlcmands such a seclusion, it is noble to obey ; but when wo arc left to choice, who would bury themselves alive '! It is only in winter that I would reeonimend the linim to both of you. In the month of .^larch next 1 shall, if well, be able to command two hundred dulbirs ,'ash (Hire more. Nothing stands between me and this but health, and that I hope will continue at least till then. You nuiy then direct as to the disi>osal of this money — I shall freely anil cheerfully yield the whole to your niana!;e- ment. Another (|narter will enai>le me to .settle .lohn .M.'s account, about the time it will be due ; and, instead nf wandering in search of employment five or six hundred miles for a few dollars, I would bog of you Imth to unite in putting the place and hou.sc in as guinl order as possible. Hut Alexander eau '■If l!^ XXll LIFE OF WILSON. get nothing but wheat and butter for this huggtmj and tlu»h\ng ! Never mind, my dear namesake, i)Ut up uwhiio with tlio rough fare and rough cloth- ing of the country. Let us only get the place in good order, and you tihull be no loser by it. Next summer 1 will assuredly eouie up along with your faliier and George, if he comes us I expect he will, and everything shall flourish. " My dear friend and nephew, I wish you could find a lei.sure Imur in the evening to give the children, particularly Mary, some instruction in reading, and Aleitander in writing and accounts. Don't bo discouraged though they make but slow pn>gress in both, but por.-^evere a little every evening. 1 think you cau hardly employ an hour at night to better purpose. And make Jauics read eve y convenient opportunity. If I live to come up beside you, 1 shall take that burden off your shoulders. Jfe the constant friend and counsellor of vour little colony, to assist tiieiu in their difficulties, encourage theiu in their de.-pondencies, to make them as happy as circumstances will enable you. A uiother, brothers and sisters, in a. foreign country, looking up to you as their best friend and supporter, places you in a dignifieil p>inl of view. The future remembrance of your kind i-/,iT at last : he died in the West Indi.js. My brother I*avid talks of eouiing to America, and my father, poor old man, would be happy to be with you, rough and uncomfortable as your situation at present is. As ^ sm as 1 linish this I shall write to your mother and Alexander. There is a letter for John M., which he is retjuested to answer by bis father-in law. I hope John will set a firm resolute heart to the undertaking, and plant a poslerify in tliat rich west- ern country, to perpetuat your relief in difficulties a-s I will rejoice with you in prosperity. But wu have nothing to fear. One hundred bushels of wheat, tu bo sure, is no great marketing; but has it not been e.xpendctd in the support of a mother, and infant brothers and sisters, thrown upon your bounty in a foreign c«t moment of your lif<*, for every anxiety you have felt on their account. Colimel Sullivan talks with pride and affection of you. " I wi.-y Colonel Carr, who had it from Wilson himself. Wliitu the latter liiln>roil umtor great ilepressiun uf spirit*, in order to Mtotlio his moid he one day raiiiWod w iili his gun. The pieec b_v ueeident slip|M>il from his liniiil, and, mi making; uii effort to rcpiiii it, the loek was coeked. At that iimnieMt hiiil ihe Klin puie olf, it is murv thnii prolinldc that he wimld have to'tt his life, as the niii/./.le WHS opposite to his hrcftst. When Wilson retlerted on tlie danger whieh lie hail esenped, he shuddered at the idea iii' the imputation nf suieide, whieh a fatal uoeurronre, to one in his frame of mind, would have ooer, .ioned. There is room to coiijeeturo that many have \eeideiuully met their end, whose memories have bccu sullied l>y the alleged crime ol' «elf-raurdcr. zxvi LIFE OF WILSON. J I " I have attoiuptod two of thuso priuU which Mias Nuiioy* ao obligiugly, aad with so much Iidiht to her own taHto, «eloctod for uio. I waa (juito do- lightod with tho aiioiiioiio, but Toar I have luadu but bungling work of it. 8uuh aa thuy aro I Hoiid them for your iiiMpoctiuii and opinion; neither of them ia quite finishcJ. For your kii>J advice towards my improvomout I return my most grateful acknowlodgnioiita. "The dut'us of my profeaaiou will not admit mo to apply to this Btudy with the aaoiduity aud peracvorance I could wiah. Chief part of what I do in sketched by candle light; and for this I am obliged to Haerifice tho pleaNurva of Hociul life, and tho agreeable momenta which I might enjoy in company with you and your amiable friend. I ahall finiah the other some time thia week; and ahall be happy if what I have done merit your approbation." Aa Wilaon advanced in drawing, he made corresponding progreaa in the knowledge of Ornithology. Ilo hud peruacd tho works of some of tho iiatu- ralista of Europe, who had written on tho subject of tho birds of America, and became ao di.-«gust«d with their caricatured figures, fanciful theorica, fables and misri'presontalion.^, that on turning, aa he hiinaelf ubsorvea, from these barren and mu.Mty records to the magnificent repository of (he woods and gelilg — the Grand Aviary uf Nature, his delight bordered on adoration. It was not in the inventions of niui that the Divine Wisdom couM bo traced; but it was vi.sible in tin- volume of Creation, wherein are inscribed the Author'a leaaona of goodness and love, in the conformation, the habitut'(/i/Vm. U-vinuAM. ' " March 2yth, 1804. " Throe months have pas.sed away since I had the pleasure of seeing you ; and three dark and heavy months they have been to your family. My heart has shared in your distress, and sincerely sympathizes with you for the loss you have sustained, liut Time, the great curer of every grief, will gradually heal those wounds which Misfortune has inflicted; aiid many years of traiujuillity and happiness are, 1 sincerely hope, reserved for you. '• I have been prevented from seeing you so long by the hurry of a crowded school, which occu|iied all my hours of daylight, and frctjucntly half the others. The next (juurter will leave me time enough ; and, as there is no man living in who.se company I have more real satisfaction, I hope you will pardon me if I now and then steal a little of your leisure. '• I send for your amusement a few attempts at some of our indigenous birds, hoping thut your good nature will excuse their deticiencies, while you point thcui out to uie. I intended to be the bearer of them myself, but having so many little accounts to draw u|) before to-morrow, I am compelled to jiicad this as my excuse. I am almost ashameil to send you those drawings; bi^t I know your generous disposition will induce you U< encourage one in whom you perceive a sincere and eager wish to do well. They were chiefly colored by candle-light. •• I have now got my collection of native birds considerably enlurged ; and shall endeavor, if {Hwsible, to obtain all the smaller ones this summer, lie pleased to mark on the drawings, with a pencil, the nawcs of each bird, us r xxyiii • LIFE OF WILSON. except three or four, I do not know them. I shall be extremely obliged to yon for every hint that will assist me in this agreeable anmscuient. " I am very anxious to see tho porfornianL-es of your fair jjupil ; and beg you would assure ner from nie that any ol" the birds 1 have are heartily at her ser- vice. Surely nature is prefi'rable, to copy after, to the works of the best mas- ters, tliou"'h i)erliai)s nmro ditficult; for I declare that the face of an ow\, ami the back of a lark have put me to .. .lonplus; and if .Miss Nancy will be so obliging as to try her hand on the last mentioned, I will furnish her with one in good order; and will copy her drawing with the greatest plca.surc ; having spent almost a week on two ditfcrcnt ones, and afterwards destroyed them both, and got nearly in the sloujih of despond." To Mil. Wm. Hautuam. " KiNciHKssiNo, March 31gt, 1804. " I take the first few momenta I have had since receiving your letter, to thank you for your obliging attention to my litilf attempt.-' at drawing, and for the very affectionate expressions vi' esteem with which you honor nic Hut sorry I am, indeed, that afllictions so severe, as thiwe you mention, should fall where so much worth and sensibility reside, while the profligate, the unthink- ing and unfeeling, so freouently piuss through life strangers to sickness, ad- versity or suffering. Hut ti.id visits th(*e with distress whime enjoymenfjs he wishes to render more cxijuisiie, The storms of aiHiction do i. >t. last for ever; and sweet is the serene air. and warm sunshine, after a day of darkness und tempest. (Jur friend has, indeed. p.is.sed away, in the bloom of youth and expect;»tioD ; but nothing has liap|)ened but what almost every day's experi- erve teaclies us to exjieet. H"W many millions of beautiful flowers have floiiiished and faded umler ■■ mr <'yc ; and how olien bus the wlinle priil'usiou of 'i|i's.soms the hopes of a whole year, been blasted by an untinndy frost I He has gone i>nly a little before us; we must stMni follow; but while the feel- ings of nature cannot be repressed, it is our iluty to Imw with humble rcsig. nation to the decisionii of the great Father of all, rather receiving with grati- tude the blessings he i< [pleased to bestow. t)un repining at the liisj« of those he thinks proper to take from u.^. Hut allow me. my dear friend, t«> withdr.iw your thoiii/hl44 from so nielaneliojy a subject, siuce the best way to avoid the force of any overpowoiuig paHsion. is to turn itit direetion another way, •• That lovely sea.sun is ,>• *' ii]i|iroaeliiiii.', when the garden. woimIm and fields, will again disjda} 'li'o ioliage iind tiower- Kvery day we may <'xiiect strangers, flocking from tlie >• .ilb to fill our wtsids with harmony The (.encil of .V.ilijri' i:j now at work, and "Ufliii«-s tintj*. and grubitioiiH of liglUf. ainl shades, that baflle all deseripti will soon be spread before us by that j;reat muster, our most iM'nevolent friend ai.il Father. Let us cheerfully participate in the feast he is prepn-ing fur nil our Henses. I..et us survey tlnwe millions of ijreen strangers, jiist j«'eping into day. as so many happy niesseiiir»'rs coiiiC to |>roclaim the jiower and niuniti>"en<'e of the t 'reat orders tasaneiiiiiiiy by which you are alreiely united ; though I fear it will be a piiwerliii » that -Mtnnutiti which tii'i> fully sutheient bef iro. to make even a virtuoso quit his uwU and op<>.st>uiu«. and think of something else." To Mil Wm. Bartbam. " Mny 2lHt, r*>4 '' I send you a few more imitations of bir^ < for your opinion, which I valuu beyond that of anybody else, though I am seriously apprehensive that I aiu (r'ublesome. These are the lost I shall draw for soiue time, as the employ- ment cou.iumcs every leisure moment, leaving nothing fur i'riondfihip, or tbos« ]'i XXX LIFE OF WILSON. lit, rural recreations which I so much delii^'lit in. Kven poetry, whose heavenly enthiisia.sni I used to gl.ry in, can hardly ever find mo at home, so much lisis thi.s bewitehini: amusement enffrisscd all my senses. " Pleiwe to send me fhf names of the birds. I wish to draw a small flower, in order to represent the humming-bird in the act of feeding : will you be so good as to send me one suitable, and not too large ? The legs and fe*^t. of some are unfinished ; they arc all miserably imperfect, but your gener- ooii candor I know to be bey<.H»d all their defects." I< 'i To Mr. Wm. B.ihtram. "Jnne ir.th. 1S04. " I have arranged my business for our little journey'; and, if to-morrow be fair, T shall have the chaise ready for yon at any time in the morning, say seven o'clock. Or if you think any other hour m;>re suitable, please to let me know by tho bearer, and I shrill make it answerable to me." "Juno 16th, 1804. " I believe we had better put off our intended jaunt until some more aus- picious day. " Clouils, from eastern ri'sions ilriiren, Still ohdonrc the uloomy okie*; I-cf lis _vi(>M, since Bn>rry Heaven Krovvii!' ii|iiiii our enl<"r|iri«e. " Haply some iiii«cen ili««,:• to fly, Aii.l till' ).'lori(iii« !',c honoreil »o." The iiicnnveniencos of hi-* .«ituati his dis- |iii.«ition ; and that would enable him to attain to that diHtinclion. as a schol.-ir, which he was aiixi >us to merit. He con.s(-i|iieiitly directed his views to tli.> '• I^iteniry Magazine. " conducted by (\ \i. Brown, a monthly publication of "iimc note, as a suilabic vehicle fir 'lie diffusion of those prodiictjuns which he hoped would arrest the attention ot the public. In this mngazitie apjiearcd hii " Uur.il Walk." and his '■ Solitary Tutor ;" but it does not appear that their author received any olhi-r reward fr his well-meant endeavor^ than the thanks of the piibii.her He was flattered, it is true, by a republication, in LIFE OP WILSON. XXXI the " I'ort Folio," of the " Rural Walk," with some " coninicndations of its hdiutics;" but I xnu8t confess that my perspicacity has not enabled me to detect them. The then editor of the " Port Folio," Mr. Dennie, enjoyed the reputation of being a man of tasto and judgment; and the major part of his selections should seem to prove that his character, in these respects, was well founded. But with regard to the poem in question, I am totally at a loss to discover by what principles of criticism he judged it, seeing that his opinion of it will by no means accord with mine. The initial stanza, which is not an unfair specimen of the whole, runs thus : " The summer son wan riiling high, The woods in deepest verdure drcst ; From caro and eloiuU of dust to fly, Across yon bubbling brook I past." The reader of classical poetry may well p.irdon me if, out of an effusion consisting of forty-four stanza.s, I save him the task of perusing any more than one. To Mr. Lawsos. "Gbav's Ferry, August 14th, 1804. " Dkar Sir, '• Enclosed is a copy of the ' Solitart/ Tutor,' which I should like to see in the 'Literary Magazine' of this month, along with the other poem which I sent the editor last week. Wishing, for my future benefit, to call the public attention to these pieces, if, in the editor's opinion, they should seem worthy of it, I must request the favor of you to converse with him on this subject. You know the numerous pieces I am in possession of, would put it in my power ten many years afterwards, in a wild, savage state I Htit he very gravely t<'lls his readers that tht; people of S<'ot- land eat little or no pork from a prejudice which they enterUiin against swine, the I'evil having taken possession of some of thoni two thou.saud years ago! What an enlightened peojile the.se Seot.s nmst be; and what a delicate taste they must be possessed of I Yet I have traversed nearly three- fourths of that countrv. and mixed much with the common people, and nt^ver heard of such on objection before, iiad tlie learned author t
able; ninety-nine out of a hundred of the natives never saw u snake in their lives. The fiet is, it is as usual to eat eels in Scotland, where they can be got, as it is iii America; and althoucK I have fre<|uer.tly heard such objections made to the eating of eels here, where snakes are so common, yet 1 do not remember to have heatti the com- parison made in Scotland. I have taken notice of theiie two olwervHtions of his. because they arc ajiplied generally to the Scoin, making them appear a Weak, squeamish-stomached set of beings, infected with all (he prejudieen aiul antipathies of children. LIFT Oi-^ AVILSON. XXXIll "These lire some of my objections to this work, which, however, in other respects, does honor to tlie talents, learning, and industry oi' the cuuipiler." In the month of October, 1804, Wilson, accompanied with two of hia friends, set out on a pedestrian journey to visit the fur-famed cataract of JJiiigi'ra, whereof he had heard much, but which ho had never had an oppor- tunity of beholding. The picturesque scenery of that beaut it'ij river, tho vastness and sublimity of the cataract, as might be expected, filled the bosom of our Iravelltir with tho most rapturous emotions. And lie ever after declared, that no language was suffieieiitly comprehensive to convey an adeqiiato idea of that woiidi>rful euriking back in recollection on the long, cir- cuitous journey which I have at length tinisheiit of eountry can exhibit in any |i;irl of the rnitod States- th> Mgh iu this t..ur 1 h.-ive had every disadvantage of deep roails and rough leather ; luirried niarehen, and iiN«iiy other incun> veniences U\ encounter, --yit .so far am I from being satislied with what I have sci II or discouraged by the fatigues which every traveller must submit to, that I feel mon eager than ever t») commence some more extensive expedi- tion ; where scenes and subjects entirely new, and generally tinknown, might reward my curiosity ; and where perhajis my humble ae((uisitions might add soniethio'.; to the stores of knowledge. For all the hazards and privatioim incident to such an undertaking, 1 feel confident in my own spirit and residu- tion. \\ ith no family to enchain my affictions ; no tics but those of friend- ship; aixl the UK»,st ardent love of my adopted eo\intry — with a constitution which hardens amidst fatigues ; and u disposition sociable and open, which can 'ill 1 ilsell at lioMM' by an Indian fire in the depth of the woods, as well as in the best apartment of the eivili/.fd ; I have at present a real design of beeom- ing a traveller. Hut I am miserably deficient in many aeijuirements abso- lutely necessary for HUor than Ket<>i?e. l*a(«»iiig through Oneida ejistle, I visited every house within thrw hundrc■' hm-I O Lords! The r<>«d f'r fiOecn or twenty miles was kneo-decp of mud. ^e entered I'tioa at nim- the ni'xt morning. This fkM'c iit ttkroc ti»e« larcer than it w;u( four yenm ago ; and from Oneida *llr. Ihtncan remainrd MiQ«g hit friendj at Aar«r«. LIFE OF WILSON. XXXV to Utica is almost iin cnfiro cnntinucil villnpo. This evening we lodged on the east side of tlic Moliawk, tii'tei-n niiluH below L'tica, near which I shot a hird of the size of a niockingbird, wiiich proves to be one never yet described t,y naturalists. I have it here in excellent order. From the town ealled Her- kimer wo set off through deep mud, and some snow ; and about mid-day, be- tween Kast and West Canada Creeks, I shot three birds of the jay kind, all of one species, which appears to be undescribed. Mr. liartrani is greatly pleased at the discovery; and I have saved two of them in tolerable condition. . licliiw the Littli! Falls the road was excessively bad, and Isaac was almost in despair, in spite of all I could do to encourage him. We walked this day twenty-four miles ; and early on the 25th started off again through deep mud, till we came within fifteen miles of Schenectady, when a boat ciuning down the river, Isaac expressed a wish to got on board. I walked six miles aiter- wards by myself, till it got so dark that I could hardly rescue myself from the mud-holes. The next morning I entered Schenectady, but Isaac did not arrive, in the boat, till noon. Mere we took the stage-coach for .Mbany, the roads being excessively bad, and arrived there in the evening. After spending two days in .Mbany, we departed in a sloop, and reached New York on Saturday, at noon, the first of I)ceember. My boots were now reihiced U> legs and upjjcr leathers; and my jjautaloons in a sad plight. Twelve dollars were expended (in these two articles. *♦♦*** "On Friday, the 7lh December, T reached dray's Ferry, having walked forty Sv!veu miles that day. I was absent two months on this journey, and I traversed in that time upwards ol' twelve hundred miles. " The evening of my arrival I went to I<***h's, whose wife had got twins, a boy and a girl. The boy was called after mo : this honor took six dollars more from mc. .\fter paying for a cord of wood, I was letl with only three quarh^rs of a dollar." To Mr. W.M. R.VKTRAM. " Union School, December 24th, 1804. "I have perused Dr. Barton's publication,* and return it with many thanks for the agreeable ami un(>xpcctcd treat it has afforcled nie. The description of the Falls of Niagara is, in some places, a just, though faint, delineation of that stupendous cataract. Hut many interesting particulars are omitted; and much of th" writer's reasoning on the improbability of the viinmj mrny of the pre- cipice, and consc(|uent reeessinn of the falls, seems eontrar this article, 1 wa.s most agreeably amused with ' .\nccdotes of an ,\inerican Crow,' written in such a plea.sing style of playful humor, as I have seldom seen surpassed; and forming a perfect antidote against the spleen; •The Philrxlelphia Medical ami I'hytical Journal, Vol. I. ,■11- i ^^,,i LIFE OF WILSON. iibouiidiiij;, at the same time, with oKservatioiis and reflections not unworthy of !i pliilosopher. •■ The fiketch of your father's life, witli tlie extraotw from his letters, I read with Miucli pleasure. They will remain lastinj; nioniimenf.s of the worth and respectability of the father, as well as of tiie tilial affection of the son. •• The description of the Choctaw ]ii)nrpiikir» is a picture so liorrible, that I think nolhinj; can exceed it. Many other jjicces in this work are new and interesting. It cannot fail to promote the knowledge of natural history, and deserves, on this account, every support and oncouragemont." To Mr. Wm. Hartram. " December 2Cth, 1804. " I send for your amusement the •' Literary Magazine" for September, in wfiich you will find a well-written, and, except in a few places, a correct de- scription of the great Falls of Niagara. I yesterday saw a drawing of them, taken in ITiiH, and observe thut many large rocks, thai *ed formerly to appear in the rapids above tlie llorseshots Falls, are ntiw swept away ; and the form of the curve considerably alti-red, the conseipu'nce of its gradual rotrogression. I hope this account will entertain you, as I think it by far the most complete I have yet seen. To Mr. Wm. DtscAN. " KiNusE.ssiNo, February 120th, 1805. "I received yours of January 1st, and wrote immediately; but partly through negligence, and partly thiough accident, it has not been put into tho post-office; and i now sit down to give you some additional particulars. ***** •• This winter has been entirely lost ti> mo, as well aa to yourself. I shiill on tlie twilfth of n( \t nmntli be scarcely able to collei-t a sutheieney to jmy my board, having not more than twenty-seven scholars. Five or six families, who used to send me their children, have been almost in a stato of starvation. The rivers .Schuylkill and Delaware arc still shut, and wagons arc passing and rcpttssiiig at this moment ujvin the ice. • The solitary hours of this winter I liavo employed in completing the poem wbieh I originally intended for a dcscrij)tion of your first journey to Ovid. It is now so altered as to be.ir little resemblance to tbt; original; audi have named it the ' Fonnlrr*.' It begins with a deseriptimi of the Fall or Indian Summer, and relates, minutely, our peregrinations and adventures until our arrival at Catharine Landing, occupying fen hundred and thirty lines. Tho rctiiaiiider will occupy nearly as much; and as I shall, if ever 1 publish it, in.'ort numerous notes, I should be glad if. while you are on the spot, you would collect every intercepting anecdote you can of tho country, and of the places which we passed through. Hunting stories, Sic, peculiar to the would be acceptable. I should be extremely glad to spend one after- noon with you for tho benelit of your criticisms. I lent tho poem to Mr. • * * * our senator, who seems to think it worth reading; and • * * ♦ has cxpru.ssed many flattering compliments on my labors; but I don't LIFE OF WILSON. XXXVIl value either of their opinions ho much as I w< an^ as sound as ever. I also moht devoutly wish that matters coubl be managed so that we eouhl b« together. This farm must either be sold, or let ; it must not for ever be ft great gulf between us. I have spent most of my Icij-ttre liours this wiuteV In 7^ ■ ! J XXXVlll LIFK OF WILSON. writing the " F<>ri!i ahout I'hiladelphia. ()u the 4th of Mareh 1 set to work upon a larjje nheet of tine drawinj;-|)apor. and in fen day.x I tinished two faith, ful drawings of them, far nuperior to any that I had done before. In tlio back ground I represented u view of thu Falls of Niugani, .with the wiwtds wrought in as (imly iw I pos.sildy could do. .^Ir. F.awson was highly pleased with it, and .^!r. IJartram was even more so. I then wrote a letter to that Lett of men, Mr. .lefferson, which Mr. linrtram enclosed in one of his (both of which, at lea.>t copio of them. I >li.ill .-Iupw you when we meet), and sent off the whole, carefully rolled up, by the mail, on the L'dth inst., to .Montieello, iu Virginia. The jay I presented to Mr. I'eale, at his roi|uest, and it is now in the .Museum. I have done but few other drawings, being so intent on the poem. I hope if you fintl any curious birds, you will attempt to preserve them, or at least their skins; if a small bird be carefully skinne i, it can easily beset up at any time. I still intend to complete my collection of drawings; but the last will be by far the best. * * * * " The poor of I'hiladelphia h.ive suffered extremely this winter, the river having been frozen up for more tlian two months, yet the ice went away with- out doing any damage. I must again reijuest that you and Alexander would Collect the skins of as many birds as you have not seen here. ♦ * * ♦ The process of skinning the birds uniy amuse you ; and your collection will be exceedingly agreeable to nie. In the mean time never lose sight of getting rid of the troublesome farm, if it can be done with advantage; so that we may once more be together; And write to tue frei|uently. '•I have now nothing more t4i say, but to give my affectionate compliments to your mother and all the family, and to wish you every comfort that the statu of society you are in can afford. With the great volume of naturt' beforo you. you can never, while in health, be without amusement. Keep a diary of every thing you meet with that is curious. Look out, now i^nd then, for natural curiosities as you traverse your fana ; und rciucuiber me as you wander through your woody solitudes. Fkom Mit. Jkfkeuson. '• .MoNTicELU), April 7th, 1805. " Sir, I received here yesterday your favor of .March 18th, with the elegant drawings of the new birds you found on your tour to Niagara, for which I pr.iy you to accept my thanks. The jay is (|uitu unknown to me. From uiy Dbservations while in Kurope, on the birds and <|Uadruj)eds of that (Quarter, I am of opinion there is not iu our cuutiueiil u single bird or 4U&drui>ed which * One of these liirds wm the Canaila Jav (Am. Oru. vol. 3, p. 33, uJ. Ut) which wu known lo naturaliriU. ,- ~..:i^S&injtaa mit mifMMv LIFE OF WILSON. xxxix 11 not Hufficitiiitly uiilik(t all tho utoinbora of ittt family tlicro to bo oonHidcrnd OH cpecificiilly different; dii thiH fteiipnil obsorvutiou I conoludo with t'oiiliduiicti tliiit yiiiir jiiy iH iiiit n Kiiropciin bird. "The tirnt bird on the Hanio Mliuot I jud^o to be a MuHcicapa from it« bill, as well an from tlio I'oijiiwiiii; eirciimstanco. Two or three days before my arrival hero a neijjhbor killed a bird, miknowu to him, and never before Been here, tm far an he eould learn ; it wa.s brou^'ht to me hooii after I arrived ; but in the dii.sk of the evening, and ho ]intrid that it could not he approached but with diMgiii*t. liut I retain a Kuflicicntly exact idea of itH form and colorH to be Matislied it is tho Hame with yonr.s. Tho only diflerenee I find in yours 18 that tho white on tho back is not ho pure, and that the one I Haw hud a little of a cre.st. Your fi|jur(!. compared with the white-bellied (i"lif-moiii/u), 8 Huff. 1)4:2, i'l. enluni. r>l(t!, nIiow.s a near relation. Kiiffon's is dark on the back. " Ah you are eurious in birdw, tliero is ono well worthy your attention, to bo foiind) I'r rather heard, in every j)art of Ameriea, and yet Beareuly ever to be sOen ; it i.s in all the lorc-ts, friou spring to fall, and never but on the tops of the tallest trees, from which it perpetually Serenades us with somo of tho sweetest notes, and as cliNir as those of the iii;_'litingale. I have followed it for niile.s without eviT, but once, getting a good view id' it. It is of the size and make of the moeking-bird, lightly thrush-colored on the back, and a gray- ish-whito on the bri'ast and belly. Mr. Uandolph, my son-in-law, was in pos- Hcssiim of one which had hi m shot by a neighbor; he jironounees this also n Muscicapa, anil I think it much resembling the Muiirhi -roUe de ht Murtiiiiquf, 8 Huffon, H71, I'l. enlum. 5ti8. As it abounds in all tho neighborhood of I'hiladelphia, you may jierhaps by patience and perseverance (of which much will be re, ^ite) get a sight, if not a piis.se.ssion of it. I have for twenty yoam iiitore8t«r< the young sporti-nu'ii of my neighborhood to shoot mo one ; but as yet without success. Aceept my salutations and assuranees of respect. Tu. Jeffehso.n." To Ma. V ' Uahtram. "April 18th. 1805. " By Mr. Jef^nwn's condettceuding uM>i very intolli^ont letter to nie, which I eiu'lose for yo^ r perusal, it appears that our jay is an cntirelv new, or rither undescribed bird, which met nic on the banks of the .>/ >bawk, to do me tho honor of ushering him t4i tho world. This duty I ha\e ronsoientiou.sly dis- charged, by in'>roducin'.r him to two ■ ituralists: the one eiideare-i • i me, and every lover of science, by the benevolence of his heart; and tli< other or- dained by Heaven t<) move in a distinguished orbit — an honor to fh'- human race — the pulron of nciimi , and best hope of republicans 1 I say, that no bird, since Noah's days, eould boast of such distitiiruishcd honor. • Mr. Jefferson speaks of a very strange bird; plea.se let mo know what it is; I shall be ou the look-out, and he mu.st bo a sly fellow if he escape me. I shall watch his niotioro. .o.i 'he sound of his *> rfiutdr, pretty closely, to be able to transmit to our won'.> , president a faithful ckctch of a bird, which ho has been so long curious to [>• «8eB8." ■i. #. ..^. -"^2 <>. ^0. V o IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1.25 1^ m 22 lb 2.0 1.8 i^ III 1.6 Photographic Sciences Corporation ^% '^^ ^ V' 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY I4S80 (716) 872-4&03 /. ^ J •1' 1 zl LIFE OF WILSON. .;'^. i To Mb. Wm. Duncan. " Orat's Firrt, May 8th, 1805. " I am glad to understand that the pkntation is increasing uo fast in value, but more so that it is not either sold or otherwise disposed of at the low rate at which we would have once thrown it away ; yet it is the perpetual cause of separating us, which I am very sorry for. I am living a mere hermit, not spending one farthing, to see if I possibly can reimburse ****, who I can see is not so courteous and affable aa formerly. I hope to be able to pay him one hundred dollars, with interest, n«xt October, and the remainder in the spring, we shall then be clear of the world ; and I don't care how many privations I suffer to effect that. I associate with nobody; spend my leisure hours in drawing, wandering through the woods, or playing upon the violin. " I informed you in my last of sending Mr. Jefferson drawings of the Falls, and some birds, which I found on the Mohawk, and which it seems have never been taken notice of by any naturalist. He returned me a very kind and agreeable letter, from Monticello, expressing many obligations for the drawings, which he was highly pleased with; and describing to me a bird, which he is veny desirous of possessing, having interested the young sportsmen of his neighborhood, he says, these twenty years, to shoot him one, without success. It is of the size and make of the mocking-bird, lightly thrush-colored on the back, and grayish-white on the breast ; is never heard but from the tops of the tallest trees, whence it continually serenades us with some of the sweetest notes, and as clear as those of the nightingale. Mr. Bartram can give no ac- count of this bird, except it be the wood rubin, which I dun't think it is; for Mr. Jefferson says, ' it u scarcely ever to be seen ;' and ' I have followed it for miles without ever, but once, getting a good view of it.'* I have been on the look-out ever since, but in vain. If you „an hear of such a bird, let me know. I wish you also to look for the new bird which I discovered. It is of the size of the blue jay; and is of that genus — of a dull lead color on the back — the forehead' white — black on the back of the neck — the broiist and belly a dirty, or b.ownish white, with a white ring round ita nock — its logs and bill exactly the jay's. l*ray inquire respecting it, and any other now bird. If they could be conveyed to me, drawings of them, presented to the same dig- nified character, might open the road to a better acquaintance, and something better might follow. Alexander and you, will, I hope, be on the look-out with * After many inquiries, and an unwearied research, it turned oat that this invisible mn- lician was no other than the Woud liubin, a bird wliich, if sought for, in those places which it affects, may be seen every hour of the day. Its favorite haunts Wilson has beautifully dcKcribc Albany If you kimw of any gentlemen in your neighborhood acquainted with botany, bo so good as introduce Mr. Michaux to them." To Mb. Wm. Duncan. " Pnii.ADBi.rniA, April 8th, 1807. " Enclosed is a pn'^fulioct of our prospectus; as soon as the impressions arc thrown off on fine paper, I will transmit one for Mr. L. This aflernoon Mr. *Wiliion'i Rubiieqnent en(;AKement8 prevented his return to 'he Falls, in conforniit} with his wishes ; but his sketrhes wore completed by an artist, engraved by Oeorgo Cooke of I.A)ndon, and illustrate his poem of the " Fiircstcrs," which was published in the Port Folio. These woll-engraved views, which are two in number, convey a good idea of the famous Cataract ; the " Great Pitch," in particular, it admirably represented. Voi« I.— D 1 LIFE OF WILSON. LawRon is to have one of tho platos completely finiNhcd ; and I am going to set tho coppcr-plutc printer nt work to print each bird in its natural colors, which will bo a great ndvimtiigo in coloring, as tho Mack ink will not then stain the fine tinta. We hmm tn bind in tho pronj^ictus at the end of tho next half volume, for which purpose twciity-fivo hundred copies are to bo thrown off; and an agent will bo appointed in every town in the Union. Tho pros- pectus will also be printed in all the newspapers; and everything done to pro- mote the undertaking. " I hope you have made a beginning, and have already a collection of heads, bills and claws, delineated. If this work should go on, it will bo a five years' affair; and may open tho way to something more extensive; for which reason I am anxious to have you with me to share the harvest. •' I stjirfed this morning, by peep of day, witili my gun, for tho purpose of shooting a nuthatch. After jumping a hundred fences, and getting over the ankles in mud (for I had put (m my shoes for lightness), I found myself almost at the junction of the Schuylkill and Delaware, without success, there being hardly half an acre of woodland in the whole Neck; and tho nuthatch gene- rally frequents large-timbered woods. I returned homo at eight o'clock, after getting completely wet, and in a profuse perspiration, which, contrary to tho maxims of tho doet2^ec>jlc names which have been used by almost every writer. A name should, if possible, bo expressive of sonic peculiarity in color, conformation, or habit; if it will equally apply to two different species, it is certainly an im- , proper one. Is mi(/rutoriu» an epithet peculiarly applicable to the robin ? Is it not equally so to almost every species of tunfus we have ? Europea ha« LIFE OF WILSON. U been nppliod by Ponnnnt to our Inrf^o »iUii or nuthatch, which is cartdiiily a (liffiTcnt species fmiii tho Kuropenn, tliu iiittor boiiig dontitute of the black head, neck and nliouldorR of nun*. Lutlmm calls it caroliuen$i'n, but it is as much an inhabitant of PennHylvania and Now York us Carolina. The small rod-bolliod tilfu is called caniulen»i» by Latham, a name equally objoclionable with the other. Turdus minor secnm uIho improper; in short I coii'iider this part of the btwincsH as peculiarly perplexing; and I beg to have your opinion on the matter, particularly with respect to the birds I have montiddcd, whether I shall hazard a new nonumclature, or, by copying, sanction what I do not approve of. " I hope you arc in good health, enjoying in your little paradise the advances of spring, shedding leaves, buds and blosHoius, around hor; and bringing in her train choirs of the Hweetest songsters that earth can boast of; while every zephyr that plays around you breathes fragrance. Ah ! how different my situation in this delightful season, iniiiiureipplying them with rolls of bread from a neighboring stall, which they ate with a hearty appetite. keei)ing nearly as good time with their grind- ers as the militia did with their muskets. In another place the crowd had formed a ring, within which they danced to the catgut scrapings of an old negro. The spectators looki'cl on with as much gr.-ivity as if thiv were listen- ing to a sermon ; and the dancers labored with such .seriousness, that it seemed more like a penance impo.scd on the poor devils, for past uius, than mere amuseii:enf. ■• I waited on a .Mr. A. of this town ; and by him I was introduced to sev- eral others. He also furnished me with a good deal of information respecting the birds of New Kngland He is a great spnitsman — » man of fortune and c'lueafion — and has a considerable number of stuffed birds, some of which he gave nie, besides letters to several gi-nllemen of influence in lioslon. I endea- vored to recompense him in the best manner I could, and again pursued my route to the north-east 'I'he country between this and Hartford is extremely beautiful, much resembhng that between I'hiladelphia and Frankfonl. The road is a hard sandy soil; and in one place I had an immense prospect of the surrounding country, nearly e<|ual to that which we saw returning from KasUm, I' LIFE OF WILSON, h but less covered with woods. On rciiuhing Hartford, I waited on Mr. G., a member of congress, who recommended me to several others, particularly a Mr. W., a gentluiiian of taste and fortune, who was extremely obliging. The publisher of a ncw.'^papcr here expressed the highest admiration* of the work, and has since paid many handsome compliments to it iu his publication, as three other editors did in New York. This is a species of currency that will neither purchase plates, nor pay the printer; but, nevertheless, it is gratifying trt, the slcmh/ habi/.i of a great portion of the inhabitants of those parts of New England through which I pas.sed, setim to be laziness, law liickeringH and * * * *. \ man here is as much ashamed of being seen walking the streets on Sunday, unless in going and returning from church, as iiiaiiy would be of be ing seen going to a * * * * * *. " Ah you approach Boston the country improves in it^ appearance ; the stone fences give place to those of posts and rails; the road becomes wirm the most beautifully varied prospect 1 ever beheld. "The streets of Boston are a j)erli'et labyrinth. The markets are dirty; the fish-market is so filthy that I will not disgust you by a description of it. Wherever you walk you hear the most hideous howling, ils if some miserable wreU^h were expiring on the wheel at every corner; this, however, is nothing but the draymen shouting to their horses. Their drays are twenty. eight feet long, drawn by two horses, and carry trn barrels of flour. From lioston I set out for Salem, the country between swampy, and in some places the inoBt barren, rock}', and desolate in nature. Salem is a neat little town. TIk; wharves were crowded with vessels. One wharf licrc is twenty hundred and twenty-two feet long. I staid here two days, and again set off for Newbury- port, through a rocky, uncultivated, sterile country." " I travelled on through New Hampshire, stopping at every place where I was likely to do any business; andwmt as far east as Portland in Maine, where I staid three days, and, the supreme eonrt being then sitting. I had an opportunity of ^eeing and conversing with people from the remotest boundaries of the United States in this (juartcr, and received much interesting informa- tioi" from thi'in with regard to the birds that frrijuent these northern regions. From I'ortland I ilircv'ted my course arro.ss the country, among dreary savage glens, and mountains eoveri'd with pines and hemlocks, amid whose blaek and half-burnt trunks the everljLsting rocks and stones, that cover this country, 'grintii'd horribly.' One hundred and finy-seven miles brought me to Dart- moutli ('.illi"_'e. Ni'W Ilampxhiri', on the Nfrinont linr. Here I paid my ad- dresses to the reveiend fathers of literature, and met with a kind and obliging %% *i LIFE OP WILSON. Ivii reception. Dr. Whcebck, tho president, made mo eat at his table, and the professors vied with each other to oblige mo. " I expect to be in Albany in five days, and if the legislature be sitting, T shall be detained perhaps three days there. In eight days more I hope to be in Philadelphia. I have labored with the zeal of a knight-errant in exhibiting this book of mine, wherever I went, travelling with it, like a beggar with his bantling, from town to town, and from one country to another. I have been loaded with praises — with compliments and kindnesses — shaken almost to pieces in stage-coaches ; have wandered among strangers, hearing the same Oil's and Ah's, and telling the same story a thousand times over — and for what!* Ay, that's it! You are very anxious to know, and you shall know the whole when I reach Philadelphia." To Mr. Alexander Lawson. " Albant, November 3d, 1808. " Dear Sir. " Having a few leisure momenta at disposal, I will devote them to your service in giving you a sketch of some circumstances in my long literary pil- grimage, not mentioned in my letters to Mr. Miller, And in the first place, I ought to thank you for the thousands of compliments I have received for my birds, from persons of all descriptions ; which were chiefly due to the taste and skill of the engraver. In shoi't, the book, in all its parts, so far exceeds the ideas and expeet-itions of the first literary characters in the eastern section of the United States, as to command their admiration and respect. The only objection has been the sum of one hundral and ticvnO/ dullam, which, in innumerable instances, has risen like an evil genius between me and my hopes. Yet I doubt not but when those copies subscribed for are delivered, and the book a little better known, the wlnde number will be disposed of, and perhaps encouragement given to go on with tin; rest. To effect this, to me, most de- sirable object, I have encountered the fatigues of a long, circuitous, and ex- pensive journey, with a zeal that has iiuTcased with increasing difficulties; and sorry I am ton the minds of the multitude, aeciiittomed to view it fnini tlioir infancy ; and in whoso l)rea»ts ilii)»e ctiastc und cxquisito feeliin;s which rcstiit from liisio, rclineil by culture, can have no place. Hut what Wilson felt upon this occasion, was that which ahnosl all men of pMiius and scnsihility experience when similarly situated — that ncs in my own. In our way to the place ho called on a Mr. Carter, who he said was also in the action, and might recollect some circumstances which he had forgotten. With these two veterans I spout three hours, the most interesting to me of any of my life. As they pointed out to me the route of the Hritish — the American intrcneh- luuiita — the place where the greatest slaughter was made — the spot where Wurrcn fell, and where he was thrown amid heaps of tiie dead, I felt as though I could liave encountered a whole battalion myself in the same glorious cause. The old soldiers were highly delighted with my enthusiasm; we drank a glass of wine to the memory of the illustrious dead, and parted almost with regret. " From Boston to Portland, in the district of Maine, you are almost always in the neighborhood, or within sight, of the Atlantic. The country may be c;illod a mere skeleton of rocks, and fields of sund, in many places entirely destitute of wood, except a few low scrubby junipers, in others covered with pines of a diminutive growth. On entering the tavern in Portland, I took up the newspaper of the day, in which I found my song of Freedom ami Peace,* which I afterwards heard read before a numerous company (for the supreme court was sitting), with great emphasis, as a most excellent song; but I said nothing on the subject. " From Portland I steered acros^s the country for the northern parts of Ver- mont, among barren, savage, pine-covered mountains, through regions where nature ajid art have dune infinitely less to make it a fit residence for man than any country I ever traversed. AuKing these dreary tracts I found winter had already commenced, and the snow several inches deep. I called at Dartmouth ('iillegc, the president of which, as well as of all I visited in New England, subscribed. Though sick with a severe ct)ld, and great fatigue, I continued my route to this place, passing and calling at great numbers of small towns in my way. ■' Tlie legislature is at present in session — the newspapers have to-day taken notice of my book, and inserted my advertisement — I shall call on the i)rinei- pal peojilc — employ an agent among some of the booksellers iu Albany, and return home by New York." Wilson, after tarrying at homo n few d.iys, departed to the siouthward, visit- ing every city and town of impurtancc as far as Savannah, in the state of (ieorgia. This jnurney, being performed in the winter, and aiune, was of course not attended with many travelling eumforts; and, to avuid the ineon- V( iiiences of a return by land, he embarked in a vessel, and arrived at New •A certain milithry nssioriAtinii of rhilnilrlphin, being disposeil to dipnify the national ci'lelirnlion of tills yeiir, otlrred ii t;oUl nii'iliil for tlic l)cst son^ wliicli should be writtoii for thf occnsioii ; 'and Wilsun bore away the priue from many competitors. ww^Wi. IV jj LIFE OF WILSON. York in tho month of March, 1809. This was rather an unproductive tour j but few subscriptionu being obtained. To JIb. D. II. MiLT.ER. " Wasuinoto.v CiTV, Doccmbor 24th, 1808. " Dear Sir. " I sit down, before leaving; thi.s plai-e, to give you a few particulars of my expedition. I Kpent nearly a week in Haltiuiorc, with tolerable succo.sh, Imvinj^ procured si.xteen subscribers there. In Annapolis I jxiMctl my book through both houses of the legislature: the wise men of Maryland stared ami gaped, from bench to bench ; but having never heard of such a thing as one hundred and twenty dollars for a (jou/c, tiie a^rx for subscribing were nonr ; and so it was unanimously determineil in the nr., male nnd female, whom any man of common scent might smell a quarter of a mile off. The house itself is rai.sed upon props, four or five feet; and the space below is lell open for the hogs, with whose charming vocal per- formance the wearied traveller is serenaded the whole night long, till he is forced to curse the hogs, the house, and everyAing about it. " 1 crossed the river Taw at Washington, for Xewbern, which stands upon a sandy plain, between the rivers Trent and Neusc, both of which abound with alli'^ators. Here I found the shad fishery begun, on the 5lh instant; and wished tvj have some of you with Uio to assi.st in dissecting some of the finest shad I ever saw. Thence to Wilmington was my next stage, one hundred miles, with otilv one house for the aecommodatinn of travellers on the road; two landlords having been broken up with the lever. "The general features of North Carolina, where I crossed it, are immense, solitary, pine savannas, through wbieb the road winds among stjignant ponds, swarmintr with alligators; dark. slug<_'ish creeks, of the color of brandy, over which are thrown high wooden bridgi's, without railings, an I so crazy and rotten as not only to alarm -t flat and impenetrable niora.-s, covered for ten feet from the ground with reeds. The le.ifle.ss limbs of the cvpressc.-! are clothed with an extr.iordinary kind of moss ( TiU'inihiu umronlrit), from two to ten feet long, in such (|uantities, that til\y men might conceal themselves in one tree. Nothitig in this country struck mo with such surprise as the prospect of sever.il thousand acres of such tindier, loaded, as it were, with many million tons of tow, waving in the wind. I iittempted to penetrate several of these swamps, with my gun, in search of something new ; but, except l! i l1 ,! f1i MFK OF WILSON. Ixiii in Honio clinneo pluccs, I foiintl it nlUip-ther iinpracticiiblo. I conBted alftng their liiinior.s, liowi-vcr, in many places, and was Hnrj)rined iit the great profusion of cvcrf:;rocn8, of nunihorless wtrtH ; and a variety of berrioa that I knew nothing of. Here I found niultitudos of hinJn that never winter with u« in Pennwyl- vania, living in abundance. Tliougli the peoj)lo told me that the alligators are go numerous an to destroy many of thoir pigs, calves, hogs, &o., yet I have never been enabled to get my eye on one, though I have been sevornl times in HCirch of them with my gun. In (leorgia, they tell mo, they are ten times more numerous; and I expect some sport anitrng them. I saw a dog at the river Santee, who swims across when ho |)Ieases, in defiance of these voracious iiiiinmls; when he hears them behind him, he wheels round, and attacks them, often sciziii_' them by the snout. They generally retreat, and he pursues his route again, serving every one that attacks him in the sane manner.* lie belongs to the boatman ; and, when lelY behind, always takes to the water. " As to the charaei.' of the North Carolinians, were I to judge of it by the specimens which I met with in taverns, I should pronounce them to bo the most ignorant, debased, indolent and dissipated portion of the union. But I became aci|nainted with a few such noble exceptions, that, for thrir sakcs, I am willing to believe they are all better than they seemed to be. " Wilmington contains about three thousand souls; and yet there ia not one cultivated field within several miles of it. The whole country, on this side of the river, is a mass of sand, into which you sink up to the ankles; and hardly a blade of gra.ss is to be seen. All about is pine barrens. ♦ * ♦ ♦ " From Wilmington I rode through solitary ])inc savannas, and cypress swamps, as before; sometimes thirty miles without seeing a hut, or human being. On arriving at tl:e Waekamaw, I'edce, and Hlack river, I made long zigzags ainring the rich nabobs, who liv:cd liy tlie e.\iim|i|c of liis iiiiitti-r. A tine stunt spnnii-l iiccniiipiiiiii'd me to Kust Florida. Uoiiij; otic (hiv ('n^'nt;(M| III Hadint; throiijrh « pond, in pursuit of chicks, with my doj; swimmiiii; hi'hiiid nic, nppa- ri-iitly ihdiKlitt'd witli his rmphiynivnt, he smelt nn alliKHtor : he iniinediately mmle to the shore, fled into th-.- forest, and all my endeavors to prevail with him to retarn were inef- Irilanl. Kver after, when we approached that pond, lie exhihiteil such evidences of nppielietisioti, that I was fuiii to retire with him, le-t his icrnr >hould again inilucp him to tlee, where he would have, prid>«h|y, been lost. i 1 i i' i 1 in Ixiv LIFE OF WILSON. youD^ bloo,l horif lor nnotlior in oxdiiinKo ; K'V'"g 1'"'" »t l^'O"' wi good a char octor iw ho (loMorvod. //<• n!*ki';h they promised, and knew I was a sfran(.fer. I was going on in this way, whi^n the kee|i('r of tln^ library, a Scotsnuin, a go'id man, whose name liad been mentioned to me, made me out a list from the directory ; and among these I spent ten days. The extreme siTvility, and superahund- nnce of negroes, have ruined the energy ami activity of the white population. y\. appears to be last sinking into tlie same insipidity of character, with a pretty (»^t, and ailvertised in the Ilcpublican, tho editors ol" which int<^rested themselves considerably for mc, speaking of my book in tliiMT Thursday's paper with muih approbation. The expense of adver- tising in the southern states is grea' , but 1 found it really necessary. I have now seen every person in this place and neighborhood, of use to be seen. Here I dose the list of my subscriptions, obtained at a price worth more tbaii fivo times their amount. Hut, in sf)ite of a host ol" difBculties, I have gained my point ; and should (he Work be continufMl in the style it has been begun, I have no doiibt but we may increase the copies to four hundred I have endeavored |.) find persons of respi'ctability in each town, who will receive and deliver tho volumes, without recompense, any further than allowing them to make the first selection. By this means tho rapacity of »ome booksellers will be avoided. •' The weather has been extremely warm these ten days, tho thernjoinet'T stooil in the shade on Friday and Saturday last, at TS" and 7i>°. I have seen no frost since the 5th of February. The lew gardens here arc as green and luxuriant as ours aro in summer — full of flowering shrubbery, and surrounded with groves of orange trees, fifteen and twenty feet high', loaded with fruit Vol.. I,— E ]ll Ixvi LIFE OF WILSON. The streets are deep beds of heavy sand, without the accommodation of a foot r>avemeDt. I most sincerely hope that I may be able to return home by water; if not, I shall iroubic you with one letter more." To Mb. William Bartham. " Savannah, March 5th, 1809. " Three months, my dear friend, are passed since i parted from you in Kingsess. I have been travelling ever since ; and one half of my journey is yet to be performed — but that half i.s homewards, and through old Neptune's dominions, where I trust I shall not be long detained. This has been the most arduous, expensi-e, and fatiguing expedition I ever undertook. I have, how- ever, gained my point in procuring two hundred and fifty subscribers, in all, for my Ornithology; and a great nuL^s of information respecting the birds that winter in the southern states, and some '.iiat never visit the middle states; and this information I have derived personally, and can therefore the more certainly depend upon it. I have, also, found several new birds, of which I can find no account in Linneus. All these things we will talk over when we meet. « * 41 * " I visited a great number of the rich planters on the rivers Santee and Pedee, and w.ih much struck with the miserable swavnis of negroes around them. In these rice plantations, there are great numbers of birds, never sup- posed to winter so far north, and their tamcness surprised me. There are also many here that never visit Pennsylvania. Round Georgetown I also visited several rich planters, all of whom entertained me hospitably. I spent ten days in (!h;irlest4)n, still, in every place where I stopped a day or two, making excursions with my gun. " On the commons, near Charleston, I presided at a singular feast. The company consisted of two hundred and thirty-seven Carrion Crows ( Vullnr atratux), five or six dogs, and myself, though I only kept order, and left the eating part entirely to the others. I sat so near to the dead horse, that my feet touched his, and yet at one time I counted thirty-eight vultures on and within him. so that hardly an inch of his flesh couid be seen for them. Lin- neus aud others have confounded this Vulture with the Turkey Buizard, but they are two very distinct species. " As far north ns Wilmington, in North Carolina, I met with the Ivory- billed WtMidpecker. I killed two, and winged a male, who alarmed the whole town of Wilmington, screeming exactly like a young child crying vinl,>ntlv, BO that everybody supposed I had a baby under the apron of my chair, till I toe dotie through the agcmy of these slovenly blacks. ♦ * * These, however, are not one-tenth of the curses slavery haa brought on the southern states. Nothing has surprised mo more than the TI^' -I iPr^' f:f Ixviii LIFE OF WILSON. 1 4i' *astim colli niolancholy reserve of the feniales, of the best familiea, in South Carolina and Georgia. Old and young, single and married, all have that dull frigid in- aipidity. and reserve, which is attributed to solitary old maids. Even in their own houses they scarce utter anything to a stranger but yes or no, and one is perpetually puzzled to know whether it proceeds from awkwardness or dislike. Those who have been at some of their balls say that the ladies hardly ever speak or suiile, but dance with as much gravity aa if they were performing jonio ceremony of devotion. On the contrary, the negro wenches are all aprightliness and gayetyj nnd if report be not a defamer — {here, there is a hiatus in the manuscript) which render the men collous to all the finer sensa- tions of love, and female excellence. " I will not detain you by a reciUil of my journey from Charleston to Savan- nah. In crossing the Savannah river, at a place called the Two Sisters' Ferry, my horse threw himself into the torrent, and had I not, at the risk of my own life, rescued him, would have been drowned." Of the first volume of the Ornithology, only two hundred copies had been printed. But it was now thought expedient to strike off n new edition of three hundred more; as the increasing approbation of the public warranted the expectiition of corresponding support. »< (■ . To Mr. Wm. Bautuam. " Piiii.ADEi.rniA, August 4th, 1809. " The second volume of ' American Ornithology' being now nearly ready to go to press, and the plates in considerable forwardness, you will permit me to trespa.ss on your time, for a few nioment.s, by ini)uiring if you have anything interesting to add to the history of the following birds, the figures of which will be found in this volume. * * * * , #. # ■ " I have myself already said everything of the foregoing that my own ob- servations suggested, or that I have been enabled to collect fmm those on whom I cuiild rely. As it has fallen to my lot to be the biographer of the feathered tribes of the United States, I am solicitous to do full justice to every species; and I wouM not conceal one good (|uality that any one of them pos- »e«.ses I have i)aid jiarticular attention to the mocking-bird, uniuiing-bird, king-bird and cat-bird; all the principal trait.s in their character I have deli- ne.ited at full. If you have anything tu add on either of them, I wish you would eouimunicate it in the form of a letter, adilresseil particularly In u\i>. Your favorable opinion of my work (if such you have) wnuld, if publicly knnwM. be of infitiite service to mo, nnd procure me many friends.* * This in^innce of WiUon't 'iiffidcnco of his own ulcnta and aoi)uironicnt« it too re- markiiblf to l)e passed over without a note. He ncemcil to fear lent tin; iiitrinsir merit of hill work xhoiilii not W' sutflcient, of itself, to (fet it into notice ; anil therefore he Holicited the ''Kvornhle opinion uf one, to whose juil^'inent in thene matters, ho felt iiioiureil, th« puhlic pniil a ilcferenec. Contranteil with this moilcnt deportment, how rontomptihle in the vanity, and sclf-conecit, of those writers, who, whether they compote a tupcrtiuial etiay, LIFE OF WILSON. Ixix " I assure you, my dear friend, that this undertaking has involved me in many difficulties and expenses which I never dreamt of;* and I have never yet received one cent from it. I am, therefore, a volunteer in the cause of Natural History, impelled by nobler views than those of money. The second volume will be ready for delivery on the first of January next. I hare re- ceived communications from many different parts of the United States; with some drawings, and offers of more. But these are rarely executed with such precision as is necessary for a work of this kind. " Let me know if you have ever seen the nest of Cat«sby's cowpen-binl. T have every reason to believe that this bird never builds itself a nest, but, like the cuckoo of Europe, drops its eggs into the nests of other birds ; and leaves the result to their mercy and management. I have found no less than sis nests this season, with each a young cow-bird contained in it. One of these, which I had found in the nest of tlio Maryland yellow-throat, and which occupied the whole nest, I brought home, and put it into the cage of a crested red-bird, who became its foster-father, and fed, and reared it, with great affection. It begins to chant a little. " I have just heard from our old friend M* *. lie has not yet published the first number of his work ; and Bonaparte has been so busy with cutting throats, and building bridges, in the forests of Austria, that the Inspector of the Forests of France has not yet received his appointment." To Mr. W.m. Bartram. "October 11th, 1809. "Thanks for your bird, so neatly stuffed, that I was just about to skin it. It is the Ritllm vinfiniiinus of Turton, and agrees exactly with his description. The one in company was probably the female. Turton mentions four species OS inhabitants of the United States. I myself have seen six. Mr. Abbot of Savnnnah showed, me two new species. I found the sora, as the Virginians call it, in tho rice flats near Savannah, in March. General Wilkinson told me that the sora was in multitudes at Detroit. Query — don't you think they breed in the north, like the riccbirds? Are not the European naturulista mistaken in saying that the reed-birds or rice-birds piuis /mm the island of Cuba, in September, to Carolina? All the Spaniards with whom I have eon- for the transnctior.s of n lenmed society, or compile a Imld and meaRro pamphlet, present themselves before the publlr with an niriif iinpuaaneo, whieh slumlil seem to oV muni/ that CDuntcnanco and applnuao, as a matter of right, which true merit humbly reijuesla at a favor ! • Tho K^cnt expense of tho publication prevented the author from giving; all his pl.ttes that tiniKi,ruiA, November 11th, 1809. " Dear Sir. " Since I parted from you yesterday evening, 1 have ruminated a great deal on my pr ised journey ; I have considered the advantages and disadvantages of the three modes of proceeding: on horseback — in the stage-coach, and on foot. Taking everything into view, I have at length determined to adopt the last, as being the cheapest, the Wat adapted for examining the country we pa.<<8 through ; the most favorable to health ; and, in short, except for its fatigues, the best mode for a .«eientifie traveller or n:iturali,-it, in every point of view. I have also thought that by tiiis delerminiition I will be so happy as to secure your cnipany, for which I would willingly sustain us much hardship, and as many deprivations, as I am able to bear. " If this determination should meet your approbation, and if you are willing to encounter the hardships of such a ])edehtrian journey, let nie know jus soon aa is convenient. 1 think one dollar a day, each, will bo fully sufficient for our expenses, by a strict regard, at all times, to economy." The second volunu; of the Ornithology was published in January, 1810 ; and Wilson set out for Pittsburgh, the latter jiart of the same month, in his route to New Orleans I triist that no »• ology is neces.sary for introducing the fol- lowing letters, addressed to Mr. Lawson, into these memoirs, notwithstanding tK"ce of them are well known to the public, having originally appeared in the Pi ft Folio.* To Mil. Alexandkk Lawson. " PiTTSBiiHou, February 2'2d, IHIO. •• rter.r Sir. " From this Jtmt stiige of my Ornithological pilgrimage, I sit down, with pleasure, to give yen some account of my ailventures since we parted. On arriving at Lancaster, 1 waited on the governor, secretary of state, and such other great folks as were likely to be useful to me. The governor received uio • New SeriM, voli. III., 49!», IV.; .'JIO, Vll., 34. ' m ! i '*m 1 j i' LIFE OF WILSON. IxXi with civility, passed soino good-natured conipliuientA on the volumes, and readily added his name to my lisU Ho seems an active mun, of plain good Hcn8& and little ceremony. Hy Mr. L. I was introduced to many members of both houses, but I found them, in general, such a pitiful, sciuabblin^', political mob; so split up, and justling about the mere formalities of legislation, with- out knowing anything of its realities, that I abandoned them in disgust. I niuft, however, except from thi.i censure a few intelligent individuals, friends 1*) science, and possessed of taste, who treated me with great ki'.dness. On Friday evening I set out for Columbia, where I spent one day in vain. I cros.sed the Susquehanna on Sunday forenoon, with some difficulty, having to cut our way through the ice for several hundred yards; and passing on to York, paid my respects to all the literati of that place without success. Five miles north of this town lives a very eslraordinary character, between eighty and ninety years of ago, who has lived by trapping birds and (juadrupeds thesu thirty years. Dr. F. carried uie out in a sleigh to see him, and presented mo with a tolerably good full length figure of him ; he has also promised to trans- mit to me such a collection of facts relative to this singular original, as will enable me to draw up an interesting narrative of him for the Port Folio. I carried him half a pound of snuff, of which ho is insatiably fond, taking it by handfuls. I w.as much diverted with the astonislmient he expressed on looking at the plates of my work — he could tell me anecdotes of the greater part of tho subjects of the first volume, and some of the second. One of his traps, which he says he invented himself, is remarkable for ingenuity, and extremely simple. Having a letter from Dr. Muhlenberg to a clergyman in Hanover, I passed on through a well cultivated country, chiefly inhabited by (Jermans, to that place, 'ffhere a certain judge took upon himself to say, that such a book as mine ought not to he encnuroijvd, a» it tcti» not irilhin the re;iarrows. I expect to have something interesting to coin- muni'.aie in my ni. : **«****«>* LIFE OF WILSON. Ixxiii " My friends will please accept through you my best wishes and kindest respects; and I regret that while the grand spectacle of mountains, regions of expanded forests, glittering towns, and noble rivers, are passing in rapid succession befortf my delighted view, they are not beside mo to enjoy the vary- ing scenery; but as far as my pen will enable mc, I will freely share it with them, and remember th<:m affectionately until I forget wt/se//. " I'ebruary 23d. My baggage is on board — I have just to despatch this and set off. The weather is fine, and I have no doubt of piloting my skiflf ia safety to Cincinnati. Farewell ! God bless you !" To Mu. Alexander Lawson. " Lexinqton, April 4th, 1810. " My Dear Sir. " Having now reached the second stage of my bird-catching expedition, I willingly sit down to give you some account of my adveistures and remarks since leaving Pittsburgh ; by the aid of a good map, and your asual stock of patience, you will be able to listen to my .story, and trace all my wanderings. Though generally dissuaded tVotu venturing by myself on so long a voyage down the Ohio, in an open skiff, I considered this mode, with all its inconveniences, as the most favorable to my researches, and the most suitjible to my funds, and I determined accordingly. Two days before my departure, the Alleghany river was one wide torrent of broken ice, and I calculated on experiencing consider- able difficulties on this score. My stock of provisions consisted of .some biscuit and cheese, and a bottle of cordial presented me by a gentleman of Pittsburgh ; , my gun, trunk, and great-cout, occupied one end of the boat; I had a small tin occasionally to bale her, and to take my beverage from the Ohio with ; and, bidding adieu to the smoky confines of Pitt, i. launched into the stream, and soon winded away among the hillM that everywhere enclose this noble river. The weather was warm and serene, and the river like a mirror, except where floating masses of iee spotted its surfaee, and which rctjuired some care to steer clear of; but these, to my surprise, in less than a day's sailing, totally dis- appeared. Far from being concerned at my new situation, I felt my heart expand with jny at the novelties which surrounded me; I listened with pleasure! to the whistling of the Iled-bird on the banks as I passed, and con- templated the forest scenery as it receded, with increasing delight. The smoke of the numeruus sugar camps, rising lazily among the mountains, gave great effect to the varying land.seape ; and the grotes(|ue log cabins, that here and there opened from the woods, were diminished into mere dog-houses by the BubliiMJIy of the impending mountains. If you suppose to yourself two parallel nmges of forest-eovered hills, wlmse irregular summits are seldom more than three or fuur miles ajmrt, winding through an inimensu extent of country, and enilosing a river half a mile wide, which alternately washes the steep declivity on one side, and lavi-s a rich, flat, forest-elad liiittum on the other, of a mile or so in breadth, you will have a pretty curreet idea of the appeurauee of the Ohio. Tlio banks of these rich flat.s are from twenty to sixty and eighty feet high, and even these la.st were within a few feet of being overflowed in Decern- bor, 1808. rf Ixxiv LIFE OF WILSON. " I now stripped, with alacrity, to uiy new avocation. Tlio current wont about two rnd a half uiiles an hour, and I added about three and a half miles more to the boat's way with my oara. In the course of the day I passed a number of arks, or, as they are usually called, Kentucky boats, loaded with what it must bo acknowledged are the most valuable commodities of a country ; viz., men, women and children, horses and ploughs, flour, millstones, &c. Several of these floating caravans were loaded with store poods for the s\ipply of the settlement* through which they pa.ssed, having a. counter erected, shawls, mus- lins, itc, displayed, and everything ready for transacting business. Ou approaching a settlement they blow a horn or tin trumpet, which announces to the inhubitanta their arrival. I boarded many of these arks, and felt much iiitercsteJ at the sight of so many human beings, migrating like birds of pa.ss- age to tl e luxuriant regions of the south and west. The arks are built in the form of a parallelogram, being from twelve to fourteen feet wide, and from forty to seventy feet long, covered above, rowed only occasionally by two oars before, and steered by a long and powerful one fixed above, as in the annexed sketch. Ark. Burgt for pafuiuj up ot riant. " The barges are taken up along shore by setting poles, at the rate tif twenty miles or BO a day ; the arks co.st about one hundred and fifty cents p(!r foot, according to their length; and whin tlicy reach tluir i>laccs of destination, seldom bring more than one-sixth their original co.st. These arks descend from all parts of the Ohio and its tributary streams, the Alleghany, Monon- gahela, Mu.untcr'fl own noiifcHHion he had loHt Hixty pigx sinco ChriHtnioa hist; uiid all night lung tlio distant howling of the wulvos kept the dog8 in a per- petual uproiirof barking. Thii* niiin watt one of thoxe people culled Hi{uatter8,who neither pay rent nor own land, but keep roving on the frontiurH, udvanuing us the tide of civilized population approaches. They are the ininicdiate Hucces* Borri of the naviigcs, and far below them in good Henne and good niannerH, as well an comfortable accomniodatiouH. An engraved reprcHcntation of one of their cabinH would form a Htriking einbcllishment to the pages of the I'ort Folio, u>^ a speeiuien of the_^r«« order of American Archilccture. " Nothing adds more to the savage grandeur, and pieturemjue effect, of tho scenery along the Ohio, than (liesu misc^ruble huts of human beings, lurking at tho bottom of a gigantic growth of timber, thnt I have not seen c()ualled in ony other part of the United States. And it is truly amusing to observe how dear and how familiar habit has rendered those privations, which must have been first tho offspring of necessity. Yot none pride themselves more on their possessions. The inhabitants of tliese forlorn sheds will talk to you with pride of the richness of their soil, of the excellence and abundance of their country, of the healthiness of their clim:ite, and the purity of their waters; while the only broad you find among them is of Indian corn, coarsely ground in a horse- mill, with half of the grains unbrukcn ; even their cattle are destitute of sta- bler and hay, and look like moving skeletons; their own houses worse than pig-sties; their clothes un assemblage of rags; their faces yellow, and lank with disease ; and tluiir persons covered with filth, and frequently garnished with the humors of the Scotch fiddle; IVom which dreadful disease, by tho mercy of Ood, I have been most miraculously preserved. All this is the effect of laziness. The corn is thrown into the ground in the spring, and tho pigs turned into the woods, where they multiply like rabbits. The labor of the squatter in now over till autumn, and he spends tho winter in eating pork, cabbage and hoe cakes. Whot a contrast to the neat farm, and snug, cleanly habitation, of the industrious settler, that opens his green fields, his stately barns, gardens and orchards, to the gladdened eye of the delighted stranger I " At a place called Salt liick, I went ashore to sco tho salt works, and to learn whether the peopli; had found any further renuiins of an animal of tho ox kinil, one of whose horns, of a prodigious size, was discovered here some years ago, and is in tho possession of Mr. Pealo. They ntako hero about one thousand bushels weekly, which sells at one dollar and seventy-five cents per bushel. The wells are from thirty to fifty feet deep, but nothing curious bos lately been dug up. I landed at Maysville, or Limestone, where a considerable deal of busine.xs is done in importation for the interior of Kentucky. It stands (in a high narrow plain between the mountains and the river, which is fist devouring the bank, and encroaching on the town; part of the front street is gone already, and unless .some effectual means are soon taken, tho whole must go by piecemeal. This town contains obout one hundred houses, chiefly log and frames. From this place I .set out on foot for Washington. On the road, at tho height of several hundred feet above the present surface of the river, I found prodigious quantities of petrified shells, of the small cockle and fan- shaped kind, but whether marine remains or not am uncertain. I have since li. Si I /! I i 1 J , 1 i It! Ixxviii LIFK OK WI I- SON. found thcHO petrified concretions of nhclln univorHrti nil over Kentiuky, wliero- CTor I Imvo been. The rocks les honor t^i the name of the oM Roman, and is the neatest and hniKJNonirst situated pliii-e I have seen since I left Philadelphia. Vou must know thut during an unknown series of ages, the river Ohio has gradually sunk scvci.il hundred feet heh)W its former bed, and has left on both sides, oecHsionally, what are called the first or nearest, and the second or next, high bank, the latter (d' which is never overflowed. " The town of Cincinnati occupies two beautiful plains, one on the first, and the other on the second bank, and contains upwards of five hundred houses, the greater proportion of which are of brick. One block hou (! i.s all that remains fd" Fort Washington. The river Licking comes in from the opposite shore, where the town of Newport, of forty or fifty houses, and a large arsenal and barracks are lately erected. Merc I met with Judge Turner, a man of extraordinary t^ilenfs, well known to flic /itrniti ul' riiiladclphia. He exertrake who showed nie the collection (d' curiosities which he had found in that and others. In the centre (d'this mounpn- jionitod ti)}' CiircaHH among the grand congregation of ninniniothH helow, having mink up to tho middle, and had hard ntruggling to get out. Aa the proprietor iiitetidN lodigin varioiLs plaoea thin aeaaon for hrino, and is m gentleman of cdiioutioii iitid infclliuenpo, I have Htrong hopes that a more complete HJcoleton of that animal railed the mammoth, than ha.s yet boon found, will be procured I laid the strongeKt injiuictionx on the manager to be on the lookout, and to preserve everything; 1 also lefl a letter for Mr. Colquhoun to the same pur- ])iirt. and am persuiided that those will not be neglected. In tluH neighbor- hood I found the (%)lundio plant in great abundance, and collected Home of the Kceds. Many of the old Htalka were more than five feet high. I have since found it in various other part.s of this country. " In the afternoon of the next day I returned to my boat, replaced my bog- gage, and rowed twenty miles to the Swiss settlement, where I spent the night. Thesie hardy and indu>itriou!» people have now twelve acres closely and cleanly planted with vinc^s from the Cape of (lood Hope. They last year made seven hunilred gallons of wine, and expect to make three times as much the ensuing season. Their houses are neat and comfortable, they have orchards of poach and apjile trees, besides a great number of figs, cherries, and other fruit trees, of uhieh they are very curious. They ore of opinion that this part of the Indiana Territory is as well suited as any part of Franco to the cultivation of the vine, but the vines they say require different management here from what they were accustomed to in SwilzerLiiul I purchased a bottle of their last vintage, and drank to all your healths as long as it lasted, in going down the river. Seven miles lieiow this I passed the mouth of Kentucky river, which has ft ftirmidable appearance. I nbserveil twenty or thirty scattered houses on its upper side, and a few below, many of the former seemingly in a state of decay. It rained jok-e u(Mm us f If this is wit we must confess that, howevei abundant our country may bo in gocKl substantial matter-of-fact salt, the attic tart is unknown among us. " I hope, however, soon to see this j^entleman's American Ornithology. Its elegance of execution, and descriptive propriety, may assuage the little picjuo we have taken friiu ilu' author." The eilltor of the Port Folio having transmitted this letter to Wilson, previous to send- ing it to press, it was returned with the following note : "To THE Editou of tub I'ort Folio. " Bartram's Gardens, July 16, 1 81 1. " Dear Sir. " No man can have a more respectful -opinion of the people of Kentucky, partiruUrly ihose of Lexington, than myself; bei«\:si I have traversed iiearly the whole extent of their country, and witnessed the effects of "!i. ;/ 'irsivery, their active industry, and daring spirit fur enterprise. But tliey would Ih .(• "i' not men, were they fnultlrs.i. " I am sorry that truth will m' i f »• e •> retract, as mere jokrs, the few disagrceahlo things alluded to. I certainly ban ,u .')■ i' r.vjrUel-placc in view, than that of Lexington, lu the p»!.»i!ge iilM)ve menlioned. As to .1. rii'-nnistance of ' skinned sciuirrels, cut up n\iit tjuiirlrrt,' whieh seems to have excited ."o much sensibility, I candidly acknowledge iinself to have l>een incorrect in lliat statement, and I owe an a|M>Iogy for Ihe same. On relcrring lo my notes taken ut the time, I find the word ' lutlvi:*,' luit od people of Lexir.glon, it will be no \ts^ honor- able lo their own ijood icnse, tii.L .j,Tec'ib'e .j your humble servant," 4c. Port fhlio fm Aui/u'l, IBM. I I [N I. r I I f 1 [ ' '8 1 ' Ixxxiv LIFE OF WILSON. hundreds of them may be seen, on a court day, hanging their heads from morning to night, in deep cogitation, ruminating perhaps on the long-cxj octed return of spring and green herbage The country people, to their credit be it spolcen, are universally clad in plain homespun; soap, however, appears to be a scarce article ; and Hopkins' double cuttert would find hero a rich harvest, and produce a very improving effect. Though religion here has its zealous votaries, yet none can accuse the inhabitants of this flourishing place of bigotry, in shutting out from the pale of the church or churchyard any human beins. or animal whatever. Some of these sanctuaries are open at all hours, and to every visitor. Tiie birds of heaven find a hundred passages through the broken panes ; and the cows and hogs a ready access on all sides. The wall of separation is broken down between the living and the dead ; and dogs tug at the eareas.s of the horse, on the grave of his master. Lcxingtxington, T descended a long, steep, and rocky declivity, to the banks of Kentucky river, which is here about us wido as the ji«U^ LIFE OF WILSON. Ixxxv Schuylkill; and winds away between prodigious perpendicular cliffs of solid limestone. In this deep and romantic valley the sound of the boat horns, from Bcvoral KvHtucky arks, which were at that instant passing, produced a most charming effect. The river, I was told, had already fallen fifteen feet ; but was still high. I observed great numbers of uncommon plants and flowers, growing among the cliffs; and a few solitary bank swallows were skimming along the s trfacc. lleascending from this, and travelling for . few miles, I again descei. led a vast depth to another stream called Dick's river, engulfed among the sai: "3 perpendicular mas.ses of rock. Though it was nearly dark, I found some curious petrifactions, and some beautiful specimens of mother-nf- pearl on the shore. The roaring of a mill-dam, and the rattling of the mill, prevented the ferryman fiom hearing me till it was (juito night; and I pas.sed the rest of the road in Uie dark, ovor a rocky country, abounding with springs, to Danville. This place stands on a slight eminence, and contains about eighty houses, chiefly log and frame buildings, disposed in two parallel streets, crossed by several others. It has two ropewalks and a woollen manufactory ; also nine shops and three taverns. I observed a great many sheep feeding about here, amidst fields of excellent pasture. It is, however, but a dull place. A liomau (Catholic chapel has been erected here, at the expense of one or two individuals. The shopkeepers trade from the mouth of Dick's river down to New Orleans, with the common pruductious of the country, flour, hemp, tobacco, pork, corn, and whiskey. " I was now one hundred and eighty miles from Nashville, and, as I was informed, not a town or village on the whole route. Every day. he ever, was producitig wonders in the woods, by the progress of veget^ition. The blossoms of the sassafras, dog-wood, and red bud, contrasted with the deep green of the pciplur and buckeye, enriched the scenery on every side ; while the voices of the feathered tribes, many of which were to nio new and unknown, were continually ei'iiiiging me in the pursuit. Emerging from the deep solitude of the forest, the rich green of the grain-fields, the farm-house and cabins embosomed amidst orchards of glowing purple and white, gave the s',vc(!t''st relief to the eye. Not far from the foot of u high mountain, called Mulders Hill, I overtook one of those family caravans so common in this country, moving to the westward. The procession oecupied a length of road, and bad a formidable apj>earance, though, as I afterwards understood, it was composi-d of the individuals of only B single family. In the front went a wagon drawn by four horses, driven by a negro, and filled with implements of agriculture; another heavy-loaded wagon, with six horses, Aillowed, attended by two persons; after which came a numerous and mingled group of horses, st^-ers, cows, sheep, hogs, and calves with their bells ; next followed eight boys mounted double, also a negro wench with a white child beft»re her; then the mother with one child behind her. and another at the breast; t<'n or twelve colts brought up the rear, now and then picking herbage, and trotting ahead. The father, a fresh, good-looking man, informeil me that he was from Washington county, in Kentucky, and was going as far as Cumberland river; he had two ropes fixed to the top of the wagon, one of which he guidi^d himself, and the other was intrusted to his eldctit sun, t^) koop it from oversetting iu ascending the mountain. The singu- ■i I' It ,1. I i'l Ixxxvi LIFE OF WILSON. lar appearance of this moving group, (lie luinglcJ uiusic of the bells, and the shoutings of the drivi is, uiixotl with the echoes of the mountains, joined to the picturesque solitude of the place, and various reflections that hurried through my mind, interested me greatly ; and I kept company with them for some time, to lend my assistiinco if necessary. " The country now becaniu mountainous, perpetually oscending and'descend. ing; and about forty-nine miles from Danville, I passed through a pigeon roost, or rather breeding-place, which continued for three miles, and, from information, extended in length for more than forty miles. The timber wuh chiefly beech; every tree was loaded with nests, and I counted, in diflferent places, more than ninety nests on a single tree. Beyond this I passed a largo company of penpje engaged in erecting a horse-mill for grinding grain. The few cabins I passed were generally poor; but much superior in appearance to those I met with on the shores of the Ohio. In the evening I lodged near the banks of Green river. This stre.-m, like al' the rest, is sunk in a deep gulf, between high, perpendicular walls of limestone ; is about thirty yards wide at this place, and runs with great rapidity; but, as it had fallen consider ably, I was just able to ford it without swininiiiig. The water was of a pale greenish color, like that of tlie Licking, and some other streams, from which circumstance I suppose it has its name. The rocky banks of this river arc hollowed out in many places into caves of enormous size, and of great extent. These rocks abound with the .same miusscs of petrified shells so universal in Kentucky. In the woods, a little beyond this, I met a soldier, on foot, from Now Orleans, who had been robbed and plundered by the Choctaws as ho pa.ssed through their nation. ' Tliirtceii or fourteen Indians,' said he, 'sur- rounded me before I was aware, cut away uiy canteen, tore off my hat, took the handkerchief from nr, neck, and tlio hhoes from my feet, and all the money I liad fruiii me, which was about forty-five dollars.' Such was his story. Ho was going to Chilicothe, and seemed pretty nearly dom: up. " In the afternoon I crossed another stream of about twenty-five yards in width, called ■ i:!e Harrcn ; after which the country begao to assume a new and very singular a|>pearance. 'I'lie woods, which had hitherto been stalely, now degencr!>tcd into mcro scrubby Saplings, on wliich not a bud was beginning to unfold, and grew ho open that I could see for a mile th ough theui. No dead timber or rolling leaves were to be seen, but the whole face oi'' ;• ground was covered with rich verdure, intersjiersed with a variety of very be.. :tiful flowers, altogether new to me. It seemed a.s if the wh(dti country had onco been one gt-neral level ; but that from some unknown cause, tlie ground bad been uiiilfrmiiird, and had j'tilltn in, in innuuierable places, forming regular, fiinnel-.shapcd, concavities of all dimensions, from twenty feet in diameti.>r, and six feet in depth, to five hundred by fifty, the surface or verdure generally unbroken. In some tracts the surface was entirely destitute of trees, and thy eye Wus presented with nothing but one general neighborhood of these conca- vities, or. as they arrincipal jiroduction is saltpetre, which is proctired from the earth. in great abundance. The cave in Warren county above men- tioned. ha.s lately been sold for three tluiusand dollars, t« a saltpetre company, an inHc bottom, drop it on their Hliouldors, uiid take to Hwiiiiiiiiri'r. They liavo Noiiietiiiie.s fourtrca or fil'teen of ouch otreaniH to pas.s in a duj, and niorus.ses of s^everai niile.s in length, tliat 1 have Dover seen e(|ualled in any country. I Kidgcd this night at one J>obbiuH'8, where ton or twelve of these men lay on the floor. A.s they scrambled up in the morning, they very generally complained of bying unwell, for which they gave au odd reason, lying within iloors, it being the first of fifteen nights they had been so indulged. "Next morning (Sunday) I rude six miles to a man's, of the name of Orindor, whore our poor friend Lewis perished.* In the same room where he expired, I took down from Mrs. (Jrinder the particul.irs of that melancholy event, which affected me extremely. This house, or cabin, is seventy-two miles from Nashville, and is the last white nuin's as you enter the Indian country. Oovcrnor Lewis, i>!>e said, came hither about .sunset, alone, and in(|uired if he could stay for the night; and, alighting, brought bis saddle into the house. He was dres.ted in a loose gown, white, striped with blue. On being asked if ho came alone, he replied that there were two servants behind, who would goon be up. He called for some .spirit.s, and drank a very little. When the servants arrived, one of whom was a negro, he inipiired for his powder, saying he was sure he had some powder in a canister. The servant gave no distinct reply, and Lewis, in the meanwhile, walkeil backwards and forwards before the door, talking to him.self. Sometimes, .she said, he would seem as if ho were walking up to her; and would suddenly wheel round, and walk back as fast itf he could. Supper being ready, be sat down, but hail eaten only a few moutbfuls when be started up, sp(!aking to himself in a viident manner. At these times, she says, she observed his face to flush as if it had come on him in a fit. Ho lighted his pipe, and drawing a chair to the door sat down, saying to Mrs. (Jrinder, in a kind tone of voice, • .Madam, this is a very jileasant even- ing.' lie smoked for some time, but (|uitted !iis seat and traversed the yard as before. He again sat down to his pipe, seemed again composed, and casting his eyes wistfully tuwards tln^ we^t, ol)served what a sweet evening it was. Mrs. (jrinder wa.s preparing a bed for him; but he said he would sleep on the floor, and desired the servant to bring the bear-skins and buffalo robe, which were immediately spread out for him; and, it being now dusk, the women went off to the kitchen, ami the two men to the barn, which stands about two hundred yards otT. The kitchen is only a few paces from the rooi i where Lewis was, and tho woni.'in, being considerably alarmed by the behavior of her guest, could not sleep, but listened to him walking backwards and ibr- • It it fiardly necessary to stnlo, tlint thiit was tlio linive and cntcrprisin): traveller, whoso journey across jlie Uocky Jtountuins, to the I'acitic Ocean, has obtained for him well-nicriteil celebrity. The true cause of his committing the rash deed, so I'celincly dctuiltil tiluivf, is not yet known to the public ; but liis IViends will not soon t'ort^cl tho biis" iini'utaiiiitii and cruel ne);lcot, which the honorable mind of tho gallant soldier kaew Dot how to laook. P" i I '^ f: f xcu Ul^H OF WIL80 ■ J' v.. ''J -.: ward», Bho thinko, for sovcrul hours, nnd tulking aloud, ati »ho w»id, ' like a Uwyei.' She then lu'iinl tlio report of ii ]>\kU<\, iukI Hoinptliini; Cull liciivily on the floor, nnd flie words • Lord ." Inmii'diiitrly utt.rwiirdn tdio lu'iird nnotlier piHtol, mid in 11 few niinutt's slio hoard liim iit her door eallinn out 'O, madam! give me tome water, and hral mi/ ii'uuiid».' Tlio higH heing open, and un- plastered, whe saw him stng^'er back nnd lail npiinst a ntunip that wtanda between the kitehen and room, lie erawled for some distanee, and rained himself by the side of a tree, where ho sat about n niinuto. Ilo onco more pot to the room; afterwards ho eanio to tlio kitehen door, but did not speak : »he then heard him serapin;/ the bucket with a nourd lor water; but it appears that this cooling elcnient was denied the dying man I As soon us day broke, and not before, the terror of the woman having permitted him to remuin for two hours in this mo.-t (ieplorable siliialion, she sent two of her eliiidrun to the barn, her hii.sband not Ining at home, to bring the servants; and on going in thev found him lying on the bed; he uneovered his side, and showed iheni where the bullet had entered; a piece of the forehead was blown off. and had expo.sed the brains, without having bled much. He begged they would take his rifle and blow out his brains, and \u- would give them all the money he had in hiB .runk. He often said, ' 1 am no coward ; but I am .<« strong, an fmrd to die.' lie begged the servant not to be afraid of him. for that he would not hurt him. He exjiired in about tw.p hours, or just as the sun roS(! above the trees. He lies buried close by the eouimon path, with a few loost; nlils thrown over his grave. I gave (irimler mon.y to put a jiosi fence re before the door, was pouring out a torrent of me'ody. I think I never lir.srd 80 exccUcnt a performer. I had alighted, and was fastening my hor,ie, v. i;en hearing the rcfiort of a rifle inim<-diately beside me, I looked up and saw the poor Mocking-bird fluttering to tlie ground. <.>ne of the savages hail marked his elevation, and barbarously shot him. 1 hastened over into the yard, and walking up to him, told liim that was bad. very bad I That this ;\)or bird had come from a far distant country to sing to him, and Jln't in return he had cruelly killed him. I told him the Great Spirit was offended at such cruelty, and that 1 would lusc many a deer for doing so. The old Indian, father-in- law to the bird-killer, tindersfanding by the negro interpreter what I said, replied, that when these birds come singing and making a noise all day near the house, mnnrhoilj/ will mreli/ tlie — which is exactly what an old superstitious German, near Hampton in Virginia, once toM me. This fellow liad married the two ehlcst daugiiters of the old Indian, and presented one of them with the bird he had killed. "The next *s of detail. It is not unusual for scholars to keep diaries when they travel. These wri- tings are commonly the objects of great curiosity, as we are all anxious to know what were the impressions which the incidents of a journey made upon the mind, when it was in the fittest state to receive them. For the gratification of the reader, I will make a few short extracts from Wilson's journal, as specimens of his mode of writing these unstudied narra- tives. ^ ■ ( March 9. — Visited a number of the literati and wealthy of Cincinnati, who all told me that they would think of it, viz. of subscribing: they are a very th"U;_'htful people. " March 17. — Uained and hailed all last night, set off at eight o'clock, after emptying my boat of the deluge of water. Howed hard all day; at noon re- cruited myself with sonic bisfuits, chocje and American wine. Reach the falls — night set.s in — hear the roaring of the rapids. After excessive hard work arrive at Heargniss creek, and fasten my boat to a Kentucky one. Take my bagg.ige and grupe my way to Lmiisville — put up at the Indian Queen tavern, and gladly ."^it down to rest myself. '• -March IS. — Uose f|uifc refreshed. Found a number of land speculators here, fitics to lands in Kentucky subject to great disputes. '•March l!'. — Kanibliog round the town with my gun. Examined Mr. 's drawing,s in crayons — very good. Saw two new birds he had, both Motacill.t. " March 20. — Set nut this afternoon with the pun — killed muliiiig new. People in taverns here devour their meals Many shopkeepers board in taverns — also boatmen, land speculators, merchants, &c. Xo nnturnliit to Irrrp m>' f'lmpnnif. " .March lil. — Went out thi' afternoon shooting with Mr. A. Saw a num- ber of Nandhill cranes. I'ige ins numerous. '* March 'l'.\. — Tacked ujt my things which I left in the care of a merchant here, to be sent on to Lexington ; anil having parteil^ with grral rcjirt, with my paiiH|uet. fn the gentlemen of the tavern. I bade adieu to liiiuisvillc, tn which place I had fi>ur letters of recommendation, and was t.iught to expect niiK-h of everything there ; but neither received one act of civility from thu.se to whom I was recommended, one subscriber, nor «/ir •!««• (n'nl ; though I de- livered my letters, ratisat-kcd the woimIs ri'pcafedly, and visited all the charac- ters likely to sul»«eribe. Srifiicr or Utrrnlurf hti» vol one /rif Ail iii ihh plart. Kvery one is so intent on making money that they can talk of nothing else; Ht 1; LIFE OF WILSON. xcix and they absolutely devour their meals that they may return the sooner to their business. Their iiiiiniicrs corrcKpond with their features. " Good country this for lazy follows : they plant corn, turn their pigs into the woods, and in the autumn feed upon corn and pork — they lounge about the rest of the year. " March 24. — Weather cool. Walked to Shelbyville to breakfast. Passed some miserable log-houses in the midst of rich fields. Called at a '.Sijuire C.'s, who was rolling logs. Sat down beside him, but was not invited in, though it waK 'bout noon. ■' i>Iarch 29. — Finding ray baggage tfot likely to come on, I set ont from Frankfort for Lexington. Tiie woods swarm with pigs, squirrels, and wood- peckers. Arrive exceedingly fatigued. •' Wherever you go you hear people talking of buying and selling land ; no readers, all traders. The Yankees, wherever you 6nd them, are all traders. Found one here, a house carpenter, who came from Massachusetts, and brought some barrels of apples down the river from Pcnn.sylvania to this town, where he employs the negro women to hawk them about the streets, at thirty-seven and a half cents per dozen. " Restless, speculating set of mortflls here, full of lawsuits, no great readers, even of j)olitics or newspapers. " The sweet courtesies of life, the innumerable civilities in deeds and con- versation, which cost one so little, are seldom found here. Every man you meet with has either some land to boy or sell, some lawsuit, some coarse hemp (ir corn to dispose of; and if the conversation do not lead ^^ any of these he will force it. Strangers here receive le.ss civilities than in any place I have ever been in. The respect due tli«f>fni>nl>lc to (lie nalurHliht. Tlic nuinlN-r of worko, in the viiriou!i liiiU'nt who«i- H('c|uirrment« in her lun^ua|;c enahle him to (initit iif tiic knuwiuilgu ut' ih s il!urtrluii» nuiiun. lii \ LIFE OF WILSON. OT works of any kind, however grout thoir nioriu may be ; and the poor author'^ icclinga uro little regarded. Few men have known this more cxporiuieutuliy tlmn niysolf. I have Haerificcd everything to publisii my Ornithology — have written nix volumes, and am engaged on the seventh. * * * " I have frequently converKcd with Mr. Bradford about publishing a trans- lation of your Forest Trees ; and you may rest assured that, should it be under- taken, I will use all my influence in ita favor. Were you here yourself, I have no doubt but it would be undertaken, and I think with success, for all who have seen it admire it. I procured our good i end, Mr. Wm. IJartram. a sight of it, and he was greatly delighted with its ajipcaranee. One of my friends read a great part of it in EufflUh to him, and he was highly satis- fied. * • * " Dr. Barton has not yet published his General Zoohijy* which he has been announcing, from time to time, for so many years. It is much easier to my these things than ilo them. * * * " Mr. Wm. Hartram is still as you left him, and yon are frequently the subject of our conversation at table. I have made many extensive excursions lately, and have discovered, in all, about forty new species of Land Birds, never taken notice of by any other writer. I am now engaged on the Water Birds, and had just returned yesterday from the sea.shore when your letter was presented to me. Dr. H. and Mr. P. have both publicly announced your work, but, as no translation has been yet made, it has not been reviewed by any of our writers. * * * " Wishing you all the success which is justly due to the labors, journeys, and investigations, you have made in behalf of Natural History, I remain, &c." In September, 1812, Wilson undertook a journey into the eastern states, for the purpose af visiting his subscribers, and settling accounts with his agents. To Mr. Georoe Ord. " Boston, October 13th, 1812. " Dear Sir. " It is not in my power nt present to give you anything more than a slight sketch of my rambles since leaving I'hiladelphia. My route up the Hudson afforded great pleasure, mingled with frequent regret that you were not along with me, to share the enjoyment, .\bout thirty miles south of .\lbany we passetl within ten miles of the celebrated Catskill Mountains, a gigantic group, clothed with forest to the summit,s. In the river here 1 found our common * This work, which it was the intention of the late Icnnicd professor to entitle " Kle- mciits of Zoolojry," nt'tor Ikmii); ten rear.s in tlie press, was lulviini'cd no furtlior llii'.n_/iV'.v- siT piit;i's, in octavo, nt llie ileutli of the aullior. It ilut'S not appear that lie left much niMiiuseript innttur in continuation, curtmouth. and thenco in u direct course to IJo^ton. From Koston I |msseo well known to the literary atudeiii, Wibuu was uftcn Rlllicted with. 1 I lii i -i * ■ . t \ i i 1 ' •" i i L w ^ LIFK OF WILSON. OTli employed in Uiking sketchon uf tliu place, tu fucilituto the invuHiun of tlio enemy. UnJur thcHo iniprcwtionH it w»h thought uunduuive tu the public Hufuty that WilHon HhouUl bo u])]>ruhuiiilu(l ; uiid ho wan accordingly tukcn intu the cuHUxly of u niaglHtnitu, who, on being made acijuninted with Iuh churactur, and the nature of hia vioit, politely ditiiuiiMed him, with many apologicM tor the mistake. The puhliciition of tho Ornithidogy now iidvancod an rapidly as tt duo regard to correctness iind elegance woulil admit. In order to become bettor ac(|uuinted with the feathered tribcH, and t4) obHorvo their migration.s with more aceuraoy, as well iw to enjoy the important advantages of a rural retirement, Wilmm re- sided the better i)!irt of the years 181 1-12 at the Hotanie Uarden of his friend, Mr. liartrani. There removed from the noise, bustle, and interruption of tho merropiilis, he was enabled to dispose of his time to tho best advantage ; for when fatigued with close application within doors, to recruit his mind and body I'c had only to cross the threshold of hia abode, and ho at onco found hinisolf surrounded with those Hci|uaintance, tho observing of whose Bini])lo niannora uot only alTordcd the most i.'iueablo recreation, but who were perpetually con- tributing to the groat undertaking which bo was earnestly laboring to completo. In the month of March, IHTJ, Wilson was chosen a member of tho yocioty of Artist.s of 'fie I'nited States; but in tho spring of tho succeeding year, a greater hop.ir was conferred u|)on him, by his being elect'tid a uieuiber of the American Philosophical Society of Philadelphia. To Mil. W.M. Hartuam. " rnii,.\DEi,riiu, April 2l8t, 1813. " My Dear Friend. " I have been oxtremei^ !. .->j those several months, my colorists having all loft me; so I have been obliged to do e.xtra duty this last winter. Next week I shall publish my seventh volume; and shall send you your copy with the ear- liest opportunity. I am now engaged with the ducks, all of which, that I am ac(|uainted with, will be comiirohended in tho eighth volume. " Since I had the pleasure of seeing you, I have hardly left the house half an hour ; and I long Uiost ardently to breathe once more the fresh air of the country, and gaze on tho lovely face of Nature. Will it be convenient for the family to accommodate me (us I shall be alone) this Hummer? PI case to let me know. '• I lately received from the celebrated Mr. West, a proof impression of his grand historical picture of the death of Admiral Nelson — a present which I highly value. v "The Philosophical Society of I'hiladelpbia bave done me the honor to elect me a uicmbcr, for which I must ctirtainly, in gratitude, make them a commu- nication on some subject, '.his summer. I long very much to hear from you; and, with my best wishe'i for your health aud happiness, am very truly '• Your sincere friend." As soon as tho seventh volume of tho Ornithology was published, its author, and the writer of this sketch, set out on their last expedition to Great Egg ifij h ■ !jI cviii LIFE OF WILSON. Harbor.* There t'^ey remained for nearly four weeks, constantly occupied in collecting materials for the eighth volume, which Wilson had resolved should in no respects full nhort of the preceding ; but which should, if possible, enhance his reputition, by the value of its deUiils, and the beauty of its cnihullishnients. Immediately on his return to Philadelphia, he engaged anew in his arduous avocation ; and by the month of August he had succeeded in completing the letter-press of the eighth volume, though the whole of the plates were not fini.ihed. Hut unfortunaijly his great anxiety to conclude the work, condemned him to an excess of toil, which, inflexible as was his mind, his bodily frame was unable to bear. He was likewise, by this flood of business, prevented from residing in the country, where hours of mental lahsitude might have been beguiled by a rural walk, or the rough but invigorating exercise of the gun. At length he was attacked by a disei'-^e, which, perhaps, at another period of his life might not have been attended with fatal eflecls, but which now, in his debilitated st .te of body, and harassed niind, proved a mighty foe, whose assaults all the combined efl'ort>i of friendship, science and skill, could not repel. The dysentcr, , after a sickness of ten days, closed the mortal career of Alexan- der Wilson, on the twenty-third of August, 1813. It may not be going too fur to maintain, that in no age or nation has there ever arisen one more eminently qualitied for a naturalist than the subject of these memoirs. He was not only an enfhusiistic admirer of the works of creation, but he was consistent in rcsearcli ; and pt'rniittod no dangers or fatigues to abate his ardor, or relax his exertions. He iiiunMl himself to hardships by frc(jucnt and laborious exercise ; and was never niorc bapiiy than when enijiloyed in some enterprise, whicli promised from it.s difficulties the novelties of disco- very. Whatever was obtained with ease, to him ajipeurcd to bo attended, comparatively speaking, with small interest : the acipiisitions of labor alone seemed worthy of his ambition. lie was no clo.set philosopher — exchanging the frock of activity for the night-gown and slippers. He was indebted for his ideas, not to books, which err, but to Nature which is infallilde ; and the inestimable transcript of her works, nhich he has betjueathcd to us, possesses a charm which affects us the more, the better aci|uuinted we become with the delightful original. His ini|ui«.:tivo hubita procured him from others a vast heterogeneous inasw of informat''.,;. ; but he had the happy talent of selecting' fru.ii this rubbish whatever was valuable. His jiersevenince was uncommon; and when engaged in pursuit of a particular object, he would never relincjuish it, while there was a chance of success. His powers of observation were very acute, and he .H-ldom erred in judgment, when favored with a fair opportunity of ii:Ve.«tigation. Credulity hafl been aptly termed "the vice of naturalists^ ;"' but it may be said, to the honor of our author, that it would be diflienlt to And one less infcet<'d with this vice than himself. His mind, strongly imbued with ciHiiinon sense, and familiar wit?i i^e general lawtTof nature, could not be imposed upon • Wilson made six jouriipyn to the coBut of New .Itncj, in punuit o' water-binit, which abcunil in the nci);liliurhuuppcie», which have been figured and described in his Ornithology,* yi />(/-.!!/> bad not been taken notice of by any former naturulist;"j' and several of the latter number are so extremely rare, • The wliolo nunilH-r of liirds li;;iireil is three hiindruit nnil twenty. t la lliH stiilonient of llio nuinhcr of new sperios, I followed Wilson's own eatnlojjiio, whcr'jin tlioy arc indienteil. Hut it is proper to observe, that Vieillot's " Ois^aux ilc 1/ Ani/rii/ih^ Si-i>(entriiiniile" was never seen hy oar author ; otherwise he would have tnken iiiitiee that some of his supposed nonclesrripts were ti^'ured and ilescriheil in tlio nhove-nieutionecl eostly >.'ork, whieh was puhlishecl in Paris in the year 1807. Vieillot travelled in the United States, with the view of Kivinp an aceount of our hirds ; he pub- lished only two folio volumes, with eolored plates ; his publisher failed ; anil the copper- plates of the work, ineluilinK those intended for the thinl viduino, were stdil at publio sale for olil mpper ; and are now (1825) in I'liiUilelphia, and the property of William Ma- elure, Esq., the President of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. II. iU ^ ■m^.m t**^.*? '■;- Jl ex LIFE OF WILSON. that the Bpeeimens, from which the figures were taken, were the only ones that he was ever enabled to obtain. This expensive collection of birds was the result of many months of unwearied research, amongst forests, swamps and morasses, exposed to nil the dangers, privations and fatigues, incident to such an undertaking. What but a remarkable passion for the pursuit, joined with the desire of fame, could have supported a solitary individual, in labors of body and mind, compared to which the bustling avocations of common life are mere holiday activity or recreation ! Independent on that part of his work which was Wilson's particular province, vit. the drawing and describing of his subjects, he was necessitated to occupy much of his time in coloring the plates; his sole resource for support being in this employment, as he had been compelled to relinquish the superintendence of the Cyclopaedia. This drudgery of coloring the plates in a eircum.Htunco much to be regretted, as the work would have proceeded more rapidly if he could have avoided it. One of his principal difficulties, in effect, and that which caased him no small unca.siness, was the process of coloring. If this could have been done solely by himself; or, as he was obliged to seek a.ssistitncc therein, if it could have been performed immediately under his eye, he would have been relieved of much anxiety; and would h»vo btitter maintained a due equanimity; his mind being daily ruffled by th« negligence of his assi.staiifs, who too often, through a deplorable want of skill and taste, made disgusting caricatures of what were intended to be mode.xt iiuitutions of simple nature.* Hence much of his precious time was spent in the irksome employment of in- specting and correcting the imperfections of others. This waste of his stated {wriods of labor, he felt himself constrained to compensate, by eneroachnients on those hours which Nature, t«nacious \ji' her rights, claims as her own: hours which she consecrates to rest — which she will not forego without a strug- gle ; and which all those, who would preserve unimpaired the vigor of their mind and body, must respect. Of this intense .'iml destructive application his friends failed not to admoni.sh biiu ; but to their kind remonstrances he would reply, that " life is short, and without exertion nothing can be performed." * In the prpfnoe to the third rolaine, Wilson rtHtct the nnxicty which he hnil nulTercd on acrount uf the roluring of the plates ; and of his having mmic an arrangement, wherebjr his difficulties on that score had been surmounted. 'Hm arrHni;emetit proved in the end of creator injury thun Im-ucSi. Tlie art of piintin;; in i-olors i< hut little kniiwii in our rountry, and seldrxn prnctised ; and the fi'vv Mttiiii(ii~ that hiive In-en inaile have only pnrtinlly siKoeedeil. An experiment of this nature wai uodprtokiMi u|>on several plmtes of this vnrk, hut with a success tiy nu tiK'iin* snli«f!ic't(>ry. When Wilson rommeiiced his laUirs, overyliiifl;; rflatiii^.' to iliem WHS new to him ' and the dinicully ol Kxin^ the proper tints, upon an uiiifurm liliu k (.'round, was the creator, ina«mu('li as he had to experiment himself, unaided by the coun- sel or example of tliose to whom the proress was familiar. 'I'he writer of this narrative has thoncht H hi« ^t of not more than one-fifth part of the quarto edition. He likewise medit^ited a work on the marks the spot where lie tho ashes of this cclebratM man; it bears tho following inscription : LIFE OF WILSON. cxiu " ThiH Monument Covers the Uemains of ALEXANDER WILSON, Author of the AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. He was born in Renfrewshire, Scotland, On the G July, 1766 ; V Emigrated to the United States In the Year 1794 ; And Died in Philadelphia Of the Dysentery, On the 23 Aufrust, 1813, :-. : Aged 47." , ' ' ; I shall now offer some brief remarks upon those writings of Wilson, which have fallen under my notice ; and in the performance of this task, it will become my duty to speak of a work, which I had hoped would be permitted to lie in oblivion, but which either the indiscreet partiality of friends, or the' avarice of a publisher, has lately draggcl forth to the view of the public. From thi' volume which the author published himself, in the year 171)1, und which is entitled " I'oems, Humorous, Satirical, and Serious," a selection was made, and published, in 1816, at Paisley and at London, under the title of " Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect; by Alexander Wilson, Author of American Ornithology." When I commenced reading this selection, it was my intention to note its beauties and defects ; but when I found how greatly the latter predominated, it occurred to me that no good could result from a critical examination of a work which few would nsad, which contains nothing deserving of applause; and which, if it has hitherto escaped criticism, it is because it h.is been deemed unworthy of a deliberate investigation. The early writings of but few authors are worthy of being read, except for the purpose of tracing the progress of the mind. When one surveys the Wurk in question with this view, one is astonished to find no indication of that genius which is so conspicuous in after-life; a barrenness of invention, a poverty of expression, a deficiency of taste and judgment, arc its characteristics. The author of the '■ Biographical Sketch," appended to the Selection* above • It rtpponrs I>y tlio ndverli'ionipnt afflxod to tliis splcclion, flint it " was mailc and piiiiti'il 'jihUt llio ilircctiiiii (if a t-'cntlcmati who Ims since jiniil the ilcht of nature ;" and lljDt " it WHS his iiitciitioii to (live the life of Wilson." If one were Hllowod to form a ronjectnrt' of the ahilitit;« of this editor, hy the jinl^nii'nt displayed in his choice, one wonld have no reaRon to regret that his task was never aceotnplished. Ilow ho could ndniit such productions as "The W««p's Kcvengc," and the " Verses on the Death of a Favorite Spaniel," one miiy well in(|nirp. 'I'littt Wilson himself entertained a mean opinion of his hoyish puhlieatinn, I am authorized to assert from the circumstnnce, that, thuu);h possessinj; a eopy, he would never allow me to rend it, notwiihstamlinj; I frecjiiently urjred him to (jrant me this favor. An itinerant ScolclitnnTi once ciilled upon Wilson's executors, with a re((ucst that he miifht lie HJlowed the privilege of printiii); an edition of his poems, urging, in justifica- tion of ihe prOiiOnitlon, Ins |>cculi»r fitnesn, by hi* knowledge of the Seottiah dinleet, fhr Vol.. I. -II : I? ex IV LIFE OF AVILSON. I > mentioned, says, " We liave it from Wilson's acquaintance, that many of the poems lie had written were coiuniitted to the flames, without a moment's oon- sideration, because the subject had lost its interest with himself." The writer thus <;ravcly accounts for this conduct : " This instability of conduct was, no • doubt, the result of unttiward circumstances, operating upon a mind ardent io the pursuit of something; yet undefined, or tincortain of the path it should fol- low, to attain that eminence and independence after which it so ardently aspired." Would it not be a more rational supposition, that, as ho advanced in knowledfie. he was taught to reject what he lould not but be convinced was unworthy of the public eye? If wo may form a conjecture of what was destroyed, by what was sanctioned by his own act of publication, there is cer- tainly no cause to mourn the loss ; and one can hardly forbear wishing that the whole had met a similar fate. Of all the poetical productions of Wilson, written while in Scotland, his tale of "Watty and Meg" is the only one tliat has obtained popularity. In Cromck'a •' Select Scottish Songs" it is thus introduced : " The reader is here presented with an ex(]uisite picture from low life, drawn with all the fidelity and exact- ness of Teniers, or Ostade, and enlivened with the humor of Hogarth. The story excites as much interest as if it bad been written in a dramatic form, and really represented. The interest heightens as it proceeds, and is supported with wonderful spirit to the close of the poem. •' It must iiave been in no small degree gratifying to the feelings of the author, who published it anonymously, that, during a rapid sale of seven or eight editions, the public, universally, a.scribed it to the pen of Burns. The author nf ' Will and Jean; cr, Scotland's Scaith,' had the candor to acknow- ledge to the editor that he was indebted to tliis ex()uisite poem for the founda- tion of that popular performance." This tale is certainly told in a spirited manner; but whether it is entitled to all the encomiums which have been lavished upon it or not, may admit of a i|uestion. The incidents are all common-place : a drani-driiiking husband seek- ing refuge, in an ale-house, from a scolding wife, who pursues him thither, and upbraids him, in no gentle terms, for deserting his home and family, and spend- ing his time and substance among drunken blackguards. A p()t companion h'ld adviseil bin) to try the experiment of threatening to abandon her, in order to bring her into subjection : a scheme which had had a happy effect in taming extending the fame of the nnthor of ilic Aiiicricrtn Ornitholojfy ! It is needless to add that this poor spliemor was dismlKscd with the reply, tlmt the fntne of W'lson did nut ■itBiKl ill iicc(l of his assistance. It is luiicli to tlic honor of the Amoricnn prc.41, that it has altstainol from rcprintiii); the work, which, with unfoinnwl sorrow, I have Iiccu rumpelled, by a «cn»c of duty, to animadvert so sevorcly upon. Hut I must confen9, that when n orothcr weaver, Robert Taiiiiiihiil, was introduced to our notice, I trcmlili'd for the fate of Wilson. As ha* iK'cn stijtcd, Wilson's poem of the " Korcslors" was first puMislied in the Port- Folio. Shortly after the ilecease of its nullior, n very mojeat and hone.il ^eiitlemnn, living in Pennsylvania, undertook its repuhlication ; and actually took out a <»/)^ri'yA< for the saiBC. That the poem wa.s reprinted need not excite our wonder ; but that its tiate should have been monopolized by a patent, is a trick of trmlc well worthy uf remark. LIFE OF WILSON. oxv illlTt I'ort- [ving the liouUl his own wife, who had given evidence of a shrewinh disposition. The e^ipori- inent being luiule by Wnfty, Meg is brought to terms. She solemnly promises to keep hor temper — never again to scold her husband — never to follow him to the beer-house — never to put drunken to his name — never to look sad when he shall come home late — never to kick his shins, or pull his hair; — and lastly she consent**, with tears, that tlu-ir hard earnings shall be kept solely by him- self. The husband, rejoiced at this evidence of her humility and contrition, kisses her, and so the story ends. In the nianagemenl of this tide there is little art displayed ; there is some natural description, it is true ; but the laws of poetical justice are but ill observed, when misconduct so glaring as that of Watty's is passed over with- out censure ; and he is allowed to triumph over the subjection of a poor woman, whose temper had become soured by his idleness and debauchery. Such stories are not calculated to do good ; on the contrary, they may pro- mote vice; and surely the vice of intemperance is no trifling evil in society. To blend instruction with amusement, we are told, should be the aim of all writers of fiction, particularly poets, whose influence over the mind has always been predominant. It is ju tly remarked, by an elegant writer,* that "there seems to be something in poetry that raises the possessors of that very singular talent far higher in the estimation of the world in general, than those who excel in any other of the refined arts.'' Then let poets fake heed lest they misapply those talents, which, if properly directed, may be made subservient to the best interests of society. In justice to our author, I would remark, that, though fond of describing scenes of low life, with whieli liis education and habits had rendered him familiar, yet he appeared to have escaped the contaniiiiating influence of vulgar associates, when arrived at manhood. His conduct, in this country, was truly exemplary. This (jbservation, though out of place, I hero make, us it seems to belong, incidentally, to the subject upon which I have been commenting. The last edition of Watty and Jleg^^ published unJer the inspection of the author, and by him corrected, was that given in the Port Folio for October, 1810. The poetic effusions of Wilson, after ho came to .\nieriea, afford evidence of an improved taste, He acquired a facility of versification b3' practice; as his mind expanded with knowledge, his judgment received an accession of strength ; and he displays a fancy which we look for in vain in his juvenile essays. But we must be understood na comparing hitn only with himself, at (lifl'cront periods of his life. Whether or not he 'ever attained to positive excellence in poetry, may be a subject of dispute. hi his •' Solitary Tutor," we are presented with a picture of himself, while nffupied in teaching a country school. The description of his place of resi- dence, his school-house, the adjoining forest, where many of his leisure houra were pa.ssed, and where he first commenced studying the manners of those birds, which he subsequently immortalized in his splendid work, is animated and graphical. The fabric of these verses reminds us of the Minstrel ; and \ * Melmoth'g Fitaosbome, letter 53. ,, u CXTl LIFE OF WILSON, that ho had this delightful poem in his eye. wo arc convinced by some of the descriptions and sentimcnta. The stanza boginninji, " In thcso green (olitudes, pno favorite spot," is sccurately descriptive of a place, in Bartran^.'s woods, whither ho used to retire for the purposes of reading and contemplation, and where he planned his Ornithology. Of the fauita of this little poem I will merely remark, thot the initial quatrain is prosaic; and that the last lino bofrnys an unaccountable dofitMcncy of taste. The lovers of rural scenery will learn with regret, that this fine piece of forest, consecrated to the Muses of poetry and natural history, by Wilson, is fast disappearing beneath the axe of the husbandman. Already is the brook, which was " o'erhung with alden. and mantling vines." exposed to the glare of day; the favorite haunt,s of the Wood Thrush are invaded ; and, ere long, like his lamented liistorian, his place will be known there no more. His poetical description of the Hlue-bird, which originally appeared in the first volume of the Ornithology, has been copied into many publications, and Btill m.-.intains its popularity. It contains some ill-conistructed lines, and some ihymes so grossly defective, that wo wonder how he could have tole- rated them in a production of only half a dozen stanzas. The last quatrain of the fourth sl^inza contains false syntax ; the constructiuu is not regular and dependent, the adverb so bciiig out of place. In the third .«tanza there is a grammatical error. Yet in this little poem, Wilson's happy talent of describ- ing rural scenery, and the habits of birds, is conspicuous. The picture is charming, and more so to an American, who knows how beautifully accurate are it« outlines. We sec the disappearing of the snows of Winter; the busy labors of the fishermen ; the wild geese laboring their airy way to the north ; the lone butterfly fluttering over the meadows ; the red mrti)le buds bursting into life; and, finally, "the herald of Spring," the well-known blue-bird, hailing "with his warblings the charms of the sea.son." The 'warm sunshine brings out the frogs from their retreats, and their piping is heard throughout tlio marshes; the woodland flowers unfold their charms to the eye; and the indus- trious housewives repair to their gardens. The useful bird is beheld flitting through the orchard in search of noxious insects, he drags the devouring grub from the newly-planted maize, and tli(.' caterpillars from their webs. The ploughman is plea.sed to behold him gleaning in his furrows, and the gardener suspends bis labors to listen to his simple song. " When all the gay scene.? of the summer are o'er," we observe him lingering about his native home, like a solitary outcast; we hear his melancholy adieu from the leafless branch, and mourn his departure as that of a beloved friend. Of all Wilson's minor effusions this plea.ses me the most. Its imagery is de- rived from objects that are familiar to us, but yet it is not trite ; none but an at- tentive observer of nature could have conceived it, and expressed it so naturally. It appears to have been his intention to concentrate all his poetical powers in his '• Foresters," resti?ig his hope of fame ibiefly upon this production. That the time spent in constructing it, might have been better eraployeil in writing a simple prose narrative of u journey, which was fruitful of interesting LIFE OF WILSON, ox VII events, must be obvious to many of the readers of tbis poem, who are ao- qaainted with the author's talents for description, and his appropriate diction, of which wo are presented with oxaniplos in his letters and his Urnitholoj^y. On first reading this production such was my impression, and a roperusal has not induced mu to change my opinion. In his exordium ho is not very liappy : " Sons of the city I ye whom crowds and noiae Bereave of peace, and Nature's rural joi/i." The noise of a crowded city may bereave its inhabitants of peace, but it is dif- ficult to conceive how it can have a tendency to deprive them of the delights of tho country. In the account of his companions and himself lie is too circumstantial, det" Groaning we start I ami at the /(>u(/r»i'n(/ uHir, Ask our bewildered senses where we are." In common with those who arc ignorant of naval aifairs, be commits a blunder in the Mjio of tho technical term main-sheet, mistaking it for a sail : -" They trim their thundering sail, * " The boom and m(iin-sA«e( bending to the gale." The main-sheet is tho rope by means of which the boom is govornod, either eased off, or drawn in, as suits the state of tho wind. .;- « CXTlll LIFE OF WILSON. Ill a poem consisting of more than two thousand lines, it would bo strange if some touches of cxcelicnce could not bo found, some pussiiges which prove tliat the autlior not only possessed poetical ideas, but also was familiar with flic art of jwetieal expression. In his description of the culm, smoky, autumnal weather, which, in America, is usuall\ dcnoininatt'd tiio Jndittn Summn-, wo are presented with a beautiful image, which I do not recollect to have seen oUewhero : "Slow aailed the thistle-down along tho lawn." i 'S The description of the Piitch furniar, and his habitation, would not disgraco the author of Kip Van Winkle. In tho eiiuineratiou of the miseries of a country schoolmaster there is much truth; and the picture is vividly and feclin;;ly drawn from nature. Tew had more experience than Wil.-son of the degrnded conditi'Mi of a teacher, when under the ciiiitnil of the vulgar and ignorant; a state co.npared with which tho lot of the hewcctations of the long life of that poetry which seldom rises beyond mediocrity, whicli sonietiiiies sinks greatly below it; and which is indebted, in no small degree, to the adventitious aid of a name, respleiuhjiit in another walk of literature, for that countcnanco and support, which its own intrinsic meritj*, singly, could never claim. I am aware that these brief observations on tlie jxtetry of Wilson, are not calculateil to give pleasure to those of his friends, who have been in the habit of regarding liiiii as one possessing no small claim to the inspiration of the Muses. Hut let such .remember the dett^rmination of a profound critic, that n .Ji^ LIFE OF WILSON. oxiz "no quoHtion can be more innocently dixcuNHcd than a duad pout's pretensions to renown; and little regard in duo to that bigotry which 8ct« candor higher than truth."* When Wilson ooninirncod the publication of Iuh IliHtory of the Hirds of the United kStatcH, ho was (|uite a novice in the study of the Science of Ornithology. This arose from two (viu.xos : his poverty, whicli prevented him from owning the works of those autlmrs, who had particularly attended to the clas.siiication and nomenclature of birds ; and his contempt of the labors of closet naturalists, whose dry descriptions convey anything but pli'u.Hure to that mind, which has been disciplined in the school of Nature. IJut the difficulties under whicli he labored soon convinced him of the necessity of those helps, which only books can supply ; and his repugnan<'e to systems, as re|)ulsive as they are at the first view, gradtuilly gave place to more enlarged notions, on the course to be pursued by him, who would not only attain to kiiowledu'c, by the readiest means, but who would impart that knowledge, in the most effective manner, to others. As I'ar as I can learn, he had act'css but to two systems of Ornithology — that of Linnasus, as translated by Dr. Tin ton, and the •• General Synopsis." of Dr. Latham. f The arrangement of the latter ho adopted in his '• General Index" of Land Birds, appended to the sixth volume; and he intended to pursue the same s^.-'tem for the Water Hirds, at the conclusitm of his work. The nature of his plan prevented him from proceeding in regular order, according to the system adopted, it being his intention to publish as fast as the materials accumulated; and he being in some measure compellvil, by moti\e>i of economy, to apportion his figures to the space they would occupy in the plates, he thereby brings to our view, birds not only of different genera, but of different habits, as.sociated in a manner not wholly unnatural, but abb'irrent from the views of those systeniatists, who account every deviation from method an inexcusable fault. With the art of persjective, it would appear, he was imperfectly aequaitited ; hence there are errors in his drawings, which the rigid critic cannot overlook. These errors occur most frequently in the feet and the tails of his birds, the latter of which, with the view of being characteristically displayed, are fre- quent distorted in a manner, which no expediency can ju.stify. One can hardly forbear smiling at tin' want of corropondcnce between the figure of the Sharp- shinned Hawk, and the fence upon which it is mounted, the former, instead of aiqiearing of the size of nature, for which the author intended it, absolutely assuming the bulk of an elephant. Hut notwithstanding these defect/^, there is a spirit in some of his drawings which is admirable. Having been taught drawing from natural models, he of course became familiar with natural attitudes: hence his superiority, in this • Johnson's I'rcfare to ISIinksponrp. f Tlic lilirary of Wilson ocriipiiMl bat a smnll spn.f. On caytiii); my e_v(», nl'tcr his (IcrcHso, over the Ion or a lUarn volunici of whicli it wii.n compoaocl, I was (;riovt'(l to find that he liail U'cn tlio owner of only one work on Ornitholocy, and that was Hewiok's Hrilisli Hinls. }\ir itii- u«e of the first vi>luine of Turton's LiiiiiaMi!*, ho whs iiidehtcd to the fri<:nd«liip uf Mr, Thunia:i Say ; the I'liiluileliihia Liliritry >u|iplieil liiut with Ldtliam. oxx LIFK OF WILSON. li If respect, to Jill nuthorn extant. Ainoii^' \m tiKurcH luoMt worthy of n.itiuo, I would i>iirticiiliiri/.o llits Shore hurk, Urowii Croopcr. I';;UHe nnd Wintor Wrens, MocLint;-nird, (!iinliiml (iroHlicuk, ('.>w Huntin-M, Mottled Owl, Men- dow liiirk, Hum Swtiliown, Snipe and I'urtridge, Uuil uiid Wu()d(oek, lunl tho Uiift'ed (jrouHO. The introduction of approprinto scenery, in'o a work of »hin kind, can have no gowl effect, unlcsH it be nmdc to hnrninnijie. lM)th ax to design nnd cxecu. tion, with «he Icndinj; suhjcetH ; hence Wilson's landscupcH, in the eye of'titste, must nlwiiyH bo viewed M a blemish, as he was not skilful in this branch of ihe art <>f deline;ition ; and, even if he liiid l)ei!n de."stcrous, he was not author- ized to increase the expenditures of a wi>rk, which, long before itM ttruiiuatiuu, itj* publisher discovered to bo inconveniently burdensome. The principal objections which 1 liave heard urged against tho Ornitliology, relate to tho coloring ; but a.s the difficuhies to w hich its author wa.s sul)ieetcd, on this score, have been already detailed, I will merely observe, that he found them too great to lie surmounted. Hence a generous eritic will not impute to him as a fault, what, in truth, ought to be viewed in the light of a misfortuno. In his specific dctinitions be is lnoso and uifysteniatic. He docs not appear to have been convinced of tho necessity of precision on this head ; his essential ami natural characters are not discriminated ; and, in some instances, he con- founds generic and specific charaelers, which the laws of uicthodicul scienoo do not authorize. There is a peculiarity in his nrthogrii|ihy, wliieb it is proper tliat T should take notice of, for the purpose of explaining his motive for un anomaly, at oneo inelegant and injudicious. I have his own authority for stating, that ho adopted this mode of spelling, at the particular instance of th*; late .loel Har- low, who vainly hoped to give currency, in his heavy Kpie, to an innovation, which greater names than his own had been unable to efl'cct. •• Some ingenious men," says Johnson, ■- have endeavored to deserve well of their country by writing fionor and Itiljor lor honaur and laLour, nil for nail in the pretcr-tense, *ks, it would bo impossible to avoid error in .synonynies nnd nomeiii'lature, so we find that our author, in thoso rei'pects. has rendered hiin>elf obnoxious to rcj)rouch. That he was not ambitious of the honor of forming now genera, appoars from the eiicumstunee, that, although he found the system of Latham needed reformation, yet he ventured to propose but one genus, the Curvinittra, tho LIFE OF WILSON. cxxi chaiactera of which uro ho ubvious, thut uiic ia BHtoniiihud that ho learned ati ornithi>li)giiit on Luthaiii, HhoulU have contented hiniitelf with arraugin^ the iipnuiuH a|i|>ertuiniiiK to it with otherx, iho eonforniatinn of whotte billii iu no diHMiinilur. It may bo nucuMitury to Htuto tiiat the C'rottitbiilii had been orected into u Hcpuruto ^enu.s, under the dcnouiinution of C'rucironlra, by un author v.hoHo works WiJHon hud no knowludffu of; und I have rcumin to believe that even tlic i;t'nurio iippeilution of Cnrvirontni bad been nnticr])ated, by a writer (III tlie (irnitholo^y of tliu northern partM of Kuropc. liriHMou limited hitf freniu Loxia to the CrooHbiiltt, und thin judieiou(> reatrietioD appcura to be now Huuctioncd by ull iiaturuliHtH of uuthority. TiiiMe irt a Hpeeiett of learning, which ia greatly uifeeted by puny uiindH, and for which our author entertained the moat hearty contempt: this m the uuinca )iy which certuin natioiiH of Indiumt deHigiiuted nuturul objcetM. Hence we nowhere tind IiIh work dixfigiireil by thoHo " uncouth arid inmunagcable words," which Home writern have recorded with a solemnity, which should iteeui til jirove a conviction of their importance; but which, in almost every instance, are a reproach to their vanity and their ignorance. Can anything be more jirepoHtcrous than fnr one to give a cutuloguo of names in a language, the grammatical ciniHtructioii of which has never been ascertained, und with the idiiiiii of which one is totally unac(|uainted i* Among literate nations it is a rale, which has received the sanction of prescription, thut when one would write upon a tongue, it is indispensable tliut one should ({iialify one's self for the task, by a careful investigation of its )irinei|ilcs. liut when the language (if barbarians becomes the subject of attention, the rule is reversed, and, pro- vided u copious list of numes be given, it is not re(|uired of the collector, that he should have explored the sources whence they are derived: his learning is estimated by the uieasuro of his labor, und our appluu.se is taxed in propor- tion to his verbosity. The style of Wilson appears to bo well adapted to the subjects upon which lie wrote. It is seldom feeble, it is sometimes vigorous, and it is generally neat. Ho appears to have " understood himself, and his readers always under- stund hiiii." That he was capable of graceful writing, he has given us, in the preface to his first volume, which we here insert, a remarkable instance ; which is one of the hai>picst, and most appropriate, compositions that our literature can boast of. " The whole use of a j)refaco seems to be, cither to elucidate the nature and origin of the work, or to invoke the clemency of the reader. Such observa- tions as iiavc been thought necessary for the former, will be found in the intro- duction ; extremely solicitous to obtain the latter, I beg leave to relate the following anecdote. " In one of my late visits to u friend's in the country, I found their young- est son, u tine boy of eight or nine years of age, who usually resides in town for his iMliication, just returning from a rumble through the neighboring woods and fields, where he had collected a large und very handsome bunch of wild flowers, of a great many different colors; and presenting them to his mother, said, with much aniiiiatiou in his countenance, ' Look, my dear 'ma, what bciutiful flowers I have found growing on our place ! Why ull the woods CXXll LIFE OF WILSON. arc full of tliein ! red, orange, blue, and most every color. 0, 1 can gather you a whole parcel of theui, much nandsonier than these, all growing in our own woods' Shall I, 'uia? Shall 1 go and bring you more?' The good woman received the bunch of flowers with a smile of affectionate complacency; and after admiring for some time the beautiful simplicity of nature, gave her wil- ling consent; and the little fellow went off, on the wings of ecstasy, to execute his delightful commission. " The similitude of this little boy's enthusiasm to my own, struck me ; and the reader will need no explanations of mine to make the application. Should my country receive with the same gracious indulgence the specimens which I here humbly present her; should she express a desire foV me to i/n and hrimj her mot^', the highest wi.shos of my ambition will be gratified ; for, \a the language of my little friend, our whole wooih ore full of fhem I and I can collect hun- dreds more, »h(«7j humlsonur than thrse." In a work abounding with so many excellencies, it would not bo difficult to point out passages of merit, any one of which would give the author a just claim to the title of a describer of no ordinary powers. We select the i'ldlowiug description, from the history of the Wooil Thrush : " At whatever time the wood thrush may a.-rive, he soon announces his presence in the woods. With the dawn of the succeeding mcviing. mounting to the top of some tall tree, that rises from a low thick-shaded part of the woods, he pipes his few, but clear and musical, notes in a kind of ec^fasy; the prelude or symphony to which .strongly resembli.< the doublc-tongueing of a German flute, and sometimes the tinkling of a small bell. The whole song consists of five or six parts, the last note of each of which is in such a tone, as to leave the conclusion evidently suspended; the finale M finely managed, and with such charming effect, an to soothe and tran(|uilltze tl mind, and to seem sweeter and mellower it each su cci^sivc rc|ictiti()n. l{i\al songsters, of the same species, challenge each other from diffcri'iit part* of the wood, seeming to vie for softer tones, ainl more es(|uisitc responses I>uring the burning heat of the day they are comparatively mute; but in the evening the same melody is renewed, and continued Kuig after sunset. Kvcn in dark, wet and gliHunv weather, when scarce a single chirp is heard from any other bird, the clrar not«.s of the wood thrush thrill through the dropping woot's, from morning u^ night; and it may truly be said that the sadder the dav thnin take his stand on a tine Humnier evening, by a ncvz-mown tieUl, nuudow or river shore, for a short time, and among the nunicrou.s individuals iil' this tribe that flit before him. fix his eye on a particular one, and follow, lor a while, all it.s circuitous labyrinths — its extensive sweeps — its sudden, rapidly reiterated, zigzag excursions, and then attempt, by the powers of mathematics, to calculate the length of the va- rious lines it describes; alas! even his ouinipoU'iit fluxions would avail him little here, and he would soon abandon the ta.^k in despair. Yet, that some conception may be ibruied of this extent, let us suppose that this little bird flies, in his usual way, at the rate of one mile in a niiinite, which, from the many experiments tln.t I have made, 1 believe to be within the truth ; and that he* is so engaged for ten hours every day ; and further, that this active life is extended to ten years (uniny ol" our small birds being known to live much longer, even in a state of domestic, tion), the annmnt of all these, allowing three hundred and sixty-five days to a year, would give us two millions one hundred and ninety thousand miles; upwards of eighty-seven times the cir- cumferenei? of the globe I Vet this wiwjvil seraph, if 1 may so speak, who, in u few days, and at will, can pass fnun the borders of the aretie regions to the torrid zone, ia forced, when winter approaches, to descend to ihe bottoms of lake,'^, riverK, and n:ill-|>onds. to bury if,'«elf in the mud wilh eels and snapping turtles; or to reep ingloriously into a cavern, a rst-hole, or a hollow tree, there to doze with snakes, toads, and other reptiles, uivtil the return of spriii|f ! Is not this true, yc n-i»e un>n of Kurope and .\inerica, who have published so many iraliblf. narratives upon this subject ? ••The geesf, the ducks, the catbird, and even the wren, which creeps about our outhouses in summer like a nu)usc, are all acknowledged to be migratory, and to pass into sotilluTii re;;lons at the approaidi of wiiit«'r; — the swhIIow alone, on whom IIi-uvi-u has conferred superior powers of wing, must sink into torpidity at the bottom of our rivers, or doze all winter in the cavdrns of the earth. I am myself something of a traveller, and foreign countries afTonl many novel sights : should 1 assert, that in .simie of my peregrinations I had cxxiy LIFE OF WILSON. met with a nation of Indians, all of whom, old and young, at the commento- uient of cold weather, descend to the bottom of tht'ir lakes and rivers, and there remain until the breaking up of frost j nay, should I affirm, that thou- sands of people in the neigliburhood of this city, regularly undergo the same semi-annual submersion — that 1 myself had fished up a whole family of these from the bottom of the Schuylkill, where thoy had lain torpitl all winter, car- ried them home, and brought them all comfortably to themselves again • should I even publish t.his in tiie learned pjiges i>f the Transactions of our Philosophical Society,* whv) would believe me ? Is then the organization of a swallow less delicate than that of a nmn '! Can a bird, whose vit^il functn.us are destroyed by a short privation of pure air, and it« usual food, sustain, for six months, a situation where the most robust man would perish in a few hours or minutes ?t Away with sncli absurdities! they are unworthy of a serious refutation. I should be plciwod to meet with a man who hat* been personally more conversant with birds than myself, who has followed them in their wide and devious routes- -studied their various manners — mingled with them, and marked their peculiarities more than I have done ; yet the miriu/r of a resus- cit:* ■■' swallow, in the depth of winter, from the bottom of u mill-ptind is I confess, a phenomenon in ornithology that I haVc never met with." The subject oi' the supposed torpidity of swallows has employed many writ- ers, but unfortunately too few id" thase, whose practical knowledge enabled them to speak with that certainty, which should always give authority to writ- ings on natural history. Keasoning li priori ought to have taught mankind a • Here there is a palpable allusion to a \Mfmr on the hybernation of swallowR, which was published in the sixth volume of the TriinNuctionii of the Ainrriitan I'liilosophioHl Society. This paper was written by one Krcili-rick Aiitc.o, and wus ciiiiimuuicaiiil to iho Society by the iatc rroli SMir Hnrtun. It )•« (|(! that Wilson had also reixl tjic "letter on the retreat of housc-swnllowH in winter, from the lionurjiMc Samuel Dcxa-r Esq., to the llouoraiilc Juuieii Uowiloin, Koj. ;" ansi^lin^; under a confined respiration, which woiilil destroy other aniiiiuls not liavinir this peculiar habit. In all ihe hyU'ruaiin:; Mnmmaliti there is a (leiuliar structure uf tlm heart and its principal veins." Philosophical TransAciions for 1805, p. 17. "If all birils, except swallows," »«y» Keeve, "arc able lo survi>e thu winter, and thcv alone are m overconio by tie cold as to Iw rcnden-l torpid, the dilfereiicc mu-t be found in llieir niialoinicul structure, and in llicir habits ot lilc. "Now, III the tirsl place, it is certain thai lliey have, in oiniiioii with other birils, the three great fuuctiuni of respiration, circulation, and assiniilalion : the siniilarilv of their ort-ans, and every ciriuni^laiiec in tlicir niopr talcs, on this subject, are of no authority, and muci be utterly rejected. And yet these are the only sources whence naturalists have drawn their opinions on the question of torpidity. It is to be regretted that the authority of LMinreus himself sliould have given credit and ciirroncy to this opinion, and tlir more so since his example of sanctioning vulgar narratives by his acquiescence, without examination, has been followed liv the majority of writers on ornithology, particularly those of Sweden, in which country, if we may place reliance on the transactions of the Academy of Ilpsal, the submersion of swallows is received as an acknowledged fact. Liiinreus nowhere tells us that he had ever seen a toipid swallow; but what shall we .say of the Knglish translator of Kalin's Travels, the learned John Koinhold Forster, who positively a.s.scrtfl that he himself had been an eye wit- ness to tlie fact of swallows being fished up out of the lake of Lybshau, in I'riissia, in the winter, and being restored to animation I a circumstance as impo,ssible, if wo are allowed to consider anatomical structure as having any influence on animal existence, as that a human being could be resuscitated artcr such a submersion.* • I nm unwillinj; to ohji'ct falsrlmoil lo this lU'coiiipliHlictl traveller, and therefore must comliiilo tluit, ill tni'tiiitr to tiis ?ii('mi)tv, utter ii ciiiiKi.i.'iiitili' liipso of liint-, lie must have fivi'fi that wliicli lie hml rrccivoii of iiiiotlitT, ns the result of hU own cx()oriciicc. Mcn- l;il liallurinations of tlii^ kind are not of riire oecurronoc. That persiins of the •ilrictost veriicity are frr!), tliat the swallows, in general, are migratory birds. But sub- scNjUent and vvri/ e.rtmsirr inquiries have convinced me, that the instances of torpid swallows are much more frequent than I formerly supposed they were; and that there are two species of the genus tlinindo, which are peculiarly dis- posed to pass tho brinnal season in llui cavities of rocks, in the hollows of trees, and in other similar situations, whore they liave often been found in a tnporour state. These species are the lllrnndo riparia, or sand '♦wallow ; and the If- prfiixf/ifi. which we call chimney swallow. There is m-i /net in orni- thohxji/ he/ler estaUiahi d than THK F.VCT of the occasio)i(d torpidity of <»<•«« two uprriet iif I/irando !"* It is not strange th.it the " rrry rj-feitaiie" inquiries of our l««ar»ird pr''li the professor wrote the above-cited letter, I know of but two naturalists in the I'nitod States whose opinions ought to have any wei-rht >*»* *he (juestion before us, and these were William Haitranj and AIcx- »nd\ r Wilson, both of whoii\ have recorded their ti'stimony. in the most posl- live manner, n^ainst torpidity. • Tillixh'* Pliilrtiophionl M..ui<»ine, vol. .15, p. 241. " Nmunili^u," «n.vs Pr. i.ttrton in iiiiuiIkt pliice, " Imvo not nlway^ I«'en pdilonopher*. Ttie itliiiKl ntiil «M;iri ftVtii/ iimniifr in which ihi-y Imvu i>xitniiiio«nii, ■ li (;i CXXVIU LIFE OF WILSON. The " Memoir on the Migration iiiid Torpidity of Swallows," wherein Dr. Karton was confident ho should he able to convince every candid philosopher of the truth of his hypothesis concerninp these birds, never issued from the press, although so publicly announced. And who will venture to siiy that ho did not, by this suppression, manifest his discretion? When Wilson's volume, wherein the swallows are given, appeared, it is probable that the autlior of the " Fragments" was made sensible that he had been writing upon subjects of which he had little personal knowledge; and therefore he wisely relin<|uished the^^sk of instructing philosophers, in these matters, to those more capable than himself of such discussions. Naturali.sts have not been sufficiently precise when they have had oeciision to spo.ik of toipiIarch, and which I're- ((ucr, tly affects swallows to so groat a degree as to render them incapable of flight. From the number of instances on record of these birds having been fonnd in this state, the presumption has been that they were capable of passing into a state of torpidity, similar to that of the Marmots, and other hybernating animals. Siiicllie, though nn advocate for migration, yet admits that swallows may b<3como torpid. "That swallows," says he, "in the winter months, have sometimes, though very rarely, been found in a torpid state, is un(|ucstionably true. Mr. C'ollinson gives the evidence of three gentlemen whr) were eye-wit- iiesscH to a number of sand-martins being drawn out I'f a cliff on the Ithine, in the month of .^Ian•h, 17t)2."* (ln(> slmuld suppose that Smellie was too good a logician to infer that, because swallows hail been found in the state de- scribed, they had remained in thiit state ull winter. .V little more knowledge (if the .Kubj' "t \vi>ijl.l h^ve taught the three gentlemen cibscrvi'rs, that the pi^or swallows 1. 1 1- -n driven to their retreat by cold weather, which had surprised them in their vernal migration ; anr. l»rakc. in his observations ujxin the descriptive abilities of the poet liloomficlil, thus e-xpres-ses himself: " Milton hh«1 Thomson have both intro- duced the flight t with hi>« H«vustonied spirit and sublimity ; but probably no jo'ct has surpassi-d. either in fancy or expression, the following priMMj narrative of Dr tiold.smilh ' Nothing,' obiervcs he, ' can be more pleasing than to see the l-ark warbling upon the wing; raising its note as it soars, until it seems Wt in the imiucnsc heights above us; the note e(mtiiiuing, the bird itself un.«eeB ; to ««v it th*o descending with a swell M it comes from the clouds, yet sinkinfj by degre«i »» it »p|>r>.«ohe.'« its nest ; the Bpot where all it-* iiffeetions are centred; the spot thai Kas pMiiipt«d «ll * PhiloDoptiv iif NmmpaI Historv, olMp. SO. I 11 LIFE OF WILSON. cxxix (his joy.' This description of the descent of the bird, and tlie pleasuros of its little ncBt, is conceived in a strain of the nuwt exquisite delicacy and feeling."* I am not diHposed to dispute the beauty of tlio imagery of the above, or the delicacy of its exi'rcssion; but I should wish the reader to compare it with Wilson's description of the Mocking-bird, unquestionably the most accomplished songster of tlu3 feathered race. " The pluniJige of the Mocking-bird, though none of the homeliest, haa nothing gainiy or brilliant in it; and, liad he nothing else to recommend him, would scarcely entitle him to notice ; but his figure is well proportioned, and even handsome. The ea.>-ta.sy — he mounts and descends as his song swells or dies away ; and, iiv my friend .''Ir. liartram has beautifully expressed it, • Ho bounds uloft with the celerity of an arrow, as if to recover his very soul, which expired in the la.'it elevated strain.' While thus exerting himself, a bystander, destitute of sight, would suppose that the whole feathered tribes lu»d as.sembled together, ou a trial of skill, each striving to produce his utmost eflect, so perfect are his imitations. He many times deceives the sportsman, and sends him in search )f birds that perhaps are not within miles of him ; but whose notes ho exactly imitates Even birds themselves are fre(iucnfly imposed on by this admirable mimic, and are decoyed by the fancied calls of their mates; or dive, with precipitation, into the depths of thickets, at the scream of what they suppose to be the Sparrow Hawk. " The Mocking-bird loses little of the power and energy of his Pong by con- • Dmkw'n Literary Iloiir-i, No. ,19, edition of 1820. f Tin- ri'BiliT in rolVrreil to our iiiitlior's li;;iirc of tliin biril, wliii'h i:* one of the ino»t tpirilcil (Irswinj;!! lliat the rceiinis of niitutal liislory onn proiliice. Vol,. I.-I I^' 1, ! ex. XX LIFE OF WILSON. finemcnt. In liis (loiucHticutod stato, when he coninipnccs his career of song, it is iuipossibie to stand by unint^irestoil. He wliiHtlea for the doj? : (Passat starts up, wags liis tail, ami runs to meet his master. lie squeaks out liice a liurt chicken, and the hon hurries about witii hanging wings, and bristled feathers, clucking to protect her injured brmid. He nuis over the quiverings of the Canary, and the clear whistlings of the Virginia Nightingale or Ilod- liird, with such superior execution and effect, that the mortified songsters fool their own inferiority, and bec of our country, is entitled to par- ticular notice. He has been long known to naturalists, being common to both continents, and ucoa.'«i the higher regions of the atmosphere, the abode of eternal cuM ; and llu'occ descend at will to the turrid or the arctic regions of the earth. He is therelore lound at all seasons in the countries which he inlialiits ; but prefers such places a» have been mentioned above, from the great partiality he has for twh. " III prtieuriiig iliese, be displays, in a very singular manner, the genius and LIFE OF WILSON. CXXXl t-ner^y of hid character, which in fierce, ooiitemphitive, daring and tyrannical: uttributua not exerted but on particular occasions ; but, when put forth, over- powering uli opposition. Eievuted upon a high dead limb of Home gigantic tree, that conmuinds a wide view of tlie neighboring shore and ocean, he necma calmly to contemplate the motions of the various feathered tribcH that pursue tlii'ir busy avocations below: the Hnow-wliito (iulls slowly winnowing tlio air; the busy Tringas coursing along the hmhU ; trains of Ducks streaming over the surface ; silent and watchful ('ranca, intent and wading ; clamorous Crows, and all the winged multitudes that subsist by the bounty of this vast li(|uid maga- zine of nature. High over all these hovors one, whose action instantly arrcstj. all his attention, liy his wide curvature of wing, and sudden suspension in air, ho knows him to be the Finh-hawk settling over some devoted victim of the deep, ilis eye kindles at the sight, and balancing himself, with half- opened wings, on the branch, he watcdies the result. Down, rapid as an arrow from heaven, descends the distant object of his attention, the roar of its winga reaching the car as it difiai)pc!irs in the deep, inaking the surges foam around. At this nioincnt the looks of the Eagle are all ardor; and levelling his neck for flight, lie sees the Fish-hawk emerge, struggling with his prey, and mount- ing into the air with screams of exultation. These are the signal for our hero, who. launching into the air, instantly gives chasi;, soon gains on the Fish- hawk, each exerts his utmost to mount above the other, displaying in these rencontres the most elegant and sublime aerial evolutions. The unencumbered Kagle rapidly advances, and is just on the point of reaching his opp(uicnt. when with a sudden scream, jirobably of despair and honest execration, the latter drops hia fish; the Kaglo poising himself for a moment, as if to take a more certain aim, descends like a whirlwind, snatches it in his ;,'rasp ere it reaches the water, and bears his ill-gotten booty silently away to the woods." Perhaps there is no similar work extant which can so justly lay claim to the merit of originality as Wilson's Ornithology. In books on natural history, fn general, we rarely nii'et with much that is new; and it is not unusual to behold labored performances, which are umlistinguished by any fact, which might j)rove that their authors are entitled to any other praise than that of diligent cont|)il<'rs. Hut in the work before u.s, we arc prisented with a fund of in- formation of so uncommon a kind, so variou.s, and so interesting, that we are at no loss to perceive that the whole is the result of personal appli<-ation, directed to the only Icgitiniate source (»f knowledge — Nature, not as she ap- pears in the cabinet of the collector, but as she reveals herself in all the grace and loveliness of aninnited existence. Independent of those plea.sing descriptions, which will always insure the work a favorable reception, it has higher claims to our regard, by the philo- >opliical view which it takes of those birds which mankind had, with one coii- .'•ent, proscribed oa noxious, but which mtw wo are induced to consider as aux- iliaries in agriculture, whose labors could not be dispensed with without ilctii- nicnl. A vagrant chicken, now and then, may well be sparecl to the hawk or owl who dears our ticlds of swarms of destructive mice; the woodpecker, whose tasti' induces liiin to apprnpiialc to himself the hist ripe apple or cherry, has well earned the dcliiacy, by the myriads of pe>tiltntial worms of which he N ■«■ -i^ M i I I CXXXll LIFE OF WILSON. has rid our orchnrdw, uiul whoso rnvnges, if not i-ounteractod, would noon de- prive us of all fruit ; if the crow and tho blackbird bo not too greedy, wo nmy surely sparo thoni u part of what thoy have preserved to ux, since it is quos- tionablo, if their fondness for fjrulis ur cut-worms did not induce them to destroy those enemies of tho maize, whether or not a single stalk of this ines- timable corn would be allowed to ^'rtot the view of the American farmer. The beauties of this work are so transcendent, that its faults, which arc, in truth, mere peccadillos, are hardly perceptible; they may bo corrected by one of ordinary application, who needs not invoke to his aid either much Icarnin^r or much intellif^enco. A book superior in its (ypo^raphicii! execution, and graphical illustrations, it would be no difficult matter to produce, since the in- genuity of man has advanced thu fine arts to a state of perfection, sufficient to frratify tho most fastidious choice; but who could rival k in those essentials which distinguish it from all (yfhcr similar undeit;iiuiigs, and which constitute it one of the most valuable offerings to natural science which taste and genius has ever produced ? .^ 1(1 I m ff • CATALOGUE NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. Br Prof. SPKNCKR F. BAIRD, of the .Mmlthiionlaii tmtitutlon. Thb following " CiitnloKiio of North American Birds" hns been reprinted from th« octavo edition issued by the Sniitli.soninn Institution, in October, 1858. It was originally putilislicd in (|imrt(>, forming a portion of the report on North American liirds, in vol. it. of the Keports of the I'licitic Uiiilroiid Survey, its ri'imlilication in 8vo. hiiil for itH object to fucilitntc the labelling of the specimens of birds nnil e^jgs in the Museum of the Institu- ti(m ; we reprint it, as it serves most admirably the purposes of a check list of the speeioa of American Birds. 1. Catharle.i Aura. UliR. 'I'llHKKV 15l'/7.ARD. 2. Calharles Califiiinianna. Cuv. California Vui.turk. 3. Cathartts Alraliia. Lchhoh. IJl.ACK Vin.TUKB. 4. Cathartrs lim loviauiis. CasHin. MkXICAN Vl'l.TURE. 5. Fatcd Auntiiiii. Boniip. Duck Hawk. (t. Fairo Xi(/rireps. ("iissin. Bi.AiK (Jai'i-ki) Hawk. 7. Iliipalriii .« Columhariiis. Gray. I'l .»i>N Hawk. 8. lli/polriorrhin Ainaiiliux. Knup. ORANIiEUHEASTKD HaW'K. 'J. Ili/piilriiirc/ii.1 FfiiKiralis. (Jrny. AlM.nHAUO, 10. Falco I'dli/aijrii!!. CasHin. I'rairik Falcon. 11. Ftiico Candiraux. (iinelin. Jer Falcon. 12. Falco Islanilintn. Subino. Jer Falcon. 11 Titinuiiruliis Spinrcriiis. Vieill. iS-i'AKKow Hawk. 1 1. Antur Atitiiipitlii.n. Bonap. (iisllAWK. l.'i. Accipiln- ('imperii. Bonap, Cooi'ek's Hawk. 1(5. Accipiler Mfxicanun. Swnins. llr.tT.-RACKKD Hawk. 17. Acci/iiter Fii.irnn. Bnnttp. Siiari'siiinneu Hawk. 18. liuteo Sipainsnni. Bonap. Swainsmn's Hawk. 19. Duleo lidirJii. Hoy. Baiku's Hawk. 20. Buleo Caliirui. CaHHJn. Ulack Hei)-tail. 1; fiuteo InsiijiintuH. ('ussin. ISrown Hawk. 22. liuteo Ihrlani. Bonup. ■ ■. Harlan's Hawk. 23. Bitteo B',re'8IIOI'LDI!RKO Hawk lii'f'o F.leijaus. < 'u.-t-iin. Keii-hellieo Hawk. liuteo l'enn.''i, Hawk. 33. Afturixn Nii'Ufi. Bonap. M«xi AN Hawk. 34. Naurlern.^ Finralu.i. Vigors. Svallum-tailed Hawk. (i) 20. 27. '^ '.; t>. «►. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) / O t ^; W ,N SiftEET WESSTER.N.V. 14580 (7)6) 872-4503 .^ ^ II CATALOGUE OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 3b. Elanu* Leueurus. Bonap. Whitb-taii.ed Hawk. 36. letinia Mhsissippiciisia. Gray. Mississippi Kite. 37. Rostrhamus Socir -i7w. D'Orb. Black Kite. 38. Cfireus Hudaitnius. Vieillot. Marsh Hawk. 39. Aquila Canadennis. Cassin. Gulden Eaqlb; Ring-tailed Eaqle. 40. Haliaetus Pdagictia. Siebold. Northern Sea E\qlb. 41. Holiaetu.t Washingtnnii. Jard. Washington Eagle. 42. Haliaetua AlbicUla. Cuvier. Gray Sea Eagle. 43. Haliaetus Lmcoeephalus. Savigny. Bald Eagle. 44. Pandion Carnlinaisis. Bonap. Fish Hawk. 45. Polyhorua Tharus. Cassin. Caracara Eagle. 4fl. Oraxirex Uuicincliis. Cassin. Harris' Buzzard. 47. Strix lyatinrola. Bonap. Barn Owl. 48. Bubo Virgininnus. Bonap. Great Horned Owl. 49. Scops Asia. Bonup. Mottled Owl. .50. Seopx Mc.CaUii. Cassin. Western Mottled Owu 5J. Olu.i Wihimianus. Lesson. Lovo-Eared Owl. 52. Brachyotns Casniiiii. Brewer. Short-Eared Owl. .53. Syrnium Cinercnm. Aud. Great Gray Owl. 54. 8yrnium Nehulosum. Gray. Barred Owl. 65. Nyctale Richard sanii. Bonap. Sparrow Owl. 5fi. Nyctale Alhifmns. Cassin. Kirtland's Owl. 67. Nyctale Acadira. Bonap. Saw-whet Owl. 58. Athene Hypugaea. Bonap, I'RAiRiB Owl. 59. Athene Cunindaria. Bonap, Burrowing Owl. f)0. Olaucidium Gnmna. Cassin. PiaMV Owl. fil. Nyctea Nivea. Gray. Snowy Owl. 62. Sumia Vlula. Bonap. Hawk Owl. 63. Conwnu OaroUnensin. Kulil. Parakeet. 64. Rhynehopxitta Parhyrhynchn. Bonap. Tiii(Kni[.i.F.i> I'arrot. 65. Trogon Mexicanua. Swainson. Mexican Trooon. 66. Crotophaga Rugirostris. Swainson, Black Parrot. 67. Crotophaga Ani. Linn, An». 68. Geococcyx Californianua. Baird. Paisano; Chaparral Cock. 69. Cocrygus Amerinaniis. Bonap. Yellow-billed Cuckoo. 70. Coccygxis Erythrophthalmua, Bonap. Bi.ACK-Bit.LED Cuckoo. 71. Coccygu.i Minor. Cnb. Mangrove Cuckoo, 72. Campephilus Principalia. Gray. IvoRY-BiLi.ED Woodpecker. 73. Campephilus Imperiitlia. Gray. Imperial Woodpecker, 74. Picua Villosus. Linn. 1L\IRY Woodpecker. 75. Picua Harrisii. Aud. Harris' Woodpecker. 76. Picua Pitbesceiis. Linn. Downy Woodpecker. 77. Picus Gairdneri. Aud. Gairdner's Woodpecker. 78. Picua NuttaUi. Gambel. Nuttall's Woodpecker. 79. Picus Scalaris. Wagler. Texas Sapsucker. 80. Picua Riireali.1, Vieiil. Ked-Cockaded Woodpecker. 8L Picu.t Alhtdarvatua. Baird. WniTE-IIKADED WOODPECKER, 82. Picnides Arrticus, Gray, Three-toed Woodpecker, 83. Picoidfs Ilirautua. fJray. Banded three-toed Woodpecker, 8-1. JHcoidea Domalis. Buird. Striped three-toed Woodpecker, 85. Sphyropinia Variua. Bnird. Yellow-bellied Woodpecker. 86. Sp/iyropicua Kiirhalia. Baird. Keu-tiiroateu Woodpecker, 87. Spliyropicua linher. Baird. ItED-BREASTED WoODPECKER. 88. Sphyiopinia WiUiamsoiiii. Baird, Williamson's Woodpecker. 89. Sphyropicua Thymideus. Itaird. Brown-headed Woodpecker. 90. Ilylotomua Pileatua. Baird. Black Whodpecker. 91. Centurua Carolinua. Bonnp. Hrd-uei.lied Woodpecker. 92. Cmturua Flnviventria. Swains, Yellow-bellieu Woodpecker. 9.1. Centurua I'ropygiidia. Baird. Gila Woodpecker. 94. Mfltinerpra F.rythmrcphabia. Swains J(ed-headeu Woodpeckbr, CATALOGUE OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. Ill 95. ifelanerpen Formicivorus. Bonap. California Woodpecker. 96. Melanrrpea Turqiiaivs. Bonnp. Lewis's Woodpecker. 97. Colaplea Auratus. Swains. Yellomt-siiafted Flicker. 98. Colaptes Mexicamis, Swaina. Hed-siiafted Flicker. 98a. Colaptes Hyhridus. Baird. llvBRiD Woodpecker. 99. Colaptes Chrysoides, Baird. 100. Lampornis Mango. Swains. Manqo Uumhino Bird. 101. T)-ochilus Cnlubris. Linn. IIuMuiNQ Bird. 102. Trochilus Alcxandri. Bnuro. & Mul. Black-chinned ll>;;iw:."n 'iiKD. 103. Selasphorvs linfua. Swains. KuFoua IIuMHiNo Bird. 104. Selanphorua Plali/cerua. Gould. Broad-tailed Hummino Bird. 105. Atthia Anna, ilciubenb. Anna Huhhino Bird. 106. Althis Coslae. Reichenb. Ruffed IIuhhino Bird. Patiyptila Milanoleura. Baird. Wiiitb-tiiroated Swift. Neplioecetes Niger. Baird. Black Swift. Chaelura Pelasgia. Stcph. CiiiMNEr Swallow. Chaelura vauxii. Do Kay. Oregon Swift. Antrnslonius Carolinen.iis. Gould. Chuck will's- widow. Arilroslomus Vonfhus, Bonap. Wniri'ooR-wiLL. 113. Aniidx iimus Nullalli. Caesin. Poor-will. 114. Chordeiles Pcpetue. Baird. NiiiiiT Hawk. 115. Chordnle..i I/enn/i Cassin. Western Nioiit Hawk. 116. Chordeiles Tixensis. Lawrence. Texas Nioiit Hawk. 116a. Nyclidiomu. fjtucnsticle GriseinncJia. Bonap. Oray-necked Finch. 324. Leucosticte. Arctava. Bonnp. Ahctic Finch. 325. PUctrop'.iaiicn Nivalis. Moyer. Snow Bunting. 326. Plectrophanes Lappanints. Selby. Lapland Lonospur. 327. Plectrophanes Pirtvs. Swains. Smith's Buntino. 328. Plectrophanes Oinatus. Towns. rilKSTNllT-COM.ARED BuNTINO. 329. riectrophanen Melaiiovius. Biilrd. Bl.ACK-SIIOUI.DEKED LnNCiSl'UR. 330. Plectrophanes lifarrnwuii. Lnwr. MaCCOWn'h LllNOSi'UR. 331. CentrRIOLE. 411. Icfeius I'drinin tnn. Bonap. Scott's Oriolb. 412. Ictei'us Waijleri. Sulator. Waolkr's Oriole. 413. Icterus (7ucullatus. Swains. Hooded Oriole. 414. Icterus Sjmrius. Bonap. Orchard Oriole. 415. Icterus Hallimoie. Daudin, Baltimore Oriole. 416. Icterus Hullockii. Bonap. Bullock's Criole. 417. ScolecophiKjus Ferrw/ineus. Swains RuHTY Blackbird. 418. Scoleciif .'lai/us Ci/aixiciphalui. Brewer's Blackbird. 419. Quisriilus Mdcrourn. Swains. LONO-TAILED GrAKLE. 420. Quiscaliis Mnjur. Vioill. HoAT-TAII.EI) GrAKLE. 421. Qui.icahi.1 I'crsicolor. Vieill. Crow Blackbird. 422. Quiscdlus liarilus. Vioill. Florida Blackbird. 423. Corvus C iriiimnoi. Bartraui. American Raven. 424. Corvus Cacahill. Wajrl. Colorado Raven. 425. Corvus Cri/jiliihiiciis. (Jouch. WlllTE-NKCKED CroW. 42G. Corvus Amcriiaiiu.i. Aud. Common Crow. 427. Var. Corrus Floridanus. Baird. Florida Crow. 428. Cordis ('(luriinis. Baird. Western Fish Crow. 429. Corrus Ossil'niiiiis. Wilson. Fish Ckow. 430. IHcicorcus I'oluniliiaitus. Bonap. Clark's I'kow. 431. Gymiiol.illit Ci/tiiuwcphala. I'r. M. iMaximilian's .Jay. 432. Pica Iludsoiiica. Bonap. Magi'ie. 433. Pica Nullalli. Aud. Yellow-billed Magpie. 434. Cyannra Crisliila. Swains. Bi.iE .Jav. 435. Cyanura Ktelliri. Swains. Stki.ler's Jay. 436. Cyanura Macvohphus. Baird, Loso-c'REsted Jav. 437. Cyanocitta Califomica. Strick. California Jay. 438. Cyanocitta H'ood/iousii. Baird. Woouiioi'sk'.s Jay. 4.19. Cyanocitta Floridana. Bonap. Florida .Jay. 440. Cyanocitta Sordida. Baird. Mountain Jay. 441. Cyanocitta I'llrumariua. Strick. Ultramarine Jay. CATALOGUE OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. IX 442. Xanthoura Litxuosa. Bonap. Okbkn Jay. 443. Pei'isoreus Canadensis, Bonap Canada Jat. 444. Psilorhinus Morio. Gray. Bkown Jay. 445. Columha Fasniata. Sny. UaND-TAII.ED I'lOiCON. 446. Columha Flaviroslvis. Wagl. Ued-bili.kd Dove. 447. Columha Leucocephnla. Linn. WiIITB-IIF.AUED PlOEON. 448. Eetopislen Mitjraloria. Swains. Wild I'ujeun. 449. Zenaida Amahilh. Bunap. Zenaida Dove. 450. Mdopelia Leucoplera. Bonap, White-winged Dove. 451. Zeiiakluia Caroiinennis. Bonap. Common Dove. 452. Scardafdia S<{iiami)sa. Bonap. ScAi.v Dove. 453. Chamaepel ia fasm'-ina. Swains. Ground Dove. 454. Oreopiieia MarliuiDU. Reich. Kkv West I'iueon. 455. Starnnenas Cijnnocephala. Bonap. Blue-headed I'ioeon. 456. Orlalida M' C CallL Buird. Chiacalacca. 457. Mdcagris Gallnpavo. Linn. Wild Turkev. 458. Meleaijris Mtxintna. Gould. Mexican Turkey. 459. Tetrao Ohsniiiin. Siiy. Dusky Grouse. 460. Tetrao CniindcuHin. Linn. Si'HucE Partridge. 401. Tetrao Franldinii. Douglas. Franklin's Grouse. 462. Centrocercus Urophasianus. Swain. Sage Cock. 463. Pedinecetes Phasiunellns. Baird. Siiari'-taii.kd Grouse. 464 Cupidonia Cupido. Baird. Prairie Hen. 465. Bonasa Vmhtllits. Steph. Huffed Grouse. 4G5a. Var. Iiima.ia UmheUoides. Baird. Gray Mountain Grouse. 466. Bonasa iSdhinii. Baird. Oregon Grouse, 467. LagopHH AUnm. And. White Ptarmigan. 468. Lagopus liiipeslris. Leach. Rook Grouse. 46G. iMfjopus lAiirurus. Swains. White-taii.kd Ptarmigan. 470. Lai/iipii^ Amrriranns. Aud. American Ptarmigan. 471. Ortyx Virginianus. Bonap. Partridge; Quail. 472. (h-tyx Texanus. Lawr. Texas Quail. 473. Oreortyx Pictus. Baird Mountain Quail. 474. Lophorlyx Cali/ornicus. Bonap. California Quail. 475. Lophorlyx Gamhelii, Nutt. Gambei.'s Partridge. 476. Callipejila Sf/uamala, Gray. Blue Partridge. 477. Cyrtonyx Masseua. Gould. Massena Partridge, 478. Grus Americanus. Ord. Whooimno Crane. 479. Grus Canadensis. Tomm. Sand-hill Crane. 480. Grus Fralerndus. Cassin, 'i .'>. Little Crane. /' 481. Aramus Giganleus. Baird. Crying Bird. 482. Demiegrelta Pealii. Baird. Peale's Kg ret. 483 Demiegretta Ihifa. Baird. Reddish Egret. 484. Demiegrelta Ludomciana. Baird. Louisiana Heron. 485. Garzella Candidissima. Bonap. Snowy Heron. 486. Ilerodias Kgrella. Gvay. White Heron. 486a. Herodias Kgrdia, v. Californica, California Egret. 487. Ardea Herodias. Linn. ' Gre.\t Blue Herun. 488. Ardea Wiirdemannii, Baird, Florida Heron, 489. Auduhtmia (h-cidentalis, Bonap. Great Whits; Heron. 490. Florida Cir.rulea. Baird. Blue Heron. 491. Ardetia Kxilis. Gray. Least Bittern. 492. Botaurus Laitiginosiis. Stcph, Bittern ; Stake Driver. 493. Butorides Virfsrens. Bonap. Green Heron. 491. Buturidis Bruniiesrens. Baird, Brown Heron. 495. Nyctiardfii Gardeni. Baird. Night Heron. 496. Nyrlherodiii.i Violaceus. Reioh. Yellow-crowned Heron. 497. Tantalus Lociilalnr. Linn, Wood I his. 498. Ihis Huhra. Vieill, Red Ibis. 499. Ihis Alha. Vioill. White Ibis, CATALOaUK OF NORTH AMERICAN BiHDS. 600. Ibii Ordii. Bonnp. U LOSSY Ibis. 500a. Ibis Guarauna. Shaw. Bronzed luia. 501, riataleii Ajoja. I.inn. Uosr SrouNniLL. 502. I'hvcniwpleiun liuher. Linn. Flahinoo. 603. Charadriun Vhninicus. Borck. (jidLDEN i'uiVER. 604. Aegialitit Vncifeyus. Cassin. KlLLUEER. 506. Aegialitis Mimhinua. Cassin. Mountain I'i.over. 500. Aegialilis JVilnouius. Cassin. Wilson's 1'lover. 507. Aeijialilin Semipalmatuii. Cab. ISeuipalmated 1'lover. 608, Aegialilis j)fil(iduii. Cab. I'liMNo Plover. 609. Aeyialili.1 Airo.ius. ('nssin. Western 1'lover. JIO. Sqna/arola lltlrelini. ' Cuv. Bi.ack-uei.i.ied I'i.over. 511. Ap/triza Viiiiiila. Gray. SuRf Bird. 512. Jlaciiiatdpiis J'lliialiis. Tcmin. OvsTKR Catcher. 513. Haniialoini.i Xihala. Vij;. Black Turn.stone. 617. Recurviroxtra Americana. Omel. American Avdset. 518. Himaii/iipim Xii/rirolli.i. Vicillot. Black-necked Stilt. 519. riiahiriipiis Wilminii. Sab. Wilson's I'liALARcirE. 520. r/ialiircjiiis Ibiperbtiieuii. Tcmin. North ERN I'll a la rope. 521. rhaUii-i'}ius Fidirarius. Bonap. IU:l> I'llALAROI'E. 622. Phihlie!ii Minor, (irny. American Woodcock. 523. Galliitwio Wil.sonii. Bonap. Enolisii Snii'e. 524. Afaernr/ianiphii.i Gri.ieun. Leach. ItED-llREA.STED SnIPE. 525. Macroihaiiiphun Scolnpaceus. La. Greater Lonuiieak. 526. Trinya Canutus. Linn. Knot. 627. Trinrja Canperi. Biiird. Cooper's Sandpiper. 528. Triiujn Miirilima. Brllnnich. I'URPLE Sa.SDPIPER. 629. Tringa Subarquala. Tcmm. Ci'Ri.Ew Sandpiper. 630. Tringa Alpiiia. \' nr. Americana, Cu. ItEu-UACKED Sandpiper. 631. Tiinga Maculala. Vicill. Jack Snipe. 532. IVinga Wiiionii. Nuttall. Least Sandpiper. 533. Tringa Jionapartii. Sclilogol. Bonaparte's Sandpiper. 534. Calidria Arcntnia. Illigcr. SANDERI.INn. 535. Ereiiurtia I'elrijiratus. III. Sehipalmateu Sandpiper. 530. JUicropaliimii llimautopns. Baird, Stilt Sandpiper. 537. Symp/ieinia Snnipalmata. Ilartl. Wll.LET. 538. Glottis Fliiriilaniis. Bonap. Florida (Ireenshank. 539. Gamliitia Mclniiolnira. Bonap. Telltale; Stone Snipe. 540. Gambetta Flnripni. Bonap. Yellow Leos. 541. RhyadiphiluK Soliliirin.i. Bonap. Solitary Sandpiper. 642. Iletcr(i.i(Tlu!< ISrrripes. Bnird. Wanderino '('atler. 543. IVingiiidr.i Mitruldritis. Gray. Spotted Sandpiper. 544. Philomuchus I'lujnax. Gray. Ruff. 545. Actiturun llailrnmius. Bonap, Field I'i.over. 540. Trini/ilc.i liiifrnr-'ns. Cab. BCKK-IIRKASTED SaNDPIPER. 547. Limona Fniait. Ord. MaRIILED (ioDWIT. 548. Lintoxa Uiiilsntiica. Swains. Hudson (iodwit. 549. Niiinenius l.oni/irii.ilri.f. Wils, Lonu-iii I.I.ED Curlew. 5.50. A'uHK'iiiH.t llutl.iitniciis. Latliam llUDSoSIAN ClRl.EW. 551. Kumeiiiu.i llorenlia. Liitham, KsyriMAU.x Curlew. 652. llallus J-Jtfi/iin.1. And, .Marsh Hen. 653. Iiallu.1 CnpiltiitH. Gm, Clapper Rail. 554. Rallus Vivginiaitun. Linn. ViHoiNiA Rail. 655. Porzana Vurolina. Vioill. Common Rail. 550. Purznna Jii>n(iireii.ii.t. Cassin. Little Black Kail. 567. Porzana XaveburareiLiis. Yellow Rail 558, Crex IVatennis. Bechst. Corn-crake. m : imk'^^ OATALOaUE OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. S59. Fulica Americana. Qmelin. Coot. 500. Gallinula Galeaia. Bnnap. Florida Qalmnulk. 561. Gallinula Martinica. Lath. PURI'LR Uali.inuli. 561a. Cygnus Americanxtii. Shnrpless. American Swan. 562. Cygnus liarrinator. Rich. Trumi'etek Swan. 563. Anser lliiperUoren.t. FuUas. Snow U<)0!iscora. Steph. Bhir-winued Teal. 582. Querqui'dula Ci/annpirrus. Cossin. Ked-dreastfd Teal. 583. Spatula I'li/penta. Boio. Shoveller. 584. Chaulelasmiis Sireperus. Gray. Gadwall. 585. Mareca Amn irana. Stephens. Baldi-atb. 586. Mareca Penelope. Bonap. Widgeon. 587. Aix Sponsa. Boie. Summer Dock. 588. Fulix Marila. Raird. Greater Black-uiad. 589. Fulix Affinis. Biiird. Little Black-head. 590. Fulix Collar is. Biiird. Rind-necked Duck. 591. Aylhya Americana. Bonap, Red-head. 502. Aylhya Vallinnnia. Bunap. Canvas-uack. 593. Bucephala Avurirana, Baird. Golden Eve. .594. Bucephala Islandtcn. Bnird. . Barrow's Golden Eve. 595. Bucephala Albeola. Baird. '' Butter Ball. 596. Histrinnivus Torqualns. Bonap. Harlequin Duck. 597. Ilartlda Glai-ialis. Loaob. South Southerly. 598. I'ulystida Stelleri. Kyton. Steller'.s Duck. 599. Lampronelta Fischeri. Brandt. Si'ectacled Kider. 600. Camptiilaemus i.ahiadoritia. Oraj. Laiikador Duck, 001. Mdanetia Vdretina. Buird. Velvet Duck. 602. Pelionelta rers/iicillala. Kaup. Sure I>uck. 603. Pelionetla Truwhridi/ii. Baird. Lonc-iiilled Scoter. 004. Oidcniia Ame.rictna. Swr.ins. Scoter. 005. Oidemia Bimacnlata. Baird. Huron .Scoter. 006. Somaleria MoUissima, Leach. Eidkr Duck. 007. Somateria v. Nii/ra. Gray. Pacific Eider. 608. Somateria Sperlahitis. Leaoh. Ki.N(i Eider. 009. Erisniatnnt lluhida. Bonap. Ruddy Duck. 010. Erismntura Dominira. Eyton. Blai K .Masked Duck. Oil. Mergus Ainericamis. Cass. Sheldrake. 012. Mergus Serntlor. Linn. Red-iikeasted Meru anser. 613. Loplii'di/les Cncullatus. Reich. Hooded Merijanser. 014. Mergdlus AlMlus. Sdby. S.MEW. 615. Pdccanus Kri/lhrorhynchus, Gm. American Pelican. •\ XII 016. 017. 018. 019, OIJO. 021. 622. 623. 624. 625. 620. 627. 628. 629. C.30. 031. 032. 033. 034. 035. 030. 637. 638. 639. 640. 611. 642. 043. 644. 645. CATALOGUE OF NORTH AMKllICAN BIRDS. rdtcanui Fu.irua. Linn. Uhown Pki.ican. Sula Hanmna. Ui-inii. Uannet. Sula J'\ber. (Linn.) BuiiBV. Tachyprtm Aqiiita. Vioill. Man-of-war Bird. GraculuH Vurho. (Jriiy. Common Cormorant. Graeulus IWaiiicillatuii. Lawr. PaI.I.As'h CoRMllRANi'. Oraculut Viiieinnaiiin. Gray. TuKTiti) Cormorant. Granilns IHt(ii)iii,K-cRF.sTKi) Cormorant. Graciilii.i Flariiitnttii. Konap. Florida Cormorant. Granilus McxirnniiK. Bonnp. Mkxican Cormorant. Granthm I'eiiirilldtuit. Bonap. Brandt'h Cormorant. Grnndiiii ViolacfHK. (iray. Violet (irkkn Cormorant. I'liitiia Anhiiuta Liiiii. .^NAKK Bird; Water Tirkkv. I'h(ie((>n Flariiiinhi.i. Brandt. Yellow-hilled Tropic Bird. Diomfdea Fxiihiint. Linn. Wanderino Aliiatross. Diomedra /{riir/ii/uia. Temm. Short-tailed Aluatross. Diomcdea Chlinnrhyniling. Gmd. Yellow-nohed Aliiatross. Diomrdta Fiili(iinU!i SqUentrianalis. Linn. Kei>-tiiroatki) Diver. 702. I'ldicnm Orisnijena. t; Puffin. 715. Mormon Arctica. Iliigor. Arctic Puffin. 716. Saymntiirrhina l,iil)rndoria. Caa. Laiirador Auk. 717. Ccrnrhiwi Mnnomnta. CaMin. Sea lloRN-nii.i.. 718. Cernrliinn SucLln/i. CasHin. 719. Phaltris ('ri.itdtellti. Honap. <.'RERVED Al'K. 720. I'hiih'iis Ti/rarulii. .Stpphons. DUSKI' Al'K. 721. Phalrrin Cdiiitsr/iulird. C\ igin. Kamtxiiatkan Auk. 722. Phalli in Mi< inrcroi. Itiandt. 723. Phitleria Pimiltn. Ciissin. Least .\uk. 724. PliirluirhiiuiplniK Alinfimx. Brt. C\SSIn's (illl.l.KMOT. 725. Ombria Paittiicnlu. KsohHch. Parrot Auk. 720. Uria Ori/lli'. Li\tliuni. Hl.ACK (lUII.I.EMOT. 727. Uria Columlia. Cjissin. Western Guillemot. 728. Uria C-vIm. Hraiult. Crow (Ii'illemot. 729. Uria l.umvia. BiUimicb. Foolish Ciuillemot. 730. Uria liin;/vi(i. BrUnnich. MURRE. 73L Uria Arra. { Pallas). TlIICK-IIILI.ED (iulLLEMOT. 732. lirachirhamphus Marmnratus. >iAHilI.KI> (juillemot. 733. Ihachj/rltamphus Wruni/elii. Br. WranUEL's QuiLI.CHOT. 1 < 4 XIV CATALOGUE OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 734. !raehi/rhamphu» Braehypterus. SnuRT-WINOED GUILI , MOT. 735. Brarhi/rhamphus Kitthtzii. Br. KiTTLiTz's Guillemot. 736. Brachyrkamphus Antijnua. Br. Anciknt Al'K. 737. Bracht/rhamphus Tetnminckii. Br. Tbmhinck's Guillemot, 738. Mergulus Alle. A'ieillut. SsA Duvic. ALPHABETICAL INDEX «r GENERA OF BIRDS. {tta RDMBnu ARi Tnosi or ini mer gpiao iiiktiumxd id toi catalooui.) Acclplter, Autiluru*, Actiiilromui, AtliiniHfltor, Al'|[iKl<'ll>, Ariiiiilitii, AoKiothiiii, Af^Hlrolata, Ak<'Iu>>»i Aix. Alia, Aniinodrnnius, Aiiitielifl, AriKH, AiHirtliura, Anmii, A nK««r, Anthill, Anlroxlomua, Aplirir^, Apnlinptuni Aqnilu, AlMIIIIIS Ar.lnu. Anl.-ltn, Arcliilpuico, Arilcnttn, ArqiiatcIIil, AKtniKiilliiui, Anliir. Atiliii'lna, Allii'iie, Althi'i. Aui)iilH)nta, Aylliya, Haallrutiiruii, llitlhinliluriia, llf'iiili'ln, ItlnHipilM, Hitiiiwa. It'itiiiinin, llrui livotii*. Dritrliyrlmmphui, Uubu, I Bncephala, |Bnlo<>, 16 Uiituridoa, M5 Wl flftl 607 604 '. Calamnnpiza, 320 CaliilriH, Km Cullipi'pla, 401 ,CHnipi'|>lillus, 687 1 rauiptnlHMlltIA, 710 . CninpylorhyiiL-hiia. 841 ^riirclnllina, *Jii'2 Cardltuilis, 67fi Carp*«lacu8| 27:1 Caliii'HCtes, 6»A Cntlinrti'il, 61.3 Cnllicipid, 116 Ccntrorcrcua, 111 (;»;Mlr"n>'X, 611 Ceii1r<';>liHiioa, T.M Ceiiluiuif, :UI Ororliiiia, 4W Ccrthin, 4«7 (Vitliidia, 4al IVrjli'. :io Cliirtura, A47 I Chaiiiii'il, 6'.'S Jchiuiiirpplla. (il3 : CtiarHtlrluN, 11 Diaiilelaamus, ail Choii, 6t* Chi^nali»ppx, IIIA riilot'pliaiia, 4Ktl CliionwKrjlo, 6ttl Choiul'-nl'^H, '"horiU'iU'H. ^■''riilwKN'plialug, l.itrynotnttri*, rtruroniaf (in- us, 121 .('iKi'iiliorua, 5«7 ( •M<-vKii«, ««,! ('.ilapti'a, ';fi6,l'.illvHo, 49'i[('<'liiml>a, 6'i (MynilMia, 73'i U'niiliipiia, 48|l'i(inia, 109 I ILiliclionyx, 274 4M 60.1 684 6C3 710 67 ;i 118 344 114 6(17 310 722 an 2Ci8 m BO KIA 446 608 Falrliivlliia, 137 I Jal.-o, 6S : t'lurida, DyBporua, Kctoplatea, KluniiH, K'ul'tfrnagra, Kinpidoimx, Krtmiopliilai Krpwiii-tfM, Kriamatura, Kndia, KupMuiiia, Kuvpi/.Uf 423 667 33S 220 46 679 6riH 65S 66 464 31N 467 383 434 661 477 616 67 « 48 674 189 630 399 399 448 873 140 802 636 609 629 22 ( 378 Prafomila, KrcRotta, Fiilica, Fulix, FulmaruB, Gall[na(];n, (iiillinnia, (liuiitx'tta, (Jarzftta, ttcniiiiiii, UciH'oc^-yx, (lentlilypia, • (■liiiiciiliuut, tlloltia, tloniaphoa, (Irnculita, Uriia, • luiraca, Gyuiuukitta, H. llaontatopua, llaliHt.lua, llaietda, llarpoi'hynCiillB, Hi'lniintihiplmga, Ht.jnnlhoruB, IIrIliortyx, Luuda, Macrorhampliui, Mareca, Mitlanprpofl, Mcluiu-tla, MeleagrfK, Molopeiia, MolospiKa, Mer^tia, Micropiilama, Milvulns, Miinufl, Miiivlilta, Motothrufl, Mumutua, Mormon, Myiadentr*, Myjarrliui, )tyUHlioct««, Naiiclnrua, NectriH, Networya, i^ftphoncctM, Nnltion, Nuineniaa, Nyctale, Nfctiardek, INDEX OF GENERA OF BIRDS. 176 408 36 106 360 467 100 m> eiifi 5li7 67 'J 6lilt •21 32a 548 6.!0 Hi:l 2H6 474 712 624 6S'i 94 COl 467 460 S>>3 flU 7;is (ill !,-M 122 2,'.;i lti7 400 119 712 231 130 211 34 64« liM 108 679 649 65 4«6 Nyclea, ^yl'therodlull, NyctiUromua, Oreai ftM, Ocertiio'lroma, (k-hthndromua, Oidomia, Olor, Omiiria, (tnocrotalus, Opiirornis, Oroopfh'la, Orcftrtyx, Or«M>pcoptM, Ortalitla, (irtyx, OHHifnigiiB, Otiia, Oxyccbna, Pachyrhaniphua, I'lifTtiphila, Pundion, I'aiiyptila, I'limla, rMrt>ip0, 61 496 llGa 644 640 6011 604 6fi) 728 filH 174 464 473 266 466 471 634 61 604 120 676 44 107 1I-.8 3IKI 2S9 332 374 447 4Wl 616 602 443 370 820 660 629 619 719 214 644 623 631 ft:i3 502 SO 432 430 82 74 304 3U1 IS6 326 628 70-i PodyllmhiiB, PowiloptornlB, Poliuptila, Polylif>iiifl, Polyaticla, PooiM'etes, Pnoffpi7.a, Porphyrula, I'orziina, Pioroltaria, Progno, Protonnlaria^ Paaltripiinis, INilorhiinifl, Ptychurhuniphiis, !*ufflnii«, Pyr.inda, Pyrihiiloxia, Pyrorcplialus, Qnorqnodnlft, QiitacaluB, R. ItalliiB, KtTurviroBtra, Kt>KiilnB, li)i(Hli>(«t(>t))ia, IthyH<'Op)iiliiit, Khyiirliipphuiit'H, Rhy'M'liopB, lil> .nchupBitta, Hi 'Ma, KoithramiiB, B. .■'aitinatortilDa, Hrtlpitit'teB, Saxicota, Say(i.pha(!a, Sialia, Ciiivrliyriihiis, tSitla. Sonialoria, Spatula, i»p(*rn»ophlla, i'iphyropicufl, Spizi'lla, Squalarola, Starnoeiuu, 709 23 288 46 698 337 366 661 666 634 231 169 297 444 724 647 220 SS9 147 581 41U 662 617 lltl 678 641 mo 697 64 672 37 716 264 l,'i7 l:i4 462 630 417 49 186 103 217 168 719 277 fl(« 68:< 388 86 367 610 466 RtoRHnopna, Sliirrorarius, Sterna, Stn'pKilaa, SIrix, Htiirnclla, .Siila, Surnia, SynipliemlH, 8ynllilll)orh«mphuB, 736 Syruium, 53 (It 662 681 616 47 406 617 62 637 T. TarhypptPB, Tarliyiriori-hls, THiitalnti, Ti'lmaliHiytcs, Tclrao, Tlialaaaarclin, ThalaaMlilrnma, TlialntiHoira, TliriothornB, TInniinruluB, TrirhopiciiB, Trinna. Trinnoiilcfl, TroriiiluB, Tri.gloilytoB, TroKnn, TriipiallB, TrynpitcB, TiirthiH, TylorhamphUB, TyrannuB, u. ITrla, ItIIi-, Ulamanla, VIrpo, VireoBylra, X. XantlincpphaluB, Xantiionra, Xfnia. .Xomiplciia, Z. Zpnafda, '/.i-itaidiira, SUjsiotrlchia, 619 29 4»7 268 4,69 1:32 640 637 2t'* 13 74 626 643 101 270 66 406 646 148 720 124 726 626 7a S44 240 404 442 680 81 449 461 846 INTRODUCTION. Ik the commencement of a work of such magnitude, and so novel in this country, some account will necessarily be expected of the motives of the author, and of the nature and intended execution of the work. As to the former of these, it is respectfully submitted, that, amusement blended with instruction, the correction of numerous errors which have been introduced into this part of the natural history of our country, and a wish to draw the attention of my fellow-citizens, occasionally, from the discordant jarrings of politics, to a contemplation of the gran- deur, harmony, and wonderful variety of Nature, exhibited in this beautiful portion of the animal creation, are my principal, and almost only, motives, in the present undertaking. I will not deny that there may also be other incitements. Biassed, almost from infancy, by a fondness for birds, and little less than an enthusiast in my researches after them, I feel happy to communicate my observations to others, probably from the mere principle of self-gratification, that source of so many even of our most virtuous actions ; but I candidly declare, that lucrative views have nothing to do in the business. In all my wild-wood rambles fheiie never were sufficient eithor to allure me to a single excursion, to discourage me from one, or to engage my pen or pencil in the present publication. My hopes on this head are humble enough ; I ask only support equal to my merits, and to the laudability of my intentions. I expect no more ; I am not altogether certain even of this. h\.:* leaving the issue of these matters to futurity, I shall, in the meantime, comfort myself with the good old ailage : " Happy are they who expect nothing, for they shall not be disnppointed." As to the nature of the work, it is intended to comprehend a descrip- tion and representation of every species of our native birds, from the shores of the St. Lawrence to tlie mouths of the Mississippi, and from the Atlantic Ocean to the interior of Louisiana : these will be engraved in a style superior to any thing of flie kind hitherto published ; and colored from nature with the most scrupulous adherence to the true tints of the original. The bare account of scientific names, color of bills, claws, feathers, Ac, woulil form but a dry detail ; neither, in a publication of the present kind, where every species is faitlifuliy figured and colored, is a long Vol. I -I 1 < J r ' 1 2 INTRODUCTION. and miiiuto description of the form, and feathers, absolutely necessary. This would, in the opinion of some, bo like introducing a gentleman to company, with " ladies and gentlemen, Mr. . lie has on a blue coat — white pantaloons — hussar'boots," &c., &c., while a single glance of eye, over the person himself, told us all this b^^fore the orator had time to open his mouth ; so infinitely more rapidly do ideas reach us through the medium of the eye, than by that of the ear. But as time may prey on the best of colors, what is necessary in this respect will by no means be omitted, that tlio figures and descriptions may mutually corroborate each other. It is also my design to enter more largely than usual into the manners and disposition of each respective species ; to become, as it were, their faithful biographer, ami to delineate their various peculiari- ties, in character, song, building, economy, &,c., as far as my own obser- vations have extended, or the kindness of others may furnish nio with materials. The Ornithoi.ooy of the United States exhibits a rich display of the most splendid colors, from the green, silk}', gold-bespangled down of the minute Humming-bird, scarce three inchc!! in extent, to the black coppery wings of the gloomy Condor, of sixteen feet, who sometimes visits our northern regions — a numerous and powerful band of songsters, that for sweetness, variety, and melody, are surpassed by no country on earth — an ever-changing scene of migration, from torrid to temperate and from northern to southern regions, in quest of suitable seasons, food, and climate ; and such nn amazing diversity in habit, economy, form, disposition and faculties, so uniformly hereditary in each species, and so completely adequate to their peculiar wants and convenience, as to overwhelm us with astonishment at the power, wisdom and beneficence of the Creator ! In proportion a,s we become acquainted with these particulars, our visits to, and residence in the country, become more and more agreeable. Formerly, on such occasions, wo found ourselves in solitude, or with respect to the fi'athered tribos, as if it wi-re in a strange country, where the manners, language and faces of all were eitiifr totally overlooki-d, or utterly unknown to ua: now, wo find ourselves among interesting and well-known neighbors and acquaintance; and, in the notes of every songster, recognise with satiMfa(;tion the voice of an old friend and com- panion. A study thus tending to multiply our enjoyments at so cheap a rate, and to lead us, by such pleasing gradations, to the contemplation and worship of the Great Firnt Cause, the Father and Preserver of all, can neither be idle nor useless, but is worthy of rational Oeings, and doubtless agreeable to tlie Deity. In order to attain a more perfect knowledge of birds, naturalists have dividctl them into orders, genera, species, and varieties ; but in doing this, scarcely two have agreed on the same mode of arrangement, and i w INTRODUCTION. 8 our il)lo. Avith KTO )kc(l, and ■very •oni- leap Ltillll all. and iiavo i.ing mid this has indeed proved a source ot great perplexity to the student. Some have increased the number of orders to an unnecessary extent, multiplied the genera, and, out of mere varieties, produced what they supposed to be entire new species. Others, sensible of the impropriety of this, and -wishing to simplify the science, as much as possible, have reduced the orders and genera to a few, and have thus thrown birds, whose food, habits and other characteristical features are widely diflFer- oiit, into one and the same tribe, and thereby confounded our perception of that beautiful gradation of affinity and resemblance, whic!" Nature herself seems to have been studious of preserving throughout the whole. One principal cause of the great diversity of classifications, appears to be owing to the neglect, or want of opportunity, in these writers, of observing the manners of the living birds, in their unconfined state, and in their native countries. As well might philosophers attempt to class mankind into their respective rclujioiis denominations, by a mere exami- nation of their physiognomy, as naturalists to form a correct arrange- ment of animals, without a knowledge of these necessary particulars. It is only by personal intimacy that we can truly ascertain the char- acter of either, more particularly that of the feathered race; noting their particular haunts, modes of constructing their nests, manner of flight, seasons of migration, favorite food, and numberless other minu- tiae, which can only be obtained by frequent excursions in the woods and fields, along lakes, shores and rivers ; and require a degree of pa- tience and perseverance which nothing but an enthusiastic fondness for the pursuit can inspire. * Of the numerous systems which have been adopted by different wri- ters, tliat published by Dr. Latham, in his "Index Ornithologicus," and "General Synopsis of liirds," seems the least su'oject to the objections above-mentioned ; anMjt>a, Synopsts of Birdt. Gallinaceous. Struthious. DIV. H. Waders. Pinnated feet. Web-footod. GENERA OF BIRDS. DIV. I. i^JVi> BIRDS. ORDER I. RAPACIOUS. Vulture. Falcon. Owl. ORDKR II. PIES. Shriite. Parrot. Toucan. Motmot. Channel-bill. Hornbill. Beef-eater. Ani. Plantain-eater. Wattle-bird. Crow. Roller. Oriole. Grakle. Paradise-bird. Curucui. Barbet. Cuckoo. Wryneck. Woodpecker. Jacanmr. Kiiipfishor. Nuthatch. Tody. Bee-eater. Hoopoe. INTRODUCTION. Index Oi-niihologicua. 29. Certhia, 80. TrochiluBf ^ ORDO III. PASSEHES. 81. Stumu»y 82. Turdus, 33. Ampelii, 34. Colius, 85. Loxia, 36. Emheriza, 37. Tanagra, 38. Fringilla, 39. PJ^totoma, 40. Musckapa, 41. Alauda, 42. Motacilla, 43. Sylvia, 44. Pipra, 45. Parus, 46. Hirundo, 47. Caprimulg'U9f OKDO IV. COLUMBiE. 48. Columha, ORDO V. GALLING. 49, Pavo, 50. Meleagris, 51. Penelope, 62. Numida, 58. Cfrax, 53. *3tenura, 54. Phamajius, 55. Tinamus, 66. Tetrao, 57. Perdix, 58 Paophia, 59. Otis, ORDO vr. STIIUTHIONES. 60 Didus, 61 Slruthio, Synopsis of Birds, Creeper. Humming-bird. ORDER III. PASSEKINB. Starling. Thrush. Chatterer. . Coly. Grosbeak. Bunting. Tanager. Finch. Plant-cutter. Flycatcher. Lark. Wagtail. Warbler. Manakin. Titmouse. Swallow. Goatsucker. ORDKR IV. COLUMBINE. Pigeon. ORDER V. GALLINACEOUS. Peacock. Turkey. Guan. Pintado. Curassow. Monura. Pheasant. Tinamou. Grouse. Partridge. Trumpeter. Bustard. ORDER VI. STIIUTHIOUS. Dodo. African Ostrich. ' »¥i^'.: INTRODUCTION. ! .' Index Omithologicua, 62 Caauariua. 63 Bhea, DIV. II. AVES AQUATICJE. OKDO VII. ORALLY. 64. J'latalea, 65. Palamedea, m. Myctcria, 67. Vancromaf 68. Scopus, 69. Ardea, 70. Tantalus, 71. Numenius, 72. Scolopax, 73. Tringa, 74. Charadriut, 75. Cursorius, 76. IhrmatopuM, 77. Glareola, 78. Itallus, 79. Parra, 79. *Cereopsis, 80. GalUnula, 81. Vaginalis, ORDO VIII. PINNATIPEDES. 82. ritalaropus. 83. Fulica, 84. Podiceps, ORDO IX. 1 I'ALMIPEDKS. t Pedilnis longioribus, 85. liecurvirostra, 86. Currira, 87. Pkaenicopterus, tt J'i'ililius brcvioribus. 88. JJiouiedea, 89. A lea, 90. Uria, 91. C'jh/mhus, 92. Ilynchops, Synopsi* of IlinU. Cassowary. American Ostrich. DIV. II. WATER BIRDS. ORDER VII. WADERS. Spoonbill. Screamer. Jabiru. Boatbill. Umbre. Heron. Ibis. ^ Curlew. Snipe. Sandpiper. Plover. Courser. Oyster-catcher. Prantincole. Rail. Jacana. Coreopsis. Galliimlc. Sheath-bill. ORDKR VIII. PINNATED FEET. I'liiilaropc. Coot. Grebe. ORKKU IX. WEB- FOOTED. t With long legs. Avocet. Courier. Flamingo. It With short legs. Albatross. Auk. Guillemot. Diver. Skimmer. 4 lifH ' 'W'W INTRODUCTION. Index OrnUhologicui, 98. Stemoy 94. Lartu, 95. Procellaria, 96. Merguiy 97. Anat, 98. Aptenodytes, 99. Pelicanu9, 100. Phaeton, 101. P/o*tory uf New IlainpHhiro," as woll as Dr. WilliainH, in that of Vermont, have each enumerated a few of our birds. But these, from the nature of the publications in which they have been introduced, can bo considered only as catalogues of names, without the detail of specific particulars, or the figuren dividoil into sevorul gonora, liy modern ornitholngisti, Tonuninck adopts the four followiiij;: 1. VuUur. (Illiger). 2 CutliartfS. (Illiger). 3. Gyj)aelH». (Storr). 4. Gi/poijvianiin. (Uliper). Tlio two foUowinj; species belong to tlie Hecond of these, the genus Caiharles of 'Uiger. No true Vulture in the pruHent reMtrioted acceptation of that genuH linM been found iu America. f The author mentions New Jorsoy in particular, hh in that state he has visited the breeding place of tlie Turkey-hu/.aiurd, and cun therefore apeak with certiiinty of tli'> fact. Pennsylvania, it is more than pmlialile, alTords situations equally attractive, which are also tenanted by this Vulture, fur hatching and rearing ita young. Xim.i. K m^: 12 TURKEY VULTUUE. to the purpose. The fonialo is at no pains to form a nest with materials ; but having chosen a suitable place, which is either a truncated hollow tree, or an excavated stump or log, she lays on the rotten wood from two to four eggs, of a dull dirty white, splashed all over with chocolate, mingled with blackish touches, the blotches largest and thickest towards the great end ; the form somewhat like the egg of a goose, but blunter at the small end ; length two incLos and three quarters, breadth two inches. The male watches often while the female is sitting ; and if not disturbed they will occupy the same breeding place for several years. The young are clothed with a whitish down, similar to that which covers young goslings. If any person approach the nest, and attempt to han- dle them, they will innnediately vomit such offensive matter, as to compel the intruder to a precipitate retreat. The Turkey-buzzards are gregarious, peaceable, and harmless ; never offering any violence to a living animal, or, like the plunderers of the Falco tribe, depriving the husbandman of his stock. Hence, though in consequence of their filthy habits they are not beloved, yet thc^ are respected for their usefulness ; and in the southern states, where they are most needed, they, as well as the black vultures, are protected by a law, which imposes a fine on ihose who wilfully deprive them of life. In the middle and northern states, being unprotected by law, these useful birds are exposed to persecution, and, consequently, they avoid the residence of man. They generally roost in flocks, upon the limbs of large trees ; and they may be seen in a summer's morning, spreading out their wings to the rising sun, and remaining in that posture for a considerable time. Pennant conjectures that this is *' to purify their bodies, which are most offensively fetid." But is it reasonable to sup- pose that that effluvia can be offensive to them, which arises fnmi food perfectly adapted to their i.iture, and which is constantly the object of their desires? Many birds, and particularly those of the granivorous kind, have a similar habit, which, doubtless, is attendeil with the same exhilarating effect, that an exposure to the pure air of the morning ha.s on the frame of one just risen from repose. The Turkey-buzzards, unless when rising from the earth, seldom flap their wings, but sweep along in ogees, and dipping and rising lines, and move with great rapidity. They are often seen in companies, soaring at an immense height, particularlv before a thunderstorm. Their wings are not spread horizontaliy, but form an acute angle with the body, the tips having an upward curve. Their 8en.se of smelling is astonishingly exquisite,* and they never fail to discover carrion, even when at the * Till' Rritioh [lulilic Iuin latt'Iy lm«'n Hinuftcil with iIih tnli'sofa travollor, on sdiiia of 'III- iiniiiiiilg (if our tiiuiilrv. Anions ni'vitiiI imnicularH, wliirli force thvinNclveN \i\ton the uttt'ntion uf the AuuTiuan t'oadcr hy thuir uovi'lty, wu are |iri'8entcd with %l TURKEY VULTURE. 18 distance from it of several miles. Wlien once they have found a car- Cflj's they will not leave the place, if unmolested, till the whole ia devoured. At such times they cat so immoderately, that frequently they are incapable of rising, and may be caught without much difficulty ; but few that are acquainted with them will have the temerity to undertake the task. A man in the state of Delaware, a few years ago, observing some Turkey-buzzards regaling themselves upon the carcass of a horse, which was in a highly putrid state, conceived the design of making a cap- tive of one, to take homo for the amusement of his childrei>. He cau- tiously approached, and springing upon the unsuspicious group, gra-sped a fine plump fellow in his arms, and was bearing oft' hia prize in triumph, when lo ! the indignant Vulture disgorged such a torrent of filth in the face of our hero, that it produced all the efi'ects of the most powerful emetic, and for ever cured him of his incl'j.ation for Turkey-buzzarus. On the continent of America this species iidiabits a vast range of ter- ritory, being common,* it is said, from Nova Scotia to Terra del Fuego.f IIow far, on the Pacific, to tlie nortlnvard of ti.e river Columbia, they are found, we are not informed ; but it is ascertained that they extend their migrations to the latter, allured thither by the quantity of dead salmon, which at certain seasons line its shores. They are numerous in the West India islands, where they are said to be "far inferior in size lo those of North America.''^ This leads us to the inquiry, whether or not the present species has been confounded by the naturalists of Europe, with the Black Vulture^ or Carrion Crow, which is so common in the southern parts of our continent. If not, why hius the latter been totally overlooked in the most noted Ornithologies with which the world has been favored, when it is so conspicuous and remarkable, that there is no stranger that visits South Carolina, Geor- tho result of a geries of eipoi'iments, which were inHtituted to prove, that the Tur- key bnzziinl (]oo» not j)ossoi*> the senne af xmfllin;/ ! Tliis iiii)i()rtiiiit eniiiu'iation would he ciilculiitod to es upon the nseendaney of an observer, whose eredihlr narratives may aspiri' to tho honor of rankins; witli the tales of tlie artless .Jfdin Ihinn Hunter, or tl iiKMiiliraui') tiiiirf timii iiii itirli Idm;;, wtiitiMli ut lhi> point ; titi! hroml anil iiirii' inclii's lonj; ; li'^s ami fi'ot thriio iiichps loii^ ; it llios ciuctly like a kite, and preya on nothiiuj liviiuj, but when (lt\a"l it devours their caroasHcs, wliunuo thcj ari" not molested." Sloiino, Nat. Hist. Jum. vol. ii., p. 294, folio. t .Medley's Koliicn, vol. ii. j). \'.\b. TURKEY VULTURE. , V || ishment, freely give currency to every ridiculous tale, •which the design- ing or the credulous impose upon them. The Turkey Vulture is two feet and a half in length, and six feet two inches in breadth ; the bill, from the corner of the mouth, is almost two inches and a half long, of a dark horn color, for somewhat more than an inch from the tip, the nostril a remarkably wide slit or opening through it ; the tongue is greatly concave, cartilaginous, and finely ser- rated on its edges ; ears sub-cordate, eyes dark, in some specimens red- dish hazel ; wrinkled akin of the head and neck reddish ; the neck not yo much carunclcd as that of the Black Vulture ; from the hind-head to the neck feathers, the space is covered with down, of a sooty black color ; the fore part of the neck is bare as far as the breast bone, the skin or the lower part, or pouch, very much wrinkled, this naked skin is not discernible without removing the plumage which arches over it ; the wiiole lower parts, lining of the wings, rump and tail-coverts, are of a sooty brown, the feathers of the belly and vent hairy ; the plumage of tlie neck is largo and tumid, and, with that of the back and shoulders, !)lack ; the scapulars and secondaries arc l)lack on their outer webs, skirted with tawny brown, the latter slightly tipped with white ; prima- ries and their coverts plain ])rown, the former pointed, third primary tlie longest ; coverts of the secondaries, and lesser coverts, tawny brown, centred witli black, some of the feathers, at their extremities, slightly edged with white ; the tail is twelve inches long, rounded, of a brownish Idack, and composed of twelve feathers, which are broad at their ex- tremities; inside of wings and tail light ash; the wings reach to the end of the tail ; the whole body and neck, beneath the j)lumage, are tiiiekly clothed with a white down, which feels like cotton ; the shafts of the ])riniaries are yellowish wliite above, and those of the tail brown, both ])ure white Itelow ; tiie plumiigo of the neck, baek, shoulders, scap- ulars ami secondaries, is glossed with green and lironze, and has purple reflections; the thighs are feathered to tlie knees; foot considerably webbed; middle foe three inches and a half in length, and about an inch and a half longer than the outer one, wliieli is the next longest ; the sole of the foot is iuird and rough ; claws dark born color ; the legs arc of a pale flesh color, a;id three inches long. The claws are larger, but the feet slenderer, than those of the Carrion Crow. The bill of the male is ])iire white, in some specimens the upper mandible is tipped with black. Tliere is little or no otlier pereeptilile difl'erenee between the sexes. Tlie l)ird from which the foregoing description was taken, was shot for this work, at (Jreat Egg-harbor, the thirtieth of January. It was a fcunile, in perfect plumage, excessively fat, and weighed five pounds one ounce, avoirdupois. On dissection, it emitted a slight nuisky odor. The Vulture is included in the catalogue of those fowls declared un- clean, and an abomination, by the Lcvitical constitution, and which the I' ™ I 16 BLACK VULTURE. Israelites were interdicted eating.* Wo presume that this prohibition was religiously observed, so far at least as it related to the whole family of the Vultures, from whose flesh there arises such an unsavory odor, that we question if all the sweetening processes ever invented, could render it palatable to a Jew, Pagan, or Christian. Temminck, and some recent ornithologists, have separated 0"r Vul- tures from the genus Vultur, and have classed them under the genus Oathartes of Illiger. It should seem that there is a propriety in this arrangement ; but as Wilson published, in his sixth volume, the cata- logue of his land birds, adopting the genus Vultur, as sanctioned by Latham, we have not thought proper, in this instance, to deviate from his plan.f Species II. VULTUR JOTA. BLACK VULTURE, or CARRION CROW. [Plate LXXV. Fig. 2.] VuUvr jota, Omei,. Si/.tl. i., p. 247. — Moi.iM.t, Hisl. Chili, i., p. 18.5, Am. trans. — Znpilot, Ci,AVi(ii!Ro, Hint. ydr. I., p. 47, Kiuj. trans. — Gallinazo,[]u.o\, Voy.i.,p. 52, Amsterdam (d.— Vultur alratus, Bartrah, p. 289. — Vautour du lirisil, PI. Knt. 1S7. — Vultur aura, R. Lath. Ind. Orn. p. v. — Le Vautour urubn, Vikill. Ois. dt I'Am. Sept. I., p. 23, pi. 2. Thk habits of both this and the preceding Vulture are singular. In the towns and villa;j;es of the soutborn st.atos, particularly Charleston and Georgetown, Soutli Carolina, and in Savannah, Georgia, these birds may be seen either sauntering about the streets ; sunning themselves on the roofs of the houses, and the fences ; or, if the weather be cold, cowering around tlio tops df tlic chimneys, to enjoy the benefit of the heat, which to them is a peculiar gratification. Tliey are protected by a law ; and may be said to be completely (bmiesticated, being as common as the poultry, and equady as familiar. The inhabitants, generally, are di.>^ BLACK VULTURE. 19 perpetuated this slander, which is so absurd, that wo wonder how it could have escaped his animadversion. *' It would be too great an undertaking," says Ulloa, " to describe all the extraordinary birds that inhabit this country ; but I cannot refrain from taking notice of that to whicli they give the name of Gallinazo, from the resemblance it has to the Turkey-hen. This bird is of the size of the Pea-hen, but its head and neck are somewhat larger. From the crop to the base of the bill there are no feathers ; and the skin, which is of a brownish black color, is wrinkled and rough, and covered with small warts and tubercles. The plumage of the bird is also black. The bill is well proportioned, strong, and a little hooked. These birds are familiar in Carthagena, the tops of the houses are covered with them. They are very serviceable, in cleansing the city of all its animal impuri- ties. There are few ani-nals killed whereof they do not obtain the offals ; and when this food is waiiting, they have recourse to other filth. Their sense of smelling is so acute, that it enables them to trace carrion at the distance of three or four leagues ; which they do not abandon until there remains nothing but the skeleton. " The great number of these birds found in such hot climates, is an excellent provision of nature ; as otherwise, the putrefaction caused by the constant and excessive heat, would render the air insupportable to human life. When first they take wing, they fly heavily ; but afterwards they rise so high as to be entirely invisible. On the ground they walk sluggishly. Their legs are well proportioned ; they have three toes for- ward, turning inwards, and one in the inside, inclining a little backwards, so that the feet interfering, they cannot walk with any agility, but are obliged to hop ; each toe is funii.Hhed with a long and stout claw. " When the Gallinazos are deprived of carrion, or food ii^ the city, they are driven by hunger among the cattle of the pastures. If they see a boast with a sore on the back, they alight on it, and attack the part aft'ected ; and it avails not that the poor animal throws itsi'lf upon the ground, and endeavors to intimidate them with its bellowing : they do not quit their hold'* and by means of their bill they so soon enlarge the wound, that the animal finally becomes their prey."t The account, from tiie same author, of the beneficial eflocts resulting * The fiioiilty of pri'honHion, wliich is possosgod, in a remnrkiible dopree, by the whole of tho Fah-o trilio, Imt sli^'litly npportiiinN to Vultures, a.f> is f videnced liy tlicir feet and cliiws ; hence all the Htories which arc reliited, of their seizinj; upon their pre\, and lieaiiii^ it off in their talonn, are apoeryphal. We would extend this remark to the farfaiiu'd Condor, whose history has heen emhoUished with feats of Btrenjjth, not a little allied to the marvellous. t Voyn>.'e IliNtoriipio tie IWrn/^riipie M^ridionale, par I>on Ocorpe Juan, et Don Antoine l>c lUIoa, liv. I., chap, viii., p. 52. A .Amsterdam et k Leipzig, 1752, quarto. I < I '•I i w 20 BLACK VULTURE. from the fondness of the vultures for the eggs of the alligator, merits attention. " The Gallinazos are the most inveterate enemies of the alligators, or rather they are extremely fond of their eggs ; and employ much strata- gem to obtain them. During the summer, these birds make it their business to watch the female alligators ; for it is in that season that they deposit their eggs in the sand of the shores of tho rivers, which are not tiien overflowed. The Gallinazo conceals itself among the branches and leaves of a tree, so as to be unperceivod by tho alligator, and permits the eggs quietly to be laid, not even interrupting the precautions that she takes to conceal them. But she is no sooner under the water, than the Gallinazo darts upon the nest ; and with its bill, claws, and wings, uncovers the eggs, and gobbles them down, leaving nothing but tho shells. This banquet would indeed richly reward its patience, did not a multitude of Gallinazos join the fortunate discoverer, and share in the spoil. " IIow admirable the wisdom of that Providence, which hath given to the male alligator an inclination to devour its own oflspring ; and to the Gallinazo a taste for tho eggs of tho female ! Indeed neither the rivers, nor the neighboring fields, would otherwise be suflicient to contain tho multitudes that are batched; for notwithstatuling tho ravages of both these insatiable enemies, one can hardly imagine tho numbers that remain."* The Abbd Clavigero, in his History of Mexico, has clearly indicated the present species, as distinguished from the Turkey-buzzard. " The business of clearing the fields ro'H Mexico, traiiNlHteU by t'ullon, vol. i., p. 47, London. { Hist. Chili, Am. trans, i., p. 185. 22 HLACK VULTURE. ri 1- ■ !t neck feathers below the caruneled skin much inflateil, and very Uiick ; the goncial cok)r of the plumage is a dull black, except the priuiaricH, which are whitiwh on the inside, and have four of their broadened edges below of a drab, or dark cream color, extending two inchen, which is seen only when the wing is unfolded, the shafts of the feathers white on botl sides ; the rest of the wing feathers dark on both sides ; secondaries, scapulars and tail, with a slight coppery glosH ; the wings when folded are about the length of the tail, the fifth feather being the longest; the secondaries arc two inches shorter than the tail, which is composed of twelve feathers, and slightly forked, or nearly square; the exterior feathers three-quarters of an incli longer than the rest ; the legs are of a dirty limy white, three inches and a half in length, and, with the feet, are thick and strong; the midilie toe, including the claw, is four inches long, side toes two inches, and connected to the middle as far as the first joint ; inner toe rather the shortest; hind toe pointing inward; claws strong, but not sharp like those of the Falco genus, middle claw threOMpiarters of an inch long ; the stomach is not lined with hair as reported. ^Vhen opened, this bird smells strongly of musk, so much so as to be quite offensive. Sexes nearly alike. Mr. Abbot informs me that the Carrion Crow builds its nest in the large trees of the low wet swamps, to which places they retire every evening to roost. " They frequent," says he, '* that part of the town of Savannah where tiie hog-butchers reside, and walk about the streets, in great numbers, like domestic fowls. It is diverting to see, when the entrails and offals of the hogs are thrown to them, with what greediness they 8crand»!e for the food, seizing upon it, and pulling ono against another until the strongest prevails. The Turkey-buz/ard is accused of killing young lambs and pigs, by picking out their eyes, but I believe that the Carrion Crow is not guilty of the like practices." When taken alive, this bird bites excessively hard, and its bill, which is very sharp on its edges, is capable of inflicting severe wounds, as I myself expe- rienced. It is really astonishing that the European naturalists should so long have overlooked the difference which there is between this species and the Turkey-buzzard, in their external conformation. Their heads are difl'erontiy i;haped ; their bills and nostrils are considerably unlike; aiid the arrangement of the neck plumage is entirely dissimilar, as our figures will show. The Turkey-buzzard'« neck, along the ajso|)hagus, as far as the breast bone, is bare of feathers, though this nakedness is conceah'd by the adjacent plumage ; the same part in the (,'arrion Crow is com- pletely clothed. The down of both sj)eeies has the same cottony ajipt-arance. The drab color on the primaries is not visible when the wing is closed, consequently t!ie marking on the wing of our figure is incorrect. If f GREAT-FOOTED HAWK. 28 In the month of Dccombor, 1815, a solitary individual of this npooior mado ita appearance in Philadolphia. TIuh viuitor, as may bo pruHumed, occasioned not a little Hurpriae. It was shot with an air rifle, whilv perched upon u chimney of a larj^e house in ChcHtiiut street. This bird was put into my hands for examination ; and from the appeitranco oi its plumage, I had reason to conjecture that it had escaped from con- finement. From Vieillot's figure and description of the Black Vulture, wo must conclude that ho had never seen it, either alive, or in a recent state, otherwise he would not hove committed the egregious error of repre- senting the naked skin of the bill, head and neck, of a blood red, when these parts are of a scurfy, black color, resembling the skin of a dirty negro.* Genus II. FALCO. FALCONS. Shecibs I. /'. I'EltEGKlNUS. GREAT-FOOTED HAWK. [Plate LXXVI. Female.] Falco Peregrinvs, Quki.. -V'- '•. P- 272, 88.-Bri8s. i., p. 341, 6, and Var. A.—Ind. Orn. p. 33, No. 72. — Fah-o liarliartis, Linn. Sijit. ed. 10, toin i., p. 88, No. 6. — Qmel. Syat. i., p. 272, 8. — lad. (hn. p. 33, No. 71. — Fuku honwtinus, Briss. i., p. 324, A. Falco iiitjer, Id. p. 327, E. Falco viaailattm. Id. p. 32'.*, F. — I'tretjrint Fall-on, Lath. Si/n. i., p. 73, No. .')2. Id. suppl. p. IS. — 1'knn. J!ri(. Zool. No. 48, pi. 2(1. Airt. Zool. No. '.17. — Shaw, (ien. Zool. vd. vii., p. 128,— Montaou, (hn. Diet, and Suppl. — !7, viir. K. p. tiH. var. F. — Spoiled Hawk ov Falcon, Edwards, i., pi. 3. lilock Hawk or Fulmn, Id, \A. 4, both from IIudMun's Bay. — f.e Lanier, I'l. i-nl. 430, old male. Le Fauron noir el pa.ssai/er. Id. 4(19, young Icnialu? Le Faucun m-rs, Id. p. 470, yeariinj;. — Faucon pikrin, Temh. Man. d' Orn. p. 22. It is with groat plea.sure that we are now enabled to give a portrait of this celebrated Falcon, drawn of half the size of life, in tho best manner of our deceased friend ; and engraved by tho accurate and ingenious La'.v.son. This noble bird had excited our curiosity for a long time. Every visit which we made to the coast, was rendered doubly interesting by tho wonderful stories which we heijrptil<-H, nnd FImIii's, of 0-k noy and Shetland ; puhlishod by William Elford Leuch, M. !>., 4to. ISl.'J. GREAT-FOOTED HAWK. 27 are black ; the wings and scapulars are brownish black, each feather edged with paler, the former long and pointed, reaching almost to the end of the tail ; the primaries and secondaries are marked transversely, on the inner vanes, with large oblong spots of ferruginous white ; the exterior edge of the tip of the seconilaries curiously scalloppcd, as if a piece had been cut out ; the tertials incline to as)i color ; the lining of the wings is beautifully barred with black and white, and tinged with ferruginous; on a close examination, the scapulars and tertials are found to bo barred with faint ash ; all the shafts are black ; the rump and tail-coverts are light ash, marked with large dusky bars ; the tail ia rounding, black, tipped with I'oddish wliite, and crossed with eight nar- row bars of very faint aslt ; the cliin and breast, encircling the black mustaches, are of a pale buft' color ; breast below, and lower parts, red- dish buff, or pale cinnamon, handsomely marked with roundish or heart- shaped spots of black ; sides broadly barriMl with black ; the feuiorals are elegantly ornamented with herring-bones of black, on a buff ground ; the vent is pale buff, marked as the femorals, though with less numerous spots; the feet and legs are of a dirty whit", stained with yellow ochre, the legs short and stout, feathered a little below the knees, the bare part one inch in length ; span of the foot five inches, with a large protuberant sole ; middle too as long as the tarsus ; ''le claws are large and black, middle one three-quarters of an inch lo..^ .A claw seven-eighths of an inch. The most striking characters of this species arc the broad patch of black dropping below the eye, and the uncommonly large feet. It is stout, heavy, and firmly put together. The bird from wliieli the above description was taken, was shot in a cedar swamp, in Cape May county. New Jersey. It was a female, and contained the remains of small birds, among which were discovered the legs of the Sanileriing. The figure in the plate is an excellent resem- blance of the original, which was luindsoniely set up in the Philadelphia Museum. I am indebted to Mr. Titian IVale, for the view of an immature Bpeeimen of the J)u' k Hawk, whieh he shot near the Rocky M untain ) ; it was (|uit»> young, hiiving just leff, the nest. Its colors were principady a dirty white, and a reddish iirowii ; the patch belov,' the lye not very con.spicuous ; but the characters of the bill and feet proved the species. According to Teniminck, tjie Peregrine Falcon never iidnibits marshy countries; but this, I presume, is a mistake, as our bird is remarkable for its att I'hment to tiiose pliu-es which are affected by the water fowl; and it is well known that the latter abound in ;ili th(> marshes of th'" coast. In the month of Novcnnlier, 182.'5, I procured a fine living specimen of the Duck Hawk, which I preserved, with the view of noting ita 28 GREAT-FOOTED HAWK. change of plumage. It was a female, and was allowed the free range of a stable and garden. Notwithstanding my care, it lived but nine months. On dissection, I found her eggs very small, although she had every appearance of being an adult. Around the base of the heart and near the ovaries, I discovered two or three round wormp, of about nine inches in Ien<;th, During the time that she was in my possession she did not moult* and the change in the color of the plumage was but slight. In winter the upper parts were dark brown, but in the summer tliere was an appearance of ash color on the back and wing-coverts. Tiie fact, that the plumage of birds undergoes a change of color, independent of moult- ing, appears to be now well ascertained ; and it is with pleasure that I can add my testimony, on this subject, to the sen .ible " Remarks on the Changes of the Plumage of Birds," which were published in the twelfth volume of the Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. The paper in question was written by the Rev. William Whitear. My Duck Hawk never became sufficiently domesticated to permit me to handle her ; and if an attempt were made to touch her, slie would either hop away in anger, or, if prevented from retreating, she would spring upon me, and strike, furiously, with one of her pow-.-rful feet, which were capable of inflicting severe wounds. Unless when very hu"n:ry, she would not touch cooked fond ; she preferred fresh-killed meat, especially tender beef ami mutton, generally rejecting the fat. She was fond of small bird;-, but a live duck was her supreme deli8 ; but this is an error. The eye of the present species is duF ■ . 't.nt of the smaller species !• ' .illiant orange; the former ha.s the fai; I m (fat the end, the latter slightly forked. Such essential differcnceb i ;\''^ take place between two individuals of the same species. It ought, however, to be remarked, that in all figures and descriptions I liiive hitherto met with of the binl now before us, the iris is represented dl' a bright golden color ; but in all the specimens I have shot I uni- formly found the eye very dark, almost black, resembling a globe of black glass. No doubt the gold pbiniage l)i'ing black, the crown excepted, which is marked witii a sjHyt of bright rufous ; the slate tapers to a point on each side of the neck ; seven black spots surround the head, as in the female, on a reihlisli white ground, wliich also borders each sloping side of the blue ; front, lores, line over and tinder the eye, chin and throat, wliite; femoral and vent feathers yellowish white; the rest of the lower • Wf M(M tli(> follnwinj; HvniitiyiiK'.s : — Fulra uparreriti.'^. Linn. Si/.iI. eil. 10, p. 90. — ('<«Ei.. Si/st. I., ji. 'JS4. — hid. th-ii. p 4"J — F. Puminirrriiiis, Omki.. Si/nt. I., p. 2S.'). — I.itlle llduk. Cateshv, I., p. ft. — l/ Fmi-rill-m ilf la Cmiiliitf. Hriss.'>)vi. i., p. ,'iSfi. L' F.miriU'.n de SI. Ihimimjue, Id. p. 389. — Tinuunruhis spnmriitii, Vimi,. O/j. dt VAm. Sept. p. 1:!-13. ,^, f (U . •! i ' 3g AMERICAN SPARROW HAWK. parts of the same tint, each feather being streaked down the centre with a long black drop, those on the breast slender, on the sides larger ; upper part of the back and scapulars deep' reddish bay, marked with ten or twelve transverse waves of black ; whole wing-coverts, and ends of the secondaries, bright slate, spotted with black ; primaries and upper half of the secondaries black, tipped with white, and spotted on their inner vanes with the same ; lower part of the back, the rump and tail-coverts, plain bi ight bay ; tail rounded, the two exterior feathers white, their inner vanes beautifully spotted with black ; the next bright bay, with a broad band of black near its end, and tipped for half an inch with yel- lowish white, part of its lower exterior edge white, spotted with black, and its opposite interior edge touched with white; the whole of the others are very deep red bay, with a single broad band of black near the end, and tipped with yellowish white ; core and legs yellow, orbits the same, bill light bl'^e ; iris of the eye dark, almost black, claws blue black. The character of this corresponds with that of the female, given at large in the preceding article. I have reason, however, to believe, that these birds vary considerably in the color and markings of their pliunai'c during the first and second years ; having met with specimens every way corresponding with the above, except in the breast, which was a ])liiin rufous white, without spots ; the markings on the tail also differing a little in different specimens. These I uniformly found on dissection to be males ; from the stomach of one of which I took a considerable part of the carcass of a robin ( Titnhut 7iiiin the flock, and though mortally wounded and dying, held his prey fast till his last ex- piring breath ; having struck his claws into its very heart. This was found to be a nuile. Sometimes when .shot at, and not hurt, he will fly in circles over the sportsman's head, shrieking out with great violence, as if highly irritated. lie frequently flies low, skinnuing a little above the fiebl. I have never seen his nest. The Pigeon Hawk is eleven inehes long, and twenty-three broad ; tho whole up|)er parts are of a deep dark brown, except the tail, which is crossed with bars of white ; the inner vanes of the (;uill feathers are nuirkcd with round s[)ots of redilish bnnvn ; the bill is short, strongly toothed, of a light blue color, and tijjped with black ; the skin surround- ini' the eve greenish; cere the sami' ; temples, and line over the eye, light brown ; the lower parts brownish white, streaked laterally with dark brown ; legs yellow, elawa black. The feunile is an inch and a half lotigcr. of a still deeper color, though marked nearly in tho same manner, with the exception of s(une white on the hindheail. The femo- rals, or thigh feathers, in both, are of a renuukabh" length, reaching Vol. I. -3 (33) v y 1 IP'J if 34 BALD EAGLE. nearly to the feet, and arc also streaked longitudinally with dark brown. The iriiles of tlie eyes of this bird have been hitherto described as being of a brilliant yellow ; but every specimen I have yet met with luul the iris of a deei> hazel. I nmst tluTcfore follow nature, in ojjposition te very numerous and respectable authorities. I cannot, in imitation of European naturalists, embellish the history of this species with anecdotes of its exploits in falconry. This science, if it nuiy be so called, is among the few that have never yet travelled across the Atlantic; neither does it appear that the idea of training our hawks or eagles to the chase ever suggested itself to any of the Indian nations of North America. The Tartars, however, from whom, according to certiiin writers, may of these nations originated, have long excelled in the practice of this sport ; which is indeeil better suited to an open country than to one covered with forest. Though once so honorable and so universal, it is now much disused in Europe, and in Britain is nearly extinct. Yet I cannot but consider it as a nmch more noble and princely amusement than horse-racing and eock-fighting, cultivated in certain states with so much care ; or even than pugilism, which is still so liighly patronized in some of those enlightened countries. ■;:,-^ Species IV. FALCO LEVCOCEPIIALUS. WIIITE-IIEAI)K[), OK IJALD KAGLE.* [Plate XXXVI. Female.] Linn. Hyst. 1'24.— Lath, i., 2'.).— f^. pygaryue d lite hianchf. Buff, i., 09, pi. cnl. 4\\.—Ar,t. Zool. 190, No. 89.— /;«/oiiik to liavn l(i>?n occasioni'd liy tlio white iippcaranoo of the hr>!id, whon contraste"! with tlie diitk color of the rout of the plumn^c. The appi'llntion, Iiowcvit, hcinj; now almost utii^ornal, w rctaiiiod in tlie foHowin;; pa>;eH. t We add the followin;; Kynonymes. — -l-'iih-n /,,n', iiiMliuitly dirtptTHO, uiid inukc way for tlit-ir miwtnr, waitiii" liis dcixuturi- in sulloii silonco, and at a roHjioctrul di.stanco, on thu adjacent trocH. In one of tlione partial niigratioiiH of tree sipiirrels, tlnit soniotiniort lake idace in our we.ntern fore.sts, many thousands of llieni were drowned in atteniptin/^ to cross tho Oliio ; and at a certain jjlaee, not far from Wlieeling, a prodi^iims ?iuml»er of tlieir dead liodies were floated to tlio (diore l»v iin eddy. Here tlie Vultures assendiled in great force, and had regaled themselves for Home time, when a Hald Eagle made his appear- ance, and took solo posscHsion of the premises, keeping the whole Vul- tures at their proper distance, foi' several days. He has also heen seen navigating the same river on a floating carrion, though scarcely raised aliove the surface of the water, and tugging at the carcass, regardless of snags, sawyers, planters or shallow.H. Ho .sometimes carries his tyranny to great (!.xlremes against the Vultures. In hard times, when food happens to he scarce, should he accidentally nu'ct with oin; of these who has its craw crammed with carrion, ho attacks it fiercely in air; tho cowardly Vulture instantly dint/oiyeg, and the delicious contents arc snatched uji hy the Kagh> htfore they reach the ground. The nest of this species is generally fixed on a very large and lofty tree, often in a swamp, or morass, and dillicult to ho ascended. On some noted tree of this description, often a j)ine or cypress, the Bald Eaglo builds, year after year, for a hmg series of years. When h(»th male and female have heen shot from the nest, another pair has soon after taken p08se.<*sion. The nest is large, heing added to. and repaireil, every sea- son, utitil it hecomes a hlack prominent mass, ohsorvahle at a consider- able distance. It is fornu'd of largo sticks, sods, earthy ruhhish, hay, moss, &c. Many have stated to me that tho female lays first a single egg, anil that after having sat on it for some tiinti, she lays another ; when the first is hatched, the warmth of tluit, it is pretended, hatches tho other. Whether this he correct or not I cannot determine; hut a very respectahle gentleman of Virginia assured me. that he saw a largo tree cut down, containing the nest of a Hald Eagle, in which were two young, one of which appeared nearly thrt'<' times as large as the other. As a proof of their attachment to their young, a person n»>ar Norfolk iriforme place, they iiu't with a large dead j»ine tree, on which was a Hald Kagle's nest and young. The fri'c heing on fire more than half way up, and the flames rapidly ascending, the parent Kagle darted around ami among flie flames, until Jier pluniag<' was so much injured that it was with difliculty she could make her escape, and even then, she several times attempted to return to relieve her offspring. No bird provides more abuiulanflv for its voung than the Hald Eaijlo. Fish are daily carried thither in numbers, so that they sometimes lie WIIITK-IIKADED EAOLi!:. 89 Bcatton'd round the tree, and tliu putrid huioII of thu nuMt may bo diHtiii- guislu (I at tlif diHtaiico of Ht-voral liuiidrud yards. Tlio young arc at firHt eovcri'd willi a thick, whilisli, or crcani-c^oiorcd (cottony down ; tlicy gradually heconio of a gray color, as tlicir |)luniage develops itself, con- tinue of tlu! brown gray until the third year, when the white begiuH to make its appearance on the head, neck, tail-covertH and tail ; theHe, by the end of the fourth year, are completely white, or very slightly tinged with cream ; the eye also is at fnst ha/.el, hut grailually hright(!iiH into II brilliant straw color, with the white plumage of the head. Such at least was the gradual ju'ogress of this change, witnessed by myself, on a very fine specimen, brought up by a gentleman, a frieml of mine, who for a considerable time believed it to be what is usually called the (Jray Eagle, iind was much surprised at the gradinil metamorphosis. TIuh will account for the circumstance, so freijuently observed, of the Gray and White-heailed Kiii;le beinj; seen toyetlier, both beinj' in fact the same species, in different stages of color, according to their difference of age. The flight of the Bdld Eagle, when taken into consideration with the anlor and energy of his character, is noble ami interesting. Sometimes the humati eye can j\ist discern him, like a minute speck, moving in hIow curvatures along the face of the heavens, as if reeonmjitring the earth at that immense distance. Sometimes he glides along in a ijireet hori- zontal line, i'l a vast height, with expanded and unmoving wings, till he gradually disap|iears in the distant bluit ether. Seen gliding in easy cir- cles over the high shores, and mountainous cliffs, that tower above the Hudson ami Sus(|uehanna, he attracts the eye of the intelligent foya- ger. and adds great interest to the scenery. At the great cataract of Niagara, already mentioned, there rises from the gulf, into whieli the fall of the Ilorse-shoe descends, a stupendous column of smoke, or spray, reaching to the heavens, and moving off in large black clouds, accord- ing to thi' direction of the wind, f(U-ming a very striking and majestic appearance. The Kagles are here seen >ailing about, sonii^timcs losing themselves in this thick column, ami again reap|>earing in another place, with such ease and elegance of motion, as renders the whole truly sublime. Iliuli o'or tilt' wuttTv ii|ir()iir, Mili-iit soon, Siiiliiij; Miiiliitc, ill iniijcMty Ncrciu', Now millet tlio |iilIiiro(l Kpray suliliiiii>ly lost, Anil new, ('iMerjrinf^, down tlic riipids toum'd, (iliilos tlic Hiilil F.iifili', miziiij;. I'liliu iiixl slow O'er nil till" horrors of the ncimii' tx.'low ; Intent niono to sute hinisclf with ))'»u(l, From the torn vlctiiiis of tho ru;;ii)g tlood. The White-headed Eagle is three feet long, and seven feet in extent; the bill is of a rich yellow; cere the same, slightly tinged with green; '1* ii ^' m. i: n ■'• i' 40 WIIITE-IIE ADED EAGLE. mouth flesh colored, tip of the tongue bluish black ; the head, chief part of the neck, vent, tail-covcrts and tail, are white iu the perfect or old birds of both sexes, in those under three years of age these parts are of a gray brown ; the rest of the plumage is deep dark brown, each feather tipped with pale brown, lightest on tiie shoulder of the wing, j^nd darkest towards its extremities ; the conformation of the wing is admirably adapted for the support of so largo a bird ; it measures two feet in breadth on the greatc- quills, and sixteen inches on the .esser ; the longest primaries arc twenty inches in length, and upwards of one inch in circumference where they enfer the skin ; the broadest s^v^ndaries are three inclitri .'. breadth across the vane ; the scapulars are very large and broad, spreading from the ba'k to the wing, to prevent the lir from pa.'^sing through ; nnother range of broad flat feathers, from tlir-o to ten inches in length, also extends from the lower j)art of the brevst to the wing below, for the same purpose ; between these lies a deep triangular cavity; the thighs are roniarkubly thick, strong, aiid nuiscular, covered with long featijcrs jiointing backwiirds, usually called the femoral feathers ; tbe legs, which are covered half way below the knee, before, with dark brown downy feathers, are of a rich yellow, the color of ripe Indian corn; f"<'t the same; claws blue black, very large and strong, particularly the inner one, which is considerably the largest, soles very rough and warty ; the eye ia sunk under a bony or cartilaginous projec- tion, of a pale yellow color, and is turned considerably forwards, not standing parallel with the cheeks, the iris is of a bright straw color, pupil black. The male is generally two or three incht.^ shorter than the female ; the white on the head, neck and tail, being more tinged with yellowish, and its whole appearance less formidabU' ; the brown plumage is also lighter, and the bird itself less daring than the fennile, a circumstance common to almost all birds of prey. The bird from which the foregoing drawing and description were taken, was shot near Oreat Egg Iliirbnr, in the month of January last, was in excellent order, and weighed aliout eleven pciunds. ])r. Sanniel B. Smith, (if this city, oMigt'd nie with a minute anil careful ilissection of it ; from whose copious and very interesting notes on the suliject, I shall extraci such rennirls as are suited to the was efl'ected l>y the juices from the vessels of this enlargeniont of th« osBojihagus. I think it probable that it also has a regurgitating oi WHITE-HEADED EAGLE. 41 vomiting power, as the bird constantly swallows largo quantities of in- digestible substances, such as quills, hairs, &c. In this sao of the Eagle I found the quill feathers of the small white gull ; and in the true stomach, the tail and some of the breast feathers of the same bird ; and the dorsal vertebrae of a large fish. This excited some surpris , until you made me acquainted with the fact of its watching the Fish-hawks, and robbing them of their prey. Tims we see, throughout the whole empire of animal life, power is almost always in a state of hostility to justice, and of the Deity only can it truly be said, that justice is com- nienf^i^rate with power ! •' The Eagle has the several auxiliaries to digestion and assimilation in common with man. Tlie liver was unusually large in your spec' .it n. It secretes bile, whicli stimulates the intestines, prepares the chyle for lilood, and by this very secretion of bile (as it is a deeply respiring ani mill), separates or removes scime obnoxious i)rinciples from the blood. (See Dr. Rush's admirable lecture on this important viscus in the human subject.) The intestines were also large, long, convolute, and supplied with numerous lacteal vessels, which differ little from those of men, ex- cept in color, ^\hich was transparent. The kidneys were large, and seated on each side the vertebne, near the anus. They are ahso destined to secrete son:e offensive princi>)les Troni the blood. " The eggs were small iind nuaierous ; and after a careful examination, I concluded that no sensible increase takes place in them till the par- ticular season. This niiiy account for the unusual excitement which prevails in these birds in tlie sexual intercourse. Why there are so many eggs is a mystery. It is perhaps consistent with natural law, that every- thing should be abundant ; but from this bird, it is said, no more than two young are hatched in a season, conse(|uently no more eggs are wanted than a siitticieney to produce that cfTect. Are the eggs num- licred originally, and is there no increase of number, but a gradual loss, till all are deposited ? If so, the mimber may correspond to the long life and vigorous health of this noble bird. Why there is but two young in a season, \a easily t-xplained. ^^ature has bi'cn studiously parsimoni- ous of her physical strength, from whence the tribes of animals incapa- lilc to resist, derive securky and confidence." Tlie Eagle is said to live to a ;'reat age, sixty, eighty, and as some assert, one liunilred years. This circuinstanee is reinarkabi >, when we consider the seeming intemperate habits of the bird. Sometimes fasting through necessity, for several days, and at other times gorging itself with aninuil food, till its craw swells out the pluiuage of that part, form- ing a l.irge protiiberu'icc on the breast. This, however, is its natural food, and for these habits its wliole organizatiini is particularly a of tliis is (he ease in the conduct of the Bald anil the S( .1 Eagle, who, during tin? sunwuer montiis, are the con- Htant jtlunderers of the Osprey or Fi^h-IIawk, by whose industry alone both are usually fed. Nor that ^' t/ioiii/h fiiinished for ivant cj /'rrif, he JlxihtiiiH to feed on vnrritm," since we liave ourselves sc-ii the Balil Eagle, while seated on the dead carcass of a horse, k a whole Hock of Vultures at a resjyeetful distance, until he had fully ^.ited hia own apjietite. The Count has also taken great pains to expose lb. ridiiU- h)us opinion of IMiny, who conceived that the Ospreys formed no .-^epa- rato race, i!.nd that they proceeded from the intermixture of difleroni species of Eagles, the young of which were not Ospreys, only Sea Eagles; '' irliir/i Snt Eiii]h»," says he, '■' bro'd >i)nalf VulturcH, which emjcndcr (jrvnt I'ulturrtt that have not the power of propa -Km NoTK — In Wilson's history of the ISald Eagle, he confidently assets that it is the same species as the Sea Kagle, in a dift'erent stage of color. In his account of the latt«'r, be adduces adilitional n asons foj- his belief, which is at variance with the ojiinions of some of the most respectable naturalists of Eurojte. \Ve liave no hesitation, from our own experience, in pronouncing these birds to be the same ; and deem it unnecessary to sa«*pi^ I 46 SEA EAGLE. add anything further on the subject, as the reasoning of Wilson ia conclusive. Our author describes an Eagle's nest, which he visited, in company with the writer of this article, on the eighteenth of May, 1812. It was then empty ; but from every appearance a brood had been hatched and reared in it that season. The following year, on the first day of March, a friend of ours took from the same nest three eggs, the largest of which measured three inches and a quarter in length, two and a quarter in diameter, upwards of seven in eircimiferetiee, and wcigluMl four ounces five drams, apothecaries weight ; the tidor a dirty yMlowisli white — one was of a very pale bluish white; the young were perfectly formed. Such was the solicitude of the female to preserve her eggs, that she did not abandon the nest, until several blows, with an axe, had been siven the tree. In the history of Lewis and Clark's Expedition, we find the following account of an Eagle's nest, which must have added not a little to the picturesque effect of tiie magnificent scenery at the Falls of the Mis- souri : " Just below the upper pitch is a little island in the middle of the river, well covered with timber. Here on a cottonwood tree an Eaglo had fixed its nest, and seemed the undisputed mistress of a spot, to contest whose dominion neither man nor beast would venture across the gulfs that surround it, and whieli is further secured by the mist rising from the falls."* The Bald Eagle was obscrvcil, by Lewis and Clark, during their whole route to the Pacific Oeean. It may gratify some of our readers to be informed, that the opinion of Tcmminck loincides with ours respecting the identity of our Hald and Sea Eagles; but he states that the Fali'o dHiiifnri/uK of (iniclin, the Sea Eagle of Latham, is the young of the Falro aliii'Uhi^ which in its first year so nnieh resembles th(> yearling of the leueoci'iihalus, that it is very difTicult to distinguish them. — Note by Mr. Ord. • Ifist. of ilio Expcd. vol. !., p. 264. ) ' Sviicit.sY. FALCO FULVUS. RING-TAIL EAGLE. [Plate LV. Fig. 1, young bird.] Linn. Syst. cd. 10, p. iiS.-Hlack Faijle, Aid. Zool. p. lOf), No. 87.— Lath, i., 32 No. 6. — While-tailed Faijle, Edw. i., 1. — L' Aiyle Commun, Buff, i., .SO. PI Enl. 409.— Behrk, i., p. 49. The roiiilcr is now presented with a portrait of this celebrated Eagle, drawn from a fine specimen shot in the county of Montgomery, Penn- sylvania. The figure here given, though reduced to one-third the size of life, is strongly characteristic of its original. With respect to the habits of the species, such particulars only shall be selecteil as are well authenticated, rejecting whatever seems vague, or savors too much of the marvellous. This Tioble bird, in strength, spirit and activity, ranks among the first of its tribe. It is found, tliough sparingly dispersed, over the whole temperate and arctic regions, particularly the latter ; breeding on high precipitous rocks; always preferring a mountainous country. In its general appearance it has great resemblance to the Golden Eagle, from which, however, it differs in being rather less; as also in the colors and markings of the tail ; and, as it is said, in being less noisy. When young, the color of the body is considerably lighter, but deepens into a blackish brown as it advances in age. The tail feathers of this bird are highly valued by the various tribes of American Indians, for ornamenting their calumets, or Pipes of Peace. Several of thesms to allude to this species, it may be saiil to iid:abit the wliule circuit of the arctic regions of the globe. The (Jidden Eagle, on tin- contrary, is said to hi; found only in the more warm and temperate countries of the ancient con- tinent.* Later discoveries, however, have ascertained it to be also an iidiabitant of the I'niteil States. f • RiifTfin. viil, i., p. .'ifi. Trims. t Niitiirali.', No. '2C>, A. — Falco /V.icrt'or, Briss. i., p. 3f>l, No. 14; .'!t)2. No. 15. — Faiicon pCcheiir de la CaroUae, Buff, i., p. 142. — Fishing Hawk, Catehii. Car. i., p. 2. — Falxi Carolinenxia, Ghei.. Sy»t. i,, p. 203, No. 26.* TilTS formidablp, vigorous-winged, and well-known bird subsistH altogotlicr on tlu> finny tribes that swarni in our liay.s, creek.'*, and river.s ; procuring his prey by his own active skill and industry ; and seeming no farther dependent on the land tlian as a mere resting-place, or in the usual season, a spot of deposit for his nest, eggs and young. The figure here given is reduced to one-third the size of life, to correspond with that of the Bald Eagle, his common attendant, and constant plun- derer. The Fi.sh-TTawk is migratory ; arriving on the coasts of New York and New Jersey about the twenty-first of March, anil retiring to the south about the twenty-second of September. Heavy equiiioetial storms may vary these periods of arrival and departure a few days ; but long observation has ascertained, that they are kept with remarkable regu- larity. On the arrival of these birds in the northern parts of tin- United States, i:) March, they sometimes find the bays and ponds froz«'n, and experience a difiiculty in procuring fish for many days. Yet there is no instance on record of their attacking birds, or inferior land animals, with intent to feed upon them ; though tiu-ir great strength .)f fiight, as well as of feet and claws, would soem to render this no dillieult matter. Hut they no sooner arrive, than they wage war on the JJald Eagles, as against a horde of robbers and banditti ; sometimes 8ucceeding,by force of numbers and perseverance, in driving them from their haunts ; but sehlom or never attacking them in single com')at. The first appearaTice of the Fish-Hawk in spring, is welcomed by the fishermen, a,s a happy signal of the approai-h of those vast shoals (if herring, shad, &e. kc, that regularly arrive on our coasts, and enter our rivers in sucii prodigious multitudes. Two of a trade, it is said, seldom agr»?e ; the adage, however, will not hold good in the present case, for such is tho respect paid the Kish-Hawk not only by this elius.s * Th« foUowiri)? synonyincs may bo adJod : Le Ralhuzard, Bi'fk. PL Fnl. 414. Aquihi imiatrix, Vifili.ot, Ois.del'Am. Sq>t. v. i., p. 21), pi. 4. Vol.. I.— 4 (49) U ! 60 FISII-IIAWK, OK OS PREY. of men, but jioncrally, hy tlic wliolo noigliborliood wliore it iwidos, fliat a person who slmuld attempt to shoot one of thcin, would stand a fair chance of being insulted. This prepossession in favor of the Fish- Hawk is honorable to their feelings. Tliey associate with its first appearanee ideas of pb'nty, and all the gaiety of business ; they see it active and industrious like themselves ; inofl'ensive to the produetioiis of their farms ; building with confidence, and without the least disposition to concealment, in the middle of their fields, and along their fences; and returnii;g year after year regularly to its former abode. The nest of the Fish-IIawk is usually built on the top of a dead or decaying tree, .sometimes not more than fifteen, often upwards of fifty feet, from the ground. It lias been remarked by the people of the scacoasts, that the most thriving tree will die in a few years, after beiiif taken posse.ssion of by the Fisli-Ilawk. This is attributed to the fish- oil, an liiiuiloni to make it into niij-nnijij. 'rin- tavern keeper, alter a few wry faeen, eoiii- iiliedwith his ref|uest, and the fellow swallowed the oordial ; Imt, whether from it« effeetH on the olfactory nerves (for he said it smelt abomiimhly) the iniH;;ination, or on th(^ Ntoiiiaeh alniie, is uncertain, it oporated as ii most outrajreoiis enietio, and cured the man, for that time at least, of his thirst for finz-iwijij. What is rather extraordinary, the landlord (Mr. Rea.sley) assured mo, that to all appearaiKa the egg was perfectly fresh. 62 FISH-IIAWR, OR OSPREY. their daring spirit in thin wiiy, though the kindnews of a friend, rcHidcnt for a few weeks at (Jreat Kgg IIarl)()r. I IiikI reque.sted of him the favor to transmit me. if possible, a live Kish-Hawk, for the purpose of making a drawing of it, whieh commission ho very faithfully executed ; and I think I cannot better illustrate this part of the bird's character than by quoting hia letter at largo. '■ UiAsi.Kv's, Groat Kg^ Harbor, Juno '{Qth, 1811. Sir, "Mr. Beasley ami I went to reconnoitre a Fish-Hawk's nest on Thursdiiy afternoon. When I wxs at the nest I was struck with so great violence, on the crown of tho hat, that I thougiit a hole was made in it. I had ascended fearlessly, and never dreamt of being attacked. I camo down quickly, 'riiere were in the nest three young ones about the size of pullet-", which, tiiougii full feathered, were unable to (ly. On Friday morning I went again to tho nest to got a young one, which I thought I could nurse to a consideral)le growth, suflicient to answer your purpose, if I could fail to pr(tcure an ohl oik', which was representeil to me as almost impossible, on account of his shyness, and the danger from his dreadful claws. On taking a young one I intended to lay a couple of snares in the nest, for which purpose I had a strong cord in my pocket. The old birds were on the tree when Captain II. and I approacheil it. As a defence, profiting by the experience of yesterilay, I took a walk- ing stick with me. Wlicti I was about half up the tree, the bird I send Vou struck at me repeatedly with violence; be flew round in a small circle, darting at uie at every circuit, and I striking at him. Observing th.at he always described a circle in tho air, before ho came at me, I kept a hawk's eye upon him, and the monrent he j)assed me. I availeil niys<'If uf the opportunity to ascend. When immediately under the nest, I hesitated at the formidable (.pjiosition I met, as bis rage ap- pcarcfl to increase with my presumption in invading his premises. But I mounteil to the nest. At that moment he flarted directly at me with all bis force, whizzing throu;rli the air ; his chob-r apparently rcMloublcd. Fortunately for me, I struck bin) on the extreme joint of the right wing with my stick, which brought him to the ground. During this contest the female was Hying round and round at a ro.'pectful ilistance. Ca|)tain II. held him till I tied my lundkerchicf about his b'gs ; the captain felt the eflect of his claws. I brought away a young one to keep the old one in a good humor. I put them in a very largo cooj) ; tho young one ate some fish, when broken atid put into its throat ; but the olil one would not eat for two days. He continued sullen and obsti- nate, hardly changing his position. He walks about now, and is approaclK'd withi;ut danger; he takes very little notice of tho young one. A Joseph Smith, working \n the field where this nest is, had the FI8II-IIAWK, OK OSI'llKY. 58 cnrioHity to po up to look at the fj^j^s ; the bird uliiwod liis fiico in a idiockiiig inaniicr ; his t-yo had a narrow cm'uiio. 1 am told that it hai< novor broil con»i(h'ri'd (hingi-rourt to approach u llawkV iirnt. If tliis bo BO, thiH bird'fl charaet<>r in peculiar ; bin afTection for hi» young, and liiH valiant oppoHition to an invasion of bis nest, entit o him to conspiuuouH notice. Hois the /V/H smmms LJJM^'^ 64 FISIl-HAWK, OR OSPREY. that he appears fixed in air, flapping his wings. The object however he abandons, or rather the fish he had in his eye lias disappeared, and he is again seen sailing around aa before. Now his attention is again arrested, and lie descends with great rapidity ; but ere he reaches the surface, shoots off on another course, as if ashamed that a second victim had escaped him. lie now sails at a short height above the surface, and by a zig-zag descent and without seeming to dip his feet in the water, seizes a fish, w^hich after carrying a sliort distance, he probably drops, or yields up to the Bald Eagle, and again ascends by easy sj)iral circles, to the higher regions of the air, wliere he glides about in all tiio easo and majesty of his species. At once from this sublime aerial height ne descends like a perpendicular torrent, plunging into the sea with a loud rushing sound, and with the certainty of a rifle. In a few moments he emerges, bearing in his claws his struggling prey, which he alwjys carries head foremost; and having risen a few feet above the surface, shakes himself as a water spaniel would do, and directs hia heavy and laborious course directly for the land. If the wind blow hard, and his nest lie in the quarter from whence it comes, it is amusing to observe with wliat judgment and exertion he beats to wind- ward, not in a direct line, that is, in the wind's eye, but making several successive tacks to gain his purpose. This will appear the more strik- ing, when we consider the size of the fisli which he sometimes bears along. A shad vins taken from n Fish- Hawk, near Great Egg Ilaibor, on which he had begun to regale himself, and had already ate a con- siderable portion of it, the remainder weighed six pounds. Another Fish-Hawk wjis passing Mr. ll-asley's, at the same place, with a large flounder in his grasp, which struggled and siiook liim so, that he droped it on the shore. The flounder was picked up, and served the whole family for dinner. It is singular that the Hawk never descends to pick up a fish which he happens to droj), either on the land or on the water, Tliere is a kind of abstemious dignity in this habit of tiie Hawk, supe- rior t-) the gluttonous voracity displayed by most othei birds of prey, particularly by the Bahi Eagle, whose piratical robberies committed on the present species have been already fully , which supi)ly the bird with oil for lubri- cating its feathers, to protect them from the wet, were found to be remark- ably large, capable, when opened, of admitting the end of the finger, and contained a large (piantity of white greasy matter, and ^r.nw pure yellow oil ; the gall was in small (piantity ; the numerous convolutions and length of the intestines surprised ine ; when carefully extended they measured within an inch or two of nine feet, and were no thicker than those of a Hobin I The crop, or craw, was middle-sized, and contained a nearly ilissolved fish ; the stomach was a large oblong pouch, capable of consiilerable distension, and was also filleil with half-digested fish ; no appearance of a muscular gizzard. By the descriptions of Europtan naturalists, it would appear that thia bird, or one near akin to it, is a native of the Eastern continent in sutn- PISH-HAWK, OR OSPREY. 67 mer, as far north as Siberia ; the Bald Buzzard of Turton almost exactly agreeing with the present species in size, color, and manners, with the exception of its breeding or making its nest among the reeds, instead of on trees. Mr. Bewick, who has figured and described the female of this bird, under the appellation of the " Osprey," says, " that it builds on the ground, among reeds, and lays three or four eggs of an elliptical form, rather less than those of a hen." This difference of habit may be owing to particular local circumstances, such deviations being usual among many of our native birds. The Italians arc said to compare its descent upon the water to a piece of lead falling upon that element ; and distinguish it by the name of Aquila piumbina, or the Leaden Eagle. In the United States it is everywhere denominated the Fish- Ilawk, or Fishing-Hawk, a name truly expressive of its habits. The regular arrival of this noted bird at the vernal equinox, when the busy season of fishing commences, adds peculiar interest to its first ap- pearance, and procures it many a benediction from the fishermen. With the following lines, illustrative of these circumstances, I shall conclude its history : Soon as the Sun, f!;rcat ruler of tlie year ! Bends to our northern climes his lirij^ht career; And from the eaves of ocean calls fiom sleep Tho finny shoals and myriads of the deep; When freezinj^ tempests back to Greenland ride; And day and night the equal hours divide ; True to tho season, o'er our sea-beat shore, T!io sailiiij^ ()s|)rey high is seen to soar, AVith broad uinnovintj win)? ; and, circlinj* slow, Marks each li>oso strnfTftler in the deep below : Sweepi) down like li^^htnin^! plunges with a roar! And bears his struggling victim to the shore. ' The long-housed fisherman beholds with joy Tlie well-known signals of his rough employ ; And, as he bears his nets and oar.M along, He hails tho welcome season with a song. Note. — The Fish-Hawk passes the winter in the southern parts of tho United States. In a winter voyage among the sea-isla:ids of Georgia, mid thence iiiti> East Florida, I did not obs(>rve these birds until I reached the river St. John, on tho seventh of February. At the mouth of this river, which is noted for the abundance of its fish, the Ospreys are very nunienius; and the frecjuent attacks wliich are made upon tliein, when successful in fishing, by tlie piratical Hitlcl Eagles, afford a spectacle of no common interest. I sometimes took notice, that when the Fish-Hawk was likely to escape from a single enemy, and had wea- ried his pursuer by tlic dexterity of liis mantKuvres, a fresh Eagle joined in the chase, and then all chance of escape was hopeless. S •I '■ ■r ,. I U o much from this, particularly in wanting the fine zig-zag lines below, and the black caj), that I cannot for a moment suppose them to be the same. The individual from which the drawing was made i.s faithfully roprosented in tiic plate, reduced to one-half its natural dimensions. This bird was shot within a few miles of Philadebhia. Its general make and aspect denote great strength and spirit ; its legs arc strong, and its claws of more than proportionate size. Should any other specimen or variety of this H"'vk, differing from the present, occur during the publication of this work, it will enable me more accurately to designate the species. The Black-cap Hawk is twenty-one inches in length; the bill and cere are blue; eye reddish amber ; crown black, bordered on each side by a line of white, finely specked with black ; these lines of white meet on the hind-head ; whole upper parts .slate, tinged with brown, slightest on the i|uills ; legs feathered half way down, and, with the feet, of a yellow color ; whole lower parts and femorals white, most elegantly speckled with fine transverse pencilled zig-zag lines of dusky, all the shafts being a long black line ; vent pure white. If this be not the celebrated Gonhawk, formerly so nmcb esteemed in falconry, it is very closely allied to it. I have never myself seen a specimen of that bird in Europe, and the descriptions of their best naturalists vary considerably ; but from a careful examination of the • Valcii-I'alnmharixtit, Linn. As was wiRppctcd by Wilson, tliin is not a now ippcii'H, Itiit tlio (•"•It'liriitril (iimhuwk. 'I'lie foMoviin^ nynoiiviiieH iiro ^ivcii liy I'rince .Musi^imno : thlru C'oliiinlniriini. (tuy.t.. ,Si/,sl. i., p. I'Sl. Lath. — TeMM. — V.yrittiliii, Linn. (Jmici,. SijhI i., p. '270. Lath, (younf?) F. ijalliiKiriiin. Linn. Lath. (very young fciiiiilo.) L'Aulnur, Berr. IM. Kiil. 418. (adult) L' Aiitnur sum, Brrr. PI. Kill. -I')! (yoiinf.'). I.f Huzard, Bukf. /'/. Eul. 423. (very young fi-iiialo.) See Journal Acud, Nat. 8o, iii., p. 346. RED-TAILED HAWK. 69 figure and account of the Goshawk, given hy the ingenious Mr. Bewick (Brit. Birds, v. i., p. 65), I have very little doubt that the present will be found to be the same. The Goshawk inhabits France and Germany; is not very common in South Britain, but more frequent in the northern parts of the island, and is found in Russia and Siberia. Buffon, who reared two young birds of this kind, a male and female, observes, that " the Goshawk before it has shed its feathers, that is, in its first year, is marked on the breast and belly "with longitudinal brown spots ; but after it has had two moultings they disappear, and their place is occupied by transverse waving bars, which continue during the rest of its life;" he also takes notice, that though the male was much smaller than the female, it was fiercer and more vicious. Pennant informs us that the Goshawk is used by the emperor of China in his sporting excursions, when he is usually attended by his grand falconer, and a thousand of inferior rank. Every bird has a silver plate fastened to its foot, with the name of the falconer who has the charge of it, that in case it should be lost, it may be restored to the proper person ; but if he should not be found, tlio bird is delivered to another officer, called the guardian of lost birJa, who, to make his situation known, erects his standard in a conspicuous place among the army of hunters. The same writer informs us, that he examined in the Leverian museum, a specimen of tlie Gosliawk which came from America, and which was superior in size to the European. Sp«cim Vlir. FALCO liOREALIS. RED-TAILED HAWK. [Plate HI. Fig. 1.] Arct. Zool. p. 205, No. 100. — Ameiican liuzzaul, L.kju. i., 50. — Tuht. Si/st. p. 151. — F.AqtiiUnua, cauila Jerrwjinea, Great Eaijle Hawk, H.tRTR.\ii, p. 2'.t0. Thk figure of this bin!, and those of the otlior two Hawks in the same plate, are reduced to exactly half the dimensions of the living subjects. These rt'pros( since the decline of falconry, seldom or never domesticated, offer to those who wish eagerly to investigate their history, and to delineate their particular character and manners, great and insurmountable diffi- culties. Little more can bo done in such cases than to identify the species, and trace it through the various quarters of the world, where it has been certainly met with. The Red-tailed Hawk is most frequently seen in the lower parts of Pennsylvania, during the severity of winter. Among the extensive meadows that border the Schuylkill and Delaware, below Philadelphia, where flocks of Larks (Alauiia magna), and whore mice and moles are in great abundance, many individuals of this Hawk spend the greater part of the winter. Others prowl around the plantations, looking out for vagrant cliickens ; their method of seizing whicii, is by sweeping swiftly over the spot, and grappling them with their talons, bearing them away to the woods. The bird from wliieh the figure in the plate was drawn, was surprised in the act of feeding on a hen he had just killed, and whicli he was compelled to abandon. The remains of the chicken were immediately baited to a steel-trap, and early the next morning the unfortunate Red-tail was found a prisoner, securely fastened by the leg. The same lien which the day before lie had massacred, was, the very next, made the means of decoying him to his destruction ; in the eye of the farmer a system of fair and just retribution. • This species inhabits the whole United States ; and, I believe, is not migratory, as I found it in the month of May, as far south as Fort Adams, in the Mississippi territory. The young were at that time nearly as large as their parents, and were very clamorous, making an incessant squealing noise. One, which I shot, contained in its stomach mingled fragments of frogs and lizards. The Red-tailed Hawk is twenty inches long, and three fwt nine inches in extent ; bill blue black ; cere and siiity-two iin lu-s (tiip h'mo of flip lerrrinniin i\n fi'ivfu ]i\ Wilson). t I5y I'onijiiiriii}.' this liinl with the Shnr|>-(i)ii rra«on for his firi-t opinion, that they iiro iilcntical ; alliioii;.;li he giilmequcntiy ciinio to u cotilrnry concliiwion. It in [iroliahli' that tin'y will he found to ho the Kunio, and that thJH Ih the iidult, nnd the ShnrpKhinnrd Ilawk llie young liird. If tlii« l»e the rase, fho name vrlox. which wuh first p\fn to fhis Hjiecii'N li» Wilbon, miiiit he retained : unlesM indeed it hhunid prove; to he identieal with the F. ftitrtis of ButlifirH. HH oHHprted hy Prince Mu.sij;nnno ; in whioh evei,t tliix latter name must of oourKC, having the priority, he miopted. Mf- SLATE-COLORED HAWK. 68 in its green or first year's dress. In the spring of the succeeding year the green and yellow plumage of tliis bird becomes of a most splendid Bcarlot, anil il .- wings and tail deepen into a glossy black. / The great difTiculty of accurately diHcriminatii:g between different species of the I lawk tribe, on account of the various appearances they assume at diflerent periods of their long lives, at first excited a suspi- cion that this might be one of those with which I was already acquainted, in a different dress, namely, the Sharp-shinned Hawk, figured in Plate XLV. of this work ; for such arc the changes of color to which many individuals of this genus arc subject, that unless the naturalist has re- course to those parts that are subject to little or no alteration in the full-grown bird, viz. the particular conformation of the legs, nostrils, tail, and the relative length of the latter to that of the wings, also the peculiar character of the countenance, he will frequently be deceived. By comparing these, the same species may often be detected under a very diflerent garb. Were a'' Lhese changes accurately known, there is no doubt but the number of species of this tribe, at present enumerated, would be greatly diminished ; the same bird having been described, by certain writers, three, four, and even five different times, as so many distinct species. Testing, however, the presetit Hawk by the rules ,above-mentio]ied, I have no hesitation in considering it as a species dif- ferent from any hitherto described ; and I have classed it accordingly. The Slate-colored llawk is eleven inches long ; and twenty-one inches in extent ; bill blue l)hick ; cere and siiles of the mouth dull green ; eye- lid yellow ; eye deep sunk under the projecting eyebrow, and of a fiery orange color; upper parts of a fine slate; primaries brown black, and, as well as the secondaries, barred with dusky ; scapulars spotted with white and brown, which is not seen unless the plumage be separated by the Inunl ; all the feathers above are shat'teil with black ; tail very slightly forked, of an ash color, faintly tinged with brown, crossed with four broad bands of black, and tipped with white ; tail three inches longer than the wings ; over the eye extends a streak of dull white; chin white mixed with fine black hairs; breast and belly beautifully variegated with ferruginous and transverse spots of white ; femorals the same; vent pure white, legs long, very slender, and of a rich orange yellow; claws black, large, and remarkably sharp; lining of the wing thicklv marked with heart-shaped spots of black. This birtl on dissec- tion was found to be a male. In the month of February, I shot another individual of this species, near Hampton in Virginia, which agreed almost exactly with the present. if "Jim »f 1^1 •MWill 'm !■ i I 'M-' S I 'ft; u \^n -4 ■ - I*. : • . FALCO VELOX. ' ' SHARP-SniNNED IIAWR. [Plate XLV. Fig. 1, Female.] Till.'' i.>» a bold and darinj^ species, hithorto unknown to naturalists. The only Hawk wp have wliidi appmaclios near it in color is the Pigeon Hawk, figured in Plate XV. But there are .such striking differences in the present, not only in color, but in other respects, as to point out decisively its claims to rank as a distinct species. Is long and slender legs and toes ; its red fiery eye, feathered to the eyelids ; its triangular grooved nostril, and length of tail, are all different from the Pigeon Hawk, whose legs are short, its eyes dark hazel, surrounded with a broad bare yellow skin, and its nostrils small and circular, centred witli a slender point, that ri.ses in it like the pi.stil of a tlower. There is no Hawk nicntioncfl by Pennant, either as inhabiting Europe it America, agreeing with this. I may therefore, with confidence, | 'unce it a nondescript; and have chosen a very singular peculiarity wuich it pos- sesses, for its specific appellation. This Hawk was shot on the banks of the Schuylkill, near Mr. IJar- tram's. Its singularity of flight surprised nic long before I succeeded in procuring it. It seemed to throw itself from one (juarter of the heavens to the other, with prodigious velocity, indinin/T to the earth ; swept sudilenly down into a thicket, and instantly re-appeared with a small bird in it'» talons. This feat I saw it twice perform, ,so that it was not merely un accidental manrruvre. The rapidity and seeming violence of these zig-zag excursions were really remarkable, and appeared to mo to be for the purpose of seizing his prey by sudden surprise, and main force of flight. I kept this Hawk alive for several days, and was hopeful I might be able to cure him ; but he died of his wound. On the loth of September, two young men whom I bad despatched on a shooting expedition, met with this species on one of the ranges of the Alleghany. It wa« driving aroun,' ...■%'. u '-h ■.■■■■ SiliS hk \-ni ! 5' ; 1 I ^*U' ji ' rflU':^ ■It j^ iM .1 , i.. 08 SWALLOW-TAILED HAWK. wings were single, of a dark amber color, and twice as long as the body, whi'"h wiatncd towards the extremity, where it was slightly indented ; feet two clawed. This insect lived for several days between the crystal and dial-plate of a watch, carried in the pocket ; but being placed for a few minutes in the sun, fell into convubions and died. 1 Species XI. FAhCO FURCATUS* SWALLOW-TAILED HAWK. [Plate LI. Fig. 8.] Linn. Sytt. 129. — Lath, i., 60. — Hir undo maxima Peruviana avis pradatorix calca- ribus innlrncta, Fkuim.ee, Toy. Peru, torn, ii., .3.3.— Catisb. i., 4. — /,« Milan de fa Caroline, Briss. i., 418.— Buff, i., 221.-TutT. &/at. U9.—Arf.t. Zool. p. 210. No. 108. This very elegant spcits inhabits the southom districts of the United States in summer ; is si'ldoin seen as far north as 1 tr.nsylvania, but is very abundant in South Carolina and Georgia, and still more so in West Florida, and the cxten.sive prairies of Ohio and the Indiana Territory. I met with these birds, in the early part of May, at a place called Duck Creek, in Toime.ssee, and found them .'^ailing about in great numbers near Bayo Mancha n tlio Mis.^i.«sij)pi, twenty or thirty being within iew at the same time. At that season a species of Cicada., or locust, swarmed among the woods, making a deafening noi.se, and I could perceive these lluwks frequently snuti-hing them from the trees. - A species of lizard, which is very numerous v.x that quarter of the country, ami ha.s the faculty of changing its color at will, also furnishes the Swallow fHiie(l IJawk with :i favcirite n»«>r.sel. These lizards are sometimes of the most l/rilliant light green, in a few minute.s change to a dirty clay color, and agai?. u.-f-ome nearly black. The Swallow-tailed Hawk, and MLssissippi Kite, feed eagerly on tliic lizard; and, it is said, on a small green snake also, w/ii«li is the mortal enemy of the lizard, and freijui'ntly pursues it to the very extremity of the branches, whore both become the prey of the Hawk.f The Swallow-tailed IlaWk retires to the south in October, at which • F forfiratus, Linn. Sytt. i., p. 89, Sp. ii., ed. 10.— Lath. hid. Om. p. 22, No. 41 — MUrus fiirratut, Vir.ii.i.DT, (H». de I' Am. Sritt. vol. i., p. .'i.S, pi. 10, t This aniiuiil, if I iniMtak" not, ih thi' Ixxrertn liullarix, or Hladdrr Lizard, of Torton, vol. i., p. f>*»6. Tlie fiicility witli which it chan>;eg color it nurprtsing, •nd not gmicnilly known Ut imturnlisUi. J; SWALLOW-TAILED HAWK. 69 season, Mr. Bartram informs mc, they are seen in Florida, at a vast height in the air, sailing about with great steadiness ; and continued to be seen thus, passing to their winter quarters, for several days. They usually feed from their claws as they fly along. Their flight is easy and graceful, with sometimes occasional sweeps among the trees, the long feathers of their tail spread out, and each oxtremity of it used, alternately, to lower, elevate, or otherwise direct their course. I have never yet met with their nests. These birds are particularly attached to the extensive prairies of tlic western countries, where their favorite snakes, lizards, grasshoppers and locusts, are in abundance. They are sometimes, though rarely, seen in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and that on'v in long and very warm summers. We are informed, that one was? ikcn in th»» South Sea, off the cost which lies between Ylo and Ariua, in about lat. 23* south, on the eleventh of September, by the Keverend the Father Louis Feuilldt'.* Tbey are also common in Mexico> and extend tkeir migra- tions as far as Peru. The Swallow (iiiled Hawk measures full two feet in length and up- wards of fitur fi'it six inches in extent ; the bill is black ; cere yellow, covered at tlio bane with bristles; iris of the eye silvery cream, suriounded with a blood-red ri 'g; whole head and neck pure white, the shafts fine black hairs : the whole lower parts also pure white ; the throat and breast .shafted in the same manner ; upper parts, or back, black, glo.^sod with green and purple; whole lesser coverts very liark purple ; wings long, reaching within two inches of the tip of the' tail, and black ; tail also very long, and remarkably forked, consisting of twelve feathers, all black, glossed with green and purjjle ; several of the tertials white or edged with white, but generally covered by the scapulars; i. ner vanes of the secondaries white on their upper half, black towards their points; lining of the wings white; legs yellow, short and thick, and feathered before, half way lu'low tlie knee; claws much curved, whitish ; outer claw- very small. Tiie greater part of tlie plu- mage is white at the base ; and when the scaptilars are a little displaced, they appear spotted with white. This was a nnile in pei-f. /• t plumage. The color and markings cf the male and female are nearly alike. * Jour, des Oba. torn, ii., 33. mit^": h ' Spiciks XII. FALCO MISSHSSIPPIENSIS* MISSISSIPPI KITE. [FUte XXV. Fig. 1, Male.] This new species I first observed in tKe Mississippi territory, a few uiiles below Natchez, on the plantation of VViUiam Dunbar, Esquire, where the bird represented in the piato was obtained after being slightly wounded ; and the drawing made with great care from the living K|)e(!i- uieii. To the hospitality of the gentleman above mentioned, and lim amiable family, I am indebted for the opportunity afforded me of pro- curing this, and one or two more new species. This excellent man, (who.se life iias been devoted to scienee) though at that time confined to bed by a severe and dangerous indisposition, and personally unac- quainted with me, no sooner heard of my arrival at tiie town of Natchez, than he «cnt a servant an frequently as.sociate together in air, I am at a loss to compreheml. We cannot for a moment suppose them mutually deceived by the similarity of each other's flight ; the keenness of their vision forbids all suspicion of this kind. They may perhaps be engaged, at .ocn flxuri'il ami (loHirilit'il liy Vii-illot. in hJH " Ilintoiro .Nuliirello den Ulneaus de lAmfriqui' !*r|itfiitrionttU'." iiiiiiir the immo of .Vi/ri(.» crnchrii. Vii'illot rcfcrrt it to lht» y. plumheiit ol (imcliii, uiid iho Sp>,(t.— Gmt. Syit. I., p. aOO.— Tkhii. M»t, and reach- ing under the wings to the rump; head very broad, and bill uncoin- moidy small, suited to the humilitv of us pr»-y. The female is nnich darker b*>th above and below, particularly in the belt or girdle, which is nearly black ; the tail-coverts are »lao spotted with chocoluu ; she is also something larger. -^3imsmmi',m-^-^'^ ssaft4i,53r::;*^i j. . #flf-l-fil %i Hi- ll .:: Spiciis XIV. FALCO NIGER* BLACK HAWK. [PUtaLIII. Fig. 1.] This, and the other two figures in the same plate, are reduced from the large drawings, which were taken of the exact size of nature, to one-half their dimensions. I regret the necessity which obliges me to contract the figures of these birds, by which much of the grandeur of the originals is lost; particular attention, however, has-been paid, in the reduction, to the accurate representation of all their parts. This is a remarkably shy and wary bird, found n>ost freijuently along the marshy shores of our large rivers ; feeds on mice, frogs and moles ; sails much, and sometimes at a great height ; has been seen to kill a duck on wing ; sits by the side of the marshes, on a stake, for an hour at a time, in an almost perpendicular position, us if dozing; Hies with great ease, and occjisionally with great swiftness, seldom flapping the wings ; seems particularly fond of river shores, swamps and marshes ; is most numerous with us in winter, and but rarely seen in summer; is remarkable for the great size of its eye, length of its wings, and short- ness of its toes. The breadth of its head is likewise uncommon. The Black Hawk is twenty-one inches long, and four feet two inches in extent ; bill bluish black ; cere and sides of the mouth orange yel- low ; feet tho same ; eye very large, iris bright hazel ; cartilage over- hanging the eye, prominent, of a dull greenish color ; general color above, brown black, slightly dashed with dirty white ; nape of the neck pure white under the gurfacc ; front white; whole lower parts black, with slight tinges of brown, and a few circular touches of the same on the femorals ; legs feathertsl to the toes, and black, touched with brownish ; the wings reach rather beyond the tip of the tail ; the five first primaries are white on their inner vanes; tail rounded at the end, deep black, crossed with five narrow bands of pure white, and broadly tipped with dull Avhito ; vent black, spotted with white ; inside vanes of the primaries snowy ; claws black, strong and sharp ; toes remark- ably short. I strongly su!i{>ect this biixi to be of the very same species with the next, though both were found to Ke «mU>s. Although difteiing greatly • A» Wilson ^usfxs^lisl. thJH i« tli« t'. Sancti Johannin of Latham. Ind. Om. ji. 34, No. 74.— liMKi.. ^W. I , p. ^.^, No. tf2. F. S^padtcetu^ lU. No. 91. (T4) BLACK HAWK. 7f m plumage, yet in all their charactcriatic features they strikingly resemble each other. The Chocolate-colored Falcon of Pennant, and St. John's Falcon of the same author (Arct. Zool. No. 93 and 94), are doubtless varieties of this ; and very probably his Rough-legged Falcon also. His figures, however, are bud, and ill calculated to exhibit the true form and appearance of the bird. This species is a native of North America alone. We have no account of its ever having been seen in any part of Europe ; nor have we any account of its place, or manner of breeding. BLACK HAWK.— {VARIETY.*} [FUte LIII. Fig. 2.] This is probably a younger bird of the preceding species, being, though a male, somewhat less than its companion. Both were killed in the same meadow, at the same place &\h\ time. In form, features, and habitudes, it exactly agreed with the former. This bird measures twenty inches in length, and in extent four feet ; the eyes, bill, cere, toes, and claws, were as in the preceding; head above white, siroaked with bliirk and light brown ; along the eyebrows a black lino ; cheeks streaked like the luiul ; neck streaked with black and reddif^h brown, on a pale yellowish white ground ; whole upper parts brown black, dashed with brownish white and pale ferruginous ; tail white for half its length, ending in brown, marked with oia; or two bars of dusky, and a large bar of black, and tipped with dull white ; wings as in the preceding, their lining variegated with black, Avliite and ferruginous ; throat and breast brownish yellow, dashed with black ; belly beautifully variegated with spots of wliite, black and pale ferru- ginous ; feinoruls and feathered legs the same, but rather darker ; vent plain liriiwtiish wliite. The original color of these birds, in their young state, may probably be pale brown, as the present individual seemed to be eiianging to a darker color on the neck and sides of the head. This change, from |)ule brown to black, is not greater tiian some of the genus are actually known to undergo. One great advantage of examining living, or newly killed specimens, is, that whatev».r may be the difference of color between any two, the eye, countenance, and form of the bead, instantly betray the common family to which they belong ; for this family like- As WiUuii tiuppoacd, this it) tho young of tlio preceding species. pr. -v33 ■'■niT^ir-ffliirMlw mmm imtu^- ' :p fi i:'il 1'^ vi I," 1 1' IS' n WINTER FALCON. ness is never lost in the living bird, though in stuffed skins, and pro- Bervcd specimens, it is frequently entirely obliterated. I have no hesitation, therefore, in giving it as my opinion, that the present and preceding birds are of the same species, differing only in ago, both being males. Of the female I am unable at present to speak. Pennant, in his ao ountofthe Chocolate-colored Ilawk, which is very probably the same with the present and preceding species, observes, that it preys much on ducks, sitting on a rock, and watching their rising, when it instantly strikes them. While traversing our soacoast and salt marshes, between Cape May and Egg Harbor, I was everywhere told of a iJuck Ifatv/c, noted for striking down ducks on wing, though flying with their usual rapidity. Many extravagances were mingled with these accounts, particularly, that it always struck the Duck with its breast-bone, which was univer- sally said to project several inches, and to be strong ant' sharp. From the best verbal descriptions I could obtain of this Hawk, 1 have strong suspicions that it is no other than tiie Black Hawk, as its wings were said to be long and very pointed, the color very dark, the size nearly alike, and several other traits given that seemed particularly to belong to this species. As 1 have been promised specimens of this celebrated Hawk next winter, a short time will enable me to determine the matter more satisfactorily. Few gunners in that quarter are unacquainted with the Duck Jlatvk, as it often robs them of their wounded birds, before they are able to reach them. Spkcies XVr. FALCO in'fJVALIS. WINTER FALCON. [Plate XXXV. Fig. 1.] TuRTO.v, Sysl. p. IbH.—Arct. Zool. p. 209, No. 107.* This elegant and spirited [lawk is represented in the plate of one- half its natural size; the other two figures are reduced in the same proportion. He visits us from the north early in November, and leaves \is late in March. This is a dexterous Frog-catcher ; who, that he may pursue his pro- fession with full effect, takes up his winter residence almost entirely among our meadows and marshes. He sometimes stuffs himself so •We odd the fillowing gynoriymes: Falco hi/fmalit. (Jmii,. Syal. i., p. 274.— Lath. Ind. (hn. p. 35. WINTER FALCON. 77 enormously with these reptiles, that the prominency of his craw makoa a largo hunch, and he appears to fly with difHculty. I have taken the broken fragments, and whole carcasses, of ten frogs, of different dimon- aions, from the crop of a single individual. Of his genius and other exploits I am unable to say much. He appears to bo a fearless and active bird, silent, and not very shy. One which I kept for some time, and which was slightly wounded, disdained all attempts made to recon- cile him to confinement ; and would not suffer a person to approach, without being highly irritated ; throwing himself backward, and strik- ing with expanded talons, with great fury. Though shorter winged than some of his tribe, yet I have no doubt, but, with proper care, he might bo trained to strike nobler game, in a bold stylo, and with great effect. IJut the education of Hawks in this country may well bo post- poned for a time, until fewer improvements remain to be made in that of the human subject. Length of the Winter Hawk twenty inches, extent forty-one inches, or nearly three feet six inches ; cere and legs yellow, the latter long, and feathered for an inch below the knoo ; bill bluish black, small, fur- nished with a tooth in the upper mandible ; eye bright amber, cartilage over the eye very |)rominent, and of a dull green ; head, sides of the neck, and thront, dark bri)wn, streaked with white; lesser coverts with a strong glow of ferruginous ; secondaries pale brown, indistinctly barred with darker ; ju'imaries brownish orange, 8j)otted with black, wholly black at the tips ; tail bug. slightly rounded, barred alternately with dark and pale brown, inner vanes white, exterinr fcather.-i brownish orange; wings, when closed, reach ratlur beyond the middle .)f the tail; tail-coverts white, marked with heart-sliape': ".'r* FALCO LISEATUS* RED-SHOULDERED HAWK. [Plate LIII. Fig. 3] 'Aret. Zool. p. 206, No. 102.— Lath, i., 56, No. 36.— Turt. Sytt. p. 153 This Hawk is more rarely met with than either of those in the same plate. Its liaunts are in the neij^hhorhood of the sea. It preys on Larks, Sandpipers, and the small IJinged TMover, and frerpuMitly on Duck.x. It Hies hij;li iiiid irregularly, and not in the sailing manner of the Long-winged Hawks. I have occasionally observed this bird near Egg Harbor, in New Jersey ; and once in the meadows below this city. This Hawk was first tran.smitted to Great Britain by Mr. IJlackburne, from Long Island, in the state of New York. Of its tnanner of build- ing, cgg.s, &c., we are altogether unac(|iiainted. The Red-shouldered Hawk is nineteen inches in length; the head and back are brown, seamed and ef Russia and Siberia ; and extends as far as Lake' Baikal, though it is «aid not to be found in the north of Europe.^ The Marsh Hawk is twenty-one inches long, and three feet eleven iches extent ; cere and legs yellow, the former tinged with green, the Litter • Fdlro pygargua, LiNS. tThi.M upitiioti of WiNdn'n Ih in accordnnoe with tlint of wimc recent ornitholo);ii*ts, Wir add tlio followinj; nvnonymea: F. a/aneus, (jmki,. Si/.it.i., p. 220. — Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 'M.—llinii-t(iil, 1'bnn. ': ' 'Ami. i.,p. 104, No. U'.< —lien- Harrier, Id. p. 19.3, No. M. — F. jii/i/ari/un, Linn, Sv" i., p. 89, No. 9, od. 10. — Circus Hiul.icnius, Vifii,. Ois de I' Am. Se]tl. I., ji 3fi, ),1. 9, — liuzard Saint-.Vartin, Temm. Man. d' 'Mm I., p. 72. J Palls, an quoted hy Pennani. (79) sTVi *> ^%. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) A. .<''' ^ ^ ^' ^ z« 1.0 I.I M 11.8 1.25 1.4 1.6 ^ 6" ► Photographic Sciences Corpordtion ^ \ S, \ k \\ % V *> ^ ^ % 6^ 23 WEST MAk : 'JJEET WEBSTER NY I4S80 (716) 872-4503 V w. C/j t o^ ^ I I. i. M 1 5 I i 1 I It );■• , 80 MARSH HAWK. long and slender ; nostril large, triangular, this, and the base of the bill, thickly covered with strong curving hairs, that rise from the space between the eye and bill, arching over the base of the bill and cere — this is a particular characteristic ; bill blue, black at the end ; eye dark hazel ; cartilage overhanging the eye, and also the eyelid, bluish green ; spot under the eye, and line from the front over it, brownish white ; head above, and back, dai-k glossy chocolate brown, the former slightly seamed with bright ferruginous ; scapulars spotted with the same under the surface ; lesser coverts, and band of the wing, here and there edged with the same ; greater coverts and primaries tipped with whitish ; quills deep brown at the extreme half, some of the outer ones hoary on the exterior edge ; all the primaries yellowish white on the inner vanes and upper half, also barred on the inner vanes with black ; tail long, extending three inches beyond the wings, rounded at the end, and of a pale sorrel color, crossed by four broad bars of very dark brown, the two middle feathers excepted, which are barred with deep and lighter shades of chocolate brown ; chin pale ferruginous ; round the neck a collar of bright rust color ; breast, belly and vent, pale rust, shafted with brown ; femorals long, tapering, and of the same pale rust tint ; legs feathered near an inch below the knee. This was a female. The male differs chiefly in being rather lighter, and somewhat less. This Hawk is particularly serviceable to the rice fields of the southern states, by the havoc it makes among the clouds of Rice Buntings, that spread such devu.'itation among that grain, in its early stiige. As it sails low and swiftly, over the surface of the field, it keeps tlie flocks in perpetual fluctuation, and greatly interrupts their depreciations. Tlic planters consider orie Marsli Hawk to be equal to several negroes, for alarming the Rice-birds. Formerly the Marsh Ilawk u.sed to be numer- ous along the Schuylkill and Delaware, during the time the seeds of the Zizania were ripening, and the Reed-birds abundant ; but they have of late years become less numerous here. Pennant considers the '■'■strong, thick, and short legs" of this species as specific distinctions from the Ring-tailed Hawk ; the legs, however, are long and slender ; and a Marsh Ilawk such as he has described, with strong, thick and short legs, is nowhere to be found in the United States. Note. — Montagu, in the " Supplement to the Ornithologieal Diction- ary," an excellent work, positively asserts, that the F. cyaneus, and the F. pygargus, are the same species. This opinion the same writer had given in a paper, published in the ninth volume of the Linnean Trans- actions. If this be tiie fact, the name o{ pygargus must be retained tor the species, it being that which was given to it by Linnicus, in the tenth edition of the Systema Naturaj, published in the year 1758. — G. Ord. Genus III. STRIX. OWL. .^ , ., / _. , Species I. STRIX NYCTEA. • .;•.'. * SNOW OWL. [Plate XXXII. Fig. l-lfale] ^ • ' Latbam I., 132, No. 17.— BuFFON i., 387.— Grea^ White Owl, Edw. 61.— .Sfnoioy OicZ, ^rci. Zoo/. 233, No. 121. • The Snow Owl represented in the plate, is reduced to half its natural size. To preserve the apparent magnitude, the other accompanying figures are drawn by the same scale. This great northern hunter inhabits the coldest and most dreary regions of the northern hemisphere, in both continents. The forlorn mountains of Greenland, covered with eternal ice and snows, where, for nearly half the year, the silence of death and desolation might almost be expected to reign, furnish food and shelter to this hardy adventurer ; whence he is only driven by the extreme severity o*" weather towards the seashore. He is found in Lapland, Norway, and the country near Hudson's Bay, during the whole year ; is said to be common in Siberia, and numerous in Kamtschatka. lie is often seen in Canada, and the northern districts of the United States ; and sometimes extends his visits to the borders of Florida. Nature, ever provident, has so effectually secured this bird from the attacks of cold, that not even a point is left exposed. The bill is almost completely hid amorg a mass of feathers, that cover the face ; the legs are clothed with such an exuberance of long thick hair-like plumage, as to appear nearly as large as those of a mid- dle sized dog, nothing being visible but the claws, which are large, black, much hooked, and extremely sharp. The whole plumage, below the sur- face, is of the most exquisitely soft, warm, and elastic kind ; and so closely matted together, as to make it a difficult matter to penetrate to the skin. The usual food of this species is said to be hares, grouse, rabbits, ducks, mice, and even carrion. Unlike most of his tribe, he hunts by day as well as by twilight, and is particularly fond of frequenting the shores and banks of shallow rivers, over the surface of which he slowly sails, or sits on a rock, a little raised above tho water, watching for fish. ♦ We add tho following synonymcs: Strix nyctea, Linn. Sy»t. ed. 10, i., p. 93. — Gmei,. .*?(/«<. I., p. 291. — i'iATH. Ind. Om. p 67. — Sirix Candida, Id. Sup. 2, p. 14. — ViEiL. dis. de I'Am, Sep,, i., pi. 18.— Tvhh. Man. d'Om. i., p. 82. Vol. I.— 6 (81) a:-. -J •■ ■Si 82 SNOW OWL. These he seizes with a sudden and instantaneous stroke ol the foot, fieldom missing his aim. In the more southern and thickly settled parts he is seldom seen ; and when he appears, his size, color, and singular aspect, attract general notice. In the month of October I met with this bird on Oswego river. New York, a little below the falls, vig'lantly watching for fish. At Pittsburgh, in the month of February, I saw another, which had been shot in the wing some time before. At a place on the Ohio called Long Reach, I examined another, which was the first ever recollected to have been seen there. In the town of Cincinnati, state of Ohio, two of these birds alighted upon the roof of the court-house, and alarmed the whole town. A people more disposed to superstition, would have deduced some dire or fortunate prognostication, from their selecting such a place ; but the only solicitude was how to get possession of them, which after several volleys was at length effected. One of these, a female, I afterwards ex- amined, when on my way through that place to New Orleans. Near Bairdstown, in Kentucky, I met with a large and very beautiful one, which appeared to be altogether unknown to the inhabitants of that quarter, and excited general surprise. A person living on the eastern shore of Maryland, shot one of those birds a few months ago, a female, and, having stuffed the skin, brought it to Philadelphia, to Mr. Peale, in expectation no doubt of a great reward. I have examined eleven of these birds within these fifteen months last past, in different and very distant parts of the country, all of which were shot cither during winter, late in the fall, or oarly in spring ; so that it docs not appear certain whether any remain during summer within the territory of the United States ; though I think it highly probable that a few do, in some of the more northern inland parts, where they are most numerous during winter. The color of this bird is well suited for concealment, while roaming over the general waste of snows; and its flight strong and swift, very similar to that of some of our large Hawks. Its hearing must be ex- quisite, if we judge from the largeness of these organs in it ; and its voice is so dismal, that, as Pennant observes, it adds horror even to the regions of Greenland by its hideous cries, resembling those of a man in deep distress. The male of this species measures twenty-two inches and a half in length, and four feet six inches in breadth ; head and nock nearly white, with a few small dots of dull brown interspersed; eyes deep sunk under projecting eyebrows, the plumage at their internal angles fluted or pressed in, to admit direct vision, below this it bristles up, covering nearly the whole hill ; the irides are of the most brilliant golden yellow, and the countenance, from the proportionate smallness of the head, pro- jection of the eyebrow, and concavity of the plumage at the angle of [MU'£. SNOW OWL. 88 lalf in white, uiidor ted or the eye, very different from that of any other of the genus ; general color of the body white, marked with lunatcd spots of pale brown above, and with semicircular dashes below ; femoral feathers long, and legs covered, even over the claws, with long shaggy hair-like down, of a dirty white ; the claws, when exposed, appear large, much hooked, of a black color, and extremely sharp pointed ; back white, tail rounded at the end, white, slightly dotted with pale brown near the tips ; wings, when closed, reach near the extremity of the tail ; vent feathers large, strong shafted, and extending also to the point of the tail ; upper part of the breast and belly plain white ; body very broad and flat. The female, which measures two feet in length, and five feet two inches in extent, is covered more thickly with spots of a much darker color than those on the male ; the chin, throat, face, belly and vent, are white ; femoral feathers white, long and shaggy, marked with a few heart-shaped spots of brown ; legs also covered to the claws with long white hairy down ; rest of the plumage white, every feather spotted or barred with dark brown, largest on the wing quills, where they are about two inches apart ; fore part of the crown thickly marked with roundish black spots ; tail crossed with bands of broad brownish spots ; shafts of all the plumage white ; bill and claws, as in the male, black ; third and fourth wing quill the longest, span of the foot four inches. From the various individuals of these birds which I have examined, I have reason to believe that the male alone approaches nearly to white in his plumage, the female rarely or never. The bird from "A-hich tho figure in the plate was drawn, was killed at Egg Harbor, New Jcrsejj, in the month of December. The conformation of the eye of this bird forms a curious and interesting subject to the young anatomist. The globe of the eye is immovably fixed in its socket, by a strong, clastic, hard, cartilaginous case, in form of a truncated cone ; this case being closely covered with a skin, appears at first to be of one continued piece ; but on removing the exterior membrane it is found to be formed of fifteen pieces, placed like the staves of a cask, overlapping a little at the base or narrow end, and soeni as if capable of being enlarged or contracted, perhaps by the muscular membrane with which they are encased. In five other different species of Owls, which I have since examined, I found nearly the same conformation of this organ, and exactly the same number of staves. Tiie eye being thus fixed, these birds, as they view differctit objects, are always obliged to turn the head ; and nature has so excellently adapted their neck to this purpose, that they can, with ease, turn it round, without moving the body, in almost a complete circle. MS 'Si* iv f( W Specijs III. STRLT HUDSONIA* HAWK OWL. [FUto L. Fig. e.] Little Hawk Owl, Edw. 62.— Lath, i., 142, No. 2!lie can run with them hanging to Jicr, us stated, with considerable swiftness. I)r. Leach, in the Zoological Miscellany, vol. i., p. 0(), flgured and described a CumjHiijnol, which had been received from Hudson's IJay. This uninml, which was Uiimed A. iO'itho^iiatha, has been mistaken, by some natur.ilihts, for the present species, which is notlialf its siic: the Fulvous-cheeked I'ampugnol measures, from the tip of its nose to the base of its tail, at least Jihie inches, whilst the admeasure- ment of ours is not more than four inches. I)r. Leach's descrijition is too iinper- fe<;t: it lacks those details which are essential in discriminating species. The size of his animal we infer from h'» figure, which ho says is " rather less than hah of the natural size." — G. Ord. LITTLE OWL. n color is a bright iron gray, the fur being of u rodditih cream at bottom, then Btroiigly tinged with luku, and minutely tipped with white ; the cura are Hcurcely half an inch long, with two flight valves ; the noHtrila aro somowhot tubular; foro tooth in the upper jaw, none — in the lower, four, not reckoning the tUMkn; tho eyoH are very HuniU black points; tho chin, u])per part of tho breast and head, uro of a plain reddish cream color ; the wings have a wingle hook or claw each, and aro so con- Htructed, that tho aninuil may hung either with its head or tail down- ward. I have several times found two hanging fu»t locked together behind a leaf, the hook of one fixed in the mouth of tho other ; tho hind feet are furniwlicd with five toes, sharp-clawed ; tho membrane of tho wings is dusky, shafts light brown ; extent twelve inches. In a cav( , not far from Carlisle in Pennsylvania, I found a number of these bats in the depth of winter, in very severe weather ; they were lying on tho projecting shelves of the rocks, and when the brand of fire was held near them, wrinkled up their mouths, showing their teeth ; when held in the hand for a short time, they became active, and after being carried into a stovo room, flew about as lively as ever.* Specus V. STRLT PASSElilN^A. LITTLE OWL. [Plate XXXIV. Fig. 1.] Arct. Zool. 23C, No. I'JC— Turton, Syst. 172.t This is one of the least of its whole genus, but like many other little folks, makes up in neatness of general form and appearance, for de- ficiency of size, nml is i)i'rhaps the most shiipely of all our Owls. Nor arc tho colors and markings of its plumage inferior in simplicity and effect to most others. It also possesses an eye fully equal in spirit and brilliancy to the best of them. Til's species is a general and constant inlia])itant of tlie middle and northern states ; but is found most numerous in tho neighborhood of the seashore, and among woods and swamps of pine trees. It raiely rambles much during day ; but if disturbed, flies a short way, and again * This sjieciott Dr. Goodninn i-nlls tho Vesperlilio novtboraceiisis of LinnKus. See hiH Aiiu'rii'iui Natural liiHtory, vol. i., p. AH. AVilscn, it should seem, waa of a difTeront upiniun. t \V(' mill tho foUowinj? synonytncH: Sliix passerina, Linn. Si/st. ed. 10, vol. ■., p. y;'). (iMKi.. Si/nt. I., p. 2'Jt). No. 12. — S!rix aaidiensis, Lath. Inil. Orn. p. G5, — S, acadica, Gmel. Syst. i.. p. 2UC, No. 43. — Temu. Man. d' Orn. i., p. 92. :■?( 92 LITTLE OWL. takes .siiclter from the lipht ; at the approach of twilight it is all life and activity ; being a noteii and dexterous mouse-catcher. It is found as far north as Nova Scotia, and oven Hudson's Bay ; is frequent in Russia ; builds its nest generally in pines, half way up the tree, and lays two eggs, which, like those of the rest of its genus, are white. The melancholy and gloomy umbrage of those solitary evergreens forms its favorite haunts ; where it sits dozing and slumbering all day, lulled by the roar of the neighboring ocean. The Little Owl is seven inches and a half long, and eighteen inches in extent ; the upper parts are a plain brown olive, the scapulars, and some of the greater and lesser coverts, being spotted with white ; the first five primaries are crossed obliquely with five bars of white; tail rounded, rather darker than the body, crossed with two rows of white spots, and tipped with white ; whole interior vanes of the wings spotted with the same ; auriculars yellowish brown ; crown, upper part of the neck, and circle surrounding the ears, beautifully marked witli numerous points of white, on an olive brown ground ; front pure white, ending in long blackish hairs ; at the internal angle of the eyes, a broad spot of black, radiating outwards ; iridcs pale yellow ; bill a blackish horn color, lower parts streaked with yellow ochre and reddish bay ; thighs and feathered legs pale bufl"; toes covered to the claws, which are black, large, and sharp pointed. The bird from which the foregoing figure and description were taken, was shot on the seashore, near Great Egg Harbor, in New Jersey, in the month of Novonilx'r ; and on dissection was found to be a female. Turton describes a species called ^he Wiiitc-fronted Owl (; % 94 GREAT HORNED OWL. ii^' ochre, some of the latter have central spots of dark brown, the whole tipped with white; quills also banded with dark brown and yellow ochre ; breast and belly streaked witli dark brown, on a ground of yel- lowish ; legs, thighs and vent, plain dull yellow ; tips of the three first quill featlicrs black ; legs clothed to tlie claws, which are black, curved to about the quarter of a circle, and exceedingly sharp. The female I have never seen ; but she is said to bo somewhat larger and much darker ; and the spots on the breast larger and more numerous. It' I SpEriES VIII. STRLY VIRGIKIANA. GREAT HORNED OWL. [Plate L. Fig. 1.] Avct. Zool. p. 228, No. 114.— Edw. r.O.-LATii. i., 119.— Ti'rt. Si/st. p. 16G.* TiiK figure of this bird, as well as of tho.'^p represented in the same plate, is reduced to one-half its natural dimensions. By the same scale, the greater part of the Hawks and Owls of the present volumof are drawn ; their real magnitude rendering this unavoidable. This noted and formidable Owl is fouml in almost every quarter of the United States. His favorite residence, liowever, is in the dark solitudes of deep swamps, covered with a growth of gigantic timber ; and here, as soon as evening draws on, and mankind retire to rest, he sends forth such sounds, as seem scarcely to belong to this world, start- ling the solitary pilgrim as he slumbers by liis forest fire, "Makinft night IiIiIoohh." Along the monntainons shores of the Ohio, and amidst the deep forests of Indiana, alone, and reposing iti the woods, this ghostly watchman frequently warned me of the a|>priiacli of innrniiig, and amused rue with his singular e.xclamations ; sometimes sweei)iiig down ami around my fire, uttering a loml and sudden Wiiuqh O ! Waugh ! sufiicient to have alarmed a whole garrison. He lias (»ther nocturnal solos, no K-ss melodious, one of wliieh very strikingly resi-inliles the half-siippressed screams of a persoji sufTocating, or tlirottleil, and cannot fail of being • We ftiltl iho following; cynonymeM : Ililmn dts Terret MiiijfUnniiftKS, Burr. PI. /-,'«/. ."is."). — litilio Viniinianux, Uriss. i. p. •Is4. — SIrix Virijininua, Iml. Oni.fJvl. — (iMBt., f^ynt I., p. 2S7. — Viri/inidii F.nrtd (hrl, L.\tii. Gen. Syn. Siipl. vi., p. 40. f Volume VI. of the originiil pdition. n GREAT HORNED OWL. 95 exceedingly entertaining to a lonely, benighted traveller, in the midst of an Indian wilderness. This species inhabits the country round Hudson's Bay ; and, accord- ing to Pennant, who considers it a mere variety of the Eagle Owl {Strix bubo) of Europe, is found in Kamtschatka ; extends even to the Arctic regions, where it is often found white ; and occurs as low as Astrakan It has also been seen white in the United States ; but this has doubtless been owing to disease or natural defect, and not to climate. It preys on young rabbits, squirrels, rats, mice, partridges, and small birds of various kinds. It has been often known to prowl about the farm-house, and carry off chickens from the roost. A very large one, wing-broken while on a foraging excursion of this kind, was kept about a house for several days, and at length disappeared, no one knew how. Almost every day after this, hens and chickens also disappeared, one by one, in an unaccountable manner, till in eight or ten days very few were left remaining. The fox, the minx and weasel, were alternately the reputed authors of this mischief, until one morning, an old lady, rising before day to bake, in passing towards the oven, surprised her late prisoner the Owl, regaling himself on the body of a newly killed hen. The thief in- stantly made for his hole under the house, whence the enraged matron soon dislodged him with the brush-handle, and without mercy despatched him. In this snug retreat were found the greater part of the feathers, and many large fragments, of her whole family of chickens. There is something in the character of the Owl so recluse, solitary and mysterious, something so discordant in the tones of its voice, heard only amid the silence and gloom of night, and in the most lonely and sequestered situations, as to have strongly inipressed the minds of man- kind in general with sensations of awe, and abliorronee of the whole tribe. The poets have indulged freely in this general prejudice ; and in their descriptions and delineations of midnight storms, and gloomy scenes of nature, the Owl is generally introduced to heighten the horror of the pieture. Ignorance and superstition, in all ages, anil in all countries, listen to the voice of the Owl, and even conteni])late its physiognomy with feelings of disgust, and a kind of fearful awe. The priests, or con- jurers, among some of our Indian nations, have taken advantage of the reverential horror fur this binl, and have adopted the Great Iforned Owl, the subject of the present account, as the syinbid or emblem of their oflTiee. " Among the Creeks," says Mr. Bartram, " the junior priests, or students, constantly wear a white mantle, and have a Great Owl skin eased and stuffed very ingeniou.>>Iy. so well executed as almost to appear like the living bird, having large sparkling glass beads, or buttons, fixed in the head for eyes. This insignia of wisdom and divination they wear sometimes as a crest on the top of the head ; at other times the image sits on the arm, or is borne on the hand. These ! 96 GREAT HORNED OWL. to i'- . 'I ! fj I IV bachelors are also distinguished from the other people by their taci turnity, grave and solemn countenance, dignified step, and singing to themselves songs or hymns in a low, sweet voice, as they stroll about the town."* Nothing is a more effectual cure for superstition than a knowledge of the general laws and productions of nature ; nor more forcibly leads our reflections to the first, great, self-existent cause of all, to whom our reverential awe is then humbly devoted, and not to any of his dependent creatui'es. With all the gloomy habits, and ungracious tones, of the Owl, there is nothing in this bird supernatural or mysterious, or more than that of a simple bird of prey, formed for feeding by night, like many other animals, and of reposing by day. The harshness of its voice, occasioned by the width and capacity of its throat, may be intended by heaven as an alarm and warning to the birds and animals on which it preys, to secure themselvci from danger. The voices of all carnivorous birds and animals are also observed to be harsh and hideous, probably for this very purpose. The Great Horned Owl is not migratory, but remains with us the whole year. During the day lie slumbers in the thick evergreens of deep swamps, or seeks shelter in large hollow trees. He is very rarely seen abroad by day, and never but when disturbed. In the month of May tliov usually begin to build. The nest is generally placed in the fork of a tall tree, and is constructed of sticks, piled in considerable quantities, lined with dry leaves, and a few feathers. Sometimes tliey choose a hollow tree, and in that case carry in but few materials. The female lays four eggs, nearly as large as those of a hen, almost globular, and of a pure wiiitc. In one of these nests, after the young had flown, were found the heads and bones of two chickens, the legs and head of the Golden-winged Woodpecker, and part of the wings and feathers of several other birds. It is generally conjectured tiiat they hatch but once in the season. The length of the male of this species is twenty inches ; the bill is large, black and strong, covered at the biw^e with a cere ; the eyes golden yellow ; the horns are three inches in length, and very broad, consisting of twelve or fourteen feathers, tlieir webs black, broadly edged with brigiit tawny ; face rusty, boundeil on each side by a l)and of black ; space between the eyes and bill whitish; whole lower parts elegantlv marketl with numerous transverse bars of dusky, r)n a bright tawnv ground, thinly interspersed with white; vent pale yellow ochre, barred with narrow lines of brown ; legs and feet large and covered with feathers, or hairy down, of a pale brown color ; claws very large, blue black ; tail rounded, extending about an inch beyond the tips of the • Travels, p. 504. LONG-EARED OWL. 97 wings, crossed with six or seven narrow bars of brown, and variegated or marbled with brown and tawny ; whole upper parts finely pencilled with dusky, on a tawny and whitish ground ; chin pure white, under that a band of brown, succeeded by another narrow one of white ; eyes very large. The female is full two feet in length, and has not the white on the throat so pure. She has also less of the bright ferruginous or tawny tint below ; but is principally distinguished by her superior magnitude. Si-EciBS VIII. STRLY OrUS. LONG-EARED OWL. [Flats LI. Fig. 3, Female.] Omil. Sysl. I., p. 288.— Brwick, i., p. 84.* This Owl is common to both continents, and is much more numerous in Pennsylvania than the White, or Barn Owl : six or seven were found in a single tree, about fifteen miles from this city. There is little doubt but this species is found inhabiting America to a high latitude ; though wc have no certain accounts of the fact. Except in size, this species has more resemblance to the Great Horned Owl tlian any other of its tribe. It resembles it also in breeding among the branches of tall trees ; lays four eggs of noiirly a round form, and pure white. f The young are grayi.sh white until nearly full grown, and roost during the day close together on a limb, among the tliickcst of the foliage. This Owl is frequently seen abroad during the day, but is not remarkable for its voice or habits. The Long-eared Owl is fourteen inelios and a half long, and three feet two inches in extent ; ears large, coiiipd.Hod of six feathers, gradu- ally lengthening from the front one backwards, black, edged with rusty yellow ; iridcs vivid yellow ; inside of the circle of the face white, out.«ide or cheeks rusty ; at the internal angle of the eye a streak of Mack; bill Mackish horn color; forehead anil crown deep brown, .ipeckled v. i minute points of wliite and pale rusty ; outside circle of t lie face black, finely marked with small curving spots of white; back mill wing.-* dark 1 i-own, sprinkled and spotted witli white, pale ferru- ginous and dusky ; primaries barred with brownish yellow and dusky, • Wf> iulil tlic following; syiionymes; f^/rix nlii», Linn. i^i/,v/ i., p. 02, No. 4, ed. 10.— Ml KK. /'/. K„l. 2'.).— Lath. (int. Syn. i., ].. 121, Iml. Orn. p. .')5. t lluffcin romarkH, that it rarely conMtriictM ii noHt of its own; but not unfro- qucntly ocoiipios that of others, particularly the Mu^pio. Vol I.— 7 .1=' I I 01 LONO-EARED OWL. darkening towards the tips; secondaries more finely barred, and powdered with white and dusky ; tail rounded at the end, of the same length with the wings, beautifully barred and marbled with dull white and pale rusty, on a dark brown ground ; throat and breast clouded with rusty, cream, black and white; belly beautifully streaked with large arrow-heads of black ; legs and thighs plain pale rusty, feathered to the claws, which are blue black, large and sharp ; inside of the wing brownish yellow, with a large spot of black at the root of the primaries. This was a female. Of the male I cannot speak precisely ; though from the numbers of these birds which I have examined in the Autumn, when it is difficult to ascertain their sex, I conjecture that they differ very little in color. About six or seven miles below Philadelphia, and not far from the Delaware, is a low swamp,* thickly covered with trees, and inundated during great part of the year. This place is the resort of great numbers of the Qua-bird, or Night Raven (Ardea nycticorax), where they build in large companies. On the twenty-fifth of April, while wading among the dark recesses of this forest, observing the habits of these birds, I discovered a Long-eared Owl, which had taken po ession of one of their nests, and was sitting ; on mounting to the nest, I found it contained four eggs, and breaking one of these, the young appeared almost ready to leave the shell. There were numbers of the Qua-birds' nests on the adjoining trees all around, and one of them actually on the same tree. Thus we see how unvarying are the manners of this species, however remote and different the countries may be where it has taken up its residence. * Commonly known by the name of Cocker'a swamp, from time immemorial • noted pi ice for the shooting of Woodcocks. mt %^^ A Spicibs IX. STRIX NJEVIA* MOTTLED OWL. [Plata XIX. Fig. 1, remale.] Arct. Zool. 231, No. 118.— Latham, i., 126.— Tcrton, i., 167. On contemplating the grave and antiquated figure of this night wanderer, so destitute of everything like gracefulness of shape, I can scarcely refrain from smiling at the conceit, of the ludicrous appear- ance this bird must have made, had nature bestowed on it the powers of song, and given it the faculty of warbling out sprightly airs, while robed in such a solemn exterior. But the great God of Nature hath, in his wisdom, assigned to this class of birds a more unsocial, and less noble, though, perhaps, not less useful, disposition by assimilating them, not only in form of countenance, but in voice, manners, and appetite, to some particular beasts of prey ; secluding them from the enjoyment, of the gay sunshine of day, and giving them little more than the few solitary hours of morning and evening twilight, to procure their food, and pursue their amours ; while all the tuneful tribes, a few excepted, are wrapped in silence and repose. That their true character, however, should not be concealed from those weaker animals on whom they foed (for Heaven abhors deceit and hypocrisy), He has stamped their coun- tenance with strong traits of their murderer the Cat ; and birds in this respect are, perhaps, better physiognomists than men. The Owl now before us is chiefly a native of the northern regions, arriving here, with several others, about the commencement of cold weather ; frequenting the uplands and mountainous districts, in prefer- ence to the lower parts of the country ; and feeding on mice, small birds, beetles, and crickets. It is rather a scarce species in Pennsyl- vania ; flies usually in the early part of night and morning ; and is sometimes observed sitting on the fences during day, when it is easily caught ; its vision at that time being very imperfect. The bird represented in the plate was taken in this situation, and pre- sented to me by a friend. I kept it in the room beside me for some time ; during which its usual position was such as I have given it. Its eyelids were either half shut, or slowly and alternately opening and * Strix atio. This ia the adult of the following Bpecies, and the name asio given to the young, inu«t be retained for the Hpecies, tu the young was first described. See Linn. Sytt. i., p. 92, No. 3, ed. 10. (99) 100 MOTTLED OWL. i Mmn ■■ shutting, as if suffering from the glare of day ; but no sooner was the sun set, than its whole appearance became lively and animated ; its full and globular eyes shone like those of a cat ; and it often lowered ita head, in the manner of a cock when preparing to fight, moving it from side to side, and also vertically, as if reconnoitring you with great sharpness. In flying through the room, it shifted from place to place with the silence of a spirit, (if I may be allowed the expression), the plumage of its wings being so extremely fine and soft as to occasion little or no friction with the air ; a wise provision of nature, bestowed on the whole genus, to enable them, without giving alarm, to seize their prey in the night. For an hour or two in the evening, and about break of day, it flew about with great activity. When angry, it snapped its bill repeatedly with violence, and so loud as to be heard in the adjoiiii.ig room, swelling out its eyes to their full dimensions, and lowering its head us before described. It swallowed its food hastily, in large mouthfuls ; and never was observed to drink. Of the eggs and nest of this species I am unable to speak. The Mottled Owl is ten inches long, and twenty-two in extent ; the unper part of the head, the back, ears and lesser wing-coverts, are dark bi'own, streaked and variegated with black, pale brown, and ash ; wings lighter, the greater coverts juid primaries spotted with white ; tail short, even, and mottled with black, pale brown, and whitish, on a dark brown ground ; its lower side gray ; horns (as they are usually called) very prominent, each com i.sed of ten feathers; increasing in length from the front ))ackwarda, and lightest on the inside ; face whitish, marked with small touches of dusky, and bounded on each side with a circlet of black ; breast and belly white, beautifully variegated with ragged streaks of black, and small transverse touches of brown ; legs featheretl nearly to the claws, wilh a kind of hairy flown, of a pale brown color; vent and under tail-eoverts white, the latter slightly marked with brown ; iris of the eye a brilliant golden yellow ; bill and claws bluish horn color. This was a female. The male is consideral)Iy less in size; the gene- ral colors darker; and the white on the wing-coverts not so observable. Hollow trees, cither in the woods or orchard, or close evergreens, in retired situations, arc the usual roosting places of this anil most of our other species. These retnats, however, are frequently discovered hy tlic Nuthatch, Titmouse, or Blue Jay, who instantly raise the alarm ; a promiscuous group of feathered neighbors soon collect round the spot, like crowds in the streets of a large city, when a thief or murderer is detected ; and by their insults and vociferation oblige the recluse to seek for another lodging elsewhere. This may account for the circum- stance of sometimes finding them abroad during the day, on fences and other exposed situations. iift'i,!- 8TRIX ASIO* RED OWL. [Plate XLII. Fig. 1, Femtle] Little Owl, Catbsb. i., 7.— Lath, i., 123.— Linn. Syst. 132. Arct. Zool. ii., No. 117. TuRT. Syst. I., p. 106. This is another of our nocturnal wanderers, well known by its com- mon name, the Little Screech Owl; and noted for its melancholy qui- vering kind of wailing in the evenings, particularly towards the latter part of summer and autumn, near the farm-house. On clear moonlight nights, they answer each other from various parts of the fields or orchard ; roost during the day in thick evergreens, such as cedar, pine, or juniper trees, and arc rarely seen abroad in sunshine. In May they construct their nest in the hollow of a tree, often in the orchard, in an old apple tree ; the nest is composed of some hay and a few feathers ; the eggs are four, pure wliite and nearly round. The young are at first covered with a whitish down. The bird represented in the plate, I kept for several weeks in the room beside me. It was caught in a barn, where it had taken up its lodging, probably for the greater convenience of mousing ; and being unhurt, I had an opportunity of remarking its manners. At first it struck itself so forcibly against the window, as frequently to deprive it, seemingly, of all sensation for several minutes ; this was done so repeatedly, that I began to fear that either the glass, or the Owl's skull, must give way. In a few days, however, it either began to comprehend something of the matter, or to take disgust at the glass, for it never repeated its attempts ; and soon became quite tame and familiar. Those who have seen this bird only in the day, can form but an imperfect idea of its activity, and even sprightliness, in its proper season of exercise. Throughout the day, it was all stillness and gravity ; its eyelids half shut, its nock contracted, and its head shrunk seemingly into its body ; but scarcely was the sun set, and twilight began to approach, when its eyes became full and sparkling, like two living globes of fire ; it crouched on its perch, recon- noitred every object around with looks of eager fierceness ; alighted and fed ; stood on the meat with clenched talons, while it tore it in morsels with its bill ; flew round the room with the silence of thought, and * This is the young bird. fion w w 102 GREAT AMERICAN SHRIKE. perching, moaned out its melancholy notes, with many lively gosticula- tions, not at all accordant with the pitiful tone of its ditty, which reminded one of the shivering moaiiings of a half-frozen puppy. This species is found generally over the United States, and is not migratory. The Red Owl is eight inches and a half long, and twenty-one inches in extent ; general color of the plumage above, a bright nut brown or lawny red ; the shafts black ; exterior edges of the outer row of scapu- lars white ; bastard wing, the five first primaries and three or four of the first greater coverts, also spotted .with white ; whole wing quills spotted with dusky on their exterior webs ; tail rounded, transversely barred with dusky and pale brown ; chin, breast, and sides, bright red- dish brown, streaked laterally with I! ..k, intermixed with white; belly and vent white, spotted with bright brown ; logs covered to the claws with pale brown hairy down ; extremities of the toes and claws pale bluish, ending in black ; bill a palu bluish horn color ; eyes vivid yel- low ; inner angles of the eyes, eyebrows, and apace surrounding the bill, whitish ; rest of the face nut brown ; head horned or eared, each consisting of nine or ten feathers, of a tawny red, shafted with black. ORDER II. PICiE. PIES. Genus 4. LANIUS. SIIUIKE. ' . Spkciis I. LANIUS EXCUBITORf GREAT AMERICAN SHRIKE, or BUTCHER-BIRD. [PUU V. Fig. 1.) La Pie-griiche grist, Brrr. i., 296. PI. enl. AAb.- White Whisky-John, Phil. Tram. I.XII., p. y,»(i.—Arct. ZiKil. II., No. 127, The form and countenance of this bird bespeak him full of courage and energy ; and his true character does not belie his appearance, for he possesses these qualities in a very eminent degree. lie is represented in the plate rather less than his true size ; but in just proportion ; and with a fidelity thai will enable the European naturalist to determine, whether this be really the same with the great Cinereous Shrike {Lanius exvubitor, Linn.), of the eastern continent or not ; though the progressive variableness of the plumage, passing, according to age, and sometimes to iMuius aepttiUrionalii, (Juki.. Liii 1 ih M GREAT AMERICAN SHRIKE. 10b climate, from ferruginous to palo ash, and even to a bluish white, ren- ders it impossible that this should be an exact representation of every individual. This species is by no means numerous in the lower parts of Pennsyl- vania ; though most so during the months of November, December and March. Soon after this it retires to the north, and to the higher inland parts of the country to breed. It frequents the deepest forests ; builds a large and compact nest in the upright fork of a small troo, composed outwardly of dry grass, and whitish moss, and warmly lined within with feathen,. The female lays six eggs, of a pale cinereous color, thickly marked at the greater end with spuU and streaks of rufous. She sits fiftepn days. The young are produced early in June, sometimes towards the latter end of May ; and during the greater part of the first season are of a brown ferruginous color on the back. When we compare the beak of this species, with his legs and claws, they appear to belong to two very different orders of birds ; the former approaching, in its conformation, to that of the Accipitrino ; the latter to those of the Pies ; and, indeed, in his food and manners, he is assimi- lated to both. For though man has arranged and subdivided this nu- merous class of animals into separate tribes and families, yet nature has united these to each other by such nice gradations, and so intimately, that it is hardly possible to determine where one tribe ends, or the suc- ceeding commences. We therefore find several eminent naturalists classing this genus of birds w:th the Accipitrino, others with the Pies. Like the former ho preys, occasionally, on other birds ; and like the latter on insects, particularly grasshoppers, which I believe to bo his principal food ; having at almost all times, even in winter, found them in his stomach. In the month of December, and while the country was deeply covered with snow, I shot one of these birds, near the head waters of the Mohawk river, in the state of New York, the stomach o'' whicl' was entirely filled with largo black spiders. He was of a much puret Ahite, above, than any I have since met with ; though evidently of the same species with the present ; and I think it probable, that the males become lighter colored as they advance in age, till the minute transverse lines of brown on the lower parts almost disappear. In his manners he has more resemblance to the pies than to birds of prey, particularly in tlie habit of carrying off his surplus food, as if to hoard it for future exigences ; with this difference, that Crows, Jays, Magpies, &c., conceal theirs at random, in holes and crevices, where perhaps it is forgotten or never again found ; while the Butcher-bird sticks his on thorns and bushes, where it shrivels in the sun, and soon becomes equally useless to the hoarder. Both retain the same habito in a state of confinement, whatever the food may be that is preecnted to them. 1 imtiiltamttiMim 104 GREAT AMERICAN SIIRIKK. hi f |ii!i yi'i* fa I U * I' '/ I, M, This habit of the Shrike of seiaing and impaling graBRhopporH, and other insects, on thorn«, has given rise to an opinion, that he pluces their carcasscH there, by way of baits, to allure small birds to them, while he himself lies in ambush to surprise and (lestroy them. In this, however, they appear to allow him a greater portion of reason and con- trivance than he seems untitled to, or than other circumstances will altogether warrant ; for we find that he not only serves grasshoppo-H jji this manner, but even small birds themselves, as those have assured nio who have kept them in cages in this country, und amused themselves with their mancBuvres. If so, wo might as well suppose the fanner to be inviting Crows to his corn, when he hangs up their carcasses around it, as the Hutcher-bird to be decoying small birds by a display of the dead bodies of their comrades. In the " Transactions of the American Philosophical Society," vol. IV., p. 124, the reader may find a long letter on this subject, from Mr. John Heckewelder, of JJctblchem, to Dr. IJartou ; the substance of which is as follows: That on the 17th of December, 17'J5, he (Mr. Hcckewelder) went to visit a young orchard, which hod been planted a few weeks before, and was surprised to observe on every one of the trees one, aiul on some, two and three grnsshoppers, stuck down on the sharp thorny branches ; that on iiMiuiring of his tenant the reason of this, he informed him, that they were stuck there by a small bird of proy called by the Germans Neuntoedter (Niiiekiller), which caught and stuck nine grasshoppers a day ; and he sujipimed that as the bird itself never fed on grasshoppers, it must do it for pleasure. Mr. Hcckewelder now recollected that one of those Ninekillert had, many years before, taken a favorite bird of his out of his cage, at the window ; since which he had paid particular attention to it ; and being perfectly satisfierter, and in color, being much darker on the upper parts ; and in having the frontlet black. It also inhabits the warmer parts of tho United States ; while the Great American Shrike is chiefly confined to the northern regions, and seldom extends to the south of Virginia. This species inhabits the rice plantations of Carolina and Georgia, where it is protected for its usefulness in destroying mice. It sits, for hours together, on the fence, beside the stacks of rice, watching like a cat ; and as soon as it perceives a mouse, darts on it like a Hawk. It also feeds on crickets and grasshoppers. Its note, in March, r osembled tho clear creaking of a sign board, in windy weather. It builds ita nest, as I was informed, generally in a detached bush, much like that of the Mocking-bird ; but as the spring was not then sufficiently advanced, I had no opportunity of seeing its eggs. It is generally known by the name of the Loggerhead. This species is nine inches long and thirteen in extent ; the color above is cinereous or dark 'ish ; scapulars, and line over the eye, whi'.ish ; wings black, wit'i a small spot of white at the base of tho primaries, and tipped with white; a stripe of black passes along tho front through each eye, Isalf way down the aide of the neck ; eye dark hazel, sunk below the eyebrow ; tail cuneiform, tho four middle feathers wholly black, the four exterior ^/nes on each side tipped more and more with white to the outer one which is nearly all white ; whole lower parts white, and in some specimena, both of males and females, marked with transverse linos of very pale brown ; bill and legs black. The female is considerably darker both above and below, but the black do.^ not re-'e'i so high on the front; it is also rather less in size. ' iMniui LvtluvuMiiun, LlN^f., wliiuh name iiiUHt bo adopted. In Buffon, pi. enl. 528, thorn itt u figure of u young binl. — Syuonyiutw : La I'ie-grieacke de la Louisitmf., Briss. 2, p. 162. — Latu. ind. Urn. p. 69. (107) i'f ! iok tlioiii uj). To a Paro(|uot which I wounded, and kept for some considirablo tinio, I very often off"ered ap- ples, which it unifonnly rejected ; but burrs, or beoch-iiuts never. To another very boautiful one, wliioli I l)rouglit from Now Orleans, and which is now sitting in the room bosido nie, 1 have frociuently off'cred this fruit, and also the seeds separately, which I never know it to taato. I 110 CAROLINA PARROT. Their local attachments also prove that food more than climate deter mines their choice of country. For even in the states of Ohio, Ken- tucky, and the Mississippi territory, unless in the neighborhood of such places as have been described, it is rare to sec them. The inhabitants of Lexington, as many of them assured me, scarcely ever observe them in that quarter. In passing from that place to Nashville, a distai.^e of two hundred miles, I neither heard nor saw any, but at a place call ;d Madison's Lick. In passing on, I next met with them on the banks and rich flats of the Tennessee river ; after this I saw no more till I reached Bayo St. Pierre, a distance of several hundred miles ; from all which circumstances, I think we cannot, from the residences of these birds, establish with propriety, any correct standard by which to judge of the comparative temperatures of different climates. In descending the river Ohio, by myself, in the month of February, I met with the first flock of Paroquets at the rnouth of the Little Scioto. I had been informed, by an old and respectable iidiabitant of Marietta, that they were sometimes, though rarely, seen there. I observed flocks of them, afterwards, at the mouth of the Great and Little Miami, and in the neighborhood of numerous creeks, that discharge themselves into the Ohio. At Big-Bone Lick, thirty miles above the mouth of Ken- tucky river, I saw them in great numbers. They came screaming through the woods in the morning, about an hour after sunrise, to drink the salt water, of which they, as well as the pigeons, are remarkably fond. When they alighted on the ground, it appeared, at a distance, as if covered with a carpet of the richest green, orange and yellow. They afterwards settled, in one body, on a neighboring tree, which stood de- tached from any other, covering almost every twig of it, and the sun shining strongly on their gay and glossy plumage, prndueed a very beau- tiful and splendid appearance. Here I had an opportunity of observing some very particular traits of their character. Having shot down a number, some of which were only wounded, the whole flock swept re- peatedly I. ound their prostrate companions, and again settled on a low tree, within twenty yards of the spot where I stood. At each successive discharge, though showers of them fell, yet the affection of the survi- vors seemed rather to increime; for after a few circuits around the place, they again alighted near me, looking down on their slaughtered compa- Tiioris, with such manifest symptoms of sympathy and concern, as entirely disarmed nie. I could not but take notice of the remarkable contrast between their elegant manner of flight, and their lame and crawling gait among the branches. They fly very much like the WiM Pigeon, in close, compact bodies, and with great rapidity, making a loud and outrageous screaming, not unlike that of the Hed-headed Wdodpeckcr. Their flight is sometimes in a direct line ; but most usually circuitous, nniking a great variety of elegant and easy serpentine meanders, as if for pleasure. 'v t CAROLINA PARROT. Ill They arc particularly attached to the large sycamores, in the hollow of the trunks, and branches of which, they generally roost, thirty or forty, and sometimes more, entering at the same hole. Here they cling close to the sides of the tree, holding fast by the claws, and also by the bills. They appear to be fond of sleep, and often retire to their holes during the day, probably to take their regular siesta. They are extremely so- ciable with and fond of each other, often scratching each other's heads and necks, and always at night nestling as close as possible to each other, preferring, at that time, a perpendicular position, supported by their bill and claws. In the fall, when their favorite cockle-burrs are ripe, they swarm along the coast, or high grounds of the Mississippi, above New Orleans, for a great extent. At such times they are kille^^ and eaten by many of the inhabitants ; though I confess I think their • flesh very indifferent. I have several times dined on it from necessity in the woods ; but found it merely passable, with all the sauce of a keen appetite to recommend it.* A very genertil opinion prevails, that the brains and jntestinea of the Carolina Paroquet are a sure and fatal poison to cats. I had deter- mined, when at Big-Bone, to put this to the test of experiment ; and for that purpose collected the brains and bowels of more than a dozen of them. But after close search Mrs. Puss was not to be found, being en- gaged perhaps on more agreeable business. I left the medicine with Mr. Colquhoun's agent, to administer it by the first opportunity, and write me the result ; but I have never yet heard from him. A respect- able lady near the town of Niitchcz, and on whoso word I can rely, assured me, that she herself had maig-]{((ne Lick, and whicii was Itut sliglitly wounded in the wing. I fixed up a place for it in the stern of my boat, and presented it with some cockle-burrs, which it freely fed on in less than an hour alter being on board. The intermediate time, between eating and sleeping, was occupied in gnawing the sticks that formed its j)lace of confineinent, in order to make a practicable breach, whicli it repeatedly effectdl. When I abandoned the river, and travelled by land, I wrapped it up closely in a silk handkerchief, tying it tightly around, and carried it in CAROLINA PARROT. my pocket. When I stopped for refreshment, I unbound my prisoner, and gave it its allowance, which it generally despatched with great dexterity, unhusking the seeds from the burr in a twinkling ; in doing which it always employed its left foot to hold the burr, as did several others that I kept for some time. I began to think that this might be peculiar to the whole tribe, and that the whole were, if I may use the expression, left-footed; but by shooting a number afterwards, while engaged in eating mulberries, I found sometimes the left, sometimes the right foot, stained with the fruit ; the other always clean ; from which, and the constant practice of those I kept, it appears, that like the human species in the use of their hands, they do not prefer one or the other indiscriminately, but are either left or rigid-footed. But to return to my prisoner. In recommitting it to " durance vile," we generally had a quarrel ; during wli'ch it frequently paid me in kind for the wound I had inflicted, and for depriving it of liberty, by cutting and almost disabling several of my fingers with its sharp and powerful bill. The path through the wilderness, between Nashville and Natchez, is in some places bad beyond description. There are dangerous creeks to swim, miles of morass to struggle through, rendered almost as gloomy as night by a prodigious growth of timl>cr, and an underwood of canes and other evergreens ; while the descent into these sluggish streams ia often ten or fifteen feet perpendicular into a bed of deep clay. In some of the worst of these places, where I had, as it were, to fight my way through, the Paroquet frequently escaped from my pocket, ol)liging me to dismount and pursue it through the worst of the morass, before I could regain It. On these occasions I was several times tempted to abandon it ; but I persisted in bringing it along. When at night I encamped in the woods, I placed it on tiic baggage beside nie, where it usually sat, with great composure, dozing and gazing at the fire till morning. In this manner I carried it upwards of a thousand miles in my pocket, where it was exposed all day to tiie jolting of the horse, but roi'ularly liberated at meal times, and in the evening, at which it always expressed great satisfaction. In passing through the Chickasaw and Choctaw nations, the Indians, wherever I stopped to feed, collected around me, men, women and children, laughing and seeming wonder- fuUv amusf(l witli the novelty of my companion. The Cliickasaws called it in their language ^^ Kclinkif ;" but when they heard me call it poll, they soon repeated the name; and wherever I chanced to stop iiniong these people, we soon became familiar witli each other tlirough the medium of Poll. On arriving at Mr. Dunbar's, below Natchez, I procured a cage, and placed it uniler the piazza, where by its call it soon attracted the passing flocks, such is the attachment they have for each other. Numerous parties frequently alighted on the trees imme- diately above, keeping up a constant conversation with the prisoner Vol. I.— 8 114 CAROLINA PARROT. !' '■*£ One of these I wounded slightly in the wing, and the pleasure Poll expressed on meeting with this new companion was really amusing. She crept close up to it, as it hung on the side of the cage, chattered to it in a low tone of voice, as if sympathizing in its misfortune, scratched ahout its head and nock with her hill ; and hotli at night nestled as close as possible to each other, sometimes Poll's head being thrust among the plumage of the other. On the death of this com- panion, she appeared restless and inconsolable for several days. On reaching New Orleans, I placed a looking-glass beside the place where she usually sat, and the instant she perceived her image, all her former fondness seemed to return, so that she could scarcely absent herself from it a moment. It was evident that she was completely deceived. Always when evening drew on, and often during the day, she laid her head close to that of the image in the glass, and began to doze with great composure and satisfaction. In this short space she had learnt to know her name ; to answer and come when called on ; to climb up my clothes, sit on my shoulder, and eat from my mouth. I took her with me to sea, determined to persevere in her education ; but, destined to another fate, poor Poll, having one morning about day-break wrought her way through the cage, while I was asleep, instantly flew overboard, and perished in the gulf of Mexico. The Carolina, or Illinois Parrot (for it has been described under both these appellations), is thirteen inches long, and twenty-one in extent ; forehead and cheeks orange red ; beyond this, for an inch and a half, down and round the neck, a rich and pure yellow ; shoulder and bend of the wing also edged with rich orange red ; the general color of the rest of the plumage is a bright yellowish silky green, with light blue reflections, lightest and most diluted with yellow below ; greater wing- coverts, and roots of the primaries, yellow, slightly tinged with green ; interior webs of the primaries deep dusky purple, almost black, exterior ones bluish green ; tail long, cuneiform, consisting of twelve featliers, the exterior one only half the length, llic others increa;;ing to the middle ones, which are streaked along the middle with light blue; shafts of all the larger featliers, and of most part of the green plumage, black ; knees and vent orange yeUow ; feet a pale whitish flesh color ; claws black; bill white, or -iightly tinged with pale cream; iris of the eye hazel ; round tlie eye is a small space, without featlu-rs, covere« Corheau, Briss. 2, p. S, Pt var. — BuFP. Oh. 3, p. 13. PI. ml. 49.').— Temm. Man. d' Ont. p. Wl.— Raven, Lath. Gen. Syn. i., p. 3f>7. Id. sup. p. 74.— I'enn. Rrit. Zonl. No. 74. Arct. Zool. No. 134. — Sh.\w, Gen. Zool. 7, p. 341. — Bewick, i., p. 100. — Low, Fauna (hcadentU, p. 45. - A KNOWi.EDOE of this celebrated bird bas been banded down to us from tbe oiirlie.xt ages ; and itH bistory i.s almost coeval witb tbat of man. In tbc best and most ancient of all books, we learn, tbat at tlic end of forty day.s, after tbe great flood bad covered tbe eartb, Noab, wisbing to ascertain wbetber or not tbe waters had abated, sent fortb a Raven, wbicb di:ury jh very nnoient, wo learn from tho Hobrew liiwfjiver, wlio |irohiliit8 it, an well an I'very otlicr kind of divination. Deut. chap, xviii, Tlu! UoinatiH derived tlicir knowludfje of augury chiefly from the Tuscansi or Etru- riauH, wiio prai'tiHcd it in ttio carlicMt tinicH. 'I'hin art wan known in Italy before thi' time of KoniuluM, Nince that jirinee did not eommence the building of Koine till he liad taken tho auguriex. The Huccc88orB of ItomuluH, from a conviction of the UHcfulnesH of the Hc-ience, and at the namo timo not t<) render it contemptible by becoming too familiar, employed tho moHt Hkilful augurs from Etruria, to intro- duce tho practice of it into their religiouH cercmonioB. And by a decree of the Hciiate, Home of the youth of the best families in Home were annually sent into TuHcany, to bo inHtructed in this art. Vide Cicuron. do Diviu. Altio Culmet, aad the Abb6 Banicr. :i l"i"" 118 RAVBN. " A* wicked dew, lu e'er my mother bruxhod, With liaieii'i frathnr, from unwhuIoRoino fen, Drop on you both I"* The ferocious wife of Mtichoth, on bi'inj^ adviwoil of the approach of Duncan, whoso death who hud conspired, thus oxolaims : "The Rnven himsolf in hniirno, That oronlcN the (atiil tMitruneo uf Duncnn, Under my battlement* !''t The Moor of Venice says : " It comog o'er my memory, A» doth the Haven o'er the infected hoUMO, Boding to all."t The last quotation alludes to tlio supposed habit of this bird's flying over those houses whieh contain the sick, whose dissolution is at hand, and thereby announced. Thus Marlowe, in the Jew of Malta, as cited by Malone : " The »ud prcHiifjing Itaren toll* The xick miin'H puMsimrt in her hollow beak. And in the Nhitduw of the silent ni^ht Doth Hliuke contusion from her Nublu wing." But it is the jirovince of philosophy to dinpcl those illusions which bewilder the mind, by pointinf^ out the simple truths which Nature has been at no pains to conceal, but which the folly of mankind has shrouded in all the obscurity of mystery. The Raven is a general inhabitant of the United States, but is more common in the interior. On the lakes, and particularly in tlie neigh- borhood (tf the Falls of the river Niagara, they are numerous ; and it is a remarkable fact, that where they so abound, the Common Crow, 0. corojtfc', seldom nuikes its appearance; being intimidated, it is conjec- tured, by the superior size ani;'l!i RAYEN. 119 Tho food of this spocics is deuil iiiiiniul matter of all kinds, not ex- cepting the Diost putrid carrion, which it dovuurs in common with the YulturvH ; worniH, grubs, reptiles and Hladi-fish, the last uf which, in the manner uf the Cruw, it drops from a coimideruble height in the air, on the rocIcH, in order to broalc the .sIicIIh ; it is fond of birds' eggs, and is ofteti observed sneaking urouud tite farm-house, in search of the eggs of the domestic poultry, wiiich it sucks with eagerness ; it is likewise charged with destroying young ducks and chickens, and lambs which have been yeaned in a sickly state. The Raven, it is said, follows tho hunters of deer, for tlie purpose of falling heir to the ofl'al;'*' and the huntsmen are obliged to cover their game, when it is left in the woods, with their hunting frocks, to protect it from this thievish connoisHour, who, if he iiave an opportunity, will attack the region of the kidneys, and mangle the saddle without ceremony. Hufl'on says that " the Haven pluckn out the eyes of Buffaloes, and then, fixing on the back, it tears off the Jlesh deliberately ; and what renders the ferocity more detestable, it is not incited by the cravings of hunger, but by the appetite for carnage ; for it can subsist on fruits, seed of all kinds, and indeed may be considered as an omnivorous ani- mal." This is mere fable, and of a piece with many other absurdities of the same agreeable, but fanciful author. This species is found almost all over the habitable globe. We trace it in tho north from Norway to Greeidand, and hear of it in Kamtschatka. It is common everywhere in Russia and Siberia, except within the Arctic circle ;t and all through Europt?. KolI)en etnimerates the Raven among the birds of the ('aj)e of tJood Hope ;J De Grandprd represents it as numerous in IJengal, where they are said to bt protected for their usefulness ;§ and the unfortunate La I'erouse saw them at Baie de ChantriiK, on the east coast of Tartary ; likewise at Port des Franeois ; 58° 37' north latitude, and lol)° .00' west longitude; and at Monterey Bay, North California.|| The English cireuninavigators met with them at Nootka Sound ;^ and at the Sandwich Islands, two being seen in the village of Kakooa ; also at Owhyiiee, and supposed to lie adored there, as they were called Eatoos.** Our intrepid American travellers, under the command of Lewis and Clark, shortly after they end)arked on tlio river Columbia, saw abundance of iJ.nens, which were attracted thither * TliiH is tho C1180 in tlioso |iiirts of tho Unitrd SttttoH whrro the dcor arc huntod witlioiit dii^s : wliero these are employed, tlicy are genonilly rewarded with the ..lliil. t Latham. % Medley's Kolben. vol. ii., p. 130. { Voy. in tho Indian Ocean, p. 14S. II Voy. par I. F. G. Do la IV-rouse, ii., p. 129, 203, 443. \ Cook's luiit Voy. ii., p. 230. Am. od. ** Idem, ill., p. 329. hm' M ■ {■1 2 W' mm } UKU RA\EN. by the immense quantity of dead salmon which lined the shores.* They am found at all seasons at Hudson's Bay ; f arc frequent in Mexico ; J and it is more than probable that they inhabit the whole continent of America. The Raven measures, from the tip of the bill to the end of the tail, twenty-six inches, and is four feet in extent ; the bill is large and strong, of a shining black, notched near the tip, and three inches long, the setaceous feathers which cover the nostrils extend half its length ; the eyes are black ; the general color is a deep glossy black, with steel- blue reflections ; the lower parts are less glossy ; the tail is rounded, and extends about two inches beyond the wings ; the legs are two inches and a half in length, and, with the feet, are strong and black ; the claws are long. This bird is said to attain to a g-'^at age ; and its plumage to be sub- ject to ohan ;p, from the influence of years and of climate. It is found in Iceland and Greenland entirely white. The Raven was the constant attendant of Lewis and Clark's party, in their long uiid toilsome journey. During the winter, at Fort Man- dan, they r,ere observed in immense numbers, notwithstanding the cold was so excessive, that, on the seventeenth of December, 1804, the ther- mometer of Fahrenheit stood at 45° below 0. Like the Crow, this species may be easily domesticated, and in that state would afford amusement, by its familiarity, frolics and sagacity. But such noisy and mischievous pets, in common with Parrots and Mon- keys, are not held in high estimation in this quarter of the globe ; and arc generally overlooked for those universal favorites, which either grat- ify the eye by the neatness or brilliancy of their plumag' or delight the ear by the simplicity or .ariety of their song. • Qms'b Journal, p. 153. X Fernandez, t Charlevoix. Kalm. Ilcarno'a Journey. •ortMH Smciis II. CORVUS COR ONE.* CROW. [Flats XXXV. Fig. 8.] This is perhaps the most generally known, and least beloved, of all our land birds ; having neither melody of song, nor beauty of plumage, nor excellence of flesh, nor civility of manners, to recommend him : on the contrary, he is branded as a thi-jf and a plunderer ; a kind of black- coated vagabond, who hovers over the fields of the industrious, fattening on their labors ; and by his voracity often blasting their expectat'ons. Hated as he is by the farmer, watched and persecuted by almost every bearer of a gun, who all triumph in his destruction, had not Heaven be- stowed on him intelligence and sagacity far beyond common, there is reason to believe that the whole tribe (in tuese parts at least) would long ago have ceased to exist. The Crow is a constant attendant on agriculture, and a general in- habitant of the cultivated parts of 1 ' A.merica. In the interior of the forest ho is more rare, unless during lue season of breeding. He is particularly attached to low flat corn countries, lying in the neighbor- hood of the sea or of large rivers ; and more numerous in the northern than southern states, where Vultures abound, and wi'\ whom the Crows are unable to contend. A strong antipathy, it is nlso said, prevails be- tween the Crow and the Raven, insomuch that, where the latter are numerous, the formerly rarely resides. Many of the first settlers of the Genesee country informed me, that, for a long time. Ravens were nu- merous with them, but no Crows ; and even now the latter are seldom observed in that country. In travelling from Nashville to Natchez, a distance of four hundred and seventy miles, I paw few or no Crows, but Ravens frequently, and Vultures in great numbers. The usual breeding time of the Crow, in Pennsy'.vanio, is in M rch, April, and May, during which season they are dispersed over the woods in pairs, and roost in the neighborhood of the tree they have selected for their ncrft. About the middle of March they begin to build, gene- rally choosing a high tree; though I have also known them prefer a middle sized cedar. One of their nests, now before me, is formed ex- * Wo f^ivo tho following Bynonymos: Cormia coroHC, Linv. Si/st. od. 10, I., p. 105. — (jImel. Syst. 1, p. :il)5. — Lath. Iiid. Urn. p. 151. — Tjchm. Man. d' Orn. i., p. 108. (121) / Ct n it! i 122 CROW. II! li ternally of sticks, wet mosa, thin bark mixed with mossy earth, and lined with large quantities of horse hair, to the amount of more than half a pound, some cow hair, and some wool, forming a very soft and elastic bed. The eggs are four, of a pale green color, marked with numerous specks and blotches of olive. During this interesting season, the male is extremely watchful, making frequent excursions of half a mile or so in circuit, to reconnoitre ; and the instant he observes a person approaching, he gives the alarni, when both male and female retire to a distance, till the intruder has gone past. He also regularly carries food to his mate while she is sitting ; occasionally relieves her; and when she returns, again .esigns up his post. \t this time also, as well as until the young are able to fly, they preserve uncommon silence, that their retreat may not be suspected. It is in the month of May, and until the middle of June, that the Crow is most destructive to the corn-fields, digging up the newly planted grains of maize, pulling up by the roots those that have begun to vegetate, and thus frequently obliging the farmer to replant, or lose the benefit of the soil ; and this sometimes twice, and even three times, occasioning a considerable additional expense and inequality of harvest. No mercy is now shown him. Tlie myriads of worms, moles, mice, caterpillars, grubs and beetles, which he has destroyed, are altogether overlooked on these occasions. Detected in robbing the hens' nests, pulling up the corn, and killing the young chickens, he is considered iis an outlaw, and senionced to destruction. IJut the great difficulty is, how to put this sentence in execution. In vain the gunner skulks along the hedges and fences; his faithful sentinels, planted on some commanding point, raise the alarm, and disappoint vengeance of its object. The coast again clear, he returns once more in silence to finish the repast lie had begun. Sometimes he approaches the farm-house by stealth, in search of young chickens, which he is in the habit of snatching off, when he can elude the vigilance of the mother hen, win often proves too f(>rmi; . ' I Macbeth, which now forcil''" n-eiirred to my memory. The courtiers of '■'. r \ 1' ncan are recounting to each other tho various prodigies that preceded hit du' 'i< anJ one of them relates to his wondering auditors, that ' An Eagle, tow'ring in his pride of place. Was, by a inoiisini; Owl, hawked at and killed.' ISut to resume my relation. That the Owl was the murderer of the unfortunato Crow, there could be no doubt. No other bird of prey was in sight; I had no^ fired my gun since I entered tho wood ; nor heard any one else shoot: besides, tin unequivocal situaiion in w' h 1 found the parties, would have been MiBicie t before any ' twelve ;rood men and true,' or jury of Crows, to have convicted hiui of his guilt. It is propei' to add, that I avenged tho death of the hapless Crow, by u well- !med shut . the felonious robber, that extended hiiu breathless on the ground." ■ x 11 issaafi m m§ * CROW. elevated but a little above high-water mark, and covered with a thick growth of reeds. This appears to be the grand rendezvous, or head- quarters of the greater part of the Crows within forty or fifty miles of the spot. It is entirely destitute of treus, the Crows alighting and nestling among the reeds, which by these means are broken dowi; and matted together. The noise created by those multitudes, both in their evening assembly, and re-ascension in the morning ; and the depreda- tions tbey commit in the immediate neighborhood of this grei'.t resort, are almost incredible. Whole fields of corn are sometimes laid waste, by thousands alighting on it at once, with appetites whetted by the fast of the preceding night; and the utmost vigilance is unavailing to pre- vent, at least, a partial destruction of this their favorite grain. Like the stragglers of an immense, undisciplined, and rapacious army, they spread themselves over the fields, to plunder and destroy wherever they alight. It is here that the character of the Crow is universally exe- crated ; and to say to the : vr who has lost his crop of corn by these birds, that Crows arc excecu i . ful for destroying vermin, would be as consolatory as to tell him lad just lost his house and furni- ture by the flames, that fires are excellent for destroying bugs. The strong attachment of the Crows to this spot may be illustrated by the following circumstance. Some years ago, a sudden and violent north-cast storm came on during the night, and the tide rising to an uncommon height inundated the whole island. The darkness of the night, the suddenness and violence of the storm, and the incessant torrents of rain that fell, it is supposed, so intimidated the Crows, that they did not attempt to escape, and almost all perished. Thousands of them were next day seen floating in the river ; and the wind shifting to the north-west, drove their dead bodies to the Jersey side, whore for miles they blackened the whole shore. This disaster, however, seems long ago to have been repaired ; for they now congregate on the Pea-Patch in as immense multitudes as ever.* So universal is the hatred to Crows, that few states, either here or • Tht) follow 'ng is extracted from a late number of a newspaper printed in that ncicliborhootl: " The farmers of lletl Lion lliindretl held a meetinj; at the village of St. (Jeorjjes, in the state of Delaware, on Monday, the 6th in»t., to receive pro- posals of John Deputy, on a plan for banishing or destroyinfj the Crows. .Mr. Deputy's jilan, lieinj; heard and considered, was approved, and a comiiiittee apiKiinted to contract with him, and to procure the necessary funds to curry the same into effect. Mr. Deputy proposes that for five hundre with his elaws, as he flew along the tsurface, and retire to the aumniit of a dead tree to enjoy his repast. Here I also observed him a pretty constant attendant at the pens, whore the cows were usually milked, and much less shy, less suspicious, and more solitary, than the common Crow. In the county of Capo May, New Jersey, I again met with tliese Crows, particularly along Egg Harbor river; and latterly on the Schuylkill and Delaware, near Philadelphia, during the Boaaon of shad and licniiig fishing, viz., from the mi(hlle of March till the beginning of June. A small party of these Crows, during this period, regularly passed liartrain's gardens, to the high woods, to roost, every evening a little before sunset, and as regularly returned at or before sunrise every morning, ecie8 is f^really infested with liee, insomuch that when one handles them, one gets .ooyered with these disufrreeahle vermin — O. Ord. MAGPIE. Wk the longest ; wings, when shut, reach within two inches of tlie tip of the tail ; tail rounded, and seven inches long from its insertion ; thighs very long ; legs stout ; claws sharp, long and hooked, hind one the largest, all jet Mack. Male and female much alike. I would beg leave to recommend to the watchful farmers of tho United States, that in their honest indignation against the common Crow, they would spare tho present species, and not shower destruc- tion, indiscriminately, on their black friends and enemies ; at least on those who some^imea plunder them, and those who never molest or injure their property. Spkcibs V. CORVUS PIC A, MAGPIE. [Plato XXXV. Fig. 2.] Arrl. Zool. No. 136.— Latb. Syn. i., 392.— Burr, iii., S."). n. Enl. 488.* Tins bird is much better known in Europe than in this country, whore it has not been long discovered ; although it is now found to inhabit a wide extent of territory, and in great numbers. Tho drawing was taken from a very beautiful .spocimon, went from the Mandan nation, on the Missouri, to Mr. JefTcrson, and by that gentleinan to Mr. Pealc of this city, in whose Museum it lived for several months, and where I had an opportunity of examining it. On carefully con\paritig it with tho European Magpie in the same collection, no material diflTfrence could bo perceived. The figure in the plato is reduced to exactly half the size of life. Tliis bird unites in its character courage and cunning, turbulency, and rapacity. Not inelegantly formed, and distinguished by gay as well as splendid plumage, he has long been noted in those countries where ho commonly resides, and his haltits and mam era are there familiarly known. lie is particularly pernicious to plantations of young oaks, tearing up the acorns ; and also to birds, destroying great numbers of their eggs and young, even young chickens, partridges, grouse, and pheasants. It i.-i perhaps on this last account that the whole vengeanco of the game laws has lately been let loose upon him, in some parts of • We n that those vast plairiH or prairies, abounding with game and eattle, frequently killed for the mere hides, tallow, or oven tnarrow-bones, may bo one groat inducement for the residency of these birds, so fond of flesh and carrion. Even the rigorous severity of winter in the high regions along the head waters of Rio du Nord, the Arkansas and Red river, seems iiisuflicient to force them from those favorite haunts ; though it appears to increase their natural voracity to a very uncommon degree. Pike relates, that, in the month of Decem- ber, in the neighborhood of the North Mountain, N. lat. 41°, VV. long. 34°, Reaumur's thermometer standing at 17° below 0, these birds were Boon in great numbers. " Our horses," says he, " were obliged to scrape the snow away to obtain their miserable pittance ; and to increase their misfortunes, the poor animals were attacked by the Magpies, who, at- tracted by the scent of their sore backs, alighted on them, and in ilefi- anco of their wincing and kicking, picked many places quite raw. The diflRoilty of procuring food rendering those birds so bold as to light on our men's arms, and eat meat out of their hands."* The Magpie is eighteen inches in length ; the head, neck, upper j)art of the breast and back, aro a deep velvety black ; primaries brownish black, streaked along their inner vanes with white ; secondaries rich purplish blue; greater coverts green blue; scapulars, lower i ;irt of tho breast and belly, white; thighs and vent black ; tail long, the two exte- rior feathers scarcely half the length of the longest, the others increas- ing to the two middle ones, which taper towards their extremities. The color of this part of the plumage is very splendid, being glossy green, dashed with blue and bright purple ; this last color bounds the green ; nostrils covered with a thick tuft of recumbent hairs, as are also tho sides of tho mouth ; bill, legs and feet, glossy black. Tho female dif- fers only in tho less brilliancy of her plumage. * Pike'8 Journal, p. 170, ^Sm^^s^^^ mm r 3^ Spkcies VI. COR V US CRISTATUS. BLUE JAY. [Plate I. Fig. 1.] Linn, Sjist. i., p. lOl), No. 8, cd. 10. — Garrulun eamidaisix cairvlens, Uriss. ii., p. f)5. — Pica (jlautlaria nislala, Klkin, p. t')l, ',i. — I.e Gini bleu dc I'Anif-^-i'jue Sep- tnitrioiiale, Ikur. 7 > , p. 120. I'l. Enl. [)->\,.—niue Jay, C.atesb. Cm: i., 15.— Edw. 239.— Jrf<. Zool. ii., No. 138.— Lath. >>/u. i , p. 38G, 20.— Bertram, p. 290. This elegant bird, which, as far as I can learn, is peculiar ti North America, i.s distinf^uished as a kind of beau among the feathered tenants of our woods, by the brilliancy of his dress ; and like most other cox- combs, makes himself still more conspicuous by his hMjuacity, aisd the odduess of his tones and gestures. The Jay measures eleven inches in length; the head is ornamented with a crest of light blue or purple feathers, which }>o can elevate or depress at pleasure ; a narrow lino of " black runs along the frontlet, rising on each side higher than the eye, but not passing over it, as Ct-iesby bus represented, and as Penrant and many others have described it; back and n{>por j)art of the '.eck a fine light purple, in which the blue predominates ; a collar of black proceed- ing from the hind-head, passes with a graceful curvr down each side of the neck, to die upper part of the breast, where it forms a crescent; chin, cheeks, throat and belly, wl.Ite, the three former slightly tingeil with blue; greater wing coverts a rich blue; exterior sides of the pri- maries liglit blue, those of the secondaries a deep j)urple, e.xci'pt the three feathers next the body, which are of a splendid light blue ; all these, except the j)rimaries, are beautifully barred with crescents of black, and tipped with white; the interior sides of the wing feathers arc dusky black ; tail long and <'uneiforni, c()ni]»osed of twelvi' feathers of a glossy light blue, marked at half inches with transverse curves of black, each feather being tipj)eil with white, except the two middle ones, which deepen into a dark purple at the extremities. Breast anil side.s under the wings a dirty white, faintly stained with j)urple ; inside of the mouth, the tongue, bill, legs, and claws, black ; iri.-, of the eye hazel. The Blue Jay is an almost universal inhabitant of the woods, fre- quenting the thickest settlements, as well .is the deepest recesses of the forest, tvliere his sipialling voice often alarms the deer, to the disap- pointnu '' and mortification of tiie hunter; one of whom inforniud nie, that !u.' maile it a point, in summer, to kill every Jay he could meet (134) BLUE JAY. 18t with. In the charming season of spring, when every thicket poura forth harmony, the part performed by the Jay always catches the ear. He appears to be, among his fellow-musicians what the trumpeter is in a band, some of his notes having no distant resemblance to the tones of that instrument. These he has the faculty of changing through a great variety of modulations, according to . ;ie particular humor he happens to be in. When disposed for ridicule, there is scarce a bird whose pecu- liarities of song he cannot tune his notes to. When engaged in the blandishments of love, they resemble the soft chatterings of a duck; and while he nestles among the thick branches of the cedar, are scarce hcord at a few paces distant; but no sooner does he discover your ap- proach, tlisin he sets up a sudden and vehement outcry, flying off, and screaming with all his might, as if he called the whole feathered tribes of the neighborhood to witness some outrageous usage he had rjceived. When he hops undisturbed among the high branches of aw oak and hickory, they become soft :ind musical ; and his calls of the female, a stranger would readily mistake for the repeated creakings of an un- greased wheelbarrow. All these he accompanies with various nods, jerks, and other gesticulations, for which the whole tribe of Jays are so remarkable, tliat, with some other ])i'culiarities, they might have very well justified the great Swedish naturalist in forming them into a sepa- rate genus by themselves. The JJlue Jay builds a largo nest, frcquctitly in the cedar, sometimes in an apple-tree, lines it with dry iil)rous roots, a'.d lays five eggs, of a dull olive, spotted with brown. The male is particularly careful of not being heard near the place, making his visits as silently and secretly as possible. His favorite food is chestnuts, acorns, and Indian corn. He occasionally feeds on bugs and caterpillars, and sometimes pays a plundering visit to the orchard, cherry-rows, and potato-patch ; and has been known, in times of scarcity, to venture into the barn, through openings between the weatlier-boards. In these cases he is extremely active and silent, and if surprised in tl'e fact makes his escape with precipitation, but without noise, as if conscious of his criminality. Of all birds he i.» the most bitter enemy to the Owl. No sooner has he discovered the retreat of one of tliese, than he summons the whole fiiitiiered fratt-rnity to his assistance, who surround the glimmering aolitaire, and attack him from ail sides, raising such a sIk ut, as may be heard, in a still day, more than half a mile ofl". When in my hunting excursions I have passed near tiiis scene of tumult, I have imagined to myself that I lieard tlie insulting ])arty venting tiieir respective cliarges with all the virulency of a IJillingsgate mob; the owl, meanwhile, returning every compliment with a broad goggling stare. The war becomes louder and louder, and the Owl, at length forced to betake WT 186 BLUE JAY. himself to flight, is followed by the whole train of his persecutors, until driven beyond the boundaries of their jurisdiction. But the Blue Jay himself is not guiltless of similar depredations with the Owl, and becomes, in his turn, the very tyrant ho detested, when he sneaks through the woods, as he frequently does, and among the thickets and hedge-rows, plundering every nest he can find of its eggs, tearing up the callow young by piecemeal, and spreading alarm and sorrow around him. The cries of the distressed parents soon bring together a number of interested spectators (for birds, in such circum- stances, seem truly to sympathize with each other), and he is sometimes attacked with such spirit, as to be under the necessity of making a speedy retreat. He will sopctimes assault small birds, with the intention of killi lie con- cealed in bushes, ready to second their associates in the attark. Hut this ludicrous farce often terminates tragically. The hnwk singling out one of the most insolent and provoking, sweeps uji him in an un- guarded moment, and offers him up a sacrifice to his hur- r and resent- ment. In an instant the tune is changed ; all their buffoonery vnni^'lioB, and loud and incessant screams proclaim their disaster. Wherever the Jay has had the advantage of education from man, hu has not only shown himself an apt scholar, but his suavity of nianners seems e<(ualled only by his art and contrivances ; though it must be confessed that his itch for thieving keeps ])ace with all his other acquire- ments. Dr. Mease, on the authority of Colonel Postell, of South Carol na, informs me, that a Hlue .Jay, which was brought up in the family of the latter gentlemai!, had all the tricks and lo(|uacity of a parrot ; pilfered everything he could conveniently carry off, and hid them in holes and crevices; answered to his name with great sociability, when called on; could articulate a number of words pretty distinctly; ami when he heard anv uncommon noise or loud talkintr, seemed inij)atient to contribute his share to the general festivity (us he probably 188 BLUE JAY. thought it), by a display of all the oratorial powers he waa pos- sesac J of. ' Mr. Bartram relates an instance of the Jay's sagacity, worthy of remark. " Having caught a Jay in the winter season," says he, " I turned him loose in the green-house, and fed him with corn (zea, maize), the heart of which they are very fond of. This grain being ripe aiid hard, the bird at fir.^t found a difficulty in breaking it, as it would start from his bill when he struck it. After looking about, and as if con- sidering for a moment, he picked up his grain, carried and j)laced it close up in a corner on the shelf, between the wall and a plant-box, where being confined on three sides he soon eftected his purpose, and continued afterwards to make use! of this same practical exi)edieiit. The Jay," continues this judicious observer, "is one of the most useful agents in the economy of nature, for disseminating forest trees, and other ruciferous and hard-seedtd vegetables on which they feed. Their chief employment during the autumnal sease'i is foraging to supply their winter stores. In performing this necessary duty, they drop abundance of seed in their flight over fields, hedge^s, and by-fences, where they alight to dejxisit them in the" post holes, &c. It is rennirk- able what numbers of young trees rise up in fields and pastures after a wet winter and spring. These birds alone arc capable, in a few years' time, to replant all the cleared lands."* Tiie Blue Jays seldom associate in any considerable numbers, except in the months of .September and October, when they hover about in scattered parties of from forty to fifty, visiting the oaks, in scapch of their favorite acorns. At this season they are less shy than usual ; iuul keep chattering to each other in a variety of strange and ijucrulous notes. 1 have counted fifty-three, but never more, at one time ; and these getierally following each other in straggling irregularity from one range of woods to another. Yet we are told by the learned Dr. Latham, and his statement has l)een eopieil into many respectal)lt' European jiub- lications, that the Blue Jays of North America •* often unite into tiocks of twentv Miousand at least I which aliiihtinn on a field of ten or twelve acres, 80( n lay waste the whole."t If this were really so, these birds would j »stly deserve the character he gives them, of being the most destru'.tive specie?* in America. But I will venture the issertion, that the tribe Oriolug phaiiiceus, or red-winged Blackliirds, in the environs of the river Delaware alone, devour and destroy more Indian corn than the wlude Blue .lays of North Atnerica. As to their assemlding in such immense multitudes, it may be sufficient to observe, that a flock of ♦ IS° 28' W., long. 141" 46', according to his estimation, wliere he observed several species of birds 7iot known in Siberia; ami one, in particular, describe IVuiii .Moiitroiil, \(>.. p. 'JIG, quarto, Loud. 18U1. j iSco Stullor'H Journal iiimd I'lilliiH. II Thix fuut I had from Captain Luwis. li Mi^ ( s f f 'i Hii 140 CANADA JAY. tially, an extent of country stretching upwards of seventy iegrees from east to west, and more than thirty degrees from north to south ; though, from local circumstances, there may be intermediate tracts in this immense range, which they seldom visit. Spkciis VII. CORVUS CANADENSIS. CANADA JAY. [Plate XXI. Fig.l.] Linn. Syst. \b^.— Cinereous Crow, Arc(. Zool. p. 248, No. 1.37.— LAtnAM, i., 389.— Ia Geay Brun de Canada, Brisson, ii., 54.— Buffon, hi. 117. Weue I to adopt the theoretical reasoning of a celebrated French naturalist, I might pronounce this bird to be a debiused descendant from the common Blue Jay of the United States, degenerated by the influ- ence of the bleak and chilling regions of Canada ; or perhaps a spurious production, between the Blue Jay and the Cat-bird ; or what would bo more congenial to the Count's ideas, trace its degradation to the circum- stance of migrating, some thousand years ago, from the genial shores of Europe, where nothing like degeneracy or degradation ever takes place among any of God's creatures. I shall, however, on the presetit occasion, content myself with stating a few particulars better supported by facts, and more consonant to the plain homespun of connnon sense. Tliis species inhabits the country e.\tending from Hudson's Bay, and probably farther north, to the river St. Lawrence; ai.-^o in winter the inland parts of the district of Maine, and northern tracts of the states of Vermont and New York. When the sea-son is very severe, with deep snow, they sometimes advance farther south ; but generally return northward as the weather becomes more mild. The character given of this bird by the people of those parts of the country where it inhabits, is. that it feeds on black moss, worm.s, and even flesh ; — wheri near habitations or tent.s, pilfers everything it can come at — is bold, and comes even into the tent to eat meat out of the dishes ; watches the hunters while baiting their traps for martens, and devours the bait as soon as their backs arc turned ; that they breed early in spring, building their nests on pine trees, fmining them of sticks and grass, and lay blue I'ggs ; that they have twa, rarely tliree young at a time, which are at first (juite i)lack, and continue so for some time; that they fly in pairs ; lay up hoards of berries in hollow trees ; are seldom seen in January, unless near houses ; are a kind of Mock-bird ; and when caught pine away, though their appetite never fails them ; -V^t'."^''^.>;.^iai.!;Ai-M...^.'- CANADA JAY. 141 notwithstanding all which ingenuity and good qualities, they are, as we are informed, detested by the natives."* The only individuals of this species that I ever met with in the United States were on the shores of the Mohawk, a short way above the Little Falls. It was about the last of November, and the ground deeply covered with snow. There were three or four in company, or within a small distance of each other, flitting leisurely along the road side, keep- ing up a kind of low chattering with one another, and seemed nowise apprehensive at my approach. I soon secured the whole; from the best of which the drawing in the plate was carefully made. On dissec- tion I found their stomachs occupied by a few spiders and the aureliae of some insects. I could perceive no difference between the plumage of the male and female. The Canada Jay is eleven inches long, and fifteen in extent ; back, wings, and tail, a dull leaden gray, the latter long, cuneiform, and tipped with dirty white ; interior vanes of the wings brown, and also partly tipped with white ; plumage of the head loose and prominent ; the fore- head and featlicrs covering the nostril, as well as the whole lower parts, a dirty brownish white, which also passes round the bottom of the neck like a collar ; part of the crown and hind-head black ; bill and legs also black ; eye dark hazel. The whole plumage on the back is long, loose, unwebbcd, and in great abundance, as if to protect it from the rigors of the regions it inhabits. A gentleman of observation, who resided for many years near the North river, not far from Hudson, in the state of New York, informs me, that he has particularly observed this bird to arrive there at the commencement of cold weather — he has often remarked its solitary habits ; it seemeiniiig the farm-house, to build on, it is generally known, and, as usual, honored with a variety of names, such as Ilang-nest, Ilanging-bird, (lolden Robin, Fire-bird (from the bright orange seen tlinmgh the green leaves, resembling a flash of fire), &c., but more generally the Haltimore-bird, so named, as Cate.sby informs us, from its colors, which are black and orange, being those of the arms or livery of Lord Baltimore, formerly proprietary of Maryland. The Baltimore Ori(dc is seven inches in length ; liill almost straight, strong, t.apering to a sharj) point, black, and sometimes leail colored above, the lower mandible light blue towards the base. Head, throat, upper part of the back and wings, black ; lower part of the back, rump, and whole under parts, a bright orange, deepening into vermilion on the breast ; the black on the shoulders is aLso divided by a band of orange; exterior edges of the greater wing-coverts, as well as the edges of the secondaries, and part of those of the primaries, white ; the tail feathers, under the coverts, orange; the two middle ones thence to the tips are black, the next five, on each side, black near the coverts, and orange toward the extremities, .so disposed, that when the tail is ex- panded, and the coverts removed, the l)lack appears in the form of a pyramid, supported on an arch of orange, tail slightly forked, the ex- * ThJH penu» has been variously divided by moiiern ornithologists. Teinniinek has sepiirated it into four sections, viz. : Cassicim, Qiiincuht, Irtfrii.i, and Fmheri- toide*. The two species descriljcil liy Wilson, belonj; to the third section, filf»e, j)ut the identity of these two species beyond all further dispute or ambiguity. Almost the whole genus of Orioles belong to America, and with a few exceptions build pensile nests. Few of them, however, equal the Balti- more in tlie eoiistruction of these receptacles for their young, and in giving them, in such a supeiior degree, convenience, warmth, and secu- rity. For these purposes he generally fixes on the high bending extremi- ties of the branches, fastening strong strings of hemp or flax round two forked twigs, corrcsiiomling to the intended width of the nest ; with the siinie inaferiiils, mixed witii (|uantities of loose tow, he interweaves or fabricates a strong firm kind of cloth, not unlike the substance of a hat ill its raw state, forming it into a pouch of six or seven inches in depth, lining it sulistantiiilly with various soft substances, well interwoven with ihf outward iicttintr, and lastly, finishes with a layer of horse hair; the whole being shaded from the sun and rain by a natural pent-house, or fonopy of leaves. As to a lude being left in the side for the young to be fed, ami vitid their excrements through, as Pennant and others relate, it is certainly an error: I have never met with anything of the kind in the nest of tiie Baltiinoie. 144 BALTIMORE ORIOLE. i K.i Though birds of the same specicfl have, generally speaking, a common form of building, yet, contrary to the usually received opinion, they do not build exactly in the same manner. As much difference will bo found in the style, neatness, and finishing of the ?}iurlii.s, Rriss. II., Ill, pi. 10, ti;; ',\. — Ciiroii,i<- de Cui/rnne, Hiff. I'l. A'li/. tiiiT, tijr. 1, {iiiliilt iiiiilo.) Carout/e du Cap de Ixniiie h'.tjx'iaiire, Hevr. /'/. A';i/. Ii07, H>;. 2, (fciii;«le.) Merle d gorge noire de St. Damiiigue, Heir. /'/. Knl. ,'>59, (young male.) (147) 148 ORCHARD ORIOLE. ill w :j' If ill ■i i; i: m*! How the influence of climate could affect one portion of a species and not tlie other, when both reside in the same climate, and feed nearly on the same food ; or what accidental cause could produce a difference so striking, and also so regular, as exists between the two, arc, I confess, matters beyond my comprehension. But, if it be recollected, that tho bird which the Count was thus philosophizing upon, was nothing more than the female Baltimore Oriole, which exactly corresponds to the descrip- tion of his male Bastard Baltimore, the difficulties at once vanish, and with them the whole superstructure of theory founded on this mistake. Dr. Latham also, while he confesses the great confusion and uncertainty that prevail between the true and bastard Baltimore and their females, considers it highly probable that the whole will be found to belong to one and the same species, in their different changes of color. In this conjecture, however, the worthy naturalist has likewise been mistaken ; and I shall endeavor to point out the fact as well as the source of this mistake. And here I cannot but lake notice of the name which naturalists have bestowed on this bird, and which is certainly remarkable. Specific names, to be perfect, ought to express some peculiarity, common to no other of the genus; and should, at least, be consistent with truth; but in the case now before us, the ni>me has no one merit of the former, nor even that of the latter to recommend it, and ought henceforth to be re- jected as highly improper, and calculated, like that of Goatsucker, and many others eijually ridiculous, to p(>rpetuat(> that error from which it originated. Tiie word fxixtani among men has its determinate meaning ; but when applied to a whole species of birds, perfectly distinct from any other, originally deriving their peculiarities of form, manner.s, color, &c., from the common source of all created beings, and perpetuating them, by the usual laws of generation, as unmixed and independent as any other, is, to call it by no worse a name, a gross absurdity. Should the reader be displeased at this, I beg leave to remind him, that as the faith- ful historian of our feathered tribes, 1 must be allowed the liberty of viii''.i<';)ting thetn from every misrepresentation whatevir, whether origi- nating in ignorance or prtjudiee ; and of allotting to each respective species, as far as 1 can distinguish, that rank and place in the great order of nature, to which it is entitled. To convince the foreignrr (for Americans have no doubt on the sub- ject) that the present is a distinct species from the Baltimore, it might l.o sufficient to refer to tlie figure of the latter, in Plate I., and to fig. 4, Plate IV.. of this work. I will however add, that I conclude this bird to be specifically different from the Baltimore, from the following cir- cuHistances : its size — it is less, and more slender; its colors, which arc different, and twrt/ difftrcnthj JigpogeJ ; the form of its lull, which is sharper pointed, ami more bent ; the form of its tail, which is not cveti m ORCHARD ORIOLE. 149 but wedged ; its notes, which arc neither so full nor so mellow, and uttered with much more rapidity ; its mode of building, and the mate- rials ii, uses, both of which are different ; and lastly, the shape and color of the eggs of each (see figs, a and t), which are evidently unlike. If all these circumstances, oauX I could enumerate a great many more, be not sufficient to designate this as a distinct species, by what criterion, I would ask, are we to discriminate between a variety and an original species, or to assure ourselves, that the Great Horned Owl is not in fact a bastard Goose, or the Carrion Crow a mere variety of the Humming Bird ? These mistakes have been occasioned by several causes. Principally by the changes of color, to which the birds arc subject, and the distance of Europeans from the country tiiey inhabit. Catesby, it is true, while in Carolina, described and figured the Baltimore, and perhaps was the first who published figures of either species ; but he entirely omitted saying anything of the female ; and instead of the male and female of the present species, as he thought, he has only figi red the male in two of his different dresses ; and succeeding compilers have followed and re- peated the same error. Another cause may be assigned, viz., the ex- treme shyness of the female Orchard Oriole, represented at fig. 1. This bird has hitherto escaped tlie notice of European n.aturalists, or has been mistaken for another species, or perhaps for a young bird of the first season, which it almost exactly resembles. In none of the nu- merous works on ornithology has it ever before appeareil in its proper character ; though the male has been known to Europeans for more than a century, and has usually been figured in one of his dresses as male, and in another as female ; tiiese varying according to the fluctuating opinions of diflereiit writers. It is annising to see how gentlemen have groped in the dark in pairing these two species of Orioles, of which the following examples may be given : I Male — Male Baltimore. j Female — Male Orchard Oriole, fig. 4. ) Male — Female Baltimore. j Female — Male Orciiard Oriole, fig. 2. Buffon's and Latham's Baltimore Oriole. Spurious Baltimore of Ditto. r, .' T> w f\ I Male — Male Baltimore. I'ennant s IJaitimore O. V ,, , ,. ,, , ,, ,.• ( remale — \ onng Male IJaltmiore. o • i\ e iA-ii ) Male — Male Orchard O., fiyr. 4. Spurious O. of Ditto. V ,, , ,.., ,.^^ .• >i ' j remale — Ditto, ditto, tig. ::. P, , , . T, , • ^^ ) ^^ale — Male Baltimore. Uateshv s lialtimorc O., > „ i x- , .■ i ) temale — JNot mentioned. o • „ ,. ,v.. ) Male — Male Orchard O., fig. 2. opurious 1». of Ditto. V ,, , ,,.,. ,. ^ « ' .= ' f lemale — Ditto, ditto, fig. 4. . Among all these authors, Catesby is doubtless the most inexcusable, having lived for several years in America, where lie iiad an opportunity i'i ^i .!:!« fS6 :^t:i' I i" 150 ORCHARD ORIOLE. of being more correct ; yet when it is considered, tliat the female of this bird is so much shyer than the male, that it is seldom seen ; and that while the males are flying around and bewailing an approach to their nest, the females keep aloof, watching every inovenient of the enemy in restless but silent anxiety ; it is less to be wondered at, I say, that two birds of the same kind, but different in plumage, making their appear- ance together at such times, should be taken for male and female of the same nost, without doubt or examination, as from that strong sympathy for each other's distress, which prevails so universally among them at this season, it is difficult sometimes to distinguish between the sufl'orer and the svmi)athizin'' neighbor. » 1 or? The female of the Orchard Oriole, fig. 1, is six inches and a half in length, and eleven inches in extent, the color above is a yellow olive, inclining to a brownish tint on the back ; the wings are dusky brown, lesser wing-coverts tipped with yellowish white, greater coverts and secondaries exteriorly eilged with the same, primaries slightly so ; tail roumled at tlie extremity, the two exterior feathers three-cjuarters of an inch shorter than the middle ones ; whole lower parts yellow ; bill and legs light blue, the former bent a little, very sharp pointed, and black towards the extremity; iris of the eye hazel, pupil black. The youiiy male of the first season corresponds nearly witii the above descri|)tion. But in the succeeding sj)ring, he makes his appearance with a large patch of black marking the front, lores and throat, as represented in fig. 2. In this stage, tt birds of tlu- third summer. These are niuitkd with black and olive on the upper jjarts of the back, ami with reddish 4)ay and yellow on the belly, sides and vent, scattered in the most irregular manner, not alike in any two individuals ; and generally the two middii feathers of the tail are black, and the others centrtd with tin; same color. This bird is now evidently u|)proaching to its perfect plumage, as represented in fig. 4, where the black spreads over the whol;' head, neck, upper part of the back, breast, wings and tail, the reiMish l)ay or bright eliL-stnut occujiying the lower pi;rt of tl-e breast, the belly, vent, rump, tail-coverts, and three lower rows of the lesser wing-covert.s. The black on the head is deep and velvety ; that of the wings inclining to brown ; the greater wing-coverts are tipped with white. In the same orchard, and at the same time, nuiles in each of these states of plumage may be found, united to their respective plain-c(diiri-d mates. In all these the manners, mode of buihling, food and notes arc, gon- ORCHARD ORIOLE. 161 erally speaking, the same, differing no more than those of any other in- dividuals helonging to one common species. The female appears always nearly the same. I have said that these birds construct their nests very differently from the Baltimores. They are so particularly fond of frequenting orchards, that scarcely one orchard in summer is without them. They usually suspend their nest from the twigs of the apple tree ; and often from the extremities of the outward branches. It is formed exteriorly of a par- ticular species of long, tough and flexible grass, knit or sewed through and through in a thousand directions, as if actually done with a needle. An old lady of my acquaintance, to whom I was one day showing this curious fabrication, after admiring its texture for some time, asked me in a tone between joke and earnest, whether I did not think it possible to learn these birds to darn stockings. This nest is hemispherical, three inches deep by four in breadth ; the concavity scarcely two inches deep by two in diameter. I had the curiosity to detach one of the fibres, or Ftalks, of dried grass from the nest, and found it to measure thirteen inches in length, and in that distance wiis thirty-four times hooked through and returned, winding round and round the nest ! The inside is usuallj' composed of wool, or the light downy appendages attached to the .-leeds of the PlatanuH occidentalism oi' button-wood, which form a very soft and couimoilious bed. Here and there the outward work is extended to an adjoining twig, round which it is strongly twisted, to give more stability to the whole, and prevent it from being overset by the wind. When they choose the long pendei»t branches of the weej)ing-willow to buihl in, as they frequently do, the nest, though formed of the same materials, is made much deeper, and of slighter texture. The circum- ference is marked out by a number of these pensile twigs, t!iat descend on each side like ribs, supporting the whole ; their thick foliage, at the same time, completely concealing the nest from view. The depth in this case is increased to four or five iiiclies, and the whole is made much slighter. These long pendent branclies, l)eing sometimes twelve and even fifteen feet in length, have a large sweep in the wind, aiul render the first of these precautions necessary, to prevent the eggs or young from being thrown out ; and the close shelter afforded by the remarkable thickness of the foliage, is, no doubt, the cause of the latter. Two of these nests, such as I have here described, are now lying before me, and exhibit not only art in the construction, but judgment in adapting their fabrication so judiciously to their particular situations. If the actions of !)irt!s j)roceeded, as some wpuld have us believe, from the nu-re im- pulses of that thing called inxtim-t, individuals of the same species would uniformly buihl their nest in the same manner, wherever they might ba[>peu to fix it ; but it is evident from these just mentioned, and a li ;. fi \ [Hi' 152 ORCHARD ORIOLE. thousand such circumstances, that they reason d priori from cause to consequence ; providently managing with a constant eye to future necessity and convenience. The eggs, one of which is represented in' the same plate (fig. a), are usually four, of a very pale bluish tint, with a few small specks of brown and spots of dark purple. An egg of the Baltimore Oriole is exhibited beside it (fig. l>) ; both of these were minutely copied from nature, and are sufficient of themselves to determine, beyond all possibility of doubt, the diversity of the two species. I may add, that Charles W. Peale, proprietor of tiie Museum in Philadelphia, who, a.s a practical naturalist, stands deservedly first in the first rank of American connoisseurs, has expressed to me his perfect conviction of the changes wliich these birds pass through ; having himself examined them botii in spring, and towards the latter part of summer, and having, at the present time, in his pos- session thirty or forty individuals of this species, in almost every grada^ tion of change. The Orchard Oriole, though partly a dependent on the industry of the fanner, is no sneaking pilferer, but an open and truly beneficent friend. To all those countless multitudes of destructive bugs and cater- pillars, that infest the fruit trees in spring and summer, preying on the leaves, blossoms, and embryo of the fruit, he is a deadly enemy ; devour- ing them wherever he can find them ; and destroying, on an average, some hundrent restricted, coniiiHtii of only n Hin;;le (tpeoicM ; the otlxTN formerly includod in it Imve been distributi'd in other ;:eiierii. The two ■peuies desci'lK'd by Wili^ou belong tu the geiiUH liltrus as udoptol by Teiiiiiiinck. (154) RUSTY GRAKLE. 155 where I had taken shelter, several of whieh I shot, and found the:r Btoiuaelis, as usual, crammed with Indian corn. Early in April they pass hastily through Pennsylvania, on their return to the north to breed. From the accounts of persons who have resided near Hudson's Bay, it appears, that these birds arrive there in the beginning of June, as soon as the gr()>ind is tliawcd sufficiently for them to procure their food, which is said to be worms and maggots ; sing with a fine note till the tiiiu^ of iucitliation, wlien they have only a chucking noise, till the young take tlioir liight: at whicli time they resume their song. They build their nests in trees ; about eight feet from the ground, forming them with moss and grass, and lay five eggs of a dark color, spotted with black. It is added, they gather in great flocks, and retire south^irly in September.* The male of this species, when in perfect plumage, is nine inches in length, and fourteen in extent ; at a small distance appears wholly black ; but on a near examination is of a glossy dark green ; the irides of the eye are silvery, as in those of the Purple Grakle ; the bill is black, nearly of the same form with that of the last-mentioned species ; the lower mandible a little rounded, with the edges turned inward, and the upper one furnished with a siiarp l)ony process on the inside, exactly like that of the purple species. The tongue is slender, and lacerated at the tip; legs and feet black and strong, the hiiul claw the largest; the tail is sliglitly rounded. Tliis is the color of the male when oF full age ; but three-fourths of the.se birds which we meet with, liave the whole plumage of the breast, head, neck, and back, tinctured with brown, every feather being skirted with ferruginous ; over the eye is a light line of pale brown, below that one of black passing through the eye. This brownness gradually goes off towards spring, for almost all those I shot in the southern states were but sligiitly nuirked with ferruginous. The fennile is nearly an inch shorter ; head, neck, and breast, almost wholly brown ; a light line over the eye, lores black ; belly and rump ash ; upper and under tail-coverts skirted with brown ; wings black, edged with rust color ; tail black, glossed with green ; legs, feet and bill, as in the male. These birds might easily be domesticated. Several that I had winged, and kejtt for some time, became in a few days quite familiar, seeming to be very easily reconciled to confinement. • Arct. Zool. p. 259. mm ■ Species II. GRACULA QUISCALA. PURPLE GRAKLE. [Plate XXI. Fig. 4.] La Pie He la Jamaiqite, Brisson, ii., 11. — Bi kfon, hi., ',•", /'/. Enl. 538. — Ard. Xool. p. 309, No. l.')4. — Gmcula piirpuna, the ksser Purple Jackdaw, or Crow Black- bird, Bartrah, p. 291.* This noted deprctlutor i.s well known to every farmer of the northern and middle states. Aliout the twentieth of March the Purple (Irakles visit Pennsylvania from the south, fly in loose llocks, freiiuent swampa and meadows, and follow in the furrows after the plough ; their food at this season consisting of worms, gruhs, and caterpillar.s, of which they destroy prodigious numbers, as if to recompense the husbandman before- hand for the havock they intend to make among his crops of Indian corn. Towards evening they retire to the nearest cedars and pine trees to roost; making a continual chattering as they fly along. On the tallest of these trees they generally build their nests in company, about the beginning or middle of April ; sometimes ten or fifteen nests being on the same tree. One of these nests, taken from a high pine tree, is now before me. It measures full five inches in diameter within, and four in depth; is composed outwardly of mud, mixed with long stalks and roots of a knotty kind of grass, and lined with tine bent and horse hair. The eggs are five, of a blui.sh olive color, marked with large spots and straggling streaks of black and dark brown, also with others of a fainter tinge. They rarely produce more than one brood in a -eason. The trees whore these birds build are often at no great distance from the farm-house, and overlook the plantations. From thence they issue, in all directions, and with as much confiilence, to make their daily depredations among the surrounding fields, as if the whoh' were intended for their use alone. Their chief attention, however, is directed to the Indian corn in all its progressive stages. As soon as the infant blade of this giain begins to make its appearance above ground, the Grakles hail the welcome signal with screams of peculiar satisfaction ; and with- out waiting for a formal invitation from the proprietor, descend jn the * We nild tlie followinj; synonymcs: linat-Uiiled Orahle, Lath. Gfii. Si/n, 1, p. 4G0, No. 5. — Mdizt-thieJ', Kai.m's 'hnnl.i. — Stiirims fjiii.icalii, Daidix, -, ]>. .'JIO. — Gracula harita, Jimrnal Arad. \iil. Srienre.i of PhiUid. vol. 1, p. 2.'>4. — Vhm'vj/u terticolvr, Bo.vaparte's Omithnli'ijii, vol. i., p. 42, p!. V., fi'uiule. (I5G) PURPLE QRAKLE. 157 fields, and bogin to pull up and regale themselves on the seed, scatter- ing the green blades around. While thus eagerly employed, the ven- geance of the gun sometimes overtakes them ; but these disasters are soon forgotten, and those " who livo to get away, Return to steal, another day." About the beginning of August, when the young ears are in their milky state, they are attacked with redoubled eagerness by the Grakles and Red-wings, in formidable and combined bodies. They descend like a blackening, Kwecping tempest, on the corn, dig off the external covering of twelve or fifteen coats of leaves, as dexterously as if done by the hand of man, and having laid bare the ear, leave little behind to the farmer but the cobs, and shrivelled skins that contained their favorite fare. I have seen fields of corn of many acres, where more than one- half was thus ruined. Indeed tlie farmers in the immediate vicinity of the rivers Delaware and Schuylkill, generally allow one-fourth of this crop to the Blackbirds, among whom our Grakle comes in for his full share. During tiiose depredations, the gun is making great havoc among tlieir nund)ers, wliieh has no otiier (.tVect on the survivors than to send them to another field, or to another part of the same field. This system of pbinder and of retaliation continues until November, when tovv'ards tlie middle of that nioiitli they begin to sheer off towards the south. Tlie lower parts of Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia, are tlie winter residences of these flocks. Here numerous bodies, eoileeling together from all quarters of the interior and northern districts, and darkening tlie air witli their numbers, sonietiines form one congregated multitude of many hundred thousands. A few miles from the banks of the Roanoke, on the twentieth of January, I met with one of those prodigious armies of (irakles. Tliey rose from tlie surround- ing fields with a noise like thunder, and descending on the length of road before me, covered it and the fences completely with black; and when they again rose, and after a few evolutions descende'. 18 PURPLE G K A K L E. ii il: fly' \':V'^' i li-i \V corn by the Crow Blacklnrds, as tliey are usually ciillfd ; though wore the same moans used, as with pigeons, to take tlicni in elap-ncts, multi- tudes of tliom might thus be destroyed ; and the products (»f them in market, in some measure, indemnify him for their depredations. But tliey are ninst numerous anweeps made among them by some of the younger boys, with the gun ; and by tlio gunners from the neighboring towns anil villages; and return from their winter quarters, sometimes early in March, to renew the like scenes over again. As some consolation, however, to the industrious cultivator, I can assure him, that were I placed in his situation, I should hesitate whether to consider these birds most as friends or enemies, as they are particularly destructve to alni(i>t all the nox; )us worms, grubs, and caterpillars, that infest his fields, which, were they allowed to mul- tiply unmolested, would soon consume nine-tenths of all the production of his labor, and desolate the country with the miseries of fainini> ! Is not this aimther striking proof that the Deity has created nothing in vain ; and that it is the le Grakle of Wilson. The best figures of the Pur|)lc Jackdaw which we have seen, are those given in Bona- parte's Orni'.liiilogy, vol. 1, pi. 4. They were drawn by Mr. Alexander Kider of I'liiladelpliia, (not by Mr. Audubon, as is stated.) from speci- mens brought from East Florida by Mr. Titian Pealo and myself. — a. Ord. iA i^-: Genus XX. CUCULUS. CUCKOO * SrEciES I. CUCULUS CAIiOLINESSIS. YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO. [flat* XXVIII. Fig. 1.] Cuntlus Americannn, Linn. Sysl. cd. 10, p. 111.— Catisb. i., 9.— Lath, i., 537.— Le Coucou de In Caroline, Brink, iv., \\'2.—Arct. 7,o<>l. •-'(>.'), No. IS,"). A STRANOKR who visit.s the Fiiitod Stiitcw for th<' imrposo of oxiimiii- iiif their iiiitiirnl productions, ami passes throuf^li our woods in tho mouth of May or Jane, will sonu'tiuuvs hear as he traverses the horders (.f deep, retired, high timbered hollows, an uncouth guttural Hound or note, re- sembling the syllables Avmv, kowe, koice kowe kowr ! beginning slowly, but ending so rai)idly, that the notes seem to run into each other, and vice versa ; he will hear this frequently without being able to discover tho bird or animal from which it proceeds, «fl it is both shy and solitary, seeking always the thickest foliage for concealment. This is the Yel- low-billed Cuckoo, the subject of the present account. From the imita- tive sound of its note, it is known in many parts by tho name of the Cow-bird; it is also callcts of Europe, I fiti'l it asserted, that it inhabits from New Jersey to Mexico. I believe, however, that few of them are ever seen to the north of Virginia, and very few of them even in that state. The fir.-t place I observed this bird at. when on my way to the S(Uith, wa- about twelve miles north of Wilmington, in Nurth Carolina. There I fnund the bir(l from which the drawing of the figure in the plate was taken. This bird was only wounded slightly in the wing, and on being caiiL'lit. uttered a h>udly-reiterated, ami mi>st piteous note, exactly rc- senibliiii' the violent crvinc of a vou;iLr ehild ; which terrified mv horse so, a.s nearly to have cost me my life, it was distressing to hear it. I carried it with m«,' in tli< rliair, under cover, to Wilmiiigton. In passing * rr il:\ IVORY-BILLED WOODPECKER. 165 through the streets, its affecting cries surprised every one within hearing, particularly the females, who liurried to the doors and windows, with looks of ahirni and anxiety, I drove on, and on arriving at tlie piazza of the hotel, where I intended to put up, the landlord came forward, and a number of other persons who happened to he there, all ecjualiy alarmed at wliat tliey hoard ; this was greatly increased by my a.-^king whether he could furnisli me with accommodations for myself and my bal)y. The man looked blank, and foolish, while the others stared with still greater astonishment. iVfter diverting myself for a minute or two at their expense, I drew my Woodj)ecker from under the cover, and a general laugh took place. I took him up stairs, and locked him up in my room, while I went to see my horse taken care of. In less than an hour I returned, an liaven ; caps stuck round with heads of i>u.viier-birds. Hawks and Kagles ; aTid as the disposition and courage of the Ivory- billed Woodpecker are well known to the savages, no wonder they should attach great value to it. having both beauty, and, in their estimation, distinguished merit to recommend it. This bird is not migratory, hut resident in the countries where ii in- habits. In the low counties { f the Carolinaa, it usually prefers the large- m m^ ' mt mnt mmm Ij;fi! ' 166 IVORY-BILLED WOODPECKER. timbered cypress swamps for breeding in. In tlie trunk of .me of thcsb trees, at a considerable beight, tbe male and female alt( inately, and in conjunction, dig out a large and capacious cavity for tbeir eggs and voung. Trees tiius dug out liave fre(|uently been cut down, with some- times the efl'S's and voimi' in thorn. This hole accordin;' to information, for I have never seen one mj'self, is generally a liitlc winding, ihe better to keep out the weather, and from two to five feet deej). The eggs are said to be generally four, sometimes five, as large as a pullet's, i)ure white, and eiiually thick at both ends ; a description that, excej)t in size, very nearly agrees with all the rest of our Woodpeckers. The young begin to be seen abroad al>out the middle of June. Wliether they breed more than once in the same season is uncertain. So little attention do the people of the countries where these birds inhabit, pay to the minutiae of natural liistory, that, generally speaking, they make no distinction between the Ivory-billed and I'ileated Wood- pecker. rej)resented in the same jilate ; anil it was not till I showed them the two birds together, that they knew of any diflerence. The more intelligent and observing part of the natives, however, distinguish tlu'm by the name of tht' large and lesser Ijoifcovks. 'I'liey seldctm ex- amine them but at a distanci-, gun])owder being considered too juecious to be thrown away on Woodj)eckers ; nothing less than a Turkey being thought worth the value of a load. The food of this bird consists, I lu'lieve, entirely of insects and their larvae. The Pileated Woodpecker is sus])ected of sonu'timcs tasting the Lillian corn ; the Ivory-billeil never. Mis cimnnon note, rej)euted every three or four seconds, very unich resembles the tone of a trumpet, or the high note of a clarionet, and can })laiidy be distinguished at the distance of more tii.'in half a mile; sermin;; to be innnediateiv at band. thou;;h perhaj)s more than one hundred yards oft'. This it utters while mount- ing along the trunk, or digging into it. At these times it has a stately and novel aj>pearance; and the note instantly attracts the notice of a stranger. Along tlie borders of the Havannah river, between Savannah and Augusta, I found them very fi'equently ; but my horse no sooner iieard their trumj)et-like note, than remembering his fornur alarm, he became almost ungovernable. The Ivory-billed W( odpecker is twenty inches long, and thirty inches in extent ; the general color is black, with a considerable gloss of green when exposed to a good light; iris of the eye vivid yellow; nostrils covered with recumbent white hairs; fore |)art of the head black, rest of the crest of a most splenditl red, spotted at the bottom with white, which is only seen when the crest is erected, us represented in the jdnU' ; this l<»ng red plumage being a.sli-colored at its base, above that white, and ending in brilliant ri'd ; a stripe of white proceeds from a point, abuut half an inch bdow each eye, passes down each side of the neck, fJ I PILEATED WOODPECKER. 167 and along the back, whore they are about an incli apart, nearly to the rump ; tlic first five j)riniaries arc wholly black, on the next five the white spreads from the tip higher and higher to the secondaries, which are wholly white from their coverts downwards : these markings, when the wings are shut, make the bird appear as if hia back were white, h.nce he has been called, by some of our naturalists, the large White- backed Woodpecker ; the neck is lung ; the beuk an inch broad at the base, of the color and consistence of ivory, prodigiously strong, and ele- gantly fluted; the tail is black, tapering from the two exterior feathers, whiel) are three inches shorter tiiaii tiie niiilille ones, and each feather has the singularity of being greatly concave below; the wing is lined with yellowish white ; the legs are about an inch and a quarter long, the exterior toe about the same length, tlie claws exactly stniicircular and remarkably powerful, the whoh; of a iigbt blue or lead color. The female is al)out half an inch sliorter, tlie 1)111 rather less, and the whole plumage of the hea the bill, and thickly barbed on each side. Srtcus II. PlCl'f^ PlLKATi'S. Pn.EATED WOODPKCKKR. [Plate XXIX. Fig, S.j Pieii.i pHentun, Lath. Ind. Oni. i., p, 'J'J.'i, 4. — liiw. Si/st. i., p. 173. 3. — Omel. Sy.it. I., p 42').— /'(V«.« nifjerViniinuinuixriiitiilu.i, Urish. iv., p. 23, 10. — I'irnoir , and may bo styled the (Jrenl Northern Chief of the Woodpeckers, thougli, in fact, his range extends over the whole of the Ignited States, from th(> interior of Canada to the (iidf of Mexico, lie is very numerous in the (ieiiesee country, and in all the tracts of high-tiiiibirei' the ui»»4r> hh black ; so that the white on the wing GOLDEN-WINGED WOODPECKER. 169 is not seen when the bird is flying, at which time it is very prominent ; the tail is tapering, the feathers being very convex above and strong ; the legs are of a leaden gray color, very short, scarcely half an inch, the toes very long, the claws strong and semicircular, and of a pale blue ; the bill is fluted, sharply ridged, very broad at the base, bluish black above, below and at the point bluish white ; the eye is of a bright golden color ; the pupil black ; the tongue, like those of its tribe, is worm-shaped, except near the tip, where for one-eighth of an inch it is horny, pointed, and beset with barbs. The female has the forehead, and nearly to the crown, of a light brown color, and the mustaches are dus^ky instead of red. In both, a fine lino of white separates the red crest from the dusky lino that passes over the eye. Specieb III. riCUS AURATUS. GOLDEN-WINCED WOODPECKER. [Plate III. tig. 1.] Le Picaux ailea dories, Bikfon, vii., .39. ]'l, Enl. C93. — ricvx anratus, Linn. Sijst. 174. — Cuculus alis Je auratis, Klein, p. 30. — Cateshv, i., IS. — Latham, ii., 597. Bartham, p. '2.S9.* Tiii.'^ clogant bird is well known to our farmer.^ and junior sports- men, who take every oj)portunity of destroying him; the former for the supposed trespasses he commits on their Indian corn, or the trifle he will bring in market, and the latter for the mere pleasure of destrurtion, and perhaps fur the flavor of his fle.sh, 'vliich is in general esteem. In tho state of lVMin.sylvania he can scarcely be called a bird of passage, as even in severe winters they may be found within a few miles of the city of Philadelphia ; and I have known them exposed for sale in market every week during the months of Novembor, Deeember and January, and that too in more than connnonly rigorous weather. They, no doubt, partially migrate, even here; being much more numerous in spring and fall than in winter. Early in the month of April they begin to prepare their nest, which is built in the hollriw body or branch of a tree, souie- times, though not always, at a considerable height from the ground ; for 1 have frequently known them fix on the trunk of an old apple-trcc, 0, '7 3 * We add tlie follnwing aynonymes: — Cuculus auratua, Linn, i^ij.it. oyX. 10, 1, 112.-- -Gmei.. SijsI. I., 4:511.— If a knitting-needle, that pass, one on each side of tlie neck, to the hind-head, where they unite, and run up along the skull in a groove, covered witli a thin UKMubrane or sheath ; dt scend into the upper mnndil)le by the right side of the right nostril, and reach to within half an inch of the jxtint of the bill, to which they are attached by another extremely elastic membrane, that yields when the tongue is thrcwn out, and contracts as it is retracted. In the other Woodpeckers we behold the same a])paratus, diflcring a little in difleri'iit species. In some these cartilaginous substances reach only to the top of the cranium ; in others they reach to the nostril ; and in one sjieeies they are wound round the bone of the right eye, which projects considerably more than the left for its accommodation. The tongue of the CJolden-winged Woodpecker, like the others, is also supplied with a viscid fluid, secreted by two glamls, that lie under the ear on each side, and arc at least five times larger in this species than in any other of its size; with this the tongue is C(>ntinually moistencil, so that every small insect it touches instantly adheres to it. The tail, in its strength and pointedness, as well as the feet and claws, prove thiit tlie bird was designeil for climbing ; and in fact T have scarcely ever seen it on a tree five minutes at a time without climbing; hopping not only up- wards and downwards, but spirally ; pursuing and playing with its fellow. in this manner, round the body of the tree. 1 have also seen them a hundrod times alight on the trunk of the tree; though they nmre fre- quently alight on the branches; but that they clind», construct like nests, \uy the same number, and the like colored eggs, and have the manners and habits of the Woodpeckers, is notorious to every Ameiican natural- ist ; while neither in the form of tlicir body, nor any other ]iart. except in the l)iil being somewhat bent, and the toes plaeeil two l)efore, and two behind, have they the smallest n-semblance whatever to the Cuckoo. It may not be improper, however, to observe, that tlier(> is another species of Woodpecker, ciilled also ent. it is said, almost exactly in the color and form of its bill, and in the tint and markings of its plumage; with this dift'ercnce, that the moustaches are * I'iriis cnfer, Turton's Linn. aOLDEN-WINOED WOODPECKKK. 178 red instead of blaek, and the lower ^ido of tlio wings, as well as theii shafts, lire also red, where the other is golden yellow. It ia also con- siderably less. With respect to the habits of this new species, wo have no particular account; but tliert' is little doubt that they will bo founa to correspond with the one we are now describing. The abject and degnided character which the Count de Buffon, with equal el()(|uenco and absurdity, has drawn of the whole tribe of Wood- peckers, l)elongs not to the elegant and sprightly bird now before us. How far it is applicable to any of them will bo examined hereafter. lie is not "constrained to drag out an insipid cxistei ce in boring the bark and hard fibres of trees to extract his prey," for he frequently finds in the loose mouldering ruins of an old stump ('the capital of a nation of l)isiuires), more than is sufficient for the wants of a whole week. He cannot bo said to " lead a mean and gloomy life, without an intermission of labor," who usually feasts by the first peep of dawn, and spends the early, and sweetest hours of morning, on the highest peaks of the tallest trees, calling on his mate or companions ; or pursuing and gamboling with them round the larger limbs and body of the tree for hours toge- ther; for such are really his habits. Can it bo said that "necessity never grants an interval of sound repose" to that bird, who, while other tribes are exposed to all the pcltings of the midnight ^torm, lodges dry and secure in a snug chamber of his own constructing? or that "the narrow circumference of a tree circumscribes his dull round of life," who, as seasons and inclination inspire, roams from the frigid to the torrid zone, feu-ting on the abundance of various regions? Or is it a proof that " his appetite is never softened by delicacy of taste," because he so often varies his bill of fare, o<'casionally preferring to aninnil food the rich miikiness of young Indian corn, and the wliolosonie ami nourish- ing berries of the Wild Clierry, Sou 'ium, and Ited Cetlar ? i>et the reader turn to th*- faithful rcpresentai, m of him j.- en in the i)lati and say whether bis ks be "sad and melui eholy !" Jt is truly ridicul us and astonishing ii.tt such absurdities slioubl escape the lips or pen i>f one so able to do justice to the respective merits of cv»^ry species; but l?nfVon bad too often a favorite theory to prop up, that led him insen- sibly astray; and so, forsooth, the wbole family of Woodpeck' ■ >• must look sad, sour, and be miserable, to satisfy the caprice of a wiiimsical jiliilosojiher, who takes it into his head that ti.ey are, and ought to be, so. But the count is not the oidy European who has misrepresented and traduceiom of Nature, lately published, he is char- tn • See Encyl. Brit. Ait i'lccs. f Latham. X Klein. <> IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I <■- 12.8 [5 ™'^ ^ 1^ 25 22 1.8 1.25 1.4 1.6 ^ 6" — ► Photographic Sciences Corpordtion ^ V ^^ '^Q) 23 WEST MAIN STltrj " WEBSTER, NY I4S30 (716) 872-4503 ri7 fA ^ ^ 174 GOLDEN-WINGED WOODPECKER. acterized as follows : " transversely striate with black and gray ; chin and breast black ; does not climb trees;"* which is just as correct as if, in describing the human species, we should say — skin striped with black and green ; cheeks blue ; chin orange ; never walks on foot, &c. The pages of natural history should resemble a faithful mirror, in which mankind may recognise the true images of the living originals ; instead of which we find this department of them, too often, like the hazy and rough medium of wretched window-glass, through whose crooked pro- tuberances everything appears so strangely distorted, that one scarcely krows his most intimate neighbors and acquaintance. The Golden-winged Woodpecker has the back and wings above of a dark umber, transversely marked with equidistant streaks of black ; upper part of the head an iron gray ; cheeks and parts surrounding the eyes, a fine cinnamon color ; from the lower mandible a strip of black, an inch in length, passes down each side of the throat, and a lunated spot, of a vivid blood red, covers the hindhead, its two points reaching within half an inch of each eye ; the sides of the neck, below this, in- cline to a bluish gray ; throat and chin a very light cinnamon or fawn color ; the breast is ornamented with a broad crescent of deep black ; the belly and vent white, tinged with yellow, and scattered with inim- merable round spots of black, every feather having a distinct central spot, those on the thighs and vent being heart-shaped and largest; the lower or inner side of the wing and tail, shafts of all the larger feathers, and indeed of almost every feather, are of a beautiful golden yellow — that on the shafts of the primaries being very distinguishable, even when the wings are shut; the I'ump is white, and remarkably prominent; the tail-coverts white, and curiously serrated with black ; upper side of the tail, and the tip below, black, edged with light loose filaments of a cream col'ir, tbt- two exterior feathers serrated witli whitish; shafts black towards the tips, the two middle ones nearly wholly so ; bill an inch and a half long, of a dusky horn color, somewhat bent, ridged only on the top, tapering, but not to a point, that being a little wedge-formed ; legs and feet light blue ; iris of the eye iiazel ; lenj-th twelve inches, extent twenty. The female differs from the male chiefly in the greater obscurity of the fine colors, and in wanting the black moustaches on each side of the tiiroat. Tiiis description, as well as the drawing, was taken from a very lieautiful and perfect sjieeinion. Though this species, generally speaking, is migratory, yet they often remain with us in Pennsylvania during the whole winter. They also in- lialtit the continent of Nctrtli America, fi'oni Ifuilson's Bay to (ieorgia; and have been found by voyagers on the nortiiwest coast of America. They arrive at Hudson's Bay in April, and leave it in September. Mr. * Turton's Linnteus, vol. i., p. 264. RED-HEADED WOODPECKER. 176 Hearne, however, informs us that the " Golden-winged Woodpecker is almost the only species of Woodpecker that winters near Hudson's Bay." The natives there call it Ou-thee-quan-nor-ow, from the golden color of the shafts and lower side of the wings. It ';as numerous pro- vincial appellations in the different States of the Union, such aa " High- hole," from the situation of its nest, and " Hittock," " Yucker," " Piut," " Flicker," by which last it is usually known in Pennsylvania. These names have probably originated from a fancied resemblance of its notes to the sound of the words ; for one of its most common cries consists of two notes or syllables, frequently repeated, which, by the help of the bearer's imagination, may easily be made to resemble any or all of them. Species IV. PICUS ERYTHROCEPHALUS. RED-HEADED WOODPECKER. [Plate IZ. Fig. 1.] Picus eryfhrocephahts, Linn. S;/st. i., 174, 7. — Omel, Syst. i., 429. — Pic voir A domino rouge, Buffon, vii., 55. PI. Enl, 117. — Catesdy, i., 20. — Arct. Zool. ii., No. 160.— Lath. Syn. ii., 561.* There is perhaps no bird in North America more universally known ihan this. His tri-colored plumage, red, white, and black glossed with steel blue, is so striking, and cliaractoristic ; and his predatory habits in the orchards and corn-fields, added to his numbers, and fondness for hovering along the fences, so very notorious, that almost every child is acquaintod with tlie Redheaded Woodpecker. In the immediate neigh- borhood of our largo cities, whore tlie old timber is chiefly cut down, he is not so frequently found ; and yet nt this present time, June, 1808, I know of several of their nests, witliin the boundaries of the city of Philadelphia. Two of these arc in button-wood trees {Platanus occi- ilentalia), and anotlicr in the decayed limb of an elm. Tlie old ones, I (ibserve, make their excursions rt»guhirly to the woods beyond the Schuylkill, about a mile distant ; preserving great silence and circum- spection in visiting their nests ; precautions not much attended to l)y them in the depths of the woods, because there the prying eye of man is less to be dreaded. Towards the mountains, particularly in the vicin- ity of creeks and rivers, these birds are extremely abundant, especially in the latter end of summer. Wherever you travel in the interior, at * We add the following synonymes ■.—PIcua ohscurus, Gmei,. Sysl. i., 429, young —Lath. hid. Orn. 228. — Picus Yinjinianus erylhroccplialu.'i, Bkiss. 4, p. 52. I fit." li' -I I- ' 176 RED-HEADED WOODPECKER. that season, you hear them screaming from the adjoining woods, rattling on the dead limbs of trees or on the fences, where they are perpetually seen flitting from stake to stake, on the roadside before you. Wherever there is a tree, or trees, of the wild-cherry, covered with ride fruit, there you see them busy ainong the branches ; and in passing orchards, you may easily know where to find the earliest, sweetest apples, by observ- ing those trees, on or near which the Ked-headed Woodpecker is skulk- ing ; for he is so excellent a connoisseur in fruit, that wherever an apple or pear is found broached by him, it is sure to be amongst the ripest and best flavored. When alarmed, he seizes a capital one by striking his open bill deep into it, and bears it off to the woods. When the Indian corn is in its rich, succulent, milky state, he attacks it with great eagerness, opening a passage through the numerous folds of the husk, and feeding on it with voracity. The girdleil, or deadened timber, so common among corn-fields, in the back settlements, are his favorite retreats, whence he sallies out to make his depredations. lie is fond of the ripe berries of the sour gum ; and pays pretty regular visits to the cherry- trees, when loaded with fruit. Towards fall, he often approaches the barn, or farm-house, and raps on the shingles and weather-boards. lie is of a gay and frolicksomc disposition ; and half a dozen of the frater- nity are frequently seen diving and vociferating around the high dead limbs of some large tree, pursuing and playing with each other, and amusing the passenger with their gambols. Their note or cry is shrill and lively, and so much resembles that of a species of tree frog, which frequents the same tree, that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish the one from the other. Such aro the vicious traits, if I may so speak, in the character of the Re;ed bug, resembling tlio weevil, but 80u\o- what longer. Vol. I.— 12 f 178 RED-TIEADED WOODPECKER. If:'' I , '1^ n. ft" I ;/ m • *■! -C f ^;f^: rJni sioned some European writers to mistake them for feunalea ; the white on the wing is also spotted with black ; but in the succeeding spring they receive their perfect plumage, and the male and female then differ only in the latter being rather smaller, and her colors not quite so vivid ; both have the head and neck deep scarlet ; the bill light blue, black towards the extremity, and strong ; back, primaries, wing-coverts and tail, black, glossed with steel blue; rump, lower part of the back, secondaries, and whole under parts, from the breast downwards, white; legs and feet bluish green ; claws light blue ; round the eye a dusky nar- row skin, bare of feathers ; iris dark hazel ; total length nine inches and a half, extent seventeen inches. The figure in the plate was drawn and colored from a very elegant living specimen. Notwithstanding the care which this bird, in common with the rest of its genus, takes to place its young beyond the reach of enemies, within the hollows of trees ; yet there is one deadly foe, against whoso depre- dations neither the height of the tree, nor the depth of the cavity, is the least security. This is the Black Snake {Coluber constrictor), who frequently glides up the trunk of the tree, and, like a skulking savage, enters the Woodpecker's peaceful apartment, devours the eggs or help- less young, in spite of the cries and flutterings of the parents ; and, if the place be large enough, coils himself up in the spot they occupied, where he will sometimes remain for several days. The eager school-boy, after hazarding his neck to reach the Woodpecker's hole, at the triumph- ant moment when he thinks the nestlings his own, and strips his arm, lanching it down into the cavity, and grasping what he conceives to be the callow young, starts with horror at the sight of a hideous snake, and almost drops from his giddy pinnacle, retreating down the tree with terror and precipitation. Several adventures of this kind have come to my knowledge ; and one of them that was attended with serious con- sequences ; where both snake and boy fell to the ground ; and a broken thigh, and long confinement, cured the adventurer completely of his ambition for robbing Woodpeckers' nests. Species V. riCUS VAIilUS. YELLOW-BELLIED WOODPECKER. [Flats IX. Fig. 2.] Picus variiis, Linn. Syst. i., lift, 20. — Omel. Si/at. i., 4.38. — Le pic varie de la Caro- line, Buff, vii., 77. PI. Enl. 785. — Yellow-hell led Woodpecker, Catesb. i., 21. — Arct. Zool. II., No. 1C6.— Lath. Syn. ii., .''•74, 20. Id. Sup. p. lO'J. This beautiful species i.s one of our resident birds. It visits our orchards in the month of October, in great numbers; is occasionally seen during tlio whole winter and spring ; but seems to seek the depths of the forest, to rear its young in ; for during summer, it is rarely seen among our settlements ; and even in the intermediate woods, I have seldom met with it in that sea.wn. According to Brisson, it inhabits the continent from Cayenne to Virginia ; and I may add, as far as to Hudson's Bay ; where according to Ilutchins, they are called Mckiscive Panpastaow ;* they arc also common in the states of Kentucky and Ohio, and have been seen in the neighborhood of St. Louis. They are reckoned by Gcorgi, among tlie binls that frequent the Lake Baikal, in Asia,f but their existence there has not been sati,sfactorily ascertained. The habits of this species are similar to those of the Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers, witli which it generally associates ; and which are both represented in the same jdato. The only ne.st of this bird which I have met with, was in the body of an old pear-tree, about ten or eleven feet from the ground. Tlie lude was almost exactly circular, small for the size of the binl, so that it crept in and out witli difficulty, but suddenly widened, descending by a small angle, and then running downwards about fifteen indies. On the smooth solid wooaeiou8, and as smooth as if polished by the cabinet-maker ; but the entrance is judiciously left just so large as to admit the body of the owner. During this labor, they regularly carry out the chips, often strewing them at a distance to prevent su.spicion. This operation some- times occupies the chief part of a week. Before she begins to lay, the female often visits the place, passes out and in, examines every part, both of the exterior and interior, with great attention, as every pru- (183) !l 184 DOWNY WOODPECKER. i i b9»' ■'I ii u '■ I " •lent tenant of a ncM- Louso ought to do, and at length taker complete possession. The eggs are generally six, pure white, and Iiiid on the BDiooth bottom of the cavity. Tho male oeeasioiially supplioH the female with food, while she is sitting ; and about the last week in June, tho young are perceived making their way up tho troo, clind)ing with considerable dexterity. All this goes on with great regularity, where no interruption is met with ; but the House Wren, who also builds in tiie hollow of a tree, but who is neither furnished with tlie necessary tools, nor strength for excavating such an apartment for himself, allows the Woodpeckers to go on, till he thinks it will answer his purjmse, then attacks him with violence and generally succeeds in driving them off. I saw, some weeks ago, a striking example of this, where the Wood- peckers we are now describing, after commencing in a cherry-trco, within a few yards of the house, and having made considerable progress, were turned out by the Wren : the former l)egan again on n pear-troo in the garden, fifteen or twenty yards oft", whence, after digging out a most complete apartment, and one egg being laid, they were once more assaulted by tiie same impertinent intruder, and finally forced to abandon the place. Th( principal characteristics of this little bird are diligence, famil- iarity, perseverance, and a strength and energy in the head, and muscles of the neck, which are truly astonishing. Mounted on the infected branch of an old ajjple-tree, where insects have lodged their corroding and destructive brood, in the crevices between the bark and wood, ho labors, sometimes for half an hour, incessantly at the same spot, before he has succeeded in dislodging and destroying them. At these times you may walk up pretty close to the tree, and even stand innnediately below it, within five or six feet of the bird, without in the least embar- rassing him ; the strokes of liio bill arc distinctly heard several hundred yards off; and I have known him to be at work for two hours together on the same tree. Buffon calls tliis, "incessant toil and slavery," — their attitude, "a painful posture," — and their life, "a dull and insipid existence ;" expressions improper, because untrue ; and absurd, because contradictory. The posture is that for which the whole organization of iiis frame is particularly adapted ; ami though to a Wren, or a Humming-bird, the labor would be both toil and slavery, yet to him it is, I am convinced, as pleasant, and as amusing, as the sports of the chase to the hunter, or the sucking of fiowers to the Humming-bird. The eagerness with which he traverses the uj)per and lower sides of tho branches ; the cheerfulness of his cry, and the liveliness of his motions wliile digging into tho tree, and dislodging the vermin, justify this belief. He has a single note, or chink, which, like tlie former species, he frei|ueiitiy repeats. And when hi' Hies ofi", or alights on another tree, he utters a rather shriller cry, composed I DOWNY WOODPECKER. 185 of nearly the same kiiitl of note, quickly reiterated. In fall and winter, ho associates with the Titmouse, Creeper, &c., both in their wood and orchard cxcursionB ; and usually leads the van. Of all our Woodpeckers, none rid the apple-trees of so many vermin as this, digging off the moss, which the negligence of the proprietor had Buffered to accumulate, and probing every cievice. In fact, the orchard is his favorite resort in all seasons ; and his industry is unequalled, and almost incessant, which is more than can be said of any other species we have. In fall, he is particularly fond of boring the apple- trees for insects, digging a circular hole through the bark, just sufficient to admit his bill, after that a second, third, &c., in pretty regular horizontal circles round the body of the tree ; these parallel circles of holes are often not more than an inch, or an inch and a half, apart, and sometimes so close together, that I have covered eight or ten of them at once with a dollar. From nearly the surface of the ground, up to the first fork, and sometimes far beyond it, the whole bark of many apple- trees is perforated in this manner, so as to appear as if made by successive discharges of buck-shot ; and our little Woodpecker, the Bubjeot of the present account, is the principal perpetrator of this supposed miscliief. I say supposed, for so far from these perforations of the bark ])eing ruinous, they are not only harmless, but, I have good reason to believe, really beneficial to the health and fertility of the tree. I leave it to the philosophical botanist to account for this ; but the fact I am confident of. In more than fifty orchards, which I have myself carefully examined, those trees which were marked by the Woodpecker (for some trees they never touch, perhaps because not penetrated by insects), were uniformly the most thriving, and seemingly the most p '•o- ductive ; many of these were upwards of sixty years old, their trunks completely covered with holes, while the brandies were broad, luxuri- ant, and loaded with fruit. Of decayed trees, more than three-fourths were untouched by the Woodpecker. Several intelligent farmers, with whom I have conversed, candidly acknowledge the truth of these observations, and with justice look upon these birds as beneficial ; but the most common opinion is, that they bore the tree to suck the sap, and so destroy its vegetation ; though pine and other resinous trees, on che juices of which it is not pretended they feed, are often found equally perforated. Were the sap of tlie tree their object, the saccharine juice of the l)ir('h, tlie sugur-niiiple, and several others, would bo much more inviting, because more sweet and nourishing, than that of cither the pear or iipple-tree; but I have not observed one mark on the fcrmer, for ten tliousand that may be seo« on the latter ; besides, the early part of spring is tiie season when the sap iiows most abundantly ; where- as it is only during ihe months of September, October, and November, that Woodpeckers arc seen so indefatigably engaged in orchards, probing 186 DOWNY WOODPECKER. every crack and crevice, boring through the bark, and, what is worth remarking, chicfl ■ on the south and south-west sides of the tree, for the eggs and larvie deposited there, !\v the countless swarms of summer insects. These, if suffered to remain, would prey upon the very vitals, if I may so express it, of the tree, and in the succeeding summer, give birth to myriads more of their race, equally destructive. Here then is a whole species, I may say genus, of birds, which Pro- vidence seems to have formed for the protection of our fruit and forest trees, from the ravages of vermin ; which every day destroy millions of those no.xious insects, that would otherwise blast the hopes of the husbandman ; and whicli even promote the fertility of the tree ; and, in return, are proscribed by those Avho ought to have been their pro- tectors ; and incitements and rewards held out for their destruction ! Let us examine better into the operations of nature, and many of our mistaken opinions, and groundless prejudices, will be abandoned for more just, enlarged, and humane modes of thinking. The length of the Downy Woodpecker is six inches and three- quarters, and its extent twelve inches ; crown black ; hind-head deep scarlet ; stripe over the eye white ; nostrils thickly covered with re- cumbent hairs, or small feathers, of a cream color : these, as in the preceding species, are thick and bushy, as if designed to preserve the forehead from iniurv during the violent action of di'T'iinj' ; the back is black, and divided by a lateral strip of white, loose, downy, unwebbed feathers; wings black, spotted with white; tail-coverts, rump, and four middle feathers of the tail, black ; the other three on each side white, crossed with touches of black ; whole under parts, as well as the sides of the neck, white ; the latter marked with a streak of black, proceed- ing from the lower mandible, exactly as in thr Hairy Woodpecker ; legs and feet bluish green ; claws light blue, tipped with black ; tongue formed like that of the preceding species, horny towards the tip, whore for one-eighth of an inch it is barbed ; bill of a bluish horn color, grooved, and wedge-formed, like most of the genus ; eye dark hazel. The female wants the red on the hind-head, having that part white ; and the breast and belly are of a dirty white. This, and the two former species, are generally denominated Sap- suckenj ; they have also several other provincial ii|iptllations, equally absurd, which it may, perhaps, bo more proper to suppress, than to sanction by repeating. I'i: Species VIII. PICVS QUERULUS. RED-COCKADED WOODPECKER. [Plate XV. Fig.l.] This new species I first discovered in the pine woods of North Caro- lina. The singulivrity of its voice, which greatly resembles the chirping of young nestlings, and the red streak on the side of its head, suggested the specific name I have given it. It also extends through South Caro- lina and Georgia, at least as far as the Altamaha river. Observing the first specimen I found to be so slightly marked witli red, I suspected it to be a young bird, or imperfect in its plumage, but the great numbers I afterwards shot, satisfied me that this is a peculiarity of the species. It appeared exceedingly restless, active, and clamorous ; and every- where I found its manners the same. This bird seems to be an intermediate link between the Red-bellied and the Hairy Woodpecker, represented in Plates VII. and IX. of this work. It has the back of the former, and the white belly and spotted neck of the latter ; but wants the breadth of red in both, and is less than either. A preserved specimen has been deposited in the Museum of this city. This Woodpecker is seven inches and a half long, and thirteen broad ; the upper part of the head is "black ; the back barreil with twelve white, transversely, semicircular lines, and as many of black, alternately ; the cheeks and sides of the neck are white ; whole lower parts the same ; from the lower mandible, a list of black passes towards the shoulder of the wing, where it is lost in small black spots on each side of the breast ; the wing;* are black, spotted with white ; the four middle tail feathers black, die rest white spotted with black ; rump black, variegated with white ; the vent white, spotted with black ; the hairs that cover the nos- trils are of a pale cream color ; the bill deep slate ; but what forms the most distinguishi^ng peculiarity of this bird, is a fine line of vermilion, on each side of the head, seldom occupying more than the edge of a single feathi-r. The fema'e is destitute of this ornament ; but in the rest of her plumage differs in nothing from the male. The iris of the eye, in lioth, was hazel. Tlu- stomachs of all those I opened were filled with small black in- sects, and fragments of large beetles. The posterior extremities of the tongue reached nearly to the base of the upper mandible. (187) M"^ l( m' ttff II Species IX. PICUS TORQUATUS. LEWIS'S WOODPECKER. [Plato XX. Fig. 3] Of this very beautiful, and singularly marked, species, I am unable to give any farther account than as relates to its external appearance. Several skins of this species were preserved; all of which I examined with care; and found little or no diflerence among them, either in the tints or disposition of the colors. The length of this.was eleven inches and a half; the back, wings, and tail, were black, with a strong gloss of green ; upper part of the head the same ; front, chin, and cheeks, beyond the eyes, a dark rich red; round the neck passes a broad collar of white, which spreads over the breast, and looks as if the filires of the feathers had been silvered ; these feathers are also of a particular structure, the fibres being separate, and of a hair-Iikc texture; belly deep vermilion, and of the same strong hair-like feathers, intermixed with silvery ones ; vent black ; legs and feet dusky, inclining to greenish blue ; bill dark horn color. For a more particular, and, (h)ubtless, a more correct account of this, and the two preceding species,* the reader is referred to General Clark's History of the Expedition, now ])reparing for the press. Tiie three birils I have here intr(iduce! breast and bi'lly deepens into a yelbnvish ash, stained on the belly with a blood red; the vent and thigh tVathers are dull white, niarkfd down their cen- tres with heart-formed, and long arrow-pointeil, spots of black. The back is black, crossed with transverse curving lines of white ; the wings are also black, the lesser wing-covorts circularly tipped, and the whole primaries and secondaries beautifully crossed with bars of white, and also tipped with the same ; the rump is white, interspersed with touches of black; the tail-coverts white near their extremities; the tail consists of ten feathers, the two middle ones black, their interior webs or vanes white, crossed with diagonal spots of black ; these, when the edges of the two feathers just tcmch, coincide, and form heart-shaped sj)ots ; a narrow sword-shaped line of white runs up the exterior side of the shafts of the same feathers : the next four feathers, on each side, are black, the outer eilges of the exterior ones barred with black and ■ white, which, on the lower side, seems to cross the whole vane as in the figure ; the extremities of the whole tail, except the outer feather, arc black, sometimes touched with yellowish or cream color; the legs and feet are of a bluish green, and the iris of the eye red. The tongue, or 0* Jn/oi'th'S, passes up over the hind-head, anil is attached by a very elastic retractile membrane, to the base of the right nostril ; the c':-, tremity of the tongue is long, horny, very jioinfed, and thickly edged with barbs, the other part of the tongue is worm-sliaj)ed. Jn several specinifiis, I fouml the stomach ne.'irly fdli'd with pieces of a species of fungus, that grows on decayeil wood, and in all with great lunnbers of insects, seeds, gravel, i*i:c. (See. The female differs from the nuile, in having the crown, for an inch, of a fine ash, ami the black not so intense ; the front is red hcgiMiiiiig of Juno, and Mometinios Hoonor, according; to that part of the country wiiore tliey rewide. On the HJioroH of Kcntui'Ivy river, near the town of Frankfort, I found the female n'\t- tiufi early in April. They are very tenaeiouM of tiieir haunts, l)reeilinj» for several Huecessive years in the same hole, and do not readily forsake it, ccn though it he visifen these isles and the Florida shore, in the month of July, a Kingfisher flew several times round our ship, and afterwards shot off to the south. The length of this species is twelve inches and a half, extent twenty ; back and whole npj)er parts a light bluish slate color ; round the neck is a collar of pure white, which reaches before to the chin ; bead large, crested, the feathers long and narrow, black in the centre, and generally erect; the shafts of all the feathers, except the white plumage, are black; bcdiy jind vent white; sides under. the wings variegated with HIIOWN CUKKl'KR. 199 Muo; round the upper part of tlio breaHt juihhch a band of blue, intor- HpcrHed with Moinu lij^bt brown feutherH ; before the eye i» a HUiall npot of white, and another immediately below it ; the bill is three inehcs lon^, from the point to the ulit of the mouth, Htrong, sharp pointed, and black, exe('|)t near the biiHe of the lower mandible, and at the tip, where it i.s of a horn eolor ; primarieH, and interior webs of tlie .seconda- ries, black, spotted with white; the interior vanes of the tail feathers elegantly spotted with white on a jet black ground; lower side light colored; exterior vanes blue; wing-(!Overts and secontlaries muikiil with small specks of white; legs extremely short; when the bird perches it generally rests on the lower side of the second joint, which is thereby thick and callous ; claws stout and black ; whole leg of a dirty yellowish color ; above the knee bare of featiiers for half an inch ; the two exterior toes united together for nearly their whole length. The fenial'j is sprinkled all over with specks of white ; the band of blue around the upper part of the breast is nearly half reddish brown ; and a little below this passes a band of briglit reddish ba}', spreading on each side under the wings. The blue and rufous feathers on the breast are strong like scales. The head is also of a much darker blue than the back ; and the white feathers on the chin and throat of an exquisite fine glossy texture, like the most beautiful satin. ; i Genus XXIX. CERTIIIA. CREEPER. Species I. C. FAMlLlMilS. BROWN CREEPER. [Plate VIII. Fig. 1, Male.] JAtlle Broirn varUijuUd Creeper, Uartkax, 289.* TlITS bird agrees so nearly with the common European Creeper {Certhia f(imil{arti<), that I have little doubt of their being one and the same species. I have examined, at different times, great numbers of these birds, and have endeavored to make a correct drawing of the male, that Europeans and others may judge for themselves ; and the excellent artist to whom the plate was intrusted has done his part so well in the engraving, as to render the figure a p"rfect resemblance of the living original. * Wo odd the following? synonymes: Certhia familiar is, Linn. ."?//«/. ed. )0, vol. I., 118— GuEi,. tiyst. I., 4tjy. — Latu. Ind. Orn. 2SU. — />« Griinpereau, Bijkf. PI Enl. 681. W— p • m 200 BROWN CREEPER. The Brown Creeper is an extremely active and restless little bird. In winter it associates with the small Spotted Woodpecker, Nuthatch, Titmouse, &c., and often follows in their rear, gleaning up those insects which their more powerful bills had alarmed and expose be scarcely any difference between the colors and markings of the male and female. In the month of March I opened eleven of these birds, among whom were several females, as a[)peared by the clusters of minute eggs with which tlu;ii ovaries were filled, ami also several well-marked males, and, on the most careful comparison of their jilunnige, I could find little or no dif- ference ; the colors indeed were rather more vivid and intense in .some ^1%,*^ BROWN CREEPER, 201 than in others ; hut sometimes this superiority belonged to a male, sometimes to a female, and appeared to be entirely owing to difference in age. I found, however, a remarkable and very striking difference in their sizes ; some were considerably larger, and had the bill at least one-third longer and stronger than the others, and these I uniformly found to be males. I also received two of these birds from the country bordering on the Cayuga lake, in New York state, from a person who killed them from the tree in which they had their nest. The male of this pair had the bill of the same extraordinary size with several others I had examined before, the plumage in every respect the same. Other males, indeed, were found at the same time of the usual size. Whether this be only an accidental variety, or whether the male, when full grown, be naturally so much larger than the female (as is the case with many birds), and takes several years in arriving at his full size, I can- not positively determine, though I think the lattjr most probable. The Brown Creeper builds his nest in the hollow trunk or branch of a tree, where tlie tree has been shivered, or a limb broken off, or where squirrels or Woodpockers have wrought out an entrance : for nature has not provided liim with the means of excavating one for himself. I have known the female begin to lay by the seventeenth of April. The eggs are usually seven, of a dull cinereous, marked with small dots of reddish yellow, and streaks of dark brown. Tlie young come forth with great caution, creeping about long before they venture on wing. From the early season at which they begin to build, I have no doubts of their raising two broods during summer, as I have seen the old ones entering holes late in July. The length of this bird is five inches, and nearly seven from the extremity of one wing to that of the other ; the upper part of the head is of a deep brownish black ; the back brown, and both streaked with white, the plumage of the latter being of a loose texture, with its filaments hot adhering ; th« white is in the centre of every feather, and is skirtci with brown; lower part of the back, rump, and tail-coverts, rusty brown, the last minute!} tipped with whitish ; the tail is as long as the body, of a light drab colcr, with the inner webs dusky, and con- sists of twelve quills each sloping off and tapering to a point in the manner of the Woodpeckers, but proportionably weaker in the shafts ; in. many specimens the tail was vi-ry slightly marked with transverse undulating waves of dusky, scarce observable ; the two middle feathers the longest, the others on each side shortening by one-sixth of an inch to the outer one ; the wing consists of nineteen feathers, the first an inch long, the fourth ai'.l fifth the longest, of a deep brownish black, and crossed about its middle with a curving band of rufous white, a (juarter of an inch "i breadth, marking ten of the qui'ls ; below thia the quills are exteriorly edged to within a little of their tips with rufous 202 BLACK AND WHITE CREEPER. white, and tipped with white ; the three secondaries next the body are dusky white on their inner webs, tipped ou the exterior margin with white, and above that alternately streaked laterally with black and dull white; the greater and lesser wing-coverts are exteriorly tipped with white, the upper part of the exterior edges of the former rufous white ; the line over the eye and whole lower parts are white, a little brownish toward the vent, but on the chin and throat pure, silky and glistening ; the white curves inwards about the middle of the neck ; the bill is half an inch long, slender, compressed sidewise, bonding downwards, tapering to a point, dusky above and white below ; the nostrils are oblong, half covered with a convex membrane, and without hairs or small feathers; the inside of the mouth is reddish ; the tongue tapering gradually to a point, and horny towards tiie tip ; the eye is dark hazel ; the legs and feet a dirty clay color ; the toes placed tliree before and one behind, the two outer ones connected with the middle one to the first joint ; the claws rather paler, large, almost semicircular, and extremely sharp pointed ; the hind claw the largest. The figure in the plate repro'-.ents a male of the usual size in its exact proportions, and, but for the satisfac- tion of foreigners, might have rendered the wiiole of this prolix description unnecessary. Species II. CEUTHIA MACUl.ATA* BLACK AND WHITE CREEPER. [Plate XIX. Fig. 3.] Edwards, pi. 300.— jrAiVc imll W,irUcr,Arct. Xuol. 402, No. 2iS. — Tirto.n, i., p. 003. This nimble and expert little species sehlom perches on the small twigs; but cireuiiianibulates the trunk, and larger branches, iu quest of ants and other inseits, with admirable dexterity. It arrives in Penn.xyhania, from the .soutii, about the twentieth of April, the young begin to fly early in July ; and the whole tribe f, andon the eouiitrv about the beginning of October. Slnane de.scribes tnis bird as an inhabitant of the West India Islands, where it piobably winters. It was first figured by Edwanls from a dried skin sent him by Mr. William HartrsHU, who gave it its jiresent name. Succeeding naturalists have cla.'ised it with the warblers; a mistake which I have endeavored to rectify. The genus of Creej)ers comprehends about thirty differ iit species, many of which iire richly adorned with gorgeous plumage; but, like * Linn!CU8 placed thlH binl in Ium gnniiH .Volacilla, iiiui Latliam iirniii;:(il it ia Syltia. It does nut I'-'on^i to tlie genu* Cerlhia as at jirusoiit rt'strieted. GREAT CAROLINA WREN. doa their congenial tribe the Woodpeckers, few of them excel in song ; theii tongues seem better calculated for extracting noxious insects from the bark of trees, than for trilling out sprightly airs ; as the hardenec' hands of the hus^bandman are better suited for clearing the forest or guiding the plough, than dancing among the keys of a forte-piano. Which of the two is the most honorable and useful employment is not difficult to determine. Let the farmer, therefore, respect this little bird for its useful qualities, in clearing his fruit and forest trees from destructive insects; tliough it cannot serenade him with its song. Tiie length of this species is five inches and a liulf, extent seven and a half; crown white, bordered on each side with a band of bhick, which is again bounded by a line of white passing over each eye, below this is a large spot of black covering the ear feathers ; chin and throat black ; wings the same, crossed transversely by two bars of wliite ; breast and back streaked with black and white ; tail, upper and also under coverts, black, edged and bordered with white ; belly white ; legs and feet dirty yellow ; hind claw the longest, and all very sharp pointed ; bill a little compressed sidewise, slightly curved, black above, paler below ; tongue long, fine-pointed, and horny at the extremity. These last circum- stances, joined to its manners, characterize it, decisively, as a creeper. The female and young birds of the first year want the black on the throat, having that part of a grayish white. M Species III. CERTIIIA CAROLINIANA* GREAT CAROLINA WREN. [Plate XII. Fig. S.] Ia Roitdet de la hmiiiane. PL Enl. 730, Y\^. 1. — Lath. Si/n. vii., p. 507, var. B. — Le TrtK/lddi/lfs dc la Lnuisiane, Bi kk. Ois. v., j). 301. — Motaeilla CaroUniana (regulim tnagiins), Bartuam, p. 2*Jl.t This is another of those equivocal species that fo often occur to puz- zle the naturalist. Th? general appearance of this bird is such, tliat the mo.-it illiterate would at first sight call it a Wnn ; but the coinnion Wren of Ein-Dpe, ami the Winter Wren of the United States, are both warblers, juilging them according to the simple principle of Liniifcus. The present species, however, and the following (the Marsh Wren), * This aiul till! two iuUowini; s|i('<'ii's were pliiood liy Iiiitliiim in the Kcmis Si/hua, wIicMicn tlii'v liiivo tiocii rcmovoil liy Wilson, witlioiit, ii|i|iiireiitly, siiHiciciit reason. f W<> 11(1(1 th(> followiii)! syiionynips: Motwilla lioj/litdi/lcs, var. y (imei,. vol. i., p. •J'J4. — Sylcia liidoviiiana, Lath. Index Orn. sp. liiO. ■'% I f I 204 GREAT CAROLINA WREN. I ■■'i ■■ ^ 1 *: i Sffi |';|| ■ h'^ |{Si . ''\ m'-V' il '' "' ' wM .--; i^i-'!l^ i though possessing great family likeness to those above nieiitionod, are decisively Creepers, if tha bill, the tongue, nostrils and claws are to be the criteria by which we are to class them. The color of the plumage of birds is but an uncertain and inconstant guide ; and though in some cases it serves to furnish a trivial or specific appellation, yet can never lead us to the gcMieric one. I have, there- fore, notwithstanding the general appearance of these birds, and the practice of former ornithologists, removeil them to the genus C'erthia, from that of Motacilla, where they have hitherto been placed. Tliis bird is frequently seen, early in May, along the shores of tlie Delaware, and other streams that fall into it on both sides, thirty or forty miles below Philadelphia ; but is ratiier rare in Pennsylvania. This circumstance is a little extraordinary ; since, from its size, and stout make, it would seem more capable of braving the rigors of a northern climate than any of the otiiers. It can, however, scarcely bo called migratory. In the depth of winter I found it numerous in Vir- ginia along the shores and banks of the James river and its tributary streams, and thence as far south as Savannah. I also observed it on the banks of the Ogechee ; it seemed to be particularly attached to the borders of cypress swamps, deep hollows, among piles of old decaying timber, and by rivers and snuill creeks. It has all the restless jerking uninners of the Wrens, skipping about with great nimbleness, hopping into caves, and disappearing into holes and crevices like a rat, for seve- ral minutes, and then reappearing in another ([uarter. It occasionally utters a loud, strong, and singular twitter, resenil)ling the wonl chirr- rup, dwelling long and strongly on the first syllable ; and so loud that I at first mistook it for the Red-bird, L. cardoHtU». It has also another chant, rather more musical, like '* Sweet WiUimn, Sweet William," umch softer than the former. Tliough I cannot positively say, from my own observations, that it builds in Pennsylvania, and have never yet been so fortunate as to find its nest; yet, from the circumstance of hav- ing several times observed it within a (juarter of a mile of the Scliuyl- KJll, in the niontli ./.' August, I hav«' no doulit that some few breed here, and think it highly probable that Pennsylvania and New York ni.iy be the northern boundaries of their visits, having sought for it in vain among the states of New England. Its food appears to consist of those insects and their larvie that fri'ijuent low damp caves, piles of dead tim- ber, old roots, {)rojecting banks of creeks, &c., ke. It certainly pos- sesses the faculty of seeing in the dark better than day birds usually do ; for I have obstMv>'il it exploring the recesses of caves, where a good acute eye must have been nei-cssary to enable it to distinguish its prey. In the Southern States, as well as in Louisiana, this species is gener- ally rc«/(/c/(/ ; though in summer they are more nuiiierous, and are found rather farther north than in winter. In this last season their chirrup- GREAT CAROLINA WREN. 205 garde after daybreak, and along the ing is frequently heart in gardens soon alter daybrcaK, ant borders of the great rivers of the Southern States, not far from the sea- coast. The Great Wren of Carolina is five inehes and a quarter long, and seven broad ; the whole upper parts arc reddish brown, the wings and tail being barred with black ; a streak of yellowish white runs from the nostril over the eye, down the side of the neck, nearly to the back ; below that a streak of reddish brown extends from the posterior part of tlie eye to the shoulder ; the chin is yilowish white ; the breast, sides and belly a light rust color, or reddish buff; vent featherr; white, neatly barred with black ; in the female plain ; wing coverts minutely tipped with white ; legs and feet flesh colored, and very strong ; bill throe- quarters of an inch long, strong, a little bent, grooved and pointed, the upper mandible bluish black, lower light blue ; nostrils oval, partly covered with a prominent convex mcml)rane ; tongue pointed and slen- der ; eyes hazel ; tail cuneiform, the tw*o exterior feathers on each side three quarters of an inch shorter, whitish on their exterior edges, and touched with deeper black ; the same may be said of the three outer primaries. The female wants the white on the wing coverts ; but differs little in color from thu male. In this species I have observed a circumstance common to the House and Winter Wren, but which is not found in the Marsh Wren ; the feathers of the lower part of the back, when parted by the hand, or breath, appear spotted with white, being at bottom deep ash, reddish brown at the surface, and each feather with a spot of white between these two colors. This, however, cannot bo perceived without parting the feathers. M r i| m',\:^i 'it\4%:m ■":.f Species IV. CERTHIA PALUSTRIS. MARSH WREN. [Plate XII. Fig. 4.] MotaciUa pahistrig [reynlus minor), Bartram, p. 291. This obscure but spirited little spccica has been almost overlooked by the naturalists of Europe, as well as by those of its own country. The singular attitude in which it is represented will be recognisetl by those acquainted with its manners, as one of its most common and favorite ones, while skipping through among the reeds and rushes. The Marsh Wren arrives in Pennsyhania about the midille of May, or aa soon as the reeds and a species of Nymphea, usually called splatter- docks, which grow in great luxuriance along the tide water of our rivers, are sufficiently high to shelter it. To such places it almost wholly limits its excursions, seldom venturing far from the river. Its food consists of flying insects, ami their larvic, and a species of green grasshoj)pers that inhabit the reeds. As to its notes it would be mere burlesque to call them by the name of song. Standing on the ree nest is generally suspemled among the reeds, above the reach of t! .ighest tides, and is tied so fa.st in every part to the surrounding rfe.' i as to bid defiance to the winds and the waves. Tlie eggs are (20(1) • i. tt^'^jinr 3 MARSH WREN. 207 usually six, of a dark fawn color, and very small. The young leave the nest about the twentieth of June, and they generally have a second brood in the same season. The size, general color, and habit of this bird of erecting its tail, gives it, to a superficial observer, something of the appearance of the common House Wren, represented in Plate VIII. of this work ; and Btill more that of the Winter Wren, figured in the same plate; but with the former of those it never associates ; and the latter has left us some time before the Marsh Wren makes his appearance. About the middle of August they begin to go off, and on the first of September very few of them are to be seen. IIow far north the migrations of this species extend I am unable to say ; none of them to my knowledge winter in Georgia, or any of the Southern States. The Marsh Wren is five inches long, and six in extent ; the whole upper parts are dark brown, except the upper part of the head, back of the neck, and middle of the back, which are black, the two last streaked with white; the tail is short, rounded, and barred with black; wings slightly barred ; a broad strip of white passes over the eye half way down the neck ; the sides of the neck are also mottled with touches of a light clay color on a whitish ground; whole under parts pure silvery white, except the vent, which is tinged with brown ; the legs are light brown ; the l.ind claw large, semicircular, and very sharp ; bill slen;7i. in., p. 7lt'i. No. 1.3, t. .'!('>. fi;;. G. — Le liuhin, Mvrr. 0%». VI., p. 13. — Ilummimi Jiiid, Catesb. Car. i., 65. — ]{td-lliroated Humming Bird, Enw. i., 38, male mid fcinak.—LxTn. Syn. ii., 769, No. .'?5. Natuhk in every departmoiit of her work.s .ooem.s to delight in variety; and the present subject of our history is ahnost as singular for its minutene.ss, beauty, want of song and manner of feeding, as the Mocking-bird is for unrivalled excellence of notes, and plainne.><8 of plumage. Though this interesting and beautiful genus of birds com- prehends upwards of seventy species, all of which, with a very few exceptions, arc natives of America and its adjacent i.sland.s, it is yet singular, that the species now before us should be the only one of its tribe that ever visits the territory of tlie United States. According to the observations of my friend Mr. Abbot, of Savannah, in Georgia, who has been engaged these thirty years in collecting and drawing subjects of natural history in that part of the country, the Humming Bird makes its first appearance there, from the south, about the twenty-thinl of March ; two weeks earlier tiian it does in the county of Burke, sixty miles higher up the country towards the interior; and at least five weeks sooner than it reaches this part of Penn.^ylvania. As it pa,sses on to the northward as far as tlie interior of Canada, where it is seen in great numbers,* the wonder is e.xeited how so feebly con- structed and delicate a little creature can make its way over such extensive regions of lakes and forests, among so many enemies, all its superiors in strength ami ni:i :tiitude. But its very 7iii}U(ti)ii'irobable they do. As 1 hiive found their nc^ts with eggs so late as tiie twelflh of .Inly, I do not doubt but that they frequently, and perhaiis usually, raise two broods in the sam(> season. The Humming IJird is extremely fond f his back, and the fire of his tiirout, dazzling in tho sun, form altogether n most interesting aj)pearanee. The position into which his body is usually thrown while in the act of thrusting his slender tubular tongue into the llower, to extract its sweets, is i-xhibited in tho figure on the plate. When htt alights, which is frenuently, lie always prefera the snmll (b-atl twiga of » tree, or bush, where he dresses and arranges his plumage with great (b'Xterity. Ills only note is a single cliirp, not louder than that of a small cricket or grasshopper, generally uttered wliih jiassing from flower to tlower, or when engagetl in fight witli his Adlows ; for when two males meet at the same bush, or flower, a battle instantly takes placu^ ; and the combatants ascend in the air, chirping, darting and circling round each other, till the eye is no longer able to follow them. The con(]ueror, however, generally returns to tho place to reap the fruits of his victory. I have seen him attack, and for a f(Mv moments tease the KingHird; ami have also seen him in hia turn, assaulted by a humble-bee, which he .-oon put to flight. lie is one (»f those few birds that are universally beloved ; and amidst the sweet dewy seivnity of a summer's morning, his appearance among the ar- bors of honeysuckles, and beils of flowers, is truly interesting. Whoii inornit)); (lawii!*, ami tin- Mc-^t niim, iigiiin liiftK his rcil irldrii's fniiii tin' KustiTn iiiiiiii, Tlicii tlir()u;cli (Pur wiMiilliiiics, wvt witli ;,'litttTini; dewH, Tli« llowiT-Ci'il Hiiiniiiiii^-liinl liis nmml imrsues ; Si|is witli iiiscrtiMi tiilw, the boru'vi'il Mipimis, .And chirps his i^riititmlo ii-* roiiiul hi" nwims ; Wliilf richost rosos, though in uriiiiKon tlrest, Shrink from the s|>lt'inlor of his nipriri'ims hrcnst ; What hrav'iily tints in niin^rliii;^ railiuncr liy I Kat'h rajpiil inipvcnH'iit irivcs a liitlpTi'iit ilv(^ ; Liki! Hoalos of l>iirni.sho>l ;;olii thi'y cage, and CM\), tlic liiriln niiiiiscd tlicinstOvcs by .siinppin;; at tlioin on wing, and Hwallowing tbiMii with oagfrncss, so that tlicsc insects formed no incoii- sidcrablo part ot" tlu'ir food. Mr. Charles Wilson Poale, proprietor of the Museum, tells me, tliiit he had two young Humming Birds whieh he raised from the nest. They use(l to fly about the rocuus ; and would fre(|uently pereh on Mrs. i'eale's shoulder to be feil. Wiieii the sun flhonc strongly into the ehainber, he has observed them darting after the motes that floated in the light, as Flycatchers would after flies. In the summer of 1803 a nest of young Iluuuning Birds was brought me, that were nearly fit to fly. One of them actually flew out by the window the same evening, and falling against a wall, was killed. The other refuseil food, and tht; next morning I crould but just perceive that it had life. A lallll). I m f r] i ■ !' '!1: BOiiu' time drcsning its disoidcroil pliinm^^c, iiimI flxMi hIioI off like a nit'ffor. The Hi^lif of tlio Iliiniiniiij; Hinl from flower to llowor, jjicatly rt'soin- bloM tlitit (if II lire, but is so iiiiK'li inoi'c rti|)iil, tliMt tlii> liittcr iippoarH a moro loittTcr to Iiiin. lie |ioi-;('s liiiiisclf on win;;, wliilc lie tliriists liis lnii|; sliMiilcr tiilMiliir tiiii^;iu> into tlic ilovvrrs in search of food. He Boinetiines enters a room by the window, examines the hou(juets of flowi-rs, and j)as.se.s out hy the o|)|)()sito door or window. He Inis been known to take refnire in a liot-lionse diirinj^ the cool nights of auttinin ; to ^o re^jidarly out in the morninj^, and to return as re;^uhirly in tiio oveninj;, for several days to^jether. The Hiiinmin;^ llird has, hitherto, heen supposed to subsist altoj^ethor on tile honey, or liquid sweets, which it <-xtrMcts fidin lluwers. ()n(! or two curious observers have indeed remarked, that they have found evi- dent fra;;nu'nts of insi'cts in the stomach of this species ; but these have been generally iKdievcfl to ha\e been taken in by accident. The few opportunities which Kuropeans have to deterniitie this point b_\ observa- tions made (in the livin;; bird, or by dissection (.f the newly-killed ()nt>, have reiidercd this mistaken opinion almost j;eneral in Kurope. Kor myself I can sjteak decisivtdy on this subject. I have seen the Hum- min^r Hird for half an hour at a time darting at those little ;;rou]is of insects that dance in the air in a fine summer eveninif, retirinj' to an adjoiidiijir twij; to rest, and reriewinj: the attack with a dexterity that sets all our other Flycatchers at defiance. I hav(> opened from time to time j.'reat numbers of thest> birds; have t'xamined tli contents of tli(( .stouuK h with suitalde ;:lasses, and in three cases out of four, have found tlu'sc to consist of broken fra;'uieiits of insects. In maiiv subiccts entire insects of the coleopterous (dass, but very small, were found Ui biwikeii. The oliservalions of Mr. Cofl'eras delaile(l above, and the reiiiark-i nf my worthy friend Mr. I'eale. are ('(irroboi alive of these facts. It is well known that the llumniiii;; Itiid i- p.nticubd ly fond of tubular flowers where numerous small iusetrls of this kind resort to fe(!d on the farina, itc., and there is every reason for btdieviiiji that he is as often in search of these insects as of honey; and that ! n' former compose at Ic.ist as j^reat a portion ot his usual sustenance as the latter. If this food be so necessary for the parents there is m; (ioid.i but the yoiiii;; also occasionally partake of it. To enumerate all the flowers (d" wliicli this little bird is fond, would be to repeat tile iiaiiies of half our Auieiican l"'lora. l-'rom the blos- soms of the towerinjr po|d;ir, or tulip tice. ihroiiLdi a thousand inter- mediate flowers to those of the liiinible larkspur, he lanires at will, and almost incessantly. Kvery period of the season |)ro(luees a fVe-li multi- tude of new favorites. Towards the month of September then! is u ird is three indies and ii half in lenjfth, and four and a quarter in cxtnit; tlie whole liack, ii|i|)it ]mit of tln^ neek, sid(!S under the wings, tail coverts, and two middle feathers of tho tail, arc of a rich golden green ; the tail is forked, and, as well as the wings, of a deep brownish puiple; the bill ami eyes are black; tlit! legs and {vvX, both of which are exlreinely Mimll, are also black ; the bill is straight, very slender, a little intlated at the lip. and very incompetent to the oxploit of penetrating the tiiigh sinewy side of u crow, and precipitat- Ijig it from the clouds to the earth, as Charlevoix would persuade h IS readtM'S to believe 'I'll e nostril ire tw(i small obloiit: slits, situattid at the base of the upper niiimlible, scarcely |)erceivable when the bird is dead, thoiigli very distingiiishalde and prominent when living; the sides of the belly and belly itself dusky wliitc, mixed with green; hut ihaf consliliites the chief oriiaiiieiit ni' this little bird, i.s llie siileiu lor of the feathers of his throat, which when placed in a |)i'oper position, glow with all the brilliancy of the ruby. These feathers are of singular strength and texture, lying close together like scales, and vary when moveil before the eye from a decji black to a iiery crimson and burning orange. Tiie temale is dotitiile of this oinameiit ; but dilTers little in other appearance from the male; her tail is tipped with white, and the whole lower jiarts are of the same tint. The young birds of tin- first seaso n, bolli male tiiid I'eiiiale, have the tail t ipped with white, and th whole lower parts iieai Iv wliiti III the iiioiiih of Sentember the on III eiital feathers on the throat of the voiiiii' 1)1 males begin to appear. On dissection the heart was roiiml to be remarkably large, ni>arly us g as the cr allium ; aiitl the stomach, thou;:li ilisteiided with food. uncommonly smal not excee(liiii; tin i;lob .f t le eve, and scarce more than one ly ^ixlIl part a-i lar^'e as ilie lie;iil ; the fibres oi' the last Hist, (le la Nov. Fraiu'c, III., p. 185. ■.UUUHUHIIW 214 HUMMING BIRD. were also exceedingly strong. Tlie brain was in large (juantity, and very thin ; tnc ongue, from the tip to an extent equal with the length of the bill, was perforated, forming two closely attached parallel and cylindrical tubes; the other extremities of the tongue corresponded exactly to those of the Woodpecker, passing up the hind head, and reaching to the base of the upper mandible. These observations were verified in five different subjects, all of whose stomachs contained frag- ments of insects, and some of them whole cues. I'l • END OF VOL. I.