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ALBERT R. MANN
LIBRARY

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The birds of Indiana; a descriptive catal
THE

BIRDS OF INDIANA.

A DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE OF THE BIRDS THAT HAVE
BEEN OBSERVED WITHIN THE STATE, WITH AN
ACCOUNT OF THEIR HABITS.

By AMOS W. BUTLER.

INTRODUCTION.

At the request of Prof. W. 8. Blatchley, the chief of the Department
of Geology and Natural Resources, I have undertaken the preparation
of a report upon the birds of Indiana. This is made necessary by the
fact that Dr. A. W. Brayton’s “Catalogue of the Birds of Indiana,”
published in 1879, has long been out of print and the supply of my
own catalogue of 1890 is practically exhausted. Both of these papers
were published by the Indiana Horticultural Society.

With the increasing interest in the relations of birds to the farm,
orchard, garden and lawn; with the attention that has of late been
directed to birds as subjects for nature study in all our schools and
with the awakening desire to prevent the slaughter of native beneficial
birds, for purposes of decoration and adornment, has come a demand
for information relating to the birds about us that is unsupplied.

It is desired that I give at this time an account of the occurrence,
distribution, breeding range, nesting habits and foods of the birds of
the State, to which shall be added descriptions of all the species that
occur within our limits and an artificial key to aid in their determina-
tion. With the material available, the result of over twenty-one years’
observations on the migrations of birds within the State of Indiana,
it was to have been hoped that the way might have opened for
some extended consideration of the data at hand. I have been enabled
516 Report OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

to illustrate slightly the movements of birds generally, giving the ear-
liest and latest dates as indicating the two extremes of the migratory
periods as they are known to us. It is to be hoped that at an early
date at least one volume will appear, giving some of the more impor-
tant results of the observations that have been made.

While this report is based largely upon my notes, made principally
in southeastern Indiana within the past twenty-one years, I have also
had the benefit of the material that has come into my hands as the
curator of the Department of Ornithology of the Indiana Academy of
Science. Dr. C.-Hart Merriam, chief of the Biological Survey of the
U. S. Department of Agriculture, has very kindly afforded me facil-
ities for examining the migration reports in his office from Indiana
for a series of years. He has also arranged to supply such cuts as are in
the possession of that department for the purpose of illustrating this
report.

I have been favored with the assistance of Mr. Robert Ridgway,
curator of the Department of Birds of the United States National
Museum; Dr. J. A. Allen, American Museum of Natural History, New
York; Dr. F. W. Langdon, Mr. Charles Dury, Mr. H. W. McBride,
Cincinnati, O.; Mr. Ruthven Deane, Mr. H. K. Coale, Mr. J. G. Par-
ker, Jr., Mr. F. M. Woodruff, Chicago, Ill; Mr. E. R. Quick, Brook-
ville, Ind.; Mr. C. E. Aiken, Salt Lake City, Utah; Mr. Jerome
Trombley, Petersburg, Mich.; Mr. L. Whitney Watkins, Manchester,
Mich.; Prof. B. W. Evermann, Icthyologist, U. S. Fish Commission,
Washington, D. C.; Prof. W. 8. Blatchley, Dr. A. W. Brayton and
Hon. R. Wes. McBride, Indianapolis, Ind., and also of Mrs. Jane L.
Hine, Sedan; Mr. E. J. Chansler, Bicknell; Messrs. L. A. and C. D.
Test, Lafayette; Prof. H. S. Voorhees, Brookville, and Miss Lulu
Ward, Milton, and of a great number of patient investigators who, for
the love of nature and the desire to advance knowledge, have made
careful observations and submitted valuable reports. Towards the end
of this paper I have attempted to mention them by name, and I sin-
cerely hope I have omitted none. To each one I extend my thanks
for the assistance rendered.

In addition the J. B. Lippincott Company have kindly given me
permission to make use of the keys in Ridgway’s Manual of North
American Birds. A. C. McClung & Company have granted
the same permission regarding Dr. Jordan’s Manual of Vertebrates,
and Dr. Elliott Coues has authorized me to make use of his Key to
North American Birds. I am indeed thankful for the courtesy ex-
tended by the persons interested in these valuable works. I have
availed myself of the opportunity, and from them have gathered much
Birps oF INDIANA. 517

of the material for the keys and descriptions found herein. In addi-
tion I have consulted Dr. Wheaton’s Birds of Ohio, Mr. McI]wraith’s
Birds of Ontario, Prof. Cook’s Birds of Michigan, Mr. Ridgway’s Birds
of Illinois, Dr. Hatch’s Birds of Minnesota, Dr. Warren’s Birds of
Pennsylvania, Mr. Chapman’s Birds of Eastern North America, Maj.
Bendire’s Life Histories of North American Birds, Mr. Nehrling’s
North American Birds, the reports of Professors King and Forbes on
the food of birds, and numerous other publications, from all of which
I have used more or less material. For this I desire to acknowledge my
indebtedness to those authors and to others to whose works reference
is made herein.

It has been my purpose not to include within this list any bird
which has not been ascertained to occur within the State and not to
note any species as having bred unless I have been satisfied upon good
authority that it has done so. JI have added a supplemental list of
species which, from their having been taken near our limits, may,
wiih greater or less probability, be expected to be found within the
State.

THE INDIANA BIRD LAW.

In 1891 the Legislature, at the request of the Indiana Academy of
Science and the Indiana Horticultural Society, enacted the following
law for the protection of our native beneficial birds:

“AN ACT for the protection of birds, their nests and eggs.
(Approved March 5, 1891.)

“Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of
Indiana, That it shall be unlawful for any person to kill any wild bird
other than a game bird or purchase, offer for sale any such wild bird after
it has been killed, or to destroy the nests or the eggs of any wild bird.

“Sec. 2. For the purpose of this act the following shall be considered
game birds: the Anatide, commonly called swans, geese, brant, and
river and sea ducks; the Rallidse, commonly known as rails, coots, mud
hens, and gallinules; the Limicole, commonly known as shore birds,
plovers, surf birds, snipe, woodcock, and sandpipers, tattlers, and cur-
lews; the Galline, commonly known as wild turkeys, grouse, prairie
chickens, quail, and pheasants, all of which are not intended to be af-
fected by this act.

“Sec. 3. Any person violating the provisions of section 1 of this act
shall, upon conviction, be fined in a sum not less than ten nor more than
fifty dollars, to which may be added imprisonment for not less than five
days nor more than thirty days.

“See. 4. Sections 1 and 2 of this act shall not apply to any person hold-
ing a permit giving the right to take birds or their nests and eggs for
scientific purposes, as provided in secton 5 of this act.
518 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

“Sec. 5. Permits may be granted by the Executive Board of the Indi-
ana Academy of Science to any properly acrcedited person, permitting
the holder thereof to collect birds, their nests or eggs for strictly scientific
purposes. In order to obtain such permit the applicant for the same must
present to said Board written testimonials from two well known scientific
‘men certifying to the good character and fitness of said applicant to be
entrusted with such privilege, and pay to said Board one dollar to defray
the necessary expenses attending the granting of such permit, and must
file with said Board a properly executed bond in the sum of two hundred
dollars, signed by at least two responsible citizens of the State as sure-
ties. The bond shall be forfeited to the State and the permit become void
upon proof that the holder of such permit has killed any bird or taken
the nests or eggs of any bird for any other purpose than that named in
this section, and shall further be subject for each offense to the penalties
provided in this act. oo ete, 2

“Sec. 6. The permits authorized | by this act shall be in force for two
years only from the date of their’ ighik ‘and shall not be transferable.

“Sec. 7. The Hnglish or European house sparrow (Passer domesticus),
crows, hawks, and other birds of prey are not included among the birds
protected by this act.

“Sec. 8. All acts or parts of acts heretofore passed in conflict with the
provisions of this act are hereby repealed.

“Sec. 9. An emergency is declared to exist for the immediate taking
effect of this act, therefore the same shall be in force and effect from and
after its passage.”

In some localities this law has been enforced, but presumably in
others it is not well known. It is to be hoped that our citizens will
familiarize themselves with it to the end that it may be made efficient

throughout the Commonwealth.

POSITION AND BOUNDARY.

The following is an accvunt of the location and physical features of
Indiana. The quotations are from Dr. Charles R. Dryer’s “Studies in
Indiana Geography:”

“Tndiana is one of the North Central States, situated in what is
sometimes called the Middle West, between the upper Great Lakes
and the Ohio, and mostly in the Mississipni basin. The central par-
allel of the United States, the 39th, crosses its southern third and it
is included between 37 degrees +1 minutes and 41 degrees 46 minutes
north latitude, and between 84 degrees 44 minutes and 88 degrees
6 minutes west longitude. It is bounded on the north by the parallel
which is ten miles north of the southern extremity of Lake Michigan;
on the east by the meridian of the mouth of the Great Miami River;
on the south by the Ohio, and on the west by the Wabash river and
the meridian of Vincennes. Its extreme length is 250 miles. its av-
erage width 145 miles, its area 36,350 square miles.
Brrps or INDIANA. 519

ELEVATION.

“According to Powell’s division of the United States into ‘physio-
graphic regions, Indiana lies mostly on the Ice Plains, but includes a
small portion of the Lake Plains on the north and of the Alleghany
Plateau on the southeast. The highest land in the State, in southern
Randolph county, is 1,285 feet above tide; the lowest, at the south-
west corner is 313 feet. The area above 1,000 feet comprises 2,850
square miles, in three tracts: (1) An irregular area around the head-
waters of the Whitewater river, in Union, Wayne, Randolph, Dela-
ware, Henry, Rush, Decatur, Franklin and Ripley counties;* (2) a
narrow crescentic ridge in Brown county; (3) a considerable area in
Steuben, DeKalb, Noble and Lagrange counties. Isolated peaks rise
in Brown county to 1,172 feet and in Steuben to 1,200 feet. The
area between 500 and 1,000 feet in elevation is 28,800 square miles
and that below 500 feet is 4,700 square miles. The average elevation
of the state is 700 feet.

* * * * *

PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS.

“The most striking physical contrast in Indiana is that between the
glaciated and‘ unglaciated areas. A comparison of the topographic
map with that showing the revised glacial boundary brings out this
contrast sharply. North of the limit of drift the contour lines run in
large curves and are far apart, showing the general smoothness and
monotony of the surface. South of the glacial boundary the lines are
crowded and extremely tortuous, showing a surface much cut up.
The limit of drift incloses and fits this area of broken surface as a
man’s coat fits his shoulders.

“The Ohio Slope—That portion of the State which slopes directly
to the Ohio, ineluding the driftless area and the southeastern part
of the drift plain, is a region of deep, narrow valleys, bounded by
precipitous bluffs and separated by sharp, irregular divides. Isolated
knobs and buttes are numerous; the crests and summits are from 300
to 500 feet above the valley bottoms. The streams are rapid and
broken by frequent cataracts. All open out into the Ohio Valley, a
trench from one to six miles wide, 400 feet deep and bounded by steep
bluffs.

“The Central Plain—North of an irregular line extending in a
general direction from Richmond to Terre Haute, and south of the
westward flowing portion of the Wabash from Fort Wayne to Attica,

 

* Also Fayette and a part of Dearborn.
520 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

the topography is that of an almost featureless drift plain. It is
traversed by numerous morainic ridges, but they are low and incon-
spicuous. The traveler may ride upon the railway train for hours
without seeing a greater elevation than a hay stack or a pile of saw-
dust. The divides are flat and sometimes swampy, the streams muddy
and sluggish. The valleys begin on the uplands as scarcely percepti-
ble grooves in the compact boulder clay, widen much more rapidly
than they deepen and seldom reach down to the rock floor.

“The Northern Plain—The portion of the drift plain north of
the Wabash river is more varied than the central plain, and comprises
several regions which differ materially in character. A small area
around the head of Lake Michigan is occupied by sand ridges and
dunes, partly due to a former extension of the lake and partly to
present wind action. Some of the drifting dunes are more than 100
‘feet high. This region is separated by a belt of morainic hills from
the basin of the Kankakee, which contains the most extensive marshes
and prairies in the State. This region also is traversed by numerous
low ridges of sand, the origin and character of which are not yet well
understood. Many of its features are probably due to the fact that
during the retreat of the ice-sheet it was temporarily occupied by a
glacial lake, which received the wash from the high moraines to the
eastward. Northeastern Indiana is the region of high moraines, and has
a strongly marked character of its own. A massive ridge of drift, 25
miles wide, 100 miles long and from 200 to 500 feet thick, extends
from Steuben County to Cass County and is joined by several smaller
branches from'the northwest. This is the joint moraine of the Erie
and Saginaw lobes of the Laurentide glacier. Much of its surface is
extremely irregular, presenting a succession of rounded domes, conical
peaks, and winding ridges, with hollows of corresponding shape be-
tween, which are occupied by innumerable lakes and marshes; the
highest points are 100 to 300 feet above the level intermorainic inter-
vals. A large proportion of the material is sand and gravel. A small
area in eastern Allen County is a part of the bed of the glacial Lake
Maumee.

DRAINAGE.

“The general slope of Indiana is to the southwest, as indicated by
the course of the Wabash River and its tributaries, which drain two-
thirds of the State. Of the remaining third one-half is drained di-
rectly to the Ohio and one-half to Lakes Erie and Michigan and to the
Mississippi through the Ilinois.
Birps oF INDIANA. 521

“The Wabash River is the great artery of Indiana, which it traverses
for more than 400 miles. The fall is quite uniformly about eighteen
inches per mile. Its current is gentle and unbroken by notable rapids
or falls. Its valley is quite varied in character. Above Huntington it is
a young valley, without bluffs, terraces or flood plain. Below Hunt-
ington it once carried the drainage of the upper Maumee Basin, and
is nowhere less than a mile wide as far down as Attica. Below that
point its width varies from two to six miles. The original valley has
been largely filled with drift, which the present river has been unable
to clear out. It winds between extensive terraces of gravel, which
border it at various elevations, and flows at a level from 50 to 100 feet
above the original rock floor.. Below Terre Haute, the wide flood plain,
ox-bow bends and bayous give it a character similar to that of the
lower Mississippi. The upper tributaries as far down as Lafayette are
post-glacial streams in drift valleys, whose courses are largely deter-
mined by the trend of the moraines. Below that point the smaller
tributaries enter the river through picturesque sandstone gorges.

“White River, the largest tributary of the Wabash, and rivaling it in
volume of discharge, is a much more varied and complex stream. The
larger West Fork rises at the summit level of the state in Randolph
county. In its upper course it is moraine-guided, like the upper trib-
utaries of the Wabash, and presents the same characters as the other
streams of the central plain. In Morgan county it assumes a different
aspect, and thence to its mouth flows through a valley from one to
three miles wide, 100 to 300 feet deep, bordered by wide bottoms.
The East Fork rises on the same elevation as the West, but reaches its
destination by a more tortuous course. Although its length is in-
creased and its slope decreased by its numerous meanders, it is still
a swift stream. Both forks of White river suffered many disturbances
during the glacial period, which have not yet been studied in detail,
but are obvious from the varying character of their valleys and from
the terraces which border them at all heights up to 300 feet.

“The Whitewater River takes the shortest course of all from the sum-
mit level to the Ohio, and its average fall is about seven feet to the
mile. At Richmond it has cut a narrow gorge into the soft shales
100 feet deep. In strongest contrast with this and the other rivers
of the Ohio Slope is the Kankakee, which winds through wide marshes
with a scarcely perceptible current and without definite banks. Its
basin, however, is sufficiently elevated to render good drainage possi-
ble by the construction of the requisite ditches, and much has already
been done to that end.
522 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

PHYSIOGRAPHIC FEATURES.

“Many important land forms are wanting in Indiana. There are no
mountains, no valleys formed by upheaval or subsidence, no volcanoes
or voleanic rocks except foreign fragments brought by the ice sheet,
no features due to disturbance of the earth crust except the rock foun-
dations of the State itself.

“Plains.—As already indicated, the greater part of Indiana is a plain
of accumulation; the surface of a sheet of glacial drift which varies in
thickness from a few feet to 500 feet or more. The average thickness
is more than 100 feet. It consists chiefly of a mass of clay containing
more or less gravel and boulders—the til] or boulder clay of the geol-.
ogists. This is locally varied by ‘heaps, ridges, sheets and pockets of
sand and gravel, and in the southern part of the State is overlain by
a peculiar fine silt called loess. The boulder clay is the grist of the
glacial mill, and is composed of a very intimate and heterogeneous
mixture of native and foreign materials, containing fragments of
almost every. known mineral and rock. The large fragments, or
boulders, are widely distributed, and of évery size up to 30 feet in di-
ameter. They are nearly all igneous or metamorphic in character and
can be traced back to their origin in the Canadian highlands north of
the Great Lakes.

“The driftless area is a plain of degradation, formed by the removal
of the original rock surface to an unknown depth, and now repre-
sented by the somes of the flat and even-topped divides, ridges and
hills.

_ “Hills—On the northern plain occur numerous hills of accumula-
tion forming the great morainic belts, the result of excessive dumping
and heaping up of drift along the margins and between the lobes of
the melting ice-sheet. The most impressive examples are found in
Steuben, Lagrange, Noble and Kosciusko counties, where they attain
a height of 200 feet or more, and are as steep and sharp as the mate-
rials will lie. Their peculiar forms and tumultuous arrangement give
a striking and picturesque character to the landscape.

“The Qhio Slope is studded all over with hills of degradation—blocks
and fragments of the original plain left by the cutting out of the
valleys between them. Some are broad and flat-topped, some narrow,
crooked and level-crested, some sharp or rounded, isolated knobs or
buttes. These are very conspicuous in the counties of Greene, Da-
viess, Martin, Crawford, Orange, Washington and Jackson, but attain
their greatest development in Floyd, Clark and Scott, where the
Silver Hills and Guinea Hills rise to 400 and 500 feet above the valley
Brrps oF INDIANA. 523

bottoms. In Brown County the knob topography attains the highest
absolute elevation in Weed Patch Hill, and the surrounding region is
so rugged as to have gained the title of the “Switzerland of Indiana.’

“In Benton county Mounts Nebo and Gilboa are isolated masses of
rock projecting above the general level of the plain, and are probably
entitled to the name of monadnocks.

% * * * * * *

“Lakes.—The surface of the northern plain is peppered with small
lakes which occupy irregular depressions in the surface of the: drift,
and are especially characteristic of the massive moraines. The whole
number cannot be less than 1,000. The largest, Turkey Lake in Kos-
ciusko county, has an area of five and a half square miles.

“Marshes and Swamps.—These exceed the lakes in number and
extent. The smaller ones are the basins of former lakes which have
been filled up with sediment and vegetation. The largest are in the
Kankakee Basin, and are the remaining vestiges of a glacial lake.
Everywhere over the central plain the divides are too flat and the
slopes too gentle for good drainage, and marshes abound. These,
however, have been largely drained by ditches.”

The surface of the State presents considerable differences in its
vegetation. The heaviest timber which was found in central ani
southern Indiana has for the greater part disappeared. Throughout
the northern part of the State the number of large trees is much less
and the general size of forest trees decreases noticeably as one proceeds
northward.

“Contrary to the statements made in many books, Indiana is not
a prairie state. An area estimated to comprise one-eighth of the
whole, situated, except a few isolated patches in the northwestern part,
is marsh and upland prairie. The remainder of the State was orig-
inally covered by a heavy growth of oak, walnut, beech, maple and
other hardwood timber, with sycamore and poplar near the streams
and a little pine along the Ohio slope. No region in the United
States could show finer specimens or a greater number of individuals
and species of forest trees than the lower Wabash Valley. The same
region is said to be the original habitat of the bluegrass which has
made Indiana and Kentucky pastures so famous.” (Dryer, p. 25.)
524 REporT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

PECULIARITIES AFFECTING BIRD DISTRIBUTION.

The region about the southern end of Lake Michigan presents an
unusually fertile field for the ornithologist. Situated as it is, midway
between the wooded region of the East and the treeless plains of the
West, with the warm river bottoms of the South, rich in southern
species, extending to within a comparatively shor’ distance, and the
great lake upon the north, northwestern Indiana forms a kind of “four
corners” where the avian faune of four regions intergrade. To the
proximity of Lake Michigan we are indebted for a number of more or
less strictly maritime species. As would be expected the southern
species occur only in summer, with the exception of Lophophanes
bicolor, which is found only in winter. Not only is the influence of
the lake upon the faunz shown by the occurrence of numerous species
of birds, attracted by the presence of a large body of water, with its
congenial surroundings, but the influence of the lake upon the climate
and the vegetation in its immediate vicinity has a marked influence
upon the list of summer residents. The northwestern portion of the
State is divided into alternating tracts of prairie, marsh and wood-
land, each possessing a bird life of its own. In Lake County, along
the Lake Shore, is a stretch of pine woods known as “the pinery,”
which is quite peculiar. (Condensed from HE. W. Nelson’s notes of
“Birds of Northeastern Illinois.”) Coming south one crosses the Kan-
kakee River and marshes, well-known regions for water fowl and
marsh-inhabiting birds, and enters the Wabash Valley. Back from
this valley proper we find occasional prairies and extensive meadows,
where such prairie-inhabiting forms as Henslow’s Sparrows, Yellow-
winged Sparrows, Black-throated Buntings and Prairie Larks are ex-
pected to be found. The lower Wabash Valley is noted for its
extended “bottom lands” and “cypress swamps,” which, for their
flora no less than their birds, are of much interest. The amount
of bird life here in summer is very much in excess of that in the north-
western corner of the State at that season. The difference in the num-
ber of birds noted would be readily observed. In the southeastern part
of the State the land rises in some places almost 400 feet above the
Ohio River within a mile or very little more. On leaving the fertile
river bottoms, with their successive terraces, one ascends the steep
river hills and soon reaches the wet flats where the drainave is so
poor that the water stands upon the surface beneath the oak and beech
timber the greater part of the year. There is an intimate relation be-
tween the topography and the character of the soil here. There is a
Birps oF INDIANA. 525

comparatively level plateau extending from the Ohio River “bluffs”
to the northward, west of the valley of the Whitewater, and forming
the water shed of a number of streams, some running into the White-
water and some into the White River. This surface soil is usually a
white or gray clay, characteristic of the country within 30 miles of the
Ohio River in the southeastern corner of the State. From this one de-
scends until the “broken uplands” are found lying just below the level
land. Still lower down the “hillsides” are reached. These rise more
or less abruptly from the bottom lands. The prevailing timber of this
region is oak, maple, beech, sweet gum, black gum, etc., and with them
are found, each in its season, some birds which prefer these surround-
ings—Summer Redbird, Cape May Warbler, Black-throated Blue War-
bler, etc. East of the Whitewater River to beyond the Ohio line the
country is more level and the soil darker and more fertile, the land
ranking with the best in the State. The central portion of the State is
comparatively level and very fertile. It was more recently settled than
the southeastern portion, and hence to-day there may still be seen
among the finest farms specimens of the largest trees to be found upon
Indiana soil. The northeastern part of the State has been but little
explored by the zoologist. Doubtless it will prove a valuable field for
the one who will occupy it. This is the “lake region” of Indiana.
Within this quarter is the meeting of two drainage systems—the Wa-
bash to the southwest and the St. Joseph and St. Mary’s to the north-
east. The Wabash River is the line of principal migration in Indiana.
As it turns to the eastward many routes leave it for the north, par-
ticularly just south of Lake Michigan, but many birds follow its course
along its length: ‘To this fact seems to be due the peculiar distribu-
tion of such forms as the Prothonotary and Cerulean Warblers, and in
less degree the Kentucky, Worm-eating and Sycamore Warblers.

CHANGES IN BIRD-LIFE.

When our race first viewed this region it was a vast forest, a wilder-
ness, unbroken save by the water courses, the trail of the Indian, the
runways of the deer, the roadways of the buffalo. Our birds were only
such as frequented the densest woodland or the bars in the river chan-
nels, together with forms of wide range and birds of passage. With
the cutting away of the larger trees sprang up thickets, and therewith
came thicket-inhabiting forms. As the clearings were extended
meadow lands and pasture lands were reserved. To the meadows came
such forms as the Bay-winged Bunting, Field Sparrow, Black-throated
Bunting and Grasshopper Sparrow, species peculiar to such surround-
ings. Some parts of this land were wet and, where the drainage was
526 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

not good, became swamps and sloughs. There birds peculiar to such
localities settled, among them Marsh Wrens, Rails, Gallinules, Swamp
Sparrows and Red-winged Blackbirds. As the orchard and garden de-
veloped, other birds, well known to us and greatly beloved for their
cheery, social ways, there made their home; such are the Orchard
Oriole, Warbling Vireo and Yellow Warbler. The changes in condi-
tions and continual increase in number of settlers caused a continual
diminution in numbers of many hirds; especially is this true of geese,
ducks and other water-loving species, while some birds famous in his-
tory and literature have passed from us and are fast becoming extinet.
Such are the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, Wild
Turkey and Carolina Parakeet. About our homes the Bluebirds,
House Wrens and Carolina Wrens came and lived with us, even nearer
and dearer than other birds.

As time went on drainage became a feature introduced into the new
couniry. With the drainage of our sloughs and swamps a second
change was noted. The forms of avian life, which lived among its
reeds and flags, mingling their voices with those of the frogs, disap-
peared, and the land reclaimed tells, in its luxuriant growth of corn,
no story to the casual passer-by of the former population which occu-
pied it. Time went on, change followed change, little by little, but
still each cleared field, each rotation of crops, each one of a thousand
variations in cause had its effect upon the numbers or the life his-
tory of our birds.

DESTRUCTION OF BIRDS.

By man’s agency the English Sparrow was introduced, and as
its numbers increased, began to assert itself in the struggle for
existence. The Bluebird, which has comé from the hole in the
snag, was driven from her box. The Martin and Chimney Swift,
which formerly nested in hollow trees, left their nesting sites about
the house, and even the Kave Swallow, which in olden times fastened
its nests to the cliffs, was in some cases driven away. The warfare
still continues with this aggressive little foreigner, worse some places
than others, but with such surprising powers of reproduction and un-
heard-of audacity, it seems they must soon cover our entire continent.

Another epoch in this category is marked by the abnormal craze
which has for some years been noted of using the skins and parts of
birds for purposes of decoration and adornment. This barbarous cus-
tom has been frowned down in some places by society leaders, but is
still quite common. ,
Birps oF INDIANA. 527

It is marvelous, the destruction of innocent, beneficial lives that
have been sacrified upon the altar of fashion. Our State has now a
very good law for the protection of our native birds, and it behooves us
all to see that in our communities, our separate neighborhoods, that
law is fully enforced. Unless this is done we may awake too late to the
importance of protecting these feathered friends who gather their sub-
stance from the insect enemies of the farm, the orchard, the garden
and the woodland.

Birds are also destroyed in great numbers by natural causes. The
sudden severe storms which occur at times in the migrating season
often cause the death of a great number of tiny wanderers. It is no
unusual thing to find along the shores of Lake Michigan, and numbers
of other great lakes, following some severe, cold storm, the bodies of
great numbers of migrating birds. How great this loss of life is.
cannot be estimated, but they are often found lying close together on
the beach where they have been tossed by the waves. Again, it is no.
unusual thing to find, following a spell of cold weather in April or
May, the bodies of many birds which have just arrived from the South.
and have been unable to withstand the effects of the sudden cold
which came upon them. Other birds which irregularly winter with
us, at times when they attempt to remain, are destroyed in great num-
bers in unusually severe and unfavorable winter weather. A striking
illustration of this was the severe weather of the late winter and early
spring of 1895, when, over almost the entire Southern States east of
the Mississippi, a cold wave prevailed coincident with the winter range
of the Buebirds, Hermit Thrushes, Robins and other birds occupy-
ing that region. These wintering birds were destroyed in great num-
bers—so great, in fact, as almost to exterminate the entire race of
Bluebirds and to greatly lessen the numbers of some other forms. In
addition to this, many birds are destroyed at the time of migration on
dark nights by flying against the lighthouses, light towers and other
lights in high places. Unfavorable weather during the breeding
season is also the cause of large loss of life among the young birds and
of the destruction of many eggs.

In addition, birds are subject to disease, fall a prey to their enemies,
are killed by accident, and, as these conditions combine in a favorable
or in an unfavorable way, we-may note among many species, taking
one year with another, an increase or a decreasé in their normal
numbers.
528 Report OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

ZOOLOGICAL ARBAS.

Geographers have attempted to divide the world into zoological re-
gions in accordance with the harmonic distribution of certain typical
forms. These zoological areas have not been very accurately defined.
They may be termed the different divisions of the sea of animal life,
with its tides, currents, varying temperature and depth, two areas
meeting as land and sea, each with irregular shore lines and deeply
indented coasts, the boundaries continually changing as barriers in
one direction are overcome, and in another a different coast configura-
tion appears.

Indiana is included entirely within the Eastern (Atlantic) faunal
province, and while it is within the limits of the Carolina fauna of
Mr. Allen, the southern portion contains so many birds that are dis-
tinctive of the Louisiana fauna (Austroriparian Province of Professor
Cope) that it has been thought it should be referred to that district.
According to Dr. Merriam’s provincial classification, almost all of
Indiana is included within the upper Sonoran Zone. The Transition
Zone appears in the northern part, while the extreme southwestern
portion is included in an arm of the lower Sonoran Zone.

BIRD MIGRATION.

The migratory instinct is one of the wonders of nature. The origin
of migration seems to reach far back into the unwritten history of the
past. According to geological testimony, in the earlier ages of the
earth’s history a warm climate existed almost to the North Pole.
Then neither lack of food nor the consequences of rigorous winter
compelled the birds to leave that favored region. With the changing
of conditions by which the circumpolar area became colder, then ice-
locked and finally the limit of ice extended far to the southward, the
birds were forced to more congenial lands.. With the winter they
sought warmer climes, and as the summer approached they sought to
return to the ancestral home. Finally the southern limit of the ice
sheet was reached, and it began to recede. With its recession the birds
were enabled to reach higher latitudes, and in time, when the frigid
area reached its present limitation, there was left for our solution the
problem of the migration of birds. This habit is not the acquirement
of any one bird, but is the influence of the experience of many gen-
erations of birds extending through long ages of time, an inherited
desire to seek nesting sites near the old home of their race.

With what regularity do certain forms leave their summer homes in
the temperate and frigid realms and traverse the great expanse of plain
and wood and ocean to far within the tropics, there spending the
Brrps oF INDIANA. 529

colder parts of the year, returning to the same breeding ground when
summer approaches! Unerringly they pursue long lines of migration,
as though following beaten paths, for thousands of miles. O’er river
and lake and sea, o’er marsh and mountain and meadow they fly. So
accurate is the chart, so true the compass of instinct, that each re-
turning annual pilgrimage brings the little wanderers to their former
homes. When the frosts touch the maple leaves and tinge the woods
with bright autumn colors we miss some of our little friends. Day
after day as the daylight grows shorter others follow where they led,
until, when the snows come, many of the summer songsters have left
us. These have sought the regions best suited to their condition in
winter, where the food supply is more abundant or more easily ob-
tained. Others from farther north have taken their places. ‘These,
to us, are winter residents. To our friends farther northward they are
summer residents; between us there is a region where they are known
as migrants. Among these latter bids which spend a part or the
whole winter in our States are the Junco or Black Snow-bird, one form
of Shore-lark, Tree Sparrows, the Sapsucker or Yellow-bellied Wood-
pecker, rarely the White Snow-bird or Snowflake, the Snowy Owl and
the Bohemian Waxwing. Their summer homes are north of us.

Some of the forms, perhaps most of them, which are with us the
whole year round are not represented winter, spring, summer and au-
tumn by the same individuals. In winter the Song Sparrow among the
garden shrubbery or in the willow thickets are not particularly numer-
ous, but late in March and early in April a host of Song Sparrows have
appeared from the milder climate of Tennessee and neighboring States.
Their numbers are very noticeable, but they, with many, perhaps all,
of those who wintered with us, have passed on farther north. The
usual number remains to keep house, rear a family and cheer humanity
with their songs. With October those who spent their summers farther
north return, and, as the frosts succeed dews and snows succeed frosts,
they gradually pass by to favorite winter homes, leaving the individ-
uals we knew the past winter with their children, our companions
through the colder part of the year. The American Goldfinch that
appears with the apple leaves in April in lemon-yellow dress with black
cap and wings, comes from the southland to replace other more hardy
relatives of his by the same name, who were hardly recognized by many
of us for the plain winter dress they wore. Well, they passed on north-
ward just a day or two before these brighter-appearing ones arrived
from the pine groves and cotton fields of the Southern States. Next
fall they will return with their bright colors deadened by the touch of
the north wind, but we will know them by their voices.

34—GEOL.
530 Report OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

The impression which may prevail that the winter residents are
smaller than the summer forms is erroneous. The Shore-larks, which
winter with us, represent the same species which is resident in summer
and the northern form which is larger. The idea that many birds mi-
grate at night is correct.

Some winters the Robins, Meadow Larks, Kingfishers, Killdeers,
Red-headed Woodpeckers and Chewinks remain with us. Other years
they pass to the southward. Even when they are here, some years they
seem to the casual observer to have left; yet the inquisitive lover of
birds knows his little friends are to be found, even in inclement
weather, though they do not appear to the uninitiated. To such an onea
protected thicket, a deep ravine, an unexposed hillside, a dense wood-
land, as his tramp leads through such out-of-the-way places, is found
to be inhabited by forms which have disappeared to many eyes. The
instinct which calls upon some to seek the better feeding grounds, the
warmer places of earth, has impelled these to well-protected spots and
localities where food may be most easily obtained.

The Catbird, Blackbird, Chipping Sparrow and Phebe go but a
little farther south, some years lingering along the Ohio River.

The Marsh Wrens, Red-winged Blackbird, Hermit Thrush and
sometimes the beautiful little Ruby-crowned Kinglet and eccentric lit-
tle Blue-gray Gnat-catcher linger along the gulf coast, while all the
north is snow-bound.

Other birds go farther on their winter journey. The Baltimore
Orioles go as far as Panama. Our cheery Bobolink with “his Quaker
wife,” both plain clad when cold comes nigh, visit the West Indies and
South America. The King Bird reaches the West Indes and Bolivia.
The Night Hawk covers the same islands and Eastern South America.
The Cerulean Warbler, on the contrary, visits Cuba and Central Amer-
ica. Kirtland’s rare warbler winters only in the Bahamas. The little
Spotted Sandpiper visits Brazil. The Blue-winged Teal extends its
journey to Ecuador, and Swainson’s Thrush to Peru.

Some make more extended tours even than these. The American
Golden Plover, a well-known game bird, which breeds in the northern
part of our continent, when winter holds the northern hemisphere in
his cold grasp, is found as far away as Patagonia, while the Knot, a
coast bird which breeds in very high northern latitudes, the eggs of
which were taken by the members of the Greely Arctic expedition at
Ft. Conger, about north latitude 82 degrees, ranges to Cape
Horn during our -winter. Thus it will be observed migra-
tion may mean the trip to the protected thicket in the vi-
cinity of wild grapes. blackberries and weed patches laden with seed
BiRDS OF INDIANA. 531

at the southern edge of the farm, or the almost endless voyage of some
shore birds across every one of the earth’s zones. It may mean a change
of individuals; a moving of those which summer with us a little farther
south and a filling of their places by others of the same kind from a lit-
tle farther north. It may mean a restlessness which some years impels
the Bob White to move southward a few miles, or again to leave the
hills and congregate in the valleys, or the reverse. Many times they
fly into towns, and becoming confused, enter houses and stores, and
are readily caught in the hand. It may mean the slow movement of
the short-winged warblers and wrens, or the rapid flight of the swallow
and Wild Pigeon. Its cause is the instinct which tells them to prepare
for winter or return for spring. A call that must be answered, an in-
herent demand. that comes to each individual through the accumulated
experiences of the past which it cannot disobey.

Birds do not move promiscuously over the country, but are observed
to have migratory routes. The Mississippi. River is a great artery
along which in spring courses a mighty stream of avian life destined
to its breeding ground. At the mouth of the Ohio a large stream
turns off to ascend that river, sending out branches of considerable
size up the Wabash, Whitewater and Miami rivers. The Whitewater
Valley forms one channel by which these wandering birds reach the
Maumee and the lakes, whence many pass on still farther northward
to their summer homes. As the rivers become the channels of migra-
tion for certain species, other forms of different habits follow the
higher lands or the mountain bases, along characteristic topographical
features. As the warm air of spring comes, as from the throbbing of
a great tropical heart, so the birds come, in pulsating movements, each
suceeeding one stronger and driving its tide of life farther along its
course. Each bird-wave seems to move as though the rear of the mi-
grating forms was continually passing over the more advanced and tak-
ing the lead. Among the smaller streams, the main ridges, the connect-
ing woodland, at the height of the migration may readily be observed
the smaller currents of bird life given off by the larger streams, each
following its own course, all instinctively going in a definite direction
—north. The whole movement may be compared to the circulation of
sap ina tree. From trunk to limb, from limb to branch, from branch
to bough, from bough to twig, from twig to leaf. The entire move-
ment over either hemisphere may be likened to numberless trees with
their roots at the equator, their topmost branches approaching the
poles. In autumn the courses of the bird currents are not so plainly
marked, but yet along the borders of our streams may be seen, at
favorable times, hordes of little wanderers moving past in almost end-
less streams at early morn and eventide.
532 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF INDIANA ORNITHOLOGY.

The following bibliographical notes, while not complete, indicate
many of the publications relating to Indiana birds, most of which were
at hand for reference:

1808.

Witson, A. American Ornithology; or the Natural History of the
Birds of the United States; illustrated with plates, engraved and
colored from original drawings taken from nature. By Alexander
Wilson. Vol. I (-IX). Philadelphia. Published by Bradford &
Inskeep. Printed by Robert Carr. Vol. I, 1808. Vol. IT, 1810.
Vol. Ill, 1811. Vol. IV, 1811. Vol. V, 1812. Vol. VI, 1812.
Vol. VII, 1814. Vol. VIII, 1814. Vol. IX, 1814.

1827.

Avupuson, J. J. Birds of America. 4 v. doub. elephant folio. Lon-

don. 435 colored plates. Original edition colored plates. 1827-49.

The original edition of the text to Audubon’s great work, ‘‘ The

Birds of America.’’ Very valuable. A copy at the Larking sale,

May, 1892, brought £345. A copy is quoted in Quaritch’s cata-
logue, May, 1894, at £350.

1831.

Croeuan, Cot. Grorce. Journal of Col. Croghan, Monthly Ameri-
can Journal of Geology and Natural Science. Philadelphia, De-
cember, 1831. Mentions the occurrence of some birds in Indiana.

Avupuson, J. J. Ornithological Biography; or an Account of the Hab-
its of the Birds of the United States of America, accompanied by
the descriptions of the objects represented in the work entitled,
“‘The Birds of America,” and interspersed with delineations of
American scenery and manners. By John James Audubon, F. R.
SS. L. and E, ete. Vol. I—Edinburgh, Adam Black, 1831; also
printed at Philadelphia by E. L. Carey and A. Hart, 1832. Vol.
I]—Edinburgh, Adam and Charles Black, 1834; also printed at
Boston by Hilliard, Gray & Co. Vol. Il1I—Edinburgh, Adam and
Charles Black, 1835. Vol. IV—Edinburgh, Adam and Charles
Black, 1838. Vol. V—Edinburgh, Adam and Charles Black, 1839.

1834,

Butter, Mann. History of Kentucky. Louisville, 1834. Contains
a copy of the Journal of Col. Croghan down the Ohio in 1765.
Refers to Indiana birds.
Birps oF INDIANA. 533

1840.

Aupuson, J. J. The Birds of America. From drawings made in the
United States and their Territories. By John James Audubon.
New York, published by J. J. Audubon. Philadelphia, J. B. Che-
valier, 1840-44. 7 vols.

1846.

Cro@Han, Grorae. Journal of George Croghan. The Olden Time,
a monthly publication devoted to the preservation of documents
and other authentic information in relation to the early explorations
and the settlement and improvement of the country around the head
of the Ohio. Edited by Neville S. Craig, Esq. Two vols., small
4to. Pittsburg, 1846-48.

1856.

Haymonp, Rurus, M. D. Birds of Southeastern Indiana. Proc. Acad-
emy of Natural Science, Philadelphia, Vol. VIII, 1856, pp. 286-
298. A list of birds observed in the Whitewater Valley.

1868.

“ Auten, J. A. Notes on birds observed in Western Iowa, in the months
of July, August and September; also on birds observed in Northern
Illinois in May and June, and at Richmond, Wayne County, In-
diana, between June 3d and 10th. Memoirs Boston Soc. Natural
History, Vol. I, Pt. IV, Art. XII, December, 1868, pp. 488-526.
Also issued separately. Mentions 72 Indiana species.

1869.

¥ Haymonp, Rurus. Birds of Franklin County, Indiana. First Annual
Report of the Geological Survey of Indiana, made during the year
1869, by E. T. Cox, State Geologist, 1869, pp. 209-335. Also
issued bound with Agricultural Report of the same year, entitled
Indiana Agricultural and Geological Report, 1869, etc.

1873.

Eprror’s Norr. Refers to southern part of Wayne County, Indiana,
as a good place for quails. Forest and Stream, N. Y., Vol. I, 1873-
4, 7, p. 106.

Amateur. Prairie Chickens. Account of a trip into Indiana after
them. Forest and Stream, N. Y., 1878-4, Vol. I, 7 p. 98.
534 Report oF State GEOLOGIST.

1874.

Kretianp, J. P. Letter from, dated 1857, mentioning various Indiana
birds Proce. Cleveland Acad. Nat. Science, 1874, pp. 131-132.
Rineway, R. The Wabash Valley and Its Avian Fauna. Proc. Bos-

ton Soc. Nat. Hist., Vol. XVI, pp. 303-382.

Riveway, R. The Lower Wabash Valley, considered in its relation to
the Faunal Districts of the Eastern Regions of North America, with
a Synopsis of Its Avian Fauna, by Robert Ridgway. Boston, 1874,
p. 31. Repaged edition of the above.

Cougs, Etiiorr. Birds of the Northwest, a handbook of the Ornithol-
ogy of the region drained by the Missouri River and its tributaries.
Dept. of the Interior, U. S. Geol. Survey of the Territories, Mis-
cellaneous Publications, No. 8, 1874.

Eprror’s Nore. Wild Turkey found breeding at Valparaiso, Ind.
Forest and Stream, N. Y., Vol. III, 1874-5, 10, p. 150.

Enpiror’s Nore. Wild Pigeon, very abundant in Michigan, Indiana
and Wisconsin in beech woods. Sept. 15, 1874. Forest and
Stream, N. Y., Vol. II, 1874-5, 7, p. 107.

1876.

JORDAN, Davip Srarr. Manual of the Vertebrates of the Northern
United States, including the District East of the Mississippi River
and North of North Carolina and Tennessee, exclusive of marine
species, by David Starr Jordan, Ph. D., M. D., Porfessor of Nat-
ural History in N. W. C. University and in Indiana State Medical
College. Chicago, Jansen, McClurg & Co., 1876. Refers to a
number of Indiana birds. A second edition, dated 1878; a third,
1880; a fourth in 1888.

Smita, G. Aue. Birds of Ft. Wayne, Indiana. Forest and Stream,
Vol. Rs 1876, p. 148. Fifty species mentioned, some by error.
Cougs, Exuiorr. Peculiar nesting site of Bank Swallow (i. e., Stelgido-

pleryx serripenns). Bull. Nuttall Orn. Club, Vol. I, 1876, p. 98.

Haymonp, R. Notes on the Bank Swallow (i. e., Stelgidopteryx serripen-
nis). Field and Forest, Vol. I, 1876, No. 11, p. 88.

Cougs, Extiorr. Notable change of habit of the Bank Swallow (i. @.,
Stelgidopteryx serripennis). American Naturalist, Vol. X, 1876, pp.
492-493.

Newson, E. W. Additions to the avifauna of Illinois, with notes on
other species of Illinois birds. Bull. Nuttall Orn. Club, Vol. I,
1876, pp. 39-44. Notes some observations on the Wabash River.

1877.

Nexson, E. W. The Louisiana Heron in Indiana. Bull. Nuttall Orn.
Club, Vol. II, 1877, p. 51.
Brirps oF INDIANA. 535

Vv Neztson, E. W. Birds of Northeastern Illinois. Bull. of the Essex
Institute, Vol. VIII, 1877, p. 90-155. Some observations noted
about the southern end of Lake Michigan,’along the Indiana and
Tlinoig line.

v Netson, E. W. Notes upon birds observed in Southern‘ Illinois between
July 17 and September 4, 1875. Bull. of the Essex Institute, Vol.
IX, 1877, pp. 32-65. Part of the observations made on the Wabash
River and part on the White River.

V ObLocist (A. W. Burier). The Nesting of the Wood Pewee. The
Odlogist, Vol. III, 1877, p. 37.

v Lanapon, Franx W. A catalogue of the birds in the vicinity of Cin-
cinnati, Frank W. Langdon, Salem, Mass. Naturalists’ Agency,
1877, pp. 18. Mentions several observations on Indiana birds.

Arrow. A voice against the English Sparrow from Indianapolis, In-
diana. Forest and Stream, N. Y., Vol. VILL, 1877, 17, p. 261.

Carey, A. G. Observations on the English Sparrow at Indianapolis,
Indiana. Forest and Stream, N. Y., Vol. VIII, 1877, 19, p. 307.

1878.

Ripeway, Roperr. A review of the American species of the genus
Seops Savigny. Proc. U. S. National Museum, Vol. I, 1878, pp.
85-117. Notes the results of observations on the dichromatic phases
of Scops asio. In part made in Indiana.

Y Brewster, Wittiam. The Prothonotary Warbler. Bull. Nuttall Orn.
Club, Vol. III, 1878, pp. 153-162, Based on observations made in
Knox and Gibson Counties, Indiana.

¥ Ripaway, Ropert. Notes on birds observed at Mt. Carmel, Southern
Illinois, in the spring of 1878. Bull. Nuttall Orn. Club, Vol. II,
1878, pp. 162-166. Based in part upon observations in the cypress
swanips in Indiana.

Sanaer. Ruffed Grouse. Observations made at Elkhart, Indiana.
Believes not over one-third killed are males. Forest and Stream,
N. Y., Vol. [X, 1877-8, 26, p. 489.

V Atuen, J. A. Early nesting of the Shore Lark near Indianapolis.
Ball. Nuttall Orn..Club, Vol. ILI, 1878, p. 189.
v Cougs, Exuiotr. Birds of the Colorado Valley. Dept. of the Interior
U.S. Geol. Survey of the Territories. Miscellaneous Publications, :
No. 11. Part First, Passeres to Laniide. 1878.
Evermann, B. W. Notes on the winter birds of Carroll County, In-

diana. Printed im various issues of the Delphi Journal during the
winter of 1878-9.
536 REPoRT oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

1879.

Lanepon, Frank W. A revised list of Cincinnati birds. Journal
Cincinnati Soc. Nat. Hist., Vol. I, 1879, pp. 1-27. Mentions
several Indiana birds.

Anonymous. Note on Woodcock flushed at Bath, Indiana, March 2,
1879. Forest and Stream, N. Y., Vol. XII, 1879, 18, p. 245.

1880.

Riveway, Roperr. On six species of birds new to the fauna of Illinois,
with notes on other rare Illinois birds. Bull. Nuttall Orn. Club,
Vol. V, 1880, pp. 30-32. Notes the occurrence of Ibis alba at Mt.
Carmel, Illinois.

Brayton, ALEMBERT W. A catalogue of the birds of Indiana, with
keys and descriptions of the groups of the greatest interest to the
horticulturist, by Alembert W. Brayton, B. S., M. D. Transac-
tions Indiana State Horticultural Society for 1879, pp. 87-165.

Auten, J. A. Review-of Brayton’s catalogue of the birds of Indiana.
Bull. Nuttall Orn. Club, Vol. V, 1881, pp. 174-175.

Lanepon, Frank W. Ornithological field notes, with five additions to
the Cincinnati avifauna. Journ. Cincinnati Soc. of Nat. Hist.,
Vol. WI, 1880, pp. 121-127. Contains several notes on birds of
Franklin County, Indiana.

Anonymous. Bird architecture. St. Nicholas, Vol. VII, 7, 1880, Pp.
57. Refers to Oriole’s nest at Spiceland, Indiana.

1881.

Quick, E. R. Catharista atrata Less. Journ. Cincinnati Soc. Nat.
Hist., Vol. IV, 1881, pp. 340-341. Two specimens noted near -
Brookville, Indiana.

Quick, E. R. Chen hyperboreus Boie. Journ. Cincinnati Suc. Nat.
Hist., Vol. IV, 1*81, p. 341. Specimens taken near Brookville,
Indiana.

Layepon, F. W. Zodlogical Miscellany—Ornithology. Journ. Cin-
cinnati Soc. Nat. Hist., Vol. IV, 1881, pp. 337-841. Contains sev-
eral notes from Brookville, Indiana.

Rineway. Ropert. A catalogue of the birds of Illinois. Bull. No. 4.
Illinois State Laboratory of Nat. Hist., May, 1881, pp. 163-208.
Mentions the occurrence of the Louisiana Heron (A. tricolor rufi-
collis Gosse) in Indiana, etc.

Baitey, H. B. Forest and Stream. Bird Notes; an index and sum-
mary of all the ornithological matter contained in Forest and
Stream, Vol. I-XII (Aug., 1873; Aug., 1879). Compiled by H.
B. Bailey, New York. Forest and Stream Publishing Company,
39 Park Row, 1881.
Brirps oF INDIANA. 537

1882.

Vv Ripeway, Ropert. Notes on some of the birds observed near Wheat-
land, Knox County, Indiana, in the spring of 1881. Bull. Nuttall
Orn. Club, Vol. VII, 1882, pp. 15-33.

Vv Evermann, B. W. A short note on the nesting of the Towhee (Pipilo
erythrophthalmus). Ornithologist and Odlogist, Vol. VI, p. 61.
Lanepon, F. W. Dichromatism in the Screech Owl (Scops asio Bp.).

Journal Cincinnati Soc. Nat. Hist., Vol. V, 1882, pp. 52-53. Re-
fers to several Indiana specimens.

Lanepon, F. W. A synopsis of the Cincinnati fauna. Zodlogical
Miscellany, Journal Cin. Soc. Nat. Hist., Vol. V, No. 3, pp.
185-194. Includes birds.

Quick, E. R. Winter birds of 1880 and 1881 on the White Water.
Journ. Cincinnati Soc. Nat. Hist., Vol. V, 1882, pp. 54-56.

Quick, E. R. Ornithological notes from Brookville, Indiana. Journ.
Cincinnati Soc. Nat. Hist., Vol. V, 1882, p. 192.

Burien, A. W. The birds of Franklin County, Indiana. Atlas of
Franklin County, Indiana, etc., J. H. Beers & Co., Chicago, 1882,
pp. 11-12.

Butter, A. W. Ornithological notes from Brookville, Indiana. Journ.
Cincinnati Soc. Nat. Hist., Vol. V, 1882, pp. 192-193.

Quick, E. R. Brookville ({ndiana) notes. Journ. Cincinnati Soc. Nat.
Hist., Vol. V, pp. 93-95. Appears under the caption ‘Ornithol-
ogy” under ‘‘ Zodlogical Miscellany.”

v Wueaton, J. M., M. D. Report on the birds of Ohio. Report of the
Geological Survey of Ohio, Vol. LV; Zodlogy and Botany, Part I;
Zodlogy, Section II, Columbus, Ohio, 1882, pp. 187-628. Notes

several observations on Indiana birds.

1883.

Lanepon, F. W., M. D. ‘Bibliography of the Cincionati fauna. Journ.
Cincinnati Soc. Nat. Hist., Vol. VI, 1883, pp. 5-538. Mentions
several publications on Indiana birds.

¥ Evermann, B. W. Notes from Bloomington, Indiana. Ornithologist
and Odlogist, Vol. VIII, pp. 27-28.

1884.
Burier, A. W. Local Weather Lore. The American Meteorological
Journal, Dec., 1884, pp. 313-316. Relating to birds.
Burrter, A. W. Local Weather Lore. Proc. A. A. A. S., Vol.
“XXXIII, 1884, pp. 603-609. Abstract of above.
538 REporT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Vv Burier, A. W. The Cerulean Warbler. Ornithologist and Odlogist,
Vol. IX, 1884, pp. 27-28.

Evermann, B. W. Arrivals of birds at Camden, Indiana, 1884. Or-
nithologist and Oélogist, Vol. IX, 1884, p. 74. Also published in
the spring of 1884, in ‘‘ The Township Institute.”’

Y Nos, Firercner M. Chimney Swallows. Qrnithologist and Odlogist,
Vol. IX, 1884, p. 104.

v Bicxnett, Evcense P. A study of the singing of our birds. The Auk,
Vol. I, Oct., 1884, p. 326. A series of articles running through
several numbers of this journal. This particular citation refers to
the nate of the Scarlet Tanager in Indiana.

Evermann, B. W. Bird Migration. Am. Field, Vol. XXI, pp. 544-
545.

Nor, Frercaer M. Are Owls beneficial to the farmer? Also notes on
the species in Indiana. Indiana Farmer, July 5, 1884.

Nos, FiercHer M. Variation in color of the Sereech Owl. Indiana
Farmer, July 10, 1884.

1885.

SHarPE, R. Bowpier. Catalogue of the Passeriformes or Perching
Birds in the collection of the British Museum, ete., Vol. X, Lon-
don, 1885.pA..3 6S.

Contains a number of Indiana references, including Geothlypis
macgillivrayi (?) from Wolf Lake, Indiana. This series of publica-
tions, which began to be issued in 1874, and is still being published,
contains a number of references to Indiana birds.

Y Nor, Fuercaer M. Red Crossbill in Indiana. Ornithologist and Odlo-
gist, Vol. X, 1885, p. 32.

Butier, A. W. The Cuckoo. Indiana Farmer, April; 1885, p. 14.

V Burier, A. W. Observations on Faunal changes. Bull. Brookville
Soc. Nat. Hist., No. 1, pp. 5-13. Includes notes on birds which
were republished in Ornithologist and Odlogist, Vol. X, 1885, pp.
98-99:

v Burter, A. W. Observations on Faunal changes. Ornithologist and
Odlogist, Vol. X, 1885, pp. 98-99. Reprint of last.

Nor, Frercuer M. The value of birds as insect destroyers. Indiana
Farmer, Jan. 17, 1885. (Abstract of paper before State Board of
Agriculture.)

V Evermann, Barron W. A day with the birds of a Hoosier swamp.
Ornithologist and. Oblogist, Vol. XI, 1886, p. 99.
Bravos oF INDIANA. 539

1886.

Burier, Amos W. A list of birds observed in Franklin County, In-
diana. Bull. Brookville Soe. Nat. Hist., No. 2, 1886, pp. 12-39.

Buarcutey, W. 8. Winter birds of the vicinity of Bloomington, In-
diana. Hoosier Naturalist, 1, pp. 169-171.

V Evermann, B. W. White eggs of the Bluebird. Ornithologist and
Qélogist, Vol. IT, 1886, p. 124.

Nog, Fiercuer M. Notes on the destruction of Indiana birds for mil-
linery purposes. Indianapolis News, Feb. 22, 1886.

Nog, FietcHer M. Notes on Indiana birds. Indianapolis News, Feb.
27, 1886.

Tuomrson, Maurice. Some song birds of Indiana. Report of the
State Board of Agriculture, 1885, pp. 247-252.

V A. O. U. Cuecx Lisr. The code of nomenclature and check list of
North American birds, adopted by the American Ornithologists’
Union, New York, 1886.

Greae, J. C. Hoosier Naturalist, Vol. I, p. 155. Letter about birds.

Butter, A. W. The Periodical Cicada in Southeastern Indiana. U.
S. Dept. of Agriculture, Division of Entomology, Bulletin No. 12,
pp. 2431. Refers to birds known to eat cicadas.

1887.
¥ Hay, O. P. The Red-headed Woodpecker a Hoarder. The Auk, Vol.
IV, July, 1887, pp. 193-6. Observations near Irvington, Indiana.

Evermann, B. W. Birds of Mouroe County, Indiana. The Hoosier
Naturalist, Vol. 11, 1887, pp. 137-145.

Evermann, B. W. Some rare Indiana birds. American Naturalist,
Vol. XXI, 1887, pp. 290-291.

Evermann, B. W. Bird Migration. Popular Science Monthly, April,
1887.

Evermann, B. W. An addition to the list of birds of Monroe County,
Indiana. Hoosier Naturalist, Vol. II, 1887, p. 164.

Riveway, Ropert. A Manual of North American Birds. Philadel-
phia. J. B. Lippincott Co., 1887.
1888.

Burier, A. W. Tropical Sojourners. The Agassiz Companion, Vol.
ILI, No. 6, 1888, pp. 61-63.

V Bur.er, A. W. Notes on the range of the Prothonotary Warbler in
Indiana. Ornithologist and Odlogist, Vel. XII, 1888, pp. 33-34.
540 Report OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

v EvermMANN, Barton W. Birds of Carroll County, Indiana. The Auk,
Vol. V, 1888, pp. 344-351; continued in Vol. VI, 1889, pp. 22-30.

Butter, Amos W. Notes concerning albinism among birds. Journ.
Cincinnati Soc. Nat. Hist., Jan. 1, 1888, pp. 214-216.

Noe, FLetcHER M. Do English Sparrows protect trees from insect rav-
ages? Indianapolis News, June 15, 1888.

¥ Buarcatey, W.S. ‘A Gnatcatcher’s Strategy.” Audubon Magazine,
March, 1888. Describes a two-story nest of the Blue-gray Gnat-
catcher, Polioptila coerulea (Linn.), taken near Bloomington. A
Cowbird had deposited an egg in the nest proper and the second
story was built over the egg.

v West, F. M. A Cross-billed Woodpecker. Ornithologist and Odlogist,
Vol. XIII, p. 95, June, 1888. Specimen of Melanerpes carolinensis
noted from Greensburg, Indiana.

‘Y Trouier, Jas. 8. Correspondence from (Greensburg) Indiana. The
Bay State Odlogist, Vol. I, No. 6, June, 1888, p. 52. Account of
nesting of a pair of Bluebirds in the sand pump of a well-driller’s
outfit. Reprinted in the Ornithologist and Odlogist Annual, Vol.
J, No. 1, January, 1889, p. 29.

Haneaer, O. P. Black Vulture (Catharista atrata) in Orange County,
Indiana. The Curlew, Orleans, Indiana, Vol. I, No. 3, December,
1888, p. 35.

1889.

Lanepon, F. W., M. D. On the occurrence of large numbers of six-
teen species of birds. Journ. Cincinnati Soc. Nat. Hist., Vol. XII,
1889, pp. 57-63. Notes the unusual abundance of the Rose-breasted
Grosbeak at Brookville, Indiana, in the spring of 1885.
v Evermann, B. W. The Wood Ibis of Indiana. The Auk, Vol. VI,
1889, pp. 186-187.

V Roveway, Rosert. The Ornithology of Hlinois. Natural History Sur-
vey of Illinois. State Laboratory of Natural History, S. A. Forbes,
Director. Part I, Descriptive Catalogue, by Robert Ridgway, Vol.
I, Springfield, I]., 1889, pp. 520+ VII, pls. XXXII. The present
volume ends with Columb. Contains many references to Indiana
birds.

¥ Barrows, Water B. The English Sparrow (Passer domesticus) in
North America, especially in its relation to agriculture. Prepared
under the directions of Dr. C. Hart Merriam, Ornithologist, by
Walter B. Barrows, Assistant Ornithologist. Bulletin No. 1, U. S.
Department of Agriculture, Division of Economic Onithology and
Mammalogy, Washington, 1889, pp. 405 and map. A number of
Indiana observations noted. é
Birps oF INDIANA. —- 541

Vv Dwicut, JonatHan, JR. The Horned Larks of North America. The
Auk, Vol. VII, 1890, pp. 138-158 and map. Notes specimens from
Indianapolis, Indiana.

THompson, Maurice. Preliminary sketch of the aquatic and shore
birds of the Kankakee region. Rept. Ind. Geol. Survey, 1888, pp.
102-164.

Davie, Ouiver. Nests and Eggs of North American Birds. Fourth
ed., 1892, pp. 455-++12+11. Three previous editions.

Buarcotey, W. S. ‘‘The Coming of the Birds.” Terre Haute Ga-
zette, April 17, 1889. Gives the arrivals in the vicinity of Terre
Haute to that date.

Nesruwe, H. North American Birds. Issued in parts. No. 1, 1889.
George Brumder, Milwaukee, Wis. 1889-1896.

18-9.

Buatcauey, W. S. Our Feathered Friends of Indiana. A series of
five articles in Indiana Farmer, under dates of May 4, May 18,
May 25 and Nov. 23, 1889, and March 29, 1890.

1890.

VY Nog, FietcHer M. Wood Ibisin Indiana. Ornithologist and Odlogist,
Vol. XV, p. 167.

Vv N(orris), J.P. A series of the eggs of the Prothonotary Warbler. Or-
nithologist and Oélogist, Vol. XV. Dec. 1890, pp. 172-182. Speci-
mens noted from Carroll County, Indiana.

1891.

Vv Burter, Amos W. A catalogue of the birds of Indiana. Trans. In-
diana Hort. Soc., 1890. Appendix C, pp. 1-135. Also separately
printed.

Butter, Amos W. Our birds and what they do for the farmer. Rept.
State Board of Agl., Indiana, 1890, pp. 113-125. Also issued sep-
arately in pamphlet form.

Y Hasprouck, Epwin M. The Carolina Paroquet (Conurus carolinensis).
The Auk, Vol. VIII, 1891, pp. 369-379. ,

v Auten, J. A. Butler’s Birds of Indiana. Review. The Auk, Vol.
VIL, p. 383.

vy Hasprouck, Epwin M. The present status of the Ivory-billed Wood-
pecker (Campephilus principalis). The Auk, 1891, Vol. VIII, pp.
174 186.

Hine, Jane L. Tyrant Flycatchers. The Waterloo Press, Vol,
XXXII, No. 30, March 19, 1891.
542 REporT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Y Keyser, L.S. Bird-dom. Boston. D. Lothrop & Co., 1891. Refers
to Rose-breasted Grosbeak in Indiana, p. 44.

Parker, B.S. Hoosier Bards. Chicago. Charles H. Kerr, 1891. A.
delightfully accurate interpretation of the songs of our birds by a
poet.

Biarcuiey, W. S. Birds and Their Value on the Farm. Terre Haute

Gazette, Jan. 13, 1891. A paper read before the Vigo County
Farmers’ Institute.

1892.

Bo:Ler, Amos W. Notes on Indiana birds. Proc. Indiana Acad. of
Sci , 1891, pp. 164-166.
v Burien, AMos W. Notes on the range and habits of the Carolina Par-
akeet. The Auk, Vol. IX, No. 1, Jan., 1892, pp. 49-56.
McBripe, R Wes. Some notes on the birds of Indiana. Proc. Ind.
Acad. Sci , 1891, pp. 166-169,
v Burter, Amos W. Some notes concerning the Evening Grosbeak.
The Auk, Vol. IX, pp. 238-247.
“ Nog, Furetcaer M. Note on White Pelican. New Castle. Indiana.
Oruithologist and O6 ogist, Vol. VI, p. 123.
¥ Uxrey, A. B. Notes on the American Bittern (Botawrus lentiginosus).
Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. XVII, pp. 76 77.
¥ Goutp, James E. Note on nesting of Bald Eagle at English Lake, In-
diana. Ornithologist and Oélogist, Vol. XVII, p. 64.
“ Kinote, E. M. Arrivals of some migratory birds of Johuson County,
Indiana. Ornithologist and Odlogist, Vol. XVII, p. 44.
V Benorre, Cuarves, Cart..U. 8. A. Life Histories of North American

Birds. Smithsonian Institution, United States National Museum.
‘Special Bulletin No. 1, 1492, pp. 1-414.

1893

v Burier, AMus W. Range of the Crossbill (Lozia) iu the Ohio Valley,
with notes on their unusual occurrence in summer. Proc. Indiana
Acad. Sci., 1892, pp. 63-72.

¥ Burter, Amos W. Further notes on the Evening Grosbeak. The
Auk, Vol. X, 1893, pp. 155-157.
Coox, A. J. Birds of Michigan. Bull. 94, Mich. Agl. College, pp.
1-148, first edition. References to Indiana birds.
Cook, A. J. Birds of Michigan. Bull. 94, Mich. Agl. College, pp.
1-168, second edition,
Binps or INDIANA. 543

V Fisner, A. K., M. D. The Hawks and Owls of.the United States in
their relation to agriculture. Bull. No. 3, Div. Orn. and Mam. U.
S. Dept. Agriculture, 1893, pp. 210.

v Cox, Unysszs O.~ A list of the birds of Randolph County, Indiana,
with some notes on the mammals of the same county. Ornitholo-
gist and Odlogist, Vol. XVIII, 1893, pp. 2-3.

v McBrive, Heesert W. Letter. Notes on Rose-breasted Grosbeak in
Michigan and Indiana. Ornithologist and Odlogist, Vol. XVIII,
p. 47.

Burter, AMos W. On the migration of birds. Indiana Farmer, Oct.
21, 1893.

v Butter, Amos W. The range of Crossbills in the Ohio Valley, with
notes on their unusual occurrence in summer. The American Nat-
uralist, Vol. XXVIII, 1894, pp. 136-146.

Anonymous. Account of Swan (sp?) killed on Little Beaver Lake,
Newton County, Indiana. Forest and Stream, Vol. XL, No. 13,
p. 72. ‘

Hassrovuck, E. M. Evolution and Dichromatism of the Genus Mega-
scops. American Naturalist, Vol. X XVII, pp. 521-533; 638-649

v Mourcaison, A.C Distribution of the Mocking Bird in Illinois. Or-
nithologist and Odlogist, Vol. XVIII, 1898, pp. 67-70. Indiana
reference.

Hine, Jane L. Birds that Befriend Our Forest Trees. A series of
chapters irregularly published in the Farmer’s Guide, Huntington,
Indiana. Chapter lin Vol. V, No. 1, Jan. 1; Ch. ILin Vol. V, No.
2, Jan. 15; Ch. [Lin Vol. V, No. 8, Feb. 1; Ch. IV in Vol. V,
No. 4, Feb. 15; Ch. V in Vol. V, No. 6, March 15; Ch. — in
Vol. V, No. 27, Dec. 15.

¥ Mourcuison, A.C. Distribution of the Long-eared Owl and Cooper’s
Hawk in [llinois. Ornithologist and Oslogist, Vol. XVIII, 18938,
pp. 17-22, 33-35, 49-61. Indiana reference.

Y Coox, A. J. Birds of Michigan. A review. Ornithologist and Odlo-
gist, Vol. XVIL, 1893, p. 106.

“ Morcuison, A CU. Distribution of the Black-crowned Night Heron in
Illinois. Ornithologist and Odlogist, Vol. XVIII, 1893, pp. 82-85.
Indiana reference.

Nesruwe, H. Our Native Birds of Song and Beauty, Vol. I, 1893.
Geo. Brumder, Milwaukee, Wis. Also issued in parts as North
American Birds, beginning in 1889.
544 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

1893.

Biatcutey, W. S. Our Winter Birds. A series of ten articles in
Terre Haute Gazette under dates of Dec. 9 and 16, 1893, and Jan.
6, 18, 20; Feb. 38, 10, 17, 24, and March 3, 1894.

1894.

Ereenmann, C. H. Report of Director Division of Zodlogy Indiana
Biological Survey. Proceedings Indiana Academy of Science, 1893,
pp. 68-69. Reference to work done in ornithology.

Burier, A. W. Bibliography of Indiana Ornithology. Jbid., pp.
108-116.

Burien, A. W. Notes on Indiana Birds. Jbid., pp. 116-120. Notes
on 24 species. First Indiana record of Tryngites subruficollis, Mi-
cropalama himantopus, Tringa bairdii, and Dendroica kirtlandt.

v Loucks, W. E. The life history and distribution of the Prothonotary

Warbler in Hlinois. Bull. Ill. State Lab. of Nat. Hist, Champaign,
Til., Vol. IV, No. 3. Springfield, Ill., 1894. Reference to Indiana.

Hine, Jane L. Farmers, Take Care of Your Birds. The Farmer’s
Guide, Huntington, Indiana, Vol. VI, No. 10, May 15, 1894.

1895.

V Barrows, Watrer B, anp E. A. Scuwarz. The Common Crow of
the United States. Bull. No. 6, U. S. Department of Agriculture,
Div. of Ornithology and Mammalogy, pp. 98, 1895.

“ Deans, Ruraven. The European Widgeon (Anas penelope) in Indi-
ana. The Auk, Vol. XH, 1895, April, 179.

v Deane, Ruraven. Another European Widgeon (Anas penelope) in In-
diana. Ibid., July, 292.

¥ Deane, Rutuven. Additional records of the mene Pigeon in Illi-
nois and Indiana. Ibid., 298-300.

V Deane, Rutaven. Record of a third specimen of the European Wid-
geon (Anas penelope) in Indiana. Ibid , 292.

¥V Dunn, James O. The Passenger Pigeon in the Upper Mississippi Val-
ley. Jbid., Oct., 389. Reference to record near Liverpool, Indi-
ana, March 14, 1894.

v Duwn, James O. Henslow’s Sparrow iu Indiana. Jbid., 391-2

v Donny, James O. Notes on some birds of Northeastern Illinois. Ibid.,
393-5. Record of Prothonotary Warbler, Wilder’s, Indiana.

Buiarcutey, W. 8. Protect the Woodpeckers. Indianap lis Sunday
Journal, Oct. 27, 1895.
Birps oF INDIANA. 545

Monoquer (L. H. Haymonp). An American King, or the Home,
Haunts and Habits of the Ruffed Grouse. The American Field,
Vol. XLIV, No. 22, Nov. 30, 1895, pp. 509-511.

Monoquer (L. H. Haymonp). American Woodcock and Woodcock
Shooting. Jbid., No. 26, Dec. 28, 1895, pp. 605-608.

Burier, A. W. With the Birds of Winona. The Indiana Synod, Vol.
II, No. 2, Dec., 1895, pp. 78-80.

Kinoiz, E. M. Preliminary list of the birds of Brown County. Pro-
ceedings of the Indiana Academy of Science, 1894, pp. 68-73.
Enumerates 106 species.

¥ Gaines, Aneus. Books and Birds. Nidiologist, August, 1895, p. 162.

¥ Gaines, Ancus, Eggs of Nighthawks and Whippoorwills. Nidiolo-
gist, March, 1895, p. 91.

¥ GarnEs, ANcus. Migration. Nidiologist, July, 1895, p. 152.

Vv Gaines, ANGus. Owls and Their Nests. Odlogist, May, 1895, p. 85.

vGatnes, Ancus. Hawks and Their Nests. Odlogist, Dec., 1895, p.
175.

Buriter, A. W. Notes on the Birds of 1894. Jbid., pp. 73-80. Notes
on 24 species of birds. Includes record of the first occurrence of
Anas penelope and of the breeding of Porzana jamaicensis.

’ Gaines, ANaus. Woodpeckers and Their Nests. Odlogist, July, 1895,
p. 115.

v Beat, F. E. L., Assistant Ornithologist. Preliminary report on the
food of Woodpeckers. Bull. No. 7, U. 8. Dept. of Agriculture,
Div. of Ornithology and Mammalogy, pp. 33.

* Gatnes, Anaus. The Blue Jay. Nidiologist, June, 1895, p. 182.

1896.

Hine, Jane L. Farm Birds in Northern Indiana. The Farmer's
Guide, Huntington, Indiana, Vol. VIII. A series of articles in
chapters in the following numbers of that paper: No. 3, Feb. 1,
1896; No. 4, Feb. 15; No. 5, March 1; No. 6, March 15; No. 7,
April 1; No. 8, April 15; No. 9, May 1.

Cuans_er, E. J. Our Feathered Beauties. Indiana Farmer, Feb. 15,
1896, p. 6.

Anonymous. Pigeon Roosts Fifty Years Ago. Indiana Farmer, Feb.
22, 1896. From Cincinnati Commercial-Gazette.

Hine, JANE L. Cedar Waxwing. Farmer’s Guide, Vol. VIII, No. 12,
June 15, 1896.

35—GEOL.
546 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Butter, A. W. “The range of the Crossbills in the Ohio Valley, with
notes on their unusual occurrence in summer. In a volume entitled
‘Papers Presented to the World’s Congress on Ornithology.” Ed-
ited by Mrs. E. Irene Rood, Chairman Woman’s Committee of the
Congress, under the direction of Dr. Elliott Coues, President of the
Congress, Chicago. Charles H. Sergel Company, 1896, pp. 47-58.

Gaines, Ancus. Our Animal Friends. The Nest in the Rushes
(Grebe), p. 62, Nov., 1896.

Urey, ALBERT B. Contributions to the Biological Survey of Wabash
County, Indiana. Proc. Indiana Acad. Sci., 1895, Indianapolis,
Indiana, Feb., 1896, p. 147. Refers to the result of investigations
of the bird fauna of that county.

Him, Jane L. The Picnic of the Birds. The Farmer’s Guide, Hunt-
ington, Indiana, Vol. VIII, No. 15, Aug. 1, 1896.

Ucrey, ALBERT B., anp Witi1am O. Watuace. Birds of Wabash
County. Proc. Indiana Acad. Sci., 1895, Indianapolis, Indiana,
Feb., 1896, pp. 148-159. A local list of 186 species.

Butter, A. W. Additional Notes on Indiana Birds. IJbid., pp. 162-
168.

CHAMBERLAIN, F. M. Water Birds of Turkey Lake. Ibid., p. 264.
A list of 14 species noted between July 1 and Sept. 1, 1895.

Neueuine, H. Our Native Birds of Song and Beauty, Vol. II. Geo.
Brumder, Milwaukee, Wis., 1896.

Ripeway, Ropert. A Manual of North American Birds, by Robert
Ridgway. Second edition. Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott Com-
pany, 1896. A number of Indiana references.

Wooprurr, Frank M. On birds reported as ranging in Cook County,
Il. The Auk, Vol. XIII, 1896, April, 17981. Reference to In-
diana notes.

Deane, Ruraven. Record of a fourth specimen of the European Wid-
geon (Anas penelope) in Indiana. Jbid., July, 255.

Gates, Anaus. In the Haunts of the Sandpiper. Recreation, Au-
gust, 1896, p. 97.

Buriter, A. W. Indiana—A Century of Changes in the Aspects of
Nature. President’s address. Proceedings of the Indiana Academy
of Science, 1895, pp. 31-42. Refers to changes in avifauna.

Burier, A. W. Indiana—A Century of Changes in the Aspects of
Nature. The Inland Educator. Printed in advance of preced-
ing, of which it is a copy.
Brrps oF INDIANA. 547

1897.

‘ Wooprurr, F. M. The Chicago Academy of Sciences. Notes on the

ty

meeting of the Ornithological Section, Jan. 6, 1897. Reference
made to the capture of a specimen of Uria lomvia. Brunnich’s
Murre, at Foresman, Indiana, Dec. 31, 1896. The Osprey, Gales-
burg, Ill., Vol. I, No. 6, Feb., 1897, p. 83.

Gaines, ANcus. The Nest of the Brown Thrush. Recreation, August,
1897, p. 420.

Meyncxe, O. M. An Early Whippoorwill. The Osprey, Vol. I, No.
9, May, 1897, p. 128. Notes on hearing a Whippoorwill in Frank-
lin County, Indiana, March 2, 1897.

Gatnes, Ancus. Our Animal Friends. Winter visitors (Doves), p.
158, March, 1897.

Gaines, Ancus. Our Animal Friends. Summer Yellowbird, p. 238,
June, 1897.

Paumer, T.S. Extermination of Noxious Animals by Bounties, by T.
S. Palmer, First Assistant Biological Survey U. 8. Department of
Agriculture. Year Book of the Department of Agriculture for
1896, pp. 55-68.

' Burter, A. W. The unusual occurrence of Brunnich’s Murre (Uria

lomvia) far inland, with notes on other rare birds. The Auk, Vol.
XIV, 1897, April, 197-20.

Woonrvurr, Frank M. Lake Michigan Bird Notes. JIbid., 227-8.
Notes partly on Indiana birds.

AuuEN, J. A. Review. Butler on a Century of Changes in the As-
pects of Nature in Indiana. Review of address of President of In-
diana Academy of Science, 1895. Ibid., 245.

Eprror. Review. Butler, a Century of Changes in the Aspects of
Nature. The Ibis, Vol. III, No. 11, 1897, July, p. 459, London,
Eng.

Gaines, Axcus. The Nest of the Brown Thrush. Recreation, June,
1897, pp. 420-1. Observations in Knox County, Indiana.

. Dwicur, Jonataan J., M. D. A Study of the Philadelphia Vireo

(Vireo philadelphicus). The Auk, Vol. XIV, No. 8, July, 1897,
pp. 259-272.

Butter, A. W. The Bobolink (Dolichonyzx oryzivorus) in Indiana. Pro-
ceedings of the Indiana Academy of Science of 1896, pp. 227-243.
548 ReEporRT OF StaTE GEOLOGIST.

Butter, A. W. Some additions to the Indiana bird list, with other
notes. Ibid., 1896, pp. 244-246.
< Jonnson, W. A. The Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) in Indiana, by
A. W. Butler. A note on this paper. The Osprey, Vol. II, No. 4,
Dec., 1897, p. 54.

1898.

4 Wooprurr, Frank M, Lake Michigan Notes. The Auk, Vol. XV,
No. 1, pp. 61-62, January, 1898. Mentions a number of birds from

the shore of Lake Michigan, in Lake County, Indiana.

% Smrra, C. Preer. Variation of Nest Material. The Osprey, Vol. II,
Nos. 6 and 7, 1898, p. 91.
EXPLANATION.

The nomenclature used is that adopted by the American Ornitholo-
gists’ Union.

The first number given before each species is the serial number for
this list; the second number, enclosed in parenthesis, is that by which
it is indicated in the A. O. U. Check List.

No species is included in this list unless it is known to have been
reported, upon good authority, to have been observed within the State,
and no species has been reported as having bred within the State un-
less it is known, according to the same authority, to have done so.

All measurements are given in inches and hundredths of an inch.
KEY TO BIRDS.

ORDERS.

/, a), Hind toe well developed, all four toes connected by webs.
STEGANOPODES. C
/. a*, Hind toe, if present, not connected with the others.
b?, Nostrils opening through tubes. (Extralimital). TUBINARES.
b2, Nostrils not opening through tubes.’ |
c!. Cutting edges of bill more or less distinctly fringed, notched or toothed.
d?, Legs short or slightly lengthened; bill not abruptly bent downward.

from the middle. ANSERES. D:
d?. Legs excessively lengthened; bill bent abruptly downward from the
middle. (Extralimital.) . ae ODONTOGLOSS 4.

c?. Cutting edges of bill not fringed, notched, or toothed.

e!, Legs inserted far behind the middle of the body, which, in standing
position, is more or less erect; the toes webbed or conspicuously
lobed. PYGOPODES. A

e?. Legs inserted near the middle of the body, which, in standing posi-
tion, is nearly horizontal, or else toes not webbed.

f} Anterior toes distinctly webbed, tarsus shorter than tail.
LONGIPENNES. B
FR. Anterior toes not distinctly webbed (with rare exceptions); toes not’
‘webbed; or webbed at base or on sides (full webbed only in « few
waders with very long tarsus and the tibia partly naked).
g. Tarsus more or less elongate; tibia more or less naked below.
Waders.

h), Hind toe well developed, inserted at same level with the anterior
toes; the claws never excessively lengthened ; the space between
the eye and the bill or the space around the eye, or both (some-
times the whole head), naked. HERODIONES. E

h?, Hind toe, if present, small and inserted above the level of the-
rest (or else size small or medium, length less than 36 inches);
the space between the bill and the eye or the space around the
eye fully feathered ; no’comb-like teeth on inner edge of middle.
claw.

‘1, Length over three feet.
j'. Hind toe short and elevated. PALUDICOL®. F
i2, Length under three feet.
i), Hind toe almost on level with other toes.
PALUDICOLZ. F
k?. Hind toe, if present, short and elevated, or else claws
excessively lengthened and wings spurred.
LIMICOLA, G
Brrps oF INDIANA. ’ 551

‘g?. Tarsus not greatly elongate; tibia mostly entirely feathered. Not
Waders.
1, Bill strongly hooked, with distinct cere at base.
m1. Toes three in front, one behind. The outer toe
sometimes reversible, RAPTORES. J
m*. Toes two in front, two behind. PSITTACI. K
12, Bill not both strongly hooked and cered.
n', Hind toe short, decidedly elevated ; ‘‘toes slightly
connected at base by web;” no soft membrane
about nostrils. GALLINA. H
m?. Hind toe little, if at all, above the level of the
rest (rarely absent).
‘01, Nostrils opening beneath a soft, swollen cere;
‘hind claw short. COLUMB&. I
o”. Nostrils not opening beneath a soft, swollen cere.
p!. Wings very long, with ten quills; tail of ten
feathers; gape very wide and deeply cleft,
or else the bill long and slender; (tongue ex-
tensile); secondaries only six in number.
MACROCHIRES. N
p?. Wing not very long; gape not very wide nor
deeply cleft; or else wing with only nine
quills and tail with twelve feathers.
g'. Toes only two in front; or, if three, the
‘middle and outer toes connected for at least
half their length.
‘rt. Tail feathers stiff and pointed; bill more
or less chisel-like. PICI. M
r*, Tail feathers neither stiff nor pointed;
bill not chisel-like. COCCYGES. L
q’- Toes three in front, one behind, the middle
and outer toes not united for half their
‘length; lower part of thighs feathered and
the tarsus equal to or longer than the lat-
eral toes. PASSERES. O

FAMILIES.
A. OrpEeR PYGOPODES.

DIVING BIRDS.

a’, Feet lobate. Popicipip#.--GREBES. I
-a?, Feet webbed.
b!, With four toes. Urinatoripz.—Loons. It

b?. With three toes. ALcip#.—AuvKs, Etc. III
552 Report oF StaTE GEOLOGIST.

B. Orper LONGIPENNES.

LONG-WINGED SWIMMERS.

a, Covering of upper mandible of three distinct pieces; a terminal hook, a lateral
piece, and a cere-like piece overhanging the nostrils.
STERCORARIIDE.—JAEGERS, Etc. IV
a”, Covering of upper mandible of a single piece pierced by the nostrils.
LaRIpz.—GULLS AND TERNS. V

[Included in this order are the Rhynchopidw or Skimmers, the limits of whose range do
not reach this State. The above key is not intended to include them.]

C. Orper STEGANOPODES.

DARTERS, PELICANS, CORMORANTS.

2. a. Upper mandible hooked at tip.
3. 61. Tarsus moderate, much longer than hind toe with claw.
4 ¢, Bill shorter than middle toe, compressed; gular sack small.
PHALACROCORACIDZ.—CoRmMoRaNts. VII
A.c?. Bill much longer than middle toe, much flattened; gular sack very large.
PELECANIDEZ.—PeEticans. VIII
<3 b?, Tarsus very short, not longer than hind toe with claw; wings and tail
excessively long, the latter deeply forked.
FreGaTip#.—Man-o’-War Birps. IX
2, a*. Upper manible not hooked at tip. Bill slender, nearly straight; tail long,
feathers very broad ; neck very long and slender.
ANHINGIDA.—Darters. VI

D. OrperR ANSERES.

DUCKS, GEESE AND SWANS.

Characteristics the same as the order. ANATID.£.—Ducxrs, Erc. X

E. Orper HERODIONES.
HERONS, STORKS, IBISES, Erc.

a’, Sides of upper mandible with a deep, narrow groove extending from the nos-
trils to the tip.
b>. Bill very broad, much flattened, and greatly widened toward the tip, only

the end bent down. PLATALEID#.—SPOONBILIS. XI
b?. Bill slender, nearly round, gradually bent downward for nearly its whole
length, Isipip#.—Izisrs. XII

a?, Sides of upper mandible without groove.
c'. Middle toe nail with comb-like inner edge; claws narrow, arched, and
sharp pointed. ARDEIDe.—HeErons, Erc. XIV
e?. Middle toe nail with comb-like edge; claws broad and fiat, resting on
a horny pad or shoe. Criconrip#.—Storxs, Erc. XIII
‘Brrps oF INDIANA. 553

F. Orper PALUDICOL.

THE SWAMP BIRDS—CRANES, RAILS, COOTS, Erc.

a). Size large; wing over 10inches; bill over3 inches. GRurp£.—Cranes. XV
a?, Size small; wing under 10 inches; bill under 3 inches.
Raturp#£.—Raitrs, Ero. XVI

G. ORDER LIMICOLA.

THE SHORE BIRDS—SNIPES, PLOVERS, SANDPIPERS, Ero.

a. Toes with lobed webs on the sides; tarsus compressed.
PHALAROPODIDZ.—PHALAROPES. XVII
a?. Toes without lobed webs on the sides; tarsus not extremely compressed.
b!, Tarsus more than twice the length of middle toe with claw.
ReEcuRvVisostRip#.—Avocets, Etc. XVIII
b?. Tarsus less than twice the length of middle toe with claw.
c!, Front of tarsus covered with a continuous row of transverse, four-sided
scales. Toes four (except Sanderling).
d‘. Bill slender with blunt tip, soft skinned and sensitive throughout.
ScoLopacip#z.—Snipg, Etc. XIX
c®, Front of tarsus covered with small six-sided or irregular scales; toes
three (except Black-bellied Plover). CHARapDRIIDz.—PLovers. XXI1
d*, Bill stout, hard, pointed and wedge shaped at the tip in our species.
APHRIzID«#.—SurF Brros, Etc. XX

H. Orper GALLIN A.

PHEASANTS, GROUSE, PARTRIDGES, Erc.

a', Tarsus with spurs in male; head naked or tail long and vaulted.
PHASIANID@.—PueEasants, Erc. XXIJIT
a?, Tarsus without spurs; head feathered (or nearly so) ; tail not vaulted.
TETRAONID.—GrovsE, Etc. XXII

I. Ornper COLUMB.
THE PIGEONS.

Characters same as the order. CoLuMBID&.—Picrons. XXIV

a

J. OrpeER RAPTORES.
BIRDS OF PREY.

a', Head entirely naked (downy in young); feet not adapted for grasping; nostril
longitudinal. CATHARTIDZ.—AMERICAN VULTURES, XXV

a”, Head nearly or fully feathered; feet especially adapted for grasping; nostrils
vertical or roundish,
554 Report or State GEOLOGIST.

b}, Eyes lateral, not surrounded by discs of radiating feathers ; cere exposed.
Farconipz.—Fatcons. XXVI
b?, Eyes set in front, surrounded by discs of radiating feathers; cere covered.
c!, Middle claw having comb-like edge. Stricip#.—Barn Ow1rs. XXVIT
e’. Middle claw not having comb-like edge.
Busonip.x.—Hornep Owts; ScreecH Owns, Erc. XXVIIT

K. Orper PSITTACI.
PARROTS, PAROQUETS, Erc.

Characters the same as the order.
: Psittactp.—Parrorts, Parogvuets, Etc. XAIXN

L. Orper COCCYGES.

CUCKOOS AND KINGFISHERS.

a}, Toes two in front, two behind; bill as long as head, curved downwards.
CucuLipz.—Cuckoos. XXX
a’. Toes three in front, one behind; outer and middle toes united for half their
length; bill straight, longer than head.
ALCEDINIDZ.—KINGFISHERS. XXXI

M. Orver PICI.
WOODPECKERS.

Characters the same as the order. Pricip.z.— WooppPeckErs. NNNXIT

N. OrprerR MACROCHIRES.

WHIP-POOR-WILLS, SWIFTS, HUMMINGBIRDS, Erc.

a’. Bill short, broad at base; mouth deeply cleft; plumage not metallic.
5%. Middle toe much the longest, its claw with comb-like-edge; gape bristled ;
plumage spotted. CAPRIMULGID®.— WHIP-POOR-WILLs, Etc, NXXIIL
b?. Middle toe not much, if any, longer than others, its claw without comb-like

edge; gape without bristles; plumage black.

Micropopip.2.—Swirts. XXXIV
a?, Bill very long and slender; mouth not deeply cleft; plumage more or less
metallic; size small. TrocHILip.—HumMinepirps. XNXV

O. OrvER PASSERES.

a), Tarsus with its hinder edge rounded.
6). Inner toe free at base from middle toe; bill hooked at tip, with bristles at
base ; primaries ten, the first about as long as second.
TYRANNID&.—FLYCATCHERS. XXXVI
we

Birps: or INDIANA. 555

62. Bill not hooked at tip, no bristles at base; developed primaries nine; hind
toe with long, nearly straight claw. ALauDIDaA —Larxks. XXXVII
a”, Tarsus with its hinder edge compressed.
ce}, Primaries apparently only nine; bill not hooked at tip.
d‘. Bill very short, flat, broad at base, deeply cleft; wings very long.
HIRunDINIDE.—SwaLbLows. XLII
d?. Bill not very tlat and deeply cleft; outer primary never twice as long as
the innermost.
e!, Bill more or less conical, broad at base.
fi. Bill rather long, often longer than head, without notch at tip or
bristles at base.
IcTrrip®.-—OrtoLes, BLAcKBIRDS, ETc. XXXIX
fr. Bill shorter than head. often notched at tip, usually with bristles at
base. FRINGILLID.E — FincHEs, Sparrows, Erc. XL
f%. Bill stout, upper mandible curved with slight tooth near the middle
of the cutting edge; color chiefly red and yellow.
TanaGRipm,—Tanacers. XLI
e?, Bill not conoid.
g'. Hind claw long and nearly straight, generally longer than its toe;
tertials much elongated, reaching nearly to tips of primaries.
MoTAcILLIp#.—WAGTAILS AND Pipits. XLVIT
g’. Hind claw short and curved, generally shorter than its claw;
tertials short, not nearly reaching to the tip of primaries.
; MNIOTILTIDZ.—Woop WaRBLERS. XLVI
-c?, Primaries evidently ten, the first developed but short, rarely half the
length of the next; or else bill hooked at tip.
h1, Front of tarsus covered with transverse four-sided scales.
i}, Bill strongly hooked and notched at tip.
Laniip#.—SuHRIKES. XLIV.
i 2, Bill not strongly hooked or not hooked at all.
j'. Head with conspicuous crest; tail, in our species, tipped
with yellow; bill slightly hooked and notched at tip.
AMPELIDZ.—Waxwines. XLIII
j?, Head usually not crested; tail not tipped with yellow.
i}, Back generally olive green; bill slightly hooked and
notched at tip; length five to seven inches.
VIREONIDEZ.—ViREos. XLV
k*, Back not generally olive green.
il. Tail feathers stiff, pointed; bill slender, curved down-
ward. CERTHIIDE.—CREEPERS. XLIX
12, Tail feathers more or less soft, not pointed.
m}, Nasal feathers directed forward on bill, usually cov-
ering the nostrils.
n}, Birds of large size, length over ten inches.
Corvip&.—Crows, Jays, Erc. XXXVIII
n?, Birds of small size; length under ten inches (ex-
cept genus Harporhynchus).
o!. Bill notched toward the tip, very slender.
SyLvup#.—KiIna@Lets aND GnatcatcHers. LI
o?, Bill not notched.
Parip#.—NvutTHATCHES AND Titmice. L
556 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

m?, Nasal feathers erect or directed backwards, not cov-

ering nostrils; bill more or less curved downwards.
TROGLODYTID/.— WRENS, THRASHERS, Erc. XLVIII

h?, Front of tarsus not divided into scales except at extreme lower

portion.
p}. Small birds; length under five inches; young,

not spotted.
SyLvip=.—KINGLETs AND GNaTCATCHERS. LI
p*, Larger birds; length over five inches; young
distinctly spotted.
Turpip#.—TurvsHEs, Ere. LIT

A. OrpEerR. PYGOPODES. Divers.
SuporpeR PODICIPEDES. Gress.
I. Famiury PODICIPID. GreEBeEs.

a‘, Bill slender, straight, rather acute; its length rather more than twice its

depth at base.
61, Neck much shorter than body. CotymBus. 1
a, Bill stout, somewhat hooked; its length not quite twice its greatest depth.
PopitymsBus. 2

1. Gexus COLYMBUS Linnaus.
a', Wing more than 6.00; bill about as long as head. Subgenus Colymbus.

61, Length 18.00, or over. C. holboellii (Reinh.) 1
a*, Wing not over 6.00; bill much shorter than head. Subgenus Dytes.
ce}. Bill compressed; deeper than wide at base. C. auritus Linn. 2

c?. Bill depressed; wider than deep at base.
C. nigricollis californicus (Heerm.) 3

Subgenus CoLymsus.

1. (2.) Colymbus holbeellii (Rervu.).
Holbeell’s Grebe.

Synonym, RED-NECKED GREBE.

Adulit.—Front and sides of neck rich brownish-red; throat and sides
of head ashy, whitening where it joins the dark color of the crown,
the feathers slightly ruffled; top of head with slight occipital crest;
upper parts, generally, and wings dark brown, the feathers of the back
paler edged; primaries brown, part of inner quills white; lower parts
pale silvery-ash, the sides watered or obscurely mottled, sometimes
obviously speckled with dusky; bill black, more or less yellow at base;
eye carmine. (Wheaton.) Immature.—Above, blackish; sides of head
with white stripes; fore part and sides of neck light rusty; otherwise
as in adult.
Birps oF INDIANA. 557

Length, 18.00-20.00; wing, 7.30-8.10; bill, 1.65-2.40.

Ranee.—North America, from South Carolina and Nebraska to
Arctic coast and Greenland, also northeastern Asia south to Japan.
Breeds from Minnesota northward.

‘Nest, a mass of floating material fastened to reeds. Hggs, 2-7, dull
white, tinged with greenish; 2.30 by 1.35.

Rare migrant and possibly winter resident. It has only been re-
ported from the northern part of the State, -where it has been taken in
spring. Dr. J. L. Hancock, of Chicago, Ill., reports it at Wolf Lake,
Indiana, in the spring of 1883, also at Park Side, Ill., April 29, 1883.
Mr. Robert Ridgway (Birds of Illinois, Vol. II, pp. 259-261) gives it
as a winter visitant to Illinois. Its summer home is farther north,
mainly much to the northward of the United States. Dr. T. 8. Roberts
(The Auk, April, 1890, p. 213) found it breeding in limited numbers
in west-central Minnesota. It breeds abundantly along the Yukon
River, where Mr. Robert Kennicott saw it and gave an account of its
nest and habits. These are very similar to those of other grebes.

Subgenus Dytes Kaup.
*2. (3.) Colymbus auritus Livy.
Horned Grebe.

Adult in Summer.—Above, dark brown, the feathers paler edged;
below, silvery-white, the sides mixed dusky and reddish; most of the
secondaries white; foreneck and upper breast brownish-red; head,
glossy black, including the ruff; a broad band over the eye to and in-
cluding occipital crests, brownish-yellow; bill, black, yellow tipped
(Wheaton); eye carmine. Adult in Winter and Immature.—Above, in-
cluding top of head, dusky gray; sides of head and-lower parts, white;
the chest and sides more or less grayish.

Length, 12.50-15.25; wing, 5.75; bill, 1.00.

Ranee.—Northern hemisphere, in North America south to Gulf
States. Breeds from northern Indiana and southern Michigan north-
ward. Winters from Indiana and southern New York southward.

Nest, of water plants attached to reeds and floating on the surface
of the water. Eggs, 2-7; whitish or greenish; 1.78 by 1.20.

Regular migrant in some numbers, but never abundant. Some are
winter residents in suitable loealities. In the northern part of the
State among the lakes and marshes it breeds. Mr. Geo. L. Toppan
has a young bird of this species, in downy plumage, taken at Sheffield,
Ind., May 24, 1878. He considers it more common in winter. Dr.

 

*Species marked with an asterisk (*) breed within the State.
558 ‘REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

F. W. Langdon, in “Summer Birds of a Northern Ohio Marsh,” notes
having taken two sets of eggs which he thinks were of this species
July 2, 1880. They are known to breed in numbers at St. Clair Flats,
Mich. Most often seen in March, April and May, October and Novem-
ber. In the spring of 1883 they were more numerous in the Whitewater
Valley than I ever knew them. They were found from April 15 to May
19. Prof. B. W. Evermann reports it from Vigo County January 5,
1891. Mr. E. M. C. Hobbs, Salem, Ind., has an immature specimen
taken alive in a barnyard near Harrisontown, Washington County,
about Christmas, 1897. In habits there is much similarity among all
the Grebes. To this one, in particular, attention has been called be-
cause of its habit of quietly sinking beneath the water, the bill being
last to disappear, leaving no ripple to mark its place upon the surface.

3. (4.) Colymbus nigricollis californicus (Herm ).
American Eared ‘Grebe.

Adult Male.—Long ear-tufts of rich yellowish-brown; head and
neck all round, black; upper parts, grayish-black; sides, chestnut;
lower parts, silvery-gray; primaries, dark chestnut; secondaries white,
dusky at the base. Young.—Similar, the ear-tufts wanting and the
colors generally duller. (McIlwraith.)

Length, 12.00-14.00; wing, 5.20-5.50; bill, .95-1.10.

RancEe.—North America from Guatemala to Great Slave Lake; east
to Indiana and Ontario. Breeds from Wyoming northward.

Nest and Eggs, similar to those of C. auritus.

This species is an accidental visitor or perhaps a rare migrant. The
first record of its capture in Indiana was a specimen shot four miles
north of Brookville by Mr. Edward Hughes, May 19, 1883. A second
specimen was killed at Brookville, Nov. 5, 1886. These are the only
specimens I have seen from the State, and I do not know that it has
been taken farther eastward. Dr. Brayton says it is a winter visitor
on Lake Michigan. Mr. Ridgway says it may possibly breed in Tli-
nois. Mr. J. Grafton Parker has twice noted it in Cook County near
the Indiana line, but he records it as extremely rare. One day during
April, 1890, a flock of six flew over Mud Lake like a flock of ducks.
He supposed he was shooting into a flock of ducks, and one fell, prov-
ing to be a grebe of this species. He also observed one on the Calu-
met River a half-mile from the Indiana line near Hammond. Mr. N. 8.
Goss, in “The Auk” for January, 1884, pp. 18-20, gives a very interest-
ing description of the breeding of about one hundred pairs of these
Birps or InpIaNa. 559

birds found at Como Lake, Wyoming. He says: “The nests were in a
narrow strip of rushes growing in water eighteen inches deep, and
\\about one hundred and thirty feet from the shore. * * * *
I collected the eggs from two nests, five in each; and counted from
where I stood over twenty nests with from one to five eggs each. Quite
a number of others were completed, but without eggs, and still others
were building. The floating nests were made of old broken rushes,
weeds and debris from the bottom, and were partially filled in and
around the standing, growing rushes. ‘There were no feathers or other
kind of lining. They were from five to ten inches in diameter; the
outer edge or rim was from two to three inches above the water. The
egps in several touched the water, and were more or less stained in
their wet beds. The color of the eggs when fresh was white, with a
slight bluish shade. The average measurements of the ten eggs was
1.81 by 1.20 inches.” The same careful observer notes that in leaving:
their nests the birds would dive and come up quite a distance away out
in the open lake and, when returning to their nests, would dive out in
the lake and come up among the rushes. He says in no instance did:
he see them swim to or from their nests, but adds, they may do so.
when not disturbed.

2. Genus PODILYMBUS Lesson.

a', Wing 5.00 or less. P. podiceps (Linn.) 4
*4, (6.) Podilymbus podiceps (Liyy.)
Pied-billed Grebe.

. Synonyms, WATER WrrcH, Dascuick, Diparrer, Dipivprr, Drprer, HELL-
Diver.

Adult in Summer.—Above, dusky grayish brown, top of the head
darker; sides of head lighter; inner webs of the secondaries tipped
with white; below, grayish white, everywhere spotted with dusky;
chin, throat and a spot at the base of the mandible, black; bill, white,
a black band around it at the middle. Adult in Winter and Imma-
ture.—Similar, but lacking the black throat patch, and the distinctive
marks on the bill. Downy Young.—Head and neck with black and
white stripes.

Length, 12.00-15.00; wing, 4.50-5.00.

RaneE.—America, from Argentine Republic and Chili to Hudson
Bay and Great Slave Lake. Breeds from Florida northward. Winters
from southern Missouri, southern Illinois and New Jersey southward.
560 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Nest, a floating island of marsh vegetation and mud fastened to
water plants. Hggs, 4-7, whitish with greenish shadings; 1.72 by 1.99.
Prof, Cooke notes (Bird Migration in the Mississippi Valley, p. 54)
that it “winters wherever there is open water, from Illinois southward.
and breeds from-southern Indiana, Illinois, Missouri and eastern Kan-
sas northward.” It has also been found breeding in Florida. It has
never been reported as wintering in Indiana, and is known as a
migrant, or summer resident only in this State. Throughout the
greater part of the State it is seen regularly, but not very commonly,
during the migrations, and is, perhaps, more commonly observed in
spring. The creeks, ponds, rivers and lakes are frequented by it.
Where there is no water it is comparatively unknown. Owing to the
screen of the season’s vegetation it is not so often noted in fall.
Throughout the lake region of northern Indiana it is a common sum-
mer resident. It arrives about April 1 and can be found in all lakes,
rivers and muddy ponds until the early part of November. In Lake,
Starke and Laporte counties it is reported as breeding abundantly,
and sparingly in Steuben County. Mr. Robert Ridgway (Bull. Nuttall
Orn. Olub., Jan., 1882, p. 22) reports it breeding commonly in
swamps in Knox County. Prof. B. W. Evermann found it breeding
“May 30, 1890, at Terre Haute.

The following account of the nesting of this species near Sandusky,
O., by Dr. F. W. Langdon, in his “Summer Birds of a Northern Ohio
Marsh,” will give a good idea of the floating nest. He says: “I
desire here to testify to the fact that the nest of the present species
does float. * * * * The little floating island of decayed vege-
tation, held together by mud and moss, which constitutes the nest of
this species, is a veritable ornithological curiosity. Imagine a ‘pan-
cake’ of what appears to be mud, measuring twelve to fifteen inches
in diameter, and rising two or three inches above the water, which
may be from one to three feet in depth; anchor it to the bottom with
a few concealed blades of ‘sawgrass’ in a little open bay, leaving its
circumference entirely free; remove a mass of wet muck from its
rounded top and you expose seven or eight soiled brownish-white eggs,
resting in a depression, the bottom of which is less than an inch from
the water; the whole mass is constantly damp. * * * * The
anchoring blades of coarse sawgrass, or flags, being always longer than
is necessary to reach the bottom, permit of considerable lateral and
vertical movement of the nest, and so effectually provide against
drowning of the eggs by any ordinary rise of water level, such as fre-
quently occurs during the prevalence of strong easterly winds on the
Brirps oF INDIANA. 561

lake. A small bunch of sawgrass already growing in a suitable situa-
\ tion is evidently selected as a nucleus for the nest, and the tops bent
so as to form a part of it. During the day we invariably found the
eggs concealed by a covering of muck, as above described; but as we
ascertained by repeated visits at night and in the early morning they
are uncovered at dusk by the bird, who incubates them until the
morning sun relieves her of her task.”

Mr. Ruthven Deane informs me that Mr. Hatfield found it breed-
ing at English Lake, June 3, 1892. Mr. J. E. Gould, of Columbus,
Ohio, took a nest at the same lake J uly 1, 1891, that contained nine
eggs. The same gentleman, the latter part of the previous month,
found several pairs of Terns despoiling the nest of a Grebe. The nest
had two or more eggs in it, one was found in the nest and one outside.

This Grebe dives forward very suddenly. Its motions are so quick
that it often escapes the shots fired at it. It is often noted to appar-
ently disappear. After diving it arises to the surface of the water and
projects only the bill, the rest of the bird remaining below the
water. It thus remains invisible. It is said to be able to settle back-
wards and disappear from view beneath the water. This is done
quietly so that the casual observer wonders what has become of it.

The earliest spring-record from Brookville, and it is the earliest
for the State, is March 17, 1884, and the latest first arrival from the
same station is April 18, 1885. Mr. J. O. Dunn reports it from the
vicinity of Chicago, near the Indiana line, March 23, 1894. Usually,
however, they reach that latitude between April 1 and 15. In the
late summer they begin to journey south in October, and a few remain
into November (Hillsdale, Michigan, November 11, 1894), possibly
until severe freezing weather.

Suporper CEPPHI. lLoons anp Auks.
IJ. Famiry URINATORIDZ. Loons.

Characters same as for family. URINAToR. 3
3. Genus URINATOR Cuvier.
a}, Tarsus shorter than middle toe without claw; wing 13. or more.
U. imber (Gunn.). 5
a*, Tarus longer than middle toe with claw; wing under 12.
U. lumme (Gunn.). 6

5. (7.) Urinator imber (Guny.).
Loon.
Synonym, Great NorTHERN Diver.
Adult.Above, black; back, with square white spots; head and neck.
glossy black, with violet and green reflections; a patch of white
36—GEOL.
562 REport oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

streaks on each side of the neck, and one on the throat; below, white;
bill, black. Immature.—Above, dark gray, feathers edged with paler;
below, white, dusky on the sides; bill, yellowish green and dusky.

Length, 28.00-36.00; wing, 13.00-15.25; bill, 2.75-3.50.

RancE.—Northern part Northern Hemisphere; in America, south
to Gulf of Mexico. Breeds from Indiana, Minnesota atid northern
New England northward.

Nest, a depression in the ground near the water, sometimes lined
with grass and weeds. Hggs, 2-3, brownish, spotted and blotched with
darker brown.

 

Loon.

The Loon is a regular migrant throughout the State in some num-
bers. They sometimes remain through the winter, but most of them
do not. Mr. J. W. Byrkit informs me that they are permanent resi-
dents in Laporte County. He says they are sometimes caught by
fishermen on Lake Michigan, near Michigan City, Indiana, “in gill
nets and on hooks in thirty fathoms of water.” In the Whitewater
Valley I have never found them except in April. That seems to be
the month of their principal spring migration, though in the northern
part of the State the advance guard makes itself noticeable in some
numbers a month earlier. The movement southward begins in Sep-
tember, rarely August, and continues through November. Mr. J. E.
Beasley reports two specimens from Boone County August 25. Hon.
R. Wes. McBride says (Proc. Indiana Academy of Science, 1891, pp.
166-7): “It is a summer resident of Steuben County, and breeds in at
least two of the many beautiful lakes in that county. Their eggs have
been taken at Lake James and Crooked Lake. I have been familiar
with those lakes for more than twenty years, and have never failed to
find them there in summer. I have also seen them in the breeding
season in Hamilton Lake and Golden Lake, also in Steuben County;
Brirps oF INDIANA. 563

in Turkey Lake, on the line between Steuben and Lagrange counties,
and in Bear Lake, Noble County.” Mr. C. L. Cass notes it as-breed-
ing in Steuben County, and Mr. W. B. Van Gorder in Noble County.
Mrs. Jane L. Hine is informed that they formerly nested in Steuben
County, on the point of land extending between the Twin Lakes of
the Wood, also at Big Turkey Lake.

In 1876 Nelson gave it as “very common winter resident upon Lake
Michigan,” * * * * “of uncommon occurrence during sum-
mer” in Cook County, Illinois. Mr. J. Grafton Parker says of the
same county and Lake County, Indiana: “Although not common, it -
is the common Loon with us. It can be found at Wolf and Calumet
lakes during April, October and November, and until late years bred
about these lakes.” In the State Museum in the State House there
is a young Loon marked Zionsville, June, 1885. Mr. Stephen A. War-
nie informs me that some breed at St. Clair Flats, Michigan.

The Loon’s nest is simply a depression in bare ground, or a collec-
tion of a few sticks, weeds and swamp vegetation on land, or some-
times a depression in the top of a muskrat house.

Its habits are very similar to those of the Grebes. It swims lower
in the water, often with little more than neck and head exposed; is
ever alert for danger; has come to regard every human being as its
enemy; is rapid in movement, diving at the flash of a gun, and coming
up out of range.

The cry of the Loon is one of the characteristic sounds of the more
quiet lakes of northern North America. Its weird, melancholy notes
convey to those who have heard them impressions of the most lasting
character.

6. (11.) Urinatorlumme. (Gunvy.).
Red-throated Loon.

Adult.—Blackish; below, white; dark along the sides and on the
vent and crissum; most of the head and fore neck, bluish-gray; the
throat with a large chestnut patch; hind neck, sharply streaked with
white on a blackish ground; bill, black. (Wheaton.) Immature.—
Lacking the markings on the head and neck; the back marked with
round or oval spots.

Length, 18.00-27.00; wings, 10.00-11.50; bill, 2.25.

Rancs.—Northern part of the Northern Hemisphere. South in
winter to South Carolina and southern Indiana. Breeds from Mani-
toba and Labrador northward.

Nest, similar to that of U. imber. Eggs, 2, pale green, spotted with
brown. :
564 Report OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Rare winter resident and occasional migrant, breeding far to the
northward of the United States. One shot from a flock of five near
Brookville, February 28, 1883. That morning the thermometer regis-
tered 10 degrees below zero. For several mornings previous the
weather had been equally severe. ‘The canal, most of the smaller
streams, ponds and the rivers, except where there were rapids, were
-frozen over. In one of these open places the Loons were found. I am
informed by Mr. Charles Dury, of Cincinnati, of a specimen that was
killed near Chalmers several years ago. Mr. C. A. Stockbridge reports
it as a rare visitor at Ft. Wayne. Mr. Ruthven Deane found one at
English Lake, May 4, and another May 11, 1890. Dr. Langdon noted
two or three in the vicinity of Cincinnati, and Dr. Wheaton says it is
not rare on Lake Erie. Mr. Nelson says it is a very common winter
resident upon Lake Michigan. Prof. Cook reports it from Michigan.
The Loons subsist chiefly upon fish, and their flesh has a fishy flavor,
rendering them unfit for food, although it is said they are eaten by the
Indians. They also, while engaged in fishing, are reported to become
entangled in the fishermen’s nets.

Ill. Famiry ALCID.E. Avuxs, Murres anp PurFins.
SupramMiLty ALCIN.Z. AvuKs and MuRRES.

a’. Bill not very short; nostril concealed or enclosed in dense velvety feathering;
secondaries tipped with white.

6}. Bill narrow: culmen slightly curved, both mandibles destitute of grooves;

tail rounded, its feathers not pointed. Uria. 4

4. Genus URIA Brisson.

a}, Bill under 1.60. U. lomvia (Linn.). 7

7. (81.) Uria lomvia (Lryv.).
Brunnich’s Murre.

Synonym, THICK-BILLED MurRRE.

Adult.—Above and throat and neck, sooty black; secondaries, tipped
with white; other lower parts, white; the cutting edge, towards the
base of the upper mandible, thickened and extending outward beyond
the edge of the lower mandible.

Length, 14.50-18.50; wing, 7.45-8.80; bill, 1.45-1.50; depth of bill
at nostril, .47. 4
Birps oF INDIANA. 565

Rance. Coasts and islands of the North Atlantic and Eastern Arc-
tic oceans; south to the lakes of northern New York and the coast of
New Jersey.” (A. 0. U.) Accidental west to Michigan and Indiana
and south to South Carolina. Breeds from the Gulf of St. Lawrence
northward.

Nest, in communities on inaccessible cliffs. Hgg, one, pear shaped
white, greenish, brownish or yellowish, plain or marked with blotches,
or zigzag markings of brown and black.

While at Indianapolis the last week in December, 1896, Prof. W. S.
Blatchley, State Geologist of Indiana, told me of a strange bird that
had been taken near there. His information was it was some sort of
a Guillemot. I learned it had been sent for mounting to Mr. J. EH.
Beasley, at Lebanon, Indiana, and that the same taxidermist had
received others. Upon my return home I found a letter from my
friend, Mr. Ruthven Deane, informing me that Mr. F. M. Woodruff,
of the Chicago Academy of Science, had received a Murre from Indi-
ana. <A few days later this information was supplemented by a letter
from Mr. Woodruff informing me that the specimen was Uria lomvia.

In looking over my accumulated mail I found a report from Mr.
A. W. Hamilton, Zanesville, Indiana, of the capture of a specimen
near there. Prof. E. 8. Moseley wrote me of the capture of four speci-
mens near Sandusky, Ohio, and Mr. J. E. Beasley, in a note, said he
had received four specimens. Thus the total number of records
received in a few days was ten. I give herewith data concerning the
specimens.

The first specimen mentioned above was brought to Mr. F. M. Noe,
a dealer in natural history specimens, of Indianapolis, December 17,
1896, by a boy who told him that it had been taken alive the preceding
Sunday, December 13, near Schofield’s old mill, on Fall Creek, about
seven miles north of that city. The specimen is now in the collection
in the State Geologist’s office at the capitol. The specimen reported
by Mr. Hamilton was taken by Mr. J. W. Roe, of Zanesville, Indiana,
in the northern part of Wells County, December 18, 1896. It was first
observed slowly moving about in an open field and was shot at long
range. This specimen is in my collection.

On December 28 Mr. J. E. Beasley wrote me that he had in his
possession four of these birds from four different Indiana localities.
One was the specimen sent by Mr. Noe. Another was brought to him
alive by Mr. David Johnson, from Hazelrigg, Boone County, Decem-
ber 18. Mr. A. W. Beck, of Hazelrigg, informs me that it was cap-
tured alive about December 15. Mr. Johnson was driving along the
road near that town and saw the bird in a field near by. He caught

a
566 REpoRT oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

it and kept it two or three days. It was a persistent diver when put
into the water; would offer to fight when approached, and did not
make much effort to get away. The third bird was sent to him by
Mr. J. F. Warner, of Fowler, Benton County. Mr. Warner has written
me the bird was captured on the road about three miles west of Fow-
ler by a teamster, whose name is unknown to him, about December 20.
He adds that he never saw but one other bird of this kind. It was
eaught near Reynolds, White County, Indiana, by Mr. Linck, a night
watchman on the Panhandle R. R., in March, 1869. He adds, “it
lived three or four days and died in my possession, but was not pre-
served.” The fourth was received by the taxidermist, about December
20, from Mr. A. C. Littleton, Pickard, Indiana. It was caught alive by
Mr. Abel Christy, about three-fourths of a mile north of that place,
December 10, and was kept alive until it was sent to be mounted, but
died on the road.

Prof. E. L. Moseley, Sandusky, Ohio, informs me that the four
specimens he reported were taken within twenty miles of Sandusky,
December 19, 1896.

Bulletin No. 13, of the Wilson Ornithological Chapter of the Agas-
siz Association, March 30, 1897, p. 16, records the identification of two
specimens by Rev. J. M. Keck, Mentor, Ohio, December 19, 1896, as
Uria troile. Mr. Lynds Jones made a careful examination of the one
specimen taken and found it to be an immature Briinnich’s Murre,
Uria lomvia. It was captured near Painesville, Ohio, on Lake Erie.

A fine adult male was taken by a twelve-year-old boy on the Iro-
quois River, Iroquois Township, Newton County, Indiana, one and a
half miles from Foresman, near what is known as the old Indian
Ford, December 31, 1896. It was shipped to a firm on South Water
street, Chicago, where Mr. F. M. Woodruff obtained it, and it is now
in his collection. He obtained the information given above from the
postmaster at Foresman, Indiana, and kindly sent it to me.

The Bulletin of the Michigan Ornithological Club, January, 1897,
p. 10, refers to a Murre identified as Uria troile, which Mr. N. A.
Wood infornis me is shown by reéxamination to be Uria lomvia. The
specimen is an adult male and was shot from a flock of several near
Gibraltar, Michigan, December 26, 1896, by some duck hunters. The
specimen is, I understand, in the museum of the University of Michi-
gan at Ann Arbor. In the same publication, on page 8, is a reference
to two Black Guillemots taken at the St. Clair Flats near Detroit,
Michigan. From a letter received from Mr. W. A. Davidson, Detroit,
Michigan, I gather that one of the two birds noted is in the possession
of Mr. C. Havens of that city. The other belongs to a lighthouse-
Brirps or INDIANA. 567

keeper, whose name he does not know, at the St. Clair Flats. Evi-
dently both specimens are Uria lomvia. It is possible a careful
examination of the specimens will show that these also belong to this
species.

Briinnich’s Murre has, as I have been informed, been reported the
present winter from other interior localities. It has, I believe, how-
ever, never before been authentically reported far from the ocean. Mr.
Robert Ridgway informs me that they have this winter ranged. down
the Atlantic coast as far as South Carolina. It would seem probable
that some storm had driven them far out of their usual range. Evi-
dently those noted herein were carried inland and dispersed about the
same time, perhaps by the same storm. They were all taken within a
few days. Only twenty-one days elapsed from the date when the first
was obtained until the last was in the hands of a naturalist. This is
its first record from Indiana, except that reported by Mr. Warner
which, unfortunately, is not verified by the specimen. It will be of
interest to hear of other records of the occurrence of this species
inland. It will be noted that there is a specimen preserved in a public
museum in Indiana and in Michigan to verify the records from those
States. It is to be hoped that one of the Ohio specimens may be
secured for a like purpose.

B. Orper LONGIPENNES. Lone-wixcep SwiMMERS.

IV. Famiry STERCORARIIDA. Skvuas ann JAEGERS.

a!, No white at base of the primaries; tarsus longer than middle toe with claw;
middle tail feathers, in adult, projecting much beyond the others.
STERCORARIUS. 6

5. Gexus STERCORARIUS Brisson.

a). Bill 1.45 or more; tarsus 2.00 or more. 8S. pomarinus (Temm.). 8

8. (86.) Stercorarius pomarinus (Tzmw.).

Pomarine Jaeger.

Adult, Light Phase——Middle tail feathers projecting about four
inches, not pointed; bill, 1.45 or more; tarsus, 2.00 or more. “Top
and sides of head, with upper parts, sooty slate or dusky; rest of head
and neck, including nape, together with lower parts, white, the ear-
covert region tinged with straw-yellow, and the lower tail-coverts
slaty. Young.—Head, neck and lower parts, dull buff, everywhere
barred with dusky; upper parts, brownish dusky, the feathers of back,
568 REPoRT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

etc., tipped with buff, the rump and upper tail-coverts spotted with
same. Adult, Dark Phase Entirely dark, sooty slate, with a plumbe-
ous cast in certain lights. Young.—Entirely sooty slate, the lower
parts more or less barred with buff.” (Ridgw.) The descriptions are
of extreme examples of coloration. Specimens are found showing
every possible intermediate condition of plumage.

Length, 20.00-23.00; wing, 13.50-14.00; tail, 8.00-9.00; bill, 1.45-
1.75; tarsus, 2.00-2.10.

Ranez.—Northern portion of Northern Hemisphere, principally on
the seas, but also visiting the larger inland waters. In America, south
to Nebraska, Great Lakes and New Jersey. Breeds far northward.

Nest, of moss and grass on the ground. Hggs, 2 to 3, grayish-olive,
spotted with brown.

The only record I know of its occurrence is that given by Dr. A. W.
Brayton (Trans. Ind. Hort. Soc., 1879, p. 150): “A rare winter vis-
itant to Lake Michigan. October 9, 1876, in company with my friend,
Mr. E. W. Nelson, * * * we saw a fine specimen of this bird
flying along the lake shore near the State line.” Mr. EH. W. Nelson
notes a record under the same date which is possibly the same. Birds
of Northeastern Illinois, p.145.) Prof. E. L. Moseley reports a specimen
shot at Sandusky, Ohio, October, 1889, and the late W. H. Collins
reported one specimen taken on the Detroit River, and now in the
collection of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, Massa-
chusetts. (Cook. Birds of Michigan ,p. 31.) From these notes it
would appear that the bird is of occasional occurrence on the Great
Lakes in fall, and doubtless in winter and spring. They spend the
warmer parts of the year far to the northward, much of the time fre-
quenting places where other water. fowl, particularly Terns, congre-
gate. They prey upon Gulls and Terns. By reason of their powerful
wings they overtake their victim and compel it to drop or disgorge its
food. They are called “Pirates,” “Gullchasers,” “Sea Hawks” and
“Jaegers” (hunters), each of which terms represent some one’s
attempt to fit the birds with a name that will express their notable
habits. Mr. Basil Hicks Dutcher has given a good account of the
habits of birds of this genus on the Long Island coast in The Auk,
April 1889, pp. 125-126.
Brirps oF INDIANA. 569

V. Famury LARIDZ. Gutts anp Trrns.

a) Bill more or less hooked; general color chiefly white with a darker bluish-gray
or slaty mantle. Subfamily Lanina. GuLLs.

b1. Hind toe rudimentary or wanting, with minute claw or none. _—_—‘Rissa.

b?, Hind toe small, but with perfect claw.
ce}, Tail even. Larus. 6
e?. Tail forked. XEMA.

a?, Bill not hooked, but narrow and pointed, the mandibles even; tail (in our
species), deeply forked. Subfamily Sterninz. TERNS.
d!. Tail much more than one-third length of wing, its outer feathers narrow
and pointed; toes well webbed.
e!. Bill stout, its depth at base equal to one-third length of culmen.
GELOCHELIDON.

e*, Bill slender, its depth at base not one-third its length. Srerna. 7
d?, Tail little more than one-third wing; its outer feathers broad and
rounded. HyprocHe.ipon. 8

z

SUBFAMILY LARIN . GULLS.
6. Genus LARUS Linnaus.

 

Bill of a Gull much reduced,

a, Length over 18.
61. Primaries without black; pearl-gray, fading gradually into white at tips.

e1, Wing over 16.50. L. glaucus Briinn. 9

c?. Wing 16.50 or less. L. leucopterus Faber. 10

62. Primaries crossed with black; shafts of primaries black in the black mark-
ings.

d'. Length over 22.; white tips of outer primary separated from the other
white by band of black. lL. argentatus smithsonianus Coues. 11
d?. Length 20. or less. L. delawarensis Ord. 12
a?, Length under 16.
e!, Bill and feet reddish ; wing over 1]. L. franklinii Sw. & Rich. 13
e?, Bill black; feet red or yellow; wing under 11.
L. philadelphia (Ord). 14

9. (42.) Larus glaucus Bruyn.
Glaucous Gull.
Synonym, BURGOMASTER.

Adult.—“Plumage, pure white, except the mantle, which is grayish-
blue; bill, gamboge yellow, with a carmine patch toward the end of
570 REPoRT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

the lower mandible; feet, flesh color.” Young.—Above, yellowish-
white, mottled with pale brown; breast and lower parts, gray; tail,
white, mottled with brown.

Length, 26.00-32.00; wing, 16.75-18.75; tail, 7.40-8.50; bill,
2.30-2.70.

Rance.—Northern part of Northern Hemisphere. In America,
south to the Great Lakes and Long Island. Breeds from Greenland
and Hudson Bay north.

Nest, of seaweed, grass and moss on ground. Hggs, 2-3, white,
ashy or grayish-brown; 3.05 by 2.21.

Occasional visitor along Lake Michigan. Mr. J. W. Byrkit informs
me of its occurrence near Michigan City. Mr. F. M. Woodruff has a
beautiful specimen in white plumage that he killed at Millers, Ind.,
August 8,1897. Prof. A. J. Cook reports it from Michigan localities,
notably St. Joseph County, 1892. He also refers to the fact that Prof.
Ludwige Kumlein has taken several specimens at Milwaukee, Wis.
(Birds of Michigan, p. 31). Mr. E. W. Nelson (Birds of Northeastern
Illinois, p. 145) notes that Dr. Hoy had taken three of these gulls near
Racine, Wis. Careful attention needs to be paid to the larger gulls
upon the lakes and larger streams during the colder portions of the
year, in order that more accurate information may be had concerniny
them. Mr. L. M. Turner (Contr. to N. H. of Alaska, 1887, p. 125)
says this gull is the ealiest bird to arrive at St. Michaels, a few reach-
ing there by the middle of April. Mr. Nelson (Cruise of the Steamer
Corwin in the Arctic Ocean, p. 106) notes the different surroundings
of this gull in Behring Sea, where it breeds on all the islands and
shores, from those peculiar to it on the North Atlantic coast, where it
is known as Ice Gull, and is so well known as the accompaniment of
the ice pack of that region.

10. (43) Larus leucopterus Fazer.
Iceland Gull.

Synonym, WHITE-WINGED GULL.

Adult—“Primaries entirely white, or palest possible pearly-blue,
fadinginsensibly into white at some distance from the end; their shafts
straw-color; mantle, palest pearly blue; bill, yellow, with vermillion
spot on lower mandible; feet, flesh colored or pale yellowish. In
Winter —Head and neck slightly touched with dusky. Young.—Im-
pure white, with or without trace of pearly on the mantle; head, neck
and upper parts mottled with pale brownish, sometimes quite dusky
Brrps oF INDIANA. 571

on the back, the under parts a nearly uniform but very faint shade of
the same, the quills and tail often imperfectly barred with the same.”
(Wheaton).

Length, 24.00-26.00; wing, 14.75-16.50; tail, 6.00-6.70; bill,
1.60-1.70.

RANGE.—Circumpolar regions. In America, south in winter to-
Massachusetts and the Great Lakes.

Nest, similar to that of L. glaucus. Hggs, similar, but smaller, 2.79
by 1.85.

Like the last mentioned species this is but an occasional winter visi-
tor to the northern part of the State. Hon. R. Wes. McBride reports it
from Dekalb County. It is noted by Nelson (Birds of Northeastern Ili-
nois, p. 145) as: “A regular and not uncommon winter resident on
Lake Michigan.” Dr. A. W. Brayton (Trans. Indiana Hort. Soc.,
1879, p. 150) also notes it as: “Not uncommon winter resident on
Lake Michigan.” This gull and the last species leave early and pass
northward as rapidly as the waters open. According to Mr. E. W.
Nelson (N. H. Coll. in Alaska, 1887, pp. 52 and 54) this is perhaps
the most abundant gull along the coasts of Alaska, about the islands
of Behring Sea, and along the lower Yukon River. Along the upper
Yukon it is replaced by the American Herring Gull.

ll, (Sla.) Larus argentatus smithsonianus Covers.
American Herring Gull.

Synonym, Sea GULL.

Adult in Summer.—Yeet, flesh color; bill, yellow, with a red spot;
first primary tipped with white and separated from the larger white
spot by a black bar; most of remainder of outer web black, and of
inner web white: the second primary tipped similarly, and other pri-
maries to and including the sixth, tipped with white; mantle, pale
dull blue; the remainder of the plumage white. Adult in Winter—
‘Similar, but head and neck streaked with dusky. Immature—“At
first almost entire fuscous or sooty-brown, the feathers of the back,
white-tipped or not; size, at the minimum given. As it grows old, it
gradually lightens; the head, neck and under parts are usually quite
whitish before the markings of the quills are apparent, and before the
blue begins to show, as it'does, in patches mixed with brown; the
black on the tail narrows to a bar, which disappears before the pri-
maries gain their perfect pattern.

Length, 22.50-26.00; wing, 16.25-17.50; bill, 1.95-2.50.
572 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Raner.—North America, from Cuba and Lower California to
Labrador and Alaska. Breeds from Maine and Michigan northward.

Nest, on ground or in trees; of grass. Hggs, 3, bluish white spotted
and marked with different shades of brown, 2.85 by 2.01.

Common migrant throughout the State; locally, a winter visitor or
winter resident. They occasionally remain throughout the winter in
great numbers, especially on Lake Michigan, and in less numbers
along the Ohio River. During winter floods they may be seen about
any of the streams of the State. This is the most common gull
found in the State, and is known popularly as “Sea Gull.” In the
Whitewater Valley it is most abundant in February and March,
though it is sometimes seen in January, and in October. Mr. J. W.
Byrkit notes that its occurrence about Michigan City is irregular. At
times they will be very abundant, and then all will disappear for some
time. Mr. J. Grafton Parker says in the vicinity of Chicago and at
Millers, Ind., they are very common on Lake Michigan in winter.
Hundreds of these birds congregate at the outlets of the sewers of
Chicago, in the lake. They leave for the north in April, and are
found breeding on Isle Royale, Gull Island, Thunder Bay Island,
Mich., and other islands in the great lakes, and thence northward and
along the Atlantic coast. As has been noted, these gulls frequent the
upper Yukon Valley, and are replaced in the lower valley by L.
leucopterus. Isle Royale is a well-known breeding ground for these
birds. There they gather in great numbers before the ice has
gone, and proceed to build nests, which vary from a hollow in the
accumulations on the rocks to a mass of peat-like material, rootlets,
moss and grass matted together placed upon the rocks, the gravelly
beach, masses of driftwood on the shore, and even upon the rapidly
.melting icebergs themselves. In these nests the set of eggs, generally
three, is laid some time after the first of May. (Daggett in O. & O.,
July, 1890, pp. 99, 100.) These birds suffer much from the plunder-
ing of fishermen and eggers. Finally, however, their work is done.
What eggs have been left them are hatched, the young reared, and
they turn their flight southward. They reach the lower end of Lake
Michigan late in September, and occasionally the Ohio Valley early in
October.

12. (54.) Larus delawarensis (Orp).
Ring-billed Gull.
Adult in Summer—Similar to the last, but smaller; first primary

black, but with a white spot on each web near the end; the second and
succeeding primaries tipped with white, and the feathers one after
Birps oF INDIANA. 573

the other becoming lighter; “bill, greenish-yellow, encircled with a
black band near the end, usually complete, sometimes defective; the
tip and most of the cutting edges of the bill yellow; in high condition
the angle of the mouth, and a small spot beside the black, red; feet
olivaceous, obscured with dusky or bluish, and partly yellow; the web,
bright chrome.” Immature—Similar to the same stage of the last
species. All the changes are substantially the same as those of the
species just described.
Length, 18.00-20.00; wing, 13.60-15.75; bill, 1.55-1.75.
Ranez.—North America, from Cuba and Mexico to Labrador and
Manitoba. Breeds from North Dakota and Michigan northward.
Nest, oni ground, in a depression; of grass. Eggs, 3 to 4, dark cream
or buffy, blotched with brown and lavender gray, 2.39 by 1.71.
Regular migrant and local winter resident in the same localities as
the last mentioned species. Mr. J. Grafton Parker says of it in the
vicinity of Chicago, on Lake Michigan: “Quite common winter resi-
dent. Not so abundant as the Herring Gull. I have often found
large numbers of these gulls collected at the sewer outlets into Lake
Michigan. They stay here during the winter, except when we have
our severe cold snaps. Then they go south.” He also reports a large
flock of old and young at Miller’s, Ind., October 26, 1893. Over the
State generally they are seen most numerously as migrants in March,
April and May. They resemble the Herring Gull, except they are
smaller and have the ring around the bill. Like the Herring Gull,
they go north among the islands of the Great Lakes, and among the
interior lakes of the northern United States and of the British posses-
sions to breed. Mr. Charles L. Cass informs me of their breeding on
the Beaver Islands, near Petoskey, Mich. It breeds abundantly on
Gull Island, near Escanaba. Mr. Stebbins found this species and
the Common Tern occupying an island about an acre in extent in
Devil’s Lake, Dakota, the first week of June. Mr. Stebbins says: “I
don’t suppose you could lay down a two-foot rule anywhere without
each end of it striking a nest. It was common to find the terns and
gulls breeding side by side. Most of the gulls’ nests were in the grass,
while those of the terns were in the sand. I did not find a gull’s nest
with more htan three eggs, and a very few with two; whereas, several
hollows were found with as many as eighteen terns’ eggs in them,
which had rolled together. Mr. Frazer noted them nesting in Labra-
dor. Mr. E. E. Thompson notes them as breeding at Lake Winnepeg.
Neither they, nor the Herring Gull, ordinarily reach the Arctic coast,
but the northern limit of their breeding range seems to be unknown.
574 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

13. (59.) Larus franklinii Sw. ayp Ricu.

Franklin’s Gull.

Adult Male—“Eyelids, neck, rump, tail, and lower parts white,
the latter, with the under part of the wings, deeply tinged with rich,
rosy red; hood, black, descending downwards on the nape and throat;
mantle and wings, bluish-gray; a band of black crosses the five outer
primaries near the end; all the quill feathers are tipped with white.
Young.—Changing with age as with other birds of this class.” (Me-
Ilwraith.)

Length, 13.50-15.00; wing, 11.25; bill, 1.30.

Ranex.—Western South America, from Chili north through the
interior of North America to the Arctic regions. Breeds from Lowa
northward.

Nest, old water-soaked marsh vegetation about open water in
marshy lakes. Eggs, 1-3; ground color from dark chocolate, sooty,
creamy-brown and dirty-white, through all the shades of light green
and light drab; variously marked with blotches or spots of umber,
wreathed at larger end, and with lilac shell markings, 2.04 by 1.38.

Occasional migrant. It has been occasionally seen by Mr. J. W.
Byrkit at Michigan City. Mr. Robert Ridgway has frequently seen
gulls on the Wabash River, which he was disposed to regard as speci-~
mens of Larus atrictila, but which, after an acquaintance with that
species, he considers as being more probably L. franklinit. (Dr.
Wheaton, Birds of Ohio, p. 551.)

This gull is a bird of the interior, and not of the sea. Its migra-
tions are through the interior of North America, and it breeds in the
interior from southwestern Minnesota and Dakota northward
through Manitoba. The northern limit of its breeding range has not
been noted, and it is not given by the reports on Alaskan ornithology
as having been taken in that region. Occasionally specimens are
taken east of the Mississippi River, though the bulk of the species.
migrates to the westward of that stream. It has been reported from
Dlinois, near Warsaw (Bull. Nuttall. Orn. Club, Vol. V, p. 32); from
Milwaukee, Wis. (Nelson, Birds of Northeastern Illinois, p. 146);
mouth of Fox River, Wis. (Cooke, Bird Migration in Mis-
sissippi Valley, 1888, pp. 56-7); and near Hamilton Ontario (Me-
Ilwraith, Birds of Ontario, p. 49). An interesting account of their
habits and nesting in Western Minnesota is given in the Ornithologist
and Oologist, Vol. XI, 1886, pp. 54 and 55, from which I have gath-
ered the description of the nest and eggs.

°
Brrps oF INDIANA. 575

14. (60.) Larus philadelphia (Oxp).
Bonaparte’s Gull.

Adult in Summer.—Size small; bill, black; mantle, pearly-blue;
hood, slaty plumbeous, with white touches on the eyelids; many wing
coverts white; feet chrome yellow, tinged with coral red, webs, ver-
milion; primaries, first five or six with the shafts white, except at tip;
first white, with outer web and extreme tip black; second white, more
broadly crossed with black; third to sixth or eighth, with the black
successively lessening. Adult in Winter—With no hood but a black
auricular spot. Immature.—Mottled and patched above with brown
or gray, and usually a dusky bar on the wing; the tail, with a black
bar; the primaries, with more black; the bill, dusky; much of the
lower mandible, flesh-colored or yellowish, as are the feet.”

Length, 12.00-14.00; wing, 9:50-10:50; bill, 1.12-1.25, very slender.

Rancz.—North America, from Bermudas to Hudson Bay, Labra-
dor, and Alaska. Breeds from northern United States northward.
Winters from Indiana and Illinois southward.

Nest, in tree or bush, or on stump; of sticks and grass, lined with
soft material. Hggs, 3-4, grayish olive, tinged with greenish, and
spotted with brown, 1.97 by 1.40.

Common migrant and rare winter visitor. Dr. J. L. Haneock in-
forms me that while visiting Wolf Lake, in May, 1882, he was given
a fresh specimen of a female of Bonaparte’sGull by a duck hunter, who
had shot it near by. At the same time he was handed two quite fresh
eggs, which were said to be those of the gull. The same day he saw an-
other specimen flying over the same site, which was presumed to be the
male. May 20, 1882, he saw three of these Gulls at different times
during the day, one of which was shot for identification. The bulk
of the species had gone further north to nest. It is best known as 2
migrant. In the Whitewater Valley I have never found it earlier
than March 12. From that date until A’pril 21 it may be looked for.
It is not so common in fall on its way southward. In the northern
part of the State, particularly in the vicinity of Lake Michigan, it is
more numerous. There they remain until May, then depart to return
again in October. They are reported to breed in the St. Clair Flats
(Collins’ Bull. Nuttall Orn. Club, Vol. V, 1880, p. 62), and on some
of the islands of Saginaw Bay (Cook, Birds of Mich., p. 33), but I am
not aware that this has been verified. It breeds generally on all the
lakes of any size from the northern border of the United States, from
the Atlantic to the Pacific coasts, toward the Arctic Ocean. On the
576 Report oF State GEOLOGIST.

Alaskan coast of Bering Sea it is rare, and there is no record of its
presence along the shore of the Arctic Ocean (Nelson, Cruise of the
Corwin, p. 108). It has been noted as breeding at Ft. Yukon, along the
Nelson River, and at York Factory on Hudson’s Bay (Mcllwraith,
Birds of Ontario, p. 50).

Supramity STERNIN”. Terns.

; 7. Genus STERNA Linn-zvus.
a}, Wing more than 9.00.
b1, Both webs of outer tail feathers white. S. dougalli Montag. 17
62. Both webs of outer tail feathers not white.
c!. Outer tail feathers with inner web dusky ; outer web white.
S. fosteri Nutt. 15

c?, Outer tail feathers with inner web white; outer web dusky.
S. hirundo Linn. 16
a?, Wing under 7. S. antillarum Less. 18

Subgenus STERNA.

15. (69.) Sterna forsteri Nurr.

Forster’s Tern.

Adult in Summer.—Tail deeply forked; whole top of head black;
other upper parts pearl gray; outer web of the outside pair of tail
feathers white; inner web grayish or dusky toward the end; tips of
secondaries, rump, sides of head, and lower parts white; bill dull
orange, the tip blackish; edges of eyelids, black; legs and feet, orange
red. Adult in Winter—Similar, but top of head grayish; patch
around eye, and over ear coverts black; tail not so deeply forked.
Immature.—Above, including head, brownish, back and crown nearly
uniform; tail feathers (except the outer web of the outer pair) tipped
with dusky; bill dusky.

Length, 12.00-15.00; wing, 9.50-10.30; tail, 5.00-7.70; depth of
fork, 2.30-5.00; bill, 1.50-1.65.

Ranex.—America, from Brazil to Virginia on Atlantic coast, to
Manitoba in the interior. Breeds locally from Gulf of Mexico north-
ward. Winters from Gulf coast southward.

Nest, a collection of marsh vegetation, placed upon drift or on the
ground. Hggs, 3, varying from pale greenish to warm brownish drab,
spotted with different shades of brown, 1.78 by 1.23.

Most places this tern is a rare migrant, but during the fall it is
exceedingly abundant on Lake Michigan. Mr. B. W. Evermann noted
it in Vigo County April 28 and May 19, 1888. Several specimens
have been taken on Lake Maxinkuckee (Ulrey and Wallace, Proce. T.
A. §., 1895, p. 149). Mr. Charles L. Cass noted one in Steuben
pr

Birps oF INDIANA. 577

County, August 26, 1894. He also reports it as breeding at the St.
Clair Flats, Mich. Mr. J. Grafton Parker notes it on Lake Michigan in
April, August, September, and the early part of October. He reports
one specimen taken at Miller’s, Ind., August 13, 1896. He says that
while a few Forster’s Terns can be found during August at Miller’s,
in company with Wilson’s, the bulk does not arrive until in September,
after the Common Terns have gone south. Then enormous flocks
can be seen flying south at Colehour, IIl., and Millers, Ind. It goes
north to breed, but is the most common tern on Lake Michigan dur-
ing the fall. Mr. E. W. Nelson, in Birds of Northeastern Illinois,
notes its breeding there in small, reedy lakes. The young were able
to fly about the middle of July. He gives the following account of
its breeding: “Although I have been aware that 8. forsteri nested in
this vicinity for several years, it was not until the middle of June,
1876, that I had the pleasure of examining one of their nests. While
we were collecting eggs among one of the wild rice patches, on Grass
Lake, June 14, Mr. Douglass observed a pair of these terns hovering
near a small patch of Saggitaria leaves growing in several feet of
water, and rowing to the spot found the nest, which was a loosely
built structure of coarse pieces of reeds resting upon a mass of floating
plants, and concealed from view by the surrounding leaves. Upon
the side of the nest was a single young bird, about to scramble into
the water, but upon seeing Mr. Douglass, it crouched to avoid being
observed, and was captured. A thorough search at the time failed to
reveal any other young ones, so the adults, which had been darting
and screaming about his head, were secured, with a second pair, which
had espoused the cause of their companions. Their anxiety we after-
wards found to be the proximity of an unfinished nest, similarly situ-.
ated. That evening we found and secured two more young upon the
nest found in the morning. The next morning fortune favored me,
and, while passing between several floating masses of decaying vege-
table matter, I observed four small heaps of wild rice stalks resting
upon one of these masses, and, on a nearer view, to my delight, they
proved to be the desired nests, containing eggs. The nests were situ-
ated in a line, and the two outer ones were not over twenty-five feet
apart. The only materials used were pieces of wild rice stems, which
were obviously brought from some distance, as the nearest patch of
rice was several rods distant. The nests were quite bulky, the bases
being two feet or more in diameter. The greatest depth was about
eight inches, and the depression in the center so deep that, while sit-
ting in the boat a rod away, the eggs were not visible. Two of the
nests contained three eggs, and two contained two eggs, each. The
37—GEOL
578 Report OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

following are the measurements of three of tlfe eggs, representing the
amount of ‘variation: 1:70 by 1.25, 1.75 by 1.20, 1.68 by 1.23. The
ground color varies from pale greenish to warm, brownish-drab. The
spots and shell markings are of a varying shade of brown, distributed
much as in the other terns’ eggs.”

16. (70.) Sterna hirundo Livny.

Common Tern.

Synonyms, Sra SwaLLow, Witson’s Tern.

Adult in Summer.—Similar to S. forsteri, but with the outer web
of outside pair of tail feathers grayish or dusky, the inner web whits;
below, pale gray or grayish-white, whitening on the throat, and white
on crissum; bill, red, blackish toward the tip; feet, red, lighter than
bill. Adult in Winter—Similar, but with forehead and crown white.
Immature.—Similar, but the crown with more or less grayish; the
upper parts with more or less buffy or brownish; tail, shorter; bill,
brownish.

Length, 13.00-16.00; wing, 9.75-11.75; tail, 5.00-7.00; depth of
fork, 3.50; bill, 1.25-1.50.

RancE.—Northern part of Northern Hemisphere. In America,
breeding locally from Florida and Arizona to Arctic coast. Winters
from Virginia to Bermudas and Lower California.

£iggs, 2-8, generally deposited in a depression in the sand, varying
from greenish to deep brown, spotted and blotched with brown,
blackish, and lilac, 1.62 by 1.24.

.» Migrant; in. some localities abundant. Some remain throughout
the summer in the northern part of the State, where it may breed.
These birds are later arriving in the spring and earlier returning in
the fall than the last mentioned species. I have no record earlier
than May 2, and generally it is the latter part of the month when
they are chiefly noted. They seem to.mark the end of the spring
migrations. I noted one on the Whitewater River, June 3, 1884,
which is the latest spring record for the southern part of the State.
They leave for the south in August. It has been reported from Franklin
County, Carroll and Marshall (Evermann), Monroe (Bollman), Allen
(Stockbridge), Putnam (Farlle), Steuben (Cass), Laporte (Barber).
Lake (Parker, Meyer and Tallman). This species is the common tern
of the Atlantic coast, but Forster’s is more common in the interior.
They are said to breed at St. Clair Flats, on Heisterman’s Island, in
Saginaw Bay, “on muskrat houses in marshes,” and in the Upper
Birps oF INDIANA. 579

Peninsula of Michigan (Cook, Birds of Michigan, p. 34). Mr. Ridg-
way notes that it breeds at Lake Koshkonong, Wis. (Birds of Ill., Voi.
ll, p. 247). From there they breed in suitable localities northward
to the Arctic coast. They have not been reported from Alaska (See
article by William Brewster, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, 1879, p. 18).

17, (72) Sterna dougalli Montae.
Roseate Tern.

Adult in Siummer.—Top of head and nape uniform black; mantle
pale pearly-blue; upper tail coverts and tail silvery white; below pure
white, tinged with pink; bill black, reddish at base; feet, coral-red.
Winter and Immature——Plumages change as in other species.

Length, 14.00-17.00; wing, 9.25-9.75; tail, 7.25-7.75; depth of fork,
3.50-4,50; B., 1.50.

Rance.—North America, from West Indies and Central America
on the Atlantic coast to Massachusetts; casually to Nova Scotia; ac-
cidental in the interior. Breeds throughout its United States range.
Winters south of the United States.

Eggs, 3, deposited on ground, similar to those of the last species,
1.65 by 1.12.

Accidental visitor. Rare. Nothing has ben added to the history of
this bird in Indiana. I know of no other record of its occurrence in
the State than that given by Dr. Haymond, in Proceedings Philadel-
phia Academy of Science, 1859, and later in the Indiana Geological
Survey, 1869. Dr. Wheaton gave it upon the authority of Mr. Wins-
low as occurring on Lake Erie (Birds of Ohio, p. 562); Dr. Langdon
notes its occurrence near Cincinnati (Revised List of Cincinnati Birds,
p. 21); Prof. Cook and Dr. Gibbs both give it as a bird of Michigan.
The former refers to a specimen recorded in the list of the collection
of the Kent Scientific Institute. Of course, its occurrence in the in-
terior can only be considered accidental.

Suncexts STERNULA Bois.
*18. (74.) Sterna antillarum (Less.).

Least Tern.

Adult in Summer.—Very small; “bill yellow, usually tipped with
black; mantle, pale pearly grayish blue, unchanged on the rump and
tail; a white frontal erescent, separating the black from the bill,
bounded below by a black loral stripe reaching the bill; shafts of two
or more of the outer primaries, black on the upper surface, white un-
derneath; feet, orange.” (Wheaton). Adult in Winter—Similar;
580 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

the lores, forehead and crown, grayish-white, pure white in front; bill,
dull yellow or dusky; feet, pale yellow. Immature——Similar to last,
but lesser wing coverts dusky; scapulars with V-shaped dusky marks.

Length, 8.50-9.75; wing, 6.60; tail, 3.50; depth of fork, 1.75; bill,
1.20.

Raner.—America, from Trinidad and Central Americdé to Massa-
chusetts and Minnesota, and California casually to Labrador. Breeds
throughout most of its range. Winters south of the United States.

Nest, a hollow in the ground. Eggs, 2-4; drab or buff, spotted with
brown and lilac.

Rare migrant over most of the State. A few are summer residents
in the northern part. The only record from the southern part of the
State is a specimen taken near Brookville, August 22, 1887, which is
now in my collection. Mr. L. T. Meyer notes having seen it through
the summer months in Lake County, and Dr. J. L. Hancock found a
nest containing three eggs at Wolf Lake, Ind., June 5, 1882. Four
birds were seen at the time. The nest was simply a depression on a
pile of reeds in an almost inaccessible portion of a small inlet of
water. The same gentleman informs me that Mr. George Clingman
found it nesting at Hyde Park, [l., May 27, 1875. He notes it was
common some years ago, but is now rather rare. Prof. Cook notes
it as a breeder at St. Clair Flats. Mr. Ridgway says it doubtless
breeds in Illinois, although to his knowledge there is no record of its
doing so. (Birds of Illinois, Vol. II, p. 248.)

Genus HYDROCHELIDON Bois.

a), Tail not deeply forked; toes slightly webbed; black below in summer.
H. nigra surinamensis Gmel. 19

*19. (77.) Hydrochelidon nigra surinamensis (GMEL.).
Black Tern.

Synonym, SHORT-TAILED TERN,

Adult in Summer.—‘Head, neck and under parts uniform jet black;
back, wings and tail plumbeous; primaries unstriped; crissum pure
white; bill black. Adult in Winter and Immature.—The black almost
replaced by white on the forehead, sides of head and under parts; the
crown, occiput, and neck behind, with the sides under the wings, being
dusky gray; a dark auricular patch and another before the eye.”
Young.—The upper parts marked with dull brown.

Length, 9.25-9.75; wing, 8.25; tail, 3.75; depth of fork, .90; bill,
1.10.
Birps oF INDIANA. 581

Ranez.—America, from Chili to Alaska. Breeds in the interior
from Indiana and Kansas northward. Winters south of the United
States.

Nest, of grass, sedges, etc., on an elevation in a marsh or a de-
pression in floating drift. Eggs, 3; brown or greenish, spotted and
blotched with different shades of brown and lilac; 1.35 by .98.

Regular migrant in the southern part of the State and a summer
resident about marshy lakes, at least from the Kankakee River north-
ward. In some localities it breeds commonly. In the Whitewater Valley
I have never found it common, but occasionally in May it may be seen
moving northward. In this vicinity I have never found it in the fall.
Mr. R. R. Moffitt reports it from White County as early as April, where
he says it is to be found from April to August. Knox County,
April 18, 1888. (Balmer.) They usually are noted in spring in May,
and pass directly northward to their summer homes. The dates re-
ported from the lakes of northwest Indiana are as early as are those of
themost southerly stations. From May 6 to 15 they are first seen. About
the marshes they are usually noted in flocks of ten to forty, and it is
not unusual that a number of these birds are in immature plumage.
They may be seen flying over the waters of the lake, skimming
the surface of the marsh, and sometimes, swallow-like, insect catching
over the wet meadows or even the dryer pasture land. While flying
they utter a peculiar cry, sounding something like krik! krik! krik!
Their principal food is insects. Often one may approach their homes
and find none flying, but a canoe voyage through the marsh will show
them sitting upon masses of roots of upturned pond lilies or other
floating material. They nest upon floating half-decayed vegetation or
other debris often where the water is not over two feet deep. Two
broods appear to be reared in a season, as eggs are taken in May and
July. I am indebted to Mr. Ruthven Deane, of Chicago, IIl., for
the following notes furnished him by Mr. Joseph E. Gould, of Colum-
bus, O. He visited English Lake twice, once each in June and July,
1891, and gives the following results of his observations upon the breed-
ing habits of these Terns. He says: “I found the Black Terns nesting in
what I suppose you call the ‘South Marsh.’ My first trip to the lake
was made on June 17. The water was very high, and we were able to
push our boat through the marsh at will. The nests were mere de-
pressions made in the mass of floating drift. This drift was frequently
very compact and dotted with growing vegetation. Sometimes a nest
was found on a bunch of drift no larger than my hat. In no instance
was more than one nest found on a drift, but in favorable localities
two or three nests would be found within a small space. We were too
582 REporT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

early to find full sets of eggs, but on July 1, when at the lake for one
day, I secured several sets of three. Owing to the color of the eggs,
the nests are sometimes hard to find, but if one remains quiet he will
soon see the birds, which have gathered over his head on his first
approach, silently returning to their nests, which can then be readily
located. I caught several pair despoiling a nest of the Grebe
(Podilymbus podiceps). I was attracted to the spot by the:cries of the
Terns, and found them hovering over the nest, which was a new one,
containing two or more eggs, as I found one in the nest and one in the
water lodged among the grass.” Mr. J. Grafton Parker, Jr., says they
breed abundantly about Hyde and Calumet lakes, Ill., and Wolf Lake,
Ind. Mr. C. E. Aiken notes them as breeding abundantly in the
marshes of the Calumet and Kankakee rivers. Mr. Charles Barber
says they breed in Laporte County. © Mr. R. R. Moffitt took two young.
in White County, May 17, 1886. I know of no record of their breed-
ing in the north-central or northeastern part of the State. After the
young are grown they collect with the adults in flocks about the lakes
and along the sluggish rivers of the breeding region and remain until
August or early September, at which time they pass to the southward.
It is possible that some remain into October or even early November.

C. OrpER STEGANOPODES. TotreanMatTe SWIMMERS.

VI. Famiry ANHINGIDA. Darrers.

Character same as family. ANHINGA. 9
9. Genus ANHINGA Brisson.

VI. Famiry ANHINGIDA. Dunrers.

a’. Chiefly black; greenish luster above neck with hair-like plumes.
A.anhinga Linn 20

20. (118.) Anhinga anhinga (Liny.).
Anhinga.

Synonym, SNAKE Burp.

Adult in Summer.—Head, neck and body glossy greenish-black;
other parts deep black: wing coverts streaked with gray: tail tipped
with whitish; head and neck with hair-like feathers, the forward ones
dirty white, the others black. Adult Male in Winter—Similar. but
lacking hair-like feathers. Adult Female in Summer—Head. neck
and breast grayish buff, a band of chestnut separating it from the
‘Binps oF INDIANA. 583

belly; neck with a few whitish feathers; rest of plumage black. Adult
Female in Winter—Similar, but lacking the whitish feathers on the
neck. Immature.—Similar to the last, but lighter.

Length, 32.25-36.00; wing, 14:00; tail, 11.00; ‘bill, 3:25. :

RaNnGe.—Tropical and subtropical America, north to North Caro-
lina and southern Illinois; casually to Indiana and northern Michigan.
Breeds in the southern part of its United States range.

Nest, in bushes or trees, over water. Eggs, 3-5; bluish- or greenish-
white; 2.15 by 1.35.

The Anhinga can only be counted as an accidental visitor in In-
diana. Mr. Robert Ridgway says: “It appears to be a regular summer
resident in the extreme southern portion of Illinois,” referring partic-
ularly to the vicinity of Cairo. (Birds of Wlinois, Vol. II, 209.) There
are but ‘two records for this State. Mr. J. E. Beasley, of Lebanon,
Ind., for many years a resident of Indianapolis, informs me that he
killed a pair of Anhingas on the “Broad Cut” of the canal, just north
of the latter city, in 1858. Mr. Fletcher M. Noe, of Indianapolis,
says he received a male which was killed some two miles south of that
city, on White River. Prof. B. W. Evermann noted Mr. Noe’s report
of this in the “American Naturalist,” March, 1887, -p. 291. Mr. Charles
Dury, of Avondale, Cincinati, O., informs me that he has in his collec-
tion an Anhinga brought from Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., by Mr. Roach,
who obtained it from the man who shot it. This is indeed very much
out of its range.

VIL Famrry PHALACROCORACIDAE. Cormorants.

Character same as family. PHALACROCORAX. 10

10. Genus PHALACROCORAX Brisson.

a’, Tail feathers 12; breeding plumage with supercilliary crests black.
b!, Length 30.00 or more. Pp. dilophus (Sw. & Rich.). 21
b?. Length less than 30.00, P. ‘dilophus floridanus Aud. 22

Subgenus PHALACRICORAX.
21. (120.) Phalacrocorax dilophus (Sw. & Ricu.).
Double-crested Cormorant.

Adult—*Tail of twelve feathers; gular sac convex or nearly straight
edged behind. Glossy greenish-black; feathers of the back and wings
coppery-gray, black shafted, black edged;” curly black crests on side of
head. “In the breeding season other filamentous white ones over
the eyes and along the sides of the neck. Gular sac and lores orange.”
584 REPoRT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Immature.—Above, grayish-brown; below, brownish; no crests or
other decorative feathers on head. (Ridgw.)

Length, 29.00 to 33.50; wing, 12.00-13.00; bill, 2.25.

- Ranoz.—Eastern North America, from the Gulf of Mexico to Man-
itoba. Breeds-from Dakota and Maine, formerly from Ohio and Iowa,
northward. Winters from Maine and southern Illinois southward.

Nest, in trees or on cliffs, of sticks, ete. Eggs, 2-5, pale bluish-green,
more or less encrusted with chalky; 2.52 by 1.59.

Regular migrant, more or less common along the larger streams.
Doubtless occasionally winter resident in southern part of the State.
It must be that most of the cormorants reported from our State belong
to this species. While but few of the specimens reported have been
preserved, and consequently are not accessible for verification, those
examined have generally proven to belong to this species. At Brook-
ville I have noted it as early as February 2 (1883) and as late as April
16 (1881) in spring, and from September (1879) to Nov. 19 (1880) in
fall. (Langdon Journ. Cin. Soe. Nat. Hist., July, 1880, p.127.) They are
most numerous with us in the spring, in April, and in the fall, in Oc-
tober. The fall of 1880 they were unusually numerous on the White-
water River. One flock of fourteen was seen, from which several were
shot, one of which is now in my collection. Mr. E: R. Quick glso se-
cured others, one of which he placed in the collection of Dr. F. W.
Langdon. Farther northward in the State they remain later in spring
than they do with us. Mr. H. K. Coale noted it from Lowell. Ind.,
in April, 1883, and Mr. B. T. Gault from English Lake, May 30, 1880.
Mr. J. E. Beasley took one at Indianapolis, May 8, 1858. Prof. Cooke
notes that Dr. Ezra 8. Holmes, of Grand Rapids, Mich., has a male
which he took in northern Indiana, near the Michigan line (Birds of
Michigan, p. 36). In the fall I have no Indiana record earlier than
September. Prof. Cooke (loc. cit.) records it from Pine Lake, Michi-
gan, in August, 1893. Messrs. Ulrey and Wallace note a male and fe-
male taken at Long Lake, Ind., Nov. 15, 1890 (Proc. Ind. Acad. Sci.,
1895, p. 149), and Mr. Jesse Earlle informs me of one shot Nov. 28,
1895, on Big Walnut Creek, Putnam County, Ind. Mr. Ruthven
Deane reports seeing a Cormorant of this species at English Lake,
June 5, 1892. In November, 1896, Mr. W. 0. Wallace made a trip
down the Wabash River. November 3 he took a female four miles be-
low Wabash. He saw others at the following points: One near Logans-
port, one near Vincennes, and one near Mt. Carmel, Il.

I do not know that it ever breeds in Indiana, but Dr. Wheaton
(Birds of Ohio, p. 544) says it is said to have nested years ago at the
Licking Reservoir. In the Ohio Valley they are known as “Water
Brrps oF INDIANA. 585

Turkeys,” and in the Northwest Territory they are called by the na-
tives “Crow Duck.” Although a sea bird, and breeding along the
shores of the Atlantic from the southern borders of the British pos-
sessions on the west side, they nevertheless breed at some places in
the interior of America. Formerly they were known to breed in
Towa, but perhaps none now nest south of some favorite lakes in
Minnesota and Dakota. Prof. Macoun notes them as breeding abun-
dantly in northwestern Canada, at Lake Winnepegosis, in 1881
(Thompson, Birds of Manitoba, p. 473). The food of Cormorants is
_ fish. They may be seen along watercourses and about lakes during the
migration, often singly, but many times from ten to a dozen together.
To one unacquainted with them they appear as ducks with a peculiar
manner of flight, but when they are seen to alight on the projecting
limb of some tree that overhangs the water, it at once becomes ap-
parent that the bird is something else.

22. (120a.) Phalacrocorax dilophus floridanus (AvD.)..

Florida Cormorant.

Similar to the last species, but smaller. Length, 21.25-30.00; wing,
12.00; bill, 2.10.

Ranee.—Southeastern United States north to North Carolina,
Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. Breeds north to Ohio.

Nest and Eggs.—Similar to those of last species.

The Florida Cormorant is a migrant and perhaps a rare summer
resident in southern Indiana. A few may remain through the winter,
when the weather is not too severe. Some years ago it was thought
the Cormorant most commonly seen in the Ohio Valley was this
species. In later years examination of specimens shows that the ma-
jority of occurrences are of the Double-crested Cormorant. Whether
it or the present species was formerly the more common, I have no
means of determining. The birds have been largely destroyed or
forced to withdraw from this range. Prof. O. P. Jenkins found it as
far up the Wabash River as Terre Haute. Dr. Stein met with it on
the Lower Wabash. Mr. Robert Ridgway notes it as ranging up the
Wabash River as far as Mt. Carmel, Ill. He thinks it is a summer resi-
dent and probably breeds in Knox and Gibson counties. I have the
skull of a specimen taken near Brookville in 1877. Dr. F. W. Lang-
don notes it from the vicinity of Cincinnati (Journ. Cin. Soc- Nat.
Hist., I, 1879, p. 186). The same gentleman, in his observations on
Cincinnati Birds, gives the following account, by Mr. Chas. Dury, of
586 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

their former abundance at St. Mary’s Reservoir, in Ohio, which is
probably not over twelve-miles east of the Indiana line: “On the south
side of the Reservoir, about seven miles from Celina, was the ‘Water
Turkey’ Rookery. Here I used to shoot them, with the natives, who
wanted them for their feathers; I have helped kill a boat-load.

“One season I climbed up to their nests and got-a cap full of eggs.
The nests were made of sticks and built in the forks of the branches.
The trees (which were all dead) were mostly oaks, and covered with
excrement. I found from two to four eggs.or young to a nest. The
young were queer little creatures—looked and felt like India rubber.
The old birds flew around in clouds, and made their croaking notes,
indicative of their displeasure at my: presence. Some of the trees had
ten or twelve nests in them. As the timber has rotted and blown
down, the birds. have become less. and less numerous.

“The above circumstances occurred during the month of June, 1867,
since when, as Mr. Dury states, these birds have rapidly decreased in
numbers. The many specimens examined by him were, without ex-
ception, var. floridanus.”

Dr. Langdon found a single specimen floating on the Reservoir in
October, 1874.

VI. Fammy PELECANID.E. Peticaxs
Characters same as family. PELECANUS. 11
ll. Gexes PELECANUTS Lisy-evs.

a’. Tail feathers 24; lower jaw densely feathered. Subgenus (yrtopelecanus. Reich.
b}. Color, white. P. erythrorhynchas.Gmel. 23

23. (125) Pelecanus erythrorhynchos Get.
American White Pelican.

‘White; occiput. and breast, yellow; primaries, their coverts. bastard
quills and many secondaries, black; bill, sac, lores and feet, vellow.”
(Wheaton.)

Length, 53.50-64.00: wing, 22.25-25.25: bill, 11.30-15.00.

Rance—North America, from Guatemala to latitude 61 degrees
north in the interior. Rare on the Atlantic coast. Breeds. locally,
from Great Salt Lake, Utah, northward.

Nest, a mound of earth with a depression in the top. Bugs. 2-4;
dull chalky-white; 3.45 by 2.30.

Rare migrant. Almost every year one or more are noted from some
place in the State, vet few are the persons who ever saw one alive. Dr.
Rufus. Haymond reported it from Franklin County. Mr. EB. J. Chans-
ler writes me of the occurrence of these birds in large numbers in
Knox County in 1850. One was killed near Swan Pond in the spring
Birps oF INDIANA. 587

of 1890. Mr. Robert Ridgway has also observed it in Knox and Gib-
son counties. Mr. C. A. Stockbridge, in Allen County; Mr. Charles
Dury, from “Swan Lake,” and Dr. Vernon Gould, from Fulton
County. Prof. B. W. Evermann notes its occurrence in Montgomery
County, and the capture of a specimen by Mr. W. W. Black, in Carroll
County, in the spring of 1881 (The Auk, October, 1888, p. 346). Mr.
F. M. Noe gives an account of a specimen taken at New Castle May
20, 1892, in the Ornithologist and Oologist, 1892, Vol. XVII, p. 123.
A White Pelican was killed May 25, 1892, near Bloomfield, Greene
County. One was taken on the Wabash River, near Lafayette, Sept.
29, 1895 (L. A. and C. D. Test). Mr. W. B. Van Gorder reports a
specimen taken at Rome City in the spring of 1896. It is now in the
possession of Mr. William Williams. Mr. F. M. Woodruff informs me
that two of these birds were seen in the vicinity of Miller’s in the fall
of 1896, and that they remained there several days. Mr. F. M. “oe
wrote me that he received a White Pelican which was killed near Con-
nersville, May 3, 1897. He says it was reported to have beeh seen in
that vicinity for several days. Mr. T. H. Ball says years ago they were
of regular occurrence at Cedar Lake, Lake County. They are usually
seen as they go northward in the spring, in May, and on their way
southward, in September or October. We are out of the line of their
migrations, hence see comparatively few of them, and those observed
are generally single birds. The direct line of movement to their breed-
ing grounds is to the west of the Mississippi River. There they mi-
grate in flocks, and are much more often seen. Their breeding ground
is chiefly north of the United States, where about many of the lakes
of British America they breed, as they also do on the islands of Great
Salt Lake, Utah. Ordinarily to the westward of the Mississippi River
the greater number pass north in April. It would therefore seem that
those which come to us are among the later migrants.

IX. Famitry FREGATIDA. Mavn.-o’-war Birps

Characters same as family. Freq@ata. 12
12. Genus FREGATA Brisson.

a'. Black; shoulders of male lustrous. F. aquila Linn. 24

24, (128.) Fregata aquila Linv.
Man-o’-War Bird.

Adult Male.—Tail deeply forked, entirely black, more or less glossy
above. Adulé Female.—Similar, but duller and browner; breast and
sides whitish. Immature.—Head, neck, breast and belly, white; rest
of plumage like that of female.
588 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Length, 37.50-41.00; wing, 22.00-27.10; tail, 14.25-19.25; depth of
fork, about half its length; bill, 4.25-5.15.

RaneE.—Tropical and sub-tropical regions; north to Florida, Texas
and California; accidentally to Nova Scotia, Indiana and Kansas.

Nest, of sticks in bushes or on rack near the sea. Hgg, 1; chalky-
white; 2.62 by 1.75.

Accidental visitor. This graceful bird of the tropic seas rarely wan-
ders far inland. Along the Gulf of Mexico it is a resident. Only once,
so far as we know, has it been identified in Indiana. In the fall of
1896 I saw, in the office of Mr. J. E. Beasley, the well-known taxider-
mist, at Lebanon, Ind., a nicely mounted specimen of a young male of
this species. I learned it was killed near Shelbyville, Ind., July 14,
1896, by Mr. W. S. Patterson, and came into Mr. Beasley’s hands
for preservation the next day. I took the following measurements from
the mounted specimen: Length, 36.00; wing, 24.00; tail, 16.00;
depth of fork, 7.00; bill, 4.25. There is only one other record for the
Ohio Valley. In the spring of 1880 a specimen was taken in Franklin
County, O., and is now in the possession of Dr. Renshaw, of Sugar
Grove, 0. (Davie., Nests and Eggs, N. A. Birds, pp. 59, 60). There
are two other records that are equally remarkable in showing the in-
land wanderings of this species. In the Milwaukee Public Museum
is one of these birds, which was killed in the vicinity of Humboldt,
Wis., a few miles north of Milwaukee, in August, 1880. In the same
month (August 16, 1880) one was killed with a stone while sitting on
a tree in Osborne County, Kan. It was mounted, but track. has been
lost of the specimen. However, a photograph was taken, which serves
to verify the record (Bird Migration in the Miss. Valley. Cooke, p-
60).

D. OrpErR ANSERES. Dvtcks anp GErESsE.
X. Famity ANATIDZ. Ducks arp Geese.

a. Neck shorter than body.
aa}, Space between eye and bill wholly or partly naked. CarRtwa. 18a
aa?, Space between eye and bill feathered.
61, Front of tarsus divided into more or less sjuare plates; its length less than
middle toe without claw; sexes unlike.
e', Bill narrow, long; apparently with teeth. Subfamily Mercin x.
d’ Processes of mandibles conspicuously tooth-like, pointing backwards at
tips. MERGANSER. 13
d?. Processes of mandibles short, not pointing backwards at tips.
LopHODYTEs. 14
~

Brrps oF INDIANA. 589

e?. Bill broad; lower mandible with a very distinct7series of lamell along
the side, besides the series along the upper edge.
Subfamily ANATINZE.
e!. Hind toe without lobe or flap.
f?. Bill not spoon shaped ; scarcely widened towards the tip.
g}. Tail feathers narrow, rather pointed ; no crest.
hi, Tail not pointed, its middle feathers not unusually long in
male; speculum green, violet or white. Anas. 15
h?, Tail pointed; its middle feathers much lengthened in the
male; female with tail much shorter; speculum violet.
, Darita. 17
g?. Tail feathers broad, rounded at’tip; male with a high crest.
Arx. 18
f?. Bill spoon shaped, narrow at base, very broad towards tip.
i Sparuna. 16
e?, Hind toe with a broad lobe or flap.
a}. Tail feathers with bases scarcely concealed by short coverts;
tail feathers narrow and stiff.

71. Outer toe longer than middle toe; nail of bill small, bent

backward beneath the tip of upper mandible.
ERIsMATURA. 24

j?- Outer toe shorter than middle toe; mail of bill normal.
NOMONYX.
i2. Tail feathers with their bases well hidden by their coverts.
k}, Feathering on lores or forehead not reaching beyond pos-
terior border of nostril.
l. Graduation of tail less than length of bill from nostril.
AytHya, 19
?. Graduation of tail more than length of bill from nostril.
m+. Bill ordinary, not swollen; having no appendage
on edge at base of upper mandible.
n). Wing less than seven inches long; eyes brown.
CHARITONETTA. 21
n?, Wing over seven inches long.

o!, Nostril in middle of bill, or nearer tip than

base; eyes yellow. GLAUCIONETTA. 20
o”. Nostril nearer the base than tip of bill; male
with long tail. CLANGULA. 22

m?, Bill not ordinary, swollen or else appendaged at
base, or on sides.
p}. Bill swollen at base. OIDEMIA. 23
p*. Bill not swollen at base, but appendaged.

q'. Bill appendaged with a lobe on each side

near base; speculum violet.
HisTRIonicus.

q?. Bill with a leathery expansion on sides of
upper mandible; cheeks bristly; speculum
white. CAMPTOLAIMUS.

k?, Feathering on forehead or lores extending to or beyond
nostril; bill swollen at base. SoMATERIA.
590 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

b?, Tarsus marked with a network of lines over its whole surface ;- meshes
slightly larger in front; its length not less than that of middle toe without
claw ; sexes alike.

r). Cutting edge of upper mandible nearly
straight; its serrations scarcely visible
from side, except near angle of mouth;
head, bill and feet mostly black.

Branta. 27

r+, Cutting edge of upper mandible concave

or sinuate; its serrations plainly visible

from side for nearly its whole length;

bill and feet pale.

s1, Bill very stout; its depth at base more

than half the length of upper mandible;

color largely white. CHEN. 25

s?, Bill smaller, more depressed; its depth

at base not half the length of upper
mandible; color not white.

ANSER. 26
a?, Neck as long as or longer than body; lores partly naked.

Subfamily Craninz Swans.
t!. Color white; bill and feet black, in
adult; grayish, head and neck brown-
ish ; bill and feet light, in young.

OLor. 25
SupramMity MERGIN UE. MeErcansErs.
13. Gexus MERGANSER Brisson.
a. Nostril nearer middle of bill than base. M. americanus (Cass.). 25
a*. Nostril near base of bill. M. serrator (Linn.). 26

25. (129.) Merganser americanus (Cas3.).
American Merganser.
Synonyms, Fis Duck, GoosaNDER.

Nostrils situated near the middle of the upper mandible; frontal
feathers extending farther forward than those on lateral base of bill.
Adult Male—Head and most of neck, greenish-black; head slightly
crested; chest and other lower parts, creamy white or pale salmon-color.
Adult Female—Head and neck, reddish (chin and throat white), the
occiput with a full crest of lengthened feathers; above, chiefly bluish-
gray.

Male; length, about 27.00; wing, 10.50-11.25; bill, 1.90-2.20; tarsus.
1.90-2.00. Female smaller.

Raneze.—North America generally. Breeds from latitude of Min-
nesota and Michigan northward; winters from Kansas, Indiana and
Maine southward.
Birps oF INDIANA. 591

Nest, in holes in trees and cliffs. Eggs, 6-10; creamy buff; 2.65 by
1.75.

Common migrant and winter resident. They vary in numbers with
the winters. The more open the winter the greater the number. Even
in the coldest winters they may be found where the water is not
frozen. On Lake Michigan it is one of the commonest ducks during
the winter months. At Miller’s, Ind., they were common Dec. 1%,
1895. Jan. 14, 1897, four were seen (J. G. Parker, Jr.). In 1891,
Feb. 14 and 15, there were a few flocks and pairs seen at English
Lake, Ind. On Feb. 12 some 200 were seen, and five were shot. They
were about more or less all winter. February 27 and 28, 1892, there
were many flocks on the river (Kankakee). Several were shot. They
were observed during the winter whenever they could find open water.
(Ruthven Deane.)

The winter of 1889-90 they remained on the Whitewater all winter
and were noticed commonly from Feb. 11 on. The winter of 1896-7
they. were found at Brookville, Dec. 6, and, from reports, were seen off
and on all winter.

In the early spring this is the most common duck upon the creeks.
and smaller streams. They increase in numbers noticeably in Feb-
ruary or March, and, as the weather becomes warmer, begin to pass
on north, usually the middle of March. Most have gone by the middle
or last of April. Mr. Jesse Earlle notes one at Greencastle, May 7,
1892, an unusually late date for southern Indiana. Occasionally some
may. spend the summer among our northern lakes, but I do not know
that they breed with us. They breed, however, in northern Michigan,
and from that latitude northward throughout Manitoba and adjacent
parts of Canada. It is rare on Alaskan coasts. Im Manitoba, Mr. E.
E. Fhompson says they frequent only running water. This duck feeds
almost, if not altogether, on fish; therefore its flesh is fishy and unpala-
table. In the fall they return to us in October and November, but are
not nearly so common or so noticeable as in the spring.

26. (130.) Merganser serrator (Linn.).
Red-hreasted Merganser.

Nostrils situated near the base of the maxilla; feathers on lateral
base of bill extending farther forward than those on the forehead.
Adult Male.—Head, dull greenish-black, the occiput with a long,
pointed erest of narrow feathers; neck and sides of the chest, dull buff,
er light cinnamon, streaked with black; other lower parts mainly white.
Adult Female——Very similar in color to last speetes.
592 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Length, about 20.00-25.00; wing, 8.60-9.00; culmen, 2.50; tarsus,
1.80-1.90.

Ranewu.—Northern portions of northern hemisphere; in America,
it breeds from northern Hlinois, Michigan and that latitude north-
ward. It winters from its southern breeding limit southward.

Nest, on ground, beneath projecting rock or other object, of moss
or leaves, lined with down. Eggs, 6-12; yellowish or reddish-drab;
2.57 by 1.73. ‘

Migrant and winter resident throughout the State. Generally rare,
but occasionally, on the larger bodies of water, rather common. Mr.
J. G. Parker, Jr., notes that it is an occasional winter visitor on Lake
Michigan. Mr. Ruthven Deane says they remain at English Wake,

 

Head of a Red-breasted Merganser, with outline of bill from above. Natural size.

Ind., as long as there is open water. On the 22d of November, 1891,
he found them abundant there. Over the southern part of the State
they are found in winter, as is the last species, except that they
are much fewer in number. They go northward as the rivers are
freed from ice in early spring. The records generally show them
moving in March. During that month they may be found on the
streams of southern and middle Indiana; and in March and April
they frequent the marshes of the northern part of the State. They
go northward earlier than the last mentioned species, or at least
they do not seem to linger as does that form. They are by far
the rarest of the fish ducks with us. Returning from their breed-
ing places, they are found about the marshes in the northern part
of the State, sometimes quite abundantly, but generally they are
rare. In October or November, usually, they occur in small
numbers, one or two to four or five together, but sometimes quite
large flocks are met with. Mr. Parker informs me that April 10,
1897, a beautiful male Red-breasted Merganser was killed on the Kan-
Brrps oF INDIANA. 593

kakee River, near Kouts, Ind. This he found hanging on the side of
a hunter’s cabin on April 15. That day another hunter brought to
him a female, which he thought was the mate of the one previously
killed.

It has not been found breeding in Indiana. Mr. E. W. Nelson
(Birds of N. E. Illinois, p. 144) notes it as a rare summer resident,
and says it frequents small, reedy lakes, and nests upon old muskrat
houses. Mr. C. L. Cass informs me that he found nests of this Mer-
ganser near Cross Village, Mich. (where it breeds commonly), in the
summers of 1896 and 1897, and adds that Mr. Ed. Van Winkle, of
Van’s Harbor, has also found this duck breeding. Mr. S. L. White
reports having found a nest on Round Island, near Mackinac Island.
It was located under a low cedar near the water’s edge, and contained
nine eggs (Cook, Birds of Michigan, p. 38).

Prof. Macoun says, in Manitoba, where this duck commonly breeds,
both it and the Hooded Merganser feed largely on vegetable food, and
are quite edible (E. E. Thompson, Birds of Manitoba, p. 474).

15. Genus LOPHODYTES Rercumnpacg.

a?, Speculum white, with two dark bars. L. cucullatus (Linn.). 27

*27, (131.) Lophodytes cucullatus (Liyn.).
Hooded Merganser.

Nostrils near the base of the maxilla; frontal feathers, reaching be-
yond those on sides of bill; a compact, erect semi-circular, laterally
compressed crest in the male. Smaller and less rounded in the female.
Male.—Black, including two crescents in front of wing, and bar across
speculum; under parts, center of crest, speculum, and stripes on ter-
tials, white; sides, chestnut, black-barred. Memale——Smaller; head
and neck, brown; chin whitish; back and sides, dark-brown, the
feathers with paler edges; white on the wing less; bill, reddish at base
below.

Length, 17.50-19.00; wing, 7.50-7.90; culmen, 1.50; tarsus, 1.25-
1.30.

Ranez.—North America, generally, south to Mexico and Cuba,
breeding nearly throughout its range.

Nest, in hollow trees or stumps, made of leaves or grasses, lined with
down. Hggs, 6-18; pearly-white; 2.15 by 1.72.

Very abundant migrant, less common winter resident, and locally
resident in some numbers. Throughout the State the Hooded Mer-
ganser may be found in winter, the more numerous the more open the.

38—GEOL.
594 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

winters, and always attracted to the open water, so that in the most
severe. winters they are most to be observed on the rapid streams of
southern Indiana, where ripples and rapids are about the only places
they can find at which to congregate. Perhaps they are most nu-
merous on Lake Michigan at this season, but at English Lake, Ind.,
and other large lakes they remain until the water freezes over. In the
latter part of February in some years, and always by. early March, their
numbers begin to increase, and the spring migration has begun. They
pass northward rapidly, and most of them are gone by the latter part
of March. But few records are made for April, except in breeding
localities; occasionally, however, there are belated migrants noted as
late as May. Through April they pair and seek a: home.

They breed in suitable localities throughout the State. Owing to
the scarcity of such localities in southern Indiana but few have been
reported from that section. Mr. Robert Ridgway found them more
numerous than the Wood Duck, and breeding in hollow trees, in Mon-
teur’s Pond, Knox County, in the spring of 1881 (Bull. Nutt. Orn.
Club., Vol. VII, Jan. 1, 1882, p. 22). I feel quite confident that it
formerly bred in a swamp in which there was much timber, on the
west fork of Whitewater River, about four miles from Brookville.
Prof. B. W. Evermann, in 1888, informed me of its breeding in Vigo
County, and the same authority notes its breeding in Carroll County,
where he saw young in July (The Auk, October, 1888, p. 346). Mr.
F. E. Bell informs me of its breeding in Wabash County. Mr. C. E.
Aiken says it breeds commonly on the Kankakee River, and: Mr. J. G.
Parker, Jr., has recently written me that quite a few breed on that
river in the vicinity of Kouts, Ind:

The migrants return in October and November, and linger as long
as the waters are open and food is abundant. The first “freeze up”
starts them southward.

SupramMiIty ANATINUE River Deeks.
15. Genus ANAS Linyexus.

a}, Culmen longer than middle toe without claw.
4', Wing over 8, speculum violet, bordered with black. Subgenus Anas.
c', With white ou the outer surface of wing; sexes unlike; colors of: male

varied and brilliant; female plainer. A. boschas Linn. 28
c’. No white on outer surface of wing, but linings of wing white; sexes
alike; colors plain. A. obscura Gmel. 29:

i-. Wing less than 8, speculum green. Subgenus Queryurdula Stephens.
d! Wing coverts sky-blue.

c', Wing 7. or more. A. discors Linn. 34
Brraos oF Inpiana. 595

d*. Wing with no blue; bill very narrow. Subgenus Nettion Kaup.
7) White crescent on side of body in front of wing.
A. carolinensis Gmel. 33
a*. Culmen shorter than middle toe without claw.
g'. Bill not shorter than head. Subgenus (havlelasmus Bonaparte.
h}, Speculum white. A. strepera Linn. 30
y*. Bill shorter than head; crown and belly white.
Subgenus Mareca Stephens.

71, Head and neck plain rufous. A. penelope Linn. 31
72, Head and neck grayish; sides of head with broad patch of
green. A. americana Gmel. 32

*28, (182.) Anas boschas Liny.
Mallard.

Adult Male.—Four middle tail feathers strongly recurved; head and
neck brilliant velvety-green; chest, rich chestnut, with a white collar
between it and the green of the neck; speculum, rich metallic violet,
bounded anteriorly by a black bar, this preceded by a white one, and
posteriorly by a black subterminal and white terminal band. Adult
Female and Male in Breeding Season—Wings as in the above; else-
where variegated with dusky and ochraceous, the former on the centers
of the feathers, and predominating on the upper parts; the latter on
the borders, and prevailing beneath.

Length, about 20.00-21.50; wing, 10.25-11.50; culmen, 2.00-2.35;
tarsus, 1.50-1.80.

Ranecz.—Northern hemisphere; in North America, generally dis-
tributed; in the interior breeding from Indiana, Iowa, and, on the
coast, from Labrador, northward. Winters from Indiana, Iowa, and
Delaware southward to Panama and Cuba.

Nest, generally on ground. Hggs, 6-12; pale, dull green, or greenish
white; 2.25 by 1.60.

Abundant migrant; winter resident in varying numbers, and locally,
particularly in the northern part of the State, resident in some
numbers.

Some winters, when the weather is severe and the waters are mostly
frozen over, the Mallard is scarce in Indiana. Occasionally two or
more such winters succeed each other, and then for more than
one winter these ducks are rare. Often, however, they remain, and,
upon the larger streams, may be found in some numbers through the
entire severe season. Open water and food are the only requirements
to make them winter residents.

Their spring movements vary with conditions. If the season opens
early, they begin to migrate early in February. On the contrary, some
596 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

seasons, when the winter holds late, there is no apparent movement
until the middle of March. The migrants do not remain long. Out-
side of breeding localities, they are not often reported after early
April. A few, however, seem to linger well through the month.

Sometimes, in the midst of the migration, the unexpected happens.
A cold snap comes down suddenly upon the waters alive with wild
fowl, and they are forced to change their habits. From swimmers they
become skaters. Mr. Ruthven Deane informs me that March 13, 1892,
a rough, cold day, when boatmen were compelled to break ice over a
mile to get their boat through, boat, paddles, and men were coated
with ice, and English Lake marshes were mostly ice bound, there were
thousands of ducks and geese sitting around in droves on the ice. The
same gentleman has kindly furnished me with the following data from
the records of some of the shooting clubs at that lake. In 1881, first
Mallard shot, February 10; in 1886, first shot, March 14; in 1887, first
shot, March 6; 1892, January 1. The last Mallard shot each of the
following years is also given: 1881, December 7; 1886, December 11;
1886, November 25; 1889, December 24.

They pair early. Even in February they are often noticed mated, and
by the middle of March some years, seem mostly paired. Soon after
pairing they seek a nesting place. The nest is usually placed on the
ground, or in the grass, drift, or accumulated vegetation, though in-
stances are reported where they have been found in hollow trees. Late
in April the nests may begin to be found, with a complement of fresh
eggs. Through May and into early June nests of eggs are to be seen,
but the later ones are well incubated, and most of the birds have young
by June 15. Mr. Deane informs me of one nest containing eleven eggs
at English Lake, the week ending May 4, 1890, which was placed on
a tussock of grass in an open meadow, and of another found the same
week placed on the top of a large haycock. They were very numerous
at English Lake, August 8, 1897. Evidently had bred in that vicinity.
(Deane.) Mr. H. K. Coale informs me of having seen a brood of
twelve at Davis’ Station, Starke County, June 1, 1884. He caught
several young the same day, ranging from one day to several days old.
They have been reported as breeding in the following counties: Lake
County (L. T. Meyer, J. G. Parker, Jr., C. E. Aiken); Starke (Ruthven
Deane, Charles Dury, H. K- Coale); Knox (Robert Ridgway); Dekalb
(H. W. McBride); Steuben (C. L. Cass); Laporte (C. L. Barber);
Wabash (Ulrey and Wallace).

After breeding, the Mallards gather into small flocks, which unite as
the numbers increase from the daily additions of old and young from
the meadows and swamps. Then they keep in the marshes and more
Birps oF INDIANA. 597

quiet waterways until the young know how to fly. By the middle of
July or first of August these flocks sometimes number 200 ducks.
About the middle of August most of the ducks that breed with us
disappear. Mr. Deane says some gunners are satisfied that they move
north, and then return with others of their species a month later. I
myself can not believe they go south so early, and we know that they
leave our grounds.

The fall migrations begin soon after the middle of September. By
the 25th, usually, many small flocks are observed. Frequently good
Mallard shooting may be had in September, but the main flight is
during October. Large numbers, however, remain until severe
weather begins, and then suddenly leave.

Mr. Parker informs me that thousands are shot every year about the
lakes in Lake County. Their numbers are rapidly diminishing as
swamps are drained, marshes reclaimed, and lakes reduced in size.
Cities are built upon the shores of their choicest resting places,
and the city people seek their favorite breeding grounds for pleasure
or for rest. The dry summers which have prevailed during the past
six or eight years have in many ways had an effect upon both plant and
animal life. The effect upon birds has been noticeable in many ways.
The lack of rain in the summer and fall of 1891 was very unusual.
Small water courses, swamps, ponds, and much of the area of some of
our lakes became dry. Writing under date of November 9,
1891, Mr. Ruthven Deane says, at English Lake, the greater part
of the Lake is an exposed mud flat. I have seen Pintails and Mallards
alight in the soft mud and wallow around like so many gulls.

The Mallard is the ancestor of the common domestic duck. Some-
times there are found hybrids between the Mallard and the Pintail.
Mr. Deane writes me of a fine specimen of this kind taken several years
ago at English Lake. He says he has seen many of these hybrids, and
as a rule the plumage is quite evenly divided.

29. (133.) Anas obscura GEL.
Black Duck.
Synonym, Dusky Ducx.

Male.—Prevailing color dusky, the feathers bordered with dull
ochraceous; head and neck, dull buff, everywhere streaked with dusky;
no black at base of the bill; speculum usually deep violet, resembling
female Mallard, but distinguished from it by the absence of white on
wing. Female-—Smaller; similar.
59S REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Length, about 20.00-21.50; wing, 10.25-11.50; culmen, 2.00-2.35;
tarsus, 1.50-1.80.

Rance.—Eastern North America, west to Mississippi Valley, north
to Labrador, breeding southward to the northern parts of the United
States, northern Illinois and Iowa. Winters south to Greater Antilles.

Nest, usually on ground. Eggs, 6-12; buff or greenish buff; 2.30
by 1.70.

Not common migrant; occasional winter and rare summer resident.

This is an eastern species which reaches in Indiana, almost the
western limit of its range. It has been noted by Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr.,
at Kouts, Ind., December 10, 1896. Mr. Ruthver Deane reported
it from English Lake, February 14 and 15, 1891. The greatest num-
bers are reported in March, while migrating. It is rare in Franklin
County, and has been reported in the following counties: Carroll
(Prof. B. W. Evermann); Lake (Meyer, Parker, Aiken); Starke (Dury,
Deane); Laporte (J. W. Byrkit); Allen (C. A. Stockbridge); Dekalb
(Mrs. J. D. Hine); Putnam (J. F. Clearwaters); Decatur (Prof. W. P.
Shannon); Kouts (J. G. Parker, Jr.); Wabash (Ulrey and Wallace).

Mr. Parker has found them at Kouts on the Kankakee River, appa-
rently paired, April 15, 1892, and Mr. Deane noted a pair in the
marsh at English Lake as late as May 10, 1891. They are usually
paired by the latter part of March. While I have no account of its
breeding in Indiana, I have no doubt it will be found to do so. Mr.
E. W. Nelson found one or two pairs nesting on the Calumet marshes
(Birds of Northeastern Illinois, p. 159). Mr. L. T. Meyer says it prob-
ably breeds in Lake County, and Mrs. Jane L. Hine reports it a sum-
mer resident in Dekalb County.

30. (135.) Anas strepera Livy.
Gadwall.

Adult Male—Head and neck pale brownish or whitish, thickly
speckled with black; top of head sometimes plain light brown; crop
varied with crescentic bars of white and black, the latter predominat-
ing; sides, back, and scapulars finely undulated with slate color and
white; middle wing coverts, chestnut; greater coverts, black; speculum,
white; crissum and upper tail coverts, velvety black.

Adult Male in Breeding Season—Similar to the winter male, but
colors duller; crown dusky; rump and breast tinged with rusty, and
under parts more spotted with dusky. Adult Female.—Colors chiefly
brownish dusky and brownish white. in longitudinal streaks on head
Brrps oF INDIANA. 599

and neck, and in irregular transverse spots, and bars on other portions,
the dusky predominating above, the white below.

Length, 19.25-21.75; wing, 10.25-11.00; culmen, 1.60-1.75; tarsus,
1.75-1.80. Female smaller.

Ranex.——Nearly cosmopolitan. In North America, breeds chiefly
within the United States. Winters from southern Illinois and Virginia
south to Gulf of Mexico.

Nest, on ground. Lygs. 8-12, pale buff; 2.09 by 1.57.

Rare migrant. There are but few records of its occurrence in In-
diana. Dr. Rufus: Haymond and Mr. E. R. Quick note it from Frank-
lin County, and May 4, 1890, Mr. Ruthven Deane informed me that
several. pairs were seen at English Lake. Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr., in-
forms. me that: several years ago he collected one in a “pond hole” on
the east side of Calumet Lake, Cook County, [linois, in September.

Dr. F. Stein identified it in the Lower Wabash Valley. It sometimes
remains in Illinois in mild winters. (Cook, Bird: Migration in Missis-
sippi Valley). The Gadwall breeds throughout its range.

Subgenus Mareca Stephens.

31. (136) Anas penelope Linn.
Widgeon.
Synonym, European WIDGEON.

Adult Male-—Forehead white; posterior half of middle wing covert
region white, forming a large patch of this color; abdomen immaculate
white; speculum velvety black, with or without green; head and neck
plain rufous; ground color of dorsal region, sides and flanks whitish.
Adult Female.—Head and neck pale rusty, speckled and barred with
dusky, especially on crown; upper parts dusky brown, the feathers
edged and more or less barred with pale brown and whitish; white
patch on wing coverts, merely indicated by white tips to feathers; spec-
ulum grayish brown and dull rufous, or fulvous; rest of lower parts
white, the lower tail coverts barred with brown.

Length, 18.00-20.00; wing, 10.00-11.00; culmen, 1.35-1.45; tarsus,
1.45-1.65.

Ranee.—Northern part: of the old’ world, frequent in Alaska. In
North America, breeds in the Aleutian Islands, and occurs frequently
in the eastern ["nited States, west to Indiana, Illinois; and Wisconsin,
and occasionally in California.

Eggs, 5-8; pale buff; 2.23 by 1.53:

Accidental visitor.
600 ReEpoRT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

The European Widgeon has been taken in a number of places in
North America. Two records of its occurrence in Illinois are given
by Mr. E. W. Nelson, and the late Dr. P. R. Hoy reported one in-
stance in Wisconsin. To Mr. Ruthven Deane belongs the credit of
obtaining four records of its capture in Indiana. All were taken at
English Lake. The first specmen in order of time known to have been
taken in the State is in the collection of Dr. Nicholas Rowe, of
“The American Field,” Chicago, Ill. It was killed at English Lake in
1881 or 1882. (The Auk, XII, 1895, p. 292.) April 18, 1893, Mr.
Landon Hoyt, of Chicago, Il., took a specimen on the Kankakee River
at English Lake, which is now in his possession. It was in company
with a flock of Baldpates (Anas americana.) The Auk, XII,
1895, p.179.) April 7, 1895, Mr. J. F. Barrell shot a young male from
a flock of Baldpates in the same vicinity. It is now in Mr. Deane’s
collection. (The Auk, XII, 1895, p. 292.) The fourth specimen,
a fine adult male, was killed at English Lake by Mr. John E. Earle,
of Hinsdale, Ill., March 23, 1896. It was flying with a small flock of
Baldpates when shot. The specimen is in Mr. Earle’s collection. This
is thé eighth record for the interior of North America. (The Auk,
XITI, 1896, p. 255.) The above records are all for the spring,
and, so far as noted, they were in company with their American rela-
tive, the Baldpate.

*82. (137.) Anas americana GMeEL.
Baldpate.

Synonym, AMERICAN WIDGEON.

Adult Male——Forehead white; head and neck whitish, speckled with
black, and with a dark metallic green space on the side of the occiput
(sometimes continued down the nape); posterior half of the middle
wing covert region white, forming a large patch of this color; abdomen
immaculate white; speculum velvety-black, with or without green;
ground color of the dorsal region, sides, and flanks vinaceous or pink-
ish cinnamon. Adult Female—Head and neck dull whitish, streaked
with dusky; crop, sides and flanks dull vinaceous; upper parts dusky
grayish-brown, irregularly and coarsely barred with dull white or
buffy; smaller wing coverts, dull dark grayish, tipped and edged with
white.

Length, 18.00-22.00; wing, 10.25-11.00; bill, 1.30-1.50; tarsus,
1.45-1.65.
Braps oF INDIANA. 601

Ranee.—North America, from the Arctic Ocean south, in winter,
to Guatemala and Cuba. Breeds chiefly north of the United States;
occasionally breeding from Indiana and Minnesota north, and rarely
as far south as Texas.

Nest, on ground in marshes. Eggs, 8-13; pale buff; 2.06 by 1.48.

Common migrant, and rare summer resident in the northern part
of the State. _ :

In the southern part of the State they pass rapidly through during
the migrations. Sometimes the advance guard is seen as early as the
latter part of February, but generally they are not seen until the early
part to the middle of March. I have never observed it at Brookville
later than March 21 (1888). Prof. B. W. Evermann has noted it in
Vigo County as late as March 26 (1888). About the middle of March
they appear upon the rivers, lakes, and marshes of the northern part
of the State. Occasionally they are seen earlier. Mr. H. W. McBride
noted two in Dekalb County, February 26, 1890. Mr. Ruthven Deane
informs me that the first Baldpate was shot at English Lake, March 15,
1886, and March 12,+1887. Generally they are seen in small flocks of
four to a dozen the latter part of March and until late in April, when
the greater number leave for the north. Mr. Deane noted a number
at English Lake May 4, 1890, and saw a male at the same place May
10, 1891. It breeds in the northern part of the State. Mr. H. W.
McBride saw a female Widgeon with thirteen young just hatched at
Hogback Lake, Steuben County, in May 1889. When he pursued her
in a boat all the young ones got on her back, and she swam away
with them. Mr. Ruthven Deane writes me that a female Widgeon,
accompanied by thirteen young, was seen at English Lake the summer
of 1897. He thinks it was probably crippled, and unable to go farther
north. Most of them, however, breed farther northward, and return in
October, though quite a number were seen at English Lake, Septem-
ber 25, 1889 (Deane). Through October they are quite common,
passing southward at the end of the month or early in November.
The Baldpate is a good table duck, and is usually in good condition.
Therefore, it is esteemed by the sportsman. It is not a diver, like the
Canvasback. So it is said in water where wild celery abounds the
Baldpate awaits its rising with the choice root in its mouth, when it
rushes forward and seizes the celery for itself. Mr. E. E. Thompson
notes its breeding at Selkirk Settlements, Lake Manitoba, and Quw’
Appelle (Birds of Manitoba, p. 476). In Alaska it is not common, but
breeds in the marshy flats bordering Bering Sea (Nelson, Nat. His.
Coll. in Alaska, p. 68).
602 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Subgenas Netrtion Kaap.
33. (139) Anas carolinensis GM#L.
Green-winged Teal.

Adult Male—Head and upper neck chestnut, with a broad, glossy
green band on each side, uniting and blackening on the nape; under
parts white or whitish, the-fore-breast with circular black spots; upper
parts and flanks closely waved with blackish and white; a white cres-
cent in front of the wing; crissum black, varied with white or creamy;
speculum rich green, bordered in front with buffy tips of the greater
coverts, behind with light tips of secondaries; no blue on the wing;
bill, black; feet, gray. Female.—Differs in the head markings.

Length, 12.50-15.00; wing, 6.25-7.40; bill, 1.40-1.60; tarsus, 1.25.

Rancr.—In North America it breeds from Michigan and Minnesota
north. Winters from Kansas, Indiana and that latitude south to Cuba
and Honduras.

Nest, on ground in grass. Eggs, 6-12 (16-18. Dall.); buff or green-
ish; 1.75 by 1.30.

Common migrant; also, winter resident; may be locally a rare sum-
mer resident in northern part-of the State.

Some winters the Green-winged Teal remains on Lake Michigan and
the larger streams. With the first bird wave, usually in February, they
may be noted returning from the south. In 1887 they were reported
from Terre Haute, January 30, and next, February 5 (Evermann).
From Vincennes in 1888, March 5; in 1889, February 20. They pass
northward as the ice melts, but sometimes they reach the northern
part of the State while the streams and lakes are still locked in ice.
Mr. Ruthven Deane informs me the first were shot at English Lake
March 18, 1886. Six were shot there March 17, 1889. A small flock
seen February 27 and 28, 1892. Noted March 11, 1894. They do not
linger long in the southern part of the State, and most of them must
have left our northern marshes before April 1. I have taken it at
Brookville April 3 (1883). It has been taken in Carroll County April
8 (1885, Evermann), and at Kouts April 12, 1895 (Parker).

It is not known to breed in the State. It formerly did to a limited
extent in Illinois (Nelson’s Birds N. E. Tl, p. 140), and is reported
as breeding at St. Clair Flats and St. Joseph, Mich. (Cook, Birds of
Mich., p. 39). Although Kennicott found it to be very rare
on the Yukon, its breeding range extends far north. Turner
found it common in Alaska and among the Aleutian Islands, where
it is resident (Contr. to Nat. Hist. of Alaska, p. 132). Breeds com-
Birps oF INDIANA. 603

monly in the vicinity of Hudson’s Bay and in Greenland. It nests
on the ground, often at some distance from the water. Toward the
latter part of September they begin to return from the north. They
were abundant on the marshes at English Lake September 25, 1889.
Myr. C. L. Cass noted them at Hillsdale, Mich., September 19, 1894.
They are usually much Jess numerous in fall than they are in spring.
The fall of 1892 they were unusually abundant. They remain among
the marshes and lakes until November, and often until the water is
closed by ice. They are often seen when all other marsh ducks have
left.

In winter it is common in the lower Mississippi Valley, and in the
Gulf States. In the winter of 1879-80, I found it to be very abundant
on the lakes of the Valley of Mexico.

Subgenus QuERQUEDI'La Stephens.

*34, (140). Anas discors Linn.

Blue-wing Teal.

Adult Male—Head and neck blackish; darkest on the crown, usu-
ally with purplish iridescence; a white crescent in front of the eye;
under parts thickly dark spotted; wing coverts sky blue, the greater
white tipped; speculum green, white tipped; axillars and most under
wing coverts white; scapulars striped with tawny and blue, or dark
green; fore-back barred; rump and tail dark, plain; crissum black; bill
black; feet, dusky yellow. Adult Female.—With head and neck alto-
gether different; under parts much paler and obscurely spotted, but
known by the wing marks.

Length, 14.50-16.00; wing, 7.00-7.50; bill, 1.40-1.65; tarsus, 1.20-
1.30

RaneE.—North America chiefly, east of the Rocky Mountains. It
breeds in southern Indiana, Hlinois, and Ohio. Winters in southern
Jllinois and Virginia, southward to Ecuader.

Nest, on ground in grass. Eggs. 6-14; white or buffy; size, variable,
average, 1.90 by 1.30.

Common migrant, and locally summer resident. In many respects
the habits of this duck are directly the opposite of the last mentioned
species. It is most abundant im spring; this one is not common
at that season. It aryives in spring exceedingly early; this one
very late. Im fall it remains late; this species arrives early, and
the bulk does not remain. It breeds fay northward, and rarely
within the United States. This species does not go so far north-
604 REporT OF StTaTE GEOLOGIST.

ward to breed, and it nests in some numbers as far southward
as northern Indiana. Both it and the Green-wing Teal
often nest at quite a distance from the water. The nest of both
Teals is made upon the ground of grass and reeds, lined with down
and feathers. It is said that the female covers the eggs with down
when she leaves the nest.

Usually the Blue-wing Teal is not seen in spring until after the first
of April. Ridgway notes it as being found in Illinois all the year.
Prof. Cooke says it winters in southern Illinois. The earliest date
at which I have seen it at Brookville is April 9 (1887). Occasionally,
however, they appear earlier. The spring of 1892 seems to have been
such a season. Some were shot on English Lake March 24 (Deane).
Mr. Jerome Trombley reported two that year at Petersburg, Mich.,
March 20. Several others were noted in southern Michigan within the
succeeding ten days. This date is earlier than any I have in Indiana.

Through the latter part of April they may be seen in suitable places
in some numbers. Then they go north, where most of them breed.
I have seen them at Brookville May 1 (1884).

Mr. Deane says they were abundant on English Lake May 4, 1890,
and Prof. Evermann notes them as common on Lake Maxinkuckee
May 11, 1885 (B. N. O. C., Oct., 1888, p. 346). After May 1 they may
usually be noted in pairs, and toward the latter part of the month, and
in June, nests with eggs may be found. A good many of these ducks
remain through the summer on the Kankakee River, and I have no
doubt that it breeds there much more commonly than we know, yet
the numbers are growing less and less each year. In 1890, Mr. Deane
tells me, a good many remained at English Lake and bred. Several
nests were found. They were quite numerous at the same place August
8,189%. Evidently they were birds bred in that vicinity (Deane). Mr.J.
G. Parker, Jr., says a few pairs breed every year at Kouts, Porter County,
and Liverpool, Lake County. It is reported. as breeding in Lake
County by Mr. C. E. Aiken. Mr. Robert Ridgway informs me of its
breeding in Knox Qounty and Gibson County. Mr. E. W. Nelson notes
a nest of this species, found in Cook County, Ill., containing fourteen
eggs (Birds of N. E. Ill., p. 140). In July they begin to collect into
flocks of twenty to thirty individuals. During the early part of Sep-
tember they begin to return from the north. The numbers increase
as the month wears away, until they become very numerous. They
then afford good shooting, as many as 75 to 100 being killed by a
party ina day. Late in September and early in October they leave
the region of the Kankakee for the south. In 1886 the last of this
species was killed at English Lake, on October 20. We expect them
Brrps or INDIANA. 605

in the Whitewater Valley about the first to the middle of the latter
month, when they may be seen in flocks of 20 to 40. I have never
observed them in Franklin County earlier than October 4, 1884. They
fly with the flock bunched close together, and the rapidity of their
flight and their rapid mancuvers, when the whole flock turns or
whirls, as one bird, reminds me of the Wild Pigeon. When they alight
they sit or swim very close to each other. For this reason the shooter,
when they are very numerous, is enabled to make large bags of game.
They are usually at that season in fine condition, and make excellent
eating.

16. Genus SPATULA Bors,

a), Speculum green, bordered by black and white. S.clypeata Linn. 35

*35. (142.) Spatula clypeata Linn.
Shoveller.
Synonym, SPoonsBILL.

Adult Male.—Bill much longer than head or foot, widening rapidly
to the end, where it is twice as wide as at the base, with very numerous
and prominent lamine; head and neck green; fore-breast wnite; belly
purplish-chestnut; wing coverts blue; speculum green, bordered with
black and white; some scapulars blue, others green, all white striped;
bill blackish; feet red. Adult Female—Known by bill and wings.

Length, 17.00-21.00; wing, 9.00-10.00; bill, 2.60-2.90; width of bill
at end, 1.10-1.20; at base, .60; tarsus, 1.40-1.50.

Ranee.—Northern hemisphere. In North America, breeding from
Alaska to Texas; not abundant on the Atlantic coast north of the
Carolinas. Winters from southern Illinois to Guatemala and West
Indies.

Nest, on ground. Eggs. 6-10; greenish-gray, 2.12 by 1.48.

Migrant; not uncommon; rare summer resident; possibly winter
resident; some winters southward.

Prof. W. W. Cooké says this duck winters from southern Illinois
southward. It may be found at that season, mild winters, in southern
Indiana.

In 1887, Prof. B. W. Evermann found a single specimen at Terre
Haute, February 26. That is the earliest record reported from the
State. Usually they appear upon the Ohio and the rivers of southern
Indiana by the first week in March. Decatur County, March 3, 1888
(E. L. Guthrie). About the middle of March they may be looked for
*

606 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

in the northern part of the State. The first shot at English Lake in
1886 was March 16. March 17, 1889, a number were seen. They were
unusually fat for spring birds (Deane). Five or six were seen at
Petersburg, Mich., March 12, 1893, and it was again noted March 14
(Jerome Trombley). They begin to pair about the 25th of March.
The flocks dissolve, and the number of pairs increase throughout the

 

 

Shoveller.

early part of April. At that time they pass on to the northward in
some numbers. Some remain until late April and even early May be-
fore leaving, and others remain to breed. Mr. Deane says. in 1889,
Shovellers remained at English Lake until the first week in June.

They have been reported as breeding in Lake County (C. E. Aiken),
and Starke County (Ruthven Deane). Mr. Deane tells me that May 4,
1890, Pearl Taylor found a nest of this duck at English Lake in a
clump of willows, low down near the edge of a meadow. The nest con-
tained nine fresh eggs, which are now in Mr. Deane’s collection.

They have several times been reported late in May and through
June. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that it will be found
breeding more commonly than we suppose. Three or four were seen.
Brirps oF INDIANA. 607

by Prof. W. S. Blatchley near Harrodsburg, May 8, 1896, an
unusually late date for southern Indiana. The opening of the
shooting season, September 1, 1889, several Shovellers were killed at
Water Valley. They came to the decoys, and their weight ‘attracted
so much attention that several were weighed and found as heavy.as'‘two
pounds each. Those who have handled spoonbills in ‘the spring -will
appreciate the weight given, as they are then usually merely a'bunch of
feathers. They return from the north ‘through September and, more
numerously, in'October. Inthe latter month most of them ‘pass on
southward. Rarely may one remain till the middle of November.

17, Genus DAFILA Srepueys.

a1, Speculum violet, with black, white, and buffy. D. acuta Linn. 36
36. (143.) Dafila acuta Livy.
Pintail.

Synonym, SpRIGTAIL.

Adult Male—Tail cuneate, when fully developed the central feath-
ers projecting and nearly equaling the wing; bill, black and blue; feet,
grayish-blue; head and upper neck, dark brown, with green and pur-
ple gloss; sides of neck, with a long white stripe; lower neck and
under parts, white; dorsal line of neck, black, passing into the
gray of the back, which like the sides, is vermiculated with black;
‘speculum, greenish-purple anteriorly bordered by buff tips of the
greater coverts, elsewhere by black and white; tertials and scapulars,
black and silvery. Adult Female—Tail much shorter and not so nar-
row; the whole head and neck speckled or finely streaked with dark
brown and grayish or yellowish-brown; below, dusky freckled;
-above, blackish; all the feathers pale-edged; only a trace of the specu-
lum between the white or whitish tips of the greater coverts and sec-
-ondaries.

» Length, about 26.00-30.00; wing, 10.25-11.20; middle tail feathers,
7.25-9.50; bill, 1.85-2.15; tarsus, 1.55-1.85. Female smaller.

RanGe.—Northern Hemisphere. In North America it breeds from
north Illinois and Wisconsin northward to Arctic regions, but mostly
far north. Winters from southern Illinois south to Cuba and Panama.

Nest, on the ground or in tuft of grass. Hggs, 6-12; buff or grayish-
green; 2.21 by 1.47.

Abundant migrant in spring; not common migrant in fall. Per-
haps oceasionally winters. The winter of 1884-5 a few ducks of this
‘species spent most of that season at Shawneetown, Ill. This is but a
608 ReEporT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

short distance below the mouth of the Wabash River. The only report
of their wintering farther north than Shawneetown was from Mr. W.
B. Hull, Milwaukee, Wis. Mr. Hull says: “For about a week the
whole bay was frozen over with ice from two to fourteen inches thick.
During this time the pot-hunter butchered numbers of Pintail Ducks.
The ducks were half starved, and would allow a man to approach
within 20 feet of them. Icemen were cutting ice close to the shore,
and ducks came right among them to get to the open water. A friend
who was on the ship Oneida during her 25 days in the ice, said that
the ducks (Pintails mostly, but a few “northern” ducks he did not rec-
ognize) were “frozen in.” When walking on the ice near the boat, he

 

Head of Female Pintail.

saw hundreds of ducks in a solid casing of ice. In the winter of
1873-74 they were killed in the same way. (Cooke, Bird Migration in
Mississippi Valley, pp. 68, 69.)

These are, with the Mallards and Ring-necks, the earliest river
ducks to move northward. They begin to migrate the first open
weather. This may occur any time from the middle of February to
the middle of March. The following dates will give the records of the
first reports for the State for the years mentioned:

1885. Mar. 13.—Brookville.
1886. Feb. 26.—Bloomington (Evermann).
1889. | Feb. 15.—Frankfort (Ghere).
\ Feb 20.—Vincennes (Balmer). Ducks by thonsands—first bird wave.
1891, Feb. 14.—English Lake (Deane).
1g99, { Feb. 6.—Liverpool (Parker).
Feb. 27.—English Lake (Deane).

1894. Mar. 11.—English Lake ( Deane).
1895. Mar. 15.—Liverpool (Parker).
1896. { a 6. Liverpool (Parker),

| Mar. +.—Brookville.
Birps oF INDIANA. 609

In the spring they are very numerous in March for a few days,
or possibly for two or three weeks, depending upon the weather. Then
they pass north. When they are present in any numbers 1n the spring
they are found by thousands. I have a few records of March 20-25,
when they were abundant. The latest records when they were found
in numbers is from English Lake, March 26, 1892. Seldom are indi-
viduals noted after that. May 4, 1890, Mr. Ruthven Deane noted sev-
eral Pintails, mostly in pairs, at English Lake. May 10, 1891, he
caught a crippled male, whose broken wing had healed, at the same
place. In 1889 they remained until the first week in May. These are
unusually late dates for this species.

They begin to return in September. In 1889 Mr. Deane reported
quite a number at English Lake, September 21. Their numbers in
fall are but a small fraction of those which go north in the spring.
Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr., gives as the result of his observations for a
number of years, that there is not one Pintail in the fall where there
are ten in the spring. They remain, however, until the ice covers the
water and drives them further south. November 22, 1891, Mr. Deane
reported most ducks had left English Lake, but a few Pintails still
remained. The year 1891 was one of several very dry years. In
the fall the marshes were dry and the bulk of English Lake
an exposed mud bank. The ducks, among which the Pin-tails were
conspicuous, seemed greatly to enjoy taking a mud bath in the oozy
mud.

They have been reported nesting in Illinois and Wisconsin and
northward through Manitoba and the Northwest Territory. Accord-
ing to Mr. Robert Kennicott, the breeding range of the Pintail extends
into the Arctic regions, farther than any of the fresh-water ducks,
comparatively few breeding south of Great Slave Lake. Both Mr.
E. W. Nelson and Mr. L. M. Turner, report it very abundant along.
the Yukon and the Alaskan coast. It is one of the first water fowl
to begin nesting. The nest is made upon the dry ground or in a tuft
of grass. Mr. Nelson notes that in summer the Pintail has a low,
mellow whistle, which is used to call its mate, in addition to a loud
“quack,” much like, but less sonorous, than that of the Mallard. (Nat.
Hist. Coll. in Alaska, p. 70.)

39—GEOL.
610 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

18. Gexus ATX Bors.
a}, Speculum green. A. sponsa (Linn.). 37

*37, (144). Aix sponsa (Liyy.).
Wood Duck.
Synonyms, TREE Duck, SummER Deck.

Adult Mate—Head crested, metallic green and purple; line above
and behind the eye, white; above, coppery black, with a gloss of green
and purple; beneath, white; upper part of the breast, chestnut; sides,
buffy, very finely variegated with black; the shoulder bordered also

 

Wood Duck.

with black; covert and quills, with more or fewer tips and shades of
white and purple. Adult Female.—Chestnut of the neck detached and
dull; sides, not striped; head and neck, dull; bill, reddish; edges dusky;
legs and feet, yellowish inside.

Length, about 19.00-20.50; wing, 9.00-9.50; bill, 1.40.

Raner.—Temperate North America, breeding throughout its range.
Cuba. Accidental in Europe. Winters from southern Indiana and
Illinois southward.

Nest, of grass and leaves in a hole in tree. Eggs, 8-14; pale buff;
2.00 by 1.50.

Migrant and summer resident in some numbers. Some winters it
may be found in southern part of the State. Breeds in suitable
localities throughout the State. It is known also as Tree Duck
and Summer Duck. They begin their northward journey with the
Birps oF INDIANA. 611

first bird wave in the spring. In 1888 Prof. B. W. Evermann re-
ported a female, from Terre Haute, February 29. In 1890 Mr. 8.
A. Warner noted two, the first of the season, at St. Clair Flats,
Mich., March 11, and in 1897 Mr. Jerome Trombley noted two at
Petersburg, Mich., March 3. It is not often, however, that the move-
ment is so early. ;

Usually they are observed going north after March 15 in this State,
and correspondingly later, northward.

Mr. John 8. Elliott informs me it is a permanent resident in Posey
County, in the extreme southern part of the State.

Often they are paired when migrating, and through April most of
them are mated, and begin looking for nesting sites. The nests are
generally placed in a cavity or hollow tree near water. The earliest
young are ready to leave the nest the latter part of May. May 25 is
the earliest I have ever known them to be out.

Under date of July 29, 1889, Mr. Ruthven Deane writes the follow-
ing concerning the Wood Duck at English Lake: “I saw perhaps
seventy-five Wood Ducks during the day—some single ones, many
pairs and some flocks of ten to fifteen. During the hot days they like
to stay in shady nooks, under brush piles on the edge of the river.
Yet many content themselves by basking in the sun, ‘sitting on some
dead log on the river, and in most cases, just at a bend, where they
can keep an eye open for intruders who may be coming up or down.
The young are now well grown, and while many do not get off the
water with the agility of adults, yet they are strong on the wing when
they get a little headway.” Mr. Deane informs me they were un-
usually numerous for the time of year at English Lake August 8, 1897.

Tam informed that they are reported to have been found breeding
in trees, on the scrub oak ridges, as much as a mile and a half or
two miles back from the Kankakee River and away from all bodies of
water. The young, soon after being hatched, are said to be carried to
the river by the parent birds. Audubon and Wilson both speak of the
parents carrying the young to water, but I do not know that anyone
heretofore has reported an instance of their breeding at such a distance
from water, requiring such a journey to convey the young to it.

As the broods hatch they are led to the more retired waters and
taught all that is necessary to know about feeding, diving and flying,
together with all the necessary finer accomplishments. When they
are deemed ready to care for themselves, they all come out upon the
more open stream. In some favored localities, quite a num-
ber could formerly be seen by September 1. They afford the
principal early duck shooting. They have been noted in recent years
612 REpoRT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

as summer residents and breeding in the following counties: Posey,
Knox, Gibson, Vigo, Monroe, Carroll, Wabash, Tippecanoe, Starke,
Newton, Lake, Laporte, Dekalb, Steuben, and Lagrange. In none of
them are they found in such numbers as they were fifteen or twenty
years ago, and in some of them in which they were the most common
duck, they are not now seen in summier. I do not know that a Wood
Duck has bred in Franklin County in fifteen years. Before that time
there were places where they were known to rear their young each
season. Mr. C. EH. Aiken says it was formerly one of the most abundant
summer residents, but now only seen occasionally. During several
trips to Water Valley (on the Kankakee River), in 1886, ’87 and ’88,
in April and May, he saw only two or three pairs. Mr. J. G. Parker,
Jr., says they breed in the woods bordering our rivers and lakes. Until
late years the Kankakee River region afforded excellent Wood Duck
shooting. The Burr Oak bottoms along that river have been favorite
nesting places. In 1888 B. W. Evermann, writing of the ducks of
Carroll County, says: “Formerly a common summer resident, but now
one of the rarest ducks of this region.” (The Auk, October, 1888,
p. 346.)

The common note of the drake is peet-peet, but the alarm note is not
unlike the first. attempts of a young cock to crow. It may be expressed
by the syllables “‘oe-eek.”’

19. Genus CAIRINA Frenne.
38. (—.) Cairina moschata (Liyy.).
Muscovy Duck.

Adult Male—Head, neck and lower parts uniform glossy brownish-
black; upper parts brilliant metallic blackish-green, glossed with pur-
ple anteriorly and on rump; wing coverts and above and below entirely
pure white; caruncles along sides of forehead, etc., bright pinkish-red
or rose red in life; bill varied with blackish and pinkish white or light
rose-color. Adult Female.—Entirely brownish-black, except some of the
upper greater wing coverts, which are white; upper parts glossed with
metallic green and purple.

Length of male, nearly 36.00; wing, about 16.00; tail, 9.00; tarsus,
2.00 or more. Female smaller.

RancE.— Tropical America, from Paraguay and southern Brazil to
Mexico and Louisiana.

A specimen of this beautiful duck was shot near the mouth of Big
Miami River, in Indiana, in January, 1890, and is now in the posses-
sion of Mr. J. M. Bauer, of Lawrenceburg, Ind. Mr. Robert Ridgway
Birps oF INDIANA. 613

thinks this may be an escaped hybrid between a Muscovy and a tame
duck. Such hybrids are known, and it is not definitely known that
any authentic examples of this tropical duck have been taken in the
United States, though it is known to occur in Mexico.

SusramMity FULIGULINA.
20. Genus AYTHYA Borg,

a‘, Culmen longer than inner toe with claw; bill not wider toward end than at
base; male with head and neck reddish.
b!. Bill much shorter than middle toe without claw; nail decidedly hooked.
Subgenus Aythya.
ce, Bill 2.00 or under, its color dull blue, with blackish band at end; head
and upper neck rich rufous in male. A. americana (Eyt.). 39
b?, Bill as long as middle toe without claw, flattened at tip; the nail very
slightly hooked. Subgenus Aristonetta Baird.
d', Bill over 2.00, blackish in color, no band at end; head and neck red-
dish brown; top of head blackish in male. A. vallisneria (Wils.). 40
a?, Culmen as long as outer toe with claw; bill wider toward end than at base;
male with head and neck black. Subgenus Fuligula Stephens.
e!, Speculum white, tipped with black.
J+. Flanks white, unspotted.

g'. Length 18.00 or over. A. marila nearctica (Stejn.). 41
f?. Flanks white, zigzagged with blackish.
h), Length under 17.00. A. affinis (Eyt.), 42
e?, Speculum bluish-gray.
ut, Wing 8.00 or under. A. collaris (Donov.). 48

39. (146.) Aythya americana (Eyt.).
Redhead.

Adult Male-—Head and upper half of neck rich chestnut red,
glossed with reddish-purple; lower neck, chest, upper back, rump and
tail coverts (above and below) black; back, scapulars, sides, and -flanks
waved or vermiculated with white and black in nearly equal propor-
tion; belly immaculate white. Adult Female—Head and neck gray-
ish-brown; darker above; the fore part of the former light; almost
white on chin and upper throat; back, scapulars, chest, sides and flanks
dull grayish-brown, the feathers tipped with paler or fulvous.

Length, 17.00-21.00; wing, 8.50-9.25; bill, 2.05-2.25; greatest width
of bill, .75-.85. .

RancE.—North America, breeding from California, southern Mich-
igan and Maine northward to Fur Countries. Winters from Virginia
to Cuba and Central America.

Nest, on ground, often on drift like a Coot’s. Hggs, 7-14; creamy
white; 2.42 by 1.78. ,
614 REpPorT oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Common migrant in suitable localities. Tt may occasionally remain
through the summer and breed. A male was taken June 28, 1879,
near Spuinay 0. (Langdon, Summer Birds of N. O., Marsh, p. 228.)
Mr. W. H. Collins found it breeding at St. Clair Flats, Mich. (Bull.
Nutt. Orn. Club, 1880, pp. 61, 62.)

The Red-head spends the winter south of us, being very common
along the gulf coast. They vary in the time of their northward migra-
tion with the weather. Usually it does not appear in Indiana until
some time in March, but Mr. Stephen A. Warnie reported six seen at
St. Clair Flats, Mich., February 13, 1890. No more were observed
until March 8. Mr. Warnie reports a few breeding then. In 1886 the
first was killed at English Lake, Ind., March 17; 1887 the first was
killed, March 4. A few were seen March 6, 1892. (Deane.) In 1888
Prof. B. W. Evermann reported the first noted in the State at Terre
Haute, March 9.

Some years many of them pass north early in April; other years they
remain well through the month. At English Lake, May 3, 1891, a
number were seen. But on the 10th a single one was noted with Scaup
Ducks. (Deane.)

The Redhead breeds-from the northern United States northward
through Manitoba, Assintboia, Alberta, and the Northwest Territory,
but apparently does not reach the Arctic Ocean.

The following account of a nest obtained by Mr. Collins, above re-
ferred to, is of interest: “The past season I had the good fortune to-
find two nests of the Redhead Duck (Aythya americana), containing
respectively, seven and eight eggs. The first was placed on some
drifted rushes on a sunken log, and was composed of flags and rushes,
evidently taken from the pile of drift upon the log, as they. were short
pieces, so short, in fact, that the nest, when, lifted with, the hands,
fell in pieces, The nest was about four inches deep and lined with
down from the female. This. nest, cqntained seven fresh eggs of a
creamy color, and varied i in measurements from 2.30 by 1.75 to 2.22 by
1.66 inches, and were of a uniform oval shape, very little smaller at
one end. The other nest, was built similar to a, Coot’s nest; that is,
of flags and grass interwoven at the hase of a, bungh of flags growing-in
water three or four feet deep, It was built, in, such, a way, that the
nest would rise and fall with the water. This nest also contgined
down and eight fresh. eggs, uniform, in size, shape and color-with the
others. The birds, male and female, werg flying around, apd often
came close to me. The cry of the female resembles. the cry of the
Mallard so, nearly that had, I heard apd, not, seen it I should have sup-
posed it to have been the Mallard.”
‘Brrps oF INDIANA. 615

The greater number of persons, perhaps, cannot distinguish ‘between
the Redhead and the much-esteemed Canvas-back. While their habits
are quite-similar in certain respects, they like the same'food, have sub-
stantially ‘the same range and:in some ways resemble each other, it
requires but little instruction 'to teach one-to discriminate. The long,
flat bill with:slightly hooked: nail of the:Canvasuback will distinguish it
in any plumage ‘from the shorter, ‘less flattened bill, with decidedly
hooked nail of the Redhead.

‘Both of these ducks are found in wild eelery, and being great divers,
are enabled to secure its roots for themselves. When feeding upon
this favorite food, the famed Canvas-back is said:to be no better ‘than
the Redhead. In faet, some persons who claim to have a right, by
reason of their experience in gastronomy, to:speak with authority, say
the latter is the superior bird. It:is further-said, in some hotels, where
the price of the two ducks is quite'far apart, they are both-served from
the same vessel, which, had one noted carefully what went into it,
would have been found to’be: filled with Redheads.

In:fall these ducks return in September, usually toward the latter
part. Often they leave very.soon. At other times ‘they remain past
the middle of October, and occasionally a few: may remain later. In
1881 the last Redhead was killed at English Lake, September 21. In
1889 these ducks were seen in gmall-flocks September 25, and in 1895
they were noted at Liverpool, Ind.,:Ocbtober 18.

40. ((147.) ‘Aythya vallisneria (W1x1s )

Canwas-back.

Adult. Male—Head.and neck reddish-brown, the former blackish on
top; chest, upper back, lower rump and upper and under tail coverts
black; rest of :plumage (except. quills, etc.) white, the upper parts,
sides and flanks and ventral region ‘finely: waved or vermiculated with
dusky. Adult Female-—-Head, neck, chest, and upper ‘back \raw-
umber brown; the fore part:df the head and foreneck whitish; seapu-
lars, sides.‘and’flanks similar, but tips of the feathers vermiculated with
whitish.

Length, about 20.00-23.50; wing, 8.75-9.25; bill, 2.10-2.50; greatest
depth of bill, .75-.80.

RancE.—North America, breeding in interior from Minnesota
north to Alaska. Winters from Southern States southward to Guate-
mala.

Nest, on ground, of grass and weeds, lined with feathers. Eggs,
6-10; grayish-drab or greenish-buff; 2,48 by 1,76.
616 ReEPorT oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Regular migrant; some years not common, even in the lake district.
Throughout the greater part of the State quite rare.

It winters south of us. Owing to the fact that our lakes do not afford
“wild celery,” or “water celery,” as it-is sometimes called (Vallisneria
spiralis), we do not furnish a very attractive field for the Canvas-
back. Although it is much scarcer in the interior than along the At-
lantic Coast, it is found in some numbers where its favorite food grows.
It is quite abundant at Fox Lake, fifty miles north of Chicago, and at
Lake Koshkonong, in Southern Wisconsin, at both of which places
Vallisneria grows.

This is the famed Canvas-back, the game bird, which, with the
equally well-known Diamond-back, the much-sought terrapin of the
tide-water marshes, has made the Chesapeake region famous. There is
much ina name. To some people apparel looks well if it costs much;
likewise, the cost of a meal determines its flavor. The Canvas-back is
good, splendid eating, but there are half a dozen other ducks which sell
for much less money that are equally as good.

The Canvas-back has been known to winter in southern Illinois.
(Cooke, Bird Mig. Miss. Valley, p. 70.) Its movements correspond
with those of the last mentioned species, which is much more common
than this.

In 1896 a large flock was observed by Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr., at Liver-
pool, February 28. This is the earliest record for the State. In 1886
the first was shot at English Lake March 21. At that place it is not
abundant, and but very few are killed each year. (Deane.) It departs
for the north early in April. Mrs. Hine reports it from Sedan, Dekalb
County, April 12, 1894. In the fall I observe but few notes of its oc-
currence. It remains into November, however, as Mrs. Hine reports
it from Dekalb County November 5, 1894. It was observed in Frank-
lin County by Dr. R. Haymond, and some years ago I saw a fine male,
lalled by Mr. 8S. 8. Harrell near Brookville.

The Canvas-back breeds in the interior very far to the northward,
a few breed in Minnesota and Manitoba, and it has been reported
breeding commonly, but at one place—Ft. Yukon—by Mr. Dall.
Birps oF InpIAaNA. 617

Subgenus Foiicuta Stephens.

41, (148). Aythya marila nearctica (StTzN.).
American Scaup Duck.

Synonyms, Bric BLACK-HEAD, BLUE-BILL, BROAD-BILL, RAFT-DUCK.

Adult Male—Head, neck and chest uniform black, the first with
greenish gloss; back and scapulars grayish-white, zigzagged with black
and yellow; speculum white, tipped with black; bill dull blue with
black nail; legs plumbeous. Female.—Space about base of bill, white;
rest of head and anterior parts brown; and other black parts of the
male rather brownish; speculum and belly white.

Length, 18.00-20.00; wing, 8.25-9.00 (8.63); bill, 1.85-2.20 (2.03);
greatest width of bill, .85-1.05 (.97); least width, .70-.90 (.79).

Rance.—North America. Breeds in Minnesota and Manitoba and
northward through Alaska. Winters from southern Illinois and Long
Island to Central America and West Indies.

Nest, on ground in grassy or marshy places about open lakes. Eggs,
6-10; buffy, olive-gray; 2.54 by 1.71.

Rare migrant; most often noted in the Wabash Valley. Quite rare
in fall. :

Some years they begin the spring migration by March 1 and occa-
sionally remain until April 10. It has been noted in Knox County by
Angus Gaines. Vigo County, about March 1, 1886, (Prof. 0. P. Jen-
kins.) March 26, 1887, several seen; a male killed. (Prof. B. W. Ever-
mann.) Also,by Dr. J. T. Scovell. Monroe County, March 4, 1886, one
(B. W. Evermann). Dekalb County, by Mr. H.W. McBride, and by Mr.
J. T. Feagler April 5 and 10,1896. Allen County, by Mr. C. A. Stock-
bridge. Lake County, by Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr., and April 9, 188”, by
Mr. Graham Davis. In Franklin County Dr. Rufus Haymond noted
it, and I recorded it March 4, 1896. I have no fall record. It is not
noted in the interior as commonly in fall as in spring.

While Mr. W. H. Collins has observed it breeding at St. Clair Flats,
Mich. (B. N. 0. C. V., p. 61), and its nesting has been noted in Minne-
sota, it usually breeds from Manitoba northward to the Alaskan Coast
and Greenland. In one’s mind birds, especially ducks, are recalled by
association. J think of this species being noticeably so much rarer
than its miniature and relative, the Lesser Scaup Duck, and recall that
the Canvas-back is likewise rarer than that for which it is sometimes
taken, the Redhead, and the Black Duck is proportionately rarer than
its near relative, the Mallard.
618 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

*42, (149). Aythya affinis (Eyt-).
Lesser Scaup Duck.

Synonyms, Lirrte BLack-HEAD, LITTLE BLUE-BILL.

Similar to last species (A. marila nearctica), but smaller and flanks
waved or zigzagged with blackish.

Adult Male.—With head glossed with purplish instead of green.

Length, 15.00-16.50; wing, 7.50-8.25. (7.81); bill, 1.58-1.90 (1.75);
greatest width of-bill, .80-.95 (.89); least width, .60-:78 (.69).

Ranep.—North America;. breeding chiefly north:of United States,
rarely south of central Michigan, Towa and: Indiana. Winters: from
Virginia and Gulf coast south to Guatemala and West Indies.

Nest, on ground.in swampy places, similar to last. Hggs, 6-10; color
same as last; 2.25 by 1.58. :

Very abundant migrant and rare summer resident.

This is the most common of all our ducks: In April, October and
November the open lakes of: northern Indiana are literally covered
with them. On Wolf Lake, Indiana, and Calumet Lake,. Illinois, and
other small lakes of that vicinity at those seasons of the year, and
sometimes as early as March 20 (1886), in spring, they: congregate by
thousands. They form the principal duck shooting in the vicinity of
Chicago.

These ducks form a part of the second early migrants. Thev are
not so early as the Mallards and some other. kinds, but follow promptly
after tiem. Some years they are noted the first. week in. March and
others the middle of that month. They remain. through April, some
years into May, occasionally are seen in June. The following dates
will give some idea of its occurrence: At English Lake, first one
killed, 1886, March 14; 1887, March 9; 1889, March 14; 1892, March
6, first noted. (Deane.)

In 1886, March 20, there were thousands at Wolf Lake. In 1896,
March 20, three were observed at. Kouts. (Parker.)

I have observed them at Brookville May 6 (1883), and Professors.
Evermann arid: Blatchley noted it at Gosport, May 8, 1886.

Mr. Ruthven Deane informs me upon good authority that a pair of
Lesser Seaup Ducks. followed by a brood of young, were seer at English
Lake in June, 1886. One or both of them. were supposed. to be
“cripples.” Mr. W. H. Collins found a nest of this spedies at St. Clait
Flats, Mich. (BLN. 0. C.; V., p. 61.).

They seerh to pair late. Early in May they hegin te be observed in
pairs, and by the middle of the month most of those that are found
Birps 6F Indiana. 619

with us are paired. Sorne, however, remain in flocks, and it is notice-
able that those ate priticipally thales and become very tame, permitting
otie to approach at times within sixty yards. The following dates from
Mr. Deane will show how late they are foutid at English Lake:

1888. May 6.+Flockg of 00; May 20,  fldek of 20; June 5, flovk of 13.

1890: May 4,—Saw many; May 11, many still rémain.

1891. May 10.—Abundant; flock of 260 on the Lake, on river mostly paired,

May 81, flock of 25.
189%. June 6.—Saw one “cripple.”

This duck returns from its summter home late in September or datly
im October. Mr. Deane notes the fitsb at English Lake September 22,
1889, and in 1886 the lest of the season waé shot October 20. Usually
between these dates; it would appear, the bulk are noted: Oftef, how-
ever, its stay is lengthened inte November; im fact) some yeats’ its
disappearance depends upon the closing of thé streamd by ice. In
1890 Ulrey and Wallace noted a specimen taken at Long Lake Novein-
ber 15, and in 1891 Mr. Deane reported the Kankakee River dt Etig-
lish Lake all open, December 21, and four Lesser Scaup Ducks shot,
and added,. several flocks of these Scaup Ducks were observed Deckth-
ber 19. From this it will net be unexpected to have them’ winter in
this State mild winters. This was formerly the most abundént duck
on our western rivers,and wintered along the lower Mississippi. ‘There
it occurred in such flocks that Audubon said it was known as the
“Flocking Fowl.”

43, (150). Aythya coltaris (Donov).
Rine-ndcked Dttek,
Sytonyl, Riowd-pri.

Adult M ale.—Head, neck, chest, undertail coverts and upper parts
black, the head with a violet-purple gloss and middle of neck with a
more or less distinct collar of chestnut; chin with a triangular white
spot; bill transversely banded with black; grayish-white and plumbe-
ous. Adult Female—Top of head and back of neck, dark brown; rest of
head and neck paler, becoming nearly or quite white anteriorly and on
throat; chest, sides and flanks deep fulvous brown; the speculum
bluish-gray, as in the male. Female much resembles female Redhead,
but is smaller.

Length, 15.50-18.00; bill, 1.75-2.00; tarsus, 1.30-1.45; wing, 7.50.

Rance.—North America, breeding from Jowa, southern Wisconsin
and Maine northward. Winters from southern Illinois southward to
Guatemala and West Indies.
620 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Nest, on ground among reeds and grass about marshy lakes and
ponds. Hggs, 6-12; color similar to foregoing species; 2.27 by 1.63.

Tolerably common migrant; in the northern part of the State
it is common in the spring and fall. Mr. Robert Ridgway notes
that it often passes the winter in the southern portion of Illinois.
(Birds of Illinois, Vol. II, p. 165.) The habits of these ducks are
substantially those of the last species. This and both the Scaup
Ducks are known as “Black-heads.”

March 8, 1879, a Ring-bill was killed by Mr. W. M. McCleery at
Brookville. In 1888 I noted it March 10, and the same year Mr. E. R.
Quick reported a male and female March 31.

The earliest spring record of this species also comes from English
Lake, where it was taken February 27, 1892. In 1892 it was abundant
March 6. That year a cold wave came on in March, and on the 13th
the lakes were frozen over, and Ring-necks, Mallards and Pintails sat
in droves on the ice. (Deane.)

At the same station the first was shot March 14, 1886, and March 6,
1887. In 1889 it was first noted there March 14, and was abundant
March 17.

Thus it would appear they may be expected when the waters are
open, which may be late in February some years and the middle of
March others.

They leave the latter part of April. The latest I know them to
have remained was May 11 (1890). This duck has been noted breed-
ing in the vicinity of Minneapolis, Minn., and its breeding range is
from that locality and Iowa northward, in the interior. It is rare in
Alaska. In the fall they sometimes reappear early in September.
Other years they are not common the latter part of that month. They
remain into November, sometimes quite late. Mr. Deane informs me
that a few were still at English Lake November 22, 1891, and Mr.
Charles L. Cass says they remained at Hillsdale, Mich., until Novem-
ber 26, 1894.
Birnps oF INDIANA. 621

20. Grexus GLAUCIONETTA Sresrecer.

a}, Wing with uninterrupted white patch; head puffy, it and throat glossy green
in male; head and upper neck grayish brown, head scarcely puffy in female.

G. clangula americana (Bonap.). 44

a?, Wing with white patch crossed with blackish band; head somewhat crested ;
it and neck steel blue in male; in female, head not crested, it and upper neck
snuff brown. G. islandica (Gmel.). 45

44, (151). Glaucionetta clangula americana (Bonap.).
American Golden-eye.
Synonyms, WHISTLER, WHISTLE-WING.

Adult Male——With the head and upper neck glossy green and a
white oval or rounded loral spot, not touching the base of the bill
throughout; lower neck all round, lower parts, including sides, most of
the scapulars, wing coverts and secondaries, white; the white of outer
surface of wings continuous; lining of wings and axillars dark; most of
upper parts black; no waving on the back or sides; bill black, with
pale or yellow end, nostrils in anterior half; feet orange; webs
dusky; eyes yellow; head uniformly puffy. Female—With head snuff
brown, no white patch in front of eye and white of wings not always
continuous.

‘Length, about 18.00; wing, 8.00-9.00 (8.52); bill from tip to extrem-
ity of frontal angle, 1.65-1.80 (1.73); depth of bill at base, .95-1.05
(.99); width, .70-.75 (.74); width of nail, .18-.20; tarsus, 1.30-1.55
(1.43). Female smaller.

RancE.—North America, breeding from Maine and British Prov-
inces northward. In winter from Great Lakes southward to Cuba and
Mexico.

Nest, in hollow tree, of grass, leaves, moss, etc., lined with down.
L's, 6-10; ashy-green; 2.40 by 1.75.

Common migrant and winter resident. On southern Lake Michi-
gan this is the common winter duck, staying all winter. On Lake Erie
it is also found at that season. They may be observed throughout the
State in winter wherever there is open water.

They begin to go north with the first thaws, and those from the
South continue passing until near the middle of April, in which month
they are sometimes very common. The latest date for the State is April
17 (1885), when I found it at Brookville. Severe winters they are
fewer in numbers and less generally distributed. Over much of the
more level part of the State, when the quiet waters are frozen, they
are not found. Mr. Deane informs me they remained on the Kankakee
River all winter, 1890.
622 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

In 1892, February 27, they were more abundant than any other
species, generally in flocks of 15 or 20. The first was shot in 1886,
March 14, and the first noted about March 8, 1894. It breeds from the
northern limits of the United States northward to Hudson Bay and
Alaska, and Mr. Nelson reports, upon Mr. Dall’s authority, that it is
a winter resident in the Aleutian Islands. They arrive in the fall,
generally in November.

They are usually quite shy and difficult to approach. Often the
hunter will try to approach a bunch of ducks, and suddenly, a few
Golden-eyes will arise from the flock, their whistling wings giving the
alarm to the rest of the company and telling the enemy of the game
that has flown. The whistling note made by their wings is characteris-
tic, and has given them the name “Whistler” and “Whistle-wing.”
They are expert divers, and often, even after they are wounded, escape
by diving.

45, (152). Glaucionetta islandica (GMEL.).

Barrow’s Golden-eye.

Adult Male.—Very similar to the preceding, differing chiefly in be-
ing larger in size; gloss of the head, purple and violet; loral spot
larger; white on the wing, divided by a dark bar; feathers on the hind-
head lengthened into a crest; bill blotched with red. Female-—Can
probably not be distinguished from that of the preceding.

Length, 21.00-23.00; wing, 9.00-9.40 (9.17); bill from tip to frontal
angle, 1.65-1.80 (1.75); depth at base, .95-110 (1.03); width, .75-.85
{.81); width of nail, .35; tarsus, 1.50-1.60 (1.57). Female smaller.

Rance.—North America; breeds from Gulf of St. Lawrence to
Greenland and Alaska, and south in Rocky Mountains. Colorado.
South in Winter to southern Indiana, Illinois, and that latitude.

Nest'and Eggs, similar to the last species.

Rare visitor from the north in winter and spring. It has twice, at
least, been taken in this State. Dr. F. Stein took it on the lower
Wabash River in Gibson County in 1874. (Bull. Nuttall. Orn. Club,
July, 1876, p. 41.) Prof. B. W. Evermann shot a female on Deer
Creek, near Camden, Carroll County, March 19, 1885. (The Auk, Oc-
tober, 1888, p. 347.) Dr. Brayton says it is a “winter resident on Lake
Michigan.” Mr. F. M. Woodruff informs me that he shot two speci-
mens off Lincoln Park, Chicago, on Lake Michigan, December 11,
1896, and Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr., has a specimen taken at Fox Lake,
Illinois, January 2, 1889. We are about at the southeastern limit of
its range.
Brrpos oF INDIANA. 623

- Mr. Robert Ridgway calls attention to the fact that while the males
of this species and the last may readily be distinguished, aecerding to
the characters specified, it is difficult to give constant characters by
whieh the females of these two species can be infallibly determined. He
says: “The examples, which are known to represent G. islandica differ
from the positively determined females of G. clangula americana in
the following respects: (1) The color of the head and upper half of
the neck is considerably darker, being a rich sepia or snuff-brown,
rather than a grayish brown; (2) the greater wing coverts are distinctly
tipped with black, forming a conspicuous dusky stripe between the
two larger white areas of the wing, which in G. clangula americana are
(usually at least) merged into one continuous space.

“Further than this we find no distinction, while indeed some exam-
ples are decidedly intermediate in both respects, as to render it quite
uncertain to which species they belong of the two characters named.
However, the color of the head seems for the most constant, and may,
perhaps, be found quite distinctive.” (Birds of Illinois, Vol. IT, pp.
169, 170.)

2

21. Genus CHARITONETTA Sresnecer.

a’. Nostril nearer base than tip of bill; more or less white behind the eye, none
in front; head of male very puffy. C. albeola (Linn.). 46

46, (153). Charitonetta albeola (Linn.).
Buffie-head.

Synonyms, But?rer Duck, Butrer Barz, Spirit Duck.

Adult Male.—Head and upper neck glossy green, bronze and purple;
a band of white extending from eye to eye across the back of head;
lower neck, lower parts, speculum, wing, coverts, and outer scapulars
pure white; rest of upper parts black. Adult Female—Head, neck and
upper parts generally, dusky grayish-brown; a spot behind each eye,
speculum and lower parts, white.

Length, 14.25-15.25; wing, 6.75-6.90; bill, 1.10-1.15; female,
smaller. ;

Ranez.—North America, breeding in Iowa and Maine and that lati-
tude, through the fur countries, and northward to Alaska. Winters
from Michigan to Cuba and Mexico.

Nest, in hollow tree. Eggs, 6-14; dull light buff; 1.98 by. 1.46.

Common migrant and winter resident. Some winters they are pres-
ent throughout the entire State; others when the northern streams and
lakes are ice bound they are only found along the southern border.

Bese ee) aati oa ce
624 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Throughout the southern part of the State this little duck is better
known than the Golden-eye. Although it is found in some numbers
on Lake Michigan, it prefers the smaller lakes and streams, often asso-
ciating with the Lesser Scaup Duck in bunches of three or four. It
arrives and departs with the latter duck.

In 1888 Prof. Evermann took a female at Terre Haute, February 29.
In 1889, Mr. J. A. Balmer reported small numbers at Vincennes, Feb-
ruary 21, while they were not observed at English Lake until March

 

Buffle-Head.

17. In 1892, Mr. Deane reported a few pairs seen at English Lake,
February 27. In 1886 the first was killed at English Lake, March 19,
and in 1892 they were first observed there, March 6.

Usually the migration is principally in March, the birds remaining,
in the north of the State, from the first to the middle of April.
Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr., reports several at Kouts, Ind., April 15, 1892,
and Mr. Deane saw a few at English Lake May 4, 1890. That same
‘year they remained at St. Clair Flats, Mich., until May 9. (Warnie.)

They have been observed at St. Clair Flats, however, in summer,
and it is said to breed there (Mcllwraith, Birds of Ontario, p. 84).
Dr. F. W. Langdon reports it also in summer from near Sandusky, 0.
(Summer Birds of N. Ohio, Marsh, J. C. 8S. N. H., Vol. IN, 1880, p.
229).
Brgps oF INDIANA. 625

It breeds from Iowa northward throughout Manitoba to the Alaskan
coast.

This duck is well known to sportsmen as a diver. Often it escapes
by diving rather than by flying.

22. Genus CLANGULA Leaca.

a, Feathers at base of bill reaching farthest forward on the forehead.
C. hyemalis (Linn.). 47

47, (154). Clangula hyemalis (Liny.).
Old Squaw.

Synonyms, OLp Wire, SourH SoutHERLY, Lonc-raILED Duck.

Adult Male in Winter.—Sides of head light smoke gray; the eyelids
and rest of head and neck, upper part of chest and upper back, white;
a dusky patch on each side of neck; breast and most of upper parts
black; the scapulars pale pearl-gray or grayish-white; lower parts
white, the sides tinged with pearl-gray. Adult Male in Summer.
Fore part of head pale grayish; eyelids and space behind eye white;
rest of head and neck, with upper parts generally, sooty blackish, or
dark sooty brown; the upper back varied with fulvous and scapulars
edged with same; breast and upper belly dark sooty-grayish; remaining
lower parts white, shaded on sides with pale pearl-gray. Adult Female
in Winter—Head, neck, and lower parts chiefly white; top of head
dusky; chest grayish; upper parts dusky brown, the scapulars bordered
with light brownish, sometimes tipped with grayish. Adult Female in
Summer.—Head and neck, dark grayish-brown, with a whitish space
surrounding the eye, and another on each side of neck; otherwise
much as in the winter plumage, but scapulars chiefly light brown or
fulvous, with dusky centers.

Length (of male), 20.75-23.00; wing, 8.50-9.00; middle tail feathers,
8.00-8.50; bill, 1.10; the female smaller (about 15.00-16.00 long), with
middle tail feathers not conspicuously lengthened.

Ranez.—Northern Hemisphere. In North America, south to the
Potomac and the Ohio (more rarely to Florida and Texas) and Cali-
fornia; breeds far northward. ,

Nest, on margins of lakes or ponds, among grass or bushes. Eggs,
6-12; drab, shaded with green; 2.05 by 1.49.

Very common winter resident on Lake Michigan. Away from that
lake it is an exceedingly rare winter visitor, although it has been re-
ported from a number of localities throughout the State.

40-—GEOL.
626 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Dr. F. Stein observed it om the lower Wabash River (Bull. Nuttall
Orn. Club, July, 1876, p. 44). A specimen was taken by Mr. T. J. Baum
near the mouth of the Great Miami River (Dearborn County, Indiana)
February 24, 1880. (Journal Cin. Soc. Nat. Hist. December, 1881, p.
341).

Mr. Charles Dury informs me there is a male in the collection of the
Cuvier Club, Cincinnati, O., that was taken on the Whitewater River
in March. There is a male in my colleetion taken by Mr. R. Williams
at Metamora, Franklin County, Indiana, about 1882. Mr. J. E. Beas-
ley reports having mounted a specimen killed near Thorntown in
1889. Mr. C. A. Stockbridge reports one specimen from Allen County,
and Dr. Vernon Gould reported it from Rochester, March 7, 1892.

They come from the north very late. The earliest date given for
their arrival is that given by Mr. J. W. Byrkit, who reported it very
abundant on Lake Michigan, off Michigan City, December 12, 1887.

They are great divers. The depth to which they dive may be known
by the faet that they are often caught in that vicinity in abundance
in gill nets in twenty to thirty fathoms of water.

Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr., and Mr. F. M. Woodruff both report it very
abundant on Lake Michigan the winter of 1894-5, and quite common
the winter of 1896-7. The first mentioned winter, Mr. Parker tells
me, during January and February, many of these ducks were shot off
the government pier at the entrance to Chicago harbor. January 14,
1897, both the gentlemen mentioned reported it from Millers, Ind.
February 1 following Mr. Parker reported it very abundant at that
same place. He saw several enormous flocks.

They usually pass north in February. The latest record I have is
one given by Mr. Stewart E. White, Grand Rapids, Mich., where he
observed three April 2,1891. This duck is a great gabbler. To this fact
it owes several of its names, among them “Old Wife,” “Old Squaw,”
and “Scolder.” Its notes are different from those of any other duck.
Undoubtedly the name by which it is called some places, south-south-
erly, comes from the interpretation of these notes into south-south-
southerly. Its call consists of five notes, which may be interpreted
into several fanciful sayings.

Mr. Nelson speaks of its harmonious notes during the breeding sea-
son, when it is very abundant in Alaska, and says the fur traders of
Upper Yukon have given it the well merited name Organ Duck.
Breeds far north. It is one of the most abundant summer residents on
the Alaskan coast. '
Birps or INDIANA. 627

23, Gexus OIDEMIA FL emise.

a, Wing with large white patch; frontal feathers not reaching farther forward
than those on sides of culmen. Subgenus Menanrtta Boie.
O. deglandi Bonap. 48
a?, Wing with no white patch; frontal feathers reaching nearly or quite to nostrils,
none on sides of culmen. Subgenus PeLtonetra Kaup.
O. perspicillata (Linn.). 49

Subgenus Mevanirta Boie.

48. (165). Oidemia deglandi Bonar.
Velvet Scoter.
Synonym, WHITE-WINGED Scorer.

Adult Male—Black; speculum and patch under. eye, white; feet,
orange red, with dusky webs; bill, black, broadly tipped with orange.
Female.—Sooty brown, grayish below; whitish about head; speculum,
white.

Length, about 21.00; wing, 10.65-11.40; bill, 1.40-1.70; depth of
upper mandible at base, 1.10-1.30; tarsus, 1.80-2.10.

Ranee.—Northern North America. Breeds from Labrador and
Manitoba to Alaska and Arctic coasts; south in winter to Chesapeake
Bay, southern Indiana and southern Illinois.

Nest, on ground, near fresh water; of twigs, mosses, etc. Hggs,
usually 6; pale buff, varying to green; 2.68 by 1.83.

Rare winter visitor. More numerous on Lake Michigan.

Dr. Haymond records it from Franklin County “as numerous in
winter” (Ind. Geol. Rept., 1869, p. 223). Mr. Ruthven Deane in-
forms me that a bird of this species was taken at English Lake the
latter part of October or early part of November, 1889. Two more
were killed there early in November, 1890, after a heavy blow off Lake
Michigan. Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr., says it is found on Lake Michigan
during the winter menths, but is rare. This duck has been taken on
the Illinois River (Nelson); at St. Louis, Mo. (Allen); on the Scioto
River, near Columbus, O.; at Licking Reservoir; in the vicinity of
Cleveland and Sandusky Bay. Dr. J. M. Wheaton, Birds of Ohio, p.
538.)

Subgenus Peviosetta Kaup.
49. (166). Oidemia perspicillata (Linv.).
Surf Scoter.
Synonym, Surr Duck.
Adult Male——Black, with patch of white on the forehead and an-

other on the nape; none on the wing; bill, orange red, whitish on the
sides, with a large circular black base. Female—Smaller; sooty brown;
628 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

below, silvery gray; whitish patches on each side of the head; bill,
black; feet, dark, tinged with reddish; webs, black.

Length, about 20.00-22.00; wing, 9.25-9.75; bill, 1.30-1.60; tarsus,
1.55-1.85.

Raner.—North America. Breeds northward from Labrador
through British America and Alaska; south in winter in interior to
southern Indiana; on coasts to Florida and Jamaica, and Lower Cali-
fornia.

Nest, on ground in grass, near water. Eggs, 5; pale buff, or pale
creamy buff; 2.47 by 1.70.

Rare winter resident on Lake Michigan; of occasional occurrence
elsewhere.

An immature specimen was taken by Dr. F. Stein on the lower Wa-
bash River, near Mt. Carmel, Ul., in October, 1875. That same fall
Mr. E. W. Nelson says quite a number of specimens were taken on the
Calumet marshes, and many others seen. (Birds of N. E. TIL, p. 143.)
That is the only year for which I have been able to obtain records. It
is, however, given by Mr. H. Nehrling as not uncommon on Lake
Michigan. Mr. N. A. Eddy says one specimen was taken at the mouth
of the Saginaw River in 1884. It is often quite common in fall mi-
grations. It is frequently taken by the duck hunter, who calls it the
“booby-duck.” They regard it as unfit to eat, but when taken in fresh
water it is excellent eating. (Cook, Birds of Michigan, p. 45.)

On August 23, 1878, I visited Stewart Island, about ten miles to the
seaward of St. Michaels. As I neared the island in my kyak, I found
the water literally black with the males of this species, which were
united in an enormous flock, forming a continuous band around the
outer end of the island for a distance of about ten miles in length, and
from one-half to three-fourths of a mile in width. As the boat ap-
proached them, those nearest began to rise heavily by aid of wings and
feet from the glassy surface of the gently undulating, but calm, water.
The first to rise communicated the alarm to those beyond, until as far
as could be seen the water was covered with flapping wings, and the air
filled with a roar like that of a cataract. The rapid vibrations produced
in the air by tens of thousands of wings could be plainly felt. In all
my northern experience among the water fowl which flock there in
summer, I never saw any approach to the number of large birds gath-
ered here in one flock, nor shall I soon forget the grand effect pro-
duced by this enormous body of birds as they took wing and swept to
sea in a great black cloud, and settled again a mile or so away. (Nel-
son’s Rept. N. H. Coll. in Alaska, p. 81.)
Birps oF INDIANA. 629

24. Genus ERISMATURA Bonaparts.

a, Male, side of head below eyes white; female, side of head and neck grayish-
white, with darker stripe from corner of mouth to ear coverts.
E. rubida (Wils.). 50

50. (167). Erismatura rubida (W11s.).
Ruddy Duck.

Synonyms, Buack Jack, BristLE-Tart, Foot Duck.

Male in Full Plumage.—Bill, slaty blue; the nail black; neck, all
around, and the upper parts, bright chestnut; the lower parts, silky
white, watered with dusky; chin and sides of the head, white; the
crown and nape, black. Female.—Brown above, finely dotted and
waved with dusky; paler and duller. below, with sometimes a slight
tawny tinge, which also occurs on the sides of the head.

Length, about 13.50-16.00; wing, 5.75-6.00; bill, about 1.50-1.60.

RancE.—North America, in general south to West Indies and Co-
lombia; breeds throughout its range, from Granada and Guatemala
north, at least to Great Slave Lake. No American duck has so ex-
tensive a breeding range.

Nest, built to float like a Grebe’s or else along the edge of reedy
stream or lake, or on drift. Hggs, 5-11; white or pale buffy; 2.42 by
1.75. Migrant, usually not common.

Throughout the southern part of the State it appears to be rare. I
have one specimen taken near Brookville. Dr. F. Stein reports it
from the lower Wabash Valley. Prof. B. W. Evermann notes it as rare
in Monroe and Carroll counties. Mr. OC. E. Aiken tells’me he has seen
them abundant on the Calumet River in Indiana.

Mr. Chas. Dury tells me they are known to the hunters at English
Lake as “Black-Jacks.”

With us they are usually found singly or in small groups by them-
selves or with the Coots.

This is quite in contrast with their habits in the Southern States,
where they congregate in great flocks. They frequent the smaller
lakes and more sluggish water courses.

They return from the south late in the spring, usually arriving the
latter part of March, and remain through the month.

Mr. H. K. Coale noted two males and a female at Tolleston, Ind.,
May 9, 1877, and Mr. Ruthven Deane found two males and a female
in the red spring plumage at English Lake May 11, 1890.

The latter records indicate that they mate in threes. Is this a case
of polyandry? The Ruddy Duck may be found to breed among our
marshes.
630 REPorRT oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Mr. Nelson found it breeding in Nlinovis (Birds Northeast Illinois, pp.
148, 144) and Prof. Cook says the late Mr. W. H. Collins reported
taking its eggs (presumably at St. Clair Flats, Mich.) (Birds of Michi-
gan, p. 45.) The stupidity of this duck is well known. Persons are at
times permitted to row up to it, when it seems apparently dazed or
sleeping.

In the fall they appear about the first of October and depart later in
that month or in November. Dr. Wheaton says at this season they are
found in flocks of fifteen or twenty.

Susramity ANSERINA. GeEEsE.

25. Genus CHEN Bors.

a', Plumage chiefly grayish-brown; the rump, usually, and wing eoverts, bluish-

gray. C. eserudescens (Linn.). 53

?, Plumage, in adult, white; primaries black, their coverts gray; in young,
grayish atid grayish-white.

61. Wing 17.00 or under. C. hyperborea (Pall.). 61

b?, Wing over 17.00. C. hyperborea nivalis (Fofst.). 52

51. (169). Chen hyperborea (Patt.).
Lesser Snow Goose.

Synonyms, ALAsKA Goost, WHITE BRAN‘.

Adult.—Uniform pure white, the head often stained with rusty;
primaries black; their bases and coverts dark-gray. Young.—Head,
neck and upper parts pale grayish, the feathers of the latter with
whitish edges and (especially wing coverts and tertials) striped med-
ially with darker; rump, upper tail coverts, tail and lower parts plain
white.

Length, about 23.00-28.00; wing, 14.50-17.00 (16.36); bill, 1.95-
2.30 (2.15); tarsus, 2.80-3.25 (3.01); middle toe, 2.00-2.50 (2.34).

Rane@e.—Pacific Coast to the Mississippi Valley, breeding in
Alaska; south in winter from southern Illinois and southern Indiana
to gulf coast; southern California. Casually to New England. North-
eastern Asia.

Nest, by side of water on ground, of grass and feathers. Eggs,
5-8; yellowish-white; 3.13 by 2.12.

Rare migrant throughout the State; much more often seen in spring.

Mr. Nelson thought thet this species and the next were found in
Illinois in about equal numbers.

In this State and the vicinity of Chicago what reports I have re-
ceived relate principally to this form. The two birds are similar in
appearance, except in size. They aré at times found in flocks together
Birps oF InpIaNa. 634

or with other geese; again each kind will be found by itself. I have
had them reported in flocks with Blue Geese, Canada Geese and Amer-
ican White-fronted Geese. Reported from Dekalb County (R. W.
McBride), Lake County (Meyer), Starke County (Deane). October 18,
1881, a-single Lesser Snow Goose was seen near Brookville with a flock
of tame geese, and was shot. It was preserved by Mr. EH. R. Quick.
In spring they rarely appear late in February, usually not until the
early part of March, and scatter along through that month, a few re-
maining in the northern part of the State oecasionally into early April.

The earliest spring record I have is from Mr. H. W. McBride, at
Waterloo—six geese, February 23,1890. Prof. W. P. Shannon reports
a flock of twenty in the vicinity of Greensburg, March 14, 1895, from
which eight were killed. All were immature. The next day a flock of
thirty was seen. The latest record I have of it is reported by Mr. C. L.
Barber, Laporte, March 30, 1896, and the same year Mr. Eliot Black-
welder saw the last in Cook County, Illinois, April 4.

They are always conspicuous objects when the pure white adult
plumage contrasts with the dense black primaries. Whether with a-
flock of their fellows or notable examples in a flock of darker colored
geese, they are certain to be observed.

These, together with their lavger relatives and the Blue Goose, are
known by many as Alaska Geese. A gentleman one day showed me
an Alaskan bone arrow or spear point, which he said had been found
in northern Imdiana, and stated that for some time he had been puz-
zled, to- account for its occurrence there. Then he showed me the
sternum of an Alaska Goose, possibly this. species, which had been shot
in northern Indiana, through which a similar arrow head had pierced
and remained firmly imbedded. He had carefully cleaned the sternum
and left the head of the projectile as it was found. Thus was solved
the problem of the way in which this implement was transported from
the borders of the Arctic Sea to the rich fields of northwestern In-
diana.

52, (149a). Chen hyperborea nivalis (Forsr ),
Greater Snow Goose.
Synonyms, ALASKA GoosE, WHITE BRANT.
Same colors as last.

Length, 20.00-26.00; wing, 18.75-15.505, eulmen, 1.50-1.70; tarsus,
2.30-3.00.
Ranez.—North America, breeding far north (east of Mackenzie

Basin), and migrating south in winter, chiefly along the Atlantie coast
to Gulf coast and Cuba.
632 REPORT oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Eggs, unknown.

Rare migrant. This species and the preceding are not usually dis-
tinguished. Where it has been noted it would seem to be found less
often than the smaller form.

Mr. E. J. Chansler has several times seen Snow Geese in Knox
County, which he referred to this species. About 1867 he saw a flock
of eighteen. October 25, 1896, he saw a single specimen, and Decem-
ber 12, 1896, he saw another Snow Goose flying over in a flock of
Hutchins’ Geese. Mr. Chas. Dury has reported this goose from Chal-
mers. In the spring of 1897, while calling upon Mr. Mortimer Lever-
ing, at his country home near Lafayette, my attention was drawn to
‘three geese, one of which was a Snow Goose, which had been shot from
a flock near Morocco in 1892. It was only winged, and came into the
possession of Mr. Levering, where it had become quite tame.

Sir John Richardson, in his “Fauna Boreali Americana,” speaks of
the abundance of these birds in the far north, where they breed. The
young fly in August, and by the middle of September all have departed

- southward. ,

“The Snow Goose feeds on rushes, insects, and in autumn on. ber-
ties, particularly those of the H#mpetrum nigrum. When well fed it is a
very excellent bird, far superior to the Canada Goose in juiciness and
flavor. It is said that the young do not attain their full plumage be-
fore the fourth year, and until that period they appear-to keep in
separate flocks. They are numerous at Albany Fort, in the southern
part of Hudson Bay, where the old birds are rarely seen, and on the
other hand, the old birds in their migrations visit York Factory in
great abundance, but are seldom accompanied by the young.”

Both of the Snow Geese are known as “White Brant.”

53. (169). Chen cerulescens (Liny.).
Blue Goose.

Synonyms, ALAsKA GoosE, BLUE-wWINGED Goosr, BLUE BRANT.

Head and upper neck and sometimes rump and back part of
belly, white; back of neck often with more or less distinct black stripe
lengthwise; greater wing coverts and secondaries (including ter-
tails) edged with white; rest of plumage mostly grayish-brown, the
Tump (usually) and wing coverts, bluish-gray.

Young.—Similar to adult, but head and neck uniform deep grayish-
brown, only the chin being white.

Length, 26.50-30.00; wing, 15.00-17.00; culmen, ‘2.10-2.30; tarsus,
3.00-3.30.
Birp? oF INDIANA. 633

Ranex.—Interior of North America, east of Rocky Mountains,
breeding on the eastern shores of Hudson Bay; migrating south in
winter through the Mississippi Valley to the Gulf coast; occasional on
Atlantic Coast.

Nest and Eggs, unknown.

Rare migrant. Dr. Rufus Haymond first identified this goose in
Indiana. (Ind. Geol. Rept., 1869, p. 231.) Prof. B. W. Evermann
found three specimens in the Terre Haute market April 2, 1887,
which were killed about eighteen miles south of that city, in Sullivan
County. A few days later he saw another of these geese in the city
market. :

Mr. Chas. Dury reports it from Chalmers and English Lake. Mr.
J. O. Dunn informs me that there is a mounted specimen in the Hyde
Park (Chicago) High School, labeled Wolf Lake, Indiana. December
18, 1884, he also reports seeing twelve specimens in South Water
Street market, Chicago, March 29, and others again April 7, 1894, all
of which had been killed in Illinois. Mrs. Jane L. Hine states that a
taxidermist at Hudson, Steuben County, has a Blue Goose that he
says was shot early in the spring of 1891 in a swamp not far from
Stony Lake, Dekalb County. Mr. Mortimer Levering, of Lafayette,
has two of these geese, which were shot and crippled from a flock near
Morocco, Newton County, in 1892. He has kept them, and one Snow
Goose taken at the same time, for five rae and they have become
quite tame.

Dr. McChesney, in his account of the birds of northern Dakota,
says they are found there, in the fall, mixed with flocks of Snow Geese,
but he never observed them in the spring. As the above references will
show, most of those noted in Indiana and the vicinity of Chicago have
been seen in the spring.

26. Gexus ANSER Basson.

a), Fore part of head and feathers at base of bill white, or fore part of head dusky
and nail of bill, black. A. albifrons gambeli (Hartl.) 54

54, (17la). Anser albifrons gambeli (Ilarrt ).
American White-fronted Goose.
Synonyms, Laveuine Goosr, Gray Brant.

Adult.—Fore part of head and forehead, white, bordered behind with
blackish; upper tail coverts, sides of rump and crissum, white; under
parts whitish blotched with black; rest of head and neck grayish-
brown, shading lighter as it joins the breast; back dark gray, the feath-
ers tipped with brown; greater coverts and secondaries bordered with
634 REPoRT OF STATE ‘GEOLOGIST.

whitish; primaries and coverts edged and tipped with white; bill pink,
pale lake or carmine; mails, white; feet, yellow; claws, white.

Length, 27.00-30.00; ‘wing, 14.25-17.50; bill, 1.80-2.85; depth of
upper mandible at base, .90-1.20; width, .85-1.05; tarsus, 2.60-8.20.

Rance.—North America (rare on the Atlantic Coast), breeding far
northward; in wimter south to. Cape St. Lucas, Mexico and Cuba.

Nest, a depression in the sand beside-fresh water. Hggs, 6-7; green-
ish-yellow; 3.10 by'2.07.

This poose is a rare migrant in Indiana.

There is a male in the collection of the ‘Cuvier Ciub, ‘Cincinnati, '0.,
that was killed in the spring at English Lake. Mr. Ruthven Deane
has seen it at:the same place. Mr. C. A. Stockbridge has a specimen
im his collection, taken at Davis, Ind., in 1874. A goose of this species
was killed at Peru, April 1'7, 1891. It was mownted by Mr. J. H.
Beasley for Jos. Andre, of that city. Mr. Chas. L. Barber saw two in
the market at Laporte April -4, 1894. They were killed onthe Kan-
kakee River, nearthat place. Mr. J..O0. Dumn saw some in the Chieago
market, from Illinois, April 7, 1894.

Dr. Langdon notes its occurrence in the vicinity of Cincinnati, and
itihas been noted afew other times in‘Ohio. (Wheaton, Birds of Ohio,
pp. 517,.518.) It is rare in Michigan. (Cook, Birds of Michigan, p.
46.) In 1876 Mr. Nelson gave it as a very abundant migrant, occur-
ring in large flocks in Illinois. (Birds of Northeastern Illinois, ‘pp.
136, 137.) Mr. Ridgway says nothing of its being even common in
1895, but notes that it frequents open prairies or wheat fiélds, where
it nibbles the young and tender blades, ‘and cornfields, where it feeds
upon the seattered grains.

“The mating season is quickly ended, and on May 27%, 1879, I
found their eggs at the Yukon mouth. From this date on until the
middle of June fresh eggs may be found, but very soon after that date
the downy young begin to appear. ‘The geese choose for a nesting site
the grassy border of a small lakelet, a knoll grown over with moss and
grass, or even a flat, sparingly covered with grass. Along the Yukon,
Dall found them breeding grégariously, depositing their eggs in a
hollow scooped out in the sand. At the Yukon mouth and St.
Michaels they were found breeding, scattered in pairs over the flat
country. Every one of the nests examined by me in these places had
a'slight lining of grass or moss, gathered by the parent, and upon this
the ‘first eggs were laid. As the complement of eggs is approached ‘the
female always plucks down andfeathers from her breast until 'the-eggs
rest ina warm, soft bed, when incubation commences. ‘The eggs ALY
considerably in shape and size. ‘Some are decidedly elongated; others
Birps oF INDIANA. 635.

are decidedly oval. In color they are a dull white, but ordinarily pre-
sent a dirty brown appearance from being stained in the nest.

The young are pretty little objects, and are guarded with the great-
est care by the parents, the male and female joining in conducting
their young from place to place and defending them from danger.”
(Nelson, Report Nat. Hist. Coll. in Alaska.)

27. Guxus BRANTA Scopo.t.

a'. Head black; cheeks and throat white.
b1. Larger; length 35.00: or over. B. canadensis (Linn.). 55:
b?. Smaller; length under 35.00.
B. canadensis hutchinsii (Sw. & Rich.). 56
a, Throat black, or brownish black; white streaks or spots on each side of neck.
B. bernicla (Linn.). 57

*§5, (172). Branta canadensis (Liyy.).
Canada Goose.
Synonym, Comacon, WILD Goose,

Adult Male—Head and neck black, with a broad white patch on
throat, extending up into. each cheek; tail and quills. black; upper tail
coverts white; upper parts. brownish, the feathers with lighter tips; be-
low, light brownish-gnay, almost white on crissum, all the feathers
with, lighter edges; bill and feet, deep. black.

Length, about 35.00-43.00;, wing, 15.60-21.00; bill, 1.58-2.705 tarsus,
2.45-3.70.

Raner.—North, Amenica;, breeds from Indiana, Illinois, Teanessee
northward from Mackenzie Valley to Atlantic Coast. Winters from
southern limit of breeding range south to Gulf States and into Mexico.

Nest, usually in a hollow in the sand, lined with down, and a few
sticks around the edge. Along the upper Missouri it breeds in trees.
(Coues, B. N. W.) Eggs, 4-7; pale dull greenish; 3.55 by 2.27.

Common migrant; sometimes. winter resident in the northern part
of the. State; resident in some numbers. They often breed. Formerly
these geese were much more ahundant than now, but they. are still
common during the migrations among the lakes and marshes of north-
ern Indiana.

This is the common Wild Goose. Almost every mild winter more or
less of them remain in one part, if not another, of the lower Wabash
Valley. Mr. E. J. Chansler says a,few years ago. the prairies. of Knox
County, were covered with these geese many days during the winter.
They could. be seen by thousands. Now they. are seldom met with
The winters of 1886-7 and 1892-3 they remained im. the valley of the
636 Report oF StaTE GEOLOGIST.

Whitewater. he latter winter a small flock remained in the vicinity
of Brookville, through zero weather, until the last were
killed, some time in January. The winter of 1888-89 they remained
in some numbers on the Kankakee all winter.

Often they begin moving with the January thaw, and by February,
some years, if the waters are open, are to be found throughout the
State.

 

Canada Goose.

Their forwardness sometimes brings them to grief. Occasionally
cold weather follows their movements, and they are cumpelled to pass
a season of severity while in the midst of their migrations. March 9,
1889, and February 14, 1891, the marshes at English Lake were cov-
ered with ice, and the geese were sitting on the ice. February 22,
1894, the Tolleston marshes were covered with ice, and geese sat on the
ice. (Deane.)

These geese are among the first birds to move. They do not follow
the course of streams, but go over wood and meadow, river and town,
attracting the watcher by the flight, in single file or two lines, meeting
in a point, and calling the attention of the inattentive by the melo-
dious honk-honk of the old gander who leads the van. Thus, theirs
Brrps oF INDIANA. 637

becomes the most notable of the early bird movements, and they are
harbingers of spring. Their coming and going is the wonder of all
who behold them, and the i impression they make upon the young mind
is lasting.

They continue the spring migration through March, aiid usually
have passed the southern part of the State by the middle of that
month, though Mr. E. J. Chansler has noted them as late as April 2
(1897). In the vicinity of Lake Michigan they often continue abund-
ant up to that date. They are.so reported April 2, 1893, at Kouts,
Ind., and common April 2, 1885. (Parker.) About this time, how-
ever, the migrants leave, and only those who remain to breed are
found. In years gone by many more bred with us than do now.

Thirty years ago it was not uncommon to find upon the upland
meadows of Franklin and other southern counties, where great flocks
of these geese had stopped during the March migrations, numbers of
eggs that had been dropped by them.

‘They still breed in some numbers in the Kankakee region and
less frequently in other favorable localities, notably Dekalb County
(J. O. Snyder), Steuben County, at Twin Lakes of the Wood (Mrs.
J. L. Hine), Laporte County (C. L. Barber). They evidently begin
nesting between April 15 and May 1, as nests with the full comple-
ment of eggs are usually found from the first to third week in May.

These geese are often domesticated. In our State the farmers in some
localities where they breed, get the eggs and hatch them under a hen.
Mr. L. T. Meyer informs me of one farmer in Lake County who found
a nest containing six eggs, built upon a muskrat house. He took the
eggs, and the hen under which he set them hatched four goslings.
These he kept for a number of years, and they bred every year. In
this connection I desire to refer to an account of domesticated Canada
Geese by Mr. Wm. Dutcher, in the Auk, January, 1885, p. 111. The
notes are given from the experience of Capt. Lane, of Shinnecock Bay,
Long Island, and from these I quote the following concerning their
breeding habits: “They make their nests of dried grass, raising them
about twelve inches from the ground. They feather them when they be-
gin to lay, which is about May 1. None lay until three years old. The
first season four eggs are laid, five the second, and when older, six
or seven. A goose never has more than one mate, but while the goose
is sitting the gander never leaves her, though he never sits on the nest.
The time of incubation is four weeks. The young when hatched are
strong enough to take care of themselves; that is, they eat grass and
walk, and swim as soon as they get dry. They will eat meal on the
638 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

second day. They are in the down four weeks and are fully grown in
six weeks. When swimming, the gander goes ahead, the young next
and the goose follows invariably.”

The following records taken from English Lake, are given: The first
was killed in 1881, February 16; 1886, March 17; 1887, March 13;
1889, common March 9, had been present several days; 1891, first seen
February 14; 1892, February 27; 1894, February 22 at (Tolleston,
Lake County); 1896, February 2.

They arrive on our marshes in September, but in the southern part
of the State are seldom seen until after the middle of October. They
remain until the first cold snap, then the great body pushes on towards
the Gulf of Mexico.

*56. (172a). Branta canadensis hutchinsii (Sw. & Rrcu.).
Hutchin’s Goose.
Synonyms, LesseR CANADA GuosE, LITTLE WILD Goose.

Similar to last species; much smaller and tail feathers usually 14
or 16. ‘

Length, about 25.00-34.00; wing, 14.75-17.75; bill, 1.20-1.90; tar-
sus, 2.25-3.20.

Rance.—North America; breeds in Arctic regions and Alaska,
where center of abundance is along lower Yukon, and thence south to
the Kuskoquin. (Nelson.) Winters in southern United States.

Nest, similar to last. Eggs, 4-6; white; 3.18 by 2.10.

Migrant and occasional winter resident; formery common; now
rarely seen. These geese are commonly called by hunters “Brant.”

In 1879 Dr. A. W. Brayton noted it as common. (Trans. Ind. Hort.
Soc., 1879, p. 178.) Mr. E. J. Chansler informs me that they were
formerly common in Knox County, especially in the fall. In 1891 he
saw a large flock of them in Gibson County. They were quite common
the winter of 1893-4 and the fall of 1896. Mr. Chansler says even
when they are not near enough to be distinguished by their smaller
size, they can be recogniad by their voices, which are finer and more
resembles that of the domestie goose. He says he has often seen them
flying with Canada Geese and with Mallard Ducks. They appear in
the northern part of the State in September, and reach the lower
Wabash Valley from October 25 to 2%, and the length of their stay
depends upon the weather.

Tn spring they go north in March. The last record I have is from
Knox County, March 18, 1897.
Breps oF INDIANA. 639

57, (173). Branta bernicla (Lwy.).
Brant.

Head entirely black; middle of neck with a patch of white streaks
on each side; upper parts brownish-gray, the feathers narrowly tipped
with grayish-white; lower parts pale grayish, in conspieuows contrast
with black of chest, and gradually fading into the white of anal region
and crissum. ¢

Length, 23.50-30.50; wimg, 12.30-13.60; bill, 1.20-1.50; tarsus, 2.10-
2.40.

Rancze—Northern parts of Northem Hemisphere; in North Amer-
ica chiefly on the Atlantic coast; rare in the imterior or away from salt
water. Breeds anly in Arctic Cirele.

Nest, a hollow in the samd, lined with feathers and down. Eggs,

_4-6; grayish or dirty white; 2.92 by 2.02.

Accidental visitor.

This goose prefers the sea, and does not wander far from tide water.
It is, however, occasionally found in the interior, where it has been
reported from Ohio, Illinois and Wiscomsin. __

Dr. Rufus Haymond reported it fromthe Whitewater Valley. (Proc.
Phil. Acad. Nat. Sci., 1856, p. 296, and Ind. Geol. Rept., 1869, p. 282.)
Mr. O. B. Warren informs me that a specimen was taken at Albion,
Mich., by E. M. Griffin in the winter of 1884, and is now in the collec-
tion of the college there. There are also other Michigan records.
(Cook, Birds of Michigan, p. 47.) Prof. Cooke says during the winter
of 1883-4 this species was represented from Illinois southward by a
few rare visitants. (Bird Mig. Miss. Valley, p. 78.)

Supramity CYGNINA. Swans.
28, Genus OLOR Wacurr.

a). Bill black with a yellow spot; the distance from the eye to the nostril much’
greater than from the latter point to the tip of bill.

0. columbianus (Ord.). 58

a?. Bill black, no yellow; the distance from the eye to the nostril not preater

than from the latter point 1o tip of bill. O. buccinator (Rich.). 59

58. (180) Olor columbianus (Orp.).
Whistling Swan.
Pure white; head often stained with rusty; bill and lores, black,
usually the latter with small yellow spot; iris, dark brown; feet, black.

Length about 54.00; extent, 84.00; wing, 21.00-22.00; bill, 3.80-
4.20; tarsus, 4.00-4.32.
640 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Ranar.—The whole of North America, breeding far north; Com-
mander Islands, Kamtchatka. Accidental in Scotland. Winters in In-
diana and Illinois and south to Gulf of Mexico.

Nest, in a tussock of grass near the water, often surrounded by it
so closely that the bird while sitting on the eggs has her feet sub-
merged. Eggs, 2-5; white, often stained with brown; 4.19 by 2.72.

Not common migrant and rare winter resident.

They spend the summer far to the north of the United States,
breeding at least south to a line from Hudson Bay to Alaska, and not
in the United States.

They migrate late in the fall; November seems to be their month,
and I find no earlier records at hand for the Ohio Valley or the lower
lake region. Nov. 15, 1894, one was taken at Long Lake, Wabash
County. (Ulrey and Wallace, Proc. I. A. 8., 1895, p. 150.)

November 19, 1896, Prof. E. L. Mosely reports it from Sandusky, ,
O., and adds: “It is said to have been seen earlier.”-

One killed at Mason, Mich., November 28, 1878. It has also been
taken in Michigan in winter. Prof. A. J. Cook informs us that E. A.
Lockwood took two in the month of December at South Haven. (Birds
of Michigan, pp. 47, 48.) My friend, Mr. B. T. Gault, informs me
he saw nine swans, species unknown, near Thayer, Newton County,
Indiana, January 18, 1892. Seven swans were seen on Swan Pond,
Daviess County, in the spring of 1897. (Chansler.)

The return journey to their breeding grounds is made in March and
early April. They are more often seen in spring than fall, some-
times being not uncommon at that time in the northern part of the
State. Mr. Nelson notes that they were unusually numerous in the
spring of 1876 in the vicinity of Chicago. (Birds N. E. Illinois,
p. 136.)

The earliest spring record is that of a specimen in my collection,
shot by Stephen McKeown, in Franklin County, March 7, 1888.

Mr. L. T. Meyer reports it from Lake County March 8, 1888; Mr.
Ruthven Deane saw nine at English Lake March 11, 1894, but did
not identify them.

Mr. R. B. Trouslot informs me that there is a specimen in the High
School at Valparaiso that was taken in Porter County March 22, 1887.

Prof. Evermann says that it is more often seen in Carroll County
in spring. There is a specimen in the collection of Cuvier Club, Cin-
cinnati, from Indiana (Dury); also, one in the State Geologist’s office
at Indianapolis from Decatur County. Mr. Parker saw five swans
flying over Calumet Lake, Illinois, and about fifty on the Kankakee
River at Kouts, Ind., March 31, 1894, but did not determine the
Brrps oF INDIANA. 641

species. The latest record for the State is the sceond specimen noted
in Dekalb County, April 1, 1890. (H. W. McBride.)

Formerly, when these birds were more abundant, they migrated in
flocks of twenty or thirty, and sometimes as many as fifty, high in air in
two converging lines, like a flock of Canada Geese. It is said there is
not the noticeable movement of the wings as with geese, yet when
traveling at their ordinary gait, with the wind in their favor, it is esti-
mated they travel at least a hundred miles an hour. Like Wild Geese,
they move regardless of the trend of water courses. In winter they are
said to be very common some years on the south Atlantic and Gulf
coasts. Mr. Dall notes that they reach the Yukon about May 1, and
says they descend that stream instead of going up it, as most.
of the geese do at this season. Mr. E. W. Nelson notes his experience
in finding a nest of this swan. “On June 14, 1880, a swan was seen
flying from the side of a small pond on the marsh near St. Michaels,
and a close search finally revealed the nest. The eggs were completely
hidden in loose moss, which covered the ground about the spot and in
which the bird had made a depression by plucking up the moss and
arranging it for the purpose. The site was so artfully chosen and
prepared that I passed the spot in my search, and one of my native
hunters coming close behind, called me back, and thrusting his stick
in the moss, exposed the eggs.” (Nat. Hist. Coll. in Alaska, p. 92.)

*59, (181). Olor buccinator (Ric).

‘Trumpeter Swan.

Pure white; head, sometimes neck and lower parts, stained with
rusty; feet, bill and lores, black, latter without yellow spot.

Length, 60.00-66.00; extent, 96.00-near 120.00; wing, 21.00-27.50;
bill, 4.30-4.70; tarsus, 4.54-4.95.

Rance.—Chiefly the interior of North America, from the Gulf coast
to the fur countries, breeding from Iowa and the Dakotas (formerly
Indiana) northward; west to the Pacific Coast; rare or casual on the
Atlantic.

Nest, on high dry ground near water, of grass and feathers. Hggs,
2-6: white; 4.46 by 2.92.

Rare migrant and probably winter resident; not seen as often as last
species. Formerly summer resident and bred.

Its breeding range extends farther south than the last mentioned
swan, reaching into the United States as far as Iowa and Minnesota,
and extending from northwestern Hudson Bay (Hearne) to the
Pacific Coast and northward to Alaska and beyond the Arctic Circle

41—GeroL
642 REpPorT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

(Richardson.) Mr. T. H. Ball informs me that formerly swans bred in
the Kankakee marshes in Lake County.

They migrate almost wholly through the Mississippi Valley. In the
fall it appears sooner than the other species. Although not identified,
the swans observed by Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr., at Calumet Lake, IIl., in
September, 1887, were probably this species. It, too, is less frequently
observed in fall, and may be a winter resident. Dr. F. W. Langdon
notes one specimen of this species seen on the Ohio River near Cincin-
nati, in December, 1876, which. was taken, and is preserved in the col-
lection of Max Wocher, in that city. (Jour. Cin. Soc. Nat. Hist., I,
1879, p. 185.) The swans observed by Mr. Gault in January and noted
under the last species may belong to this. Prof. Cooke notes that it
sometimes winters north to Illinois. The larger part, however, pass
farther south, where it is abundant in winter along the Gulf coast.

The earliest migratory record in the spring is February 22, 1890.
On that day Mr. H. W. McBride identified a flock of eight at Waterloo,
Dekalb County.

The same date, February 22, in 1894, a gentleman at Valparaiso
shot one out of a flock of seven as they were “coming in” to alight in a
spring hole. The day was very cold and much snow was on the
ground. The bird weighed 244 pounds. The following are the meas-
urements: Length, 50.00; extent, 83.00; width, 21.00; tail, 8.00; tail
of 24 feathers. This specimen is now in the collection of Mr. Ruthven
Deane, Chicago. Dr. Vernon Gould informs me that six or eight were
shot near Rochester in March, 1890. He dissected one, and is positive
of the identification. In the spring of 1882 a flock of eight alighted on
Cedar Lake, Lake County, and three were shot with a rifle. (L. T.
Meyer.) Three were noted at Laporte March 24, 1896. (Chas. Bar-
ber.) Mr. J. P. Feagler saw two at Waterloo March 18, 189%, and
saw others March 22. Prof. Evermann notes that it has been taken in
Carroll County. (The Auk, October, 1888, p. 346.)

It is a grand bird, weighing often as much as thirty pounds and
sometimes nearly forty, with a spread of wings of eight to nearly ten
feet—much greater than any other American bird, excepting only the
Condor and the California Vulture, both of which are considerably
inferior in weight. Its eggs, averaging about 4.46 by nearly 3.00
inches in size, are so large that one of them is said to be a sufficient
meal for a moderate man. Although so large, it is swift of wing, and
Hearne states that in his opinion it is more difficult to shoot when
flying than any other bird.

“The name Trumpeter is derived from its ringing note, much more
sonorous than that of the common species (O. columbianus), and said
Birps or INDIANA. 643

to resemble a blast from a French horn.” (Ridgway, Birds of Illinois,
p. 107.)

The extreme length of the trachea (windpipe) and its peculiar fold-
ings attract the attention of those who attempt the dissection of one of
these swans.

E. Orper HERODIONES. Herons, Storks,
IpisrEs, Ere.

SusorpErR IBIDES. Spoonsitys and Istszs.

XI. Famiry PLATALEIDE. Sroonsiizs.
Characters same as family. Agasa. 29
29. Genus AJAJA Rzicu.
a1. Plumage chiefly white; back and wings rose pink. A. ajaja (Linn.). 60

60. (183). Ajaja ajaja (Liny.).
Roseate Spoonbill.

Adulit.—Head and throat bare; neck, back and breast, white; tail,
orange-buff, the shafts deep pink; rest of plumage, pale rose pink;
lesser wing coverts, upper and undertail coverts,carmine. Immature.—
Similar, but without carmine on wing and tail coverts, and tail pink-
ish. Young.—Similar; head and throat feathered; tail'and carmine-
colored parts pink.

Length, abotit 28.00-35.00; wing, 14.10-15.30; bill, 6.20-7.15; age
est width of bill, 2.00-2.20; tarsus, 3.75-4.65.

Ranoe.—America, from Patagonia to Illinois and Indiana; most
numerous in the tropics. Breeds in Louisiana and Florida, and south.

Nest, on trees or in marshes, in tropics, of sticks. Hggs, 3-4,
rarely 7; white or buffy white; 2.57 by 1.73. :

Accidental visitor.

Mr. E. J. Chansler writes me that he is informed by Mr. H. M.
Smith that in the spring of 1856 Mr. H. Sones shot two of these
beautiful birds in a swampy place a few miles east of Vincennes on the
line of the B. & O. S.-W. R. R. Mr. Sones was collecting for some
eastern or foreign institution, and was living with Mr. Smith when
he obtained these specimens. If they are in existence it would be in-
teresting to know where they are. Prof. B. W. Evermann, from inves-
tigations he has made, is satisfied that some of these birds were seen
and one killed near Terre Haute several years ago. A Roseate Spoon-
644 REPORT oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

bill was killed near Portland, Jay County, July 14, 1889. Soon after
it was taken its capture was reported to me by Mr. R. E. Kirkman, of
Richmond, Ind., who investigated the record. He informed me that
the specimen was preserved and was in possession of a gentleman at
Bryant, Ind. It is possible that in the early days of our history these
birds may have been regular summer visitors, or possibly summer resi-
dents. Mr. Ridgway reports them from southern Illinois.

XII. Famiry IBIDIDZ. IsisgEs.

a!, Head of adult wholly naked anteriorly; no crest; claws curved. GuaRA. 30
a*, Head of adult feathered except space between the eye and bill; crown with a
short crest; claws nearly straight. PLEGADIS.

30. Genus GUARA ReIcHEeNBace.
a1. Plumage white. G. alba (Linn.). 61

61. (184). Guara alba (Lin).
White Ibis.

Adult—Pure white (sometimes tinged with pink in the breeding
season or in freshly killed specimens); the tips of longer primaries
glossy greenish-black; bill bare, skin of head, legs and feet, bright
carmine in the breeding season, at other times paler or orange-red; iris,
fine pearly blue; end of the bill, sometimes blackish. Young.—Gray-
ish-brown, the rump, tail coverts, base of tail, and under parts, white.

Length, 21.50; wing, 10.30-11.75; bill, 4.15-6.30; tarsus, 3.10-4.00.

Rance.—America from Brazil and West Indies to North Caro-
lina, southern [llinois, southern Indiana, Great Salt Lake, Lower Cali-
fornia. Casually to Long Island, Connecticut and South Dakota.
Breeds from South Atlantic and Gulf States south.

Nest, among reeds in marshes, of sticks and reeds compactly woven
together. Eggs, 2-3; ashy-blue, irregularly stained, spotted or blotched
with yellowish, reddish and brown; 2.24 by 1.48.

Rare summer visitor.

All that have ever been reported in Indiana have been observed
in Knox County. Mr. E. J. Chansler says an uncle of his killed
one of these birds over fifty years ago in that county, and he also notes
that Dr. Smith, of Bicknell, killed one in 1864. The third known
account of their occurrence in the State is by Mr. Robert Ridgway.
He informs me that he and Mr. William Brewster saw a considerable
flock on the Wabash River, near Mt. Carmel, Ill., about the 8th of
May, 1878. They flew up on the Indiana side, and down along the
Tllinois side of the river. At that time they should have been not far
Birps oF INDIANA. 645

from their breeding grounds. It is possible they may have been, and
possibly still are, rare summer residents of the cypress swamps of that
region. (Bull. Nuttall Orn. Club, Vol. ITI, 1878, p. 166.)

Mr. F. M. Noe informs me that among the collection of the late
Dr. G. M. Levette there were a number of bird skulls, including some
of the Ibis. He has kindly sent me two, which he says were marked
“Indiana, 1874.” These, he thought, might be the Scarlet Ibis. I
have submitted them to Mr. Robert Ridgway, who says they are skulls
of the White Ibis.

The White Ibis and the Scarlet Ibis are so nearly alike, except in
color, that from other characters they could not be distinguished.

,

SuzorperR CICONLA. Srorxs, Etc.

XI. Famiry CICONIIDE. Srorxs anp Woop Is1szs.

Susramity TANTALINA. Woop Isists.

a1, Head naked, neck partially so; bill heavy, curved downward at end, tip blunt.
Tantauus. 31

31. Genus TANTALUS Lixvaus.

a}, Plumage white; wings and tail mostly glossy black.
T. loculator (Linn.). 62

62. (188). Tantalus loculator (Livv.).
Wood Ibis.

Adult——Head and neck bare; plumage white, except primaries, sec-
ondaries and tail, which are black, with purple, green and bronze re-
flections. Young.—Head feathered, except in front; it and neck cov-
ered with grayish-brown downy feathers; plumage like adult, some-
times grayish; the black parts less metallic.

Length, 35.00-45.00; wing, 17.60-19.50; bill, 6.10-7.30; tarsus, 7.00-
8.50.

Ranez.—America, from Argentine Republic and Equador north to
southern United States, South Carolina, southern Indiana, Colorado,
Utah and southern California, casually to New York and Wisconsin.
Breeds from Gulf States south.

Nest, in trees, of sticks. Hggs, 2-3; chalk white, sometimes spotted
with brown; 2.74 by 1.80.

Summer visitor or summer resident, more or less irregular, in the
lower Wabash Valley; throughout the remainder of the southern two-
thirds of the State, rare summer visitor. All the records which have
646 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

dates accompanying them are for July, August, September and Octo-
ber, the earliest being July 30 (1887) and the latest October 30 of the
same year. Dr. Wheaton mentions one being taken in spring ten miles
west of Cleveland. (Birds of Ohio, p. 497.) The first account of the oc-
currence of these birds im the State is given by Dr. Haymond (Proc.
Phila. Acad. Nat. Sci., 1856, p. 295), in whieh he says: “The first day
of August, 1855, a large flock of these birds made their appearance in
this neighborhood. They remained along the river and the White-

water Canal for about a month or six weeks. A son of one of my
neighbors broke the wing of one of them and camght it. After keeping
it three or four weeks, feeding it upon fish, he gave it tome. I kept it
until the first of November, when it fell a victim, as many another bi-
ped has done, to its appetite. Some mackerel had been placed to soak
upon a table in the back yard, one of which he stole and ate, and upon
the evening of the next day, died in convulsions.” Dr. Haymond also
refers to this in Indiana Geological Report, 1869, p. 229.

I was very much surprised in the winter of 1889-90, to have brought
to me by my friend, Mr. Edw. Hughes, the skull of a Wood Ibis, the
name of which he desired to know. He said it was the skull of a bird
which had been killed about three miles south of Brookville, and was
preserved as a curiosity in the family of Mrs. St. John. At my request
he inquired the date and facts of its capture. He was informed that it
was one of a number which were seen along the river in the summer
of 1855 or 1856. This was perhaps one of the same flock of which I
have before spoken. Dr. F. Stein informs me that he saw a pair of
Wood Ibises at “Little Chain,” about ten miles west of Mt. Vernon,
about 1874 0r1875. Cnewas shot by a Mr. Harmon at “Maple Swamp,”
in Carroll County, July 30, 1887. Mr. C. E. Newlin informs me that
the specimen is in the possession of Dr. 0. A. J. Morrison, of Middle
Fork, Ind. Mr. Ridgway has seen it in Knox and Gibson counties sev-
eral times, and, concerning its occurrence there, remarks: “The Wood
Ibis oeeurs numerously every summer along the Wabash, and while it
may not breed, I think that it does.” In a letter to Prof. Evermann,
he says: “I remember, years ago,.seeing these birds oceasionally, soar-
ing im circles, high im air, above the Wabash River, at Mt. Carmel, the
season, I think, being midsummer. Again, either in summer or early
fall, I started a large flock which had beem perching on the branches
of a large dead sycamore tree overhanging the bank of White River
Pond, just below the mouth of the White River, but did not get any
specimens. The species, to my certain knowledge, occurs more or less
plentifully, at times, at the Cypress Pond, in the southwestern corner
of Knox County (Indiana), but, owing to the circumstances that I
Birps oF INDIANA. 647

am so little in that part of the country, I am unable to state whether
they occur there regularly or not. I believe that the species formerly
bred in small numbers in that portion of the Wabash Valley, though I
have no distinct evidence upon which to base this supposition. Most
of the birds now seen there, however, occur late in summer (August
and September), a considerable portion of them, perhaps a majority,
being young birds of the year.”

Mr. Ridgway further says that he saw at “Mt. Carmel the dried head
of one that was killed by a hunter at the Cypress Pond in Knox
County,” and that he has been reliably informed of others having been
killed there. ,

Prof. B. W. Evermann says: “Last September (1888) I saw a
mounted specimen in a store window at Mt. Vernon, Ind., and, upon
inquiry, learned that it was shot by a fisherman, Dexter Short, about
October 30, 1887, at Hovey’s Lake, Posey County, Indiana. There
were about thirty-five or forty in the flock, ‘the first ever noticed in the
county,’ according to the fisherman. They remained in the vicinity
for four or five weeks, and then disappeared. Several of them were
killed, but I could learn of but one that was preserved. It is now in
the possession of Mr. John C. Leffel, of Mt. Vernon. On September
11, 1888, while engaged for the United States Fish Commission in ex-
ploring the Wabash River, I had the good fortune to come upon a
flock of nine Wood Ibises at Mackey’s Ferry, ten miles west of Mt.
Vernon. They were sitting in the tops of two dead trees, just across
the river on the Illinois side, and remained there during the entire
time of our stay at the Ferry—from about 8 to 11 a. uw. In addition
to these, I find the following general references to its occurrence in In-
diana: An old hunter of this city (Terre Haute), in whom I have con-
fidence, tells me that his father shot a Wood Ibis several ‘years ago
from a flock of several at the old reservoir south of Terre Haute. From
the description given by the hunter, I am quite certain that he was not
mistaken. I may add that inquiry among people in Posey, Gibson, and
Knox counties seems to show that it is a very rare bird there—one that
is not often seen, except by those fellows who are wont to prowl around
secluded ponds, and wade cypress swamps, looking for the unusual
among animate things.”

Mr. Fletcher M. Noe informs me that in the collection, of the late
Dr. G. M. Levette, which came into his possession, were some skulls of
Wood Ibises labeled “Indiana,” 1872. Mr. Noe has very kindly placed
in my collection a skull from the same source, which he assures me
was labeled “Indiana, 1874.” Mr. E. J. Chansler informs me that Dr.
Smith, of Bicknell, spoke to him of a “Bald Ibis,” which may have
648 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

been this bird. He also writes that Mr. Balmer, a florist and taxider-
mist at Vincennes, had sent to him, in 1892, a live Wood Ibis, which
had been caught in a trap on Little Swan Pond, Knox County. After
a day or two it escaped.

“The Wood Ibis is a remarkable and interesting bird. In its gen-
eral size, shape and color, it might be likened to a crane, being about
four feet long, and standing still higher when erect; white in color,
with black-tipped wings and back tail. The head is peculiar, being
entirely bald in the adult bird, and having an enormously thick,
‘heavy bill, tapering and a little decurved at the end. In Florida it is
sometimes called the ‘Gannet.’ On the Colorado it is known as the
Water Turkey. The carriage of the Wood Ibis is firm and sedate,
almost stately; each leg is slowly lifted and planted with deliberate
precision before the other is moved, when the birds walk unsuspicious
of danger. . I never saw one run rapidly, since on all the occasions,
when I have been the cause of alarm, the bird took wing directly. It
springs powerfully from the ground, bending low to gather strength,
and for a little distance flaps hurriedly with dangling legs, as if it was
much exertion to lift so heavy a body. But fairly on wing, clean of all
obstacles, the flight is firm, strong and direct, performed with con-
tinuous, moderately rapid beats of the wing, except when the birds are
sailing in circles, as above noted. When proceeding in a straight line
the feet are stretched horizontally backward, but the head is not drawn
closely in upon the breast, as is the case with Herons, so that the bird
presents what may he called a top-heavy appearance, increased by the
thick, large bill.

“The eggs of the Wood Ibis are like Herons’, in being nearly ellip-
soidal, but differ from them, as well as those of the Bay Ibis, in color,
which is uniform dull white, without markings. The shell is rather
rough to the touch, with a coating of softish, flaky, calcareous sub-
stance. A specimen that I measured was exactly 23 inches in length
by 12 in breadth. Two or three are said to be a nest complement.”
(Dr. Coues, Birds N. W., p. 513.)

Suzorper HERODII. Herons, Ecrets, Brrterns, Etc.

XIV. Famtty ARDEID. Herons, Birrerns, Erc.

a‘, Tail feathers, 10, very short; outer toe shorter than inner.
81. Wing over 10. Boravurts. 32
62, Wing under 10. ARDETTA. 33
a’. Tail feathers, 12, rather long; outer toe not shorter than inner.
Birps oF INDIANA. 649

c!, Bill long and slender, at least five times as long as its depth at base.
ARDEA. 34

ce. Bill rather short aud thick, four times as long as depth at base or less.
Nycticorax. 35

Susramity BOTAURINA. Brrrerns.
32. Genus BOTAURUS Hermann.

a', Size, large; sexes alike; young similar.
b!, Wing over 9.50; body variegated with various shades of brown.
B. lentiginosus (Montag.). 63

*63, (190). Botaurus lentiginosus (Monrae.).

American Bittern.

 

American Bittern.

Plumage of upper parts, singularly freckled with brown of various
shades, blackish, tawny, and whitish; neck and under parts, ochery or
tawny-white, each feather marked with a brown, dark-edged stripe;
the throat line, white, with brown streaks; a velvety-black patch on
each side of the neck above; crown, dull brown, with buff superciliary
stripe; tail, brown; quills, greenish-black, with a glaucous shade, brown
tipped; bill, black and yellowish; legs, greenish; soles, yellow.

Length, 24.00-34.00; wing, 9.80-12.00; bill, 2.50-3.20; tarsus, 3.10-
3.85.

RancE.—Temperate North America north to Hudson Bay. Breeds
chiefly north of the latitude of the mouth of the Ohio River to
about 60°. Winters from south Indiana and Illinois to Gautemala and
West Indies.

Nest, in swampy places on the ground. Hggs, 3-5; brownish-drab;
about 2.00 by 1.50.
650 REpPorT oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Regular migrant; tolerably common; summer resident in suitable
localities, especially in the northern part of the State, where, in some
places, it breeds commonly. In mild winters it sometimes remains
among the ponds and swamps of the lower Wabash Valley.

There the last late migrants find their way in November, and Mr.
E. J. Chansler has reported them in Knox County through December
(1883), and in January.

 

Head of American Bittern. Natural size.

The Bittern is much more common during migrations some years
than others. To the unobserving, even in the vicinity of its favorite
haunts, it seems to be of unusual occurrence, while throughout the
hilly and rolling land of southern Indiana, and the better drained
middle portion of the State, where it only occurs during migrations,
the occasional one seen tells to most persons no story of the unseen
multitude that has passed over to or from their reedy summer homes.
To them it is a rare and eurious bird.

Some years the migrations begin in March. The year 1893 was the
earliest for Bittern movements in twenty years observation. Prof. W.
8. Blatchley found it at Terre Haute March 22, and the first arrived
at Greensburg Mareh 23 (Shannon).

In 1885 the first was seen at Brookville April 3, and in 1888 at Vin-
cennes April 3 (Balmer). While it occasionally reaches the vicinity of
Chicago by April 10 (Parker), its record at Petersburg, Mich., April 7,
1886 (Trombley) is the earliest within the district noted at that lati-
tude. Usually, however, it is found throughout southern Indiana be-
tween April 5 and 25, though sometimes one is to be seen early in May,
and in the northern part of the State April 15 to May 10.

They nest on the ground in marshes, the nests being sometimes sur-
rounded by or floating in water. It does not associate with other
Herons, and never breeds in colonies.
Birps oF INDIANA. 651

Dr. Morris Gibbs tells us it utters three kinds of notes. Two of
these are loud sounding, and one, a low, guttural utterance, seldom
heard, unless one is near the bird when it is given. He says: “The
love song is singular in the extreme, and when once heard is never to
be forgotten. It is performed and uttered, for the movements in ut-
tering the noise are as singular as the notes, invariably when the.bird
is standing in the marsh. The sounds so nearly resemble the words
plum pudden that the bird has received this name. These syllables are
repeated from four to eight times, generally six or seven times. The
accent is on the pud, the final syllable, den, being less distinct than the
other. The sounds coming from the marsh are mysterious, and seem
almost unearthly. Not like the notes of any other birds of Michigan,
they are easily learned, and once heard are never to be forgotten. The
other name of Stake Driver is also earned by its peculiar, well-defined
notes, ka, whack, ka, whack, uttered like the others, in a most method-
ical and apparently strained manner.

The bird, I believe only the male, when uttering either of its pe-
culiar songs, has a most remarkable series of movements to go through,
which are ludicrous in the extreme to the observer, though seriously,
and I doubt not pompously, performed by Botaurus in his efforts at
propitiating his loved one, or later in acknowledging his success as a
benedictine boss of the marsh.” (0. & O., Vol. XIV, 1889, p. 120.).

In the most common illusions to the spring song of the Bittern it
is called “booming.” Others think its vecal performance at times re-
sembles the noise made by an old wooden stock pump.

The nesting begins soon after arrival and continues through May
and June. Mr. Ruthven Deane tells me of finding a nest containing
four quite fresh eggs at English Lake, June 10, 1888. The nest was
a loose structure of broken cane, floating on the water, built about one
foot high. A large snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina) was on the
side of the nest, evidently with the intention of capturing the eggs or
sitting bird, who was sitting unconcerned. Mr. C. B. Aiken found it
breeding abundantly along the Calumet River in May, 1871. It has
also been reported as breeding in the following counties: Lake (Meyer,
Toppan, Parker), Knox and Gibson (Ridgway), Porter (Byrkit), Vigo
(Evermann), Boone (Beasley), Laporte (Barber), Dekalb (Feagler,
H. W. McBride), Wabash (Bell), Steuben and Lagrange (H. W. Mc-
Bride).

They live upon fish, frogs, lizards, crawfish, insects, meadow mice
and such other food as is found in the marshes and wet meadows.

The southward migration begins in August. They were very com-
mon at English Lake August 8, 1897. (Deane.) I have taken it in
652 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Franklin County August 18, 1896. They keep stringing along through
September, October, and some years, the greater part of November.
Mr. Beasley noted five in Boone County November 8,.1894, and Prof.
W. P. Shannon saw one at Greensburg November 21, 1896.

33. Genus ARDETTA Gray.

a), Size very small; sexes unlike; young unlike adult.
b1, Wing under 9.50; color above, male glossy black, female brown; under
parts buffy. A. exilis (Gmel.). 64

“64, (191). Ardetta exilis (Gum).
Least Bittern.

Male.—With the slightest crested crown; back and tail, glossy green-
ish-black; neck behind, most of the wing coverts and outer edges of
inner quills, rich chestnut; other wing coverts, brownish-yellow varied
with white along the throat line, the sides of the breast with a black-
ish-brown patch; bill and lores, mostly pale yellow, the bill black-
ish; eyes and soles, yellow; legs, greenish-yellow. F’emale.——With the
black of the back entirely, that of the crown mostly or wholly, replaced
by rich purplish-chestnut, the edges of the scapulars forming a brown-
ish-white stripe on either side.

Length, 12.00-14.25; wing, 4.30-5.25; bill, 1.60-1.90; tarsus, 1.50-
1.75.

Ranese.—America, north to British Provinees. York Factory, Mani-
toba, Ontario. Winters from southern Florida southward. Breeds
throughout its range.

Nest, among reeds and swamp vegetation, of rushes. Eggs, 3-5;
white, often greenish; 1.20 by .93.

Regular migrant; generally rare, but locally somewhat common;
summer resident in suitable localities; some places common.

In the southern half of the State, outside of the immediate valley of
the Wabash, it does not breed and is very rare. Two specimens were
taken at Brookville years ago (Dr. Haymond). Besides these the
only records for that part of the State are a specimen taken by Mr.
E. L. Guthrie at Adams, Decatur County, in May, 1884, and one re-
ported by Edw. Hughes, from the same place, May 15, 1890.

As migrants they are noted the latter part of April, in May and
in September and October. The earliest record for the State is from
Wabash County, where it was taken April 19, 1894. (Ulrey and Wal-
lace, P. I. A. 8., 1895, p. 150.)

Perhaps they begin their return migration in August, but I have
no dates before early September. They were found at Hyde Lake
Birps oF INDIANA. 653

September 10, 1892 (Parker); at Sandusky, O., September 28, 1896
(Mosely), and Mr. Chas. Dury informs me of their occurrence at Eng-
lish Lake in October. There are specimens of this bird in the State
Museum taken in Boone County. Mr. Ruthven Deane found a number
at English Lake August 8, 1897.

“Breeds abundantly about Hyde Lake and Calumet, Ill, and at
Wolf Lake, at Kouts and Liverpool, Ind., laying three or four green-
ish-white eggs in a nest just above the water” (Parker). Has
also been reported breeding in Lake County by Mr. George L. Toppan,
Mr. H. K. Coale and Mr. L. T. Meyer. Mr. C. E. Aiken, Starke
County, English Lake, “saw several and found nest built of loose, dry
cane, attached to the reeds three feet above water,” June 10, 1888
(Deane); same locality (Dury); Dekalb County (McBride, Mrs. Janc
L. Hine, Feagler); Vigo County, “a number breeding May 31, 1890”
(Evermann); Boone County (Beasley); Laporte (Barber).

The account of his observations concerning their habits at breed-
ing time has been very kindly furnished me by Prof. Evermann. He
says: “I first discovered the nests of this bird May 31, 1890, while
gathering water lilies in the pond (Goose Pond, nine miles south of
Terre Haute). The water does not, in spring at least, reach a greater
depth than three feet in its deeper parts. The center of the pond is
filled with water lilies (Nuphar and Nymphea), which were then in
bloom, while in the more shallow water are rank growths of cat-tails,
rushes (Hquisetum limosum), sedges (Sagittaria), pickerel weed (Pel-
tandra undulata), etc. We found on this day twelve nests, containing
altogether forty-three eggs of the Least Bittern. A week later, June
6, I found two more nests, containing four and five eggs, respectively.
I usually found the nest from a few inches to a foot above the water,
placed upon a few stems or leaves of the cat-tail, which the bird had
evidently bent down and arranged into a very shallow, insecure nest.
In a few cases the nests were made of the leaves of Sagittaria or Pel-
tandra, pressed down as were those of the cat-tail. I did not see the
bird on the nest in a single case, so watchful and shy are they. In
most cases, however, the bird would rise from the cat-tails and fly
away, and I was usually able to find a nest not far from where it arose.
I did not find more than five eggs in any set (1-5, 1-5, 1-4, 1-4, 1-4, 1-4,
1-4, 1-1, 1-1, 1-3 and 1-3 May 31, and 1-4, 1-5 June 6), while most sets
contained but four. All the eggs taken May 31 were fresh, and no
-doubt many of these sets containing but four eggs were not complete.”
Mr. Blatchley also obtained some eggs from the same pond.

It also nests on the ground, and is said sometimes to build in a
bush. (Cook, B. of Mich., p. 50.) We are also assured in the same pub-
654 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

cation that they build false nests and that the male assists in incubat-
ing. They rear two broods a year, Dr. Langdon thinks, as he found
incomplete sets early in July near Sandusky, 0. (J.C. S. N. H., Hil,
1880, p. 227.)

Cory’s Bittern, Botaurus neoxena Cory, has been taken in Ontario
and Michigan, and should be sought in Indiana. Its habits are similar
to those of this species and it frequents similar places. The following
is its description:

Top of the head, back and tail, dark greenish-black, showing a
green gloss when held to the light; sides of the head and throat rufous-
chestnut; the feathers on the back of the neck showing greenish-black
tips; breast and under parts, nearly uniform rufous-chestnut, shading
into dull black on the side; wing coverts, dark rufous-chestnut; under-
wing coverts, paler chestnut; all the remiges entirely slaty, plumbeous;
under tail coverts, uniform dull black. Total length, 10.80; wing,
4.30; tarsus, 1.40; bill, 1.80.

Ranex.—Florida, Okeechobee region. In Florida it is called “Black
Bittern” to distinguish it from the “Least Bittern,” which is called
“Brown Bittern.”

Supramity ARDEINE. Herons anp EGRET.
34. Genus ARDEA Linnats.

a}, Bill shorter than tarsus.
b1, Tarsus less than twice the length of middle toe without claw.
ec}, Wing over 14.00.
d+, Color chiefly bluish; wing oyer 17.00. Subgenus ARDEA.
e1. Top of head (sometimes entire head) white.
A. wuerdemanni Baird. 65
e?. Top of head, including occipital plumes, black.
A. herodias Linn. 66
d?, Color white; wing less than 17.00. Subgenus Hrropias Boie.
e?, Wing under 11.00. A. egretta Gmel. 67
f?. Color entirely white; plumes of breeding season very long, curved
backward, with loose webs. Subgenus Garzetra Kaup.
A. candidissima Gmel. 68
f?. Tips of primaries bluish; sometimes most of plumage bluish;
plumes of breeding season slender, with compact webs. Subaenus
Froripa Baird. A. cserulea Linn. 70
a?, Bill not shorter than tarsus.
gt. Wing more than 8.00. Subgenus HypRanassa Baird.
A. tricolor ruficollis (Gosse). 69
g®. Wing not more than 8.00. Subgenus Burororpes Blyth.
A. virescens Linn. 71
Birnps oF INDIANA. 655

Subgenus ARDEA.

65. (—-). Ardea wuerdemanni Barro.

"
Wurdemann’s Heron.

Adult—Head, entirely white, forehead, streaked with blackish;
nearly uniform bluish-gray above; lower parts, white, narrowly striped
or streaked with black; thighs and edge of wing, cinnamon-rufous.
Young.—Forehead and crown, dull slate color, narrowly streaked with
white; feathers of occiput, white, with dusky tips; wing coverts, spotted
with rusty, the lower and more posterior with large wedge-shaped
white spots. (Ridgway.)

Length, 48.00-50.00; wing, 20.00-21.00; bill, 5.95-6.50; tarsus, 7.95-
8.25.

Rancze.—Florida; accidental in southern Tlinois and Indiana.

Nest, of sticks in trees. Hggs, about 2.60 by 1.84.

Accidental visitor. Mr. Ridgway reports positively identifying this:
species in Knox and Gibson counties in 1876. I know of no other
account of its occurrence in the State. This is doubtless the same
specimen to which he refers as having been seen on several occasions
from September 4 to 22, inclusive, at Grand Rapids, in the Wabash
River near Mt. Carmel, Ill. (Birds of Illinois, IT, p. 121.)

This species is now included in the “hypothetical list” bythe Amer-
ican Ornithologists’ Union. Its relationship is not definitely known,
but it is believed to be either the colored phase of A. occidentalis Aud.
or an abnormal specimen of A. wardi Ridgw. (A. O. U. check list
1895, p. 328.) Until its status is determined it should retain its posi-
tion in our list.

*66. (194). Ardea herodias Liny.
Great Blue Heron.
Synonym, Bivr Crane.

Sexes similar. Female much smaller than male. Adult of both
sexes grayish-blue above, the neck pale purplish-brown, with a white
throat line; the head black, with a white frontal patch; the under-
parts mostly black, streaked with white; tibia, edge of wing and some
of the lower neck feathers, orange-brown; bill and eyes, yellow; bill,
dusky; lores and legs, greenish. The young differ considerably, but are
never white, and can not be confounded with any of the succeeding
species.
656 Report or STATE GEOLOGIST.

Length, about 42.00-50.00; wing, 17.90-19.85; bill, 4.30-6.25; tarsus,
6.00-8.00.

Rancze.—America, from Colombia Valley and Venezuela north to
Hudson Bay and Sitka. Breeds locally throughout its range. Winters
from southern Indiana and southern Ilinois south.

 

Great Blue Heron.

Nest, of sticks, in trees. Hggs, 3-6; greenish-blue; 2.50 by 1.50.

Common migrant and summer resident; rare winter resident south-
ward. Breeding abundantly in suitable localities in the northern half
of the State and in Knox and Gibson counties. (Ridgway,
Chansler.) It may breed at other points in the Wabash Valley.

I cannot learn of its breeding along the Whitewater, but it has been re-
Birps oF INDIANA. 657

ported as breeding on the “Great Miami.” (Langdon, revised list,
Journ, Cin. Soc. Nat. Hist., January, 1879, p. 183.) They usually
breed in communities of greater or less size, known as “heronries,”
but are occasionally found erecting solitary nests. Mr. C. HE. Aiken,
well known for his observations on the birds of Colorado, as well as of
this State and Illinois, has very kindly written me his experience at a
heronry known as “Crane Heaven,” occupying thirty or forty acres
along the Kankakee River some twenty miles above Water Valley. He
was there in May, 1886. “The locality is a timbered belt, the ground
being submerged with twelve to eighteen inches of water at the time.
At our approach, upon the discharge of a gun, the birds arose with
a noise like thunder and hovered in hundreds above the tree tops.
They were of three species—the Great Blue Herons (A. herodias) and
the Black-crowned Night Herons (N. nycticorax nevius) comprising
the majority; but the beautiful white plumage of the American Egret
(A. egretta,) was conspicuous through the feathered cloud, and these
birds were quite numerous.

“Nearly all the trees throughout the area were loaded with nests,
thosé of the two species first named being found upon the same tree,
but the latter birds appeared to build in little groups by themselves.
We did not climb to examine the nests, but most of them appeared
to contain young birds. Many of the trees were dead, apparently from
the effects of the birds building and roosting upon them.”

Mr. T. H. Ball informs me of two heronries in Lake County, one,
called “Cranetown,” in the southeastern corner of the county, and
another in sections 5 and 6, north of the Brown Ditch—township 32,
range 7, west.

Mr. Ruthven Deane has given me some observations on a heronry
ealled “Crane Heaven” near English Lake, which, March 18, 1894,
was occupied almost exclusively by Great Blue Herons, though quite
a number of Black-crowned Night Herons always breed there.

Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr., informs me of a large colony on the Kankakee
River nine miles south of Kouts, Ind. On April 14, 1894, he reports
the heronry filled with birds nesting.

Mr. R. B. Trouslot, April 25, 1887, wrote me of a visit recently made
by him from Valparaiso to “Cranetown,” in Jasper County. There
were, he said, thousands of Great Blue Herons nesting, and he saw
one American Egret.

Mr. Chas. Dury also speaks of their building at English Lake.

Mr. L. T. Meyer, in 1886, wrote me of their building in the Kanka-
kee Marsh in great numbers, nesting in communities.

42—GEOL.
658 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

It is reported breeding in Steuben County by Mr. J. O. Snyder, and
at Golden Lake, that county, by Mr. J. P. Feagler and Mr. H. W. Me-
Bride. Mr. McBride says that this heronry is known as “Crane-
town.” The place is an almost inaccessible bayou, covered for the
most part by very large elm trees. In these trees every year breed
great numbers of Great Blue Herons.

Prof. B. W. Evermann records two large heronries and one small
one in Carroll County. He found as many as thirteen nests on one
tree, and many other trees contained from three to ten nests each.
(The Auk, October, 1888, p. 347.)

Mr. BE. R. Quick says there was a heronry about ten miles south of
Frankfort, in Clinton County.

They have also been reported to have bred in the following counties:
Vigo (Evermann), Allen (Stockridge), Dekalb (McBride, Mrs. Hine),
Clinton (Ghere), Tippecanoe, at mouth of Tippecanoe River (Dr. E.
Test). Almost all of these friends have testified to the effects of many
destructive influences resulting from man’s efforts to reclaim the land
for tillage or from wantonness in times when he gave himself to sport
or recreation. Swamps have been drained, trees felled, fire ravaged the
heronries, the birds have been shot or driven away and the eggs permit-
ted to spoil or the young perish. A number of colonies have been exter-
minated. All are year by year growing less.. The people who live
near the remaining heronies should protect the birds that are left.
They do them no ill, but only good.

After the birds are reared they, to a greater or less extent, wan-
der about the State. They arrive so early and nest so soon after arrival
that when they appear many think they are late migrants or possibly
summer residents. In the southern part of the State they occasionally
pass the winter. The earliest migrant was noted by Prof. Evermann
in Carroll County, February 14, 1885; Dekalb County, February 22,
1890 (H. W. McBride); March 11, 1894, Mr. Deane found one in
“Crane Heaven,” English Lake. This is the earliest date at a heronry.
They usually appear at the heronries in March, the bulk arriving
before April 15. Throughout the State they are found straggling
along through April and occasionally until late in May; Richmond
May 21, 1897 (Hadley). These stragglers must breed much later
than the others, if at all. Mr. R. B. Trouslot reports taking two sets
of eggs before April 25, 1887, and Mr. Deane reports young in some of
the nests at English Lake, May 4, 1890.

They begin their fall migrations in August and continue passing
through September and October, a few remaining sometimes late into
November. I observed them at Brookville August 30 (1887). Mr.
Brreps oF INDIANA. 659

Deane reported two at English Lake November 16, 1892. Mr. E. J.
Chansler found it in Knox County December 9, 1896. They feed
largely on fish and frogs.

Suscenus HERODIAS Bork.

*67, (196). Ardea egretta GMEL.
American Egret.
Synonyms, Great Wuite Heron, WuitE Crane.

Plumage entirely white, in breeding season, with long plumes pro-
jecting from the back azid drooping beyond the tail; bill, lores and
eyes, yellow; legs and feet, black.

Length, 37.00-41.00; wing, 14.10-16.80; bill, 4.20-4.90; tarsus, ‘5. 50-
6.80.

RaNnGE.—Temperate and tropical America, from New Jersey, Min-
nesota and Oregon south to Patagonia; casually on the Atlantic Coast
to Nova Scotia. Breeds northward to northern Indiana.

Nest, in trees or bushes over-water, of sticks. Hggs, 3-5; dull blue;
2.28 by 1.60. Usually breeds in colonies.

Regular migrant and summer resident, formerly tolerably common,
becoming rare. Breeds in some numbers locally in the northern part
of the State and in the lower Wabash Valley in situations similar to
those occupied by the last mentioned species, and generally associated
in the same colony with them. For many years they have been
known to breed in Knox and Gibson counties, and the fact that
throughout the summer they were found over the State seemed to in-
dicate that they must certainly have a breeding ground somewhere
farther north than any yet reported. Their occurrence has been ex-
plained upon the theory that some birds, particularly herons, were
given to wandering northward after the breeding season, and most
of the vagrants were young birds. Further, this heron was practically
unknown within the State in early spring before the herons nesting
time. Now we know that it still breeds in some, and did very recently
in all, of at least six or eight of the counties in northern Indiana; also,
that it is very rarely, indeed, observed in its northward migrations be-
fore breeding time. This indicates these herons migrate at night.
They are usually seen at the breeding grounds, nesting or preparing to,
before they are reported by the observers throughout the State. Ap-
parently they proceed directly to the heronries, and the few seen later
are stragglers, who would arrive too late to take part in the important*
work of nesting at the northern colonies.
660 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Mr. E. J. Chansler has informed me of their breeding at Swan and
Grassy Ponds, Daviess County. The summer of 1897 he visited these
ponds and learned that Egrets had been very scarce that year. On Swan
Pond, where formerly a thousand could be seen in one flock, none were
found. Daviess County adjoins Knox and Gibson, where Mr. Ridg-
way has reported them nesting. Mrs. Jane L. Hine and Mr. H. W.
McBride have reported them nesting in Dekalb County. Mr. Mc-
Bride says at the heronry at Golden Lake, Steuben County, for several
years, he often saw a pair of these birds among the many Great Blue
Herons, and while satisfied they nested, he could not determine which
nest was theirs. A hunter well known to Mr. McBride informed him
of shooting a “White Crane,” which he described, from its nest at
Wolf Lake, Noble County. This must have been the present species.

Mr. R.B. Trouslot, on the occasion of his visit to“Cranetown,” Jasper
County, in April, 1887, among the thousands of Great Blue Herons
breeding, found a few American Egrets, but did not identify their
nests. As is noted under the last species, Mr. C. E. Aiken found them
breeding quite numerously with that species at “Crane Heaven,”
on the Kankakee River some twenty miles above Water Valley.
Mr. F. M. Woodruff and Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr., both of Chi-
cago, have kindly furnished me with separate accounts of the breed-
ing of the American Egret in Porter County at different dates, but
whether the locality referred to is the same, I do not know. Mr.
Woodruff says Mr. Chas. Eldridge found this bird breeding at Kouts,
Ind., in May, 1885, and took a large number of their eggs. He found
their nests in the same trees with those of the Great Blue Heron. He
adds: “I visited the heronries last June (1896), and did not see a
single specimen of'the White Egret. In the fall of 1895 a terrible fire
swept through the timber along the Kankakee River, which probably
accounts for the depopulated state of the heronries.”

Mr. Parker informs me that Mr. George Wilcox found quite a num-
ber breeding in a heronry with the last species near Kouts, Ind., dur-
ing May, 1895. Mr. Parker himself visited the place in the spring of
1896, and found only a few A. herodias occupying the heronry. He
thinks the small number of those found was due to the fact that a
heavy fire swept through the timber in the fall of 1895. The same
gentleman observed a flock of about twenty-five at Liverpool August
27, 1887. By this time most of them have gone through. There are
a few references to its rare occurrence later. Prof. Evermann has
noted it in Carroll County in early September. Mr. Deane has seen it
‘at English Lake in September, and Dr. Langdon notes it, upon the
authority of Mr. Porter, near Sandusky, 0.,in that month. In Florida,
Birps oF INDIANA. 661

where these birds were found a quarter of a century ago in an in-
numerable company, arrayed in dazzling white where lagoons were
bordered by their snowy forms, and the bushy breeding grounds cov-
ering a wide area, glistened in the sun, they have, at fashion’s
bidding, been offered upon the altar, and countless as their
numbers seemed to be, they have in a very few short years been al-
most exterminated for the adornment of the women of our own and
other lands. An excellent article on this subject is given by W. E. D.
Scott in the Auk, 1887, p. 135.

They pass the winter farther south than the Great Blue Heron and
are a little later in beginning their migrations in the spring. Yet I
feel satisfied that they migrate much earlier than we have been accus-
tomed to think. Mr. Nelson mentions its occurrence at Evanston IIL,
March 31, 1895. (Birds of Northeastern Illinois, p. 131.) The earliest
record for Indiana is that given by Prof. Evermann from Bloomington,
April 10, 1887. I have records for that month from Putnam and De-
catur counties, outside of the region where they breed. A few straggle
along through May.

One was found as far away from the swamps where they
breed as Decatur County, June 23, 1894. The latter part of July
they begin to wander about the country in numbers, sometimes
singly, but often in small flocks of two to a dozen, and occasion-
ally in larger bodies of twenty-five to thirty individuals, gradually
making their way southward. A summer when there has been ample
rainfall and the leaves of the fringing trees along thé rivers are dense
and dark green, the sight of a large flock of these snow-white birds
flying through them or alighted among their foliage is one that ever
clings to me as a memory of such an August. [have never seen them at
Brookville earlier than July 27 (1887) or later than August 11 (1886).
There is no record of their occurrence in the Whitewater Valley in
spring. Mr. F. M. Woodruff, in speaking of a trip into Lake County,
August 18, 1885, says: “As we passed through the long stretch of
swamp woods lying between Whiting and Clark stations we observed
large flocks of the American Egret on almost all of the ponds of any
size along the line of the road. They did not appear to be frightened
by the train, and only those within forty or fifty yards of the train
would fly. At Liverpool we found the birds on the Little Calumet
River in small flocks of two to six or eight.”
662 Report OF State GEOLOGIST.

SupeGEenus GARZETTA Kaur.
*68. (197). Ardea candidissima (G™EL.).
Snowy Heron.

Adult—In breeding season “with a long occipital crest of decom-
posed feathers and similar dorsal plumes, latter recurved when per-
fect; similar, but not recurved plumes on the lower neck, which is
bare behind; lores, eyes and toes, yellow; bill and legs, black, former
yellow at base, latter yellow at lower part behind; plumage always en-
tirely white.” (MclIlwraith, Birds ef Ontario.) Smaller than the last.
Adult, after breeding season, and immature without dorsal plumes.

Length, 24.00; wing, 11.00-12.00; bill, 3.00; tarsus, 3.50-4.00.

Rance.—Temperate and tropical Ameriea, from Long Island and
Oregon south to Argentine Republic and Chik; casually to Nova
Scotia and southern British Columbia. Minnesota. Breeds north to
southern Indiana.

Nest, in trees and bushes, of sticks. Eggs, 3-5; pale, dull blue; 1.82
by 1.22. .

Migrant and summer resident in southern part of the State; not
common; breeding locally in the lower Wabash Valley. Mr. Ridgway
informs me of its breeding in Knox and Gibson counties. Mr. E. J.
Chansler tells me of its occurrence at Swan and Grassy ponds, Daviess
County, where he thinks it breeds. Prof. J. A. Balmer says though
they varied in numbers from year to year, they were quite constant
summer residents in Knox County in 1890. They were common about
Swan Pond. This, so far as known, is its mest northern breeding
ground. After breeding they roam over the country, some extending
their journeys, as may be gathered from reported occurrences, into
Michigan, Ontario and Manitoba. They are smaller birds than the
last species, but are exceedingly graceful. Their range is not so ex-
tensive and their numbers are less with us. They have been noted in
Lake County (L. T. Meyer), Allen County (C. A. Stockbridge), Frank-
lin County (E. R. Quick), Jefferson County (Hubbard), and lower
Wabash Valley (Stein). Some of these records may refer to the larger
species last mentioned.

Like the American Egret, the Snowy Heron is guilty ef wearing
through the breeding season beautiful plumes. These are the orna-
ments technically called “aigrettes” by the millinery trade. To secure
them the death of the bird is necessary. This necessity has led to the
destruction of the larger part of the great numbers of these beautiful,
graceful birds, which were so characteristic an aspect of the southern
landscape a few years ago. These birds were not injurious; they were
Brrps oF INDIANA. 663

the friend of man. They were sacrificed for the necessity of fashion.
“Necessity knows no law.” To ornament the devotees of fashion for a
brief season it was necessary to destroy one of the most graceful and
characteristic ornaments of this beautiful land of ours.

Suzernus HYDRANASSA Bairv.
69. (199). Ardea tricolor ruficollis (Gossz).

Louisiana Heron.

Adult——Head, neck and upper parts bluish plumbeous; plumes of
occiput and nape, rich maroon purplish and plumbeous-blue; chin and
upper part of throat, pure white, continued in streaks, mixed with
rufous and plumbeous down the foreneck; scapular plumes, light drab;
lower parts, plain white. Immature—Head and neck, chiefly light
rusty; the malar region, chin and throat, pure white; foreneck streaked
white and rusty; lower parts, rump and upper tail coverts, pure white;
upper parts (except rump, etc.), plumbeous, the back tinged and the
wing coverts spotted with rusty; legs, yellowish behind, blackish be-
fore; lower mandible and lores, orange; upper mandible, black.

Length, 23.00-28.00; wing, 8.35-10.80; bill, 3.30-4.15; tarsus,.3.20-.
4.15.

Ranee.—Gulf States, Mexico (both coasts), Central America and
West Indies; casually northward to New Jersey and Indiana.

Nest, similar to that of Snowy Heron. Eggs, 2-4,. sometimes 5;
bluish-green; 1.75-1.80 by 1.30-1.40.

Rare summer visitor. Mr. F. T: Jencks identified it near Hannah,.
Starke County,.in June, 1876. (Bull. Nuttall. Orn. Club, April, 1877,
p. 51.) Mr. E. J..Chansler reports having seen it in Knox County the
summer of 1894.

This is a bird ofthe coast of the Gulf of Mexico. No other records.
are reported of its occurrence so far inland.

Susesnus ELORIDA Barro.

*70. (200). Ardea cerulea Liv.
Little Blue Heron.

Adult—Usually uniform darks slate blue;. with: maroon-colored head
and: neck,. but. not. infreqnently “pied” with. white,. or even. almost
wholly white, with bluish tips to. longer quills:. Young.—Usually
pure white, with longer quills tipped: with slatt: blue; levs;. feet and
lores, greenish-yellow.
664 REpPoRT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Length, 20.00-29.50; wing, 9.00-10.60; bill, 2.70-3.30; tarsus, 3.15-
4.00.

Ranez.—America, from Colombia and Guiana north to New Jersey,
Indiana and Kansas; casually on Atlantic Coast to Maine. Breeds
north to southern Indiana.

Nest, in trees or bushes. Fggs, 2-4; bluish-green; 1.60-1.82 by 1.25-
1.35,

Summer resident in the lower Wabash Valley. There it was first
‘noted by Dr. F. Stein, perhaps in 1874. Mr. Robert Ridgway then
noted it in Knox and Gibson counties, where it breeds. He informed
me about eight years ago it was found abundantly along that part of
the Wabash River every summer. Mr. EH. J. Chansler has more re-
cently informed me of its breeding. In 1896 he noted it as early as
April 18, and the latest fall record I have is September 24, 1895.

Suscenus BUTORIDES Buyru.

*71, (201). Ardea virescens Linn.

Green Heron.

Adult——In breeding season, with the crown, long, soft occipital
crest and lengthened narrow feathers of the back, lustrous dark green,
sometimes with a bronzy iridescence, and on the back often with a
glaucous cast; wing coverts, green, with conspicuous tawny edgings;
neck, purplish-chestnut, the throat line variegated with dusky or
whitish; under parts, mostly dark brownish-ash; belly, variegated with
white; quills and tail, greenish-dusky, with a glaucous shade; edge of
the wing, white, some of the quills usually white tipped; bill, greenish-
black, much of the under mandible yellow; lores and iris, yellow; legs,
greenish-yellow; lower neck, with lengthened feathers in front, a bare
space behind. Young.—With the head less crested, the back without
long plumes, but glossy-greenish; neck, merely reddish-brown and
whole under parts white, variegated with tawny and dark brown.

Length, 15.50-22.50; wing, 6.30-8.00; bill, 2.00-2.55; tarsus, 1.75-
2.15.

Raner.—America, from Colombia, Venezuela and West Indies
north to Ontario, Manitoba and Oregon. Breeds north to limit of its
range. Winters from Florida southward.

Nest, of sticks, in small tree or bush, sometimes in orchard. Eggs,
3-6; pale greenish-blue; 1.50 by 1.14.

Summer resident throughout the State. This small heron is found
wherever there is water, about streams, ponds and lakes. It usually
BIRDS oF INDIANA. 665

makes its nest not far from water, often in orchards. These birds are:
commonly known as “Schytepoke,” “Poke” and “Fly-up-the-creek.”

It usually appears in the southern part of the State between April
10 and May 1, and in the northern part from April 18 to May 5. I
have noted it at Brookville as early as April 12 (1881), and Prof.
Blatchley reported it from Terre Haute April 13 (1888). The follow-
ing dates of its first appearance at Brookville for a number of years,
excepting the one above noted, will give an idea of its variations year
after year: 1882, April 18; 1883, April 13; 1884, April 15; 1885,
April 18; 1887, April 21; 1889, April 19; 1892, April 25; 1896, May 1.

They begin nesting immediately upon arriving, usually, selecting a
thicket or second growth near the water. They often breed in
orchards, frequently at some distance from water. They usually
nest singly, but sometimes in colonies. (Ridgway.)

The nests are sometimes placed from eight to twenty feet above the
ground. Prof. Evermann found full sets of eggs in Carroll County by
May 15, and Mrs. Hine reports the bird sitting in Dekalb County
May 15,1897. Mr. H. N. McCoy caught young ready to fly near Rich-
mond, May 19, 1886. After leaving the nest the family keeps together
for some time; then they may befound along the streams and about the
ponds and sloughs. Sometimes they are standing upon the shore; at
others upon a drift pile; again upon a log or pole above the water, but
more frequently, perhaps, upon a tree or bush, from which the ap-
proach of the intruder will frighten them to an awkward flight, which
is usually preceded or accompanied by a startled squawk. In some
localities they are beeoming less common than formerly, but still it is
the most common and best known heron in the State. In the northern
part of the State they are leaving late in August, and by early Septem-
ber seem to have left. Steuben County, Aug. 15, 1894 (Cass); Tippe-
canoe County, September 4, 1896; Warren County, September 22,
1897 (Barnett). In the southern portion of the State they remain
later some years, but not often far into October. Brookville, October
11, 1886; October 1, 1889. Greensburg, October 17, 1894 (Shannon),
is the latest fall record.
666 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

35, Genus NYCTICORAX Srepuens.

a}, Bill about as long as tarsus; gonys nearly straight. Subgenus Nycricorax.
N. nycticorax nevius (Bodd.). 72
a?, Bill much shorter than tarsus; gonys convex.

Subgenus Nyerpwassa Stejneger. WN. violaceus (Linn.). 73

Subgenus Nycrioorax.
*72, (202). Nyeticorax nyeticorax nevius (Bopp.).
Black-crowned Night Heron.
Synonyms, QuAWK, Squawk, Qua-Brrp,

Aduli-—Crown, scapulars and interscapulars, very dark glossy-
green; general plumage, bluish-gray, more or less tinged with lilac;
forehead, throat line and most under parts, whitish; two or three oc-
cipital plumes about 8.00 long, white; bill, black; lores, greenish;
eyes, red; feet, yellow. Young—Very different, lacking the plumes;
grayish-brown; paler below, extensively speckled with white; quills,
chocolate-brown, white-tipped.

Length, about 23.00-26.00; wing, 11.00-12.80; bill, 2.80-3.10; tarsus,
3.10-3.40.

Rawer.—America, Falkland Islands and Chili north to Manitoba
and Ontario. Breeds north to limit of its range. Winters from Gulf
States south. :

Nest, of sticks, usually in trees; sometimes in colonies. Hggs, 4-6;
pale greenish-blue; 2.01 by 1.47.

Regular migrant and summer resident. Breeds locally in north-
ern part of the State in some numbers, in colonies, by themselves or
with other herons.

They arrive in the spring about the time of the last species. The
earliest date I have comes from its breeding ground, Liverpool, Ind.,
April 10, 1897 (Parker). This indicates that some, at least, pro-
ceed straight to their heronries and others follow along more leisurely.
The following dates give the time of its first appearance in Indiana
for a number of years: Carroll County, April 30, 1878 (Evermann);
Brookville, April 28, 1883; Marion County, April 18, 1884 (Noe);
Brookville, May 6, 1885; English Lake, May 6, 1888 (Deane); Dekalb
County, April 29, 1893 (Mrs. Hine); Greensburg, April 14, 1894
(Shannon).

The migration is over early in May, and by the latter part of that
month nests can be found, although some of them continue building
well into June. There is a heronry where they breed at English Lake.
(Deane.) Two nests were found there May 25 and 26, 1889, and June
Brebs oF EnpIANna. 667

10, 1888, there were large numbers im the heronry. Many were flying
over, carrying stieks and building.

The herenry “Crane Heaven” mentioned under Great Blue Heron,
upon authority of Mr. €. E. Aiken, some twenty miles ahove Water
Valley on the Kankakee, contamed, im 1886, great numbers of this
species. They were nesting upon the same trees with A... herodias.
Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr., informs me that a large colowy breeds every year
in Sandy Hook Marsh, om the Kankakee River, two miles south of
Kouts. The young, fully fledged, are taken through June and July.
Ordinarily they depart in September and early October. Occasionally,
however, a few are found well into November. These late birds gener-
ally are young. Prof. B. W. Evermann teok a young female in
Carroll County November 24, 1884. This is the latest record I have.
Mr. A. W. Hamilton took a young bird at Zanesville, Wells County,
November 12, 1896. Mr. Ruthven Deane reports two. specimens at
English Lake November 16, 1892.

They are usually nocturmal in their habits, but sometimes, espe-
cially after the young are hatched, they may be seem hunting food by
day, as well as by night. The common name given te it by those who
live near its colomies, on account of its note, is “Qruawk.”

Suncexus NYCTINASSA Simsnacer.
*73, (203). MNyeticorax violaceus (Luxx ).
Yellow-crowned Night Heron.
Synonym, WuHItE-crownEep Nicut Heron.

Adult.—Top of head and elongated pateh on side of head, white, the
first often stained with rusty brown, and in freshly killed or living
specimens deeply tinted with delicate primrose-yellow; rest of head,
black; plumage in general, bluish-plumbeous, plain beneath, but on
upper parts striped with black. IJmmature-—Top of head, black;
above, sooty grayish-brown, streaked with dull white or pale buff, the
streaks more wedge-shaped on wing coverts; lower parts, soiled
whitish, striped with brownish-gray.

Length, 22.00-28.00; wing, 10.50-12.65; bill, 2.50-3.00, tarsus, 3.10-
4.20.

Ranee.—America, from Brazil north to South Carolina, southern
Indiana, lower California, casually to Massachusetts and Colorado.
Breeds from southern Indiana southward.

Nest, of sticks, in trees. Hggs, 4-5; pale, bluish-green; 1.96 by 1.42.

Common summer resident in some localities in the lower Wabash
Valley. Breeds in colonies.
668 Report oF StTatTE GEOLOGIST.

Mr. ‘Robert Ridgway says: “At Monteur’s Pond, about eight miles
east of Vincennes, Ind., it is the most numerous species of Heron, far
outnumbering all other kinds together, during several visits there in
different years.” (Birds of Ill, Vol. II, p. 136.) In an account of a
visit to the locality above mentioned in the spring of 1881, the same
writer noted “a colony of perhaps a hundred pairs having their nests
among the tall ash and sweet-gum trees, in a creek bottom, near the
edge of the pond.” The nests are mostly at a considerable height, and
few of them are readily accessible. They were just beginning to lay,
and were frightened away from the locality during a ‘wet spell’ by
squirrel hunters. A female was shot from her nest April 27, and a
perfect egg cut from her oviduct. Several fine specimens of the bird
were secured, and it was noticed that the delicate, almost luminous,
yellow buff on the forehead soon faded.” (Bull. Nuttall Orn. Club,
Jan., 1882, p. 22.)

“In an adult female shot from her nest at Wheatland, Ind., April
27, 1881, the bill and naked lores were wholly slate-black, the eyelids
similar, but tinged with green anteriorly; iris, mars-orange; legs, pale
olive-buff; the large scutelle of tarsus, and toes deep brownish.” In
the adult male in spring, according to Audubon, the unfeathered parts
are colored as follows: “Bill, black; iris, reddish-orange; margins of
eyelids and bare space in front of the eye, dull yellowish-green; tibia,
upper part of the tarsus, its hind part, and the soles, bright yellow;
the scutelle and scales, the fore part of the tarsus, the toes, and the
claws, black.” (Ridgway, Birds of Ill, Vol. II, p. 136.)

This species is perhaps a little later migrating than that last men-
tioned. The colony noted is the most northern known of this
Heron. It, too, goes by the same name in some localities as the other
Night Heron, “Squawk.” They are said usually to build in pairs, and
to be less nocturnal than the other species.

.
Brrps oF INDIANA. 669

F. Orper PALUDICOL. Cranes, Ratzs, Etc.
SuporDER GRUES. Onrangs.

XV. Famitry GRUIDA. Cranes.

Characters same as family. Grus. 36
36. Genus GRUS Patias.

a+, Tarsus 11.00 or over. G. americana (Linn.). 74

a?, Tarsus 10.00 or less. G. mexicana (Miill.). 75

74, (204). Grus americana. (Lrvy.).
Whooping Crane.

Adult—Plumage, white; the primaries, black; upper part of head
and cheeks, and sides of throat, naked, red. Immature—Plumage,
white, more or less washed with light cinnamon; head, feathered.

Length, 50.00-54.00; extent, 92.00; wing, 22.00-25.00; bill, 5.35-
5.80; depth of bill at base, 1.40; tarsus, 11.00-12.00.

Ranee.—Interior of North America, Florida and Central Mexico,
north to fur countries, and from Ohio to California; formerly on At-
_lantic coast, north to Massachusetts. Breeds from Illinois north; also
on Gulf coast (McIlhenny). Winters in Gulf States.

Nest, in marshes, of grasses. Hggs, 2; olive or olive-buffy, marked
with brown and grayish; 4.04 by 2.50..

Rare migrant; formerly more common. It has been known to breed
in Central Illinois (Nelson), and Clear Lake, Iowa (Cooke), and doubt-
less did so in Indiana. Mr. L. T. Meyer says, in Lake County, it is
exceedingly rare. It was a summer resident, but the draining of the
Kankakee marshes has driven it away. Mr. Timothy H. Ball writes
me of their former occurrence in Lake County, also. He says they
were common, but not as abundant as the Sand Hill Crane. He thinks
they nested in the big Kankakee marsh. They were beautiful objects
as they stood out upon the prairie, the black on their wings contrast-
ing so plainly with their white plumage. They did not come into the
cornfields as the Sandhills did, but standing in the water they seemed
from a distance like them, only they were white. Mr. Charles Dury,
of Cincinnati, O., informs me of its occurrence in “North Indiana;”
also that there is a specimen in the Cuvier Club in that city that was
taken near Bloomington, Ind. Dr. A. W. Brayton notes that it was
formerly abundant.
670 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

*75, (206). Grus mexicana (MULL).
Sandhill Crane. .

Adult.—With the bare part of head forking behind to receive a
pointed extension of the occipital feathers, not reaching on the sides
below the eyes, and sparsely hairy; bill, moderately stout, with nearly
straight and scarcely ascending gonys, that part of the under mandible
not so deep as the upper at the same place; adult plumage, plumbeous
gray, never whitening; primaries, and their coverts, blackish.
Immature—With head feathered and plumage varied with rusty
brown; rather smaller than the last.

Length, 40.00-48.00; wing, 21.00-22.50 (21.83); bill, 5.15-6.00
(5.47); depth of bill at base, .95-1.10 (1.01); tarsus, 9.90-10.65 (10.25);
middle toe, 3.40-3.60 (3.50); bare part of tarsus, 4.60-5.00 (4.78).

Rance.—North America, north to Ontario, Michigan and Mani-
toba. Most abundant from Mississippi Valley to Pacifie coast. Casu-
ally to Hudson Bay. Rare on Atlantic coast north of Georgia. Breeds
localty throughout its range. Winters in Gulf States and Mexico.

Nest, on ground in grassy ponds and marshes, of grass, reeds,
ete. Eggs, 2; olive-brown or drab, spotted with brown and gray; 3.98
by 2.44. ©

Regular migrant; sometimes common. Oecasional summer visitor.
Oecasional summer resident in northwestern Indiana. Formerly breed-
ing abundantly in the large marshes of the State (Brayton). It is most
commonly found in the Wabash Valley and northward; elsewhere very
rare. It has been noted but once in the Whitewater Walley—Dr.
Rufus Haymond saw three specimens.

Many people confound this bird with the Great Blue Heron, which
is popularly known by the erroneous name “Blue Crane.”

The Herons are distinctly fishers and frequent the waterways, while
the Sandhill Crane frequents pastures, fields, dryer marshes. and
prairies, and subsists upon field mice, grasshoppers, and other insects,
amd, vegetable food; notably potatoes and sweet potatoes, of which they
are very fond.

They pass north in the spring, in March and early April. The ear-
liest arrival I have is March 7, 189+, when Mr. Deane neted a flock at
English Lake. The earliest spring record for the southern part of the
State is Bicknell, Knox County, Mareh 21, 1995 (Chansler). Mr. S.
T. Sterling reported it from Camden, Carroll County, April 13, 1888.

Mr. Ruthven Deane tells me that at Emglish Lake March 25, 1892,
he could hear them all day utterin g their hoarse, guttural rattle, while
soaring so high one could not see them, as the atmosphere was a little
Brraps oF INDIANA. 671

: hazy. At their breeding ground the first intimation of their presenceis
their “loud trumpeting or croaking, which seems to shake the air for
miles” (Thompson). In the Wabash Valley old settlers recall the
earlier days, when the birds were abundant, and tell with pleasure of
the sight of them soaring grandly hundreds of yards above the earth.

They have been reported in recent years to breed in the following
counties: Carroll (Sterling); Fulton (Dr. V. Gould); Lake (Ball); and
Starke (Deane, Gault); and as migrants from Knox (Chansler), and
Newton (Pfrimmer).

Soon after arrival they begin mating. Their actions at that season
are admirably described by Colonel Goss. He says: “During court-
ship and the early breeding season their actions and antics at times
are ludicrous in the extreme, bowing and leaping high in the air, hop-
ping, skipping, and circling about, with drooping wings, and croak-
ing whoop, an almost indescribable dance and din, in which the female
(an exception to the rule) joins, all working themselves into a fever of
excitement, only equaled by an Indian war dance, and, like the same,
it only stops when the last one is exhausted.”

Mr. B. T. Gault wrote me in 1892 that he was informed a pair or
two still nested each season at Beaver Lake, Starke County, their nest-
ing site being a marshy island in the lake. They were also said to per-
form their dances or “cotillions” in that region every spring. Mr. R.
W. Stafford saw two eggs taken from a nest at North Judson, Starke
‘County, May 5, 1890 (Deane). Mr. Joseph E. Gould, in a letter to
Mr. Ruthven Deane, tells of finding young cranes east of Runnymede,
in the same county, June 11, 1891. He says: “On emerging from the
opposite side of a hummock of small poplars, I saw two Cranes feeding
near a large oak that stood alone on a small elevation. Both birds flew,
one going out of sight, while the other circled around and alighted a
short distance off. I walked over to the tree and looked about in the
grass, hoping to find their nest, but could see no sign of it. I then
climbed up into the tree and sat perfectly still, and soon the old bird
began to call and walk toward me. When within about one hundred
yards of me she began to retrace her steps, and then I saw a little
downy Crane following her. I jumped out of the tree and ran over,
but the little fellow was too quick, and dodged me. I repeated the
operation three times, but without success. I should say the young
Crane was two or three weeks old. I was informed a farmer had cap-
tured a small Crane in that locality, which, I think, accounts for my
only seeing one. I feel certain from the number of birds I saw that
there are several pairs breeding on the north marsh.”

Dr. H. M. Smith, of Knox County, once had a pet Sandhill Crane,
672 Report or State GEOLOGIST.

which he had wounded and captured. It became quite domesticatea,
and was much attached to him. When he would return from a ride in
the practice of his profession, it would show its joy by standing on one
leg, picking up chips with its bill and throwing them into the air, and
many other antics (Chansler).

Mr. T. H. Ball, of Crown Point, speaking of a period of from fifty
to sixty years ago, says: “Sandhill Cranes were found here in abun-
dance. They came in early spring, and went south late in the fall.
They nested in the Kankakee marsh region. In the fall they would
come from the marshes into our cornfields, forty or fifty, perhaps a
hundred, at a time, and tear the corn almost as bad as a drove of hogs.
Then I shot them. They were fat, and considered, when properly
cooked, superior to wild geese.” He describes their dances as given
upon a knoll on the prairies. Mr. Ball says a few remain, and still
(1897) make nests south of Ridge Island, and south of the Brown ditch
‘in Lake County.

They begin their movements southward in September, and continue
them through November. Mr. Deane saw many at English Lake Sep-
tember 21, 1889. October 10, 1892, he says, they were quite abundant
at the same place. Mr. Chansler notes them in Knox County October
27, 1894.

_Suporper RALLI. Ratzs, Gatinuues, Coors, Ere.
XVI. Famizy RALLIDZ. Rats, Gatiinvues, Ere.

a1. Forehead feathered. No frontal shield.

6}. Bill slender, longer than head, curved downward. Rarius. 37
6?. Bill stout, not longer than head, straight. Porzana. 38

a’. Forehead covered by a broad, bare, horny shield.
ce}, Sides of toes with broad, lobed membranes. Forica. 41

e?, Sides of toes with narrow membranes or none.
d’. Nostrils small, oval; middle tue (without claw), shorter than tarsus.

; ; Tonornis. 39
d?, Nostrils slit-like; middle toe (withont claw), longer than tarsus.

GaL uo
SupramIty RALLINA. -Ratts. ceva .

37. Guus RALLUS Linw.vvs.
a}. Wing over 5.00. R. elegans Aud. 76
a7, Wing under 5.00. R. virginianus Linn. 77

*76, (208). Rallus elegans Avp.
King Rail.
Synonyms, Rep-BreasteD Rar, Marsn Hen,

Above, brownish-black, variegated with olive-brown, becoming rich
chestnut on the wing coverts; under parts, rich rufous or cinnamon-
Birps oF INDIANA. 673

brown, usually paler on the middle of the belly, and whitening on the
throat; flanks and axillars, blackish, white-barred.

Length, 17.00-19.00; wings, 5.90-6.80 (6.43); bill, 2.12-2.50 (2.35);
least depth of bill, .27-.35 (.30); depth at base, .50-.55 (.52); tarsus,
2.10-2.40 (2.28). .

Ranez.—Fresh-water marshes of the eastern United States, north
to the middle States, southern Michigan, northern Illinois, Wisconsin
and Kansas; casually to Massachusetts, Maine, and Ontario. Breeds
throughout its range. Winters from Virginia southward.

Nest, of reeds and grass, in a marsh. Hggs, 6-15; buff or cream,
speckled and blotched with reddish-brown.

Migrant; summer resident locally in the Wabash Valley and north-
ward; rare some places, but common among the lakes and marshes in
the northern part of the State, where they breed in some numbers.
In the southern half of the State they are rare.

They arrive in the spring late in April and early in May, and those
that do not remain to breed pass northward without much delay.

My earliest date is from Brookville, where one was taken on April
20, 1881. Sometimes in spring they are found in some numbers, as
though traveling in small flocks. They go south from late August to
the middle of October. They begin the duties of home building
promptly upon arrival. Nests have been found with fresh eggs in
June. Mr. Deane found a nest containing ten eggs quite fresh June
3, 1888. It was built on a small tussock at the base of a small bush
in an overflowed meadow.

Mr.H. K. Coale says, the parents have been noted with downy, black
young following, June 8 and 16, 1878; June 1, 1884. Mr. Ridgway
tells me it breeds in Knox and Gibson counties. It evidently bred in
Putnam County in 1894. Mr. Jesse Earlle found it at “Mill Pond,”
near Greencastle July 24, 25, 26, and 27, 1894. A young King Rail,
not grown and not in full plumage, was brought to Mr. Alexander
Black for identification. Mr. Deane says of a nest found by Mr. Stein-
man May 11, 1890: “It was built in an overflowed meadow, and con-
sisted of broken, dried cane thrown up. The nest proper was very
small, and contained twelve eggs piled upon top of each other.” It is
reported as breeding in the following counties: Lake (Aiken); Laporte
(Barber), Dekalb (Feagler), and Mr. J. E. Beasley thinks it may breed
in Boone County. This is the largest Rail in this State.

4383—GEOL.
674 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

*77, (212). Rallus virginianus (Lrvy.).
Virginia Rail.

Coloration, exactly as in elegans, of which it is a perfect. miniature.

Length, 8.12-10.50; wing, 3.90-4.25; bill, 1.45-1.60; tarsus, 1.30-
1.40.

Ranez.—North America, from Guatemala and Cuba, north to Brit-
ish Columbia and Hudson Bay. Breeds from Pennsylvania and Indi-
ana (Florida, Davie), northward. Winters from southern [Illinois
southward.

Nest, on ground, in marsh near water, of reeds and rushes. L'ggs,
6-12; buff or cream; 1.24 by .94.

Rather common migrant, most numerous in spring; summer resi-
dent in some numbers locally, principally northward.

They begin to arrive from the south from April 20 to May 10, de-
pending upon the lateness or earliness of the season, and there is but
little difference between the time of their arrival near the Ohio River
and at Lake Michigan. They migrate, as all Rails do, by night, and do
not linger long by the way. The earliest spring records are: April 20,
1888, at Brookville, and April 20, 1897, Lake County (Parker). In
Lake County they are not nearly so common as the Sora, but still are
not rare about the lakes (Parker). In the same county Mr. C. E. Aiken
noted it breeding, but not abundantly. In Dekalb County, Mr. J. 0.
Snyder says it breeds; while both are common, Sora is most common:
In Steuben County it is abundant. Mr. C. L. Barber says it breeds
in Laporte County. Mr. H. W. McBride found it breeding in Elkhart
County, May 19, 1890.

At English Lake, Mr. Deane tells me, they are not common and are
not found with the Soras. This habit of choosing a locality not fre-
quented by the Soras is often noted. Mr. William S. Perry found
them as common as the Sora in April, 1885, in the Kankakee marsh.
(See Yellow Rail).

In the fall they go as they came—by night. While many start
ahead, the bulk of them go at one time. One day the marshes are full
of their noisy notes. A heavy frost comes and the reeds are deserted.
The noticeable scarcity of Virginia Rails in the fall impresses all who
have observed them. Their fall records are exceedingly few. They
seem to all leave the first half of September. Mr. Deane, writing con-
cerning English Lake, says: “We never get the Virginia Rail in the
fall. I have examined a good many bags of small Rail in August and
September, and have killed as many as eighty in a morning, and no
Virginias taken.” They frequent overflowed meadows and marshes,
Birps or INDIANA. 675

‘and generally are not found where the water is deep. “The call of this
species is rendered crick-cuk-rik-k-k-k” (E. E. Thompson). It was
taken at Rock Lake, Fulton County, September 1, 1894 (Ulrey and
Wallace); Hyde Park, Ill., September 19, 1893 (Parker); Borden, Ind.,
September 11, 1894 (E. S. Hallett); Greencastle, Ind., August 1, 1894
(A. Black, J. Earlle).

38. Genus PORZANA VIEILLOT.

a, Secondaries without white.
b1, Wing over 4.00; olive brown above, striped with black.
Subgenus Porzana. P. carolina (Linn.). 78
b?. Wing under 3.50; dusky, usually speckled with white.
Subgenus Crectscus Cabanis. P. jamaicensis (Gmel.). 80
a?, Secondaries white. Subgenus Corurnicors Bonaparte.
P. noveboracensis (Gmel.). 79

Subgenus Porzana.

*78, (214). Porzana carolina (Liny.).

Sora.

Adult.—With the face and central line of the throat, black; the rest
of the throat, line over eye, and especially the breast, more or less in-
tensely, slate-gray; the sides of the breast usually with some obsolete
whitish barring and speckling. Immature—Without the black, the
throat whitish, the breast brown.

 

Sora.

Length, 7.85-9.75; wing, 4.15-4.30; bill, .75-.90; tarsus, 1.25-1.35.

Ranez.—Northern South America and West Indies, north to Man-
itoba, Hudson Bay, and casually to Greenland. Breeds from Louis-
jana (McIlhenny) northward. Winters from southern Illinois and
South Carolina southward.

Nest, of grass and rushes, on ground in marshs. Eggs, 8-20; brown-
ish buff, spotted with brown; 1.26 by .90.

Common migrant throughout the State; summer resident in the
northern part, where it breeds commonly.
676 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

They appear as soon in the northern part of the State as they do in’
the southern. They usually arrive between April 15 and May 5, but
Mr. Hadley noted them at Richmond April 11, 189%. The migration,
however, continues past the middle of May. I have taken them at
Brookville May 16, 1888. They are not paired when they reach their
breeding grounds, and their numbers and habits vary to meet the con-
ditions found. In 1890 the season was favorable. They arrived at
English Lake in some numbers by May 4, and were there found in the
open meadows, where hunters were shooting snipe. They were never
known to be as abundant as they were May 11. The majority had ap-
parently just arrived, and were scattered through the marshes. They
did not seem to be paired. In 1891 but a few were found by May 10.
Owing to the low stage of the water, they seemed to be located in cer-
tain parts of the marsh, and not so generally distributed as they usually
are when they first arrive. In May they frequent the meadows back
from the marshes, where they probably breed (Deane).

Dr. F. Stein informs me they are not rare in Gibson and Knox coun-
ties. Possibly some remain and breed through the summer. It is
said 14 to 20 eggs are sometimes found in one nest, arranged at least
two deep, and that the bird begins sitting before the set is complete,
so the young hatch at different times. As the summer wears away they
begin to wander southward, frequenting not only marshes, but mead-
ows, clover fields, and wheat stubble. One was killed with a whip in
a meadow near Brookville, July 15, 1886, by M. A. Remy. August 13,
1897, my son, Will, brought me a Sora which was found near the tele-
phone line. Perhaps it was killed by flying against the wires.
Throughout the latter part of August and most of September they are
passing. Meanwhile the great numbers of old and young are collect-
ing in northern Indiana and other States until the marshes fairly
swarm with them. This is the season for Rail shooting. They are
very sensitive to cold. A sudden heavy frost comes, and the myriad
voices of the marsh one day are silenced and their owners flown when
the sun of the morrow rises. Generally all are gone before the end of
September. I have, however, taken them at Brookville October 2,
1887, and October 14, 1890. Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr., informs me that
some remain through October in the vicinity of Chicago.

Rail shooting on the tide-water marshes of the Atlantic coast is a’
popular sport, and many there are who avail themselves of it. This
is only true to a very limited extent in this State. Most people do not
look upon the Rail as a game bird. In fact, it is known to but very
few of our people at all. Its short, rounded wings and inadequate
powers of flight would lead one to question whether it could cover the
BIRDS OF INDIANA. 677

distance between its breeding grounds and winter home. They are
hard to flush, and after a short flight drop among the reeds or grass
and are not seen again. Prof. W. W. Cooke says “it can be found
throughout the year in southern Illinois.” (Bird Migration in Miss.
Valley, p. 87.) .

Subgenus Coturnicops Bonaparte.
79, (215). Porzana noveboracensis (GMEL.).
Yellow Rail.

Synonym, Litre YELLow Ratt.

Above, varied with blackish and ochrey-brown, and thickly marked
with narrow white semicircles and transverse bars; below, ‘pale,
ochrey-brown, middle belly white, deepest on the breast, where many
of the feathers are tipped with dark brown; flanks, rufous, with many
white bars; secondaries and lining of the wing, white; a brownish-
yellow streak over the eye.

Length, 6.00-7.75; wing, 3.00-3.60; bill, .50-.60; tarsus, .95- 1. 00.

RaneGe.—North Arnot ca: most common east of Rocky Mountains.
Breeds from Indiana north to Nova Scotia and Hudson Bay. Winters
from Illinois south to Cuba and Bermuda.

Nest, of grass, on ground in marsh. Eggs, 6 or more; creamy buff;
densely sprinkled and speckled on larger end with rusty brown; 1.12
by .83 (Ridgw. Manual).

Rare migrant; summer resident, very local; probably breeds.

The small size of this Rail renders it undesirable from the point of
view of the sportsman. This, coupled with its retiring ways and slow-
ness to take wing, render it so inconspicuous that while it is often seen
yet but few who see it recognize it. My first acquaintance with it was
near Brookville in the fall of 1879. A farmer was plowing in a field
in September through which ran a slight depression, which was usu-
ally damp, and there grew some sedges and rank grass. One round a
Yellow Rail ran out of the growth ahead of the horses. He stopped
the team and ran after it. The bird did not attempt to fly, and was
easily caught. He also caught at least one other and saw still more.
He brought the bird to me and I visited the place a day or two after,
on September 18. All the ground was plowed except a narrow strip
of the wet land. From that, after some effort, I succeeded in flushing
two of the birds, which I secured.

Those who have met with the Yellow Rail agree that it is the dryer
marshes or wet prairies or meadows that it prefers; the more decidedly
marshy ground is frequented by the larger Rails.
678 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Prof. J. A. Balmer, of Pullman, Wash., and a former resident of
Vincennes, writes: “The Little Yellow Rail interests me very much.
While in Knox County, snipe hunting, each spring, especially in April,
I used to find (on particular swamps only) an abundance of this tiny
Rail. My old,Gordon setter would point by a tussock, and as I walked
up to flush, he would nose into the grass and bring out a Yellow Rail,
always quite unharmed. I have seen him repeat this act as many as a
half dozen times in a single day.

“They were always abundant in spring in this particular part of
Males Prairie. I have found them in the fall while quail hunting, but
this rarely.” He thinks that it breeds there, as he has found it in the
breeding season. ;

Except the eggs found May 17 at Winnebago, Ill., by J. W. Tol-
man, which are in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution, I
know of none that are claimed to be of this bird. Dr. Coues says of
this set of six: “They are the only ones I have seen, and differ from
those of P. carolina in the color of the ground, which is a rich, warm
buffy-brown, marked at the greater end with a cluster of reddish-choc-
olate dots and spots. Size, 1.15 by .85 to 1.05 by .80.” (Birds of
N. W., p. 539.)

Prof. Evermann met with it near Bloomington in August, 1885,
where one specimen was taken alive in a marsh. It was noted at
Worth, Hl., September 22, 1891 (Parker). Thus, in August and
through September they are migrating to their winter homes. Some
of them do not go very far; others reach the Gulf of Mexico. As it is
said to winter in central Illinois (Cooke), it may remain some winters
in southern Indiana. It generally migrates early in April, reaching
our northern swamps some years as early as April 2. Sometimes,
however, it is found migrating in May. The latest spring record I have
is three specimens taken by. Mr. G. G. Williamson, at Muncie, May
12, 1890. It has been reported from but few localities. Mr. Chas. Dury
informs me that in his own collection and that of the Cuvier Club,
Cincinnati, O., there are specimens from Vincennes, Chalmers and
English Lake. It has been taken in Clinton County (Newlin), and
Mr. Forest West reports one taken at Adams, Decatur County, in the
spring of 1889. Mr. C. E. Aiken says while it is seldom seen, it occurs
in considerable numbers in Lake County. He took it at Water Valley
in 1889.

Compared with the larger Rails, it is apparently a rare bird in In-
diana. Mr. Wm. 8. Perry, of Worcester, Mass., has in two different
years found them in some part of the Kankakee Marsh. The exact
locality I have been unable to determine. He first visited the place on
Birnps oF INDIANA. 679

April 18, 1876, when he found two, and to know more of this species,
he was led to return in the spring of 1885. He gave an account of hie
experience, which will illustrate their comparative abundance, to Mr.
Ruthven Deane, who very kindly supplied me with it. Speaking of
the Yellow Rail, he says: “I consider them quite rare. I hunted every
day for six weeks, especially for Rails, and probably started 1,500 Vir-
ginia, 1,500 Sora, 200 King and 5 Yellow. I think that is about the
proportion they occur, although with the experience I had, I could
probably find more if I should try again. I found the Yellow Rail in
a very small part of the marsh, say 50 acres in extent, rather high
ground that is not so boggy and wet as where the other species of Rail
were plenty. They come very late in April and possibly late in
March. The five I have I got between April 2 and 13.”

Subgenus Creciscus Cabanis.

*80. (216). Porzana jamaicensis (GMEL.).
Black Rail.
Synonym, Lirrne Buack Ratt.

Upper parts, blackish-brown, finely speckled and barred with white;
the hind neck, dark chestnut; head and under parts, dark slate color,
paler or whitening on the throat and blackish on the crown; the lower
belly, flanks and under wing and tail coverts, blackish, barred with
white; some of quills and tail feathers, with white spots; size, very
small.

Length, 5.00-6.50; wing, 2.50-3.20; bill, .50-.60; depth of bill
through base, .20-.25; tarsus, .85-1.00.

Rance.—America, from Chili and West Indies, north to Massachu-
setts, Ontario, Michigan, north Illinois and Oregon. Limits of breed-
ing range unknown; probably breeds throughout United States range.
Winters from Gulf coast south.

For nest and eggs, see below.

Rare summer resident locally.

This is one of the rarer American birds, by far the rarest of its
family. It is only known from two localities in Indiana, in both of
which it undoubtedly breeds. April 22, 1888, Mr. Ruthven Deane
identified it at English Lake, and that remained the only Indiana
record for over six years. July 27, 1894, Jesse Harlle and Alexander
Black identified the Black Rail among the “saw grass” about
the “Mill Pond” near Greencastle, Ind. The bird ran, but they
could not compel it to fly. Finally they lost it. July 28 they again
saw the bird, but could not get it to fly. They searched for it after this,
680 REPoRT oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

but could not find it until July 31. On that day they secured a dog, by
the aid of which it was flushed, but it was at too close range to shoot.
August 1 they again took with them a dog, which caught in its mouth
a young Black Rail, too small to fly. The search was continued, and
finally an adult male of the same species was found and secured.

The following are the measurements of the male Black Rail, fresh
killed, before skinning:

Length, 6.50; wing, 3.00; bill, .60; tarsus, 1.00; tibia, 1.50; tail,
1.40; extent, 10.00.

Young, 4.40; tarsus, 1.00; bill, .50; tibia, 1.50. No ¢ail yet.

The birds were very kindly placed in my collection. Prof. J. A.
Balmer shot one while quail shooting one fall on Allison Prairie, Law-
rence County, Illinois, across the Wabash River from Vincennes, Ind.

There are only two records from Ohio. Mr. Chas. Dury mentions
two birds seen and one taken near Ross Lake, near Carthage, O., May
17, 1890. (Journ. Cin. Soc. Nat. Hist., Vol. XIII, No. 2, 1890, pp.
97, 98.)

Between May 16 and 30, 1891, six males and a female were taken
at the same lake. From the female, which was obtained May 30, an
egg nearly fully developed was taken. (Dury and Kellogg, Tbid., Vol.
XIV, No. 1, p. 44.)

Considering the lateness of the date and the development of the egg,
it is very probable these birds would have bred there. Mr. Dury notes
when the bird was flushed it would fly but a short distance and alight,
and it was almost impossible to flush it a second time.

The only account of its nest and eggs is that given by Mr. E. W.
Nelson. In Birds of Northeastern Illinois, pp. 134, 135, he notes it
breeding near Chicago. The nest was found June 19, 1875, and con-
tained ten fresh eggs. “The nest was placed in a deep cup-shaped
depression in a perfectly open situation on the border of a marshy spot,
and its only concealment was such as a few straggling carices afforded.
It is composed of soft grass blades, loosely interwoven in a circular
manner. The nest, in shape and construction, looks much like that
of a Meadow Lark. The following are its dimensions in inches: Inside
depth, 2.50; inside diameter, 3.25; outside depth, 3.50; outside diam-
eter, 4.50. The eggs are a creamy white, instead of clear white, as I
stated in a recent article (Bull. Nuttall Orn. Club, Vol. I, p. 43), and
average 1.00 by .81 inches. They are nearly perfectly oval and are
thinly sprinkled with fine reddish-brown dots, which become larger
and more numerous at one end. Minute shell markings in the form
of dots are also visible. Owing to the small diameter of the nest, the
eggs were in two layers.”
BIRDS OF INDIANA. 681

Dr. Coues gives the size of some eggs in the Smithsonian Institution
as 1.05 by .80. The eggs are much larger in proportion to the size of
the bird than are those of the Yellow Rail, and they differ from the
eggs of that species and of the Sora, which have, respectively, buffy-
brown and drab ground color.

Susramity GALLINULINA. Ga inunes.
39. Genus IONORNIS Retcoenpacu.
81. (218). Ionornis martinica (Liny.).
Purple Gallinule.

‘Head, neck and under parts, beautiful purplish-blue, blackening on
the belly, the crissum white; above, olivaceous green, the cervix
and wing coverts tinted with blue; frontal shield, blue; bill, red,
tipped with yellow; legs, yellowish. Immature.—With the head, neck
and lower back, brownish; the under parts, mostly white, mixed with
ochrey.

Length, 12.50-14.00; wing, 7.00-7.50; bill (including frontal shield),
1.85-1.95; tarsus, 2.25-2.50.

Ranox.—America, from Brazil north to South Atlantic and Gulf
States, casually to Ontario, Maine, northern Ohio, northern Illinois,
Wisconsin and Missouri. Breeds northward to southern Illinois and
South Carolina. Winters from Florida south.

Nest, built among rushes over the water; the taller rushes are bent
down and woven together as a support; or on ground in marshes.
Eggs, 8-9; cream color, finely dotted with chestnut-brown and umber;
size, 1.55 by 1.13. ;

Rare visitor in spring and perhaps summer resident.

This bird has been taken in southern Indiana but a few times, and
has never been reported north of the latitude of Indianapolis, though
both in Ohio and Illinois it reaches their northern boundary. So far as
I have information, the occurrences have all been in the spring, and
are either wanderers beyond their customary breeding range or rare
summer residents in suitable situations. They could hardly be mi-
grants going much farther north, as northern Indiana is nearly; if
not quite, the limit of their breeding range. There is no record
of its occurrence in Michigan. The first record for Indiana was taken
near Brookville in the spring of 1880. Mr. BE. L. Guthrie took a
specimen in Decatur County in May, 1883. Mr. W. C. DeWitt notes

.two specimens taken in Wayne County. Mr. E. W. Nelson tells that

Mr. C. N. Holden, Jr., took a male near Chicago'in May, 1866, and
speaks, upon Dr. Hoy’s authority, of a specimen taken near Racine,
Wis.
682 Report OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Dr. Langdon says: “Dr. Hunt informs me of the capture of this spe-
cies near the mouth of the Big Miami River on March 31, 1877,”
(Cat. Birds Vic. Cin., 1877, p. 16). The mouth of the river men-
tioned is in Indiana, but I do not know the location of the site where
the specimen was taken. Three other specimens are noted from the
vicinity of Cincinnati that same spring. It was taken near Circleville.
May 10, 1877. (Wheaton, Birds of Ohio, p. 514.) Prof. E. L.
Moseley informs me of the capture’ of a Purple Gallinule near
Sandusky, O., April 28, 1896 (The Auk, Vol. XIV, No. 2, April,,
1897, p. 200). Mr. Thomas MclIlwraith notes the capture of a speci--
men at Pickering, Ontario, in April, 1892 (Birds of Ontario, 1894,
p. 123). The nest is made in the tall grass along the edges of water:
courses, bending the grass down and weaving it together. In South
Carolina the nest is said to be built in rushes over the water. Besides.
its true nest, the bird makes several “shams,” often as many as five:
or six (Davie). The bird may be readily recognized by its bright.
purplish-blue colors.

40. Gexus GALLINULA Brisson.

*82. (219). Gallinula galeata (Licur).
Florida Gallinule.

Head, neck and underparts, grayish-black, darkest on the head,.
paler or whitening on the belly; back, brownish-olive; wings and tail,. .
dusky; crissum, edge of wing and stripes on the flank, white; bill, fron-
tal plate and ring around tibie, red, the former tipped with yellow;
tarsi and.toes, greenish. Downy Young.—Glossy black, throat and
cheeks, with silvery-white hairs.

Length, 12.00-14.50; wing, 6.85-7.25; bill (to end of frontal shield),.
1.70-1.85; tarsus, 2.10-2.30.

Rance.—America, from Brazil and Chili north to Maine, Ontario-
and Minnesota. Breeds from that limit south. Winters from Gulf
States south.

Nest, of reeds and rushes on foundation of similar growth, near-
water level in marshes, sloughs or reedy places in lakes. Eggs, 8-13;
brownish-buff, thickly spotted with reddish-brown; 1.74 by 1.19.

Regular migrant. Summer resident among the more extensive:
swamps and marshes. Locally common; some places abundant.
Breeds.

It is resident throughout the Southern States, and our summer birds.
return south and many winter in the same region. They come north:
im spring, through April and early May. The earliest record I have is.
Birps oF INDIANA. 683

Greencastle, April 6, 1894 (Earlle), and the earliest for the White-
water Valley is from Brookville, April 28, 1883. In 1885, 1890, 1892
and 1896 the first record from Indiana was on the same date each year,
though in 1892 Mr. Parker had reported it from Cook County, Illinois,
May 2. During the migration they are often caught in barnyards,
chicken yards, fenced town lots and other places where the fences are
rather tightly built. Whether this is due to the fact that they are
attracted there or during their nocturnal flight they are generally dis-
tributed, and the others pass on, leaving those only which cannot get
away, it is impossible to tell.

Judging from their numbers in some swamps, I should think them
much more common migrants in southern Indiana than we generally
suppose. During the breeding season their nuinbers vary in different
localities. Some places they are by no means cominon and ih others
they breed abundantly. Mr. Nelson says of it in Cook Cownty,
Illinois: “Abundant summer resident everywhere in the maishes and
the larger prairie sloughs; generally has a full set of eggs, numbering
from seven to twelve, the first week of June,” (Birds of Northwestern
Illinois, p. 135). In Lake County both Mr. Toppan and Mr. Parker
note it as common, and the last-named gentleman says of it about
George and Wolf lakes: “The boys collect hundreds of their eggs
every year.” It is found in the rank slough grass bordering the lakes,
and rarely takes to wing when approached.

Mr. C. E. Aiken informs me in May, 1871, in Lake County, he
found it breeding very abundantly, but it appeared rare at Whitewater
in 1886, 1887 and 1889.

In Starke County, at English Lake, it breeds in limited numbers
(Deane, Dury). Also, at Davis Station (Coale). In one locality in
that county Mr. Joseph E. Gould found the nests of the Pied-billed
Grebe, Coot and Florida Gallinule, full sets of which were taken July
1, 1891. One nest of the Gallinule contained thirteen eggs. It has
also been observed breeding in Dekalb County (Mrs. Hine, R. W.
McBride); Vigo County (Evermann). The summer of 1897 it was not
found at English Lake in the numbers usually observed (Deane). I
take the liberty of giving Dr. Langdon’s excellent account of its breed-
ing habits as observed the week ending July 4, 1890, in Ottawa
‘County, Ohio, where it breeds abundantly: “The nests are situated
amongst the ‘saw grass’ and consttucted of dried blades. Their height
varies, some almost resting on the water, while others are placed afloat
or more above it,and have an incline eight or ten inches in width, made
of dried grass, extending from the nest to the water’s edge, which
makes them a conspicuous object when the surrounding vegetation is
684 ReEPoRT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

not too dense. The dozen or so sets of eggs taken were in various
stages of incubation, and a few young were observed following their
parents. The young when a day or two old are about the size of a
newly hatched domestic chicken, and, when found in the open water,
are easily captured. They present a curious sight, paddling for dear
life, with their bright, red and orange bills standing out in strong con-
trast with their sooty-black, down-covered bodies.” (Journ. Cin. Soc.
Nat. Hist., Vol. III, No. 3, October, 1880, p. 228.)

No doubt, the same story prevails everywhere—that these birds are
not so numerous or so unsuspicious as they once were, but, on the con-
trary, are rapidly diminishing in numbers and becoming much
more shy.

In addition to the places mentioned, it has been noted in the fol-
lowing counties during the spring migrations: Marion (Noe), Putnam
(Clearwaters), Steuben (H. W. McBride), Delaware (Bain), Rush
(Voorhees), Boone (Beasley). I have no account of it in the State in
the fall later than August 2, 1896, when Mr. Parker reported it com-
mon at Hammond. What becomes of,it in the fall? In all of the
many records I have examined from Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and
Tilinois and in the reports gathered by Prof. Cooke from the Missis-
sippi Valley, I fail to find a single record of it in the fall. Mr. Parker
says it departs early in September.

SusramMILy FULICIN.E.

41. Genus FULICA Linnevs.

*83, (221). Fulica americana Gwe.
American Coot.

Adult.—Dark slate, paler or greenish below, blackening on the head
and neck, tinged with olive on the back; crissum, whole edge of wing
and top of secondaries, white; bill, white or flesh-colored, marked with
reddish-black near the end; feet, dull olivaceous. Immature.—Similar,
paler and duller; frontal shield rudimentary. Downy Young.—Black-
ish, white, below; head and neck, with orange hairlike feathers. which
are also found less numerously and paler on the upper parts: bill,
orange-red, black tipped.

Length, 13.00-16.00; wing, 7.25-7.60; bill (to commencement of
frontal shield), 1.25-1.60; tarsus, 2.00-2.20.

Ranez.—America, from Central America and West Indies north to
Alaska and casually to Greenland. Breeds throughout its range. Win-
ters in Southern States and southward.
Birps oF INDIANA. 685

Nest, of marsh vegetation, attached to reeds, afloat in water like a
Grebe’s or on ground. ggs, 6-15; dull buff, with fine dots of dark
brown or black; 1.74 by 1.19.

Common migrant. Northward summer resident. Locally very com-
mon. It may sometimes, favorable winters, winter southward.

Usually their period of migration begins in March, but some years
they do not reach the northern part of the State until after the first
of April. The following dates give the time of first appearance at
Brookville for a series of years: 1881, April 25; 1882, April 18; 1883,
April 3; 1884, March 12; 1886, April 3; 1887, March 31; 1888, March

   
 
 

  
  

fy Mitr Tp

Leds mp v1)

yf manifty Mtr \

& milter 1
VY

    
 
  

 
 

   
     

Frontal Plate of a Coot.

26; 1889, March 28; 1896, April 4. The latest date noted, same local-
ity, was May 16, 1884. The variation in northern Indiana is as
marked. The first one seen at Waterloo in 1896 was April 5; in 1897,
March 20 (Feagler). The first seen at Laporte in 1893 was April 1;
in 1894, March 16 (Barber). Usually, however, the early birds are
a very few of the advance guards, and the majority cannot be de-
pended upon to arrive for from one to three weeks later. It was com-
mon at Waterloo April 6, 1896, and not until April 9, 1897. It was
common at Laporte in 1893 April 10, and April 1, 1894. As with
some other species of retiring, marsh-loving birds, it is often reported
from its-favorite localities northward before it has been seen farther
south. In 1891 a single bird was seen at English Lake, February 14
and 15. In 1892 a pair were seen there March 6, and they were
numerous March 20. In 1894 about a dozen were noted March 7 and
686 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

quite a number March 18 (Deane). It was observed in Cook County,
Illinois, March 20, 1885 (Parker). Further south it was first noted
in Carroll County April 8, 1885 (Evermann). The first one was
noted at Greencastle in 1892 April 8 (Harlle), and in 1894 at Delphi
March 8. They are usually not common until April 1. The first
arrivals come singly or a few together, but towards April 1 to 10 they
appear in flocks of twenty or thirty, or sometimes more. They are
usually abundant throughout the month of April and sometimes to
May 11. At times they are seen upon the smaller lakes by thou-
sands, but are rarely found on Lake Michigan (Parker). Some years
the migrants remain in numbers after the summer residents begin to
breed. The latter pair through April. By the first week in May they
are mostly paired, and May 11, 1890, Mr. Deane found a nest at Eng-
lish Lake, made of broken dried cane, with a very small depression,
containing eight eggs. Mr. Joseph E. Gould took full sets of fresh egos
from the same locality July 1, 1891. Those that remain to breed are
generally a very small portion of the Coots found with usin April. In
1891 Mr. Aiken reported it still an abundant summer resident in Lake
County, but less plentiful than twenty years ago. They are said to
breed in the following counties besides those noted: Dekalb (Feagler),
Laporte (Barber), Boone (Beasley), Lake (Meyer, Aiken, Parker).

Coots and Gallinules are generally known as “Mud Hens.” The
former may, however, be readily distinguished by the white bill, which
is conspicuous for quite a distance. While Coots often associate with
ducks, and swim, and sometimes act, something like them, they do not
rise and fly away as ducks do. They either swim to, or by a short
flight find, concealment among the reedy or grassy edges of the place
they frequent.

In fall they again become very abundant on our lakes, and remain so
until freezing weather. With October 1 they commence passing south-
ward, and may be noticed over the southern part of our State from
that time until cold weather. Most of them, however, are seen there
through October, and we see very little of the great number that re-
main upon the northern waters, to be driven south in a body by the
November cold. The first fall migrant noted at Brookville was Octo-
ber 1, 1889, and the latest October 21, 1886. Mr. Parker reports them
from Cook County, Hlinois, November 14, 1892, and November V1,
1893.

The latest record I have for Indiana is from Carroll County, where
Prof. Evermann observed it November 21, 1884. It has been noted
in our State every month in the year except December and J anuary.
Brraps oF INDIANA. 687

G. ORDER LIMICOLA. Suore Birps.

XVIL Fammy PHALAROPODIDZ. PHALAROPEs.

a}, Bill broad, somewhat triangular at tip. CRYMOPHILUs. 42
a*, Bill slender, tapering to a point. PHALAROPUS. 43

42, Genus CRYMOPHILUS VigrLtor.
84. (222). Crymophilus fulicarius (Livy).
Red Phalarope.

Adult in Summer.—Under parts, with sides of neck and upper tail
coverts, dark purplish or wine-red, with glaucous bloom; top of head
and around bill, sooty; sides of head, white, this color meeting on the
nape; rump, white; back, black, all the feathers edged with tawny or
rusty brown; quills, brownish-black, with white shafts, and much
white at bases of webs, the coverts dark ash; the ends and interior webs.
of the greater row, white; some of the secondaries entirely white; bill,.
yellowish, with dusky tip; feet, yellowish. Adult in Winter—Head.
all around and entire under parts, white, with a dusky circumocular:
area, and nuchal crescent, and a wash of ashy along sides of body;.
above, nearly uniform ash; wings, ashy-blackish, the white cross-bar
very conspicuous; bill, mostly dark.

Length, 7.50-8.75; wing, 5.25-5.50; culmen, .80-.95; tarsus, .80-.85.
* Ranez.—Northern parts of Northern Hemisphere, breeding in the
Arctic regions and migrating south in winter. In the United States
south to the Middle States, Ohio Valley and Cape St. Lucas. Chiefly
maritime.

Nest, a shallow depression in ground, rarely lined. Hggs, 3-4; drab-
olive, olive-buff or pale brown, heavily spotted with dark brown; 1.24
by .86.

Rare straggler during migrations.

Phalaropes are queer little birds. They look like Sandpipers, but
their lobate feet, resembling those of Coots and Gallinules, at once
distinguish them. They seem to be Sandpipers when along the shore,
but upon the water, swim as well as Coots. This species is more
often found along the sea coast than in the interior, where it is indeed
very rare.

Mr. R. R. Moffitt informs me he killed one of these Phalaropes in
Jasper County April 10, 1885, and Prof. B. W. Evermann says one
was procured by Dr. J. T. Scoville, near Terre Haute, October 23,
1889.
688 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

The following notes are taken from the interesting account of this
bird in its summer home along the Arctic seas by Mr. E. W. Nelson:

“This handsome Phalarope arrives at the Yukon mouth and adjacent
parts of the Bering Sea coast during the last few days of May or first
of June, according to the season. It is a common summer resident at
Point Barrow, where it arrives early in June and remains till the sea
closes, in October. For a week or two after its arrival fifty or more
flock together. In the morning, after the birds were paired, they
could be found scattered here and there by twos over the slightly
flooded grassy flats. At times these pairs would rise and fly a short
distance, the female in advance, and uttering now and then a low and
musical ‘clink, clink,’ sounding very much like the noise made by
lightly tapping together two small bars of steel. A little later in the
day, their hunger being satisfied, they begin to unite into parties,
until fifteen or twenty birds would rise and pursue an erratic course
over the flat. As they passed swiftly along, others would join them,
until the number would be increased to two hundred or four hundred,
perhaps. During all their motions the entire flock moves with such
unison that the alternate flashing of the under side of the wings and
the dark color of the back, like the play of light and shade, makes a
beautiful spectacle. Very early in June the females have each paid
their court and won a shy and gentle mate to share their coming cares.
The eggs are laid in a slight depression, generally on the damp flats,
where the birds are found. There is rarely any lining to the nest. To-
ward the end of June most of the young are hatched, and by the mid-
dle of July are on the wing. Soon after the young take wing these
birds, gathering in flocks, frequent the sea. They breed all along the
Arctic shores of Alaska and Siberia, wherever suitable flats occur, and
even reach those isolated islands forever encircled by ice, which lie
beyond” (Natural History Coll. in Alaska, pp. 97, 98).

43. Genus PHALAROPUS Brisson.

a'. Membranes of toes scalloped; wing under 4.50. Subgenus PHALAROPUS.

: P. lobatus (Linn.). 85
a?. Membranes of toes not scalloped; wing over 4.50. Subgenus Srecanoprs
Vieillot. * P. tricolor (Vieill.). 86

 

Foot of Northern Phalarope.
Birps oF INDIANA. 689

Subgenus PHataropus.

85. (223). Phalaropus lobatus (Liny.).
Northern ‘Phalarope.

Adult in Summer.—Above, sooty-gray, with lateral stripes of ochra-
ceous or tawny; neck, rich, rust-red, nearly or quite all around; under
parts otherwise, white, the sides marked with the color of back; upper
tail coverts like back, some lateral ones white; wings, blackish, the
ends of the greater coverts broadly white, forming a conspicuous cross-
bar, continued on some of the inner secondaries; bill and feet, black.
Varies much in plumage with age and season, but easily recognized by
the small size and generic characters. Immature—Lacks chestnut.

Length, 7.00-8.00; wing, 4.00-4.45; culmen, .80-.90; tarsus, .75-.80.

Rance.—Northern portions of Northern Hemisphere, breeding in
Arctic latitudes. South in winter to Guatemala and Bermuda.

Nest and Eggs, similar to those of Red Phalarope, but eggs smaller;
1.20 by .82.

Rare migrant. Mr. C. A. Stockbridge informs me he has observed
it at Ft. Wayne. Two were taken in Boone County June 7, 1889.
They were all that were seen, and appeared to be mated. (J. E. Beas-
ley.) This is very late for them to be found here. These two birds are
now in the State Museum at Indianapolis.

The following extracts are taken from Mr. Nelson’s account of this
bird’s habits: “As summer approaches, on the Arctic shores and
coast of Bering Sea, the ducks and geese fill the air with their loud,
resounding cries, and the rapid wing strokes of arriving and departing
flocks add a heavy bass to the chorus which greets the cpening of
another glad season in the wilds of the cheerless north.

“Amid this loud-tongued multitude suddenly appears the graceful,
fairylike form of the Northern Phalarope. The first arrivals reach
Saint Michaels, in full plumage, from May 14 to 15, and their num-
ber is steadily augmented until the last few days of May and first of
June, when they are on hand in full force and ready to set about the
season’s cares. Every pool now has from one to several pairs of these
birds gliding in restless zigzag motion around its border. They may
be watched with pleasure for hours, and present a picture of ex-
quisite gentleness, which renders them an unfailing source of interest.
The female of this bird, as is the case with the two allied species, is
much more richly colored than the male, and possesses all the ‘rights’
demanded by the most radical reformers.

“As the season comes on when the flames of love mount high, the
dull colored male moves about the pool, apparently heedless of the

44—GEOL.
690 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

surrounding fair-ones. Such stoical indifference appears too much
for the feelings of some of the fair ones to bear. A female coyly
glides close to him and bows her head in pretty submissiveness, but
he turns away, pecks at a bit of food, and moves off. She follows, and
he quickens his speed, but in vain; he is her choice, and she proudly
arches her neck, and in mazy circles, passes and repasses before the
harassed bachelor. He turns his breast first to one side and then to
the other, as though to escape, but there is his gentle wooer ever
pressing her suit before him. Frequently he takes flight to another
part of the pool, all to no purpose. If with affected indifference he
tries to feed, she swims along side by side, almost touching him, and
at intervals rises on wing above him, and, poised a foot or two over his
back, makes a half dozen sharp wing strokes, producing a series of
sharp, whistling noises, in rapid succession.

“In the course of time, it is said, that water will wear the hardest
rock, and it is certain that time and importunity have their full effect
upon the male of this Phalarope, and soon all are comfortably mar-
tied, while mater familias no longer needs to use her seductive ways
and charming blandishments to draw his notice. About the first of
June the dry, rounded side of a little knoll, near some small pond, has
four dark, heavily marked eggs laid in a slight hollow, upon whatever
lining the spot affords, or more rarely upon a few dry straws and grass
blades brought and loosely laid together by the birds.

“Here the captive male is introduced to new duties, and spends half
his time on the eggs, while the female keeps about the pool close by.
In due time the young are hatched, and come forth beautiful little
balls of buff and brown.

“By the middle to the 20th of July the young are fledged and on the
wing. Soon after the old and young begin to gather in parties of
from five to a hundred or more and seek the edges of large ponds and
flats of the muddy parts of the coast and borders of the tide creeks.
They are last seen about the last of September or first of October”
(Nat. Hist. Coll. in Alaska, pp. 99, 100).

Supcrxus STEGANOPUS. ViriLror.

*86, (224). Phalaropus tricolor (Viz1L1 ).
Wilson’s Phalarope.
Adult Female in Summer.—Forehead, crown and middle back,
pearl-gray, the former with blackish line on each side; stripe on each

side of head, and down the neck, deep black, changing to rich dark
chestnut, and continuing along sides of back and on scapulars; neck
Briraps oF INDIANA. 691

and breast, buffy-cinnamon; other lower parts, upper tail coverts,
nape, stripe above eyes, cheeks, chin and throat, white. Adult Male
in Summer.—Smaller and much darker in color. Winter Plumage —
Upper parts, pale gray; lower parts, white; chest and sides of breast,
tinged with ashy. Immature.—Brow, back and scapulars, blackish-
dusky; feathers margined with buffy; neck tinged with buffy. The
upper tail coverts, superciliary stripe, and most of lower parts being
white in all these plumages will greatly aid in identification.

Length, female, 9.40-10.00; wing, 5.20-5.30; bill, 1.30-1.35; tarsus,
1.30-1.35; adult male, length, 8.25-9.00; wing, 4.75-4.80; bill, 1.25;
tarsus, 1.20-1.25.

Ranez.—America; Patagonia and Brazil, north to Oregon, Sas-
katchewan and Nova Scotia; chiefly inland. Breeds from northwest-
ern Indiana and Utah north. Winters south of United States.

 

Head of Wilson’s Phalarope. Natural size.

Nest, of grass, in slight depression, in ground, in marsh or damp
meadows. Eggs, 3-4; grayish-buff, varying to brownish-buff, thickly
speckled or spotted with dark brown or brownish-black.

Rare migrant. Summer resident northward. Common in extreme
northwestern part of the State. Breeds.

They migrate in spring in late April and May. The earliest record
from this State is from Kouts. A specimen taken there April 30,
1890, by Mr. J. W. Gano is in the collection of the Cuvier Club,
Cincinnati, O. (Dury.) Mr. Eliot Blackwelder found a pair in Cook
County, Illinois, April 21, 1895. Mr. C. E. Newlin informs me that
one was killed near Frankfort about May 11, 1883, and another one
about the same date in 1877. Five or six were seen and a pair taken
near Lebanon, in Boone County, May 9, 1889. They were received
by Mr. J. E. Beasley, who prepared them for the State Museum at
Todianapolis.

Mr. Ruthven Deane shot one from a small flock at English Lake
May 10, 1890. Mr. C. E. Aiken has observed it at different points
in Lake County, notably at Water Valley. Mr. G. L. Toppan says in
that county it occasionally is a common summer resident, and breeds.
692 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr., informs me of its breeding in Lake County.
He says they are common about July 4, and usually leave for the
south very early, generally by the last of July or first of August. Oc-
casionally they may be found well into September. I have shot these
birds in Cook County, Illinois, near the Indiana line, late in May.

They are not found numerously east of the vicinity of the lower end
of Lake Michigan. Mr. A. L. Kumlein calls our attention to the fact
that the female is not only more brilliant in plumage, but also larger
than the male. The female pursues the male during the pairing sea-
son. The male attends to the duties of incubation almost entirely
alone. (Field and Forest, July, 1876.)

To Mr. E. W. Nelson, who is authority on all matters relating to
these graceful yet queer Phalaropes, we are indebted for our knowl-
edge of its habits. He studied it in Cook County, Illinois,
and he may occasionally have crossed into Indiana. At any rate, since
birds do not know political boundaries, we shall assume that they be-
have in the same manner in Illinois that they do in our own State, and
I shall give a portion of his account of his observations. He found
their nests from May 25 to June 25. (B. N. O. C., II, 1877, pp.
40-43.)

In northern Illinois, where the following observations were made,
Wilson’s Phalarope is the most common summer resident, occurring
about grassy marshes and low prairies, and is not exceeded in num-
bers by even the ever-present Spotted Sandpiper. As is the case with
several other species of birds, Lake Michigan appears to form a limit
to its common occurrence in the eastern portion of its range.

On the west it extends to the Rocky Mountains, and between these
limits it has been recorded during the breeding season from the
Saskatchewan to Arkansas (Coues), and to the City of Mexico (Nut-
tall.) It is more closely confined to its favorite haunts than most
water birds, and this may in a measure account for the little hitherto
known regarding its habits. During the first two weeks of May, the
exact date varying with the season, this beautiful bird first makes its
appearance in northeastern Illinois. Its arrival is heralded by a few
females, which arrive first, and are found singly about the marshes.
At this time the females have a peculiar harsh note, which I have
heard but a few times, and only from solitary individuals, before the
arrival of the main body.

A few days later small flocks, embracing both sexes, may be found
along the borders of grassy pools or lying at midday on the sunny
side of some warm knoll in the marsh. As the breeding season ap-
proaches they become more restless, flying from place to place, and
Brirps oF INDIANA. 693

finally separate into small parties of two or three pairs. About the
middle of May their love-making commences, and is at first indicated
by the increasing solicitude they show for each other’s welfare. The
appearance of a person in their vicinity at this time is the signal for all
the birds near to come circling about, though not within easy gun-
shot. By a careful approach one may now and then find a small party
swimming about in some secluded pool.

The charming grace of movement exhibited at such times, com-
bined with their tasteful elegance of attire, form one of the most
pleasing sights one could witness as they swim buoyantly from side
to side of the pool, gracefully nodding their heads, now pausing an
instant to arrange a feather or to daintily gather some fragment of
food, and now floating idly about, wafted by the slight breeze, which
at intervals ripples the surface of the water. A more common, but
scarcely less pleasing sight, is presented when, unconscious of obser-
vation, they walk sedately along the border of the water, never de-
parting from their usual grace of movement. Their food is generally
found in such places, where the receding water furnishes a bountiful
supply. The only demonstrations I have observed during the pairing
time consist of a kind of solemn bowing of the head and body; but
sometimes, with the head lowered and thrust forward, they will run
back and forth in front of the object of their regard, or again, a pair
may often be seen to salute each other by alternately bowing or lower-
ing their heads; but their courtship is characterized by a lack of the
rivalry and vehemence exhibited by birds.

The nesting is usually in some thin tuft of grass on a level spot, but
often in an open place concealed only by a few straggling blades of
small carices. The male scratches a shallow depression in the soft
earth, which is usually lined with a thin layer of fragments of old
grass blades, upon which the eggs, numbering from three to four, are
deposited about the last of May or first of June. Owing to the low
situations in which the nests are placed, the first set of eggs is often
destroyed by a heavy fall of rain, causing the water to rise so as to
submerge the nest. In this case, the second set, numbering two or
three, are often deposited in a depression, scratched in the ground, as
at first, but with no sign of any lining. Accidents of this kind cause
the second set of eggs to be deposited sometimes as late as the last of
June. =

The young usually appear about the third week of June, and are
able to fly in about three weeks. Generally a number of pairs nest
upon the same marsh. In some instances as many as fifty may be
counted within the radius of a mile; but notwithstanding this, their
694 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

nests are extremely difficult to discover—the material and the color of
the eggs correspond so closely to the appearance of the surrounding
surface. If they are disturbed while building, the nest is usually
abandoned. Incubation is attended to by the male alone. The female,
however, keeps near, and is quick to give the alarm upon the ap-
proach of danger. The females are frequently found at this time in
small parties of six to eight, and should their breeding ground be
approached, exhibit great anxiety, coming from every part of the
marsh to meet the intruder, and, hovering over his head, utter a weak,
nasal note, which can be heard only a short distance. This note,
which is possessed by both sexes, is nearly always made while the birds
are in the air, and its production requires, evidently, considerable
effort, the head and neck being inclined downward, and then sud-
denly raised as the note is uttered, the flight being at the same time
momentarily checked. The movements of the birds usually render
it an easy matter to decide whether or not they have nests in the im-
mediate vicinity. After the first alarm, those havirg nests at a dis-
tance disperse, while others take their course in the form of an ellipse,
sometimes several hundred yards in length, with the object of their
suspicion in the center,and with long strokes of theit wings, much like
the flight of a Killdeer, they move back and forth. As their nests are
approached the length of their flight is gradually lessened, until at
last they are joined by the males, when the whole party hover low
over the intruder’s head, uttering their peculiar note of alarm. At
this time they have an ingenious mode of misleading the novice by
flying off to a short distance and hovering anxiously over a particular
spot in the marsh, as though there were concealed the object of their
solicitation. Should they be followed, however, and a search be made
there, the maneuver is repeated in another place and still farther from
the real location of the nest. But should this ruse prove unavailing,
they return and seem to become fairly desperate, flying about one’s
head, almost within reach, manifesting great distress.

If possible, still greater agitation is shown when they have un-
fledged young, they even betraying their charge into the hands of the
enemy by their too obvious solicitude, they then hovering directly over
the young and uttering their notes of distress. The young have a
fine, wiry peep, inaudible beyond a few feet. They are very pretty
little creatures, covered with yellowish-buff colored down, with black
spots on the upper surface of the body. Even when first hatched, they
are quite lively and difficult to capture.

About the middle of July the females suddenly disappenk, and a
little later the males and young also leave, with the exception of a few
Brirps oF INDIANA. 695

stragglers, which occasionally remain until the last of August. The
main portion rarely remain as late as the 10th, and are usually gone by
the 5th. The males commence their fall moult before they leave; but
I have never taken a specimen in which the winter plumage was very
evident.

«

XVUI Famiry RECURVIROSTRID.Z. Avocets anv StTiILts.

a', Toes 4; bill curved upward, flattened. ; Recurvirnosrra. 44
a?, Toes 3; bill nearly straight, not flattened. HIMANTOPUS.

44, Genus RECURVIROSTRA Linyzvs.
87. (225). Recurvirostra americana GMEL.

American Avocet.

Adult in Summer—wWhite; primaries and scapulars, black; head,
neck and breast, mostly light cinnamon. Adult in Winter and Im-
mature——Similar; head, neck and breast: more or less tinged with
bluish-gray.

Length, 15.50-18.75; wing, 8.90-9.00; bill, 3.40-3.65; tarsus, 3.70-
3.80.

Rance.—North America; Guatemala and West Indies, north to
Saskatchewan and Great Slave Lake. Rare on Atlantic coast. Breeds
locally from Illinois north. Winters from Gulf coast south.

Nest, depression in ground in marsh. Eggs, 3-4; brownish-drab,
spotted with chocolate; 1.93 by 1.35.

Rare migrant. I only know of one record for Indiana. Mr. Chas.
Dury informs me of a specimen in the collection of the Cuvier Club,
Cincinnati, O., which was taken at “Calumet” Lake, Indiana. It is
equally rare in Ohio and Michigan, but perhaps is more often found
in Illinois, where Nelson gives it as a rare migrant, in small parties,
the last of April and first of May and during September and the first
half of October.

XIX. Famity SCOLOPACIDZ. Swrres, Sanppirers, Erc.

a), Tarsus with long transverse scales in front only ; bill very long, curved down-
ward, Numenrvs. 58
a?, Tarsus with long, transverse scales both in front and behind.
b1. Eyes far back, directly above ears; bill long; tip of upper mandible thick-
ened; plumage unchanging. Subfamily Scotopactna.
ce}, Thigh entirely feathered; three outer primaries attenuate.
PHILOHELA. 45
696 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

c?. Thigh naked below; three outer primaries not very narrow.

GALLINAGO. 46
b2, Eyes not far back, considerably before the ears; tip of upper mandible thin ;

summer and winter plumage different. Subfamily Trincina.
d'. Toes 3. ; Catipris. 51

d?. Toes 4.
e1, Toes not webbed.

f?. Bill not shorter than middle toe with claw; inner webs of quills not

mottled. . Trinea, 49
f?. Bill shorter than middle toe with claw; inner webs of quills mot-
tled. TRYNGITES. 56

e?, Toes more or Jess webbed at base.
gi. Tail more than half the length of the wing. BARTRAMIA. 55
g®. Tail not more than half the length of the wing.
hi, Tail longer than bill from frontal feathers.
i}, Wing less than 4 inches long. EREUNETES. 50
42, Wing not less than 4 inches long.
j:. Bill narrower at tip; upper surface hard and smooth.
k1, Exposed culmen less than one-fifth as long as wing.

PAVONCELLA.
k?, Exposed culmen more than one-fifth as long as wing.
i. Wing less than 4.50 inches long. Actiris. 57

l?, Wing over 4.50 inches long.
m*, Bill slender; legs dusky or yellow. Toranvs. 58

m?, Bill stout; legs bluish. SympHemia. 54
j*. Bill slightly widened at tip; upper surface slightly
* wrinkled or pitted. MicropaALAMA. 48

h®, Tail shorter than bill.
n'. Tip of both mandibles with a groove in middle
and also pitted and wrinkled.
MacroruamMpurs. 47
n*. Tip of both mandibles not grooved, smooth.
Limosa., 52

45, Genus PHILOHELA Gray.
88. (228). Philohela minor (Gmzz.).
American Woodcock.

Occiput, with thin, transverse bands of black alternating with thin,
narrower ones of yellowish; rusty above, variegated and harmoniously
blended black, brown, gray and russet; three outer primaries very nar-
row and stiff; below, pale warm brown of variable shade.

Length, 10.50-11.75; wing, 4.80-5.70; bill, 2.50 to nearly 3.00; tar-
sus, 1.25.

Ranee.—Eastern provinces of North America, north to Labrador,
Manitoba and York Factory; west to Nebraska and Dakota. Breeds
throughout its range. Winters from Indiana and Virginia southward.

Nest, on ground in woods or thicket, of leaves. Eggs, 4; buffy,
spotted with rusty brown and purplish-gray; 1.51 by 1.14.
BirnDs oF INDIANA. 697

‘Summer resident. Common in suitable localities. Some years, at
least, resident in the southwestern part of the State, especially the
Wabash Valley, and perhaps about moist places that do not freeze
throughout the State.

It has been reported from Grand Rapids, Mich., January 1, 1888.
(Cook, Birds of Michigan). Prof. E. L. Moseley reports one that had
been wounded, shot near Sandusky, O., in midwinter. The winter of
1888-9 they wintered in the lower Wabash Valley. Prof. J. A. Balmer
says they were frequently seen that winter along the open creeks on
the prairies near Vincennes. Mr. E. J. Chansler reports them win-
tering in the same region the winter of 1896-7.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

American Woodcock, showing attenuate primaries. Natural size.

They migrate very early in spring, sometimes in February. Mr.
H. W. McBride reported them from Dekalb County February 14,
1890. Usually, however, the greater number migrate in March and
early April. The following records for the first arrival in spring for
several years in Indiana and Michigan are given: Brookville, 1884,
March 21; Petersburg, Mich., 1887, March 2; 1888, March 15; 1889,
March 23; Petersburg, Mich., 1897, March 20 (J. Trombley); Elkhart,
1891, March 29; Greencastle, 1892, March 10 (Black); 1893, March
10 (Harlle); Laporte, 1894, April 2; Indianapolis, 1895, March 8
(Noe); Edwards, Vigo County, 1896, March 11. It will be observed
that the earliest dates are usually from northern Indiana and
Michigan. In other words, they were noted at an earlier date from
those localities than from places much farther south. In fact, they
were found in the northern part of our State from two to four weeks
before they were supposed to appear in the valleys of the White and
Whitewater, in the southern half of the State. This indicates that
they proceed at once, at the earliest possible date, to their favorite
breeding grounds, and those who know where they are, or who acci-
dentally happen upon them, find them.
698 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Farther south, where they breed in very limited numbers, and where
the conditions they desire are not often found, it is only rarely they
are seen, and then during the later migrations or the mating season.
In the vicinity of Brookville I have generally found them between
April 1 and 15. Upon their arrival they are found in thickets along
the shores of lakes, rivers and small streams, where the ground is wet
and soft, so it can be easily probed with the long, sensitive bills, for
their favorite food, earthworms. Sometimes, however, they are found
far from such situations during the spring migrations. April 1, 1897,
I found two in rather open woods, on the top of a dry ridge, over
three hundred feet above the river valley, near Brookville. They are
nocturnal not only in their migrations, but generally in all their
movements. The early migrants begin mating soon after arrival; the
later ones frequently come paired. One of the notable characteristics
of the mating time is the series of aerial evolutions and the nocturnal
song of the male.

Mr. Jesse Harlle and Mr. Alexander Black observed these repeated
several times on two successive evenings, at Greencastle, March 10 and
11, 1892. The first evening they could not determine the bird, but the
next night they secured the performer, which proved to be a male
Woodcock. Mr. Eugene P. Bicknell, in the Auk, Vol. II, July, 1885,
pp. 261, 262, gives an excellent account of this feature of the mating
habits, which he observed April 19, 1884: “The birds would start up
from amid the shrubbery, with a tremulous, whirring sound of the
wings, rising with spiral course into the air. The spiral varied con-
siderable in pitch, sometimes expanding to sweep far out over the
neighboring fields, where a single evolution would carry the bird up-
ward almost to the extremity of its flight, which was sometimes di-
rectly over the point of departure. The rapid trilling sound with
which it started off, as Woodcocks do, continued without interruption
during the ascent, but gradually became more rapid, and as the bird
neared its greatest height, passed into pulsations of quavering sound.
Each pulsation was shorter and faster than the last, and took the
tremolo to a higher pitch, sounding like a throbbing whirr of fine
machinery or suggesting in movement the accelerating, rhythmic
sound of a railway car gradually gaining full speed after a stop. At
last, when it seemed as if greater rapidity of utterance was not possible,
the vertex of the flight would be reached, and descending with in-
creasing swiftness, the bird would break forth into an irregular chip-
pering, almost a warble, the notes sounding louder and more liquid as
it neared the earth. Suddenly there would be silence, and a small,
dark: object would dart past through the dusk, down amid the shrub-
Birps oF INDIANA. 699

bery. Then, at silent intervals, a single strange and rather startling
note, a loud, sharp and somewhat nasal speat or spneat, which sounded
as if delivered with a spiteful directness at some offensive object.”

Audubon says they ascend in these spiral girations fifty or more
yards in height, and he thought the sounds made after reaching the
ground were calls to the female, who, hearing them, flies to the male.
After pairing comes nesting. The nests are generally but depressions
in some higher, dry spot in a swamp or wet woods or underbrush. I
have, however, found the nest among the bushes on a sandy knoll over
a hundred yards from water or swampy ground. There is much that
is generally known regarding its habits in summer and fall, but few
comparatively are they who have seen its eggs or observed its
breeding habits or heard its song. I have found its nest and eggs
March 24 (1884) and as late as April 16 (1881). Mr. G. G. William-
son found them at Muncie March 29, 1889, and I have records from
other localities, different years, as early as March 28 and 23.

Mr. V. H. Barnett, Spearsville, observed an old Woodcock, “with
four young, as large as chickens, just hatched, April 13, 1894,” and
Mr. Oliver Davie records young seen near Cleveland, O., as early as
April 9. It is a fact, attested by careful observers, that the Wood-
cock will carry its young away from danger between its feet. By July 1
the young are quite well grown; in most cases are as strong of wing as
the parents. Then shooting begins. They still frequent the same choice
cover until the dry, late summer hardens the ground and absorbs the
water and they are driven by necessity from much of their feeding
ground to seek more desirable places. The summer of 1894 was
very dry. Through August of that year, the late Mr. C. F. Goodwin, of
Brookville, observed a Woodcock in his yard night after night for at
least two weeks. His home was on the principal street of the town; the
ground was heavily sprinkled and was soft and the grass green and
well trimmed. The bird came close to his window and was quite tame.
The yard was lighted by an electric street light, so its actions could
easily be noted with a glass. The bird would busy itself by the hour
prodding the ground with its. bill, and every little while would pull
.out a worm. They have the power of moving the tip of the upper
mandible, so they can use the bill as a forceps to withdraw their food.’
In the American Field, Vol. XLIV, December 28, 1895, my friend,
Mr. L. H. Haymond (a son of the pioneer in Indiana ornithology),
has contributed an excellent article on this bird from the standpoint
of a sportsman. Its habits are so changeable, and so frequently it is
the unexpected that happens, that this writer says he is almost com-
pelled to deduce the maxim “never to be surprised at anything a
700 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Woodcock does.” He shows that they change their localities through
summer, as food is easy or hard to obtain; that to one who has studied
their favorite grounds they are to be found there through all the late
summer and fall; that they feed by day as well as by night, at times,
at least. In fall they are sometimes to be found in cornfields and
damp meadows. Conditions make demands upon them, and they
seem always to be equal to the emergency. In the fall they may pos-
sibly occasionally begin their migrations in October. They are re-
ported then, but whether the ones observed are summer residents or
migrants is not known. I have observed them at Brookville until
November 10, and from reports obtained, they sometimes stay until
the end of that month. Their leaving depends upon the weather. A
hard freeze, sufficiently severe to prevent them boring, will cause them
to go south.

Dr. B. H. Warren, State Ornithologist of Pennsylvania, recording
the result of his investigations of the food of Woodcocks as ascer-
tained by dissection, found the young examined contained “small
fragments of worms.” 'The food of others was earthworms, beetles,
larvee, and one had eaten a spider. One specimen, taken November 8,
had fed exclusively on small seeds (Birds of Pennsylvania, p. 80).

46. Genus GALLINAGO Leaca.

*89, (230). Gallinago delicata (Orp.).
Wilson’s Snipe.

Crown, black, with a pale middle stripe; back, varied with black,
bright bay and tawny, the latter forming two lengthwise stripes on
the scapulars; neck and breast, speckled with brown and dusky; lining
of wings, barred with black and white; tail, usually of sixteen feathers,
barred with black, white and chestnut; sides, waved with dusky; belly,
dull white; quills, blackish, the outer white-edged.

Length, about 10.50-11.50; wing, 5.00-5.60; tail, 2.60; bill, 2.50-
2.70.

RanoGEe.—America; Columbia and West Indies, north to Labrador,
Hudson Bay and Alaska. Breeds from northern Indiana and Con-
necticut north. Winters in Indiana, Ohio, Illinois and South Caro-
lina south.

Nest, a depression in a grassy meadow. ggs, 3-4; pale olive, olive-
grayish or pale olive-brown, heavily spotted, especially on larger end,
with deep brown and purplish-gray; 1.55 by 1.09.

Abundant migrant. Summer resident northward; some winters a
few remain in suitable localities. It was taken by Mr. W. O. Wallace
Birps oF INDIANA. 701

in Wabash County January 1, 1892, and within a week before that
date two others were killed in that county. Mr. E. J. Chansler thinks
some may winter in Knox County. Prof. E. L. Moseley reports one
killed at Grand Rapids, Mich., December 24, 1896, and several others
a few days before. The same authority tells me they have been taken
a number of times in midwinter several miles west of Sandusky, Ohio,
where there are springs and running water that do not freeze in severe
weather. The migrants begin to move early in March. The follow-
ing dates give that of the first appearance for each of several years, at
the places named: Brookville, 1881, March 29; 1882, March 29; 1883,

 

Wilson’s Snipe.

April 7; 1886, March 18; 1896, March 7; Cook County, Ill, 1884,
March 22; 1885, March 29 (Parker). English Lake, 1887, March 7
(Deane). Macsauber Club, Kankakee River, 1890, March 23 (Deane).
Frankfort, 1893, March 16; 1895, March 8 (Ghere). Greencastle,
March 5 (Harlle). Edwards, Vigo County, 1897, March 11 (Kendrick).

The first migrants generally appear in March, but it is usually the
last of the month or early in April before they become common. Usu-
ally after the warm rains have softened the earth and brought into
activity the insects, beneath the surface, they appear. March, 28,
1896, was a day when the snow melted in the sun, yet was to be seen
upon the frozen ground, in the shade. I saw a snipe by the side-of
the road as I drove along. It seemed quite tame, and flew ahead of me
a short distance and alighted again and again in the ditch. At last
it arose and attempted to alight on a frozen snow-bank, evidently
thinking it was water. It seemed very much surprised when it came
down upon something hard, for it descended with some force, and as
soon as it could recover, arose and flew away. Usually in the White-
water Valley, they are gone by the 20th to 25th of April; but in 1881,
702 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

they remained with us as late as May 6. Mr. Ruthven Deane says
more or less of Wilson’s Snipe breed at English Lake, every year. Mr.
G. Frean Morcom has a set of eggs taken at the Macsauber Club, 25
miles farther up the Kankakee River. It has also been reported as
breeding in the following other counties: Lake (Meyer and Parker);
Miami (Cunningham). They have been observed in midsummer in
Wabash County (Wallace). They vary much in numbers and time of
appearance in spring. The same thing is noticeable in fall. They are
very peculiar in their movements and in the selection of a feeding
ground. Some days they lie close, and others rise almost out of range
of the gun. They utter, as they arise and fly against the wind, a note
commonly called “scape,” from its resemblance to that sound, and
move away rapidly in a zigzag flight, that is very perplexing to the in-
experienced sportsman.

In the fall, they usually begin to arrive in northern Indiana from
the north, early in September, but are not common until later in the
month. They remain about the marshes through October and often
till late in November. The fall of 1889 was notable for the unusually
early appearance of these birds in numbers on their favorite grounds.
This was noted by all collectors and sportsmen.

Mr. Parker observed it in Lake County and Mr. Ruthven Deane
wrote me as follows concerning them: “On September 1st they were so
numerous a good shot could have killed forty or fifty birds in many
localities in Indiana and Mlinois. Of course a number breed every
year but something has driven them by thoysands from the north,
some claiming it is due to very dry weather north of us.” The earliest
record I have for southeastern Indiana is Sept. 23, 1884. From that
time they are passing through October and November. The latest
record at Brookville is November 17, 1894, but elsewhere it has been
reported later, and in some localities as stated, winters. “Morning and
evening and throughout cloudy days in the early part of the breed-
ing season the male has a curious habit of mounting high overhead,
then descending obliquely for some distance, and as it turns upward,
strikes rapidly with its wings, producing a loud whistling sound with
each stroke. This maneuver is repeated again and again, and appears
to be performed for the same purpose as is the ‘booming’ of the
night-hawk. Besides this sound Wilson’s Snipe has a peculiar sharp
ery during this season, which is uttered when the bird is disturbed.
I first became acquainted with this note in May, 1876, when. while
walking along a marshy strip of land, I was surprised to hear a loud
ka-ka-ka-ka-ka, uttered with great force and in a rather loud, harsh
tone. Turning quickly I was still more astonished to find the author
Braps oF INDIANA. 703

to be one of these birds. It was flying restlessly from post to post
along a fence and showed the greatest uneasiness at my presence, the
notes being repeated at short intervals. Although the nest was prob-
ably near I could not discover it” (Nelson’s Birds of N. E. Ill). Ac-
cording to Audubon, “the food of our common Snipe consists princi-
pally of ground-worms, insects, and juicy, slender roots, of different
vegetables, all of which tend to give its flesh that richness of flavor and
juicy tenderness for which it is so deservedly renowned, it being equal
to that of the woodcock. Many epicures eat up both snipe and wood-
eock with all their viscera, worms, insects to boot, the intestines, in
fact, being considered the most savory parts. On opening some newly
killed snipe, I have more than once found fine, large and well-fed
ground-worms, and at times a leech, which I must acknowledge, I
never conceived suitable articles of food for man, and for this reason
I have always taken good care to have both snipe and wood-cocks well
cleaned, as all game ought to be.”

Dr. B. H. Warren examined 25 snipe and found articles of food
were beetles, water beetles, and earthworms, together with weed seeds,
grass blades and the roots of plants. (Birds of Pa., 1890, p. 82.)

47. Genus MACRORHAMPHUS Lesca.

a}, Length 11.00, or less. M. griseus (Gmel.). 90
a?, Length over 11.00. M. scolopaceus (Say). 91

90. (231). Macrorhamphus griseus (GmEL.).

Dowitcher.
Synonyms, Gray Snipz, Gray Back.

Tail and its coverts, at all seasons, conspicuously barred with black
and white (or tawny); lining of wings, and axillars, the same; quills,
dusky; shaft of first primary, and tips of the secondaries, except long
inner ones, white; bill and feet, greenish-black. In summer, brown-
ish-black above, variegated with bay; below, brownish-red, variegated
with dusky; a tawny superciliary stripe and a dark one from bill to the
eye. In winter, plain gray above and on the breast, with few or no
traces of black; the belly, line over eye and under eyelid, white.

Length, about 10.00-11.00; wing, 5.25-5.90 (average, 5.65); bill,
2.00-2.55 (2.30); tarsus, 1.20-1.55 (1.35).

Ranee.—America, from Brazil and West Indies north to Arctic
‘Ocean. Breeds within Arctic Circle. Winters from Gulf coast south.

Nest, a hollow in ground, lined with grass. Hggs, 3-4, resemble
those of Wilson’s Snipe; 1.65 by 1.13.
704 REPoRT oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Rare migrant, more often seen in July, August and September after
breeding season. These are usually young birds, they are generally
found in flocks of three to ten. They accompany the Yellow-legs,
Pectoral, Least and Semipalmated Sandpiper. Mr. F. M. Woodruff,
of Chicago, informs me he has a bird of this species in his collection
that was taken September 9, 1892. He has notes of it in Cook
County, Ill., near the Indiana line, May 6, 1893; September 23, 1893;
and Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr.,; has taken it three times in July; July 4,
1887; July,19 and 21, 1893.

I do not know the relative numbers of the two forms of this bird
found within the State, but think that this will prove to be much the
rarer.

91, (232). Macrorhamphus scolopaceus (Say).

Long-billed Dowitcher.

Synonyms, GREATER GRAY-BACK, RED-BELLIED SNIPE.

Adult in Summer.—Similar to M. griseus but averaging larger;
abdomen, pale cinnamon, like rest of lower parts. Bill larger. Win-
ter plumage and I mmature known from last species by larger size.

Length, 11.00-12.50; wing, 5.40-6.00 (average 5.74); bill, 2.10-3.00
(2.72); tarsus, 1.35-1.75 (1.58).

Ranee.—South America, north to Alaska, principally migratory
through Mississippi Valley and Western States. Not common on At-
lantic coast. Breeds in Alaska. Winters from Gulf coast south.

Nest and Eqs, indistinguishable from those of M. griseus.

Rare migrant. Of all the references to Dowitcher only one refers
to the short-billed form. That I have mentioned under the last
mentioned species. All others are referrd to here, but as most of them
are claimed to represent this form it is probably by far the most com-
mon with us. In the spring it is noted in March, April and May, and
later it probably appears in July, and remains through August like
the last mentioned bird. The earliest record I have for the State is
March 11, 1889. On that date one specimen was taken and another
seen at English Lake (Deane). Mr. Jesse Earlle took a specimen at
Greencastle May 14, 1890, and the next day Mr. Alex. Black took an-
other which has been very kindly placed in my collection. On May
28 or 29, 1891, another one was taken by Mr. Black. Mr. Dury re-
ports this species in spring and fall, from English Lake. He also
notes it from English Lake, and one from Kouts, Ind., April 30, 1890.
These localities are represented by specimens in the Cuvier Club col-
Brraps oF INDIANA. 705

lection, Cincinnati, Ohio. Mr. C. E. Aiken informs me that he has
observed it occasionally in Lake County in flocks.

Mr. E. W. Nelson found this one of the most common waders on
the shore of Norton’s Sound, in summer, and it is also present in
smaller numbers all along the Yukon, where there are suitable locali-
ties. He found it at the Yukon mouth, May 12, and toward the end
of that month they were plentiful, and their curious habits and loud
notes make them among the most conspicuous denizens of the marshes.
There they mate and nest. The following is a description of a set of
four eggs taken there June 16: “The eggs, four in number, rested in
a shallow depression formed by the bird’s body in the soft moss and
without a trace of lining. These eggs measures respectively 1.80 by
1.21; 1.70 by 1.20; 1.69 by 1.20; 1.72 by 1.23.”

48. Genus MICROPALAMA Barrp.

92. (233). Micropalama himantopus (Bovar.).
Stilt Sandpiper.

Adult in Summer.—Above, blackish, each feather edged and tipped
with white and tawny or bay, which on the scapulars becomes scal-
loped; auriculars, chestnut; a dusky line from bill to eye, and a light
reddish superciliary line; upper tail coverts, white, with dusky bars;
primaries, dusky, with blackish tips; tail feathers, ashy-gray, their
edge and a central field, white; under parts, mixed, reddish, black and
whitish, in streaks on the jugulum, elsewhere in bars; bill and feet,
greenish-black. ;

Immature and Adult, in Winter—Ashy-gray above, with or with-
out traces of black and bay, the feathers usually with white edging;
line over the eye, and under parts, white; the jugulum and sides,
suffused with the color of the back, and streaked with dusky; legs,
usually, pale.

Length, 7.50-9.25; wing, 5.00-5.30; bill, 1.55-1.75; tarsus, 1.55-1.70.

Rancre.—America, from Brazil, Peru and West Indies, northeast
of Rocky Mountains to Arctic regions. Breeds within the Arctic
Circle. Winters in Louisiana and southward.

Nest, depression in ground, lined with grass and leaves. Eggs, 3-4,
light-drab, or grayish-white, with bold spots and marknigs of chest-
nut-brown; 1.42 by 1.00.

Rare migrant. Found in this latitude in April, July and August,
September and October. I have no spring records. The only Indiana
record is of a specimen taken by-L. A. and C. D. Test, at Hed-
ley’s Lake, October 10, 1892. This is in my collection, for which the

45—GEoL
706 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

collectors have my thanks. Mr. E. W. Nelson reports two occurrences
near Chicago, one August 8, 1873, the other, September 10, 1878.
(Birds N. E. Il, p. 126.) Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr., collected a bright
female, from a flock of four at Mud Lake, July 25, 1893, and a young
bird August 7, 1893. Mr. F. M. Woodruff reports it from Cook
County, Ill., near the Indiana line, April, 1890; July 25, 1893, and
September 23, 1893 (The Auk, April, 1896, p. 180), and Mr. J. G.
Parker, Jr., adds from the same vicinity the record of a young bird
August 7, 1893. In Ontario, Mr. McIlwraith has noted it June 25,
July 28, and September 23 and 26. Since it breeds far to the north-
ward, there seem to be individuals wandering about, every month from
June to October, some of which, perhaps, do not go to the breeding
grounds.

49. Genus TRINGA Liny.£0s.

a1, Wing 6.00, or more; middle pair of tail feathers not longer than the rest. Sub-

genus TRINGA. T. canutus Linn. 93
a*, Wing under 6.00; middle pair of tail feathers longer and more pointed than
the rest.

b!. Tarsus about equal in length to bill.
ec}, Wing more than 400. Subgenus Acropromas Kaup.
d!. Wing 5,00, or more; ramp and middle upper tail coverts plain black or
dusky. T. maculata Vieill. 94
d®, Wing less than 5.00; middle upper tail coverts plain dusky,
T. bairdii (Coues). 95
c?, Wing under 4.00; size very small. T. minutilla Vieill. 96
62. Bill very long, nearly as long as tarsus and middle toe; decidedly curved
downward at the end. Subgenus Petipya Cuvier.
P. alpina pacifica (Coues), 97

Subgenus Trixea.

93. (234). Tringa canutus Linn.
Knot.

Adult in Summer.—Above, brownish-black, each feather tipped
with ashy-white, and tinged with reddish on scapulars; below, uni-
form brownish-red, much as in the robin, fading into white on the
flanks and crissum; upper tail coverts, white with dusky bars, tail
feathers and secondaries, grayish-ash with white edges; quills, black-
ish; gray on the inner webs and with white shafts; bill and feet,
blackish.

Immature.—Above, clear ash, with numerous black and white semi-
circles; below, white, more or less tinged with reddish, dusky speckled
on breast, wavy barred on sides.

Length, 10.00-11.00; wing, 6.50; tail, 2.50; tail, nearly square.
Birps or INDIANA. 707

RaneE.—Sea coasts, throughout the Northern Hemisphere; south
in winter to Brazil, New Zealand, Damara Land, Africa and Australia.
Breeds in the Arctic Circle. Resident on Gulf coast (McIlhenny).
In migrations, visits the larger inland waters.

Nest, a depression in the sand. Zggs, light pea-green, closely
spotted in brown with small specks about the size of a pin head; 1.10

by 1.00.

"Rare migrant. It seems, in the interior, to be almost exclusively
found along the great lakes. Mr. McIlwraith notes it in May and
June, in Ontario; Dr. Wheaton noted it in Ohio, and Mr. E. W. Nel-
son in Cook County, Ill., in May, September, and October.

Mr. F. M. Woodruff shot a Knot—a beautiful specimen, in the light
gray juvenile plumage, with scale-like markings of pure white on the
back,—on the shore of Lake Michigan, at Miller’s, Ind., August 24,
1896. It was in company with a miscellaneous flock of Sandpipers,
August 21, 1897, Mr. Woodruff took three young of the year, two
males and one female, at the same place.

In an article in “The Auk,” for January, 1893, p. 25, Mr. Geo. H.
Mackay, in speaking of the Knot on the New England coast, says:
“Tt formerly sojourned there in great abundance, but now appears in
greatly reduced numbers.” He explains this diminution in numbers
is owing to their destruction by the practice of “firelighting,” which
formerly prevailed, but which is now prohibited by law.

“The mode of procedure was for two men to start out after dark
at half-tide, one of them to carry a lighted lantern the other to reach
and seize the birds, twist their necks, and put them in a bag slung over
the shoulder. When near a flock, they would approach them on their
hands and knees, the birds being almost invariably taken on the
flats.” They are said to have been shipped by the barrel to Boston,
as many as six barrels having been observed in one shipment. Mr.
MacKay says: “It is not my intention to convey the impression that
the Knots are nearly exterminated, but they are much reduced in
numbers, and are in great danger of extinction, and comparatively few
can be seen in Massachusetts, where formerly there were twenty to
twenty-five thousand a year, which I consider a reasonable estimate
of its former abundance.”

The extensive range of the Knot is a matter of general informaiion,
yet as is often the case, we know much more about many birds with
comparatively restricted habitat. During our winter it reaches Aus-
tralia, New Zealand, Damara Land, Africa, but in America it has not
been reported south of Brazil. Very little is known of its breeding
grounds. It has been reported building from such far north points
708 ReEporT oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

as Melville Peninsula, shores of Smith Sound, north Georgian Islands,
‘and Grinnell Land, but its eggs remained absolutely unknown, until
Lieut. A. W. Greely took it on the Lady Franklin Bay expedition, in
the vicinity of Fort Conger, latitude 81° 44’ N. (The Auk, IT, p. 318).

Suseznus ACTODROMAS Kate.

94. (239). Tringa maculata (VIEILL.).
Pectoral Sandpiper.

Middle tail feathers pointed, projecting a quarter of an inch beyond -
the rest, wedge-shaped at the end, dusky, edged with lighter; outer tail
feathers, pale brownish-gray, edged with white; rump and upper tail.
coverts, black, the under feathers of latter, whitish, marked with
dusky; above, feathers black, each one bordered with light clay color,
brighter on crown, back, scapulars and tertials, throat and rest of un-
der parts, white; below, neck and breast, light grayish-buff, streaked
with black. This species resembles 7’. bairdii but is larger, has black
instead of dusky upper tail coverts, and middle tail feathers longer
and more pointed.

Length, 8.00-9.50; wing, about 5.00-5.50; bill, 1.10-1.20; tarsus,
1.00-1.10. ”

Ranex.—America, from Brazil and Chili north to Arctic Ocean.

Breeds in north Alaska and other Arctic regions. Winters from
West Indies to South America. Accidental in Europe.

’ Nest, in grass. Hggs, 4, pale grayish-buff, ranging to pale olive-
greenish, boldly and heavily blotched with rich vandyke brown; 1.44
by 1.02.

Common, sometimes abundant, migrant, generally in flocks. A few
may be summer residents.

Usually found from the latter part of March to May 1, and through
September and October. The earliest record I have is from Vigo
County, March 17, 1897 (Kendrick). I have also the following early
spring records: Brookville, March 29, 1881; Greencastle, March 28,
1894; March 22, 1895 (Harlle); Greensburg, March 27, 1894; March
26, 1896 (Shannon); Liverpool, March 29, 1885; Cook County, Ill,
March 20, 1886 (Parker). Some years the first reported appearance is
much later, as is shown by the following: Brookville, April 9, 1887;
Greencastle, April 8, 1890 (Earlle). The following are dates when
last observed in spring migrations: Brookville, May 6, 1881; Knox
County, April 24, 1894 (Chansler); English Lake, May 10, 1891;
May 6, 1888 (Deane); Laporte, May 6, 1896 (Barber). Sometimes
they are seen singly or in small flocks of five to twelve, but often in
Birps oF INDIANA. 709

large droves of forty or fifty to several hundred. They frequent
swampy ground, but throughout the southern part of the State I have
usually found them most abundant upon the poorly drained and wet
meadows, through the month of April.

In the Whitewater Valley they were the most abundant I ever saw
them the spring of 1881. Their unusual abundance throughout the
Wabash Valley was noted in the spring of 1894.

They go into the Arctic regions to breed. Mr. Nelson found them
breeding in Alaska at the mouth of the Yukon River, and Mr. Mur-
dock at Point Barrow. The former gives a bit of his experience with
these birds on an island in the Yukon delta the last of May, 1879.
On the night of May 24th as he lay wrapped in his blanket with the
tent flap raised, he says: “As my eyelids began to droop and the scene
to become indistinct, suddenly a low, hollow, booming note struck
my ear, and sent my thoughts back to a spring morning in northern
Illinois, and to the loud vibrating tones of the prairie chickens.
Again the sound came nearer and more distinct, and with an effort I
brought myself back to the reality of my position, and resting upon
one elbow listened; a few seconds passed and again arose the note; a
moment later, and, gun in hand, I stood outside the tent. The open
flat extended away on all sides, with apparently not a living creature
near. Once again the note was repeated close by, and a glance re-
vealed its author. Standing on one leg in the thin grasses ten or fif-
teen yards from me, with its throat inflated until it was as large as
the rest of the bird, was a male A. maculata. The note is deep, hollow,
and resonant, but at the same time liquid and musical, and may be
represented by a repetition of the syllables too-u, too-u, too-u, too-u,
too-u, too-u, too-u, too-u. Before the bird utters these notes it fills
its esophagus with air to such an extent that the breast and throat
are inflated to twice or more its natural size, and the great air sack
thus formed gives the peculiar resonant quality to the note. At times
the male rises to twenty or thirty yards in the air and inflating its
throat glides down to the ground with its sack hanging below. Again
he crones back and forth in front of the female, puffing his breast out
and bowing from side to side, running here and there as if intoxicated
with passion. Whenever he pursues his love-making, his rather low
but pervading note swells and dies in musical cadences, which form
a striking part in the great bird chorus heard at this season of the
year, in the north. The Eskimo name indicates that its notes are
like those of the Walrus, hence the term “Walrus-talker.” (N. H.
Coll. in Alaska, pp. 108, 109).
710 Report oF Sta®#E GHOLOGIST.

As soon as the breeding season is over they begin to return to us.
About the lower end of Lake Michigan théy are seen some years the
latter part of July. In Cook County, Ill, Mr. Parker found them
very abundant July 17, 1893, and Mr. J. O. Dunn found them con-
tinuing abundant through the remainder of July and well into Au-
gust. That, however, is an unusual occurrence, the like of which has
not been noted in twenty years’ observations. In 1889 they were
noted August 10th (Parker).

They become common in September, and remain so into October.
Lafayette, September 14 to October 5, 1895 (Test). Mr. E. W. Nel-
son says it sometimes remains in northeastern Illinois until November
1. Messrs. Ulrey and Wallace note that in September they are found
in great abundance along the Wabash River (Proc. I. A. S.. 1895,
p. 150).

95. (241). Tringa bairdii Coves.
Baird’s Sandpiper.

Adult in Summer.—Middle tail feathers not projecting to any de-
gree beyond the rest and not noticeably pointed; middle upper tail
coverts, dusky, bordered with dull clay-color, the lateral ones, white;
middle tail feathers, nearly black, others light brownish-gray. all nar-
rowly edged with whitish. Below, chest. pale buff, streaked and
spotted with dusky grayish-brown; throat, sides and belly, white.
Crown, pale grayish-buff, broadly streaked with brownish-black; scap-
ulars and interscapulars, irregularly spotted with brownish-black and
pale grayish-buff, the former largely predominating.

Adult in, Winter—Above, nearly uniform grayish-brown tinged
with clay color; jugulum and sides deeply suffused with clay-
color or dirty buff, the former very indistinctly streaked. Imma-
ture.—Above, light buffy-brown, streaked with dusky, the feath-
ers of the back and the scapulars, blackish, conspicuously bordered
terminally with dull white; wing coverts, dark grayish, also bordered
terminally with white or light buff. Jugulum suffused with buff and
indistinctly streaked.

Length, 7.00-7.60; wing, 4.60-4.85; bill, .90-1.00; tarsus, 1.00.

Ranoe.—America, from Patagonia and Chili, northward chiefly
through interior of North America to Arctie regions; rare on Atlantic
coast. Not reported from Pacific coast of North America. Breeds in
Alaska and the Barren Grounds, and winters south to limit of its
range.
Birps oF INDIANA. T11

Nest, a slight depression in the ground, lined with grass. Eggs,
3-4, light creamy buff, sometimes tinged with rusty, thickly speckled,
-or spotted with deep reddish-brown or chestnut; 1.30 by .93.

Rare migrant, Up to this time it has been taken in Indiana but
twice, both times in August. In fact the single instance given by Dr.
Wheaton (Birds of Ohio, p. 176) in March, is, except the general ref-
erence given by Nelson (Birds of N. E. Ill., p. 127) the only one of
its occurrence in the Ohio Valley, or the upper lake basin at that
season, that has come to my notice.

It seems to be common in Kansas and Nebraska in spring (Cooke
Bird Mig. in Miss. Valley, p..93) and may pass north through this
western route.

Mr. W. O. Wallace took a single specimen August 26, 1893, at Wa-
bash, and Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr., has a male taken at Miller’s, Ind., Au-
gust 24,1896. He was in company with Mr. F. M. Woodruff, who in-
forms me that they ‘saw several, probably five, of these birds. Mr.
Parker also has a female taken at Mud Lake, Cook County, Ill., Au-
gust 22, 1893. It has been taken in Michigan, August 15, 1893 (Co-
vert), August 20, 1895 (Milliken).

In Ohio it has been reported by Dr. Wheaton in September and
‘October. The latest date being one noted by Dury and Freeman,
‘October 27, 1878, at Cincinnati.

This bird is much more numerous farther west, where, in some
parts, Dr. Coues says it is the most abundant small sandpiper during
migrations.

96. (242). Tringa minutilla Vier.
Least Sandpiper.

Upper parts in summer, with each feather blackish centrally, edged
with light bay and tipped with ashy or white; in winter, and in the
immature, simply ashy; tail feathers, gray, with whitish edges, the
central, blackish, usually with reddish edges; crown not conspicuously
different from hind neck; chestnut edgings of scapulars usually scal-
loped; below, white, the jugulum with dusky streaks and an ashy or
brownish suffusion; bill, black; legs, dusky greenish. Smallest of the
Sandpipers.

Length, 5.00-6.75; wing, 8.50-3.75; bill, .75-.92; tarsus, .'75.

Rancze.—The whole of America, breeding almost if not entirely
north of United States; winters from Gulf coast south. Accidental in
Europe.
712 Report oF State GEOLOGIST.

Nest, a depression in ground, lined with grass. Eggs, 3-4; pale
grayish-buffy, varying to pale brownish, thickly spotted, speckled or
sprinkled with deep chestnut and dull purplish-gray; 1.15 by .83.

Migrant; in spring not common. They pass northward through
May, when they are found in small flocks and return, some years,
about July 20; leave the last of August or early in September. In the
fall they are much more numerous, and in the vicinity of Lake Michi-
gan, are often common, being frequently found in company with Semi-
palmated Sandpipers. Mr. Nelson found it nesting in Cook County,
Til. (Birds N. E. IL, p. 127).

The earliest date at which it has been noted ‘in this State is May 2,
1890, at Waterloo (Snyder). It was noted at Greencastle in 1891, May
4 (Hughes); in 1892, May 14, and last seen May 26; in 1895, May 11
(Earlle). Mr. H. K. Coale tells:me one was shot on the shore of Lake
Michigan, in Lake County, Ind., by Mr. Geo. F. Clingman, June 1,
1879. Mud Lake, Cook County, IIl., is a favorite feeding ground of
these birds, as in fact of all the Sandpipers and other small shore birds.
It may be used as a calendar for recording their arrival and departure.
Mr. J. O. Dunn obtained three, there, from a flock of about twenty,
July 3, 1893, and he found them afterwards through July and August
at the same place.

There Mr. Parker found the Least Sandpiper July 19, 1893, and
from that time until August 8th, they were noted. He found them
common August 15, 1887, and observed two at Cheltenham, September
6, 1889. It was found at Wolf Lake May 23 and 30, 1896 (Tallman).
Messrs. L. A. and C. D. Test obtained it at Hedley’s, Lake, near La-
fayette, September 6, 1894. One specimen was taken from a flock of
Solitary Sandpipers in Wabash County August 29, 1893 (Ulrey and
Wallace P. I. A. 8., 1895, p. 150). I found one at Brookville August
28, 1897.

These little Sandpipers and.their companions are commonly called
in many localities, “Peeps.” Nuttall says that “for the discovery of
their food their flexible and sensitive awl-like bills, are probed into
the mire, marshy soil or wet sand, in the manner of the snipe and
woodcock, and in this way they discover and rout from their hidden re-
treats, the larve and the soft worms, which form a principal part of
their fare. At other times they also give chase to insects and pursue
their calling with amusing alacrity.”

“Fogs hang low and heavy over rock-girdled Labrador. Angry
waves pallid with rage exhaust themselves to encroach upon the stern
shores, and baffled, sink back howling into the depths. Winds shriek
as they course from crag to crag in mad career, till the humble mosses
Birps oF INDIANA. 713

that clothe the rocks crouch lower still in fear. Overhead the Sea Gulls
scream as they winnow, and the Murres, all silent, ply eager oars to
escape the blast. What is here to entice the steps of the delicate
birds? Yet they have come, urged by resistless impulse, and have
made a nest on the ground in some half-sheltered nook. The material
was ready at hand, in the mossy covering of the earth, and little care
or thought was needed to fashion a little bunch into a little home.
Four eggs laid (they are buffy-yellow, thickly spotted over with brown
and drab), with the points together, that they may take up less room
and be more warmly covered; there is need of this, such large eggs
belonging to so small a bird. As we draw near, the mother sees us
and ‘nestles closer still over her treasures, quite hiding them in the
covering of her breast, and watches us with timid eyes, all anxiety for
the safety of what is dearer to her than her own life. Her mate stands
motionless, but not unmoved, hard by, not venturing even to chirp the
note of encouragement and sympathy she loves to hear.

“Alas! hope fades and dies out, leaving only fear; there is no further
concealment—we are almost upon the nest—almost trodden upon, she
springs up with a piteous cry and flies a little distance, realighting, al-
most beside herself with grief, for she knows only too well what is to
be feared at such a time. If there were hope for her that her nest
were undiscovered, she might dissimulate and try to entice us away by
those touching deceits that maternal love inspires. But we are actually
bending over her treasures, and deceptions would be in vain; her grief

is too great to be witnessed unmoved, still less portrayed; nor can we,
deaf to her beseeching, change it into despair. We have seen and ad-
mired the home—there is no excuse for making it desolate; we have
not so much as touched one of the precious eggs, and will leave them
to her renewed and patient care.” (Coues, Birds of N. W., p. 483).

‘Subgenus Pevipna Cuvier.
97. (248a). Tringa alpina pacifica (Covss).
Red-backed Sandpiper.

Synonyms, AMERICAN Dunury, Brack Breast.

Adult in Summer.—Above, chestnut, each feather with a central
black field, and most of them whitish-tipped; rump and upper tail
coverts, blackish; tail feathers and wing coverts, ashy-gray; quills,
dusky with pale shafts; secondaries, mostly white, and inner primaries,
edged with the same; under parts, white; belly, with a broad, jet black
area; breast and jugulum, thickly streaked with dusky; bill and feet,
714 ReEvorT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

black. Adult in Winter, and Immature:—Above, plain ashy-gray,
with dark shaft-lines, with or without red or black traces; below,.
white; little or no trace of black on the belly; jugulum, with a few
dusky streaks and an ashy suffusion.

Length, 7.60-8.75; wing, 4.60-4.95; bill, 1.40-1.75; tarsus, 1.00-1.15.

Rance.—North America in general; breeds in Alaska and Arctie
regions and eastern Asia. Winters from Gulf coast south; except
about Great Lakes, rare in the interior.

Nest, a depression in ground lined with grass or leaves. Eggs, 3-43.
brownish-grayish or olive buff, blotched, spotted and stained with.
chestnut-brown; 1.48 by 1.01.

Migrant the latter part of May, early in June and October. Some-
times abundant about the lower end of Lake Michigan and the small
lakes near there, in full breeding plumage, in May; elsewhere rare.

Mr. Geo. F. Clingman obtained a specimen of this bird from the:
shore of Lake Michigan, in Lake County, June 1, 1879 (Coale). Mr.
C. A. Tallman informs me, he has taken it at Wolf Lake, in Indiana.

The earliest record J have is from Mr. E. Blackwelder, who took it
in Cook County May 18, 1895. Mr. Tallman took it in the same
county May 23 and 30, 1896. May 25, 1887, in company with Mr. H.
K. Coale, I found it very abundant, in full plumage, between Grand
Crossing, Ill., and the Indiana line, and took several specimens.

Mr. F. L. Washburn obtained it at Ann Arbor, Mich., May 14, 1888.
Mr. Nelson notes its occurrence as late as June 5, and in the fall says.
it returns in winter dress during September, and remains well into
October (Birds of Northeastern Illinois, pp. 127, 128). It does not
seem to be as plentiful in fall. Mr. Tallman informs me of taking two
specimens at Calumet Lake in October and one at Mud Lake October
12, 1893.

In Alaska it breeds abundantly at the mouth of the Yukon, on the
shores of Norton’s Sound and at Point Barrow, where they arrive from
the 10th to the end of May. They nest from the first of June to the
first of July. The young are mostly on the wing toward the end of
the latter month, and the birds begin to gather into flocks along the
muddy edges of the brackish pools and banks of tide creeks. They-
leave in October (Nelson, N. H. Coll. in Alaska, pp. 110, 111).
Birps or Inprana. 715

50. Genus EREUNETES Ixiierr.
98. (246). Ereunetes pusillus (Lrs».).
Semipalmated Sandpiper.

Adult in Summer—aAbove, variegated with black, bay and ashy
or white, each feather with a black field, reddish edge and whitish tip;
rump and upper tail coverts, except the lateral ones, blackish; tail
feathers, ashy-gray, the central darker; primaries, dusky, the shaft of
the first, white; a dusky line from the bill to the eye, and a white
superciliary line; below, pure white, usually rufescent on the breast,
and with more or less dusky speckling on the throat, breast and sides;
in young birds, usually wanting; in winter the upper parts mostly
plain ashy-gray; but in any plumage or under any variation the spe-
cies is known by its small size and semipalmated feet.

Length, 5.25-6.75; wing, 3.65-3.90 (im male); wing, 3.85-4.00 (in
female); bill, .68-.75 (.72) in male; bill, .80-.92 (.84) in female.

Ranczr.—America, from Brazil, north to Arctic coast. Breeds from
Labrador and Hudson Bay northward. Winters from Gulf coast
southward.

Nest, slight hollow in ground, lined with grass. Eggs, 3-4; pale,
dull, grayish-buff, speckled or spotted with dark brown and purplish-
gray; 1.21 by .85.

Migrant; generally uncommon, but often common and perhaps sum-
mer resident in vicinity of Lake Michigan, and mére numerous in
spring than the Least Sandpiper, with which it is often found. In
spring they have been noted from the latter part of April into the
beginning of June. It is most numerous in May. Prof. Evermann
noted it in Carroll County, April 24, 1884, and April 21, 1885. Mr.
J. O. Dunn found it common in Cook County, Llinois, June 9, 1894,
and obtained six specimens. Mr. Nelson notes that “many remain
through summer. From repeated dissections, I am confident that
these are barren birds, and probably, as Mr. Maynard suggests, young
of the preceding year” (Birds of Northeastern Illinois, pp. 126, 127).
Mr. Dunn has also taken it there July 27, 1893, still in summer plum-
age. And Mr. Parker reports it July 17 and July 26, 1893.

This is another instance of the unusually early migration of such
species that year. Usually they do not appear until after the middle
of August and remain into September, occasionally to October. Mr.
Parker noted it August 19, 1896, in Cook County, Illinois, and August
24, 1896, at Miller’s, Ind. .

Mr. V. H. Barnett took a specimen in Vermillion County, Indiana,
August 30 and 31, 1897. Messrs. L. A. and C. D. Test found it near
716 ‘ Report oF State GEoLocist.

Lafayette, at Hedley’s Lake, September 6, 1894, and Mr. J. O. Dunn
shot one from a flock of five small Sandpipers at Peru October 2,
1893. It had lost one foot and the wound had healed. It has also
been reported from Lake County (Woodruff, Aiken); Chalmers and
English Lake (Dury); Steuben County (H. W. McBride); Putnam
County (Clearwaters). I have never seen it in the Whitewater Valley.
The extremely early apearance of a number of the Limicole, including
the Pectoral and Least Sandpipers and this species on the shore of
Lake Michigan about the middle of July, will be noted.

51. Genus CALIDRIS Cuvirr.

99. (248). Calidris arenaria (Livy.).
Sanderling.

Adult in Summer.—Above, feathers with black centers edged with
rufous or grayish and often tipped with whitish; head, neck, throat
and jugulum, pale cinnamon-rufous, speckled below and streaked
above with blackish; lower parts, white; greater wing coverts, broadly
tipped with white, and outer webs of inner primaries white at their
base. Adult in Winter—Above, pale gray, spotted with black and
whitish, the latter at tips of feathers; jugulum, white, unspotted,
faintly tinged with dull buff.

Length, 7.00-8.75; wing, 4.70-5.00; bill, .95-1.00; tarsus, .90-1.05.

RaneE.—Nearly cosmopolitan, but breeding only in Arctic and
subarctic districts; abundant in America, from Hudson Bay north to
Arctic coast, migrating south to Patagonia and Chili. Chiefly littoral,
but frequenting also the larger inland waters.

Nest, a hollow in ground, lined with grass and leaves. Eggs, 3-4;
light olive brown, finely spotted with darker, the markings larger and
more blended on larger end; 1.41 by .91.

Migrant; most places rare, but very common in late summer and
fall on the shore of Lake Michigan and perhaps along the Ohio River.

Mr. Nelson notes it from about the 20th of May to the 10th of June,
but in all the observations that have come to my notice I have never
found it reported at that season. They appear usually in flocks of
five to fifty birds by themselves, but are occasionally associated with
other Sandpipers, particularly the Semipalmated and Pectoral,
through August. Of those first arriving about one-third are adults,
with the reddish, spotted throat of the breeding plumage. They were
common at Miller’s, Ind., August 1, 1897. There was found a large
flock of Sandpipers, many of which were Sanderlings. Two weeks
Brrps oF INDIANA. UTy

later, on August 14, at the same place, this species was scarce (Wood-
ruff).

Mr. Parker reports them from same section August 24, 1896, when
he found them common, and collected both adults, in rich breeding
plumage, and young. In 1886 he noted it in Cook County, Illinois,
August 28. He thinks they are not so common in late years. Mr.
H. «K. Coale found them common on September 11, 1881. He saw
them on the shore of Lake Michigan, in Lake County, Indiana. He
saw them there again September 2, 1883, and had seen them Septem-
ber 25, 1875. He informed me they were very abundant, and that the
feathers were “full of parasite:.” This is the latest record I have, but
Mr. Nelson has them recorded from Cook County, Illinois; as late as
October 20. Mr. George L. Tojypan has also observed it in Lake Coun-
ty, Indiana. Mr. Dury ihinks he had a specimen from English Lake,
but has not been able to find it. In Ohio it is common on Lake Erie
near Cleveland. Dr. Langdon notes it on the Ohio River near Cincin-
nati, where it was also taken by Dury and Freeman September 15,
1878. Dr. Wheaton took it near Columbus in October, 1874 (Wheaton,
Birds of Ohio, p. 479).

52. (tenus LIMOSA Brisson.

a'. Tail distinctly barred; wing over 8.50. L. fedoa (Linn.). 100
a?, Tail black, white at base and tip; wing under 8.50.

L. hemastica (Linn.). 101

100. (249). Limosa fedoa (Livy.).
Marbled Godwit.

Tail, barred throughout with black and rufous; rump and upper
tail coverts like the back; no pure white anywhere; general plumage,
rufous or cinnamon-brown; below, breast, sides and flanks, barred with
dusky; above, variegated with black and brown or gray; quills, rufous
and black; bill, flesh-color, largely tipped with black; feet, dark; large.
Immature.—Breast, sides and flanks, immaculate.

_ Length, 16.50-20.50; wing, 8.95-9.00; bill, 3.50-5.06; tarsus, 2.75-
3.00.

Rance.—North America, from Central America and Cuba north-
ward to Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Breeding chiefly in the inte-
rior from Iowa and Nebraska northward. Winters from Gulf coast
southward.

Nest, on prairie, usually near water. Eggs, 3-4; olive-drab to buffy,

irregularly blotched and spotted with dark brown and purplish gray;
2.27 by 1.60.
718 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIS..

Rare migrant. In former years it was common, a: possibly bred.
It is reported as breeding in Ohio, Wisconsin and Iowa (Davie). Mr.
Chas. Dury tells me it was abundant at Chalmers, Ind., i. years past.
In Carroll County Prof. Evermann found it in April, 185%. This is
the only recent record I can find. Though in 1876 Mr. N. Ison con-
sidered it a rather common migrant, April 15 to May 15, and Septem-
ber 10 to October 20.

This bird is much more abundant west of the Mississippi River,
where it was found breeding abundantly in Traverse Lake region, in
western Minnesota, by Messrs. Roberts and Benner (B. N. O. C., Vol.
V, 1880, pp. 13, 18). It also breeds in Manitoba.

101. (251). Limosa hemastica (Lisv.).

Hudsonian Godwit.

Adult—Smaller than last species; above, blackish-brown, irregu-
larly spotted and barred with pale ochraceous; rump, blackish; upper
tail coverts, white; tail, black, white at base and (narrowly) at tip;
primaries, brownish-black, their shafts white; below, chestnut-rufous,
barred with black and sometimes tipped with whitish; lining of wings
and axillars, black. Adult in Winter and Immature——Above, plain
brownish-gray; below, white; breast, shaded with brownish-gray or
buffy.

Length, 14.00-16.75; wing, 8.10-8.60; culmen, 2.85-3.45; tarsus,
2.25-2.50.

Rance.—KEastern North America and the whole of middle and
South America. Breeds only in the high north, notably on the Barren
Grounds of the Arctic Ocean. Winters south beyond the United
States.

Nest, a depression in ground, lined with grass. Eggs, 4; deep olive
with light and dark brown spots; 2.20 by 1.42.

Rare migrant. I know of no recent instance of its capture. In
1879 Dr. Brayton said it was not very rare about Lake Michigan.
This was substantially as Mr. Nelson found it in 1876, when he noted
it as occurring from April 15 to May 10, and September to the first
of October (Birds of Northeastern Illinois, p. 128). Now I consider it
of very rare occurrence. I failed to get any records from my corre-
spondents either in Illinois or Indiana within the last fifteen years.
Mr. Ridgway gives it as an abundant migrant.

It has been seen by Mr. MclIlwraith at St. Clair Flats, and Dr.
Wheaton notes it from Ohio. It prefers to migrate along the Atlantic
coast.
Brrps oF INDIANA. 719

53. Gurus TOTANUS Brcustern.

a!, Middle toe not more than half as long as tarsus; legs yellow.
Subgenus Giotris Koch.

b+. Wing over 7.00. T. melanoleucus (Gmel.). 102

b?, Wing under 7.00. T. flavipes (Gmel.). 103
a?. Middle toe nearly or quite as long as tarsus; legs not yellow.

Subgenus HeLropRomas Kaup. T. solitarius (Wils.). 104

Subgenus GLorris Koch.

102. (254). Totanus melanoleucus (GMEL.).

Greater Yellow-legs.

 

Head and foot of Greater Yellow-legs. Natural size.

Bill, straight or slightly bent upwards, very slender, grooved half
its length .or less, black; legs, long and slender, yellow; in summer,
ashy-brown; above, varied with black and speckled with whitish; be-
low, white; jugulum, streaked; breast, sides and crissum, speckled or
barred with blackish, these latter marks fewer or wanting in winter
and in young; upper tail coverts, white, with dark bars; tail feathers,
marbled or barred with ashy or white; quills, blackish; large.

Length, about 14.00; wing, 7.50-7.75; bill, 2.20-2.30; tarsus, 2.50-
2.75.

Rance.—America in general, breeding from Jowa and possibly
northern Illinois northward, south to Patagonia. Winters from Gulf
coast southward.

Nest, a depression in ground, lined with grass. Hggs, 3-4; brown-
ish-buffy, irregularly spotted with rich vandyke or marbled brown;
1.43 by 1.20.

Migrant, tolerably common in suitable places, northward, but rare
in the southern half of the State. They arrive about March 20 to
720 REporRT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

April 15; are most numerous in April; some are seen in May and oc-
casionally in June. Perhaps a rare summer resident in the northern
part of the State. It was first observed in Vigo County, where it
has been taken earliest in spring—March 19, 1887 (Evermann); March
27, 1888 (Blatchley), and March 20, 1896 (Kendrick). At Brookville
its earliest spring record is March 26, 1887, while in 1883 it was not
noted until April 7. Mr. J. G. Parker has observed it at Liverpool,
Ind., March 30, 1895, though he reports it as early as March 20 from
Cook County, Illinois. In 1883 it was last noted at.Brookville May 6,
but in 1884 it was seen May 16. In 1896 it was last seen at Laporte
May 6 (Barber), and in 1888 they were reported from English Lake
June 3 (Deane).

In the southern half of the State it is more often reported in spring,
when it frequents the edges of ponds and water courses, marshes and
wet meadows, but in the northern portion, among the lakes and
marshes, it is more common in late summer and early-fall. Mr. Parker
has observed it to be most common northward during August. It was
observed by Mr. C. L. Cass at Clear Lake, Steuben County, August
23, 1894. Generally, however, they appear in September, passing
southward late in that month and in November. ,

Mr. W. O. Wallace observed a number, and shot two, in Wabash
County, along the Wabash River, September 24, 1893. Messrs. L. A.
and C. D. Test noted it at Lafayette last, October 21, 1895. In IIli-
nois, in June, 1875, Mr. E. W. Nelson found several of these birds
about the Calumet marshes, where, from their actions, he was certain
they were breeding, but did not find their nests. The 10th of June,
1876, Mr. Rice observed a pair about a prairie slough near Evanston;
a few days later a set of eggs was brought to him, which from the
description of the bird, which was driven from the nest, both he and
Mr. Nelson decided must belong to this bird. “The nest was situated
in a slight depression at the base of a small hillock at the border of a
prairie slough, and was composed of grass and blades. The eggs
measure, respectively 1.70 by 1.30, 1.72 by 1.31, 1.74 by 1.82, 1.80 by
1.38 inches. The ground color is a deep grayish-white, marked on
three eggs with spots of dark brown and on the other egg with spots
and well-defined blotches of a considerably. lighter shade of the same.
In addition there are shell markings and obscure spots of lilac. The
markings are disposed quite abundantly over the surface of the egg,
but are more numerous about the larger end” (Birds of Northeastern
Illinois, pp. 128, 129). Both Mr. Meyer and Mr. Tallman have been
unable to determine its nesting at the present time, either in Cook
County, Illinois, or Lake County, Indiana.
Birps oF INDIANA. 721

*103. (255). Totanus flavipes (GMEL.).
Yellow-legs.

A miniature of the last; colors, precisely the same; legs, compara-
tively longer; bill, grooved rather farther. May always be distin-
guished by its smaller size.

Length, 10.50-11.00; wing, 5.50-6.50; bill, 1.30-1.55; tarsus, 2.00.

Ranes.—America, from Patagonia to the Arctic Ocean. Breeds
principally in the interior from northern Illinois and Minnesota
northward. Winters from Gulf coast southward.

Nest, a hollow in ground, lined with grass. Hggs, 3-4; color, varia-
ble, usually buffy, spotted or blotched with dark madder or vandyke
brown and purplish-gray; 1.69 by 1.15.

Common migrant; much more numerous in the northern part of the
State, where some are summer residents and breed. More common in
the fall, when they are often found associated with other kinds of
Sandpipers on mud flats and shores. In the spring they sometimes
begin to arrive by April 1, and the latter part of the month, they have
left the greater part of the State, though in the northern part they
sometimes are found well towards the middle of May.

The earliest arrivals in spring were in 1895. That year Mr. Parker
took one at Liverpool, Ind., March 30, and Mr. Earlle, one, April 1, at
Greencastle. The last report from southern Indiana that spring was
from Bloomington, where it was noted April 26(Juday). In the White-
water Valley its earliest arrival at Brookville is April 7 (1883) and the
latest first arrival April 17 (1884 and 1896). In 1896 it was last seen
at Laporte May 8 (Barber). In 1890 flocks were seen at English Lake

“May 4 and 11, and in 1891, on May 10, several large flocks were

noted. There was quite a flight all day (Deane). Mr. L. T. Meyer
tells me he found its nest and obtained a set of four eggs in the Calu-
met marsh, Lake County, in 1885.

In 1893 they appeared there on the return migration, the earliest I
have ever known them. That year was very dry, and the continued
drouth had almost exhausted the water in Mud Lake, IIl., and left its
soft bottom an exposed mud flat. This, which had been a favorite
feeding ground in fall, was unusually attractive to them that year.
Perhaps the dry weather extended far enough north to influence the
shore birds in their early movement. Mr. J. O. Dunn found them
July 3, 1893, at Mud Lake in a flock, and shot two. One that he shot
from a flock of Least Sandpipers had one foot off. He notes that a
good portion of the Sandpipers shot had legs and toes missing. On
August 2, while wading on the flat, a Yellow-legs alighted and began

46—Gzro1
722 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

to feed within twenty feet of him. It was shot and found to be in
very poor condition and in winter plumage. Mr. Parker also found
them very abundant at Mud Lake July 25, 1893.

These birds and the last species usually are quite watchful. They
associate with other smaller waders, and when their sharp eyes discern
danger, their loud cries warn the company, which seek safety in
flight. For this habit they have been called by shooters, “Tattlers”
and “Telltales,” by which names they are generally known. In 1894
Mr. Dunn found them common at Bass Lake, Starke County, Indiana,
from July 28 to August 6, and in 1896 Mr. C. A. Tallman saw two in
Cook County, Illinois, July 24.

Mr. C. Grave found them on the Kankakee River August 8, 1892.
August 1 to 15, 1889, they were very common in all the marshes about
Chicago (Parker).

Throughout August they continue arriving at these attractive
grounds in northern Indiana. September 1, 1889, they were very
abundant at Water Valley. Very large flocks were seen all day
(Deane). In September they are observed farther south. By the 10th
of that month most of them have left the northern part of the State,
while some linger on their journey southward well towards the end
of the month. Hillsdale, Mich., September 29, 1894 (Cass); Brook-
ville, Ind., September 21, 1885.

Subgenus Hrropromas (Kaup).

*104. (256). Totanus solitarius (Wits ).
Solitary Sandpiper.

Bill, perfectly straight, very slender, grooved little beyond its mid-
dle; dark lustrous olive-brown tinged with greenish, streaked on the
head and neck; elsewhere finely speckled with whitish; jugulum,
and sides of neck, with brownish suffusion and dusky streaks; rump
and upper tail coverts, like the back; tail, axillars and lining of wings,
beautifully barred with black and white; quills, entirely blackish; bill
and feet, very dark olive-green. ’

Length, 7.50-8.60; wing, 5.00-5.40; bill, 1.15-1.30; tarsus, 1.25-1.90.

Rance.—America, from Brazil north to Alaska. Breeds from In-
diana, Ohio and Vermont northward. Winters south of United
States.

Nest, see notes on nest and eggs below.

Common migrant; summer resident in some numbers northward.
Breeds. This bird is solitary in its habits. It is usually found alone,
Brros oF INDIANA. 723

by some creek or ditch or secluded river bar, or on the edge of a
pond, or woodland pool. At times they, also, are found in small flocks.

This is one of the most unsatisfactory birds upon which to work.
Both as regards its migrations and its breeding, much information is
desired. At Brookville [ have never found it earlier than April 21, yet
I have reports of its oceurrence as early as March 17 and of its being
common by March 30. Probably these are incorrect identifications.

In the vicinity of Lake Michigan they have been first noted April
22 (1896) to May 10 (1894). They pass northward through May.
Last seen: At Brookville, 1890, May 17; 1889, May 8; 1886, May 6;
‘English Lake, 1890, May 11; 1891, May 10; very abundant every-
where, mostly in pairs (Deane).

Throughout the northern part of the State some are summer resi-
dents, and breed. Possibly a few do southward, also. Information
regarding the breeding of this bird is greatly desired, and among the
special desiderata are its eggs. Many times eggs purporting to belong
to this species have been found, but satisfactory evidence of their
identity has been lacking.

The late Dr. J. M. Wheaton describes an egg taken by Mr. Oliver
Davie in an open field bordering the Scioto River near Columbus, O.
The nest was on the ground in an exposed locality, and contained
two eggs well advanced in incubation, only one of which was pre-
served, and, it was deposited with the Smithsonian Institution. He
says that this egg, “though without any positive claims, possesses
characters which entitle it to consideration as possibly that of this
species. It is of a pointed, oval shape, and not nearly so pyriform as
are the eggs of most of this family, and measures 1.25 by .88, so that
it is smaller than the eggs of the Spotted Sandpiper. The ground
color is clay-color with a reddish tinge, thickly marked with reddish
and blackish brown” (Birds of Ohio, p. 486). Dr. Brewer (in Bull.
Nuttall Orn. Club, Vol IIT, 1878, p. 197) gave an account of an egg
taken by Mr. Jenness Richardson at Lake Bomaseen, Vt., May 28,
1878, which was taken with the bird, which was on her nest, a small
depression in the ground, when found. This egg was a light drab,
with rounded, brown markings, some quite small and dark, nowhere
confluent; at larger end a few faint purplish shell marks; 1.37 by .95.

Mr. Ridgway, in Birds of Hlinois, IT, p. 63, says “its eggs have never
yet, so far as is known to the writer, been taken.” It is not improb-
able that this species, like its European relative, the Green Sandpiper
(T. ochropus), deposits its eggs in deserted nests of other birds, such
as the Wood Thrush and other species which nest in moist wood-
G24 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

lands. It seems probable, from the fact that adults have been found
accompanied by two young, that the number of eggs is two.

Mrs. Jane L. Hine, Sedan, Dekalb County, informs me it breeds
in that county, and she has seen young birds July 15. Mr. W. O. Wal-
lace writes me he caught two young which were unable to fly, on the
border of a small pond in Wabash County, in the summer of 1892.
Mr. H. W. McBride says it nests in Elkhart, and Mr. A. H. Kendrick,
in Vigo County. They begin to move southward in August, and pass
slowly through that month and all of September. I noted them at
Brookville August 13, 1881. Mr. Parker observed it at Mud Lake,
Illinois, September 19, 1894. Mr. V. H. Barnett found it in Brown
County October 5, 1897; Brookville, September 25, 1884. These are
the latest records I have for Indiana. The following interesting notes
by Dr. Elliot Coues are from Birds of Northwest, p. 500:

“These Tattlers indulge on all occasions a propensity for nodding,
like Lord Burleigh or the Chinese mandarins in front of tea shops;
and when they see something they cannot quite make out, seem to
reason with themselves, and finally come to a conclusion in this way—
impressing themselves heavily with a sense of their own logic. They
go through the bowing exercise with a gravity that may quite upset
that of a disinterested spectator, and yet through the performance,
so ludicrous in itself, contrive to preserve something of the passive
sedateness that marks all their movements.

“This bobbing of the head and fore parts is the correspondent and
counterpart of the still more curious actions of the Spotted Tattlers,
or “Tip-ups,’ as they are aptly called from this circumstance; a queer
balancing of the body upon the legs constituting an amusement of
which these last-named birds are extremely fond. As often as the
‘Tip-up’ or “Teeter-tail,’ as it is also called, stops in its pursuit of in-
sects, the fore part of the body is lowered a little, the head drawn in,
the legs slightly bent, whilst the hinder parts and the tail are alter-
nately hoisted with a peculiar jerk, and drawn down again, with the
regularity of clock-work. The movement is more conspicuous in the
upward than in the downward part of the performance; as if the tail
were spring hinged, in constant danger of flying up, and needing con-
stant presence of mind to keep it down. It is amusing to see an old
male in the breeding season busy with this operation. Upon some
rock jutting out of the water he stands, swelling with amorous pride
and self-sufficiency, puffing out his plumage until he looks twice as
big as natural, facing about on his narrow pedestal, and bowing with
his hinder parts to all points of the compass. A sensitive and fastid-
ious person might see something derisive, if not actually in-
Brrps oF INDIANA. 25

sulting, in this, and feel as Crusoe may be presumed to have felt when
the savages who attacked his ship in canoes showed the signs of con-
tumaceous scorn that De Foe records. But it would not be worth
while to feel offended, since this is only the entirely original and pe-
culiar way the Tip-up has of conducting his courtships. Ornitholo-
gists are not agreed upon the useful purpose subserved in this way,
and have yet failed to account for the extraordinary performance. The
Solitary Tattlers, that we have lost sight of for a moment, are fond of
standing motionless in the water, when they have satisfied their hun-
ger, or of wading about, up to their bellies, with slow, measured steps.
If startled at such times, they rise easily and lightly on wing, fly
rather slowly a little distance, with dangling legs and outstretched
neck, to soon realight and look about with a.dazed expression. Just
as their feet touch the ground, the long, pointed wings are lifted till
their tips nearly meet above, and are then deliberately folded.”

The Eskimo Curlews and some other birds have the same habit.

The Tattlers are unusually silent birds, but when suddenly alarmed
they utter a low and rather pleasing whistle as they fly off, or even
without moving.

54. Genus SYMPHEMIA Rarinesquz.

a, Wing 8.00. S. semipalmata (Gmel.). 105
a?, Wing 8.50. . S. semipalmata inornata Brewst. 106

105. (258). Symphemia semipalmata (GmEt.).
Willett.

Synonym, SEMIPALMATED TATrrLER.

Adult in Summer.—Bill, straight, comparatively stout, groved little,
if any, more than half its length; brownish-olive above, with numerous
black marks; white, below; the jugulum, streaked; the breast, sides
and crissum, barred or with arrow-shaped marks of dusky; middle tail
feathers, ashy, barred with blackish, side ones, whitish, variegated
with grayish. Winter—Above, plain ashy-gray; beneath, dull white,
unspotted; foreneck shaded with grayish; tail not barred; upper tail
coverts, most of the secondaries and basal half of primaries, white;
spread wing, with conspicuous white patch; ends of primaries, their
coverts, lining of wings and axillars, black; bill, bluish or dark; toes,
with two conspicuous basal webs. Immature.—Above, brownish-gray,
feathers margined and sides tinged with ochraceous.

Length, 15.00; wing, 8.00; tarsus, 2.30; bill, 2.20.
726 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Raner.—America, from Brazil northward to Canada and Maine.
Breeds from Louisiana (where it is resident) northward. Winters on
Gulf coast and southward.

Nest, slight hollow in ground, of grass. Hggs, 3-4; variable, clay-
color to olive-brown, with spots of dark brown and purple; 2.13
by 1.53,

Rare migrant; possibly rare summer resident. I have been unable
to determine the standing of this form in the State.

That the eastern form is found, seems probable and since the rec-
ords of the past have reported this form, there is no way of separating
them. It is of irregular and rare occurrence in April, May, August
and September. It has been reported from the following counties:
Franklin; Decatur (Guthrie); Allen (Stockbridge); Dekalb (Mrs.
Hine); Putnam (Clearwaters); Lake, (Aiken). Their call is well
known to those who visit places it frequents, and may be represented
by the words pal-wiilet,-it-pil-willet. The following measurements were
given by Mr. Brewster in “The Auk,” 1887, p. 146. Average, wing,
7.36; tail, 2.91; tarsus, 2.29; culmen, from feathers, 2.19. Extremes,
wing, 7.06-7.75; tail, 2.71-3.30; tarsus, 2.08-2.42; culmen, from
feathers, 2.02-2.31.

106. (258a). Symphemia semipalmata inornata Brewst.
Western Willet.

Similar to last, but slightly larger, the upper parts are paler, gray-
ish-drab, and not so conspicuously marked with black; breast, more
buffy, less streaked and no blackish bars on middle tail feathers. In
winter only to be distinguished by the difference in size, which is not
always satisfactory.

Wing, 8.50; tarsus, 2.60; bill, 2.45.

RancE.—Western North America, east to Mississippi Valley and
Gulf States; in winter, south to Mexico, and, during migrations, spar-
ingly along coast of southern Atlantic States. Breeds from coast of
Texas to Manitoba.

Nest, a depression on ground or on tussock of grass, of grass and
weeds. Hggs, 3-4; not appreciably different from those of last.

Rare migrant; possibly rare summer resident. Owing to lack of
material it is impossible to say to what extent it is found in Indiana.
Mr. F. M. Woodruff obtained five from a flock of thirteen at Miller’s,
Ind., August 14, 1897. I have a specimen in my collection that was
shot by Mr. Geo. M. Shirk from the top of a barn in Franklin County
the fall of 1878. This would indicate that it is to be found throughout
Birps oF INDIANA. G27

the State. The following measurements are given by Mr. Brewster
from “The Auk,” 1887, p. 146. Average: wing, 8.11; tail, 3.29; tarsus,
2.66; culmen, from feathers, 2.46. Extremes: wing, 7.88-8.26; tail,
3.10-3.50; tarsus, 2.45-2.95; culmen, from feathers, 2.28-2.70.

55. Genus BARTRAMIA Lesson.
*107. (261). Bartramia longicauda (Becusr.).
Bartramian Sandpiper.

Synonyms, Barrram’s Tartuer, Prarnie PLover, Fretp Plover, UPLAND
PLOVER, PRAIRIE SNIPE.

Above, blackish, with a slight greenish reflection, variegated with
tawny and whitish; below, pale tawny of varying shade, bleaching
on throat and belly; jugulum, with streaks; breast and sides, with
arrow-heads and bars of blackish; axillars and lining of wings, pure
white, blaek barred; quills, blackish; inner webb of outer primary
barred with white; tail, varied with tawny, black and white, chiefly
in bars; bill and legs, pale, former black-tipped.

Length, 11.00-12.75; wing, 6.50-7.00; bill, 1.10-1.15; tarsus, 1.90-
2.05.

Ranere.—America, from Brazi] and Peru northward to Alaska and
Nova Scotia. Breeds from southern Indiana and Kansas northward.
Winters in Mexico and West Indies southward. Accidental in Kurope
and Australia.

Nest, on ground, in depression. Wggs, 4; creamy buff or white,
marked all over with small spots of umber or reddish brown, most
numerous at larger end; 1.79 by 1.30.

Migrant and summer resident. Over the greater part of southern
Indiana it is only known as a very rare migrant. However, throughout
the lower Wabash Valley, in some locations, at least, and to the north-
ward of that river, when it turns toward the east, it is a summer resi-
dent in some numbers, and toward Lake Michigan it is common.
It apparently breeds over the original prairie region of the State. Mr.
Ridgway reported it breeding in Knox and Gibson counties, and in the
former county Mr. Chansler informs me he has found both eggs
and young in corn fields, after the corn was planted. Mr. Dury re-
ports it breeding im several places in northern Indiana, and Mr. Aiken
says it breeds commonly in Lake County, where also Mr. H. K. Coale
found young able to run July 4, 1881. Mr. L. T. Meyer took a set
of four eggs in the Calumet marsh, in Lake County in May.
728 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

In southeastern Indiana it is exceedingly rare. The only record of
its occurrence is that given by Dr. Haymond (Rep. Ind. Geol. Surv.,
1869, p. 231).

Generally they arrive about the middle of April, but Mr. A. H.
Kendrick reports a flock of twenty, from Vigo County, March 19,
1896. Usually they become common at once. During the migrations
they are very shy. After a time they become more approachable and
during the breeding season seem to have no fear, exposing themselves
freely to lead the intruder from the vicinity of their nesting grounds.
The nests are often made in meadows and fields bordering a marsh.
When in close proximity to the nest the bird has many tricks with
which to attract the attention of the unwelcome guest. She is crip-
pled so badly that she cannot walk; she cannot fly; she flops along the
ground, and sometimes rolls over. One can easily catch her. If it is
his first experience, he will try. Each time, as he attempts to seize her,
she seems to have a sudden gift of strength by reason of which she
eludes his grasp. After a few ineffectual efforts, one is surprised how
recovered the bird is, how her strength is restored, and with it sound-
ness of limb, for she leaves the wondering pursuer and flies away. He
is now quite a distance from where the bird was first seen. That is
what was wanted. She has accomplished her purpose. She has led
him away from her nest.

In the fall, the prairie farmer, as he goes to breaking for wheat, and
the chicken shooter is familiar with these birds along the dead
furrows and smaller drains, but they always arise beyond gun range.

They leave late in August or early in September. August 27 to
September 15.

56. Ganus TRYNGITES Cazants.
108. (262). Tryngites subruficollis (Viert.).

Buff-breasted Sandpiper.

Quills, largely white on the inner web, and with beautiful black
marbling or mottling, best seen from below; tail, unbarred, gray, the
central feathers darker, all with subterminal black edging and white
tips; crown and upper parts blackish, the feathers; with whitish or
tawny edging, especially on the wings; sides of the head, neck all
around, and under parts, pale rufous or fawn color, speckled on the
neck and breast with dusky; bill, black; feet, greenish-yellow. (Mc-
Twraith).

Length, 7.00-8.90; wing, 5.10-5.50; bill, .75-.80; tarsus, 1.15-1.30.
Birps oF INDIANA. 929

Ranex.—America, from Uruguay north to Arctic coast. Breeds
from southern Ontario northward in the interior to Yukon and An-
derson River. Winters south of the United States.

Nest, on ground, lined with moss and grass. Eggs, 3-4; buffy gray-
ish-white, varying to pale olive buff, boldly spotted, longitud-
inally (and somewhat spirally) dark vandyke or madder-brown and
purplish-gray.

Rare migrant. Thus far has only been reported from this region in
August and September. Usually appears:singly or in small flocks,
but sometimes in large flocks. Dr. A. K. Fisher shot numbers of them
in August, 1874, from a dry prairie at Maywood, Cook County, IIL,
only ten miles from Chicago, where there were hundreds of them.
(Cooke Rept. Bird Mig. Miss. Valley, p. 97).

The only time it has been taken in this State was September 10,
1892, when L. A. and C. D. Test took one from a shallow pond about
four miles northwest of Lafayette. Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr., collected
two specimens on the shore of Calumet Lake, Cook County, IIL. in
September, 1887. There are two records for Michigan in September
and one for Ohio (Cleveland), in August.

Mr. MclIlwraith records its breeding in Ontario a few miles from
Lake Erie (Birds of Ont., 1894, pp. 156, 157), and Dr. Hatch men-
tions it as a summer resident of northern Minnesota. (Birds of Minn.,
p. 148).

57. Genus ACTITIS I.iierr.

*109. (263). Actitis macularia (Liny.).
Spotted Sandpiper.

Synonyms, PEET-wEEt, SANDPIPER.

Above, olive, with a greenish lustre, finely varied with black; line
over eye, and entire under parts, pure white, with numerous sharp cir-
cular black spots; entirely wanting in young birds; secondaries, broadly
white-tipped, and inner primaries with a white spot, most of the tail
feathers like the back, with subterminal black bar and a white tip;-
bill, pale yellow, tipped with black; feet, flesh-color. Immature—
Similar; above, more buffy; under parts, white, unspotted; slight gray-
ish tinge on breast.

Length, about 7.00-8.00; wing, 4.05-4.60; bill, .90-1.05; tarsus, .90-
1.05.

Ranee.——America, from Brazil northward to Hudson Bay and Yu-
kon. Breeds nearly throughout North American range. Winters on
coast of Gulf States. ,
730 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Nest, a depression in ground lined with grass, leaves and weeds.
Eggs, 4; light buff or white, spotted with blackish-brown; 1.34 by .92.

Common summer resident; a well-known frequenter of the banks of
streams, ponds and lakes, and of sandbars everywhere throughout the
State. This and the Solitary Sandpiper have the habit of bowing the
heads and tilting the rear parts as though they were continually try-
ing to balance themselves. They are known under many common
names, such as “Sandsnipe,” “Tip-up,” “Sandpiper,” but the best
name I have heard that is applicable to both is an old farmer’s appella-
tion “Teeter-snipe.”

 

Head of Spotted Sandpiper. Natural size.

This species is much more noisy than the Solitary Sandpiper, and
from its note is often called by what it seems to say: “Peet-weet.” On
the whole these birds are more numerous and more conspicious than
the Solitary. They usually arrive about the middle of April. Some
years it is, however, reported in March, although I have never found
it that early in the Whitewater Valley.

It has been reported as first seen in the years named as follows: De-
kalb County, 1897, March 18 (Feagler); Vigo County, 1897, March
20; 1896, March 21 (Kendrick); Decatur, 1896, March 28 (Shannon);
Dekalb County, 1895, April 4 (Mrs. Hine). The following dates give
the records of its appearance at Brookville, Ind., for a number of
years past: April 19, 1881; April 14, 1883; April 21, 1885; April 22,
1886; April 15, 1887; April 13, 1888; April 21, 1889; April 25, 1892;
April 20, 1893; April 22, 1896; April 22, 1897.

I have observed them mating as soon as they arrive, some years by
April 15. Have found them building their nests April 27, and the
complement of eggs May 12. I also have found young, but recently,
out of the nest as late as July 8. The nests are usually made
away from the water, on high ground and among the grass. A rail-
road or other embankment is a favorite place. The eggs, like those
of all the waders, lie with their pointed ends together.

They generally leave the first half of September, occasionally re-
main into October. The last reported: Warren County, September
Birps oF INDIANA. W381

26, 1897 (V. H. Barnett); 1892, Liverpool, September 3 (Parker);
1894, Greensburg, September 9 (Shannon); 1895, Cook County, UL,
‘September 7 (Blackwelder); Lafayette, Ind., October 5 (L. A. and C.
D. Test).

5s. Grnus NUMENIUS Brisson.
a‘, Bill over 3.00.

6+, Pill under 4.50. N. hudsonicus Lath. 111
b?, Bill over 4.40. N. longirostris Wils. 110
a?, Bill under 3.00. N. borealis (Forst.). 112

110. (264). Numenius longirostris (Wis ).
Long-biiled Curlew.

Synonym, Sickie Brix.

 

Long-billed Curlew.

Bill, of extreme length and curvature, measuring from 5.00-8.00
or 9.00 inches; total length, about 2 feet; wing, 10.00-12.00 inches;
tail, 4.00; tarsus, 2.25-3.50 (inches). Plumage, very similar to that of
Godwit, prevailing tone rufous, of varying intensity in different parts
of the same bird, usually more intense under the wing than elsewhere;
below, the jugulum, streaked, and the breast and sides with arrow-
heads and bars of dusky; above, variegated with black, especially on
the crown, back and wings; tail, barred throughout with black and
tufous; no pure white anywhere; secondaries, rufous; primaries, black-
ish and rufous; bill, black, the under mandible, flesh colored for some
distance; legs, dark.

RanezE.—Guatemala and West Indies northward to New England
and Manitoba. Breeds from Gulf coast, where it is resident, north-
ward. Winters from the Carolinas southward.

Nest, a hollow in ground, lined with a little grass. Hggs, 3-4; clay
color, olive and buffy, spotted or blotched with sepia, umber or choco-
late; 2.60 by 1.85.

Rare migrant. Formerly more numerous and perhaps occasionally
breeding in the northern part of the State.
732 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

It winters in the Southern States and is occasionally found in win-
ter in southern Illinois (Cooke, Bird Mig. Miss. Valley, pp. 97, 98).

The spring migration occurs in April and May, while that in the
fall begins in August and continues as late as October 13.

I saw a specimen in the possession of Mr. F. M. Noe, Indianapolis,
which he said was killed by Herman Eckert, April 2, 1896, in a swamp
near Jasper, Dubois County. Mr. F. M. Woodruff records a specimen
in his collection from Liverpool, Ind., (The Auk, April, 1896, p. 181).
Mr. C. E. Newlin informs me there is a specimen in the Frankfort
High School that was taken in Clinton County. It has been reported
from the following counties, also: Franklin (Dr. Haymond, Ind., Geol.
1869, p. 231); Knox and White, specimens in collection, Cuvier Club,
Cincinnati, Ohio (Dury); Decatur, May, 1883 (Guthrie); Allen (Stock-
bridge).

This Curlew is very rare in Michigan (Cook, Birds of Mich., p. 63).
There are but a few records of its occurrence in Ohio, (Wheaton
Birds of Ohio, p. 492), and in Illinois it is now rare, though it was
formerly abundant and Nelson reported it nesting in the Calumet
marshes in the spring of 1873 (Ridgway Birds of Illinois, II, p. 71).

111. (265). Numenius hudsonicus Larus.

Hudsonian Curlew.

Bill, medium, 3.00 or 4.00 inches long; length, 16.00-18.00; wing,
8.00-10.00; tarsus, 2.25-2.30. Plumage, as in the last species in pat-
tern, but general tone much paler; quills, barred; axillars, buff, dis-
tinctly barred with dusky; crown, uniform dusky, divided by a buff
stripe through the middle.

Ranez.—America, from Patagonia to Alaska and Arctic America.
Breeds in Alaska, Anderson River and Barren Lands of the Arctic re-
gion. Winters on Gulf coast and southward.

West, like that of last species. Hggs, 4; pale olive, spotted with dull
brown; 2.27 by 1.57.

Rare migrant. Occurs with the preceding (Dr. Brayton). Much
rarer than the Long-billed Curlew. Although this species is given as
a common migrant in most parts of the Mississippi Valley by Prof.
Cooke (Bird Mig. in Miss. Valley, p. 98), I have been unable to as-
certain where it has been found commonly during migrations.

Dr. Coues (Birds N. W., p. 510) considers it much less abundant
everywhere in the United States than either of the other species. Mr.
Mellwraith says of it in Ontario, it is most frequently observed of the
three at Hamilton, Ont. One May he was on the beach when there
Birnps oF INDIANA. 733

appeared to be a migratory movement of the Hudsonian Curlews
toward the north. “They flew high in regular order, like geese, and
showed no inclination to alight till a boy, with a long shot, brought
down one, wing broken, from a passing flock. Knowing their habits
he quickly tied it to a stake in a moist meadow, and concealing him-
self close by, had good shooting during the afternoon, for the loud
outcry made by his prisoner, brought down every passing flock.”
(Birds of Ont., 1894, p. 159).

They migrate chiefly along the eastern coast and go very far north
to breed. But few remain in Alaska in summer. In the interior they
have been found plentifully but they nest in the Barren Grounds of
the Arctic regions.

112, (266). Numenius borealis (Forst.).
Eskimo Curlew.
Synonyms, DoveuErrp, DoEBirD.

Bill, small, under 3 inches long; length, 12.00-15.00 inches; wing,
8.00-8.50; tarsus, 1.70-1-80; tail, 3.00. Plumage, in tone and pattern
almost exactly as in last species, but averaging more rufous, especially
under the wings, and primaries, not barred; breast, with transverse
V-shaped marking.

Ranez.—America, from Patagonia to the Arctic Ocean, chiefly in
the interior of the United States, not on Pacific coast. Breeds within
the Arctic Circle. Winters from coast of Gulf States southward.

Nest, similar to that of the last two. Eggs, 3-4; pale olive, green-
ish, olive, or olive-brownish, distinctly spotted, chiefly at the larger
end, with deep or dark brown; 2.04 by 1.43.

Rare migrant. There are specimens in the collection of Cuvier
Club, Cincinnati, Ohio, that were taken at Vincennes and Chalmers
(Dury).

This is the smallest of the Curlews and is commonly known as
“Doughbird,” or “Doebird.” It is rare on the Atlantic coast, un-
known on the Pacific and migrates chiefly through the Mississippi
Valley, where it is the most abundant species from the neighborhood
of that river to the Rocky Mountains. In Illinois it is a rather com-
mon migrant (Ridgway). In Ohio and Michigan it is not common.
They pass north in spring through April and early May, and return
in the fall in September and October. It has been taken at Kalama-
z00, Mich., as late as October 28 (Cook, Birds of Mich., p. 63). Dr.
Coues found them very abundant in Labrador in August. They are
often found in company with Golden Plover.
734 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

“The Curlews associate in flocks of every size, irom three to as
many thousand, but they generally fly in so loose and straggling a
manner, that it is rare to kill more than a half a dozen ata shot.
‘When they wheel, however, in any of their many beautiful evolutions,
they close together in a more compact body, and offer a more favorable
opportunity to the gunner.

“Their flight is firm, direct, very swift, when necessary, much pro-
tracted, and is performed with regular, rapid beats. They never sail
except when about to alight, when their wings are much incurved
downward, in the manner of most waders. As their feet touch the
ground, their long, pointed wings are raised over the back, until the
tips almost touch, and then are deliberately folded, much in the manner
of the Solitary Sandpiper. (Rhyacophilus' solitarius). Their note is
an often repeated soft, mellow, though clear, whistle, which may be
easily imitated. By this means they can readily be decoyed within
shot, if the imitation is good and the gunner is careful to keep con-*
cealed. The smaller the flock the more easily are they allured, and a
single individual rarely fails to turn his course toward the spot whence
the sound proceeds. When in very extensive flocks, they have a note
which, when uttered by the whole number, I can compare to nothing
but the chattering of a flock of Blackbirds. When wounded and taken
in hand, they emit a very loud, harsh scream, like that of a common
hen, under similar circumstances, which cry they also utter when pur-
sued.”

“Their food consists almost entirely of the crowberry (Empetrum
nigrum), which grows on all the hillsides in astonishing profusion.
It is also called the ‘bear berry’ and ‘curlew berry.’ It is a small berry,
of a deep purple color, almost black, growing. upon a procumbent,
running kind of-heath, the foilage of which has a peculiar moss-like
appearance. 'This is the principal and favorite food, and the whole in-
testine, the vent, the legs, the bill, throat, and even the plumage, are
more or less stained with the deep purple juice. They are also very
fond of a small species of snail that adheres to the rock in immense
quantities, to procure which they frequent the land-wastes at low tide.
Food being so abundant and so éasily obtained, they become exces-
sively fat. In this condition they are most delicious eating, being ten-
der, juicy and finely flavored; but as might be expected, they prove
a very difficult job for the taxidermist. This species breeds in great
numbers in the Anderson River region, usually making up its nest
complement by the third week in June.” (Coues, Birds N. W., pp.
511, 512).
Brrps or InpIaNna. 735

XX. Famiry CHARADRIID. PLtovenrs.

a, Plumage above speckled, below black in breeding season. CHARADRIUS. 59
a?, Plumage of upper parts not speckled; neck, with dark rings; toes, always
three. ZEGIALITIS. 60

59. Genus CHARADRIUS Linnaus.

a), Hind toe well developed, without claw.
: Subgenus SQuATakOLA Cuvier. C. squatarola (Linn.). 113
a*, Hind toe'absent. Subgenus CHARADRIUS. C. dominicus Mill. 114

Subgenus SquatTaroLA Cuvier.

118. (270). Charadrius squatarola (Livy.).
Black-bellied Plover.

Synonyms, Ox-EYE, BULL-HEAD.

 

Black-bellied Plover. Natural size.

Adult in Breeding Season.—Rarely seen in the United States; face
and entire under parts, black; upper parts, variegated with black and
white, or ashy; tail, barred with black and white; quills, dusky, with
Jarge white patches. Adults at other times and Immature.—Below,
white, more or less shaded with gray; the throat and breast, more or
less speckled with dusky; above, blackish, speckled with white or yel-
lowish; the rump, white, with dark bars; legs, dull bluish. Old birds
changing show every grade, from a few isolated feathers on the under
parts to numerous large black patches. They may be recognized in
any plumage by the small hind toe.

Length, 10.50-12.00; wing, 7.50; culmen, 1.10; tarsus, 1.95.

Rancz.—Nearly cosmopolitan. Breeds in the Arctic regions, and
winters from Louisiana and Florida southward, Jt has been recently
shown that the Black-bellied Plover and a number of other birds, in-
cluding the Knot, Hudsonian Curlew, and Turnstone, which have
been credited with spending the breeding season in the Arctic regions,
736 REPoRT oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

are abundant residents of the Louisiana coast, but do not breed. It
is probable that only those who are prepared for the reproduction of
their race make the whole migration. (See article by Mr. E. A. Mc-
Ilhenny. The Auk, XIV, 189%, pp. 285-289.)

Nest, a depression in the ground, lined with grass. Eggs, 3-4; olive-
buff, or brownish-drab, thickly and heavily marked with brownish-
black or deep black; 2.04 by 1.43.

Rare migrant, more numerous in the northwestern part of the State.
In spring it visits us, going north from April 1st to June 1st, and re-
turns early in August, remaining through October. The spring mi-
gration is prolonged throughout the State, but in the fall they seem
to remain about Lake Michigan well into September before proceeding
southward. Those seen with us are generally solitary birds. Late in
May they are seen in pairs. The birds are generally in full breeding
plumage. Mr. Nelson says, in northern Illinois, “a few remain during
the summer, and undoubtedly breed.” (Bull. Essex Inst., Vol. VIII,
1876, p. 122.)

The earliest arrival in spring was in Knox County, March 30, 1888
(Balmer). The latest record is near Indianapolis, where one was killed
May 30, 1894, by Mr. C. W. Lambart (Noe). In the fall it has first
been noted on the shore of Lake Michigan, at Miller’s, August 8,
1897, where Mr. F. M. Woodruff took a fine adult male, and the latest
record for that vicinity, is November, 1891, when Mr. J. G. Parker,
Jr., observed three at Hyde Lake, Ill. Prof. A. J. Cook reports it from
Michigan as late as October 20. The following are additional spring
records: Lake County, one killed in 1871 (Aiken), Lebanon; one,
May 3; another, May 5, 1894 (Beasley). A pair was taken at Davies’
Station, Starke County, May 15, 1884 (Coale). August 24, 1896, Mr.
F. M. Woodruff took one on the beach at Miller’s. Dury and Freeman
obtained a male near Cincinnati, September 21, 1879 (Jour. Cin. Soc.
Nat. Hist., July, 1880, p. 104).

The Black-bellied Plover prefers to migrate by way of the sea coast.
It has usually been supposed it only bred far north in Arctic lands.
In America it has been found breeding on the Arctic coast, east of
the Anderson River. Dr. P. L. Hatch has given the first account of
its breeding in the United States. He says: “In the summer of 1875
a clutch of four eggs were sent me, with the female, which proved to
be a Black-bellied Plover. It was obtained in the vicinity of upper
Lake Minnetonka, in my own county. Since then several nests have
been reported by persons competent to determine them, and I accept
the conclusion that this species breeds to a limited extent in some
portions of the State.” (Birds of Minn., p. 149.)
Birps or INDIANA. 737

Subgenus Cuarapaius Linneus.

114, (272). Charadrius dominicus Mutt.
Golden Plover.

 

American Golden Plover, Winter Plumage.

Adult in Summer.—Black above, speckled with bright yellow; fore-
head and a broad line over the eye, white; tail feathers, grayish-brown,
with imperfect white or ashy bars; below, black; axillars, gray or ashy.
Winter.—Above, blackish, speckled with whitish and yellow; under
parts, as in last species. The absence of the small hind toe, in a bird
of this size, will determine any doubtful specimen.

Length, about 10.50; wing, 6.80-7.20; culmen, .85-.90; tarsus, 1.50-
1.65.

Ranee.—America, from Patagonia to Arctic Ocean. Breeds on the
coast and islands of Arctic America, except the coast of Bering Sea.
Winters from Florida and Louisiana southward.

Nest, a hollow in ground, slightly lined with grass. Hggs, 4; varies
from pale buffy-brown to dark grayish-buff, spotted and blotched with
brownish-black, chiefly at the larger end; 1.90 by 1.30.

Migrant. Formerly very abundant over the original prairie region,
but are now seen in greatly reduced numbers, though still common,
and to the east and south of that quite rare. They usually migrate in
flocks of from 15 to 100. Sometimes there are hundreds and even
thousands seen in a flock in spring. They are found upon the mead-
ows, pastures and prairies in spring, and in fall, also, upon stubble and
plowed fields. With the occupation of the level land, the extension of
commercial enterprises, and the continued warfare upon the game
birds by the rapidly increasing population of our counties in north-

47—GEo1.
738 Report or STATE GEOLOGIST.

western Indiana and of the cities across the border, these birds are
being fast destroyed. Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr., says, in 1886, he could
go within eight miles of Chicago, in April, and see thousands of them.
In 1890 he noted they are now seen chiefly only in small flocks. Mr.
Parker saw ten enormous flocks at Liverpool, Ind., April 30, 1895.

Mr. Blackwelder also notes their decrease. In 1897 he says it is still
plentiful, though the number is fast decreasing. In 1887 Mr. C. E.
Aiken found them plentiful near Crown Point. In 1888 Prof. Ever-
mann reported them common in Vigo County, March 24, having first
been seen the day previous. In addition they are reported as common
in Clinton County (Ghere), and on the prairies of Carroll County,
southwest of Delphi (D. C. Ridgley). On the contrary, Prof. Ever-
mann does not give it in his report of the birds of Carroll County. It
has not been reported from the following counties, where more or less
good ornithological work has been done: Monroe, Brown, Ripley, -
Johnson, Marion, Howard, Tippecanoe, indicating it is at least not
common there and it is rare throughout the Whitewater Valley, and
in the following counties: Boone (Beasley), Putnam (Earlle), Deca-
tur (Shannon), Delaware (Williamson). In addition to the date of
first appearance given by Prof. Evermann from Vigo County in 1888,
it was first seen at Muncie, March 30, 1888 (Williamson); in Putnam
County, 1894, March 28 (Earlle); and in 1897 in Vigo County, March
23 (Kendrick). The earliest record from the vicinity of Lake Michi-
gan is in Cook County, Ill., March 22, 1884 (Parker). In 1896 it was
first noted at Greensburg, April 11 (Shannon), and in the vicinity of
Chicago April 18, and last seen that spring May 9 (Blackwelder). The
latest spring record in Boone County is May 10, 1894 (Beasley). It
is also recorded from Cook County, Ill., May 10, 1884 (Parker), and
Starke County, Ind., May 6, 1888 (Deane).

In general it may be said a few early birds begin to arrive shortly
after the middle of April; the greater number, however, not until
near the middle of that month. After a short stay they pass northward,
a few lingering into the early part of May. They are just putting
on their breeding plumage when they are with us, and are very beau-
tiful in their mottled dress. Their appearance is very irregular.
Sometimes they are found in great numbers, and other years few
or none are seen. In the Whitewater Valley I have only found a
few in April.

They go far north to breed, and there only are found in full breed-
ing plumage. Beyond the Arctic Circle, on the Barren Grounds of
British America and the coasts and islands of the Arctic Ocean, they
rear their young. Nelson says it is one of the commonest breeding
Bikps oF INbiana. G39

waders, over the grues and moss-grown country, extending along the
shore of Bering Sea. They occasionally lay by June 1. Dall found
it common along the Yukon. Nelson says its clear, plaintive call-note
may be represented by the syllables ¢oo-lu-e, and also gives an inter-
pretation of its song. (N. H. Coll., in Alaska, p. 124.)

Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr., says the young return in August ahead of the
older birds. He has observed them in Cook County about August 10,
1889. According to migration reports of 1885, they were noted that
year at Fernwood, Ill., July 15; next seen, August 3; common, August
20; disappeared, October 12. They vary in abundance through Au-
gust, September and early October. Some few, however, remain some
years well into November. They were last noted as follows in the
years indicated: Cook County, Ill., 1883, October 6; 1893, September
19 (Parker); 1895, October 26 (Blackwelder); Boone County, Ind.,
1894, September 29 (Beasley); Starke County, English Lake, 1891, a
few, November 9; 1892, one, November 15 (Deane). Ordinarily they
do not frequent the reedy marshes and swamps, but the long-con-
tinued drouth transformed the marshes at English Lake, those years,
into “muddy flats,” and a few Golden Plover were found on them.

60. Gavus AIGIALITIS Bors.

a'. Tail half the length of wing or more; rump pale brownish; two black hands
on breast. Subgenus Oxyrcuus Reichenbach. A. vocifera (Linn.). 115
a2. Tail less than half as long as wing; rump same color as back; breast with one
band or none. Subgenus Aucraniris.
b'. All toes distinctly webbed at base. A. semipalmata Bonap. 116
b*. No web between the base of inner and middle toe.
e1, Black band across breast wholly or partially interrupted in middle.

A. meloda (Ord). 117
e?. Black band continuous,across breast.

A. meloda circumcincta Ridgw. 118

Subgenus Oxyrcaus Reichenbach.

*115, (273). ASgialitis vocifera (Liny.).
Killdeer.

Synonym, KinLDEER PLOVER.

Adult— Quaker-brown, with a greenish tinge, sometimes most of
the feathers tipped and edged with orange-brown; rump and upper
tail coverts, ochraceous; breast, crossed by two black bands; forehead
and entire under parts, except as stated, white; bill, black; feet, pale;
eyelids, scarlet. Immature—Similar to adult, but feathers of upper
parts more or less distinctly margined with pale rusty or ochraceous.
740 Revorr or Srare GEOLOGISY.

Length, 10.00-11.25; wing, 6.20-6.75; tail, 3.60-4.10; culmen,
.70-.90; tarsus, 1.40-1.55.

Rancz.—America, from Columbia and West Indies north to Mani-
toba and Newfoundland. Breeds throughout its North American
range. Winters in southern Illinois and southern Indiana and Vir-
ginia southward.

Nest, on ground. Eggs, 4; buffy-white, with chocolate markings,
principally at the larger end; 1.47 by 1.04.

Common summer resident. Resident in greater or less numbers,
some winters, in the southern part of the State. Often, over a good
part of the State, they are not absent more than two months. The

 

Killdeer.

bulk of them spend their winters along the Gulf of Mexico. Every-
where it is the earliest and best known of its family to arrive. In the
Whitewater Valley, some winters, it remains; others, it leaves for
a few weeks in December. The following give the date it was first
seen each year at Brookville: 1881, February 15; 1884, March 12;
1886, March 14; 1887, March 6; 1889, February 16; 1890, February
15; 1898, March 3; 1895, March 22. In Knox County Mr. E. J.
Chansler says it is resident, some seasons common, others rare. Some
years it is found _as early as February over almost the entire State.
The following dates of first. appearance north of the latitude of In-
dianapolis are taken from years of early spring migrations: Lafayette,
February 26, 1889 (Test); 1894 and 1896 were early years. The for-
mer they were noted as follows: Laporte, March 3 (Barber); Sedan,
Dekalb County, March 2 (Mrs. Hine); Plymouth, Mich., March 4
(Alexander); Sandusky, 0., March 4 (Moseley); Chicago, Ill., March
10 (Dunn). The latter year at the following places: Camden, Feb-
ruary 28 (Sterling); North Manchester (Bell), Waterloo (Mrs. Hine),
Binps or INDIANA. VAL

and Chicago, March 26 (Blackwelder). The earliest record given from
Chicago is that by Mr. Dunn, March 10, and the latest of first arrival
is April 2, 1885 (Parker). The following are other dates of first. ar-
rival there: March 26, 1884 (Parker); March 27, 1897 (Tallman). It
is to be observed that the first arrivals in early years are from about
one to four weeks later reaching the vicinity of Chicago than they are
in reaching the same latitude in eastern Indiana, Michigan or the
shore of Lake Erie, and the difference in the date of becoming com-
mon is almost as notable. Years when the migration is later they
reach these points at approximately the same dates. Doubtless, some
years, the early opening of the rivers running southward into the Ohio
afford an opportunity for early migrations, while the conditions
around the lower end of Lake Michigan are uncongenial. Therefore,
by way of the valleys of the Wabash, Whitewater and Miami Rivers,
they find their way to the upper Lake Basin, near Lake Erie. Usually
they are commonly found throughout the district mentioned by the
latter part of March. Their call, “Killdeer,” from which they take
their name, is well known to the people of the State. Beside this, it
has a lower call, often uttered as the birds run rapidly ahead of one,
in the pasture or stubble, or on the river bar. It is represented by
té-é-é-e-é-t, uttered with a sort of mechanical emphasis. The eggs are
laid in a depression on the ground. Four constitute a set, and the
small ends are laid together, forming a cross. They lay in pastures,
corn fields, on prairies and gravel bars, above the ordinary summer
flood. I have taken the full complement of eggs, April 15, and some-
times the young are found in June.

After the young are grown, they and the adults collect into small
flocks and the borders of our streams and lakes are enlivened by them.
Most of them go south in October, but many remain until November
and even December in the northern part of the State.

Subgenus Maiauitis Boie.

116. (274). gialitis semipalmata (Bonap.).
Semipalmated Plover.
Synonyms, Rinc PLover, RiInc-NEcK.

Adult in Summer.—Above, grayish-brown; forehead, ring around
neck, and lower parts, white; fore part of crown, lores, and broad pec-
toral collar (continued around back of neck, below the white nuchal
collar), black or dusky; bill, yellow or orange, black-tipped. In Win-
ter—The black markings replaced by grayish-brown, like the back,
etc. Immature—Like winter adults, but bill wholly black, and
feathers of upper parts margined narrowly with buff. (Ridgway.)
Fly REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Length, 6.50-7.50; wing, about 4.65-5.00; culmen, .4-.55; tarsus,
.95-1.05.

Raner.—America, from Brazil and Peru north to Arctic coast.
Breeds from Labrador and Alaska northward. Winters on coast of
Gulf States and southward.

Nest, in depression on ground, lined with grass. Eggs, 2-4; white
or pale buff, irregularly spotted with chocolate or black; 1.26 by .94.

Migrant, generally rare, not uncommon at times in the vicinity of
Lake Michigan. Sometimes found in small flocks, numbering as many
as twenty-five. Often seen singly or in pairs in company with Kill-
deers. In fall, particularly, they, singly or a few in number, are often
found associated with Semipalmated and Least Sandpipers. Their
habits are much like the Killdeers, and their note is a soft, mellow
whistle.

They are present in the spring migrations late in April and through
May. Mr. Deane obtained specimens from a flock of about twenty-
five on English Lake, May 6, 1888. Those shot were very fat. Mr.
Coale obtained two females in Lake County, May 27,1877. Mr. C. A.
Tallman noted them at Wolf Lake May 23, 1896. Mr. Nelson noted
it as early as April 25 in northeastern Illinois. He also found
adults and young, recently fledged in the vicinity of Chicago, July 2,
18738, and thought possibly they had bred there. Davie says “both
eggs and young have been taken near Chicago, Ill., in July.” It has
been found breeding in Minnesota (Dr. Hatch).

Usually they return in Augiist and remain about suitable places
into September. Dry summers the submerged flats and bars and ex-
posed shores of the smaller lakes and streams in northern Indiana are
attractive places for them, and at such times they are quite common.
The shores of Lake Michigan are also frequented by them at that
season.

Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr., notes it as early as July 15. Mr. J. 0. Dunn
obtained one at Bass Lake, Starke County, August 1, 1894, and found
it at Peru October 2, 1893. They sometimes remain until the last of
October (Nelson). There is a specimen in the collection of the Indi-
ana State Museum, at Indianapolis, from Jasper County.

In addition, it has been reported from the following counties: Tip-
pecanoe (Dr. E. Test), Putnam (Clearwaters), Allen (Stockbridge), La-
porte (Byrkit). It has never been noted in the Whitewater Valley.
Dr. Coues found them breeding abundantly in Labrador. They have
also been found breeding on the Arctic coast, near the mouth of the
Anderson River and at the mouth of the Yukon in Alaska.
Birps or INDIANA. VA3

117, (277). ABgialitis meloda (Orv).
Piping Plover.

Adult in Summer.—Above, pale brownish-gray; forehead, lores,
nuchal collar, and lower parts, white; a band across fore part of
crown, and one on each side of breast, not meeting in front, black or
dusky; bill, yellow or orange, black at tip. In Winter—These black
markings replaced by light brownish-gray, and the bill almost entirely,
or wholly, black. Zmmature.—Like the winter plumage, but feathers
of upper surface with distinctly paler terminal margins.

Length, 6.25-7.50; wing, +.50-4.80; culmen, .45-.50; depth of bill at
bases .20-.22; tarsus, .85-1.00.

Rance.—Eastern North America, from West Indies to Labrador.
Breeds from Virginia and southwestern Ontario north. Winters from
Carolinas southward. —

Eggs, laid on beach, 4; creamy-white, speckled with black and
purplish gray; 1.27 by .96.

Rare migrant over most of the State; probably summer resident,
with the nest along Lake Michigan. It has been reported by L. A.
and C. D. Test, from Lafayette, September 18, 1895, which is the
usual time of their departure. Mr. Ruthven Deane obtained both
forms of the Piping Plover from the same flock at English Lake,
May 17, 1891. This bird is not as often seen with us as the next. I
doubt not these two forms will be considered one ere long. The differ-
ences do not seem to be such that they should remain separated.

118. (277a). AMgialitis meloda circumcincta Ripew.

Belted Piping Plover.

Similar to 4. meloda, but with a continuous black band across the
breast. Size of last.

Ranez.—Interior of North America. Breeds from northern Indi-
ana, northern [llinois and probably Nebraska north to Lake Winni-
peg. Winters along Gulf coast.

Figgs, as in last.

Migrant over most of the State; summer resident in considerable
numbers along Lake Michigan. Breeds.

With us this variety and the species last named are found together,
the greater number, however, being this form. Mr. Nelson notes their
arrival near Chicago the middle of April. Mr. H. K. Coale took one
at Tolleston, Lake County, May 1, 1880, and a pair near Whiting, May
44 Rerort or Srare GEoLocist.

25, 1879. In the southern part of the State, Mr. Robert Ridgway saw
a pair on a sand-bar in the White River north of Wheatland late in
May, 1885. Mr. Deane noted them at English Lake, May 17, 1891.
Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr., took specimens August 13, 1894, at Miller’s.
It has been noted in ‘Tndiana May 1, and found continuously until
late in August. They are often paired when they arrive and proceed
at once to nesting. They continue coming till June; consequently
the nesting season is much prolonged.

Some thirty pairs were breeding along the beach within a space of
two miles, April 24, 1876, at Waukegan, Ill. They nest on the flat,
pebbly beach between the sand-dunes and shore. (Nelson, Birds N. E.
Ill, p. 123.) August 1, 1897, Mr. F. M. Woodruff found downy young,
also three pairs nesting at Miller’s, Ind. This gives a period of over
three months from the date given by Mr. Nelson for the breeding
season. Hither there is an unusual extension of the season or
more than one brood is reared in a year. Prof. H. Duemling, of Ft.
Wayne, has a specimen in his collection taken near that place (Stock-
bridge). They are said to remain until the last of September.

XXI. Fammy APHRIZIDA. Surr Brrps anp TURNSTONES,

a}, Bill pointed, upturned at end; tarsus not longer than bill. ARENARTA. 61

Susramity ARENARIIN/A. TurRnstongs,
61. Genus ARENARIA Barsson.

119. (283). Arenaria interpres (Liyn.).

Turnstone.

Adull in Summer.—Pied above, with black, white, brown, and
chestnut red, the latter color wanting in winter and in young birds;
below, from the breast (which is more or less completely black), throat,
most of the secondaries, bases of the primaries, and bases and tips of
the tail feathers, white; bill, black; feet, orange. In Winter—White
parts as in summer, most of other parts dusky or brownish. Imma-
‘ure.—Above, brownish-gray, feathers bordered with whitish; upper
tail coverts, white; throat, foreneck and breast, white, streaked with
dusky; lower parts, white.

Length, 9.00-9.90; wing, 6.00; bill, .80-.90; tarsus, 1.00.

RaneE.—Nearly cosmopolitan. In America, from Patagonia to
Greenland and Alaska. Breeds from Hudson Bay to the Arctic coast.
Winters from coast of Gulf States southward.
Birps or INDIANA. 45

Nest, a hollow in ground, lined with grass. Eggs, 2-4; greenish-
drab, spotted all over with brown; 1.60 by 1.17.

Rare migrant. Except along Lake Michigan it is almost unknown.
There are but two records from the interior of the State. Dr. Hay-
mond observed it in Franklin County (Ind. Geol. Rept. 1869, p. 228).
May 20, 1888, Mr. Ruthven Deane observed it in Starke County.
Messrs. Eliot Blackwelder and C. A. Tallman identified two Turn-
stones at Wolf Lake, Ind., May 23, 1896; two were also seen there

 

Bill of Turnstone.

June 9 of that year. August 8, 1897, Mr. F. M. Woodruff took two in
breeding plumage at Miller’s, and August 21 took a young male at the
same place. Nelson has noted them in Cook County, Ill., about Sep-
tember 20.

They may be said, therefore, to be found in the vicinity of Lake
Michigan through the latter half of May and the first third of June,
and from early August until about the middle of September. In the
fall, at least, they are generally found with flocks of small Sandpipers.

They breed far northward along the coast of the Arctic Ocean and
in Alaska. Mr. Geo. B. Sennott found them on the coast of Texas
during the breeding season. (Bull. U. 8. G. & G. Sur. of Terr.; Vol.
V, No. 3, 1879, p. 481).

Mr. E. A. MecIlhenny says it is an abundant resident on the coast of
Louisiana (The Auk, Vol. XIV, 1897, p. 289). Do these only who
are to breed make the long journey beyond the Arctic Circle, or does
this bird breed sometimes on our southern coast? Mr. MclIlhenny
has stated that several other species previously supposed to spend the
summer far north are summer residents of the Louisiana coast.
746 Reporr or Srars GEOLOGIST.

H. Orper GALLIN A, Ganuinackous Birps.
Susorper PHASIANI. Puzasants, Grouse, Partripeks, QUAILS.

XXII. Famiry TETRAONIDA. Grouse, Paeasants, Erc.

a}, Wing under 6.00; tarsus bare; sides of toes without comb-like projections.
Subfamily Perprcin £.
b!, Head not crested. CoLtinux. 62
a?, Wing over 6.00; upper half or more of tarsus feathered ; toes in winter with a
fringe of horny points. Subfamily TrerraonIn.x.

cl, Tarsus feathered about half way to toes. Bonasa. 63
c?. Tarsus feathered to toes.
d', Toes feathered; plumage in winter white. Lacopus.

d*, Toes not feathered.
e’. Neck with tuft of elongated, stiff feathers on each side; tarsus naked

behind. TymMpancucats, 64
e”. Neck without peculiar feathers.
f*. Tail rounded. DENDRAGAPUS.
f?. Tail pointed; middle feather projecting beyond the others.
PEDIOCETES.

SuBFAMILY PERDICINUE. PArrripces.

62. GenusCOLINUS Lxsson.
*120. (289). Colinus virginianus (Linv.).
Bobwhite.
Synonyms, QUAIL, PARTRIDGE.

Male—Coronal feathers, erectile, but not forming a true crest; fore-
head, superciliary line and throat, white, bordered with black; crown,
neck all round and upper part of breast, brownish-red; other under
parts, tawny-whitish, all with more or fewer doubly crescentic black
bars; sides, broadly streaked with brownish-red; upper parts, varie-
gated with chestnut, black; gray and tawny, the latter edging the
inner quills. Female—Known by having the throat buff instead of
white, less black about the fore parts, and general colors less intense;
rather smaller than the male.

Length, 9.50-10.75; wing, 4.30-4.70; tail, 2.40-2.90.

Raner.—Hastern United States and southern Ontario, west to east-
ern Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, Indian Territory and eastern Texas;
south to Georgia, Alabama and other Gulf States.

Nest, on ground. Hggs, 10-18; white; 1.19 by .94.

Resident; generally common. Breeds. The Bobwhite is generally
known in Indiana as the “Quail.” To some it is the “Partridge,”
Birps or InpIANA. wat
At the beginning of the settlement of this Stute, when virgin forests
composed of trees both large and tall, covered most of the present area,
there was not much ground suitable for the “Bobwhite.” They were
doubtless confined to the bushy river bottoms, old Indian clearings,
small prairies, and other partially open spaces. With the advent
of the pioneer, the day of their extension was at hand. They fol-
lowed in the path of his axe, and occupied the neighborhood of
clearings. They accompanied him as he planted, where he had over-
thrown the ancient growth. As civilization spread, they followed.
Their enemies being few, they throve. Their numbers increased, and
they grew very tame. The pioneer did not hunt them, as they are
hunted now. One was occasionally killed with a rifle, but the trap

 

Bobwhite, male and female, natural size.

was the principal means of taking them. Nevertheless they became
very abundant, and were found throughout our State. But shotguns,
first muzzle, then breech-loaders, came to war against them, and the
trained dog was brought to assist. Enemies in furry coats—tfoxes,
skunks, minks, weasles, cats—either because of the destruction of
other foods or because they were so abundant and so tame, made war
- upon them.

-: Enemies in scales—snakes—found their nests upon the ground a
-convenient source of food supply. The open meadows and clear fields
afforddd opportunities for swift-moving hawks and prairie owls to
live there as they could not in the days of the forest, and Bobwhite
suffered, as did the other farm birds. To the pot-hunter more than
G48 Report oF State GEOLOGIST.

any other one cause, except the severe winters, we may charge the
destruction of these beautiful birds. In the more thickly settled por-
tions of the State, in the neighborhood of large cities, and in the
vicinity of Chicago, where boys with firearms and target guns range
the country, and at certain seasons of the year men take up the cus-
tom, shooting at all sorts of birds, killing many and scaring the others
away, Bobwhites and all other game birds can scarcely be seen. Mr.
Parker informs me it is very rare in Cook County, Ill., and Mr. L. T.
Meyer said, in 1886, in Lake County, Ind., they were rapidly becom-
ing extinct. In both these counties they were formerly very common.
Mr. Meyer speaks of them being so tame, they formerly came about
the farm buildings and roosted with the chickens. A succession of
hard winters or one of unusual severity sometimes reduces their num-
bers very low. The winter of 1878-79 they were almost exterminated
by reason of the severe weather and their inability to procure food.
In the spring whole covies were found dead where they had huddled
together and frozen. Few were found for several years thereafter.
They were slow to recover from the effects of that winter. From
1884-5, Prof. Evermann says they were rare in Carroll County, where
they were formerly abundant. During the winter of those years he
estimates that he did not see 100 quail in the county. (The Auk, Oc-
tober, 1888, p. 349.) The years 1890-91 they were more numerous, in
southern Indiana, at least, and I doubt not throughout the State, than
they had been prior to the winter of 1878-9. The year 1892 and the
succecding winter, over the northern two-thirds of the State, at least,
was very unfavorable to them. The spring and early summer of that
year, the more level and little-drained land of northern Indiana was to
a greater or less extent submerged, and their nests were washed away
and their eggs spoiled by water and, many places, they were prevented
from nesting. June 17, 1892, Mr. Ruthven Deane wrote me the
Kankakee region had then been practically under water for two
months, and that it had been a hard season on quail. He thought the
majority of their nests had heen destroyed. The winter following this
was quite severe, and throughout northern Indiana there was much
snow, the ground remaining covered a long time. From wherever I
have reports, the destruction of Bobwhite is noted. Mr. M. W.
Salmon, of Kilmore, Clinton County, says “the few quails that sur-
vived the deep snow and cold of January (1893) were weak and be-
came a prey to Hawks, ete. They were almost annihilated. Of this
Ulrey and Wallace have also spoken (Proc. I. A. S., 1895, p. 69).
About the middle of October I have noticed the Bobwhites of south-
ern Indiana hegin to change their habits. From the cheerful, matter-
BirDs oF INDIANA. 749

ol-faect bird about the farm, they become erratic. Hunters say they
are crazy. They seem possessed with a desire to migrate, coming into
towns and cities in some numbers: They, at such times, are lost and
bewildered. They are found in trees and among the shrubbery of gar-
dens, in outbuildings and among lumber piles. I have seen them in
the cellar window-boxes and over the transoms of the front doors of
houses. They fly into stores and dash against their glass fronts.
Throughout the day their characteristic call is heard, each one calling
to its mate who-e-he, who-e-he, which we sometimes interpret as
“Where are you?” “Where are you?” I have noticed this as early as Oc-
tober 12 (1890). Some years it is much more noticeable than others.
On the farms the results of this movement are seen. Farms where
a number of covies have been reared will be found to have no
Bobwhites on them by November 1. Other farms, not far away, will
have the number of these birds greatly increased.

Some years they appear to desert the uplands and seek the river
valleys. The fall of 1890 hunters spoke of the scarcity of Bobwhites
when the season opened. The uplands, which are first hunted, were
found to contain almost no birds, although a few weeks before they
were abundant there. They were, however, abundant in the river
valleys, where, among the bottom corn-fields, they were not hunted
till later. Most of them apparently attempted to migrate southward.

The Ohio River bottoms contained immense numbers of Bobwhites,
and many crossed the river into Kentucky, others were killed in
attempting to cross. I have been told that when they reached Ken-
tucky they were exhausted and many of them were killed without the
use of a gun, or were trapped without much effort.

By spring the flocks have generally been scattered. However, in
protected localities, they frequently remain together quite late, much
later than some begin mating. A flock of fourteen was observed dust-
ing themselves in the sand, April 2”, 1897.

The spring call of this bird is what has given it the present name.
“Bob-white, Oh! Bob-white” sounds from many a stake of the old worm
fence, in May and June. No more cheery sound is heard throughout
rural America than this call at mating time. It has been fittingly set
in a beautiful poem by the master hand of my friend, Lee O. Harris,
one of the best poets of our State. April is the beginning of mating
time, and sometimes nesting begins by May 1. Two and sometimes
three broods are reared in a year. The nest, of grasses, is built upon
the ground. It is often placed in a fence-row; an old rail fence corner
is a favorite spot, beside a stump, in a little protected place in a pas-
ture or in a thinly vined berry patch. I have found them on the bank
750 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

of a little depression through a pasture, where many cattle continually
passed, with no protection, and only their faith in the cattle keeping
the path a yard away, could have impelled the birds to build there.
The usual number of eggs is from 12 to 25. The average being 15 to
18. Sometimes one hears of nests having as many as thirty or forty.
Undoubtedly such a number is the result of two or more laying in the
same nest. This they occasionally do, and also sometimes they and
chickens lay in the same nest. There have, undoubtedly, been great
changes in the habits of these birds. The female does the sitting
and cares for the family. Occasionally, when she has been killed, the
male has been known to assume the task of sitting and fulfilling the
duties of the mate.

Mr. John Wright, of Bartholomew County, told me of a nest in a
fence-row, near which he often passed. He noted the eggs day after
day, as they increased in number, and frequently saw the female. One
day he was surprised to see the male sitting upon the nest. Examina-
tion showed some feathers of the female near by, marking the site of a
tragedy in which she had been the victim. The male had taken up her
duties. He watched him, and he stuck to his job. The young were
hatched and faithfully they were cared Tor by the parent. He led
them to the neighborhood of the corn field and near there he and they
spent the winter. My father also tells of a similar instance. I have
found the nest with fresh eggs as late as July 9 (1887). Mr. Robert
Ridgway has found a nest containing fresh eggs, October 16, and
there is one instance, given from Missouri, by Major Bendire, of a
Bobwhite sitting on her eggs in January.

The Bobwhite is the bird of civilization. It and the farmer each
fares best when they recognize they have united interests and one is
dependent upon the other. While the birds eat wheat, oats, rye, barley,
corn, buckwheat and other crop seeds, they get the most of it from
gleaning the fields, and at the same time eat seeds of smart-weed,
butter-weed, rag-weed, partridge-berries, nanny-berries, wild grapes
and various other wild fruits and weed seeds. They also eat blades of
grass and other green foods, and in winter, acorns and beechnuts.
Through the breeding season, and, in fact, the entire summer, they eat
many insects—hbeetles, grubs, larve—enemies of trees, crops, and
meadows. Dr. Howard E. Jones examined the crop of one accidentally
killed in a potato patch in Ohio and found it contained seventy-five
potato-bugs.

Mr. E. J. Chansler, of Bicknell, Knox County, informs me he has
seen an old bird, with her brood, devouring chinch bugs. The mother
would jump up and strike the cornstalks, knocking down many bugs,
Birps oF INnpIANA. W561

which the young ate as soon as they touched the ground. These are
some of the innumerable ways in which Bobwhite attempts to help his
friend, the farmer.

How soon will the farmer realize the situation? A dozen covies of
these birds upon a farm will do much to reduce the insect foes, and to
lessen their damage, and also to destroy the seeds of innumerable
noxious weeds.

There have undoubtedly been many changes in the habits of the
Bobwhite since it came in contact with our race. Formerly they were
very sensitive about having their nests disturbed. Now my friend, Mr.
E. R. Quick, assures me they have, by reason of association, become
accustomed to man and will permit one to remove their eggs from
the nest and handle them. Prof. Cooke is satisfied the habit of
“lying to a dog” is acquired. He shows that in the western part of
Indian Territory they no more think of stopping when they see a dog
than they would for a coyote; while, in the eastern part of the Terri-
tory, where they have become acquainted with dogs, they lie quite well
for them (Bird Mig. Miss. Valley, p. 102). Whether or not they have
the power to withhold their scent was a long-disputed question. From
the experience of some close observers it would seem that they cer-.
tainly think they have this power.

Proper regulations should be made by legislation for their protec-
tion, and thorough education be given the people as to the value of
these birds. Mr. Thos. McIlwraith informs us that some time ago the
government of Ontario passed an act prohibiting, under any circum-
stances, for a period of three years, the killing of quail. This law, co-
incident with mild winters, had the effect of increasing their numbers.
Afterwards they again became less numerous. Doubtless there should
be a law in our States protecting them for several years, and, after they
have been given a chance to increase, they should be guarded through
a close season, as at present. They are too valuable to permit them to
become exterminated. I desire to call particular attention to the
Hawks and Owls, which are treated later, in order that the reader may
become acquainted with the kinds—for there are only certain kinds—
that may be said to be destructive to our game birds. The really
harmful are: Cooper’s Hawk, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Goshawk, and the
Duck Hawk.
752 Revort oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Supramity TETRAONIN A. Grovse.

63. Genus BONASA StTEPsens.

*121, (300). Bonasa umbellus (Liny.).
Ruffed Grouse.

 

Head of Ruffed Grouse, natural size.

Adult Male-—Variegated reddish or grayish-brown; the back, with
numerous oblong, pale, black-edged spots; neck-tufts, glossy-black;
below, whitish, barred with brown; tail, varying from gray to rufous,
with a broad subterminal black zone, and tipped with gray. Fe-
male.—Similar, but neck-tufts very small.

Length, 15.50-19.00; wing, 7.00-7.50; tail, 5.50-7.00.

RancE.—Eastern United States west to Great Plains, from South
Carolina and Arkansas to Minnesota, Vermont and Ontario.

Nest, a hollow in ground, lined with leaves or grass. Eggs, 8-14;
milky-white to pinkish-buff, often with round spots of pale reddish-
brown or drab; 1.58 by 1.18.

Resident. Breeds. The Ruffed Grouse is found in varying abun-
dance throughout the State. It is a bird of the forest. Where there
is the most forest, other things being equal, are to be found the most
Grouse. Some places, where the woods are permitted to remain, they
are common. The rougher, less fertile, and the wet, poorly-drained
portions of the State are where the most timber is to be found, and
there they are the most numerous. In the lower Whitewater Valley
they are still to be found in some numbers.

The rougher hills covered with dense woods and underbrush are
the places where they live. Mr. L. H. Haymond thinks they are
nowhere to be met with in such numbers as in northern Indiana,
northern Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin. While they prefer the dense
covert, they are occasionally found in buckwheat stubble, in the
Birnps or INDIANA. Y53

open, in the fall.’ They are then even known to enter towns. I
have a specimen that was shot from an apple tree in the yard of a
neighbor in Brookville. Throughout the level and more thickly set-
tled portions of the State they are becoming scarce.

Mr. Parker says they are rare in Cook County, Ill., but that a few
are to be found in Lake County, Ind. Mrs. Jane L. Hine says they
are common in Dekalb County. It has been reported in recent years
from the following additional counties: Monroe, frequent (Martin);
Carroll, rare (Evermann); Brown, common resident (Kindle); Deca-
tur (Guthrie); Howard, rare (Woody); Starke (Deane); Allen (Stock-
bridge); Putnam (Clearwaters); Tippecanoe (Dr. E. Test); Steuben
(Mrs. L. M. Sniff); Laporte (Barber); Elkhart (Juday); Knox, rare
(Chansler); Boone, rare (Beasley); Parke, rare (Clickener); Benton,
specimen in the State Museum; Kosciosko (Haymond); Porter (Par-
ker); Wabash, becoming rare (Ulrey and Wallace). In the White-
water Valley this bird is known as “Pheasant.” In some other locali-
ties it is called “Partridge.” These names but serve to confuse one,
as it is neither; it is a Grouse. The term “Partridge” is also quite
widely applied to the Bobwhite.

One of the characteristic sounds from the woods, where the Ruffed
Grouse dwells, particularly in early spring, is the drumming of the
male. I have notes of its drumming in this State as early as March
25, and through April and May it is most commonly heard, and one
record is June 3, 1888 (Deane). It is said, some places, to begin drum-
ming in February and to have been known to drum almost every
month in the year. The sound is most often heard during the breed-
ing season. I take the liberty of giving what Major Bendire tells us
is the description of the method of drumming, by Mr. Manly Hardy,
of Brewer, Maine, a reliable and careful observer. He says: “The
cock Grouse usually selects a mossy log, near some open hedge, clear-
ing or wood-road, and, partly screened by bushes, where he can see
and not be seen. When about to drum, he erects his neck feathers,
spreads his tail, and, with drooping wings, steps with a jerking motion
along the log some distance each way from his drumming place, walk-
ing back and forth several times, and looking sharply in every direc-
tion; then, standing crosswise, he stretches himself to his fullest
height, and delivers the blows with his wings fully upon his sides, his
wings. being several inches clear from the log. After drumming, he
settles quietly down into a sitting posture and remains, silently listen- -
ing for five or ten minutes, when, if no cause of alarm is discovered,
he repeats the process.

48—GEoL
754 Revorr or Svarze Gronogis.

“he drumming place is resorted to by the male from year to year.
lt may be a log, a rock, an old stump, or, when such are not available,
a small hillock may be made to answer the purpose equally as well.”
(Bendire, L. H. N. A. Birds, I, p. 61).

The nest is generally a slight hollow at the foot of a tree or stump,
or under the edge of an old log, in a fallen tree-top or brush pile.
In this is put a few straws, a little grass or a few leaves. They gen-
erally lay from nine to twelve eggs. There are records where as many
as sixteen to twenty-three eggs have been found in one nest. The
nests which have come under my observation have contained eggs in
May. That is the month when most of them lay. Full sets of eggs
have been found as far north as Central New York, as early as April 1
(Bendire). Unfavorable weather at breeding time is disastrous to the
Ruffed Grouse. Unlike the Bobwhite, they usually lay but one sitting
a season, and, should these be destroyed, or the delicate young in their
early days become chilled by cold winds accompanying a season of
rain, if they lay again, as they are said sometimes to do, the set is a
small one, but usually the year’s increase is lost. Mrs. Hine informs
me she once found a sitting Ruffed Grouse late in July. Mr. Hay-
mond mentioned the year 1889 as the most disastrous year to these
birds within his recollection. The previous year, 1888, there was a
favorable breeding season, and they were found in great abundance.
They are fully grown, or nearly so, by October 1. After this date they
rarely take to the trees, though, when old and young are togéther
through the summer, they are commonly to be found in them (L. H.
Haymond).

The food of the Ruffed Grouse is quite varied. Grasshoppers and
crickets are favorite articles of food. Besides these, caterpillars. ants.
beetles, etc., are eaten. They live largely upon insects and fruits. in-
cluding all the berries, during the summer.

In the fall they have been noted to eat, abundantly, leaves and
blossoms of red clover, acorns, chestnuts, beechnuts, various seeds and
partridge berries. In winter they eat seeds, grains, buds of laurel,
apple, fern, wintergreen ((@aultheria), partridge berries (Afitchella),
sumac berries, dogwood (Cornus), viburnum berries, and wild grapes.
The crop of a Ruffed Grouse, taken at Brookville, May 10, 1879,
contained the following: Three large beetles (Phyllophaga hir-
suta), entire, but slightly crushed; numerous green seed-pods of the
blood root (Sanguinaria canadensis) ; and a large mass of leaves of
white clover (T'rifolium repens), and ground ivy (Nepeta glechoma).
The gizzard contained numerous seed stones of the Black Gum tree
Birps or INDIANA. 55

(Nyssa multiflora), and remains of several of the beetles before men-
tioned (Jour. Cin. Soc. N. H., July, 1880, pp. 126, 127).

An excellent article upon this species, from the standpoint of a
sportsman, by “Monoquet” (Mr. L. H. Haymond, of Warsaw), was
published in the American Field, and is referred to in the bibliog-
raphy.

64. Genus TYMPANUCHUS Grocrr.

*122, (305). Tympanuchus americanus (Rzicz.).
- Prairie Hen.

Synonyms, Prarie CHICKEN, PiInnaTED GROUSE.

Adult Male—Sides of neck with an erectile tuft of ten or more
rather stiff, elongated feathers with round ends, the longest of which
are 2.50 or more in length; tail feathers, without bars or other mark-
ings, except the narrow whitish tip. Adult Female—Smaller, with
lesser neck tufts.

Length, about 18.00-19.00; wing, 8.60-9.40 (9.04); tail, 4.00-4.30
(4.16).

Ranee.—Prairies of Mississippi Valley; south to Louisiana and
Texas; west to northern Indian Territory, middle Kansas, Nebraska,
and eastern North and South Dakota; east to Kentucky, Indiana,
northwestern Ohio, southeastern Michigan, and southwestern Ontario,
Canada; north to southern Manitoba.

Nest, on ground. Hggs, 11-14; pale cream, olive buff or light brown,
often finely spotted with reddish-brown;:1.66 by 1.24. Usually one
brood.

Resident; formerly very abundant over the original prairie district,
and now approximately confined to that district. In most places be-
coming scarce, in some very rare.

Generally known by one of the following names: “Prairie Chicken,”
“Chicken,” or “Pinnated Grouse.”

Within recent years they have been reported from the following
counties: Common in Newton, 1894 (Pfrimmer); in Starke, 1892,
1894 (Dunn); rare in Carroll, 1889 (Evermann), 1894 (Ster-
ling); Steuben, 1894 (Cass); Boone, 1895 (Beasley); Knox, 1888
(Balmer); Clinton, 1887 (Halleck); Wabash, 1895 (Ulrey and Wal-
lace). Its occurrence has also been noted in the following counties:
Lake, 1896 (Parker); Laporte, 1892 (Parker), 1894 (Barber); Benton
(specimen in State Museum); Allen (Stockbridge); Dekalb, Steuben
and Noble (McBride).
156 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

It is known that this species extends its range, sometimes, but 1
have nothing at hand to show that it did in this State. In counties
like Carroll and Wabash it has confined itself to the prairie district.

Prof. W. W. Cooke has shown that west of the Mississippi River it
has, to a certain extent, developed the habit of migration, which is
more apparent some years than others.

They begin mating some years early in March. The following ac-.
count of the love-making of these birds, by Judge J. D. Caton, a
careful and well-known naturalist, is given: “The spring of the year
is the season of courtship with them, and it does not last all the year
round, as it does with humans, and they do it in rather a loud way,
too; and, instead of taking the evening, as many people are inclined
to do, they choose the early morning. Early in the morning you may
‘see them assemble in parties, from a dozen to fifty together, on some
high, dry knolls, where the grass is short.

“The cock birds have a loose patch of naked, yellow skin.on each side
of the neck, just below the head, and above these, on either side, just
where the head joins the neck, are a few long black feathers, which
ordinarily lay backward on the neck, but which, when excited, they
can pitch straight forward. Those naked, yellow patches on either side
of the neck cover sacs, which they blow up like a bladder when-
ever they choose. These are their ornaments, which they display to
the best advantage before the gentler sex at these love-feasts. This
they do by blowing up these air sacs till they look like two ripe oranges
on each side of the neck, projecting their long black ears right for-
ward, ruffling up all the feathers of the body till they stand out
straight, and dropping their wings to the ground like a Turkey cock.
Now they look just lovely, as the cosy, timid maidens seem to say as
they cast side glances at them full of admiration and love.

“Then it is that the proud cock, in order to complete his triumph,
will rush forward at his best speed for two or three rods through the
midst of these love-sick damsels, pouring out as he goes a booming
noise, almost a hoarse roar, only more subdued, which may be heard
for, at least, two miles in the still morning air.

“This heavy booming sound is by no means harsh or unpleasant;
on the contrary, it is soft and harmonious. When standing in the
open prairie at early dawn, listening to hundreds of different voices,
pitched on different keys, coming from every direction, and from vari-
ous distances, the listener is rather soothed than excited. If this sound
is heavier than the deep keynotes of a large organ, it is much softer,
though vastly more powerful and may be heard at a much greater dis-
Brrps oF INDIANA. Y57

tance. One who has heard such a concert can never after mistake or
forget it.

“Every few minutes this display is repeated. I have seen not only
one, but more than twenty cocks going through this funny operation
at once, but then they seem careful not to run against each other, for
they have not yet got to the fighting point. After a little while the
lady birds begin to show an interest in the proceedings by moving
about quickly a few yards at a time, and then standing still a short
time. When the actions are continued by a large number of birds
at a time it presents a funny sight, and you can easily think they are
moving to the measure of music.

“The party breaks up when the sun is half an hour high, to be re-
peated the next morning and every morning for a week or two before
all make satisfactory matches. It is toward the latter part of the
love season that the fighting takes place among the cocks, probably
by two who have fallen in love with the same sweetheart, whose mod-
esty prevents her from selecting between them.”

Their nests are placed on the ground, in prairies, meadows, the
edges or dryer parts of marshes and such other places as Bobwhites
would be likely to select, aud are lined with grass.

The number of eggs is usually from 8 to 13. In fact, there are two
extremes of all the records I have from this State; generally they are
from 9 to 11. Instances are recorded, from Nebraska, where the num-
ber was twenty-one (Kline, Ornithologist and Oologist, August, 1882,
p. 150). Their eggs are frequently destroyed by high water, fire, the
plow and mower, in addition to the many natural enemies of this bird.
The year 1892, which, by reason of the high water in northern Indiana
through May and June, was destructive to Bobwhite nests, was equally
so to those of the Prairie Hen. Mr. Deane informed me, June 5, of
seven nests found at English’ Lake, under water. The year before, he
wrote me of two nests having been found where the meadows had been
turned over. Under date May 4, 1890, Mr. Deane wrote me that ‘that
day Mr. R. A. Stafford, who had a dog with him, at Kouts, Ind., ob-
served the dog flush a Prairie Chicken, which at that moment or just
before had laid an egg upon the bare ground.

Nests are generally found with fresh eggs from late in April to early
June. Mr. H. K. Coale found a nest at Tolleston, July 4, 1880, with
13 eggs. Major Bendire notes an instance where fresh eggs were
found in August, indicating that occasionally a second brood is
brought forth. The female sits and cares for the young. The exact
period of incubation is unknown, but it is between three and four
weeks. The young and adults at this season feed almost exclusively
58 Report or Srare Groxocist.

upon insects, grasshoppers forming a prominent part. Cereals.
grass, and weed seed are eaten. In the fall, when buckwheat
is ripening in September, their favorite feeding ground is a
buckwheat patch. The flocks collected at this season remain together,
except as they are killed, until mating time next spring. Flocks con-
tain from ten to forty birds.

XXII. Fammy PHASIANIDZ. Pueasants, Ec.

a), Head and neck naked; forehead with conspicuous appendage.
MELEAGRIS. 65

Supramity MELEAGRIN. TurKeys.
65. Gunus MELEAGRIS Lixyzvs.

*123. (310). Meleagris gallopavo Liyy.
Wild Turkey.

Breast of male, with a tuft of long, coarse, hair-like black bristles;
tail, bright umber, or dull ferruginous-brown, narrowly barred with
black, and crossed near the end with a broad subterminal band of
black; spurs, moderately developed. Female much smaller and duller-
colored than the male; tip of tail and all of the upper tail coverts,
dark chestnut; prevailing hue of metallic reflections, coppery.

Length, 48.00-50.00; extent, 60.00; wing, 21.00; tail, 18.50; weight,
16 to 40 lbs. Female measurements, smaller in proportion; weight,
about 12 Ibs. (Ridgway).

Rance.—Eastern United States, north to southern Canada, for-
merly to Maine; south to Florida and middle Texas; west to the edge
of the Great Plains. (Bendire.)

Nest, on ground, lined with dead leaves and grass. Eggs, 10-14;
creamy-white to creamy-buff, spotted and dotted with different andes
of brown; 2.55 by 1.79. mae. =

Resident. Breeds. Formerly occurred in numbers beeen the
State; now, in most places, extinct. My father tells me of turkey
hunts in Franklin and Jefferson counties; of having killed them
within the present limits of the present town of Brookville, and of
trapping them in rail or log pens, some sixty or seventy years ago.
The turkey pens had holes dug in the ground under one side large
enough to admit the turkeys. A trail of corn led down into the hole.
and inside the pen was plenty of corn. The birds followed the line of
shelled corn, and suddenly found themselves inside the pen. They
nevermore thought of looking down for the way hy which they came,
Birps or INDIANA. "159

and were captives until released. For many years I thought the last
Wild ‘Turkeys were killed in Franklin County about 1878 or ’80.
More recently I have been informed by residents of Salt Creek Town-
ship that some were killed in that township in 1885 or 1886.

Prof. Evermann says they were common in Carroll County up to
18”0. Dr. Brayton, in 1879, said they were occasionally seen in
Marion County. They were seen in Crawford County last year (1896-
1897) (W. 8. Blatchley).

They were last noted in the following counties, about the time men-
tioned: Lake, about 1880 (Meyer); Newton, 1884 (Pfrimmer); Wa-
bash, 1880 (Ulrey and Wallace). Yn 1886 it was reported as occasion-
ally seen in Laporte County (Byrkit). In my paper on Indiana Birds,
in 1890, I gave it as probably found in the following counties, from
which I have no later record of its occurrence: Grant, Monroe, Dekalb,
and Jefferson. In Monroe, in 1887, Prof. Blatchley said it was oc-
casionally taken, and Mr. H. F. Blair reported the capture of one
from a flock of seven near Deputy, Jefferson County. A few years
previously they were occasionally taken in Ripley County. The Wild
Turkey, however, is still found in Knox County, where a white one
was seen a few years ago (Chansler). Mr. Robert Ridgway gave it as
common there in 1882 (Bull. Nuttall Orn. Club, 1882, p. 21). It is
also still a survivor in limited numbers in Gibson County (John Mar-
tin), and in Pike and Posey counties (J. P. Key). It will only be a few
years until our largest game bird will be extinct within this State.
They usually go in flocks of from three to twenty, although I have
heard recently of one flock, in this State, of about sixty. They are
polygamous, one male accompanying several females. Their habits,
time of mating, method of nesting, care of young, in fact, all their pe-
culiarities, resemble very much those of the domestic turkey, who
steals away and hides her nest in the thicket; though the lighter-
colored domestic turkey is not a descendant of this species, but of the
Mexican form. The number of eggs varies from ten to fourteen,
eleven or twelve being the number commonly found.
760 Revort or Stare GEOLOGIS®.

I. OrpER COLUMB. PiGEons.

XXIV. Famuy COLUMBIDZ. Picxons.

a!. Tarsus shorter than lateral toes. Subfamily CoLuMBINZE.
b!. Tail yery long, wedge shaped, with 12 pointed feathers. EctoPistes. 66
a, Tarsus longer than lateral toes. Subfamily ZENAIDIN».
cl. Tail long, pointed, of 14 pointed feathers. ZENAIDURA. 67

66. Genus ECTOPISTES Swainson.
*124, (315). Ectopistés migratorius (Lry.).

“Passenger Pigeon.

Synonym, Wiip PicEon.

 

Passenger Pigeon.

Adult Male—Slaty-blue above, the wings and scapulars more
brownish and spotted with black; the inner webs of the tail feathers
have each 4 rufous and a black spot. The male has the whole head
bluish-plumbeous, the foreneck and jugulum, rich cinnamon, passing
into vinaceous on the breast, this gradually becoming paler posteriorly;
the sides of the neck, richly glossed with metallic solferino-purple
Nemale—H vad, foreneck, and jugulum, brownish-ashy or drab, gradu-
ally lightening posteriorly. (Ridgway.)

Length, 15.00-17.25; wing, 8.00-8.50; tail, 8.20-8.75.

Raner.—Deciduous forest regions of eastern North America; west
casually to Washington and Nevada; Cuba.

Nest, of twigs, in trees. Eggs, 1 or 2; white; 1.47 by 1.02.

2
Birps oF INDIANA. 761

Migrant; formerly very abundant, but now rare; also rare resident.
Have found them frozen to death in severe weather in the winter.
Formerly bred throughout the State. Perhaps still does, rarely. In
northern Indiana I think the greater number were migrants, though
many were summer residents. These birds were gregarious, and moved
about in flocks ranging in numbers from a few individuals to vast
droves of incalculable numbers. They generally appeared in southern
Indiana as migrants, some years arriving in September. The greater
number passed south when severe weather began and returned in
force in February and March. .The great bulk went north into
Michigan and other northern States to breed, nesting in large colonies.
But many bred throughout our State, singly; and sometimes colonies
of them nested. Their winter residence was determined by the quan-
tity of mast, but in general it could be said to be somewhere in the
area of the beech woods, at least in the Ohio Valley.

It is difficult for a young person to appreciate the accounts the older
inhabitants give of the former abundance of these birds.

I am indebted to my father, now over eighty-seven years of age, and
a native of the State, for many facts relating to these, and also other
birds. He says, in 1831-2, the pigeon roosts in the vicinity of Vernon,
which had become noted as the most extensive in that part of the
State, were occupied by great numbers of pigeons. They moved in
flocks so large the sky could not be seen in any direction as far as the
eye could reach. They also nested in that locality in great abundance.
The “roost” in the vicinity of Brookville, in the months of January
and February, 1854, while not so large as many others, was so near .
home that accounts of it made an impression on my mind. One even-
ing, when it was cloudy, my father went with a company of friends to
it. The birds were much frightened by the shooting about their roost,
and, just after sun-down, arose en masse and soared out of sight in the
dusk of the winter evening, while from the direction of the cloud of
birds came a noise as of a violent windstorm. As the darkness in-
creased, the multitude descended and alighted upon the limbs of the
forest trees in such numbers as to break many off. After night, the
scene is described as one never to be forgotten. The squawking of the
pigeons, the breaking of the limbs of giant trees beneath their living
weight, the continuous rumble arising from the whirr of countless
wings, the rapid firing of guns, produced an effect which no words
can convey to one who has not experienced a night at a “pigeon
roost.” In 1869 Dr. Haymond said: “Still seen in large numbers,
though evidently they have been constantly diminishing in numbers
162 Revorr or Stare Grovocist.

for the last forty years, and are probably not half so numerous as they
formerly were.” .

Hon. H. D. Johnson, a native of Franklin County, now a resident
of Salt Lake City, Utah, informs me that, when a boy, some time be-
tween 1820 and 1830, he remembers going with some men to a
“pigeon roost,” in Springfield or Bath Township. He remembers its
site was marked by an extensive windfall. There, upon the bushes,
the pigeons nested in countless numbers, and the object of their visit
was to catch squabs. He thinks they nested there for several years.
Mr. B. S. Miner, of Leota, Ind., writes me of a roost in Scott County
which existed from before he can recollect. He remembers it first in
1840. The birds would begin to fly to it in large flocks about one hour
before night, and would continue, with intervals, till dark. When at
roost they would break down the timber. They occupied the roost for
two or three years, and then, after a few years’ absence, would return.
This continued until about 1855, since which date they have roosted
there but one year; that was since the rebellion. They did not nest
there. Mr. Angus Gaines says Pigeons once roosted in Knox County
in vast numbers. Mr. W. W. Pfrimmer says they formerly nested in
great numbers in the timber along the Kankakee River, in Newton
County. Mr. Wm. Brewster, in his article “On the Present Status of
the Wild Pigeon,” says a man told him the largest nesting he ever vis-
ited was in 1876 or 1877. It began near Petoskey and extended north-
east past Crooked Lake for 28 miles, averaging three or four miles
wide. The birds arrived in two separate bodies, one directly from the
south by land, the other following the east coast of Wisconsin, and
crossing Manitou Island. He saw the latter body come in from the
lake at about 3 o’clock in the afternoon. It was a compact mass of
Pigeons, at least five miles long by one mile wide. The birds began
building when the snow was twelve inches deep in the woods, although
the fields were bare at the time. So rapidly did the colony extend its
boundaries that it soon passed literally over and around the place
where he was netting, although, when he began, this point was several
miles from the nearest nest.

Nestings usually start in deciduous woods, but during their prog-
ress the Pigeons do not skip any kind of trees they encounter. The
Petoskey nesting extended eight miles through hardwood timber, then
crossed. a river bottom wooded with arbor-vite, and thence stretched
through white pine woods about twenty miles. For the entire dis-
tance of twenty-eight miles every tree of any size had more or less
nests, and many trees were filled with them. None were lower than
about fifteen feet above the ground. Pigeons are very noisy when
Birps vF INDIANA. 763

luilding. ‘hey make a sound resembling the croaking of wood-frogs.
Their combined clamor can be heard four or five miles away when the
atmospheric conditions are favorable: Two eggs are usually laid, but
many nests contain only one. Both birds incubate, the females be-
tween 2 o’clock p. m. and 9 or 10 o’clock the next morning; the males
from 9 or 10 o’clock a. m. to 2 o’clock p. m. The males feed twice
cach day, namely, from daylight to about 8 o’clock a. m., and again
late in the afternoon. The females feed only during the forenoon.
The change is made with great regularity as to time, all the males
being on the nest by 10 o’clock a.m. * * *

Five weeks are consumed by a single nesting. Then the young are
forced out of the nest by the old birds.

I can remember a number of interesting flights in my boyhood.
About 1873 they were very abundant for the last time near Brook-
ville. Prof. Evermann notes they were very abundant up to that
time in Carroll County; but the last were seen in the fall of 1877,
when a few hundred represented the countless numbers of half a cen-
tury or less ago. That autumn I was at Hanover and shot a number
from the extreme end of College Point. >

“The nesting area situated near Petoskey covered something like
100,000 arcres of land, and included not less than 150,000 acres within
its limits, being in length about forty miles by three to ten in width.
The number of dead birds sent by rail was estimated at 12,500 daily,
or 1,500,000 for the summer, besides 80,352 live birds; an equal num-
ber was sent by water. We have, adding the thousands of dead and
wounded ones not secured, and the myriads of squabs left dead in the
nest, at the lowest possible estimate, a grand total of 1,000,000,000
Pigeons sacrificed to mammon during the nesting of 1878” (Prof. H.
B. Roney, in Chicago Field, Vol. X, pp. 345-347).

Mr. Parker says the last year they were at all abundant. in Cook
County, Ill., was in May and June, 1881.

Mr. William Brewster visited the localities so well known as breed-
ing grounds for Pigeons throughout Michigan in the spring of 1888.
While the Pigeons had not made the flight they had in former years,
still he assures us the flight was a large one. They passed beyond the
lower peninsula and doubtless found a breeding ground remote from
persecution. Mr. Brewster was of the opinion that there were left
enough Pigeons to stock the West, provided they could be protected
by adequate laws. (The Auk, October, 1889, p. 285, et. seq.).

They have not been protected, but steadily decreased in numbers
so that some years I have not heard of a single Pigeon. In 1892 Mr.
Pfrimmer shot two in Newton County. More were observed in 1894
764 Report or Srars Guroogisy.

than for two or three years. Mr. Barnett noted them in Brown
County March 7 and April 5. In Laporte County a flock of 50 or more
was seen April 10 (Barber). At Grand Haven, Mich., one was seen
May 3 (Davidson). Near Manchester, Mich., observed June 13, Sep-
tember 9 and 12 (L. W. Watkins). Mr. E. J. Chansler says he saw
a considerable flock in Knox County, September 1. Mr. Harbin saw
a flock October 5. These are the first pigeons he has seen for years.
In 1895 Mr. Barnett saw a flock of sixty, April 12, in Brown County.
Mr. Ratliff reported twenty-five, April 18, at Richmond.

Prof. W. P. Shannon saw the wings of a Wild Pigeon that was
killed near Greensburg in the winter of 1895-6 or the spring of 1896.
It was alone when shot. About the same time Mr. John Wright saw
six in Bartholomew County. Mr. E. J. Chansler reports a smal! flock
from Flat Creek Bottom, near Wheatland, in 1896. In September,
1896, it was said several were seen in the eastern part of Franklin
County, but I was unable to verify the report. Mr. J. F. Honacker says
a small flock was seen near St. Peter’s, Franklin County, October 21,
1897. Previous to that the last one noted in that county was a single
one, February 28, 1890.

The passing of the Pigeon was a wonderful sight. Well do I re-
member, as a young boy, the long, dark lines of moving wings, and
the noise of the propelling strokes. Their passing away must fill the
soul of every one, into whose life their migrations have come as an
experience, with profound regret. I introduce the lines of a careful
observer, a faithful interpreter of nature, my friend, Hon. B. S.
Parker. His “Hoosier Bards” are the feathered songsters of our be-
loved State, and therein he has preserved his recollections of the
Passenger Pigeon:

“And windy tumults shake the ground,
And trees break» down with feathered store,
And many swiftly-pulsing wings
Are spread at once in sudden fright,
Till every fleeting minute brings
The noise of some delirious flight,
And all the air is dark with swarms
Of pigeons in their quest for food,
While autumn leaves in eddying storms
Are beaten by the feathered flood.”
Birps or INDIANA. 165

67. Genus ZENAIDURA BonapartE.

*125, (816). Zenaidura macroura (Livy.).
Mourning Dove.

Synonyms, Carotina Dove, TurtiLe-Dove.

Adult Male.—Brownish-olive, glossed with blue on the crown and
nape; below, purplish-red, becoming tawny-white on the vent and
crissum; neck, metallic-golden; a velvety-black spot on the auriculars
and others on the wing coverts and scapulars; middle tail feathers,
like back; the rest, ashy-blue at the base, then crossed by a black bar,
then white or ashy-white; bill, very slender, black; feet, carmine.
Adult Female.—Paler, less metallic lustre. Immature.—Similar to
female, but feathers with paler edges; no distinct black spot beneath
ear,

Length, 11.00-13.00; wing, 5.70-6.10; tail, 5.70-6.50.

Raner.—North America, from Panama and West Indies north to
southern Maine, Canada and British Columbia. Breeds throughout
the United States. Winters in Indiana and New York southward.

Nest, of twigs, in bush, tree, or on stump, log or ground. Hggs, 1 or
2; white; 1.10 by .84.

Common summer resident northward; southward, common resident.
In the lower Wabash and lower Whitewater valleys they often spend
the winter in small flocks, frequenting chosen places. Years when
snow stays long on the ground -they are to be found about corncribs
and places where stock is fed. Some winters they are quite common.
In the spring of 1883 all the specimens shot at Wheatland, Indiana,
had the ends of their toes frozen off, showing that they had braved
the almost unprecedented cold of the preceding winter. (Ridgway,
Birds of IIL, I, p. 499.)

A few pass the winter as far north as Terre Haute (Blatchley), Car-
roll County, Monroe County (Evermann), Brown (Kindle), Richmond
(McCoy), Wabash (Ulrey and Wallace). Some winters they are found
to the northern limits of the State, and even into Michigan, Wisconsin,
and Ontario.

Their migrations in spring depend upon the season; sometimes they
appear in middle and northern Indiana in February; usually they
are seen by the middle of March, but in the extreme northern part of
the State and in the vicinity of Chicago the records show that some
years they do not appear until early in April.

In autumn they remain into November. Generally the greater
number have left northern Indiana the first week of that month. They
766 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

begin cooing about the middle of March, in Franklin County; 1887,
March 7; 1896, March 10. The nest is a frail platform, composed of
sticks and roots, sometimes with a few leaves.

They mate early, and their nests, with complement of eggs, are
often found early in April—April 5, Carroll County (Evermann);
April 4, Franklin County; April 17, Lafayette (L. A. and C. D. Test).
Their usual nesting place is in a tree or bush, from four to fifteen feet
from the ground. In the bushes along the river banks their nests
are especially numerous. They select as a nesting site Honey Locusts
(Gleditschia) or Thorn (Crategus) perhaps more often than all other
trees. They often nest in orchards, and upon stumps from two to ten
feet high. They are sometimes found breeding in company with the
Purple Grackle. Mr. L. T. Meyer writes of a tendency of these birds
towards breeding close together, possibly in colonies. In a very small
patch of pine trees, in Lake County, he found ten nests. Occasionally
nests are found built upon the ground, as they are throughout the
treeless region of the West, but such is not often the case with us.

Both sexes share in incubation, the period being about two weeks.

They are generally through breeding by July, though the nest, with
eggs, occasionally may be found all through the summer and into the
early fall. When family cares are over they begin to collect in small
flocks. Then they often are seen in the corn fields, which they con-
tinue to frequent into the winter. Their food consists of different
kinds of grain, weed seeds, beechnuts, small acorns, worms and in-
sects.

J. OrpeR RAPTORES. Brrps or Prey.
SusorpER SARCORHAMPHI. American VuLrurEs.

XXV. Famiry CATHARTIDA. AmeErRIcAN VULTURES.

a’. Tail square; wings short, primaries of folded wings not reaching to end of

tail; nostrils small and narrow. CaTHARISTA. 69
a?, Tail rounded; wings long, primaries of folded wing reaching to or beyond end
of tail; nostrils large and broad. CATHARTES. 68

68. Genus CATHARTES I:urerr.
*126. (825). Cathartes aura (Linn.).
Turkey Vulture.
Synonym, Turkey Buzzarp.
Adult.—Head and upper part of neck, naked, the skin bright red,

sparsely set with a few bristle-like feathers; bill, white; plumage, lus-
trous black, more or less edged with brown; tail, rounded; ends of
Birps or INDIANA. 767

primaries reaching beyond the end of tail. Zmmalwre.—Similar, but
skin of head and neck black, and more or less covered with whitish
down. ‘

Length, 26.00-32.00; extent, about 6 feet; wing, 20.00-23.00
(inches); tail, 11.00-12.00; culmen, 1.00; tarsus, 2.25-2.30.

Rancz.—America, from Patagonia to New Jersey, Ontario, south-
ern Michigan, northern Indiana. Casually to Maine, the Saskatche-
wan, and British Columbia. Winters from southern Indiana south-
ward.

Nest, in hollow trees and logs, and in cavities in rocks, and on
ground. Hggs, 2, rarely 1 or 3; white or creamy-white, blotched,
smeared or spotted with irregular markings of various shades of brown
and lavender; 2.74 by 1.89.

Resident in southern Indiana, at least as far north as Vincennes and
the lower Whitewater Valley. Some years they remain through the
winter as far north as Brookville. They generally appear north to the
center of the State in February or early March. Brown County,
1893, February 22 (Kindle); 1895, February 23; 1897, February 13
(Barnett); Wayne County, 1895, March 4 (Ratliff); 1897, March 22
(Hadley); Carroll County, March 16, 1884; March 12, 1885 (Ever-
mann). Just as they gradually fade away in the fall, so they almost
imperceptibly reappear in spring. The northern part of the State
notes their-return within the latter half of March, and they reach the
southern shore of Lake Erie by early April—Sandusky, O., March 29,
1896; April 3, 1897 (Moseley)—and southeastern portion of Michigan,
where it is rare, the latter part of April—(Petersburg, April 27, 1897;
Trombley).

Mr. E. W. Nelson noted it as irregular and rare in Cook County, ILI.
(Bull. Essex Inst., p. 120). Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr., tells me he has
never seen it in that county, but that it is often observed at Kouts,
Ind., thirty miles away. Plenty at “Crane Town,” Jasper County, in
April, 1887 (Trouslot). In southwestern Michigan it is also very rare.
The Kankakee River seems to be the limit of its range, in northwest
Indiana, and through the Wabash Valley it reaches the northeastern
part of the State and adjacent portions of Michigan. It breeds
throughout its summer range.

They mate soon after arrival, from the middle of March, in the
southern counties. Eggs are found from April 25 through May. Most
of them are laid before the middle of May, with us. They lay in a
hollow tree or snag, in a prostrate hollow log, on the ground, beside a
fallen tree, with no attempt to make a nest. In the Whitewater
Valley they nest indiscriminately along the streams, on wooded hillsides
768 Report oF StaTE GEOLOGIST.

or summits, or in the more level woodland. The following measure-
ments are from three sets collected near Brookville by my friend, Mr.
E. R. Quick: 2.90 by 1.95; 2.70 by 1.90, deposited on ground beside
a log, collected May 14, 1879. 2.95 by 1.95; 3.10 by 1.85, laid in hol-
low sycamore snag, six feet above ground and forty feet from the top,
and only entrance; collected May 15, 1879. Incubation was far ad-
vanced in both sets. 2.7/5 by 1.94; 2.75 by 2.00, taken May 20, 1880;
eggs fresh.

Mr. W. O. Wallace wrote me of a nest containing young found by a
friend of his in Wabash County in the summer of 1894. When he
first saw the young birds they were about the size of half-grown
chickens, and entirely covered with white down. When they were
disturbed they hissed loud enough to have drowned the noise of a hive
of angry bees. They were at the bottom of a large elm tree stub, on
the ground. After some effort, one of the birds was taken out of the
hollow trunk. When it was teased it ejected the contents of its
stomach, which proved to be a mass of half-digested garter snake.

They feed upon all kinds of carrion and fresh meat. The latter is
their preference. There are, at different localities, places, where these
birds congregate, known as “Buzzard Roosts.” At such spots great
numbers of these Vultures gather from a considerable area of country.
One such is on the east Fork of the Whitewater River, about five
miles north of Brookville. There, at almost any time. in summer,
these birds may be seen on the long limbs of the sycamores and elms
along the river, resting or drying or preening their feathers after a
bath. There is another well known roost at Shades of Death, near
Waveland, Parke County. This overlooks the deep and rocky valley
of Sugar Creek.

They begin to withdraw from the northern part of their range in
October, sometimes early, others remaining until the close, and gradu-
ally disappear to the southward. Some years most of the migrants are
gone by the last of that month; others remain until late November
and even into December. Mr. E. J. Chansler writes me of a pure white
Turkey Vulture that was seen in Knox County.

69. Genus CATHARISTA Vinrtuor.
*127. (826). Catharista atrata (Bartr.).
Black Vulture.
Synonym, Carrion Crow.
Adult.—Head and upper part of neck, naked, black; the feathers

reaching farther up on back of neck; bill, black at base, with white.
tip; plumage, uniform dull black; under part of surface of wings,
Birps oF INDIANA. 769

grayish or whitish. The heavier form, with square tail and short
wings, with whitish lining, easily distinguish this bird.

Length, 23.00-27.00; wing, 16.50-17.50; tail, 7.50-8.50; culmen,
.90-.95; tarsus, 3.00.

RaneE.—America, from Argentine Republic and Chili north to
North Carolina, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and west to Great
Plains. Irregularly or casually to Maine, New York and South Da-
kota. Winters from southern Indiana southward.

Nest, on ground, under a log or bush, or in a hollow tree. Kags, 2,
occasionally 1 or 3; gray-green, irregularly marked with different tints
of chocolate and reddish-brown; 3.09 by 2.01.

Resident in the southern part of the State; generally not numerous,
but, in the lower Wabash Valley, at least from Knox County south-
ward, it is common. In the lower Whitewater Valley it is seen most
commonly in winter, but also breeds. The southern part of our State
is mostly within the uncertain zone, which lies north of the territory
where it is a common resident. It is not a migratory bird, but rather
a wanderer which is liable to be found at any season, except that of
breeding, within a narrow belt to the northward, and may even rarely
breed there. Audubon, in 1834, said of this Vulture: “This bird is
a constant resident of all our southern States, extends far up the
Mississippi Valley, and continues the whole year in Kentucky, Indi-
ana, Illinois and even in the State of Ohio, as far as Cincinnati.”
Apparently they withdrew from the vicinity of the Ohio Valley, and
for over forty years there was no account of its having been observed.
there. The next record of its occurrence in Ohio was given by Dr.
Langdon as December 20, 1876 (Bull. Nuttall Orn. Club, October,
1877, p. 109). The next record from Indiana was of two specimens
observed at Brookville, May 17, 1879, by Mr. E. R. Quick (Journ.
Cin. Soc. N. H., December, 1881, p. 341). From that time until the
present it has regularly been seen in Indiana, in increasing numbers,
and has extended its range northward until it has been found about
half-way across the State. It would seem that here is a case of reces-
sion from a former area and of again extending its range to an equal
or greater extent than formerly occupied. It has been noted as far
north as the counties of Knox, Monroe, Decatur and Franklin, in
1890. Mr. O. P. Hanger noted it in Orange County in 1887 (The
Curlew, I, No. 3, p. 35). Mr. Alden M. Hadley observed them at
Monrovia, Morgan County, November 24, 1894. Mr. J. B. Burris saw
several at Cloverdale, Putnam County, November 18, 1896. Mr. E.
J. Chansler informs me they have become common at Bicknell, Knox

49—GEOL,
770 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

County, since 1889. Previous to that date they were seldom seen.
The fall of 1894 they were quite common, and in the fall of 1895, at
times in September, October and November, large flocks were ob-
served. Both autumns there were many dead hogs in that vicinity,
and the Black Vultures fed upon them. Mr. Robert Ridgway informs
me of its breeding in Knox and Gibson counties, and I have reported
an instance of its breeding four miles west of Brookville, in the valley
of the West Fork of the Whitewater River, in May, 1889, in a hollow
sycamore stub, about twenty feet high. The two eggs were placed upon
the ground inside (Bendire, L. H. N. A. Birds, I, p. 167). They usu-
ally breed upon the ground, under bushes, logs, or sometimes entirely
exposed. The eggs are. usually two. Both sexes assist in incubation,
which takes about thirty days. Probably but one brood is raised a
season. They are generally known to our people by the name “Carrion
Crow.” It will be interesting to note whether they further extend
their range as the years go by. The Black Vulture may be distin-
guished, by a careful observer, on account of its heavier body, square,
short tail, which gives it a chopped off appearance, black head, and sil-
very grayish primaries. In some of the southern cities these Vultures
are very tame, in fact, are semi-domesticated, but in Vera Cruz, Mex-
ico, they may be said to be the sanitary police. They clean the streets
and all public places of offal,and their value to the health of the people
is very great. They are so tame that when engaged in feeding in the
streets they grudgingly make way for the passer-by.

Susorprr FALCONES. Fatcons, Hawks, Buzzarps, Eager,
Kitns, Erc.

XXVI. Famuiy FALCONIDZE. Fatcons, Hawks, Eacurs,
Kirss, Erc.

a. Outer toe reversible; claws all same length, narrowed and rounded on the un-
der side. Panpion. 79

a’, Outer toe not reversible; claws graduated from largest (hind toe) to eniallest
(outer toe).

61. Nostril small, circular, with a conspicuous bony tubercle; cutting edge of
upper mandible with a strong tooth, separated from hooked tip of bill by a
distinct notch. Subfamily Fanconnx. Faxco. 78

6*. Nostril not circular, nor with an inner bony tubercle. Subfamily Accrrr-
TRINA.
Birvs or INbIANA. V7

c!, Tail deeply forked. ELANOIDEs. 70
c®, Tail not deeply forked. ,
ad), Wing not more than 18.00 inches.
e}, Tarsus more or less naked in front.
f}. Front of tarsus covered with small roundish scales; claws not

grooved beneath. ELANUS.
f?. Front of tarsus covered with large transverse scales ; claws grooved
beneath.
g). Cutting edge of upper mandible notched. Icrmra. 71
g*. Cutting edge of upper mandible not notched.
A). Face with a slight ruff as in owls. Crrcus. 72

h?. Face without a ruff.

i, Tarsus about equal to tibia; wings little longer than tail.
ACCIPITER. 75
a. Tarsus usually less than three-fourths the length of tibia; tail

much shorter than wing.

j. Nostril nearly ovate, its forward end pointed upward;
wings rather pointed. Burro. 74

Jj’. Nostril nearly circular; wings rounded. ASTURNIA.

e?, Tarsus densely feathered to base of toes, except a bare strip behind.
ARCHIBUTEO. 75
d?. Wing over 18.00 inches. :
k+, Tarsus feathered all round to base of toes.
Aquina. 76
k?, Tarsus with at least lower third naked all round.

Hawizetus. 77

Supramity ACCIPITRINA. Kirszs, Buzzarps, Hawks, Erc.

70. Genus HLANOIDES Vis1ttor.

128. (327). Elanoides forficatus (Linv.).
Swallow-tailed Kite.

Adult.—Tail, forked like that of some swallows; head, neck, band
across rump, and lower parts, pure white; rest of plumage, glossy
black, with reflections of varying shades. Immature-—Head and neck,
streaked with dusky; black less glossy; feathers of wings and tail, more
or less margined with white. .

Length, 19.50-25.50; wing, 15.40-17.70; outer tail feathers, 12.50-
14.50; culmen, 0.70-0.80; tarsus, 1.00-1.30.

Raneer.—America, from Brazil to Virginia, Indiana and Minnesota;
rarely to Massachusetts, Ontario, Michigan, Manitoba, and Assiniboia.
Breeds from Indiana, Illinois and Iowa southward. Winters south
of United States.
772 Reporr oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Nest, of sticks and moss, in tops of tall trees. Hggs, 2-3; white,
sometimes with greenish or yellowish tinge, spotted and blotched with
brown, chestnut and umber; 1.87 by 1.49.

Rare summer resident in the southwestern part of the State; of
rare and irregular occurrence northward. Wilson says of this graceful,
swallow-like Kite, that it “is very abundant in South Carolina and
Georgia, and still more so in west Florida, and the extensive prairies
of Ohio and Indiana territory.” (Am. Orn., VI, 1812, p. 70). They
continued to grow less in numbers year after year. In Ohio, for
twenty years after 1858, there was no record. From the time of Wil-
son down to the year 1882, a period of seventy years, with the single
exception reported from Franklin County by Dr. Haymond (Indiana
. Geol. Rept., 1869, p. 210), it was not reported from Indiana north of
the lower Wabash River. There Dr. F. Stein killed three, two males
and female, in one season. Mr. Robert Ridgway noted it as a summer
resident, but much less common than formerly. The specimen seen by
Dr. Haymond was shot eleven miles below Brookville. It had been
feeding upon beetles and cat-birds’ eggs, which it had swallowed with-
out breaking (Proc. Phila. Acad. Nat. Sci., November, 1856, p. 287).

Since 1882, whether because of increase of the number of observers
or of its occurring more often, it has been noted several times north of
the region named. A pair was shot, June 19, 1882, in Monroe County,
Mich. (Bull. Nuttall Orn. Club, October, 1882, p. 250). It was noted
in the following Indiana counties: Decatur, July, 1883 (Guthrie);
Monroe, two, August 18, 1885 (Evermann); Allen, one, about 1885
(Stockbridge); Clinton, one, killed near Frankfort, July, 1885, and
now in the possession of a man near there (Newlin); Mr. E. J. Chans-
ler notes a pair in Knox County, in August, 1890, one of which is pre-
served by Mr. J. Freeman, Bicknell, Ind. He also reports another
one seen April 11, 1894. Mr. J. A. Balmer mentions it, from Knox
County. Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr., writes me of a male shot at Lake View,
Ill., fifty miles north of Chicago, June 5, 1895. Their nesting time is
from April to June. It will be observed that its distribution in this
State corresponds closely with that of the original prairies. Tt has
never been known -to breed in Indiana, though I should not be sur-
prised to learn that it does. Audubon found a nest near the Falls of
the Ohio in 1820, which contained four young. They feed upon
lizards, tree-toads, toads, grasshoppers, beetles and other insects, and
they are decidedly beneficial. It is said to feed extensively on the
cotton worm during the summer and early fall.
ee
~?

Birps oF InplANaA.

71. Guxus ICTINIA Vigsiior.
*129. (829). Ictinia mississippiensis (W11s.).
Mississippi Kite.

Adult.—Tail, very slightly forked; head, neck and secondaries, ashy;
rest. of plumage, dark plumbeous, blackish on lesser wing coverts;
primaries and upper tail coverts, marked with rufous chestnut; tail,
black. Immature—Head, neck and lower parts, white, spotted or
streaked with brown; tail, tipped with whitish, and below with nar-
row cross bands of white or grayish; upper parts, brownish-black,
marked with rufous or white.

Length, 13.00-15.50; wing, 10.60-12.30; tail, 6.00-7.00.

Ranee.—KEastern North America, from Guatemala north to South
Carolina, southern Illinois, southern Indiana and Kansas. Casually
to Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Iowa. Breeds from Kansas and
southern Illinois southward. Winters south of United States.

Nest, of sticks, twigs and leaves, lined with moss, in tops of tall
trees. Hggs, 2-3; white, bluish-white or greenish-white.

Rare summer resident in the Lower Wabash Valley; accidental
visitor elsewhere. Mr. Robert Ridgway informs me that it is found
about the Cypress ponds of Knox County from May 15 to September.
He notes that it breeds. Mr. Chas. Dury writes me, a specimen of a
Mississippi Kite which was sent to him from Lafayette several years
ago, which he supposes was killed near that place. Prof. A. J. Cook
notes one specimen from Cass County, Mich. (Birds of Mich., p. 72).
In the southern part of Illinois it is not uncommon, locally (Ridgway,
Birds of Ill., I, p. 449). This species is another of the Kites that be-
longs to the harmless class of raptorial birds. Its food is much the
same as last mentioned species.

72, Genus CIRCUS Lacupeng.

*130. (831). Cireus hudsonius (Livv.).
Marsh Hawk.

Face encircled by a ruff of short, compact feathers, as in the Owls.

Adult Male.—Mostly of a uniform light bluish-gray, streaked with
white; tail, barred with six to eight bands, the one nearest the end
being broader and darker; tips of the wings, blackish. Female and
Immature —Dusky or rusty-brown, more or less streaked on head and
neck. The Marsh Hawk may be easily distinguished in any plumage
by the large white patch on the rump.
V4 Report oF SraTeE GEOLOGISY.

Length, 19.50-24.00; wing, 12.90-16.00; tail, 8.80-10.50. (Fisher.)

Ranez.—North America, from Panama and Cuba to Alaska.
Breeds from Gulf States northward. Winters from Indiana and Mary-
land southward.

Nest, a collection of sticks, weeds, grass, twigs or moss, on ground,
on. prairies, marshes, bogs and meadows. Hggs,.3-8; white to pale
bluish-white, sometimes faintly spotted with drab-gray, burnt umber
or cinnamon; 1.77 by 1.39.

 

Head of Marsh Hawk.

Resident in northern Indiana; winter resident farther south.
Breeds. Of rare or irregular occurrence in fall, winter and spring in.
the southeastern part of State. Its residence is confined more or less
closely to the original prairie region. There, in the northern part of
the State, it is a common, well known bird, and breeds. It is probable
that it also breeds southward along the western side of the State. Mr.
Deane reported a nest and six eggs taken, May 19, 1889, at English
Lake. Audubon found it nesting in the Kentucky Barrens. It is
also reported to breed in the following counties in this State: Knox
(Balmer), Fulton (Bunnell), Dekalb (H. W. McBride, Feagler), Allen
(Snyder). In Franklin County it has been seen but a few times. I
have records of only four specimens.

They begin their wanderings away from the more open regions of
the State in August and are most commonly seen through September,
October and November. In spring they are most often observed in
March and April. The quantity of food upon the meadows has more
to do with the numbers of these birds in southeastern Indiana than
the weather changes. They are much more often seen when the
meadow mice are abundant. These birds are known as “Harriers”
or “Mouse Hawks.” The light blue or gray color of the adult male
is not nearly as familiar as the brown and black plumage of the fe-
males and immature birds. The white rump, slender form, long tail
and long, slender wings will distinguish it. It is thought they often
remain paired throughout the year. They begin mating late in March
Brrps oF InpIiANA. v 15

or early in April. ‘The nest is usually placed in a marsh, on the ground
or low bush, or other slight elevation. Nests may be found late in
April and through May. The male assists in incubating. They fre-
quently begin to incubate when the first egg is laid. The male often
catches food and carries it to the female. The period of incubation
is somewhat over three weeks. Both parents care for the young. But
one brood is raised a.season.

The food of the Marsh Hawk, as far as I have examined it in White-
water Valley, is chiefly meadow mice, rabbits, squirrels and ground
squirrels, lizards, snakes, frogs, and birds, grasshoppers, locusts and
other meadow insects. The birds eaten are principally sparrows and
other birds of the prairie and meadow. The food being so largely of
injurious species, it is classed as one of the hawks that. are mostly
beneficial.

73. Genus ACCIPITER Brissoy.

a’, Tarsus feathered less than one-third the way down in front; the feathers well
separated in front. Subgenus AcciPrrEer.
b'. Wing more than 8.75 ; taildecidedly rounded. A. cooperi (Bonap.). 132
b?, Wing under 8.75; tail not decidedly rounded, A. velox (Wils.). 131
a®?, Tarsus feathered more than one-third (usually one-half) the way down in
front; the feathers scarcely separated behind. Subgenus AstTuR.
, : A. atricapillus (Wils.). 133

Subgenus AcciPitTER.

*131, (882). Accipiter velox (WiLs.).
Sharp-shinned Hawk.

Adult.—Uniform bluish-gray above; top of head, darker; tail,
crossed by several blackish bands; wing, not more than 8.80 inches;
tail, more than two-thirds as long as wing, its tip even or slightly
notched; below, whitish, with breast and sides barred with dusky or
rufous. Immature—Above, dusky, more or less spotted with lighter,
the feathers bordered with rusty; below, whitish, streaked with brown
or dusky.

Length, 10.00-14.00; wing, 6.00-8.80; tail, 5.80-8.20. (Fisher.)

Ranez.—North America, from Panama north to southern Canada,
and in the interior to Great Slave Lake. Breeds from southern United
States northward. Winters from northern Indiana and from northern
New York southward.

Nest, in trees, 15 to 60 feet up, of sticks, lined with bark and leaves.
Higgs, 4-5; pale bluish, or greenish-white, blotched and spotted with
various shades of brown, the darker ones predominating; 1.47 by 1.16.

Resident. Most of them leave the northern part of the State in fall
and return in spring. In southern Indiana it is more often found in
.

776 Report oF Stave GEOLOGIST.

winter than summer. Everywhere it is most numerous during the
migrations. In some places it is considered rare at other times.

In fall the migrations occur in September and October; in spring,
in March and April:

Mr. H. W. McBride found it breeding in Dekalb County. Mr.
A. H. Kendrick says it breeds in Vigo County. Mr. L. T. Meyer
found a nest containing two fresh eggs in Lake County, April
17, 1886. It was placed in a tall oak, and was composed of sticks and
lined with bark. Dr. T. M. Brewer says Audubon speaks of having
met with three nests, one in a hole in a rock, on the banks of the
Ohio River, another in the hollow of a broken branch, near Louisville,
Ky., and the third in the forks of a low oak, near Henderson, Ky.
(N. A. Oology, Pt. J, p. 19).

This represents three types of nesting sites, but the habit of nesting
in cliffs is very rare outside of the Arctic regions. The nest is gen-
erally large and well built. Sometimes they remodel the old nest of a
crow or squirrel and use it. They are late in nesting. Usually fresh
eggs are found late in April and in May, rarely as late as June 1.
The eggs are laid at intervals of one and two days; incubation begins
when the set is complete; meanwhile the female guards the nest. The
male does not cover the eggs, but brings food to the female while she
is thus occupied. The period of incubation is about three weeks. But
one brood is reared in a year.

The three hawks of this genus, the Sharp-shinned, Cooper’s, and
the Goshawk, are among the most destructive and injurious of our
hawks. They grade one into the other in size. The Goshawk is rare
and is only seen in Indiana in winter. They are commonly known as
Big and Little Blue-tailed Hawks, Darts or Darters, the present species
being the Little Blue-tail. The greater part of their food is chickens,
fowls and birds. These two species should be known by the name of
“Chicken Hawk” or “Hen Hawk,” instead of the larger Buteos. Our
citizens, particularly farmers and poultry men, should take pains to
learn these species, that they may be able to distinguish and punish
the guilty and not the innocent. Investigations of 159 stomachs of
this bird by the United States Department of Agriculture showed that
nearly fifty kinds of birds had been eaten, and that no bird, from the
size of doves, robins and chickens, were safe from its attacks. In fact,
in 964 per cent. of the stomachs containing food were the remains of
small birds. While they rarely attack full-grown poultry, young fowls
are a favorite food, and a brood, if exposed, is often entirely destroyed.
One of the stomachs examined by me in December, 1886, was found
to contain several large parasitic worms.
Brrps oF INDIANA. U77

*132. (833). Accipiter cooper1i (Bonap.).

Cooper’s Hawk.

Synonyms, Bic BLur Haws, Bic Biug-rairep Hawk, Lone-ratLep Dart,
DaRTeER.

         

 

Ui i
OH
See

Ah

SS

 
    

  
 

Cooper’s Hawk.
(Fisher-Year Book, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.)

Adult—Uniform bluish-gray above, top of head, blackish; tau,
crossed by several blackish bands; below, white, with breast and sides
barred with dusky or rufous. Immalure.—Dusky above, more or less
spotted with lighter, feathers with rusty edges; below, whitish,
-streaked with brown or dusky.

Length, 14.00-20.00; wing, 8.85-11.00; tail, 7.80-10.50. (Fisher).
Rance.—North America, from southern Mexico north to New-
foundland, Manitoba and British Columbia. Breeds from Gulf of
778 Report oF SrTave GEOLOGIST.

Mexico northward. Winters from northern New York and northern
Indiana southward.

Nest, in trees, 20 to 50 feet up, of sticks, lined with twigs and bark
(often use other nests, preferably crows’ or squirrels’). Eggs, 2-6;
bluish or greenish-white, sometimes indistinctly marked with brown
or drab; 1.93 by 1.50.

 

Bill and Foot of Cooper’s Hawk. Natural size.

Resident. In northern part of the State, rare in winter. Most nu-
merous during migrations, and in summer. Some severe winters they
are rare. Prof. Cooke says, in the winter of 1883-4, none were re-
ported north of 38 degrees (Bird Mig. Miss. Valley, p. 114). It has
been noted in the following counties, through the winter: Lake
(Meyer), Fulton (Barnell), Carroll (Evermann), Monroe (Blatchley),
Knox (Balmer), and Franklin. Breeds throughout the State. In fall
they migrate—in September and October; in spring, in March. They
are mated early in April and looking for nesting sites or repairing an
old nest. The site is the fork or notch of some tree, generally from
20 to 50 feet from the ground. Sometimes they build a new nest, at
other times they occupy that of the preceding year or even an old nest
of some other hawk, or of a squirrel. The nests are sometimes very
bulky, others well constructed and shapely. They begin laying in
April, and full sets of eggs have heen taken from April 25 to May
10. One brood is reared a year, though if the first laying is destroyed,
a second, or, in case of loss of second, a third set has been known to be
laid, sometimes in the same, sometimes in another nest. The eggs aro
deposited at intervals of one to two days, and incubation does not
begin till the set is nearly completed. The female does most of the
incubating and the male supplies her with food.
Brrps or Inprana. 779

‘This Hawk is an exact copy of the Sharp-shinned Hawk, only it is
larger. For that reason it is more destructive to large poultry, larger
birds and pigeons. It is, in fact, the Chicken-hawk. Big Blue Hawk,
Big Blue-tailed Hawk, Long-tailed Dart or Darter are some of its com-
mon names. In birds examined by me in fall and winter, one-half the
food was small birds. They were also found to have eaten rabbits
and mice. Of 133 stomachs of this Hawk reported upon by the United
States Department of Agriculture, 34 contained poultry or game birds;
52, other birds; 11, mammals; 1, frog; 3, lizards; 2, insects, and 39 were
empty. -Dr. A. K. Fisher says it is by far the most destructive species
we have to contend with. This is another, the chief one, of the in-
jurious hawks.

This and the last species have learned that European Sparrows,
usually called English Sparrows, are good eating and are fre-
quently easily obtained, and in many localities have fed upon them in
great numbers. In this way, at least, they are doing good service by
destroying this imported pest. The characteristics of this species
should be known, so that its attacks may be combated. Farmers and
poultry-raisers should become thoroughly familiar with it. The ag-
gregate damage done far exceeds that of all other birds of prey.

Subgenus Astur Lacépéde.

133. (834), Accipiter atrieapillus (Wus.).
American Goshawk.

Adult.—Above, bluish slate color, with blackish shaft streaks; top
of head, deep black; tail, crossed by four dusky bands; below, white,
thickly barred with narrow zigzag lines of gray; feathers often
streaked in middle with dusky. Immature-—Above, dusky grayish,
feathers margined with buff; below, whitish or pale buff, with narrow
stripes of blackish.

Length, 21.00-25.00; wing, 12.00-12.45; tail, 9.50-12.75. (Fisher).

Rance.—Northward. North America, from north Mexico, Kansas,
Missouri, Kentucky and Virginia northward: Breeds from Maine
northward; south in Rocky Mountains to California.

Nest, high up in large trees, of sticks, twigs, weeds, lined with grass
and‘ bark. Eggs, 2-5; soiled white, sometimes faintly blotched with
brown; 2.31 by 1.74.

' Rare winter visitor. Dr. F. Stein writes me he identified it in the
lower Wabash Valley. Mr. E. R. Quick reports it from near Brook-
ville in January, 1881. Mr. J. G. Parker writes me of its occurrence
in Lake County in April, 1889.
Fs0 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

‘The fact that it is not often found in this State relieves the farmer
of one of the most destructive enemies of poultry. Its size, strength
and activity and rapacity, added to its well-known fearlessness, render
it, in localities where it is common, a great pest. Begides poultry, they
eat Ruffed Grouse, Bobwhites and Doves, Rabbits and Squirrels. The
report by Dr. A. K. Fisher on 28 stomachs of this species examined
show that 9 contained poultry or game birds; 2, other birds; 10, mam-
mals; 3, insects; 1, centipede, and 8 were empty (Bull. No. 3 Division
of Orn. and Mam., U. 8. Dept. of Agriculture, p. 46).

In some localities the Goshawk so persistently hunts the Ruffed
Grouse that it is commonly known as “Partridge Hawk.” Audubon
tells us that, as he was passing down the Ohio, he observed one of these
Hawks attack a flock of Grackles, which were crossing the river, and
kill four or five of them. After killing each one by a squeeze, it was
permitted to fall on the water. The Hawk finally returned and picked
up all the floating birds.

Jn appearance, it is simply a larger Cooper’s Hawk, which species it
resembles in its flight and its hunting habits and its nesting.

It is said to breed in Michigan (Cook, Birds of Mich., p. 74), and in
the mountains of Pennsylvania, where it has heen noted by Dr. War-
ven (The Auk, July, 1897, pp. 317, 318).

74, GENUS BUTEO Covimr.

«a. Four outer primaries with inner webs emarginated.
b', Tarsus more than twice as long as middle toe. B. lineatus (Gmel.). 136
b+. Tarsus less than twice as long as middle toe.
e', Tail irregularly mottled with grayish dusky, rusty and white, with dark
band near tip; general color black or blackish; base of feathers pure
white. B. borealis harlani (Aud.). 185
c*, Tail, in adult, bright chestnut red above, with a narrow black bar near
tip, brownish gray banded with black in young; general color dark brown,
much barred and streaked. B. borealis (Gmel.). 134
a*, Three outer primaries with inner webs emarginated; wing less than 12.00.
B. latissimus (Wils.). 187

“134, (337). Buteo borealis (Gmxz.).
Red-tailed Hawk.

Adult.—Upper surface of tail, deep rusty rufous, with usually a
black subterminal band; above, blackish-brown, variegated with gray,
fulvous and whitish; below, white, with more or less buffy, belly
streaked with dusky or brown. Immature.—Tail, bright gray, without
any shade of red, and crossed by six to ten regular dark bands. A
pronounced blackish zone across the upper part of the belly.
Report of State Geologist, 1897.

Fisher, Year Book, U. 8S. Dep. Agr., 1894.
RED-TAILED HAWK.

 

 

 

Phate XXI.

‘

   

 
   

Brirps or INDIANA. 781

Length, 19.00-25.00; wing, 13.50-17.75; tail, 8.50-10.50. (Fisher).

RancE.—Eastern North America, west to Great Plains; from
Mexico to North Labrador, Manitoba and Northwest Territory.
Breeds almost throughout its range.

Nest, in high trees, of sticks, twigs, grass, etc. Eggs, 2-4; white,
often irregularly and variously marked with different shades of brown;
2.36 Jayt&80.
coBeqeeal resident; more numerous in southern two-thirds of the
Soaterqrianost places, where it is the most abundant Buteo. In the
vegint atjacent to Chicago all but a few have heen destroyed. They
ot bess0~"
sosibal o

ot10z9i"

“aM

Head of Red-tailed Hawk. Natural size.

are slightly migratory, perhaps more some years than others, as they
are more numerous during the migratory periods, August, September,
and March and April. :

This is the best known of the larger hawks, being in most places
commonly known as “Hen Hawk,” or Chicken Hawk. This name isa
misnomer. Occasionally an individual of depraved nature becomes a
chicken-eater, but as a rule it is exceptional for them to attack poultry.
In an examination of twenty stomachs, made by me a few years ago,
there were but two that had eaten chickens. One contained the re-
mains of a Bobwhite; the remainder, principally mice and small
rodents.

In his report on “The Hawks and Owls of the United States,” Dr.
Fisher gives the results of the examination of 562 stomachs of this
782 Revort oF StarE Grouocist.

hawk; 54 of them contained poultry or game birds; 51, other birds;
278, mice; 131, other mammals; 37, batrachians or reptiles; 47, in-
sects; 8, crawfish; 1, centipede; 13, offal; and 89 were empty. Sixty-
six per cent. of its food is injurious mammals and but 7 per cent. con-
sists of poultry. The Red-tailed Hawk greatly prefers the smaller
mammals, reptiles and batrachians, and lives almost entirely upon
them when they can be had. In their absence they often eat grass-
hoppers, crickets and beetles extensively. This is one of the species
that is mostly beneficial and should accordingly receive proper protec-
tion. Some years they begin mating in February, and I have found
them so engaged as late as April 21 (1887). They at once proceed to
repair the old nest, which they generally use. In southern Indiana
the favorite site is high up in the largest of the Shell-bark Hickories.
One such nest I have known to be occupied for nearly twenty years.
Their call note is given as “Kee-aah,” very shrill. Another note of the
breeding season is something like “Chirr” or “Pii-chirr’ when perched
near the nest (Bendire). I have never found its nest in the bottom
lands, but in some regions they prefer such places. Mr. H.“W. Mc-
Bride obtained a nest, with eggs, in Elkhart County, March 24, 1891.
Mr. L. T. Meyer informs me of a nest, with two eggs, incubation ad-
vanced, taken about 35 feet from the ground, in Lake County, April
19, 1885. Ordinarily, the most of our nests are found in March and
April. Usually but one brood is raised a year. The eggs are laid at
intervals of about two days. Sometimes, if the first eggs are destroyed,
this Hawk will lay another set, and as much as a fourth laying has
been known when something happened to the others. The period of
incubation is about four weeks (Bendire). The male renders some
assistance in this work, and at other times provides the female with
food. When disturbed during nesting time, instead of attempting to
defend their home, they usually fly about in circles high above, utter-
ing their shrill screech. The following excellent notes are from the
pen of Mr. H. W. McBride, a very enthusiastic collector, who has
contributed many valuable records regarding the birds of northern
Indiana:

“Next to the Red-shouldered Hawk, this is the most common hawk
im northern Indiana. A few remain all winter, but most of them go
south late in the fall, returning again early in the spring, the advance
guard coming late in February, and by the middle of March they
may be seen circling in pairs about their old nesting places. At this
time they are quite noisy, and it is seldom that one or more can not be
heard uttering their shrill “squeal,” and soaring about over every patch
of woods containing a couple of acres or more.
Birps or InpIANa. 83

_ “I think they remain mated for life, as I have not only noted cer-
tain peculiarities of the birds occupying the same nesting site from
year to year, but have been able to identify certain pairs by some pe-
culiar shape or markings of the eggs.

“Toward the latter part of March they are at work repairing the old
home, or, if it has been destroyed, in building ‘a new one in the same
locality, and by the first of April the females commence laying. The
earliest date that I have taken the eggs of this species was March 29,
1890, when I took a set of two fresh eggs near Waterloo. This set is
remarkable for several reasons. In the first place, at the time I took
it, the weather was very cold, the ground was covered with snow, and
the lower part of the nest was a solid mass of ice, the only dry and
warm spot being the cavity, about eight inches in diameter, which
had been covered by the bird. The eggs are also unusually large,
measuring 1.98 by 2.50 and 1.99 by 2.49 inches. This set is now in
the collection of Mr. H. W. Flint, of New Haven, Conn.

“From April 1st to the 15th, fresh eggs may be found, but after
that date they are too far advanced in incubation for preservation.

“My observations would indicate that the period of incubation cov-
ered about 18 days.

“Out of about 25 sets of eggs I have taken the stages of incubation
average as follows: Fresh, April 5; slightly incubated, April 8; incu-
bation advanced one-half, April 12; nearly ready to hatch, April 17;
young just hatched, April 21.

“On March 10, 1891, while after Great Horned Owls’ eggs, near
Waterloo, I saw a Red-tail fly from a large nest, and shot her. After
ascending the tree and finding the nest completed, but no eggs, I
opened the bird (female) and found a very large and completely
formed egg, with a hard shell, and evidently about ready to lay. This
would have been a record breaker, as it was nearly twenty days earlier
than I ever found their eggs.

“The nests are large, made of sticks, lined with small twigs, leaves,
and sometimes grass, and usually placed in the fork of a large tree—
beech, oak or ash—anywhere from 35 to 100 feet from the ground.

“The birds generally leave the nest upon the approach of any one
and remain at a good distance, circling about and uttering a peculiar
“squeal” very unlike the harsh scream of the Red-shouldered Hawk.

“The usual number of eggs in the sets I have taken is two, and
never have I found more than three. The largest set was taken April
13, 1890, a few miles from Waterloo, in Dekalb County, and is now
in the State Museum at Indianapolis. My record book contains the
following record of this set:

TR Sy Rte te ae et Bey ae

Shenker? eases tee ee SrSaos
<a

184 Report or STATE GEOLOGIST.

“April 18, 1890. No. 21—337. Red-tailed Hawk. Taken 54 miles
northwest of town (Waterloo), on the Golden Lake Road, in low,
swampy woods on west side of road. Nest, rather large, in a large,
leaning ash tree—70 feet from the ground. Bird left nest after I
started to climb. Two very large eggs, 1.98 by 2.46 and 2.04 by 2.60,
the largest I have seen. Incubation, one-third advanced.”

135. (337d). Buteo borealis harlani (Avp.).

Harlan’s Hawk.

Synonym, Brack Hawk.

In Harlan’s Hawk the tail is mottled with rusty, white, gray, and
dusky; the rest of the plumage may vary from that of the typical ed —
tail to nearly black. (Fisher).

Size, same as B. borealis.

RancE.—Harlan’s Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo borealis harlani), which
until recently was considered a species, dwells in lower Mississippi
Valley and Gulf States, east to Georgia, and extends casually to Kan-
sas, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Pennsylvania.

Nest and Eggs, probably similar to those of B. borealis.

Accidental visitor. Mr. R. B. Williams, Lebanon, Ind., has in his
possession a fine specimen of this Hawk. It was shot and its wing
broken by Mr. W. H. Moler, of the same city, in Perry Township,
Boone County, Ind., in September, 1887. He brought it while it was
alive to Mr. Williams, who mounted it. This is the first record of the
Black Hawk from Indiana. In Illinois, Mr. C. K. Worthen shot one
of a pair on the Mississippi River, near Warsaw, Hancock County, in
1879. J have in my collection the skin of a specimen taken several
years ago by Mr. W. 8. Everhart, of Toledo, Cumberland County, I1.,
in that county, and presented by him to me. This species is so rare
that, while its habits and food are probably similar to that of the typi-
cal Red-tailed Hawk, it is of no value to us. Its plumage varies from
much the same color of the true borealis to uniform black. The well
known Indian Chief, Black Hawk, was probably named after this bird.

*136. (339). Buteo lineatus (GMEL.).
Red-shouldered Hawk.

-ldult—Head, neck, and lower paris, more or less rusty or cinna-
mon, transversely spotted or barred with whitish; tail, black, crossed
by about six bands of white. .Above, reddish-brown, the center of the
feathers darker than the edges. Immature—Lower parts, dull
Birps oF INDIANA. 785

whitish, longitudinally spotted or streaked with dark brown; tail,
dusky, crossed by numerous narrow bands of dull buffy or grayish-
brown.

Length, 17.50-22.00; wing, 11.25-14.25; tail, 8.00-10.00. (Fisher).

Rancz.—LEastern North America, Mexico to Hudson Bay and Nova
Scotia; west to Texas and Great Plain. Breeds throughout its range.
Winters principally south of northern United States boundary.

Nest, in tree, of sticks, twigs, lined with grass. Hyggs, 2-5; extremely
variable, usually dull white, variously marked with brown; 2.15 by
1.70.

Resident, varying in numbers, locally, and with the seasons. In
some localities in northern Indiana they are abundant in summer, and
breed commonly. It is common and breeds in the lower Wabash
Valley. In the southeastern part of the State, including the White-
water Valley, northwest to Carroll and Wabash counties, it is not com-
mon in summer, but is more numerous during the migrations and in
winter. While it breeds throughout the State, and, in fact, through-
out its range, there are places where it is very common. In Connecti-
cut and the southern portions of New York it is safe to say that its
nests outnumber those of all the other birds of prey combined (Fisher,
Hawks and Owls of U. S., p. 65). In other parts of New York it is
reported as follows: It is the commonest bird of prey in Oneida and
Herkimer counties (Bendire, L. H. of N. A. Birds, I, p. 219). Com-
mon in Cayuga, Onondaga, Seneca and Wayne counties (Rathbun et
al., Rev. L. B. Cent. N. Y). Common southern resident in southern
Ontario; more frequent there than any other “Chicken Hawk” (Mcll-
wraith). In Wayne County, Ohio, it is more numerous than any other
Hawk, outnumbering the Red-tailed Hawk about three to one (Ober-
holser). In southern Michigan it is more common than the Red-tailed
Hawk at Bay City; common at Port Sanilac and in Kalamazoo County
(Cook); also in Wayne County (Trombley). In Dekalb County, Ind.,
Mr. H..W. McBride says the Red-tailed Hawk is tolerably common,
but the Red-shouldered is abundant. In Elkhart it is nearly as com-
mon. In Monroe it is about as numerous as B. borealis, and is com-
mon in Vigo (Evermann).

Mr. Robert. Ridgway, in a recent letter, says, in Knox and Gibson
counties, in Indiana, as well as Wabash, Lawrence and Richland coun-
ties. Ill., and in the district about Washington, D. C., the Red-shoul-
dered Hawk is far more numerous than the Red-tailed. JI am sure
there are, in the counties mentioned in Indiana and Illinois, at least
five times as many Red-shoulders as Red-tails, and I think the dis-
parity of numbers was even greater in most places, fully ten to one.

50—GEOoL.
786 Report oF State GEOLOGIST.

It is probable that these localities will be found to connect, thus
forming a narrow belt from the Atlantic coast to the Mississippi Val-
ley, or beyond, where, under somewhat similar conditions, they may
be found breeding in greater numbers than elsewhere. Into these
favorite localities in Indiana and Michigan the migrants are found
returning from the middle of February to the 25th of March. They
begin mating at once. Generally an old nest is repaired and used.
The nests are smaller and are not placed so high on an average as the
Red-tail’s, the range being, perhaps, from 20 to 65 feet. In northern
Indiana they must begin laying by the middle of March. Mr. Ridg-
way has taken its eggs at Mt. Carmel, Ill., April 1, 1867 (Bendire,
L. H. N. A. B., I, p. 223). Mr. Blatchley saw one on its nest near
Terre Haute, April 1, 1891. In the northern part of the State it is
commonly breeding and has full sets before April 15. Mr. H. W. Mc-
Bride has had better opportunities to observe these Hawks than any
one I know in Indiana. He says that the birds in immature plumage
sometimes nest, and that he took a set of five eggs of such a bird in
Dekalb County, April 22, 1890. He also was led to believe that a Red-
tailed and a Red-shouldered Hawk mated that year. He examined
the nest twice that spring and both times was attacked by such a pair.
The wood was small; there were no other nests near, and he was unable
to find any other Hawks in that vicinity. The Red-shouldered Hawk
was killed before any eggs were deposited, and the other was seen no
more. The following interesting notes were also furnished by Mr. H.
W. McBride:

“By far the most common Hawk in northeastern Indiana. There
is hardly a patch of woods containing an acre or more that is not the
home of a pair of them, but unless the woods be very extensive, only
one pair will be found nesting in it.

“The notes concerning the Red-tail will nearly all apply to this
species also, as their habits are almost identically the same.

“As to the date of nesting, the Red-shoulder is perhaps a few days
later than the Red-tail.

“TI have taken, together with my father, about 80 sets of eggs of
this hawk since 1884, and have examined several hundred nests. The
variety of the eggs is infinite, and the size runs from that of the
Cooper’s Hawk to as large as ihe average Red-tail’s ege. Some are
nearly round, like an Owl’s egg, some pear-shaped, some a perfect
oval; and in markings they run from nearly a plain, dirty white to
being so heavily marked by large blotches of brown and chocolate as
to almost obscure the ground color. Below I give extracts from my
notebook covering some of the more peculiar sets I have found:
Brirps or INDIANA. 787

“No. 5-339. Red-shouldered Hawk. Taken April 5, 1890, three
miles northeast of Waterloo. In low, marshy woods. Nest in oak
tree, about 75 feet from ground. Very small nest—probably an old
crow’s nest repaired. Birds very aggressive and repeatedly flew past
my head as I was climbing. Eggs are very peculiar, being pear-shaped
and finely speckled all over with lavender and brown. Four eggs. In-
cubation commenced.

“No. 34839. Red-shouldered Hawk. Taken April 25, 1890, in
same woods as No. 5 and about 200 yards from same place. Un-
doubtedly the same birds, as the eggs are exactly like those described
above. Nest in large oak tree, very hard to climb. Birds very aggres-
sive, as before. Three fresh eggs. On the edge of the nest was a large
dead garter snake. This set is now in the State Museum.

“No. 273839. Red-shouldered Hawk. Three fresh eggs taken
April 18, 1890, three miles south of Waterloo. Eggs remarkably
small, as small as those of Cooper’s Hawk. Nest in large sugar tree,
about 60 feet up, and was lined with an old Baltimore Oriole’s nest.
The birds were very bold and remained after I descended. I shot the
female to assure mygelf as to the identity. This set is also in the State
Museum.”

Most persons give three as the common number of eggs, but four
are probably as often found, and often five. The eggs are laid at in-
tervals of two or three days. The period of incubation is about four
weeks (Bendire). In this species both sexes share the labor of build-
ing, incubating and feeding the young. It is said, should the female
be killed, the male will rear the young. ;

The Red-shouldered Hawk is mostly beneficial. In the immature
plumage it is known as Winter Falcon. Its food is more varied than
that of most Hawks. Under the direction of Dr. C. Hart Merriam,
Ornithologist of the United States Department of Agriculture, the
food of this Hawk was studied. Of 220 stomachs examined, three
contained poultry; 12, other birds; 102, mice; 40, other mammals; 20,
reptiles; 39, batrachians; 92,:insects; 16, spiders; 7, crawfish; 1, earth-
worms; 2, offal; 3, fish, and 14 were empty. Jt was thus shown that
at least 65 per cent. of their food consists of small rodents, while they
and injurious insects amount to about 90 per cent. Hardly 14 per
cent. thereof was poultry and game. These valuable birds deserve
and should receive the protection of every one, particularly the farmer.
788 Reprort oF State GEoLogist.

Subgenus Tacnyrarorcuis Kaup.

*137, (343). Buteo latissimus (WILs.).
Broad-winged Hawk.

Adult.—Above, dusky-brownish, darker on- back; below, brownish,
dull rufous, or rusty, more or less broken by white transverse spotting;
lower belly, white, barred with dull rufous; tail, blackish, crossed by
two to four bands of gray or brownish-white. Immature—Entire
under parts, dull white or buffy, with longitudinal brown or dusky
streaks on breast and sides; tail, grayish-brown, crossed by five to seven
narrow bands of dusky.

Length, 13.25-18.00; wing, 9.75-11.40; tail, 6.50-8.00. (Fisher).

Ranee.—America, from Ecuador north over eastern North America
to New Brunswick, Hudson Bay. Breeds from Cuba and southern
United States northward. Winters from New York and in Mississippi
Valley from latitude 40° south.

Nest, in trees, of sticks, lined with strips of bark and leaves. Eggs,
2-4; dull grayish-white, spotted and blotched with different shades of
brown, hazel, drab and fawn-color, also, sometimes, shell markings
(Bendire); 1.93 by 1.56.

Resident in southern Indiana; summer resident northward. Not
common. Most often seen in spring and fall. Mr.’C. E. Aiken tells
me it breeds in Lake County, and Mr. Robert Ridgway notes its breed-
ing in Knox and Gibson counties. In the northern part of the State
they depart from August till the coming of severe weather, and return
in March or early April.

This Buteo is much smaller than either the Red-tailed or Red-shoul-
dered. It nests later, usually in May or June. The nests are smaller,
and sometimes a crow’s nest is occupied. It has been known to nest
in the fork of a tree, within three feet of the ground. The sites range
from that to about 60 feet high. The eggs are deposited at intervals
of one or two days. But one brood is raised. Both parents incubate
and care for the young. The incubation period is from twenty-one to
twenty-five days. The following summary of the stomachs of 65 of
these Hawks examined shows that 2 contained small birds; 15, mice;
13, other mammals; 11, reptiles; 13, batrachians; 30, insects; 2, earth-
worms; 4, crawfish; and Y were empty (Fisher, Hawks and Owls of
U.S., p. 83). This Hawk is valuable because of its destruction of
mice and other mammals and insects. In the meadows it wages war
upon grasshoppers, crickets, May beetles and other beetles; and in the
orchards and woods, upon caterpillars, the larve of large moths, which
feed upon the foliage. This Hawk is much more beneficial than
otherwise, and is worthy of protection.
Birps or InpDIANna. 789

75. Genus ARCHIBUTEO Bream.
138. (347a). Archibuteo lagopus sancti-johannis (GmEL.).
American Rough-legged Hawk.

Synonym, Brack Hawk.

Legs, densely feathered in front and on sides down to base of toes.
Width of bill at corners of mouth, 1.85-1.45 inches; head and neck,
whitish, streaked with dusky. Above, irregularly varied with white,
grayish, dusky or rusty; base of tail and feathers covering its upper
surface, white; broad band near end of tail, grayish or dusky; below,
whitish, usually with a band of dusky across front. Specimens are
sometimes nearly uniform black.

Length, 19.50-23.50; wing, 15.75-18.00; tail, 9.00-11.00. (Fisher).

Raner.—North America, north of Mexico, breeding north of the
United States (excepting Alaska), from about latitude 49°; Quebec
northward.

Nest, in trees or on rocks, of sticks, grass and weeds. Hggs, 2-5;
greenish or dingy-white, streaked or spotted and blotched with various
shades of dark and light brown, ochraceous and drab; 2.31 by 1.74.

Winter visitor of irregular occurrence; usually rare, except along
the western side of the State, where it is more or less common. Some
winters they are very abundant throughout the State. Each fall
these birds come into the United States from their breeding grounds,
far to the north, like an army. They are most numerous in the prairie
districts, and the extension of their range depends upon food and
weather conditions. In the vicinity of Chicago, Cook County, Ill, and
Lake County, Ind., it is, during winter, the most common of the larger
hawks. (J. G. Parker, Jr.).

In Knox County, Ind., it is usually common at the same season
(Chansler). To the south and east of the Wabash River it is unusual
to find them, but when they do appear it is almost always in some
numbers. The winter of 1894-5 they extended their range as far as
Boone County, where they were found in numbers.

Mr. J. E. Beasley wrote me, January 8, 1895, that he then had in his
office at Lebanon six specimens, all from Boone County. One was
taken near Greencastle, October 21 or 22, 1894 (Black).

The winter of 1886-7 they accompanied the great multitude of
rapacious birds that spread over the States north of the Ohio River.
They appeared in the southeastern counties of Indiana in December
and remained until near April 1. Thirteen were reported from De-
catur and Rush counties. They were equally abundant in Franklin.
Some of the specimens in my collection, obtained that winter, repre-
790 Report oF Strate GEoLocist.

sented the extreme of the black phase. They frequented the meadows,
pastures and stubbles, where they fed upon the mice, which were so
common that winter. They appear in the vicinity of Chicago from
the middle to the last of October and in Knox County, Ind., from the
Ist to the 20th of November. Some years they leave in February,
but usually they remain well into March, sometimes to about April 1.
March 12, 1887, Mr. EH. L. Guthrie, of Adams, sent me one of six. or
seven noted in that vicinity. He said their principal food was mice,
but he discovered one a few days before, feeding on the carcass of
a dead lamb. Another person saw one eating the carcass of a dead
skunk. The stomachs of six examined by me that winter contained
nothing but mice and one rabbit. The summary of the report of the
investigations made under the direction of Dr. Merriam, of the United
States Department of Agriculture, shows that of 49 stomachs ex-
amined, 40 contained mice; 5, other mammals; 1, lizards; 1, insects;
and 4 were empty. It is known also, at times, to eat grasshoppers
extensively. It sits upon a low perch and watches for its prey, and
also sweeps the meadow, prepared to seize a mouse, when it appears.
They vary much in color, ranging from very light to nearly uniform
black. Whenever they are with us they are valuable friends of the
farmer. So far as we know, there is not a harmful thing they do.
They are wholly beneficial. They breed far north, in trees, or upon.
cliffs. The eggs are deposited at intervals of two or three days. In-
cubation apparently begins before all are laid, and lasts about four
weeks. One brood is raised a year. This Hawk is said to be of a very
peaceful disposition, and soon becomes accustomed to permitting itself.
to be handled after a few days’ captivity.

76. GxeNus AQUILA Brisson.
139. (849). Aquila chrysztos (Liny.).
Golden Eagle.

Legs, densely feathered down to base of toes. This character will
separate it, in any plumage, from the White-headed ‘Eagle, which -is
the only other Eagle in the United States.

Length, 30.00-40.00; wing, 23.00-27.00; tail, 14.00-16.00. (Fisher).

Rance.—Northern portions of Northern Hemisphere; south in
North America to southern California, Mexico and Georgia. Breeds
chiefly in mountainous regions throughout its range. .

- Nest, on cliffs, sometimes in trees; a collection of sticks. igé,
2-3; whitish, sometimes unmarked, usually more or less hlotched,
spotted or clouded with various shades of brown; 2.93 by 2.31.
Birps or INDIANA. V9.

Winter resident; occurs regularly, but is not common. It is said to
have been more numerous formerly. There is no record of its having
bred in Indiana; though Mr. C. L. Cass reports having observed a
specimen at Clear Lake, Steuben County, August 17 and 18, 1894,
and Dr. Joseph L. Hancock, of Chicago, saw one at Dune Park, Ind.,
August 7, 1897. It usually is not seen until late in November. A
fine specimen was taken near Andersonville, November 24, 1895, and
was alive when last heard from, the present summer (1897). A fine
adult was taken near Indianapolis, November 29, 1891 (Noe). They
disappear irregularly, not being seen usually over the greater part of
the State after February, but sometimes remaining in the vicinity of
Lake Michigan into March, or even April. One was noted in Porter
County, April 25, 1887 (Trouslot). A pair were seen in Lake County,
March 10, 1885 (Meyer); and one at Tracy Station, Starke County,
March, 1884 (Coale). The greater number are seen in December,
January and-February. The winter of 1881, it was noted by Mr.
E.R. Quick near Brookville, three times. In 1884, once, and 1889,
twice, in the same vicinity.

December 18, ‘1895, one was caught in a steel trap, set for a skunk,
and baited with a rabbit, near Fairfield, Ind. That same month one
was killed near Waynetown, and is now in the collection of Wabash
College, Crawfordsville. In addition to these, I have ten other
records of its recent occurrence in this State. It is most often taken
when the landscape is clad in snow, and the streams locked in ice.
Their food is scarce, and they are often taken in traps, set for animals,
or for owls, from which it has attempted to take the bait. While
the Golden Eagle will occasionally carry off lambs, young pigs and
poultry, and even attack animals as large as a calf, their natural food
is rabbits, ground-hogs, grouse, waterfowl and other game birds.
They are very destructive to the noxious rodents that damage the
farmers’ crops. Stories of their carrying off children have been usual-
ly found to have orginated in the brain of man, and not in fact.
Prof. Stanley Coulter informs me of one of these Eagles, that was
killed by Mr. M. G. Jordan, Jordan Grove, White County, in Decem-
her, 1896, as it was hovering over a litter of little pigs. Much has
been said about the fierceness of the Golden Eagle, and its ability to
defend its nest, yet those who have studied its habits say these state-
ments are false, as these birds are cowardly, leaving the nest when
persons approach it, and not returning till danger is past. They
seem sometimes to mate before they leave us, in the spring. They
breed in the mountainous parts of America. The nest is usually
placed upon a projecting shelf, on the side of a high, steep cliff. In
Rye - Report or STATE GEOLOGIST.

California, however, most of the nests are placed in trees. The nest
is large. Two or three eggs are a set, and but one brood is raised in a
vear. They begin nesting, in this latitude, in March, and continue
through May, and even far north fresh eggs have been found in June.
Several days, sometimes a week, intervenes between laying the eggs.
Incubation lasts about four weeks. It is performed almost entirely
by the female, who is supplied with food by the male.

77. Grvus HALLAETUS Saviery.

*140. (352). Haliseetus leucocephalus (Linv.).
Bald Eagle.

 

Bald Eagle.

Lower third of leg naked all around. This character will separate
it in any plumage from the Golden Eagle, which is the only other
Eagle in the United States.

Length, 30-43; wing, 20-28: tail, L1-16.  (Wisher).

Raneu.--Whole of North America, from Mexico to Arctic coast.
Aleutian Islinds, and Kamchatka. Breeds locally throughout its
range.

Nest, large, in trees,or on cliffs: of sticks; sometimes lined with eras.
or inoss. Eggs, 1-38; white; 2.90-2.27.

Resident locally; formerly common resident throughout the State,
and still generally distributed in fall, winter and spring. Through-
out the Whitewater Valley, where they formerly nested, and, in fact,
Birps or INpIANA. 793

in all the region east and south of the Wabash River, it is not now
known to breed. There they appear in October and November, and are
seen until March, and sometimes late April. One was noted at Brook-
ville, April 19, 1881. Its former occurtence led to a number of
streams, fords and lakes, and other topographic features, receiving the
distinctive name Eagle. It has recently been reported as breeding in
Laporte County, 1885 (Byrkit); Knox County, 1886 (Ridgway); may
breed yet, noted April 18 and 26, 189% (Chansler); Porter County,
near De Motte, 1894 (Pfrimmer). In Lake County it bred quite com-
monly 40 years ago. Still breeds in limited numbers in the tall trees
along the Kankakee River (Meyer, Ball). Found breeding near
Tolleston in 1871, and at Water Valley in 1886 (Aiken). August 8,
1887, Mr. F. M. Woodruff saw five Bald Hagles at Miller’s, Ind., and
shot one, which proved to be a young one. August 21, he took a
female, and found a nest about one mile south of the sand hills in the
pine timber.

In Starke County, at English Lake, they still breed regularly. I
have reports from there for a number of years. In 1892 two pairs
were found nesting within a half mile. One nest was found February
2%, when it was repaired, and probably contained eggs. It was about
80 feet up in a dead elm. The other was found March 6. It was
in the top of a tall syeamore (Deane). Mr. Joseph E. Gould took three
fresh eggs from a nest in a sycamore tree, sixty-five feet up, at English
Lake, March 19, 1893 (O. and O., April, 1892, p. 64). They for-
merly bred along the Tippecanoe River, in Carroll County (Ever-
mann); and in Dekalb County, where it is possible they may yct,
1890 (H. W. McBride). One of their nests, built near the river about
five miles west of Brookville, was used by them for many years. While
in general the nest is in trees, from 20 to 100 feet up, it is sometimes
found on projections of cliffs; on the coast of Texas, rarely, on the
ground.

The nest is very bulky, and is often repaired, and used for many
years. Nesting begins with us late in February, and continues
through March, sometimes in April. Eagle Ford, near by, so-called on
account of this well-known nest, will continue to designate the lo-
cality.

The eggs are laid at intervals of three or four days. Both birds
take part in incubation, which lasts about a month. But one brood
is raised in a year.

The Bald Eagle, in its adult form, is the emblem of the United
States. It will, in that plumage, be readily recognized by its white
head and tail. Asin hawks, the female exceeds the size of the males.
194 Report of SraTeE GEOLOGIST.

The young have a greater expanse of wing than the adults, and have
not the white head and tail. They do not assume perfect plumage
until the third year. The first year they are black, and are known
as the Black Eagle, also “Washington Hagle.” The second year, they
are commonly called “Gray Eagles.” It is well to recall that this and
the Golden Eagle are the only Eagles in the United States.

The favorite food of the Bald Eagle is fish. These it picks up on
the beach, where they are strewn; takes by robbery from the Osprey;
or, when it can get them in no other way, catches itself. February
24, 1891, Mr. R. Deane saw one of them fishing at English Lake. ‘It
poised in the air, after the manner of a Kingfisher, sustaining itself
by rapid vibration of its wings, then suddenly “let go” and fairly dived
to the water. This was repeated twice. Failing in procuring fish, it
preys upon all kinds of waterfowl. They also eat lambs, small pigs
and poultry. Mr. E. J. Chansler informs me of a Bald Eagle that
‘was killed in Knox County, October 1, 1896, which had killed two
lambs. Mice and other rodents form an important article of their
food, and, all in all, they are considered to belong to that class of
rapacious birds whose lives are mostly beneficial.

Supramity FALCONINA. Fatcons.
78. Genus FALCO Linnavs.

a, Only first primary with inner web emarginated; first quill longer than the
fourth; tarsus shorter than middle toe, and scarcely feathered below the knee;
wing over 11.00. Subgenus Rayncuopon Nitzsch.

F. peregrinus anatum (Bonap.). 141

a, Two outer primaries with inner webs emarginated ; first quill shorter than the
fourth.

b!. Basal joints of toes with small hexagonal scales; tarsus abont equal to mid-
dle toe. Size small; wing, 9.00 or less; sexes unlike.
Subgenus Asaton Kaup. F. columbarius Linn. 142
b?. Basal joints of toes covered with transverse plates; tarsus longer than middle
toe; size small, wing 8.00 or less; sexes different.
Subgenus Trynuncuxus Vieillot. F.sparverius Linn. 148 ©

Subgenus Ruyncnopon Nitzsch.

“141, (356). Faleo peregrinus anatum (Bonap.).
Duck Hawk.

Adult.—First and second wing feathers equal and longest. Top
of head, black, decidedly darker than back; chest, creamy-buff,
buffy-white, or pure white, often unspotted, never very heavily
spotted with blackish. Immature—Lower parts streaked with
dusky.. In Peale’s Falcon, the top of the head is dark slaty, uniform
with back; chest, heavily spotted with blackish.
Birps or INDIANA. V5

Length, 15.50-20.00; wing, 11.30-14.75; tail, 6.00-9.00. (Fisher).

Ranez.—America, from Chili to Arctic coast. Breeds locally from
the mountains of South Carolina, Arkansas and Lower California,
north. Winters chiefly south of northern boundary of United States
(New York and Manitoba south).

Nest, in cavity in trees, and on cliffs. Hggs, 3-5; pale creamy-
white, sometimes overlaid with light chocolate, irregularly blotched,
streaked and spotted with brown or reddish-brown; 2.10 by 1.68.

Resident, not rare, in Lower Wabash Valley. Throughout the re-
mainder of the State, rare. Migrant. Breeds.

In the spring of 1878, Mr. Robert Ridgway discovered that this
was by no means a rare bird in the heavy timber in the bottoms of the
Wabash River, in the vicnity of Mt. Carmel, Illinois. Three nests
were found there. All were placed in cavities in the top of very large
sycamore trees, and were inaccessible. One of these trees was felled,
and measurements with a tapeline showed the nest had been eighty-
nine feet from the ground. It was placed in a shallow cavity, caused
by breaking off of the main limb, the upper part of which projected
sufficiently to protect it. Four fully feathered young were taken from
the nest (B. N. O. C., 1878, pp. 163, 164).

Mr. Ridgway also informs me it breeds in Knox and Gibson coun-
ties, Ind. The Duck Hawk. usually nests on the projections of cliffs,
and the foregoing sites are unusual. It has been taken elsewhere in
Indiana but a few times. A specimen in the collection of Mr. G. F.
Morson was taken in Starke County, Ind., September 25, 1884. Mr.
Toppan has noted it in Lake County in winter. There is a specimen
in the collection in the State Museum, which Mr. J. E. Beasley
informs me was taken near Slabtown, Boone County, May 14, 1896.
This is the largest of the true Falcons. If the days of falconry
were here, it would be considered of great value for such sport. It
generally mates in February. In this latitude its nesting time is
April and May. The eggs are deposited two or more days apart.
Incubation is performed by both birds, and lasts about four weeks.
But one brood is reared in a year. The late Col. N. 8. Goss said, the
males, as far as noticed, sit upon the eggs in the fore part of the day,
and the females during the latter part. It is found to be one of the dis-
tinctively harmful species. If it were more common, it would do great
injury. Its principal food is waterfowl, sandpipers, plover, snipe and
such birds. It is also destructive to domestic poultry and pigeons.
“Of 20 stomachs examined, 7 contained poultry or game birds; 9,
other birds; 1, mice; 2, insects; and 4 were empty.” (Fisher, Bull.
No. 3, Div. Orn. and Mam., U. 8. Dept. Agr., p. 109.)
796 REporT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Subgenus AisaLon Kanup.

142, (357). Faleo columbarius Liyy.
Pigeon Hawk.

Middle tail feathers, crossed by not more than four blackish or five
light bands. Above, bluish gray or brownish; below, whitish, buffy,
or light rusty; streaked with brownish or dusky. The Black Merlin
is much darker. Above, plain brown; below, heavily marked with
dusky. °

Length, 10.00-13.25; wing, 7.40-8.60; tail, 4.65-5.50. (Fisher.)

Range.—America, from Ecuador to Arctic Ocean. Breeds from
Maine to Iowa and California, northward. Winters from New York,
Pennsylvania and Indiana, southward.

Nest, in trees, sometimes in cavities and on cliffs. Hggs, 4-5; pale
creamy-white, often overspread by red-brown, and spotted and
blotched with darker brown; 1.65 by 1.20.

Regular migrant, and irregular winter resident, not common. It
is not improbable that it may rarely nest in the northern part of the
State.

It is most often seen in September and October, March and April.
In the Whitewater Valley, from which it was reported by Dr. Hay-
mond (Ind. Geol. Rept. 1869, p. 209), it is now rarely seen. A speci-
men was taken near Valley Junction, O., in September, 1885, and one
was taken near Brookville, Ind., October 20, 1880. A specimen was
taken in Monroe County March 12, 1887 (Blatchley), and another
was noted April 8, 1886, by Evermann, who also reports it from Car-
roll County. In Lake County Mr. H. K. Coale shot one September
25, 1875, and Mr. Aiken saw it at Water Valley. It has been noted
elsewhere as follows: Dekalb County, two. in October (Mrs. Hine);
Kkhart County, February 6. 1891 (H. W. McBride); Allen County
(Stockbridge); Putnam County (Clearwaters): Boone County, one in
collection of State Museum (Beasley); Laporte County (Byrkit). It
builds nests on limbs of trecs. in hollows of them, as well as in cavi-
ties or on projections of cliffs. In the southern part of its breed-
ing range, it nests in March or April, while in Central Alaska and
the Anderson River country, its nests are found in May or June.
But one brood is raised in a season. Incubation lasts about three
weeks (Bendire). Capt. Dall reports it as resident in Alaska.

The Pigeon Hawk isa true Falcon. It takes much of its prey upon
the wing. This consists chiefly of small birds. Of 56 stomachs exam-
ined, 2 contained poultry; 16, insects; 41, small birds; 2, mice; and 5
were empty (Bull. No. 3, Div. 0. and M., U. S. Dept. Agr., p. 113.
     

Report of State Geologist, 1897. Prare XXII.

Le

 

   

 

Visher, Year Book, U.S. Dep. Agr., 1894.
SPARROW HAWKS. (Male and female.)
Birps oF INDIANA. 797

Fisher). When the number of “English sparrows,” mice and insects
it eats are considered, it seems to fall within the number of those
_Hawks that are mostly beneficial.

Subgenus TinnunovLvus Vieillot.

*143. (360). Falco sparverius (LIny.).

American Sparrow-hawk.

Male.—Tail, chestnut rufous, crossed by a broad black band near
end; wings, grayish-blue, more or less spotted with black. Above,
rufous, with or without black bars or spots. Below, varying from
white to deep rufous, with or without black spots.

Female.—Tail, wings and hack, crossed by numerous narrow bands
of dusky.

Length, 8.75-12.00; wing, 6.55-8.15; tail, 4.20-5.60. (Fisher).

Raner.— America, from northern South America to Newfoundland
and Great Slave Lake. Breeds from Mexico and Florida, north.
Winters from New York and Indiana, southward.

Nest, in hollow in tree or built among branches, or in cavity in cliff.

Eggs, 3-7; clear white to pale buff, variously marked with different
shades of brown and ochraceous; 1.38 by 1.11.

Regular resident north to Wabash, Tippecanoe and Carroll Counties.
In winter, rare north from there, more numerous southward. Every-
where common in summer.

This little Hawk is well known, and no visitor to the country will
long await a sight of their busy forms. They begin to leave the north-
ern part of the State in September, and some winters all leave. Se-
vere winters they often seek protection; in one instance in January
one was found in a. stable, sharing a stall with a horse. Nowhere,
perhaps, are they so numerous in winter. In more open winters, their
numbers in the southern part of the State begin to increase in Feb-
ruary. Migrations then begin and continue through March. In the
Whitewater Valley I have always seen them mating in April.. I have
found their nest as early as April 11, but fresh eggs are found farther
northward well into May.

A favorite nesting site is a Woodpecker’s hole in a dead limb, at
the top of a tall sycamore tree. The usual nesting site, in timber
countries, is a hole, natural or otherwise, in the top of a tree; some-
times, however, they are made quite low. Other places, they occa-
sionally nest in holes in cliffs or banks, or in the nest of some large
bird, like a crow, and in buildings. In trees, the eggs are laid upon
fragments of chips in the hole.
798 Report oF Strate Groocistr.

The incubation period is near three weeks. Both birds share in
the labor. They are very watchful of their charges, and many a
spirited encounter is had to drive some intruder from the neighbor-
hood. Usually, but one brood is reared each season. When disturbed,
they have been known to lay a second and third set of eggs. How-
ever, eggs have been found as late as August, indicating, possibly,
more than one brood in a season. In July and August, when old and
young are found together, along the farm fences, they are most often
seen. From the report prepared by the United States Department of
Agriculture, we learn that of 320 stomachs examined, 1 contained a
game bird; 53, other birds; 89, mice; 12, other mammals; 12, reptiles,
or batrachians; 215, insects; 29, spiders; and 29 weré empty (Bull.
No. 3, Div. O. and M., Fisher, p. 127). At times it is known to
attack young chickens and beneficial birds. A telegraph line is a
favorite place for these Hawks. There, particularly at the time of
the spring migrations, every few poles will be found to form a point
of observation for them. From this point they wage war upon the
mice and other small mammals along the roadway and in adjacent
fields. They subsist largely upon grasshoppers, and other insects,
especially in late summer and early fall, before the vegetation is cut
down by the frost. Upon the Mexican plateau, in winter, I found
these birds as much at home as they are with us. They were quite
common, and lived chiefly upon insects. The lives of these birds are
mostly beneficial. They should receive protection at our hands.

SUBFAMILY PANDIONINEA. OsPREys.

79. Genus PANDION Savieny,.
*144, (864). Pandion haliaetus carolinensis (GzL.).

American Osprey.

Claws of the same length, narrower and rounder on under side.
Above, plain dusky-brown, tail more grayish, narrowly tipped with
white, and crossed by about six or seven narrow bands of dusky; head,
neck and lower parts, white; the chest sometimes slightly blotched
with brown; sides of head with dusky stripe, top more or less streaked
with dusky.

Length, 20.75-25.00; wing, 17.00-21.00; tail, 7.00-10.00.

Ranex.—America, from northern Brazil to Labrador, Hudson Bay.
and Alaska. Breeds throughout its North American range. Winters
from South Carolina, and rarely in Southern Indiana, south.

Nest, bulky, of sticks, reeds, cornstalks, ete., lined with grass, corn
hlades and other fine material, in top of tree, on cliff, or on ground.
Breps or Inprana. ¥99

Lgys, 2-3; creamy-white or buffty-white, blotched and spotted with
brown and vinaceous red; 2.44 by 1.77.

Locally summer resident; regular migrant, and some winters rare
winter resident in the southern part of the State.

The winter of 1880-81 they were seen a number of times along
the Whitewater (EK. R. Quick), and have been noted other years.
Along the Wabash River, it has been observed in winter as far up as
Lafayette (Moffitt), and it was also noted in Putnam County,the winter
of 1888 (Clearwaters). Usually they begin, when not found in win-
ter, to appear upon our larger streams with the disappearance of the
ice, generally in February. The greater number of them, however,
are seen in April, in the Whitewater Valley, between April 2 and
29. In the fall they begin to appear there by September 6, and are
sometimes ‘common until October 7. Mr. V. H. Barnett saw one in
Vermillion County, August 31, 1897.

In the vicinity of Michigan City, it is abundant along the lake in
summer (Byrkit).

Mr. Ruthven Deane saw it in Starke County, June 10, 1888. Mr.
T. H. Ball says they formerly nested along the Kankakee, and a few
yet remain. Mr. Robert Ridgway informs me of its breeding in
Knox and Gibson counties. In the spring of 1893, Mr. Joseph F.
Honacker reports finding a nest, a short distance below Lafayette.
They will probably be found, by persistent investigators, to breed in
other parts of the State.

Mr. H. W. McBride found them in Steuben, Lagrange and Elk-
hart counties early in May, 1891, and in Dekalb County, May 12, 1890.
They breed commonly along the coast, and not so numerously in the
interior, as far north as Labrador, Hudson Bay and the Yukon, in
Alaska. It generally builds its nests on the top of trees, but some-
times on or in cliffs, and on the ground. The same nest is occupied
for years. The eggs are deposited at intervals of one or two days,
and the period of incubation is given as 21 days, but Maj. C. E. Ben-
dire thinks it is nearer 28. A single brood is raised in a season,
though other sets may be laid if the first one is destroyed. In this
latitude they nest from about April 25 to June. The Osprey is com-
monly called Fish Hawk, or Fishing Eagle.

Its food consists entirely of fish, which it usually captures. It is
a famous fisher, catching food not only for itself, but often for the
Bald Eagle, which robs it of its catch. Mr. Chas. 8. Shick, of New
Jersey, says: “It is interesting to watch the Fish Hawk obtaining its
food, sailing along from 50 to 100 feet above the water; with its keen
eyes it can easily see any fish swimming close to the surface of the
800 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGISY.

water, and as soon as it sees its quarry, stops its flight, and remains
suspended motionless in the air for a moment, closes its wings, and
then darts downward like an arrow. It disappears under the water
for a few seconds, and when it arises and again takes wing, a shining,
wriggling fish can be plainly seen in the grasp of its powerful talons.
Tt is a curious fact that this bird will never carry the fish with the
tail to the front. Many times have I seen them turn the fish around
in mid air” (Bendire, L. H., N. A. B., L., pp. 321, 322).

The Osprey often selects a tree, sometimes miles from any water,
where it resorts to devour its food.

SusorDER STRIGES. Owt.s.

XXVII. Fammy STRIGIDZ. Barn Owss.

Characters same as family. Srrix. 80

80. Genus STRIX Linnavus.
*145. (865). Strix pratincola Bonar.
American Barn Owl.

Facial disk not circular, but somewhat triangular. Middle and
inner claws of equal length; inner edge of middle claw, jagged; wing,
long, reaching beyond tail when folded; tail about half the length of
wing.

Color.—Above, ochraceous-yellow, more or less marbled with white
or ashy, and speckled with black, and sometimes with white spots.
Below, varying in every degree from silky white to bright tawny,
dotted with black spots. Eyes, small, black.

Length, 15.00-20.00; wing, 13.00-14.00; tail, 5.75-7.50. (Fisher).

Ranee.—North America, from Mexico north to Massachusetts, New
Jersey and Ontario, Michigan, southern Minnesota and Oregon.
Breeds from southern New York, northern Indiana, southward.
Winters from northern limit of- breeding range southward.

Nest, in steeple or barn loft, or in a hole in tree or bank. Lggs,
5-11; dead white; 1.65 by 1.31.

Found throughout the State; locally resident; rare northward; more
numerous in the Wabash Valley and southward. Breeds.

In 1879 there were but five known records of its occurrence in
Ohio. It was then considered a very rare visitor. At that time there
was no record of its occurrence in Indiana. And as far as I have
since heard, the only one who had met it was Dr. F. Stein, who noted
it in the lower Wabash Valley. In Tllinois it was considered rare in
Brirps or INDIANA. 801

1878. Mr. Nelson had noted two taken near Chicago. The year 1883
is notable for a sudden increase in the number observed north of the
Ohio River. In October of that year ten Barn Owls were killed near
Cincinnati, several of which were found occupying the tower of the
town hall at Glendale, O. On October 18th, Mr. Chas. Dury visited
the town hall at Glendale. Four Barn Owls flew out. I give some
extracts from Mr. Dury’s account. The floor and ledges were covered
with the cast-up pellets of the birds.

“With Owls the indigestible matter is formed into balls in the
stomach, and afterwards cast up. These are called pellets. They
covered the floor several inches deep in places. I examined many of
them’, and found them made up entirely of the hair and bones of

 

Foot of Barn Owl. Natural size.

the smaller rodents, mostly mice. There must have been the debris
of several thousand mice and rats. But the strangest part of the
curious habitation was the flock of domestic pigeons that were living,
seemingly, on intimate terms with the Owls, and judging from the
old pigeon nests, I presume the pigeons had actually nested and reared
young there” (Journ. Cin. Soc. N. H., Dec., 1883, pp. 237, 238.) Soon
afterwards two Barn Owls were taken at Monroe, Ohio.

These birds also spread into Indiana. October 25, 1883, the only
one ever reported in the Whitewater Valley was killed near Brook-
ville. There is one in the collection at the State Museum that was
taken at Franklin, December, 1883. They bred near Frankfort,
Clinton County, in the summer of 1889. In Vigo County young were
taken about July 18, 1890. In the north part of Tippecanoe County,
two young were taken from the nest in a hole in a large elm, about
June 15,1890. The winter of 1891-92, Mr. Fletcher M. Noe received
three of those owls taken in this State. The following additional
records are at hand: January 19, 1893, one was found dead in an old

51—GEoL.
802 Report OF StaTE GEOLOGIST.

house in Decatur County (W. P. Shannon, October 7, 1893); one was
taken alive, five miles north of Greencastle, and brought into that city
~ (J. Earlle); November 10, 1894, one was picked up dead ten miles
southwest’ of Lafayette (L. A. and C. D. Test). In 1894, Mr. J. O.
Dunn supplied two records from the vicinity of Chicago, September
25. About June 10 he saw one alive in a saloon window on La Salle
street. He procured one from a small boy, which he still has.

One was picked up alive by Mr. Wm. Baum, three miles south
of Delphi, August 30, 1897 (D. C. Ridgely). May 23, 1896, a female
was shot on the Kankakee River, at Kouts, Ind., by Mr. M. F. Hilgard,
which is now in the collection of Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr., who says it
undoubtedly had a nest close by. Prof. E. L. Moseley reports one
from Sandusky, O., April 11, 1896. He informs me a local taxider-
mist had received two others. Mr. J. B. Burris (Cloverdale, Ind.)
writes one was shot from a pine tree in a neighbor’s yard, March 20,
1897. It has also been noted from the following counties: Wabash
(Ulrey and Wallace); Boone (Beasley); Allen (Stockbridge).

With us, these birds seem to frequent, except at the breeding season,
the belfry and tower of buildings, barns and deserted buildings, and
nest in hollows of trees. This is the bird that iswritten up in the news-
papers as the “Monkey-faced Owl.” They also nest in deserted mine
shafts, old wells, the burrows of animals, holes in banks and cliffs.
They make little or no nest. “Incubation usually commences with
the first egg laid, and lasts about three weeks. The eggs are almost
invariably found in different stages of development, and young may
be found in the same nest with fresh eggs. Both sexes assist in incu-
bation, and the pair may be sometimes seen sitting side by side,
each with a portion of the eggs under them” (Bendire, L. H., N. A.
Birds, I, p. 327). The examination of stomachs under the direction
of the United States Department of Agriculture showed that “of 39
examined, 1 contained poultry; 3, other birds; 17, mice; 17, other
mammals; 4, insects; and 7 were empty.” (Fisher, Bull. No. 3, Div.
O. and M., p. 189). It is one of the most decidedly nocturnal of the
owls. At dusk it goes forth to hunt; over meadow and marsh, pasture
and prairie, its quest leads it. Its game is meadow mice, gophers
and other destructive mammals, all more or less injurious? Its work
is highly beneficial. The farmer and orchardman especially should
give them protection.
Birps oF INDIANA. 803

XXVIII. Fammy BUBONID2. Hornep Owis, Evc.

a’, Wing more than 10.00 inches.
b1. Cere longer than rest of culmen; iris yellow; external ear very large.
Asio. 81
b2, Cere short.
e|, Ear tufts very conspicuous; size large. Buso. 86
c?, Ear tufts very small, or none.
d}, Toes entirely covered with feathers; bill nearly hidden by feathers.
e1, Tail 10. inches or Jess; plumage mostly white. Nycrea. 87
e?, Tail over 10. inches; plumage not white. ScotraPrex. 83
d?, Toes not entirely covered with feathers ; bill large, yellowish.
Syrnium. 82
a*. Wing less than 10. inches.

fi. Ear tufts conspicuous, Mecascors. 85
f?. Ear tufts none.
g'. Wing over 8. inches. Surnra. 88
g?. Wing under 8. inches. Nycrana. 84

81. Genos ASIO Brisson.

a}, Ear tufts well developed, of 8 to 12 feathers. Subgenus Asro.
A. wilsonianus (Less.). 146
a?. Ear tufts not conspicuous, of few feathers. Subgenus Bracuyorus Gould.
: A. accipitrinus (Pall.). 147

*146, (366). Asio wilsonianus (Less.).

American Long-eared Owl.

Ear tufts conspicuous, containing eight to ten feathers, and about
as long as middle toe with claw.

Color.—Above, dusky, mottled with gray, tawny, and blackish.
Below, grayish-white, with confused marbling of brown, black and
tawny, many feathers with a median longitudinal dusky stripe, which
gives off transverse bars. Feet and legs, tawny and unspotted.

Length, 13.00-16.00; wing, 11.00-12.00; tail, 5.50-6.50. (Fisher).

Rance.—North America, from Valley of Mexico to Nova Scotia,
Hudson Bay (and latitude 61 degrees). Breeds throughout its range.
Winters in Maine, Northern New York, Michigan and Minnesota.

Nest, in trees, using an old nest of some bird or squirrel, in cavities
in cliff. Hggs, 3-6; oval; pure white.

Resident, not common in summer; more numerous in winter.
Breeds.

The Long-eared Owl igs more numerous than is generally thought.
It is the woodland species of this genus, as the Short-eared Owl is
the prairie representative. Its woodland retreats, retiring ways, and
S04 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

habit of frequenting certain localities, make it inconspicuous. Except
at the mating season, it is rather quiet. Some years they are more
numerous in winter than others. In Southern Indiana they have
been most commonly noted from October 18 to January 30. ‘Mr. J.
A. Balmer informs me it breeds in the lower Wabash Valley. Dr.
Langdon notes that Mr. Dury took full-fledged young of the year, at
Avondale, Ohio, in July, 1878. April 29, 1890, Mr. H. W. McBride
shot two old ones and caught two young ones in Dekalb County.
With us, they must begin laying late in March or early in April. In
Wayne County, Mich., Mr. Jerome Trombley reports nests with five
eggs, taken in May. (Cook, Birds of Mich., p. 80.)

Almost always this Owl repairs and uses the old nest of a bird or a
squirrel; occasionally it is said to build a nest for itself. The eggs
are deposited at intervals of one or two days. Incubation begins with
the first egg laid and lasts about three weeks. If the first setting is
destroyed, another, and sometimes a third, will be laid. The female
incubates, but the male is usually near by. This species, unlike the
Short-eared Owl, does all its hunting by night. By day it keeps hid-
den in the seclusion of some dark woods or dense thicket. In winter
they select a particular spot, and in early spring the ejected pellets lie
beneath the perch in great numbers. In them the naturalist will find
recorded much of the zoological history of the past winter of the
neighborhood. Dr. A. K. Fisher gives us the result of the examina-
tion of 107 stomachs examined: 1 contained a. game bird; 15,
other birds; 84, mice; 5, other mammals; 1. insects, and 15 were
empty. (Bull. No. 38, Div. O. and M., U. S. Dept. Agr., p. 145.) Please
note what a great proportion of injurious animals these birds destroy.
Of the stomachs which contained food, over 93 per cent. contained
the remains of small mammals. They are the friends of agriculture.
Be careful to protect them.

“147. (367). Asio accipitrinus (Pa.t.).
Short-eared Owl.

Ear tufts inconspicuous, much shorter than middle toe, with claw.

Color.—Whole plumage varying from bright tawny to buity white,
with conspicuous dark-brown stripes; a small tuft of feathers above
hind toe.

Length, 13.75-17.00; wing, 12.00-13.00; tail. 5.75-6.10. (Fisher).

Rance.—Nearly cosmopolitan; in America from southern South
America to Arctic Ocean. Breeds from Kansas, Indiana and Ohio,
southern Oregon, northern Maine. Winters chiefly south of northern
boundary of United States,
Bittos ov INpDLANA. sod

Nest, on ground in marsh, meadow or prairie, of yrasx and sticks.
Eggs, 4-7; white or creamy white; 1.59 by 1.23.

Resident in some numbers northward; elsewhere irregular winter
resident in varying numbers. Some winters not seen. Occasionally
very abundant.

 

Short-eared Owl.
(Merriam.—Annual Rept. U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1888, p. 496.)

Their original home was the prairie. Therefore, we may expect to
find it most often in the area of original prairie land. It seems to pre-
fer the long, rank grass about marshes, and in such localities it breeds.
About May 6, 1890, two nests of the Short-eared Owl were found at
English Lake. They were built in large grass tussocks in.the open
meadow. One contained three young and two eggs; the other, three
eggs (Deane). Since the forest area has xo largely given place to
meadow, pasture and small grain, where prairie animals and insects
806 Rerort oF SrarE GEOLOGIST.

have come, it is to be expected that these owls will visit it to a greater
or less extent. They irregularly range over it in greater or less.num-
bers, sometimes in flocks of from seven to twenty-five in winter. They
take up their quarters in our meadows, and all winter long wage a re-
lentless war upon the mice, shrews and other four-footed pests. Their
coming is evidently regulated by the food supply, for always when
they come in force the meadows are overrun with mice.

In the Whitewater Valley Dr. Haymond never recognized it. The
first specimen taken there was November 8, 1878. From that time to
1886 no more were seen.. The winter of 1883 they were tolerably com-
mon in Rush County. Prof. W. P. Shannon obtained six specimens
from a flock there. In November and early December, 1886, they
came in immense numbers, in company with other Owls and several
Hawks, and ranged over Indiana and Ohio to their southern boun-
dary. In some places they are reported in flocks of ten to twenty-five.
Near Cincinnati Dr. Langdon notes that during February, 1887, a
young man who was crossing a partially inundated field counted these
birds as they arose before him, and at one time there were thirty in
the air. There was only one tree in the field, upon which they all
alighted. (Jour. Cin. Soc. Nat. Hist., Vol. XII, 1889, p. 59.)

In Franklin County, Indiana, they were very common throughout
the county, Every one was speaking about the Prairie Owls. In one
neighborhood in Decatur County there were three flocks, and another
two, with from ten to twenty-five owls each. It is estimated there
were hundreds of these birds in that county that winter (Shannon).
A great many were seen in January, 1887, in Fayette County (Rehme).
The same winter they were common in Knox County (Chansler), and
were reported from Vigo (Evermann). They remained in the spring
of 1887 well into April. The last one noted in Franklin County was
April 26. Wherever they were observed their great destruction of
mice was noted. In the winter of 1890 they were very common in
Clinton County (Evermann). In 1892 a large number were killed in
Knox County (Chansler). The winter of 1894-5 they ranged as far as
Putnam County, where a small flock was found (Earle). The stom-
achs of ten of those taken the winter of 1886-7 showed that one was
empty and nice contained the remains of mice. A summary of 101
stomachs examined shows that 11 contained small birds; 77, mice; 7,
other mammals; 1, insects, and 14 were empty. (Dr. Fisher, Bull. No.
3, Div. of O. and M., U.S. Dept. Agr.).

Fully 75-per cent. of its food consists of mice, no less than six
having been found in one stomach. In addition to their mousing hab-
its, their habit of wandering and appearing in localities where mice
Rerort of State Geologist, 1897.

Piate XXIII.

LED

 

 

 

 

—

rc

J. 8. Dep. Agr., 1894.

Fisher, Year Book, |

ED OWL.

BARRE
BIRDS OF INDIANA. 807

have become so numerous that they could not be overcome by ordi-
nary means, is one of great importance, and renders them chiefly bene-
factors to the farmers. Their presence in unusual cases in times of
great emergency adds much to their value of service to man. In
cloudy weather they may often be seen hunting their food by day.
Their eggs are laid in April and May, in nests in such situations as
have been mentioned at English Lake. They require about three
weeks to hatch. But one brood is raised a year.

82. Gunus SYRNIUM Saviery.

*148. (368). Syrnium nebulosum (Forst.).
Barred Owl.

Large size; no ear tufts; general color, umber-brown and buffy
whitish; the plumage everywhere barred transversely except on the
belly, where the stripes run lengthwise; bill, yellow; eyes, brown-black.

Length, 19.00-24.00; wing, 12.50-14.00; tail, 9.00-10.00. (Fisher).

Raner.—Eastern North America, west to Dakota and Kansas from
Texas and Georgia; north to Manitoba and Nova Scotia. Breeds
throughout its range. Resident except at the extreme northern por-
tion of its range. ,

Nest, in hollow trees or in deserted large birds’ nests. Eggs, 2-4;
pure white; 1.94 by 1.65.

Common resident. Breeds. Not so common as it was formerly, and
apparently not so numerous in the Whitewater Valley as elsewhere.
The following references to counties will give some idea of its num-
bers: Knox, common resident (Chansler); Porter, common along the
Kankakee River; quite rare in Cook County, Illinois (Parker); Starke,
common (Deane); Carroll, the most abundant owl (Evermann); Mon-
roe, quite common (Blatchley); Dekalb, common resident (Mrs. Hine);
Lake, rather common at Water Valley (Aiken); Wabash, quite abund-
ant resident (Ulrey and Wallace); Brown, rather common (Kindle).

This.is the common large muley owl—the big woods owl that has
no horns or ears. It is commonly known as the “Hoot Owl,” on ac-
count of its well-known hooting, which Mr. Robert Ridgway interprets
“Who-who-who-who-who-who-who-r-r-e-you?” although sometimes
‘translated as “Who cooks for you all?” “This call is far louder than
the deep bass hooting of the Great Horned Owls, and is also more
varied. Frequently it is preceded by a very loud, blood-curdling
shriek, causing the hair of the uninitiated to rise on his head and
his knees to tremble for fear that a panther is prowling in the neigh-
borhood. When several get together their nocturnal concerts are very
808 Report OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

entertaining. One appears to tell some joke or do something funny,
at which the rest set up a hearty though demoniacal he, he, he, he, hi,
hi, hi, hi, ha, ha, ha, ha, and the uncanny company -is boisterously
hilarious for a few moments, when the solitude of the night again
reigns supreme.” (Birds of Illinois, I, pp. 409, 410.)

‘Mr. F. M. Chapman says: “The usual call is a sonorous ‘Who-who-
who, who-whoo, to whoo-oh.’” (B. E. N. A., p. 216.)

They begin mating in February, and some years may lay that
month, though it is usually in March. The nest is in the hollow of a
tree; or when that is not convenient, in an abandoned crow’s or hawk’s
nest. The female appears to incubate the eggs, which requires from
three to four weeks. Unless the eggs are taken, but one brood is
raised.

They may be seen abroad on sunless days, and then usually receive
much notice from crows and other birds, which collect to persecute
them. Mr. H. K. Coale informs me of an unique instance of this.
June 15, 1884, in Starke County, Indiana, he came upon a Barred Ow]
in a high tree. It was being attacked dy the following birds: Wood
Thrush, Blue Jay, Gnat-catcher, Great Crested Fly-catcher, Red Start
and Yellow Warbler, all calling and flying at it. Mr. H. W. McBride
kept a pair until they were a year old, but they did not breed.

Occasionally the Barred Qwl eats a chicken, but this is not common,
and perhaps most frequently when snow covers the ground in winter.
The examination of the stomachs of these owls, made under the direc-
tion of Dr. C. Hart Merriam, shows that of 109 examined 5 contained
poultry or game; 13, other birds; 46, mice; 18, other mammals; 4,
frogs; 1, a lizard; 2, fish; 14, insects; 2, spiders; 9, crawfish, and 20
were empty. (Bull. No. 3, Div. O. and M., U. 8. Dept. Agr., p. 156.)
But about 44 per cent. of its food is poultry or game, and this is doubt-
less mostly obtained from fowls roosting in trees or exposed places.
By far the bulk of their food is composed of injurious animals, the
principal part of which is mice. We are disposed to wage war upon
them for the oceasional pullet they destroy and consider not the ten
destructive mice of which they rid us.

83. Genus SCOTIAPTEX Swarnson.

149. (870). Scotiaptex cinerea (GMEL.).
Great Gray Owl.

Largest of our Owls. No ear tufts. Wing, 16.00-18.00; bill, small,
nearly hidden by feathers; eyes, yellow; general color, dusky grayish-
brown and grayish-white.

Length, 25.00-30.00; tail, 11.00-12.50. (Fisher).
Birps or INDIANA. 809

Ranece.—Northern North America; south in winter to northern
border of United States, casually to southern New England, New
Jersey, Ohio, Illinois and southern Montana and California. Breeds
from Hudson Bay territory and Washington State throughout the
northern timber area.

Nest, of sticks, lined with feathers, in trees. Hggs, 2-4; dull white;
2.16 by 1.71.

Accidental visitor in winter. From the northern part of the
State it has been reported hy Dr. A. W. Brayton, and Mr. E. R. Quick
has noted it in Franklin County, where it was captured several years
ago. It has been reported from Ohio, Michigan and Illinois also. Its
home is far north. Mr. E. W. Nelson says it is a common and well-
known resident throughout all the wooded parts of Alaska, and thence
south to Washington Territory (N. H. Coll. Alaska, p. 150). From
there it ranges into the Anderson River district and throughout the
Hudson Bay country.

84. Genus NYCTALA Bream.

*150. (872). Nyctala acadica ((Gz1.).
Saw-whet Owl.
Synonym, AcApIAN OWL.

Smallest Owl of the eastern United States; no ear tufts; wing, less
than 6 inches; tail, less than 3.50 inches; above, brown, more or less
spotted with white; beneath, white, striped with reddish-brown.

Length, 7.25-8.50; wing, 5.25-5.90; tail, 2.80-3.25. (Fisher).

Raner.—North America eastward, from Carolinas and Kentucky
north to Hudson Bay. Westward it ranges south along the moun-
tains to Oaxaca, Mex. Breeds from central Indiana, New York and
Massachusetts, New Mexico and Arizona northward.

Nest, in hollow tree, Woodpecker’s hole, occasionally in open, de-
serted nest. Eggs; 3-7; pure white; 1.19 by 1.00,

Not uncommon resident northward; irregular winter resident south.
Nome winters rather common locally. Occasionally little parties or
families are found in a locality, and it is verv interesting to note the
precision with which one will occupy a certain perch, and if it is taken,
another will take its place. In the vicinity of Chicago it seems tol-
erably numerous. Mr. Nelson mentions over a dozen having been
taken within two years (Bull. Essex Inst., Dec., 1876, p. 117). Mr.
H. K. Coale reports from that general locality thirty specimens within
ten years (Ridgway, B. of L., Sec. 7, p. 414). Mr. B. T. Gault took a
specimen in a grove at Sheffield, Lake County, Indiana, June 14.
810 Rerorr or Svate GroLocisr.

1889; another, June 28. They were in the juvenile or albifrons stage.
He thinks they undoubtedly were raised there. In Boone County, Mr.
J. EB. Beasley says, it occurs both summer and winter. Prof. B. W.
Evermann thus gives an account of its nesting in Carroll County, May
8, 1883: “In an old thicket near Burlington I found six young
Saw-whets in a hole in a dead elm. The hole was about twenty feet
from the ground, and the young Owls were able to fly.” He adds he
has heard it at various times in the spring. (The Auk, Oct., 1888,
p. 851.) This is the most southerly record of its nesting (Bendire, L.
H, N. A. B,, L p: 860).

The winter of 1886-7 they seem to have been generally dis-
tributed over the State. Dr. A. W. Brayton informs me that
winter they were rather common in Indianapolis. The fall of
1894 Mr. Jesse Earlle found them near Greencastle. The following
summary of his notes is given. November 10 found one so tame he
caught it in his hands. November 26 saw another, but failed to
catch it. It was in the identical place where he caught the first one.
It had brownish eyes. November 27 found one, a male, dead, on the
railroad, about a mile from where he found the others. December 15
saw two; caught one, which was at the same place where first was
taken, in a butterfly net. One of these was probably the same one
seen November 26, as its eyes were similar. December 17, caught the
remaining one, with brownish eyes, a female. He tried to keep this
and the first one taken, alive, but after about a month they died.
They have been reported from the following additional counties:
Franklin, April 29, 1883 (Haymond); Tippecanoe (Dr. E. Test);
Allen, rare (Stockbridge); Dekalb (R. W. McBride, Snyder); Fayette,
January 10, 1887 (Rehme); Monroe, November, 1886 (Evermann);
Wabash, November 20, 1894 (Ulrey and Wallace).

The Saw-whet Owl is decidedly nocturnal. It seems totally blinded
and helpless in bright daylight. It is the smallest Ow] found within
this State. The absence of tufts on its head renders it easily distin-
guishable from the Screech Owl. They usually nest in cavities in
trees, sometimes, perhaps, beginning in April and continuing
through May. It is thought that both sexes assist in incubation. The
note of this Owl is rasping, reminding one somewhat of the sound
made by filing a cross-cut saw. From this it derives its name. Of 22
stomachs examined, 17 contained mice; 1, a bird; 1, an insect, and 3
were empty. (Dr. Fisher, Bull. No. 3, Div. 0. and M., U.S. Dept. Agr.,
p. 162.) Its favorite food is mice, and it is friendly to all whom the
mice despoil.
Biros oF INDIANA. 811

“85. Genus MEGASCOPS Kaur.
*151. (373.) Megascops asio (Linn.).

Screech Owl.

 

Screech Owl.

“Toes more or less distinctly feathered or bristled on upper side;
ear tufts conspicuous; plumage presenting two totally distinct phases,
having no relation to sex, age or season, one grayish, the other bright
rufous; a more or less conspicuous bright colored stripe runs along
each side of the back and a blackish line along the shafts of the
feathers, sometimes throwing out transverse bars.

“Length, 6.50-10.00; wing, 5.60-7.10; tail, 3.00-3.70.” (Fisher).

Raneet.—Eastern North America, from Texas and Georgia to Lake
Superior and New Brunswick, west to South Dakota and Kansas.
Generally resident throughout its range.

Nest, in hollow trees or in old buildings. Hggs, 4-7; white; 1.42 by
1.19.

Resident; abundant; breeds. Everywhere the little Screech Owl is
a well-known bird. Sometimes it is seen in gray plumage, but at this
time in Indiana it is more often seen in the red phase. People for-
merly thought each color represented a different bird and that we had
S12 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

iwo kinds of Screech Owls. one red, the other gray. The fact is, the
color is independent of age, sex or season. This double-color phase is
called dichromatism.

In Indiana, in the Wabash Valley, 95 per cent. of the Screech Owls
have been found to be red (Ridgway). From the Miami Valley of Ohio
and the Whitewater in Indiana about 60 per cent. were found to be
red (Langdon, Jour. Cin. Soc. N. H., April, 1882, pp. 52-3). In the
winter of 1886-7, in Franklin County, Indiana, red Screech Owls were
abundant and gray ones exceedingly rare. Up to 1882 almost all
seen were gray, and prior to 1886 red Screech Owls were rare. At
Terre Haute and at Bloomington, Carroll County, red is the prevailing
phase. But it had not always been so. Prof. B. W. Evermann in 1890
said: “In 1877-79 we got a good many Screech Owls at. Camden, per-
haps twenty all told, and I think there were only four or five red ones.
Since 1885 I have seen four or five at Burlington, all red. In
Wabash County both the red and gray phases are abundant. Since
18s, at Terre Haute, I have seen perhaps fifteen or twenty, and only
three or four of them were gray. In 1891 Miss Bessie O. Cushing
(Ridgely) secured three red Screech Owls at Peru.” In Lake County,
in 1886, Mr. L. T. Meyer said the gray form predominated. Mr. E. M.
Hasbrouk has given us the result of his studies of this problem (Amer-
ican Naturalist, Vol. NNNII, p. 521, etc., 1893), from which I make a
few notes:

‘There are places where only the gray is known. There is at least
one place, from the neighborhood of the mouth of the Ohio River
southward to Louisiana, where only the red form prevails, while be-
tween the two areas are found both red and gray. The State of In-
diana is in this belt, and the greater part of it is in that portion where
the red form predominates. All records show that the offspring of a
pair of gray birds are invariably gray. On the contrary. the young of
a pair of red birds, or a pair of which one is of each color, red and
gray, may be part of one color and part of the other.

To the mind of the author all this presents a nice little study in
evolution, in which he has discovered humidity, temperature, acquired .
characters and forest area are important factors. Mr. Ridgway had
previously suggested humidity as one cause. (Proc., U. 8. Nat. Mus.,
1878, p. 108).

Mr. John Wright, a relative. living in Bartholomew County, told
me in the summer of 1897 of some Owls that lived in or near a bridge
in that county that attacked a number of persons who attempted to
cross the bridge after night. They had attacked him. They were
small Owls, he xaid, and he thought they were this species.
Birps oF INDIANA. 813

They nest in cavities in trees, an old apple tree in an orchard being
a favorite place, in old squirrel nests and old buildings. Eggs are
laid in May or early June. Incubation is thought to last about three
weeks, beginning with the time the first one is laid. Eggs are deposited
every two or three days.

These owls are much more numerous about our towns than they were
formerly. English Sparrows have become numerous, and the Screech
Owls have found them to be good eating and easily obtained. They
keep the number of Sparrows down. In fact, the Sparrows are not
nearly so common now as they were a few years ago. The owls are
quite nocturnal, sitting through the day with eyes closed, and by ap-
proaching carefully, they may often be taken by hand. March 26,
1887, I caught one alive on his perch on the lower limb of a small
beech tree. The perch had long been occupied, for there was a great
quantity of ejected material below the place where it sat. Amongst
the refuse I identified-the skull of the following: Mice, Synaptomys
coopert, Arvicola riparius, Calomys americanus; fragments of beetles,
cicade and crawfish. Its stomach contained the remains of a shrew.
A specimen sent me by Mr. E. L. Guthrie, Adams, Ind., contained 3
crawfish and one minnow. There is no other record of this Owl eat-
ing fish. A specimen taken at Brookville, December 31, 1887, had
eaten a quantity of butter. Of 255 stomachs reported upon from the
United States Department of Agriculture, 1 contained poultry; 38,
other birds; 91, mice; 11, other mammals; 2, lizards; 4, batrachians; 1,
fish; 100, insects; 5, spiders; 9, crawfish; 7, miscellaneous; 2, scorpions;
2, earthworms; and 43 were empty (Bull. No. 3, Div. 0. & M., U.S.
Dept. Agr., p. 173). Birds were found in about 15 per cent., fully one-
third of which were English Sparrows.

Throughout the warmer parts of the year insects form quite a large
part of its food. “As nearly three-fourths of the Owl’s food consists
of injurious mammals and insects, and only about one-seventh of
birds (a large portion of which are destructive English Sparrows),
there is no question that this little owl should be carefully protected”
(Dr.,A. K. Fisher, Year Book U. 8. Dept. Agr., 1894, p. 226).

86. Genus BUBO Dumerin.
152. (875). Bubo virginianus (GMEL.).
‘ Great Horned Owl.

Large and heavy. Ear tufts very conspicuous. Plumage, irregu-
larly varied with buffy, tawny, whitish, and dusky, one or other of
the colors predominating in the different races. The buffy and tawny
814 Report. oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

tints are most marked in the typical bird, the dusky in the dusky
Horned Owl, and white in the Arctic bird.
Length, 18.00-25.00; wing, 14.50-16.00; tail, 8.25-9.00. (Fisher).
Rance.—Eastern North America, from Costa Rica to southern
Labrador and eastern Manitoba. Winters to central Texas and middle
Kansas. Resident throughout most of its range.

   
        
 

PRLS
Le Me Re

ttY
BY Aa)
oy CR

   
    

<i

War? 7,

   

   
 

ae

y

YG 4
Zo

Great Horned Owl.
(Fisher.—Year Book United States Department of Agriculture, 1894, p, 228.)

Nest, usually in hollow tree, or deserted nest of other large bird.
Liggs, 1-5, usually 2 or 3; white; 2.12 by 1.81.

Common resident. Breeds. In southeastern Indiana this is the
most common large Owl. In some other portions of the State it is not
so numerous as the Barred Owl, but everywhere it is common. Fre-
quents mostly deep woods. It is commonly called “Cat Owl” or the “Big
Long-eared Owl,” to distinguish it from the Long-eared Owl (Asio
Birps or INDIANA. 815

wilsonianus), which is termed “Little Long-eared Owl.” This Owl is
nocturnal in its habits. Occasionally it is seen abroad on a cloudy
day. Then it becomes the target for the attacks of Crows, Kingbirds
and other birds. The excited cawing of a lot of Crows on such a day
often indicates that an Owl is abroad.

Mr. F. M. Chapman says: “Its usual call is a loud, deep-toned
Whoo, hoo-hoo-hoo, whooo, whooo. The syllables are all on the same
note, and bear some resemblance to a bass-voiced dog barking in the
distance. A much rarer call is a loud, piercing scream, one of the
most blood-curdling sounds I have ever heard in the woods.” (Birds
E. N. A, p. 220.)

Mating begins in January and continues through the next month.
They lay their eggs in the nests of Hawks and Crows and in hollow
trees. Prof. A. J. Cook records one instance of the Great Horned
Owl and Red-tailed Hawk occupying the same nest at different times.
This had been kept up for years, the former using it in February, the
latter in April (Birds of Mich., p. 83). They usually lay their eggs in
February, sometimes by the first of the month. Major Bendire thinks
about three days elapse between the laying of each egg, and that
about 28 days is the incubation period. The female, he thinks, per-
forms that duty. Mr. H. W. McBride has raised several, and says he
finds it impossible to tame them. He took young Owls, March 14,
1890. Mr. Chas. Barber found a nest near Laporte, March 11, 1892.
March 26 he first examined it; then it contained two young, covered
with white down. Before the young was piled parts of two rabbits,
two rats and two mice; all quite fresh. The Crows had been con-
stantly and persistently bothering the old ones. April 9, one died;
April 11, the white downy covering nearly all had disappeared. Bill,
cere, and toenails, black; wing-quills, 24 inches long, with tuft of
feathers at end; feathers, variegated, yellow and black. From the first,
seemed afraid of him. Occasionally pairs may be found breeding most
any time in summer as late as October. Mr. F. M. Noe had a half-
grown Owl brought to him at Indianapolis, December 1, 1891.

This large Owl destroys more poultry and game than any other of
our Owls. This may be largely due to the fact that individuals seem
to have a great preference for this kind of food and become unusually
destructive. Mr. E. J. Chansler informs me that he lost 59 young
Guineas one fall by them. To balance this, sometimes they seem de-
termined to live upon rats. Mr. Chas. Dury records that the remains
of 113 Norway rats, most of them with the heads split open and the
brains removed, were found in and about a nest of these Owls, which

an
816 Revort or Stare GEOLoGIst.

was in a sycamore stub near a farmer’s barn (Journ. Cin. Soc. N. H.,
April, 1885, p. 66).

Rabbits are the principal mammals eaten, though they are great
destroyers of mice. They also eat muskrats, opossums and skunks.

The summary of 127 stomachs examined shows that 31 contained
poultry or game birds; 8, other birds; 13, mice; 65, other mammals;
1, a scorpion; 1, fish; 10, insects; and 17 were empty. (Fisher, Bull.
No. 8, Div. O. & M., U. 8S. Dept. Agr.) Undoubtedly almost all the
poultry eaten by the Great Horned Owl is taken from fences, trees
and other exposed perches, where many farmers permit their fowls
to roost. If they will take care to have them properly housed, the
Owls will seldom bother them. The farmer who takes proper care
of his poultry has no charge to make against this Owl. To all such it
is a beneficial bird. To the fruit growers, by reason of its destruction
of rabbits and mice, it is a true friend. Let it be protected accord-

ingly.
87. Genus NYCTEA SrTeprHens.

153. (876). Nyctea nyctea (Lryn.).
Snowy Owl.

“Har tufts, rudimentary; plumage, pure white, sometimes almost
unspotted, but usually marked more or less with transverse spots or
bars of slaty-brown.

“Length, 20.00-27.00; wing, 15.50-18.75; tail, 9.00-10.30.” (Fisher).

Raneze.—Northern part of Northern Hemisphere. In North
America breeding from Labrador, Hudson Bay and north Alaska,
northward. South, in winter, to Ohio Valley; casually to South Caro-
lina, Texas, California and Bermudas.

Nest, a few feathers, or bits of moss, in a depression on a knoll.
Figgs, 8-10; white; 2.24 by 1.76.

Winter visitor, of irregular occurrence. Most every winter it is seen.
Usually it is rare, but occasionally it appears in some numbers. In
the northern part of the State it is seen more often than elsewhere.
‘There are but few records from the Whitewater Valley. A specimen
taken in Franklin County, in December, 1879, is in the collection of
Mr. E.R. Quick, of Brookville. The winter of 1886-7 one was seen north
of Brookville, and one was taken at Cedar Grove, December, 1893.
In Fayette County one was taken, February 18, 1887 (Rehme), and in
Wayne County one was reported during the holidays, 1887 (F. M.
Smith). The winter of 1885-6 several were reported from different
parts of the State, and in the winter of 1886-7 they were still more nu-
Birps or InpIANna. 817

merous and were generally distributed. They were again observed
over the northern part of the State in 1889-90. The earliest appear-
ances are early in November, and most of them are generally seen in
that month and December. Usually they are gone in February,
though one was reported from Valparaiso, March 31, 1887 (‘Trouslot);
and Mr. C. E. Aiken informs me of one observed “about May,” 1870,
in Lake County. Besides a lot of general records, I may mention the
following, from the counties named: Carroll, 1865 (Evermann); La-

 

Snowy Owl.

porte, Michigan City, December 21, 1883 (Miss Colfax); Lawrence,
near Bedford, 1887 (Chansler); Chicago, Ll]., two, November 3, 1885
(Parker); Porter, two, winter of 1885-6; one prior to that (Trouslot),
Ist. of November, 1887 (Byrkit); Decatur (Guthrie); 2 taken, several
others seen, winter of 1886-7 (Shannon); Putnam, 1888 (Clearwaters);
Vigo, November 20, 1889; Olivet, Mich., December 2, 1889, near
White Pigeon, Mich., 1889 (Evermann); Allen, one, winter of 1889-90
(Stockbridge); Tippecanoe, February 20, 1891 (Moffitt); Wabash, near
Roann, one, probably winter of 1891-2, one, near North Manchester,
winter 1893, and one in 1894 (Ulrey and Wallace); Marion, near
Southport, November, 189-+ (Noe); one also taken at Sandusky, O..
November 26, 1896 (Moseley).

Although they are with us only occasionally, their visits are bene-

52—GEoOL.
818 REporT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

ficial. Their chief food, with us, is meadow mice; in the Arctic re-
gions these mice and lemmings principally supply its wants. Mr.
L. M. Tumer, in his “Notes on the Birds of Labrador and Ungava,”
says: “It never seizes its prey except while the latter is in motion,
except in the case, probably, of fish.” The examinations of stomachs
conducted by the United States Department of Agriculture show, of
38 stomachs of the Snowy Owl examined, 2 contained game birds; 9,
other birds; 18, mice; 2, other mammals; and 12 were empty. (Fisher,
Bull. No. 3, Div. 0. & M., U. 8. Dept. Agr., p. 187.)

The beauty of the plumage of this useful bird marks it for slaugh-
ter. It flys by day, and is, therefore, very conspicuous. Few, if any,
of those that visit the United States live to return. The winter of
1876-7, Mr. Ruthven Deane estimates as many as 500 were killed in
New England. :

Audubon gives an interesting account of the fishing habits of this
Owl, as observed by him at the Falls of the Ohio (Orn. Biog., Vol. IT,
p. 136).

88. Gexus SURNIA DomeriL.

154. (377a). Surnia ulula caparoch (MULL.).
American Hawk Owl.

“No ear tufts; tail rounded at tips, and indistinctly barred with
white. Top of head and back of neck, spotted with white and black,
or dark brown; a patch of uniform blackish or dark brown on each side
of hind neck; upper parts, brown, more or less spotted with white;
lower parts, regularly barred with brown.

“Length, 14.75-17.50; wing, 7.50-9.00; tail, 6.80-7.00.” (Fisher).

Rancz.—Northern North America. Breeds from Newfoundland.
and Manitoba, northward. South, in winter, irregularly, to northern
United States; Massachusetts, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, Da-
kota and Montana.

Nest, in natural cavity, in tree or among limbs of bushy conifers.
Eggs, 3-7; white; 1.51 by 1.23.

Accidental visitor. Mr. E. R. Quick identified it in Franklin
County, in January, 1878.

This Owl is diurnal in its habits. It hunts by day, generally in the
morning, or in evening. It nests from Newfoundland northward to
the Arctic regions, wherever timber is found. Nelson says: “This
is perhaps the most abundant resident bird of prey throughout the en-
tire wooded part of northern Alaska.” (N. H. Coll. in Alaska, p. 155.)
The Hawk Owl has been taken in the lower peninsula of Michigan, the
Brirps oF INDIANA. 819

last being in 1891 (Cook, Birds of Mich., p. 84). It has been noted in
Ohio (Wheaton, Birds of Ohio, p. 414), and one record is known from
Illinois. It was taken in Kane County by Dr. J. W. Velie the Ist
of September, 1869 (Bull. Essex Inst., Vol. VIII, 1876, p. 117). This
Owl is classed among those that are principally beneficial. Incuba-
tion begins as soon as the first egg is deposited, and both sexes share
in the work (Bendire).

K. Orprer PSITTACI. Parrots, Macaws,
Parogqurts, Erc.

XXIX. Famitry PSITTACIDZ. Parrots anp PAROQUETS.

a}, Middle tail feathers longest. Conurus. 89

89. Genus CONURUS Kua.

*155. (882). Conurus carolinensis (Linvy.).
Carolina Paroquet.

Aduli.—Rich grass-green, varying to emerald in some lights, the
lower parts lighter and more yellowish-green than the upper; tertials,
tips of greater coverts, and basal portion of primaries, greenish-yellow;
primaries, dark blue at tips; forehead, lores and cheeks, rich orange-red,
or orange-crome; rest of head, with upper part of neck, pure gamboge-
yellow; edge of wing, tinged with orange; bill, creamy-white; eyelids,
whitish; iris, blackish-brown; feet, whitish. Immature——Similar, but
no yellow on head or neck, which are green; the forehead only, or the
forehead and lores, dull orange-red.

Length, 11.35-14.00; wing, 7.00-7.60; tail, 6.40-7.10.

RancGe.—Formerly eastern United States, from Florida and Gulf
coast north to Denver, Col., northern Nebraska, Iowa, northern [lli-
nois, southern Michigan, to Albany, N. Y. Now, probably only found
locally in Florida and perhaps Indian Territory. Said to breed in
cavities, in trees, and also to build nests among the branches.

Eggs, 2; white; 1.39 by 1.07.

Formerly resident; found throughout the State; now extinct. Bred
at least north to the vicinity of Indianapolis.

This beautiful little Parrot is now almost extinct. It will soon be
entirely exterminated. At present it is probably to be found in small
numbers in Florida and in a few favorable localities from there to
northeastern Texas and Indian Territory.
820 Report oF StTaTE GEOLOGIST.

Less than a century ago they reached north into Michigan, thence
east to Albany, N. Y., and west into Colorado. In 1806 they reached
the mouth of the Manimee (Maumee) in Ohio (Audubon) and prob-
ably the northern line of this State. R. Kennicott took specimens in
the vicinity of Chicago, and Dr. H. M. Bannister saw it there (Nel-
son). They were seen at Madisonville, near Cincinnati, O., as late as
1840 (Langdon). Audubon says, in 1842, few were to be found higher
than Cincinnati.

In the Whitewater Valley, in 1835, they were last reported from
Brookville, Ind. They were common in Switzerland County in 1838-9
and were last noted in Clarke County in 1844. From the other coun-
ties named the last record I have been able to obtain is as follows:
Vermillion, 1844; Parke, 1842; Marion, 1835; Monroe, 1836; Morgan,
1838-40; Owen, 1845; Greene, 1849; Martin, 1845; Kmox and Daviess,
1857-8; Posey, 1858; and the latest date is Knox County, 1859.

Thus it will be seen they disappeared from all of Ohio and Indiana,
except the lower Wabash Valley, by about 1840. Their range con-
tinued to diminish; it is still growing: less. There are persons now
living from 80 to 90 years of age in this State who can remember when
they were to be found in great numbers over more than one-half of
the southern part of Indiana. It will not be surprising if they should
live to hear that the Paroquets are extinct.

They preferred the valleys of streams and the vicinity of ponds.
There they were found in flocks ranging from six to a hundred or
more. In such places grew, in quantities, their favorite food, the
“cockle-burr’ or “cuckle-burr’ (Yanthium canadense Miill.). For
these it is said they would leave any other food. Sometimes they
would gather—numbers of them—upon a stump and shell out the
kernel, leaving instead a pile of empty burrs. Wherever they were
found, the universal testimony is, they preferably ate this food.
Next to cockle-burrs they preferred hackberries.

In spring they were very destructive in orchards, eating the leaf-
buds, blossoms and young fruit. Early apples were often eaten. In
fall they fed upon apples, grapes and grain. They also ate cherries,
persimmons, black-gum berries, haws, beechnuts, acorns, and pecans.
One authority says they split open the apples and ate the seeds, dis-
carding the remainder of the fruit. Sometimes, when in large flocks,
they seemed bent upon mischief. Then they destroyed an entire crop
of fruit. After eating what they wanted they would tear the apples
off the tree, and, after taking a bite, throw them to the ground. They
also tore off the heads of wheat and threw them upon the ground.
Brraps or InpIANA. 821

It is always difficult for those who have not seen a part of the
changes that the last century has wrought in the Ohio Valley and Lake
Region to comprehend what has occurred. The Paroquets were found
there in great numbers. Dr. Rufus Haymond, who wrote the first
record of their occurrence in the interior of Indiana, in 1856, said:
“This bird was formerly very numerous along the Whitewater River.
Several years have elapsed since any of them have been seen.” Proc.
Phil. Acad., November, 1856, p. 293.) Wilson found therh in 1810,
in flocks, near Lawrenceburg, and in great numbers at the Big Bone
Lick, in Kentucky, but a few miles away. When my father was a
boy, six or eight years old, about 1816-18, they were common about
Brookville. They were quite numerous in Morgan County in 1835-40.
Prof. E. T. Cox informs me that they were as numerous about New
Harmony in 1826 as Blackbirds (Quiscalus quiscula eneus) are now.
Several others have given the same estimate of their-numbers.

Another authority says they alighted upon an apple tree in such
numbers as to almost cover it over. They flew in two lines converging
to a point, in form resembling the figure made by a flock of Wild Geese
(B. canadensis). While on the wing they chatter and cry continually.
This cry sounds like qui, with rising inflection on the i. This is re-
peated several times, the last one being drawn out like qui--i-i (Nehrl-
ing, N. A. B., XVI, p. 489).

The older people all claim they roosted and nested in cavities, nat-
ural or otherwise, in trees. Prof. John Collett has supplied me with
the following note: “In 1842, Return Richmond, of Lodi (Parke
County), Ind., cut down, in the cold weather of winter, a sycamore
tree some four feet in diameter. In its hollow trunk he found hun-
dreds of Parakeets in a quiescent or semi-torpid condition. The
weather was too cold for the birds to fly or even to make any exertion
to escape. Mr. Richmond cut off with his saw a section of the hollow
trunk some five feet long, cut out a doorway one foot by two in size,
nailed over it a wire screen of his fanning mill, rolled this cumbersome
cage into the house and placed in it a dozen of the birds. They soon
began to enjoy the feed of fruit, huckleberries and nuts he gave them,
and he had the pleasure of settling absolutely the disputed question
of how they slept. At night they never rested on a perch, but sus-
pended themselves by their beaks, and with their feet on the side of
their cage. This was repeated night after night during their cap-
tivity.”

Mr. W. B. Seward, of Bloomington, informs me of obtaining some
five, he thinks, young Paroquets from a farmer’s boy in Owen County,
in 1845. His impression is they were taken from the inside of a hol-
822 Report oF State GEOLOGIST.

low tree, on the borders of White River. This is the farthest north
we have any account of their nesting.

Audubon, Wilson and others say they nested in hollow trees. In
1889, while making explorations in Florida, Mr. William Brewster
made every inquiry he could concerning the breeding habits of these
birds. There he was informed they built nests like those of a Carolina
Dove, in the forks of small cypress trees. It is possible that both kinds
of sites were selected. The number of eggs is unknown, but has been
given as from two to five.

They are easily tamed and make interesting pets. In their wild
state they are very affectionate. It is said when one of a flock was
wounded the others gathered about, regardless of danger, and made
every effort to render the cripple assistance.

The following papers treat of this subject more extensively and are
referred to for the benefit of any who care to investigate it further:
The Carolina Paroquet (Conurus carolinensis), by Edwin M. Has-
brouck (The Auk, Vol. VIII, October, 1891, pp. 369-379). Notes on
the Range and Habits of the Carolina Parakeet, by Amos W. Butler
(Ibid, Vol. IX, January, 1892, pp. 49-56).

L. Orper COCCYGES. Cuckoos, Etc.
SuzorpeErR CUCULI. Cucxoos, Etc.
XXX. Famiry CUCULIDA. Cucxcoos, Anis, Erc.

Supramity COCCYGINA, American Cuckoos.
a’, Tail feathers 10; bill gently curved downwards; colors of plumage soft and
blended; wing less than 6.00; tail less than 8.00. Coceyzus. 90
60. Grnus COCCYZUS Visttxor. ,

a'. Tail feathers except middle pair black with white tips; lower mandible yellow.
C. americanus (Linn.). 156

a?, Tail feathers grayish brown, with narrow tips of dull whitish; lower mandible
not yellow. C. erythrophthalmus (Wils.). 157

*156. (387). Coceyzus americanus (Lrnn.).
Yellow-billed Cuckoo.
Synonyms Rar Crow, Cow-Cow.
Bill, extensively yellow below, except tip; above, glossy black; cen-
tral tail feathers, like the back; above, uniform satiny olive-gray, with
bronzy reflections; below, pure white; wings, extensively rufous on

inner webs of the quills, the rest black, with large white tips, the
outermost usuallv edged with white.
Birps oF INDIANA. 823

Length, 11.90-12.70; wing, 5.40-5.80; tail, 6.00-6.15.

Rance.—Eastern North America, from Costa Rica and West Indies
northward to New Brunswick, southern Ontario, and Minnesota.
Breeds from Florida and east Texas northward. Winters south of
United States.

Nest, a mere platform of twigs, in bushes or in trees, 4 to 20 feet up.
Eggs, 2-5, rarely 6 or 7; light greenish-blue; 1.21 by .88.

 

Yellow-billed Cuckoo.
(Beal. —Farmers’ Bulletin 54, United States Department of Agriculture.)

Common summer resident; less numerous northward. Arrives usu-
ally early in May. Southern Indiana spring arrivals show as dates
first observed: April 23, 1887, May 9, 1893 (Greensburg); April 30,
1895 (Bicknell, Knox County); May 3, 1888 (Vincennes); April 29,
1894, May 3, 1893 (Spearsville, Brown County). Northern Indiana:
Lafayette, May 8, 1897; Dekalb County, Sedan, May 11, 1894, May 6,
1895; Waterloo, May 3, 1896, May 6, 1897; Laporte, May 15, 1894,
May 10, 1895, May 6, 1896. The following fall records indicate when
the last bird was seen.. In 1889 the last one remained at Sedan until
October 13, and in 1894 the last one was noted at Plymouth, Mich.,
September 3. In 1896 the last one was noted at Lafayette, October
13. In 1895 the last one was seen at Chicago, Ill., September 22;
at Lafayette, September 9; at Bicknell, Ind., October 14. The earliest
date at which it left Brookville was September 6, 1886, and the latest,
October 10, 1884. The last seen in Warren County, in 1897, was
September 20. On September 17 old birds were seen feeding their
S24 Revortr or Srate GEoLoeistr.

young. They begin to leave early in August. August 16, 1897, at
9:15 p. m., Mr. Barnett heard one in Vermillion County flying south.
They sometimes are pairing when they arrive; again they mate soon
after arrival. They are very numerous in May, in southern Indiana—
one who has not observed them does not know how plentiful they are.
Then they frequent orchards, lawns, and woods. Both species are
called Rain Crow, Cow-Cow, and Wood Pigeon.

I have seen them mating May 8 (1886), and as late as June 10
(1893). I have found their nest and eggs by May 20. Prof. B. W.
Evermann found a nest, with fresh eggs, June 30, 1885. They build
their nests in thick bushes, on ends of low limbs of trees, especially of
beech, and wild grape vines, from 5 to 15 feet high. The usual nest
is a mere pretense, a flimsy structure of a few sticks, with a few blos-
soms, generally of the oak, with us, upon which to lay the eggs. Occa-
sionally a very substantial nest is built—one such was found at Bloom-
ington, Ind., by my friend, Mr. 0. M. Meyncke. Often eggs are found
upon the ground, beneath the nest; either the bird flirts them out as
she leaves the nest or they are thrown out as the limb or bush is
swayed by the wind. Incubation begins when the first egg is laid.
Young birds and eggs in various stages of incubation, some almost
fresh, are often found together. This and the next species occasionally
lay in each other's nests, also in the nests of other birds. They, how-
ever, do not do this habitually, as the European Cuckoo does.

Its common call, that may be heard throughout its stay, is Cook-
cook-cook-cook; another call is, Cow-cow-cow-cow; another is. Ock-
ock-ock-ock, sometimes changed into Ke-ock, ke-ock, ke-ock, ke-ock.

Few birds are of so much service to the farmer. Especially are the
fruit growers and nurserymen its debtors. In early spring, they love
the orchard. I have known them to destroy every tent caterpillar
(Clisiocampa umericana) in a badly infested orchard, and tear wp all
the nests ina half day. While they may have eaten some caterpillars,
out of most of them the juices were squeezed and the hairy skin
dropped to the ground. Almost every watchful fruit grower has had
a similar experience. Prof. F. H. King found, upon examination,
that one had eaten nine larvv of a species that destroys the foliage
of black walnut trees. They also eat many canker-worms. Of nine
specimens dissected hy Dr. B. H. Warren. all but one had eaten in-
sects, chiefly taken from shade and forest trees: these were beetles
and caterpillars, besides one had eaten grasshoppers and snails
(Helix), and one had eaten berries. While they occasionally eat
some of the smaller fruit, their work all summer long is to protect the
fruit tree from its enemies. Although it has been accused of robbing
Birps or INDIANA. 825

the nests of other birds, and eating their eggs, I do not believe the
charge has been sustained.

The results of the examinations of 21 stomachs of these birds showed
that the contents consisted of 355 caterpillars, 18 beetles, 23 grass-
hoppers, 31 sawflies, 14 bugs, 6 flies and 12 spiders; one stomach
contained 12 American tent caterpillars; another, 217 fall web worms.
(Beal, Farmers’ Bulletin, No. 54, U. S. Dept. Agr., p. 6).

*157. (888). Coccyzus erythrophthalmus (W11s.).
Black-billed Cuckoo.

Adult.—Bill, black; tail like the back and tipped with white; under
surface of tail feathers, dull white; eyelids, red. Above, uniform olive
gray, with bronzy reflections; below, pure white, sometimes with faint
tawny tinge on fore parts; wings, with little or no rufous. Jmmu-
ture.—Eyelids, yellow, more grayish above.

Length, 11.00-12.70; wing, 5.12-5.65; tail, 6.25-7.00.

Raner.—America, from Brazil, Amazon Valley to Labrador, Mani-
toba and east Assiniboia. West to Rocky Mountains. Breeds from
about latitude 35 degrees north. Winters from Florida south.

Nest, similar to that of C. americanus, but a little better built.
Eggs, 2-5, rarely 6 or 7; smaller and darker green than those of last
species; 1.11 by .78.

Summer resident; common northward; much less numerous south-
ward, except during migrations, when it is common. It is common
north of the Wabash River, and, perhaps, locally farther south. Fol-
lowing 1884, Prof. Evermann thought this species became more com-
mon than the last in Carroll and Monroe Counties. We have been
accustomed to regard this species as a later migrant than the last.
Some years it is, others they come together, and occasionally it is
much earlier. I took it at Brookville, April 26, 1892. This is the
only record of its arrival in April. In 1893 I did not get it until
May 16. In southern Indiana, it may be expected between those
dates. In the northern part of the State, the following will give
some idea of the date of its first arrival: Lafayette, May 7, 1897;
Dekalb County, Sedan, May 11, 1894, May 6, 1895; Waterloo, May 3,
1896, May 14, 1897; Laporte, May 9, 1896.

They leave in August and September, but occasionally one, may
be seen well through October. At Chicago, IIl., the last was seen
September 25, 1895, October 24, 1885; Plymouth, Mich., September
20, 1894; Bicknell, Knox County, Ind., September 16, 1894; Greens-
burg, September 26, 1896; Warren County, September 23, 1897.
826 Report OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Their mating, nesting and other habits are substantially the same
as the Yellow-billed Cuckoo. They build insecure nests, and lay
irregularly. A nest may be seen with a fresh egg, one ready to hatch,
and a young bird well fledged. Nests may be found from early May
well through the summer. A set of eggs in the collection of the
United States Museum was taken near Mt. Carmel, Ill, May 7, 1878
(Bendire, L. H., N. A. Birds, IL., p. 29). The eggs must have been
laid with little time intervening. Usually considerable interval
elapses between the laying of each egg, and incubation begins soon
after the first one is laid. Sometimes, however, an egg is laid each
day. Both sexes incubate. Prof. A. J. Cook mentions four taken
at St. Clair Flats, July 20, 1893 (Birds of Mich., p. 86). Mr. J. F.
Clearwaters found a nest, containing two fresh eggs, in a willow
thicket, near Michigan City, August 13, 1891. Some years most of the
birds have left at that date. The nest of the Black-billed Cuckoo is,
perhaps, a little more substantial than that of the Yellow-billed. Its
eggs are smaller, and a deeper shade of green.

Its food is much the same as that of the last species. Prof. Forbes
informs us that 75 per cent. of the food of some he examined contained
canker-worms (Rept. Mich. Hort. Soc., 1891, p. 204). Prof. F. H. King

says 13 ate 138 hymenoptera, 68 caterpillars, 10 beetles, 26 orthoptera,
and 2 harvestmen (Geol. of Wis., Vol. I, 1883, p. 568). Prof. Beal notes
that 16 taken during the summer months ate 328 caterpillars, 11
beetles, 15 grasshoppers, 63 sawflies, 3 stink bugs, and 4 spiders
(Farmers’ Bulletin, No. 54, U. 8S. Dept. Agr., p. 5). Almost entirely
do they eat injurious insects, and their work is distinctively beneficial,
because they eat so largely of those hairy, destructive caterpillars that
other birds do not choose for food. Its common note is a soft coo-
coo-coo-coo. In addition, it has other notes, resembling those of the
last. species.

Suporper ALCYONES. Kinarrsuers.

XXXI. Famitry ALCEDINIDA. Kinerisners.

Characters same as family. CeryLte. 91
91. Ganus CERYLE Borr.

Subgenus StreptocsryLe Bonaparte.
*158. (390). Ceryle aleyon (Linn.).
Belted Kingfisher.

Adult Male——Head with crest; above, bluish-gray, with a white
collar, wings marked with white. Below, white; band across breast
and sides, bluish-gray. Adult Female—Sides tinged with ru-
Birps or INDIANA. 827

fous; band across belly, rufous. Jmmature—Similar to adult, but
band across breast and sides tinged with rufous.
Length, 13.50-14.50; wing, 9.10-9.50; tail, 3.80-4.30.
Rance.—North America, from Panama and West Indies to Arctic
Ocean. Breeds from Florida and Texas, northward. Winters from
Virginia, southern Indiana, southern Illinois and Kansas, southward.

 

Belted Kingfisher.

Nest, a burrow in a steep bank, usually near water. Mggs, 5-8; pure
white; 1.36 by 1.05.

Resident southward, the extent and number depending upon the
severity of the winter, and the number of open streams; common
summer resident northward. In the northern part of the State, they
usually depart late in October or early in November, and return in

 

Syndactyle foot of Kingfisher.

March and early April. During mild winters, they doubtless remain
wherever open water is found. Mr. Jerome Trombley says it is occa-
sionally seen in mild winters in Monroe County, Mich. (Cook, Birds
of Mich., p. 86), but in 1897 it was not seen until April 18. One was
reported from Dekalb County, February 15, 1888 (H. W. McBride).
He also notes it first seen in 1889, March 5. In 1893, it was first
828 Revort or Stare GEOLoGISY.

seen in Dekalb County, Sedan, April 5 (Mrs. Hine). At Waterloo,
in 1894, March 18; 1896, March 29 (Feagler).

Those living away from water courses and lakes do not know how
numerous Kingfishers are, and sometimes persons living along streams
think them more common than they are. <A pair cover’ a certain
stretch of river, having certain places where they alight and watch
for fish. They are very busy, and their loud rattling noise often gives
the impression that there are more than the actual number.

I have seen them mating at Brookville as early as March 24 (1893),
and as late as April 15 (1887). In April they excavate a hole in a
precipitous bank, usually of a water course, and therein deposit their
eggs. Sometimes by May 10 a full set is taid. Along the rivers sub-
ject to high waters, many of these birds seem to have learned to build
in other higher banks; occasionally, however, one builds on the low
river banks, and is drowned out. They generally breed in single
pairs. Some places they are found in colonies, and the banks are
honeycombed with their burrows. Often they and swallows occupy
the same bank, even sometimes having a common entrance to their
burrows. Dr. F. W. Langdon found, near Cincinnati, O., May 22,
1879, in the same creek bank, the burrows of a Kingfisher and of a
Rough-winged Swallow. Each was occupied by the owner. Each bur-
row was occupied, in addition, by a colony of Bumble Bees, all dwelling
in perfect harmony. The Kingfisher was sitting, and would not leave
her eggs until taken by the bill and lifted off (Journ. Cin. Soc. N. H.,
Dec., 1881, p. 338).

The Kingfisher reminds one of a Woodpecker, which excavates holes
in banks instead of trees. It lives principally upon fish, although
insects are sometimes eaten. The bones, scales and other indigestible
portions of its food are ejected in pellets, as is the custom with Owls.

M. Orprer PICI, Wooprreckrers, Wrynecks, Eve.

XXXII. Famity PICIDA. Woopprcxkers.

a. Toes 3. PIcoIDEs.
a?. Toes 4.
61. Head with a conspicuous crest; size, much over a foot long.
ce! Bill white. CaMPEPHILUS. 92
e?, Bill dark. CropHia@us. 95

6%, Head not crested.
d', Outer hind-toe longer than outer front-toe.
ce’, Upper mandible with three distinet ridges, one in the middle, one on
each side; groove from nostrils to near the end of bill; plumage not
yellowish below. Dryopares. 93
Brirps or INDIANA. 829

c+, Upper mandible with one middle ridge; grooves from nostril running
to about the middle of cutting edge of upper mandible; plumage with
more or less yellow below. : SpHyrapicus. 94

d?, Outer hind-toe not longer than outer front-toe.
f}. Plumage of lower parts spotted with black; under surface of quills
and tail feathers yellow or reddish; upper mandible without distinct
lateral ridge or nasal groove. Conaprss. 97
f. Plumage of lower parts without spots; under surface of quills and
tail feathers without yellow or red; upper mandible with a distinct
lateral ridge and nasal groove. MELANERPES. 96

92. Gxanus CAMPEPHILUS Gray.
159. (392). Campephilus principalis (Livy.).
Ivory-billed Woodpecker.

Adult Male—Bill, ivory-white. Most of plumage, glossy black; a
conspicuous scarlet crest; white feathers covering nostrils; a white
stripe beginning under each eye, and extending down the sides of
neck, and meeting on the back; secondaries and end of shorter pri-
maries, white. Adult Female—Similar, but with black crest.

Length, 19.75-21.60; wing, 9.00-10.00; tail, 6.25-6.80.

Rance—Formerly South Atlantic and Gulf States, from North
Carolina to Texas, north in the Mississippi Valley to Missouri, south-
ern Illinois, and southern Indiana. Now restricted to the Gulf States
and the lower Mississippi Valley, where only locally distributed (A.
O. U. Check List).

Nest, an excavation in a dead tree. Eggs, 3-5; glossy white; 1.37
hy .99. (Bendire.)

Formerly resident, locally, in the southern part of Indiana; now
extinct within our limits. It, like the Carolina Paroquet, has grad-
ually retired from the Ohio Valley, ‘and all the land formerly occupied
by it, till now it is only found in certain localities in the Gulf States
and the lower Mississippi Valley, being, perhaps, most numerous in
Florida. It frequents the heavily wooded lowlands and cypress
swamps, excavating its nests in the large dead top limbs of the largest
trees. Dr. R. Haymond, in 1869, mentioned it as a former resident
of Franklin County, where, he afterwards told me, it frequented the
swampy woods and vicinity of the beaver ponds, in what is now Bath
and Springfield Townships. From the late Mr. Louis Bollman, Prof.
Evermann learned that it was formerly found in Monroe County.
Mr. Robert Ridgway recalled having seen it in White County, Tl,
which adjoins Posey County, Ind. Audubon mentions it nesting at
Henderson, Ky., and speaks of it occurring in Indiana. Undoubtedly,
too, Wilson, gained his knowledge from his trip down the Ohio River,
830 Report oF STaTE GEOLOGIST.

in 1810, to write the beautiful tribute to it, beginning, “Majestic
bird! the broad Ohio knows its presence well.”

Its white bill has given it the local name of “White-billed Log-
cock,” or “White-billed Woodcock,” to distinguish it from the “Pi-
leated Woodpecker.”

There have been reports of its occurrence in this State. in recent
years, but I have not been able to verify them.

(See Hasbrouck, The Auk, Vol. VIII., 1891, pp. 174-186. Also
Maurice Thompson, “A Red-headed Family.”)

98. Genus DRYOBATES Born.

a’. Wing 4.25 or more; outer tail feathers white. D. villosus (Linn.). 160
a? Wing under 4.25; outer tail feathers barred with black.
D. pubescens (Linn.). 161

*160. (893). Dryobates villosus (Liny.).
Hairy Woodpecker.

Adult Male.—Above, black, with a long white stripe down middle
of the back; sides of head, with white stripes; with a red band
across the back of head; the wing coverts and quills with white spots;
below, whitish; outside tail feathers, white; others, black, or black and
white. Adult Female—Similar, but lacking the red on head. Im-
mature.—With the crown more or less red or yellow.

Length, 8.50-9.00; wing, 4.50-5.00; tail, 3.10-3.60.

Raner.—Hastern United States and South Atlantic and Gulf
States; north to Nova Scotia, Quebec and Manitoba; west to Montana,
Wyoming, Kansas and eastern Texas. Resident throughout most of its
range.

Nest, an excavation in dead or dying tree. Eggs, 3-5; glossy white;
98 by .71.

Common resident; more numerous southward in fall, winter and
spring. Breeds. Not as numerous as the next species, which is
smaller and more sociable, but almost its exact pattern in coloration.
Sometimes found about orchards and lawns, and other rather open
places, though it frequents the woodland, where it generally nests. It
is especially active in its warfare upon insects. Both this Woodpecker
and the next have stiff, pointed tongues, sharply barbed for sticking
and extracting insects; they are also supplied with a sticky secretion,
which assists them in gathering food. They live largely upon the
larve that bore in the wood or burrow beneath the bark of trees, and
upon ants. One instance is recorded of their catching and storing
Colorado Potato Beetles. They also eat the fruits of dog-wood, Vir-
Birps oF InpIANA. 831

ginia creeper, and poison ivy. Prof. Beal informs us that from one-
third to three-fourths of its food consists of insects which are chiefly

noxious.

 

Hairy Woodpecker.

(Beal.—Bulletin No.7, Division of Ornithology and Mammalogy, United States Department
of Agriculture, p. 14.)

The examinations made by the United States Department of Agri-
culture show that 82 of these Woodpeckers ate 68 per cent. of animal
matter, 31 per cent. vegetable, and 1 per cent. mineral. Of the animal
food, 17 per cent. was ants; 24, beetles, adult and larve; 21, cater-
pillars; 2, bugs and plant lice; 4, spiders and myriapods (Bull. No. 7,
Div. O. and M., U. 8. Dept. Agr., p. 11).

It mates early, and usually may be found breeding in April, in the
dead tops or larger limbs of forest trees. I have noticed it seems to pre-
fer hard maple. One brood is raised in a season. Both birds assist in
incubation, which lasts about two weeks. The young are fed by
832 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

regurgitation, as are most Woodpeckers. Most people can distinguish
it by its larger size. To such it is commonly known as “Big Spotted
Woodpecker,” or “Big Sapsucker.” Against this latter name I desire
to protest. It is not a sapsucker, but.a destroyer of injurious insects,
for which I trust it may receive the protection which it deserves.

*161. (394). Dryobates pubescens (Livv.).
Downy : Woodpecker.

 

Head of Downy Woodpecker. Natural size.

Smaller, but coloration similar to D. rillosus, except the outer tail
feathers, which are barred with black; the smaller size will distin-
guish it.

Length, 6.25-7.00; wing, 3.55-4.15; tail, 2.30-2.70.

Rane@x.—KHastern and northern North America, from Florida to
Labrador and North Alaska; west to eastern Texas, Nebraska, North
Dakota, Manitoba, Northwest Territory, and irregularly to California
and Washington. Resident generally throughout its range.

Nest, a hole inatree. Hggs, 3-6; glossy white: .76 by .59.

Common resident. This is the smallest of our Woodpeckers, and is
at the same time the most sociable. It is called “Little Spotted
Woodpecker” and “Little Sapsucker.” This last it is not. Let no
one accuse it wrongly. They come about our homes in winter, even
into towns, to let us know that they are present and ever watchful for
our interests. When they do not come to us, a walk into the orchard
or the wood pasture will almost always bring them within sight. But
some windy November day, when rain or snow, one can’t tell which,
threatens, when every bird is out of sight, a rather deep hollow in
the lea of a bluff is found to be peopled by a goodly company, not
of Downy Woodpeckers, for they seem never to be very sociable with
each other, but a mixed party, a composite of bird life, in which sev-
eral quite different birds are recognized. The greatest number are
Juncos. There are more of them than all other kinds together. A
Brirps or InpIANA. 833

few Tree Sparrows and a Song Sparrow are with them, chipping on the
ground. A pair of Carolina Chickadees and‘a pair of Tufted Titmice
are searching the fence. A few Goldfinches are swinging on the dried
Goldenrod stalks, and, last, a pair of Downy Woodpeckers, one of
which is vigorously pounding with his bill the trunk of a small willow.
All are active; all are happy. Each is talking as earnestly and cheer-
fully as it can in its own language. Upon the approach of an in-
truder, all leave, the Downy Woodpecker being the last to go. Tufted
Titmice and Juncoes lead the way. Such companies are ever found
from frost to March. Not always composed of the same kinds of
birds, for sometimes one, sometimes another feature will be absent.
At other times, Bluebirds, Cardinals, or Nuthatches may be of the
company. Whata jolly band! Hating weed seeds, destroying insects,
and bringing cheer even on the most cheerless days. They roost and
pass the most inclement weather in their old nest sites.

Late in March, or early in April, the bands begin to break up.
Mating begins sometimes by April 1. Nesting begins about the mid-
dle of the month. They nest in holes in fences, in orchard trees,
in dead willows along streams, in dead stubs in the woods, generally
not high up. Both sexes incubate, which requires about twelve
days. But one brood is raised a year.

The food habits of this species are essentially the same as the last. It
frequents orchards and yards more. Beginning at the base of a tree,
it searches every inch of trunk and branch out to the smallest limb,
searching for insects. Jn summer they may often be seen examin-
ing the apples, and from the blossoms occasionally extracting a
coddling moth. Its food is much similar to the last, but it eats a
larger percentage of insects, principally ants, and less vegetable food.
I have often found them feeding upon sunflower seeds, of which they
are very fond. The following summary from investigation by the
United States Department of Agriculture shows that of 140 stomachs
examined, 74 per cent. of the contents was animal; 25, vegetable, and
1, mineral; 23 per cent. was ants; 24, beetles and their larve; 16, cater-
pillars; 3, grasshoppers; 4, bugs and plant lice; 1, flies; 3, spiders and
myriapods (Bull. No. %, Div. of O. and M., p. 11). Prof. Beal notes
that of the 7 species examined, our most common one, the Downy
Woodpecker, is the most beneficial. Three-fourths of its food is in-
sects, but few of which are useful. The greatest harm it does is in
spreading the seeds of poison ivy. These seeds have a hard shell; the
juices of the stomach do not destroy them. They are dropped, having
full vitality, and sprout where they fall.

55—GEOL,
834. Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

M4. GrNus SPHYRAPICUS Batrp.

*162, (402). Sphyrapicus varius (Livy.).
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.

Synonyms, YELLOW-BELLIED WOODPECKER, SAPSUCKER.

     

de

   
   
   

   

=
= My
en

     

ps

Law

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.

(Beal.—Bulletin No. 7, Division of Ornithology and Mammalogy, United States Department
of Agriculture, p. 28.)

Adult Male.—Crown, forehead, chin and throat, crimson; other up-
per parts, black, marked, or variegated with white or yellowish-white;
a line from nostril, below the eye, and one from behind the eye, run-
ning backwards, white, sometimes tinged with yellowish; wings, black,
the feathers with white spots, generally in pairs; wing coverts, chiefly
white; tail with middle pair of feathers and upper coverts mostly
Birps or INDIANA. 835

white. Below, belly pale yellow; sides with dusky pointed spots;
breast crossed with black, from which a black stripe runs on side
of throat to the base of the bill. Adult Female—Chin and throat,
white; crimson restricted or wanting on top of head. Immature.—
Black, red and white of head, neck and breast wanting, or nearly so;
above, the mottling more or less brownish.

Length, 7.75-8.75; wing, 4.80-5.00; tail, 2.90-3.20.

Rance.—Eastern and northern North America, from Costa Rica
and West Indies north to Nova Scotia, northern Ontario, Great Slave
Lake, Ft. Liard, B. C.; west to Texas, Kansas, North Dakota and
Manitoba. Accidental in Greenland. Breeds from mountains of
North Carolina, northern New England, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana,
Illinois, northward. Winters from Illinois, Indiana and Pennsyl-
vania, southward.

Nest, a hole in a tree. Hggs, 5-7; glossy white; .88 by .67.

Winter resident southward, and, occasionally, over most of the
State, varying in numbers; rare summer resident northward; common
everywhere during migrations.

This is the Sapsucker. Others are called by his name, and get the
credit of his deeds. It is more quiet and sluggish than the other
Woodpeckers commonly seen. With its bill it pierces the bark of
several kinds of trees, making round, oval or approximately quad-
rangular holes, arranged in circles or spirals, about the trunk or larger
limbs. This is done for three things; to secure the sap; to obtain the
inner bark (cambium); to attract insects. All of these it feeds upon.
Tt knows when sugar making begins. Then its work upon the sugar
and soft maples begins. I have found their borings, from which
sap was flowing, February 15, 1896. Through March and into April
they continue this work. As warm days come in March, the insects
are drawn by the flow of sap and sometimes, upon the east hill-sides,
the sound from their wings recalls the hum of a hive of bees. In
this way food comes to the eater. But little effort is required on the
part of the Sapsucker to supply his wants. Jn some parts of the
New England States it has been observed they have sugar orchards
which they frequent regularly. In fall when they come to us they
resume their work of piercing the bark of maple, apple, and other
trees. Sometimes they merely reopen the old puncture, by cutting
the healing edges, and enlarging the hole. I have found their fresh
work on young apple trees, never before pierced, as late as November
19, 1895. Pine trees are also girdled, chiefly, however, through the
winter, for among them the Sapsucker spends his winter, and about
lawns where pines and maples grow together they are most commonly
836 Report or State GEoLoeisr.

found at that season. By spring they have removed most of the bark-
scales from the pine, and it then appears quite clean. The resin flows
from the wounds the bird has made and forms milky streaks and
gummy excrescences later in the season, which look unsightly. The
damage they do is to lawn and orchard trees. The pines are weakened,
their tops girdled until they become bent, and even blown off by
the wind. Apple trees and choice maples are seriously damaged, espe-
cially when the Sapsuckers are very abundant. I have counted six of
these birds, at one time, on a dozen sugar-maples in front of one lot
in my own town, and have seen the sap flow in a stream. Mrs. Jane
L. Hine, in the spring of 1888, saw one of these birds alight beneath
a tap in a small maple tree near its top. It emptied the holes of sap,
then waited for it to collect, and drank again. This was repeated time
after time for hours. The observer determined to stay until the bird
was satisfied or left. She watched it from 10 o’clock in the morning
until 5 o’clock in the evening, and then left the bird where she first
saw it. In the entire seven hours it had not moved more than a
yard from the holes from which it drank. They, of course, get
the principal supply of sap at the time when it flows most freely.
Then they also eat most of the inner bark. At these times they also
eat much insect food, and as summer comes they undoubtedly live
more and more upon insects. The tongue is not provided with a
spear-like point, and it can not be extended as far as other Wood-
peckers project theirs, because of the short hyoid. Instead, the tip
of the tongue of the Sapsucker is provided with stiff hairs, and farther
back with spines. The hairs may serve as a brush or mop, or to guide
the sap onto the tongue, and they and the spines may serve them in
their insect-catching. Prof. F. E. L. Beal, in Bulletin No. 7, of the
Division of Ornithology and Mammalogy, of the United States Depart-
ment of Agriculture, informs us that of eighty-one stomachs examined,
50 per cent. of the food was animal and 50 per cent. vegetable. Of
the former 36 per cent. was ants; 5, beetles and their larvae; 2, cater-
pillars; 1, grasshoppers; 1, bugs and plant lice; 3, flies, and 2, spiders
and myriapods. Fruit formed 26 per cent. of the entire food, and the
inner bark of trees 23 per cent., most of which was eaten in April and
October.

In southern Indiana they usually appear in October, and through
that month and well into November they are common. The earliest
date I have seen them in fall at Brookville was September 24, 1886.
Mr. H. V. Barnett noted the first arrivals in Warren County, Sep-
tember 21, 1897. When with us they utter a call that reminds one
of the low mew of a cat. This is most. often heard in spring. Gener-
PLaTE XXIV.

Report of State Geologist, 1897.

      
 
 

4 GO oe
uid

:

\

\ gina sta:
\\ ;
\

    

  

Beal, Bull. No. 7., Div. Ornith. and Mam., U. 8. Dep. Agr.
PILEATED WOODPECKER.
Brrps oF INDIANA. 837

ally some winter, some occasionally remain even north of the
center of the State. It has been noted at Brookville almost every
winter for the past seventeen years. Prof. Evermann reported it from
Carroll County December 15, 1884, and January 11, 1885, and Mrs.
Hine observed it at Sedan, Dekalb County, January 25, 1894. They
begin to become more abundant when sugar-making begins; generally
in February and through March are common, some years abundant.
Sometimes they leave early in April, April 2, 1893; April 6, 1895.
Other years they remain until the last of that month, April 30, 1887.
Mr. E. R. Quick saw one in June, 1891. The first migrants arrive at
the northern boundary about April 1. Chicago, T]., April 1, 1885;
April 3, 1886; Sedan, March 31, 1896; Laporte,.March 30, 1896. I
saw them mating at Brookville April 5, 1897, at which date they were
common.

It has been found breeding in the following counties: Carroll (Ever-
mann), Laporte (Coburn); Starke, English Lake, “abundant breed-
ing,” June 3, 1888 (Deane); Dekalb, 1888, 1890 (Mrs. Hine), 1889
(H. W. McBride); Porter, 1895, 1896 (Parker). Mrs. Hine first ob-
served the Sapsucker in summer in 1888. That summer she saw their
young oftener than those of any other woodpecker. In the summer of
1890 she saw old birds feeding their young. Mr. H. W. McBride took
three eggs from a nest, near Waterloo, May 13, 1889. Mr. J. G. Par-
ker, Jr., collected one young, saw them at Kouts in 1895. He found
it breeding at the same place May 28, 1896. The nests do not differ
from those of other woodpeckers. They have been found from eight
to fifty feet high. Eggs may be looked for in May. An egg is laid
daily until the set is complete. Both parents take. part in incuba-
tion. The young are fed almost wholly upon insects. At that time
the old birds develop an expertness at fly-catching that is very notice-
able. Aside from their damage to orchards and lawn trees, they are
very beneficial birds.

95. Genus CEOPHL@US Casanis.

*163. (405). Ceophleus pileatus (Linn.).
Pileated Woodpecker.
Synonyms, Buack Woopcocr, Loecocr, Bia Buack WooprEcKER.

Adult Male——Brownish-black; top of head, conspicuous crest and
stripe from base of lower mandible, bright red; white stripe from the
eye, and one from the nostril, backwards and along the side of the
neck, white and yellowish; throat, white; bases of wing feathers, white;
838 REporT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

bill, dark. Adult Female—Similar, but with fore part of head black-
ish, and red stripe at base of lower mandible wanting.

Length, 15.15-19.00; wing, 8.90-10.00; tail, 6.60-7.40.

Ranor.—Formerly the heavily-wooded region of North America,
south of about latitude 63 degrees, and Mexico, except in the southern
Rocky Mountains; now rare or extirpated in the more thickly settled
parts of the Eastern States.

Nest, excavation in tree. Hggs, 3-5; glossy white; 1.28 by .95.

Resident, confined to the more heavily-timbered and more inacces-
sible portions of the State. Rarely breeds. It was formerly very com-
mon, but disappears before civilization. To the older settlers it was
known as “Logcock,? and “Black Woodcock.” It is about thirty
years since I can hear of its occurrence in Franklin County. In 1890
I reported it from several counties in which it had been noted, or
taken mostly within five years preceding (Proc. Ind. Hort. Soc., 1890,
p. 59). From the following, I have no more recent record: Vigo,
Dekalb, Decatur, Allen, and Gibson. Since that time it is reported
from the following counties: Boone and Fountain; specimens in col-
lection of the State Museum; Knox, rare, 1894, February 4, May 24,
October 19, one; spring of 1897, two. I saw one fly through the
main street of Carlisle, Ind., August 14, 1897 (Chansler). Brown,
1894, rare (Kindle), May 24, one (Barnett); 1895, April 6, two; April
15, April 16, very few (Miss Jacobs). Monroe, 1892, February 13,
saw two, took female (Ulrey); Porter, 1894, December 5, saw a male
killed by George Wilcox, at Kouts; 1896, December 11, I saw three
near same town (J. G. Parker, Jr.).

Mr. C. E. Aiken also informed me he obtained a specimen at Water
Valley, Lake County, where it was rare, a few years ago. I have no
doubt of its occurrence in limited numbers still in Gibson and, per-
haps, several other counties in southwestern Indiana. In fact, it may
exist wherever there are extensive woods that are not much frequented.
They are more liable to be seen in winter, as the leafless woods and
their tendency to range to some extent for food then makes them
more conspicuous. Mr. H. Nehrling gives an account of these birds,
which every one who has known them in our State will recognize as
his own experience. He says: “The Pileated Woodpeckers were con-
stantly at work; with powerful strokes they hammered off the bark
and captured their insect prey. Their beauty, activity and docility
excited my admiration. When I approached one of them too closely,
it uttered a loud and laughing ha-he, ha-he, and then took wing. It is
very noisy during mating season, and indulges a good deal of its time
in drumming on a dry, hollow limb, Its call-note sounds like, a-wick,
Brros oF INDIANA. 839

a-wick, bul, it also utters a tack-tack-tack, which ix severa] times re-
peated (N. .\. Birds, Pl. xvi., p. 411). Eggs may be looked for with
us late in April and through May. Its nests are excavated in dead
trees or snags from 12 to 75 feet up. The opening is 3 to 3} inches in
diameter, and the excavation is from 7 to 30 inches deep, being larger
at the bottom, which is covered with chips, or, sometimes, sand. .\
new one is generally built each year. They also use a nest or excavate
a shelter for protection in severe weather. An egg is laid daily. The
period of incubation is about 18 days. In this, as in digging the nest
and caring for the young, both birds share. But one brood is raised
each year.

This is the largest Woodpecker in the United States except the
Ivory-bill. Its powerful bill enables it to tear ‘off tough bark, and
dig deep into trees for grubs, borers and ants. Such is its work. Prof.
Beal examined 23 stomachs, all taken in fall and winter; 51 per cent.
of the contents was animal, and +9 per cent. vegetable matter. The
animal matter was chiefly insects, of which ants, beetles, and wood-
boring larvee formed the greater part (Bulletin No. 7, Div. O. and M.,
US. Dept. Agr., p. 32).

96. Genus MELANERPES Swarnsoy.

a'. Head and neck deep red or grayish brown; back black.
M. erythrocephalus (Linn.). 164
«*, Head grayish, more or less red on crown; back and wings banded transversely
with black and white. M. carolinus (Linn.). 165

Subgenus MELANERPES.

*164, (406). Melanerpes erythrocephalus (Lrny.).
Red-headed Woodpecker.
Synonym, Rep- HEAD.

Adult—Head, neck and breast, crimson; rump, end of secondaries
and remaining under parts, white; back, glossy blue-black; bases of
secondaries, primaries and tail, black. Immature—Crimson parts re-
placed by grayish-brown.

Length, 9.25-9.75; wing, 5.30-5.70; tail, 3.60-3.75.

RancE.—KFastern United States, west to Rocky Mountains; from
Florida to northern New York, Ontario, Nova Scotia, Manitoba. Rare
east of Hudson River. Accidental in Utah and Arizona. Winters ir-
regularly throughout northern New York, Pennsylvania, Indiana.
Michigan. Breeds throughout its range.
840 Revort or Stare GEovocist.

Nest, a hole ina tree. Hggs, 1-7, rarely 8; glossy white; .99 by .76.
It is not necessary to introduce the familiar “Red-head” to any In-
dianian. It is liable to be found resident in any part of the State, but
not always frequenting the same localities winter and summer. How-
ever, it usually migrates from the northern part when cold weather

 

Red-headed Woodpecker.

(Beal.—Bulletin No.7, Division of Ornithology and Mammalogy, United States Department
of Agriculture.)

comes, and occasionally seems to leave the State almost entirely.
The severity of the weather does not govern their removal. Food
supply is the great factor. Some mild winters they leave. Other
severe winters they stay. The abundance of mast keeps them. Beech-
nuts are the favorite winter food, but all kinds of acorns and other
nuts are eaten. Wherever there are quantities of beechnuts, there
these Woodpeckers winter. Some winters they are found in one local-
ity and are absent in others. They disappear every winter from the
Whitewater Valley, and other localities where beechnuts are not
Krrps of INpIANA. 841

found. The past year they were not seen along the Whitewater
River from October 1, 1896, to April 20, 1897; while in the
beechland of Decatur’ and Shelby counties, they were found
all winter. Into the river lowlands it comes as a migrant, while
it is resident in the beech woods ten to twenty-five miles away. The
-winter of 1895-6, it remained in Wayne and Jefferson counties, and
at the north end of the State in Dekalb County, where it was found
common in colonies (Mrs. Hine). The winter of 1894-5, they wintered
in the following counties, in most of them commonly: Brown, Deca-
tur, Putnam, Boone, Parke, Tippecanoe. In 1893-4, in Decutur and
Dekalb, but none remained in Brown, where there were no beech-
nuts, and where they were the next winter. In 1892-3, they wintered
in Lake County, but none remained in Monroe. In 1891-2, they re-
mained in Monroe, Rush, and Dekalb. .

The winters of 1888-9 and 1885-6, they wintered in the vicinity of
Chicago; 1887-8, in Vigo County, in large numbers; beechnuts were
common; 1886-7, at Grand Rapids, Mich., and Marion County, Ind.
When they all disappear, they are liable to return at any time between
March 1 and May 1. Usually, however, they appear in April. This
Woodpecker has learned to store its winter food. While it does not
do so to the extent the California Woodpecker does, yet at times
this habit is quite noticeable. lr. Haymond was first to observe it
here (Proc. P. A., November, 1856, p. 293). Mrs. Hine tells ine the
winter of 1891-2, they stored, in addition to beechnuts and acorns,
some hickory nuts. Prof. 0. P. Hay has given the result of his obser-
vations of the hoarding habits of this bird near Irvington in the win-
ter of 1886-7, in “The Auk,” Vol. IV., July, 1887, pp. 193-196.

The Red-headed. Woodpecker is not as common as it formerly was.
When deadenings were numerous, the numbers of these Woodpeckers
therein is beyond estimate. To know these birds as they were, one
should live where a deadening of beech timber was near a cherry
orchard. There, through June, times were lively and the gay, tri-
colored bird of which I wrote was one of the chief factors.

The more attractive mating-call, Kurr-kurr, of a month before has
given place to the harsher Kahrr-kahrr, which sounds from woods,
fence stakes and cherry trees from sunrise till dark. They mate from
the first to the middle of May. The nest is in a dead snag or the dead
top of a live tree. Beech, maple, and sycamore, are most used here,
from 10 to 80 feet high. In prairie districts, fence posts and telegraph
poles are used. One egg is laid a day; incubation sometimes begins be-
fore the set is laid, arfd lasts about two weeks. Both parents take part
in preparing the nest, incubating and caring for the young. But one
brood is reared a year.
842 Repor?’ OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

In August they often begin to disappear from their accustomed
places. Mr. V. H. Barnett informs me that on the night of October
30, 1897, at 8:15 p. m., he heard the Red-headed Woodpecker and
some warblers flying south.

The Red-headed Woodpecker has the greatest range of food of our
species. At times its chief food is fruit; for another period it may be-
chiefly insects; again, it will live on nuts and cereals. Of 101
stomachs reported upon by the United States Department of Agricul-
ture, 50 per cent. contained animal matter; 47 per cent. vegetable
matter; 3 per cent. mineral matter. The animal matter was insects,
of which there were found ants, wasps, beetles, bugs, grasshoppers,
moths, caterpillars, spiders, and myriapods. Ants amounted to about
11 per cent.; beetles, nearly one-third, and grasshoppers and crickets,
6 per cent. Seventeen, collected from May to September, had eaten
corn, one had eaten strawberries; 15, blackberries, raspberries; 2, culti-
vated cherries; 4, apples; 6, pears (Beal, Bulletin No. 7, Div. O. and
M., pp. 24, 25). Prof. Forbes found that of these birds he examined,
32 per cent. of their food was canker worms (Rep. Mich. Hort. Soc.,
1881, p. 204). This Woodpecker seems to be able to adapt itself to
any circumstances. It has been accused of robbing birds of their eggs,
and I have seen it catching insects after the manner of a flycatcher.
While it eats some fruit, except berries and cherries, it eats too small
an amount to amount to much. On the contrary, its insect-eating,
in which it destroys many large beetles and quantities of grasshoppers,
makes it a very beneficial bird ordinarily.

Besides, from the variety of its foods, it is a valuable factor in a
contest with any unusual increase of old or the sudden appearance of
new insect foes.

Subgenus CENTURUS Swainson.

*165. (409). Melanerpes carolinus (Liyn.).
Red-bellied Woodpecker.

Synonyms, Guinea WoopPEcKER, ZEBRA WOODPECKER, CAROLINA WooDPECKER,
CHECKERED WooDPECKER.

Adult Male.—Above, crown and nape, scarlet; back and wings, ex-
cept larger quills, regularly barred with black and white; primaries
and secondaries, chiefly black, the former mostly white at base, the
latter spotted with white; rump, chiefly white; sides of head and
under parts, grayish-white, sometimes with yellowish tinge; belly,
washed with reddish; outer tail feathers, black and white harred:
Brreps or Inprana. 843

inner web of central feathers, white with black spots; their outer webs
black with more or less white next the shaft. Aduit Female and
Immature.—Crown, grayish; nape and nostrils only, scarlet.

Length, 9.00-10.00; wing, 4.85-5.50; tail, 3.50-3.95.

Ranaz.—Eastern United States, from Florida and Texas north to
Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, southern Ontario, southern
Michigan, southern Wisconsin, South Dakota. Breeds north to Penn-
sylvania, and thence westward throughout its range. Winters almost
throughout its range.

Nest, an excavation in a tree. Eggs, 3-5; white; .99 by .73.

Resident, rare northward, more numerous southward, common in
southern third of the State. While they do not migrate as a body,
they are less common north and more common south in winter. It
prefers the heavy timber. Along the Whitewater and Ohio rivers it
is seldom seen in the lowlands, but upon the top of the bluffs and
farther back upon the uplands wherever white oak trees are found it
is common. Its call is something Tike Kurr-urr-urr, more or less
lengthened, while a note when disturbed or when hammering is Chow-
chow. They are shy and suspicious, and as one tract of woods after
another is cleared away, the birds that peopled each disappear. It has
been reported as resident in the following counties in Indiana: Lake,
rare (Meyer); Porter, not uncommon at Kouts (Parker); Laporte (Bar-
ber, Byrkit); Dekalb, rather common (Mrs. Hine); Michigan, Kent
County, not very common (Moseley); Wayne, a few winter (Trombley).
They begin mating in March; one was seen excavating for a nest
March 24, 1892 (Mrs. Hine). Eggs may be taken any time from April
15 to June 1. Nests are usually made in dead tops of living trees
from 15 to 60 feet high. Lggs are laid daily. Incubation lasts about
fourteen days. Both sexes share in nest-making, sitting and caring for
the young. Generally only one brood is raised (Bendire, L. H. N. A.
Birds, pp. 123-124). The Red-bellied Woodpecker is the vegetarian
of its family. Of 22 stomachs examined, 26 per cent. of the contents
was animal and 74 per cent. vegetable food; 14 had eaten ants amount-
ing to 11 per cent.; 10 per cent. of the total food was beetles. The
vegetable food was entirely wild fruits and seeds. Only 2 had eaten
corn, August 10, 1897, I found one eating Benoni apples, and it was
with difficulty it could be driven away. I was told they had eaten
most of the apples, which were small and knotty. In winter they live
upon wild fruits and seeds, but years when mast is plenty they doubt-
less live principally upon acorns and beechnuts. Their evil deeds are
few and the good they do very much. Dr. Haymond notes this bird
has, like the Red-headed Woodpecker, the habit of hoarding nuts.
844 Report OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

97. Genus COLAPTES Swainson.

.

*166, (412). Colaptes auratus (Lrny.).
Flicker.

Synonyms, GoLpEN-wincen WoopprcKer, Hig Hotz, Hien Houper, Wickur.

 

Flicker.

(Beal.—Bulletin No.7, Division of Ornithology and Mammalogy, United States Department
of Agriculture, p.17.)

Adult Male——Back, wing-coverts and inner quills, brownish, barred
with black; rump and upper tail-coverts, white; outer edge of quills
and tail feathers above, black; shafts of feathers and under surface of
same, golden-yellow, the tail feathers tipped with black; head and
nape, grayish, the latter with scarlet band; a black stripe on each side
of throat; below, chin, throat and breast vinaceous, the last bordered
by a large black crescent; rest of under parts paler vinaceous, with
black spots. Adult Female-—Similar, but without the black streak on
cach side of throat.

Length, 12.00-12.75; wings, 5.50-6.60; tail, 4.00-4.95.

Raner.—North and eastern North America, from eastern Texas
and Florida north to Labrador, Hudson Bay, Alaska and the Arctic
Coast. West to Nebraska, North Dakota, Assiniboia. Accidental in
Brros or InpIANA. 845

(ireenland. Breeds throughout its range. Winters from Pennsylvania
and Indiana, irregularly from New Brunswick, Maine and Michigan,
southward.

Nest, a hole in a tree. Hggs, usually 5-9; glossy white; 1.10 by .85.

Resident, very common southward. Rare in the north part of the
State; common everywhere throughout the warmer parts of the year.
Breeds.

The nearer the Ohio River in winter, the more numerous this bird
becomes. It is, however, tolerably common from the Wabash River
south. In both Tippecanoe and Carroll counties it is a common resi-
dent. In the following northern counties it is found, at least some
years, throughout the winters: Porter, rare (Parker); Dekalb, rare
(H. W. McBride, Snyder); a few also winter in Wayne County, Mich.
(Trombley). The migratory birds return to their homes in February
and March, and during the latter month and October and late No-
vember, they are very abundant, frequenting pastures, meadows and
stubble.

This species is decidedly terrestrial, spending much time upon the
ground. During the colder months, they are semi-gregarious. With
us, they sometimes begin mating by March 7 (1882), other years, not
until March 30 (1893). Eggs may be found, perhaps, late in April,
but the earliest date full sets are recorded is May 4. Through May
and June they may be found. Like other woodpeckers, it nests in the
woods, but it also loves to make its home in an old apple limb, or
dead snag in the lawn. It uses either a natural or artificial cavity.
Although found so much upon the ground, its high nesting has given
it the name of “Tigh-hole.” Usually, but one brood israisedinaseason,
but if the eggs are removed as laid, the fecundity of this bird is re-
markable. Between May 4 and June 22, 1885, Prof. B. W. Evermann,
in Carroll County, took 37 eggs from a single nest. Between those
dates they rested 14 days. There is one instance recorded where by
leaving a nest-egg, a Flicker laid 71 eggs in 73 days. An egg is laid
each day. Usually incubation does not begin until the full set is laid,
but sometimes it does. It has the greatest number of calls of any
member of its family. Its Wake-up, wake-up, have, in some localities,
given it a local name. Its Quit-tu, quit-tu, recalls the stroke of a
master hand with a scythe-stone upon a scythe. Chuck-up, chuck-up,
is another well-known sound. These, with a dozen more vocal expres-
sions to represent every phase of courtship or variation of bird-feeling,
are known to all who live where the Flicker does.

The Flicker, with its curved bill, can not chisel its way into trees
as the other species do. It, therefore, does not destroy so many insects
846 Report oF State GEooeist.

injurious to trees. In fact, except ants, of which it eats great num-
bers, it is not so destructive to insects as the other Woodpeckers are.

The stomachs of 230 Flickers examined showed animal food 56 per
cent.; vegetable food, 39 per cent.; mineral food, 5 per cent. Of the
animal matter, which was insects, the percentage was divided as fol-
lows: Ants, 43 per cent.; beetles, and their larve, 10; caterpillars, 1;
grasshoppers, 1; spiders and myriapods, 1 (Beal, Bulletin No. 7, Div.
O. and M., U. 8. Dept. Agr., p. 11). Several stomachs contained noth-
ing but ants. In two, the actual number of ants in each stomach ex-
ceeded 3,000 (Ibid, p. 17). The vegetable material it eats is principal-
ly that which grows wild.

N. Orprer MACROCHIRES. GoatsuckERs,
Swirts, Erc.

SusorpER CAPRIMULGI. Goartsucxers, Erc.

XXXUI. Famiry CAPRIMULGID, Goatsuckers, Etc.

a’. Gape with long bristles; tail even or rounded; plumage fluffy.
ANTROSTOMUS. 9S
«?, Gape without long bristles; tail forked; plumage more compact.
CHORDEILEs. 99

98. Genus ANTROSTOMUS Gounn.

a’. Wing over 8.00; rictal bristles with lateral branches.
A. carolinensis (Gmel.). 167
a*, Wing under 7.00; rictal bristles not branched. A. vociferus (Wils.). 168

“167, (416). Antrostomus carolinensis (GMEzL.).
Chuck-Will’s-Widow.

Adult Male.—Bristles at the base of bill, branched. Above, mottled
with gray ochraceous, tawny and black, and more or less streaked with
black; primaries, dusky spotted, with ochraceous. Below, tawny or
buffy and grayish, mottled with dusky; throat and crissum, more
ochraceous; inner web of three outer tail-feathers, white or ochrace-
ous. Adult Female——Similar, but inner web of three outer tail-feath-
ers without white.

Length, 11.00-12.00; wing, 8.70-8.90; tail, 6.26-6.30.

Rance.—America, from Colombia and West Indies north to south-
ern Virginia, West Virginia, southern Indiana, Southern Illinois and
Brrps oF INDIANA. 847

south Missouri; west to Texas and Indian Territory, casually to
southern Kansas; accidental in Massachusetts. Breeds throughout
most of its United States range. Winters from Florida and Louisiana
southward.

gs, 2; laid on ground; white, cream, or pinkish, blotched or veined
with different shades of brown, purplish and gray; 1.41 by 1.01.

Summer resident in lower Wabash Valley, at least as far north as
Knox County. Breeds. In that region it isnot uncommon. In 1865,
Mr. Ridgway heard it as far north as Richland County, Illinois,
three miles south of Olney. He says its habits are essentially the same
as those of the Whip-poor-will, and its notes are somewhat similar,
but louder and easily distinguished after once being heard (Ridg.,
Birds of IIL, L, p. 367). Mr. Ridgway wrote me of its occurrence
in this State, as follows: “I have both seen the Chuck-will’s-widow, and
frequently heard its unmistakable note in Knox County, Ind., imme-
diately opposite Mt. Carmel” (Jll.) Mr. William Brewster and Mr.
Ridgway identified this species on the Indiana side of the Wabash,
April 20, 1878.

“168. (417). Antrostomus vociferus (WIzs.).
Whip-poor will.

Adult Male.—Bristles at the base of bill, not branched. Above,
mottled, gray, brown and tawny, more or less streaked with black,
which is not conspicuous on the grayish crown and wing coverts;
primaries, blackish, spotted and barred with ochraceous rufous; the
three outer pairs of tail feathers with the terminal half white. Below,
mottled as above; darker forward, lighter behind; a white band across
the neck. Adult Female——Similar, but the three outer pairs of tail-
feathers tipped with reddish or buffy white; band across the neck
more brownish.

Length, 9.10-10.00; wing, 5.80-6.70; tail, 4.80-6.50.

Ranez.—North America, from Guatemala and West Indies north
to Nova Scotia, southwest Keewatin and Manitoba; west to North Da-
kota, western Kansas and Texas. Breeds from Florida and Louisiana
northward. Winters from Florida, Louisiana and, rarely, southern
South Carolina.

Eggs, 2; deposited on ground; white, or creamy-white, spotted and
streaked with different shades of brown, lilac or pearl-gray; 1.15 by .84.

Common summer resident; breeds. Prefers more open woods over-
grown with underbrush, or bushy pastures.
848 Revort oF State GxeoLocist.

The members of this family afford an excellent opportunity for
migration notes. They are generally known, and any careful person.
can make the observations. Their movements are greatly regulated
by weather.

There is a favorite region two miles south of my home where Whip-
poor-wills and Brown Thrashers may be found from two days to two
weeks earlier than they reach me. For several years dates have been
kept that establish this. Mr. 0. M. Meyncke reports hearing the un-
mistakable voice of the Whip-poor-will in Highland Township March
2, 1897. The unprecedented warm weather of the previous few days,
resulting in unusual storms, may have induced its exceedingly early
appearance (The Osprey, Vol. I., May, 1897,.p. 123).

 

Whip-poor-will.

Iixcepting that the earliest record is from New Atbany, where it
was taken April 2, 1893, common April 5; at the following points it
was first noted the same year; when a second date is given it indicates
the date it became common: Moore’s Hill, May 7; Bloomington, April
29; Kilmore, April 27, May 1; Lafayette, April 29; Camden, May 2:
Petersburg, Mich., April 15, April 20.

Jn 1892, New Albany, April 6, April 12; Brookville, April 6;
Bloomington, May 7; Rochester, April 23, April 30; Medora, April 23,
May 1; Petersburg, Mich., April 28, May 1. In 1885, it was first
noted at Brookville April 18; Chicago, Ill., April 21. In 1886, Brook-
ville, April 14; Bloomington, April 21; Petersburg, Mich., April 14;
Chicago, Ill, May 6.

In sixteen years, the earliest date of first arrival at Brookville was
in 1893, as given, and the latest, April 26, 1881. In the southern
half of the State it is generally common between April 5 and 20; in
the northern half, between April 17 and May 5. They mate soon after
arriving. I noted them mating April 25, 1887. Eggs are usually
found from May 1-10, at Brookville. The two eggs are usually laid on
a leaf or a few leaves in a slight depression. Upon our wooded hill-
sides they may be found upon the natural terraces, and frequently
Brrps or INDIANA. 849

when the bird suddenly leaves the nest it will scatter them; sometimes
they roll down hill. The color of the Whip-poor-will so harmonizes
with the leaves that even when one knows where to look he can with
difficulty make out the form of the bird.

On sunny days it sits with eyes apparently shut. Then it will per-
mit a hand within about a foot of itself and quickly and quietly leaves
its nest. I have never known a sound to escape one when leaving the
nest. At other times, when one is flushed, it utters a cut, similar to
that of a turkey, which is often repeated two or three times. The
female attends to incubation, which begins when the first egg is
laid. If the nest is disturbed, the old bird will frequently remove
the eggs and the young, it is said, in its mouth, to a more retired
spot.

At dark they come from the woods and thickets and engage in a
warfare with insects. They even come into town. I have often known
one to alight upon my doorstep, pavement or gravel walk near my
house, and repeat its call, sometimes five or six times in succession,
every little while, until disturbed. Undoubtedly, they were there
after insects, attracted by the light.

The food of two examined by Prof. F. H. King was, 10 moths,
14 lheetles, some of which were click-beetles and smaller lamellicorns,
and 162 insect eggs (Geol. of Wis., Vol. I, p. 564).

Prof. A. L. Herrera notes the assistance they render in destroying
many of the gnats (Culex) that sometimes infest the Valley of Mexico
(La Naturaliza, 2d series, Vol. I., 1888, No. 4, p. 170),

The song of the Whip-poor-will continues well into June, perhaps
sometimes into July. It rarely sings in the fall. I heard it September
14, 1887, and a friend reported two singing before daylight on the
morning of September 4, 1897. That is also the latest I have ever
noted it. They are certainly fewer in July, and still more so in
August. Generally all are gone by August 27 to September 7, but Mr.
LL. F. Meyer reports it remaining in Lake County until October. In
1897 they were last seen in Warren County, September 13 (V. H.
Barnett).

99. Genus CHORKRDEILES. Swainson.

*169. (420). Chordeiles virginianus (GMEzL.).
Night Hawk.
Synonym, Buty Bat.
‘Adult Male—Above, black, more or less mottled, with grayish-
brown and tawny: primaries, brown, the five outer ones marked about
midway with a white spot. Below, a white V-shaped mark on the

54— GEOL.
850 Report oF STaTE GEOLOGIST.

throat; other under parts with transverse bars of white, blackish and
pale-tawny; tail, blackish, with marbled cross bars and a white band
across the end. Adult Female.—Tail without the white band across
the end; the white of the throat replaced by tawny.

Length, 10.00; wing, 7:30-8.25; tail, 4.30-4.75.

Ranee.—America, from Brazil north to Nova Scotia, Hudson Bay,
Keewatin and Mackenzie River (Ft. Good Hope); west to Great Plains
and casually to Pacific Coast from California to British Columbia.
Breeds from coast of Gulf States northward. Winters south of the
United States.

 

Night Hawk.

iiggs, 2; laid on the ground or on flat roof of building; white,
cream, olive-buff or olive-gray, marked with black, gray and lavender;
1.18 by .86.

Abundant migrant, most numerous in fall; in northwestern Indiana
a common summer resident, locally elsewhere in some numbers.
Breeds in suitable localities. In Knox and Hamilton counties a few
remain during the breeding season. In Lake County it breeds com-
monly. In the following other counties it has been reported to breed:
Clinton, Pulaski.

They arrive later in spring than the “Whip-poor-will,” and by most
persons are unobserved. The earliest spring arrival for the State is at
Bicknell, April 24, 1897, next seen April 30.

The following records will show its progress, that spring. The
second date indicates when it became common, if reported: Carmel,
May 22; Edwards, May 2, May 15; Richmond, May 20: North Man-
Brros or INDIANA. 851

chester, May 22, May 27; Waterloo, May 19, May 24; Sandusky, O.,
May 15; Chicago, Ill., May 22, May 28. In 1896, the first reached
Laporte April 28, common May 10. The earliest and latest date of
first arrival in 16 years at Brookville is, respectively, April 26, 1886,
and May 17, 1885. The corresponding records at Petersburg, Mich.,
for 9 years are May 1, 1886, and May 21, 1891. Sometimes I have
seen them. gracefully winging their way north during the brightest
May days, high in the air and uttering their call, which reminds me
of the “scape” call of Wilson’s snipe. It may be interpreted “Sheep.”
In fact, it is not a night bird, but rather one that is active cloudy
afternoons and in the twilight, and rests when night falls. It is not
a bird of the woods, but prefers to nest in open ground. Its graceful
flight, interesting evolutions and strange noise at mating time interest
all bird lovers. Ascending high in air, the male, with stiffened
wings and tail, descends almost as rapidly as a flash of light; the noise
produced by the air against the wings is a peculiar booming sound
which has been compared to that made by blowing into the bunghole
of an empty barrel. It would seem the bird would dash itself to
pieces on the ground, but suddenly the wings change position and
gracefully it curves outward and upward, then circles again into the
higher air. They nest in fields, upon the ground. Two eggs are laid
on alternate days. Incubation begins when the first one is laid. In
Cincinnati, Detroit and Chicago it has been found to breed upon the
flat roofs of buildings. It does not breed in the Whitewater Valley so
far as reported. Its eggs are to be found in northern Indiana from
May 27 to last of June, and sometimes into July.

Prof. F. H. King, from dissection, found that five had eaten 19
beetles, 23 heteroptera, 9 grasshoppers and 4 neuroptera. The ma-
terial taken from the stomach of one specimen weighed 9 grammes
(Geol. of Wis., I., p. 564). They are very destructive to flying insects.

In August and September they pass south in great numbers. About
four o’clock in the afternoon they begin to appear along our streams,
and by sundown a continuous stream may be seen passing down the
river. In 1896 they were first noted August 21. That is the earliest
record I have from Brookville, though Mr. V. H. Barnett saw them in
Brown County August 12, 1895. The last fall record I have from
Chicago is September 28, 1895; from northern Indiana, La-
fayette, September 25, 1895; southern Indiana, Bicknell, October 4,
1895; usually all have left before October 1. Marksmen use these
birds as targets for practice. Undoubtedly many are thus killed.
852 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

SusorpER CYPSELI. Swirts.

XXXIV. Famity MICROPODIDA. Swirts.

Supramity CHATORINA. Sprine-TatLep Swirts.

a}, Tail rounded or even; feathers with spiny points at end. CHzTurA 100

100. Genus CHATURA StepxHens.

*170. (423). Cheetura pelagica (Lrny.).
Chimney Swift.

Synonym, Cuimney SwALLow.

 

Head and tail feather of Chimney Swift. Natural size.

Above, sooty-brown, with faint greenish gloss; wings, black. Below,
paler; chin and throat, grayish.

Length, 5.25-5.40; wing, 5.00-5.25; tail,. 1.90-2.15.

RaneE.—Eastern North America, from southern Mexico north to
Labrador and Manitoba; west to Texas and Nebraska. Breeds from
Florida and Texas northward. Winters south of United States.

Nest, half-saucer shape, of twigs glued together and attached to side
of chimney or hollow tree. Hggs, 4-6; white; .79 by .52.

Abundant summer resident. Breeds. In the early history of this
State these birds nested in hollow trees, and there are localities where
a few do so yet. Only a few years ago a large hollow sycamore near
Brookville, that for years was occupied by them, was cut down. The
large, old-fashioned chimneys were used by them in great numbers,
and they became such a nuisance that wire cloth was fastened over
them to exclude them. They do not use the smaller chimneys so
commonly. I have known them to nest in stables and other deserted
buildings. Through the latter part of April they are seen mating,
but it is well into May before they begin breeding. The nests are
composed of dead twigs fastened to each other and to the wall with a
Birps or INDIANA. 853

zummy secretion from the mouth. The twigs are broken as the birds
fly, being grasped by the feet and wrenched off. In my yard, I have
noticed they usually take dead apple twigs. Mr. Widmann says it
takes two months to rear a family of Swifts.

When the young are able to leave the nests, they remain in the
chimney, clinging to the sides for some time. [or several weeks a
chimney, connecting with a bed-chamber, containing a few nests of
these birds, is a source of the most uncanny sounds and annoying
hissings, which render rest by day impossible, and occasionally unac-
countable noises at night awaken the soundest sleeper. Often the
entire younger portion of the family will tumble down the flue; if
there is an open fireplace they enter the room, where they produce
much dirt and disorder, if left a few hours. One of my earliest recol-
lections, going back to the time of pinafores, is of 15 or 16 of these
young birds, almost able to fly, hanging to my apron front, their
cries and mine joining in vociferous rivalry.

The earliest record for Brookville is April 5, in each of the two years
1888 and 1897. The latest first arrival there is April 22, 1895. The
earliest record for the State is April 4, 1889, New Harmony, where
it became common April 18. It spread all over the State early that
year, reaching Petersburg, Mich., April 20, becoming common May 1.
In 1888 it arrived unusually early. It was first observed all over the
southern part of the State, as far north as Terre Haute and Brookville
by April 7, and became common at once, but its course was stayed,
and it did not reach Petersburg, Mich., until May 2, and became com-
mon May 10. The following dates for 1897 show it was very early
in southeastern Indiana, while the Wabash Valley, excepting Lafay-
ette, was behind: Brookville, April 5; Richmond, April 12, April 15;
Anderson, April 16, April 30; Muncie, April 17; Bicknell, April 17,
April 21; Spearsville, April 19; Lafayette, North Manchester, April 22,
May 5. The first bird was seen at Chicago, Ill., and Sandusky, 0.,
the same day, April 24. Common at Chicago, May 1; at Sandusky,
April 25. It did not reach Petersburg, Mich., till May 4, and was com-
mon May 10. At Chicago it has been noted as first arrival April 24
to May 5; at Petersburg, Mich., from April 20 (1889) to May 4 (1897).

In fall, usually they disappear in September. Most of them leave
the northern part of the State early in that month. Some, however,
sometimes remain well into October. Their last fall dates at Lafayette
are: 1894, October 12; 1895, September 30; 1896, September 29. At
Sandusky, O., it has been reported to Prof. Moseley, October 15, 1896.
Jn 1886 it remained in Brookville until October 7, and in 1897 they
854 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

were common October 13, which is the latest I have seen it. ‘They
stay until a sudden cold snap comes, and then leave. October 5, 1894,
they were common—one of our chimneys was alive with them. Next
day it grew colder all day, and at night it was necessary to build a fire
in that fire-place, but the swifts were all gone.

Their food is entirely insects, largely flies and other small forms,
which they take in the air.

Suporper TROCHILI. Hummine Brrps.
XXXV. Famnoy TROCHILIDA. Hummrinc Birps.

a}. Back golden green; bill straight; first primary not excessively lengthened.
Trocnitvs. 101

101. Gresus TROCHILUS Liynzus.

Subgenus TrocHILuUs.

*171, (428). Trochilus colubris: Linn.
Ruby-throated Humming Bird.

Adult Male.—Tail, deeply forked; above, metallic green; wings and
tail, dusky purple; below, white, a ruby-red gorget; sides, greenish.
Adult Female—Tail, not deeply forked, the feathers barred with
black, outer ones tipped with white; lacking the metallic gorget:
Young.—Similar to female, but with tail more like the male.

Length, 3.07-3.25; wing, 1.60; tail, 1.25.

RancE.—Eastern North America, from Central America and West
Indies to Labrador and Northwest Territory; west to Great Plains.
Breeds throughout its range. Winters from Florida southward.

Nest, of lichens and vegetable fibre, covered with lichens and sad-
dled to a horizontal limb. Eggs, 2; white; .51 by .33.

Common summer resident. Breeds. There are many beautiful and
interesting birds found throughout our State, but beside this little
flying gem all others are as common pebbles beside the ruby. We all
continue to share the feeling of childhood, and gaze in inquiring won-
der as we see it come from somewhere and gather food, as its hamming
wings carry it from flower to flower among the nasturtiums, and dis-
appear over the fence as suddenly as it came. This is the only kind otf
humming bird found in the eastern United States. Its average time of
arrival in southern Indiana is May 1; in the northern. part of the
State, May 10. I have taken it at Brookville as early as April 20,
1896; and it delayed arriving until] May 9 in both 1888 and 1889.
Brrps oF INDIANA. 855

Although they come tolerably late, they are sometimes destroyed
by late cold weather. May 20, 1883, many must have perished from
cold. Several dead were brought to me, and others reported. May
19, 1895, Messrs. Ulrey and Wallace reported dead found in Wabash
County after cold weather (Proc. I. A. 8., 1895, p. 152). At Sedan
the earliest and latest record of first arrival is April 29, 1891, May 19,
1889; at Petersburg, Mich., April 28, 1896, May 22, 1890. The fol-

 

Ruby-throated Humming Bird—Male, female and nest, slightly reduced.

lowing record of first arrival, and date it became common, when given
in 1897, are presented: Bicknell, April 29, May 12; Edwards, May 4,
May 15; Hanover, May 6, May 10; Brookville, May 8, May 9; Rich-
mond, May 4, May 17; Anderson, May 12; North Manchester, May 15,
May 25; Lafayette, May 16; Waterloo, April 29, May 20. Only one
was seen on first date at Waterloo, and no other until May 16.
Humming Birds frequent certain localities. Some places they may
always be found; others, rarely. In late summer they gather in great
numbers about certain flowers. One sand bar I know, near Brookville,
covered with Bouncing Betty, is a favorite place. They gather there
by hundreds in August and early September. At a certain locality
near Lafayette, where wild Touch-me-nots flower profusely, forty or
fifty Humming Birds may be found most any evening, or morning, at
the same season. Petunias, Gladioli, and Cannas, are visited, too,
while earlier in the season the favorite flower is the Trumpet Creeper
(Tecoma radicans). .The food of this little bird is minute insects,
856 Revort oF STATE GEOLOGISY.

nectar from flowers, and the sap of trees. Their nests are usually built
of fine fibre and lichens, on a horizontal limb, in some retired spot
along the borders of the wood. I know of one over the bars into a
wooded pasture, where many people and cattle pass each day. They
look like lichened-covered knots. They pair at once upon arrival.
May 12, 1882, I found a complete nest, and the next day found one
with eggs. Mrs. Hine reports one just beginning its nest, May 27,
1887, at Sedan. Allowing time for its completion, for laying the two
eggs, which is done on alternate days, and for incubation, about four-
teen days, the young would not he hatched in that nest until well to-
wards July. The female does the nest-building, incubating, and
cares for the young. They are fed by regurgitation. Major Bendire
thinks two, and occasionally three, broods may be reared in a year, as
fresh eggs have been found as late as August 7.

Some years they leave early in September. Last seen in Brookville,
1886, September 7; Warren County, September 16, 1897; Lafayette,
1896, September 6; September 13, 1887, at Sedan; others, they remain
until near October. In 1894 they were late leaving. That year they
were last seen at, Plymouth, Mich., September 27; Hillsdale, Mich.,
September 23; Sedan, September 15: Laporte, September 28. In
1889 they remained at Brookville until September 28, and in 1897,
unti] September 29. An instance is recorded where one was entangled
in the spines of a thistle. /

QO. OrvdER PASSERES. Prrcuixe Birps.
Suporper CLAMATORES. Soneness Percurne Birps.

XXXVI. Famin.y TYRANNIDA. Tyrant Frycarcuers.

a', Tail much longer than wing; very deeply forked. MILvuLus.
a”. Tail not longer than wing; not deeply forked.
1. Tarsus not longer than middle toe with claw; adults with a bright colored
(yellow, orange or red) concealed patch on crown. Tyrannus. 102
b*, Tarsus longer than middle toe with claw (or else with a conspicuous cottony
patch on each side of rump); adults without bright colored patch on crown.
c!, Wings and tail with chestnut; length generally 8.00 or more.
Myrarcuus. 108
ce’. Wings and tail without chestnut; general color olivaceous; length 8.00

or less.
d'. Wing at least six times as long as tarsus. Contorus. 105
d?. Wing about four times as long as tarsus or less; little longer than tail.
e1, Wing more than 3.25. Sayornis. 104

e*. Wing less than 3.25. Emprponax. 106
Brrps or INDIANA. S57

102. Gexos TYRANNUS Cuvier.

“172. (444). Tyrannus tyrannus (Liny.).
Kingbird.

Synonyms, BEeE-Brrp, Bee Marri.

   
  

gale
My} ain:
Np?
Dy Ws

4

  

Kingbird.

(Beal.—Farmer’s Bulletin, 54, United States Department of Agriculture, p. 11.)

Adult—Above, blackish; top of head, black, crown with a con-
cealed patch of orange-red; wings, dusky, the greater coverts and
quills edged with white; rump and tail, black, all the tail feathers
tipped and the outer ones sometimes edged with white; below, white,
breast shaded with bluish-ash. Jmmature—Lacking the orange-red
crown patch, sometimes with wings and tail edged with rufous.

Length, 8.00-9.00; wing, 4.45-4.75; tail, 3.40-3.75.

Raner.—America, from Bolivia north to Nova Scotia and Atha-
basca; west to Texas and Rocky Mountains, which it crosses northward
and extends to Pacific coast from California to British Columbia.
Breeds from Florida and Texas coast north. Winters from Florida
and Gulf coast southward.

Nest, in exposed tree, usually 15 to 40 feet up, of sticks and weeds,
vegetable fibre, wood, string, hair and rootlets; lined with finer mate-
rial. Eggs, 3-4; white, creamy, or pinkish-white, spotted and blotched
with various shades of brown and purple; .95 by .72.
858 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

A well known summer resident. Abundant. Breeds. The King-
bird has also been called “Bee-Bird,” “Bee-Martin,” and Mr. L. T.
Meyer says, in Lake County, it is called, by farmers, “Dumb-Bird.”
Popularly, it is known as a destroyer of bees. It, with all the other
members of the “Flycatcher” family, are insect catchers. That is
their business, and they attend well to it. The Kingbird, and also
other members of the family, are to be seen about the hives. There
are many bees, both workers and drones, flying about. There, too, are
flies, gnats, moths, and other insects; for there are more insects
about apiaries than bees. All of these form a part of its food—of
which bees other than drones form a small part.

The result of Prof. Beal’s investigations of 281 stomachs of the
Kingbird shows that only 14 contained the remains of honey bees.
In these were 50 honey bees, 40 of which were drones; 4 were certainly
workers; of 6 he was not certain. The stomachs examined contained
19 robber-flies, an insect injurious to bees, and more than an equiva-
lent for the worker bees eaten. They do eat many wasps and native
bees. Indeed, they are provided with a concealed patch of orange
feathers on the crown, which, when exposed, seems to attract these
insects to it, to bring its prey within easy reach. From the specimens
examined, in addition to deciding its relations to the bee raiser, which
certainly are not injurious, it was shown that about 90 per cent. of its
food is insects, mostly injurious species; 10 per cent. is wild fruits,
such as elderberries and wild grapes (Farmers’ Bulletin No. 54, U. S.
Dept. Agr., p. 12).

Prof. King found one bee in the stomachs of 12 Kingbirds. The
principal food was beetles and flies (Geol. Wis., I, p. 559). Prof.
Forbes found that 43 per cent. of the food of some examined was
canker-worms (Rept. Mich. Hort. Soc., 1881, p. 204). A pair of these
birds about a house serves a good purpose in driving awav or giving
warning of the approach of hawks and crows.

The Kingbird comes into Indiana near the middle of April, or
later, and is generally seen all over the State by May 1. The follow-
ing are the earliest and latest dates of first arrivals from the places
named for a series of years: Brookville, April 15, 1884, latest, 1882
and 1887, both May 1; Bicknell, April 15, both 1895 and 1896, April
24, 1894; Laporte, April 18, 1896, May 4, 1893; Sedan, April 22, 1896,
May 1, 1888. I have observed them mating April 30 (1884). Their
nests are usually built in a tree—an orchard tree, or one in a pasture
or beside a field being preferred. Twigs, weed stems, grasses and
hair are generally used for the nest, which is lined with horse-hair
Birps oF INDIANA. 859

ov other finer material. They also adapt themselves to circum-
stances, and use string, binder twine, cotton, wool, and other easily ac-
cessible material. I once found a nest largely composed of wool.

An egg is laid daily, and incubation lasts 12 or 13'days. Both sexes
share in this and in nest-building. Two broods are sometimes reared.
T have found young in nest June 19, 1896; another set of young, able
to fly, July 8, 1896; old teaching young to fly, August 8, 1897. The
Kingbird’s song becomes less frequent, his noise noticeably dimin-
ishes, as household cares become burdensome. Only occasionally is it
heard through August. They are seldom seen late in August, and
early in September most have left. At Sedan, Mrs. Hine says they
are usually gone by September 14. None were seen after that in 1894,
except a single one, October 19.

In 1895 it remained in the vicinity of Chicago until September 25.
Usually they are gone from southern Indiana by September 12. They
disappear so gradually that we do not realize when all have left, and
usually can not tell when we saw the last.

103. Genus MYIARCHUS Casants.

*173, (452). Myiarchus crinitus (Liyy.).
Crested Flycatcher.

Synonym, GREAT CRESTED FLYCATCHER.

Head, crested; above, decidedly olive, browner on head; wings,
dusky, edged with rufous; tail feathers, dusky, with inner webs of all
but the two central feathers, rufous; below, throat and chest, deep
ash-gray; rest of under parts, sulphur-yellow.

Length, 8.50-9.00; wing, 3.90-4.40; tail, 3.50-4.20.

Raner.—America, from Colombia north over N. A. east of the
(treat Plains to New Brunswick and Manitoba. Breeds throughout
its range, north of the Gulf of Mexico. Winters from south Florida
southward.

Nest, usually a cavity in a tree or stump; a miscellaneous collection
of odds and ends, including rootlets, twigs, bark, moss, leaves, hair,
egg shells, feathers and snakeskins. Eggs, 4-8; creamy or vinaceous
buff, with blotches, longitudinal streaks and fine lines of different
shades of brown and purple; .89 by .69.

As common a summer resident as the Kingbird, but its home is in
the woods, where few hear it and fewer see it. Late in April or early
in May,some morning, the bird lover will hear a penetrating “e-wheet-
$60 Report or Srare GEoLourst.

wht” coming from the higher limbs of a tree in the woods. It is a
last year’s friend. A step into the clearing will show him on the dead
limb of a dying sugar.tree. A second time he greets one, and another
name is added to the list of arrivals. It is the Crested Flycatcher.
There is a hole, whether made by Woodpeckers I can not tell, in the
top of the old forest guardian, where it sits. There it had a nest last
year, and purposes to use it again this. Such is the site it prefers, but
it is not extremely particular in that regard. Dr. Haymond once
showed me a hollow apple tree limb where one nested in a busy part
of town.

 

Crested Flycatcher. (Reduced.)

Myr. T. H. Barton found a nest containing 3 eggs in a half-gallon
tin van along a garden fence, in town, one spring. Almost every nest
found contains more or less of the cast-off skin of a snake. Both sexes
assist in nest-building, in which they use leaves, grass, weeds, bark,
rootlets and feathers. The female does most of the sitting, which re-
quires about fifteen days. One egg is laid daily. But one brood is
reared yearly. They are very noisy at mating time. Afterwards the
noise grows less through June, and in July fails. Occasionally it is
heard before leaving. September 1, 1897, I found one uttering its
usual call, but not so emphatically as when a gay and careless bird, in
May. They leave through August and September. The following
are dates when they were last seen: Sedan, Ind., August 21, 1892;
August 30, 1887; September 9, 1895; Bicknell, Ind., September 1,
1890, September 18, 1895, September 21, 1894; Warren County, Sep-
tember 18, 1897; Brookville, August 29. 1887, September 3, 1886,
Birps oF INDIANA. 861

September 1, 1897. In spring, they return closely after the Kingbird.
The first spring record for the State is from Brookville, where it was
observed April 18, in 1888, and 1896. It was not seen there until
May 11, 1894. The following records give date of earliest and latest
first arrival at places noted: Bicknell, April 19, 1896, April 24, 1895;
Sedan, April 21, 1896, May 10, 1891; Laporte, April 27, 1892, May 2,
1894, and 1896; Petersburg, Mich., April 27, 1888, May 5, 1897.
Its food is largely insects, with which its woodland home abounds,
though, after the wild fruits begin to ripen, it eats some of them.

104. Gexus SAYORNIS Bonaparte.

*174, (456). Sayornis phebe (Latu.).
Pheebe.
Synonym, Pewee, Brripce PEweEr.

Adult.—Above, olive-gray, top of head, dark olive-brown; wings
and tail, dusky, the outer tail feathers, inner secondaries, and some-
times wing coverts, edged with whitish; below, whitish, rather soiled
on. throat; sides of breast, olive-gray; posterior parts, tinged with yel-
lowish; bill, black. Immature—More olive above, more yellow below.

Length, 6.25-7.00; wing, 3.25-3.55; tail, 3.00-3.40.

RanGE.—Eastern North America, from Mexico and Cuba north to
New Brunswick and Mackenzie River (Ft. Simpson); west to Great
Plains. Breeds from South Carolina, Louisiana and western Texas,
north. Winters from southern Texas, Tennessee and North Carolina,
southward.

Nest, of mud, moss, grass, and feathers, under cliff, bridge, culvert
or shed. Sggs, 3-8; white, rarely spotted with reddish-brown; .75
by .57.

One of the earliest of the summer residents to arrive is the Pheebe.
Sometimes it is at Brookville by March 1, and arrives farther south
late in February. It is rarely common before mid-April. The earliest
arrivals seek the banks of rivers, creeks and the hillsides even in the
woods. Cold days they seek the eastern exposures, where the winds
do not blow and where the first rays of the sun may be felt. They
are known as “Pewee,” or “Bridge Bird,” because of their note, which
is variously given as Feebe, Feebec, or Pewee, and the place of nesting,
which is often under a bridge or culvert, and also in barns, sheds, old
buildings, sometimes on the post of a porch, or in the eaves of an
occupied dwelling.
862 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Their nests are still placed under the projecting rocks of a steep
bank, of a railway cut, and of quarries. Thus they cling to habit, for
such were their original homes. In the Falls region of southern Indi-
ana they build beneath the Falls, protected by the shelving rocks. The
summer of 1897, while on a trip through Vermillion and Warren
counties, Mr. V. H. Barnett found a nest in a coal mine 20 feet from
the entrance. Some years they begin mating by March 17, and nest

 

Phebe.
(Beal.—Farmer’s Bulletin 54, United States Department of Agriculture, p. 13.)

building by March 26. I have found their complement of eggs April
18. Sometimes a second brood is reared. The birds appear to return
to the same site year after year. Incubation requires about 12 days,
most of which is done by the female. The following give the date at
which it was first seen, earliest and latest record, for the places men-
tioned: Brookville, March 1, 1881, March 29, 1892; Bicknell, March
9, 1896, March 24, 1895; Bloomington, March 2, 1893; Lafayette,
March 18, 1893, April 10, 1895; Kouts, March 20, 1896; Sedan, March
16, 1889, March 30, 1896. In fall they are silent through the latter
part of the summer, but just before leaving, their call may sometimes
be heard. The following dates give earliest and latest departure noted
for places named: Sandusky, O., Oct. 10, 1896; Sedan, Oct. 11, 1893;
Greensburg, September 22, 1894, October 17, 1896; Brookville, Sep-
tember 28, 1885-6, October 14, 1890, and Bicknell, September 30,
Brrps oF INDIANA. 863

1895, October 12, 1896, and October 19, 1894; which is the latest for
the State. The well known severe weather in the south in the spring
of 1895 must have destroyed many Phcebes. Their decrease was noted;
in some localities, it was decided, that summer. By far the greater
part of the Phcebe’s food is insects. Few, if any, birds are of more
benefit. Its work is often about the house and garden, where every
effort counts in favor of man. In 80 stomachs examined, over 93 per
cent. of the food was insects and spiders. The remainder was wild
fruit. The insects were mainly injurious kinds, including click bee-
tles, weevils, May beetles, grasshoppers and flies. Major Bendire says
cut-worm moths is one of their favorite foods.

105. Grnus CONTOPUS Cazanis.

a’. Wing 3.90 or over; sides of rump with a conspicuous tuft of white cottony
feathers. Subgenus Nurrauiornis Ridgway. C. borealis (Swarns.). 175
a*, Wing 3.60 or less; no tuft of white feathers on sides of rump.
Subgenus Conropus. C. virens (Linn.). 176

Subgenus Nurrautornis Ridgw.

175. (459). Contopus borealis (Swarns.).

Olive-sided Flycatcher.

Adult-—Upper parts, between fuscous and dark olive; wings and
tail, fuscous; throat, middle of the belly, and generally a narrow line
on the center of the breast, white or yellowish-white; rest of the under
parts of nearly the same color as the back; under tail coverts, marked
with dusky; a tuft of fluffy, yellowish-white feathers, on either flank;
upper mandible, black; lower mandible, yellowish or pale grayish-
brown, the tip darker. Immature—Similar, but with rather more
olive above, more yellow below, and with the wing coverts edged with
ochraceous-buff. ;

Remarks.—-This species may always be known from other Fly-
catchers by the comparatively little white on the under parts, and by
the tuft of yellowish-white feathers on the flanks. Like the Wood
Pewee, it has the wing .50 or more longer than the tail (Chapman,
Birds E. N. A., pp. 246, 247).

Length, 7.10-7.90; wing, 3.90-4.50; tail, 2.80-3.50.

Raner.— America, from Peru to mouth of St. Lawrence River,
Great Slave Lake and Alaska. Breeds from Massachusetts, New York
and Minnesota, north and south along Rocky Mountains to New
Mexico and Arizona. Winters south of United States.
864 Revort oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Nest, on a limb, 40 to 60 feet up, of rootlets, small twigs and moss.
Eggs, 3-4; creamy-white, spotted with different shades of brown and
purplish; .85 by .63.

Migrant; generally rare, but found in some numbers about the lower
end of Lake Michigan. It has not been reported from the southeast-
ern half of the State. It may breed in the northern part of the State,
as Mr. E. W. Nelson took it as late as June 2, near Chicago. In that
vicinity he notes it in spring, from May 15 to 25, and in fall, the last
of September and first of October (Bull. Essex Inst., December, 1876,
p. 118).

It appears to be a late migrant, frequenting woodland, where it is
to be found upon a dead limb at the top of a tall tree. Mr. Robert
Ridgway took it at Wheatland, Knox County, May 12, 1885. That is
the only record from the southern part of the State. Mr. Ruthven
Deane took it at English Lake, May 26, 1889, and Mrs. Hine has noted
it at Sedan, Dekalb County. Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr., took a female,
May 25, 1896, at Colehour, Ill. Mr. C. E. Aiken says it was not rare
in Lake County in 1871, when he obtained a number of specimens.
They nest late. Major Bendire says nidification rarely begins any-
where throughout their range before June 1, usually not before June
10, and in some seasons not before’ July (L. H. N. A. B., p. 284).

*176. (461). Contopus virens (Lrnv.).

Wood Pewee.

Adult—Above, dark olive-gray or olive-brown, darker on head;
wings and tail, brownish-black, with an olive gloss, the former with
the wing coverts edged with whitish; the latter, unmarked; white ring
around eye; below, light olive gray on breast, whitening on throat;
belly and under tail coverts, pale yellowish; bill, above black, below
yellow. Immature.—Similar, but more olive above; nape, tinged with
ashy; rump and upper tail coverts, with rusty; wing coverts, edged
with light buff; below, lighter; forepart of lower mandible, dusky.

Length, 5.90-6.50; wing, 3.00-3.45; tail, 2.50-2.90.

Raneze.—America, from Ecuador north over eastern United States
to New Brunswick and Manitoba; west to the Plains. Breeds from
southern limits of United States northward. Winters south of United
States.

Nest, on horizontal limb, 8 to 20 feet high, of bark, shreds, rootlets,
vegetable fibre, covered with lichens. Eygs, 2-4; white or creamy-
white, speckled and blotched with different shades of brown and pur-
ple about the larger end; .72 by .54.
Birps oF INDIANA. 865

A common summer resident in woods, pastures, orchards, and even
about farms and other large lawns. Its note is not so sharp as the
Pheebe’s, and has a smooth, soothing sound that speaks of rest and
contentment. The most abundant Flycatcher we have. Owing to
the lateness of its arrival in spring, it is not retarded by inclement
weather, but may be depended upon to come very close to the day
each year. Sometimes, however, their late coming does not avail them.
They are very sensitive to low temperature. The unusual cold of May
20, 1883, killed many of them. During cold weather they may some-
times be found in the thickly settled parts of our towns, probably
hunting protection. At such a time, May 14, 1897, I observed one
busily catching the insects about my strawberry blossoms, to many of
which they were doubtless instrumental to fertilization.

It has never been reported from within our limits earlier than
April 26. The fact that the Phoebe frequents woods to a considerable
extent upon arrival, leads many to think that it is the Wood Pewee.

The following early and late dates of first arrival are of interest:
Bicknell, April 26, 1896, May 1, 1894; Terre Haute, April 30, 1888,
May 3, 1890; Brookville, May 5, 1885, May 8, 1897. They usually
become common at once. Mating is observed in the latter half of
May and early June. I have found the bird sitting on her nest in
my yard July 9. They nest late, seldom before sometime in June.
Probably occasionally a second brood is laid. Found young following
old ones September 1, 1897. The shallow nest, covered with lichens,
is saddled onto the horizontal lichen-covered limb of some tree; a dead
limb is preferred. The nest cannot be readily told from a knot or
a, bunch of the covering material. This is its protection. The bird is
very watchful, and never lets any one see her on the nest. By stay-
ing thereon she would make it more conspicuous. It may be seen
sitting upright, preferably, on a dead limb, from which it utters its
characteristic note, and alternately therewith it flies into the air to
catch a passing insect. An egg is laid daily. Incubation lasts about
twelve days, and appears to be performed by the female; both parents,
however, care for the young. Prof. King examined 41 specimens, and
found 18 had eaten 66 small beetles; 14, 41 dipterous insects; 2, a
butterfly each; 9, 13 small dragonflies; 11, 29 hymenopterous insects;
1, a moth; 1, a grasshopper, and 1 a larve of a sawfly (Geol. of Wis.,
IL, p. 562). He also adds that he saw a Wood Pewee capture and feed
to its young, which had recently left the nest, 41 insects in 45 minutes.
Some years they leave early in September; others, they remain to late
October. They continue to sing to some extent until their departure.
The following represent some of the extreme dates when the last were

565—GEOL.
866 REPoRT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

seen: Lafayette, September 6, 1896, September 21, 1893; Greensburg,
September 10, 1896, September 15, 1894; Bicknell, September 23,
1895, October 10, 1896; Brookville, September 3, 1883, October 20,
1880; Sedan, September 16, 1894, October 1, 1889; Warren County,
September 25, 1897.

106. Genus EMPIDONAX Casanis.

a!. Below distinctly yellow. E. flaviventris Baird. 177
a”, Below not distinctly yellow.
b', Wing under 2.60; tail emarginated. E. minimus Baird. 181

b?. Wing 2.75 or over; tail even or slightly rounded.
c}. Upper parts olive green, crown about the same shade; bill pale yellow
below. E. virescens (Vieill.). 178
c?, Upper. parts dark olive green, shaded with brownish, center of crown
feathers brown; bill dull brownish below.

d}, Bill larger; wing bars less conspicuous. E. traillii (Aud.). 179

d?, Bill smaller; wing bars more conspicuous.
E. traillii alnorum Brewster. 180

*177, (463). Empidonax flaviventris Bair.
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher.

Above, olive-green, somewhat darker on the crown. Wings, dark
brown, crossed with two bands, and secondaries edged with yellow-
ish-white; tail, brown, edged with olive-green; yellow ring around eye.
Below, yellow, the fore parts tinged with pale olive-green; the back
parts, dull sulphur-yellow; bill, above, blackish; below, yellow or
whitish.

Length, 5.10-5.80; wing, 2.40-2.75; tail, 2.00-2.30.

Ranes.—Eastern North America, from Panama to Labrador and
Northwest Territory; casually to Greenland. West to Manitoba and
Minnesota. Breeds from Massachusetts and Pennsylvania northward.
Winters south of United States.

Nest, on ground, of moss and rootlets. Hggs, 4-5; dull white, with
fine markings of brown; .67 by .51.

Dr. Coues gives the following synopsis for the identification of the
eggs of the small flycatchers:

“BH. acadicus—Nest, on the trees, in horizontal forks, thin, saucer-
shaped, open-work; eggs, creamy-white, boldly spotted.

“#. traillii—Nest, in trees, in upright crotch, deeply cupped, com-
pact walled; eggs, creamy-white, boldly spotted.

“EH. minimus—Nest, in trees, in upright crotch, deeply cupped,
compact walled; eggs, immaculate white.
Birps or Inpiana. 867

“H. flaviventris—Nest, on ground or near it, deeply cupped, thick
and bulky; eggs, white, spotted.”

Rare migrant, and occasional summer resident. Breeds. This spe-
cies is retiring and quiet, and with us is rather silent. Occasionally,
it utters a queer, wheezing note, which Mr. J. Dwight, Jr., says (in
Chapman’s Birds of E. N. A.) is suggestive of a sneeze, and which he
writes pse-ek, uttered almost in one explosive syllable. Its call, he says,
is a soft, mournful whistle, consisting of two notes, the second higher
pitched and prolonged, with rising inflection, resembling a measure
“chu-e-e-p.”” .

It has been first observed at Bloomington, April 17, 1886, May 7,
1892; Bicknell, May 1, 1894; Richmond, May 8, 1897; Greensburg,
May 14, 1894; Davis Station, May 18, 1884, May 31, 1885; Sedan,
May 21, 1888; Lake County, May 16, 1877; Petersburg, Mich., May 8,
1897. Mr. J. G. Parker took a male June 3, 1889, on one of the
knobs near New Albany. Dr. F. W. Langdon notes a specimen taken
at Madisonville, O., May 28, 1879 (J. C.S. N. H., Dec., 1881, p. 340).

Mr. E. A. Colby shot several July 23, 1887, at Berry Lake, Lake
County, Ind. (Coale). Mrs. Jane L. Hine thinks it bred in Dekalb
County. Mr. E. W. Nelson says: “The first of July, 1873, I found
them quite common in a dense, swampy thicket in northern Indiana,
where they had probably nested” (Bull. Essex Inst., Dec., 1876, p.

-114). Its time of mating and nesting is late. The second or third
week in June, or even later, is the time they lay. Their southward
migration is in August, and rarely extends into early September. Mr.
E. M. Kindle took one at Weed Patch Hill, Brown County, August 11,
1891 (Proc. I. A. §., 1894, p. 70); Cook County, Ill., August 25, 1886;
Hillsdale, Mich., August 24, 1894, two. The nest is composed prin-
cipally of moss, and is placed on or near the ground.

*178, (465). Empidonax virescens (VIE£ILL.).
Green-crested Flycatcher.

Synonyms, ACADIAN FLYCATCHER, SMALL GREEN-CRESTED FLYCATCHER.

Adult.—Above, olive-green, sometimes greenish-gray; wings, dusky;
two wing bars, and edges of secondaries, buffy or buffy-white; tail,
olive-brown, feathers edged with olive-green; ring around eye, yellow-
ish-white. Below, whitish, tinged with sulphur-yellow, shaded on
breast with grayish or olive; throat, whitish. Lower parts, not dis-
868 Report or State GEOLOGIST.

tinetly yellow, as in E. flaviventris; bill above, brown, below whitish.
Immature.—Above, with indistinct cross bars, wing bars and edging
more ochraceous.

Length, 5.50-5.90; wing, 2.55-3.10; tail, 2.25-2.70.

Raner.—America, from Ecuador north over eastern United States
to southern New England, southern New York, Pennsylvania, south-
ern Michigan, Wisconsin and Manitoba. West to Great Plains. Breeds
from Florida and eastern Texas northward. Winters south of United
States.

Nest, in woods, shallow, pensile, fastened by rim in fork of drooping
limb; 4 to 20 feet up; of rootlets, grass, weeds, stems and plant fibres.
E'ggs, 2-4; pale cream to buff, spotted and speckled with light and dark
brown; .79 by .58.

The Acadian Flycatcher is a resident throughout the State; in
many localities it is very common, and is always more numerous dur-
ing migrations. It frequents woods, but is also found in orchards,
and lawns. It, too, arrives late, usually after May 1, and becomes
common at once.

The early and late dates of first appearance at the following places,
is Brookville, May 4, 1882, May 18, 1883; Greensburg, May 2, 1894,
May 4, 1893; Sedan, May 1, 1896, May 17, 1892; Chicago, May 9,
1885. In the immediate vicinity of Chicago it is rare, but in the
Kankakee Valley it is common. It has been reported as breeding in
the following counties: Carroll, Dekalb, tolerably common; Lake, Tip-
pecanoe, Brown, Decatur, Vigo, Starke and Monroe.

Mating begins in May; the nest is often ready for the eggs the mid-
dle of May, near the Ohio River, and early in June towards Lake
Michigan. The nest is woven in the fork of a drooping branch of a
tree, seldom over 15 feet from the ground. An egg is laid daily.
Dr. F. M. Langdon found several nests, with full complement of eggs,
near Madisonville, O., May 29, 1879 (J. C. 8. N. H., Dec., 1881, p.
340). June 8, 1878, Mr. H. K. Coale took a nest and two eggs, at
Whiting, Lake County. June 8, 1884, he took a nest and three eggs
in Starke County. June 15, Prof. B. W. Evermann took full sets in
Carroll County. Messrs. L. A. and C. D. Test found a nest, with
young, near Lafayette, June 29, 1892. The same young gentlemen
found a nest, containing three eggs, on the bank of the Wabash River,
July 9, 1892. Mr. Coale found a nest of this species at Berry Lake,
June 16, 1878, which was attached to a slender twig by one side only.
Tt was made entirely of fine, curling trailers growing on the tree,
woven neatly into a shallow nest. Externally, it was one inch deep,
two and a half inches in diameter, Two eggs could be seen through
Birps or INDIANA. 869

the nest from below. It usually begins its return in August, but
sometimes is seen after the middle of September. The following give
last records of its occurrence: Plymouth, Mich., August 29, 1894;
Chicago, September 22, 1895; Lafayette, September 12, 1895, Septem-
ber 16, 1894; Sedan, August 28, 1892, September 3, 1889. Mr. V. H.
Barnett shot young that could not fly well in Warren County, Septem-
ber 25, 1897. Maj. Bendire gives its call as wick-up, or hick-up, in-
terspersed now and then with a sharp queep-queep or chier-queep, the
first syllable quickly uttered. This is one of our very beneficial birds.
Its food is chiefly insects. Dr. B. H. Warren examined the stomachs
of 7; 2 contained beetles; 1, beetles and flies; 1, large flies and larve;
2, various insects; 1, berries (Birds of Penn., 2nd ed., p. 196).

*179. (466). Empidonax traillii (AvD.).
Traill’s Flycatcher.

Synonym, Lirtie FiycatTcHer.

Adult.—Above, brownish-olive, or olive-gray, darker on the head;
wings and tail, dark brown, the former with two bands, varying from
whitish to dark buffy; secondaries, edged with same; white or yellow-
ish-white ring around the eye. Beneath, white, the sides of breast,
and sometimes across the breast, shaded with the color of the back,
or grayish; sides, throat and crissum, pale, tinged with sulphur-yellow;
bill, above, brownish-black; below, white or yellowish. Immature.—
Wing bands, ochraceous.

Length, 5.60-6.50; wing, 2.55-2.85; tail, 2.20-2.60; bill, .64-:73 tar-
sus, .65-.72.

Rance.—North America, from Mexico to Manitoba; Mackenzie
River Valley, and Alaska. East to Arkansas, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan
and Indiana. Breeds from Texas and California northward. Win-
ters south of United States.

Nest, in open woods, and second-growth thickets, preferably near
water courses; in upright fork of bush, 18 inches to 8 feet up; of grass,
vegetable fibres, cobwebs and leaves; lined with fine grass, horsehair
and plant down. Hggs, 3-4; creamy-white, variously marked with
minute dots, spots, or large blotches, with varying shades of red, red-
dish-brown; and sometimes lavender, principally at large end; .”7 by
.56, .70 by .52; average, .74 by .54.

Summer resident, generally distributed, and locally common.
Breeds. In the Whitewater Valley it has never been found common. It
has been found breeding in Laporte (Barber) and Tippecanoe coun-
ties (Test Bros.), and is thought to nest in Lake and Dekalb counties.
870 Report OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

In Monroe County, Prof. Evermann found it an uncommon summer
resident, and in Carroll County he took it June 10, 1885. They
are usually later than the last species in arriving.

The following dates show time of its first arrival: Brookville, May
9, 1887, May 19, 1882; Davis Station, May 31; Laporte, May 30, 1896;
Lafayette, April 28, 1897; Plymouth, Mich., May 11, 1882, May 20,
1895. Messrs. L. A. and C. D. Test found a nest, containing three
eggs, just north of Purdue University grounds, Lafayette, Ind., July
4, 1892. The nest was about 12 feet from the ground and about
6 feet above it was another deserted nest.

Traill’s Flycatcher is the opposite of the Acadian in several respects.
It does not prefer the woods, but rather thickets, especially of alders,
in low, damp ground, the borders of streams and lakes. It also is
found in orchards. Its nests are usually placed in the crotch of a
bush 25 feet or less above the ground, and, instead of being loosely-
woven affairs like the nests of the last species, are thicker and better
made, reminding one of the nest of the Yellow Warbler, but not so
compact. In Wayne County, Mich., where it nests commonly, Mr. Je-
rome Trombley, who has found twenty-five or thirty nests for several
consecutive years, saystheynestincommunities in willows by marshes;
nest in fork of a bush from three to six feet high (Cook, Birds of
Mich., p. 97). Mr. Otto Widmann says its notes sound like, wit-tit-che,
wit-ti-go, and are uttered when the bird is perched on the top of a
sprout or low tree, a telegraph post, or a fence stake.

Full sets of eggs are found after the middle of June. An
egg is deposited each day; one brood is raised in a year. Incubation

lasts about twelve days. They return to their winter home in August
and early September. The following dates indicate the range of
this migration: Brookville, August 13, 1881; Plymouth, Mich., Au-
gust 8, 1892, September 3, 1895. It is impossible to tell at this time
to what extent the eastern and western forms of this Flycatcher are
found in Indiana.

180. (4662). Empidonax traillii alnorum (Brewst.).
Alder Flycatcher.

Differing from E. traillu (1. e., H. pusillus of Baird and subsequent
authors) in having the coloring of the upper parts richer and more
olivaceous, the wing bands yellower, and hence more conspicuous, the
bill decidedly smaller and the legs rather shorter (The Auk, April,
1895, p. 161, Brewster). Bill, .60-.64; tarsus, .64-.67.
Brrps oF INDIANA. 871

Ranege.—Eastern North America, from the Maritime Provinces and
New England westward, at least, to northern Michigan, etc., breeding
from the southern edge of the Canadian fauna northward; in winter
south to Central America (A. O. U.).

Nest, preferably in alder swamps and thickets, usually in crotch in
bush, 1 to 6 feet up; of grasses, vegetable fibre and bark shreds, lined
with fine grass, fibre or hair. Eggs, 2-4; from creamy-white to pinkish-
buff, with spots and blotches of reddish-brown, usually thickest about
the larger ends; .73 by .53.

It is doubtful whether it is proper to attempt to separate this from
the western form, FH. traillii, in view of the fact that it is practically
impossible to distinguish the birds by the aid of a description. To
conform to existing conditions, however, I have included this form.

Summer resident. Mr. Wm. Brewster considers that specimens
from the Mississippi Valley, south of latitude 42°, belong to the
western form of Traill’s Flycatcher. This extends its range farther
east than was heretofore supposed, and undoubtedly includes a part,
if not all, of Indiana. The eastern form has been given the name,
Empidonaz traillit alnorum, and the fact that it ranges west to north-
ern Michigan, and has been taken in Ohio (Lynds Jones in The Auk),
makes it probable it is also found within this State. He has shown
it necessary to drop the name pusiilus for that form because it can
not be identified.

Audubon’s Muscicopa traillii was described from an Arkansas speci-
men, which Mr. Brewster thinks is of the western form. The name
£, trail will be used for that bird.

*181. (467). Empidonax minimus Batrp.
Least Flycatcher.

Adult.—Above, olive-brown or olive-gray, slightly darker on head,
lighter on rump; wings and tail, brownish, the former with two
whitish cross-bars, and secondaries edged with same; ring around the
eye, white. Below, throat white, sides of throat sometimes extending
across breast, gray or olive-gray; other under parts, white, tinged
(sometimes very faintly) with sulphur-yellow. Immature.—Wing bars,
ochraceous.

Length, 4.90-5.50; wing, 2.20-2.60; tail, 2.10-2.40.

Raner.—tEastern North America, from Panama to Nova Scotia,
Cape Breton, Great Slave Lake, and Mackenzie River Valley (Ft.
Simpson), west to Rocky Mountains, casually to Utah. Breeds from
North Carolina, northern Indiana and Nebraska northward. Winters
south of United States.
872 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Nest, in orchards, thickets and woods, in upright fork or on hori-
zontal limb; of shreds of bark, grass, plant fibres, vegetable down,
feathers, string, etc.; lined with fine down and hair. Hggs, 3-6; pale
creamy-white; .64 by .50.

Rather common migrant southward. Summer resident in some
numbers northward. It arrives earlier than the species just men-
tioned, sometimes by April 20. It is the smallest of the Flycatchers,
and may readily bedistinguished by its size. It is called, in many places,
Che-bec, from its note, which is very distinctly “che-bec.” It is to
be found most often in straggling woods, along the edges, and about
roads through woodland, and in strips of woods along hill-tops. With
us, I have generally found it upon the higher land, where it is very
quiet, seldom saying anything, and then only uttering a sharp “whit.”
It industriously pursues flying insects, and even when one does not
see it he is reminded of its presence by hearing the snap of jaws as it
seizes its prey.

The earliest and latest date of its first appearance is, at Brook-
ville, April 24, 1886, May 8, 1882; Bloomington, May 3, 1892; Rich-
mond, May 22, 1897; Sedan, April 20, 1889, May 3, 1885; Lake
County, May 16, 1877 and 1880; Chicago, May 5, 1879, May 23, 1896.
It has been reported breeding in Lake County and in Dekalb County.
Mr. J. O. Snyder found a nest, with fresh eggs, near Waterloo, June
3, 1885. Prof. B. W. Evermann says it is a summer resident, not
common in Carroll County. Its disappearance in fall occurs in late
August and September. It was last reported at the following places:
Brookville, August 31, 1883; Cincinnati, O., August 2”, 1879; Sedan,
September 7, 1889; Chicago, Ill., September 30, 1895; Bicknell, Sep-
tember 18, 1895. Its small size does not prevent it from doing great
good. Its food is principally the smaller insects and occasionally a
little fruit.

Prof. F. H. King says the examination of 23 showed they had eaten
30 beetles, 18 diptera (flies and gnats), 2 heteroptera, 37 winged ants,
2 small ichneumon flies, 3 caterpillars, 1 moth, 4 small dragonflies
and 1 spider (Geol. of Wis., p. 562).

This is the only one of the little Flycatchers that tries to sing; at
least, that attempts what to my ears bears some resemblance to music.
It has a little song, that one may occasionally hear it try to sing, that
is quite a credit to a Flycatcher.
Brirps or INDIANA. 873

Suzporper OSCINES. Sone Birps.
XXXVII. Famiry ALAUDIDA. Larks.

a1, Small tuft of lengthened black feathers over each ear (sometimes obscure in
female.) Orocoris. 107

107. Gunus OTOCORIS Bonaparte.

a), Larger; wing generally over 4.30; forehead and line through eye yellow.
: O. alpestris (Linn.). 182
a*, Smaller; wing generally under 4.30; paler colored; forehead and line over the
eye white. O. alpestris praticola Hensh. 183

182. (474). Otocoris alpestris (Linn ).
Horned Lark.

Synonym, SHore Larx.

 

Head of Horned Lark.

Adull, Summer Plumage.—Above, grayish-brown; nape, lesser wing-
coverts and rump and upper tail-coverts, deep vinaceous; foréhead, line
over the eye and throat, sulphur-yellow; band across breast, stripe
from bill below the eye and band across the top of head, above the
eye extending backward along the side of erown, ending in tufts or
horns, black; other lower parts, white; dusky along the sides; tail,
black, the outer feathers edged with white, the middle one with brown;
wings, brown. Winter Plumage.—Paler, the black markings somewhat
obseured by lighter. Female——Smaller; black on head less distinct.

Male—Length, 7.50-8.00; wing, 4.20-4.60; tail, 2.70-3.10; bill (aver-
age), .50. Female, wing, 3.95-4.55; tail, 2.50-3.10.

Rance.—Northeastern North America, from North Carolina, Ohio,
Indiana and Illinois (formerly farther south); north to Hudson Bay
874 Report OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

and Greenland; west to Keewatin and western side of Hudson Bay.
Also, north Europe. Breeds from New Foundland, Labrador and
Keewatin northward.

Nest, on ground, of grass, lined with vegetable fibre and feathers.
Eggs, 3-5; similar to those of next form; .94 by .66.

This species is occasionally found within the State in winter, but
owing to the fact that but few persons are interested sufficiently to
have a critical investigation made, we can not tell how extensive its
range or how numerous it is. We know, however, that it is an oc-
casional winter visitor to Indiana. Mr. G. Frean Morcom took a speci-
men at Davis Station, Starke County, which Mr. Ridgway identified as
this bird.

Mr. H. K. Coale obtained six specimens of this lark at Tracy Sta-
tion, Ind., Feb. 10, 1887. Dr. J. Dwight, Jr., has given an exhaustive
analysis of the Horned Larks of America in “The Auk” for April, 1890,
pp. 138-158, to which one who is interested in the subject may profit-
ably turn. In that article he mentions a specimen of this species from
Mt. Carmel, Il., in the lower Wabash Valley, indicating that it may
be found in winter over the greater part of this State. Its habits
are similar to those of the more common Lark at that season.

*183. (474b), Otocoris alpestris. praticola Hensn.
Prairie Horned Lark.
Synonym, SHorE Larx.

Adult—Similar to O. alpestris; smaller; paler, back, gray; nape,
lesser wing-coverts, rump and tail-coverts, pale vinaceous; forehead
and stripe over eye, white or whitish. Immature.—Darker; much
streaked and spotted.

Length, 6.75-7.50.

Male.—Wing, 4.00-4.30; tail, 2.90-3.10; bill, .45. Female.—Wing,
3.70-4.00; tail, 2.60-2.90; bill, .45.

RancE.—Eastern North America, from central Texas and South
Carolina north to Maine, Ontario and Manitoba. Breeds from eastern
Kansas, Missouri, southern Indiana, Ohio and southern New York to
Massachusetts north.

Nest, in depression on ground, of grass, lined with thistle-down and
feathers. Eggs, 3-5; drab-gray to grayish-white; sometimes tinted
with greenish; blotched and sprinkled with different shades of pale-

brown; .85 by .62.
perp ie MEET!
a Ha dled Usa Ci 0 Nak as vant Fags
Birps or INDIANA. 875

Resident, common northward, except in the extreme northern part;
most numerous in winter, when it is found in flocks. There the
greater part are usually absent from December 1 to January 25, but
occasionally, late seasons, they do not appear until early in March.
First observed at Sedan, January 25, 1894; Cook County, Ill., March
14, 1885, and March 6, 1886; February 22, 1888; Petersburg, Mich.,
January 22, 1889. They utter a lisping note of varying inflection,
sometimes, when on the ground, always when flying. They frequent
pastures, meadows, stubbles and fields of winter grain. When snow is
on they are often seen where stock has been fed outdoors, and about
barnyards. From southern Indiana the greater number go north in
late January and early May. Some, however, remain through the
year. They are evidently gradually extending their range as the
country is more and more brought under cultivation.

Mrs. Hine says they are increasing in Dekalb County. Prof. B. W.
Evermann says up to 1879 it was very rare in Carroll. County, but in
1886 it was a common resident. I never saw one after late February
in Franklin County until 1886, when they remained until after breed-
ing time. In 1891 they bred; young were found June 21, and since
then they have been present yearly.

It is the earliest of our small birds to breed. Prof. Cook notes that
its eggs have been taken at Plymouth, Mich., in February, and Mr.
L. W. Watkins took them March 20, 1889, presumably at. Manchester,
when the nest was surrounded by snow. Usually, however, with us it
nests in March and early April. The nest is placed in a
depression in the ground, either natural or made by the
bird itself. Sometimes it is composed of but a few sticks or straws,
and lined with thistle-down or feathers. At this time they sing a beau-
tiful song, but so fine and weak that it can scarcely be heard 200 feet
away, and of such ventriloquil effect one can not tell whether the
singer is on the ground or in the air. Generally he will be found on a
fence or a clod, but sometimes in midair, with feathers erected and full
of emotion, which he expresses in his song. This song I have heard
at Brookville, March 31, 1896.

They breed abundantly in Lake County, and they have been found
breeding as far south as Bloomington, Spearsville, Greensburg,
Richmond, Brookville and Bicknell. L. A. and C. D. Test found young
able to fly at Lafayette, April 25, 1893. I found them at Brookville,
June 21, 1891. Dr. A. W. Brayton says the young are fully-fledged
in May; the male takes care of these and the female resumes
her work on a second set of eggs (Trans. Ind. Hort. Soc., 1879, p. 102).
Sometimes a third brood is reared, according to Prof. Walter B. Bar-
876 REPoRT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

rows. Both birds assist in incubation, which takes about fourteen
days. They must lay sometimes in February and March. April 24,
1878, Dr. Brayton shot, near Indianapolis, a number of Shore Larks,
among them two young birds about grown (Bulletin Nutt. Orn. Clyb,
1878, p. 189).

Its food consists principally of seeds of different grasses, like those
of pigeon, foxtail and Hungarian (Setaria); also of those of different
species of Polygonum (bindweed, knotweed and smartweed), those of
the ragweeds (Ambrosia), pigweed (Chenopodium), ete.

Broken kernels of oats and other grains have also been found in
their stomachs, evidently picked up in the roads and streets among
the droppings of horses. During spring and summer, when small in-
sects abound, a portion of their food consists of young locusts and
grasshoppers, small beetles and their larve, and hairless caterpillars,
and the young nestlings, at least, are fed on insect food. From an
economic point of view, all our Horned Larks must be considered as
useful birds, doing far more good than harm (Bendire, L. H. N., A.B.,
IL, p. 335). ;

The little harm they do is more than balanced by the destruction
of weed seeds and of injurious insects.

“XXXVI. Fammy CORVIDA. Crows, Jays, Maariss.

a), Tail not shorter than the short rounded wings. (Subfamily GarRuLin#.)
b!. Tail much longer than wing; graduated for half its length; head not
crested. Pica.
6? Tail much longer than wing, not graduated for half its length.
ce}. Plumage chiefly blue; head with a conspicuous crest. Cyanocirrra. 108

c?, Plumage not blue; head not crested. PERISOREUS.
a?, Tail much shorter than the long pointed wings. Subfamily Corvinz.
d}, Plumage glossy black. Corvus. 109

SusramMity GARRULINA. Maapres anp Jays.

108. Genus CYANOCITTA SrrickLanp.

*184, (477). Cyanocitta cristata (Liny.).
Blue Jay.

Adult—Conspicuously crested; above, purplish-blue; forehead and
irregular band around neck, black; wings and tail, blue, barred with
black; the greater coverts, secondaries and tail feathers, except middle
one, tipped with white; tail, much rounded. Below, pale gray; throat,
belly and crissum, whiter.
Brirps or InpIAna. 877

Length, 11.00-12.50; wing, 5.00-5.70; tail, 5.05-5.70.

Ranoe.—Eastern North America, from Florida and Texas coast
north to New Foundland and Hudson Bay, latitude, 56°, west to
Great Plains. Breeds throughout its range, except Florida, Gulf coast
and central Texas.

Nest, bulky; in trees, of twigs, bark, moss, paper, strings, grass, and
sometimes mud, and lined with rootlets and other fine material.
Higgs, 3-6; cream, buff, or greenish, irregularly spotted and blotched
with different shades of brown and lavender, generally heaviest about
larger end; 1.10 by .81.

 

y : ae » (Ye S ‘
Ly ee pas oy os
Blue Jay.
(Beal._Year Book United States Department of Agriculture, 1896, p. 197.)

A common and well-known resident. In the northern part of the
State, some of them migrate over winter. Through the winter, aside
from the well-known call, jay, jay, or caw, caw, is heard, but as spring
approaches they become very vocal, uttering many calls, some very
pretty notes, varying from loud to very low. Evidently some of the
latter are intended solely for one female to hear, and when the pair is
surprised they slip away and, with apparent indifference, repeat some
rollicking role from a near-by tree. Keo-e-yeo is the familiar call,
while one of the best-known low ones is, we-hue. They are quite good
imitators of some birds.

With us, this season of song begins early in March. In 1893 as
early as March 8, and in 1897, March 9. With it comes pairing time,
which I have known to continue until April 25. I have known them
to begin building as early as March 16, 1897, and have found them
just beginning a nest May 11, 1881. I have found eggs from April
4 to May 21, and the young left the one containing eggs April 4, on
May 20.
878 Report or State GEOLOGIST.

Prof. W. P. Shannon has found eggs beginning to hatch (April 27).
According to data, which he kept in 1896, a nest was begun April 1,
the first egg laid April 17; an egg was laid each day, the fourth and
last April 20; sitting began April 21, and the young were hatched
May 2. That would make the period of incubation 12 days. Major
Bendire says it is fifteen or sixteen days. Both sexes assist, and
usually but one brood is reared. They use whatever is handy for nest-
making. If in the woods, twigs, grass, leaves, bark, and sometimes
mud is employed. About houses, strings, razs, paper, and almost any-
thing in the way of odds and ends is used. It is usually placed from
10 to 20 feet high in a tree.

The Jay is pretty; his song and his queer ways are interesting, but
every one has something against him. He is quarrelsofie, teasing,
persecuting and murderous, at times. Yet again he will live at peace
with a mixed company of good birds in a town yard, as he has done
for years in mine, becoming, instead of the shy, hiding bird of the
woods, a companion of the chickens when feeding-time comes. The
Jay does so many unexpected things that I, long ago, concluded not to
be surprised at anything he does. I have no doubt that many Jays
are bad. Individuals or pairs are depraved, and in spring rob other
birds of their eggs or young. In fact, I knew of a case in town in
which they robbed the nest of a robin of its eggs. But we hear of such
outrages and the good it does goes by unknown.

Investigations made show that the charges against the Jay are true,
but that they are not so extensive as one would suppose, and that there
is another column in the account in which should be given the credit
due. The United States Department of Agriculture reports the in-
vestigation of 292 stomachs. Shells of birds’ eggs were found in
three, and the remains of young birds in two. They eat mice, fish,
salamanders, snails and crustaceans; altogether, a little over 1 per cent.
of their food. Of harmful insects, they eat a little over 19 per cent.
In August, nearly one-fifth of its food is grasshoppers; 19 per cent. of
their food was cereals; 70 stomachs contained corn, most of which was
eaten in the first five months of the year; 8, wheat; 2, oats. Mast
formed the principal food. This (acorns, chestnuts, chinquapins, etc.),
was found in 158 stomachs, over 42 per cent. of the whole food. Wild
fruits were also eaten. The Jay eats many harmful insects. It does
not destroy as many birds’ eggs and young as was supposed. It does
little harm to agriculture (Beal, Farmers’ Bulletin, No. 54, pp. 14, 15).

Prof. F. H- King found, out of 31 specimens examined, one had
killed three young robins; 15 had eaten 30 beetles; 2, 2 caterpillars; 2,
2 grubs; 1, other larva; 2, grasshoppers; 5, corn; 1, wheat; 1, berries,
Birps oF INDIANA. 879

and 19, acorns. ~ This and other investigations that have been made
bear out the testimony of Prof. Beal. In my own yard I find young
poison vines (Rhus toxicodendron), springing up in number every-
where. These I ascribe to seeds dropped by birds, and I am inclined
to lay the charge to the Blue Jay.

The Jay is one of those birds which by reason of its great range of
food it is desirable to preserve, if it does not become more destructive,
for it is liable to be of great service some day against any unusual
insect outbreak.

Susramity CORVINA. Crows.

109. Genus CORVUS Linyzus.

a', Wing over 16. C. corax sinuatus (Wagl.). 185
a’. Wing under 14. C. americanus Aud. 186

*185. (486). Corvus corax sinuatus (Waat.).

American Raven.

Adult. —Plumage, entirely lustrous black, with purplish reflections;.
feathers of neck, disconnected, long, narrow and pointed; bill and
feet, black; iris, brown; tail, conspicuously rounded.

Length, 25.00-27.00; wing, 16.10-18.00; tail, 9.00-11.00; bill, 2.40-
3.05.

Raner.—North America, from Guatemala to British Columbia, On-
tario and Maine. In the eastern United States, now rare and prin-
cipally confined to the mountainous districts, along which it ranges
to South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama. Usually resident where
found. :

Nesé, on cliffs or in trees, of sticks and bark; lined with hair, wool or
moss. IHggs, 5-7; pale-green, drab or olive-green; much blotched or
spotted with different shades of brown, lavender and drab; 1.95 by
1.29.

Rare resident. Breeds. I had supposed the Raven was extinct in
southern Indiana, and but few were found in the northern part of the
State. In April, 1897, Mr. Chansler informed me that two persons
had spoken to him of its nesting in Martin County, in cliffs, and that
one of them said he had taken a nest and two eggs in 1894. Mr. Cass.
Stroud, of Wheatland, says Ravens are moderately common in a local-
ity known as “Ravens’ Hollow,” five miles south of Shoals, Martin
County. Mr. Chansler also said that one person told him of their nest-
ing at “Ravens’ Rock,” in Dubois County. Mr. Geo. R. Wilson, Coun-
880 REPorRT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

ty Superintendent of Schools, Jasper, Ind., has very kindly made in-
quiries on this subject in Dubois County. He knows of his own
knowledge that Ravens were found in that county up to five years ago.
“Ravens’ Rock” is a sandstone cliff 75 or 80 feet high, the top
of which projects about 33 feet. It is situated between Dubois and
Ellsworth. Two school teachers from that neighborhood have, by Mr.
Wilson’s request, investigated the question of its breeding there, and
the following is the substance of their report. In the cliff are shelves,
very difficult to reach, and on those, or, rather, in the crevices, the
Ravens build their nests, or did so until very recently. These nests
were rough, made of large weeds, or even sticks, with hair or wool.
The Ravens have not been noticed there this year, but were a year
or two ago, and regularly previous to that. They look very much like a
crow, but are very much larger, even two feet from bill to tip of tail,
which is round in shape. They have been seen to eat rabbits, and some
say to “suck eggs.” Neighbors do not like them, and look upon them
as a sign of “bad luck.” They were often seen five miles from the
rock, and were known by their harsh croak. They fly very high. They
may still he found in other southern counties of the State. From
northern Indiana, however, T have no recent record. Mr. C. A. Stock-
bridge reported them as not uncommon in the eastern part of Allen
County the winter of 1890-91. Mr. J. E. Beasley said, in 1894, it was
a rare winter visitor in Boone County. . He informs me none have been
seen there since. Dr. A. W. Brayton, in 1879, said: “It frequents the
sandhills along the shores of Lake Michigan from October until spring,
eating the dead fish thrown up by the lake.” (Trans. Ind. Hort. Soc.,
1879, p. 129). Mr. C. E. Aiken informs me he saw it in Lake County
in 1871. The opinion in southern Michigan is that this bird has been
replaced by the crow, that the Raven was common there up to 35 or
40 vears ago, and steadily faded out before the smaller species (Cook,
Birds of Mich., p. 100).

So far as T can learn, the last Ravens were seen in Franklin County
in 1868. TI know of no records later for any part of southeastern In-
diana. Throughout portions of the western United States they are still
common. Major Bendire says of it: “Although a good deal has been
written reflecting on the Raven, my personal observations compel me
to consider it a rather orderly member of a somewhat disreputable
family group.” He further says: “Their ordinary call-note is a loud
“craak-craak,” varied sometimes by a deep grunting, “koerr-koerr,”
and, again, by a clucking, a sort of self-satisfied sound, difficult to
reproduce on paper; in fact, they utter a variety of notes when at ease
and undisturbed” (L. H. N. A. B., IL., p. 39%).
‘MOYO NVOIVANV
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Brrps oF Inprana. 881

*186, (488). Corvus americanus Avp.
Common Crow.
Synonyms,:Crow, AMERICAN Crow,

Adult—Plumage, uniform black, with violet gloss; feathers on neck,
short, rounded, not disconnected from others; bill and feet, black;
iris, brown; tail but slightly rounded.

Length, 18.50-19.50; wing, 13.00-13.50; tail, 6.90-8.00; bill, 1.80-
2.05.

Ranez.—North America, from Mexico north to Labrador, Hudson
Bay to Anderson River (lat. 68°) and Alaska. Breeds throughout its
range, except Florida.

Nest, in trees; of sticks, weeds, grass, leaves, lined with grass, wool,
hair and other finer material. Mggs, 4-8; bluish-green, olive-green or
olive-buff; irregularly blotched and spotted with different shades of
brown and gray; 1.63 by 1.15.

Very common throughout the State; resident, but not so common
in winter northward. They are partially gregarious, collecting in col-
onies, called “roosts,” in October and November and breaking up in
March. During the day they range widely from these roosts, and at
night return to them. Sometimes these “roosts” are maintained for
years at the same place; again, they change their location often. The
roosts vary much in size; some of the larger ones being estimated
to contain 100,000 to 300,000 crows. The following roosts have been
reported from Indiana: (1) One in Wayne County, changed several
times, locations given as 14 to 10 miles from Richmond; a roost near
Boston, that county, may be one of the sites of the same birds (W. 8.
Ratliff). (2) In Rush County, in a soft maple swamp near Milroy,
has been there “always.” Most numerous in late summer, at “roast-
ing-ear” time, when farmers have to fight them to save their corn;
sometimes found there by the thousands (Lon Innis). (3)
In Turner’s Grove, near Bloomington, quite extensive (W. S.
Blatchley). (4) One near Terre Haute (W. S. Blatchley, J. T. Scovell).
(5) One in Shelby County, between London and Brookfield, has been
there for the past four winters (J. G. Perry). There was one for
6 or 7 years near Fairland, in a grove of about 15 acres’ extent.
Five or six years ago the boys disturbed them, and they left and lo-
cated 4 or 5 miles southwest of the old site (Willard Fields). As I
understand it, this new site is the same one mentioned by Mr. Perry.
(6) One near Irvington, several years ending with 1893 or 1894 (G. 8.

56—GEOL.
882 Revorr oF Stave GEOLOGIST.

Cottman). (7) One near Brown’s Valley, Montgomery County, not
large (J. 8. Wright). (8) One about three-quarters of a mile north of
Camargo, Ill. Tens of thousands roost in a scrub oak grove. It is said
Crows from there range nearly or quite across the first two tiers of
counties of Indiana east of that point. ‘Twenty or thirty years ago,
it is said, they flew from the roost to Terre Haute, Vigo County; Ar-
miesburg and Montezuma (Parke County), and Clinton, Vermillion
County, for their morning feed upon the refuse of slaughter-houses,
which then existed at each place. (9) Probably 500 birds roost at night
in the two cemeteries at Vincennes through the winter (J. A. Balmer,
1889). (10) Mr. R. R. Moffitt reports a Crow Roost at Slim Timber,
White County, about 12 miles west of Brookston and 21 northwest of
Lafayette. He estimates 100,000 Crows winter there. In the southern
part of Franklin County crows are noted flying in a southeastern direc-
tion, as though a roost existed in that direction in Ohio (H. F. Bain).
The following account of the roost near Irvington was written by Mr.
W. P. Hay, February 24, 1890, and is published in Bulletin No. 6,
Div. of O. and M., U.S. Dept. of Agr., pp. 18, 19.

“For several years the Common Crow has been very abundant about
here, especially in winter. Every morning at about half past 5 a great
string of Crows, extending as far as the eye can reach, can be seen
flying toward the south. At about.4 o’clock in the evening they re-
turn. On the 15th of February I visited a roost which is situated
about 2 miles north of here. It is in a thick beech wood of perhaps
50 acres. I reached the place at about half-past 4, and in a few mo-
ments the Crows began to arrive. They came in five ‘streams’—from
the north, northeast, northwest, south and southeast. Soon the trees
were black with them, and the noise they made was almost deafening.
After being shot at several times, they all congregated in one corner
of the wood, and when shot at again left the trees and settled on the
grotnd in the neighboring fields. They were now so badly scared
that it was impossible to get within gunshot; so, throwing myself
upon the ground, to be as near as possible out of sight, I began to imi-
tate, as well as I could, the cawing of the Crow. Almost immediately
they answered, and every crow in the field came circling over me. At
first they were perhaps 200 feet in the air. They all would caw as
loudly as possible for perhaps a half-minute, then they would be still.
If answered, they would come lower and caw again. It was so near
dark I suppose they could not see me, and at last they were within 20
or 80 feet of the ground. I shot and they flew away, but returned as
» soon as I began to imitate them again. At last they all departed for
another woods.”
Brrps oF Imprana. 883

The following additional notes on the same roost by Mr. Geo. 8.
Cottman appeared in the Indianapolis News (date not known):

CROW ROOST.

“About four and a half miles east of Indianapolis, and a mile and a
half north of Irvington, a stretch of heavy woods was used by the
crows for two winters (about 793 and 794).

“By four o’clock in the afternoon the crows begin to come in from
every point of the compass; straggling at first, then in flocks that in-
crease in number and size till continuous streams seem to be conrerg-
ing at this point, and the air overhead is fairly filled with a chaos of
black flakes soaring and circling about. Evidently they come together
for the purpose of enjoying a grand social carnival. They congregate
in the adjoining meadows in vast crowds, where they walk about, inter-
mingling and hob-nobbing; the rail fences present long, unbroken
lines of black, and the isolated trees in the fields seem suddenly to
have taken on some strange, large-leaved foliage. When this multi-
tude take alarm and all rise at once, they are like the famous cloud
of locusts, and it looks as if a rifle-ball fired at random would bring
down ascore. As one stands in the woods the spectacle of these thou-
sands of birds swirling and eddying among the tree-tops has a be-
wildering effect, which is heightened by the incessant clamor. Free
speech seems to be the order of the occasion. Every crow has some-
thing to say, and he says it, and as no individual can be heard for the
others, the result is a conglomeration of noises that can be heard a
mile, and which sounds precisely like a tremendous escape of steam.
The jollification is continued till long after dark, and all through the
evening they keep up a boisterous, many-voiced conversation. These
mighty gatherings take place only through the winter, and ee the
summer lodgings in that locality are to let.”

Mr. W. W. Pfrimmer informs me that there is a “rookery” near
Newton and Demotte, in Porter County, where he thinks as many as
500 nests could be found on two or three acres. Mr. Nehrling
‘describes their nesting in a colony in Texas.

In spring when mating-time comes the Crows scatter. They begin
pairing in March. I have noted them most commonly between March
28 (1896), and April 9 (1881). Nests with full sets may usually be
found between April 15 and May 1. In Lake County, Mr. L. T. Meyer
has taken fresh eggs from April 8 to 15. Prof. Evermann found fresh
eggs April 16 in Carroll County. They nest in all kinds of woodland,
dense and open, river valleys and hill-land. Incubation lasts about
eighteen days, and both parents engage in it.
884 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

The Crow is shy and cautious. They know that every man’s hand
is against them, and keep well out of reach of the man with a gun.
A friend of mine says a Crow can count two, but his knowledge of
mathematics ends there. Three persons may hide and after two have
left the crow will return, but never till two have left.

The crow is charged with many crimes and is not given credit with
many, if any, virtues. The United States Department of Agriculture
has investigated the habits and foods of the Crow in the United States,
and has issued a very valuable report thereon (Bulletin No. 6, Div. O.
and M., U. 8. Dept. Agr., by Walter B. Barrows and E. A. Schwarz).
The Crow is found guilty of pulling up sprouting corn, eating corn,
destroying chickens and their eggs, robbing the nests of small birds,
destroying such harmless and beneficial animals as salamanders, toads,
frogs and snakes and spreading the seeds of noxious plants. But it is
found the facts are somewhat different from what they are popularly
supposed to be.

The Crow only eats hard, dry corn when other food is not easily
obtainable. It eats it readily when it is softened. Therefore, the
softened, sprouting grains are desirable food. They also are fond of
it when in the “roasting-ear,” or milk stage. Mr. Lon Innis says they
are very destructive to corn in this condition near Milroy, Rush
County. The destruction of chickens and their eggs is much less than
is commonly supposed; of the entire number of stomachs examined in
the year (909), but 57 contained evidence of such food, which was a
little over one-half of one per cent. of their total food. The same testi-
mony is given as to the destruction of wild birds. Less, by far, are
eaten than is commonly supposed. Only 50 stomachs, or about one
per cent. of the whole number examined for the year, contained such
food. Through the fall and winter season, especially, the seeds of
many vines and trees are eaten. They are especially fond of poison
ivy (Rhus toxicodendron), poison sumach (Rhus venenata), other su-
mac (Rhus), and also eat those of juniper or red cedar (Juniperus vir-
gimanus), flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), and sour gum (Nyssa
aquatica). The seeds of such plants, together with sand, gravel, and
other material eaten to assist in grinding the food, is ejected from the
mouth usually in the form of pellets. They are thus spread over the
country along fence rows, under shade trees, in orchards and other
places to propagate undesirable plants. In September and October I
have found the Crows feeding upon wild cherries (Prunus serotina),
and beechnuts. Seeds of the former are doubtless distributed in the
way just noted.. Thus, as a whole, the injuries the Crow does are
shown not to be so great as is generally supposed.
Birps or Inprana. 885

Most persons are disposed to note losses oftener and remember them
longer than benefits. It is found to eat many insects. May beetles,
June-bugs and noxious beetles, and quantities of them, are fed to their
young. Grasshoppers are eaten all summer, but form the bulk of
their food in August.

Besides these, many bugs, caterpillars, cutworms, and spiders, etc.,
are eaten. Of the insect food, Mr. E. A. Schwarz says: “The facts, on
the whole, speak overwhelmingly in favor of the Crow.” TI have else-
where (Bulletin 12, Div. of Ent., U. S. Dept. of Agr., 1886, p. 30)
noted their eating 17-year cicadas (Cicada sepiendecim), and their
eating all the tomato worms in a badly-infested tomato field, near
Indianapolis (Trans. Ind. Hort. Soc., 1890, appendix c, p. 65). lam
also informed of their coming in numbers into a timothy meadow
which was practically destroyed by the larve of some insects and going
over it thoroughly, tearing up the grass, roots and all, and destroying
the insects. When they had finished the field was described as look-
ing like a great flock of poultry had scratched it all over, but no insects
could be found. In addition to the insects eaten, it was found that
mice rank fourth in quantity in the items of animal food. For this,
they must be given credit. It is thought in the more thickly-settled
portions of the country that the crow does more good than harm, and
if precautions are taken to protect the nests and young poultry and
corn, its damage would not be of any considerable consequence.

XXXIX. FammyICTERID. Bracxsirps, ORIoLEs, Etc.

a?, Outlines of bill nearly or quite straight; the tip not evidently curved down-
ward; the cutting edges not turned inward. Subfamily Icrerm az.
b!, Bill stout, conical, its depth at base equal to at least one-third its length ;
sexes unlike; female smaller.
ce}, Tail feathers sharp pointed; middle toe with claw longer than tarsus; bill

shorter than head; finch like. DoxicHonyx. 110

e?, Tail feathers not pointed at tips; middle toe with claw not longer than
tarsus. ,

d*, Bill much shorter than head; finch like. Mototsrvus. 111

d?. Bill about as long as head.
e1, Claws of side toes about half as long as middle claw, reaching little if

any beyond base of middle claw. AqgELatus. 113
e?, Claws of side toes much more than half as long as middle claw, reach-
ing much beyond base of middle claw. XANTHOCEPHALUS. 112

b?. Bill slender, its depth at base scarcely one-third its length.
ft. Tail less than two-thirds length of wing, its feathers pointed; bill
longer than head; sexes similar. SturNELLA. 114
f*. Tail nearly as long as wing, its feathers not pointed; bill shorter
than head; sexes not similar. Ictrrus, 115
886 REpPorRT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

a. Outlines of bill distinctly curved, the tip distinctly curved downward; cutting
edges turned inward. Subfamily QuiscaLinz.
g:- Tail much shorter than wing, nearly even; bill slender, shorter

than head. ScoLEcoPHAGUS. 116
g?. Tail longer than wing, middle feathers much the longer; bill as
long as or longer than head. QuiscaLus. 117

110. Greyus DOLICHONYX Swainson.

*187, (494). Dolichonyx oryzivorus (Liny.).
Bobolink.

Synonyms, WHITE-WINGED BLACKBIRD, REEDBIRD, RICEBIRD.

Adult Male in Spring—Mostly black; nape, deep buff; back,
streaked with buff; patch on side of breast, ramp and scapulars, whit-
ish; upper tail-coverts, light ash; outer primaries and tertials, mar-
gined with yellowish-white; bill, blackish horn; feet, brown; tail feath-
ers pointed. Female and Male in Fall and Winter—Above, yellowish,
or yellowish-olive; crown and back, conspicuously streaked with
black, nape and rump with smaller markings; crown, with a central
stripe, and stripe over each eye olive-buff, or olive-gray; wings and
tail, brownish, edged with lighter; tail feathers, sharp-pointed. Be-
low, yellowish or whitish, shaded with buffy or olive; sides and lower
tail-coverts, more or less distinctly streaked with black; bill, brown.

Length, 6.30-7.60; wing, 3.70-4.00; tail, 2.60-2.90.

RancE.—America, from Paraguay north to Nova Scotia and Mani-
toba, west to Nevada, Utah and British Columbia. Breeds on coast
of Louisiana and from southern New Jersey, southern Indiana and
Kansas northward. Winters from West Indies southward.

Nest, on ground, frequently in natural depression, in bunch of grass
in meadow, prairie, or dry marsh; of fine, dry grass, straw or weeds.
Ziggs, 4-5, and occasionally 6-7; gray, bluish-gray, bluish-white,
spotted and veined with various shades of brown and gray, heaviest at
large end; .81 by .61.

The Bobolink is a regular migrant in southern Indiana, but is rare.
It is a common summer resident in the northern part of the State,
and in some localities breeds abundantly. At the time of the settle-
ment of the country by white men it was probably found in summer
about the lower end of Lake Michigan, extending westward some dis-
tance into Illinois and south into the prairies of the Kankakee basin
and as far east as Rochester in Indiana, thence northward to, and,
possibly, into southwestern Michigan. It is probable some were to be
Birps or INvIANA. 88?

met with about the western end of Lake Erie, extending a short dis-
tance into that State. From the first, or both of these centers, they
have extended their summer range until it has spread over the State
from east to west in its northern part, and reached points as far south
as northern Union County and the counties of Wayne, Delaware,

 

Bobolink.
(Beal.—Farmers’ Bulletin 54, United States Department of Agriculture, p. 18.)

Madison,: Marion, Clinton, Tippecanoe and Vigo, in all of which it
breeds. However, it is not generally distributed and usually occurs
locally. It is a rare summer resident and probably breeds in Decatur
County, where Prof. W. P. Shannon found a pair July 2, 1896. In
Carroll County, Elkhart County, and perhaps other counties, it is
found rarely, if at all, and in others in but few localities. However,
there are places where it is found abundantly. It has been observed
in a number of these counties, as well as several others for the first
time within the last few years. Doubtless it will continue to extend
its range, and we watch its movements with much interest. They
evidently reach their breeding grounds by migrating, farther eastward,
doubtless along the Atlantic coast, and then turning west towards the
lower end of Lake Michigan. They often are found in the area they
888 Report or STaTE GEOLOGIST.

originally occupied as early or earlier than they are further southward,
where they are only rare migrants. And the small numbers that pass
in the spring cannot be compared to the multitudes found breeding
northward. In the southern portion of the State, the following will
give the earliest and latest dates in a series of years when the first
Bobolink was seen in spring: Bicknell, April 28, 1896; May 3, 1894
and 1897; Bloomington, April 17, 1885, May 6, 1882 and 1888; Brook-
ville, April 6, 1890 (the earliest record for the State), ana May 5,
1881; Moore’s Hill, April 23, 1893, April 27, 1888; Greensburg, April
26, 1896, May 8, 1895; Terre Haute, May 3, 1890, May 13, 1889. In
the southern part of northern Indiana they appear a little later, from
May 2 to 11.

At Muncie they were first seen May 6, 1893, and May 11, 1890;
Lafayette, May 5, 1890; May 7, 1892; Red Key, May 2, 1895; North
Manchester, May 8, 1896. Farther north, where they breed com-
monly, they are usually first seen between April 26 and May 5, most
always by May 9; Lake County, April 27, 1887; May 8, 1889; Dekalb
County, April 27, 1896; May 9, 1889; Laporte, April 27, 1894; Wayne
County, Mich., April 26, 1896; April 27, 1892, and 1893; Petersburg,
Mich., April 28, 1891, May 2, 1886, 1889, 1892 and 1893.

The males usually precede the females by from two days to two
weeks. The crowning glory of prairie life in the spring is the lively
antics, the ardent courtships and, above all, the beautiful music of the
Bobolink, whether on the ground, in a treetop or in midair, his sweet
song comes to us with the perfume of early clover blossoms.
These remain twin impressions, indelibly impressed upon one’s mind.
The wife builds her nest of straws, grasses and weeds, on the ground,
usually in a depression, but sometimes in a tuft of grass, and there
assumes the duties of incubation and the care of a family. The hus-
band is the stylish and attractive member of the family. “She broods
in the grass while her husband sings.” The female Bobolink in spring,
and hoth sexes and young in fall, are a puzzle to young students of
birds. The male he can readily determine, but the sparrow-like dress
of the female in the spring, and of both adults and young in the fall,
cause him much perplexity. Fresh eggs are usually to be found from
May 20 to June 5. Between June 15 and July 5; the nests usually
contain young. The males keep up their singing until the beginning
of July, and then suddenly step, change their dress to that of the fe-
male and become songless. Only a metallic click is then uttered. I
have found them in full song at Eagle Lake as late as July 4. It is
generally thought they leave about July 20. While a few may start
upon their return journey then, the greater number seek good feed-
Birps or Inpiana. 889

ing grounds and remain until the middle of August. Some, com-
paratively few, remain later than this. In 1894 the last was reported
from Plymouth, Mich., September 12; Cook County, Ill., September
21. In 1890 I received one from Mr. H. N. McCoy, which he killed
at Marion, Ind., September 29. Prof. E. L. Moseley reports about
150 at Sandusky, O., September 4, 1897. However, they flock to
the Atlantic Coast in great numbers towards the middle of August
and descend in immense swarms upon the rice fields of the South
Atlantic and Gulf States. Apparently they journey southward, follow-
ing the coast line, and some distance out. There they appear to arrive
from seaward, “punctually on the night of the 21st of August” (U. 8.
Agr. Rept., 1886, p. 249). They at once proceed to destroy all the
rice on which the grain is in the milk, as well as untold quantities of
ripening grain. The annual loss to rice growers in this country on ac-
count of Bobolinks is estimatéd at $2,000,000. For, not only do they
consume so much in the fall, but in April and May, as they come
north, they stop to lay in waste the fields of young grain. The Bobo-
link, with us, is an entirely different bird, given to sweet songs, odd
actions and good deeds. With us, it lives upon insects and seeds that
are of no especial value. During the time the young have to be pro-
vided for they are fed mostly insects. The meadows, marshes, pastures
and prairies are its home, and multitudes of insects which infest such
places are eaten each year. (See The Bobolink in Indiana Proc., I.
A. 8., 1896.)

Nl. Gexus MOLOTHRUS Swarnson.

*188. (495). Molothrus ater (Bopp.).
Cowhbird.

Synonyms, Cow Buntinc, BLAcKBIRD.

Adult Male—Plumage, mostly lustrous black, with purple and
green reflections; head and neck, brown. F’emale.—Smaller; brown-
ish-gray, darker above; chin and throat paler, apparently streaked,
owing to the darker lines along the shafts of most of the feathers.
Immature.——Similar to female, but more buffy; bill and feet, black.

Male, length, 7.75-8.25; wing, 4.00-4.60; tail, 2.90-3.35. Female,
length, 7.00-7.50; wing, about 3.75; tail, 2.75.

Rance.—North America, from southern Mexico north to New
Brunswick and Athabasca (Little Slave Lake). Breeds from Georgia,
Louisiana and Texas, northward. Winters from southern Illinois and
southern Indiana, southward.
890 Report or STaTE GEOLOGIST.

No nest. Lays in the nests of other birds; number of eggs unknown.
Eggs, white, speckled and blotched with dark and light brown; .84
by .65.

Abundant summer resident. Favorable winters, some remain in the
southern part of the State. Mr. E. J. Chansler found it remained in
some numbers at Bicknell, the winter of 1896-7. I found it as far
north as Brookville, November 24, 1887. They begin to return some
years very early. In 1882 I noted it at Brookville, February 28, while

 

Cowbird, reduced.

in 1883 I did not see one until April 4. Mr. V. H. Barnett noted it
at Spearsville, February 28, 1895, and March 6, 1894. The. following
are earliest and latest dates of first arrival for places named: Greens-
burg, March 23, 1895, March 28, 1896; Sedan, March 6, 1889, April
17, 1894; Laporte, March 30, 1886, April 10, 1894; Lake County,
March 13, 1886; Petersburg, Mich., March 17, 1889, March 18, 1897.
The females arrive later in the spring than the males. They begin
mating some years late in March, and continue well through April.
At Brookville, I have seen this beginning March 25, 1884. When
they arrive late in March, or after, they are mated.

The Cowbird is polygamous. The dark male may be seen with sev-
eral lighter females. The attentions to them are very persistent. With
many motions, he puffs himself up, erects his feathers, droops his
wings and spreads his tail, conscious of his own importance. All this
ends in a farcical attempt to sing. Its ordinary call, Mr. Nehrling well
says, is a shrill “cluck-see”; while it has, also, a shrill one-syllable
screech.

The Cowbird builds no nest. It is a parasite. As the European
Cuckoo, and to a limited extent our American species, lays eggs in the
nests of other birds for them to hatch and rear, so does this bird.
Birps or INDIANA. 891

Most persons have seen it accompanying the cattle in pasture. Mr.
Widmann thinks, thus, it used to accompany the American Bison. In
its migrations, and because of its wanderings, it could neither build
a nest or take time to rear a family. Thus, to his mind, was the habit
formed. No one kind of bird is selected to be the foster parent. Major
Bendire mentions ninety species of birds in whose nests Cowbirds’ eggs
have been found. These range from the size of the Mourning Dove,
and Meadow Lark, to the little Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and House
Wren. Such well known birds as the Phoebe, Song Sparrow, Tewhee,
Indigo Bunting, Oven-birds, and Yellow-breasted Chat, are most often
imposed upon. The Yellow Warbler, however, is often a match for the
Cowbird; frequently she buries the latter’s egg or eggs and her own
beneath a second story built on top of her nest, and deposits another
set of eggs. Mr. BE. R. Quick, of Brookville, has a nest of this Warbler
to which a third story has been added, burying two efforts of the Cow-
bird to perpetuate its kind. There have been other such nests found.
The Acadian Flycatcher and, perhaps, Traill’s. Flycatcher, disposes
of the Cowbird’s eggs in the same way, sometimes.

“It is very interesting to observe the female Cowbird ready to lay.
‘She becomes disquieted. At length she separates from the flock and
sallies forth to reconnoitre, anxiously, indeed, for her case is urgent
and she has no home. How obtrusive is the sad analogy! She flies to
some thicket, or hedgerow, or other common resort of birds, where,
something teaches her, perhaps experience, nests will be found.
Stealthily and in perfect silence she flits along, peering into the depths
of the foliage. She espies a nest, but the owner’s head peeps over the
brim, and she must pass on. Now, however, comes her chance; there
is the very nest she wishes, and no one at home. She disappears for
a few minutes, and it is almost another bird that comes out of the
bush. Her business done, and troubles over, she chuckles her self-
gratulation, rustles her plumage to adjust it trimly and fly back to her
associates. They know what has happened, but are discreet enough to
say nothing; charity is often no less wise than kind” (Dr. Coues, Birds
of the N. W., p. 185). The Cowbird’s egg is said to hatch in about ten
or eleven days. It hatches earlier, the young is larger, more persistent,
or has some quality that is usually not found in the nest-mates. So it
thrives and the others perish. Every Cowbird’s egg is usually the
cause of the destruction of a whole brood of more useful birds. They
disappear as the dryer summer months come on, seeking the swamps
and marshy pastures. In September they migrate, a few, however,
remaining through the succeeding months and well into November.
Most years they are gone hefore October 1, In Lake County they
892 Report oF Srare GEOLOGIS'?.

sometimes remain until October. ‘The following are some other rec-
ords: Sedan, October 29, 1889; Sandusky, O., October 17, 1896; Cook
County, Ill., October 5, 1895; Greensburg, October 31, 1896, Novem-
ber 16, 1894; Plymouth, Mich., October 24, 1894; Hillsdale, Mich.,
November 1, 1894.

112. Grrus XANTHOCEPHALUS SwaInson.
*189, (497). Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus (Bonap.).
Yellow-headed Blackbird.

Adult Male—Head (except lores), neck and chest, yellow; primary
coverts and some of greater coverts, white; rest of plumage, black.
Female and Immature——Brownish-black; little or no white on wing;
yellow, restricted or obscured. Female smaller than the male.

Male, length, 10.60-11.10; wing, 5.65-5.80; tail, 4.50-4.85. Female,
length, 9.00-10.00; wing, 4.40-4.65; tail, 3.50-3.70.

Rance.—Western North America, from Mexico (Valley of Mexico),
north to British Columbia, and Keewatin; east to Manitoba, Wiscon-
sin, Indiana, Missouri and Texas. Breeds throughout its range. Win-
ters from Louisiana and Texas, southward.

Nests, in colonies; nests fastened in rushes or other aquatic plants,
of grass, reeds and rushes, lined with finer grass. Hggs, 2-5; grayish
or greenish-white, rather evenly blotched or spotted with different
shades of brown, drab and pearl-gray; 1.02 by .71.

This Western species is a summer resident in some localities, in
northwestern Indiana. It frequents swamps and has a preference for
certain localities, where it breeds in colonies. Mr. C. E. Aiken informs
me that he found it breeding abundantly along the Calumet River, in
Lake County, in 1871. He took over a hundred eggs. Mr. Geo. L.
Toppan has also found it breeding in Lake County, and also abun-
dantly about Mud Lake, over the line, in Illinois. There is a pair in
the State Museum that are marked from Porter County. Mr. Ruth-
ven Deane informs me one was taken from a flock of Red-winged
Blackbirds at English Lake, August 7, 1897, and Mr. Chas. Dury
says he obtained specimens from there years ago. None, however,
have been reported from there for fifteen years or more. The hab-
its of the Yellow-headed Blackbird are, in many respects, similar
to those of the Red-winged Blackbird. They are swamp birds. The
nest is built in reeds or tufts of grass; they have the somewhat similar
harsh clacking notes.
%

Birps or INDIANA. 893

They feed upon seeds of swamp plants; sometimes do damage to
green corn before the ears glaze, but eat large numbers of insects.
An egg is laid daily, and but one brood reared a year. Incubation
lasts about 14 days. They arrive in May and depart in August or
September.

113. Gaxus AGELAIUS Visiwior.
*190. (498). Agelaius pheeniceus (Lrnv.).
Red-winged Blackbird.

Synonym, Swamp BuacKBIRD.

Adult Male-—Plumage, deep black; lesser wing coverts, bright red,
bordered behind with broad band of brownish-yellow, buffy or white.
In fall or winter, black, more or less edged with brown. Adult Fe-
male.—Smaller; above, blackish, with brown and white streaks; light
stripe over eye, and inconspicuous light stripe along center of head;
lesser wing coverts, with more or less red; wings, barred and edged
with white or brownish; below, streaked with black and white; throat,
tinged with pink or yellow. Immature—Like female, but browner
above and more buffy below.

Male—Length, 9.00-10.00; wing, 4.60-5.05; tail, 3.55-3.95. Fe-
male.—Length, 7.50-8.50; wing, 3.80-4.25; tail, 3.10-3.40.

Rancr.—North America, from Costa Rica north to New Brunswick
and Mackenzie River Valley (Ft. Simpson). Breeds from coast of
Gulf States, north. Winters from Virginia and southern Indiana,
southward.

Nest, and site, similar to that of last mentioned species. Eggs, 2-6;
pale bluish-green, spotted and irregularly streaked with black and
various shades of brown, drab and purple; .98 by .69.

An abundant summer resident about swamps and the reedy borders
of lakes, and streams; elsewhere, rare, or only seen during the migra-
tions. Some winters, remain in the southern part of the State. The
winter of 1884-5 one was taken in January at Paris, Ill., and a few
were seen, at odd times during February, at Odin, Ill. (Cooke, Rept.
B. Mig. in Miss. Valley, p. 164). January 14, 1895, Mr. V. H. Bar-
nett found four at Spearsville, and the following winter it remained at
Bicknell as late as December 1. The winter of 1896-7 they also re-
mained there in some numbers (Chansler).

To note the movements of the Red-winged Blackbird one should be
near its summer home. They proceed directly to such places, and,
though a few often precede the main body, they are often found there

¢
a

894 Report or Strate GEOLOGIST.

in force before any of the chance migrants are seen farther south. At
Brookville it is only seen occasionally, as it passes over or stops beside
the river, perhaps, some days, after it has appeared about the northern
swamps. In the Whitewater Valley and, in fact, throughout southern
Indiana, generally, there are few localities favorable to it; so that a

 

Red-winged Blackbird.

(Beal.—Farmer’s Bulletin 54, United States Department of Agriculture, p. 20.)

fish pond containing a few cat-tails, a sedgy shallow in the old canal
bed, or a bit of wet land, the remnants of an old marsh or beaver pond.
afford about the only nesting sites. In the northern part of the State,
where the marshes and marshy lakes are found, they are found in
flocks numbering thousands.

They may be observed, on first arrival, in the southern part of the
State, some time from January to March; and among the northern
marshes, from February 17 to March 28. The following dates are
the earliest and latest it was first seen at the points named: Brook-
ville, February 21, 1888 and 1892, March 25, 1897; Frankfort, Feb-
ruary 28, 1896, April 6, 1893; Dekalb County, February 17, 1897,
February 22, 1886 and 1888; Lake County, March 11, 1898; Cook
County, Ill., March 20, 1886, March 28, 1885; Carroll County, Feb-
tuary 12 (Evermann). Its call is one of the characteristic sounds
of the marshes, Emerson says it calls “o-ka-lee.” Nehrling gives
Birps oF INDIANA. 895

this call: “con-cur-ee,” and says its whistling noise is (w-li. Gen-
erally they nest in colonies. The males are polygamous. Hach one
has usually two females. But this is not always so. For, often
in these latter days, when draining and ditching are driving many
birds to other haunts, and habits, solitary pairs are found about
many little cattle ponds, fish ponds, or springy drains. They are
even becoming noticeable in the more level country. In many mead-
ows, where is a wet place, no water, a nest or two will be found.
Prof. W. P. Shannon calls my attention to the fact that they are
frequenting such places in Decatur County, and thus becoming
more generally distributed and better known than they formerly were.
The spring of 1897 he found two nests about such a place, one in a
bunch of sour-dock, the other in a tuft of white top. Nests.are found
the middle of April, and full sets of fresh eggs are found until, at
least, near the middle of May—Waterloo, May 12, 1885 (Snyder).
Their nests and those of the last mentioned species are similar in con-
struction and location, as a rule. The Red-winged Blackbird some-
times builds in bushes or trees, as much as fifteen feet from the
ground. Mr. J. O. Snyder told me of one nest he found that was 18
inches in diameter. They usually rear but one brood-in a season.
One egg is laid daily, and it requires about two weeks for them to
hatch. In August and September they collect in flocks in the upper
Mississippi Valley, where they breed much more abundantly than they
do with us. At this season they do much damage to the maturing
corn. In the South, among the rice fields of the Gulf coast, they do
great damage. Prof. Beal’s investigations show that, of 725 birds ex-
amined, 74 per cent. of their food was vegetable matter and 26 per
cent. animal. Insects were the greater part of the latter, and consisted
chiefly of beetles, weevils and grasshoppers. The quantity of grain
eaten was less than we would have supposed. It constituted but a
little over 13 per cent. of the total food, and consisted of corn, wheat
and oats; oats form nearly half of that amount.

The principal food, in fact, almost the entire food, in winter, was
weed seed. That formed 54 per cent. of the year’s food. Thus nox-
ious and injurious insects form its principal food, and, save in cer-
iain localities, it is decidedly a beneficial bird.

They wander about through the fall, sometimes starting southward
in September. Other years they are passing through October and even
remain northward some winters until early November (J. G. Parker,
Jr.). The following are a few dates showing range at which last speci-
mens were seen: Lafayette, Ind., October 5, 1895; Bicknell, Septem-
her 28, 1894, December 1, 1896; Brookville, November 11, 1886.
896 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

114. Genus STURNELLA Vi«ILxor.

*191, (501). Sturnella magna (Livv.).
Meadow Lark.

Adult.—Above, prevailing color black, crown with buff middle
stripe; yellow and buff stripe over eye, black stripe from eye back;
cheeks, ashy; back, streaked with brown, and buffy; outer tail feathers,
white, middle ones pointed; they with the inner quills and wing cov-
erts, barred or scalloped with black and brown, or gray; edge of wing
and spot in front of eye, bright yellow; below, yellow, a black crescent
on breast; sides and crissum, whitish, with black spots.

Male—Length, 9.50-11.00; wing, 4.40-5.00. Female.—Length,
8.00-10.00; wing, 3.95-4.30.

RaneE.—Eastern North America, from Gulf of Mexico north to
Nova Scotia and Manitoba; west to Great Plains. Winters from Kan-
sas, Indiana and Massachusetts, southward. Breeds throughout its
range.

Nest, in meadow, in depression in ground, of grass and weeds,
arched over and protected by growing grass. Hggs, 3-7; white, spotted
and blotched with brown. or purple; 1.09 by .89.

Abundant summer resident. Resident in the southern portion of
the State. Some severe winters it mostly or entirely leaves. Other
winters it is found throughout the State. It has been reported in
winter from Brookville, where it remains during mild winters; Wa-
bash County, often (Ulrey and Wallace); Carroll County, occasionally
a few (Evermann); Brown, often (Barnett); Zanesville, Wells County,
remained, 1896-7 (Hamilton); Petersburg, Mich., a few remained,
1896-7 (Trombley). In the northern part of the State the migration
begins: In Dekalb County, as early as February 12, 1891, and as late
as March 17, 1886; in Cook County, Ill, March 20, 1888, March 28,
1885. In the southern part of the State, most years, the migrations
begin in February, and frequently they are common by February 20.
I have known them in full song March 8 (1893). s

But mating does not usually begin until early April; sometimes,
however, it is observed in March. Sometimes the bird scoops out a
hole in the side of a tussock of grass and builds its nest, arching it
over with the grass above. Usually it is placed in a little depression
in the ground. It is made of such materials as are at hand—grasses of
varying coarseness—and a lining of finer growth. The male sings
while the female works. Prof. W. P. Shannon found a nest, with
three eggs, near Greensburg, April 25, 1896, while I have taken the
Brrps oF INDIANA. 897

first laying, at Brookville, May 28, 1892. Mr. E. R. Quick took a set
of fresh eggs near the same place, July 15, 1879. This was a second
laying in a nest in which young had been hatched a few weeks before.
The nest was relined before the second laying. Mr. J. O. Snyder took
a set of eggs, possibly also a second set, at Waterloo, July 17, 1885.
An egg is deposited daily, and incubation takes about fifteen days.
Both sexes assist in the latter.

Hing lis ie i

    

fis ily

    

 

Meadow Lark.
(Beal.—Year Book, United States Department of Agriculture, 1895, p. 421.)

The song is variously interpreted. Mr. Ridgway says country people
sometimes interpret it as “Laziness will kill you,” or “Peek-you-can’t-
see’-me;” the accent on the next to the last syllable. Mr. Nehrling
says it sounds like “He-ah-he-here,” or “et-see-dee-ah.” After the
harvest is over and the young are able to care for themselves, most
of the Meadow Larks seek choice spots, and but seldom are their songs
heard. However, when the fall rains come, and start the grass, they
regain their voices. I found them in restless flocks during the dry
weather, September 30, 1897, and in full song. At times they
sing quite late. November 11, 1886, a sunny, pleasant day, I found
them abundant and in full song at Lawrenceburg Junction.

The. Meadow Lark is one of our most beneficial birds; and, as it
should be, has a good reputation. Every one speaks well of it. In
238 stomachs examined by the Department of Agriculture, animal
food, practically all insects, constituted 73 per cent. of the contents;
and vegetable matter, 27 per cent.

57—GEoL.
898 REporT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

The insects were ground species, such as beetles, bugs, grasshoppers
and caterpillars, some flies, some wasps, and spiders. Crickets and
grasshoppers constitute 29 per cent. of the entire year’s food, great
numbers being eaten in August, when these insects are most numerous.
Beetles come next, being nearly 21 per cent. They may become very
valuable in combating new enemies of the meadow, such as the rapidly
spreading clover root borer, and clover leaf weevil. The vegetable food
is grain, weed and other seeds. Grain amounts to 14 per cent., and,
being eaten in winter and spring, is probably principally waste grains.
Only six birds had eaten clover seeds (See also Beal, Year Book of U.
S. Dept. of Agr. for 1895, p. 419, et seq., and Farmers’ Bulletin No.
54, same Dept., May, 1897, p. 21).

It will thus be seen that the Meadow Lark is almost entirely bene-
ficial. Care should be taken to protect it, not only from the shooter,
who wants something to practice upon, but also from unnecessary de-
struction in any form. The mower, particularly in meadows of red
clover, when first cut, destroys many nests, eggs and young.

115 Genus ICTERUS Brisson.

a}. Tail graduated, its length about equal to wing; bill slender, curved downward
at tip; adult male, chestnut and black. Subgenus Penpuxinus Vieillot.
I. spurius (Linn.). 192
a*. Tail nearly even, much shorter than wing; bill not curved downward ; male,
orange and black; female, duller. Subgenus YPHANTEs Vieillot.
I. galbula (Linn.). 193

Subgenus Penpu.inus Vieillot.

*192. (506). Icterus spurius (Livy).
Orchard Oriole.

Adult Male-—Black; lower back, rump, lesser wing coverts, and all
under parts from throat, deep chestnut; a whitish bar across the tips
of the greater wing coverts; bill and feet, blue-black; tail, graduated.
Adult Female—Smaller; above, grayish olive-green; wings, dusky;
tips of the coverts, and edges of the inner quills, whitish; below, yel-
lowish. Young, first year: Similar to female, but browner above.
Young, second year: Similar to last, but with black mask, and some-
times showing patches of chestnut.

Length, 6.00-7.25; wing, 2.90-3.25; tail, 2.65-3.20.

Ranez.—America, from Colombia over eastern United States to
Massachusetts, Ontario, Michigan and North Dakota, casually to New
Brunswick. Breeds from Gulf of Mexico and Rio Grande, north.
Winters south of United States.
Birps oF INDIANA. 899

Nest, of green grass, lined with plant down; in tree, in orchard,
lawn or grove. Hggs, 4-6; pale bluish-white, blotched, spotted and
veined with brown, purple, lavender and pearl gray; .81 by .57.

The Orchard Oriole is a summer resident. In most counties in
the State it is common, being more numerous where there are
extensive orchards and attractive lawns. It is generally shown that
these birds are steadily increasing in numbers. In the extreme north-
ern part of the State they are extending their range, as well as increas-
ing numerically. Prior to 1883, they are reported to have been un-
known in portions of Dekalb County, and it was very rare in portions
of Lake County. The orchard is its home, and not the deep woods.
As conditions become more inviting, they will increase. While a few
years ago the Baltimore Oriole was much more abundant than this,
an estimate I made the present spring (1897) shows that these birds
outnumbered the last mentioned species ten or fifteen to one.

The Orchard Oriole comes in spring, with the blooming of the
Buckeye, and it frequents thickets, at first, where that bush or tree
is found.

The earliest records are from Bicknell and Brookville. April 18,
1896, it appeared at each place. The following are the dates it first
arrived in the places named in the spring of 1897, an early spring,
and where second date is given, it is the latest date of first arrival:
Brookville, April 24, 1897, May 14, 1888; Bicknell, April 22, 1897,
April 27, 1894; Richmond, April 26, 1897; Lafayette, April 26, 1897;
Sandusky, O., May 9, 1897; Petersburg, Mich., May 6, 1897, May 8,
1889. The dates next given are earliest and latest dates of first spring
arrival: Dekalb County, April 19, 1896, May 20, 1888; Cook County,
Tl., May 9, 1896, May 15, 1884. The females arrive after the males
from several days to near two weeks.

In southern Indiana most years the Baltimore Oriole arrives first.
At Brookville, but twice in fifteen years’ observations do I find this
species noted as occurring in advance of it, while in 1893 it was just
two weeks later in arriving.

I have observed it mating as early as April 27%, 1881, and May 4,
1886. In southern Indiana sometimes the full complement of eggs is
laid about the middle of May. Prof, W. P. Shannon found the par-
ents feeding their young May 31, 1896. Usually, however, they are
about two weeks later. In the northern part of the State they breed
in June. A set of fresh eggs was found at Waterloo, June 3, 1885
(Snyder); and an incomplete set at Lafayette, June 10, 1897 (Test).

The nest is usually placed in an orchard tree, most often an apple
tree. It is made of green grass blades, and is placed in the crotch or
900 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

fork of a limb. The color of the nest renders it inconspicuous. One
egg is laid daily. Incubation lasts about twelve days, and it was

Major Bendire’s opinion that this was performed exclusively by the
female. One brood only seems to be raised each year.

During the spring and early summer, the old birds have lived upon
the insects in the orchard. Next, upon such food they feed their
ever-hungry young, and when they leave the nest the whole family
goes into the cornfield to feast upon the insect enemies of the corn.

No bird deserves better treatment by the orchard man and farmer.
Except a few berries and fruit blossoms, almost their entire food seems
to be injurious insects. These include green worms, hairless cater-
pillars, beetles, flies, cabbage worms and plant lice.

They are very destructive to insects that feed upon the foliage of
trees, berries, bushes and grape-vines; among the latter they use their
sharp bills to destroy the cocoons wrapped within the leaves.

It has a loud, rattling call, which Mr. Nehrling expresses by
“tarrrrirr,” besides a sprightly song, often partly sung on the wing.
The song grows less frequent in late June, and seldom is heard in the
Whitewater Valley after early July—July 9, 1886.

_ They leave early and almost unnoticed. Often but few are to be
found early in August. The last of the year was reported from Sedan,
August 24, 1892; Plymouth, Mich., August 18, 1894; Bicknell, August
30, 1895, and July 27, 1896; Vermillion County, August 28, 1897.

Subgenus Yeuantxs Vieillot.

*193. (507). Icterus galbula (Livy.).
Baltimore Oriole.

Male.—Head and neck all around, and back, black; rump, upper tail
coverts, lesser wing coverts, most of the tail feathers and all the
under parts from the throat, fiery orange, but of varying intensity,
according to age and season; middle tail feathers, black; the mid-
dle and greater coverts and inner quills, more or less edged
and tipped with white, but the white on the coverts not form-
ing a continuous patch; bill and feet, blue-black. Female——Smaller,
paler; the black obscured by olive, or sometimes entirely wanting.
Young.—Similar to female, but wanting black on throat and head.

Length, 7.00-8.15; wing, 3.50-3.90; tail, 2.85-3.35.

Ranez.—-America, from Colombia to Nova Scotia and Saskatche-
wan; west to Rocky Mountains; casual to Hudson Bay and Keewatin;
accidental in Cuba and Shetland Islands. Breeds from Gulf of Mex-
ico, northward. Winters south of United States.
Birps oF INDIANA. 901

Nest, pensile, purse-shaped, suspended from slender branch of tree;
of vegetable fibres, hair, string and shreds of bark. Eggs, 4-6; pale
grayish-white, blotched, spotted and irregularly lined with black,
brown and lavender; .91 by .61.

Summer resident. Frequents the vicinity of water. The trees
along water courses and about ponds and lakes are favorite places both
for feeding and nesting. In many localities away from streams, this

 

Baltimore Oriole.
(Beal.—Year Book, United States Department of Agriculture, 1895, p. 427.)

Oriole is rare. Sometimes during the spring migrations they are gen-
erally distributed over the country. They apparently have been much
less common the past few years. Their winter home is eastern Mex-
ico, Centra] America, into the United States of Colombia. Cuba is
the only one of the West Indies visited. One noting their restricted
winter home, and seeing the large proportion of the skins of these
birds shipped from there for purposes of decoration and adornment,
need have no difficulty in understanding how that may have a con-
siderable effect upon the number that returns to us in the spring.

But the spring of 1897 they were more numerous during the mi-
grations for a few days than I ever saw them. They were found wher-
ever trees grew. In the deepest woods and orchards; on hilltop and
valley; in country and town. In one small apple tree, May 6, I found
902 Report OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

three busy, insect catching, and for the next two or three days they
continued from one to four in almost every tree. I never knew s0
many birds of all species among the orchards as there were last spring.
They seemed busy all the time, and there must have been much insect
food and a great destruction of such forms. As it was, there was an
unusual abundance of insects left to damage the fruit. But little
late fruit, or fruit trees, escaped unharmed. What would have been.
the destruction had not this innumerable army of insect-eating birds
thoroughly inspected and cleansed our trees from the earlier de-
stroyers?

They cross our southern border usually between April 15 and 25.
One advance straggler was reported from Ellsworth, Vigo County,
April 10, 1897. It was next seen April 16. The year 1889 there
were some of these birds that moved quite early. The first was re-
ported from Terre Haute, April 17; Oxford, O., April 18; Waterloo,
April 18; Petersburg, Mich., April 19. The bulk of the birds were
detained, however, and they were not common until after they often
are in other years; 1888 was about an average of their first arrival.
The following are the dates reported: Brookville, April 22; Terre
Haute, April 24; Clinton County, April 25; Burlington and Waterloo,
each, April 26; Rochester, April 27; Cedar Lake, Lake County, April
28. <A single specimen was reported from Ann Arbor, Mich., April
25, but it was not noted at Bay City, Mich., until May 5. As with
niany other species, its movements begin to be slower as it approaches
the lower end of Lake Michigan. The earliest and latest date of first
arrival at Chicago, is April 27 and May 8, 1897. On the eastern side
of Michigan and Indiana, it arrives sooner. The earliest and latest
date of arrival at Petersburg, Mich., April 19 (1889), April 27 (1897).

Prof. B. W. Evermann noted it at Bloomington the four years
ending 1887, as first*arriving on April 20, 21, 20, 21, respectively. I
have never found tt so regular at Brookville. The following dates of
first arrivals there for a series of years are of interest: 1881, April 25;
1882, May 3; 1883, April 26; 1884, April 27; 1885, April 23; 1886,
April 25; 1887, April 23; 1888, April 25; 1889, April 20; 1892, April
29; 1893, April 1%; 1894, April 28; 1895, April 26; 1896, April 18;
1897, April 20.

It usually becomes common, then, April 28-30, though in 1896 it
was common April 20. ‘The males appear first, and the females arrive
about the time the species becomes common. With us, they, and the
Orchard Oriole, arrive close together, but by the time they reach
Michigan the last named form is behind. When they first arrive, the
males have a lively, attractive song. Nuttall gives it as “tshippe-
Birps oF InpraNna. 903

tshayia-too-too, tshippe-tshippe-too-too.” I have observed them
mating as early as May 3 with us, and have found the nest completed
May 80, and young June 1. Mr. L. T. Meyer has reported young in
Lake County May 30, and Mrs, J. L. Hine fresh eggs from Sedan
June 1. The nest is the finest bird structure found with us. It isa
pensile, purse-shaped composition, into which strings, fibres, tow, hair
and various other pliable materials enter. Maj. Bendire says it requires
from five to eight days to build the nest. One egg is laid daily, and
one brood reared each season. Incubation lasts about fourteen days,
and it is said the female performs most of that duty. It is said the
young are fed upon insects. This is partly true. The past season
a pair of these birds built their nest in a fir tree in my yard, on a limb
reaching over an alley. I observed the old birds, when the young were
hatched, catching what seemd to be insects for them. They were
also frequent visitors to my strawberry beds, eating and carrying away
what they wanted. This was kept up until late in June.

June 25 my boys found that one of the young was fastened in the
nest. I cut off the limb and found one leg entangled in the strings.
It had been there some time, as the muscles were shriveled and the
leg useless. The bird was lively and voracious. From the stains on
its feathers, and the droppings in the nest, it was plain to be seen
that a large part of its food for some time had been strawberries.

The attractive song of first appearance gives place to a shorter one
about June 1. “Who-ee, here-we-are,” or “who-ee-who-ee-who-ee-
who” it seems to say. As the days pass by, this is shortened by two or
three syllables. The last: syllable is always short and emphatic. The
staccato effect is very characteristic. The rattling call, “kur-r-r-t,”
still continues, as when it first came. Through June the songs get
less frequent. The last I heard—a fragment—was June 25, this year.
duly 24, I again heard its song. The performance was like that of
mid-June, but finer. This was continued into the early part of Au-
gust. August 9, I heard one singing little parts .of songs, and the last I
heard of these attractive birds was a “kur-r-r-t,” August 12.

They begin to leave late in June, and through July and August but
few remain with us. Some years none are seen after the middle of
August. Others, they remain well into September, and Prof. W. P.
Shannon reported one from Greensburg, October 1, 1896. That is
the latest record for the State. In 113 stomachs examined, caterpil-
lars constituted 34 per cent. of the food. The other insects found
were beetles, chiefly clickbeetles, the larve of which are very de-
structive, bugs, ants, wasps, grasshoppers and some spiders. Vegeta-
ble material was found to be a little over 16 per cent. of the food
904 Report oF StTaTE GEOLOGIST.

eaten. They eat a few peas, blackberries and cherries, as shown by the
returns. On the whole, they are excedingly beneficial.

Good looks and good deeds with them go together (see article by
Prof. F. E. L. Beal, in Year Book U.S. Dept. of Agr. for 1895). The
Baltimore Oriole has been accused of damaging grapes, but examina-
tion of the stomachs did not seem to sustain the charge. Mr. Isham
Sedgwick, of Richmond, Ind., informs me that for three succeeding
years, 1894-5 and 6, these birds damaged his grapes. Both he and
other members of his family saw the birds at work, and agree that they
neither ate the fruit nor sucked the juice of the grapes they pecked.
The bird would bite every grape in a bunch in 15 to 20 seconds. One
year they wholly or partially destroyed about 75 bunches of fruit.
Mr. Sedgwick once, while watching for the bird, saw it come and chase
and capture several bees, which were about grapes where the skin had
been broken. I suspect that is the clue that will reward the inquirer
with the cause of the Oriole nipping the grapes. Insects are attracted
by the grape juice in punctured fruit. The bird punctures the grapes
to draw more insects that it may obtain food more easily.

116. Gexus SCOLECOPHAGUS Swainson.

194. (509). Scolecophagus carolinus. (Mutt).
Rusty Blackbird.

Adult Male in Summer—Lustrous black, the reflections greenish.

Adult Male in Fall and Winter—Similar, but with nearly all the
feathers skirted with warm brown above and brownish-yellow below,
frequently continuous on the fore parts. Female and Young Male.—
Entirely rusty-brown above; the inner quills edged with same; a pale
stripe over the eye; below, mixed rusty and grayish-black; the pri-
maries and tail above, black; tail feathers of about equal length; bill
and feet, black.

Length, 8.20-9.75; wing, 4.25-4.75; tail, 3.65-4.20,

Ranez.—North America, chiefly east of Rocky Mountains, from
Gulf Coast to Labrador, Keewatin and Alaska; accidental in Lower
California and Greenland. Breeds from northern New England,
northern New York and Manitoba, northward. Winters from Indiang
and Virginia, southward.

Nest, in saplings and bushes near wet places; of twigs, grass and
moss; on a base of earth, lined with grass. Eggs, 4-5; light bluish-

green, blotched and spotted with different shades of brown and gray;
-98 by .72.
Birps or INDIANA. 905

Migrant, most places rarely identified, but really common. Rarely,
they may be found in winter in southern Indiana and Illinois, as far
north as Catlin, Ill, and Knox County, Ind. Most of them pass far-
ther south in early winter, remaining with us throughout the State,
some years, until late in November.

Mrs. J. L. Hine reports them from Sedan, November 11, 1889;
November 25, 1891; Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr., from Calumet, Ill., Novem-
ber 4, 1887; Greencastle, November 15, 1893. One taken to be this
species was noted at Brookville, January 23, 1887; Brookville, Novem-
ber 17, 1885, November 24, 1887. Mr. A. W. Hamilton reports a
number at Zanesville, Wells County, December 7, 1896. The greater
number begin to return early in March, and may be seen in flocks in
southern Indiana until past the middle of the month—March 21, 1883.
The first arrivals pass on at once to the swampy portions of the State.
There they may be found, some years, well through April. Mrs. Hine
reports them from Sedan, April 28, 1892, and Mr. C. A. Tallman
noted them in Cook County, Ill., May 1, 1897. In the fall they begin
to return from their northern breeding grounds, some years by early
October. Mr. Chansler noted it at Bicknell, October 5, 1894. Most
of them remain about our smaller lakes through October, and in south-
ern Indiana we generally see them in flocks in November. Major
Bendire says the ordinary call note is like “tcehack, tchack,” several
tithes repeated. Another call is “turnlee, turnlee,” or “trallahee, trall-
ahee.”

Prof. F. H. King says he examined five specimens. Three had
eaten seven beetles, among them three aquatic species; one, moths;
one, two small mollusks; and two, small seeds (Geology of Wis., Vol.
I., p. 551). They have been said to eat corn, but do no damage in
Indiana.

117. Gexus QUISCALUS Vtstuor.

Subgenus Quiscatus.

*195, (5116). Quiscalus quiscula eneus (Rivew.).
Bronzed Grackle.

Synonyms, Common Biacksirp, Crow BuacksirD, PuRPLE GRACKLE.

Adult Male—Entire body, above and below, uniform and unvarying
brassy-olive, or olive-bronze; wing shading gradually into bronze-pur-
ple, the primaries and tail more violet-purple; head, neck and jugulum,
metallic brassy-green, steel-blue, violet or purple (according to individ-
ual), always very abruptly defined against the very different color of
the back and breast. Bill and feet, deep black; iris, yellowish-white;
906 Report OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

tail, conspicuously graduated. Adult Female—Smaller; plumage
much duller than in the male, the metallic colors less brilliant.
‘Young—Uniform grayish-dusky without metallic tints; iris, pale
brown (Ridg.).

Male, length, 13.00; wing, 5.55-5.75; tail, 5.50-6.20. Female, length,
11.25-11.50; wing, 5.00-5.50; tail, 4.80-4.90.

Raner.—Eastern North America, from Mexico and Gulf Coast to
Louisiana, northward, between the Rocky Mountains and the Alle-

t

 

Bronzed Grackle.
(Beal.—Year-Book, United States Department of Agriculture, 1894, p. 233.)

ghanies; to Atlantic Coast in Massachusetts, Labrador and Great Slave
Lake. Casually to Atlantic Coast from Virginia to Florida. Breeds
from Gulf Coast, north. Winters from Indiana and Llinois, south.

Nest, often in colonies, in cavities or among branches of trees; of
grass, weeds and mud; lined with grass or feathers. Eggs, 4-73
pale greenish-white to light rusty-brown, blotched and irregularly
streaked with various shades of dark brown, and sometimes lavender;
1.14 by .82.

Common summer resident; most numerous in spring and fall in
flocks. Sometimes in groves of cottonwoods, sycamores or other favor-
ite trees, they are found breeding in companies, and there during nest-
ing time the air is filled with harsh utterances and metallic notes.
Birps oF INDIANA. 907

Some winters they are found in favorable places within the State.
Usually these are few, or even single birds, but sometimes they are
present in small flocks. The winter of 1878-79, one of these birds re-
mained about my home, at Brookville, feeding with the English Spar-
rows in the chicken yard and corncrib.

They occasionally remain in Monroe County (Evermann). The
winter of 1896-7 they were reported from Hanover, January 11 (Cul-
bertson). That winter they remained at Greensburg (Shannon), and
at Bicknell (Chansler). Ulrey and Wallace say they are sometimes
seen in mid-winter in Wabash County. They were found at Waterloo,
January 18, 1890 (H. W. McBride), and Mrs. Hine says a flock of
Blackbirds remained at Sedan all the winter of 1891-2, and the winter
of' 1893-4 they remained about Stony Lake. Mr. B. T. Gault saw a
Blackbird of some kind in Cook County, Ill., in January, 1896; and
Prof. A. J. Cook gives it, upon the authority of Mr. Warren, as having
been seen in protected bottoms in St. Joseph County in January
(Birds of Mich., p. 105).

Those that winter farther south begin to appear in great flocks in
southern Indiana in February and early March. At night they roost
in great numbers, associated with Red-winged Blackbirds and Cow-
birds, in some selected spot. The evergreens in my yard have for
years formed such a roosting place. They frequent it until the middle
of April. The older, more shady towns of Indiana are selected for
roosting places, both in spring and fall. The earliest and latest dates,
respectively, of first appearance at Brookville are February 17, 1882,
and 1890, March 11, 1889; they are usually common between March 8
and 14; at Sedan, February 27, 1893, and March 15, 1886; common be-
tween March 14 and 25; Petersburg, Mich., March 6, 1897, and March
18, 1891; common between March 15 and April 1; Cook County, IIL.,
March 23, 1886, and April 7, 1885. Again, will be observed the
‘earlier arrival of a species near Lake Erie. Soon after arrival they
begin a beautiful mating song. The birds gather at evening in groves
and the shade trees of lawns, even in towns, and sing in great glee.
‘This was continued in 1895 until April 28. I have seen them mating
by March 9, 1887. In the Whitewater Valley they prefer groves of
cottonwood, sycamore or other trees near water courses. Often they
begin building in southern Indiana early in April. JI have found their
nests, apparently completed and occupied, by April 12, 1897, and in
1881 I found them nesting May 9.

Mrs. Hine reported their nesting at Sedan April 19, 1886, and Mr.
L. T. Meyer says they usually breed in Lake County by May 15. The
period of incubation is about two weeks, and both birds share that
908 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

‘labor. The young remain in the nest about eighteen days. Rarely a

second brood is raised. After breeding, they begin to collect into
small flocks. In 1896 they were first seen in flocks, coming into
Greensburg to roost, June 5 (Shannon). In 1897 I observed the first
flock in Brookville after breeding, June 16, and the next June 23.
‘ihe greater number pass northward and return in immense flocks the
first cold spell in September. September 3, 1897, they began to re-
turn in flocks, and added their clamor to the sounds of the town.
The evening of September 21, a great flight of Blackbirds and Cow-
birds was noted. The flocks followed each other so rapidly that there
was almost a continual stream from northeast to southwest. Some
years but few remain after late September. At Sedan they were
noted October 17, 1889; October 29, 1891; October 13, 1892; October
27, 1894 (Mrs. Hine). At Brookville, November 14, 1884; November
9, 1887.

In nine specimens examined by Prof. King, the quantity of
animal and vegetable food was about equal. Six had eaten corn; two,
beetles; one, two water scorpions; one, a small crayfish; and one, a
few seeds (Geology of Wis., Vol. I., p. 552. Dr. B. H. Warren, as the re-
sult of the examination of hundreds of stomachs of the Purple Grackle,
through the period of their sojourn with him, extending over portions
of seven years, shows that October is the month in which the greatest
damage to corn is done. He says: “These examinations show that
late in the fall, when insect food is scarce, corn is especially preyed
upon by these birds, but during the previous periods of their residence
with us, insects form a large portion of their diet” (Birds of Pa., 2nd
ed., p. 222). With us it is rarely they do much damage to corn. But
one or two instances have come to my attention during the time it
is ripening, in twenty years. On the contrary, the industry the sable
visitors show in spring in destroying the insects in the freshly broken
ground, thereby exterminating a whole generation of the. farmer’s
foes, much more than compensate for the little corn they eat. Mr.
Thos. G. Gentry says they destroy the eggs and young of other birds,
particularly Robins. In our State I am not familiar with such a
habit.

XL. Famiry FRINGILLIDE. Fincuss, Sparrows, Erc.

a}, Mandibles crossed at tip. Loxra. 121
a?, Mandibles not crossed at tip.
61. Head crested ; bill, wings and tail chiefly red. CaRDINALIS. 137

b?, Head not crested.
c’. Bill very stout, its depth at base equal to length of hind toe with claw;
length about three-fourths that of head. CoccoTHRAUSTES. 118
Brrps oF INDIANA. 909

c?, Bill less stout, its depth at base less than length of hind toe with claw.
d}, Nasal plumules long, covering a third or more of upper mandible; bill
stout, about one-half the length of head. Prnicona. 119
d?, Nasal plumules, if present, covering less than one-third of upper
mandible.
e?. Gonys distinctly convex in profile; plumage streaked above, not be-
low; no white, red, yellow or blue. Passer. 127
e?. Gonys straight or nearly so.
f1. Primaries much longer than secondaries, exceeding them by the
length of the tarsus or more.
g'. Wing five times as long as short tarsus or more; under wing cov-
erts red or yellow.
h}, Length 6.00 or more; wing over 3.50; plumage mostly white;
hind claw nearly as long as bill. PLECTROPHENAX. 124
h?, Length under 6.00; wing under 3.50; tail forked.
i1. Nasal tufts nearly one-third the length of bill; tail feathers
without white or yellow; adult plumage with more or less
red. AcANTHIs, 122
12, Nasal tufts short or none; tail feathers blotched with white
or yellow; adult plumage with more or less yellow.
Spinvs. 123
g’. Wing not five times as long as tarsus.
7}. Under wing coverts without red or yellow; bill not very
stout.
k1, Depth of bill at base about equal to exposed culmen;
nostrils partly covered by small tufts; no white on tail ;
male more or less red. Carropacus. 120
k?, Depth of bill at base decidedly Jess than length of cul-
men, tail partly white; no red.
U1. Tail forked, middle feathers pointed ; hind claw nearly
as long as bill, rather straight.
m', Tail feathers, except middle pair, white; all, except
outer pair, squarely tipped with black.
RHYNCHOPHANES.
m?. Tail feathers not squarely tipped with black.
Caucarius. 125
?, Tail rounded ; middle feathers not pointed ; hind claw

short and curved. CHoNDESTES. 129
j?. Under wing coverts red or yellow; bill very stout.
Hapia. 138

f?. Primaries not much longer than secondaries, exceeding them by
less than the length of tarsus; plumage with no red.
n1, Colors generally blue, brown or greenish; not de-
cidedly streaked or spotted.
o?. Length over 6.00; bill very stout; male blue
with chestnut on wings; female plain brown.

Gurraca. 139

o”, Length under 6.00; bill not very stout.
p'. Male with blue or green; female mainly
brown. PasseRIna. 140
910 Report OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

p?. Color slate or ashy; belly and first to third
tail feathers white. Joxco. 132
n*, Colors plain, somewhere or everywhere streaked
or spotted.
qi. Tail with two to four outer feathers more or
less white. :
rt, Length over 7.60; color above, male
mainly black; female mainly brown.
Prrito. 136
v?, Length under 7:00; above brownish gray,
streaked with black and brown.
PoocztTrs. 126
g’. Tail with no white feathers.
s+, Tail small and short; decidedly shorter
than wings; or else tail feathers nar-
row aud sharp pointed.
t!, Size large ; tail and upper tail coverts
and wings mainly reddish brown.
PassERELLA. 135
t?, Size smaller; not reddish brown as
above.
u+, Breast more or less yellow; male
with black patch. Spiza. 141
u?, Breast not yellowish; spotted or
striped above and below, or with
narrow sharp pointed tail feathers,
or both. AMMODRAMUS. 128
s*, Tail as long as or longer than wing, or
tail forked; or head with black and
white, or brown and lighter brown
stripes.

v1, Tail forked, middle feathers
shortest; adults not streaked or
spotted below. SprzELna. 131
v?, Tail not forked, the middle feath-
ers not shortest.
wi, Plumage streaked or spotted
below, or crown chestnut.
Menospiza. 134
w?, Plumage not streaked nor
spotted below; or crown with
black and white; or brown
and lighter brown stripes.
x1. Wing over 2.75; head striped
in adults, chestnut in young.
ZONOTRICHIA. 130
z*, Wing under 2.75; edge of
wing yellow. Prucma. .133
Birps or INDIANA. 911

118. Genus COCCOTHRAUSTES Brisson.

Subgenus HesprripHona Bonaparte.

196. (514). Coccothraustes vespertinus (Coor.).

Evening Grosbeak.

 

Evening Grosbeak. (Reduced.)

Male.—Above, olive-brown; line over eye, forehead, wing coverts
and rump, yellow; crown, primaries and tail, black; secondaries, mostly
white; below, yellowish, darkening to olive-brown on the throat; outer
tail feathers, sometimes more or less white; bill, very large, greenish-
yellow. Female—Above, top of head, brownish-gray; rest of upper
parts, grayish, tinged more or less with yellowish; a whitish patch at
base of primaries. Immature.—Similar to female, but duller.

Length, 7.00-8.50; wing, 4.20-4.50; tail, 2.75-3.20.

Rance.—Interior of North America, from Rocky Mountains east
to Great Lakes and northward. Casually, to the Atlantic Coast, and
southward, in winter, irregularly, into Nebraska, the Ohio Valley, In-
diana and Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Connecticut.

Nest, in tree; of sticks, twigs, rootlets. Eggs, 3-4; greenish, blotehed
with pale brown. This description is of the nest and eggs of the
western form, which has been separated from this. They are un-
doubtedly similar. \

Very irregular winter visitor; sometimes found in numbers. These
birds, whose home ig in the dark coniferous forests of the Northwest,
some winters range eastward and southward, until they reach the At-
lantie Coast. Such, however, is unusual, but every few years they
have been found in Indiana.
912 Report oF StTatTE GEOLOGIST.

In Illinois they were observed at Freeport during the winter of
1870-71, and at Waukegan, in January, 1873 (Hist. N. A. Birds, Baird,
Brewer and Ridgway). The winter of 1871 they were quite com-
mon throughout the northern portion of that State. The following
winter they were much rarer, and since then but very few have been
seen (Nels. Bull. Essex Inst., Vol. VIII., 1876, p. 104).

About the year 1872, while hunting in the autumn, near Eureka,
Woodford County, Ill., Prof. O. P. Hay came upon a flock of these
birds and killed six (Bull. Nuttall Orn. Club, July, 1881, p. 179). Mr.
T. Mcllwraith records its occurrence in Ontario, at Toronto, December
25, 1854, and at Woodstock, in May, 1866. In 1871 they were also
found near London, and he noted them near Hamilton, March 17,
1883 (B. of Ont., 1894, p. 291). Dr. Kirtland noted its occurrence
near Cleveland, O., in March, 1860 (Wheaton, Birds of O., p. 314).
Dr. Morris Gibbs has informed me of the occurrence of this species in
Michigan in 1869, 1872, 1873, 1874, 1878 and 1879.

During none of these visits, except that of 1878, does it seem to have
been identified in Indiana.

The first reference to its occurrence in this State I find in Forest
and Stream, Vol. VI., 1876, p. 148, where Mr. G. Aug. Smith says:
“Tt occurs some winters at Ft. Wayne.” In the collection of Purdue
University, Lafayette, Ind., is a specimen taken near that city in
November, 1878 (C. R. Barnes). This is the first verified record for
Indiana. In 1883, they were next noted. Five specimens were shot
at Whiting Station, Ind., December 20, 1883 (H. K. Coale). Mrs. A.
W. Brayton has a specimen which she informs me was taken in the
summer of 1886, near Allisonville, twelve miles north of Indianapolis.
The winter of 1886-7 they ranged eastward into Ontario, as far as
London, and south into Iowa to Fulton County, Ky., and over much
of Indiana, as far, at least, as Bloomington, where the late Mr. CO. H.
Bollman and Mr. G. G. Williamson obtained several specimens. That
winter they were first recorded in Indiana from Lake George, Decem-
ber 5, 1886, when two females were taken, which are now in the
collection of Mr. G. Fream Marcom, San Diego, Cal. Messrs. H. K.
Coale and Geo. L. Toppan reported seeing two January 1,1887. Jan-
uary 14, Mr. Toppan reported two males near Chicago. January 20,
Mr. C. H. Bollman took one male near Bloomington. The same day,
Cal. Meredith and another boy shot five from a flock of twelve, near
Frankfort (C. E. Newlin). March 25, Mr. Oscar Vaught shot two
from a flock of eight or ten near Mace.

In Mr. Morcom’s collection I saw six males and two females, two of
which were kindly given to me, marked Berry Lake, Ind., April 3,
Brrps oF INrIANA. 913

1887; also four males from the same locality, April 18, 1887, and a
male and a female, dated May 10, 1887.

Mr. G. G. Williamson noted the following specimens at Blooming-
ton, in April, 1887; April 27, one; 29, two; 30, two. Mr. C. A. Stock-
bridge, of Ft. Wayne, has a specim- nu taken from a flock of eight or
nine near that city, about May 6, I= 41. Mr. R. Turtle, a taxidermist of
Chicago, showed me a number of these birds, of which he said he
killed ten, May 8, 1887, at Berry Luke, Ind., and thirteen May 10, at
Whiting. Mr. Turtle obtained a large number of specimens the pre-
ceding winter from Whiting. The latest record I have of its occur-
rence in spring is May 13, 1887, when it was found in Lake County.

, The winter of 1888-9, although they were observed in Michigan and
Illinois, none were reported from Indiana. The year 1889-90, they
appeared at Madison, and other places in Wisconsin, by November 20,
1889. They reached Ohio and Pennsylvania in December, and in Jan-
uary, February end March were found reaching almost to the Atlantic
Coast. Dr. Warren says they remained in some parts of Pennsylvania
until May 15, 1890 (Birds of Penn., Rev. Ed., 1890, p. 225). In In-
diana this movement was not so noticeable. Mr. H. N. McCoy ob-
tained a specimen from a flock of twenty or thirty near Lafayette, Feb-
ruary 1, 1890. Mr. L. T. Meyer reported them from Whiting, Lake
County, in January and February. Dr. A. W. Brayton identified a
specinien taken near Indianapolis that winter. Mr. C. A. Stockbridge
saw them at Ft. Wayne,.February 15 and 16, 1890. After the last
date they became common, and he took one as late as April 12 of that
year. Messrs. Ulrey and Wallace say there are two pairs in the
collection of Mr. M. L. Galbraith, Collamer, Indiana. They were
taken in Whitley County. Mrs. Jane L. Hine informs me a gentleman
in Steuben County has an Evening Grosbeak that was taken in the
southern part of that county.

Their food is principally elm buds, maple buds and seeds, and espe-
cially the buds, more rarely the seeds, of the box-elder (Negundo
aceroides). This last is most commonly eaten in early winter, the
others all through their stay with us. They resemble clumsy Cross-
bills when extracting the seeds of this tree. They also eat fruit of the
climbing bitter-sweet. They are loth to leave a woods heavy with
maple “mast.” Early in May they have been known to turn their at-
tention to the pine trees. One instance is recorded of their eating
frozen crab-apples, that remained on the trees until mid-winter. In
addition to evergreens, maple, beech and elm woods, they frequent
orchards, where apple seeds are favorite food. They gather food from

58—GeroL
914 REPORT OF STaTE GEOLOGIST.

the trees and also pick it off the ground. When on the ground feed-
ing, they are quite silent. They move by hopping, holding them-
selves like robins, and turn over the leaves with great dexterity,
picking up the seeds from under them. ‘The males have a loud call
note, a sharp, metallic cry like the note of a trumpet, which they utter
frequently when excited. The females chatter like Bohemian Wax-
wings (Ampelis garrulus). Their song towards spring is a rambling,
jerky warble, beginning low, suddenly increasing in power, and as
suddenly ceasing, as though the singer were out of breath. They are
usually found in flocks of six to twelve individuals. Sometimes, how-
ever, there are twenty or thirty in a flock. It is but rarely that full
plumaged males will be found among them. During the more severe
part of the winter, they are usually tame and unsuspicious; this some-
times continues through their stay, but they often become shy before
they leave. Sometimes, when one is shot, all will leave; usually, how-
ever, they will remain until a number are killed before taking flight.
Their flight through the woods is very swift, reminding one, by the
dexterity with which they avoid branches, of a Pigeon; when in the
open, it is more like that of a Blackbird (See Butler, Some Notes
Concerning the Evening Grosbeak, The Auk, Vol. IX., pp. 238, 247.
Further notes on the Evening Grosbeak, The Auk, Vol. X., April,
1898, pp. 155-157; also Proceedings of the Ornithological sub-section
of the Biological Section of the Canadian Institute for 1890-91.).

119. Genus PINICOLA ViziLuor.

197. (515). Pinicola enucleator (Liyy.).
Pine Grosbeak.

Adult Male—Carmine; paler ashy on the belly; darker and streaked
with dusky on the back; wings and tail, dusky, the former much
edged with white and with two white bars. Adult Female.—Ashy;
paler below; head, back and lower parts, brownish, shaded with olive;
_.Tump, olive-yellow; wings, similar to those of male. Immature.—
Similar to female, but more ashy.

Length, 8.25-9.00; wing, 4.50-5.00; tail, 3.70-4.45.

Rance.—Northern parts of Northern Hemisphere. In America,
breeding from Maine, Quebec and mountains of Colorado northward.
In winter, irregularly into northern United States, rarely as far as
northern Illinois, northern Indiana, Pennsylvania, New York and
southern New England.

Nest, in coniferous trees; of twigs and rootlets, lined with finer ma-
terials. Hggs, “usually 4; pale greenish-blue, spotted and blotched
with dark brown surface markings, and lilac shell spots; 1.05 by .74.”
Birnps oF INDIANA. 915

Irregular or accidental winter visitor. Mr. J. W. Byrkit identified
it at Michigan City. Mr. C. A. Stockbridge informs me there is a
specimen in the collection of Prof. H. Duemling, Concordia College,
Ft. Wayne, Ind., that was taken near that city by the late Mr. G.
Aug. Smith. It was observed at Waukegan, IIl., Jan. 2, 1884 (Ridg.,
Birds of Ill, 1, p. 224). Mr. Geo. L. Toppan once noted it in Lake
County, Ind., and thinks it was in the winter of 1884-5.

   

di
Pine Grosbeak. (Reduced.)

Mr. F. M. Woodruff writes that a few days before January 1, 1896,
Mr. John F. Ferry took a number of specimens from a flock of Pine
Grosbeaks at Lake Forest, Tl.

Mr. L. O. Pindar reports it from Fulton County, Kentucky, several
times between February 7 and March 19, 1888 (The Auk, July,
1888, p. 321).

They were seen in flocks of thousands in Jackson County, Mich., in
1881, and were very tame. Jackson County is only one county re-
moved from Indiana. With that exception, they are reported as rare
in southern Michigan. They are found far north, where Mr. Nelson
says they withstand the cold of these forests even within the Arctic
Circle. Wherever found they appear in flocks, the greater part of
which are young and females. Adult males are few some writers
say, from one to ten or fifteen of the plainer-colored birds. Their
disposition is agreeable, social and gentle. The fruit of the red cedar
and berries of the mountain ash are favorite foods along the southern
portion of their winter range.
916 REpPoRT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

120. Genus CARPODACUS Kavp.

198. (517). Carpodacus purpureus (GMEL.).
Purple Finch.

Adult Male-—Crimson, rosy or purplish-red, most intense on the
crown, fading to white on the belly, mixed with dusky streaks on the
back; wings and tail, dusky, with reddish edgings, and the wing coverts
tipped with the same; lores and feathers all around the base of the bill,
hoary. Female and Young.—With no red; olivaceous-brown, brighter
on rump, the feathers above all with paler edges, producing a streaked
appearance; below, white, thickly spotted and streaked with olive-
brown, except on the middle of the belly and under tail-coverts; ob-
scure whitish superciliary and maxillary lines. Young males show
every gradation between these extremes in gradually assuming the
male plumage, and are frequently brownish-yellow or bronzy below.

Length, 5.50-6.25; wing, 3.15-3.40; tail, 2.30-2.50.

Ranee.—Eastern North America, from Gulf of Mexico north to
Labrador and Saskatchewan. Breeds from Illinois and Pennsylvania
northward. Winters from Indiana and Pennsylvania southward.

Nest, usually in evergreen; of weeds, grass, bark shreds, vegetable
fibre; lined with hair. Eggs, 4-5; pale green, with spots and irregular
lines of dark-brown and lilac, chiefly towards the larger end; .85 by
.65.

These birds, when not in full plumage, more nearly, both in shape
and coloration, resemble the English Sparrow than any of our native
birds. They are often killed for the saucy foreigners by those who
do not distinguish them.

The Purple Finch is a regular migrant in varying numbers, and is
irregularly a winter resident, even to the northern limits of the State,
in favorite localities. In northern Indiana they may possibly be
found occasionally to remain through the summer. The winter of
1887-8 a company of these birds remained all winter near Sedan, De-
kalb County, and a number more were found in the same woods
through November, 1891 (Mrs. J. L. Hine). They were found Janu-
ary 9, 1896, at Lake Forest, Ill.; January 25, 1879, in Carroll County;
January 21, 1894, and through the winter of 1894-5 at Greencastle,
Ind.; December 15, 1894, in Johnson County. Prof. W. W. Cooke says
they breed in northern Illinois, eggs having been taken at Polo, Ill.
(Bird Mig., Miss. Val., p. 179). They have also been taken at Wau-
kegan in the breeding season (Nehrling, N. A. Birds, Pt. IX., p. 31).
Prof. A. J. Cook reports it breeding at Lansing, Mich. (Birds of Mich.,
p- 107).
Birps oF INDIANA. 917

They are most common during the spring migrations in March and
April, being also occasionally seen in February and early May, and in
fall in October, though they may be noted rarely as early as late
August and late into November. The following dates give respectively
the earliest and latest date of first arrival and the latest date of
departure in spring at the places noted: Vincennes, March 4, 1897;
Red Key, February 15, 1895; Brookville, February 26, 1892; April 25,
1881, 1887; depart, April 30, 1887; Richmond, March 20, 1892; de-
part, May 11, 1897; Greensburg, April 23, 1893; April 30, 1896; de-
part, May 7, 1893; Lafayette, March 13, 1897; April 28, 1895; Chicago,
Ill., April 12, 1884; April 28, 1885; Petersburg, Mich., March 17,
1889; April 23, 1897. At Brookville they have been noted in spring
nine years out of twenty-one. Some years they are found but for
a day; others, they remain for several days. They are usually found
in flocks, but occasionally single birds are seen. In 1896 they were
noted in Cook County, Ill., August 21, and remained that fall until
October 31, while in 1895 they were found there November 4. At
Greensburg, Ind., the year last mentioned, they were found October
26. In 1894 they were seen at Sedan October 11 to October 31, and
in 1891 were present through November. In Carroll County they were
noted from October 12 to October 19, 1878. In spring they may be
noted as feeding upon the opening buds of the elms, particularly the
red elm, of which they seem to be very fond.

They may be found wherever elms grow, and prefer less dense woods
or the straggling trees along smaller waterways. Sometimes they are
quiet while feeding. In April, however, their voices may often be
noted reaching through the woodland for a considerable distance. To
me, the song somewhat resembles that of the warbling vireo. The
song is a beautiful liquid utterance, and I fancy it as the beginning
of the nuptial courtship. They usually nest in cedars, spruce or other
evergreens, but occasionally build in apple trees. In height, they are
found from 5 feet to 50. The nests are placed upon a limb among
the twigs. The nest is shallow and composed of vegetable fibres,
grass, shreds of bark; sometimes they are nicely woven and lined with
a well-woven mat. In the fall they feed upon seeds, being especially
fond of hemp and sunflower seeds.
918 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

121. Genus LOXIA Linxazvs.

a}, Wing with no white. L. curvirostra minor (Brehm.). 199
a*. Wing with white. L. leucoptera Gmel. 200

199. (521). Loxia curvirostra minor (Breum.).

American Crossbill.

 

American Crossbills—Male and Female. (Reduced.)

Adult Male.—Bill, crossed; above, b¥icky-red; wings, blackish, un-
marked. Female.—Brownish-olive, streaked and speckled with dusky,
the rump saffron. Immature Males.—Mottled with greenish and green-
ish yellow.

Length, 5.50-6.25; wing, 3.20-3.60; tail, 1.85-2.40.

Rance.—Northern North America in winter; south irregularly to
South Carolina and Louisiana. Of irregular occurrence south into
the Ohio Valley in summer. Breeds along the Alleghanies from
the northern United States and occasionally to Georgia.

Nest, in evergreen trees; of evergreen twigs, bark; lined with horse-
hair, fine rootlets, grass and feathers. Eggs, 3-4; pale greenish,
spotted and dotted, mostly at larger end with various shades of brown
and purplish; .75 by .57 (Bicknell, N. 0. C., Vol. V., pp. 7-11).

A very erratic bird. When found is generally noted as a winter
visitor or migrant in flocks; less common in southern Indiana; some
winters wholly wanting. They are sometimes found singly in company
with Pine Siskins. Prefers localities where pines or other coniferous
trees are found. There they sometimes remain quite well into the
summer, and are reported to breed.
Birps oF INDIANA. 919

Dr. Haymond makes'no record of the Crossbill in his list of 1856,
and the first account at hand is that of Dr. Wheaton, who noted it from
Ohio in the winter of 1859-60. Dr. Haymond included it in his report
of the birds of Franklin County in 1869. That year and the succeed-
ing, Mr. C. E. Aiken observed them in Lake County, Ind., and Cook
County, Ill. They were not again observed in Indiana until the winter
of 1882-3, when they spread over Indiana and reached at least to
Nelson County, Ky. (Beecham, p. 24). That winter they were reported
by Prof. Evermann from Monroe and Carroll counties, and Mr. H. R.
Quick and myself took them at Brookville.

The three succeeding winters they were noted in different parts of
the State, as far south as Bloomington. In May, 1887, they were

“reported from Lake County. The succeeding fall they were found at
Brookville from October 29 to November 19, and from there and
Terre Haute northward were reported the following winter and spring.
The winter of 1888-9, they were found over western Indiana, as far
south as Vincennes. From: that time until 1897, when they were
noted at Lafayette, they were not reported from the State in winter.
They were, however, reported as migrant in the spring of 1890, 1891,
1892, and 1895, and in the fall of 1894; Wabash, September 11, 1894
(Ulrey and Wallace). When they visit us, they usually arrive in late
October or November, and pass northward in March and April. Some-
times, however, they remain much later. Mr. C. E. Aiken tells me
they became very abundant in the vicinity of Chicago, including Lake
County, Ind., in July and August, 1869, and remained until late in the
fall. They fed greedily on sunflower seeds, and were so sluggish that
one could approach within a few feet of them, so that they fell an
easy prey to boys with catapults. He says they were not rare the suc-
ceeding year in the vicinity of Chicago. The summer of 1878 they
were -found at Columbus, O., and abundantly at Cleveland, O. In
1885 they remained at Bloomington until May 12; in 1886 they were
noted July 10, 18, and 14. They have also been noted in summer at
Muncie, May 4, 1888; Greencastle, July 27, 1891; Bainbridge, July 11-
15, 1892; Lafayette, March 11 to June 380, 1892; March 30
to May 22, 1895; February 22 to May 24, 1897. For the notes from
Lafayette I am indebted to Messrs. L. A. and C. D. Test.

In the summer of 1878 they were reported to have bred in the
vicinity of Cleveland, 0. Dr. Wheaton reports it having been known
to nest in Indiana (Ohio Geol. Survey, Vol. IV., 1879, p. 317). Mr.
EB. M. Kindle informs me that Mr. Sam Hunter reported a pair of
these Crogsbills to have bred at Bloomington, Ind., in 1885. The
nest was said: to have been placed in a pine tree and was made ex-
920 Report OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

clusively of pine burrs. Mr. R. B. Moffit informs me they nes‘ed at
West Lafayette, in 1885, and that young birds were taken there.

Dr. H. A. Atkins is said to have taken their nests near Locke, Mich.,
July 13, 1880. They are said to nest early, often in February, while
the snow still covers the earth, but they have been found nesting untii
into July.

They feed principally upon the seeds of conifers, which they extract
from the cones. The crackling of these burrs was what first called my
attention to the Crossbills. They uttered no note, but busily tore off
the plates and picked out the seeds. The sound resembled the crack-
ling noise made by the opening of the cone left on the tree under the
warping influence of a warm spring sun. They sought their food both
upon the tree and upon the ground beneath it. They were very tame, °
permitting me to approach quite close to them, apparently unnoticed.
When they took wing, they uttered a note which Mr. Otto Widmann
has compared to the “parent call of Progne,” our Purple Martin. Mr.
Widmann informs me that they were attracted to the vicinity of Old
Orchard, Mo., partially by the abundance of apples left on the trees
the winter of 1891-2. These, I presume, formed part of their food.
They also eat elm buds in May. They also eat the seeds of horse-
weeds. Mr. Jesse Harlle found a male in breeding plumage and four
other Crossbills in dull plumage apparently probing the mud about
the borders of a mill pond near Greencastle, July 27, 1891: The
specimen first mentioned he shot. But a small proportion of the birds
seen—as they move about in flocks of varying size—are males. Mr.
Nehrling says its song consists of a number of loud, flute-like notes
which are frequently intermingled with several harsh chattering tones
(N. A. B., p. 41). (See Butler. The range of the Crossbill in the Ohio
Valley, with notes, on the unusual occurrence in summer. Papers
read at the World’s Congress of Ornithology in Chicago, 1893-1896,
pp. 47.58, and Proc. Indiana Acad. Sci., 1892, pp. 63-72.)

200. (522). Loxia leucoptera .Gmet.
White-winged Crossbill.

Wings in both sexes, with two conspicuous white bars; bill, crossed.
Male.—Rosy-red. Female.—Brownish-olive, streaked with dusky, the
rump saffron. Immature Males—Mottled as in last species.

Length, 6.00-6.50; wing, 3.50; tail, 2.60.

Rance.—Northern North America, south in winter to northern
Indiana and Pennsylvania, rarely to Kansas, southern Ohio and Vir
ginia. Breeds from northern New England and northern Rocky
Mountains north.
Brirps oF INDIANA. 921

Nest, of twigs and strips of birch bark, covered externally with
moss (Usnea), and lined with soft moss and hair; in an evergreen in
deep forest. Hggs, 3 (?); pale blue, spotted and streaked near larger
end with reddish-brown and lilac; .80 by .55. (Chamberlain).

These Crossbills are more rare than the preceding species, but their
visits are of the same irregular character. Usually they are found in
flocks. They often accompany the common Crossbill, and may be
looked for at the same time in similar localities. The habits of the
two birds are similar.

 

White-winged Crossbill. (Reduced.)

Dr. J. M. Wheaton mentioned it in his catalogue of the Birds of
Ohio, in 1861. In the winter of 1868-9, Mr. Chas. Dury found this
end the last mentioned species together in the vicinity of Cincinnati
in large flocks in the proportion of two of that to one of this species.
Mr. C. E. Aiken reports the first record of the White-winged Crossbill
from Indiana. The summer of 1869, in the vicinity of Chicago, in
Cook County, Ill., and Lake County, Ind., he found this species in
company with the last, and they remained throughout the winter suc-
ceeding. About 1878 a pair of these birds was taken at Ft. Wayne.
The female is now in the collection of Mr. C. A. Stockbridge, who has
kindly permitted me to examine it.

Mr. Fletcher M. Noe reports its occurrence near Indianapolis early
in 1883. February 6, 1883, Prof. B. W. Evermann shot two males
from a flock of fifteen of these birds at Bloomington. Others were
taken February 10 and 12. Mr. J. W. Byrkit found both species to-
gether at Michigan City the winter of 1883-4. Miss H. E. Colfax-in-
forms me of its occurrence there as late as June 26, 1884. Mr. Chas.
Dury reports it from Michigan City, he thinks, 1885. Hon. R. Wes.
McBride reports it in Dekalb County, where Mrs. J. L. Hine tells me
922 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Mr. McCord shot two in the court-house yard at Auburn, March 8,
1885. Prof. B. W. Evermann killed a female with a stick, the only
one seen, at Burlington. Another female was seen at Camden, March
16, 1885. The only instance of its occurrence in summer in the Ohio
Valley is that given me by the late Mr. C. ‘H. Bollman. He saw eleven
on a fir tree in Bloomington, Ind., June 24, 1886. ‘This species
has been found breeding in Maine, aH winter. Mr. H. Nehrling men-
tions a nest having been found April 21, 1891, in Delta County,
Mich. Nests of this species have been but rarely found, and are still
desirable in collections. (See same papers referred to at end of last
species.) In addition to the same kind of food eaten by the other
species, they are said to eat decayed garden fruits, the seeds of beech,
grass and canker worms. They have a chattering note, uttered when
they fly, and in their breeding grounds have a song, which is de-
scribed as low, sweet and disconnected.

122. Gexus ACANTHIS Brcusteiy.

a'. Wing 3.00 or less; tail 2.50 or'less. A. linaria (Linn.). 201
a’, Wing usually over 3.00; tail 2.60 or more; bill much larger and stouter.
A. linaria rostrata (Coues.). 202

201. (528). Acanthis linaria (Liny.).
Redpoll.

Adult Male—Above, streaked with dusky and flaxen in about equal
amounts; crown, with a patch of crimson; rump and breast, pink;
throat, with a black patch; belly, dull white, sides streaked; wings,
brownish-dusky, with two white bars. Adult Female——Without pink
on breast and rump. Young.—Head, neck and breast, streaked, and
showing no red or pink. Bill, pointed and yellow.

Length, 4.50-5.00; wing, 2.70-2.80; tail, 2.30-2.35. Bill, length, .32-
36; depth at base, about .20-.25; tarsus, .52-.55.

Ranez.—Northern part of northern hemisphere in North America;
south, irregularly in winter to Kansas, Indiana and D. C. Breeds
far north.

Nest, in low tree or bush; of grass and moss, lined with plant-down
and feathers. Eggs, 4-6; pale bluish or greenish-white speckled with
reddish-brown; :67 by .48.

‘The little Redpoll is an irregular winter visitor. Some years they
occur in immense numbers in the northern part of the State. Pos-
sibly it is to be found there most every winter, but in the southern por-
tion of the State it is rare.
Birps oF INDIANA. 923

Mr. Chas. Dury took a single-specimen in the vicinity of Cincinnati
in January, 1869. The first record for Indiana is a specimen taken by
Prof. B. W. Evermann, at Camden, November 5, 1878. From south-
ern Indiana there are but few notes. Dr. C. R. Case noted it in flocks
in Franklin County, February 10, 1881. Prof. Evermann identified a
single bird at Bloomington in December, 1882. Mr. EH. L. Guthrie
obtained specimens in Decatur County the winter of 1883. Mr. Chan-
cey Juday obtained specimens from a flock of twenty at Bloomington,
April 12, 1895. They have also been reported as follows in winter:
That of 1889-90, they were distributed generally over the northern
part of the State in some numbers, having been reported fram Benton,
Wabash, Allen and Dekalb; 1892-3, there were many about Elkhart;
1895-6, they were tolerably common in Cook County, Ill, and Lake
County, Ind.; 1896-7, they seem to have been generally distributed
northward, having been reported as common in the vicinity of Chi-
cago; noted at different times in Lake County and common in March
at Sandusky, O. There is a specimen in the State Museum at Indian-
apolis, from Boone County, Ind. The earliest date of arrival in fall
is October 24, 1896, when they appeared commonly at Chicago. They
remained in that vicinity in 1885 until April 26.

_ While often found among the evergreens, they also frequent weed
patches, eating the seeds, after the manner of the American Gold-
finch. They are easily frightened from their feeding grounds, but
soon return, uttering a soft call, as if to reassure each other. Mr. H.
Nehrling observed them in 1875-6 at Oak Park, Il]. He says: “With-
out fear, they came under the kitchen windows, picking up millet,
canary seed and crumbs of bread. The weeds in the garden (a species
of Ambrosia), and the hemp stalks, were thoroughly searched for food.
Like Titmice, they climbed, head downward, along branches of shrubs
and weed stalks, always uttering a peculiar chett, or chett-cherrett”
(Birds N. A., X., p. 51). They are very tame and unsuspicious when
undisturbed, but when frightened become wild. Their flight is not
high, and the scattered flocks move along in undulating lines. The
late Dr. Kirtland, of Ohio, records a crippled Redpoll which came into
his possession in the winter of 1868, that ate erumbs of bread and hay-
seed, and rapidly recovered. It learned to live exclusively upon the
parasitic insects of house plants, and did so until it escaped in the

spring.
924 REPoRT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

202. (5284). Acanthis linaria rostrata (Covss).
Greater Redpoll.

Similar to A. linaria; usually more heavily streaked on sides, and
all the dimensions larger.

Length, 5.25-5.75; wing, 3.00-3.30; tail, 2.60-2.70; bill, .41-.47;
depth of bill at base, .25-.30; tarsus, .65-.70.

RaneE.—Greenland and northeast North America; south, irregu-
larly in winter—to New England, New York, Ontario and northern
Indiana and west to Manitoba.

This species, which is said to be common in Greenland, occasionally
reaches in its winter wanderings as far southwest as Ontario, Michigan,
Illinois and Indiana.

Different forms of Redpolls are associated in flocks, but this and
the preceding are the only ones that have been taken in Indiana. Mr.
H. K. Coale obtained a specimen of this Redpoll (No. 5340, Mus. H.
K. C.) at Davis Station, Starke County, Ind., January 1, 1884. It
was found with a flock of Redpolls (A. linaria), feeding—eating
seeds of weeds, the tops of which protruded through the snow. Mr.
Coale had taken a specimen November 21, 1878, in Cook County, IIL,
near the Indiana line, which was the first Illinois record. These birds
were reported as Acanthis linaria holbeillii, but evidently are this
form. Its habits are similar to that of its more common relative.

123. Genus SPINUS Koca.

a'. Inner webs of tail feathers with white patch; plumage not streaked.
S. tristis (Linn.). 203
a?, Inner webs of tail feathers without white patch, but with yellow bases;
plumage streaked. S. pinus (Wils.). 204

*203. (529). Spinus tristis (Lryv.).
American Goldfinch.

Synonyms, YELLow Brirp, Lerrvuce Birp, Savap Birp.

Adult Male—Bright gamboge-yellow; crown, wings and tail, black;
lesser wing-coverts, band across the greater ones, ends of secondaries
and tertiaries, inner margins of tail feathers, upper and under tail-
coverts and tibia, white. MFemale—Yellowish-gray, above; greenish-
yellow, below; no black on forehead; wing and tail much as in male.
Young.—Reddish-olive, above; fulvous yellow, below; two broad
bands across coverts, and broad edges to the last half of secondaries,
pale rufous (B., B. and R.).
Birps oF INDIANA. 925

Length, 4.45-5.40; wing, 2.60-2.90; tail, 1.80-2.10.

Ranez.—North America, from southern California and Gulf coast
north to Labrador, Manitoba, and British Columbia. Breeds from
Virginia, Kentucky and Kansas, northward. Winters from southern
Ontario and northern United States, southward.

Nest, usually in upright fork of tree or bush, 5 to 25 feet up, a neat
structure of grass, bark strips and plant fibres, closely woven, and lined
with plant down. Hggs, 3-6; pale bluish-white; .65 by .52.

Resident; rare some winters, northward. Most persons fail to recog-
nize the bright, black-winged, black-capped yellow bird of May and
June in the mottled plumage of September. In spring the bright
plumage is taken on, and in September the duller winter plumage
begins to replace it. During the greater part of the year these birds
associate in flocks, wandering about as they are attracted by desirable
food. While these birds are always present, the same individuals are
not. Those which winter with us pass northward, and the bright-
colored ones, who have changed their dress farther south, come upon
us quite suddenly, with the bursting of the apple blossoms each spring.
They usually come to the Whitewater Valley in the latter part of
April, but, in 1883, arrived April 12, and in 1884, not until April 30.

With the advent of those in brighter colors, the ones which have
been feeding upon the buds of elms and other early flowering trees,
leave. They do not mate upon arrival, but postpone their nesting
until quite late. The earliest I observed them mating was May 9,
1887. Nests may generally be looked for after July 1, but sets of
eggs are sometimes found in August and September. Their song is
an ecstatic effort that is very pleasing. It is loud and has a peculiar
flute-like quality that adds attractiveness to its brilliant effort. The
strain may be written thus: chit, chit, chit-o-ree-e, repeated with
trills and expressions indescribable. Besides, it is continued into July
and sometimes August, and becomes more conspicuous, because many
of its rivals have, long before that, ceased to sing. In 1897, I last
heard it July 22. As it gallops through the air, apparently riding the
wind-waves, its rythmic note has been interpreted by Mr. F. M. Chap-
man as “per-chic-o-ree,” “per-chic-o-ree.” When feeding in spring
among the tree-buds, it has a note, “co-ree,” “co-ree,” which a number
sometimes utter together. But all through the year they have a soft
“tweet” that readily distinguishes them. They are the seed destroyers
par excellence. Sometimes it is something desirable, like the seed of
lettuce, turnip and hemp, but more often it is the baneful dandelion,
burdock, mullein, and other pernicious weeds. Sunflower'seed is a
926 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

favorite food. In winter the seeds of grasses, rag-weeds, horse-weeds,
and occasionally sycamore, are eaten.

They are very tame. In summer they often make their homes in
orchards, lawns, and even among the fruit and shade trees of our
towns. In autumn the garden is a favorite place. In winter they are
often found about the barnyards and adjacent shrubbery.

Prof. F. H. King examined 34 stomachs and found they had eaten
20 plant lice, and the remainder of their contents was chiefly weed
seeds. He says the service which the Thistle Bird does in destroying
the seeds of the almost uncontrollable Canada Thistle throughout the
Eastern and Middle States must be very great (Geol. Wis., I., p. 535).
Dr. Wheaton says they eat the Hessian Fly.

204. (533). Spinus pinus. (Wits.).
, Pine Siskin.
Synonym, PInE Fincu.

“Tail deeply forked; above, brownish-olive; beneath, whitish, every
feather streaked distinctly with dusky; concealed bases of tail feathers
and quills, together with their inner edges, sulphur-yellow; outer
edges of quills and tail feathers, yellowish-green. Two brownish-
white bands on the wing. Sexes alike. Youwng.—Similar, but the
white below tinged with yellow, the upper parts with reddish-brown,
and there are two pale ochraceous bands on the wing.”

Length, 4.50-5.25; wing, 2.75-2.90; tail, 1.85-1.95. (B. B. and R.).

Ranes.—North America, from Mexico (Vera Cruz) north into Brit-
ish provinces. Breeds from south New England, New York, the south-
ern limit of its range in Mexico, northward, but mostly north of
United States.

Nest, in coniferous trees, of grasses, rootlets (near settled places,
string, threads, etc.); lined with finer material of the same kind, hair
and feathers. Hggs, 4; pale bluish-white, spotted and blotched with
reddish or dark brown, vinaceous, sometimes lines of same color; .61,
by .47.

More or less regular winter migrant, and rare winter resident.
Sometimes found in great numbers, in flocks, occasionally associating
with Goldfinches, in winter, and with Purple Finches, in spring. They
resemble the Goldfinches in action, in fall and wiuter, too, but not in
song. Their note is a single wheezy syllable, which may be expressed.
as “Cree,” sometimes highest at the end, again highest on the first
vowel, and falling towards its close. Some years they arrive in Octo-:
ber, others in November. They arrived at Wabash early in October,
Birps oF INDIANA. 927

1896, and were found in abundance into November. They also were
noted at Bloomington. The earliest arrival at Brookville is October
14, 1896. That fall and the succeeding spring they were generally

- distributed in the Whitewater Valley, but were not abundant. Nc-
vember 17, 1882, I found them everywhere along the Whitewater
River bottoms in countless numbers.

Roadsides, fence rows, weedy banks and thickets, corn and stubble
fields, all were alive with their fluttering wings, while the crackling of
weed seeds and their peculiar note added voice to the scene. They
were present in great numbers throughout the winter. Were last seen
April 27. Some years they are not seen after February or March;
others, they remain until late April or May. Jn spring they frequent
the evergreen trees about our homes, as well as the native cedar,
where they sometimes are found in company with the Crossbills; also,
elms, maples, apple, and other deciduous trees, where they, with
habits somewhat resembling the Purple Finches, associate with them
while feeding. The spring of 1885 they remained at Brookville until
May 11, while the spring of 1887 they generally remained, not leaving
until May 5. They were remarkably abundant at Richmond, where
they remained until May 24 (Hadley); Lafayette, May 29 (L. A. and
C. D. Test); Petersburg, Mich., May 12 (Trombley). Dr. Jordan took
a specimen near Indianapolis in midsummer (Brayton). One was ob-
served at Wabash, with Goldfinches, several times between June 10
and 20, 1892. They were feeding on mulberries (Wallace). The last
ones to remain in spring are very shy. They frequent’the higher ever-
greens in little companies, and, after sitting quietly for a time, all
utter their lisping “cree” together, sometimes repeating it two or
three times. After an interval of silence they repeat the call. Dr.
Wheaton thought it probable it breeds in northern Ohio, and Davie
gives it as breeding in Michigan (Nests and Eggs of N. A. Birds, 1889,
p. 293). Nests, with eggs, have been found from near the first of May
until near July 1. Dr. A. K. Fisher took a nest of this species at
Sing Sing, N. Y., May 25, 1883 (See Ridg., B. Ill., p. 289).

124. Genus PLECTROPHENAX. Sresnucer.

205. (534). Plectrophenax nivalis (Lrnv.).
Snowflake.
Synonyms, Snow Buntisc, WHITE SNOWBIRD.

Adult, Breeding Plumage.—White, middle of back, terminal half of
primaries, and tertiaries, and two middle tail feathers, black; legs and
bill, black. Adult in Winter—White; head, ramp and breast, brown-
ish; back, brown and black, streaked; wings, fuscous; bill, yellow,
928 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

darker at tip. Female, in Breeding Plumage.—Streaked above with
-- black, white below.

Length, about 6.50-7.00; wing, 4.20-4.50; tail, 2.80-3.15.

Ranoce.—Northern part of northern hemisphere; south in winter
to northern Illinois, northern Indiana and northern Ohio, and south-
ern New England. Casually to District of Columbia, Georgia and
_. Kentucky. Breeds from Labrador to Alaska, north.

Nest, on ground, of grass and moss, lined with fine grass and
feathers. Hggs, 4-7; greenish or bluish-white, spotted,. principally
about the larger end, with brown; .91 by .64.

The Snowflake comes to us from the north, in flocks, with the whirl-
ing wreaths of the midwinter snow. They are irregular in their com-
ing and variable in their numbers. Sometimes they are absent for
several years. Other winters they occur in numbers in the northern
portion of the State. Farther south they are of rare occurrence, ap-
pearing during the coldest weather.

Dr. Haymond observed it in Franklin County, where it was later
identified by Dr. C. R. Case, in December, 1880. Mr. E. L. Guthrie
noted it in Decatur County the winter of 1883-4. Mr. Angus Gaines
informs me that it is a rare winter visitor in Knox County. Mr. Robert
Ridgway has reported a single specimen from Mt. Carmel, IIl., on the
opposite side of the Wabash River. They were quite common about
Indianapolis during the extreme cold weather and snow of January,
1879 (Brayton).

Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr., says of it, in Cook County, Ill, and Lake
County, Ind.: “Not uncommon winter visitor. Found in large flocks
on our prairies. On November 9, 1891, I found these birds in thou-
sands on the sand flats about Wolf Lake. December 17, 1895, they
were very abundant on the beach at Miller’s, Ind. The last leave
for the north during March. Latest, March 15, 1884.”

Mr. C. E. Aiken says they were exceedingly abundant in the vicinity
of Chicago the winter of 1869-70. They were noted in the vicinity of
Chicago, November 11, 1895 (Blackwelder), and, the spring of 1893,
remained until March 12 (Dunn). At Plymouth, Mich., they appeared
October 16, 1894, and in 1893 remained until March 20 (Alexander).
They have been noted from Michigan City as a rare winter visitor
(Byrkit). Miss Colfax reported them there, January 15, 1884. Away
from the lakes we see them very rarely in December, generally appear-
ing in January and February. Among other localities they have been
noted as follows: Newton County, seen several times (Pfrimmer);
Carroll County, January 15, 1884, January to February, 1885 (Ever-
_, mann); Starke c‘ounty, a number of flocks at English Lake, February
Birps oF InpIANA. 929

14 and 15, 1891; Wabash County, several, winter of 1892-3 (Wallace);
Dekalb County (R. W. McBride); Allen County (Stockbridge).

While usually found in flocks of their kind, sometimes small num-
bers, or single individuals, are sometimes found associated with flocks.
of Horned Larks, with which at times may be found Lapland Long-
spurs, also.

With us, they frequent the meadows, pastures, stubble and other
cultivated land, living upon seeds of different kinds of grasses and
weeds. From examinations made of the stomachs of birds, presumably
taken in Wisconsin, their chief food was found to be the seeds of the
black bind-weed and foxtail grass (King, Wis. Geology, I. p. 535).
“They keep pretty closely in flocks, numbering from a dozen or so
to several hundreds, and, though they spread over the ground a good
deal in running about after seeds, they fly compactly and wheel all
together. In their evolutions they present a pretty sight, and have a
not unpleasant stridulent sound, from the mingling of the weak chir-
rups from so many throats” (Cowes).

125. Genus CALCARIUS Becusrein.

at, Lower parts whitish; but little white on outer tail feather.
C. lapponicus (Linn.). 206
a?. Lower parts deep buff; much white on two outer tail feathers.
C. pictus (Swains.). 207

206. (536). Calcarius lapponicus (Liyy.).
Lapland Longspur.

Adult Male in Summer.—Aboye, brown, spotted with black; head
and jugulum, black, with broad white supra-auricular stripe; lower
parts, dull whitish; nape, bright chestnut-rufous; lesser wing coverts,
grayish; middle coverts, dusky; legs, black. In Winter——Similar, but
throat whitish, jugular patch badly defined, head much tinged with
ochraceous, and rufous of nape obscured by grayish. Adult Female in
Summer.—Head, mostly dull-buffy, the crown with two broad lateral
stripes of broad dusky streaks, the ear coverts tipped with dusky bar;
a dusky patch on each side of throat, and indication of one on the
jugulum; nape, faintly rufous, streaked with black. In Winter —Simi-
lar, but more suffused with brownish. Young.—Head, neck, jugulum,
and upper parts, yellowish-fulvous, streaked with black; crown and
wings, strongly tinged with rufous. (Ridgway, Orn. of Ill., Vol. L,
p- 241).

Length, about 6.10-6.90; wing, 3.60-3.90.

59-—~GEOL.
930 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

RancE.—Northern part of northern hemisphere, in North America;
south in winter to Kansas, California, northern Illinois, northern In-
diana. Casually to South Carolina, Kentucky, Texas, and North Mex-
ico. Breeds in Arctic regions.

Nest, on ground, in clumps of grass, of grass and moss, lined with
feathers. Eggs, 4-5; greenish-gray, heavily marked or washed with
chocolate; .83 by .60.

The Lapland Longspur ranges farther south than the Snow Bunt-
ing. Like it, however, it is found in flocks varying in numbers from
a few individuals to several hundred. Often, during their stay with us,
they and the Horned Larks are associated in flocks. To the northward,
sometimes, but a few Larks will be found in a flock of Longspurs,
while farther south, where usually Longspurs are scarce, a few, or even
single birds, may be found in flocks of Larks. Their actions, in some
respects, are similar.

Dr. Wheaton notes that frequently, when first flushed, they utter
a rapid, rattling note, somewhat like that of the Kingfisher, but less
loud and harsh. They are irregular in their visits over the most of
Indiana, occurring in fall, winter and spring, but are seen more fre-
quently and more numerously than the Snowflake. About the lower
end of Lake Michigan they are sometimes seen in great numbers. In
the vicinity of Chicago they were exceedingly abundant the winter of
1869-70 (Aiken); also 1895-6 (Blackwelder), and 1896-7 (Tallman).
Mr. Parker says it is a common spring and fall migrant in Cook
County, Ill. It is found by thousands on the prairies west of Engle-
wood, throughout April, in beautiful spring plumage, and by May 1
most have gone north. Mr. Toppan reports it.as a common spring
migrant in Lake County, Ind. In Wayne County, Mich., they were
seen the winter of 1891-2, and springs of 1892-93-94-95 (Alexander). ,
The earliest fall record from that vicinity is September 26, 1896, and
the latest spring date is May 3, 1894. From March 28 to April 4,
1896, they were common, in immense flocks, in fields, accompanied
by a few Shorelarks, at Laporte (Barber). Mr. Byrkit had pre-
viously reported it from there.

The winter of 1893-4 they were common in Wabash County, arriv-
ing in September, and remaining until March 15. Before that there
were but two records of its occurrence there. It has been noted as a
rare winter visitor in Dekalb County (R. W. McBride); as a regular
but rare winter visitor in Allen County; a pair was taken at Ft. Wayne
in 1880 (Stockbridge). Dr. J. T. Scovell took three specimens near
Terre Haute in the winter of 1881-2. November 14, 1893, Jesse
Earlle obtained a single specimen, which he flushed from a wheat
IRDS OF INDIANA. 931

stubble, on bottom land of Big Walnut Creek, Putnam County. Two
were taken at Bloomington, February 2, 1883 (Evermann). There
is a pair in the State Museum at Indianapolis from Boone County.
Mr. Balmer reports it as a winter resident in Knox County, and Mr.
Robert Ridgway has noted large flocks at Mt. Carmel, Ill., during
severe weather. Mr. E. R. Quick identified it in Franklin County,
March 1, 1897, and Mr. V. H. Barnett observed it in Brown County,
January 29 and 30, and February 13, 1897.

Mr. B. T. Gault, Glen Ellyn, Ill, says: “June 14, 1889, I took an
adult female, in breeding plumage, at Sheffield, Lake County, Ind.
When first seen it was flushed from the side of a wagon road, near Lake
Michigan, and, taking wing, flew ahead of me but a few feet above the
ground. It seemed rather tame, and the probabilities are that it may
have been crippled earlier in the season, thus accounting for its late
sojourn in this latitude; but, judging from its appearance when
skinned, it must have recovered entirely from the effect of wounds
previously received (The Auk, Vol. VI., No. 3, p. 278).

While with us its food is wholly the seeds of weeds and grasses. Of
six examined by Prof. King, each had eaten more than one hundred
seeds of pigeon grass and black bind-weed (Geol. Wis., I., p. 536).

It is common in northern Europe and northern Asia, also breeding
in the Aretic portions of those continents, as it does in North America.
Mr. E. W. Nelson found it breeding abundantly on the grassy flats
near St. Michael’s, Alaska. They arrive there early in May, while the
ground is still largely covered with snow, and by the middle of that
month are common. “The males, as if conscious of their handsome
plumage, choose the tops of the only breaks in the monotonous. level,
which are small, rounded knolls and tussocks. The male utters its
song as it flies upward from one of these knolls, and when it reaches
the height of ten or fifteen yards, it extends the points of its wings
upwards, forming a large V-shaped figure, and floats gently to the
ground, uttering, as it slowly sinks, its liquid tones, which fall in
tinkling succession wpon the ear, and are, perhaps, the sweetest notes
that one hears during the entire spring-time of these regions. It is
an exquisite jingling melody, having much less power than that of the
Bobolink, but with the same general character, and, though shorter,
it has even more melody than the song of that well known bird. The
nests are placed on the drier portions of the flats; a hummock or tuft
of grass is chosen, or perhaps a projecting bunch of dwarf willow
stems, and, as one comes directly upon it, the female usually flutters
off under one’s feet.” (N. H. Coll., in Alaska, pp. 184, 185)..
932 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

207. (537). Calearius pictus (Swatns.).
Smith’s Longspur.
Synonym, Paintep Loncsrur.

Outer tail feathers dusky at base; lower parts, deep buff; legs, yellow.

“Male in Spring.—Top and sides of head, black; a line from bill
over the eyes, lores, lower and posterior border of the black cheeks,
ears (encircled by black), and a small patch in the nape, white; entire
under parts and extending round neck to nape (where it bounds
abruptly the black of head), buff or light cinnamon yellow; the under
tail coverts, paler; the inside of wings, white; feathers of upper surface,
black, edged with yellowish-gray; shoulders or lesser coverts, and the
greater, black; middle, white, forming a conspicuous patch; quills,
edged externally with white, this involving the whole outer web of
outermost primary; whole of outer and most of second tail feathers,
white; bill, dusky; lower mandible and legs, yellowish. Female.—The
markings of male faintly indicated, but the black and buff wanting;
head, above, brown, streaked centrally with paler; a narrow dark line
on each side of the throat, and brownish streaks across the jugulum,
and along sides of body; traces visible of the white marks of the head;
bill and feet, as in male.” (Ridgway, IIL., I, p. 248).

Male, length, 6.40-6.50; wing, 3.60-3.70. Female, length, about
5.50-6.00; wing, 3.45-3.60.

RanecE.—Interior plains of North America, east to Indiana, from
Texas to Yukon and Mackenzie rivers. Breeds in north part of range.
Winters from southern Wisconsin and Kansas, southward.

Nest, on ground, similar to last species. Hggs, 4-5; light clay, with
spots and lines of dark purplish-brown; size of those of C. lapponicus.

. Migrant; sometimes common in the vicinity of Lake Michigan; of
unusual occurrence elsewhere; rare. Nelson observed this species as a
common migrant on the borders of Lake County, Indiana, where even
seventy-five were observed in a flock (Brayton, Trans. Ind. Hort. Soc.,
1879, p. 121).

In the fall of 1896 a flock of fifty was seen in Cook County, Il.,
October 3, and others were seen October 11 (Tallman). Mr. F. M.
Woodruff informs me there are four specimens in the collection of the
Field Columbian Museum, collected at Worth, Ill., May 3, 1894. At
the same place, Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr., found them quite common in a
patch of meadow land, April 27, 1893. The spring of 1896 they were
first seen near Chicago, April 16, where Mr. Eliot Blackwelder saw

 
Birps oF INDIANA. 933

about a hundred, two days later. Mr. C. A. Tallman reported seeing
a hundred and fifty. Each of these gentlemen saw them repeatedly
that spring, as did also Mr. Parker. They were last noted May 2.
March 29, 1894, Mr. Jesse Karlle found about sixty Smith’s Longspurs
in a field about three miles west of Greencastle, Ind. Of these, he
obtained two specimens.

Smith’s Longspur is a bird of the interior of America, frequenting
the great interior plains of the United States and the interior valleys
of British America. It breeds in the valleys of the Anderson and
Mackenzie rivers very numerously. It is not found breeding on the
Atlantic or Pacific coast.

The nest, like that of the last species, is placed on the ground, and
is made of grasses, lined with finer materials of the same kind, down
and feathers.

126. Genus POOCATES Barrp.

*208. (540). Poocetes gramineus (GMEL.).
Vesper Sparrow.

Synonyms, Bay-wincep Bunvine, Grass Fincu.

Thickly streaked everywhere, above, on sides and across breast; no
yellow anywhere; lesser wing coverts, chestnut, and one to three outer
pairs of tail feathers, partly or wholly white; above, grayish-brown,
the streaking, dusky and brown, with grayish-white; below, white,
usually buffy-tinged, the streaks very numerous on the fore part and
sides; wing coverts and inner quills, much edged and tipped with bay;
crown, like back, without median stripe; line over and ring round eye,
whitish; feet, pale.

Length, 5.50-6.70; wing, 2.95-3.40; tail, 2.40-2.75.

Rance.—Eastern North America, west to plains, north to Nova
Scotia, Ontario and Manitoba. Breeds from Virginia, Kentwcky and
Missouri, north. Winters from southern Indiana and Virginia, south.

Nest, in open field, in a depression in the ground, of grass, lined with
hair. Eggs, 4-5; white, sometimes greenish or pinkish, blotched and
lined with various shades of reddish-brown; .80 by .60.

The Vesper Sparrow is found commonly throughout Indiana from
March to November. Mr. J. O. Balmer informs me it is also found
through winter in Knox County, and doubtless occurs from that. lati-
tude south, some winters at least. At Brookville, I have found it as
early as February 15, 1882, and until November 19, 1894. Usually,
however, they appear near March 20, and, while many leave through
934 Report oF Strate GEOLOGIST.

September and early October, ‘quite a number are found until well into
the latter month. At Laporte, they were first noted March 20, 1894,
April 2, 1896; at Sedan, March 20, 1894, April 4, 1895; Cook County,
Tll., April 5, 1886, April 14, 1895. They are usually common over
the greater part of the north half of Indiana by the first week in April.
I have observed them mating, April 8, 1882. They may be found
nesting through May, June and July. July 17, 1886, I took a female
Vesper Sparrow, containing eggs about ready to be laid. Two and
sometimes, perhaps, three broods are reared in a summer.

The nest is placed upon the ground, preferably in a timothy or
clover field; in prairie districts, on the prairie. In September they be-
gin to collect in flocks, and the latter part of the month and all the
next they are found along the fence rows, working their way south-
ward.

Prof. King found that 37, which he dissected, had eaten: 8, moths;
3, flies; 3, ants; 27, beetles; 4, grasshoppers; 3, snails; 8, grasshoppers’
eggs; 10, larvee; 31 of them had eaten various small weed seeds; 1,
two kernels of wheat, and 1, a kernel of rye. He estimates that fully
‘one-third of their food consists of insects and the remainder largely of
seeds of noxious plants (Geol. of Wis., I, p. 536). They remain, some-
times, as far north as our northern border until November. It has
been reported from Sandusky, O., November 1, 1896; Sedan, Ind.,
October 31, 1894; Hillsdale, Mich., November 5, 1894; Livonia, Mich.,
October 31, 1894.

This striped sparrow shows a white feather on each side of the tail
as it flies. That distinguishes it by sight as it flies before one in the
public highway, or the field. Its song may be heard in the morning or
on cloudy days, but its sweetest notes swell forth at twilight, asso-
ciated with the sounds of insect life, the glow of the fire-fly, the call .
of the Whip-poor-will. This is its vesper song; hence its author is
known as the Vesper Sparrow. Of all the pretty things said of this
sweet-voiced finch, nothing, perhaps, has been said that fits the case
so well as that written by Mr. John Burroughs, in his charming book
named “Wake Robin.” From it I quote: “Have you heard the song
of the Field Sparrow? If you have lived in a pastoral country, with
broad upland pastures, you could hardly have missed him. Wilson,
I believe, calls him the Grass Finch, and was evidently unacquainted
with his powers of song. The two white lateral quills of his tail, and
his habit of running and skulking a few yards in advance of you, as
you walk through the fields, are sufficient to identify him. Not in
meadow or orchards, but in high, breezy pasture grounds, will you
look for him.
Brrps oF INDIANA. 935

“Fis song is most noticeable after sundown, when other birds are
silent, for which reason he has been aptly called the Vesper Sparrow.
The farmer, following his team from the field at dusk, catches his
sweetest strain. His song is not so brisk and varied as that of the
Song Sparrow, being softer and milder, sweeter and more plaintive.
Add the best parts of the lay of the latter to the sweet, vibrating
chant of the Woods Sparrow (Spizella pusilla), and you have the even-
ing hymn of the Vesper bird, the poet of the plain, unadorned pas-
tures. Go to those broad, smooth, uplying fields, where the cattle
and sheep are grazing, and sit down on one of, the warm, clean stones,
and listen to his song. On every side, near and remote, from out the
short grass which the herds are cropping, the strain rises. Two or
three long, silver notes of rest and peace, ending in some subdued
trills and quavers, constitute each separate song. Often you will
catch only one of the bars, the breeze having blown the minor part
away. Some unambitious, unconscious melody! It is one of the most
characteristic sounds of Nature. The grass, the stones, the stubble,
the furrow; the quiet herds, and the warm twilight among the hills,
are all subtlely expressed in song. This is what they are, at least,
capable of.”

The song period usually ends near the first of July, though some-
times it may be heard well toward the 1st of August. I heard the last
song June 25, 1897.

127, Genus PASSER Baisson.

209. (—-). Passer domesticus (Lrvy.).
European House Sparrow.

Synonym, EncuisH SpaRRow.

Adult Male-—Above, chestnut brown, back streaked with black;
crown, nape and rump, ashy; line back of nostrils, lores and throat,
black; remaining lower parts, grayish; chestnut-brown stripe from be-
hind the eye to the back; wing, edged with brown; cheek, sides of neck
and bar across the wing, white. Female—Lacking the black on head
and neck; lower parts and cheeks, ashy; breast and abdomen, tinged
with reddish; head and rump, grayish; back, streaked with black;
stripe over the eye, and wing bar, ochraceous.

Length, 6.00; wing, 2.85; tail, 2.50.

Ranez.—Almost all Europe, western Asia; introduced into North
America, Australia and other countries. Now occupying the eastern
United States and southern Canada, and extending west to Colorado,
and Utah. Not so numerous in Southern States.
936 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Nest, about houses, in trees, ete., of grass, hay, and feathers. Eggs,
6-9; soiled white, speckled with brown; .86 by .62.

The European House Sparrow, which is generally known as “Hng-
lish Sparrow,” is a resident throughout the State. Its history in
America is but one of the accounts of the folly of ignorance, in the
introduction of species into a new country, where, under favorable con-
ditions, they so thrive at the expense of man and his native bird

 

European House Sparrow. Male.

(Barrows, Bulletin J, Division of Economic Ornithology and Mammalogy, United States
Department of Agriculture, 1889, p. 16 )

friends, that they become a serious pest. They were first introduced
into the United States at Brooklyn, N. Y., in 1850, and into several
other cities at different times from that date to 1869. They were
brought to Louisville, Ky., between 1865 and 1870. Cleveland, 0O.,
received 40 birds in 1869, and the same year Cincinnati received 66
pairs. In Indiana, they are said to have first appeared at New Albany,
presumably from Louisville, Ky., in 1867. In 1869 they were brought
to Richmond from Philadelphia, Pa. In 1871 and 1872 several hun-
dred were brought to Indianapolis from New York City. In 1873
they were introduced into Evansville, and about 1874 into Lafayette.
From these points they spread, appearing at Burlington about 1870;
Greencastle, 1872; Bloomington, 1875, and at Brookville, 1878. It
was not observed at Albion until about 1880.
Birps oF INDIANA. 937

It is now to be found in suitable localities in every part of the
State. At the close of the year 1886 it was to be found in 35 States
and 5 Territories. It has spread very rapidly, reaching west to cen-
tral Kansas and Nebraska. From there it followed the railway lines,
reaching Pueblo, Col., in 1895, and Denver in the summer of 1896.
In March, 1897, it was estimated that less than twenty pairs were to
be found in the latter city (Cooke, Birds of Colorado, pp. 99, 100).

They have proved their enmity to our very best native birds, have
lived off the farmers’ crops, ruthlessly destroyed fruits and vegetables,
and, by reason of their noisy chatter, their dirtiness, and other unde-
sirable habits, have made themselves public nuisances. In Indiana,
they have occupied many of the nesting sites of the Martin and Blue-
bird. From many towns and farms the latter have almost disappeared.
The Chipping Sparrow, Robin, House Wrens, and Carolina Wrens, and
even the Great Crested Flycatcher and Red-winged Blackbird, have
been persecuted by them. The United States Department of Agricul-
ture has had specific reports from all parts of the United States of 70
kinds of native birds it has molested. Of 1,860 complaints received
regarding molested birds, more than one-half relate to Martins, Swal-
lows, Wrens, and Bluebirds. In the garden they are most destructive
to young peas, and in the field, to ripened wheat. As soon as the ten-
der pea sprouts are out of the ground, it is not. uncommon for a num-
ber of these sparrows to begin at some point in the row and bite off
the leaves from every vine, completely destroying the crop. When
wheat is ripe, young and old are associated in flocks. They leave town
and village for wheat fields, and, breaking down the stalks, feed upon
the grain until it is shocked. Then I have known them to eat all
accessible grains in the cap, and outside sheaves, and, when the crop
was stacked, to live upon the stack until it was threshed and garnered.
They also eat oats, barley, rye, and corn. Besides these, reports from
this State indicate they eat lettuce, cabbage, radish, and beets, par-
ticularly the young plants, also their seeds. In the spring they cut off
apple blossoms, and later, sometimes eat mellow apples, and juicy
pears. They also eat cherries, currants and strawberries. In Indiana,
I have found them, of all fruits, to destroy grapes the most. This I
find has also been the experience of others.

The fall of 1896 they began work upon my grapes about August 20.
The Delawares were first attacked. Early in the morning they com-
menced cutting off the bunches, then gathering upon the ground to eat
the fallen fruit. Many also ate grapes from such bunches as they could
reach from a perch. The next grapes attacked were the Prentiss, fol-
lowing which came the Catawba. There were other kinds, but they did
938 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

not suffer perceptibly. For about ten weeks ending about October
25 a great part of their food was grapes. The insects they destroy are
comparatively few, and are most often caught to feed the young. I
have occasionally seen a Sparrow catch a moth or other flying species,
and on one or two occasions have observed them hunting among cab-
bage heads, as though they were after cabbage-worms. Indeed, they are
known to occasionally eat these. July 21 a mass of larve of a species
of ant was found associated together and so arranged that they looked
like one large worm the size of a piece of rope. They were upon a
street crossing in Brookville. All moved together in one direction.
A few specimens were taken and sent to Mr. L. O. Howard, U. 8. Ento-
mologist, Washington, D. C., for identification. Soon after a flock of
House Sparrows found this living rope, and ate it all. The mass was
about 14 feet long, 3 inch wide and 4 inch deep.

The following is a summary of the contents of 522 stomachs of these
birds, examined by the United States Department of Agriculture:
“Wheat was found in 22 stomachs, oats in 327, corn (maize) in 71,
fruit seed (mainly mulberries) in 57, grass seed in 102, weed seed in
85, undetermined vegetable matter in 219, bread, rice, etc., in 19; nox-
ious insects in 47, beneficial insects in 50, insects of no economic im-
portance in 31. Doubtless most of the oats found in the stomachs
were obtained from horse droppings, and some of the undetermined
vegetable matter was from the same source.” Insects constituted but
a little over 17 per cent., which, when we consider that it was an un-
usually favorable year for insects at Washington, D. C., where most
of these birds were killed, and, further, that the grounds where they
were taken were infested with several noxious forms, of which only
two specimens of one kind were found to have been eaten by the
sparrows, is not favorable to this bird as an insect destroyer.

They are very prolific. I have found them mating January 16,
1887, and have found young barely able to fly July 30, 1896. They
sometimes lay in February and, perhaps, rarely breed as late as Novem-
ber. I have found nests with from three to nine eggs. It is supposed
they lay from four to six sittings a year, and it is estimated that each
pair raised 24 young in a season. The rate of increase is enormous.
How shall it be held in check? In most States it is outlawed ; some
States have offered a bounty for its capture, but the results have not
been altogether satisfactory. Poisoning has been tried, generally with
unsatisfactory results. Trapping, too,has been used. It is said Mr. W.
T. Hill, of Indianapolis, trapped 40,000 of them in Indianapolis the
two years ending October 1, 1887. Outside the immediate neighbor-
hood of operations no effect was observed. The best thing to do is to
Birps oF INDIANA. 939

wage war upon them with gun, trap, poison, and every other way that
will work. I find that the best results are obtained by destroying the
eggs, and using a gun on the adults. But to our help comes natural
causes. Some hard winters many of them perish. In Wabash County,
and perhaps elsewhere, a great many were destroyed the winter of
1892-3 (Ulrey and Wallace, Proc. I. A. 8., 1895, p. 154). Cats are
efficient aids. I am satisfied the greater part of my grapes were saved
in 1897 by a cat which spent hours among the vines and on top the
arbors. Several birds have become more useful by their destruction
of this sparrow. Shrikes, Blue Jays, and Bronzed Grackles are men-
tioned, but sometimes in the country and borders of towns the Spar-
tow Hawk, Sharp-shinned and Cooper’s Hawks, Marsh Hawk, Red-
shouldered Hawk, the Short-eared Owl, and occasionally the more rare
Pigeon Hawk, eat them. In towns and cities, as well as country, the
Screech Owl is a valuable destructive agent. It, and the Sparrow
Hawk, especially, should be protected. The House Sparrow is also
subject to accidents, and, doubtless, to disease. Prof. C. A. Waldo in-
forms me a few years ago, at Greencastle, Ind., of seeing a Sparrow
suspended from a building by a string about its neck, while about it
was a noisy crowd of its fellows, flying at it and pecking it.

His query was, whether it committed suicide, was hanged by its
fellow-outlaws, or accidentally came to such a fate (See Report of
Orn. and Mam., U. S. Dept. Agr., Report 1886; also, same Dept.,
Bulletin No. 1; also, Walter B. Barrows, “The English Sparrow in
America,” ete., 1889, from which some of the above data is derived).

128. Genus AMMODRAMUS Swarrson.

a, Outer pair of tail feathers longer than the middle pair; wing much longer
than tail. Subgenus PassercuLus Bonaparte.
A. sandwichensis savanna (Wils.).. 210
a*, Outer pair of tail feathers shorter than the middle pair; wing not much, if
any, longer than tail.
%!. Bill stout; tail feathers narrow and sharp-pointed ; center of crown with a
light stripe. Subgenus CorurnicuLus Bonaparte.
¢!, Tail much shorter than wing; double rounded.
A. savannarum passerinus (Wils.), 211
c?. Tail about equal to or longer than wing; outer tail feathers shortest.
d‘, Bill very stout; a dusky streak on each side of the light malar stripe.
; A. henslowii (Aud.), 212
d?, Bill very small and slender; no dusky streak on each side of the light
malar stripe. A. leconteii (Aud.). 213
b?, Bill slender; tail feathers sharp pointed; outer ones shortest; center of
crown without a light stripe. Subgenus AMMODRAMUS.
A. caudacutus nelsoni Allen. 214
940 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Subgenus PassercuLus Bonaparte.

210. (542). Ammodramus sandwichensis savanna (W1Ls.).

Savanna Sparrow.

Above, brownish-gray, streaked with blackish, whitish-gray and
pale bay; the streaks largest on the inner scapulars, smallest on the
cervix; the crown divided by an obscure whitish line; superciliary line
and edge of wing, yellowish; sometimes an obscure yellowish suffusion
about the head; below, white, pure, or with faint buffy shade, thickly
streaked with dusky, the individual spots edged with brown, mostly
arrow-shaped, running in chains along the sides and often aggregated
in an obscure blotch on the breast; wings and tail, dusky; the wing-
coverts and inner secondaries, black, edged and tipped with bay.

Length, about 4.85-5.50; wing, 2.60-2.90 (2.73); tail, 1.90-2.20
(2.07).

Rawner.—Eastern North America, from Mexico and Cuba to Labra-
dor and Hudson Bay. Breeds from Missouri, southern Illinois and
New Jersey north. Winters from Indiana and Virginia southward.

Nest, in depression on ground; of grass. Hggs, 3-6; greenish or
grayish-white, spotted and blotched most thickly about the larger end
with light-brown and lilac; .76 by .54.

The Savanna Sparrow is, some seasons at least, a rare resident in
the lower Wabash Valley. Mr. J. A. Balmer in 1888 noted it as a
winter resident in Knox County, and Mr. Robert Ridgway at that
season across the Wabash River at Mt. Carmel, Ill., where he also has
taken its nest and eggs. The bulk of these Sparrows pass northward
with us through April. At Brookville they are often found in flocks,
frequenting the pastures, meadows and stubble of the upland farms.
In the river valleys they are rare. All I have ever seen in the spring
have been between April 9, 1887, and April 24 (1886).

They are inconspicuous, and will often be overlooked, as they run
or crawl among the grass and weeds, unless when too closely pressed,
they rise but a little piece above the ground and all fly away to an-
other field. In 1897 it was seen at Richmond, March 26 and April
29 (Hadley). In 1892, at Bloomington, March 30 (Kindle); at Terre
Haute, May 1, 1890 (Hvermann); Spearsville, May 3, 1894 (Barnett).
They were first noted in Cook County, Ill, in 1896, March 31; in
1895, April 1; in 1897, April 8 (Tallman). While many of them leave
early in May, they are often common after the middle of that month;
May 18, 1895; May 23, 1896. Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr., thinks it breeds
not uncommonly about Calumet Lake, where he collected one July 16,
BirpDs oF INDIANA. 941

1896, and another August 4, 1896. May 30, 1894, he found it com-
mon about Wolf Lake. “In northern Illinois, in Wisconsin and Min-
nesota it is in some localities common, breeding in large colonies, but
in other entirely similar places it is not found at all” (Nehrling, N. A.
B., Pt. X., p. 84). There is a specimen in the State Museum at Indian-
apolis that was taken at English Lake, Ind., June 14, 1896. Dr. J. M.
Wheaton notes he once observed it in Ohio in June, and refers to its
breeding at Gambier (Birds of Ohio, p. 325).

In the fall they begin to be observed migrating in September.
The earliest record I have at Brookville is September 9, 1886. They
may be seen through that month and the next. The latest record I
have from Cook County, Ill, is October 11, 1896. Some, however,
linger along into November, and stop with us in mild winters. The
song is always a weak affair, as easy to be overlooked as the singer.
At breeding time insects are eaten; at other times they do good by
destroying great quantities of weed seed (King, Geol. of Wis., I., p.
536).

Subgenus CorurnicuLus Bonaparte.
*211, (546). Ammodramus savannarum passerinus (W115.).
Grasshopper Sparrow.

Synonyms, CrickET SPARROW, YELLOW-WINGED SPARROW.

Adult——Above, chestnut-brown, edged with ashy, streaked with
black; nape, grayish or buffy, with small chestnut spots; lower back
and rump, reddish and ashy; head, throat, breast and sides, ochraceous-
buff; other under parts, whitish; edge of wing and spot before the eye,
yellow; no streaks on side of breast; crown, blackish, with a middle
stripe over the eye of buff or paler gray; tail feathers, narrow and
pointed; they, and wing feathers, edged more or less with whitish.
Immature—More buffy below; grayer above; breast, streaked with
dusky.

Length, 5.20; wing, 2.50; tail, 1.90; bill, .50; depth of bill, .25;.
tarsus, .80. OS

Ranee.—Eastern North America, from Costa Rica and West Indies;
north to Dakota, south Ontario and Massachusetts; casual in Maine.
Breeds throughout United States range. Winters from southern IIli-
nois and North Carolina southward.

Nest, on ground; of grass. Eggs, 3-5; white, spotted and blotched
with reddish-brown; .73 by .58.

Over most of Indiana a common summer resident, frequenting
timothy and clover meadows, prairies and fields of small grain. In the
three first mentioned its nest-building is upon the ground. Sometimes,
942 Report OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

at least, two broods are reared in a season. Davie reports fresh eggs
having been found in Illinois as late as August 12. I have observed
young not able to fly, at Brookville, Ind., July 8, 1887. They have
been gradually increasing in numbers and extending their range. Fif-
teen years ago, in the lower Whitewater Valley, they were rare, any-
where; now, it is the most common meadow bird on the uplands, but
it is rare in the lowlands. In 1886 it was a rather common summer
resident in Monroe County and a very rare summer resident in Carroll
County (Evermann). It was not reported at that time from Putnam
or Lake counties, where there were good observers. Although Mr.
Nelson gave it as abundant in Cook County, 1876, Mr. H. K. Coale
collected there and in Lake County for a number of years up to about
1888, and was unable to find it. In May, 1887, I visited many locali-.
ties in Cook County and failed to observe it. It first began to be com-
mon in Dekalb County in 18938, and Prof. A. J. Cook notes its increas-
ing abundance in southern Michigan (Birds of Mich., p. 112).

The following are the earliest and latest dates of first arrival in
spring: Brookville, April 8, 1892, April 27, 1885 and 1897; Chicago,
Ill, April 18, 1896, May 11, 1895; Waterloo, April 21, 1896; Ply-
mouth, Mich., April 19, 1896; Petersburg, Mich., April 23, 1897.

Often when they arrive in the spring they are mated. One who is
familiar with them will first detect their arrival by their peculiar
stridulating song. It reminds one of the music made by the grasshop-
per.or cricket. “From this curious song the bird is named. The song
has several variations, among which are the following: “pit-tick-zee-
e-e-e-e-tick,” or, “tick-zee-e-e-e-e;” another, the most common of the
longer efforts, is, “pit-tick-ze-z-rr (trill) l-rl (rl sometimes three or
four times repeated) ee-e-e.” It may be sung from the ground, a weed
in the meadow, a small bush, a clod in a plowed field, or a fence-post.
It begins with the dawn, and may be heard through the day and until
8 or 9 o’clock at night. A favorite position is on a fence, where they
will often permit one in a buggy to pass within 10 or 15 feet of them.
‘Then the large bill and head, short tail and wings and light-colored
legs, may be plainly seen. When they have selected a home they
seldom fly far, but when they first arrive, or after breeding is past,
they make long, zigzag flights close to the ground.

The sudden changes which come to their homes are enough to
drive these birds away, and that is generally the result. Late in June
they are driven from the fields of small clover when the first crop is
mowed. Then ihey seek other fields for a short time, until the abund-
ant rains cause it to renew its growth. By the middle of July the
mower cuts clean the fields of timothy. About the meadows the fences
Brrps or INDIANA. 943

are full of these little Sparrows in full song. Some find cover in the
fields of English clover, or wheat stubble. The greater number, how-
ever, leave at this time. This occurred in 1897, July 14. I found
them still common in fields of English clover August 3, 1897, and
the last were noted August 6, still singing. About that time cutting
of the large clover began, and they disappeared. Some years a few
remain later than this, but they quit singing, and skulk along the
grassy and weedy fence rows, and are hard to find. In 1894 I found
them as late as September 25, and that same year they remained at
Sedan until October 20 (Mrs. Hine). Mr. V. H. Barnett reported
it at Trafalgar, Brown County, October 23, 1897.

*212. (547). Ammodramus henslowii (AvD.).

Henslow’s Sparrow.

Adult—tTail feathers, narrow, sharp-pointed, outer ones much the
shortest, middle ones bright rufous-brown, darker along the shafts;
others darker, edged with ashy; bill, large; crown, blackish, divided by
a middle stripe of pale olive-green; stripe over eye and sides of head
and nape, pale olive-green, which also tinges the back; a black stripe
behind the eye, and one from the corner of the mouth, and usually
ene, more or less distinct, on each side of upper throat; back, brown, the
feathers marked with black and edged with grayish; tertiaries and
rump, chestnut-brown, more or less grayish edged. Below, whitish,
more or less shaded with buffy; breast and sides streaked with black
(wanting in young). Edge of wing, yellow.

Length, 4.75-5.25; wing, 2.10-2.20; tail, 1.90-2.05.

Rancu.—Eastern United States. Breeding locally from Maine, Vir-
ginia north to Nebraska, northern Indiana and Michigan. Winters
from Illinois south to Gulf of Mexico.

Nest, in meadow, prairies or neglected fields; on ground in tuft of
grass; of dry grass and hair. Wggs, 4-5; greenish or grayish white,
speckled and blotehed with different shades of brown and lilac; .73
by .57.

Although Henslow’s Sparrow has never been taken in southern In-
diana it probably occurs as a migrant, but is overlooked because it is
not readily recognized. Audubon drew his description and figure
from a bird of this species taken at Newport, Ky., across the river
from Cineinnati, O. In the northern portion of the State in the wet
prairies and marshes, they breed in eompanies in certain localities.
The first record I have from this State is a specimen taken by Mr. C.
944 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

E. Aiken while hunting Prairie Chickens in Lake County, in August,
1869. He identified it, but did not preserve it. Near Tolleston, in
the same county, Mr. H. K. Coale obtained a male May 10, 1877. He
says: “Hearing a rustle in the grass, I looked down and saw, a bird,
which ran like a mouse. It stuck its head under some leaves and
grass, leaving its tail exposed. I had to go back some distance to
shoot it.”

July 4, 1881, he visited the same locality again and found quite a
number of these birds confined to a restricted area. He obtained five
specimens. The males were in full song, and he is confident they
were breeding. Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr., collected a female, near Liver-
pool, Ind., May 18, 1895, and a pair July 4, 1896. He had previously
taken several west of Cheltenham Beach, Cook County, Ill., April 29,
1886. He says the bird is loth to take wing from its shelter of weeds
and grasses, and when it does fly it goes but a short distance, and just
above the tops of the weeds, again alighting and skulking like a field
mouse.

Two males were collected at English Lake, June, 29, 1891. Mr.
Ruthven Deane informs me that he spent July 26, 1891, making the
acquaintance of that species at the same locality. He reported seeing
about twenty-five specimens, of which two persons killed ten. They
were very shy and hard to collect, and had been there all summer; Mr.
Deane also observed them the latter part of June, 1894. Within five
days after receiving Mr. Deane’s account of his first trip, my friend,
Mr. Chas. Dury, of Cincinnati, 0., wrote me that two of his friends
had visited English Lake in July and August. They found Henslow’s
Sparrows rather common and breeding, and took some specimens, in-
cluding some young birds. An adult taken there was kindly presented
to me by Mr. Ralph Kellogg, one of the collectors. Mr. J. O. Dunn in-
forms me Henslow’s Sparrows were very common in a field of weeds
near the southeast corner of Bass (Old Cedar) Lake, Starke County,
Ind., late in July, 1894. They were apparently breeding, but no nests
were found; two males were taken. One beautiful evening,
about 10:30 o’clock, a bird of this species was heard singing
near camp. July 24, 1895, the same gentleman, with Mr.
Wallace Craig, found it abundant in an extensive field of tall
weeds near Wilders, Ind. Mr. Dunn says of his experience
with them there, in “The Auk,” Vol. XII., October, 1895: “Hens-
slow’s Sparrows seem to be quite numerous and found over a consider-
able area in the prairies. They sing frequently, and may be found in
almost, if not quite, the hottest part of the day. The song is very
simple, being a very rude attempt at producing music. It consists,
Birps oF INDIANA. 945

as far as I have been able‘to determine, of two insect-like notes; it may
be represented by the syllables, stitch, lick, uttered in quick succes-
sion, and once, when I had fired several shots without hitting any-
thing, I thought the bird said, “Such luck, such luck.” The notes, as
has been said, are insect-like in character, especially the first one,
which is very lisping, the last note having more volume. The notes
are not loud, but may be heard at some distance, and are somewhat
ventriloquistic, seeming to come from some general direction, but not
from any definite spot, so that it is mpossible to locate the birds easily
by their notes.” Mr. Nehrling, N. A. Birds, Pt. X., p. 88, gives its
song as, “Sit-sit-sit-sit-ser-it.” Lynds Jones says: “The song is a few
short and rapidly-uttered notes, something like, ‘i-tse, tse-tsip.” Mr.
L. Whitney Watkins, May 12, 1894, added this species to the Michigan
list, and May 30 found a nest containing five eggs in Jackson County,
Mich. June 8 the female was shot as she was leaving the nest, and
identified. The nest was in an open marsh, bordering a lake. It
was placed in a tuft of grass about four inches above the wet ground,
and is neatly, though loosely, constructed of coarse grasses and sedges,
lined with finer ones. The eggs average .”2 by .59 inches, and are
white, with small reddish specks so numerous as to form an imperfect
wreath about the large end. Incubation was well advanced. The nest
was hardly different from one of a Maryland Yellow-throat, found
on the same day in the same locality (Proc., I. A. S., 1894, p. 74).
Mr. James B. Purdy more recently has recorded taking a bird and: the
nest and eggs at Plymouth, Mich., July 27, 1893 (“The Auk,” Vol.
XIV., 1897, p. 220).

Mr. Eliot Blackwelder noted five of these birds in Cook County,
Il., April 16, 1896. Mr. W. O. Wallace took a male in a cherry orch-
ard at Wabash, Ind., April 26, 1897. Mr. Robert Ridgway found it
exceedingly numerous during the latter part of October, 1882, in dead
grass in the damp portions of meadows in Richland County, Ill. (B.
of Tll., L., p. 255). It therefore arrives from April 16 to May 10 and
Temains until late in October. Prof. W. W. Cooke says it sometimes
winters in southern Illinois (Report Bird Mig. Miss. Valley, p. 191).

213, (548). Ammodramus leconteii (Avp.).

LeConte’s Sparrow.

Adult.—Tail feathers, narrow, sharp-pointed, the outer ones much
the shortest, light-brown, shaded with grayish, centers very dark; bill,
small; culmen, slightly depressed in the middle; crown, black, feathers
sometimes bordered with brown, divided by a middle stripe of whitish

60—GEoL.
946 Report OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

or cream; stripe over the eye, buff; a black stripe behind the eye; nape,
reddish-brown, feathers with black centers and whitish edges; back
and rest of upper parts, black, feathers edged and bordered with dif-
ferent shades of brown and buff and whitish; ear-coverts and lores,
grayish-white. Below, whitish; breast, throat and sides, washed with
buffy; sides, streaked with black. Immature—Similar, but more
‘buffy.

Length, 4.40-5.50; wing, 1.87-2.06; tail, 1.87-2.25; bill, .35.

Ranes.—FEastern portion of the Great Plains, north to Manitoba.
Breeds from Dakota and, possibly, Iowa, north. Migrates south and
southeast. Winters from Illinois, South Carolina and Texas, south to
the Gulf of Mexico.

See description of nest and eggs below.

LeConte’s Sparrow is only known from Indiana as a rare migrant
in March, April and October. March 12, 1884, I found a bird which I
could not identify at close range, sitting on a small bush-near the rail-
road track, four miles northwest of Brookville. Backing, so as not to
destroy it, I shot it, and it is now in my collection. I am indebted
to Mr. C. E. Aiken for the following note, from Lake County, Ind.:
“While snipe shooting near Water Valley about April 15, 1887, I
caught sight of two small, yellowish Sparrows darting out of the dead
lopping flags of the marsh. I believed them to be this species, but
could not secure them for close examination. At about the same
season in 1889, in the same vicinity and on similar ground, I started
three of the same birds, and as they scurried off I shot two of them,
which proved to be, indeed, 4. leconteti, one a male, the other a female.
Both specimens are preserved, and one is still in my possession. The
other was given to my friend, C. H. Holden, of Chicago. When
flushed, the birds started from thick cover close to me, flew straight
away from five to twenty rods, then darted again into the dead marsh
grass or rushes, from which I could not start them a second time.
The rise was not more than two feet above the grass, except in one
case, that of one of the birds killed, which had apparently started for
a long flight and was flying about four feet above the ground when
shot. I did not see any of them except while on the wing.”

March 30, 1892, Mr. J. E. Beasley took a bird of this species, which
was with two or three others, possibly of the same kind, feeding
among the dead grass by the side of the railroad, near Lebanon. This
specimen, a male, is now in the State Museum at Indianapolis. Oc-
tober 2, 1894, I saw a Leconte’s Sparrow along the edge of a clover
patch near Brookville. Besides these records from Indiana, I may say
Mr. Eliot Blackwelder noted six at Morgan Park, Ill., April 21, 1898.
Birps or INDIANA. 947

They were next seen the following day, and a few days later four
were taken. The same authority reports them April 16 and 19, 1896,
from the same vicinity. Mr. Robert Ridgway says the latter part of
October, 1882, he found it numerous in the meadows of Sugar Creek
Prairie, Richland County, Ill, in company with the species last men-
tioned (Birds of I11., I., pp. 257, 258).

Mr. Ernest E. Thompson says of Leconte’s Sparrow, in its sum-
mer home in Manitoba: “This bird frequents the damp meadows,
which are a mixture of red willows and sedgy-grass. It is commonly
found in the willows at all seasons, uttering its peculiar ventriloquial
tweete, tweete, whence I knew it as the ‘Willow Tweete’ long before
Lever heard of Leconte or any other name for this bird. But in spring
the male may be seen perched on some low twig in the meadow, pour-
ing out its little soul in a tiny, husky double note, like ‘reese-reese.’
This is so thin and so weak as to be inaudible at thirty yards, yet in
uttering it he seems to labor hard, his beak being wide open and
pointed straight up to the zenith; he delivers it with such unction
that afterwards he seems quite exhausted, and sits very still until at
length the fit comes on again, as it is sure to do in about ten sec-
onds..

“On the 26th of June, 1882, I found the nest and eggs, which, I
believe, were previously unknown. The nest was by a willow bush in
a damp meadow; it was apparently on the ground, but really raised
six inches, being on a tangle of grass, etc. It was composed entirely
of fine grass. The eggs—three in number—were of a delicate pink,
with a few spots of brownish and of black toward the large end. The
pink was lost on blowing them. One measured .75 by .50 inches”
(The Auk, Vol. IL., January, 1885, pp. 23, 24; see also Proc. U. S.
Nat. Mus., Vol. XIII., p. 596). Prof. W. W. Cooke says it winters
and possibly breeds in Illinois (Bird Mig. Miss. Valley, p. 191).

Subgenus AMMODRAMUS.
214, (5492). Ammodramus caudacutus nelsoni ALLEN.

Nelson’s Sparrow.

Tail feathers, narrow and sharp-pointed; outer ones much the short-
est, umber-brown, darkest along the shafts; bill, not large; crown,
olive-brown, divided by a middle stripe of blue-gray; breast, sides,
throat, a stripe over the eye and sides of head, excepting grayish ear-
coverts, deep ochraceous; back, brown or olive-brown, feathers mar-
gined with whitish; tertials, dusky, bordered with rusty white or rusty.
Below, belly white; the ochraceous breast, throat and sides, faintly, or
not at all, streaked with dusky; edge of wing, yellow.
948 ReErort OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Length, 4.80-5.85; wing, 2.12-2.23; tail, 1.90-2.25; bill, .53-.59.

Ranez.—Eastern United States. Breeds in interior locally from
northern Illinois north to Manitoba. Winters from South Carolina
to Texas. Found along the Atlantic Coast from Massachusetts south
during migration.

Nest and eggs, unknown; probably similar to those of A. caudacutus.

Migrant and possibly a summer resident locally in the northwestern
part of the State where, only, it has been observed within our limits.
Nelson’s Sparrow was discovered by Mr. E. W. Nelson in the Calumet
marsh, near Chicago, Ill., September 17, 1874. They were then
abundant there. June 12, 1875, he found several of these birds in the
dense grass bordering Calumet Lake, where they were undoubtedly
breeding. October 1, next, they were abundant in the Calumet marsh,
and November 10 following they were numerous in the wild rice bor-
dering Grass Lake, Lake County, Ill. (Bull. Essex Inst., Vol. VIIL,
1876, p. 107).

Mr. H. K. Coale informs me that he saw about a dozen Sharp-tail
Finches, A. nelsoni, in the grass along Berry Lake, Lake County,
Ind., September 25, 1875. Dr. A. W. Brayton informed me he had
taken this species in Lake County, Ind. These are the only two In-
diana records.

Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr., considers it now very rare in Cook County,
Il., where he thinks it probably breeds. The only locality where he
has found it is on the wet prairies bordering the east shore of Calumet
Lake. There he collected two birds September 19, 1893. Mr. Eliot
Blackwelder, however, reports it from the vicinity of Morgan Park,
September 28, 1895, where he says it is not common and breeds. I
have a specimen from Hyde Park, Ill., taken September 21, 1878,
about which time Mr. G. F. Clingman took five specimens in a week
at Mud Lake.

Mr. Nelson says: “They are difficult to obtain, as they take refuge
in the dense marsh grass upon the first alarm. Occasionally one
mounts a tall reed and utters a short, unmusical song, slightly re-
sembling that of the Swamp Sparrow (M. palustris).” Mr. Nehrling
says: “In northern Hlinois and near Lake Koshkonong and in the
Horicon marshes in Wisconsin this is an abundant summer resident”
(N. A. Birds, Pt. X., p. 92). It appears to be extremely local in its
distribution in the breeding season.
Birps oF INDIANA. 949

129. Gexus CHONDESTES Swainson.
*215, (552). Chondestes grammacus (Say.).

Lark Sparrow.

Adult.—Crown, chestnut, black towards forehead, divided by a mid-
dle stripe of whitish; stripe over eye, one from the angle of the mouth,
meeting it behind the ear-coverts, and a crescent below the eye, whit-
ish; a black stripe through and one below the eye, and one on each side
of the throat; ear-coverts, chestnut; remainder of upper parts, pale
grayish-olive, the back with blackish markings. Below, white; a small
black spot in the middle of the breast; tail, rounded; outer tail feathers

 

Head of Lark Sparrow. Natural size.

edged with white; others, except the middle pair, tipped with white,
which the bird shows as it flies with the tail partly spread. Imma-
ture.—More buffy; chest streaked with dusky.

Length, 6.50-7.25; wing, 3.35-3.70; tail, 2.60-3.35.

Rance.—Interior of North America, north to Manitoba and from
Ohio, Indiana and Ontario west to the plains. Breeds throughout its
range. Accidental on Atlantic Coast north to Massachusetts. Winters
from Texas south.

Nest, of grass, rootlets and hair; on the ground or in low bushes.
Eggs, 3-5; white, bluish or pinkish-white, speckled and lined chiefly
at the larger end with black and dark-brown; .80 by .61.

The Lark Sparrow is a prairie species that is year by year extending
its way into the former forest area. In 1861 it made its first appear-
ance in Ohio, and about the same time appeared in Ontario. In 1879
it was common throughout central Ohio, but both north and south
of there it was rare. In Indiana it is most numerous through the
central part of the State. It was rather rare until recently in southern
Indiana, and is still scarce in many localities northward. Everywhere
950 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

it is apparently becoming more numerous. They first appeared in
Franklin County about 1877. They were rare in Monroe County in
1886 and in Carroll County that year they were noted as “until re-
cently very rare” (Evermann). In 1871 they were rare in Lake
County (Aiken), and are still reported as rare in Dekalb (Mrs. Hine)
and in Cook County, Ill. (Tallman, Parker).

In the southern part of the State they may be found in pairs or
small flocks from April 15 to May 10, and in the northern part they
are noted from April 25 to May 12. The following are the earliest
and latest dates of its first arrival in spring at the places mentioned:
Spearsville, April 11, 1897, April 18, 1894; Brookville, April 18, 1885,
May 11, 1882; Elkhart, April 23, 1891; Cook County, Ill, May 9,
1896, May 12, 1894; Petersburg, Mich., April 26, 1897, May 5, 1888.
With us, when they arrive, they are first seen upon the sandy
fields and weedy and grassy bottom lands along the rivers. Later,
they frequent open fields having fence rows grown up with bushes or
adjoining sparse woodland; also, the neighborhood of shady highways,
along which they spend the sunny days, and from which they enjoy
the pleasures of a dust bath. They are readily recognized as they fly up
ahead of the passing traveler, and exhibit their decided markings and
rounded tail, each feather so beautifully tipped with white. I find
them mating early in May. May 3, 1881, is the earliest date, and that
was the date of their first arrival that year. With us, the nests are
placed in bushes, in a thicket or along a fence. It is also said to nest
at the foot of some weeds on the bare ground (Nelson), and in corn-
fields, where the nest is put at the foot of a cornstalk (Ridgway). They
begin nesting in May and continue well through June. Mr. V. H.
Barnett found a nest at Spearsville, June 18, 1897. June 10, 1897,
I found young able to fly near Brookville. I found four pairs of these
birds nesting along a public highway near Brookville that year in a
distanee of less than a mile. They have a beautiful song, in some
respects reminding one of the Indigo Bird’s notes. |

After the young are reared, most of the birds leave through July
and August. Sometimes they collect in considerable flocks. One that
Mrs. Hine observed near Sedan, August 16, 1887, contained about
fifty birds, and Mr. V. H. Barnett saw one August 4, 1897, in Vermil-
lion County containing twelve. Some, however, are found in Septem-
ber, October and even November. The following are the latest dates
of its fall occurrence: Plymouth, Mich., September 15, 1894; Sedan,
Ind., September 15, 1892; Lafayette, October 13, 1885; November 3,
1894; Greensburg, October 29, 1894.
Brirps or INDIANA. 951

Mr. H. K. Coale says in some parts of Hlinois it is called the “Potato
Bird,” because of its eating potato bugs. But few survive the paris
green which they eat with the bugs. In May and June Prof. King
found those he examined had eaten nothing but small seeds (Geol. of
Wis., I., p. 540).

130. Genus ZONOTRICHIA Swainson.

a), No yellow anywhere; throat not abruptly white.
Z. leucophrys (Forst.). 216
a®, Yellow on head; throat abruptly white. Z. albicollis (Gmel.). 217

216. (554). Zonotrichia leucophrys (Forst.).
White-crowned Sparrow.

Adult.—No yellow in front of eye; throat, ashy; edge of wing, white;
crown, white, bordered by two black stripes, each as wide as the white
center; a black stripe behind each eye almost meeting on back of head;
white stripe from over eye to back of crown; nape and sides of head,
gray; back, light ash-gray, streaked with chestnut-brown; rump,
brownish; wing-coverts, edged with chestnut and tipped with white,
forming two white bars; tail, fuscous. Below, grayish, white on belly;
sides and lower tail-coverts, buffy. Immature.—Black stripes on the
crown, brownish; white stripe, brownish-yellow or ashy.

Length, 6.50-7.50; wing, 3.00-3.30; tail, 2.80-3.20.

Ranes.—North America, from Mexico north at least to Hudson
Bay and Greenland. Breeds from Labrador, Vermont and Wisconsin
to Rocky Mountains and northward; also, south in the higher moun-
tain ranges of the western United States to Colorado and California.
Winters from southern Indiana and southern Illinois south.

Nest, bulky; of grass or straw; on ground or in bushes or briers.
Eggs, 4-5; light green or greenish-blue, tolerably uniformly speckled
with small blotches of reddish and golden-brown; more prominent at
the larger end; .88 by .62.

Common migrant; occasional winter resident southward. Very
noticeable late in April and early in May. I always associate this
beautiful bird with the fragrance of apple blossoms, for they come to-
gether. At the time of the spring migration they are usually found
singly in gardens, orchards and occasionally in the more open woods.
Then its characteristic song declares its presence. This song, Mr.
Nehrling says, sounds like, pee-dee-de-de-de. The first two notes are
long drawn and rising, the rest hurried and lowering, the whole sound-
ing like a mellow whistle, being easily imitated. It is easily distin-
guished from that of the White-throated Sparrow. The White-crown
952 ReEvorT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

arrives later in spring than the White-throat, yet the former sometimes
winters in southern Indiana, while the latter, so far as I know, has
not been noted. The White-throat thus passes it in migration. In
winter the present species frequents swampy woods and thickets. Some
remained in Knox County the winter of 1888-9 (Balmer), and the win-
ter of 1896-7 (Chansler). Mr. Robert Ridgway reports them often
wintering abundantly at Mt. Carmel, Ill., and Mr. Charles Dury found
them at Cincinnati, Christmas week, about 1877 (Langdon). Some

 

Head of White-crowned Sparrow. Natural size.

winters all go farther south toward the Gulf coast, where they abound
throughout the colder months, ranging into Mexico and, perhaps, to
the Valley of Mexico (Sumichrast La Naturaleza, Tomo, V., p. 245).

They are occasionally seen in the southern part of the State in
March, possibly only when they remain in the neighborhood over
winter. The following indicate the earliest and latest date of first ar-
rival and the earliest and latest date at which last seen in the spring:
Brookville, first seen April 13, 1882, May 6, 1897; departed May 3,
1882, May 27, 1892; Bicknell, first, April 14, 1896, April 28, 1895;
departed, May 18, 1895; Lafayette, first, April 24, 1897, May 2, 1896;
departed, May 13, 1897; Sedan, first, April 30, 1896, May 4, 1894;
departed, May 8, 1895, May 10, 1894; Chicago, Ill, first, April 21,
1885, May 9, 1896; departed, May 17, 1897, May 20, 1896; Peters-
burg, Mich., first, May 5, 1889, May 9, 1888; departed, May 11, 1889,
May 20, 1888. In 1896 it remained at North Manchester until June
6 (Bell), and Ulrey and Wallace report it from Wabash County as late
as June 10. In the fall they reach the upper part of the State late
in September and early in October. Some years they pass through
rapidly, others they straggle slowly along, remaining in the vicinity
of the Ohio River into November and even all winter. The following
dates as to fall migration are given: Sandusky, O., arrived October
11, 1896; departed October 19, 1896; Bicknell, Ind., arrived Septem-
ber 29, 1894, and 1895; departed November 5, 1895; Lafayette, last
Birps oF INDIANA. 953

seen October 14, 1896; Chicago, Ill., October 3, 1895, October 9, 1896;
Brookville, Ind., October 13, 1879, October 16, 1886. In fall they
have lost their song and frequent the edges of woods and fields, brier
patches, thickets and clumps of weeds. They are then busy eating
weed seeds, of which they destroy great quantities. They migrate
chiefly through the Mississippi Valley, and thence many turn off
northeastto Labradorand Newfoundland where they breed abundantly.
Their scarcity and irregularity along the Atlantic Coast has been
noted. Its summer range is a little north of that of the next species,
consequently they in migrating pass them. It has been found breed-
ing at Rutland, Vt., Potsdam, N. Y., and in Oconto County, Wis.
Mr. Nehrling says: “In northern Wisconsin, and especially in north-
ern Michigan—-in the Lake Superior region—this Sparrow is a rather
common summer bird.” Mr. O. B. Warren, however, has never found
them breeding at Palmer, Mich. Its food is principally weed seeds
and insects, though Audubon adds small mollusks to its bill of fare.
I suspect from its habits about our gardens and orchards that it will
be found to destroy many injurious insects that frequent such places.

217, (558). Zonotrichia albicollis (Gmzt..).

White-throated Sparrow.

Adult.—Edge of wing and spot in front of eye (sometimes extend-
ing to above eye), yellow; throat, abruptly white; two broad stripes
on the crown and a narrow one behind the eye, black; a white stripe
in middle of crown, and one over ear-coverts, sometimes extending
over eye; ear-coverts and jugulum,, deep ash; back, rusty brown
streaked with black. Immature, First Winter.—Similar to adult, but
head stripes rusty dusky-brown and pale rusty-buff; the yellow in front
of eye and white throat-patch, less distinct. First Plumage.—Crown,
uniform snuff-brown, with a narrow whitish middle stripe; stripe over
the eye, dirty-whitish, with no yellow in front of eye; jugulum,
streaked with dusky; throat, not abruptly white.

Length, 6.30-7.65; wing, 2.80-3.15; tail, 3.05-8.35.

RancE.—Eastern North America, west to Montana, north to Labra-
dor and the fur countries. Breeds from Montana, northern Michigan,
Ontario and Massachusetts north. Winters from Massachusetts and
southern New York south along the Atlantic Coast and in the lower
Mississippi Valley, north to Missouri and Illinois. Accidental in
Utah, California and Oregon.
954 Report OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Nest, on ground, at base of small bush or clump of weeds; of dry
weed stalks, bark, grass, rootlets and hair. Eggs, 4 to 5; light blue or
bluish-white, dotted more or less with light and dark-brown; .84 by
62. Usually two broods.

The White-throated Sparrow precedes the last mentioned species
in both spring and fall migrations. While it remains in the southern
part of the State late in the fall, I have no account of its wintering
within our limits, though it may do so. Some winters it remains in
the vicinity of St. Louis (Cooke), and in Illinois as far north as Wa-
bash, Lawrence and Richland (Ridgway).

 

Head of White-throated Sparrow. Natural size.

We know it in Indiana as a very abundant migrant, generally in
flocks, in March, April and early May, and from September to No-
vember. It varies in the date of its arrival in the same locality, both
in spring and fall as much as a month. The earliest and latest dates
of its first arrival and of its departure in spring at several localities are
given: Bicknell, arrived March 11, 1894, March 24, 1895; departed
May 1, 1895, May 16, 1897; Brookville, arrived March 13, 1884, April
25,1881; departed May 1, 1889, May 8, 1886; Lafayette, arrived March
6, 1894, April 18, 1895; Laporte, arrived March 7, 1894, April 12,
1896; departed May 1, 1896; Sedan, arrived April 13, 1894, April 27,
1893; departed May 4, 1889, May 10, 1896; Chicago, Ill., arrived April
12, 1884, April 16, 1896; departed May 6, 1896, May 15, 1886; Peters-
burg, Mich., arrived April 24, 1889, May 5, 1888; departed May 5,
1889, May 20, 1888. 'They are to be found among thickets, brier
patches and brush piles, either in the open or among the densest
woods. From among the thickets and through the long forest aisles
their peculiar song comes to one’s ear at the time of their vernal visits.
In March, when they are present, their songs are seldom heard, but in
April, particularly toward the latter part, and in early May, one who
visits their haunts is greeted with both solos and choruses as the waves
of inspiration come to the inhabitants of.the brush-piles with the
Birps oF INDIANA. 955

intermittent warm southern breezes. The song is commonly inter-
preted, pe-pe-pé-body, pe-body, and from it the singer has been named
the “Peabody Bird.” Both this species and that last described are
scratchers, moving both feet together in turning over the leaves. They
are very persistent in this work, and “all is grist that comes to their
mill.” Be it seeds or insects, they serve as food.

A White-throated Sparrow was taken at Berry Lake, Lake County,
Ind., July 23, 1887, by Mr. E. A. Colby (Coale). While they may
rarely breed in the northern part of the State, I do not know that
they do. In Michigan they breed abundantly northward, and have
been found breeding as far south as Grand Rapids (Cook, Birds of
Mich., p. 114). They also breed abundantly in northern Wisconsin.
They remain with us in spring as late as they can. Often they are
seen mating, and some years, when they lingered long, they have
been observed carrying sticks, as though they had thought to begin
nest-building. Some year, when they remain late, I shall not be sur-
prised to learn that the imperative demands of nature have impelled
some of them to make their summer homes with us and build their
nests. In fall, some years, they cross the northern line of this State
near the middle of September, and linger in their journey south-
ward, feasting upon seeds, wild fruits and insects for a month -or
more. At that season of the year, the present species and the last
are often associated with a number of other birds in a mixed com-
pany, frequenting thickets and weed patches. The following gives
earliest and latest fall dates of arrival and departure at the places
noted: Chicago, Ill., arrived September 16, 1896, September 20,
1894, departed October 24, 1896; Sedan, Ind., arrived September 25,
1894, departed October 17, 1889, November 4, 1894; Lafayette, ar-
rived September 26, 1896, October 2, 1894, departed October 17,
1894, October 26, 1895; Greensburg, arrived October 3, 1896, October
19, 1894, departed October 28, 1894, November 17, 1896; Brook-
ville, arrived October 5, 1887, departed October 20, 1883; Bicknell,
arrived September 29, 1894, 1895, September 30, 1896, departed,
October 17, 1894, November 26, 1896. They winter abundantly in
the Gulf States. Mr. H. Nehrling says: “In southern Louisiana a
shameless slaughter of our small song birds is going on throughout
every winter. In the French Market of New Orleans we notice dead
Juncos, Towhees, White-throated and White-crowned Sparrows,
Thrashers, Thrushes, Robins, Warblers, etc., by the thousand. We
learn from Audubon that even in his time these birds were slaugh-
tered in innumerable numbers in Louisiana. In Texas they are not
much molested, except by negroes” (Birds of N. A., Pt. XI., pp. 117,

.
956 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

118). Prof. F. H. King examined 16 White-throated Sparrows, and
found they had eaten 4 caterpillars, 4 beetles, 1 grasshopper, and 1
caddis fly; 13 of them had eaten some seeds; 1 had eaten raspberries.
Until after July their food is largely insects (Geol. of Wis., I., p. 540).

131. Genus SPIZELLA Bonaparte.

a!, Crown rufous in adults.
b1, Upper mandible black, lower yellow; dusky spot on breast.
S. monticola (Gmel.). 218
b?, Bill wholly black or reddish brown.
ec}. Bill wholly light reddish brown. S. pusilla (Wils.). 221
ce?. Bill wholly black in adults; dull reddish brown, lighter below in young.
S. socialis (Wils.). 219
a*. Crown grayish brown, streaked with black. S. pallida (Swains.). 220

218, (559). Spizella monticola (Gmxt ).
Tree Sparrow.

Adult.—Bill, upper mandible, black, lower, yellow; a black or
dusky spot on the middle of the breast; crown, tufous, feathers some-
times bordered with gray; grayish-white stripe over the eye; rufous
stripe behind the eye; greater and middle wing coverts edged with
rufous and tipped with white, forming two conspicuous bars; sec-
ondaries more or less edged with rufous and white; back, brownish,
streaked with black and buffy; rump, brownish-ashy; sides of head
and neck, ash-gray, lighter on the throat; rest of under parts, whitish,
washed with pale brownish. Immature—Similar, but more or less
distinctly streaked below.

Length, 6.00-6.50; wing, 2.80-3.10; tail, 2.60-3.90.

Rancr.—North America east of Plains, from South Carolina, Ken-
tucky and Indian Territory, north to Arctic Ocean. Breeds from
northern Maine to Labrador and north. Winters from North Da-
kota, northern Michigan, Ontario and New England, south.

Nest, on ground, or low in trees; of grass, rootlets and hair. Eggs,
4-5; pale green, speckled, blotched and scratched with various shades
of brown; .74 by .57.

Soon after the Junco, or common Snowbird, appears in the fall,
these little winter Sparrows appear. They frequent thickets, weedy
places and spots where grasses and sedges have borne seed. There,
sometimes alone, sometimes with the Juncos, they may be found,
busily engaged seed eating. They generally appear in October in
northern Indiana, but sometimes are not noted until November.
Brrps oF INDIANA. 957

That month they spread over the State. From then they are com-
mon until they leave in the early spring. In that migration they
precede the Juncos, sometimes leaving the southern part of the State
early in March, and most always disappearing from our limits before
the middle of April. I have known them to arrive at Brookville
in the fall as early as October 10, but usually they are much later.
The following are earliest and latest dates of first arrival: Chicago,
TIL, October 5, 1895, October 20, 1894; Sedan, Ind., October 20 one
year, November 4, 1894; Greensburg, November 26, 1896; Bicknell,
November 1, 1895, November 8, 1896; Lafayette, November 3, 1894,
November 12, 1895. In the extreme northern part of the State,
in severe winters, at least, most of them move farther south, but
some remain, and it is truly a winter resident throughout the State.
They utter a chip when they come to us in the fall, and when many
are busily feeding together, all chipping at once, the result is a low
twittering that plainly tells to the watcher along its border of the
lively birds hidden within the weed patch. ‘In winter, when the
ground is covered with snow, they often come in companies about
barn yards, poultry yards, and even into door yards. Toward the end
of their stay, they begin to sing, often ascending a high bush, or
even a tree, from which a fine musical selection is rendered. With
this period of song, they begin to gather into large flocks, which give
forth a full chorus some warm April morning. I have known them
to begin singing March 3 (1893), and to be in large flocks in full song
March 31 (1896).

Examinations made by the United States Department of Agricul-
ture show that in winter it feeds entirely upon the seeds of weeds,
and probably each bird consumes about one-fourth of an ounce a
day. Upon this basis, counting ten Tree Sparrows to an acre, it has
been estimated they destroy during a season’s stay in the State of
Iowa alone, 1,750,000 pounds, which equal 875 tons of weed seed
(Farmers’ Bulletin, No. 54, U. S. Dept. of Agr., p. 28).

The following indicate the earliest and latest dates at which the
last birds were noted in spring at the places named: Brookville,
March 3, 1893, April 11, 1881; Greensburg, February 22, 1895; Bick-
nell, March 10, 1895, April 8, 1896; Lafayette, March 8, 1894, March
28, 1896; Sedan, April 4, 1895, April 17, 1893; Chicago, IIL, March
22, 1886.
958 Report oF StTaTE GEOLOGIST.

*219, (560). Spizella socialis (WILs ).
Chipping Sparrow.
Synonyms, Curppy, Cure Birp, Harr Brrp.

Aduit.—Bill, black; crown, bright rufous; forehead, black, divided
by a short grayish streak; stripe over eye, whitish; streak through
and behind eye, black; back, brownish, streaked with black; ear
coverts and sides of neck, ash-gray; rump, grayish-blue; wings with
two light cross bars. Below, whitish, unspotted, washed with ashy
on sides and across breast; wings and tail, edged with lighter, not
white. Immature.—Bill, dull reddish-brown; crown, colored like the
back; breast and sides with dusky streaks; otherwise similar. The
grayish-blue rump and more dusky upper mandible serve to dis-
tinguish this bird.

Length, 5.00-5.85; wing, 2.55-2.90; tail, 2.20-2.60.

RancE.—North America, from Mexico north to Newfoundland and
Great Slave Lake. Breeds from Gulf States, north. Winters from
Indian Territory, south. —

Nest, of rootlets and fine grass, lined with horsehair; in bush, vine
or tree, generally under ten feet up. Eggs, 3-4; pale bluish-green,
dotted, speckled or scrawled with dark brown; .69 by .50.

The Chipping Sparrow is familiarly known as the “Chippy,” or
“Chip Bird.” It comes about our doors, upon our porches, and even,
at times, into our houses, picking up crumbs that have fallen. Where
eats and other enemies do not persecute them, they are very familiar,
building their nests in the shrubbery, vines and smaller evergreens.
From its habit of using horsehair, preferably black, in its nest, it is
sometimes called “Hair Bird.” While sometimes they are with us,
in southern Indiana, from early March until past the middle of
November, rarely into December, I have no knowledge of their re-
maining over winter. The earliest and latest dates of its spring
appearance and fall departure in the localities noted are: Bicknell,
March 9, 1897, March 23, 1895, departed October 27, 1895, November
19, 1896; Greensburg, March 1, 1895, April 5, 1894, departed October
17, 1896, December 15, 1894; Brookville, March 10, 1888, April 8,
1881, departed October 24, 1886; Lafayette, March 19, 1894, April
1, 1895, departed November 3, 1894; Sedan, March 30, 1897, April
8, 1895, departed October 31, 1894; Petersburg, Mich., April 3, 1888,
April 8, 1897; Chicago, Ill, April 1, 1894, April 14, 1897, departed
October 3, 1895.

In the spring the first to arrive are single birds, and these are suc-
ceeded in a few days, or,-if very early, in a week or two, by flocks
of their fellows, which may be seen trooping through the orchards
Brrps or INDIANA. 959

and fields. Usually the last to arrive are the ones that breed with
us. They at once make themselves at home upon our lawns, and
announce their arrival by the same old song we heard last year.
When the migrants arrive very early in the Whitewater Valley, they
do not at once begin singing. They usually begin mating the first
ten days of April. The earliest date I have is March 27, 1882. I
found them building at Brookville, April 15, 1889. April 29, 1896,
Prof. W. P. Shannon noted a nest, with four fresh eggs, at Greens-
burg. He found a nest, with young recently hatched, May 9, 1896,
and I found one with young of the same age, May 9, 1887. Through
May and June their nests may be commonly found. Sometimes they
tear a second brood. Prof. A. J. Cook notes a nest with eggs taken
in Michigan, August 4, 1893 (Birds of Mich., p. 114). Its common
note is a sharp tchip, and its song a rapid repetition of tchips, by
which it may readily be distinguished. No other bird that frequents
similar situations has a song anything like it. The songs dwindle in
July and are seldom heard the latter part of that month, and rarely
until near the middle of August. In 1897 I heard one singing, July 24,
and after that noted but two more songs, one August 12, and another
August 14. Mr. Bicknell (The Auk, Vol. II., April, 1885, p. 145)
speaks of a later song period, the latter part of September and early
in October. I have never noticed it.

Prof. F. E. L. Beal has shown that about one-third of the food
of the Chipping Sparrow, Field Sparrow and Song Sparrow consists
of insects, comprising many injurious beetles, such as snout beetles,
or weevils, and leaf beetles, many grasshoppers, which form one-
eighth of the food of the present species; many wasps and bugs. On
the whole, their insect food is mainly injurious species. They are,
therefore, beneficial as insect eaters, as well as destroyers of grass and
weed seed (Farmers’ Bull. No. 54, U.S. Dept. Agr., pp. 26, 27).

In September, they begin to collect in flocks and frequent weedy
places, where they are found in company with other birds, principally
Field Sparrows.

220. (561). Spizella pallida (Swarns.).
Clay-colored Sparrow. ‘
Synonyms, SHatruck, ASHY-NAPE.

Adult.—Bill, reddish, dusky towards tip; crown, grayish-brown,
streaked with black, divided by a distinct stripe of pale ashy; stripe
over eye, white; ear coverts, light brownish, edged with dusky; nape,
ashy; back, brownish, not so rufous as S. soctalis; striped with black;
960 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

rump, grayish-brown. Below, white, the breast and sides tinged with
grayish-brown; an indistinct brownish stripe on each side of throat.
Immature—More rusty above; streaked with dusky below.

Length, 5.00-5.75; wing, 2.20-2.50; tail, 2.30-2.60.

Remarks.—This Sparrow is smaller than 8. socialis, and has not
the bluish rump.

Ranez.—Interior of North America, north to the Saskatchewan,
and from the base of the Rocky Mountains east to Indiana and Mich-
igan. Breeds from northern Nebraska and northern Illinois, north.
Winters from central Texas west to Cape St. Lucas and south to
Oaxaca.

Nest, of grass, lined with hair; in bush, or on ground. Eggs, 3-5;
similar to those of 8. socialis.

Rare migrant; possibly locally rare summer resident. Prof. W. 8.
Blatchley shot a bird of this species from a flock of Sparrows near
Terre Haute, September 27, 1890. This is the only record of its
occurrence in this State. Mr. E. W. Nelson notes that specimens
have been taken near Chicago, and that it is a rare summer resident
about the borders of prairies (Bull. Essex Inst., Vol. VIII., Dec.,
1876, p. 108). Prof. A. J. Cook (Birds of Mich., p. 114) notes its
occurrence in Michigan, notably in “Covert’s Birds of Washtenaw
County,” and Mr. L. Whitney Watkins took several specimens from
about forty seen at Manchester, Mich., September 3, 1894. It has
not yet been reported from Ohio. This is one of the birds of the
interior plains of America, extending eastward to the old prairie lim-
its. Mr. E. E. Thompson says it has a singular lisping song, which he
describes as follows: “The bird mounts some perch, and, with head
thrown back and with gaping beak, utters a sound like a fly in a
newspaper—‘scree-scree-scree’-—sometimes giving but one note, and
at other times, in the height of the season especially, repeating the
dulcet note five or six times” (Proc. U. 8. Nat. Mus., Vol. XIIL., pp.
601, 602).

“This species is readily distinguishable from the other American
Spizellas, except 8. brewert, in the dark streaks and medium ashy
stripe on the crown, the paler tints, the dark line on the side of the
chin, etc.” (B. B. and R., History N. A. Birds).

Prof. F. H. King examined the stomachs of 13 and found they
contained 6 beetles, 12 hemiptera, principally plant lice; 1 grasshop-
per, 1 larva, and other insects; 7 had eaten small seeds (Geol. of Wis.,
I, p. 540).
Brirps oF INDIANA. 961

*221, (463). Spizella pusilla (W11s.).
Field Sparrow.

Adult.—Bill, light reddish-brown; crown, rufous, faintly marked
with grayish; line over the eye, nape and sides of head, grayish,
the latter tinged with ashy; faint rufous streak behind the eye; back,
rufous, feathers with black centers and ashy edgings; wings crossed
by two whitish bars; rump, brownish-ashy. Below, white, unmarked,
but washed with pale brown on breast and sides. Young.—First
plumage streaked below.

Length, 5.10-6.00; wing, 2.45-2.70; tail, 2.50-2.80.

Rance.—Eastern North America, from Gulf States and Texas,
north to Manitoba and Quebec. Breeds from South Carolina and
Kentucky, north. Winters from southern Illinois, southern Indiana
and Virginia, southward. .

Nest, on ground or in low bush; of rootlets and grass, and lined
with hair or fine grass. Hggs, 3-5; greenish-white, variously marked
with rufous; .68 by .51.

The Field Sparrow is much more numerous than the Chipping
Sparrow, but is not such a social bird. It is not found about our
homes as closely as the “Chippy,” but keeps a little farther away. In
the back orchard, ‘in old fields and pastures, especially if more or
less overgrown by bushes, it makes its home.

Occasionally, at least, it winters in the Wabash Valley, from Knox
County, southward. Prof. J. A. Balmer reported it wintering at Vin-
cennes the winter of 1887-8. Elsewhere it is a common summer
resident, arriving, some years, very early and remaining quite late.
The earliest and latest date at which it has been first seen at the
following places is given: Brookville, February 25, 1892, April 12,
1894; Spearsville, March 9, 1897; Lafayette, March 28, 1897, April
10, 1895; Sedan, March 30, 1897, April 6, 1894; Laporte, April 12,
1896, April 13, 1894; Chicago, Ill, April 3, 1886, April 17, 1897;
Petersburg, Mich., Real 5, 1893, April 26, 1897.

Late in March it adds to soft pastures,and greening grass the
charm of a delightful song. Its voice is clear and its song distinct
and far reaching, as well as sweet and plaintive. There is no bird in
the old pastures that can equal it, as from fence or bush or old weed
stalk it carols to the wind a song that is borne to a surprisingly long
distance. I have been upon a hill over a hundred feet above a Field
Sparrow that was singing five hundred feet away, and the wind,
coming my way, brought to me distinctly, but faintly, its April

61—GEoL.
962 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

song. Its song comes with the blooming of the violet, innocence and
the Virginia cowslip. John Burroughs says: “Its song is like the
words, fe-o, fe-o, fe-o, few, few, few, fee, fee, fee, uttered at first
high and leisurely, but running very rapidly toward the close, which
is low and soft.” The song continues practically through the sum-
mer. Some singers drop out, but many are still singing the first of
August, and not a few a week or two later. August 10, 1897, I

 

Field Sparrow.

(Beal.—Farmers’ Bulletin, 54. United States Department of Agriculture, p. 27.)

heard several singing as well as they did in April. September 14, I
found one trying his best to sound the notes, but his effort was very
imperfect. ;

I have observed them mating as early as March 20 (1897). They
are usually found nesting in May, June and sometimes J uly. Earliest
nests noted at Brookville, May 7, 1883, May 11, 1881. Two or three
broods are reared. August 28, 1896, I found a nest and eggs near
Brookville. I have referred to their food habits under the last spe-
cies. Prof. F. H. King, in addition, notes that 7% he examined ate
a caterpillar, 2 grasshoppers, a heteropterous insect, a harvestman, a
spider; 4 had eaten small weed seeds (Geol. of Wis., I., p. 539).
Brrps oF INDIANA. 963

In September they begin to collect into flocks, and are found in
great numbers among the weeds and brier patches. The latter part
of that month they mostly leave northern Indiana, and through Octo-
ber all disappear from our northern counties, and most of those from
farther south. There, however, some remain well into November,
even when they do not winter. The latest fall records I have are
Chicago, Jll., September 30, 1895; Lafayette, Ind., October 13, 1896;
Brookville, November 11, 1886.

132. Guxus JUNCO Wae.er.

a}, Sides grayish. J. hyemalis (Linn.). 222
a*, Sides brownish. J. hyemalis shufeldti Coale. 223

222. (567). Junco hyemalis (Liny.).
Slate-colored Junco.

Adult Male——Upper parts, throat and breast, blackish or slate-
gray; in winter washed with brownish above; belly, abruptly white;
two outer tail feathers and part of third, on each side, white; bill,
flesh color. Adult Female—Similar, but upper parts browner and
throat and breast paler. Young.—First plumage, streaked above and
below with black.

Length, 6.00-7.00; wing, 3.15-3.65; tail, 3.00-3.29.

RaneE.—North America, mostly east of the Rocky Mountains,
breeding on the higher Alleghany Mountains from Virginia, from the
mountains of southern New England and northern Minnesota to
Alaska. In winter, south over the eastern United States to Gulf
States. Straggling westward to Arizona and California.

Nest, on or near the ground; of grass, moss and rootlets, lined with
finer material. Eggs, 3-5; whitish, speckled with reddish-brown; .76 by
58.

The Slate-colored Junco over most of Indiana is known as the
Snowbird. In some localities, to distinguish it from the Snowflake,
or Snow Bunting, which is termed “White Snowbird,” it is called
Black Snowbird.

From the middle to the last of September they begin to appear
in northern Indiana, arriving first about the lower end of Lake Mich-
igan. In the southern portion of the State, a few are seen from the
1st to the 20th of October. Their presence is. usually announced by
a sharp tchip, followed by a rapid chipping as it flies. Then the
dark, slate colored body and the conspicuous white feathers on
964 Report OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

either side of the tail render identification easy. From the extreme
northwestern part of the State the greater part of the Juncos dis-
appear with the coming of severe weather, and return from the south
in February or March. They frequent all kinds of places. When
they first come, thickets and fence rows are preferred. But while
they are with us they frequent stubble and brier-patch, upland and
riverside, heavy wood and swampy thicket, and, when the weather is
severe and snow covers the ground, the barn yard and door yard.
Often they are associated in flocks with the Tree Sparrows. The
earliest and latest dates of first arrival and of latest departure from
the localities named are given: Chicago, IIl., arrived September 16,
1896, departed in spring April 30, 1895: Sedan, Ind., arrived Septem-
ber 30, 1894, departed April 15, 1896; Lafayette, arrived September
22, 1894, October 12, 1895, departed April 18, 1895, May 2, 1893;
Bicknell, arrived October 2, 1895, October +, 1896, departed April
16, 1896, April 22, 1895; Brookville, October 6, 1887, October 19,
1895, departed April 11, 1883, April 26, 1892 and 1897; Trafalgar,
September 25, 1897. Some years individuals remain in this latitude
quite late. Prof. 8. A. Forbes notes taking one June 9, one mile
from the Ohio River, near Elizabethtown, Hardin County, Ill. (Bull.
N. O. Club, July, 1881, p. 180). Dr. J. M. Wheaton notes that he
has seen it in July, in Portage County, O., and says it is “resident
throughout the year in northeastern Ohio” (Birds of O., p. 332).
It is a common summer resident in Michigan, north of Trav erse City.
It has been noted at Locke, July 8, 1879; Grand Rapids, July 13,
1878 (Cook, Birds of Mich., p. 115). From Indiana, however, I
have no records after early May. They begin to think of mating
before they leave us. Sometimes, during a spell of warm weather,
near the middle of March, we begin to hear their love songs. The
first heard at Brookville in 1896 was April 11, but this year (1897)
I heard the first song March 18. It came from a Junco in an apple
tree in my yard. When singing, the bird gets among the thickest
of the branches of an apple, cedar or other tree. It is very difficult
to see there. When singing, it makes little or no movement, remain-
ing for quite a while in the same place, and when its head is turned
away from the observer the ventriloquial effect is such that the singer
is hard to locate. The Junco utters a pleasant, little vibratory song,
usually consisting of four notes, all in the same key. Often there are
but three notes, and occasionally it utters five or six. The song is
repeated every three to five seconds for as much as a quarter of an
hour at a time. It resembles: twe-ti-ti- tee, and suggests to me the
rattling of a note over a cog wheel, going at an unvarving rate of
Brrps oF INDIANA. 965

'
speed. The food of the Junco is substantially the same as that of the
Tree Sparrow. Both are valuable as destroyers of the seeds of nox-
ious plants.

223. (567b). Junco hyemalis shufeldti Coats
Shufeldt’s Junco.

Similar to J. hyemalis, but with the head dull black, the back
browner, and the sides brownish-vinaceous.

Wing, 3.05-3.14; tail, 2.75-2.89; tarsus, .72-.74; bill, .40-.43.

Rance.—Rocky Mountain region, west to California, south to
Arizona, Texas and northern Mexico. Accidental in Illinois, Indiana,
Michigan, Massachusetts, Maryland, etc.

Accidental winter visitor. There is only one record known of the
occurrence of this western form in Indiana. A specimen was killed
by Mr. Ralph 8. Wickersham in the yard of Mr. Thomas Cory, in
West Lafayette, January 20, 1891. It was shot for food for a captive
Barn Owl, Strix pratincola, but observing it differed from the ordi-
nary Junco, it was forwarded to the Smithsonian Institution, at
Washington, where it was identified as this form. For the informa-
tion, and, finally, for the specimen, I am indebted to Dr. Erastus
Test, and to Messrs. L. A. and C. D. Test. Mr. H. K. Coale had a
specimen in his collection, taken at Waukegan, Il]. (The Auk, Oct.,
1887, p. 331).

133. Gunus PEUCAHA Aupuson.

*224. (575a). Peucea aestivalis bachmanii (Avp.).
Bachman’s Sparrow.

Adult.—Above, rufous, streaked with gray, and sometimes spotted
on the back with black; buff stripe over eye; dusky stripe on each side
of chin; below, grayish-buff, whitening on the belly; edge of wing,
yellow.

Length, 5.30-6.25; wing, 2.25-2.60; tail, 2.38-2.95.

Ranez.—NMississippi Valley, north to southern Illinois and central
Indiana (Warren County), west to north Texas, east to east Ten-
nessee, Georgia and North Carolina. Breeds throughout its range.

Nest, on ground; of grass, usually domed and cylindrical. Eggs,
3-4; white; .74 by .60.

Summer resident in the southwestern quarter of the State, usually
not common.
966 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Bachman’s Sparrow was first reported from the lower Wabash
Valley by Mr. Robert Ridgway, who noted it early in June, 1871,
about half way between Mt. Carmel and Olney, Ill. August 11, 1871,,
he found it rather rare at Mt. Carmel. In July and August, 1875,
Messrs. E. W. Nelson and F. T. Jencks took several specimens in
the vicinity of Mt. Carmel and on Fox Prairie, in Richland County,
about thirty-five miles to the northward of Mt. Carmel (Ridgway,
Birds of 1, L., pp. 281, 282). April 26, 1881, Mr. Ridgway found it
near Wheatland, Knox County, Ind., and nearly ten years later in-
formed me it was not uncommon in all parts of Knox County that
he had visited. April 24, 1884, Prof. W. S. Blatchley took two
Bachman’s Sparrows from a brush pile in Monroe County. That was
its first record there. It appeared regularly thereafter between
April 6 (1885) and April 29 (1886). In 1886 two sets of eggs were
found and, perhaps, a half dozen birds taken (Evermann). It was
first noted in Putnam County by Mr. Alexander Black, April 18,
1891, and has appeared regularly there since, between April 7 and
18. It is tolerably common there now (1897). May 15, 1893, Mr.
Jesse Earlle took a nest and four eggs, but slightly incubated, near
Greencastle. He flushed the parent from the nest and shot her.
The nest was placed on the ground, at the edge ofa little patch of
woods, in a blue grass pasture. It was composed of grass, and re-
minded him of the nest of a Meadow Lark. It was not arched over.
The eggs were pure white. Mr. V. H. Barnett first observed it in
Brown County, in 1894. He took its nest and four eggs near Spears-
ville, in the southern part of that county, May 22, 1894. He ob-
served it April 1, 1895, and April 7, 1897. He found it July 30,
1897, in Parke County, and last saw it September 10, 1897, in Ver-
million County. He writes he did not see it north of southern War-
ren County. In Kentucky, the late Mr..C. W. Beckham found it in
Nelson County, April 28; 1877 (Ky. Geol. Surv., Birds of Nelson Co.,
p. 28). Mr. Ridgway says it frequents weedy fields, in which scat-
tered dead trees are standing. Mr. Nelson (Bull. Essex Inst., Vol.
IX., p. 38) says it was “found about the fences or brush piles in
half cleared fields. They were shy, and quite difficult to secure,
from their habit of diving into the nearest shelter when alarmed, or
skulking, Wren-like, along the fences, dodging from rail to rail.”

Their song has been said by more than one to recall the effort of
the Field Sparrow. Mr. Ridgway says it resembles the syllables
the-e-e-e-e-e-e-thut, lut, lut, lut, the first being a rich, silvery trill,
pitched in a high musical key, the other syllables also metallic, but
abrupt, and lower in tone. They sing throughout the day, and even
Brrps oF INDIANA. 967
\

when the day is gone and darkness reigns, they sing on. Mr. Beck-
ham mentions the ventriloquial effect of their voices. When sur-
prised, the birds, instead of flying, run or glide through the grass,
like a mouse or snake, and utter a-sound more like the hissing of
a snake than the scolding of a bird. It is said not to be difficult
to mistake the escaping bird for a gliding snake. The theory has
been advanced that Bachman’s Sparrow imitates, as far as possible,
the movements and hiss of a snake, as a means of protecting its nest
(Nehrling, N. A. Birds, XII., pp. 149-151).

134. Genus MELOSPIZA Bairp.

1, Breast and sides distinctly streaked at all ages.
b!. Maxillary stripe and breast white, the latter heavily streaked.
M. fasciata (Gmel.). 225
b?, Maxillary stripe and breast buff, the latter lightly streaked.
M. lincolni (Aud.). 226
a?, Breast and sides unstreaked, except in young (first plumage).
M. georgiana (Lath.), 227

*225. (581). Melospiza fasciata (GMEL.).

Song Sparrow.

Maxillary stripe, throat and other lower parts, white; sides and
crissum, washed with brownish; they and sides of throat streaked with
dark brown and black; breast with broad wedge-shaped streaks of
black and brown, which often unite to form a large spot in the
center; crown, rufous, divided in the middle by dark gray streak;
each feather streaked with black; line over eye, light gray; stripe back
of eye, and one on each side of maxillary stripe, rufous brown; other
upper parts, rusty-grayish, streaked with brown and black; tail feath-
ers, rufous brown above, the middle feathers blackish along their
shafts, and often with obsolete wave markings.

Length, 6.00-6.75; wing, 2.45-2.80; tail, 2.58-3.02. 4

Rance.—Eastern North America, west to base of Rocky Moun-
tains; north to Manitoba and Nova Scotia. Breeds from Virginia,
northern Kentucky, southeastern Indiana and northern Illinois,
northward. Winters from Indiana and Massachusetts, southward.

Nest, on ground or in bush; of grass, leaves and bark strips, lined
with grass and hairs. Hggs, 4-5; light greenish or bluish-white,
marked with brown; .79 by .59.

The Song Sparrow is a resident throughout the State. In the
northern portion, most of them leave during the severest part of the
winter. This is more noticeable late years, since so many of the
968 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

thickets have been cut away. In the extreme southwestern part of
the State, they are rare in summer, as they are in Nelson County,
Ky. (Beckham), and in southern Illinois (Ridgway). The last named
gentleman says: “While the Song Sparrow breeds in the extreme
northern part of Illinois, it is known in the southern portions only
as a winter resident, * * * -abundant, but very retiring, inhab-
iting almost solely the bushy swamps in the bottom lands, and un-
known as a song bird.” He also notes that it breeds at Paris, Edgar
County, Ill. (Birds of IL, I., pp. 288, 284). In Indiana it breeds,
and its songs are heard through summer, at least, as far south as Jef-
ferson arid Knox counties. It has been reported as breeding in Dear-
born, Brown, Monroe, Putnam, Vigo, Sullivan and Knox counties. In
Franklin County, I have found it begins singing early, sometimes by
February and keeps at it all through spring, summer and fall. I some-
times wonder if its song is not sung on bright days every month in the
year.

I heard one singing October 5, 1897. The migrants return to
northern Indiana in February and March. The following are early and
late dates on which the first returned: Sedan, February 9, 1894,
March 8, 1897; Laporte, March 1, 1894; Petersburg, Mich., March
4, 1889, March 10, 1897; Chicago, Ill., March 10, 1894, March 23,
1896. Everywhere they are most numerous during the migrations.

I have found them mating at Brookville as early as February 27
(1886), and have found nest and eggs April 28, 1883. Mr. J. O.
Snyder reports nest and eggs at Waterloo, April 28, 1885. Two
broods are reared in a year. Nests have been found as late as July
23, 1893, and August (Cook, Birds of Mich., p. 115). The Song
Sparrow frequents thickets along streams and in low ground gen-
erally, also gardens, small fruit farms, and bushes and hedges along
highways. It is a well-known bird, and its song, although not so
attractive as that of the Field Sparrow, or so pleasing as that of the
Vesper Sparrow, exceeds that of most of our common birds. It is the
best singer about our gardens. Dr. T. M. Brewer said it sounded to
him like sh’nide-sh’nide-sh’nide-sh’nide-ze ze ze ze ze ze, the first four
syllables slow, the rest in quicker time. As has been noted under the
Chipping Sparrow, its food has been found to be about one-third in-
sects and the great bulk of the remainder is grass and weed seeds.
Prof. F. H. King examined 52 specimens, of which 29 ate more or less
seeds; 1 ate 2 kernels of wheat. The total insect food was 11 lepidop-
tera, 25 beetles, 5 grasshoppers, 4 grasshoppers’ eggs, 2 dragonflies,
1 cricket, 1 spider, 1 millipede, 4 dipterous insects, 1 heteropterous
insect (Geol. of Wis., I., p. 538). Brewer says they eat caterpillars
and other larve. The canker worm is a favorite article of food.
Birps oF INDIANA. 969

226. (583). Melospiza lincolnii (Aup.).
Lincoln’s Sparrow.
Synonym, Lincoun’s FincH.

Maxillary stripe, breast, sides and crissum, buff; other lower parts,
whitish; breast’ and sides, with narrow black streaks; black stripe on
each side of throat and one above maxillary stripe. Crown, chestnut,
each feather with a black streak, divided by middle stripe of ashy;
stripe over eye, ashy; rest of upper parts, brownish-gray, streaked with
black and grayish; tail, grayish-brown, feathers darker along the
shafts; wings edged with light rufous and whitish.

Length, 5.25-6.00; wing, 2.30-2.50; tail, 2.40-2.70.

Remark.—The buff breast easily determines this Sparrow.

Ranee.—North America, from Guatemala to Labrador and Alaska.
Rare east of the Alleghanies. Breeds from northern Illinois and
northern New York north; also south, along the higher Rocky Moun-
tains almost to Mexico. Winters from southern Illinois south.

Nest, of grass; on or near ground. Hggs, 3 to 5; pale greenish,
spotted and blotched with several shades of reddish-brown, more
prominent at the larger end; .78 by .58.

In Indiana this Sparrow is a regular but rare migrant over most
of the State. It is generally found in May and October, and passes
farther north to breed. In the lower Wabash Valley it is more numer-
ous. The spring of 1881 Mr. Robert Ridgway found them very
abundant in Knox County. In 1888 they arrived at Terre Haute,
April 17, and departed May 5. At Brookville, in 1886, it was first
noted April 24; in 1880, May 11; in Starke County, May 11, 1884,
May 11, 1890; Lake County, May 16, 1880. It has also been taken in
Carroll and Monroe counties. Mr. E. W. Nelson says they occur in
Cook County, Ill., and vicinity between May 8 and 20 and September
20 and October 5. Dr. Gibbs reports it from Michigan (Kalamazoo?)
October 9, 1879 (Cook, Birds of Mich., p. 116). It was taken at
Brookville, Ind., October 2, 1879. When found in May, often two or
three are together. Possibly they are then paired. Mr. J. G. Parker,
Jr., collected a young male of this species on the east shore of Calumet
Lake, Cook County, Ill, July 16, 1896. It has been found nesting in
Hamilton County, N. Y., and at Racine, Wis., and may do so about the
lower end of Lake Michigan.

In many respects its habits resemble those of the Swamp Sparrow.
Generally it is found throughout the migrations in similar places;
among bushes, drift and reeds about watercourses and bodies of water.
970 RrEPort oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

It also is found along bushy ravines, in woods, among bushes and
about brush piles in swampy ground. One specimen was taken in a
cloverfield near Brookville by Mr. E. R. Quick. It is an inconspicuous
species and doubtless is generally overlooked. It is shy and retiring,
preferring at all times to move under cover and to fly when hidden
from view by an intervening object. The first specimens reported
from Franklin County were two taken near Brookville by Dr. F: W.
Langdon and Mr. J. W. Shorten, May 10, 1879. Dr. Langdon says of
them: “The birds were found in a damp, wooded ravine traversed
by a small stream, one of them hopping about on a mass of drift in
search of small aquatic insects and larve, with which its stomach was
found to be filled” (Journ. Cin. Soc. Nat. Hist., July, 1880, p. 124).
Its food is insects, fruit and seeds.

“227. (584). Melospiza georgiana (Lar#.).
Swamp Sparrow.

Adult in Summer.—Breast, sides of head, nape and stripe over eye,
gray; sides, pale grayish-brown, indistinctly streaked; belly, white;
crown, light chestnut; forehead, black, ashy stripe dividing both in
the middle; black stripe behind the eye; back, brownish-gray; upper
parts, striped with black, and on the back also with brown, ashy and
whitish; wings and tail feathers, edged with rufous, the latter dark
along the shafts; tertials and larger wing-coverts, black-tipped, more
or less edged with whitish. Adult in Winter and Immature—Crown
and upper parts, more blackish; more or less streaked on breast.

Length, 5.25-6.00; wing, 2.30-2.50; tail, 2.40-2.70.

Ranee,—LEastern North America. Breeds from northern Indiana
uorth to Labrador and Manitoba. Winters from southern Illinois
south to Gulf of Mexico.

Nest, in wet meadow or swampy thicket; on ground or in tussock
of grass; composed of plant stems, lined with fine grass. Eggs, 4 to
5; greenish-white to light green, clouded and spotted with various
shades of brown; .78 by .56.

Regular migrant over most of the State; in the extreme northern
part it is, in some localities, an abundant summer resident, breeding
in great numbers, even outnumbering the Song Sparrows. In the
lower Wabash Valley some may remain through the winter. It is re-
ported as wintering in southern Illinois. There, Mr. Ridgway says,
it congregates in immense numbers—perhaps exceeding those of any
other species in the sheltered swamps of the bottom lands. By reason
Brirps or INDIANA. 971

of its frequenting the thickets of low lands and swampy places gen-
erally—localities usually but little visited by most persons—it is not
often observed. It was noted at Bloomington, March 5, 1895, where
it remained until April 19. The following dates give extremes of first
appearance in spring: Brookville, April 11, 1884, April 25, 1885;
Lafayette, March 6, 1894, April 27, 1897; Laporte, April 2, 1894;
Terre Haute, March 28, 1888; Richmond, April 16, 1897; Waterloo,
March 17, 1894, April 11, 1896; Chicago, Ill., March 28, 1895, April
1, 1897. They usually have all passed by the latter part of April, but
were reported from Terre Haute May 1, 1890; Richmond, May 10,
1897; and several were seen at English Lake, May 10, 1891.

In the fall they are observed leaving their summer homes early in
October, and at that time begin to appear in the southern part of the
State. They were reported from Cook County, Ill., October 6, 1893,
and October 12, 1895, and were noted at Brookville, Ind., October
5, 1897. They have not been reported as breeding south of the north-
ern tier of counties. They are known to breed commonly in Cook
County, Til., and in Lake County, Ind., and tolerably commonly in
Dekalb County. There it sings its song, but during the migrations
it is songless. Beginning in May, it continues singing, with a slight
interruption in August or September, until October. Its fall song is
pronounced its best. Mr. Nehrling says its song resembles the syl-
lables, chee--chee-chee-chee-ze-ze-ze -ze-ze-ze, and declares that while it
resembles somewhat the melody of the Field Sparrow, it is louder and
more varied. He says: “Its food consists of small caterpillars, beetles,
worms and such insects as are usually found near water. During
fall and winter they eat largely of the seeds of weeds and grasses”
(N. A. Birds, Pt. XIL, pp. 161, 162). Prof. King examined 25 speci-
mens: 13 ate seeds of grasses, sedges, ete.; 1, an ichneumon fly; 1, a
chalcidian (?); 1, a moth; 6, 13 beetles; 2, 2 hemiptera; 2, 2 grasshop-
pers; 1, 6 snails, and 5,13 larve (Geol. of Wis., I., p. 537).

135. Grxus PASSERELLA Swatsson.

228. (585). Passerella iliaca (Murrr.).
Fox Sparrow.
Synonym, Fox-coLorEep SpaRRow.

Above, bluish-ashy, more or less marked with rufous and rufous-
brown; bright rufous on upper tail-coverts and tail; wings, edged
with rufous, with two narrow white cross bars. Below, white; sides
heavily streaked with brown; breast and other forward parts, marked
with triangular spots 4nd pointed streaks of black and rufous; bill,
yellow below; darker above.
972 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Length, 6.20-7.50; wing, 3.30-3.70; tail, 2.80-3.15.

Raner.—Eastern North America, from the Gulf States to Alaska
and the Arctic Coast. Breeds from the mouth of the St. Lawrence
River and Manitoba north. Winters from southern Indiana and Vir-
ginia south.

Nest, on ground or in bush, or low tree; of grass, rootlets and moss,
lined with hair and feathers. Eggs, 4 to 5; pale bluish, evenly speckled
or heavily blotched with umber or vinaceous-brown; .80 by .63.

 

Bill of Fox Sparrow.

This large, trim, fox-colored Sparrow appears to be an aristocrat
among his fellows. They are common migrants during March and
April, and October and November. Mild winters some are winter resi-
dents in the extreme southern part of the State, and others remain
all but a few weeks in the lower Whitewater Valley and, perhaps,
farther north. The winter of 1888-9 they remained all winter at
Vincennes (Balmer). Mild winters they remain most of the winter in
Putnam County (Clearwaters). The extreme records of first arrival
are: Brookville, February 16, 1881, April 1, 1885; Spearsville, March
6, 1894, and 1897, March 18, 1895; Bicknell, March 7, 1897, April
5, 1896; Lafayette, March 6, 1894, March 28, 1896; Wabash, March
11, 1894; Sedan, March 30, 1897, April 18, 1896; Chicago, Ill., March
18, 1893, April 1, 1897. Most have passed north before the last of
April and are rarely found in early May. Bloomington, April 20,
1895; Spearsville, April 19, 1895; Laporte, May 1, 1896; Richmond,
May 4, 1897, are extremely late dates. They are retiring birds, fre-
quenting thickets, brier patches and brush piles, where they are asso-
ciated with Towhees and Cardinals. Like the former, they spend
much time upon the ground scratching among the leaves. They are
on good terms with the Juncos, and when they visit their homes as-
sociate with them. They pass northward ahead of the Juncos and go
farther north to breed. With us the Fox Sparrow utters a sharp
tchep. It is said to have a clear, loud, melodious voice, and to sing
a sweet song, which I have never heard, but hope to some spring, as
they should occasionally give us a foretaste of the musical treat that
Birps or INDIANA. 973

is wasted—humanly speaking—on the uninhabited Hudson Bay
region. In autumn they begin to reach northern Indiana late in
September. Five were reported from Lebanon, September 28, 1894.
They were noted at Chicago, Ill., September 30, 1896, October 27,
1883; Lafayette, Ind., October 17, 1895,.November 3, 1894; Bicknell,
November 20, 1896; Greensburg, November 30, 1894. Prof. F. H.
King examined three specimens, one of which had eaten 50 chinch
bugs; the other two, small seeds.

136. Grnxus PIPILO Vreittor.

*229. (587). Pipilo erythrophthalmus (Liny.)..
Towhee.

Synonyms, CHEWINK, TowHEE BuntinG, Jewne, JorEr, Marsp Rosin,
Grounp Rosin.

Adult Male——Black; belly, white; sides, chestnut; crissum, fulvous-
brown; primaries and inner secondaries, with white touches on the
outer webs; outer tail feathers, with the outer web and nearly the ter-
minal half of the inner web, white; the next two or three, with white
spots, decreasing in size; bill, blackish; feet, pale brown; iris, red in
the adult, white or creamy in the young and generally in winter speci-
mens. Female—Rich, warm brown, where the male is black; other-
wise similar. Young—Streaked brown and dusky above; below, whit-
ish, tinged with brown and streaked with dusky.

Length, 7.50-8.75; wing, 3.30-3.75; tail, 3.55-4.10.

Rance.—Eastern North America, east of Texas and Dakota; north
to Manitoba and Labrador. Breeds from Georgia and lower Missis-
sippi Valley north. Winters from Indiana and Pennsylvania south.

Nest, on ground, or near it; of leaves and shreds of bark, lined with
grass and leaves. Hggs, 3-5; white, uniformly and thickly speckled
with different shades of rufous; .95 by .70.

The Towhee is a common resident in southern Indiana north at
least to the latitude of Vincennes and Brookville, and some winters
over the greater part of the south half of the State. Occasionally, in
mild winters, afew winterthroughoutthe State, and even in Michigan.
Over the greater part of our territory, however, the bird is best known
as a common summer resident. It is distributed everywhere among
bushes and thickets. At some seasons it frequents the densest woods;
at others, it enters the larger towns. Its well-known call, uttered by
both sexes, and variously interpreted, has given it a name everywhere.
The female does not sound the final & in chewink, which is distinctly
974 Report OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

given by the male. The other names refer to its being, in some
places, a frequenter of marshy thickets and of spending much of its
time upon the ground. There it enjoys turning over the old stems
and fallen leaves. It is pre-eminently the scratching sparrow. In
October, in a river valley, among some thicket of willows, cottonwoods,
and young sycamores, where wild sunflowers, horse-weeds and poke
grow rampant, the whole woven together by the interlacing of wild
cucumber vines, the number, and the varied, miscellaneous company
of birds found there is a revelation to the one who visits it for the
first time. Among the babel of voices and the flitting forms may be
observed Blue Jays, White-throated and White-crowned Sparrows,
Fox Sparrows, Swamp Sparrows, Song Sparrows, Field Sparrows, In-
digo Buntings, Juncos, Cardinals, Hermit Thrushes, Chats, Long-
billed Marsh Wrens, House Wrens, Carolina Wrens, Winter Wrens,
Tufted Titmice and Downy Woodpeckers. In winter, when many of
these are gone, whether we go to the woods or follow the fringing
bushes of some little run, the Towhee will be found, and not alone,
for the Cardinals, Juncos and Tree Sparrows, at least, will be found
occupying the same haunts. In spring, when the vegetation has fal-
len, been broken down or burned away, the old companions return
and are more readily seen. The variations in the time of its occur-
rence may be illustrated by the following dates: At Greencastle they
remained all the winter of 1894-5, but in 1896 were not noted until
April 4. They were first seen in Lafayette, March 6, 1894, March 28,
1896; at Sedan, March 1, 1894, March 30, 1896; Laporte, March 4,
1894, March 28, 1896; Petersburg, Mich., March 17, 1889, March 25,
1893; Chicago, Ill., March 20, 1884, April 17, 1886. They are rarely
common in the north part of the State before April 1, and about
Chicago, IIl., sometimes are not common until April 15 to 25. Most
of them disappear from our northern counties through September
and October. The latest records I have are: Chicago, October 12,
1895; Sedan, October 22, 1889; Lafayette, October 12, 1894, 1895.

In the lower Whitewater Valley I have found them mating March
21, 1883; paired, March 31, 1885, and building, April 5, 1884. They
occasionally nest quite early and raise two, perhaps three, broods.
Nests have been noted at Sedan with the birds sitting at the extreme
dates March 15 and August 1% (Mrs. Hine). In Lake County a nest
and three fresh eggs were taken in July, 1882 (Meyer). Eggs were
found at Waterloo, June 24, 1885 (Snyder). Mr. V. H. Barnett found
young in southern Vermillion County, August 4,. 1897.

The nuptial song is beautiful and striking. The male, from the top
or some high bush or high upon the principal limb of an isolated tree,
Birps oF INDIANA. 975

again and again repeats its score. Finally it flirts its tail and flies
* down to some brush pile, within which it disappears, and the call,
chewink, comes from the hidden depths of the heap. Its song sounds
something like, “look-out, ter-r-r.” The first syllable has a rising in-
flection; the second is slurred. Mr. E. E. Thompson interprets it as,
chuck-burr, pill-a-will-a-will-a. They begin singing some springs by
the middle of March, and while most cease in June, they may occasion-
ally be heard well into July. “Of seventeen specimens examined, five
had eaten small seeds; one raspberries; one, seven moths; three, nine
beetles; one, wheat; one, oats; one, a wasp; one, an ichneumon; two,
three grasshoppers; two, two cockroaches; one, a walkingstick (Spec-
trum femoratum), and four of its eggs; and one, a larva” (King, Geol.
of Wis., I, p. 543). Other authorities agree that this species is de-
eidedly insectivorous and beneficial.

137, Genus CARDINALIS Bonaparre.

*230. (593). Cardinalis cardinalis (Livy.).
Cardinal.
Synonyms, CARDINAL GROsBEAK, REDBIRD, VIRGINIA CARDINAL.

Adult Male—With a conspicuous crest; plumage, rich vermillion
or rosy-red, obseured with ashy on the back; throat and face, black;
bill, reddish; feet, brown. Adult F'emale—Ashy-brown; paler below,
with evident traces of red on the crest, wings, tail and under parts.

Length, 7.50-9.25; wing; 3.55-4.00; tail, 3.90-4.60.

Ranee.—Eastern United States west to Texas and Kansas; north
to Iowa, Indiana and southern New York. Casually or rarely to Maine,
Ontario, southern Michigan and Minnesota.

Nest, in bushes or vines, three to ten feet up; of twigs, bark, grass
and leaves, lined with grass. Hggs, 3-4; white, bluish or greenish-
white, spotted with rufous-brown, lavender and gray; .99 by .73.

The Cardinal is the most noticeable feature of our avian fauna.
Whether we consider its beautiful. dress, its cheery song, its good
habits or its beneficent deeds, there is nothing that cannot be admired.
It is resident throughout the State, being very common in the south-
ern part, north at least to Vermillion and Warren counties, Green-
eastle, Indianapolis, Connersville and Brookville. Throughout the
northern half of the State in some localities they are quite rare. There
some winters they disappear, others they reniain. They are often
more numerous in spring and fall than at other seasons. They are
very rare and of irregular occurrence in the northwest portion of the
976 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

State beyond the Wabash Valley. It has not been reported from Lake
County; is rare in Cook County, Ill.; Porter County, scarce (Trouslot);
rare winter resident at Kouts (Parker); Laporte County, Michigan
City, one record (Byrkit). In the northeastern part of the State it is
more numerous and seems to be increasing in numbers and extending
its range into Michigan. I have winter records from the following
counties: Steuben, Angola, several the winter of 1896-7 (Mrs. Sniff);
Dekalb, the following winters: 1888-9 (Snyder); 1889-90, 1890-91,
1892-8, 1894-5 (Mrs. Hine); Allen (Stockbridge); Elkhart and Kosci-
usko (Juday); Fulton (Gould). In Michigan it has been taken in
Hillsdale, Lenawee, Monroe and Kent counties, and at Detroit (Cook,
Birds of Mich., p. 117).

By the first of March the Cardinal begins ite songs. Both sexes
have the gift, but the male is the superior singer. Mating follows
soon after the opening of the season of song. I observed the begin-
ning of their courtship, March 7, 1887. Mr. Robert Ridgway says one
that he studied had six very distinct songs. He adds: “The diffi-
culty of expressing a bird’s notes by words is well known, but the fol-
lowing attempt may give some idea of the different songs of my Car-
dinal:

I. Hoit—whoit, whoit, whoit (eleven times); hoit-whoit, whoit, whoit (eleven

times).

II. WhedG, whet, wheG, whet, whet.

III. Tchew, tchew, tchew, tchew, tchew.

IV. Bird’ie, bird’ie, bird’ie—tchew, tchew, tchew, tchew.

V. Bird’ie, bird’ie, birdie, bird’ie, bird’ie, bird’ie.

VI. Whoy’it—whoy’it, whoy’et, whoy’et, chi-chi-chi-chi-chi-chi (a jingling trill
so long continued that it apparently ended only when the singer became
out of breath).

“The notes of many Cardinal Grosbeaks are clear and tender—far
sweeter than the mellowest notes of fife or flageolet.”

The above songs are readily recognized as good interpretations in
our ‘language of the efforts of many individuals we have heard. In
some of its notes there is some resemblance to those of the Carolina
Wren. Mr. Nehrling interprets its ordinary song as: “Jehu-jehu-
jehu-jehu-teu, tei, tea, ted, trrrrrrrr.” Such is the translation. To
know the song one must hear it and feel it. No keener interpreter of
Nature has caught its spirit than Hon. B. 8. Parker. He says:
Birps oF INDIANA. 977

‘When golden pippin trees are white
Some mellow, liquid, notes are heard,
That mingle in one brief delight
The thought of man, the soul of bird.
Sing on, my redbird! Strains that speak
A tenderer hope than words can tell;
The boor who named thee for thy beak
Had never felt the witching spell
Of wild-bird music, such as cleaves
The crust of pride and wafts the soul
From hate that blinds, ahd care that grieves
To love-taught art’s divinest goal.”
—Hoosier Bards, p. 14.
The song period continues until the end of August and sometimes
well into September (September 10, 1891). I found the nest and
eggs April 18, 1888.. Mr. J. O. Snyder found a nest with two fresh
eggs at Waterloo, May 20, 1883. They frequently build their nests
in shrubs, vines and young trees in towns. Several pairs build every
year within the town of Brookville, sometimes in vines that drape
the walls and screen the windows of residences. The spring of 1897 a
pair attempted to nest in a yard adjoining mine, but their hopes were
blighted, for, during a storm, a heavy wind blew the nest and eggs
from the Syringa bush where it was built, and the birds did not at-
tempt to rebuild. I first saw the female carrying the fibrous bark of
a last year’s morning glory vine from my yard to the nest May 16.
These were hanging in a cherry tree, and after much pulling she
would get a bill full and carry it to my neighbor’s bush. The female
did all the work. The male accompanied her every trip to or from
the nest. While she collected the nest-material he flew to the top of
a chimnef, the tip of the lightning-rod, the topmost limb of an apple
or fir tree, sometimes a hundred feet away, and poured forth a lively,
joyous song in earnest appreciation of the efforts of his mate. She
could not start towards the nest but he instantly darted to her side
and escorted her all the way; then, flying to the top of the neighboring
house, or to a telephone wire, while the female arranged her material,
he rejoiced in whistling song. A gay beau is the male! He is afraid
of soiling his bright, new coat. He carries the style and is the chief
musician. He lets his mate bear the burdens and encourages her by
his presence. Some men do not as well. For several years a pair
has built in a Virginia creeper against’ the side of another neighbor’s
house.
Often two broods, and sometimes three, are reared in a summer.
Mrs. Jane L. Hine informs me that a pair nested near that place
three times in the summer of 1891. The female was sitting August
978 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

28. That day, and for two weeks after, she sang sometimes a great
deal. July 18, 1896, I saw young which had just left the nest, and
August 28, of that year, I found a nest containing three eggs. To
one who has not visited the lower Ohio Valley, including the southern
part of the valleys of the Whitewater and the Wabash, especially at
a season when the trees are leafless, it would be difficult to convey
any idea of the numbers of Cardinals that are to be found there. The
rougher land, overgrown with second-growth or briers, and the waste
land along streams, afford an abundance of shelter, which will prob-
ably remain. While the quantity of food—seeds, wild fruits and in-
sects, added to the grains that are ungarnered or scattered by man—
affords them a good living, in winter they come about our homes and
feed upon the crumbs from the kitchen or pick up a share of the
wastes from the barnyard. It is no unusual thing, at that season, to
find from three to six pairs frequenting a comparatively small thicket
in a favorable locality, while almost every brier patch or clump of
bushes harbor a pair or two. :

They are easily tamed and in many localities are much sought, for
eage birds. In localities where I have been I do not think the prac-
tice of trapping them or robbing the nests of young birds is as com-
mon as it was some years ago. It should he discouraged by every one
and the offenders prosecuted.

1388. Genus HABIA Rercuensacn.

*231. (595). Habia ludoviciana (Liyy.).
Rose-breasted Grosbeak. ‘

Adult Male—Head, neck and back, glossy black; wings and tail,
black, the former barred with white, and primaries white at the base,
the latter with outer tail feathers tipped with white on inner web;
breast and under wing coverts, bright rose-red or carmine; rest of un-
der parts and rump, white; bill, large, pale; feet, dark. Adult Fe-
male—Above, grayish-brown, streaked with cream-buff and blackish;
stripe through center of crown, buff, and one over the eye, whitish;
wing coverts, tipped with white; below, white, tinged with buffy and
streaked with dusky; under wing coverts, saffron-yellow. Imma-
ture.—Similar to female, but with under wing coverts rose-red.

Length, 7.00-8.50; wing, 3.90-4.15; tail, 3.25-3.55.

Ranez.—America, from Ecuador to Labrador and Saskatchewan
west to eastern Kansas. Breeds from higher points of North Carolina
and central Indiana, north. Winters from Cuba and Mexico, south.
Brrps oF Inprana. 979

Nest, in bush, or low down in tree, of twigs, fibres and rootlets.
Eggs, 3-5; greenish-blue, thickly spotted with olive-brown and rufous-
brown; .95 by .67.

Throughout northern Indiana this attractive bird is found, in most
places, as a summer resident, increasing in numbers as one goes north-
ward. Elsewhere, it is an irregular migrant, some years very common,

        
 

 

   
 

  
   
 

   

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74,

Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

(Beal._Farmer’s Bulletin 54, United States Department of Agriculture.)

others, rare or wholly absent. In some localities, where it was for-
merly found in some numbers, it is said to be becoming scarce.

It breeds commonly south to the Wabash River: Wabash, Logans-
port and Lafayette. Farther south, at Terre Haute, it rarely builds,
and it has been reported nesting at Frankfort, Lebanon and Anderson.
It is extremely unusual for it to breed farther south, but it has been
so reported from Bloomington. Audubon found it nesting near Cin-
cinnati, O., and Dr. R. Haymond thought it might breed in Franklin
County, as he had found it there in early June and in August. Dr.
Wheaton once found a nest near Columbus, O. (Birds of Ohio, pp.
346, 347), and Mr. Otto Widmann has observed it nesting at St. Louis,
Mo., where it rears two broods in a season (Nehrling, N. A. Birds,
Pt. XIIL., p. 204). They nest on low bushes, tall shrubs, in orchards
and forest trees even, at times quite high. Along the Des Plaines
River, in Illinois, they nest in thorn trees (Parker). They prefer to
breed in the neighborhood of lakes, streams and tamarack swamps
980 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

(Mrs. Hine). In northern Ohio, they frequent the cranberry marshes
and nest there (Wheaton). The nest and eggs very much resemble
those of a Scarlet Tanager.

The first nests, with full sets of eggs, are usually found late in May;
May 22, 1897, Anderson; May 27, 1893, Lafayette; May 30, some
years, Cook County, Ill. The breeding season continues through
June. The male shares in incubation.

In the spring, some years, they come into the State by April 25,
and arrive at their breeding grounds, beyond the Wabash River, by .
April 27 to May 1. Dates of early and late first arrivals for the places
noted are as follows: Bloomington, April 23, 1886, May 1, 1887;
Brookville, April 25, 1885, May 8, 1897; Bicknell, April 25, 1897,
May 8, 1894; Spearsville, April 29, 1894, May 1, 1895; Terre Haute,
May 1, 1887, May 9, 1890; Lafayette, April 28, 1894, May 8, 1897;
Sedan, April 28, 1896, May 7, 1889; Petersburg, Mich., April 27,
1888, May 5, 1889. The earliest arrivals are males; the females follow
later.

When with us, in southern Indiana, in spring, they frequent the
wooded hillsides and uplands, preferring the former. There they are
often to be seen feeding upon the buds of the elm, oak and maple,
and catching insects among the topmost boughs of those trees. They do
not move about much, but their beautiful notes attract one to them.
Often, in looking among the greening tree-top, one may be seen, and,
while watching it, another and another will move slightly until from
six to a dozen are finally located.

Viewed from a distance through the timber, as they fly, they may
readily be taken for Red-headed Woodpeckers, so sharply is the black
and white of the plumage contrasted.

All who have heard the song of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak have .
been charmed by it, and all who have known the singer, hold it in the
highest regard. Beauty of song has made it famous as a wild bird,
and it is extensively known also as a desirable cage bird, but the
beauty of its tri-colored plumage would attract attention even had it
not such a remarkable voice. That is not all; it does beautiful deeds.
Few birds are more beneficial to man. With the exception of a few
peas, its vegetable food consists of the buds and blossoms of shade
and forest trees, and seeds. They eat many insects. The value of its
services in its breeding range, in destroying Colorado potato beetles,
can not be overestimated. Prof. F. E. L. Beal tells of one field that
was badly infested by these destructive insects. “The Grosbeaks vis-
ited the field every day, and finally brought their fledged young. The
young birds stood in a row on the topmost rail of the fence, and were
Birps oF INDIANA. 981

fed with the beetles which their parents gathered. When a careful
inspection was made, a few days later, not a beetle, old or young,
could be found; the birds had swept them from the field and saved
the potatoes” (Farmers’ Bulletin No. 54, U. S. Dept. of Agr., p. 29).
“Of eight specimens examined, six had eaten small seeds; two, seven
beetles; and one, berries” (King, Geol. of Wis., I, p. 542). Prof.
Forbes notes they eat canker worms, which, in some he examined,
formed 66 per cent. of their food (Rept. Mich. Hort. Soc., 1881, p.
204); also army worms and other caterpillars, wood-boring, leaf-
chafing and snout beetles, and hymenoptera.

The latest dates at which they have been observed, in fall, are as
follows: Plymouth, Mich., September 3, 1894; Lebanon, Ind., Sep-
tember 12, 1894; Lafayette, September 15, 1894; Bicknell, September
28, 1894; Sedan, September 22, 1889; Warren County, September 18,
1897; Chicago, Ill, September 26, 1895; Brookville, Ind., October 5,
1887,

139. Gzunus GUIRACA Swainson.

232. (597). Guiraca cerulea (Linn.).
Blue Grosbeak.

Adult Male—Deep blue, darker on the back; chin, lores and tail
feathers, black; wings, black, edged with blue; middle and secondary
wing coverts, tipped with rufous-brown or chestnut. Adult Female
and Immature.—Yellowish-brown above; brownish-yellow beneath;
darkest on breast; wings and tail, fuscous; wing crossed by two bars of
ochraceous-buff; tail, faintly tinged with blue.

Length, 6.35-7.50; wing, 3.35-3.60; tail, 2.70-2.90.

Ranez.—North America, from Cuba and Mexico to southern Ne-
braska, southern Indiana and South Carolina. Casually to New Eng-
land. Winters south of the United States.

Nest, in bush, or low in tree, at edge of wood or field, of grass,
lined with rootlets and hair. Eggs, 3-4; pale bluish-white; .84 by .66.

Of rare or accidental occurrence in the southwestern part of the
State. Mr. Robert Ridgway observed a specimen in Knox County
in the spring of 1881. That is the only record of its occurrence in In-
diana. Mr. Ridgway notes it as rare in southern Illinois, and it has
been observed in Kentucky. This species is quite local.and inconspic-
uous. It frequents localities similar to those occupied by the Indigo
Bunting. The song is said to resemble that of the Purple Finch.
In summer they are said to live chiefly upon insects, but through fall
and winter they subsist mainly upon wild fruits and seeds.
982 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

140. Gunus PASSERINA VisiLor,

*233. (598). Passerina cyanea (Linn.).
Indigo Bunting.

Synonym, Inpico Birp.

Adult Male.—Blue; darker on head, throat and breast; lighter on
back; black about base of bill; wing and tail feathers, black, with
bluish edgings; bill, dark above, light below, with a dark stripe along
gonys. Adult Female.—Brown above, whitish below, more or less
streaked with brownish; shoulders, ramp and some of larger feathers,
showing blue; wing and tail feathers, more or less distinctly edged
with bluish. Immature—Male, similar to female, but showing more
or less blue, according to age; young birds, streaked below.

Length, 4.75-5.75; wing, 2.60-2.80; tail, 2.20-2.50.

Note.—Close observation will show bluish edgings on wing and tail
feathers, which will determine the bird.

Ranezt.—North America, from Panama and Cuba, east of Plains,
to Minnesota, northern Michigan and Nova Scotia. Breeds through-
out its United States range. Winters from the coast of the Gulf
States, south.

Nest, in crotch of bush, low down, of leaves, grass and bark,
lined with similar material. Wggs, 3-5; white, tinged with blue, occa-
sionally speckled with reddish-brown; .73 by .53.

The Indigo Bunting is a common summer resident throughout In-
diana. The blue plumage and sprightly song of the male are known
to every one who has spent much time about bushes, brier patches
and thickets. They prefer the drier land and are very seldom found,
in southern Indiana at least, about low or swampy places.

They sometimes appear on the southern border of the State by the
middle of April, but other years, when the season is more forbidding,
they are not found until May 1. The following early and late dates
of first appearance are given: Bloomington, April 13, 1882, May 2,
1895; Bicknell, April 22, 1896, April 30, 1895; Brookville, April 22,
1885, May 8, 1889; Vigo County, April 18, 1897, May 8, 1886; Spears-
ville, April 27, 1895, and 189%, April 29, 1894; Greencastle, April
24, 1896, May 1, 1894 and 1895; Lafayette, April 27, 1896, May 10,
1895; Sedan, May 4, 1895, May 8, 1896; Chicago, IIL, May 18, 1895,
May 23, 1896 and 1897.

The males precede the females from a day to a week. Mating be-
gins soon after the latter arrive. The beginning of pairing was noted
at Brookville, May 9, 1887. Sometimes they must be mated when
Brrps oF Inpiansa. ~° 983

they arrive. Mr. V. H. Barnett found a nest, with two eggs, at Spears-
ville, May 14, 1895. They may be found nesting commonly late in
May and early in June. Sometimes two broods are reared in a sum-
mer. August 18, 1896, I found a nest and eggs at Brookville. Mr.
J. O. Snyder informs me he has known these birds to use the same
nest two years in succession. The males continue in song well along
toward the first of August. I found one singing, August 3, 1897.
After they cease singing they are less conspicuous. They leave the
latter part of August and in September. The old males go first. The
latest dates at which they have been seen at the places noted are:
Manchester, Mich., September 10, 1894; Plymouth, Mich., September
15, 1895; Sedan, Ind., September 27, 1894; Lafayette, September 21,
1895; Trafalgar, September 26, 1897; Bicknell, September 29, 1895;
Brookville, October 14, 1896.

They are so numerous, frequenting every place where bushes grow
about the farm, even to the small fruit garden, and can adapt them-
selves to many foods, that it is desirable that they receive the
fullest protection, for at any time they may prove of untold value in
assisting to hold in check some threatened outbreak of injurious in-
sects. Prof. King found that, of 19, 2 ate caterpillars; 1, 2 beetles;
1, a grasshopper; 1, raspberries; 1, elderberries; and 18 of them ate
seeds of various weeds (Geol. of Wis., I., p. 542). Prof. Forbes found
that 78 per cent. of the food of some he examined was canker-worms
(Rept. Mich. Hort. Soc., 1881, p. 204). He also notes they eat other
eaterpillars, spring beetles, vine chafers, snout beetles and hemiptera.

141. Gexnus SPIZA Bonaparte.

*234. (604) Spiza americana (Gu:x ).
Dickcissel.
Synonyms, BLACK-THROATED Buntine, Lirrte MEapow Lark.

Adult Male.—Top and sides of head, sides and back of neck, ash;
forehead, tinged with yellow; line over eye, one on each side of throat,
edge of wing, and breast, yellow; a black patch on throat and upper
breast; throat, lores, belly and under tail coverts, white; wing coverts,
chestnut; back, with black streake; wings and tail, fuscous. Adult
Female.—Similar, except less yellow on the breast; black pateh on
throat replaced by spots or streaks; top of head, more brownish.
Young. —Similar to female, but more buffy.

. Length, 5.75-6.80; wing, 2.80-3.30; tail, 2.35-2.90.
984 REPORT OF StatE GEOLOGIST.

Rance.—America, from Colombia over the eastern United States
to Massachusetts, Ontario, Michigan, Minnesota and North Dakota.
Rare east of the Alleghanies. Breeds throughout its United States
range. Winters south of United States.

Nest, on ground or in bush, of leaves, grass, rootlets and weed
stalks, lined with grasses and hair. Hggs, 3-5; pale blue; .80 by .60.

In most localities the Dickcigsel is an abundant summer resident.
However, it is a recent introduction into our fauna. Mr. E. J. Chans-
ler says he can remember when it was rare in Knox County, where its
numbers now are perhaps exceeded by no other bird. It appeared in
Franklin County some time between 1869 and 1879. While it has be-
come abundant there, in the upland meadows, it is quite uncommon in
the valleys of streams and on the rougher land. As is to be supposed,
it is rare in the more heavily timbered portion of southern Indiana.
In 1886, Prof. B. W. Evermann noted it was becoming more com-
mon in Carroll County each year. Mrs. Jane L. Hine first observed
them at Sedan, Dekalb County, in 1887, and Mr. J. P. Feagler, at
Waterloo, in 1894. They are still rare there. In the spring of 1887
I found it rare in the parts of Cook County, Ill., that I visited. It is
now said to be locally common there. Dr. Gibbs says (1893) it was not
known in Michigan twenty years ago (Cook, Birds of Mich., p. 118).
In 1894 Mr. L. Whitney Watkins notes that it only appeared at Man-
chester, Mich., within the last few years. Mr. T. L. Hankinson noted
that it appeared for the first time at Agricultural College, Mich., the
spring of 1896. Prof. E. E. Fish, of Buffalo, N. Y., informed me that
in 1891 it was more numerous than any other species of bird about
Logansport, Ind.

Some early and late dates of ‘first spring appearances are given:
Brookville, April 19, 1887, May 10, 1886; Bicknell, April 20, 1894,
May 13, 1896; Bloomington, April 28, 1893, May 4, 1895; Green-
castle, April 29, 1893, May 5, 1896; Lafayette, April 27%, 1896, May
13, 1893; Waterloo, April 30, 1897, May 10, 1896; Plymouth, Mich.,
May 1, 1895, May 3, 1891; Chicago, Ill., May 4, 1895, May 16, 1897.

They are associated in my mind with the Grasshopper Sparrow.
They arrive about the same time, frequent similar places, the period
of singing is about the same, and they depart together. In the south-
ern part of the State they are often mated when they arrive. The
site for a home is at once chosen and work upon the structure is
begun. The bird is adapting itself to conditions. In the more open
regions it nests upon the ground, frequently in a clover field or
meadow. Other places, it builds in clumps of weeds a little distance
off the ground. Dr. Hoy, of Racine, Wis., never found a nest in that
Brrps oF INDIANA. 985

vicinity on the ground, and, some were elevated on bushes as much as
six feet. Prof. Cook says, in Michigan, they usually nest on bushes.
In Lake, County, Ind., Mr. L. T. Meyer notes that they nest upon the
ground. The same conditions that operate upon the Grasshopper
Sparrow act upon the Dickcissel. The different times of mowing the
clover and timothy crops and of cutting the small grain result in
driving them and the insects from the land, as they are left neither
shelter nor their usual food. Notwithstanding these discouragements,
they continue common, and our people are beginning to recognize in
them good friends.

Mr. W. O. Wallace has taken a nest and four eggs in Wabash
County as early as May 18, 1894, and Mr. T. L. Hankinson took a
nest and four eggs at Agricultural College, Mich., June 18, 1896.
Their song is a peculiar one, uttered from fence, bush, tree or tall
weed, from early morning till evening. It is said to suggest the
syllables see, see—Dick, Dick-cissel, cissel. Dr. Coues would interpret
it: look! look! see me here! see! But it comes to me characteristi-
cally as five metallic sounds—something like the noise made by drop-
ping six silver dollars, one upon the other, into one’s hand: clenk,
clenk, clenk-clenk-clenk. They keep singing until late July or early
August, and then the song and the singer vanish together. Many were
heard singing August 3, 1897. August 6 there were but few, and
neither song nor bird were noted after that date. In 1896 they were
last reported from Bicknell, August 26 (Chansler).

Prof. 8. A. Forbes, in writing of an orchard infested with canker-
worms, says: “Another valuable species was the Black-throated Bunt-
ing, Spiza americana. This confined itself less strictly to the (canker)
worms for food than the foregoing (Cedar bird), but was much more
abundant and was nesting in the orchard. Eleven birds were exam-
ined, and eight of them were found to have eaten canker-worms,
which made about half the total food of the whole number. Cater-
pillars are usually eaten in May by the Black-throated Bunting, in the
ratio of about 20 per cent., while they made 70 per cent. of the food
of those shot among the canker-worms” (Rept. Mich. Hort. Soc.,
1881, p. 204). They live largely upon grasshoppers and other meadow
insects, eating also seeds.
986 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

XLIL Famity TANAGRIDE. TANAGERS.

a}, Bill stout, finchlike, with a more or less evident tooth near middle of cutting

edge of upper mandible. Prranca. 142
142. Genus PIRANGA VreiLuor.

a}, Male scarlet, wings and tail black; female not red, under parts greenish yellow.

P. erythromelas Vieill. 235

a®, Male vermillion red; wings and. tail not black; female not red ; buffy yellow

below. P. rubra (Linn.). 236

*235. (608). Piranga erythromelas VI£ILLot.
Scarlet Tanager.

Synonym, BLack-wincED REDBIRD.

Adult Male——Head and body, continuous, intense scarlet; wings
and tail, intense black; bill, greenish; feet, blue. Adult Female.——
Olive-green above, greenish-yellow beneath; under wing coverts,
white; wings and tail, fuscous. Immature Male—At first, similar to
female, but with wings and tail black; later, with plumage spotted
with green and scarlet.

Length, 6.50-7.50; wing, 3.55-3.90; tail, 2.80-3.25; bill, .55-.60.

Rane@e.—America, from Peru north over eastern United States to
New Brunswick and Manitoba. Breeds from southern Illinois and
Virginia north. Winters south of United States.

Nest, on a horizontal lower limb of tree, usually on the borders of
a wood; of twigs, bark and leaves, lined with rootlets and bark fibres.
iggs, 3-5; greenish-blue or bluish-white, speckled and blotched with
rufous-brown; .90 by .65.

The brilliant red and jet-black plumage of the male Scarlet Tana-
ger have made it a well known bird to those familiar with the more
open woodland. Its less conspicuous mate is, however, a stranger.
They are common summer residents throughout the State, arriving
in southern Indiana late in April, the migrants passing rapidly
through, and, in from three days to a week, usually reaching our
northern border. The following are early and late dates of its first
arrival: Brookville, April 22, 1882, May 1, 1884, and 1896; Bicknell,
April 18, 1896, April 24, 1894, and 1895; Bloomington, April 22,
1896, May 6, 1882; Lafayette, April 25, 1896, April 30, 1895; Sedan,
April 19, 1889, April 30, 1894; Laporte, May 2, 1893, May 9, 1896;
Petersburg, Mich., April 27, 1888, May 6, 1893; Chicago, Ill., May 1,
1886, and 1896, May 11, 1894.

In the Whitewater Valley they frequent the wooded hillsides and
uplands, being seldom found among the timber in the river bottoms.
Birps oF INDIANA. 987

In southern Illinois, according to Mr. Ridgway, they prefer the high
timber of bottom lands to upland woods. In the northern part of the
State the upland oak woods are favorite haunts.

Mr. Bicknell says their ordinary note is chip-chirr, but quotes Mr.
F. T. Jencks as saying that, in Illinois and Indiana, it has three notes
—chip-chir-ree. He notes that its song may be heard until August
20 (The Auk, Vol. I., 1884, p. 326). To me it seems to utter a
chuck-ah or chuck-ur, which is one of the characteristic sounds of the
woodland. The Scarlet Tanager has a song, too, which it sings from
the top of some tree. Mr. Ridgway says this resembles “somewhat
that of the Robin in its modulation, but is shriller in tone, more hur-
ried, and enunciated in a peculiar, wavering style.”

In spring, the males are observed in advanee of the females, but
usually only a few days at most. Mating follows at once upon the
arrival of the latter. I observed them mating, May 4, 1886. May
15, 1897, one of my sons found an egg of this species on the ground,
where it had in some manner been dropped. I found a nest, with
eggs, May 20, 1886. The latter part of May and through early June
nests may be found containing eggs. Their nest is a frequent recep-
tacle for the egg of the Cowbird. Scarlet Tanagers begin to be less
numerous in August, and generally leave before the middle of Sep-
tember. However, specimens have been observed at Chicago, IIL,
October 3, 1895; Brookville, Ind., October 6, 1894; Zanesville, Octo-
ber 22, 1896; Lebanon, September 29, 1894.

They live principally upon insects and destroy great numbers of
those kinds that frequent forest trees. Dr. B. H. Warren examined
29 specimens and found that, with the exception of two, which had
eaten cherries, their food was entirely insects, largely beetles (Birds
of Pa., 2d Ed., p. 251). Prof. F. H. King also examined 29 specimens,
and found their principal food was as follows: 26 caterpillars, 47
beetles, 11 spiders, 7 grasshoppers. They also had eaten ants, ichneu-
mon flies, 6 diptera, 6 hemipterous insects, 1 dragon fly. Curculios,
elaters and leaf-chafers formed a part of the beetles eaten (Geol. of
Wis., L., p. 512).

“At inact three years seem to be required for the assumption of the
perfect plumage of the male. In the first year the young male is like
the female, but has black wings and tail; in the fall red feathers begin
to make their appearance, and the following spring the red predomi-
nates in patches” (B. B. and R., Hist. N. A. Birds, I., p. 435). Occa-
sionally, also, the female assumes, in part or wholly, the plumage of
the male (The Auk, July, 1891, pp. 315, 316; Ibid, October, 1897,
pp. 406, 407).
988 Report oF SraTE GEOLOGIST.

The correction in nomenclature by which the present species be-
comes P. erythromelas instead of P. rubra, which is the correct name
of the Summer Red Bird, has led to much confusion, and many er-
roneous records have latterly been made by those using the old nomen-
clature.

*236. (610). Piranga rubra (Livy.).

Summer Tanager.

Synonyms, SummMER RepBirp, RED BEE-BIRD.

Adult Male.—Vermillion-red, the wings and tail similar; other up-
per parts, duller than lower; bill, yellowish, darker above; feet, gray.
Adult Female——Yellowish-olive above, light ochrey-yellow beneath
(Ridgway). Immature.—Like female.

Length, 7.45-7.95; wing, 3.70-3.95; tail, 2.90-3.15; bill, .82-.90.

Raner.—America, from Peru over eastern United States to New
Jersey, Indiana and eastern Kansas. Casually to Nova Scotia and
Ontario. Breeds throughout its United States range. Winters south
of United States.

Nest and Eggs, similar to those of P. erythromelas.

Over a good portion of southern Indiana the Summer Tanager is a
common summer resident. It is not so brightly colored as the last
species and is less retiring, being often found along highways, where
they pass through woods, and about the edges of timber land. They
frequent the more level upland, where, among the oak and beeches of
the white clay land, they are more abundant than the Scarlet Tanager
in the same portion of the State. They are common as far as Han-
over, the bluffs of the Whitewater near Brookville, which river they
rarely cross, Bloomington, and Terre Haute. They have been noted
at Greencastle and at Shades of Death, Parke County. Mr. V. H. Bar-
nett noted it near Clinton, Vermillion County, August 2, 1897. Mr.
Robert Ridgway has-noted its appearance at Wheatland from April 18
to 23. It has first appeared at other places noted at the following
early and late dates: Bicknell, April 16, 1896, April 26, 1894; Han-
over, April 21, 1896, April 27, 1897; Bloomington, April 28, 1886,
May 1, 1893; Terre Haute, April 26, 1890, April 28, 1888; Brookville,
April 26, 1897, May 11, 1880. In the fall, they leave late in Septem-
ber and early in October. The latest dates noted are Brookville,
September 24, 1894; Bicknell, October 4, 1896; Wheatland, October
10, 1882.
Birps oF INDIANA. 989

The call note is different from that of the Scarlet Tanager, sound-
ing, as it comes through the woods, like per-chuck-urr. Mr. Ridgway
says its ordinary notes are pa-chip-it-tut-tut-tut, or, as Wilson ex-
presses it, chicky-chuck-chuck. The song resembles, in its general
character, that of the Scarlet Tanager, but is far louder, better sus-
tained and more musical. It equals in strength that of the Robin,
but is uttered more hurriedly, is more wiry, and much more con-
tinued. The male does not acquire his full plumage for several years.
Therefore, the plumage is often strangely marked with red and yel-
low. Females are sometimes found showing red markings. “One,
shot at Wheatland, Ind., May 21, 1881, had the plumage more
than one-half red, the red color being of greater extent, in fact, than
on the male, which was killed by the same shot. The tint of red is
very peculiar, being of dull Chinese orange, instead of pure, rosy ver-
million, asin the male. * * * ‘The food of this bird consists, to
a great extent, of hornets, wasps, and bees, on which account it is to
a greater or less extent known to the farmers as the ‘Red Bee-bird’ ”
(Ridgway, Birds of IL, L., pp. 217, 218). These and other insects
constitute its summer food, but with the ripening of wild fruits and
seeds in the fall, they become quite a factor in its bill of fare.

To most of us this bird was formerly known as P. estwa (Gm.),
and to the last species was given the name P. rubra (Linn.). It was
found that Linneus’ name, rubra, applied to this species, and, in at-
tempting to correct an error, much trouble has been caused to those
who knew them by the old names, and, in regions whtere both are
found, confusion of data will result.

XLII Famimy HIRUNDINIDZ  Swattows.

a‘, Nostrils opening directly upward and with very little membrane bordering
edge.
b1, Wing 5.00 or more; tail forked; male glossy black. Procne. 143
b?. Wing less than 5.00; tail nearly even.
cl. Plumage of upper parts lustrous blue-black, marked with various shades
of chestnut; edge of outer quill without recurved hooks.
PETROCHELIDON. 144
e?, Plumage of upper parts pale grayish brown; edge of outer quill with stiff
recurved hooks (obscure in female). STELGIDOPTERYX. 148
a?. Nostrils opening laterally, covered more or less by a membrane or scale.
d', Tail forked for more than half its length; tail feathers with white spots.
CHELIDON. 145
d?, Tail forked for less than half its length.
e!. No feathers on lower part of tarsus; plumage lustrous above.
'  -Tacrycrneta. 146
e?, Small tuft of feathers on lower part of tarsus; plumage of upper parts
dark gray. Cuivicota. 147
990 Revort oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

143. Genus PROGNE Bors.

*237. (611). Progne subis (Linn ).
Purple Martin.

Adult Male—Lnstrous blue-black. Adult Female and Young.—
Much duller above; more or less white below, streaked with gray.

Length, 7.25-8.50; wing, 5.65-6.20; tail, 3.00-3.40.

Ranez.—America, from Argentine Republic and Bolivia north over
eastern United States to Manitoba, Ontario and Newfoundland.
Breeds throughout its range. Winters from Mexico, south.

Nest, of grass, straw, string, paper, etc., lined with feathers; in
boxes provided for them. Hggs, 4-5; pure glossy-white; .97 by .72.
_ The Purple Martin is a well known summer resident in most locali-
ties. Some places, however, it is not found, though common a few
miles away. In many localities its numbers are much less than for-
merly, while in a few places it is noted as becoming more common.
None of our native birds have suffered more from the English Spar-
row than this. Their houses, homes in box cornices, and other nest-
ing sites, have been occupied by the irrepressible little foreigner. The
Martins fought bravely for their homes, but in many cases gave up the
battle. In southeastern Indiana they are notably few in numbers,
compared with those that summered there before the Sparrows came.
This is true about all the cities and larger towns, not of this State
only, but of the eastern United States generally. At Lafayette, I
am informed, they were more common in 1896 than usual. In De-
kalb County it is rare (Mrs. Hine), and is not found at Waterloo
(Snyder) or at Redkey (Hathaway). I suspect, from the fact that
they regularly return each spring, they will adapt themselves to cir-
cumstances and once more become numerous. This could be helped
by our having boxes prepared that could be put up about the time
they appear or at a moment’s notice when they arrive. These sites
would not then be occupied by Sparrows in advance, and, with a little
watchfulness upon our part the Martins would probably be secure in
their occupancy of them. They would be further encouraged by
keeping their houses closed each year until the time of their arrival.

The early and late records of first arrival are: Spearsville, March
21, 1894, March 29, 1897; Brookville, March 27, 1882, April 16,
1894; Bloomington, March 28, 1886, April 17, 1895; Bicknell, April
6, 1894, April 12, 1895; Greencastle, April 2, 1893, April 12, 1894;
Lafayette, March 23, 1897, April 30, 1893; Richmond, March 25,
1897; Muncie, April 3, 1897, April 28, 1893; Dekalb County, April 5,
1896, April 17, 1894; Laporte, April 4, 1893, April 14, 1894; Peters-
Birps oF Inprana. 991

burg, Mich., April 26, 1888, May 1, 1889; Chicago, Ill., March 31,
1885, May 5, 1896. The males often arrive first and are followed later
by the females.

Mating begins early in April, or at once upon arrival, if they are
late. In 1896, Prof. W. P. Shannon noted that they began to build
at Greensburg April 25. May 9 the nest was completed and the first
egg was laid. Evidently an egg was deposited each day, for on May
13 the nest contained four eggs, and the bird had begun to sit. The
young are usually able to leave the nest toward the last of June. I
observed them learning to fly in 1886, from June 28 until July 9.
After the young are able to fly, neither the old nor young return to
the nesting site to roost.

Mr. Otto Widmann tells us, as night falls they collect in colonies in
willow thickets, where they roost, and scatter again as the day breaks.
Their cheery songs are heard well into July—July 21, 1897. Mr.
Widmann noted them singing at St. Louis, Mo., as late as August 12.
Their ordinary call is heard as long as they remain. They were last
observed, at Lafayette, August 31, 1896, and September 19, 1895; at
Bicknell, August 18, 1896, August 30, 1894; Vermillion County, Au-
gust 14, 1897; Brookville, August 31, 1883. Often they mostly dis-
appear late in July or early in August, and usually but few are seen
after the middle of the latter month.

The Martin is a general favorite, yet it destroys many bees, tiger
beetles and other beneficial insects. Therefore it should eat a great
quantity of injurious insects to balance the destruction of those bene-
ficial kinds. Prof. King informs us that five ate 14 bees, 8 tiger
beetles, 2 butterflies, 9 breeze flies, 6 dragon flies, 3 mollusks (Geol. of
Wis., I., p. 24). They have also been known to capture squash beetles.

The Purple Martin migrates from tropical America, both north and
south, breeding in the Argentine ‘Republic as naturally as it does
with us. Prof. F. Sumichrast reported it a resident of the Alpine
region of Mexico.

144, Grnus PETROCHELIDON Cazanis.

*288. (612). Petrochelidon lunifrons (Say.).
Cliff Swallow.

Synonyms, Eaye Swa.tow, SQUARE-TAILED BARN Swattow, Mup Dauser.

Adult.—Lustrous steel-blue; forehead, whitish or brown; rump, ru-
fous; chin, throat and sides of head, chestnut; a steel-blue spot on the
throat; breast, sides and generally a ring around the neck, rusty-gray,
whitening on the belly. Immature——Duller; throat, black, possibly
with whitish markings.
992 REporT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Length, 5.00-6.00; wing, 4.05-4.55; tail, 2.00-2.20.

Ranoe.—America, from Paraguay to Labrador, Alaska and the
Arctic Ocean. Breeds from Mexico (Mazatlan), north. Winters
south of the United States.

Nest, a bottle or gourd-shaped structure of mud, attached te cliffs
or under the eaves of buildings, lined with feathers and bits of straw.
Eggs, 3-5; white, spotted with olive or rufous-brown; .81 by .55.

One of the pleasant recollections of my boyhood is of visits to the
country where the large barns were elaborately decorated beneath the
eaves, sometimes in a double row, with the curious, bottle-shaped nests
of the Eave Swallow. I should think from one to two hundred nests
could be found on a single barn, and many barns harbored large col-
onies. Now they are much less common in Franklin County. In
southern Indiana they prefer the uplands for building sites, usually
nesting in colonies. Sometimes, however, one, or a few pairs, are
found nesting by themselves. They usually return year after year
to the same building, but occasionally change the site of a colony,
deserting an old locality and seeking a new one. They now rarely
build along our rivers, though I can remember when some barns there
were quarters for large numbers. That would seem to be the natural
place for their homes because of the ease with which mud can be ob-
tained. But the sand in the mud is a discouraging feature that. is re-
sponsible for so few nesting there. I know of two instances in which
a colony of these birds came to a barn near the river and began to
construct nests. When they were almost completed they crumbled
and fell. Again and again they tried to build, but each. time the nests
fell when they began to dry. At last, despairing of succeeding, they
left the locality never to return. I know of but one instance of their
building ina town. Some years ago J found a few pairs nesting about
a barn near the canal at Metamora, Ind.. Before the days when men
built barns these birds built along cliffs. In some parts of the United
States such sites are still occupied. Mr. Angus Gaines informs me
they yet breed against a bluff in Knox County. In the days gone by
the thoughtless farmer, with his long pole; the mischievous urchin and
the prowling cat were their most persistent enemies. Later man intro-
duced the English Sparrow, which in many localities has succeeded in
driving the “mud daubers” away. Each year reports are made of ad-
ditional localities from which they have been driven.* In 1891 they
and the Barn Swallows were driven from our barn by English Spar-
rows (S. T. Sterling, Camden). In 1895 none appeared at Bicknell;
seldom nests any more (E. J. Chansler). Decreasing in numbers with-
in the last year, 1897 (Prof. Glenn Culbertson, Hanover). Are being
Birps oF INDIANA. 993

driven off by English Sparrows (A. H. Kendrick, Ellsworth, 1897).
Not so common as formerly; has been driven off by English Sparrows
(Wabash, Ulrey and Wallace).

The impression once held’ was that these birds had but recently
extended their range to the eastern United States. It is known, how-
ever, that they were found in New York, New Hampshire, New Bruns-
wick and Vermont about the time the species was described by Say.
In 1819 Audubon noted them at Newport, Ky. Information concern-
ing their occurrence in this State prior to 1850 is almost wanting.
Dr. Haymond says: “These Swallows first built their nests in this
county (Franklin) in 1849. Previous to that time they were occasion-
ally seen as migrants” (Proc. Phila. Acad. Sci., 1856, p. 287). In
the early days when they built about cliffs they were unknown, save
during migration, away from the vicinity of such places. Their ex-
tension over the State, and over the country generally, came with the
provision by man of suitable nesting sites.

Mr. Geo. L. Toppan informs me that he found two nests among a
colony of these birds, each of which was of the usual gourd shape, and
contained an egg of the Cowbird. It seems impossible that these in-
trusive eggs could be deposited in such nests except the parent Cow-
bird placed them there with her bill.

The Cliff Swallow some years arrives by April 10; others, is nearly
a month later. Early and late dates of first arrival are: Brookville,
April 12, 1881, April 26, 1897; Bloomington, April 18, 1884, May 2,
1893; Hanover, April 10, 1897, April 24, 1896; Delphi, April 7, 1894;
Vigo County, April 15, 1896, April 26, 1897; Dekalb County, April
10, 1897, May 4, 1890; Michigan City, April 12, 1890; Petersburg,
Mich., April 26, 1889; Chicago, Ill., April 13, 1886, May 9, 1897.
Sometimes not only the early arrivals, but late ones as well, perish
from severe weather. During the very unseasonable weather of May
20 and 21, 1883, many died. After breeding they leave the vicinity
of our homes, but later in the season, generally in August, are seen
again as they make their way southward. The latest fall dates at hand
are: Bicknell, August 25, 1896, September 5, 1894; Franklin County,
September 3, 1897; Sedan, October 5, 1887. They feed upon insects,
among which have been identified ichneumon flies, flies, leap-hoppers,
beetles, bugs, ants, wasps and grasshoppers.

63—GEOL.
994 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

145. Genus CHELIDON Forsree.

*239, (613). Chelidon erythrogaster (Bopp.).
Barn Swallow.
Synonym, ForKED-TAILED Barn SwWALLow.

Adult.—Above, lustrous steel-blue; below, rufous or pale chestnut
of varying shade; forehead, chin and throat, deep chestnut; breast,
with an imperfect steel-blue collar; tail, with white spots on the inner
web of all the feathers, except the inner pair; tail, deeply forked.
Immature.—Less lustrous above; paler below.

Length, 5.75-7.75; wing, 4.60-4.90; tail, 3.70-4.10.

Rane@e.—America, from southern Brazil north to Greenland and
Alaska. Breeds from Mexico north. Winters in tropical America.

Nest, bowl-shaped; of mud and straw, lined with feathers, fastened
by one side to timbers in a barn or to walls of a cave. Eggs, 3-5;
white, spotted with olive and rufous-brown; .77 by .54. .

The Barn Swallow is an abundant summer resident. It is not
found in colonies as is the preceding species, but frequents barns,
outhouses and old buildings in country and also in towns. There it
builds inside buildings, usually a single pair occupying a building.
Formerly it, too, nested in caves and in sheltered places against cliffs,
but has adapted its life to the changed conditions.

Some years they arrive in southern Indiana before March is over,
but that is unusual. Earliest and latest dates of first arrival are:
Brookville, March 30, 1884, and 1887, April 23, 1893; Bicknell, March
31, 1897, April 19, 1894; Spearsville, April 5, 1897, April 19, 1895;
Edwards, April 2, 1897; Camden, April 20, 1896, May 2, 1894; Sedan,
April 17, 1896, April 29, 1895; Laporte, April 10, 1893, April 14,
1896; Petersburg, Mich., April 11, 1889, April 18, 1888. As with
some of the other Swallows, they may be found along quiet stretches of
river or about ponds and other bodies of water quite éarly. These are,
doubtless, migrants. Often the summer residents do not appear about
their breeding places until after May 1. Thus one station near a pond
or lake will report migrants almost a month ahead of another but a few
miles from water. They, too, are destroyed by storms. That of May
20 and 21, 1883, killed many. I found them mating April 21, 1881,
and May 13 of that year found the nest with eggs. They often rear
two broods and occasionally three. Before leaving, in August, they
sometimes collect in considerable flocks. Usually they depart by Au-
gust 20, but sometimes after all appear to have gone, migrants from
Birps oF INDIANA. 995

farther north appear in numbers. The following are the latest dates
at which they were seen: Plymouth, Mich., August 29, 1894, Septem-
ber 4, 1886; Sedan, Ind., August 24, 1889; Lafayette, September 6,
1894; Vermillion County, August 31, 1897; Brookville, September 1,
1885, September 2, 1887; Bicknell, September 29, 1896.

  
 
     

   

a
SS. wa NPE,

2 eee

  

Barn Swallow.

(Beal.—Farmer’s Bulletin 44, United States Department of Agriculture )

Prof. King found 11 had eaten 14 small moths, 40 flies (among
them 33 tipulids), 6 beetles and 1 dragon fly. Prof. Forbes’ investiga-
tions show similar results. Many people have learned to prize these
well-known birds, and still many others have not. Their value is
great, for their service to mankind is great, and they are almost unob-
jectionable. The dollars they save in ‘their warfare against insects
entitle them to our thought as to means for their protection and en-
couragement. Openings should be left in the gables and high up on
the sides of barns and other buildings and shelves or other projections
provided on the outside that they may be attracted to our homes and

- farms.
996 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

146. Gunus TACHYCINETA Cazanis.

*240, (614). Tachycineta bicolor (V1#IL1.).

Tree Swallow.
Synonym, WHITE-BELLIED SWALLOW.

Adult.—Above, lustrous green or steel-blue; below, pure white.
Immature —Less glossy.

Length, 5.00-6.25; wing, 4.50-4.80; tail, 2.30-2.50.

Ranee.—North America, from Guatemala to Labrador, Great Slave
Lake and Alaska. Breeds from Virginia, southern Indiana and Colo-
rado north. Winters from South Carolina south.

Nest, in a hole in tree or stub; of leaves and grass lined with feathers.
Liggs, 3-%; white; .75 by .52.

The Tree Swallow is generally a migrant southward, but in the
lower Wabash Valley and in northern Indiana it is a summer resident
locally in suitable places. In some localities it is rare and in others
very abundant. It doubtless formerly bred where the conditions were
favorable throughout the State. Mr. E. R. Quick recalls having seen
Swallows years ago in Franklin County, occupying holes in trees, in
summer, which he now is satisfied were this species. They were also
seen there as late as June 2, 1884. Mr. Robert Ridgway informs me
that when he lived at Mt. Carmel, Ill., some years ago, this Swallow
“was one of the most abundant summer residents, decidedly the most
numerous of the family, breeding in very large colonies in sloughs
connected with the river, their nests being invariably built in aban-
doned Woodpeckers’ holes in dead stumps and trees. They were con-
fined to the bottom lands. It was particularly numerous immediately
above the dam at the Grand Rapids, about two and a half miles above
Mt. Carmel, where a great number of large trees had been killed by
raising the water level following the completion of the dam. I have no
reason to suppose it does not still breed there wherever there are
suitable places.”

It breeds along the Kankakee River, where it is reported from
English Lake (Deane) and Porter County (Parker). Alsc in Dekalb
County (Mrs. Jane L. Hine, Snyder). This species winters in num-
bers regularly along the Gulf Coast. It is the first Swallow to arrive
at its breeding grounds in the spring, often appearing before the ice
is out of the rivers and lakes, and the last to leave in the fall. How-
ever, where it is only known as a mi igrant its appearance is very irregu-
lar and it is usually rare, appearing nearly always later than it does at
Brrps oF INDIANA. 997

its summer home farther north. They have been first noted at Brook-
ville, April 1, 1889, and April 25, 1892; English Lake, March 18,
1894, abundant; Laporte, March 19, 1894, May 1, 1896; Chicago, IIl.,
March 22, 1884, April 14, 1894. In the fall most of them leave by
early September, but sometimes they remain later. They are recorded
from Plymouth, Mich., September 3, 1894; Chicago, Ill., September
28, 1894; Bicknell, Ind., September 4, 1895. Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr.,
notes them at Chicago, IIl., as late as October 18.

 

Tree Swallow.

From its habit of building in holes in trees, being the only species
that selects such sites, it is called “Tree Swallow.” It has clung
closely to its original nesting habit. Yet, occasionally, it is known
to appropriate a Martin box, or to build under the eaves,-or in some
other favorable place about a building. We may expect them event-
ually to change their nesting habit. They prefer to nest in the vicin-
ity of water, but do not always do so.

Fourteen specimens examined had eaten 63 beetles, a number of
which were weevils; 33 small dragon flies, 22 winged aphids, or plant

lice; 10 diptera, including ants and craneflies; 5 hymenoptera, 2 grass-

hoppers and one spider (King, Geol. of Wis., I., pp. 515, 516). The
habit of this species, as well as of the two Swallows last mentioned,
of skimming the grain fields shows the insects infesting such places
constitutes much of their food.

147, Gunus CLIVICOLA Forster.

*241, (816). Clivicola riparia (Lryy.).
Bank Swallow.

Adult—Above, lustreless gray, with a band of same across the
breast; remaining under parts, white; small tuft of feathers above the
hind toe. Immature.—Tinged more or less with rusty or whitish.

Length, 4.75-5.50; wing, 3.70-4.25; tail, 2.10-2.25.
998 Report OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Rancr.—America, from Brazil to Labrador and Alaska. Breeds
locally from southern United States north. Winters from coast of
Gulf States south.

Nest, in hole which it excavates in a steep bank. Generally nest in
colonies. Eggs, 4-7; pure white; .71 by .50.

Abundant summer resident, breeding in colonies wherever there
are steep banks along streams or about ponds in whieh they can exca-
vate holes for their nests. In more level localities they sometimes
dig holes in railroad and other embankments, where they are built
of sand. Where desirable nesting sites are lacking, the Swallows are
wanting and are only seen during migrations.

Late in March or early in April, some years, they may be found
about water or near a samdy or loamy bluff. Other years they are
about three weeks later in arriving. Five of them arrived at Lafayette,
March 20, 189%, and in 1896 the first were seen April 25. The first ar-
rived at Brookville, April 3, 1884, April 27, 1893; at Bloomington,
April 6, 1884; Greencastle, April 13, 1893, April 27, 1896; Edwards,
April 18, 1896, April 21, 1897. At Chicago they arrived from April
20 to May 10 (Parker). Mr.,D. C. Ridgley found them building a
nest near Delphi, April 28, 1894. They have been noted. breeding
near Chicago, IIl., June 17, 1894. The nests are placed at the end of
galleries dug in the banks. Sometimes these excavations branch or
have lateral passages, and in these two, or even more, pairs build nests.

When the young are old enongh to leave the mest, they and the
parents may be observed sitting on bushes or the limbs of brush along
the stream. A favorite site is a telegraph wire. Where such are
available, a little later, they may be found thickly strung along the
wire associated with other kinds of Swallows. These Swallows have
continued to nest in their old way. All other species found in the
eastern United States have changed to a greater or less degree. Their
white underparts, marked with a dark band across the breast, dis-
tinguish them when on the wing from the Rough-winged Swallow
which occupies similar locations. They leave through the month of
August, being rarely found in September. Observed abundantly at
Chicago, Ill., August 4, 1896; Brookville, Ind., September, 1885, Sep-
tember 1, 1886; Mr. E. R. Quick reported them from Brookville, Oc-
tober 18, 1880. Its food consists of small flying insects, which it cap-
tures while skimming the water or flying low over the meadows and
grain fields.
Brrps oF INDIANA. 999

M48. Gexus STELGIDOPTERYX Barrp.
*242. (617). Stelgidopteryx serripennis (Aud.).
Rough-winged Swallow.
Synonym, Bank SwaLtow.

Adult.—Above, lustreless brownish-gray; quills and tail feathers,
dusky-brown; below, light gray, whitish on belly and crissum; the
edge of the wing supplied with small hooks, which are rough to the
touch; no tuft of feathers above the hind toe. Immatwre.——With more
or less of rufous tinge; lacking small hooks on the edge of wing.

Length, 4.75-5.50; wing, 3.70-4.25; tail, 2.10-2.25.

Ranee.—North America, from Panama to Connecticut, southern
Ontario, Michigan, southern Montana and British Columbia. Breeds
throughout its range. Winters from South Carolima and Mexico
south.

Nest, in a burrow which it excavates in a steep bank, in openings
in walls, in cavities about bridges and buildings and in old buildings;
of grass or feathers. Hyggs, 4-8; white; .75 by .53.

The Rough-winged Swallow is a summer resident throughout the
State, frequenting principally such places as the Bank Swallow loves.
It is, however, not so numerous as that well-known species. In the
northern part of the State it is rare, and in many localities wanting.
Because of the general lack of metallic lustre to the upper plumage,
they are not usually distinguished. But this species may be known
by its grayish throat and breast. While they breed together, excavat-
ing burrows in the same bank, I have observed that the single holes
away from the colony contained nests of the present species. They
also nest in open joints in masonry, the foundations of buildings,
mortises, holes in the sides of buildings and even‘ within buildings,
where the nest is placed on a beam. Dr. Rufus Haymond was one of
the first to call attention to the Rough-winged Swallow beginning to
change its nesting habits (Field and Forest, Vol. L, 1876, p. 88; also,
E. Coues, Bulletin Nutt. Orn. Club, Vol. L., 1876, p. 96, and American
Naturalist, Vol. X., 1876, pp. 492, 493). The Bank Swallow has never
attempted to find a better nesting site than a sandy bank.

I have found them mating as early as April 25, 1881. Prof. B. W.
Evermann found nests nearly completed at Gosport, May 8, 1886. Dr.
F. W. Langdon says: “Of a dozen or more nests of this species, taken
at Madisonville, O., May 20-21, 1879, those from inland situations
(along creeks and bridges) were complete in number (5 to 7) and well
1000 REporT oF STaTE GEOLOGIST.

advanced in incubation; while those from river banks were, with one
or two exceptions, incomplete, containing only from one to four eggs,
which in all cases were fresh (Journ. Cin. Soc. Nat. Hist., December,
1881, p. 338). Under the article on Belted Kingfisher, I have given Dr.
Langdon’s account of a burrow of each of these birds that was oc-
cupied by Humble Bees.

The times of their migrations correspond with those of the Bank
Swallow and, unfortunately, but few persons have distinguished them
to note their movements carefully. They first arrived at Brookville,
April 3, 1888, April 27, 1895; Terre Haute, April 15, 1888, April 19,
1890; Greensburg, April 27, 1895, April 28, 1894; Irvington, April 11,
1889; Bloomington, May 1, 1886; Chicago, Ill., May 9, 1896. In addi-
tion, they have been reported from Carroll County (Evermann); La-
fayette, nests (Dr. E. Test); Knox County (Ridgway); Jefferson Coun-
ty (Hubbard); Lake County (Coale); Wabash County, rare (Ulrey and
Wallace). Their general habits are similar to those of the Bank Swal-
low, and they are of the same utility as insect-catchers.

XLUI. Famiry AMPELIDZ. Waxwines, Etc.

a}, Plumage cinnamon-drab; black stripe across forhead and through eye; second-
aries often tipped with red wax-like appendages. AMPELIs. 149

SusramMiry AMPELIN.A. Waxwines.
149. Genus AMPELIS Linnzus.

a1, Wing over 4.00. A. garrulus Linn. 243
a?. Wing under 4.00. A. cedrorum (Vieill.). 244

243. (618). Ampelis garrulus Liny.

Bohemian Waxwing.

Adult.—With a conspicuous crest; forehead, stripe through the eye,
chin and upper throat, black; general color, brownish-ashy, tinged
with reddish on the front of crown; rump, upper tail-coverts and sec-
ondaries, ashy; stripe on side of throat, and two short bands on wing,
white; tips of outer web of most of the primaries, white or yellow;
secondaries, with red wax-like tips; primaries, black; tail, blackish to-
ward the end, but tipped with yellow; lower tail-coverts, cinnamon-
rufous.

Length, 7.40-8.75; wing, 4.40-4.60; tail, 2.75-2.90.

Ranaz.—Northern portions of northern hemisphere in America;
south in winter, irregularly to Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas,

 
Birps oF INDIANA. 1001

Colorado, Arizona and California. Breeds north of the United States.
Nest, in trees; of twigs and rootlets. Eggs, similar to those of
Ampelis cedrorum, but larger; .96 by .68.
This large Waxwing is an irregular winter visitor to northern In-
diana and casually farther south. I am informed by Mr. J. E. Beasley,
of Lebanon, Ind., that about forty years ago (1856), when he was liv-

 

 

 

 

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Bohemian Waxwings. Reduced.

ing in Indianapolis, one spring he took nineteen Bohemian Waxwings
in one day near that city. They were in a flock and were flying for-
ward and backward over White River, catching insects after the man-
ner of Flycatchers.

Mr. E. W. Nelson says they were unusually numerous in Cook
County, Ill., the winter of 1875-6, remaining in that vicinity until
March 15, 1876 (Bulletin Essex Inst., Vol. VIII, 1876, p. 103). It
was noted in northern Ohio in March, 1840; July 17, 1845; 1860
(Wheaton, Birds of Ohio, p. 295).

The winter of 1879-80 they appeared in Indiana, Tlinois and Michi-
gan in numbers. Prof. S. A. Forbes reported them from Villa Ridge,
Pulaski County, Ill., December 18, 1879 (Bulletin Nutt. Orn. Club,

 
1002 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Vol. V., p. 118). Dr. J. L. Hancock informs me that March 1, 1880,
he shot two from a flock of eight that were feeding on mountain ash
berries in Chicago, Ill. March 30, 1880, over one hundred of these
birds were killed at Whiting, Lake County, Ind., and taken to a
Chicago taxidermist. They were seen by Mr. H. K. Coale. Specimens
from that lot are in the collections of Mr. H. K. Coale, Mr. Geo.
L. Toppan and my own. Mr. ©. A. Stockbridge, in 1889, informed me
that “About ten years ago” (perhaps the winter of 1879-80) “three
specimens were shot near Fort Wayne. Two of these are in the col-
lection of Prof. H. Duemling, at Fort Wayne and the third in my
own.” Mr. Stockbridge has very kindly placed his specimen in my col-
lection. Prof. B. W. Evermann is certain hé saw a flock of a half
dozen in the cedar trees in his father’s yard, in Carroll County, several
years ago (The Auk, January, 1889, p. 26). Messrs. Ulrey and Wal-
lace say there is a specimen in the collection of Mr. M. L. Galbreath,
at Collamer, that was taken near the Wabash County line (Proc. Ind.
Acad. Sci., 1895, p. 155). They are larger than the Cedar Birds, but
resemble them in appearance and habits.

Mr. F. M. Woodruff, of Chicago, Ill., writes me that several Bohe
mian Waxwings were killed January 1, 1896, from a flock of fifteen or
twenty at Lake Forest, Il]. Two days later another one was taken near
the same place.

*244. (619) Ampelis cedrorum (VIEILL.).

Cedar Waxwing.
Synonyms, CeDAR Brrp, CHERRY BIRD.

Adult—Conspicuously crested; forehead, chin and stripe through
the eye, black, the latter bordered above and the black forehead
behind with white; lower eyelid and stripe on each side of the throat,
white; general color, grayish-brown; tail-coverts and wings, ashy; tail,
blackish toward the end and tipped with yellow; secondaries, and
sometimes the tail feathers, with red, wax-like tips; belly, yellowish;
lower tail-coverts, white. Immature——More grayish, with indistinct
whitish streaks; chin, not black; belly, dingy whitish; no red, waxen
tips. ,

Length, 6.50-7.50; wing, 3.60-3.90; tail, 2.30-2.60.

Ranoz.—North America, Honduras and Jamaica to Labrador and
fur countries. Breeds from Florida, South Carolina, Virginia, Ken-
tucky and Arizona north. Winters from Dakota, Minnesota, Michigan
and Ontario south.
Birps oF INDIANA. 1003

Nest, in tree, five to twenty-five feet up, or bush, in orchard, lawn,
‘grove, etc.; of twigs, bark, leaves, etc., lined with grass and hair. Eggs,
8-5; bluish-gray, or stone-color, more or less distinctly spotted with
black and dark-brown; .87 by .61.

Except during the breeding season, the Cedar Waxwings are gre-
garious, wandering about the country in flocks, usually of six to twen-
ty-five, sometimes of a hundred or more. They roam at will, being
abundant or scarce in a locality as food is plentiful or scanty. They
are resident throughout the State, but vary in numbers, being gener-
ally most numerous northward in summer, from early May until
October, and southward in winter and during the migrations.

 

Cedar Bird.

They are late breeders, nesting through June, July and August.
‘They share this late nesting season with the American Goldfinch.
Cedar Waxwings are known as Cherry Birds from their frequent visits
to the early cherry trees, and after the early cherries are gone they
begin to think about nesting. ‘The nest is usually placed in small
trees, bushes and shrubs. They build in the fruit trees in our orchards
and yards and in the shade trees along the streets of our towns.

Mr. L. T. Meyer informs me of taking its nest and five eggs in
Lake County as early as June 1. Mr. J. O. Snyder took a nest and
four eggs in Dekalb County, June 27, 1885. I found young at Brook-
ville unable to fly July 8, 1897, and a few weeks later—July 30—
found another set of young barely able to fly. Rev. J. F. Clearwaters
took a nest containing four fresh eggs near Michigan City, August
1004 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

14, 1891. It was built in a huckleberry bush, six feet up. Its outside
diameter was 5.50 inches; inside, 5.00 inches; inside depth, 2.00 inches.
It was composed of grass and small twigs, lined with grapevine bark,
“old man” moss and lichens. In fall and winter wild fruit, berries and
seeds form much of their food. In winter nothing attracts them so
much as the hackberry (Celtis occidentalis). Some years, early in
spring, they are found living upon redbuds. Prof. F. E. L. Beal re- -
ports that of 152 stomachs examined, animal matter constituted 13
per cent. and vegetable matter 87 per cent. of the food. Except a few
snails, all the animal food was insects, most of which were noxious.
Of the vegetable food, 74 per cent. was wild fruit or seeds, and 13 per
cent. cultivated fruit, including raspberries and blackberries, which
may or may not have been cultivated kinds. The Cedar Waxwing is
shown to feed its young almost exclusively upon insects. Of cherries
it eats only the early kinds, and them not so’ extensively as has been
supposed. From the fact that its food is so varied, it possesses the
power to become a valuable bird in an emergency which may be caused
at any time by an insect outbreak. Prof. 8S. A. Forbes has shown
that in an orchard infested with canker-worms, the most useful bird
was the Cedar Bird, about 30 of which had apparently taken up their
residence in the orchard and were feeding entirely on the worms.
The number in each stomach, determined by actual count, ranged
from 70 to 101, and it was usually nearly 100. These 30 birds were,
therefore, eating the pests at tHe rate of 3,000 a day, or 90,000 for the
month during which the caterpillar is exposed to their attacks (Rept.
Mich. Hort. Soc., 1881, p. 204).

They have a peculiar, lisping note, uttered in a monotone varying
in pitch. As they sit among the branches of an Early Richmond -
cherry tree in early June, the note seems to be inhaled, and reminds
me of a small boy who, when eating juicy fruit, makes a noise by in-
halation in endeavoring to prevent the loss of the juice and then ex-
claims, “How good!” As the birds start to fly, each repeats the note
three or four times. These notes-develop into a song as the summer
comes on; a lisping and peculiar song that tells that the flocks are
resolving into pairs as the duties of the season press upon them.
Birps oF INDIANA. 1005

XLIV. Famiry LANIIDA. Sarixes.

a}. Color above ashy to ashy-blue; black stripes on sides of head. Lanrus. 150
150. Gaxus LANIUS Linnzvs.

a}, Wing more than 4.25; feathers at base of upper mandible not black.
L. borealis Vieill. 245
a?, Wing under 4.25; feathers at base of upper mandible black.
b1. Above deep lead color; the upper tail coverts varying from near the color
of back to nearly pure white. L. ludovicianus (Linn.). 246.

245. (621). Lanius borealis VierLu.
Northern Shrike.

Synonym, Butcuer Brrp.

Adult.—Above, bluish-gray, white on scapulars, upper tail-coverts,
forehead and over eyes; wings, black; secondaries and short primaries,
tipped with white and white patch at base of the primaries; ear-cov-
erts, black; lores, grayish-black, the latter not meeting across forehead
next to bill; a white crescent on lower eyelid; tail, black, the outer web
of the outside feathers and the tips of some of the others, white; be-
low, white, with wavy blackish cross bars; bill and feet, black. Im-
mature—Similar, but more brownish or buffy.

Length.—9.25-10.75; wing, 4.35-4.60; tail, 4.50-4.75.

Ranez.—Northern North America. Breeds from Hudson Bay
north to Arctic Coast. South in winter to Virginia, Kentucky, Kan-
sas, Colorado, Arizona and northern California.

Nest, of sticks, twigs, weeds, bark, grass and feathers; in low tree
or bush. Eggs, 4-6; dull white, thickly spotted with light-brown and
lavender; 1.10 by .80.

In southern Indiana the Northern Shrike is usually an irregular,
rare winter visitor, though occasionally it is found in some numbers.
Northward it is a tolerably common winter resident. It arrives from
November 1 to 15, and remains an indefinite time, its length per-
haps determined by the food supply. It sometimes leaves in Jan-
uary or. February and occasionally remains until the middle of
March. The spring dates are-very uncertain. The Loggerhead Shrike
is an early migrant and is often mistaken for this species. While
some rare and obscure birds are carefully noted, and concerning
them we have good reports; of other birds that are quite conspicuous,
we lack accurate information. It would be of value to have observa-
tions that shall distinguish between the Shrikes and give full infor-
mation concerning the standing of each. The winter of 1880-81 this
species was quite common at Brookville. The winter of 1885-6 it was
numerous about Chicago, Hl.
1006 REPoRT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Shrikes are commonly known as Butcher Birds. They live upon
animal food; small birds, small mammals and insects being their main
subsistence. Their life is one of continual warfare; a-preying upon
others. While their bill is that of a rapacious bird, their feet are weak,

 

a
ey

Northern Shrike. (Reduced.)

and they cannot hold their prey. For this reason they usually resort
to thorn trees, where their victims are impaled upon thorns, some-
times making quite an array of small birds, beetles and other food,
reminding one of a butcher’s rack filled with meat. They are very
bold when pursuing their prey. I once watched a Shrike chase a
Junco in and out among the trees, and about the buildings of my
back yard, coming very close to me several times, until finally its per-
sistence was rewarded by catching the frightened bird, which it car-
ried off to a neighboring tree. It paid no attention to me. They
have been known to kill pet birds in cages when they were exposed
in the open air and to dash themselves against a window in the at-
tempt to seize a bird that was in plain view through the glass. When
food becomes scarce in the country they have been known to go to the
cities and live principally upon English Sparrows. They in turn are
sometimes preyed upon. Mr. E. J. Chansler informed me of one at
Bicknell, November 25, 1894, that barely escaped capture by a Spar-
tow Hawk.

The Northern Shrike has been reported breeding in Indiana. That
is a mistake. Its breeding ground is far to the north. The other
species must have been mistaken for it.

*246. (622). Lanius ludovicianus Liv.
Loggerhead Shrike.

Synonym, Burcuer Brrp.

Adult-—Similar to L. borealis, but smaller; lores and ear-coverte,
deep black, the latter meeting across the forehead next the bill; upper
tail-coverts and rump, sometimes white; below, white; sides, sometimes
Birps oF INDIANA. 1007

grayish. Immature—Tinged with brownish and buffy, marked with
fine, wavy, dark crossbars; wings marked with buffy; black on sides of
head, dusky.

Length, 8.50-9.50; wing, 3.75-4.10; tail, 3.65-4.25.

‘Rance.—Eastern United States west to the Plains; from the Gulf
of, Mexico north on the Atlantic Coast to New Jersey and in the in-
terior to the Great Lakes, Ontario and, east, along the south side of
the St. Lawrence River to Maine. Winters from Missouri, southern
Illinois and ,southern Indiana south.

Nest, low in tree or in bush, usually a thorn; of twigs, bark, grass
and string. Hggs, 4-7; dull white, thickly spotted with light-brown
and lavender; .97 by .73.

‘Summer resident, most numerous in central and northern Indiana,
although in some localities elsewhere it is common. Resident some
winters, at least, in the lower Wabash Valley. A specimen was taken
at Mt. Carmel, Ill., January 5, 1886 (Ridgway, Orn. of Il. I., p. 195).

In the northern portion of the State the specimens seem upon first
notice to be the White-rumped Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus exeubi-
toroides (Swains.), but comparison of a series of birds shows that while
many are light in color they fall between the two forms most nearly
approaching the present species. The specimens from southern In-
diana and into the middle of the State are darker and show at once
to be this species. Few Shrikes breed south of the central part of the
State. They frequent the more open, level land, making their head-
quarters along hedges, about thorn trees, in which they build nests
and especially preferring a telegraph line near such places. There it
may be seen, a conspicuous bird in black, blue-gray and white, sitting
high up, or far out, on some prominent limb or on a pole or wire,
waiting for its food to pass by. Insects, and the smaller birds, mam-
mals and reptiles fall prey to it, and like the Northern Shrike it im-
pales them upon thorns.

They usually appear as migrants in March. Early and late first
appearances extending over a number of years are as follows: Tam
gier, March 7, 1896, March 21, 1895; Spearsville, March 13, 1894,
Mareh 28, 1895; Brookville, March 17, 1887, April 16, 1893; Greens-
burg, March 21, 1896, March 24, 1895; Irvington, March 14, 1889;
Petersburg, Mich., March 11, 1893, April 25, 1897; Chicago, Il,
March 13, 1886, April 17, 1897.

As the woods are cleared away and hedges are planted, or thorn
trees grow, these birds are appearing in new neighborhoods, and most
everywhere in the more level portion of the State an increase in num-
bers is noted. They sometimes breed im April. Myr. E. J. Chansler
found a nest containing six eggs at Bicknell, in April, 1897. Mr.
1008 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Roy Hathaway took a nest containing six well incubated eggs at Red
Key, April 28, 1895. The nest was on the limb of an apple tree in
an old orchard, twenty feet up. It was composed of sticks, straws,
grasses, weed stems, rags, twine, pieces of cornstalks; lined with
chicken feathers. It was also used by the pair in 1894. Messrs. L.
A. and C. D. Test found nearly fully fledged young at Lafayette, May
15, 1890. They note some six or seven pairs breeding within three
or four square miles adjoining that city that same spring. Prof. B.
W. Evermann notes a set of six eggs taken at Pittsburg, May 10, 1884.
Near Richmond, a set of eggs was taken June 22, 1888 (H. N. Mc-
Coy), and another, containing fresh eggs, June 6, 1890 (L. A. and C.
D. Test).

Mr. L. T. Meyer, in remarking that they are prolific layers, says
in the spring of 1886, in Lake County, the first laying of one of these
birds was accidentally broken. It built another nest near by, and
some boys broke the eggs. The third time it built in an orchard,
and reared its young by the last of July. Early in August they begin
to wander away from their breeding places, and frequently disappear
from well known haunts in September. They have usually left the
northern part of the State in October and most of the southern por-
tion by November 1 to 15.

XLV. Famity VIREONIDZ. VireEos.

a!, Wings not shorter than tail; outer toe longer than inner. Vireo. 151
151. Genus VIREO Vigrtior.

a1, Wing bars wanting; no conspicuous ring around eye. Subgenus VIREOSYLVA
Bonaparte.
bl. Primaries apparently 9, first obsolete.
c1, Wing over 3.00; beneath white. V. olivaceus (Linn.). 247
e?, Wing under 3.00; below mostly sulphur yellow.
V. philadelphicus (Cass.). 248
b?. Primaries evidently 10; first well developed, one-half inch or more long;
‘wing less than 3.00; below whitish; sides bufly.
V. gilvus (Vieill.). 249
a?. Wing bars conspicuous; ring around eye distinct.

d‘. Wing one-fourth or more longer than tail; first primary very small, or
apparently wanting; not one-fourth length of second. Subgenus Lanr-.
vireo Baird.

e'. Throat, breast, and ring around eye yellow.
V. flavifrons (Vieill.). 250

e?, Throat, breast, and ring around eye white.
V. solitarius (Wils.). 251

d?, Wing short and rounded, not one-fourth longer than tail; first primary
two-fifths or more the length of second. Subgenus Vireo.
f1. White below; sides yellow; ring around eye yellow.

V. noveboracensis (Gmel.). 252
Birps oF INDIANA. 1009

Subgenus VirgosyLva Bonaparte.

*247,. (624). Vireo olivaceus (Lrnv.).

Red-eyed Vireo. :

Adult.—Above, olive-green; head, slate-gray; a distinct white stripe
over the eye, bordered above by a dusky line; wings, not barred;
below, white, sides of body lightly washed with olive; axillars and
crissum, faintly tinged with yellow; iris, red.

Length, 5.50-6.50; wing, 3.10-3.30; tail, 3.15-3.30.

Note—tThe larger size, dark stripe on each side of crown, and red
eyes distinguish this species.

Rance.—America, from Colombia and Trinidad over eastern North
America to Labrador, the Mackenzie Valley and British Columbia.
Accidental in Greenland. Breeds from Gulf States north. Winters
from Florida south.

Nest, pensile, fastened by rim to a small horizontal fork, five to
forty feet up; a light, thin structure of bark shreds, hornets’ nest,
grass and vegetable fibre, closely felted. Eggs, 3-5; white, with a
few fine black and umber dots at the large end; .85 by .56.

The Red-eyed Vireo is one of the most common birds of the wood-.
land. Especially is this true during the spring migrations, when
many a one has, by reason of its inquisitiveness, fallen a victim to the
eollector’s gun, and many another has revealed its identity by its
inquiring tones, just in time to save its life. No bird in the woods
is a greater nuisance to the collector than this Vireo. With the
utmost care to avoid killing what he does not want, some are certain
to get in the way of the load.

Any spring morning after mid-April that is bright and balmy, or
lowering and warm, the visitor to the woods may expect to hear a
bird’s voice coming from the branches above. It seems to say, “See
it? See it? Who are you? Cheer up.” It is the Red-eyed Vireo.
He would know his caller and give some of his life of cheer to him
and to all who come within these quiet forest aisles. There the
sounds of man’s busy world are shut out and Nature rules, as in pri-
meval days, over all who submit themselves to her sway. The Red-
eyed Vireo’s song is clear, musical and sweet. Its notes and actions
are so inquisitive that one is disposed to regard it as an animated
interrogation point. :

The earliest record for the State is Greencastle, April 16, 1896.
In 1894 it was not seen there until May 2. The following are other
early and late dates when it was first seen: Brookville, April 17, 1896,

64—GroL.
1010 Report OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

May 5, 1895; Bicknell, April 18, 1896, April 27, 1894; Bloomington,
April 23, 1886, May 1, 1893; Lafayette, April 24, 1897, April 2%,
1895; Sedan, April 21, 1896, May 5, 1889; Petersburg, Mich., April
28, 1888, May 10, 1893; Chicago, Ill, May 6, 1895, May 9, 1896 and
1897. Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr., notes it as sometimes appearing there
by May 1. I have observed them mating by May 7 (1886), and late
that month and in June the nest may be found, suspended from the
fork of a horizontal limb of a beech, maple or other long-limbed tree,
usually from five to twenty-five feet from the ground. It is a beau-

 

 

Details of structure of Red-eyed Vireo. Natural size.

tiful, cup-shaped structure, built of various kinds of fibres and felted
together with all sorts of material, chief of which seems to be leaves
and hornets’ nests. To the outside is glued mosses, lichens and vari-
ous other decorations. Sometimes two broods are said to be reared.
They usually leave through September, but sing almost as long as
they remain. I found them in full song September 10, 1897. The
latest dates at which they have been noted in fall are Brookville,
September 21, 1885; Bicknell, September 26, 1896; Lafayette, Sep-
tember 29, 1894; Sedan, October 1, 1889; Chicago, Ill., September
26, 1895; Warren County, September 25, 1897; Trafalgar, October
12, 1897. Mr. J. E. Beasley reports it from Lebanon, Ind., as late
as Octeber 23, 1894. It is one of a family of very beneficial birds.
Prof. King examined 49 of these birds and found the principal food
was 56 larvee, principally caterpillars; 30 insect eggs; 67 chinch bugs;
32 beetles, and 6 grasshoppers. But 14 had eaten vegetable food, .
which was probably all wild (Geol. of Wis., I., pp. 521, 522).
Braps oF Inprana. 1011

*248. (t26). Vireo philadelphicus (Cass.).
Philadelphia Vireo.
Synonyms, PHILADELPHIA ViREO, BRoTHERLY LovE VIREO
Adult.—Above, olive-green, the top of head gray or olive-gray;
a white stripe over eye, but no dusky line above it. Below, greenish-
yellow; iris, dark-brown. Immature—Browner above. The exten-
sive yellow below and the absence of the dusky line above the stripe
over the eye serve to distinguish this species.

 

Details of structure-of Philadelphia Vireo. Natural size.

Length, 4.75-5.40; wing, 2.50-2.75; tail, 1.90-2.20.

Ranee.—Eastern North America, from Panama to Assiniboia and
Hudson Bay. Breeds from eastern Nebraska, central Indiana, New
Hampshire and Maine, north. Winters in Central America.

Nest, pensile, suspended from forked limb, eight to ten feet from
ground; of fine grass and birch bark. Hggs, 4; no apparent difference
from those of V. olivaceus (Seaton, The Auk, Vol. IT., 1885, p. 305).

The Philadelphia Vireo is generally a rare migrant, but in the
northwestern part of the State, near Lake Michigan, it is sometimes
rather common. It is also a rare summer resident. Mr. E. W. Nel-
son found two pairs of these birds in a dense willow thicket, bordering
Mazon Creek, in Illinois, about sixty miles south of Chicago, the first
of July, 1874 (Bull. Essex Inst., Vol. VIII, 1876, p. 102). Mr. H. K.
Coale took a single specimen in Starke County, Ind., June 8, 1884.
Prof. B. W. Evermann says it is a rare summer resident in Carroll
and Monroe counties. In Franklin County it is very rare. Mr.
Rolla Rockafellar took two specimens at Brookville, April 30, 1887,
and I took it there in May, 1882, May 9, 1887, and May 23, 1883.
It was observed at Spearsville, May 4 and 5, 1897 (Barnett); Green-
castle, May 7, three, and May 11, 1892 (Harlle); Lake County, May
16, 1877 and 1880 (Coale); Cook County, Ill., May 15, 1886 (Parker);
May 19, 1877 (Coale); Petersburg, Mich., May 4, 1897 (Trombley).
In the fall I found them at Brookville, September 21, 1885. They
were noted at Cincinnati, 0., September 18, 1877, September 17,
1012 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

1878 (Dury and Freeman); Lake County, Ind., September 25, 1875
(Coale); Chicago, Ill, September 15, 1895 (Parker). This spécies
has the size and general appearance at a little distance of the Warbling
Vireo. No doubt it is often passed by because it is thought to be
that bird. In the spring it is generally found, with us, in the denser
woodland, where the Warbling Vireo never goes; but in the fall, in
the trees, and among the bushes along streams, both species are some-
times seen.

Mr. William Brewster says its song is nearly identical with that
of the Red-eyed Vireo. “The notes are generally pitched a little
higher in the scale, while many of the utterances are feebler, and the
whole strain is a trifle more disconnected.” According to Dr. Jona-
than Dwight, Jr., the speed at which the Red-eyed Vireo utters its
song is approximately twice that of the Philadelphia. Their food is
principally insects.

*249. (627). Vireo gilvus (VIEILL.).
Warbling Vireo.
Synonym, WARBLING GREENLET.

Adult.—Above, olive-gray, brighter on the rump, sometimes grayer
on the head, wings and tail, with more or less distinct olive edgings;
whitish stripe over the eye. Below, white, breast sometimes tinged
with greenish or buffy; sides slightly washed with olive; first primary
very short, from a half inch to an inch long.

Length, 5.00-5.50; wing, 2.65-2.95; tail, 2.10-2.40.

Note.—The short first primary and the absence of the yellow lower
parts serve to distinguish this species.

RaneE.—Kastern North America, from Mexico (Oaxaca) north to
Manitoba and Hudson Bay. Breeds throughout its United States
range. Winters south of the United States.

Nest and eggs similar to those of V. olivaceus, but usually placed
higher. Eggs, .74 by .55.

The Warbling Vireo is the first of that family to arrive in southern
Indiana, preceding the Red-eyed a few days. It is first observed among
the elms, cottonwoods and sycamores along streams, which are choice
places for it at all times. A little later it appears in orchards and lawns,
and even frequents the well-shaded streets of towns. Its presence is an-
nounced by a beautiful song that comes from the top of some tall
cottonwood, while the author often is invisible. Soon, however, an
insect tempts him, and with a quick movement he collects it and
Birps oF IwpIaNna. 1013

sings another song. Thus it is during its whole stay with us. It
sings and works, morning, evening and mid-day, through the whole
long summer. It is said it even sings when on its nest. It is a model
of industry and cheerfulness. Its whole life while with us is spent
doing good among the fruit and shade trees.

The earliest spring record is from Bicknell, where it was taken
April 12, 1896, and the latest date of first arrival there is
April 21, 1897. Other places their arrival has been observed as fol-
lows: Brookville, April 13, 1897, April 29, 1882; Richmond, April
22, 1897; Lafayette, April 28, 1896, May 6, 1895; Sedan, April 17,

 

 

Details of structure of Warbling Vireo. Natural size.

1896, May 4, 1889; Angola, April 27, 1896; Petersburg, Mich., April
21, 1889, April 30, 1897. Mr. J. G. Parker informs me they usually
arrive at Chicago, IIL, May 1 to 10. I found them mating at Brook-
ville, April 20, 1896, and nesting May 21, 1881. Messrs. L. A. and
C. D. Test found a nest containing three eggs near Lafayette, July 7,
1892. It was built in a willow, fourteen feet up, and out over the
water. They usually leave late in August and early in September.
They sing as long as they stay. Very late migrants are reported, as
follows: Plymouth, Mich., September 15, 1894; Sedan, Ind., Septem-
ber 18, 1892; Bicknell, September 12, 1894; Brookville, September
21, 1887.

Prof. King found that 16 Warbling Vireos had eaten 34 caterpillars,
5 beetles, 3 bugs, 5 flies, and 1 grasshopper (Geol. of Wis., L., p. 521).
In an orchard infested with canker-worms Prof. Forbes found that
35 per cent. of their food was canker-worms (Rept. Mich. Hort. Soc.,
1881, p. 204).

Subgenus Lantvireo Baird.
*250. (628). Vireo flavifrons Vivi.
Yellow-throated Vireo.
Synonym, YELLOW-THROATED GREENLET.

Above, bright olive-green; rump, upper tail coverts and wing coverts,
ashy; wings and tail, blackish, with two white bars crossing the for-
mer; line from nostrils to the eye and ring around the eye, yellow.
Below, throat and breast, yellow; other under parts, white.
1014 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Length, 5.00-5.85; wing, 3.00-3.20; tail, 2.00-2.30.

Rance.—America, from Colombia and Cuba north over eastern
United States to Newfoundland, Ontario and Manitoba. Breeds from
Gulf of Mexico, north. Winters from Florida, south.

Nest, pensile; in fork of twig, three to thirty feet up; of fine bark,
grass and spiders’ webs, outside beautifully decorated with lichens.
figgs, 3-5; white, with spots of chestnut-brown, umber and black,
chiefly at the larger end; .79 by .58.

 

Details of structure of Yellow-throated Vireo. Natural size.

Common migrant. Summer resident in some numbers northward,
and more rarely southward. Breeds. Mr. Robert Ridgway reports
it breeding in Knox and Gibson counties, where he says it frequents the
luxuriant forests of the bottom Jands. Mr. V. H. Barnett found a
nest in an elm on the bank of a creek in Brown County, May 16,
1897. In the southeastern portion of the State it frequents wooded
hillsides especially, where there is a considerable undergrowth.
While it may breed there, I have no knowledge that it does. I found
them paired at Brookville, May 4, 1886. Dr. F. W. Langdon notes
that a few remain and breed about Cincinnati, O., and Mr. A. M.
Hadley reports it breeding near Richmond, Ind. Messrs. L. A. and
C. D. Test report it breeding at Lafayette, and from there northward
it appears to nest more numerously.

Dates of earliest and latest first arrival are as follows: Bloom-
ington, April 17, 1886, April 20, 1896; Brookville, April 19, 1881,
May 7, 1885; Spearsville, April 19, 1894, April 24, 1895; Richmond,
April 22, 1897; Greencastle, April 25, 1895; Lafayette, April 26, 1897,
April 28, 1895; Chicago, Ill., April 21, 1895; Petersburg, Mich., April
27, 1888, May 5, 1889.

It has a “fine and peculiar song, commencing always with a clear
and mellow queery, queery.” It is quite different from that of either
the Red-eyed or the Warbling Vireo. It-has an alarm note that
reminds me of that of a wren. I have only heard its song in the
spring, though it is said to sing sometimes until early September.
Brrps oF INDIANA. 1015

To me it seems the most sluggish of the Vireos. They begin their fall
migration early in Septemiber, sometimes as early as the first of that
month. Some years they are passing into October. The following
are the latest dates I have: Plymouth, Mich., September 10, 1894;
Chicago, Ill., September 21, 1896; Lafayette, Ind., September 2, 1896;
Bicknell, September 18, 1894; Brookville, October 13, 1887.

Of 21 specimens examined, 7 had eaten caterpillars, among them
geometers; 7, beetles, among them weevils and buprestis; 3, grass-
hoppers; 2, moths; 2, heteropterous insects, among them leaf-hoppers;
3, dipterous insects (King, Geol. of Wis., I., p. 523). While they are
with us, practically their whole food is insects.

251. (629). Vireo solitarius (WILs.).
Blue-headed Vireo.

Synonyms, SoLitary Vireo, SoLiraRyY GREENLET.

 

Details of structure of Blue-headed Virev. Natural size.

Above, top and sides of head and nape, bluish-ash; back and upper
tail coverts, olive-green; wings and tail, blackish, edged with olive-
green, the former crossed with two whitish bars; line from nostril to
eye and ring around eye, white. Below, white; sides, greenish-
yellow.

Length, 5.00-6.00; wing, 2.90-3.00; tail, 2.10-2.20.

Rance.—Eastern North America, from Guatemala and Cuba north
to Hudson Bay and Mackenzie River (Ft. Simpson). Breeds from
Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Michigan, north. Winters from
Florida, south.

Nest, pensile; in bush, five to eight feet up; of bark and fibres,
outside often decorated with lichens. Hggs, 3-4; white, wreathed
with chestnut or black spots about the larger end; .79 by .55.

The Blue-headed Vireo is a, regular migrant; some years it is com-
mon, others rare. In the Whitewater Valley they frequent the
wooded hillsides and upland woods, where they seem to prefer the
undergrowth rather than the trees. In southern Indiana they are
1016 REporRT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

found from April 23 to May 7, and in the northern part of the State
from April 29 to May 14, and occasionally to May 26. In the fall
they first appear northward September 1, and sometimes linger in the
southern part of the State until October 10. The earliest and latest
dates of first appearance in spring are as follows: Brookville, April
23, 1892, May 7, 1885; Richmond, April 26, 1897; Bloomington, April
28, 1895, May 9, 1892; Carroll County, May 10, 1884; Lafayette, May
14, 1892; Sedan, May 11, 1888; Petersburg, Mich., April 29, 1888,
April 30, 1897; Chicago, Ill., May 1, 1896, May 23, 1896, May 26,
1894, They were last noted in fall at Sedan, September 22, 1889;
in Lake County, September 18, 1888; Chicago, Ill, September 17,
1896; Brookville, Ind., October 5, 1886; Greencastle, October 10,
1890. I have no knowledge of its breeding in Indiana. During the
migrations, I have found them quiet and shy. They are, however,
more active than the Yellow-throated Vireo. I have never heard its
song, though it is said to sing during the migrations. Dr. T. M.
Brewer says its song is “a prolonged and very peculiar ditty, repeated
at frequent intervals, and always identical. It begins with a pleasant
warble, of a gradually ascending scale, which at a sudden pitch sud-
denly breaks down into a falsetto note. The song then rises again
in a single high note and ceases.”

“One specimen of three examined had eaten two caterpillars, one bee-
tle and a hymenopterous insect” (King, Geol. of Wis., I, p. 523). The
spring of 1897 I took some lice from a specimen of V. solitarius and
sent them to Prof. Herbert Osborn, Ames, Iowa. He informs me that
they are a species of Docophorus, belonging to the communis group.
This is the first record he had of it from a. Vireo.

Subgenus VirKo Vieillot.

*252. (631). Vireo noveboracensis (GmEt.).
White-eyed Vireo.

.Adult.—Above, bright olive-green, including crown; rump,
brighter; a slight ashy gloss on the cervix; below, white, the sides
of the breast and belly, the axillars and crissum, bright yellow; a
bright yellow line from nostrils to and around eye; lores, dusky; two
broad, yellowish wing bars; inner secondaries widely edged with the
same; bill and feet, blackish plumbeous; eyes, white.

Length, 4.50-5.00; wing, 2.35-2.50; tail, 1.90-2.10.

Rance.—Eastern North America, from Rocky Mountains, Hon-
-duras to Minnesota and New England. Breeds throughout its United
States range and in the Bermudas. Winters from Florida southward.

’
Birps oF INDIANA. 1017

Nest, in thickets, second-growth and swampy places along streams;
oblong, bag-shaped, depending from a horizontal forked twig of tree
or bush near ground (1 to 4 feet, rarely 8 feet); composed of moss,
cocoons, bark, grass, lichens; lined with fine strips of bark. Eggs,
3-5; white, speckled with reddish-brown and dark purple; .72 by .54.

 

Details of structure of White-eyed Vireo. Natural size.

The White-eyed Vireo is a summer resident throughout most of
Indiana. It is common in suitable localities in the southern part of
the State, generally northward it is more rare, and in the north-
western part, particularly about Lake Michigan, it seems to be want-
ing. It frequents thickets, brier patches, undergrowth in more open
woods and the tangle about ravines in the rougher part of the State.
It is seldom found far from water, and appears to be most often
noticed about the edges of the denser growths, where it makes its
home. While the greater number of persons do not know it, and it
would be a strange bird to them, it is probable that those who are ac-
quainted with it overestimate its numbers. They are often heard,
but many birds whose voices we seldom hear are more numerous.
They are irregular in their distribution, and every copse where they
are found shelters one pair, and only one. When the bird discovers
an intruder it comes to meet him. First flying to some opening
where it can get a good look at him unperceived, it next makes itself
known by a sharp “click,” which is surprising in its suddenness. This
is followed by a peculiar, jerky song, uttered with an alternating
emphasis and repeated over and over again, as the fidgety little green
bird is alternately seen and heard among the bushes close by the path.
Mr. Ridgway says the boys in southern Illinois have interpreted its
song as “chick’ty-beaver, lim’ber, stick,” with special emphasis on the
first syllable of each word. In Bermuda the natives say its notes are
“ginger beer, quick!” Its song is heard in the morning and at mid-
day; it sounds on bright and dark days alike, and continues, with
sometimes a slight interruption in midsummer, from the day of its
1018 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

arrival in the spring, through humid periods and droughts, to the time
of its departure. September 14, 1897, it was heard singing as plainly
asin June. In early springs they are usually distributed to our north-
ern limits before the first of May, and more tardy seasons they are
sometimes two weeks later. At Brookville their first appearance was
noted April 21, 1896, May 11, 1882; at Bicknell, April 19, 1896,
April 25, 1895; Spearsville, April 25, 1895, May 4, 1897; Greencastle,
April 27, 1892, May 2, 1894; Lafayette, April 28, 1894, May 11, 1897;
Waterloo, April 25, 1897. I found them paired May 2, 1884. Their
nests vary in material according to location. Almost any available
kind of material that can be worked in is used. Even fragments of
newspapers are frequently worked in. For that reason Wilson called
this bird the “Politician.” They are built at the ends of horizontal
forked twigs, from which they hang as purse-like structures to receive
the most valuable possessions of their makers. Mr. Nehrling says:
“The average length of the nest is 4.50 inches, the width at the rim
2.25 inches and somewhat wider toward the middle. The interior
is about 2.00 inches deep, the opening 1.75 inches wide. At the time
when the female begins to lay, the nest looks rugged and unfinished,
and small branches of lichens hang down from it. The work is com-
pleted by the male, which labors assiduously to embellish and orna-
ment the exterior.”

They have been noted in the fall at Brookville, September 20, 1886;
in Warren County, September 12, 1897; at Sedan, September 27,
1889.

Like the other members of its family, its food while with us is
principally insects, notably in its season, the larve of the canker-
worm. When in the south in winter it supplements its insect diet
with palmetto berries and other wild fruit.

XLVI. Famimy MNIOTILTIDZ. Woop warsuers.

a’. Bill depressed, broader than deep at base; rictal bristles distinct ; bill notched
at tip; length 5.50 or less.
6). Lower parts yellow ; throat sometimes more or Jess black. SyLvANIA. 162
b?. Lower parts without yellow in our species. SeropHaca. 163
a?. Bill not depressed, without distinct hook or notch at tip; rictal bristles, if
present, scarcely reaching beyond the nostrils.
c!, Size small; length less than 6.50; bill slender, nearly cylindrical.
d', Hind toe with claw as long as naked portion of tarsus in front; color
black and white; no yellow. Mniotizta. 152
d?. Hind toe with claw much shorter than naked portion of tarsus in front.
e'. Middle toe with claw much shorter than naked portion of tarsus in
front; or wings barred with white (Dendroica dominiea) ; or outer tail
feathers shortest (Geothlypis trichas).
Brirps oF INDIANA. 1019

f+. Gape without apparent bristles; bills very acute.
HELMINTHOPHILA. 156
f?. Gape with distinct bristles.
g:. Tail blotched with white, or mner webs of tail feathers brigh

yellow.
h}, Back blue with gold spot; throat and legs yellow; bill acute,
notch wanting. CoMPSOTHLYPIs. 157

h?, Coloration otherwise; bill not acute, plainly notehed.
Denprowa. 168
g’. Fail without white or yellow.
i}. Length 5.50 or more; white beneath with dark streaks.
SErurus. 159
#7, Length less than 5.0; yellow beneath, not streaked,
GEOTHLYPIS. 160
e*. Middle toe with claw about equa! to naked portion of tarsus in front.
j'. Tail feathers partly white; head and lower parts bright
yellow. .PRoTONOTARIA. 153
j?. Tail feathers without white.
:1, Bill much compressed ; culmen straight, with a ridge at
base; top of head pale brown. Heuinara. 154
k?, Bill mot much compressed, culmen gently curved, -base
not ridged; top of head buff with two black stripes.
HEuMirHeErvs. 155
c*, Size large, more than 7.00; bill stout, much compres-ed, without notch or
bristles; tail longer than wing. Icreria. 161

152. Genus MNIOFILTA Virior.

*253. (636). Mniotilta varia (Liny.).
Black and White Warbler.

Synonyms, Brack AND WHITE CREEPER, BLACK AND WHITE CREEPING WARBLER.

Adult Male—Entirely black and white im streaks, except on the
belly, inner webs of tail feathers with more or less white; black on top
of head, in front, below and behind eye; a white stripe through the
middle of crown; one over the eye and one on each side of throat;
throat, black; wing, with two white bars. Female and Immature.—
Duller, and threat white.

Length, 4.55-5.50; wing, 2.60-2.90; tail, 1.95-2.25.

RanoEe.—Ameriea, from Colombia and Venezuela over Eastern
United States to Mackenzie Valley (Ft. Simpson). Breeds from Gulf
States northward. Winters from Florida and Gulf Coast southward.

Nest, on ground against a bush or tree, or under a root, stone or
bush; composed of leaves, grasses, strips of rotten wood; lined with
hair, moss, rootlets or fine grass. Hggs, 5, rarely 4; white or creamy-
white, speekled and spotted with chestnut, bay, hazel, cinnamon,
rufous or lavender-gray, most abundant near large end, where often
arranged in wreath; .69 by .54.
1020 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

First to arrive among the warblers of the woodland is the Black and
White Warbler. While the Myrtle Warbler may be found along the
willow thickets some years before it comes, and the attractive song of
the Sycamore Warbler sound from the tall, white trees above, they
are not in the woods. There, particularly in the drier woodland, the
well-known song of this symphony in black and white is borne to
one’s ears, but it requires sharp eyes to distinguish its form among
the lights and shadows of the corrugated bark of the tree trunks.
Persistence will be rewarded, and this warbler will reveal himself, a
creeper with motion and habits that remind one much of a Nuthatch.
The early arrivals are males. If they are very early the females may
not come for ten days or more. Then both are very common most

 

Head of Black and White Warbler. Natural size.

years until early or late May, depending upon whether the observer is
located north or south. A few always breed throughout the State.
Then, in August, the migrants begin to return, and they are again
common until late September and occasionally well into October. The
first arrival at Brookville in 1882 was April 3d, in 1893, May 5. Other
early and late spring dates of first arrival are: Bloomington, April %,
1893; Richmond, April 17, 1897; Greensburg, April 18, 1896, April
27, 1895; Lafayette, April 18, 1896, May 6, 1894; Sedan, April 16,
1896, May 6, 1889; Chicago, April 17, 1886, May 9, 1894. I have
observed them mating at Brookville, April 30, 1894. Its call is a
sharp chip—a regular Warbler’s call. The song is diligently poured
forth at all hours of the day during migration. It sounds something
like, “easy-easy-easy-easy-easy,” the word repeated four to six times
in a drawling monotone. It varies, however, in volume, being at
times uttered very low and again sounding loud and distinct, carrying
plainly a long distance.

The song season continues well into June. Mr. Bicknell says they
sing again for a short season in mid-August. Nests with eggs may
be found on the ground in retired woodland late in May and in June.
. Breps or Inpiana. 1021

They are usually cleverly hid and quite difficult to find. Messrs. L.
A. and C. D. Test took a nest with 6 eggs at Lafayette, April 30, 1897.

Migrants usually begin to return late in August. The following
dates note the first appearance: Chicago, August 27, 1895; Lafayette,
August 28, 1897; Greensburg, August 30, 1894. The latest fall dates
are as follows: Plymouth, Mich., September 10, 1894; Chicago, IIL,
September 26, 1893; Lafayette, September 12, 1896; Greensburg,
September 3, 1894; Lake County, Ind., September 11, 1881; Warren
County, September 16, 1897; Brookville, September 6, 1896.

A very late date is October 12, 1878, when Messrs. Dury and Free-
man took it at Cincinnati. As an index to their food while here, I
give the following: Of seventeen specimens examined, three ate 5
ants; 2, 21 caterpillars, 20 of which were small, measuring worms;
3, 4 moths; 3, 5 diptera; 6, 16 beetles; 2, 7 heteroptera; 1, a caddis
fly, and 1, a small snail (Physa). Two had eaten 101 insect eggs,
which were probably contained in insects eaten by the birds (King,
Geol. of Wis., pp. 499, 500). Much of their food is very small insects,
a great deal of those kinds that live upon forest trees and also trees of
the orchard and lawn, which they sometimes visit.

153. Gusus PROTONOTARIA Bairp.

*254. (637). Protonotaria citrea (Bopp.).
Prothonotary Warbler.

Synonym, Gotpen Swamp WARBLER.

Adult Male—Entire head, neck and lower parts, except cris-
sum, rich orange yellow; crissum, white; back, olive-green; wings,
rump and tail, bluish-gray; tail feathers, except middle pair, with white
on inner web and tipped with dusky. Adult Female—Similar, but
colors not so bright; more white below.

Length, about 5.00-5.50; wing, 2.90-3.00; tail, 2.25.

Ranee.—East North America, from Panama and Cuba to Nebraska,
Michigan and Pennsylvania. Casual in Maine, New Brunswick and
Ontario. Breeds from Gulf of Mexico to Virginia, northern Indiana
and Michigan. Winters south of, United States.

Nest, in a natural cavity or excavation, in a tree or stump, often
willow standing in or near water; composed of moss, roots, hair,
leaves, plant fibre. Wggs, white, creamy or drab, generally glossy,
more or less blotched and spotted with cinnamon, chestnut or gray
(the latter often indistinct). Number, usually 6, often 5-7; rarely 3,
4 and 8. Eggs rounded ovate; .79 by:.60; .62 by .54; average .70 by
BT,
1022 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

The Prothonotary Warbler is locally a summer resident and is in
some places common. Its.route of migration is up the Mississippi
River to the Ohio, where a large number turn off to ascend the latter
stream. Others keep on up the Mississippi, some leaving it at the
Kaskaskia, the Missouri and the Illinois rivers, which they ascend a
greater or less distance, while others continue along the main stream,
ascending as far as Davenport, Ia. As they move along the Ohio
they spread oyer the lowlands of southern Illinois. The Ohio Valley,
above the mouth of the Wabash River, is unattractive to these swamp-
loving birds, and they turn aside at the latter stream, ascending it to
its source and crossing over into Ohio, where they have been found
breeding at St. Mary’s Reservoir, and to the vicinity of Cleveland,
where it has been identified. It also occurs throughout the Kankakee
River Valley in this State, and reaches the vicinity of Chicago, IIL,
southwestern Michigan to Elkhart, Lagrange, Dekalb and Steuben
counties, Ind.

“The first account of its occurrence in Indiana was published by
Mr. William Brewster in the Bulletin of the Nuttall Ornithological
Club, 1878, p. 153, and details of a visit to the haunts of these birds
in Wabash County, Ill., and Knox and Gibson counties, Ind. In 1884
Mr. H. K. Coale found it common at Davis Station, Starke County,
and about the same time took a specimen on the shore of Lake Michi-
gan in Lake County, Ind. These observations have been supple-
mented by many notes which show that about the swamps, cypress
ponds and sluggish streams of the lower Wabash Valley, in some
parts of the Kankakee Valley, notably at Water Valley, English
Lake, Davis Station, Kouts and locally in Lagrange County, it is
common and breeds abundantly. Mr. J. W. Byrkit has taken one
specimen near Michigan City. Mrs. Jane L. Hine and Mr.J.P. Feagler
have seen it in Dekalb County, and Hon. R. Wes. McBride took it in
Elkhart County. Prof. B. W. Evermann has taken it in Carroll
County (The Auk, Vol. VI., pp. 26, 27). Mr. Chauncey Juday
reports it from Monroe County, where a specimen was taken at Har-
rodsburg, April 26, 1895.

Mr. J. E. Beasley took it at Lebanon, Boone County, May 23 and
29, 1894. In the remainder of the State, east and south of the valley
of the Wabash River, it is practically unknown. The only two records
are one given by Mr. Loucks in the publication referred to, upon the
authority of Mr. J. H. Hitt, of Indianapolis, from Newcastle, where
he mentions one nest having been found, and one specimen taken by
by Mr. E. L. Guthrie at Adams, Decatur County, and identified by
Mr. John W. Shorten, of Cincinnati. In May, 1891, Mr. H. W.
Birps oF INDIANA. 1023

McBride made a trip by boat from Pleasant Lake, Steuben County,
following Pigeon Creek to its mouth, thence down the St. Joseph
River to Elkhart, Ind. He passed through parts of Steuben, Lagrange
and Elkhart counties, and St. Joseph County, Mich. May 9, 1891,
he saw the first Prothonotary Warbler, a male, about five miles west
of Angola. No others were seen in that county until the 13th
of the month, when they were found breeding abundantly along the
creek in Lagrange County, about six miles west of Lima. Except Red-
starts and Cat Birds, they were the most common bird in that locality,
actively engaged in nest building, over a stretch of territory two miles
long. In a distance of about a half mile by the creek, he found eight
nests without leaving his boat, none of which were quite completed.
For about five miles then none were seen, although the character of the
country and timber was the same. The nests were all in old Wood-
peckers’ holes in stubs over the water, and were composed of rootlets,
grass and moss. He mentions one male taken which had a patch of
orange-red surrounding the base of the bill. They were next found
May 14, in Mattville Township, St. Joseph County, Mich., and for a
distance of three and a half or four miles from White Pigeon were to
be heard or seen all the time. Then no more were observed. They
were located in colonies in low, damp, heavily-timbered country.

They arrive early in spring. Mr. Brewster noted them in Wabash
County, Il., and Knox County, April 19, 1878, and apparently all had
arrived April 27. Mr. Ridgway noted the first in Knox County, Ind.,
April 18, 1881. Mr. A. H. Kendrick noted the first arrival at Ells-
worth, Vigo County, April 10, 1896; Davis Station, May 11, 1884,
more common May 18, 1884 (Coale). First arrival Elkhart County,
April 16, 1891; Frankfort, April 20, 1896, common April 27,
1896; Waterloo, April 29, 1896 (Feagler); Steuben County, May 9,
1894.

When they first arrive they are silent and keep to the top of the
small trees. Before they begin to be seen commonly about the water
they commence singing. At a distance the song sounds much like
the notes of the Solitary Sandpiper, but nearer at hand it resembles,
“neet, tsweet, tsweet, tsweet, tsweet, tsweet, tsweet,”’ uttered in a ringing,
penetrating tone at a rather high pitch. This sounds through the
swamps morning, noon and night. Mating begins soon after arrival,
and then comes searching for Woodpeckers’ holes, natural cavities,
and other suitable nesting places in stumps and dead trees. In such
places the nest is built, and almost always in or over water. The fe-
males construct the nest and incubate the eggs. After they are com-
pleted a few days elapse before laying begins. An egg is laid daily
1024 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

until the set is complete. It is said generally to rear two broods a
season. The period of incubation is given at ten days to two weeks.
The male supplies the female with food, but after the young are
hatched it requires the combined efforts of both parents to keep them
supplied with food, generally insects. Mr. Loucks mentions one nest
that contained ten eggs, and thinks more than one bird must have
laid them. In the southern part of the State they sometimes have
full sets of eggs in April, but in its more northern homes it seldom
has a complement before late in May. Mr. Robert Ridgway found a
nest and four fresh eggs near Mt. Carmel, Ill., April 27, 1878. May
13, 1891, Mr. H. W. McBride found no completed nests in Lagrange
County, Ind. May 28, 1896, Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr., found two nests.
containing young, and one with fresh eggs, along the Kankakee River,
near Kouts. May 31, 1885, Mr. Coale found nests containing fresh
eggs at Davis Station. At the same place, June 8, 1884, he found
four nests with eggs partly incubated, and a week later, June 15, he
found young out of the nests.

The localities they select for summer homes are of their own choos-
ing, and we do not understand the rule they apply or the reason for
their choice. Often in one locality they are common, while another,
near by it, may be passed over and no Prothonotaries frequent it.
They are not usually known. The uninviting places they seek are not
commonly frequented by men other than naturalists, and the birds do
not wander from the precincts of their retreats. They may, therefore,
be very abundant in a swamp and be absolutely unknown to the in-
habitants of the neighboring farms. When the young can fly and
care for themselves, perhaps in July, they begin to become less notice-
able. Fewer and fewer their numbers grow, until finally the last have
passed away, retracing their steps of the preceding spring. The latest
record I have is September 3, 1884, when a bird of the year was taken
by Mr. Coale at Davis Station.

154. Genus HELINAIA Aupvuzon.

*255. (688). Helinaia swainsonii Avp.

Swainson’s Warbler.

Adult.—Above, crown and nape, reddish-brown; rest of upper parts,
incliding sides of neck, olive; rump, wings and tail, tinged with
brownish; buffy or whitish stripe over the eye; below, creamy; sides,
olive, or grayish. Young, First Plumage——Wings and tail, like adult,
but other upper parts, including crown and nape, also throat and
breast, dull cinnamon-brown.
Birps oF INDIANA. 1025

Length, 5.55; wing, 2.80; tail, 2.00; bill, .65 by .74.

RancE.—Eastern North America, West Indies and Mexico, north
to Virginia, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. Probably breeds through-
out its United States range. Winters south of United States.

Nest, in bush or canes, near ground or water (2 to 5 feet); of dry
leaves, lined with pine needles and dry moss. Eggs, 3, rarely 5; white,
very rarely, faintly marked; .74 by .56.

‘Much interest attaches to Swainson’s, just as there does to Bach-
man’s Warbler, on account of its history. Both birds were discovered
by Rev. John Bachman, near Charleston, 8. C., the former in 1832,
the latter the year following. Swainson’s Warbler remained almost
unknown for forty years. Up to 1873 but three additional specimens
appear to have been noted. That year Mr. N. C. Brown found it at
Coosada, Elmore County, Ala. It was found later in Louisiana and
Texas. In 1878 it was identified by Mr. Robert Ridgway in Knox
County, Ind., where he says it breeds (Bulletin, Nutt. Orn. Club, 1878,
p- 163; Orn. of Ill, 1, pp. 121-123). It has since been determined
to be a not uncommon summer resident in the vicinity of Charleston,
8. C., where a number of its nests have been found. Mr. Arthur T.
Wayne and Mr. Wm. Brewster have given accounts of its occurrence
there (The Auk, Vol. II., 1885, pp. 65-80; Ibid, pp. 346-348). Mr.
Brewster tells us it is a swamp-inhabiting bird, frequenting a peculiar
kind of swamp. The favorite locality is called locally “pineland gall.”
He says: “Four things seem indispensable to its existence, viz.: water,
tangled thickets, patches of cane and a rank growth of semi-aquatic
plants.” Its song consists of a series of clear, ringing whistles, the
first four uttered rather slowly and in the same key, the remaining
five or six given more rapidly, and in an evenly-descending scale.’
In general effect it recalls the song of the Water Thrush (Seiurus
noveboracensis ).

It is very loud, very rich, very beautiful, while it has an indescrib-
ably tender quality that thrills the senses after the sound has ceased.
This Warbler is a sluggish bird, and is noted as being unsuspicious, or
even inquisitive, retiring and, save when singing, very quiet. In all
this it is directly the opposite of its near relative, the Worm-eating
Warbler. It appears to nest indiscriminately in bushes in water, along
the borders of streams or ponds and on high, dry land at some distance
from water.

65—GEOL.
1026 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

155. Genus HELMITHERUS Rarinesque.

*256, (639). Helmitherus vermivorus (GMEL.).

Worm-eating Warbler.

 

Head of Worm-eating Warbler. Natural size.

Adult.—Head, black; a broad stripe through the middle of the
crown, and one stripe over the eye, buff; a black stripe from eye back-
ward; other upper parts, olive-green; wings, sometimes brownish; be-
low, buff, lighter on the throat, belly and crissum. Immature—
More buffy below; head, with black more or less replaced with brown.

Length, 5.00-5.75; wing, 2.65-2.90; tail, 1.90-2.20; bill, .60-.65; tar-
sus, .70.

Rancz.—Eastern North America, from Yucatan and West Indies
to Connecticut, Indiana and Nebraska; casually to Maine and Mich-
igan. Breeds throughout its United States range. Winters south of
United States. .

Nest, in woods, dense grown with underbrush, at foot of tree or
bush under overhanging bank, stone or root; made of dried leaves,
lined with (hair moss, Pa. and N. (".) grass, horsehair. Eggs, 4, 5, 6,
rarely 3; white or creamy-white, speckled and-spotted, generally thick-
est at larger end, but not always, with chestnut, hazel, lavender-gray;
68 by .55.

The Worm-eating Warbler not many years ago was considered a
rare bird in Indiana, but since its habits are better known it is found
to be over the southern portion of the State, at least in suitable places,
a common summer resident. Its home is among the denser wood-
lands, especially in rough country, on hillsides and in ravines, where
“down timber” and underbrush is plentiful. In the Whitewater Val-
ley in such localities it is one of the most abundant woodland species.
No bird in its haunts exceeds it in numbers, unless it be the Oven
Bird (Seiurus aurocapillus). In the lower Wabash Valley it is com-
mon. Prof. B. W. Evermann notes it as not common in Monroe
County; rare in Vigo County, and does not give it in his list of Birds
of Carroll County. He took a nest and three eggs at “Pine Hills,”
in Montgomery County, May 30, 1887. It is not common in Brown
Birps oF INDIANA. 1027

County (Barnett). On the wooded hillsides and in the ravines along
Sugar Creek in Parke and Montgomery counties I found it common
in May, 19 and 20, 1887. At Lafayette it is not common, but breeds
(L. A. and C. D. Test). In Dekalb County Mr. H. W. McBride found
it tolerably common and breeding in May, 1890. It has also been noted
rarely in that county in the vicinity of Waterloo by Mr. J. P.. Feagler;
at Sedan, by Mrs. Jane L. Hine. Mrs. Hine also observed it one sum-
mer (June 4) at Fish Lake, Steuben County. It has even crossed the
line into Michigan, where it is noted as rare in Lenawee and Hillsdale
counties (Cook, Birds of Michigan, p. 128).

In the northwestern portion of Indiana, beyond the Wabash River,
I do not know of its occurrence, yet it has been taken on the shore of
Lake Michigan at Waukegan, IIl., above Chicago, May 21, 1876
(Bulletin, Essex Inst., Vol. VIII., 1876, p. 98). Since 1879 I have
noted its arrival at Brookville almost every spring. The earliest date
it was first seen is April 17, 1896; the latest, May 3, 1882. It has
been very hard to obtain data as to its movements. However, the
following dates give the reported first appearance from the places
and years named: Knox County, April 24, 1881; Bloomington, April
25, 1885, May 4, 1886: Spearsville, April 25, 1895, April 29, 1894;
Lafayette, May 8, 189%, May 21, 1892; Waterloo, May 3, 1896. I
have observed them mating by April 26, 1881, and as late as May 18,
1883, but am inclined to-think some years they begin earlier then
the first named date. They proceed. at once to nest building. Mr.
E. R. Quick found a nest five miles south of Brookville June 3, 1882.
The locality is similar to that usually occupied, so I let the discoverer
tell of it: “It (the nest) was situated on a densely wooded hillside,
on the almost perpendicular bank of a gully, and was overhung by
the base of a small shrub. It was composed of dried leaves and lined
with fine shreds of bark of the grapevine. When driven from the
nest, the bird refused to leave the vicinity, but with distended tail and
fluttering wings moved round me at a distance of a few feet, until I
called a companion, on whose appearance she flew away. The nest
contained two addled eggs.and one half-fledged young. The eggs were
about the size of those of the summer Yellow Bird (D. wstiva), with
diameter proportionately greater. They are pure white, dotted every-
where with light reddish-brown, most thickly at the larger end”
(Journ. Cin. Soc. Nat. Hist., 1882, p. 94).

Prof. W. 8. Blatchley took a nest and six fresh eggs, and one of the
Cowbird, near Bloomington, May 12, 1886. The nest was at the base
of a clump of ferns, and was composed of the leaves of “Maiden Hair”
fern. The next day Prof. B. W. Evermann took a nest from a similar
1028 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

location, containing five of the owner’s eggs and two of the Cowbird.
I have a young bird not able to fly that was taken near Greencastle.
It very probably breeds wherever it is found in the State.

In 1886 I found young, July 1, at Brookville. The song very much
resembles that of the Chipping Sparrow (S. socialis), and to the
casual listener is not distinguishable from that bird. It is well to
remember that whenever one hears the song of a “Chippy” in our
denser woods it is not that bird, but a Worm-eating Warbler. Its
song ceases about the middle of July. After it ceases singing and the
young are able to care for themselves, they begin to leave. Their
numbers keep on growing less and less until the last are usually gone
late in August.

The Test brothers have found it at Lafayette as late as August 24,
1896, and I observed it at Brookville September 3, 1883. Its name
has been given it from its habit of eating worms. It is a diligent
searcher after grubs and other larve under the bark and among the
decaying wood of limbs, fallen trees, rotting logs and other forest
wreckage found lying upon the ground. The site of a ‘‘wind fall” is
a favorite spot with them. And they are not averse to catching the
insects along any old worm fence that passes through the woods. If
one keeps quiet they are willing to come quite near to him, even upon
the same log he is using for a seat. They move by hops, and I am
always thinking of the motions of a Black and White Warbler as I see
them, now going along a log and then going around it and under it,
often when it would seem the hole was too small to permit the bird’s
body to pass through. They are very diligent and keep occupied all
day long, but the time of greatest activity is in the morning and
evening. When disturbed it often flies into a bush or even from
twenty to forty feet up in a tree, and after a period of quiet waiting,
during which it remains motionless, if nothing further disturbs it,
the rattling, chipping song is uttered again and again. Presently it
ceases and flies to its former hunting ground, uttering several vigor-

ous, sharp “tchips,” which very much resemble the call-note of the
Oven Bird.

156. Genus HELMINTHOPHILA Ripeway.

a1, Wing varied with white and yellow.
b!. Wing with large yellow patch ; beneath not yellow.
H. pinus (Linn.). 257
b?, Wing with two white bands; beneath bright yellow.

; H. chrysoptera (Linn.). 258
a?, Wing not varied.

c!, Under tail coverts and more or less of under parts yellow.
d', Under parts bright yellow. H. ruficapilla (Wils.). 259
Birps or INDIANA. 1029

d?. Under parts greenish yellow, sometimes streaked and obscure.
H. celata (Say.). 260
ce’. Under tail coverts and more or less of under parts white.
H. peregrina (Wils.). 261

*257. (641). Helminthophila pinus (Livy.).
Blue-winged Warbler.

Synonym, BLuEz-wiInceED YELLOW WARBLER.

Adult Male—Head and entire lower parts to the crissum, bright
yellow; crissum and under tail-coverts, white; a black stripe from bill
through the eye; rest of body above, olive-green, brighter on the
rump; wings and tail, blue-gray; the former with two white bars, the
latter with three outer pairs of tail feathers marked with white on the
inner web. Adult Female—Only the front part of crown yellow; the
streak through the eye dusky instead of black.

Length, 4.65-5.00; wing, 2.40-2.50; tail, 2.00-2.10.

Rance.—Eastern North America, from Nicaraugua north to Massa-
chusetts, southern Michigan and southern Minnesota. Breeds
throughout its United States range. Winters from Mexico south.

Nest, on ground in clearing or second growth, generally at foot of
bush, among sprouts, or in bush one foot up; made of leaves, grape-
vine bark, lined with fine grass or hair. Hggs, 4-5; white, finely and
usually sparsely spotted with brown and black; .60 by .48.

This species seems to complement the one last mentioned. Their
range is nearly identical. This frequenting the clearings, more open
woodlands and pastures grown up with’ bushes, briers, weeds and
sprouts; the other the dense forest. They arrive at the same time.
Each is a great insect eater. Each has a peculiar song that, when once
identified, can always be distinguished. The Blue-winged Warbler
shows its bright colors in the bright sunlight of the open woods, while
the Worm-eating Warbler’s duller colors harmonize with the shades
and shadows of the dark forest. In southern Indiana its favorite
quarters are on the partially wooded hillsides, where there are many
bushes. The stroller through such places late in April will often be
saluted with a peculiar, rasping, stridulating effort, technically termed
a song, that is not pretty, yet so strange as to demand his whole atten-
tion. The author is usually among the branches frequently in the top
of a tree. Mr. F. M. Chapman well interprets this song. He says:
“As a rule, it consists of the two drawled, wheezy notes, “swé é-chee,’
the first inhaled, the second exhaled. A less common song uttered
later in the season is, wéé, chi-chi-chi-chi-chur, and is sometimes

accompanied by peculiar kik notes (B. E. N. A,, p. 347). This is
1030 Revort oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

uttered in August (The Auk, July, 1884, p. 211). The earliest one
reached Brookville April 17, 1896, but one year the first one was.
not seen until April 30 (1884). Earliest and latest first arrivals for
other points are: Brown County, April 23, 1895, April 29, 1894;
Bloomington, April 27, 1886; Greencastle, April 27, 1895, May %,.
1892; Richmond, April 24, 1897; Carroll County, May 4, 1885, May
10, 1884; Wabash, May 1, 1894; Sedan, April 26, 1896, May 11, 1897;
Petersburg, Mich., May 10, 1897. The last mentioned place is one of:
the few places in southern Michigan where it has been taken, and
there it is rare. Mr, B. F. Gault has taken one specimen—the only
one ever reported from Cook County, Illinois.

They are generally common in suitable places in southern Indiana,
and locally, farther north, are found in some numbers. But usually
in the northern half of the State it is rare or, at least, not common.

However, it is said to be inereasing in numbers there, and is prob-
ably extending its range and usually breeds wherever found.

It begins mating some springs by April 18 (1896) and continues
as late as May 8 (1887). Mr. W. O. Wallace says they frequent open
thickets in Wabash County. The spring of 1892 he found a nest on
a small bush about a foot from the ground. The nest was built by
the female while the male sat on a bush near by and sang his-odd
little song. The nest was destroyed by cattle. Prof. B. W. Evermann
found a nest with young just ready to fly in Carroll County in July,
1879 (The Auk, January, 1889, p. 27). After the young are reared
they seem to leave their haunts, in southern Indiana, at least they ap-
parently associate together in small numbers, perhaps a family remain-
ing together, and seek open woods or thickets that are more moist
than their breeding grounds. They depart for the south usually in
August and September, but have been known to remain until late
October. June 20, 1892, and a few days later, Messrs. L. A. and C.
D. Test saw several each time near Lafayette. July 28 to August 6,
1894, Mr. J. O. Dunn, of Chicago, found them very common in the
bushy woods about Bass Lake, Starke County. Mr. J. E. Beasley saw
nine October 22, 1894, at Lebanon. This is the latest I have ever
known it to be taken with us. In addition to the localities noted, it
is reported from Allen County by Mr. C. A. Stockbridge.

This species, too, is an insect-eater. It not only lives upon the
forms found close to the ground, but gleans among the bushes and
even at times the smaller trees. I have often observed it about Buck-
eye trees of considerable size when they were in bloom, and I thought
they were attracted by the insects about the flowers. This species is
very fond of spiders, larvee and beetles.
Birps oF INDIANA. 1031

258. (642). Helminthophila chrysoptera (Liny.).
Golden-winged Warbler.

Synonyms, BLUE GoLDEN-WINGED WARBLER, GOLDEN- WINGED SwaAMP WARBLER.

Adult Male—Forehead and both rows of wing-coverts, and some-
times edges of secondaries, yellow; a black patch from bill backward,
covering ear-coverts; throat, black; a white stripe over the eye and one
on each side of throat; rest of upper parts, blue-gray, sometimes
tinged with olive-green; below white, ashy on the sides; three outer
pairs of tail feathers with the inner webs, partly white. Adult Female.
—Black on throat and sides of head dull gray.

Length, 5.00; wing, 2.45-2.65; tail, 1.90-2.25.

Rance.—America, from Colombia over eastern United States to
Michigan, Minnesota, South Ontario and Vermont. Breeds from
South Carolina along the mountains, New Jersey and Indiana north.
Winters south of United States.

Nest, of dead leaves, stubs of bark, grass stems; lined with fine
fibres; on or near ground, usually at base of bush or tuft of grass in
dense, partly cleared growth of woods or bushy field. Hggs, 4-5, some-
times 6; white, or creamy-white; speckled chiefly, sometimes entirely,
at the larger end, occasionally forming an indistinct wreath of burnt
umber, russet, chestnut and lilac-gray; .63 by .49.°

The Golden-winged Warbler is one of the most attractive of the
genus. Its beauty, generally irregular appearance and peculiar song
render it always a bird to be sought. Throughout the State it is a
migrant, and in the northern part of the State where the conditions
are favorable--where marshes and bogs in bushy or wooded land are
found—it breeds, at places, in some numbers. It is not abundant at
any place, and its numbers are, doubtless, decreasing. Wheaton tells
us, with the exception of the Orange-crowned Warbler it is the rarest
of the genus found in Ohio. In the Whitewater Valley Mr. Quick
and I have found it to be very irregular. Some years none were
found, others it was very common. Usually, however, a few were
found. The spring of 1881 it was quite numerous. There they fre-
quent the sugar, oak and hickory woods on and near the hill tops.
We never found them in the river valleys. It has never been observed
there, in fall. In the lower Wabash region it would seem to be a com-
mon migrant.

Mr. Robert Ridgway says it is “a common species during the spring
migration in Wabash County, Illinois, and in adjacent counties of
Indiana, and is hardly, if at all, less rare in fall.” He has also found
1032 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

it breeding in Richland County, Illinois (Orn. of Ill., I., pp. 127, 128).
In the northern part of the State it is also a common migrant. At
Davis Station, Starke County, Mr. H. K. Coale found them very com-
mon and breeding, the spring of 1884. The males were first seen, and
were common May 11. That day he shot four and saw others. May
18 they were also numerous. Then he shot a female—the first seen.

Mrs. Jane L. Hine has found them commonly in Dekalb County.
There, she says, it is a regular summer resident. Almost every large
swamp has its pair. Their notes may be heard almost constantly in the
spring. She reports them as breeding, but notes they are becoming
less commonly seen. In Monroe County, Michigan, it formerly bred
quite commonly. Mr. H. W. McBride found a pair building their nest
in Springfield Township, Lagrange County, about May 12, 1891.

Early and late dates of first arrival in Indiana.are: Brookville,
April 29, 1879, May 11, 1885; Richmond, April 22, 1897; Greens-
burg, May 7, 1893; Bloomington, May 4, 1886; Camden, May 6,
1885; Lafayette, April 24, 1897 ; Terre Haute, May 17, 1890; Sedan,
April 27, 1896, May 8, 1894; Petersburg, Mich., May 2, 1892, May
10, 1893; Plymouth, Mich., April 30, 1896, May 18, 1893; Ann Arbor,
Mich., May 12, 1889; Chicago, Tll., May 9, 1885. In the fall they are
very irregular in their movements, also. Some years they disappear
the latter part of August, others in September, and again the late
movers remain in the vicinity of their breeding grounds into October.
The following are.some dates of last fall records: Plymouth, Mich.,
August 20, 1894; Lafayette, Ind., present August 30, September 1?,
1895; Warren County, September 14, 1897 (Barnett); Chicago, IIL,
August 30, 1895. Prof. E. L. Moseley informs me that several were
seen at Grand Rapids, Mich., October 4, 1886.

“Their peculiar, drawling, lisping song is sure, even if I have not
heard it for several years, to strike my ear upon entering the woods
where one is singing. It consists of four svllables, zee-zee-zee-zee,
slowly brought forth, with a peculiar, vibratory effort. When singing,
they are usually most lively and wildest, sometimes leading the col-
lector a long chase, as they quickly cover considerable distances in the
woods. At other times, when not singing, they are occasionally rather
tame. However, as I have usually found them quite well up in the
trees, they cannot be said to compare in ease of approach with the
last species. In addition to the records of its breeding in Richland
County, Tl, given by Mr. Robert Ridgway (Orn. of IIL, I., p. 127),
Mr. A. C. Poling has found it nesting in the Mississippi bottoms in
that State. There it frequents the lowlands, covered with grass, with
an occasional bush or grove of trees, and all the nests found were
Birps oF INDIANA. 1033

placed above the ground. In Ohio, Dr. Wheaton records its breeding
in the vicinity of Columbus. In that State it prefers swampy places
and nests on the ground, frequently under the broad leaf of the skunk
cabbage” (B. of O., p. 248).

259. (645). Helminthophila ruficapilla (Wu1s.).
Nashville Warbler.

Adult Male-——Above, plain olive-green; head and sides of neck,
grayish; a white ring around the eye; crown, with a concealed chestnut
patch; under parts, bright yellow, whitening on the middle of the
belly; wings and tail without white. Adult Female and Immature.
Similar, but colors duller; chesinut on crown, less distinct or want-
ing.

Length, 4.20-5.00; wing, 2.30-2.45; tail, 1.85-1.90.

RaneEe.—Eastern North America, from Guatemala north to Labra-
dor and Hudson Bay region (Cumberland House), west to Rocky
Mountains. Breeds from northern Illinois and Connecticut north.
Winters in Mexico and Central America.

Nest, in open woods that generally are wet; on ground, in tuft of
grass, depression at base of treé or bush; of grass and moss, sometimes
pine needles, lined with hair or fine roots. Hggs, 4, sometimes 3 and
5; white or creamy-white, speckled with gray, cinnamon, hazel, vina-
ceous or lilac (reddish-brown, Davie); .59 by .48.

The Nashville Warbler is usually rather a rare migrant. At times,
however, it is common in one locality or another. Dr. Brayton says,
upon the authority of Mr. Nelson, it is a “very common migrant in
Lake County and also a rare resident” (Birds of Ind., p. 103). It was
rather common in Franklin County May 5-11, 1882; also in 1885.
Prof. Evermann found it common in Carroll County, May 4-7, 1885.
Mr. Alden M. Hadley reports it abundant in Wayne County, April
24 to May 10, 1897. In Monroe County it was rather comrhon, April
27 to May 1, 1886 (Evermann, Blatchley). Mr. O. W. Wallace says it
has been very abundant at times at Wabash, arriving as early as April
28. Mr. C. E. Aiken informs me it was not rare in Lake County in
1871, and Mrs. Hine says it was very common in Dekalb County the
spring of 1889. About Chicago they are reported as rare migrants.
I have but one record from there in recent years. They arrive some
springs in southern Indiana by April 15, and in the extreme northern
part of the State by April 29. I do not know that in late years it has
been observed within the State after May 11 (1885), though it some-

times lingers in southern Michigan until May 25. The earliest first
{
‘

1034 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

arrival at Brookville (and in the State) is April 15, 1887; the latest,
May 5, 1882. The earliest it has been noted in the spring at Rich-
mond is April 24, 1897, when it remained to May 10; the latest first
arrival was April 28, 1888. The following other dates give, respec-
tively, the earliest and latest date of first arrival: Bloomington, April
27, 1886; Moore’s Hill, May 10, 1893; Spearsville, May 5, 1897; Peters-
burg, Mich., May 9, 1889, May 18, 1898, while both in 1892 and 1893
it was noted until May 25; Terre Haute, May 3, 1890; Sedan, April
29, 1896-7, May 8, 1892. I have usually found them in more open
sugar woods, where they generally kept high in the trees. Mr. Wal-
lace, while he generally finds them in the tree tops, has taken it in'an
orchard, and once in an open blackberry patch. Mr. J. A. Allen says:
“Its song so much resembles that of the Chestnut Warbler that it
might readily be mistaken.” Minot says it sounds like, “wee-see-wee-
see, wit-a-wit-a-wit.” The first part of this reminds one of the song
of the Black and White Warbler. To me, the song has a peculiar,
vibratory, wheezy sound that recalls some of the peculiar sounds of
other members of the family. It has not been reported as nesting in
Indiana, but it is given by Mr. Nelson as breeding in northeastern
Illinois, and Mr. Philo W. Smith, Jr., records its breeding in Fulton
County, Ill. (Bay State Oologist, Vol. J., May, 1888, p. 44).

» Like the other members of this genus, it is a great insect eater,
husily searching among the foliage of the trees it frequents. Two
specimens contained 4 small caterpillars and a few fragments of
insects (Prof. King, Geol. of Wis., p. 500).

260. (646). Helminthophila celata (Say.).
Orange-crowned Warbler.

Adult Male—Above, olive-green, dulled with ashy, brighter on the
rump; a concealed patch of orange-rufous on the crown; vellowish ring
around eye; wing, without white markings; inner webs of tail feathers,
with white edgings; below, whitish washed with yellowish and ashy.
Adult Female—Orange and rufous crown, less distinct or wanting;
tail feathers, with no white. Imma/ure—Lacking the orange-rufous
crown patch; wings, with two whitish bars; ring around eye. white.

Length, 4.60-5.30; wing, 2.31-2.52; tail, 1.92-2.10.

Ranocr.—North America, from Mexico northward over eastern
United States, Rocky Mountains to mouth of Yukon and Mackenzie
River; rare north of Virginia, east of Alleghany Mountains. Breeds
from Utah north through Rocky Mountains. Winters south of United
States.
Birps or INDIANA. 1035

Nest, on ground, under low bush; of grass and leaves. Hggs, 4-5;
white, marked with spots and blotches of reddish-brown and purplish-
slate; .63 by .49.

This is the rarest bird of its genus in Indiana, and is only known
asamigrant. Usually it is very rare; often it is entirely wanting for
years together, and very rarely it is seen in some numbers. I have
found it in Franklin County but four times in nineteen years—April
29, and one day in Mav, 1880, May 9, 1885, and May 5, 1889. On
the next to the last date it was tolerably common in a sugar wood, on a
hillside near Brookville, in company with Nashville Warblers. In
1871, Mr. C. E. Aiken informs me, it was not rare in Lake County.
In that county, also, Mr. H. K. Coale obtained a specimen, May 16,
1877, and two days later one in Cook County, Il., not far away. The
next record I have from Cook County is of a specimen taken by Mr.
C. A. Tallman, May 16, 1897. In a bush on the edge of a woods at
Wabash, May 15, 1892, one was taken by Mr. W. O. Wallace, and one
was obtained by Mr. A. M. Hadley at Richmond, May 1, 1897. Sev-
eral specimens have been taken in Marion County (Brayton). It has
also been reported from Knox and Gibson counties (Ridgway), Vigo
County (Evermann), Carroll County (Sterling), Dekalb County (H.
W. McBride). They return in the fall in September. Dr. Wheaton
heard it sing and describes its effort as a “loud, emphatic and rather
monotonous song, resembling as nearly as I can describe the syllables,
‘chicky-tick-tick-tick-tick;’ this song was louder and more decidedly
emphasized than that of any member of the genus with which I am
acquainted” (Birds of Ohio, p. 244). Mr. Ernest E. Thompson says
“it has a loud song-like chip-e-chip-e, chip-e, chip-e, chip-e” (Proc. U.
8S. N. M., Vol. XTIL., p. 616).

261. (647). Helminthophiia peregrina (W11s.).
Tennessee Warbler.

Adult Male——Above, olive-green; head and neck, ash-gray,
with no colored crown patch, but with a dusky stripe
through the eye and an indistinct white stripe over and
a white ring around the eye; wings and tail, with no white; below,
white. Adult Female—Similar, but with the crown tinged with
greenish, and lower parts, especially on the sides, with yellowish-
olive. Jmmature.—Head and all upper parts, olive-green; lower parts,
washed with olive-yellow; lower tail coverts, white.

Remarks.—The adults of this and the two preceding species may be
distinguished with ease; immature birds, however, are frequently con-
1036 REPoRT oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

fused. The Nashville is distinctly yellow on the breast and under tail-
coverts; the Orange-crowned is pale greenish-yellow, with dusky
streaks, and yellow under tail-coverts; the Tennessee is pale greenish-
yellow, without streaks, and with the under tail coverts white. (Chap-
man, B. HE. N. A.).

Length, 4.50-5.00; wing, 2.40-2.75; tail, 1.60-1.85.

Ranece.—America, from Colombia north over United States, east
of Rocky Mountains to Hudson Bay, Mackenzie Valley (Ft. Simpson).
Breeds from Minnesota, northern New York and Massachusetts,
north. Winters from Cuba and Central America, south.

Nest, on ground, of grass, moss and bark strips, lined with fine
grass and hair. Hggs, 4; white, marked with reddish-brown about the
larger end; .60 by .50.

The Tennessee Warbler is a migrant, regular and usually abundant
in fall; much less numerous and frequently rare in the spring. In
fall, they may be found almost everywhere, but are most common
about bushy ravines, brier patches, overgrown fencerows, and weed-
patches. In spring it is found in woodlands. At Bloomington, both
Profs. Blatchley and Evermann thought it less numerous than the
Nashville Warbler. The last named gentleman made a similar report
on its occurrence in Carroll County. These estimates, I presume,
refer to its occurrence in the spring. In Franklin County I have
found it fully as numerous as the Nashville, in spring, though, like
that species, some years it is rare and others apparently wanting.

This species is late in arriving and seldom appears before the ist of
May. The following records give the earliest and latest record of its
first appearance in spring, and indicates its comparative abundance:
Brookville, April 20, 1884, not common, May 17, 1882, rare; Bloom-
ington, April 27, 1886, rare, May 3 to 10, 1890, common; Chicago,
Ill., May 4, 1895, rather common, May 21, 1896, common; Petersburg,
Mich., May 15, 1888, rare. In Illinois, Mr. Ridgway gives it as an
abundant migrant, both spring and fall. Like the last mentioned
species, it breeds far north. The present species is a bird of eastern
North America, extending west only to the Rocky Mountains. Mr.
Ridgway says: “It seems to be far more numerous west of the Alle-
ghanies than eastward of that range, in which respect it is like the
Philadelphia Vireo and several other migratory birds, which can
scarcely be considered as more than stragglers in the Atlantic Ntates”
(B. of Tll., I, p. 130). Mr. Thompson says: “Its song begins with a
note like chipiti, chipiti, repeated a dozen or more times with increas-
ing rapidity, then suddenly changed into a mere twitter” (Proc. U.
S. N. M., Vol. NTI, p. 616). In the fall the Tennessee Warblers
Birps oF INDIANA. 1037

begin to reach the northern part of the State the very last. of August,
and sometimes have nearly reached the Ohio River by the end of the
first week in September. Then they pass leisurely for five or six
weeks, being found almost up to the middle of October. The follow-
ing give the dates of earliest appearance and last record, respectively,
for the fall: Chicago, Ill., August 31, 1895, October 9, 1896; Lake
County, Ind., September 3, 1884; September 28, 1879; Greencastle,
Ind., September 15, 1890; Greensburg, present September 22 to Oc-
tober 11, 1896; Bicknell, September 8, 1896, September 19, 1894;
+ Brookville, September 6, 1886, October 13, 1882. At this time of the
year they may be seen associating with Sparrows and Redpoll Warblers
in the more open ground, and, when in the woods, with Wilson’s and
Nashville Warblers. Some autumns they are very abundant. While
they, on the whole, are quite destructive to insects, yet in the fall there
are two habits that are against this little green Warbler. It some-
times eats the fruit of the Poison Vine (Rhus toxicodendron), and
becomes a distributor of its seeds; the other is a habit it has formed
of puncturing grapes. This has been reported to me on several occa-
sions, but I have never seen it myself. Prof. King also refers to it.
He examined 33 stomachs. Two had eaten 2 very small hymenoptera
(probably parasites); 7, 13 caterpillars; 3, 15 diptera; 6, 13 beetles; 3,
42 plant lice; 3, 35 small heteroptera, ane 1, 11 insect eggs (Geol. of
Wis., L., pp. 501, 502).

157. GENus COMPSOTHLYPIS Caganis.

a‘, Size smaller, bill longer. C. americana (Linn.). 262
a?, Size larger; bill shorter. C. americana usnez Brewst. 263

*262. (648). Compsothlypis americana (Linv.).
Parula Warbler.

Synonym, BLuor YELLOW-BACKED WARBLER.

Male in Spring.—Above, blue, back with golden-brown patch;
throat and breast, yellow, with a rich brown or blackish patch, the
former sometimes extending along the sides; belly, eyelids, two wing
bars and several tail spots, white; lores, black; upper mandible, black;
lower, flesh-colored. Female in Spring.—With the blue less bright;
back and throat patches not so well defined. Immature——With these
patches obscure or wanting, but always recognizable by the other
marks and very small size. “Averaging slightly smaller, but with a
1088 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

longer bill. Adult Male—With more yellow on the under parts and
less black or blackish on the lores and malar region; the dark collar
across the jugulum, narrow, obscure, often nearly wanting; the chest,
pale, diffuse russet, without obvious markings” (Brewster).

Length, 4.12-4.95; wing, 2.20-2.40; tail, 1.60-1.85.

Ranecr.—Eastern North America, from Guatemala and West Indies
to District of Columbia, southern Illinois and southern Indiana.
Breeds from south Atlantic and Gulf States, east of Texas, north.
Winters from Florida, southward.

Nest, of long moss (Tillandsia) woven together, lined with feathers
and soft materials. Mggs, 5; white, speckled and spotted, almost
wholly at larger ends, with lilac and bright reddish-brown; .69 by .47.

Hitherto all the Parula Warblers of eastern North America have
been classed as this form. In the Auk for January, 1896, Mr. William
Brewster has separated them, giving to the birds breeding in the
northern United States and Canada the sub-specific name usnew, and
assuring us that the type of Linneus’ species was a southern bird, and
therefore the birds from that region should retain the above name.
He says, in his collection, are apparently typical examples of this
form, from Mt. Carmel, Ill. Mr. Robert Ridgway writes me: “The
breeding bird of the lower Wabash Valley, and probably other ex-
treme southern or southwestern parts of the State (Indiana), is true
C. americana.” There is no record of its having been taken farther
north or even elsewhere in the State. In 1881, Mr. Ridgway says
they arrived in Knox County, April 18 (Bull. N. O. Club, Vol. VIL,
No. 1, 1882). 3

He has also informed us that it nests in Knox and Gibson counties.
From there it breeds southward throughout its range, usually building
in the draperies of the beautiful “Spanish moss” (T'illandsia).

Possibly the strange nest found by Mr. Otto Widmann, near St.
Louis, may have belonged to this bird. In 1885 he found the nest of
a Parula Warbler in a bunch of light’ drift material—straw, grass, dry
leaves, ete.—left by a freshet, attached to the end of the branch of
a birch tree overhanging the water.

In structure this nest is similar to other nests of this bird, with
the exception that the straw and leaves take the place of the lichens
and mosses. Mr. H. Nehrling says the song of the Parula consists of
“wiry, rather shrill, notes, sounding like chin-rin-in-ruh.”
Brrps oF INDIANA. 1039

263. (—-) Compsothlypis americana usnez. Brewster.
Northern Parula Warbler.

Averaging slightly larger, but with a shorter bill.*

Adult Male—With less yellow on the under parts and more black
or blackish on the lores and malar region; the dark collar across the
jugulum, black or blackish, broad and conspicuous; the chest, mottled
or spotted with rich brownish-chestnut.

BreEepina Rance.—New England, New York and westward along
the northern tier of States; northward into the Maritime Provinces
and Canada (Brewster), Colorado (?). Winter range, possibly same as
last.

Nest, on both live and dead trees, from near ground to fifty feet
high; in bushes in swamps; of bunches of Usnea moss, lined with
same, a little wool or grass. Hggs, 4, occasionally 3 and 5, rarely 6
or 7; white, or creamy-white, more or less distinctly speckled and
spotted with reddish-brown and lilac; markings generally thickest
near large end, around which they often form a wreath; .64 by .47.

This bird has been separated from the typical southern form by
Mr. William Brewster (see The Auk, January, 1896, pp. 44-46). It
includes those birds which breed to the northward of the Ohio Valley
—excepting the lower part—and perhaps north of the District of
Columbia.

We do not know the exact limits of the breeding range, nor can the
winter range of each of the two races be determined. As the south-
ern bird nests among the festoons of “Spanish moss” (Tillandsia),
the present birds prefer to nest in bunches of “Old Man” moss
(Usnea). Wherever there is damp woods, where this moss grows
commonly, these birds may be looked for through the summer. Mr.
Robert Ridgway writes me of this form in Indiana, that birds breed-
ing in the extreme northern part of the State are probably C. a. usnec.
He says both P. americana (breeding birds) and C. a. usnee (mi-
grants) are in the United States National Museum, from Vincennes
and Wheatland. <A small collection of Parula Warblers was sent to
Mr. Brewster for examination. He writes: “Most of your skins appear
to be intermediate between americana and usnew. Several of them
have bills nearly as in the former, but the coloring is about half-way
between the two. Two or three are apparently usnee, and were, no
doubt, migrants.” He tells me those breeding in Michigan in the

 

*Note.—Except the breeding time, nothing is yet determined as to the range of either
form. Likewise, in the absence of measurements, I can not give them. Therefore, the
range, except in breeding season, and measurements, given above, cover both forms.
1040 Report OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

region in which he has collected are C. a. usnew. It svems, then,
that in the State are to be found the typical southern ferm, as sum-
mer residents, in the lower Wabash Valley; the typial northern
form, as migrants, at least, and birds intermediate between them—
these latter possibly breeding. A few birds remain through the sum-
mer, and Mrs. J. L. Hine says it breeds in Dekalb County, but, so far
as I know, none have been found breeding. In Laporte County it is
a summer resident (Byrkit). It was taken June 3, 1888, by Mr. Ruth-
ven Deane, at Englsh Lake; in ‘Putram Ccunty, July 2, 1889, by Mr.
J. F. Clearwaters. Mr. Charles Dury fcund them near Cincinnati,
July 18 and 31, and August 27, 1879. Dr. Wheaton speaks of them
breeding in northern Ohio, possibly south of Columbus (B. of Ohio,
p. 239), and Prof. Cook says it occasionally breeds in Michigan (B. of
Mich.). Mr, Nelson nctes that it breeds rarely in northeastern Illi-
nois. J have, for the present, referred all records north of Knox
County to this form. They appear within the State, most seasons, in
the latter half of April, and migrants seldom linger after the middle
of May. I have found the first arrivals at Brookville as early as April
25 (1881), and as late as May 16 (1884). They have been observed
at Bloomington as early as April 21 (1885), and April 27 (1886); at
Terre Haute, April 24, 1890, May 3, 1887; Lafayette, April 28, 1893;
Carroll County, May 4 to May 10, 1885; Wabash County, May 2 to
10, 1892; Sedan, April 29, 1897, May 4, 1894; Lake County, May 24
and 26, 1894; Chicago, Ill, May 9, 1886, May 15, 1895.

Even when they arrive early they are usually mating. I have
seen them so engaged as early as April 25. They are as variable in
numbers as they are in the time of arrival. Some years they are com-
mon, and others, quite rare or wanting. Usually when they are com-
mon they arrive early, and again a few or even a single representative
will be seen late in the migrations. I have always found them in
the heavier woodlands, where they frequent the higher tree-tops,
preferably maple, elm and oak. Their habits remind one of those of
a Titmouse, but they are more active. Occasionally they utter a pe-
culiar song, ending in a peculiar little screech. It is the same as that
given under the last species. Its food consists of small insects, includ-
ing flies and various other winged forms, spiders and caterpillars,
which they are very industrious in gathering from the unfolding
leaves and inconspicuous flowers of the trees they frequent. In fall,
the return journey is made in August and September. The latest
dates when it was seen are: Chicago, Ill, September 15, 1885, Sep-
tember 23, 1895; Cincinnati, O., August 27, 1879, September 28,
1878; Lake County, September 18, 1881.
Brrps oF INDIANA. 1041

158. Genus DENDROICA Gray.

a‘, Bill slender, very acute; gonys slightly concave near tip; notch wanting or
very indistinct. Subgenus PeRissocLossa Baird. D.tigrina (Gmel.). 264
a*, Bill conical; gonys convex; notch distinct.
b}. Tail feathers edged with yellow; plumage chiefly yellow.
D. zstiva (Gmel.). - 265
62. Tail feathers blotched with white.
ce. Primaries with white blotch near bases; no wing bars.
D. czrulescens (Gmel.). 266
e?, Primaries without white blotch.
d'. Wing bars, if present, not white.
e1, White below; crown and wing patch more or less yellow.
D. pennsylvanica (Linn.). 2'70
e*. Yellow below. “
J}. Sides reddish streaked; crown chestnut.
D. palmarum (Gmel.). 278
f?. Sides black streaked. ,
g?. Back olive with reddish spots. D. discolor (Vieill.). 279
g’. Back ashy. D.kirtlandi Baird. 276
d?, Wing bars or wing patch white.
hi. Rump yellow.
41, Crown clear ash; yellow and streaked below.
D. maculosa (Gmel.). 268
47, Crown with yellow spot; white and streaked below.
D. coronata (Linn.). 267
h?, Rump not yellow.
j'. No distinct yellow anywhere. ;
k1, Crown, blue or greenish, like the back.
D. rara (Wils.). 269
k?, Crown not blue or greenish.
{, Crown black, much streaked.
D. striata (Forst.). 272
12, Crown and throat chestnut; buffy below.
D. castanea (Wils.). 271
j?. More or less yellow or orange.
m?, Crown with orange or yellow spot; throat orange or
yellow. D. blackburnie (Gmel.). 273
m?, Crown bluish or yellowish; not as above..
n'. Throat black (sometimes obscured by yellow tips
to feathers); outer tail feather white edged.
D. virens (Gmel.). 275
n?, Throgt yellow.
o1. Back blue gray; cheeks black..
D. dominica albilora Ridgw. 274
o*. Back yellowish olive; cheeks the same color.
D. vigorsii (Aud.). 277

66—GEOL.
1042 ReErortT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

ANALYSIS OF PERFECT SPRING MALES.

Tail feathers edged with yellow; head yellow. « cestiva.
Tail feathers blotched with white; a white ee at base of
primaries + « cerulescens,

—no white spot at base of primaries. (a)
(a). Wing bars not white. Below, white; sides chestnut-

streaked, crown yellow 1. « pennsylvanica.
—yellow; sides reddish-streaked, crown i ¥eddich. . palmarum.
—black-streaked; above, ashy. kirtlandi.
reddish-streaked . . . discolor.

       

(aa). Wing bars white (sometimes fused into one large patch) (6)
(6). Crown blue, like the back; below. white, sides and breast

streaked . a iat rara.
— chestnut, like the throat; below and sides of neck,
buffy tinged . castanc.
—clear ash; rump and ander ee yellow, breast and
side, black streaked maculosa,
blackish, with median line orange-brown, like the
auriculars; rump, yellow. tigrina.
—perfectly black; throat not black; no yellow; feet flesh
color... . . strteta.
*—with yellow spot; theoat flame-color; rump not yellow blackburnie.
—white; rump and sides of breast yellow coronata.
(bb). Crown otherwise; throat black; back, olive; crown like
back virens.

—yellow; back, o ive; no black or ashy on head . vigorsit.
ashy blue; cheeks black; eyelids white dominica albilora.

DIAGNOSTIC MARKS OF WARBLERS IN ANY PLUMAGE.

Wing bars and belly yellow. discolor.
Wings and tail dusky, edged with yellow ‘erstiva.
Wing bars yellow and belly pure white pennsylvanica.
A white spot at base of primaries (which is alnaat never

wanting) .. . ccerulescens.

Throat definitely yellow; back with no green; shelly white . dominica albilora.
Bill extremely acute, perceptibly curved; rump (generally)

yellow ’ tigrina.
Rump, sides of breast and crown more or less yellow; throat :

white + + +» coroniata,
Wing bars white; tail — ‘unas at end of two outer

feathers only »  vigorsit.
Tail spots at middle of nearly all the feathers; ramp and belly

yellow . maculosa,
Wing bars brownie: tail er square at end of two outer

feathersonly ... palmarum,

Wing bars not very conspicuous; diiole re parts yellow;
back with no greenish . . kirtlandi.
Birps oF Inpiana. 1043

Tail spots at end of nearly all the feathers; no definite yellow

anywhere , - vara.
Throat, breast and sides black; sides of head with diffused
yellow; outer tail feather white, edged externally virens.

Throat yellow or orange; crown with at least a trace of a cen-
tral yellow or orange spot; outer tail feather white edged
externally. blackburnit.
Bill ordinary, and with none of the foregoing special marks: striatu, or castanea.

Subgenus Perissocrossa Baird.

264, (650). Dendroica tigrina (GMEL.).
Cape May Warbler.

Adult Male-—*Bill very acute, conical and deciledly curved; back,
yellowish-olive, with dark markings; crown, blecx; abdomen and tail
coverts, yellow; rump, rich yellow; an orange-brown ear patch; a black
loral line; under paris, yellow; streaked with black on breast and
sides; large white p::tch on the wings; three pairs of large white tail
blotches. Female——Similar, but lacking distinctive head markings;
small wing patch and tail blotches; under parts, paler; bill and feet,
black.” (Nehrling, N. A Birds).

Length, 4.70-5.65; wing, 2.85; tail, 2.15.

RancEe.—Eastern North America, from West Indies to Hudson
Bay Territory. Breeds from Maine, northern Michigan and Minne-
sota, north. Winters in West Indies. Resident in Jamaica.

Nest, in coniferous trees, on tip of large limb, pendent; of evergreen
twigs, grass or vines, fastened with spider’s web, and lined with horse-
hair. Hggs, 4; dull white, slightly ashen, irregularly dotted and
spotted, usually most about larger end, with yellowish, reddish-brown
and lilac; .67 by 49.

The Cape May Warbler is generally considered a rare bird every-
where. While this is true, and some years it is altogether absent,
there are years when it is common and even abundant. In Indiana
it appears as a migrant, perhaps more numerous in fall than spring.
Its peculiar distribution is very interesting. It generally breeds
farther north than the United States, yet, like the Myrtle Warbler, it
is a resident in Jamaica and Hayti, where they breed among the
mountains. With us, they appear with the later Warblers, seldom
arriving before April 25, and usually after May 1, and some years re-
maining until the close of the latter month. The dates here given
explain the early and late first arrivals: Bloomington, April 24, 1885,
1886, remained to May 5, 1886; Brookville, May 4, 1886, and 1892,
May 6, 1897; Madison, May 23, 1888; Knox County, May 9, 1885;
Terre Haute, May 4, 1887, May 11, 1890; Indianapolis, May 7, 1878;
1044 REPORT OF STATE (EOLOGIST.

Carroll County, May 8, 1885, May 22, 1883, May 29, 1894; Lafayette,
April 28, 1896, May 21, 1895; Sedan, April 27, 1896, May 15, 1897;
Chicago, Ill., May 4, 1895, May 13, 1886. In the fall they sometimes
begin to reappear late in August, and are slowly passing southward
through September, a few lingering until well into October. They
appeared in the vicinity of Chicago, Ill, August 29, 1895, and re-
mained until September 14. The next year they came August 20, and
were seen September 21. In 1896, also, they appeared at Greensburg,
Ind., September 22, and did not all leave until October 12. They
were noted in the vicinity of Cincinnati, September 7, 1877, and Sep-
tember 22, 1878. The spring of 1885 they were very common in
Knox County. On May 9, Mr. Ridgway took five specimens. In May,
1892, they were generally common throughout the State. Mr. J. HE.
Beasley, of Lebanon, says they were more common than he ever knew
them. They were passing for three or four weeks, and he saw them
almost every day he was out, but never more than two or three. Simi-
lar reports came from Lafayette, Greencastle, Wabash and Brookville.
The spring of 1896 they were common near Chicago, remaining until
May 27. That fall, also, they were very common in that vicinity,
and were reported as being abundant at Greensburg, Ind. The fall
of 1895 they were tolerably common near Chicago. In some localities
they are said to frequent the tops of tall trees. Some years with us
they are found upon the drier uplands, among the oak woods, where
they usually keep among the lower branches or upon the high bushes
and smaller trees. They are not very active, but keep persistently
hunting insects. At other times, we find them among our orchards,
even coming into towns, where they occupy themselves catching
insects among the foliage and about the blossoms of all kinds of
shade and fruit trees. May 6, 1897, at noon, I observed a. Cape May
Warbler among the cedar and apple trees in my yard at Brookville.
It was very deliberate, but very industrious. The apple trees were
in full bloom. It went over them from lowest limb to topmost
branch, apparently visiting most of the blossoms. If it caught an
insect every time it appeared to, it must have taken hundreds. Even
the warm mid-day sun did not stop its work, and its little song only
sounded the clearer when those of many other birds had ceased. Its
notes seemed to run like a-wit a-wit a-wit a-wit a-wit, each pair
of syllables repeated five times with moderate rapidity and in the same
tone, with no inflection. To me it sounded louder a hundred feet off
than it did at one-fifth that distance. This may have been due to
the sound having been reflected by a building where I stood at the
greater distance. At one time associated with it on the same tree
Birps or INDIANA. 1045

were three Baltimore Orioles. Each did its utmost in insect catching,
and for a time none of them had time to sing; they were too busy
at the noonday meal. From reports received, others have had similar
experiences with this bird. Prof. King examined four specimens
taken between September 6 and 22. With the exception of one ant,
all the food they had eaten was beetles. One stomach contained ten
beetles. These Warblers are very beneficial, and their efforts on behalf
of the farmer and fruit grower entitle them to his regard and care.

In the fall they often frequent thickets, brier patches, overgrown
fence-rows, and weedy roadsides, after the manner of Tennessee and
Red-poll Warblers.

Subgenus DenprRoica Gray.

*265. (652). Dendroica westiva (GMEL.).
Yellow Warbler.

Synonyms, SUMMER WARBLER, SUMMER YELLOW Brrp.

“Adult Male—Entire lower parts and head, pure, rich gamboge-
yellow; breast and sides, boldly striped with rich chestnut or orange-
brown; wings and tail, dusky, every feather edged with yellow; upper
parts, olive-green, sometimes streaked with dusky; bill, dark, horn
blue; feet, brownish. Female—Paler yellow, the chestnut-rufous
stripes, dull, few or wanting entirely” (Chapman).

Length, 4.50-5.25; wing, 2.35-2.65; tail, 1.80-2.10.

Rance.—America, excepting southwestern United States and
northwestern Mexico, from Guiana and Ecuador to Bering Sea and
the Arctic Coast. Breeds from northern Mexico, north. Winters
from Mexico, south.

Nest, in crotch of bush or low tree in rather open situation; of
bark shreds, vegetable fibre, grass, moss, wool, hair and plant down,
neatly and compactly woven together. Eggs, 4-5; bluish-white,
spotted and blotched with different shades of brown; .70 by .50.

The Yellow Warbler is one of our best known and most abundant
summer residents. It arrives as the buds on the apple trees are
bursting into bloom. It is no unusual thing to awaken a warm spring
morning, after a few days of cold weather, and find that in the night
‘the grass has grown markedly, the naked limbs of the apple trees
are clothed in green and decked in flowers. One can almost see things
grow. While gazing upon the changed scene, a bit of bright yellow
flits among the apple boughs and says “we-chee, chee, chee, chee-wee.”
It is the Yellow Warbler. The warm spell has quickened his move-
1046 Report or STATE GEOLOGIST.

ments and brought back a friend of other days. Mr. E. M. Kindle
says it arrived in Brown County April 4, 1884. Its first appearance,
early and late seasons, are as follows: Brookville, April 11, 1897,
April 24, 1884; Bicknell, April 15, 1894; Greencastle, April 19, 1896,
April 25, 1893;. Muncie, April 21, 1894, April 24, 1893; Carroll
County, May 4, 1885, May 8, 1884; Dekalb County, April 21, 1896,
April 27, 1894; Plymouth, Mich., April 18, 1896, May 1, 1893, 1895;
Chicago, Ill., May 1, 1895, May 8, 1897.

It will be observed that the first arrivals of this bird, like that of a
number of others, is earlier in eastern Michigan than in Chicago.
However, the bulk of the migrants arrive at the sam: Michigan places
but a day or two ahead of Chicago. Some years the weather condi-
tions are such that birds move forward over a great stretch of country
with nothing to retard them. Other years, they advance and halt
and again go forward, making their general advance very slowly. In
1896, the first Yellow Warbler was seen at Brookville April 16. The
same day five were seen at Frankfort. That day the advance was
noted at Plymouth, Mich., to be followed by others next day. April
18 a great bird wave appeared, bringing multitudes of Yellow Warblers
to Brookville and Frankfort. They practically extended across the
length of Indiana in two days. On the other hand, the first arrival
reached Brown County in 1894, April 4; Brookville, April 20; Muncie,
April 21; Greencastle, April 24; Waterloo, April 27; Plymouth, Mich.,
April 28; Wolf Lake, Ind., May 5. They begin mating very promptly
when the females arrive, which is usually a few days later than the
coming of the males. I have recorded mating April 21, 1887, and
have found them nest-building May 2 (1886).

In 1883 I saw a nest with eggs May 19, and in 1882, May 23. Nest-
ing continues through May and the most of June. The nests are most
often built in orchards and lawns and in the smaller trees fringing
streams. The Yellow Warbler is one of the most common victims
of the Cowbird, but she has learned to outwit the parasite. When the
Cowbird’s egg is found in her nest, she has been known to cover it
with another nest, and occasionally with a second, making three nests,
one on top of the other. In the two lower ones are buried the Cow-
bird’s eggs. Mr. E. R. Quick has such a nest, taken near Brookville,
in the spring of 1878. After the young are able to fly with ease,
these birds begin to desert the orchards and lawns. One by one, they:
disappear through July and early in August, until very few are left.
Their disappearance is so gradual that few there are who note their
going. No more unsatisfactory records are at hand of the fall migra-
tion of any birds than of this one. While some years most of them
Brros oF INDIANA. 1047

cease singing and disappear in July, sometimes a few remain until early
September. In 1894 the last were noted at Plymouth, Mich., and
Greensburg, Ind., the same day, September 3.

It is very valuable in destroying the insects infesting the trees,
shrubbery and gardens on our farms and about our homes. Among
other forms, they are known to eat larve, beetles, wild bees, moths,
flies, bugs, spiders and myriapods. Those taken in Prof. Forbes’ well-
known orchard infested with canker-worms were found to have made
sixty-six per cent. of their food of these worms. Dr. A. K. Fisher
also says they feed extensively upon the larve of elm beetles.

266. (654). Dendroica cerulescens (Livy).
Black-throated Blue Warbler.

Adult Jfale—Above, uniform dull, dark blue, sometimes with a
few black streaks on the back; below, pure white; the sides of the
head to above the eyes, a narrow strip across the forehead, chin,
throat and sides of body, black; a white spot at base of the primaries;
wings and tail, more or less edged with grayish-blue, the latter with
a white patch on the inner web of each tail feather, except the middle
pair. Adult Female.—Entirely different; above, dull olive-green,
more or less shaded with blue; below, whitish or buffy, tinged with
yellow; sides of head, dusky olive; the eyelids and a more or less dis-
tinct stripe over the eye, whitish; recognized by the white patch at
base of primaries, which is, however, smaller than in male; sputs
on tail feathers also smaller or wanting.

Length, 4.70-5.50; wing, 2.50-2.45; tail, 2.05-2.25.

Ranozr.—Eastern North .\merica, from Guatemala and West Indies
to Labrador. Breeds from Connecticut, New York, southern Ontario
and Minnesota, north. Winters from southern Florida, south.

Nest, of strips of bark, grass and rotten wood, held together and
lined with rootlets and bark; in upright fork of bush or sapling, 6
inches to 2 feet off ground. Eggs, 3-5; white or pinkish-white, marked
with lilac and brown, most thickly at larger end; .69 by .52.

Although in some localities in the State this is considered a rare
species, yet that, I am confident, is because of the year when the
observations were made. In southwestern Indiana and in other local-
ities where records have been kept for a series of years, the Black-
throated Blue Warbler is generally a common migrant, though some
years it is rare, and others, apparently, wanting. Still, however, birds
have their preferences, and there are doubtless localities where it is
not often found.
1048 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

It is not among the early Warblers to arrive,seldom appearing before
the first week in May, and is then found for a week or ten days. The
earliest record I have of its first appearance is from Anderson, where
Mr. C. P. Smith took it April 24, 1897. At Brookville it appeared
April 26, 1881 and 1891, while in 1884 none were noted until May 14,
which was the latest date I have ever seen them. It first appeared at
Wabash April 27, 1892; Greensburg, May 4, 1895, May 7, 1893; Sedan,
May 1, 1895, May 6, 1896; Lafayette, May 5, 1893, May 8, 1892 and
1897; Petersburg, Mich., May 3, 1897, May 5, 1888; Chicago, IIL,
May 3, 1895, May 8, 1896.

While they may occasionally remain until the middle of May (Leb-
anon, Ind. May 16, 1894), throughout the State, in the vicinity
of Chicago, they are sometimes found until near the close of the
month (May 26, 1897, May 28, 1894). In the Whitewater Valley I
have found they habitually frequent the upland woods, sometimes
finding their way into orchards, but generally, if I want to find them,
I go among the upland beeches, hickories, oaks and sassafras. There
they frequent the lower branches or the taller undergrowth. They
then occupy themselves chiefly with the insects on the tree trunks
and larger branches.

The males are conspicuous, but the females are rarely seen. I
have known them to come into towns and be found among the fruit
and shade trees. They are very unsuspicious, permitting one to ap-
proach closely and watch their movements. They make many mo-
tions, but not great progress. As they move among the branches, the
tail is slightly spread and carried on a level with the back.

Sometimes they seem songless, again every little while the song
sounds: forth. This may be expressed by the syllables tswee-tswee-
tswee-tswee; usually four, occasionally but two or three, uttered close
together with a stridulating effect, all in the same tone, with a slight
rising inflection at the end of the last syllable. At a distance it
sounds like to-zee-zee-zee-é.

In the vicinity of Brookville I generally find them common. They
were particularly so in the springs of 1885, 1887, 1892 and 1897.
The fall of 1893 it was probably the most common Warbler there
(Ulrey and Wallace). In 1892 they were very common at Lafayette
(L. A.and C.D. Test). In 1897 they were common in Dekalb County
(Mrs. Hine). About Chicago they are often common, and were notice-
ably so in the springs of 1895, 1896 and 1897 (Blackwelder, Tallman).
They begin to appear throughout the State some years, on their return
journey, late in August, and remain until October 1, or, rarely, 9.
The following dates will indicate this more explicitly: They arrived
Birps oF INDIANA. 1049

at Chicago August 24, 1896, September 4, 1895; at Cincinnati, O.,
August 30, 1897; Brookville, Ind., September 3, 1893; Warren County,
September 11, 1897. Last noted in Chicago, October 3, 1895 and
1896; Lake County, Ind., October 3, 1875, September 28, 1879;
Lafayette, October 2, 1895; Sedan, October 9, 1894; Brookville, Octo-
ber 5, 1887. Sometimes in fall they are very common, just as they
are in spring. Prof. King examined six of these birds, and all had
eaten insects; one, two ants; five, beetles, and one, two caterpillars
(Geol. of Wis., I., p. 508).

267. (655). Dendroica coronata (Liny.).
Myrtle Warbler.

Synonyms, YELLOW-RUMP WARBLER, YELLOW-CROWNED WARBLER.

 

Head of Myrtle Warbler. Natural size.

Adult Male—Above, bluish-ash, streaked with black; under parts,
white; the fore part of breast and the sides, black, the feathers mostly
edged narrowly with white; crown, rump and sides of breast, yellow;
cheeks and lores, black; the eyelids and a superciliary stripe, two bands
on the wings, and spots on the outer three tail feathers, white. Fe-

‘ males.—Of duller plumage and browner above. Autumnal and winter
birds are very much duller and more obscurely colored, the upper parts
of an umber cast, with the streaks almost obsolete; the black of the
breast wanting, or but just indicated, and the yellow patch on crown
almost concealed by the brown tips to the feathers; and those on side
of breast quite dull (O..of Ill, Vol. I, p. 140).

Length, 5.00-6.00; wing, 2.75-2.85; tail, 2.20-2.30.

Rance.—Eastern North America, from Panama and Greater An-
tilles to Arctic Coast, Greenland. Breeds from northern New Eng-
land, Ontario and Minnesota, north. Winters from southern New
England and Indiana, south. Resident in Jamaica.

Nest, of grass, fibres, vegetable down and feathers, compactly woven;
in forest and coniferous scrub, on bush or tree, 5 to 10 feet from
1050 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

ground. £ggs, 4-5; white, creamy-white or bluish-white, marked
often about larger end with wreath of dark brown spots; .68 by .32.

The Myrtle Warbler is an abundant migrant, generally found in
flocks, and is an irregular winter resident north to Brookville, Greens-
burg and Bloomington. The winters of 1882-3, 1886-7, 1891-2, 1894-5
they remained at Brookville, and, in addition, at Greensburg the winter
of 1896-7 (Shannon), and at Bloomington the winter of 1885-6 (Ever-
mann). ‘Their winter range does not seem to be limited by the
degree of cold, for some of our colder winters, when the thermometer
registers below zero, they remain, and warmer winters are not ob-
served. In winter they seek the protection of ravines, where thickets
are, and of evergreens, even about residences and in towns. There
they remain very close through the colder months. In February or
March, as soon as a succession of warm days appears, they begin to
move about to some extent, over the area of winter residence. I have
never found one of them before April, where they did not sometimes
winter. As the weather gets warmer, the numbers continue to in-
crease up to the line of winter residence, possibly by reason of those
a little farther south pushing north. Then in late March and early
April they frequent the thickets fringing our streams. The migra-
tions are very uniform. They do not really occur outside their winter
homes until’a number of other Warblers have arrived in southern
Indiana, but every year they occur about the same time, and they
usually move forward and possess the land at once; two, or at most a
few days, sufficing to cover the State. One year is pretty much a
repetition of others, and reference to 1897 will illustrate that point.
They were first seen at Richmond, just beyond the known winter
range, April 22. April 24 they appeared at Anderson, Carmel,
Lafayette and Chicago, Ill., and April 25 they reached Petersburg,
Mich. The dates next given are earliest and latest record of first
arrivals: Greensburg, April 13, 1896, April 28, 1885; Greencastle,
April 18, 1894; Richmond, April 22, 1897, April 29, 1890; Wabash,
April 15, 1892, April 17, 1894; Lafayette, April 24, 1897, April 26,
1892; Sedan, April 24, 1894, April 29, 1897; Laporte, April 15, 1894,
April 18, 1896; Chicago, Tl, April 12, 1884, April 27, 1897; Peters-
burg, Mich., April 21, 1889, May 1, 1893.

When they arrive in force, they are found in almost all kinds of
places, even in the dense woodland, high up in the trees, where they
were not before found.

“Their song,” Mr. Ridgway says, “is somewhat like that of the
Yellow Warbler, but is more of a warble and sweeter in tone. Their
loud tchip and plain yellow markings, especially the yellow rump,
Birps oF INDIANA. 1051

distinguish them.” Other Warblers linger later than they. Most
of them are gone from southern Indiana before May 5, though I
have record for Brookville May 7, 1892, and from Greensburg, May
14, 1893 (Shannon). By the latter date they have generally passed
our northern border. A few, some years, linger longer, especially
about the lower end of Lake Michigan. Prof. Evermann found them
in Carroll County May 22, 1883; Chicago, May 17, 1897 (Tallman);
Wolf Lake, Ind., May 30, 1894 (Parker).

In the fall they begin to return the middle of September, and
promptly spread across the State, remaiming with us, frequenting
woods, thickets and weed patches, even stubblefield overgrown with
rag weeds, often associating with other Warblers and Sparrows. The
first arrivals prefer the woods, and later they are noticed about the
fields and orchards. The earliest of fall arrivals at Chicago is Sep-
tember 15, 1896; at Bicknell, Ind., September 18, 1894; Brookville,
September 23, 1887. The last record from Chicago is October 3,
1896; Lake County, Ind., October 2, 1881; Carroll County, October
5, 1878; Lafayette, October 27, 1894; Brookville (where they did not
winter), October 29, 1887.

The food of these Warblers is almost entirely insect food, and the
fact that they are found during their visits in almost every conceivable
situation, catching insects, renders them objects especially worthy of
our regard. Of 21 of these birds examined, one had eaten a moth;
two, twenty-one caterpillars, mestly measuring worms; five, fourteen
flies; fifteen, forty-eight beetles; one, four iehneumons; one, a caddis
fly; one, a spider, and one, fifteen tipulid eggs (King, Geol. of Wis.,
I, p. 503). The results of Prof. Forbes’ investigations show the same
kinds of foods.

268. (657). Dendroica maculosa (Gmuz.).
Magnolia Warbler.

Synonym, BLack anpD YELLOW WARBLER.

Male in Spring.—Back, black, the feathers more or less skirted with
olive; rump, yellow; crown, clear ash, bordered by black in front to
the eyes, behind the eyes by a white stripe; forehead and stdes of the
head, black, continuous with that of the back, enclosing the white
under eyelid; entire under parts (except white under tail coverts),
rich yellow, thickly streaked across the breast and along the sides
with black; the pectoral streaks crowded and cutting off the definitely
bounded, immaculate yellow throat from the yellow of the other under
parts; wing bars, white, generally fused into one patch; tail spots,
1052 ReEPortT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

small, rectangular at the middle of the tail and on all the feathers
except the central part; bill, black; feet, brown. Female in Spring.—
Quite similar; black of back reduced to spots in the grayish-olive;
ash of head washed with olive; other head markings obscure; black
streaks below, smaller and fewer. Immature.—Quite different; upper
parts, ashy-olive; no head markings whatever, and streaks below want-
ing, or confined to a few smal] ones along the sides, but always known
by the yellow rump in connection with extensively or completely
yellow under parts (except white under tail coverts), and tail spots
near the middle of all the feathers, except the central.
Length, 4.35-5.00; wing, 2.25-2.45; tail, 1.85-2.05.

 

Head of Magnolia Warbler. Natural size.

Raner.—Eastern North America, from Panama and West Indies
to Hudson Bay. Breeds from New Hampshire and northern Mich-
igan, northward. Winters from Mexico and Bahamas, southward.

Nest, of twigs, weeds and grass, lined with fine rootlets; low in
conifers. Hggs, 3-5; creamy-white, spotted or blotched with light and
dark brown and lilac; .63 by .48.

The Magnolia is one of the most attractive of the Warblers. It is
usually reported a common migrant in the Whitewater Valley. I have
not found it so, yet in the more level and less drained portion of the
State, they are reported oftentimes common. They are among the
later kinds to arrive, rarely as early as April 21, and usually appearing
after May 1. They linger in the southern part of the State some years
until after the middle of the month, and along the northern border,
in the vicinity of Lake Michigan, occasionally until the end of the
month.

The following are the earliest and latest dates at which they were
seen in the fall migrations: Brookville, first seen May 2, 1882, last
seen May 16, 1884; Greensburg, May 4, 1893, May 16, 1894; Carroll
County, May 4, 1878, May 24, 1883; Wabash, May 5, 1892; Carmel,
April 24, 1897; Lafayette, May 13, 1893, May 14, 1892; Sedan, May
10, 1894; Lake County, May 18, 1885, May 30, 1894; Chicago, IIL,
May 1, 1895, May 30, 1894; Petersburg, Mich., May 11, 1888, May
Brrps oF INDIANA. 1053

24,1893. They come when vegetation is well advanced and the trees
well in leaf. They prefer the more open woods and thickets, and
there among the higher bushes, and lower branches of the trees, they
quietly do their work. They are modest, retiring birds, though very
striking in color and carriage. As they move leisurely about, with the
tail partially erect and the feathers spread, the white patches on their
inner webs are plainly’ visible. Its song, which is sometimes heard,
is said by Mr. Langille to be “a loud, clear whistle, which miay be
imitated by the syllables ‘chee-to, chee-to, chee-tee-ee,’ uttered rapidly,
and ending in the falling inflection.” I have generally found them
in maple woods, often near streams.

In the fall the advance migrants appear about the lower end of Lake
Michigan the latter part of August, and sometimes reach the Ohio
River almost as soon. Some years their stay is short; others, they re-
main a full month, departing the last days of September. They ar-
rived in Cook County, Ill, August 31, 1895, August 21, 1896; at La-
fayette, August 24, 1896; at Cincinnati, O., August 28,1879. The last
fall occurrences were at Chicago, Ill, September 27, 1895; Lafayette,
September 26, 1896; Lake County, Ind., September 25, 1875, Septem-
ber 28, 1878, September 18, 1881. As with all this group of birds,
this is very destructive to insects. Prof. King examined 17 specimens:
Three had eaten four hymenoptera, among which were two ants; one,
a moth; six, 17 caterpillars; six, 15 diptera, including two tipulids; six,
12 beetles, and one, 2 larvee (Geol. of Wis., I., p. 505).

*269. (658). Dendroica rara (WI15s.).

Synonym, Denproica CHRULEA (Wils.).
Ceruleah Warbler.
Synonym, BLUE WARBLER.

Male in Spring.—Azure-blue, with black streaks; below, pure white;
breast and sides, with blue or blue-black streaks; two white wing bars;
tail blotches small but occupying every feather, except, perhaps, the
central pair; bill, black; feet, dark. Female and Young with the blue
glossed with greenish, and the white soiled with yellowish; a yellowish
eye ring and superciliary line (McIlwraith, p. 365).

Length, 4.00-5.00; wing, 2.40-2.70; tail, 1.70-1.90.

Rance.—America, from Bolivia north, over eastern United States
to northwestern New York, southern Ontario, southern Michigan and
Minnesota, west to Nebraska.

Rare east of Alleghanies. Breeds from West Virginia, Tennessee
and Missouri, northward.

.

 
1054 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Nest, 20 to 50 feet high, 5 to 15 feet from body of tree, saddled to
horizontal limb. Material, shredded bark of trees and vines, grass and
vegetable fibre, lichens and spiders’ webs on outside and lined with fine
bark and grass. Hggs, 4-5; size .64 by 50; greenish-white, bluish-white
or creamy, spotted with reddish-brown, russet and lilac chiefly at the
larger end.

The Cerulean Warbler is a summer resident over most if not all
of our State. In some localities it appears to be rare or wanting, and
from others it has only been reported as a migrant. In southeastern,
and I have no doubt in general, through the rougher land of southern
Indiana, this is the most common tree-inhabiting warbler, both during
the migrations and in summer. It is common and breeds throughout
the lower Wabash Valley at least to Terre Haute and in Carroll
County (Evermann). I have no doubt it does also in the picturesque
Sugar Creek region in Parke and Montgomery counties, where we
found it common May 19 and 20; 1887. At Brookville it breeds com-
monly. Messrs. L. A. and C. D. Test have noted it several times at
Lafayette, once as late as May 30 (1892), but have not found its nest.
It is tolerably common in Dekalb and Wabash counties, where it
probably breeds. At English Lake it is rare, but one pair being re-
‘corded from there, May 20, 1888. Mr. J. G. Parker found a female
with two young but a few days out of the nest along the Kankakee
River near Kouts, Ind., sixty miles from Chicago, June 29, 1895.

In southern Indiana they usually arrive the last half of April,
and by May 10 are often spread over the State. The following dates
give earliest and latest dates of first arrival: Brookville, April 19,
1889, May 5, 1893; Monroe County, April 27%, 1886; Carroll County,
May 5, 1884, May 21, 1883; Wabash, May 4, 1892; Muncie, May 6,
1888; Lafayette, April 24, 1897, April 27, 1892; Dekalb County, April
24, 1891, May 12, 1892; Petersburg, Mich., April 27, 1888, May 10,
1893; Plymouth, Mich., May 3, 1891 and 1896, May 18, 1893. The
males precede the females by from one or two days to a week, and
always outnumber them greatly. At once, upon the arrival of the
females, the season of courtship begins. I have observed them mat-
ing as early as April 26, and by the first week in May their time is
largely occupied ir choosing a mate. All does not go smoothly, how-
ever, for frequently more than one of the beaux has a very decided
fancy for a particular belle. There is a meeting between the rivals,
and frequently the battle is long and severe. So engrossed do they
become at times that they fall, fighting, to the earth, unheeding every-
thing around them. At this time the male is using his utmost effort
to sing his sweetest songs. When he first came, his song was, zee-zee-
Brrps or INDIANA. 1055

zee-e-e, the last syllable, sometimes the third, sometimes the fourth,
trilled. It was not loud and shrill, but distinct, carrying to a consid-
erable distance. It reminds me some of the songs of the Helmintho-
philas, approaching nearest to that of H. chrysoptera, and bears some
resemblance to that of the Cape May Warbler. The song, however,
changed. In eight to twelve days it was tweet-tweet-twet-twee-ee,
ending with a trilling or twanging effect on a rising scale. At times,
a part or the whole of the first song is added to this more pleasing
effort. Within twelve to fourteen days after arrival, the differences
have all been settled, all are happily married, the honeymoon has
begun, and the most thrifty pairs are housebuilding. The Cerulean
Warblers are, typically, birds of the treetops. Save when crouching
in some sheltered valley, to escape a raw wind, I have seldom found
them elsewhere than among the limbs of the tall maples, hickories
and elms. There they spend their time, obtain their living from the
many insects that infest the foliage, flowers and bark, and build their
nests. The nests I have found.were usually forty to sixty feet high,
.on top of a horizontal limb. The male evidently exhausted his
strength in his efforts to overcome rivals and to show his attentions
to his favorite. He now is not able to assist in building the nest. His
wife does that, and he sings while she works.

May 6, 1897, I found a female so busily engaged nest-building that
she had not time to stop. Evidently she had a time contract, and the
limit was about up. She gathered fibres, spiders’ webs and other
building material from the bushes and brush piles all around me,
and carried them to the horizontal limb, about fifty feet high, on an
oak, some two hundred feet away. She scarcely had time to deposit
her load, when she flew back for more material. I watched her a
long time and was surprised at the great energy she exhibited. In
southern Indiana, the eggs are laid the latter part of May, and the
young are out of the nest the last half of June. About that time the
song ceases.

In July, most of them leave, some lingering through August, occa-
sionally even to the first of September. The latest dates I have are:
Lafayette, August 22, 1892; Vermillion County, August 22, 1897;
Plymouth, Mich., August 15, 1894, September 1, 1892.

While they are with us they frequent the wooded hillsides and the
upland woods, as distinguished from the immediate river valley. They
are not associated in flocks, but are evenly distributed through woods
of the proper character. Their habits are such as make them of great
service. Often, from among the high limbs of a tree, one will be seen
to dart out and, flycatcher-like, seize flying insects; among the smaller
1056 REporT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

twigs and about the blossoms, they are like Vireos, examining both
sides of every leaf, and the inside as well as the outside of every
blossom; on the large limbs, they may be often mistaken for the Black
and White Warbler, such adepts are they as creepers. Having all
these traits, they are excellent general-purpose birds, as insect-
catchers.

*270. (659). Dendroica pennsylvanica (Liny.).
Chestnut-sided Warbler.

 

Head of Chestnut-sided Warbler. Natural size.

Adult Male——Upper parts, greenish-yellow, streaked with black;
crown, yellow, bordered with white, then enclosed in black; sides of
head and under parts, pure white; lores, with a line through the eye
and one below it, black; a conspicuous chestnut-brown stripe on the
sides, starting in a line with the black mustache; wing and tail
feathers, dark brown, edged with bluish-gray; wing bars, white, gen-
erally fused in one large patch. Female——Similar, but less highly
colored; black on head obscure, and chestnut streaks thinner and
fewer (Nehrling, Pt. V., p. 215). Immature.—Different; above, con-
tinuous light olive-green; below, white; ring around eye, white; no
black on head; sometimes a chestnut streak on the side; wing bars,
clear yellow. The clear, yellow wing bars and white under parts dis-
tinguish birds in this plumage.

Length, +.60-5.25; wing, 2.40-2.65; tail, 1.95-2.10.

Ranez.—Eastern North America, from Panama to Manitoba, On-
tario and Newfoundland. Breeds from northern New Jersey, Illinois
and the Alleghany Mountains, in Georgia, north. Winters from Ba-
hamas and eastern Mexico, south.

Nest, in fork of bush, three to eight feet wp, of bark shreds and
grass, lined with plant down and hair. Eggs, 4-5; creamy-white, with
markings of reddish and dark brown, chiefly wreathed about the
larger end; .65 by .49.

A common migrant most vears, but sometimes rather rare. In the
extreme northern part of the State it is a summer resident; Laporte
Birps or INDIANA. 1057

County (Byrkit). Dr. A. W. Brayton says it “breeds sparingly in the
north of the State.” It is reported as breeding in Monroe (‘Trombley),
Wayne (Alexander), Kalamazoo and Ingham counties, Michigan
(Cook, B. of M., p. 132). It also breeds in northern Ohio, northern
Illinois, and Mr. Robert Ridgway has found it in the breeding season
as far south as Richland County, Illinois. They arrive a little later
in spring than some of the species I have noted. While occasionally
seen as early as April 24 (1881), usually they appear southward after
May 1, and northward between May 5 and 10. First arrivals early
and late years are: Knox County, April 24, 1887; Brookville, May
2, 1881, May 9, 1875; Carroll County, May 4, 1885, May 22, 1883;
Wabash, April 28, 1892; Lafayette, April 27, 1892; May 16, 1897;
Petersburg, Mich., April 28, 1889, May 11, 1893; Chicago, May 2,
1896, May 17, 1886. The latest I have taken it at Brookville is May
12, 1882. At Lafayette it has been taken May 28, 1892, and at Chi-
cago, May 30, 1894. This Warbler is found in the Whitewater Valley,
on the wooded hillsides and uplands. There it ranges from the
ground to the tallest treetops, preferring the lower growths, in the
heat of the day often seeking comfort and quiet in a cool thicket or
a brush’ pile near the ground. As they move through the trees the
wings are often partially raised and the tail somewhat elevated, indi-
cating alertness and attention to its duties as one of the entomologists
of our native forests. Where they make their summer homes they
spend their time about the borders of woods and in second-growth
timber. In New England, where they breed, they are said to frequent
the more open woods and thickets away from cultivation. In Ontario,
Mr. Mcllwraith says it rears two broods. Its song somewhat resembles
that of the Summer Warbler, but, once known, may readily be distin-
guished. Samuels says it consists of the syllables ’che-che-’che-ché-e-e,
and he mentions also a rattling cry, at times, which he compares to
the alarm note of the Maryland Yellow-throat (B. N..E., p. 232).

In the fall they are more numerous than in the spring. While in
spring the markings readily aided in determining the species, the im-
perfect markings in fall tend to confuse the novice. They are among
the first migrants to appear in our latitude, sometimes arriving soon
after the middle of August. While most of them leave before the last
of September, they sometimes remain until after the 1st of October
(October 3). In 1896 they first appeared at Lafayette August 18,
and none were seen after August 27; whereas, in 1894, they had re-
mained until September 4; Warren County, September 15, 1897; at
Brookville, September 9, 1886; at Chicago, Ill., September 24, 1895,

67—GEOL.
1058 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

and in Lake County, Ind., September 18, 1881, and October 3, 1875.
In Wayne County, Michigan, they were last noted August 30, 1894.

They are said to eat canker-worms, flies, ants, caterpillars, tipulids,
beetles, plant lice and grasshoppers.

271, (660). Dendroica castanea (W11s.).
Bay-breasted Warbler. ‘

Adult Male.—Above, ashy-olive, thickly streaked with black; crown,
chestnut-red; forehead and sides of head, black; wing bars, white;
outer tail feathers with white patches at the tips; below, throat and
breast chestnut-brown, lighter than the crown; rest of lower parts,
buffy-white. Adult Female.—Above, olive, streaked with black, with
less chestnut on the crown; below, with the chestnut fainter, some-
times only traces of it. Immature——Above, light olive-green, more
or less streaked with black; wings and tail marked much as in the
adult; below, whitish, tinged with buffy; under tail coverts, with buffy
tinge; sides of breast not streaked. Closely resembles immature of
D. striata, which see.

Length, 5.00-6.00; wing, 2.75-3.00; tail, 2.15-2.25.

Rance.—America, from Colombia north to eastern North America,
Hudson Bay and Labrador; west to Iowa and Missouri. Breeds from
northern Michigan and Maine, north.

Nest, in coniferous trees, in low woods, 5 to 20 feet up; of evergreen
twigs, grass and lichens, lined with feathers and hair. Hggs, 4; bluish-
green or bluish-white, spotted with brown, sometimes forming wreath
about large end; .70 by .50.

The Bay-breasted Warbler is usually a very rare migrant in spring
and is much more common in fall. Some springs it is wanting en-
tirely, and many times, when present, but.a single or, at most, a very
few individuals will be seen in comparison with the numbers of other
species that prefer the same woods. They arrive a little later than
the Chestnut-sided. These two Warblers are always associated in my
mind because the first specimen of each I shot were taken almost at the
same hour, one spring morning, when almost all birds were new to
me. They were new discoveries to a boy, to whom the high branches
above became filled with flitting wings and a repetition of t-sep notes
that plainly told of a world among the treetops, peopled by beautiful
forms, unknown to the common run of mankind, who, though they
have eyes and ears, neither see nor hear the inhabitants of that land.
Their sight has not been quickened to see 'the unseen, nor their ears
attuned to nature’s harmony. She speaks not to them, beéause they
Brirps oF INDIANA. 1059

have no communion with her. These associations, these discoveries,
that come to each one of us, are a part of life that mean-nothing to
any one save the individual concerned. To him they are much, for
they are a part of his being—an experience in the unfolding of his
powers that has been translated into consciousness.

They seldom reach our State before the first of May, the earliest
record being from Knox County, April 30, 1881. They generally pass
northward before the middle of May, by which time they have ap-
peared throughout the northern counties, where they linger occa-
sionally until May 20 or 25.

First appearances, early and late seasons, are:. Brookville, May 2,
1884; May 12, 1882; Bloomington, May 4, 1886, Carroll County, May
4, 1886, May 5, 1884, 1885; Terre Haute, May 10, 1890; Lafayette,
May 5, 1893, May 10, 1897; Petersburg, Mich., May 10, 1892, May 14,
1892; Chicago, ill, May 3, 1895, May 15, 1897. ‘They do not remain
long, but pass rapidly through, ‘the last remaining at Moore’s Hill,
Greencastle and Lafayette until May 13, 1893; Carroll County, May
22, 1883; Chicago, Ill, May 24,-1894; Petersburg, Mich., May 18,
1892.

In 1881, Mr. Ridgway found them very common for a few days in
Knox County. In 1871, Mr. Aiken tells me they were rather common
in Lake County. They were very common in Carroll County from
May 5 to 20, 1885 (Evermann). They seem to have been generally ob-
served in 1893 and were reported tolerably common that year at.
Greencastle, Lafayette and Moore’s Hill. J have never heard it sing.
Mr. Maynard says its song begins like that of the Blackpoll and has
a terminal warble similar to that of the Redstart. To Mr. Langille’s
ear, it bears no resemblance to either, “but is a very soft warble, some-
what resembling the syllables tse-chee, tse-chee, tse-chee, tse-chee, tse-
chee, but far too liquid to admit of exact spelling.”

In habits, the Chestnut-sided Warbler and this appear to me much
alike. This bird I have not found among the higher foliage of trees,
preferring the lower branches and exhibiting a preference for. the
groves and more open woods rather than the denser forest. It is rather
sluggish in its movements, as it assists in gleaning among the leaves
and branches, the insect population of the trees in our pastures and
more open woodland. In fall, they begin to appear early in Septem-
ber, and, while the greater part leave that month, some occasionally
remain until late October. The earliest fall arrival in Lake County is
September 2, 1883. They were last seen there September 28, 1879,
October 3, 1875. Similar records show ,they arrived at Brookville
September 7, 1886, were last seen October 9, 1879; at Lafayette, ar-
1060 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

rived September 11, 1894, departed September 21, 1895; at Greens-
burg, Ind.; last seen September 25, 1897; Cincinnati, O., arrived Sep-
tember 4, 1879; the fall of 1878 they were common until October 1,
and the last departed October 20. In Indiana, they are much more
regular in appearance, as well as more numerous, in the fall, sometimes
being very abundant. The falls of 1894 and 1895 they were common
at Lafayette (L. A. and C. D. Test). Prof. King notes that nineteen
ate 7 ants, 7 lepidoptera, 6 diptera, 15 beetles, 6 leafhoppers and 1
dragon fly (Geol. of Wis., I., p. 497).

In the fall, when so many of these birds are in immature or im-
perfect plumage, it is very difficult to distinguish such birds from the
next species. This species (castanea) is white below, tinged with
buffy or creamy-buff, especially on the flanks, while the next species
(striata) is clear, pale yellowish below. Dr. Langdon gives the fol-
lowing notes on distinguishing characteristics of these fall birds: “A
comparison of specimens of both species shows that the chin, or
feathered space between the forks of the lower mandible, is consider-
ably wider in castanea than in striata, arguing a greater width ot
base of bill in the former species. The bill of castanea is generally
the larger in every way, but its greater width at base is especially evi-
dent” (Jour. Cin. Soc. N. H., 1, 1879, p. 171).

272. (651). Dendroica striata (Forst-.).
Black-poll Warbler.

Adult Male—Crown, deep black; other upper parts, grayish,
streaked with black, the wings with two white bars; lower parts, in-
cluding lower tail coverts, pure white; sides of throat, streaked with
black, meeting on the chin. Adult Female.—Above, dull olive-green,
everywhere streaked with black; beneath, whitish, tinged with yellow,
the sides, and sometimes the sides of throat, with dusky streaks.
Immature.—Above, brighter olive-green, not so distinctly streaked;
below, more yellowish, sides not streaked; lower tail coverts, pure
white.

Length, 5.00-5.75; wing, 2.80-2.90; tail, 2.05-2.25.

Note.—It is dnnoet impossible to distinguish the immature plu-
mages of this species and D. castanea. However, with close attention
to three characters, they may be distinguished when other means fail.
In D. striata, (1) the lower tail coverts are pure white; (2)'the color-
ing of the lower parts is decidedly yellowish; (3) the sides of the
breast are unstreaked. In D. castanea, (1) the lower tail coverts are
buffy; (2) the coloring of the lower parts is buffy; (3) the sides of the
breast are often indistinctly streaked with dusky.
Brrps oF INDIANA. 1061

RanGe.—America, from Colombia over eastern United States to
Labrador, Alaska and Arctic coast; west to Rocky Mountains. Breeds
from northern New England, northward. Winters from Cuba, south-
ward.

Nest, in spruce trees, from ground to 10 feet up; of grasses, roots,
lichens and spruce twigs, lined with grass and feathers. Hggs, 4-5,
rarely 3; white, sometimes with creamy, grayish, greenish or pinkish
tinge, marked with some shade of gray, usually olive, and usually
spotted and speckled with burnt umber, russet or drab, heaviest at
larger end; .71 by .50.

 

Head of Black-poll Warbler. Natural size.

The Blackpoll Warbler is usually the last of the tree warblers to
arrive, and also, at times, is among the last to depart. It is an irregu-
lar migrant, generally rather rare, but some years common; usually
most common in fall. They rarely reach our southern borders by
April 27 (1888), but it is usually near the 10th of May when they
should be expected, and at times much later than that. Whenever
they come they often remain until after May 20, and, in the northern
part of the State, occasionally until the last of the month. When
these birds appear, some of the earlier Warblers have passed through.
Their arrival is, to me, always a matter of note. I love to hail a
bird whose business each year carries it half around the earth. Their
deliberate ways are characteristic. It matters not whether it is in
making their long journey from the Equator to the Arctic Circle, to
build their home and rear their young, or in making a trip through
the boughs of a maple tree, to gather insects for the morning meal—-
there is the same deliberation as though there was a studied effort to
have every motion count. They seem to me directly opposite in char-
acter: to the Black-throated Blue Warbler, which, makes many mo-,
tions for every stroke. Early and late first arrivals are: Vincennes,
April 27, 1888; Bloomington, April 28, 1885; Terre Haute, May 4,
1887; Greensburg, May 6, 1895; Brookville, May 9, 1897, May 23, .
1883; Lafayette, May 6, 1894, May 12, 1893; Richmond, May 19,
1062 Report OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

1897; Carroll County, May 21, 1883, 1885; Francisville, May 9, 18965.
Lake County, May 16, 1897; Chicago, May 11, 1895, May 20, 1894.

Last spring records: Madison, May 23, 1888; Richmond, May 21,
1897; Lafayette, May 29, 1892; Lebanon, May 30, 1894, Lake County,
May 30, 1894; Brookville, May 24, 1897. The spring of 1897 they
were common at Brookville and Richmond; that of 1895 and 1896, in
the vicinity of Chicago, Til; 1890, at Greencastle, Ind.; 1888, at
Petersburg, Mich.

When with us, in spring, the males greatly outnumber the females.
They are found in all kinds of woodland, at varying heights among
the trees, but generally not very near the ground. Sometimes they
visit the orchard and lawn, seeming to prefer evergreen trees. I have
found them in ravines, among Jow bushes, uttering a chip now and
then, while busy looking for food. Its song is the syllable cht, re-
peated five or six times—chi-chi-chi-chi-cht. The notes are staccato
and are of equal length; the first is usually low, then rising until the
two next, the last of which is loudest, the final one being lower than
they. This is often uttered for a considerable time, with only a slight
interval, punctuated by a chip between songs. Again, but occasionally
will its song be heard, and there will be great breaks in the music.
Often, when the foliage has become too dense to see the birds among
the trees, this queer, pleasing melody will sound forth and tell us
the author is in no haste to take his leave. In fall they return, to be-
come a puzzle to the student of birds. The plumages of the young and
females of this species and of the fall and immature specimens of
castanea so nearly match, that at times a serious question arises as to
their identity. Under the last species has been indicated how they
may be distinguished. At this season they may be observed, at times,
following the custom of some other Warblers and frequenting the
fencerows, roadsides and weedy stubble. They first appear about the
lower end of Lake Michigan late in August. The bulk pass through
in September, but some are at times found into early October. First
and last dates when they were noted in the fall indicate the extent of
their autumnal visits: Chicago, Ill., August 25, 1885, September 21,
1896; Lake County, Ind., September 2, 1883, September 25. 1875;
Sandusky, O., last, October 4, 1896; Brookville, September 21 to Oc-
tober 13, 1883 ; Greencastle, Sentembor 28, 1890. Their numbers are
greater in fall, and some years they are abundant. They were common
at Brookville in the fall of 1883; at Bicknell, September 6 to 1%,
1894; in the vicinity of Chicago, Asrgast 25 to September 5, 1885. and
Acogust 29 to September 21, 1896,
Birps oF INDIANA. 1063

Four specimens were examined by Prof. F. H. King. They had
eaten a caterpillar, 3 beetles and, it was estimated, 13 other insects.
They are also said to eat canker-worms.

273. (662). Dendroica blackburnie (GmzL.).
‘Blackburnian Warbler.

Adult Male—Above, including wings and tail, black; wing patch,
white; back, variegated with white; several lateral tail feathers, mostly
white; crown spot, eyelids, line over the eye, throat and breast, bril-
liant or flame color, contrasting beautifully with the black surround-
ings; sides, streaked with black. Memale.—Black of upper parts re-
placed by brownish-olive, with black streaks; flame color replaced by
yellow; two white wing bars. Immature—With the markings still
paler, almost buffy, the crown patch very faint; above, brownish.

Length, 4.25-5.50; wing, 2.50-2.80; tail, 1.90-2.10.

RancE.—America, from Ecuador north over eastern United States,
etc., to Labrador; west to Manitoba, Utah and New Mexico. Breeds
from South Carolina north along the Alleghany Mountains, and Mas-
sachusetts and Minnesota, northward. Winters from Bahamas and
eastern Mexico, southward.

Nest, in pine or hemlock tree, 8 to 60 feet from ground, 10 feet out
from trunk, on horizontal limb; of hemlock twigs, rootlets, bark, pine
needles, moss, loosely woven, lined with horsehair, feathers and grass.
Eggs, 4; greenish-white, spotted, and blotched everywhere, but most
thickly at larger end, with different shades of purple and brown,
almost black in some instances; .69 by .51.

This beautiful warbler is a regular migrant, varying, as all the
Warblers do, in numbers. Yhey are generally common, some years
abundant. This is one of the second early Warblers, coming as the
maples and elms are putting forth small leaves, and while the hickories
and oaks are still bare. They frequent trees, usually spending most
of their time among the higher branches, but at times with other
Warblers, busying themselves lower down among the foliage. They
are generally associated with Black-throated, Green and Chestnut-
sided Warblers. The earliest record I have of its spring arrival at
Brookville is April'15, 1887, the latest May 7, 1875 and 1892. For
the following places: Richmond, April 22, 1897; Greensburg, April
2”, 1885, May 14,-1893; Greencastle, May 6, 1873; Bloomington,
April 21, 1885, April 2%, 1886; Carrol] County, April 28, 1885; Lafay-
ette, April 29, 1893, May 8, 1897; Waterloo, April 30, 1897; Chicago,
Til., April 29, 1886, May 18, 189%; Petersburg, -Mich., May 5, 1889,
May 16, 1888.
1064 * Report or Strate GEoxocist.

The dates at which they were last.seen in spring are Brookville,
May 11, 1882; Richmond, May 19, 1897; Carroll County, May 24,
1883; Lafayette, May 21, 1892; Lake County, May 30, 1894. Their.
breeding ground begins not far north of us, and from the time the last
ones leave until the first fall migrants appear, with their faces turned
the other way, is but a few weeks less than three months. They
may even be found breeding in this State, as they are reported to
have bred in Kalamazoo County, Mich. (Cook, B. of M., p. 183). They
begin to arrive from the north after the middle of August—Chicago,
August 21, 1886; Cincinnati, August 30, 1877; Vermillion County,
Ind., August 19, 1897 (Barnett); and through the next month or six
weeks are to be found frequenting the same kinds of woods they did
in spring. Usually all have passed by October 1, but they are some-
times to be found after the middle of that month (Brookville, October
14, 1889; ‘Cincinnati, October 18, 1879). They are the first of the
migrating Warblers to arrive in numbers in the fall, and although the
brilliant colors of the spring have been replaced by plainer hues, they
may be recognized. At that season, they are usually much more
numerous than they are in spring. As they return in the fall, they
are silent, having lost the song they sang the preceding spring. Mr.
Minot likens that song to the syllables wee-sce-wee-see, tsee, tsee, tsee,
tsee, tsee, tsee, tsee, the latter notes ascending in the scale until the last
one becomes shrill and fine. In summer he says it sings, wee-seé-wee-
seé-wee-seé (wee-seé-ick). Their food consists of beetles, caterpillars,
ants, bugs, crane flies, ichneumon flies, and other insects (King, Geol.
of Wis., I., p. 504). They pass southward to their winter quarters,
where great numbers of the brighter birds fall victims of the plumage
gatherer. They are found in this northern land again, but not freely
_ flitting among the greening trees, now showing their beautiful throats,
then singing their queer little songs, but as articles of adornment,
with other native birds. UhSiE appearance upon the apparel of our
women serves as a continual reminder of what a fearful offering of
life the great Goddess of Fashion yearly demands at our hands. Upon
her altars are sacrificed annually an innumerable host of man’s good
friends, the insect eating birds.
Brirps or INDIANA. 1065

*274, (663a) Dendroica dominica albilora Riveway.
. Sycamore Warbier.

Synonym, WHITE-BROWED, YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER.

Adult—Sexes alike; above, blue-gray, the back not streaked; a line
over eye, yellow in front; white behind; sides of neck and two wing-
bars, white; forehead, sides of head and sides of neck and streaks on
sides of body, black; throat, yellow; other lower parts, white.

Length, 4.50-5.50; wing, 2.50-2.65; tail, 2.00-2.25; bill, .45-.48.

RanGeE.—Eastern North America, from Honduras; north in Mis-
sissippi Valley to Kansas, Indiana, Michigan, West Virginia and Ohio;
east to North Carolina. Breeds from Texas and Mississippi, north.
Winters from lower Rio Grande Valley, south.

Nest, in fork, far out on a high limb, usually of a sycamore.

The Sycamore Warbler is a common summer resident along the
streams of southern Indiana, where timber containing sycamore trees is
found It is very common, particularly in the spring, along the White-
water River as far up as Brookville.» There, but few ascend the east
fork of that stream,.and it is consequently rare at Richmond, while it is
common along the west fork to Laurel, and has been taken at Conners-
ville. It is common up the Wabash Valley to Park and Montgomery
Counties, where I found it May 19 and 20, 1887, along the Valley
of Sugar Creek, and to Carroll County; also up the White River Valley
to Indianapolis. Higher up the Wabash they are rare and, perhaps,
in some places, of accidental occurrence. They have been reported
during the breeding season from Greencastle (Hughes, Earlle), and
Lafayette (L. A. and C. D. Test), where they are*rare, as they also
are at Ft. Wayne (Stockbridge). They range north into Michigan,
where, in Monroe County, they were reported tolerably common to
1887, but are now rare (Trombley), and to the vicinity of Detroit.
They also cross Ohio, being tolerably common as far as Columbus
(Wheaton), and are found ncar Cleveland (Forest and Stream, Vol.
VL. 1876,.p. 300). They have not been found in the Kankakee
Valley, or north of it, in this State, yet it has been noted rarely in
northern Illinois. The coincidence of the range of this species with
that of the Cerulean Warbler is notable. Yet they occupy entirely
different ground, thus complementing each other. The Sycamore
Warbler does not depart from the vicinity of streams, even following
small creeks, along which sycamores grow, for quite a distance towards
their source. They seem to prefer these trees, spending much time
among their highest branches, but they may also be found among all
the trees fringing waterways, sometimes quite near the ground, and
1066 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

often are seen among our orchards, lawns, and even the shade trees
along the streets of towns in the valleys.. They never enter the wood-
land. There, on the contrary, the Cerulean Warbler prefers to make
his home, especially among the woods of the hillsides and uplands.
The song of the Sycamore Warbler, as I catch it, is as follows: Twit,
che-e, che-e, che-e, che-e, che-e, che-d. This is about its usual length.
The first syllable is abrupt, with rising inflection, then, after a slight
pause, the remainder is uttered at the same pitch until the last syllable,
which ends sharply with a slight rise in tone. The whole song is
very unique. Its notes are clear and distinct, and it is pitched in
such a key that it may be heard under favorable circumstances over
a quarter ofa mile. They arrive very early in spring, being one of the
very first Warblers to attract one’s attention, and they usually become
very common at once.

Its longer flights much resemble those of the Chipping Sparrow.
Its shorter ones, as with quivering wings it beats rapid strokes when
moving from limb to limb, remind one of the movements of the
Kingbird. :

The dates of early and late first arrivals are: Brookville, April 3,
1882, April 27, 1895; Knox County, April 17, 1881; Bloomington,
April 14, 1886; Terre Haute, April 14, 1888; Richmond, April 16,
1888; Greencastle, April 22, 1893, May 7, 1892; Lafayette, April 25,
1896; Carroll County, April 20, 1884, May 9, 1883; Wabash, April
28, 1892; Petersburg, Mich., April 17, 1889, April 28, 1893.

Evidently they push on without delay to their most northern breed-
ing places. I have noted them mating April 22 (1881) and May 19
(1882) I obtained*a specimen containing an egg ready to be laid. I
found no description of its nest. Late in summer they may be seen
among the orchards more than in the spring. I have never observed
one at Brookville later than September 25, but in the northern part
of the State and in Michigan they have been reported in October.
Iam under obligations to Mr. Jerome Trombley, of Petersburg, Mich.,
for the interesting account of his experience with this bird here given.
It may be sought under similar conditions in northern Indiana:

“The Sycamore Warbler is a rare summer resident in Monroe
County, Mich. It is the first of the Warblers to arrive in the spring,
appearing here some years as early as the 20th of April. The Louisi-
ana Water Thrush, another species of the same family, however, ar-
rives about the same time, if not earlier. The favorite haunts of
the Sycamore Warblers are in the wooded bottom lands along Raisin
River, confining themselves principally to the tops of the huge svca-
more trees which skirt the banks of the stream. They very rarely
Birps oF INDIANA. 1067

descend lower than 25 or 30 feet from the ground. I have shot
these birds when they were at a height of 90 feet, and appeared from
below not much larger than Humming-birds, but their creeper-like
habits render them easy of identification. The constant habit of
remaining at such heights, coupled with extreme restlessness, make
them one of the most difficult species to secure.

“The song is quite loud and spirited, and can easily be heard and
distinguished at a distance of 300 or 400 yards. Some authors state
the song resembles that of the Indigo Bunting. By others it is likened
to that of the Black and White Warbler, or to the Pine Warbler’s.
The fact is, according.to my experience, the song is a very character-
isti¢ one, and bears no resemblance to anything I have ever heard
the above mentioned birds utter. It may be expressed by the sylla-
bles, tee-o, tee-o, tow-tee, accented on the syllable ¢ee, with a rising
inflection on the final syllable. The song is repeated at intervals of
10 to 15 seconds, and kept up for an hour or more. They remain
but a few moments feeding or singing in the same tree, but are off
to another, and after making the rounds of several trees, will perhaps
be back in the first tree at the end of 15 or 20 minutes. My greatest
desire in regard to this interesting little bird has been to secure a
nest and its complement of eggs, but am sorry to say that, so far,
I have been unsuccessful.

“T can therefore say but little of the nesting habits. For three or
four successive years, I searched long and diligently, examining ‘the
trae tops, as well as I could from the ground, hoping to discover a
nest, and had come to the conclusion that I would never succeed.
Fortunately, on the 10th of May, 1880, I chanced to see one of these
birds alight on the trunk of a tree, with building materials in its
bill. In a few moments it flew to the top of a large sycamore, and
then near the end of a small horizontal branch, where at last I had
the pleasure of locating the long looked-for nest. I estimated the
height from the ground to be somewhere between 60 and 75 feet,
and on the end of a branch 20 feet from the trunk. The branch
would not bear a weight of over fifty pounds, and with trunk of the
tree 7, feet in diameter at the base, the first limb being 40 feet from
the ground, I made up my mind that this nest was simply unattain-
able, except by extraordinary means. The next day IJ returned, and,
with the aid of a good field-glass, I discovered that the nest looked
as if nearly completed, and the birds were at work, apparently, putting
in the lining. It was placed in the fork made by two smaller branches
springing up from the branch on which the nest rested. I was unable
to determine the materials which composed the nest, which appeared
1068 ReEporT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

about the size of that of the Cerulean Warbler. The identity of this
nest was ascertained beyond a doubt. A good view was had of the
female when first seen carrying the materials for building; also on the
next day with the glass, while she was-at work on the nest. The
well-known song of the male was heard in the vicinity all the while
that nidification and incubation was going on.

“The above article was written several years ago for a friend, who
desired me to give him some information from my observations of the
family of Warblers in this locality. I have been able to add but little
of interest since in regard to the Sycamore Warbler. As the timber
is being cut from the bottom lands, they have become much rarer
than formerly. JI am not positive that I saw more than a single bird
this year, 1897. In the swamps, away from the river, where sycamores
grow plentifully, I have sometimes come across a few of these birds,
and I believe they nested there, as they were seen or heard as late as
July. This species departs for their winter habitat along the last
of September, or the first of October, as I have never been able to
detect their presence later than the 10th of October.

275. (667). Dendroica virens (GMEL.).
Black-throated Green Warbler.

Adult Male.—Above, bright olive-green; wing, crossed by two white
bars; line over the eye and side of face, gamboge-yellow; chin, throat
and breast, deep black; belly, white. Adult Female—Similar, «but
black markings more or less broken by yellow or whitish. Imma-
ture.—Similar to female; black markings almost replaced by yellow.

Length, 4.35-5.40; wing, 2.40-2.55; tail, 1.90-2.05.

Ranee.—Eastérn North America, from Panama and Cuba, north-
ward to Hudson Bay, straggling to Greenland and Europe. Breeds
from South Carolina, northward along the Alleghanies. Common,
northern Ohio and northern Illinois and Michigan, northward. Win-
ters from Cuba and Mexico, southward.

Nest, in woods, usually on horizontal branch of coniferous bush or
tree; 2 to 50 feet up; of bark, grass, twigs, fibres, feathers; lined with
down. Lggs, 4; white or creamy-white, spotted with burnt umber or
russet, and purplish-gray, usually arranged in wreaths about larger
ends; .64 by .48.

The Black-throated Green Warbler is a very common migrant. Few
among the Wood Warblers, perhaps none, are as well known as this.
It comes after the earliest ones have renewed their acquaintance, and
is one of several that seem to be associated at this season. It spends
Birps oF INDIANA. . 1069

its time here among the larger trees in woodland, both wood pastures
and forests. There among the foliage, from lowest limb to topmost
bough, it may be found, in company with Blackburnian and Chestnut-
sided Warblers. Occasionally they are found among the orchard trees.
They arrive southward from April 22 to May 8, and about the north-
ern boundary May 11010. Tarly and late dates are Brookville, April
26, 1881, 1886, and 1893, May 8, 1882; Greensburg, April 26, 1893,
May 18, 1894; Lafayette, April 27, 1892, and 1893, May 6, 1897; Car-
roll County, April 28, 1885, May 5, 1894; Sedan, April 24, 1894, April

 

Black-throated Green Warbler. Natural size.

30, 1896; Lake County, May 11, 1884; Chicago, Ill., May 1, 1896,
May 6, 1886; Petersburg, Mich., May 2, 1888, May 9, 1897. If they
arrive early, they usually remain from one to two or three weeks, but
if they are late coming they pass through rapidly. The latest date
for southern Indiana is May 13, 1894 (Greensburg); for northern
Indiana, May 24, 1879 (Lake County). Some unusual records have
been made by Messrs. Dury and Freeman at Cincinnati, O. The
earliest arrival is April 22, 1878, and he noted them there July 23,
1879, and says: “They were somewhat common about July 30, 1879”
(Journ. Cin. Soc. N. H., July, 1879).

It breeds in Michigan, south to Montcalm and Kent Counties (Cook,
B. of Mich., p. 134), and has been reported as breeding in northern
Illinois (W. W. Cooke), and northern Ohio (Wheaton). Its song is
very peculiar, and cannot be mistaken for that of any other bird. Mr.
John Burroughs has expressed its notes by three straight lines: ——

SS
1070 REPoRT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

In fall they are abundant, frequenting évery kind of woodland from
second-groewth to virgin forest. While they are changed some in appear-
ance from the previous spring, they may readily be recognized. They
first appear, a few of the vanguard, late in August, and remain until
after October 1. First arrivals: Vermillion County, August 23, 1897;
Lafayette, August 27, 1896; Lake County, September 2, 1883; Wabash,
September 11, 1892; Brookville, August 29, 1887. Last records:
Lake County, October, 1881; Chicago, October 5, 1894, and 1895;
Lafayette, October 5; 1895; Brookville, October 8, 1884, and 1885.
The Black-throated Green Warbler is the most even in its dates of
migration of any of the genus. This is distinctly shown when one
examines a series of dates, running over a number of years. Their
food is practically the same as all of the family—large numbers of
insects. Prof. King found that of twelve specimens examined, one
had eaten a moth; three, seven caterpillars; three, eleven beetles; and
one, two diptera; one, six larve, probably caterpillars, and one a
heteroptera (Geol. of Wis., I., p. 502). Prof. Forbes has ascertained
they eat hymenoptera, caterpillars and curculios. Their woodland
habits, and also those of other species, while beneficial, are not so
noticeably of value as they would be if they frequented our fruit and
shade trees more. Doubtless, with the lessening of our wooded area
and the increase of acreage in orchards, they will more and more be
found there.

276. (670). Dendroica kirtlandi Barrp.
Kirtland’s Warbler.

Adult Above, bluish-gray; back, more brownish and streaked with
black; lores and narrow frontal band, black; no white wing bars; awhite
spot on each eyelid; below, pale yellow; sides of throat and of body
streaked with black. Adult Female—Similar, but paler.

Length, 5.30-6.00; wing, 2.60-2.90; tail, 2:25-2.50.

Rancz—From Bahamas, northwest over southeastern United
States, migrating through eastern part of Mississippi Valley and west-
ern Lake region. Breeding range unknown. Winters in Bahamas.

Nest and Hggs, unknown.

Kirtland’s Warbler is a very rare bird, known from but a few locali-
ties in the United States as a migrant.

The first specimen known from Indiana was taken at Wabash, by
Mr. W. 0. Wallace, May 4, 1892.

Mr. Wallace says: “I took it in a thicket. It was alone, there
being no other birds in the near vicinity of it. It seemed to be an
Birps oF INDIANA. 1071

‘active fly-catcher, not having the motions of the other Dendroice,
being less active. It would dart off after an insect and then return
to the same perch.” Mr. Wallace has kindly placed this specimen
in my collection.

Mr. Wallace took another specimen May 7, 1895. He says: “Harly
in the morning I heard a bird singing in the thicket of plum trees
near the house. The song was strange to me, and consisted of a
loud, ringing note, repeated three times in quick succession. The
song bears considerable resemblance to that of the Great Carolina
Wren, and also suggests that of the Maryland Yellow-throat. It is
loud and rather musical. I did not go to look for it at once, but as
it continued singing for some time, I finally got my gun and went to.
look for it. It had flown over into the orchard then, but soon returned
to the plum thicket, and was constantly uttering its peculiar note.
Had it not been for its loud and peculiar song, I should have pro-
nounced it a Canada Flycatcher. Its song sealed its fate. After watch-
ing it catch insects and listening to its song for some time, I backed off
and shot it. Imagine my surprise when I held in my hand my second
Kirtland’s Warbler.”

The species was described from a specimen taken by Dr. Kirtland
near Cleveland, O. The following are the reported records of its
eeeurrence:

1. Atsea, off Abaco, Bahamas, by Dr. Samuel Cabot, second week
ja October, 1841.

2. Near Cleveland, O., by Dr. J. P. Kirtland, male, May 15, 1851.
Type specimen.

3. Near Cleveland, O., by R. K. Winslow, female, June, 1860.

4. Near Cincinnati, 0., by Charles Dury, male, first week in May,
4872.

5. Ann Arbor, Mich., by A. B. Covert, female, May 15, 1875.

6, 7. Rockport, Cuyahoga County, O., by Wm. and John Hall,
May, 1878.

8. Andros Island, Bahamas, by Charles B. Cory, female, June 9,
4879.

§. Ann Arbor, Mich., by A. B. Covert, female, May 16, 1879.

10,11. Cleveland, O., reported by Dr. Langdon, male and female,
May 4, 12, 1880.

12. Battle Creek, Mich., male, May 11, 1883, now in United States
National Museum.

13. St. Louis, Mo., May 8, 1885, Otto Widmann.

14. Spectacle Reef, Mich., May 25, 1885, Wm. Marshall. Struck
the light at Spectacle Reef lighthouse.
1072 ‘ Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

15. Near Dublin Gap Springs, Pa., June 25, 1885, Prof. H. J.
Roddy. He says: “Saw one with family.”

16. St. Helena Island, 8. C., April 27, 1886, Walter Hoxie. Re-
ports seeing others. ;

17. Near Fort Meyer, Va., September 25, 1887, Wm. Palmer.
Another seen a week later.

18. Amn Arbor, Mich., April or May, 1888, female, by Mr. Knapp.

19. Chester, S. C., female, October 11, 1888, L. M. Loomis.

20. Near Minneapolis, Minn., May 13, 1892, male, H. M. Guilford.

21. Wisconsin, Dr. P.R. Hoy: Reported.seen.

22. Wabash, Ind., May 1, 1893, W. O. Wallace.

23. Wabash, Ind., May 7, 1895, W. O. Wallace.

In addition, it has been reported by Mr. C. S. Maynard, but I do not
have the references at hand.

The winter home of this rare and narrowly restricted species is
apparently the Bahama Islands. It has been taken most commonly
during the spring migrations, near Cleveland, O., and Ann Arbor,
Mich. It has never been taken in the interior of the United States
during the fall migrations. The summer home of this Warbler would
seem to be northern Michigan and Wisconsin, or north thereof, and
possibly in the mountains of Pennsylvania. The line of its spring
movements seems to be a narrow route from the Bahamas past the
western end of Lake Erie toward Lake Superior. Perhaps the return
migration may be over the same route, but it is possible this may
be, in the whole or in part, farther to the eastward, passing down the
. coast after it reaches the Atlantic.

Its distribution is very remarkable. Yet there seems to be an
effort on the part of other species to follow a line remarkably similar
to that noted. From the northwest into South Carolina, even to the
coast, there seems to be a migration route analogous to this. Along
it would seem to move, in a southeasterly migration, such torms as
Brewer’s Blackbird, Yellow-headed Blackbird, Le Conte’s Sparrow,
Prairie Horned Lark, typical plains forms.

*277, (671). Dendroica vigorsii (Avp.).
Pine Warbler.
Synonym, Prxe-cREEPING WARBLER.

Adult Male.—Above, bright olive-green, more or less dulled by
ashy; wings and tail, grayish; two wing bars, whitish; stripe from bill
to eye and ring around eye, yellow; below, yellow, sides indistinetly
streaked with dusky; lower tail coverts and more or less of the belly,
Brrps oF INDIANA. 1073

whitish. Adult Female—Above, dull olive-gray, more or less tinged
with olive-green; wings and tail as in male; ring around eye, yellowish;
below, whitish, shaded more or less with grayish, the throat and breast
showing yellow.

Length, 4.95-5.60; wing, 2.70-3.00; tail, 2.10-2.45.

Rance.—Eastern North America, west to Plains; from the Baha-
mas north to New Brunswick, Ontario and. Manitoba. Breeds
throughout most of its range. Winters from North Carolina and
southern Illinois, south.

Nest, in pine trees, 20 to 80 feet from ground, on horizontal limbs,
2 to 12 feet from trunk; of grapevine bark, closely woven, often with
cocoons on outside. Inside lined with fine grass, horsehair and feath-
ers. Average nest, 1.70 outer depth, 2.80 outer diam.; 1.45 inner
depth, 1.55 inner diam. Eggs, 4-5; grayish or bluish-white (rarely
pinkish-white), spotted distinctly and obscurely with chestnut and
lilac-gray, often forming wreath at larger end; .70 by .53.

As its name indicates, this is a bird of the pines. But a name
does not always mean what it says. Among the Helminthophilas is a
pinus, which, perhaps, is so named because it never is found about
the pines. Likewise, and among this, a Prairie Warbler that does
not inhabit the prairies. Then, too, our joyous little Goldfinch, bub-
bling with pleasant emotions that involuntarily come forth as it rides
the waves of the wind currents, has been burdened by the sorrowful
name fristis.

In Indiana, the Pine Warbler is generally found as a rare migrant,
though the spring of 1879 it was rather common. In a few localities,
preferably where pines are native, a few spend the summer. Mr.
J. W. Byrkit informs me it is a summer resident near Michigan City.
Mr. E. W. Nelson says: “The first of July, 1874, I found a large num-
ber of these birds, with young just old enough to follow their parents,
in the ‘Pinery,’ and presume they nest there regularly” (Birds N. E.
IL, p. 100): Dr. A. W. Brayton further adds: “Nelson found both
old and young in the pine barrens, Lake County, where they undoubt-
edly bred regularly” (Proc. Ind. Hort. Soc., 1879, p. 108). Mr. Robert
Ridgway informs me of its breeding in Knox and Gibson counties.
It may be found to breed wherever native pines are found,.as it is
known to breed nearly throughout its range at different dates; the
season beginning in South Carolina in March and in Manitoba in
June.

It is among the early migrants, arriving some years by the middle
of April, and not lingering where it does not breed after early May.

68— GEOL.
1074 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

They arrived at Brookville, April 15, 1879 and 1882, May 3, 1883;
Knox County, April 19, 1881; Richmond, April 25, 1897; Lafayette,
April 27, 1892, April 29, 1893; Carroll County, April 29, 1885; Wa-
bash, April 27, 1894, April 30, 1892; Michigan City, April 24, 1884.
At all these places, except as first mentioned, they are very rare. The
latest dates reported are May 1, 1892 (Lafayette); May 1, 1897, May
3, 1883 (Brookville). In the Whitewater Valley they frequent the
wooded hillsides, where sugar maple is the prevailing timber. In such
places, usually high wp among the branches of the sugar trees, I have
often found them. At times they nimbly flit from twig to twig
among the unfolding leaves; again they pursue the habits of a creeper,
reminding one of the Sycamore or Black and White Warbler, when
insect hunting along the larger limbs and about the trunks of trees.

Often they arrive before the leaves have burst the buds, and then
they play creeper to perfection. In spring, when they are with us,
they have a Sparrow-like song. This has been compared to the song
of the Chipping Sparrow, of a Junco, to the trill of the Swamp Spar-
row, and to the well-known chant of the Field Sparrow. At any
rate, it is a Sparrow’s trill that comes to one from the highest boughs
of the maple woods, where no Sparrow ought to be. In fall they
only utter a chip as they pass southward, in September and October.
The following are records of their fall appearance: Lake County,
September 8, 1874; Warren County, September 15 and 16, 189%,
September 25, 1878; Brookville, October 12, 1885; Richmond, Octo-
ber 15, 1887. They eat some seeds, but principally insects, including
both those that infest pines and deciduous trees and those that fre
quent the branches as well as the foliage.

278, (672). Dendroica palmarum (GmEz1.).
Palm Warbler.

Synonym, Rep-poLL WARBLER.

Adult.—Above, dull olive-brown; crown, chestnut, a yellow stripe
over the eye; back with indistinct streaks; rump, olive-green; wings,
edged with olive-gray, not barred; below, yellowish, bright yellow on
throat and under tail coverts; rest of under parts, washed with whitish
and streaked with brown; two outer tail feathers with large white
spots, sometimes a small one on the third. Immature —Chestnut of
crown, faint or wanting; line over eye and ring around eye, whitish;
below, dull buffy, slightly tinged with yellow and streaked with dusky;
lower tail coverts, yellow.

Length, 4.50-5.50; wing, 2.35-2.65; tail, 2.05-2.45.
Birps oF InpIANA. 1075

Rance.—North America, from Mexico and Greater Antilles, north
through the interior of the United States, between Alleghany Moun-
tains and Great Plains, to Mackenize Valley (Ft. Simpson), Rare on
Atlantic Coast. Breeds far north. Winters from South Atlantic and
Gulf States southward.

The Palm Warbler occurs only as a migrant in Indiana. In the
western and northwestern parts of the State—the original prairie
region—it is very common, often very abundant; much more numer-
ous in spring than in fall. There it frequents the open fields, the
fence rows and the roadsides, and to the naturalist, at least, is a very
familiar bird. Throughout the southeastern half of our State it is
of irregular occurrence, never abundant, and seldom, if ever, really
common. From most places it is reported as rare, not common, br
tolerably common. There it frequents thickets and fence rows, open
fields and woods, being found at times in the deepest forests. In
the woods it usually is seen among the bushes and lower limbs of
trees, not over twenty feet high, but I have taken it at twice that
height.

In the Whitewater Valley, some years it is very rare, and I have
never found it common. In its migrations it not only seems to prefer
the prairie district, but appears there earlier than farther to the east-
ward. In Illinois and western and northwestern Indiana the same
year they appear earlier than in the southeastern part of the State,
arriving in the vicinity of Chicago often as soon, or sooner, than at
any station one hundred and fifty to three hundred miles southeast
of there. In 1897 they were first seen near Chicago April 17, and
were abundant April 24. In 1896 they were first seen at Chicago
April 11 and again April 12, while in Indiana they were not seen
until April 17. In 1895 Chicago reported them April 21, the same
date they were observed two hundred miles southeast of there. At
Greensburg the earliest and latest dates of first appearance in spring
are April 17, 1896, April 23, 1894; Spearsville, April 21, 1895, April
25, 1897; Vigo County, April 24, 1888, April 30, 1889; Bloomington,
April 22, 1885, May 6, 1885; Carroll County, April 21, 1885, May
8, 1884; Brookville, April 24, 1889, May 5, 1887; Lafayette, April
24, 1897, May 6, 1892; Francisville, April 19, 1896; Chicago, IIL,
April 11, 1896, April 28, 1894; Petersburg, Mich., May 1, 1888, May
5, 1889. They usually leave southern Indiana about May 5 and the
northern part of the State a week later, but they may occasionally
be found southward until near the middle of the month and north-
ward ten days later than that. They were last reported at Greens-
burg May 14, 1894; Richmond, May 16, 1897; Terre Haute, May 8,
1076 ReEporT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

1889; Petersburg, Mich., May 18, 1888; Chicago, Ill., May 26, 1895.
I have only heard its song a few times, from those that were in the
woods. It is not loud, but attracts one’s attention, as the four notes
come from the little singer, who keeps time by the motions of his
tail. Their tails are always in motion, and in this they remind one
of the Wagtails and Pheebe.

The Palm Warbler is quite an adept at insect catching, often catch-
ing them on the wing as a Flycatcher does. “Of eight specimens
examined, one had eaten a small hymenoptera; one, five small moths;
one, three diptera; two, thirteen beetles, and one five plant lice” (King,
Geol. of Wis., L, p. 506). In the fall they begin to return about the
middle of September, and linger well into October. They may some-
times remain into November, as they have been noted in the vicinity
of Columbus, O., November 7 (1874) (Wheaton), and even in the’
southern part of the State through December, or possibly, in favor-
able winters, remain all winter, as it has been taken at Cincinnati,
December 24, 1878 (Dury and Freeman). The following early dates
give earliest arrival and late dates last departure: Wabash, September
10,1892; Warren County, September 23, 1897, September 26, 1897;
Chicago, Ill., September 18, 1895, October 11, 1896; Lake County,
Ind., October 2, 1881; Brookville, September 14, 1897, Octboer 13,
1887.

279. (673). Dendroica discolor. (VIEILL.).

Prairie Warbler.

Adult Male—Above, olive-green, the back spotted with reddish-
chestnut; forehead, a line over eye and spot below the eye, yellow;
spot in front of eye and stripe under eye, black; wing-bars, yellowish;
below, yellow; sides, streaked or spotted with black; lower tail-coverts,
buffy. Adult Female—Similar, but duller and less distinctly marked.
Immature.—Above, more brownish; no wing-bars; few or no chestnut
spots on the back or black spots upon the sides.

Length, 4.25-5.00; wing, 2.10-2.30; tail, 1.90-2.10.

Ranee.—Hastern North America, from Central America (?) and
West Indies to Wisconsin, Northern Michigan, Mackinac Island and
Massachusetts, west to Kansas and Nebraska. Breeds locally through-
out most of the range. Winters from Florida south.

Nest, deeply cupped and compact; of soft fibres, grasses; lined with
fine grasses or hair; in second-growth, scrub-growth and thickets
and in crotch or fork of vine or tree, two to seven feet high. Eggs,
4-5; white, creamy-white, greenish-white, dotted or blotched, some all
Birps oF INDIANA. 1077

over and others at large end, where usually wreathed with chestnut
and burnt umber; .64 by .47.

The Prairie Warbler is a rare migrant and summer resident. It
has not yet been ascertained to breed within the State. Mr. Robert
Ridgway has noted it in Knox and Gibson counties, but is uncertain
that it breeds. He found it in the former county, April 15, 1881, and
met with it frequently afterward that same spring. The late Mr. C.
H. Bollman took a specimen near Bloomington, April 26, 1885. Mr.
W. O. Wallace took it at Wabash, May 2, 1892. Mr. J. E. Beasley
took two near Lebanon, April 29, 1892, and more recently received a
female killed June 14, 1896, at English Lake. The latter, and one of
the former, are in the State Museum at Indianapolis. It is reported °
rare throughout Illinois; but one record is given of it8 occurrence in
Wisconsin; and in Ohio it is a rare migrant in the southern and cen-
tral part, and a summer resident in the northern part of that State.
Dr. F. W. Langdon notes it as rare near Cincinnati in May, and
Messrs. Dury and Freeman obtained a specimen there May 5, 1879
(Cin. Soc. N. H., I, 1879, p. 172; Ibid, July, 1879). Dr. A. W. Bray-
ton informs me of its occurrence at London, Ky., in June, 1878, and
the late Mr. C. W. Bickham reported it from Nelson County.

In Michigan it is found as a rare migrant and summer resident
north to Mackinac Island. Its nest and eggs were taken in Ottawa
County, May 26, 1879 (Bulletin N. 0. C., Vol. IV., p. 186). It is
very particular as to its summer home, selecting places suited to its
taste, and sometimes breeding in numbers in a very small area. They
frequent old clearings, bushy fields and pasture land, and sometimes
orchards. There their shyness makes them very inconspicuous objects,
save to the person whose ear catches their peculiar song, beginning
low and gradually growing louder, resembling the syllables, wee-wee-
chee-chee-chee-chee. I have no fall records, nor has it ever been found
in the Whitewater Valley.

159. Genus SEIURUS Swaryson.

a1, Crown orange brown with a black stripe on each side; no superciliary stripe.
8. aurocapillus (Linn.). 280
a’, Crown color of back; a long superciliary stripe.
61. Below whitish, lightly streaked; bill over one-half inch long.
S. motacilla (Vieill.). 283
62. Below yellowish, heavily streaked; bill not over one-half inch long.
cl, Line over eye buffy; size smaller. S. noveboracensis (Gmel.). 281
c*, Line over eye lighter; size larger.
, 8. noveboracensis notabilis (Grinnell). 282
1078 REPORT OF SPATE (1 EOLOGIST.

*980. (674). Seiurus auroeapillus (Lrvv.).
Oven Bird.

Synony mm, GOLDEN-CROWNED THRUSH.

 

Head of Oven Bird. Natural size.

Adult.—Crown, orange-brown, bordered with two black stripes; no
superciliary line; above, bright olive-zreen; below, pure white, thickly
spotted with dusky on breast and sides; a narrow maxillary line of
blackish; under wing-coverts, tinged with yellow; a white eye ring;
legs, flesh color. Sexes alike. Young.—Similar (McIlwraith, p. 374).

Length, 5.40-6.50; wing, 2.75-3.00; tail, 2.00-2.25.

Rance.—Eastern North America, from Panama north to Labrador,
Hudson Bay and Alaska. Breeds from Kansas, Virginia and moun-
tain region of South Carolina northward. Winters from Florida and
Mexico south.

Nest, of leaves, grasses, fibre, bark; lined with finer material of the
same kind; on ground, in woods, often more or less roofed over. Hgqs,
3-5, rarely 6; white or creamy-white, sprinkled, usually heaviest, and
forming wreath about the larger end with hazel or chestnut or lilac-
gray; .80 by .60.

The Oven Bird is so called from the dome-covered, oven-shaped
nest it builds. It is known, also, as the Golden-crowned Thrush, from
the “old gold” stripe along the center of its crown. It is a common
summer resident in the denser woodland of the State. It frequents
such land as the Worm-eating Warbler likes—the cool, dark shades
of the quiet forest, where amid the thick undergrowth, the fallen
trees and broken limbs man nor anything that belongs to him comes
to disturb its life. There among the thick carpet of leaves it builds
its nest, and just beneath the upper layer the moist, black, humus
contains a bountiful supply of choicest food, a reward for very little
effort. Throughout the rougher land of southern Indiana, where
much forest remains but little disturbed, so far as conditions are con-
cerned, the Oven Bird is very abundant. The rapid destruction of our
forests, the burning over of bushy woods and the browsing of live
Birps oF INDIANA. 1079

stock in woodland is all having an effect in lessening the numbers of
these birds and other congenial neighbors of theirs who survive as
remnants of the forest population of bygone days. They arrive in
southern Indiana from April 14 to 30, and in the vicinity of Lake
Michigan from April 17 to May 15. The following dates show early
and late arrivals at several points: Brookville, April 14, 1883, April
30, 1884; Knox County, April 18, 1894, April 20, 1881; Lafayette,
April 29, 1892, 1893 and 1894; Frankfort, April 20, 1896, May 8,
1894; Sedan, April 21, 1896, May 1, 1889; Wabash, April 27, 1892;
Chicago, April 17, 1897, May 15, 1886; Petersburg, Mich., April 25,
1897, May 1, 1893.

Who among that select company that is permitted to visit the woods
in early spring has not, after a walk over ravine and up hill, along
some little, worn path, found his breathing hard and his pulses beat-
ing fast from the exertion, and sat down upon a log to rest? All is
quiet. From some distance come birds’ sounds. ‘The song of the
Cardinal, the rattling of the Carolina Wren and the hammering of the
Red-bellied Woodpecker; but they come faintly to the ear.

Suddenly, from near at hand, comes the song of a bird that has not
been heard since last summer. It is startling in its sudden interjec-’
tion into the quiet, and its ringing notes arouse the listless auditor
from the thoughts of the distant to attention to the near-by singer.
John Burroughs has expressed what it seems to say in a way that all
who have heard it will recognize. He describes it as “a sort of accel-
erating chant. Commencing in a very low key, which makes him seem
at a very uncertain distance, he grows louder and louder, till his
body quakes and his chant runs into a shriek, ringing in my ears with
peculiar sharpness. This lay may be represented thus: ‘teacher,
TEACHER, TEACHER, TEACHER, TEACHER, the accent on the
first syllable and each word uttered with increased force and shrill-
ness.”

The song is that of the Oven Bird. By it he has announced his
arrival. During the mating season it is often preceded by from two
to four chips. There is also another rarer and very different song.
When they first arrive it is not difficult to see the bird and note its
movements. A little later, when the leaves have darkened the woods,
they are hard to recognize unless they sing, and are often difficult to
distinguish from the usually abundant Worm-eating Warbler. The
high bearing and graceful carriage of the Oven Bird as it walks over
the ground or along a log, and the confident attitude it strikes when
it begins to sing, strike the eve as forcibly as its song does the ear.
1080 REPORT: OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

There is another song, called the air song, which is said to be
uttered in the evening while it floats in the air above the treetops of
the forest. i

They are often found mating the first week in May. I found the
nest and eggs May 13, 1882, at Brookville, and Prof. Evermann found
a nest with a full set of eggs May 28, 1883, in Carroll County. The
nest is a curious structure, an interesting object of bird architecture,
in which the Cowbird also likes to lay her eggs.

They usually cease singing in June, sometimes extending it until
July 23, Mr. E. P. Bicknell tells us. He also says they have a second
song period, the extreme dates of which are August 9 and September
5. In July and August, if the season is dry, they leave the drier
woods and many of them seem to disappear at that time, though all
through the latter ‘month, and occasionally in September, and even
early in October, they may be met with singly or in little flocks, mak-
ing their way southward. The following are the latest records of their
occurrence at the places named: Chicago, Ill., October 12, 1895;
Sedan, Ind., October 1, 1889; Lafayette, September 27, 1895; Greens-
burg, September 25, 1897; Trafalgar, September 26, 1897; Bicknell,
‘October 3, 1894; Brookville, October 15, 1889.

While they live largely upon insects, particularly through the spring
and summer, they also eat many seeds. “Eight out of ten specimens
examined had eaten seeds; one, three caterpillars, and one, three
beetles” (King, Geol. of Wis., I., p. 507). They have also been found
to eat ants, spiders, small snails‘and berries.

*281, (675). Seiurus noveboracensis (Gmzt.).
Water Thrush.

Sytfonyms, WATER WacTatL, SMALL-BILLED WATER THRUSH.

Adult—All the upper parts, olive; stripe over eye, yellowish; below,
pale sulphur-yellow, brightest on the abdomen; thickly spotted on
throat; remaining under parts, except lower belly and lower tail-
coverts, streaked with olive-brown.

Length, 5.00-6.00; wing, 3.00-3.10; tail, 2.25-2.40; bill, from nostril,
.85-.38.

Raneu.—America, from Venezuela and Guiana over the eastern
United States, chiefly east of Mississippi River, to the Arctic Coast.
Accidental in Greenland. Breeds from northern Illinois and northern
New England northward: Winters from Gulf States south.

Nest, on. ground, under bank or the upturned roots of a tree; of
leaves, moss and grass, lined’ with fine grass and rootlets. Eggs, 4-6;
white, with reddish-brown and lilac markings; .75 by .87.
Birps oF INDIANA. 1081

’ The Water Thrush is generally a rare migrant; however, some years
in the Wabash Valley one form of it is common. It is a raré summer
resident northward, where it breeds. About Chicago they are reported
as common every year (Tallman, Blackwelder). They are rare in
the Whitewater Valley, where only a few specimens have been taken.
They are rare in Carroll County (Evermann), Wabash (Ulrey and
Wallace), Lake County (Parker), and tolerably common in 1893 at
Greencastle (Earlle). Just how far these records refer to the present
species is uncertain. The prevailing form in western Indiana seems to
be D. n. notabilis, though Mr. Ridgway has both forms from Knox
County. It is probable that the same is true wherever it is reported
as common. Over eastern Indiana, and other places where Small-billed®
Water Thrushes are rare, the present species is possibly the most
numerous, although notabilis is also found as far east as the White-
water Valley. The fact probably is that the species under considera-
tion is rare throughout Indiana. Mr. Nelson has reported it breeding
near Chicago; Mr. R. C. Alexander, in Wayne County, Mich., and Hon.
R. Wes. McBride, in Dekalb County, Ind.

Prof. F. H. King examined seven of these birds, which had eaten 6
‘diptera, 6 beetles, 3 orthoptera, 1 dragonfly, 1 hair worm, 14 snails
and some pedicels of moss (Geol. of Wis., I., p. 498). This, possibly,
should be under the next species.

They pass south in August and September. Chicago, August 19 to

September 30, 1896.
; This Warbler, for such it is, some winters remains in favorable
localities just south of us, and pushes northward into the lower coun-
ties of our State very early in April, the advance guard reaching. our
northern borders from April 20 to May 1. They remain from three to
four weeks and then pass north.

They have been taken at Bloomington as early as April 3 (1885),
remaining that year until April 21, and the first arrivals in 1886 did
not arrive there until April 17. April 3, 1893, it was reported from
Greencastle; April 7, 1895, and April 29, 1893, from Lafayette; April
18 to May 3, 1896, from Greensburg; April 28, 1896, from Sedan;
May 4, 1893, from Petersburg, Mich. About Chicago it has been
reported as early as April 20, 1896, and as late as May 15,1897. They
were common at Bloomington the spring of 1885 (Bollman), April
17, 1886 (Williamson), and the spring of 1888 (Evermann). Mr.
Ruthven Deane informs me they were also common the spring of 1888
at English Lake. They have been reported tolerably common at
Lafayette the spring of 1895 and 1896, and as not common there the
springs of 1893 and 1897. Prof. W. P. Shannon reports them toler-
ably common at Greensburg the spring of 1896.
1082 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

282. (675). Seiurus noveboracensis notabilis (Ripeway).
Grinnell’s Water Thrush.

Similar to last species, but larger, darker above; stripe over eye and
lower parts more whitish.

Length, 5.50-6.00; wing, 3.05-3.25; tail, 2.25-2.50; bill, from nos-
tril, 40-.50.

Ranee.—America, from northern South America, western United
States from Indiana to California, and north into British America.
Casual on Atlantic coast from northern New Jersey. Winters from
Gulf States southward.

This western form of the Small-billed Water Thrush is found
throughout Indiana as a migrant and possibly as a rare summer resi-
dent in the northern part of the State. It appears to be the common
form in the lower Wabash Valley, and in the vicinity of Chicago, Il.
Mr. Ridgway writes me that “Water Thrushes from the Mississippi
Valley are very puzzling, but a large majority appear to be referable to
notabilis.” One specimen that I sent him for examination from Brook-
ville, and two collected by Prof. W. 8S. Blatchley at Terre Haute, he
refers to this form. Mr. Ridgway took three adult malts May 4 and 6,
1885, at Wheatland, Knox County, numbered, respectively, 104,998,
104,999, 105,000, U. S. Nat. Mus. Register. He says he has also taken
it in Wabash and Richland counties, Ill., and there are specimens in
the collection of the National Museum from Warsaw, Ill. They have
specimens from Wheatland and Vincennes representing both S. nove-
boracensis and S. n. notabilis. Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr., says this is the
common form of Water Thrush in the vicinity of Chicago. Mr. F. M.
Woodruff informs me that Dr. J. A. Allen, to whom he submitted
some specimens from the vicinity of Chicago for examination, con-
siders them typical notabilis. Mr. W. adds all the specimens I have
from northern Indiana are this form.

Migrating birds of this and the last species remain with us in spring
after the Large-billed Water Thrushes are breeding. They arrive early
in April and pass north late in that month, returning in August and
September; Brookville, August 18, 1881; Chicago, September 9, 1885.

*283. (676). Seiurus motacilla (Vier.
Louisiana Water Thrush.
Synonym, LARGE-BILLED WATER THRUSH.
Adult—KEntire upper parts, olive, white line over eye; below,

creamy-white; sides and lower tail-coverts. buff; sides and breast, but
not the throat, streaked with black.
Birps oF INDIANA. 1083

Length, 5.75-6.40; wing, 3.20-3.25; tail, 2.20-2.35; bill, from nos-
tril, .40-.45.

Rance.—Eastern North America, from Panama and Antilles north
to Massachusetts, New York, Michigan and Minnesota. Breeds
throughout its United States range. Winters from Mexico and West
Indies south.

Nest, bulky; of dead leaves, often muddy or partly rotted; lined with
grasses, rootlets, weed stems, feathers or hair; near water, in woods,
or on ground, under bank, stone or among roots. ggs, 5, sometimes
4 or 6; white, creamy-white, rarely pinkish-white; markings heaviest
at larger end, where they often form a wreath; more or less marked
with lilac-gray and speckled and spotted with chestnut, russet, cinna-
mon-rufous, hazel or vinaceous; .76 by .60.

The Large-billed Water Thrush is a summer resident, common in
suitable localities southward, but less common northward. This
bird frequents woodlands along streams and about ponds, first
appearing late in March or very early in April. It is the first
migrant among the Warblers—for both it and the other Water
Thrushes are Warblers and only Thrush in name. The visitor
to such localities as it seeks is struck by the loud, forcible,
metallic chink, repeated again and again by a bird which has flown
from the banks of a little creek to the horizontal limb of a neighboring
elm. Between chinks there seem to be just as many beats of its tail,
for, as it walks along the limb in a stately manner there is a regular
wagging of its tail up and down, and this habit has given it one of its
names (Wagtail). But a moment it stays in sight, and then, bowing
gracefully, it flies up the creek some distance, and its loud, peculiar
song comes ringing through the glen, marking it to the ear as plainly
as its tail motions do to the eye. The song, a beautiful, wild, way-
ward effort, is not always sung from the perch, but frequently is ren-
dered while in flight. I have never known it to sing from the ground.
There is another song, which Audubon declared was fully equal to
that of the Nightingale. They have first reached Bicknell as early as
April 2, 1897, and April 12, 1896; Wabash, April 2, 1892; Blooming-
ton, April 4, 1886; Brookville, April 10, 1895, April 27, 1885; Terre
Haute, April 11, 1888; Lafayette, April 20, 1895, May 12, 1894;
Sedan, March 30, 1896, April 22, 1894; Petersburg, Mich., April 10,
1892, April 27, 1889; Chicago, April 17, 1886. They are not common
as Bluebirds and Jaybirds are common, but in the places they like they
are found. Every woodland stream, or spring, or pond, throughout
southern Indiana is frequented by them, and the more suitable the
conditions, the greater the numher. In the northwestern part of the
1084 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

State, perhaps, including the Kankakee Valley, they are rare. Beyond
that stream they are rare.

I have one record from Lake County, May 24, 1879 (Coale). I
also have a record of it from the Kankakee, near Kouts, June 27,
1895 (J. G. Parker, Jr.). They are common in the Wabash Valley,
north to Parke and Montgomery counties, where I found them build-
ing at Shades of Death and Pine Hills, May 19 and 20, 1887; and
Lafayette (Test). In Dekalb county it is tolerably common (Mrs.
Hine), and at Petersburg, Mich., it is common (Trombley). It breeds
in suitable localities wherever it is found. They are sometimes paired
when they arrive, and, while I have never taken the nest, I have found,
in specimens, eggs ready to be laid, April 21 (1882), and May 7 (1881).
Messrs. L. A. and C. D. Test report a nest, with three eggs, taken at
Lafayette, May 25, 1893. Mr. Jesse Earlle took a nest containing two
well incubated eggs at Greencastle, May 7, 1894, and the spring of
1878 Mr. William Brewster found them very common in Knox County,
and found three nests, one May 6, containing six eggs; another May 8,
containing four fresh eggs; a third, May 12, containing five young
birds nearly able to fly.

In July, when the dry summer weather begins, they leave the
smaller streams, which are drying up, and seek other localities that are
watered. As stream after stream and pond after pond becomes dry,
the small number of these birds remaining find food about the stronger -
streams and ponds fed by springs that have resisted the drouth. By
late August or early September most of them have left. I found the
latest straggler at Brookville, September 21, 1885, and Mr. E. J.
Chansler noted one at Bicknell, Ind., September 24, 1894. They un-
doubtedly remain much later than that about the sloughs and ponds
of the lower Wabash region.

160. Gunus GEOTHLYPIS Cazanis.

a’. Wing much longer than tail; first quill nearly or quite the longest.
Subgenus Oporornis Baird.
6). Head with black; under parts yellow. G. formosa (Wils.) 284
b?, Head without black; crown and throat ashy. G. agilis (Wils.). 285
a?, Wing not longer than tail; first quill shorter than fourth.
Subgenus GEOTHLYPIS.
ec’. Male, forehead and sides of face black; female with head plain.
a. Ashy border behind the black on heads belly and sides buffy whitish.
: G. trichas (Linn.). 287
d?, White or seagate border behind the black on head; belly yellow.
G. trichas occidentalis Brewst. 288
' ¢?, Head and throat ashy, darker on breast which in male is sometimes quite
blackish. G. philadelphia (Wils.).. 286
Birps oF InpDIANna. 1085

Subgenus Ororornis Baird.
*284, (677). Geothlypis formosa (Wizs.).
Kentucky Warbler. ve

 

Head of Kentucky Warbler. Natural size.

Adult Male.—Above, olive-green; top of head, black; ring around
eye and stripe from it to the bill, yellow; an irregular black stripe from
bill, below and behind the eye, running down on to the neck; below,
entirely yellow. Adult Female—Similar, but black crown, marked
with gray. Immature.——Similar to female, but black patches indis-
tinct or replaced by dusky.

Length, 5.00-5.85; wing, 2.55-2.80; tail, 1.90-2.20; tarsus, .80-.90.

Rance.—Eastern North America, from Panama and West Indies
_ to.Connecticut, southern Michigan and Iowa. Breeds throughout its
United States range. Winters from Mexico and Cuba, south.

Nest, on ground, at base of or between forks of a bush in second-
growth timber and thickets, along watercourses; material, leaves, lined
with pine rootlets. Hgqgs, 4-5, rarely 3 or 6; white or creamy-white,
speckled and spotted, chiefly at the larger end, with rufous, vinaceous
and lilac-gray; .77 by .57.

The Kentucky Warbler is a summer resident over the southern two-
thirds of the State. In Knox County, and presumably from there
southward, throughout the lower Wabash Valley, it is “one of the
most abundant of the summer residents” (Ridgway, Bull. Nutt. Orn.
Club, 1882, p. 20). Mr. Ridgway says, in southern Illinois, “as far
north as Wabash, Lawrence and Richland counties, it is even more
abundant than the Golden-crowned Thrush, though the two usually
inhabit different locations, the latter preferring, as a rule, the dryer
upland woods, while the present species is most abundant in the rich
woods of the bottom lands” (Birds of IL, I., p. 166). In the White-
water Valley, where there are no bottom woods to speak of, they are
found in the same dark, damp woods, and, in addition to the present
species, is found along spring banks, wet, places and streams in the
deeper woods. They are common up the Wabash Valley to Terre
1086 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

" Haute (Evermann and Slonaker); Parke and Montgomery counties, in
the former of which I found a nest, containing one fresh egg, on the
ground, on the side of a ravine at Shades of Death; Lafayette (L. A.
and C. D. Test). They are rather common at Bloomington (William-
son, Blatchley); Greencastle (Earlle, Jenkins); Morgan County (Had-
ley); Moore’s Hill (Hubbard), and Spearsville (Barnett). I have found
them rather common to the southern boundary of Fayette County,
in the Whitewater Valley. They have been reported from Dunreith
(Pleas), and as rare at J.ebanon (Beasley). Two specimens were taken
three miles southwest of Indianapolis, in May, 1878 (Dr. A. W. Bray-
ton). They are quite common in the vicinity of Cincinnati (Dury and
Freeman, Journ. Cin. Soc. Nat. Hist., 1879). The farthest north its
range has been extended in this State is Gibson Station, where, Mr. C.
E. Aiken informs me,.several specimens were taken in May, 1871.
It has, however, been taken in Michigan (Cook, B. of M., p. 136).
They arrive from April 17 to May 16. Jn some localities most of
them disappear by the middle of July, while at other places they are
reported common until the last of August, and occasionally remain
until October.

Extreme dates of their arrival are:. At Bloomington, April 17,
1886, May 7, 1892; Knox County, April 20, 1881; Brookville, April
20, 1896, May 16, 1884; Terre Haute, April 28, 1889, May 5. 1888;
Spearsville, April 29, 1895; Moore’s Hill, May 1, 1893; Lebanon, April
26, 1894; Lafayette, May 6, 1893, May 8, 1892. I have observed them
mating at Brookville, May 16, 1884. They were found breeding near
Bloomington, May 6, 1886 (Evermann), where young were noted just
out of the nest, June 4, 1886 (Blatchley). August 2, 1897. I found
an old bird feeding a young one in a thicket along a quiet wooded
stream near Brookville.

As it occurs, walking upon the smoother ground, it reminds one
much of the Golden-crowned Thrush in its actions. It carries its
body evenly balanced, apparently, and the equilibrium is only main-
tained with much difficulty by using its tail as a balance, causing that
appendage to bob up and down. Hopping about a steep, springy bank,
it reminds one of the Worm-eating Warbler, as it climbs over roots,
sticks and logs, now disappearing from view in a hole beneath the
roots, then behind a log, here stopping to peck at an insect, and there
turning over the leaves.

Where a little stream trickled out of the glacial till, it finds much
food that attracts it. Occasionally, even, it would seize an insect in
the air, after the manner of a Redstart. As it moves about it occa-
sionally utters a tchip, and more rarely sings its song, which at other
Brrps oF INnpIana. 1087

times it renders persistently. This song, Mr. Ridgway says, “recalls
that of the Cardinal, but is much weaker.” Mr. Chapman says: “It
is a loud, clearly whistled performance of five, six or seven notes—
tur-dle, tur-dle, tur-dle—resembling in tone some of the calls of the
Carolina Wren” (B. E. N. A., p. 369). At Lafayette, they appeared
common until August 29, 1894, when it was last seen (L. A. and C. D.
Test). Mr. J. E. Beasley reports six from Lebanon, October 11, 1894.

285. (678). Geothlypis agilis (Wits).
Connecticut Warbler.

Adult Male—“Olive-green, becoming ashy on the head; below, from
the breast, yellow, olive-shaded on the sides; chin, throat and breast,
brownish-ash; a whitish ring round the eye; wings and tail, unmarked,
glossed with olive; under mandibles and feet, pale; no decided mark-
ings anywhere. In Spring Birds, the ash of the head, throat and
breast is quite pure, and then the resemblance to Geothlypis philadel-
phia is quite close” (Coues).

Length, 5.20-6.00; wing, 2.65-3.00; tail, 1.90-2.20; tarsus, .75-.90.

-Rancre.—America, from northern South America through eastern
United States to Ontario and Manitoba. Breeds north of United
States. Winters south of United States.

Nest, in a depression in the ground, of fine grass. Hggs, 4; white,
with a few spots of lilac, purple, brown and black about the larger end.
(Thompson).

The Connecticut Warbler is, in general, a very rare migrant in In-
diana. I have met with it three years out of nineteen at Brookville.
May 22-25, 1882, I found it rather common there, frequenting brush
piles, tangled fencerows, the edges of thickets and of woods, where
their habits seemed to b- wuuch like those of the Maryland Yellow-
throat, except they are much more shy. When they are found in a
rick of brush, they move along within the brush pile after the manner
of a Wren, and it is impossible to dislodge them or even to obtain more
than a quick glimpse of them at short range, until the end of the
windrow is reached, and they fly close to the ground in the nearest
pile or thicket. Along the edge of a thicket or wood they sometimes
expose themselves in the weeds and grass, but upon the approach of
anything strange they dart into the tangle of vines, briers and shrub-
bery, from which it is impossible to flush them.

Mr. Robert Ridgway found them not common in Knox County,
about the middle of May, 1881. They frequented the borders of
. swamps, and when surprised, disappeared among the button bushes
1088 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

(Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, Vol. VII., June, 1882). Mr. I. M. Woodruff
observed several specimens in the bushes along the shore of Wolf
Lake, near Sheffield, Ind., in May, 1889, where he obtained a speci-
men, May 13, 1894. Mr. Ruthven Deane informs me they were quite
common at English Lake, May 4, 1891. That is the earliest date at
which they have been noted in the State. Although Mr. Nelson re-
ported it a rather common migrant in the vicinity of Chicago, more
recent observers have not found it so. They usually arrive after the
middle of May, and pass northward toward their breeding grounds
toward the close of the month. They were noted in Carroll County,
May 21, 1883, and 1885, and at Terre Haute, May 17, 1890 (Ever-
mann); May 12, 1888 (Blatchley); Bloomington, May 18, 1885 (Boll-
man). In Lake County, a specimen was found among the bodies of
many kinds of small birds that had perished in a storm on Lake Michi-
gan, and been cast up by the waves on the shore, May 24, 1891 (Coale).
In the fall, they reach northern Indiana early in September, and some-
times remain until the latter part of the month. They were found in
‘Lake County, September 5, 1880, and September 25, 1875 (Coale).

Mr. W. O. Wallace obtained one specimen in thick woods near
Wabash, September 13, 1892. Mr. Ernest E. Thompson found its nest
in a log near Carberry, Manitoba, June 21, 1883. I have given a
description of it above. The ordinary song suggests the syllables,
beecher-beecher-beecher-beecher-beecher-beecher. “It is somewhat like
the song of the Oven-bird, but different in being the same pitch
throughout instead of beginning in a whisper and increasing the em-
phasis and strength with each pair of notes to the last.” It also has
another song, nearly resembling the syllables, fru-chapple, fru-chapple,
fru-chapple, whait, which is uttered in a loud, ringing voice (Proc. U.
S. N. M., Vol. XITI., 1890, pp. 621, 622).

When with us I have never heard it singing.

Subgenus GroTa.ypPis Cabanis.

286. (679). Geothlypis philadelphia (Wuts ).
Mourning Warbler.

Synonym, PHILADELPHIA WARBLER.

Adult Male—Above, plain olive-green; the head, and sides of the
neck, bluish-gray; a black spot in front of eye; eyelids, blackish; wings,
and tail, unmarked; below, throat and breast, black, the feathers more
or less bordered with ashy; other under parts, yellow. Adult Female.—
Similar, with head smoky-gray, more or less tinged with olive ; the

throat, pale yellowish-gray; eyelids, and an indistinct mark behind the

eye, yellowish.
Birps oF INDIANA. 1089

Length, 4.90-5.75; wing, 2.15-2.55; tail, 1.80-2.25.

Rancst.—America, from Colombia over eastern United States to
British Provinces; casually to Greenland. Breeds from Nebraska, On-
tario and New York, north. Winters from Mexico, southward.

Nest, in outskirts of woods or thickets, near ground; of weedstalks,
leaves and bark, lined with fine black rootlets‘or hair. Hggs, 3-4;
creamy-white, blotched and spotted with reddish-brown and lilac,
often chiefly arranged in more or less distinct wreath around larger
end; .71 by .56.

The Mourning Warbler is a rare migrant. Occasionally there will
come a few years when it is more common in some locality. From the
Whitewater Valley there is but a single record. They arrive some
years by May 6, and occasionally may be found until June 1. In the
latter part of May they are sometimes found associating with Geoth-
lypis agtlis. Mr. Robert Ridgway says, at Wheatland, they “became
suddenly very common, May 6, 1881” (Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, 1882,
p. 20). Mr. F. M. Woodruff informs me that he saw several in May,
1889, in the bushes along the shore of Wolf Lake, near Sheffield, Ind.
They were in company with G. agilis. He also collected.two in Cook
County, Ill., on the ridge between Hyde and Wolf lakes, near the
Indiana line, May 29, 1894. It seems to have been rather common at
Bloomington, the spring of 1885. The late Mr. C. H. Bollman re-
ported it May 16,17 and 27. Mr. W. O. Wallace says they were rather
common at Wabash, in open thickets, in the spring of 1892.

Mr. H. K. Coale informed me that Mr. Geo. F. Clingman.shot a
specimen in Lake County, June 1, 1879. This specimen was sent to
the British Museum, where Prof. R. B. Sharpe identified it as
Geothlypis macgillivrayt (Aud.) (Cat. Birds, Brit. Mus., Vol. X., p.
365). Mr. Coale and Mr. Ridgway are both of the opinion that the
specimen is undoubtedly G. philadelphia. From all southeastern In-
diana, including the Whitewater Valley, there is but one record of its
occurrence—Brookville, May 7, 1881. It was taken at Terre Haute,
May 10, 1887, and May 22, 1890; and in Carroll County, May 21,
1885 (Evermann); at Waterloo, May 8, 1890 (H. W. McBride); Peters-
burg, Mich., May 17, 1888 (Trombley); Manchester, Mich., May 20,
1893 (L. W. Watkins). Jt has been reported from Allen County
(Stockbridge). It may possibly be found to breed within this State,
though I have no account of its having done so. Mr. Ridgway has
found it along the borders of Fox Prairie, Richland County, TIL, early
in June, 1871. They may have been late migrants, however (Orn. of
Tl.,-L., p. 170). Mr. Oliver Davie says: “It has been found nesting

69—GeEoL.
1090 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

in Illinois, south of latitude 39 degrees” (N. and E. of N. A. B., 1889,
p. 882). Mr. Walter Faxon says its song, as most often heard, “re-
sembles the syllables thur-ree, thur-ree, thur-ree. (Sometimes the repe-
tition was four times instead of three).” To this was sometimes added
a refrain; at others, the song was different. They also sing an aerial
song. Their habits, in some respects, are similar to those of the Mary-
land Yellow-throat, but they are not so quick-motioned, and are to
be found at times more up in the bushes or even the low limbs of trees.
They pass south in August and September. Prof. W. W. Cooke says:
“Tt has been found nesting in Illinois even south of latitude 39 de-
grees” (Bull. No. 2, Div. of Economic Ornithology, U. 8. Dept. Agr.,
p. 258).

*287. (681). Geothlypis trichas (Liny.).
Maryland Yellow-throat.

 

Head of Maryland Yellow-throat, male. Natural size.

Adult Male—Above, plain olive-green; a black band, bordered be-
hind with grayish-white, from the ear coverts along the side of neck,
through the eye and across the forehead; no markings on wings or tail;
throat and breast, rich gamboge-yellow; belly, sides and flanks, dull
yellowish-white. Adult Female——No black about head; below, less
yellow; sides, somewhat brownish. Immature Male—With black
markings more or less restricted; young birds, resembling the females,
but browner above.

Length, 4.40-4.65; wing, 1.90-2.20; tail, 1.85-2.20; bill, .38-.42;
tarsus, .71-.80.

Ranen.—Eastern North America, from Panama, eastern Mexico
and West Indies to Labrador and Ontario. Breeds from Georgia,
north. Winters from South America and Gulf States, south.

Nest, in thicket, often near water, swamp, on or near ground, in
grass, sedge, reeds or bush; of leaves or grass, lined with grass and
horsehair. Hggs, 4-5, rarely 3 or 6; white or creamy-white, variously
speckled, spotted and sometimes lined with russet, burnt umber or
Birps oF INDIANA. 1091

chestnut, purplish, lilac-gray or vinaceous and black, principally con-
fined to larger end; .77 by .58, .61 by .50, .63 by .48; average, .67
by .52. ,

Common summer resident throughout the State, where it frequents
the tall grasses, sedges and shrubbery about the swamps and damp
places and along the valleys of streams. The first migrants arrive
from April 15 to 2%, southward, and from April 19 to
May 1%, northward. The males come first, and, while most
of them seek their favorite tangles and low thickets, some
wander away to the hillsides and uplands. They have been recorded
as first arriving at Bicknell, April 17, 1896, 1897; Greencastle, April
17, 1896, April 28, 1894; Frankfort, April 17, 1896, May 16, 1895;
Wabash, April 15, 1893; Brookville, April 18, 1883, 1896, May 5,
1882; Greensburg, April 18, 1896, April 28, 1894; Sedan, April 19,’
1889, April 30, 1887, 1897; Petersburg, Mich., April 27, 1888, May
5, 1889, 1897; Chicago, Ill, April 27, 1896, May 17, 1884. Their
characteristic voice betokens their coming. It is distinct and penetrat-
ing and carries to quite a distance. The song reminds one of one of
the well known utterances of the Carolina Wren (T. ludovicianus),
but the difference is easily recognized, and, with care, one can not be
deceived. It may be said that all songs are not alike. There is quite
-a difference in them, when close to the singer, but when one is some
distance away, a note may be missed, and the song would be recorded
on the memory without it. The common interpretation of the song
of the Maryland Yellow-throat is wichity, wichity, wichity. I find
many of them, sometimes all in a locality, saying wit-ti-chee, wit-ti-
chee, wit-ti-chee. It sounds plainly at a distance of twenty feet. A
call that came to me from three hundred feet away was plainly
wi-chee, wi-chee, wi-chee, wi-chee, uttered in a fine, clear voice. After
June their voices are not so commonly heard. Though they drop out
of the sounds of the neighborhood, they are not entirely gone, for one
is heard now and then, perhaps as long as they remain.

I have found them paired by May (1885) and often with full sets
of eggs by the latter part of that month. Prof. B. W. Evermann
found a nest, with five fresh eggs, in Carroll County, May 22, 1883,
and June 12; 1880, found young able to fly. Sometimes they rear
two broods. In August they begin to leave and often are gone by
the middle of September. Other years they remain until October.
The latest dates from the following places are: Sedan, Septembr 16,
1894; Brookville, September 10, 1885; Bicknell, October 5, 1896;
Warren County, September 25, 1897; Greensburg, October 10, 1896.

‘Mr. E. R. Quick has in his collection a three-story nest of this bird,
1092 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

taken near Brookville, Ind. Two additional nests were built upon the
original structure, burying beneath each the egg of a Cowbird (Molo-
thrus ater). Thus it outwitted the detestable parasite, and in the
third nest deposited her complement of eggs. Similar nests have been
found elsewhere, showing that this was not an individual peculiarity,
but others of its kind had experimented along the same line.

Prof. F. H. King examined eleven specimens, which he found had
eaten 22 case-bearing caterpillars (Coleophora ?), 5 other larve (2 of
them caterpillars), 6 small dragon flies, 3 moths, 3 dipterous insects,
3 very small hymenopterous insects, 3 beetles (among them a squash
beetle), 3 spiders, 2 small grasshoppers, 1 leafhopper, 2 hemipterous
insects, and 2 insect eggs (Geol. of Wis., I, p. 508). As a result of
such examination as has been made, it seems that the prevailing Yel-
low-throat in Indiana is the Maryland—this bird. Mr. Robert Ridg-
way informs me that the Maryland Yellow-throats in the Smith-
sonian collection from Indiana (Wheatland and Vincennes) are either
true G. trichas, or else that form approaching G. t. occidentalis. More
recently I have sent him a series of Yellow-throats, containing speci-
mens from Indiana, northern Illinois, Jamaica and the Valley of
Mexico. All of these, after comparison, he decides to refer to G.
trichas. He adds: “The Mississippi Valley birds and those from
Mexico (valley) are in reality intermediate between trichas and occi-
dentalis.”

*288. (5810). Geothlypis trichas occidentalis Brewster.
Western Yellow-throat.

Similar to G. trichas, but averaging larger; the lower parts, vellow
and not part whitish.

Length, 4.75-5.85; wing, 2.10-2.40; tail, 2.15-2.40; bill, .40-.45;
tarsus, .75-.83.

Ranee.—Western North America, from Central America and west-
ern Mexico over western United States to Manitoba and British Co-
lumbia, east to Illinois and Indiana.

Nest and Eggs as in last species.

The Western Yellow-throat is a summer resident, like the last,
wherever found. I am informed by Mr. Eliot Blackwelder and Mr:
J. G. Parker, Jr., that this is the prevailing form in Cook County, Il.
and the last named gentleman says it is the same in Lake County, Ind..
where he has taken specimens at Liverpool. Mr. Parker says it is
abundant in low ground bordering our marshes and along the banks
of our creeks and rivers. Arrives May 1 to 15. It is possible that
the form inhabiting the prairie districts may be found to approach
more closely to this bird.
Brrps oF INDIANA. 1093

16l. Genus ICTERIA Viervior.

*289. (683). Icteria virens (Liny.).
Yellow-breasted Chat.

 

Head of Yellow-breasted Chat. Natural size.

Adult.—Size, large; above, olive-green; black spot in front of eye;
ring around eye and stripe to nostril, white; below, throat, breast and
edge of wing, gamboge-yellow; white stripe on sides of throat; belly
and under tail coverts, white. Adult Female—Similar, but colors less
bright; grayer markings, less distinct.

Length, 6.75-7.50; wing, 2.90-3.35; tail, 2.90-3.35.

Ranez.—Eastern North America, from Costa Rica over eastern
United States to Massachusetts, southern Ontario and southern Min-
nesota, west to Plains. Breeds from Gulf States, north. Winters
from Mexico, south.

Nest, in thickets, second or scrub-growth, in solitude; on brier
bush or sapling, 2 to 5 feet up; of leaves, grapevine bark or grass;
long and bulky. Hggs, 63 sets—9 of 3, 53 of 4, 1 of 5; white, often
glossy, spotted and blotched in different patterns, sometimes wreath
around one end, with different shades of red and brown, and often
lilac; .92 by .63.

The Yellow-breasted Chat is a common and well known summer
resident in the southern half of the State,'and locally even farther
north. In the northern half it is usually not common, becoming less
numerous as one approaches the northern boundary, where it is, most
places, usually rare. It breeds throughout its range in this State.
They are common at Richmond (Hadley), Anderson (Smith), and
Lafayette (Test Bros.); tolerably common at Frankfort (Ghere) and
Laporte (Barber); not common at Wabash (Ulrey and Wallace); rather
rare in Carroll County (Evermann); rare in Allen County (Stock-
bridge), Dekalb County (Hon. R. W. McBride), Starke County
(Deane), Elkhart County (H. W. McBride),

Prior to 1893 it was almost unknown in the northwestern portion of
the State, and the same may be said’ along the northern State line in
109+ Report oF StaTE GEOLOGIST,

both Indiana and Michigan. Hitherto there had been but one record
from Lake County, but Prof. E. L. Moseley saw one at Hast Chicago,
Ind., July 2, 18938. July 13, 1894, Mr. F. M. Woodruff took a nest
at Grand Crossing, Cook County, Ill., and on the 17th saw two birds
at Sheffield, Ind. He also informs me that Mr. Geo. K. Cherrie saw
two and took one at Hyde Lake, June 16, 1896, probably in Indiana.
There seems to have been a considerable extension of their numbers
northward in 1894. It was taken at Ann Arbor, Mich., the spring of
1894 (L. W. Watkins); at Petersburg, Mich., two were taken May 3,
and two May 17, 1894; two nests were also found. It had not been
taken before since 1877 (J. Trombley). One was seen at Cedar Point,
near Sandusky, O., June 23, 1894, and another at Huron River, twelve
miles south of Sandusky, July 10, 1894. They arrive in southern In-
diana from April 23 to May 4, and those found farther north reach
there, generally, after the latter date. The first arrivals were noted
at Bicknell, April 23, 1897, April 27, 1894; Brookville, April 24,
1897, May 4, 1882; Moore’s Hill, April 29, 1893; Spearsville, April
27, 1895, April 29, 1894; Greensburg, April 25, 1896, April 30, 1895;
Greencastle, May 2, 1894, 1895, May 9, 1896; Wabash, May 10, 1892.

Every one who is acquainted with brier patches, thickets and bushy
clearings, knows this bird. If they do not know its name, they know
it as the bird which fills the thicket with such sounds as no other
bird ever dreamed of. It is more often heard than seen. Were it not
that occasionally its yellow breast comes into view, we should think
it but a voice among the bushes. They are great ventriloquists. Often
a person unacquainted with their habit will look long in the direction
from which the sound seems to come and not see the author. who is
elsewhere. They have quite a variety of notes, which, with their
strange antics, render them the most interesting summer birds among
the bushes. At mating time they devote much time to aerial evolu-
tions, which are always interesting because of their oddity, but at
times become exceedingly ludicrous. While performing these various
evolutions they give voice to a multitude of strange sounds, that seem
to come from here, there and everywhere, except the throat of the
odd and awkward bird descending towards the clump of bushes near
by. The late Dr. J. M. Wheaton gives the following excellent expres-
sion of his feelings regarding this bird:

“When migrating, no bird is more shy and retiring than the Chat.
They skulk along silently in thickets, along the banks of streams, or
on the edges of upland woods. But no sooner has pairing been effected
than their whole nature seems changed, and the silent bird hecomes
the noisiest of the wood. His shyness gives way to an audacity that is
Brrps oF INDIANA. 1095
surprising. If he discovers the approach of a human being, even at
a considerable distance, he prepares to resent the intrusion; and,
giving three short, loud whistles, very low in tone, as a warning, he
advances toward him, all the while careful that he should be heard
and not seen. Then follows a medley of sputtering, cackling, whisper-
ing and scolding notes, frequently interspersed with loud whistles,
and continued as the bird runs, hops or flies in the deepest thicket,’
with a pertinacity which knows no fatigue. He tells you that your
gun won’t shoot, that it is a flint-lock, that your ramrod is broken,
that you shot it at a buzzard, that you haven’t got a gun; that you are
a bald-headed cripple; that there is a horrid suicide in the bushes, and
a big snake and a nasty skunk; that your baby is crying, your house is
afire and the bridge broken down; that you have missed the road to
the reform farm, and that the poor house is over the creek, and he calls
the dogs; says that you have gone to seed; go west and grow up with
the country; that you are taking up too much of his valuable time,
that you must excuse him for a moment.

“During all this time he remains invisible, or, at most, his black eye
and mask, or golden breast, appear for a moment as he peers at you
from the tangled branches of the brambles, or flashes from branch to
branch, dancing an accompaniment to his fantastic notes. At the

‘last he suddenly appears on the top of a bush, not ten feet from you,

makes a profound bow with a derisive whisk of his long tail, exposes
his immaculate white crissum and dives again into the deepest
thickets. You take a long breath and wipe your face, and he returns
to the assault from the rear. Should you move on, he follows, and
if you approach, he retires, and, keeping at a respectful distance, he
laughs defiance, shouts mockery and tantalizing sarcasm. He is a fear-
ful scold, and it is no wonder the inside of his mouth is black. But
this is when he knows that he has the advantage. Sometimes he may
be surprised, as he sings in the upper branches of a tree. He then sits
motionless, continuing his song as if unaware of any intrusion upon
his privacy, and so resonant and varying are his notes that they con-
fuse the ear as to the spot from which they come, while his yellow
breast so completely harmonizes with the green leaves and sunlight
that he is with difficulty discovered. It is to his rapid and sonorous
notes, quick motions or perfect quiet, with harmonious surroundings,
that he owes the reputation for ventriloquism which he has obtained;
and it may be said of his reputation for mimicry that he has no need
to borrow notes from any other bird, and does not knowingly do so.
Before the breeding season is over it becomes as silent as during the
spring migration, and leaves for the south as stealthily as it came.”
1096 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

They sing until the young leave the nest, usually from the latter
part of June until the middle of July; and then, for a time, the family
keeps together.

After the singing is over, the only note heard is the single note,
chat, from which the Yellow-breasted bird takes its name.

I have found them mating April 27, 1885, and found a nest, with
eges, May 25, 1882. June 11, 1892, Messrs. L. A. and C. D. Test
found two nests near Lafayette. Each contained four eggs, and in ad~
dition had two eggs of the Cowbird. They usually leave in September
—Brookville, September 7, 1886; Bicknell, September 27, 1894—but
occasionally remain much later. I shot one, December 1, 1881, when
it was feeding upon pokeberries, from which its plumage was stained.

Two excellent accounts of the Chat are given, one by Dr. Coues—
Birds of Colorado Valley—the other by John Burroughs, in “Wake
Robin.”

162. Genus SYLVANIA Norta..

a). Tail feathers blotched with white. S. mitrata (Gmel.). 290
a*. Tail feathers dusky, not blotched with white.
bl. Above plain olive green; male with blue black patch on crown.
S. pusilla (Wils.), 291
b?. Above plumbeous gray; crissum white; male, crown, forehead and sides of
throat spotted black. S. canadensis (Linn.). 292

*290. (684). Sylvania mitrata (GMEL.).
Hooded Warbler.

Adult Male—Head, neck and throat, deep black; a gamboge-yellow
band across the forehead and along the side of head, including the
eye and the ear coverts; other upper parts, olive-green; other lower
parts, bright yellow; three or four pairs of outer tail feathers, with
white markings; wings, unmarked: Adult Female.—Similar, but usu-
ally with less black on head. Immature Male—Varying from the
decided black markings of adult male to almost no black; the yellow,
however, conspicuous. Immature Female —Lacking black markings.

Note.—It seems evident that it requires three years for this Warbler
to attain perfect plumage; therefore, specimens will be found at dif-
ferent seasons in different stages of color development.

Length, 5.00-5.70; wing, 2.50-2.75; tail, 2.20-2.40.

Ranau.—tHastern North America, from Panama and West Indies
to Massachusetts, southern Ontario, southern Michigan and southern
Wisconsin, west to Kansas. Breeds from Texas and North Carolina,
north. Winters south of United States.
Brirps oF INDIANA. 1097

Nest, in woods, low bush or tree, three feet up; in wet swamp, one
foot up; of bark, moss, vegetable fibre, leaves and grasses, lined with
the finer material. Eggs, 4, rarely 3 or 5; white or creamy-white, often
quite glossy, marked with specks and spots of light to dark reddish-
brown and lilac. The markings principally at larger end, where they
sometimes form wreaths; .70 by .51.

The Hooded Warbler is generally a rare summer resident. How-
ever, in the lower Wabash Valley it is said, in some places, to be com-
mon. On the contrary, in the northern part of the State, it is very
rare. Everywhere it is more numerous during the migrations. They
arrive, in spring, from April 16 to May 16. They were first noted at
' Greensburg, April 16, 1896; at Bloomington, April 20, 1885, May 8,

 

Head of Hooded Warbler. Natural Size.

TO ESTE

1886; Knox County, April 25, 1881; Spearsville, April 30, 1894:
Brookville, April 30, 1881, May 16, 1884; Carroll County, May 5,
1885; Sedan, May 15, 1889; Chicago, Ill., April 28, 1884. They fre-
quent woods in which there is a dense undergrowth, being found
among the bushes and lower branches of the trees. There they are
quite active, especially when mating begins. The male goes singing
through the bushes and flitting from branch to branch of the over-
shadowing trees, singing its song, and all the while opening and closing
its tail, exposing the white of the feathers. An insect comes within
easy range, the song stops suddenly, the. tail remains closed, the insect
is caught, and then the song and the peculiar motions of the tail are
resumed. The song, as given by Mr. Langille, is “che-reek, che-reek,
che-reek, chi-di-ee;” the first three notes with a loud fell-like ring,
and the rest in very much accelerated time and with the falling in-
flection.”

It’ also has another less common song and a peculiar chip. Dr. Hay-
mond reported it as a summer resident in Franklin County (Ind. Geol.
Rept., 1869, p. 217), but it must be rarely such, for I have not found
it at that season. Dr. F. W.. Langdon has noted it as a summer resi-
dent in the vicinity of Cincinnati (Journ. Cin. Soc. Nat. Hist., July,
1098 Report or State GEOLOGIST.

1880, p. 123). Mr. Robert Ridgway says, in Knox County, it is
“rather common in deep woods, but much less so than in the vicinity
of the cypress swamp farther south” (Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club,
Vol. VIL, 1882, p. 20). He writes me they breed in Knox and Gib-
son counties. In another place he says: “In all rich, damp woods,
both in Illinois and Indiana, I have found the beautiful Hooded
Warbler a more or less common species. In the woods of Knox and
Gibson counties, Indiana, immediately opposite Mt. Carmel, it is par-
ticularly abundant, so much so, in fact, as to be one of the most char-
acteristic species” (Ill. Orn., I., pp. 174, 175). Prof. B. W. Evermann
reports it not common in Vigo County. On the contrary, they were
quite common in the valley of Sugar Creek, in Parke and Montgomery
counties, May 19 and 20, 1887. At Bloomington, Mr. G. G. William-
son found a nest of this species in a bush, containing six young, May
26, 1886. It seems to occur there regularly. It is reported from De-
catur (Shannon) and Brown (Barnett) counties. Mr. N. H. Coale ob-
tained one at Davis Station, Starke County, May 31, 1885, but pre-
viously, May 24, 1879, had recorded it from still farther north. On
the latter date he found the shore of Lake Michigan, in Lake County,
lined with the bodies of many small birds that had perished in the
lake during the recent storm. The record of its destruction was before
him, and among the bodies of the victims he found a Hooded Warbler.
In Dekalb County, Mrs. Jane L. Hine has noted it a few times, twice
in October. The last time was October 5, 1893. They begin to leave
in August, and through September and early October they are
vagrants, changing their homes as whim or necessity dictates, but all
the while working back towards the south. Dr. Langdon found it at
Cincinnati, May 4, and Messrs. Dury and Freeman, May 30, 1879.
It was taken at Wabash, September 13, 1893; at Bicknell, September
16, 1894; at Lebanon, four were seen, October 20, 1894, and it was
observed at Brookville, October 20, 1884.

Their habit of taking their insect food upon the wing has been noted
by all observers, though they doubtless also take other insects.
Brrps oF INDIANA. 1099

291. (685). Sylvania pusilla (Wis.).
Wilson’s Warbler.

enone GREEN BLACK-CAPPED Friy-caTcHING WARBLER, BLACK-CAPPED
YELLOW, WARBLER.

Adult Jfale—Crown, glossy blue-black; stripe over eye and across
forehead, yellow; other upper parts, bright olive-green; below, clear
yellow; wings and tail, with no white markings. Adult Female.—
Similar to male, but crown patch usually less conspicuous, sometimes
wanting. Immature.—With no black on head.

Length, 4.25-5.10; wing, 2.15-2.35; tail, 2.05-2.25.

Ranee.—North America, east of Pacific coast, from Panama to
Labrador, Alaska and Siberia. Breeds from Nova Scotia, Ontario,
Minnesota and along Rocky Mountains from Coe north. Win-
ters from eastern Mexico, south.

Nest, in damp woods, on ground; of leaves and grass, lined with fine
grass or hair. Hggs, 4-5; white or creamy-white, speckled with red-
dish-brown, pale lavender or lilac-gray.

Wilson’s Warbler occurs throughout the State as a migrant. Usu-
ally, in the spring, they are rather rare, but are more common in the
fall. This reverses the migratory period with the Connecticut Warbler,
which is almost unknown in fall west of the Alleghanies, but is
common on the Atlantic coast. Like that species, Wilson’s Warbler
arrives late in spring, usually after May 10, and remains until the
close of that month. The earliest Indiana record is, Bloomington,
May 8, 1886. Other dates where it was first observed in spring are:
Greensburg, May 18, 1894; Richmond, May 16, 1897; Terre Haute,
May 10, 1890; Carroll County, May 18, 1885; Lafayette, May 12,
1892, May 18, 1893; Sedan, May 10, 1894; Lake County, May 18,
1895; Chicago, Ill, May 6, 1886, last seen May 30, 1894. About the
lower end of Lake Michigan they are sometimes not uncommon
(Parker). They were tolerably common at Greensburg in May, 1894,
being last noted May 29 (Shannon); at Greencastle, in 1893, where
eight were noted May 13 (Earlle); at Sedan, May 20, 21 and 22, 1890
(Mrs. Hine). They have been also noted from Wabash, the spring of
1892, and there is a specimen in the State Museum at Indianapolis,
from Boone County. Prof. F. H. King notes that one was killed in
Wisconsin by a cold wave in May, 1882. I found one in May, 1887,
with a number of other lifeless birds on the shore of Lake Michigan,
where they had been cast up by the waves after losing their lives in a
storm.
1100 REpPorRT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

It frequents the undergrowth of woodlands and the wooded borders
of streams, in spring, but in fall it is often found frequenting the same
ground with Tennessee Warblers, weedy woods-pastures and more
open woodland, and even bushy fencerows. They are quite active,
taking much of their insect food upon the wing. Nuttall says their
song sounds like ’tsh-’tsh-tsh~tshea.

292. (686). Sylvania canadensis (Livy.).
Canadian Warbler.

Synonym, CaANnapiaAN FLy-caTcHING WARBLER.

 

Head of Canadian Warbler. Natural size.

Adult Male—Above, gray; wings, brownish; forehead and crown,
spotted with black; stripe from bill to eye and ring around eye, yellow;
below, yellow; lower tail coverts, white; a black streak on each side of
throat, united by a row of black spots across the breast; wings and
tail, not marked with white. Adult Female—Similar, but the mark-
ings less distinct. Young.—Similar to female, but black marks want-
ing; breast, streaked with dusky.

Length, 5.00-5.75; wing, 2.50-2.65; tail, 2.20-2.40.

Rancre.—America, from Ecuador north over the eastern United
States to Labrador and Manitoba. Breeds from Massachusetts, Penn-
sylvania, Ontario and Minnesota, north. Winters from Mexico, south.

Nest, in woods or low growth, on the ground, in a depression or
among roots; of leaves, dry weed stalks, roots and hair. Hggs, 4-5;
white, finely marked with dots and small spots of brown, purple and
reddish, in varying shades; rufous and rufous-brown, heaviest at
larger end; .68 by .51.

The Canadian Warbler is a tolerably common migrant, varying in
numbers with the years. It is usually much more common, sometimes
even abundant, in fall. It rarely arrives before May 1, and often re-
mains until the last of that month. Like the other two species of this
genus, which are less common than this, they frequent low situa-
Brrps oF INDIANA. 1101

tions, bushes and underbrush, seldom going higher than the
branches of short-bodied trees. This species frequents the edges of
woodlands and thickets along streams and on waste land. There they
may be found industriously catching insects, taking most of them on
the wing. Its song may be heard about its haunts morning and even-
ing. It is a characteristic voice that instantly draws one’s attention
to it. Often it has called me away into some little thicket.in a woods
pasture or among the low, drooping limbs of some unpromising look-
ing beech trees in the edge of heavy timber. Those which seem the
most unpromising places to men are often attractive to birds. Several
times, as I can recall, the best take of the day or the season was found
in some uninviting spot, to which I was drawn merely incidentally.

Mr. Earnest E. Thompson notes its loud and striking song as rup-
il-che, rup-it-che, rup-tt-chitt-it-litt.” The earliest spring record is
from Knox County, where Mr. Robert Ridgway took it, April 18,
1881. It has been first noted in spring at Bloomington, April 27,
1886; Brookville, May 2, 1881, May 16, 1884; Richmond, May 16,
1897; Lafayette, May 16, 1897; Carroll County, May 12; 1885; Wa-
bash, May 10, 1892; Starke County. May 11, 1884; Lake County, May
9, 1877, May 16, 1880; Chicago, Ill, May 1, 1886, May 18, 1896;
Petersburg, Mich., May 11, 1888, May 16, 1893. May 21, 1892, one
was caught in the office of Purdue University, at Lafayette (L. A. and
C. D. Test). They have remained at Greencastle until May 26, 1895;
at Spearsville, May 24, 1894; Lafayette, May 25, 1893; Carroll County,
May 24, 1883; Chicago, Ill., May 30, 1894; Petersburg, Mich., June 1,
1893. When they return in the fall they are songless. They arrive
some years late in August and most of them pass through early in
September, though one occasionally lingers into the beginning of Oc-
tober. They were tolerably common about Chicago, August 26 to
September -5, 1895 (Blackwelder), and were common near Cincinnati
the last of August and the first of September, 1879 (Dury and Free-
man). he last fall note at Sedan is September 7, 1889; at Lafayette,
September 4, 1894; Warren County, September 12 and 15, 1897; Lake
County, September 18, 1881. Prof. E. L. Moseley informs me he ob-
tained a specimen at Sandusky, O., October 2, 1896.

It has not been found in this State later in summer than the dates
viven above. Prof. W. W. Cooke, in his report on Birds of Michigan
in the Mississippi Valley for 1884 and 1885, says it has been known
to breed in northern Illinois. I do not know of its breeding farther
south in Michigan than Bay City, where Mr. N. A. Eddy took a nest
and four eggs, June 2, 1885 (Cook, B. of M., p. 138).

Prof. F. H. King examined three specimens and found they had
eaten flies, a hymenopterous insect, beetles and larve.
1102 Report or STATE GEOLOGIST.

163. Genus SETOPHAGA Swanson.

*993, (687). Setophaga ruticilla (Liny.).
American Redstart.
Synonym, Repsrart.

Adult Male—Above, and throat and breast, lustrous black; bases
of all the quills, except the first and last, salmon; bases of all the tail
feathers, except the middle pair, salmon; sides of breast, vermillion-
red; belly, white, tinged with reddish; bill and feet, black. Adult Fe-
male.—Above, olive-green; below, throat and breast, brownish-white;
the salmon and red replaced by yellow; spot in front of, and ring
around, eye, grayish-white. Young—Similar to female. This species
requires three years for the male to acquire full plumage; consequently
they are to be found in all stages between the immature and perfect
plumage.

Length, 4.75-5.75; wing, 2.40-2.55; tail, 2.30-2.45.

Raner.—America, from Ecuador and West Indies to Hudson Bay
and Mackenzie Valley (Ft. Simpson); rarely west of Rocky Mountains.
Breeds from North Carolina and Missouri, north.

Nest, in fork, on limb of tree or sapling, 6 to 20 feet up; of bark
shreds, grass and weeds, lined with hair or plant down. Eggs, 3-5;
white, greenish-white or bluish-white, spotted, mostly at larger end,
with brown and lilac; .63 by .48.

The American Redstart is one of the characteristic birds of the
woodland. Wherever there are woods, it may be found at the proper
seasons. It is generally common, and in the northern part of the State
is abundant. In some of its habits it much resembles the Hooded
Warbler. Instead of keeping near the ground, it.frequents all kinds
of woody growth, from lowest bush to tallest tree. While it makes its
home among the dense forest, at times it may be found in little fring-
ing woods or shaded glens, and, during the spring migrations, it occa-
sionally comes into the orchards. Its song, as given by Nuttall, is
*tsh, tsh, tshee, tshé, tshe, tshea, varying to that of the Yellow Warbler,
which he interprets as ’tsh, *tsh, ’tsh, tshitshee. It is a wandering min-
strel, giving its song free as air for all who are in the woods. It does
not skulk; it is not shy, but, through the bushes at one’s feet or
through the branches overhead, it pursues its way, now seizing a cater-
pillar, then chasing a moth or dashing into a swarm of gnats or flies.
Its wings are carried partly open, its eye is active, its tail opens and
closes, showing with each movement its beautiful coloration—a fan
of salmon and black. The name little fantail would be an appropriate
one for it.
Birps oF Inpiana. 1103
\
\ Its habits combine those of the F lycatchers and the Warblers, and
the wingless insects upon the treés are in as much danger as are the
flies beneath the shade. Among other insects, they are known to prey
upon ichneumon flies, moths, caterpillars, beetles, leafhoppers (King,
Geol. of Wis., I., p. 510).

Sometimes it arrives in spring by April 15; again it does not appear
before May 3, while, in the northern part of the State, it may be ten
days later than those dates. At Richmond it arrived April 15, 1897;
at Brookville, April 20, 1896, May 5, 1893; Bloomington, April 21,
1885, May 12, 1886; Greensburg, April 29, 1897, May 8, 1898; Frank-
fort, April, 16, 1896, May 2, 1894, and 1895; Lafayette, April 29,1897,
May 8, 1893; Sedan, April 30, 1894, May 7, 1889; Petersburg, Mich.,
April 24, 1897, May 14, 1893; Plymouth, Mich., April 30, 1896, May
6, 1894; Chicago, Ill., May 2, 1896, May 17,1897. The year 1896 they
arrived unusually early. In 1893 their movements were early in the
southern part of the State, and very late northward. The year 1895
was medium early. I have seen them begin to pair by May 4 (1882),
and May 15, of the same year, I found a nest. Prof. Evermann notes
a nest and eggs from Carroll County, June 13, 1883, and Messrs. L.
A. and C. D. Test found a nest and four eggs in an elder bush, 6 feet
up, at Lafayette, June 15, 1892. The nests usually are placed from
ten to thirty feet high in the fork of a limb. In the northwestern part
of the State they are very numerous and may be found breeding in
almost every patch of oak timber of any size.

Although so numerous as to be a nuisance to the collector, so often
are they in front of his gun when it is discharged during the Warbler
season, it is a source of pleasure to Him who likes to study their busy
life; they are unknown to the average person, as are the inhabitants of
the planet Mars, for to him has not been given the power of seeing.
But some years even the initiated notice their absence, for their num-
bers, for some reason, are very few. In 1886 Prof. W. 8. Blatchley
noted their extreme scarcity at Bloomington. The spring of 1894
they were very rare. None were found that year at Lafayette (Test);
they were unusually scarce at Sedan (Mrs. Hine); but one was seen
at Greensburg (Shannon); and but two were reported from Bicknell
(Chansler). In August they begin to move. Their numbers are in-
creased by those from the north, and through September they are
found, with other migrants, making their journey southward—a time
of feasting and good-fellowship. The first heavy frosts bid them de-
part, and they are gone. The latest records I have are: Greensburg,
September 16, 1894; Bicknell, September 4, 1895; Lafayette, October
3, 1896; Sedan, October 11, 1889; Chicago, H]., October 1, 1895.
1104 REpPorT OF State GEOLOGIST.

XLVII Fammuy MOTACILLIDA. Waeraltts.

a). Tail shorter than wing; usually much streaked below. Anraus. 164

164. Genus ANTHUS Beoxsrein.
Subgenus ANTAUS.
294. (697). Anthus pensylvanicus (Laru.).
American Pipit.

Synonym, AMERICAN TITLARK.

 

Bill and foot of American Pipit. Natural size.

Adult.—“Points of wings formed by the four outer primaries, the
fifth being abruptly shorter; hind claw, nearly straight, nearly or quite
equal to its digit; above, dark-brown, with a slight olive shade, most
of the feathers with dusky centers; eyelids, line over eye, and under
parts, pale buffy or ochrey-brown, variable in shade; breast and sides
of neck and body, thickly streaked with dusky; wings and tail, black-
ish; inner secondaries, pale-edged; one or more outer tail feathers,
wholly or partly white.” (Mcllwraith).

Length, 6.00-7.00; wing, 3.20-3.50; tail, 2.65-2.83.

Ranoez.—North America, from Guatemala and Bermudas to Arctic
Ocean. Breeds from Colorado, above timber line on mountains, and
Labrador, north. Winters from southern Illinois and Nevada, south.

Nest, of grass and moss, on the ground. Eggs, 4-6; whitish, almost
hidden by thick specks of brown; .78 by .57.

The Titlark, familiar to every plowman in early spring, is one of
those birds that frequent the wet fields in flocks and give forth a
mellow pee-de, pee-de, as they rise and when on the wing. They arise
from the meadow and frequently fly a long distance, or ascend to a
great height, and, after various evolutions, return almost to the spot
from which they started. One who is acquainted with their call can
recognize them by it as they pass overhead, even when they are out
of sight. While sometimes a few individuals, or a few pairs, are asso-
Birps or INDIANA. 1105

ciated together, they are generally found in flocks of from twenty to
a hundred birds, frequenting meadows, open pastures, fields, prairies
and the shores of lakes. They are abundant migrants, and in the
southern part of the State may occasionally be winter residents. They
have been reported from southern Illinois in winter. In southern
Indiana they appear in force some years as early as March 3. Al-
though they move about a great deal, they make slow progress north-
ward. They were first noted at Brookville, March 3, 1893, and April
19, 1889; at Spearsville, March 6, 1894; Wabash, March 16, 1894;
Lafayette, April 1, 1892; Richmond, April 22, 1897; Kouts, April
15, 1894; Plymouth, Mich., April 24, 1896, May 2, 1893; Chicago, Il1.,
April 25, 1896. The latest spring records are Richmond, May 4,
1897; Spearsville, May 10, 1894; Wabash, May 15, 1894; Plymouth,
Mich., May 24, 1892. Sometimes before they leave in the spring they
begin mating.

Late in September they become common about the lower end of
Lake Michigan, remaining until well into October and sometimes into
November. They were present in Cook County, Ill., from September
26 to October 3, 1896; from September 28 to October 19, 1895. The
latest records I have are as follows: Liverpool, Ind., October 18,
1895; Chicago, Ill., November 3, 1894; Plymouth, Mich., October 20,
1892. At English Lake, Ind., November 16, 1892, hundreds of Tit-
larks were seen rushing along in flocks of twenty to a hundred, over
the marshes (Deane).

XLVI. Famiry TROGLODYTIDA. Wrens, Torasners, Erc.

a', Rictal bristles well developed; wing 3.50 or more.
bo}, Tail longer than wing.
ec}, Bill not shorter than middle toe without claw; our species brown above.
Harporyyncnus. 167
c?, Bill decidedly shorter than middle toe without claw.
' d}, Tail partly white. Mimus. 165
d?, Tail with no white. GALEoscoprEs. 166
a?. Rictal bristles not evident; bill not notched; wing less than 3.50.
e1, Back streaked lengthwise; outer tail feathers reaching little beyond
the tips of lower tail coverts. CistoTHoRvs. 170
e?, Back not streaked lengthwise ; outer tail feathers reaching decidedly
beyond the tips of longest lower tail coverts.
f1. Lower mandible curved downward; back without crossbars; super-

ciliary streak distinct. , THRYOTHORUS. 168
f?. Lower niandible straight; back with more or less distinct cross-
bars; no distinct superciliary streak. TROGLODYTES. 169

70-—GEOL.
1106 Report oF Stave GEOLOGIST.

Susramity MIMINA. THRASHERS.

165. Genus MIMUS Bor.

*295, (703). Mimus polyglottus (Lrxy.).
Mockingbird.
\

bs y
SY Beles bs ES
LEE

 

Mockingbird.
(Judd.—Year Book, United States Department of Agriculture, 1895, p. 415.

Adult.—Above, ashy-gray; below, whitish; wings and tail, blackish,
the former with two white wing-bars and large white spot at base of
primaries, latter with oné or three outer feathers more or less white;
bill and legs, black.

Length, 9.00-11.00; wing, 4.10-4.90; tail, 4.50-5.75.

Raner.—North America, from Mexico (Tehuantepec), and Baha-
mas, regularly to southern Indiana, Maryland and Colorado; rarely to
Massachusetts, Maine, Ontario, northern Illinois and Wyoming. Resi-
dent, and breeds throughout its usual range.

Nest, of twigs, weeds and grass, lined with grass and roots; in bush
or tree, often in thicket or orchard; sometimes in corner of fence.
Eggs, 4-6; pale greenish-hluc, spotted with chocolate and yellowish-
brown, often mostly grouped at larger end; .97 by .69.

The Mockingbird is well known in song and story, but as a native
bird, to most of the people of Indiana, it is unknown. Other birds
are called by its name, sometimes with a qualifying term. The Cat-
bird is called the Carolina Mockingbird, the Brown Thrashers, the
Brown or English Mockingbird, though why English, I cannot
imagine. ‘ These birds are classed with our famous bird because of
their musical ability, but the Loggerhead Shrike is often called Mock-
ingbird because in its flight it somewhat resembles that species. Often
the present bird is called the Southern Mockingbird.
Birps or Inprana. 1107

In the lower Wabash Valley it is a resident, at least north to Terre
Haute, but is much more common in summer. Elsewhere in the
southern half of the State, it is a rare summer resident; and farther
north it is of accidental occurrence, extending even into Michigan.
‘There they develop the migratory habit, passing a little further south
usually in winter, although some of them seem to become vagrants,
wandering at that season in the opposite direction. In the south-
eastern part of the State it has been reported as breeding at Guilford,
Dearborn County (Hughes). Dr. Haymond noted its occurrence in
Franklin County (Ind. Geol. Rept., 1869, pp. 219, 220), and June 29,
1880, I obtained young scarcely able to fly, within the corporate limits
of Brookville. In Monroe County they breed, but are rare (Blatchley,
Evermann), while in Vigo County they breed commonly (Kendrick).
They seem to range farther north in numbers in the prairie districts
of Illinois and western Indiana than farther eastward. In addition,
they have been reported as breeding in the following counties: Posey
(Elliott), Knox (Ridgway, Chansler), Gibson (Ridgway); Floyd (Yeno-
wine). Prof. Blatchley found it in Vigo County, February 14, 1888,
and Prof. Evermann in the same county in January. Mr. H. K. Coale
informs me he found one in Starke County, January 1, 1884. They
have also been reported from the following counties: Brown, March
10, 1892 (Barnett); Putnam, 1888 (Clearwaters); Cass, Logansport,
spring of 1881 (Prof. E. EH. Fish); Hamilton, May 13, 1897 (Brokaw).
Prof. EH. L. Moseley reports one from Sandusky, O., May 20, 1893,
and Mr. C. H. Morris has written me fully of a pair nesting on the
rail of a fence near McConnelsville, O., in June, 1896. He says there
were also two other pairs in the same neighborhood.

Mr. Morris tells me the young were taken from the nest and put
into a cage and left exposed. The parents fed them, and four days
after they were taken began building a new nest, also on the fence,
some thirty yards from the first. They also continued to care for
the young in the cage.

When they appear in a new locality for the first time, their remark-
cable voices soon attract attention. They sing by day and also on
moonlight nights; on the wing as well as in the trees. There are
other birds that far exceed it in melody and surpass it in sweetness,
but as a mocker it is without a peer. At morning or evening, from
the top of a tree, a fence stake, or a wheat stack, it begins its mar-
velous imitations. It may begin with the notes of a Bobwhite, then
follow with ‘the song of a Carolina Wren, and succeed these with
recognizable productions of the Whip-poor-will, Robin, Wood Thrush,
Pheebe, Cardinal, Red-headed Woodpecker, and Flicker. It seems to
1108 Report oF State GEOLOGIST.

have practiced on nearly all the bird songs and calls in the neighbor-
hood and confidently undertakes their reproduction. The Mocking-
bird prefers the neighborhood of residences, the vicinity of orchards,
groves and trees along fences. Sometimes it builds in vines about
houses. When a pair take up their residence about a farm-house, they
are valuable in assisting in keeping predaceous birds away. They are
great fighters. No Hawk or Crow can come about the premises with-
out a conflict. They are also valuable as insect destroyers. Through-
out the breeding season and, in fact, all summer long, they live chiefly
upon insects. Prof. Forbes noted that sixty per cent. of those he
examined consisted of orthoptera (grasshoppers, crickets, etc.). They
also had eaten spiders, harvestmen, beetles, including curculios, bugs
and ants. c

There was no evidence that they had eaten fruit (Bulletin No. 8,
ll. S. Lab., N. H., pp. 415, 416). Fifteen specimens examined by
Mr. Judd were principally taken in autumn and winter, when the
proportion of vegetable food is the greatest. Of this food they had
eaten “the skin and pulp of some large fruit, together with seeds or
berries of sumac, smilax, black alder, poison ivy, Virginia creeper, red
cedar, pokeberry, mulberry and bayberry. The animal food consisted
wholly of spiders and insects. Among the latter were ants, caterpil-
lars, beetles and grasshoppers” (Year Book U. 8. Dept. of Agr., 1895,
pp. 415, 416).

166. Genes GALEOSCOPTES Capanis.
*296. (704). Galeoscoptes carolinensis (Liny.).
Cat Bird.

Adult——Above, dark slate-color; somewhat lighter below; crown
of head and tail, black; wings, but little shorter than tail; under tail-
coverts, dark chestnut.

Length, 8.00-9.35; wing, 3.45-3.75; tail, 3.70-4.25.

Ranez.—E. North America, from Panama and Cuba north to Brit-
ish Columbia and Saskatchewan; rare west of Rocky Mountains.
Breeds from Gulf States north. Winters from Illinois south.

Nest, in bush or low in tree; of twigs, bark, grass, leaves, strings and
rags. Hggs, 4-5; bluish-green; .98 by .75.

The Catbird is too well known’ a summer resident to require an
account of its habits. He goes little farther south than, our southern
boundary, as it is sometimes a winter resident in southern Illinois.
Every boy who lives in the country or ranges the fields near some
small town knows this plainly-clad, many-voiced bird, and can give a
Birnps oF INDIANA. 1109

good account of its doings. He can tell of his own prejudice against
it, which is but an expression of a general antipathy to this familiar
‘bird. Why this is so, I am sure I cannot tell, for the Catbird is
deserving of respect and good treatment.

They frequent swamps, thickets, bushy ravines and similar places
in the less settled localities, but are most abundant where the country
is more thickly populated, frequenting gardens, orchards, briers, vine-
yards, lawns, and even coming into our towns.

The Catbird is not a poor singer. Many are the utterances he
makes, ranging from his mewing call among the hedges to his ecstatic:
love song from the top of a neighboring tree.

 

Cat Bird.
(Judd.—Year Book, United States Department of Agriculture, 1895, p. 407.)

Its notes have attracted many a singer and made of him an admirer.
My good friend, Prof. W. H. Venable, of Cincinnati, O., has been an
appreciative auditor and has fitly pictured him in verse, a most diffi-
cult task, which he has satisfactorily accomplished.

When the first ones arrive after the winter is past, they frequent
the thickets, hedges and small fruit bushes, and are songless. They
appear some years in southern Indiana before the end of March, but
generally it is well into April before they are seen, and near the end
of that month before they reach the Michigan boundary. The year
of 1896 some of them arrived in the southern part of the State at
an unprecedentedly early date. But the migration of the greater num-
ber was stayed until near the usual time. That year they appeared
1110 Report or State GEOLOGIST.

at Ellsworth, March 26; at Dunreith, March 30; Greensburg, April 1,
and Sandusky, O., April 11. They, however, were not noted at La-
fayette until April 26, at Laporte until April 25, or at Chicago until
May 2. In 1898 the first one was noted at Brookville, April 20; at
Greensburg and Moore’s Hill, April 26; Sandusky, O., May 6; Laporte,
May 8.

In the Wabash Valley they move earlier than in the southeastern
portion of the State. The severe storm of May 20 and 21, 1883, de-
stroyed many. They begin mating not long after arrival. Prof. W. P.
Shannon found a nest begun April 30, 1896, and another pair began
their home next day. The latter nest was completed and one egg laid
May 13. An egg was laid daily. I have found its nest and eggs May 23
(1883), and Prof. Evermann found one in Carroll County, May 21.
I found young just able to leave the nest July 24,1896. After nesting
they cease singing, usually towards the end of June or early in July.
While with us they vary their diet. At times they eat many insects.
and again they live largely upon vegetable food. Of 213 stomachs
examined by Mr. Sylvester D. Judd, 44 per cent. of their contents was
insects and 56 per cent. vegetable food. Ants, beetles, caterpillars
and grasshoppers constituted three-fourths of the animal food, the
remainder being made up of bugs, miscellaneous insects and spiders.
One-third of the vegetable food consisted of such fruits as are culti-
vated, though they may have been of wild growth, strawberries, rasp-
berries and blackberries. The rest was mostly wild fruits, including
cherries, dogwood, sour gum, elderberries, greenbrier, spice berries,
black alder, sumac and poison ivy (Year Book U. S. Dept. of Agr..
1895, pp. 406-411). The Catbird, while it eats much fruit, does much
good. The fruit season is not long, while the insect crop is abundant
throughout all its stay with us. (Also see Forbes’ Bulletin No. 3, Ill.
State Mus. of -N. H., pp. 107-118; King, Geol. of Wis., I., p. 477.)
After the song season is past, attention is not drawn so much to this
inhabitant of tangled thickets, which grow more rank and impene-
trable to man, yet yield an increasing supply of such food as Catbirds
like. In September they begin to leave, but still some are found well
into October. Brookville, October 4, 1884; Greensburg, October 11.
1894.
Birps oF INDIANA. 1112

167. Genus HARPORHYNCHUS Casanis.

Subgenus Merurioprgerus Reichenbach.

*297. (705). Harporhynechus rufus (Lryy.).
Brown Thrasher.

Synonyms, Brown TurusH, Tawny TurvusH, Brown MockincBirD, FRENCH
MocxineBirD, Enetise Mockin@sixp.

 
    
  

Li's]
Y Lys
WA yp

Ba
EY S
>

  

Brown Thrasher.
(Judd.—Year Book, United States Department of Agriculture, 1895, p. 412.)

Adult—Above, rufous; wings, with two whité bars; below, white,
tinged more or less with buff, streaked with dark brown, except on
the chin and middle of the belly.

Length, 10.50-12.00; wing, 4.10-4.60; tail, 5.00-5.75.

Rance.—Hastern North America, from eastern Texas and Florida
north to Maine, Ontario and Manitoba. Breeds throughout its range.
Winters from Illinois and Virginia south.

Nest, in bush or vine, low down, sometimes on ground; of sticks,
leaves and rootlets. Hggs, 4-5; greenish or soiled white, more or less
covered with reddish-brown dots; quite variable in pattern; 1.03 by
.80.

Common summer resident, doubtless some years remains in the
extreme southern part of the State all winter, as, perhaps, the last
mentioned species also does more rarely. Both occasionally winter in
southern Illinois. The Brown Thrasher is a shy and retiring inhabi-
tant of thickets and bushy land, therefore is liable to be overlooked
before its season of song begins. In its migration it skulks along
1112 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

through close cover, apparently moving earliest in the river valleys.
In the Wabash Valley it migrates earlier than elsewhere. The earlier
arrivals seek the greater expanses of the valley where there is alike
shelter from cold winds and considerable exposure to the sun. There
they may be found sometimes from one to two weeks earlier than in
nearby neighborhoods. In the extreme southern part of the State
they appear in March; in the middle, usually from March 17 to April
1, and in the extreme northern portions, usually from April 1 to 15.
There is a difference of about a month between the arrivals at Bick-
nell, Ind., and Chicago, Ill, and Petersburg, Mich. The Brown
Thrasher was observed at Hanover, February 25, 1897, by Prof. Glenn

 

Head of Brown Thrasher. Natural size.

Culbertson. This is the earliest it has been noted in the State. It
was reported from Bicknell, March 8, 1894, and March 28, 1895;
Spearsville, March 17, 1894, March 31, 1895; Greencastle, March 22,
1894, April 8, 1893; Brookville, March 24, 1894, April 18, 1881:
ae March 30, 1897; Lafayette, March 25, 1893; Laporte, April

» 1893, April 15, 1894; Dekalb County, April 11, 1896, April 20,
aD Chicago, April 11, 1896, April 28, 1894; Petersburg, Mich.,
Xout®, 1889, 1893, April 20, 1897.

The spring of 1894 they migrated very early, while in 1893 they
moved late over the southern portion of the State, but pushing north-
ward rapidly made early records there. I have observed them mating
by March 31 (1884), and sometimes it is kept up until April 23
(1889). Years when they arrive at, or after the average time, they
seek at once the old quarters occupied by them no one knows how
many years, Those arriving after April 1 are usually paired.
Brirps oF INDIANA. 1113

There, upon the topmost limb of honey locust, elm, or oak, the male
at once begins a serenade. In the early morning and at late afternoon
he mounts his favorite perch and sings by the hour. This song period
does not last long. After courtships are over they are heard less and
less, until in June they become rare and finally cease. I have found
their nest containing eggs at Brookville by April 29 (1881), and Prof.
Evermann reports one in Carroll County, May 4, 1885. Usually, they
build their nest in a bush in a retired place. I knew a pair to occupy
a sweetbrier bush at the side of a well-traveled public road year after
year.

May 28, 1897, I saw a nest which was found built on the ground by
Mr. C. D. Test, near the site of old Post Ouiatanon, below Lafayette.
It was in a rye patch at the foot of a stool of rye, and contained four
eggs. He informed me that he and his brother had once before found
a nest built on the ground. From there southward in this State I have
never heard of a nest being built on the ground. Yet farther north,
in the old prairie region, and in Michigan, such nesting sites are not
rare.

Mr. Sylvester D. Judd reports an examination of 121 stomachs of
the Brown Thrush showed 36 per cent. of vegetable and 64 per cent.
of animal food. The latter was practically all insects. Half of them
were beetles and the remainder mostly grasshoppers, caterpillars, bugs
and spiders. Hight per cent. of its food was small fruits, such as are
cultivated, while of grain, perhaps obtained from scattered kernels,
but the trifle of 3 per cent. was found. The Brown Thrasher stands
its trial with the judgment “useful bird” written on the records (Year
Book U. 8. Dept. Agr., 1895, pp. 411-415). (As to food, see also
Forbes’ Bulletin No. 3, Ill. State Lab. Nat. Hist., pp. 118-127.) Prof.
Forbes found in an orchard infested with canker-worms that this bird
made 23 per cent. of its food of those insects (Rept. Mich. Hort. Soc.,
1891, p. 204). Generally they are reported to have left in September,
or early October, but some continue with us until November, and
possibly longer.

The latest records are from Hillsdale, Mich., September 15, 1894;
Plymouth, Mich., September 20, 1894; Chicago, October 2, 1895;
Lafayette, September 14, 1895, October 8, 1894; Brookville, October
25, 1894; Greensburg, November 3, 1894; Warren County, September
25, 1897.
1114 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Supramity TROGLODYTINA. Wrens.

168. Genus THRYOTHORUS VizILuor.

a', Tail not longer than wings, its feathers all brown with fine black bars.
Subgenus ToryorHorus. T. ludovicianus (Lath.). 298
a2. Tail longer than wings, its feathers mostly blackish, the middle one grayish,
barred. Subgenus THRYOMANES Sclater. T. bewickii (Aud.). 299

 

Carolina Wren.

Subgenus THRYOTHORUS.

*298, (718). Thryothorus ludovicianus (Laru.).
Carolina Wren.
Synonyms, GREAT CAROLINA WREN, Mockine Wren, LARGE Woop WREN.

Exposed portion of the bill shorter than the head. Above, reddish-
brown, most vivid on the rump; a whitish streak over the eye, bor-
dered above with dark brown; throat, whitish; rest of under parts,
pale yellow-rusty, darkest toward the under tail-coverts, which are
conspicuously barred with black; exposed surface of wings and tail
(including the upper coverts), barred throughout with brown, the
outer edges of tail feathers and quills showing series of alternating
whitish and dusky spots; legs, flesh-colored. (B. B. and R.)

Length, 5.25-6.00; wing, 2.18-2.50; tail, 1.80-2.35.

Raneu.—Northeastern Mexico and United States east of Plains;
north to Nebraska, southern Michigan, southern Ontario and Con-
necticut. Resident throughout its range.
Birps oF INDIANA. L115

Vest, in woods and thickets, in hollows and cavities in logs, stumps,
and trees, or in and about buildings; of grass, straw, moss and leaves.
Eggs, 4-6; white or creamy-white, sometimes pinkish, thickly spotted,
principally about the larger end, with reddish-brown; .75 by .58.

The Carolina Wren is the largest Wren in the eastern United States.
It is an abundant resident in southern Indiana, decreasing in num-
bers from there northward in some localities, notably the northwestern
and the east central portion of the State, almost or entirely wanting.
Northward in some places they are only reported as stragglers or sum-
mer residents, while elsewhere they also occur in winter. They are
abundant north, at least to Knox (Chansler) and Franklin counties,
where they are, if any difference, more numerous in winter. They are
common as far as Terre Haute (Blatchley) and rather common at
Bloomington (Blatchley), and Lafayette (L. A. and C. D. Test); quite
frequent in Morgan County (A. M. Hadley). They are rare at Rich-
mond (E. Test), Spearsville (Barnett), Greencastle (Clearwaters), Wa-
bash (Wallace), Carroll County (Evermann), and Michigan City (Byr-
kit). They have heretofore been rare in Dekalb County, but Mrs.
Hine informs me they are increasing in numbers, and are found both
winter and summer, and breed.

At Petersburg, Mich., Mr. Jerome Trombley noted one bird in May,
1889, and he said he had seen but one other bird in a period of fifteen
years; and in 1892 a pair nested there. There is a general increase in
their numbers and extension of their range. May 19, 1887, I found
them in Parke County. Mr. V. H. Barnett reports them tolerably
common in Vermillion and Warren counties in August and September,
1897. The winter of 1895-6 for about four weeks from February 27
to March 24, 1896, these Wrens seemed to all be absent, about Brook-
ville. Other years they have stayed through the severest weather,
even perishing from cold. January 4, 1884, I found one frozen. They
frequent both town and country. Ten to fifteen years ago this was
the House Wren of the Whitewater Valley. They nested more often
about houses and outbuildings than in thickets, brush piles, fence cor-
ners and fallen timber. Now it is changed. Bewick’s Wren has ap-
peared upon the scene and has became the domestic Wren.

They remain paired throughout the year, and the breeding season
appears to extend almost the year around. I have known them to
begin singing February 3 (1892), and mate at once. March 1, 1889,
I found them house-hunting. In 1884 a pair built their nest in a
fleece of wool that hung on the back porch of my house, within two
feet of the door. The nest was begun March 13, was almost finished
March 19, contained one egg March 23; the fifth and last egg was
1116 REpPoRT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

laid March 29. The bird began sitting March 30; four eggs were
hatched April 11, and the young left the nest April 25. ”

Mr. G. R. King informs me of a pair that two successive years nested
in the winter in a box beneath a shed adjoining his drug store in
Brookville. Both years he examined the nest. They had four eggs
about December 1, 1895. The same site had been used the three
preceding springs.

The Carolina Wren has several songs. It is a noisy bird at all
times of the year, and one or another of its efforts may be heard any
day that is bright and cheerful, and even at times when the clouds are
dark and lowering this energetic little fellow would whistle good
cheer into one’s cheerless feelings.

Kurs-t is its common exclamation. Whee-o-now, whee-o-now, or Jew-
Pet-er, Jew-Pet-er, may give some idea of the elements of its best-
known song. This bears some resemblance to the song of the Mary-
land Yellow-throat. It also has a rendering with four notes, which a
little boy once interpreted: “kicker moth-er, kicker mother.”
Again, its notes seem to say, sweet-heart, sweet-heart, reminding one
somewhat of the louder whistling of the Cardinal. He is just as active
as he is tuneful, and will not stay long in the neighborhood without
making himself known. A large part of the food of this bird is insects
and spiders. It searches logs, stumps, fences, among the bushes of
gardens and yards, wood piles, outbuildings, everywhere diligently
looking for insects. Mr. E. R. Quick told me of a pair of the birds
that frequented his premises a few winters ago and became very tame.
In January he was splitting some honey locust logs and the Wrens,
which sat within three feet of him, would hop down among the sticks
when they were split and pick out the larve that infested them.

Subgenus Taryomanegs Sclater,

*299, (719). Thryothorus bewickii (Avp.).

Bewick’s Wren.

Synonyms, Lona-taitpp House Wren, Lone-TaAIbED WREN.

Adult—Above, dark cinnamon-brown; tail, long, middle feathers,
grayish, barred with black; outer feathers, black, marked with whitish;
rump, with concealed white spots; secondaries only, barred with blaek;
line over the eye, white; below, ashy.

Length, 5.00-5.50; wing, 2.05-2.25; tail, 2.10-2.40.

RanexE.—Hastern United States, from Texas and Georgia to eastern
Kansas, eastern Nebraska, southern Minnesota, southern Michigan,
southern Ohio. Rare east of the Alleghanies, where it occurs north
Brirps oF INDIANA. 1117

to Maryland and Delaware. Breeds throughout its range. Winters
from southern Illinois south.

Nest, almost anywhere about buildings, fences, brush piles, logs,
ete.; of grass, straw, sticks, etc. Eggs, 5-9; white, sometimes pinkish,
with fine specks of reddish-brown and lavender; .67 by .50.

Bewick’s Wren is a common summer resident throughout the
greater part of southern Indiana and in the lower Wabash Valley, at
least, north to Knox County, is a resident, though much rarer in
winter. They frequent to some extent, fence rows, more open timber
land, thickets and orchards, but in many localities outside the breeding
range of the House Wren have become the “House Wren.” At Brook-
ville they now occupy that position, which was held formerly by the
Carolina Wren, and nest about buildings and fences, woodpiles, in short,
in all such places as a Wren would select. The recent extension of the
range of this species is notable. In 1879 Dr. Wheaton announces it
had not been authentically reported from Ohio (Birds of O., p. 230);
it was unknown to him that Mr. Chas. Dury took it that year at
Cincinnati. It was almost wholly unknown in Franklin County, Ind.,
until recent years. In 1869 Dr. Rufus Haymond had seen but a few
specimens. None were noted from that year until 1877, when Mr.
E. R. Quick identified several specimens. From that date to 1881,
an occasional one was seen. Since the last mentioned year, however,
when they became common, they have been annually increasing in
number, and now they are abundant. The spring of 1897, I found
six pairs breeding in an area of one-half mile by a mile, in Brookville.
Up to 1890 it had reached Vigo and Putnam counties, where it was
rather common, and had been reported from Marion County. North
of the points named it was unknown.

It was first noted at Lafayette in 1890, where a pair bred (Dr. F. C.
Test), and they became common in 1892 (L. A. and C. D. Test).
They were first reported from Wabash in 1891, and were common in
1894 (Wallace). One was seen at Springport, Henry County, April
29, 1894 (Williamson). They were first reported and said to breed
at Petersburg, Mich., May 15 and 16, 1894. They were still rare there
in 1897 (Trombley). The first record from Richmond, Ind., is in the
spring of 1897, and it is given as rare (Hadley). I believe they are
extending their winter residence northward, and beyond that limit
the date of their spring migration is becoming earlier. They were
not observed at Brookville from 1877 to 1888 before April 1, but
in 1889 they appeared March 1, and were common by March 7. Since
then they have generally appeared in March. They usually arrive
wherever found in this State before the middle of April. They mate
1118 REPORT oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

soon after arrival, in fact, some years arrive mated. I have seen
them looking for a nest site March 25 (1897). Prof. Shannon found
a nest containing one egg at Greensburg, April 12, 1896, and I have
found young just out of the nest early in July. They return every
night to roost in the nest after they are able to fly. The period of
incubation is fourteen days. They persistently return to the same
nesting place. Mr. John Wright, of Bartholomew County, told me
of a pair that nested on an old mantel in a deserted house three years
in succession. The first two years they built in a tin can, but the
third year, that having been removed, they built on the mantel. Mr.
E. R. Quick informs me in 1897, at his house, a pair nested and reared
their first brood of six in a gourd. -The second set of 5 eggs were
laid in a ball of twine in a binder. Then the female was interrupted.
She laid another set of six in the gourd first occupied; with these
were put the five found in the binder, and out of the eleven were
hatched eight young, making a total of fourteen young hatched by one
pair of Wrens in a season. The same careful observer in the spring
of 1891 found a pair building a nest in the drawbar of a freight car,
which was standing on a siding at Brookville. Their songs were
heard at Brookville March 30, 1896, and in 1897 continued until
August 30. In fact, one sang a few notes October 14, 1897, which
is the latest I have found them in the fall. They have a finer rattling
note than that uttered by the Carolina Wren. The common alarm note
is plit. It has several songs, all accompanied by a greater or less num-
ber of stridulations. I give a few attempts to interpret its songs.
But I must confess that often the attempted interpretations by others
convey no meaning to me. One song I have written chip, chip, chip,
te-da-a, te-dee; another, cheep, cheep, che-we-e-e-e. A third song sounds
something like whee-to-weet, a-her, che-chee; while one of its most famil-
iar efforts seems to be expressed hy chick, click, for me-¢. for you.
They, too, are great insect catchers.

169. Gunvs TROGLODYTES Virtuo.

a’, Wings folded not reaching end of tail. Subgenus TrogLopyTes,
61, Above umber brown; back usually indistinctly barred.
T. zdon Vieill. 300
53, Above grayish brown; back usually distinctly barred.
T. edon aztecus Baird. 301
a?. Wings folded reaching nearly or quite to end of tail.
Subgenus ANorTHOURA Rennie. T. hiemalis Vieill. 802
Birps or INpIANA. 1119

Subgenus TroGgLopytrs.

*300. (721). Troglodytes «don (V1sI11.).

House Wren.

Synonym, SHort-TarLepD HousE WREN.

 

House Wren.
(Judd.—Year Book, United States Department of Agriculture, 1895, p. 417.)

Adult.—Above, umber-brown, the head darker, rump and tail decid-
edly rusty; back usually with indistinct dusky bars (sometimes entirely
wanting); wings and tail, distinctly barred; rump with concealed white
dot; an indistinct stripe over the eye; sides of head, whitish; below,
whitish or grayish, often shaded with brown; sides and under tail
coverts, barred with dusky.

Length, 4.25-5.25; wing, 1.90-2.15; tail, 1.72-2.08; bill, .46-.52.

RanexE.—EHastern North America, from Gulf Coast to Maine and
Ontario, west to Indiana, Illinois, Missouri and Texas. Breeds from
central Indiana, central Illinois, southern Ohio and District of Colum-
bia, north; also in Florida. Winters chiefly south of lat. 35°.

Nest, preferably about buildings, in a hole or box. Eggs, %-9;
white, thickly spotted with reddish-brown; .65 by .50.-

The House Wren is known over much of southern Indiana only
asa migrant, and there may be found in thickets, along fences, about
1120 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

drift piles or the fringing vegetation of our streams. They are com-
mon summer residents, and breed at Richmond, Connersville, Indian-
apolis, Spearsville, Greencastle, Sullivan, Terre Haute, Wheatland and
Vincennes. North of that line, except in the extreme northwestern
part of the State, they breed commonly, but south of it rarely nest.
Mrs. Hine informs me they first appeared in Dekalb County in 1883,
and are now common. In some parts of the State it is local in
distribution. I know of two instances where they nested at Brook-
ville, and Prof. Evermann informs me they are rare summer residents
at Bloomington.

Mr. Robert Ridgway informs me that this is the species occurring
in the vicinity of Wheatland and Vincennes, where Bewick’s Wren
is also found commonly, but at Mt. Carmel, IIL. this species does not
occur, and its place is taken by Bewick’s Wren. In general they may
be said to breed north of the range of the latter species. They are
said to winter north to southern Illinois, and may possibly be found
at that season along our southern border. They migrate a little later
than the last mentioned species. The earliest date at hand is from
Brookville, March 11, 1887; the latest at that station, April 28, 1883.
At Spearsville, they appeared March 14, 1897, March 29, 1895; Vigo
County, April 2, 1896, April 6, 1897; Sedan, April 18, 1894, May 4,
1895; Laporte, March 31, 1896, April 4, 1894; Chicago, IIl., April 27,
1896; Petersburg, Mich., April 24, 1897, May 5, 1888. They rear
two broods in a season. In selection of nesting sites and in many of
their habits they are similar to the last mentioned species. These
are much more persistent birds. At times it seems that no amount
of discouragement will turn them from their plans. Mr. A. H. Ken-
drick informs me of one which persistently attempted to build its
nest in a pump spout at Edwards. He also tells me of another one
that built her nest in the air shaft of a coal mine, but the eggs did
not hatch. The reason he suggests is that they were chilled by the
cold air blasts. Messrs. L. A. and C. D. Test found them building
April 29, 1892. Mr. J. O. Snyder reported one breeding April 20,
1886, at Waterloo. On the other hand, I found them breeding at
Brookville, July 3, 1888. The song begins soon after arrival, and
Mr. Bicknell says it is sometimes continued until August. It is dif-
ferent from that of the other Wrens, yet the listener is impressed when
he first hears that no bird other than a Wren could sing such a song.
It is very sprightly, consisting of # few loud notes, followed by an
exceedingly melodious trill. The decision of those who have studied
its foods is that the House Wren is entirely beneficial. Mr. Sylvester
D. Judd says of 52 specimens examined, 92 per cent. of their food
Birps oF INDIANA. 1121

was insects and their allies, and only 2 per cent. was vegetable (Year
Book U. 8. Dept. of Agr., 1895, pp. 416-418), It pays to put up
boxes and other nesting sites for these and other friendly birds. They
are thus encouraged to build about homes and gardens and in orchards,
where their usefulness is greatly increased. They leave in September,
but occasionally linger into October. In 1894 the last one was ob-
served at Plymouth, Mich., September 19; at Hillsdale, Mich., Sep-
tember 26; Warren County, Ind., September 11, 1897. In 1886 they
were found migrating at Brookville, September 8, and in 1897 one
was seen as late as October 5. Mr. Ridgway notes that, in a pair
observed, nest building occupied 12 days; egg laying, 8 days; incuba-
tion, about 14 days,.and 14 days later the young left the nest (B. of
fil, 1, p. 96). : ;

301. (7210). Troglodytes aedon aztecus Barro.
Western House Wren.

Similar to 7. aédon, but “above rather grayish-brown, the rump
and tail slightly more rusty, and the back and rump generally very
distinctly barred with dusky (very rarely plain)” (Ridgway). Averag-
ing larger.

Length, 4.25-5.25; wing, 2.00-2.%5; tail, 1.85-2.12; bill, .45-.55.

Rance.—Western North America, except Pacific Coast, from Mex-
co (State of Vera Cruz) to Manitoba and Great Slave Lake; east to
Minnesota, Illinois and Indiana. Winters from Texas, south.

Nest and eggs similar to the last.

The Western House Wren ranges into northwestern Indiana and,
perhaps, other portions of the State, where there were originally
prairies, and is there a summer resident. It seems to be especially
attracted to prairie districts. Mr. Ridgway notes this form from
Illinois also, where he tells me the House Wrens he has seen from

‘the prairie region—Richland County, about thirty miles west of Vin-

cennes, the vicinity of Chicago, ete—are this form, while at Mt.
Carmel, Ill., and Vincennes, Ind., the House Wrens are the eastern
form. Farther north in Indiana, where the country is more open,
he should expect to find aztecus.

Specimens from Vigo County are of the eastern form.

Mr. F. M. Woodruff, of Chicago, informs me that two pairs taken
near Hammond, Ind., June 4, 1897, were submitted to Prof. J. A.
Allen for examination. He writes they agree with T. @. aztecus, even
comparing them with specimens from Arizona. The birds were nest-
ing in an old stump within fifty yards of the electric street car line,

71—GEOL.
1122 Rerort or Srare GEOLOGIST.

about half way between Hammond and Roby. Specimens from north-
western Indiana, also from farther south along the western border of
the State, are desirable, in order that the limits of the range of this
form may be determined. Doubtless in some localities both forms
will be found.

Subgenus ANortTHURA Rennie.

302. (722). Troglodytes hyemalis Vier.
Winter Wren.

Synonym, Bunty WREN.

 

Winter Wren.

Adult—Deep brown above, darkest on the head, brightest on the
rump and tail; obscurely waved with dusky, and sometimes with
whitish also; tail like ramp; wings, dusky, edged with color of back,
and dark barred; several outer primaries also whitish barred; a super-
ciliary line and obscure streaks on sides of head and neck, whitish;
below, pale brown; belly, flanks and under tail coverts, strongly barred
with dusky (McIlwraith).

Length, 3.50-4.12; wing, 1.75-2.00; tail, 1.15-1.40.

Rance.—KEastern North America. Breeds from mountains of
North Carolina, Ohio, Michigan, [linois and Iowa, northward. Win-
ters from Indiana, Illinois and Ohio, south to the Gulf States.

Nesi, in dense woods, about logs or overthrown trees: a ball of moss,
lined with feathers or fur. Wgqs, 5-7; white, with reddish-brown
spots; .69 by .50.

The Winter Wren is a common migrant, and over the southern
half of Indiana, at least, is a winter resident. It frequents all sorts
of places—woods, thickets, bushy fence rows, dark ravines, and even
at times orchards, outbuildings and woodpiles. IT have seen both this
Bizps oF INDIANA. 1123

and the Carolina Wren about my woodhouse at the same time. There
are four Wrens, then, that are seen about our homes. The large
reddish-brown one—the largest one we have—is the Carolina Wren.
The dark brown, slim, long-tailed one is Bewick’s Wren. The dark
brown, slim, short-tailed one is the House Wren, and the little bunty
Wren that apparently has almost no tail is the Winter Wren.

They begin to arrive from their breeding ground, a little farther
north, in September. Over most of the northern part of the State
they are almost or entirely wanting during the coldest months, but
farther south they are to be found all winter, some years scarce, some
years common. ‘They are reported as winter residents as far north as
the following places: Brookville, Moore’s Hill, Greensburg, Blooming-
ton, Greencastle, Carroll County. It probably’ sometimes winters in
Wabash County (Ulrey and Wallace, I. A. S., 1895, p. 158). They
arrived at Chicago,. Ill., September 28, 1896, and the latest date
reported is October 12,1895. At Sedan, Ind., they arrived September
19, 1894, and were seen there November 6, 1889. They were noted
at Lafayette September 13, 1894, which is the earliest appearance in
the State. They arrived at Warren County, September 22, 1897; at
Brookville, October 8, 1885; at Greensburg, October 7, 1894; at Bick-
nell, October 3, 1894; at Bloomington, October 4, 1885. The last
record in the spring from Bicknell is April 16, 1881; Greensburg,
April 2, 1895; Brookville, April 16, 1881; Bloomington, April 18,
1885; Sedan, April 11, 1894; Lafayette, April 21, 1897; Irvington,
April 29, 1889; Richmond, May 5, 1897.

This Wren has been found breeding in Ohio (Wheaton); in Mich-
igan (Cook); Ontario (McIlwraith), and Illinois, where Mr. H. A.
Klein says he took a nest near Polo (W. W. Cooke, Bird Mig.,
Miss. Valley, p. 273).

Prof. Evermann thinks it breeds in Carroll County (The Auk, Jan.,
1889, p. 29). They are quiet usually. The only sound heard with
us isachurr. But at their breeding grounds they sing a pretty song.
They are most often seen when one is quiet, about a pile of river
drift? a stone wall in a thicket, a windfall in the forest, the exposed
tree roots and fallen brush along a ravine. There the little investi-
gator may be seen diligently looking for its meal. This it expects to
make up of insects, and it has selected a spot where they may be
found with least effort. Ants, caterpillars, beetles, dragon flies, moths,
spiders, flies and larvee have been found forming their food.
1124 Report OF State GEOLOGIST.

170. Genus CISTOTHORUS Cazants.

a1, Bill about half as long as head; no white stripe over eye.
Subgenus CistotHorvs. C. stellaris (Licht.). 3038
a?, Bill slender, about as long as head; « conspicuous white stripe over the eye.
Subgenus TeLmaTopyTEs Cabanis. C. palustris (Wils.). 304

Subgenus CisToTHoRus.

303. (724). Cistothorus stellaris (Licat.).
Short-billed Marsh Wren.

Adult.—Bill very slender, less than a half inch long; “dark brown
above; crown and middle of the back, blackish, nearly everywhere
conspicuously streaked with white; below, buffy-white, shading into
pale brown on the sides and behind; wings and tail, barred with
blackish and light brown; flanks, barred with dusky; throat and mid-
dle of belly, whitish” (McIlwraith).

Length, 3.75-4.50; wing, 1.72-1.90; tail, 1.58-1.70; bill, .40.

Raneze.—North America, east of Plains, from Gulf States to south-
ern New Hampshire, Ontario and western Manitoba. Breeds locally
throughout its range. Winters from Gulf States, south.

Nest, in wild grass, 12 to 18 inches in height, or on ground;
placed 8 to 10 inches from top of grass; globular, hole in side, made
of dried grass, lined with down of cat-tails or other plants; the grow-
ing grass so woven over and around it that it is hard to see. Eggs,
5-8; white, unmarked; .63 by .45. Two broods.

The Short-billed Marsh Wren is a migrant and summer resident.
It breeds in restricted localities, where the marshes are suitable, and
in places is found in some numbers. It is much more numerous in
the northwestern portion of the State. They have been found breed-
ing in Putnam County. In the Whitewater Valley I have only found
it once. September 22 and 23, 1879, I saw several and took two
specimens from a swampy hollow about three miles from Brookville.
Mr. Ruthven Deane informs me a nest of this species, containing
eggs, was taken by an employe of their club at English Lake, the
spring of 1889. In the collection of Mr. G. Fream Morcom, Los
Angeles, Cal., is a set of five eggs of this Wren taken at Davis Station,
Ind., June 3, 1887. Mr. L. A. Test, of Lafayette, has received an egg
of this kind from Mr. B. F. Beekman, who took it from a nest near
Brunswick, Lake County, in the summer of 1893. Three nests were
found in the rank grass along a small ditch when they were making
hay. 1am indebted to my friend, Mr. B. T. Gault, of Glen Ellyn,
JIL, for the following very carefully prepared notes on the Short-billed
Birps oF INDIANA. 1125

Marsh Wren: “This spring (1889) I made the following observations
on the Short-billed Marsh Wren: June 3, several were noted in the
grassy marshes near Sheffield, Ind., and two adult birds were taken
that day. I was at first attracted by their song, which is altogether
different from that of C. palustris.

“In the manner of delivery it forcibly reminds one of the song of
the Dickcissel (Spiza americana), although, of course, it was not
near as loud. They were quite shy, but would allow one to approach
within forty or fifty feet of them, when they would dart down into
the thick grass, from which it was almost impossible to dislodge them.
The specimens that I secured were shot from small bushes on the
edge of marsh, these being the favorite stands occupied by the males
in song. Their stomachs contained the remains of small beetles and
other insects; testes were greatly swollen.

“Nine (9) birds in all were seen and heard that day, and which
no doubt were nest building. On June 14, I again visited the same
locality. Some new and last year’s nests were found, and three or
four pairs were apparently nesting there. Like all Wrens, I found
them to have a very irascible disposition, and they scolded me con-
tinually while I was nest hunting. My efforts, however, to secure
eggs were unsuccessful.

“Several old nests examined were found to be lined with pieces of
wasps’ nests, bog moss and vegetable substances. June 28, I visited
the marsh again, and soon I learned to my regret that I had overlooked
the nests containing eggs on my last visitation (June 14), but which
at that period even would have been of little use to me, considering
the advanced state of eggs and their extreme fragility. I found in
their stead that at least one brood had hatched, one young a day or
two from the nest being taken. Another was discovered, but which
succeeded in getting away from me in the thick, rank grass. It was
quite a while before J successfully located these little fellows, although
they were chipping around, seemingly within a foot or two of me,
for some time, and at least a half hour was consumed in the search
before I was fully rewarded with the capture of one. Two (2) new
nests, evidently prepared for the second brood, were found, and a
piece of shell from one egg just hatched was picked up in an adjoining
marsh the same'day. This species is a clever creeper in the dense
grass, and is able to move around at a lively rate without showing
itself” (Jan. 18, 1892). ;

Mr. C. E. Aiken writes me that he found them in the marshes bor-
dering sloughs in Lake County in May, 1871.
1126 REPoRT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Dr. J. L. Haneock informs me it was noted at Hammond, April
9, 1887, by Mr. Graham Davis. Mr. H. K. Coale has twice reported
it from Lake County: May 9, 1877, and July 4, 1881. July 24, 1894,
Mr. Alexander Black obtained a pair of these birds from among the
sedge about an old mill pond, near Greencastle. From the actions
of the bird, he suspected a nest. The next dav he found a nest after
some search. It was built in a bunch of grass about eighteen inches
above the ground. The nest was made of grass blades worked into
the form of a ball, and was covered with the “saw grass” blades which
had been drawn and fastened upon the nest. There was a small
opening in the side. The nest was freshly built and contained no
eggs. From July 24 to September 6, several young Marsh Wrens
were taken there, some of them just able to fly. On the last date
mentioned, he and Mr. Jesse Earlle found a nest and one addled egg.
Once before, during migration, these birds had been taken in that
county.

Mr. J. R. Slonaker reports it from Vigo County, May 8, 1889.

Mrs. Jane L. Hine noted it April 24, 1888, from Dekalb County.

Subgenus TeLMaTHopytrs Cabanis.

*304. (725) Cistothorus palustris (Wis.).
Long-billed Marsh Wren.

Adult—Bill over a half inch long; “dark brown above; crown and
middle of the back, blackish, nearly everywhere conspicuously streaked
with white; below, buffy-white, shading into pale brown on the sides
and behind; wings and tail, barred with blackish and light brown;
flanks, barred with dusky; throat and middle of belly, whitish” (Me-
Tlwraith).

Length, 4.25-5.50; wing, 1.80-2.12; tail, 1.60-1.90; bill, .54.

Rance.—Eastern North America, from eastern Mexico north to
Massachusetts, Ontario and Manitoba; west to Rocky Mountains.
Breeds locally from Gulf coast, north. Winters from South Carolina,
south.

Nest, an oblong ball of marsh grass, sometimes plastered with mud,
attached to reeds, usually above the water, lined.with fine grass or
vegetable down. Eggs, 6-10; chocolate-brown, sometimes marked
with darker brown; .66 by .46.

The Long-billed Marsh Wren is an abundant resident wherever
there are marshes. Elsewhere it is only a migrant and is rarely seen.

Throughout the northern part of the State, and along the Wabash
Valley, wherever there are suitable localities, it breeds in numbers.
Binps or INDIANA. _ 1127

I do not know that it has been found elsewhere breeding in southern
or central Indiana. Along the Whitewater Valley I have occasionally
seen it among the bushes fringing the streams, and even creeping about
among the river drift that had accumulated in piles from some pre-
vious freshet. They are reported to occasionally winter as far north
as southern Illinois. In Indiana, the earliest date I have is from
Terre Haute, April 12, 1890. At Brookville I have taken it April
27, 1887, and May 10, 1885. At Bloomington it was noted May 13,
1886; Richmond, May 17, 1897; Dekalb County, May 12, 1890, May
20, 1897; Chicago, Ill., April 15, 1886, May 26, 1897.

They have nothing to draw them aside in their migration. We
see only the occasional straggler which falls by the way. The bulk
‘press on to their breeding grounds, where also they get their favorite
food. Therefore, the probability is that, could we carefully observe
their favorite grounds, we would find they arrive as early, possibly
earlier than the scattered data along the route shows. They breed
among the sedges, grasses of marshy places and among the reeds in
shoals in lakes. They are not confined to restricted localities, where
a small company breeds, but are generally distributed among the
marshes and about the lakes. They often build quite a number of
nests and only occupy one. Mr. J. Grafton Parker says: “Hardly
one nest in twenty contains eggs. The birds must build many nests
before laying, as the nests are much more plentiful than the birds.”
This observation is a common one, though the number of false nests
varies. Usually from six to a dozen have been found, where I have
examined them, to one that was occupied. Mr. E. W. Nelson says:
“While the female is incubating, the male is constantly employed
upon the construction of several unfinished nests, until often a pair
may boast the possession of a dozen unoccupied tenements” (Bull.
Essex Inst., Vol. VIII., 1876, p. 97). The last of May I have found
their nests in Fulton County, apparently completed, but containing
no eggs. Mr. Ruthven Deane has found them breeding abundantly
at English Lake in June and July. He has also noted them building
August 4, 1889. They raise two and possibly three broods in a sea-
son. They have been also reported as breeding in the following
counties: Lake, Laporte, Dekalb, Kosciusko, Knox and Gibson (Ridg-
way), and Vigo (Evermann). The return migration occurs in Sep-
tember and October. They were last recorded from Hillsdale, Mich.,
September 24, 1894; Cincinnati, O., September 21, 1879; Chicago,
Ill., October 19, 1895; Lake County, Ind., October 16, 1896, and
Mr. Deane has found them at English Lake as late as October 27.
1128 Report oF State GEOLOGIST.

They have a scraping, scolding note that is most familiar to those
who intrude upon their haunts, but also sing a little song that the
casual visitor does not recognize.

Mr. Bicknell says they cease singing early in August, but have an-
other song period in September or October.

XLIX. Famity CERTHIIDA. ‘Creepers.

a), Characters same as family. CrertuHia. 171
171. Genus CERTHIA Liny2zvs.

 

Head, foot and tail feather of Brown Creeper. Natural size.

805. (7-6). Certhia familiaris americana (Bonap.).

Brown Creeper.

Adult.—Bill about the length of the head; above, dark brown, with
a slightly rufous shade, each feather streaked centrally, but not
abruptly, with whitish; rump, rusty. ‘Beneath, almost silky white;
the under tail coverts with a faint rusty tinge; a white streak over
the eye; the ear coverts streaked with whitish; tail feathers, brown
centrally, the edges paler yellowish-brown; wings with a transverse
bar of pale reddish-white across both webs (B. B. and R.).

Length, 5.00-5.75; wing, 2.40-2.70: tail, 2.30-2.90.

Rance.—Eastern North America, from Gulf States, north. Breeds
from Minnesota, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Maine, north.

Nest, under loose bark of dead tree; of lichens, usnea, moss, feath-
ers, grass and rootlets. Hggs, 5-6; profusely spotted with bright
brown; .60 by .48.

The Brown Creeper is a very common migrant throughout the
State. It is an irregular winter resident in all parts of the State,
being much more regular and some winters common southward. In
the northeastern part of the State it is known to breed, and may
be there a rare resident. At any rate, there its winter range and
breeding range meet.

This Creeper is colored so near the markings on the trees that few
people see it, and to most persons it is a rare bird. When its piping
Birps oF INpIANa. 1129

notes are known, one realizes that before he was often in a woods
peopled with interesting birds, but beyond occasionally seeing one fly
from one tree to another, he did not know of their presence. They
usually fly from a higher to a lower place; from some distance up
on one tree to near the ground on another, and then begin creeping
over the trunk, sometimes.ascending in an approximately straight line,
often climbing spirally, going several times around the tree in making
the ascent. Mr. William Brewster says of their song at breeding
time: “Their notes are varied and warbling, and somewhat confused;
some of them are loud, powerful and unsurpassingly sweet, others are
more feeble and plaintive. Their song usually ends with their accus-
tomed cry, which may be represented by eree-cree-cre-ep.” Their songs
we do not hear in southern Indiana, but in March and April, during -
the spring migration, and in October, when they return, we hear
their well-known calls. I found them industriously hunting and ut-
tering their cry October 19, 1896. ‘In the fall they sometimes asso-
ciate with those little mixed parties of Chickadees, Titmice, Downy
Woodpeckers and other chosen spirits, but often then, as they usually
do in spring, very often associate themselves with little flocks of
Golden-crowned Kinglets. I never saw so many birds of these two
species as I did April 12, 1897. The woods were alive with them.
They were everywhere. Their tiny voices made music in all parts of
the forest growth. In one thicket, where I stood quietly for a few mo-
ments to watch the passing of the little birds, I observed at the same
time three Brown Creepers on a small tree and six Golden-crowned
Kinglets among the bushes, all within thirty feet of me, and very tame.
The greater number of them are migrants with us. They begin to
appear about the middleof September some vears,and most have passed
by the latter part of October. They have been reported as making
their first appearance at Chicago, Ill., September 13, 1895; Cincinnati,
O., September 21, 1897; Warren County, September 15, 1878; Lafay-
ette, Ind., October 2, 1896; Sedan, October 5, 1889; Greensburg, Sep-
tember 27, 1896; Brookville, October 6, 1884.

In the spring, through the last half of March and early April, they
are frequently very common. Some of them linger until the last of
that month or even into May. They have been noted at Brookville
as late as April 21, 1890; Greensburg, April 20, 1895; Cincin-
nati, Ohio, April 27, 1879; Sedan, April 23, 1889; Lafayette, May
3, 1893. At Bloomington it has been noted as late as May 30,
1888, by Mr. G. G. Williamson. Hon. R. Wes. McBride has
given the following account of its breeding in Steuben County:
“Tn my notebook I find the following, under date of May 8, 1882:
1130 Revorr or Stare GEoLoGIst.

‘Brown Creeper; taken near Golden Lake, Steuben County, Indiana.
Nest in crevice, where the bark had started from a dead tree, about 4
feet from the ground, in a swampy tract in “Crane Town.” Nest com-
posed of sticks, bark and feathers. Six eggs, beauties. Incubation
commenced. Embryos half developed’ J have a very distinct recol-
lection of the matter. The ‘Crane Town’ referred to in the matter
is a heronry which we were exploring. The water was high, and we
were ina boat. I placed my hand against a tree to push the boat past
it, when the bird flew off the nest, which was within a few inches of
‘my hand. The bird remained near me until after I had secured the
eggs and examined the nest. The appearance and characteristics of
the Brown Creeper are so marked that it could hardly be mistaken
for any other bird. I could not possibly be mistaken in its identifica-
tion. In addition to this, the location and construction of the nest
and the eggs themselves are all typical and characteristic.

“Another nest and set of eggs were taken in May, 1883, at Fox Lake,
near Angola, by my sons, Charles H. and Herbert W. The identifica-
tion in this case was as satisfactory and unmistakable as in the other.
Since that time, while I have frequently seen them during the breed-
ing season, both in Steuben and Dekalb counties, I have found no
other nests.”

Mr. H. W. McBride thinks it also breeds in Dekalb County. It has
been found breeding in about the same latitude in Monroe County,
Mich. (Cook, B. of M., p. 145), and Mr. Otto Widmann found its nest
and eggs in Missouri, the spring of 1895.

It has been found, in winter, tolerably regularly in the following
counties of southern Indiana: Franklin, Decatur, Brown, Monroe and
Knox. Some winters it is found also in Tippecanoe, Carroll and Wa-
bash counties. The winter of 1896-7 they remained in the vicinity
of Chicago and were reported from Kouts and Miller’s, Ind., hy Mr.
J. G. Parker, Jr., and they remained the winter of 1889-90 at Sedan,
Dekalb County, where they were observed by Mrs. Jane L. Hine.
They also have heen noted in Michigan at all seasons (Cook. B. of M.,
p. 145).

Their principal food is insects, particularly those species affecting
the trunks of trees. Among other things. they have been found to
have eaten beetles, bugs, other insects, spiders, pine seeds and fungi.
Birns oF InpIANA. 1131

L. Famiry PARIDA. Nouryaicue+ anb Tire.

a}. Bill long and slender, the lower mandible slanting upward;; tail short.
Subfamily Srrrinz. Srrra. 172
a?. Bill short and stout; tail long. Subfamily Parinz. Pagus. 173

Susramity SITTINA. NoursatcHes.

172. Gesxus SITTA Linyzus.

a!. White below. S. carolinensis Lath. 306
a’, Rusty brown below. S. canadensis Linn. 307

*306. (727). Sitta carolinensis. Laru.
White-breasted Nuthatch.
Synonyms, WHITE-BELLIeD NutHatcu, Cagzotina Nourwarcu, Tomtit.

Adult Male——Above, bluish-gray; crown, glossy black; secondaries,
marked with black, the quills with some white; side of head, stripe
over the eye and most of the lower parts, white; the lower tail coverts,
partly rufous; tail, black and white. Adu/t Female.—Similar, but top
of head, dark gray, black behind.

Length, 5.25-6.15; wing, 3.50-3.75; tail, 1.95-2.20.

Ranee.—Eastern North America, from Georgia and Texas north
to New Brunswick, Ontario and Minnesota; west to Kansas. Resident
throughout most of its range.

Nest, in natural or artificial hole in tree or stub, 4 to 90 feet up; of
hair, fur, feathers, moss, bark or lichens. Eggs, 8, sometimes 5 or 7,.
rarely 9 or 10; white, creamy-white, pinkish-white, spotted with chest-
nut, hazel or vinaceous, and distinctly or obscurely with lilac-gray;
markings heavier at larger end; .72 by .56. Often two broods.

The Carolina Nuthatch is a common resident throughout Indiana.
In the extreme northern portion of the State, they are fewer in num-
bers during the winter. All that season they are to be found, keeping
company with Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, Downy Woodpeckers, Jun-
cos and Tree Sparrows. An interesting group, moving about for the
sake of food and enjoying each other’s company. They are to be
found at this season almost everywhere, clambering over fences and
creeping about trees, as often with the head down as otherwise, dili-
gently searching for insects, which had thought they had found secure
winter retreats. The energy with-which the Nuthatch hunts and the
vigor with which it pursues an insect, often pounding like a Wood-
pecker to detach a piece of bark or break through into a burrow, shows
that even those who think themselves safe are sometimes deceived.
Their work, like that of the Brown Creeper and the Red-breasted
1132 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Nuthatch, is to keep in subjection the host of insects that infest the
trunks and limbs of trees. They have a large contract on hand and
are kept continually busy. Their call is yank, yank, which may be
heard at most seasons, being almost or wholly wanting in late summer.
In spring they vary this with a monotonous calling, which they mdy
think isa song. Mr. F. M. Chapman gives it as a “tenor hah-hah-hah-
hah—sounding strangely like mirthless laughter.”

In April, after the mixed company has broken up, each member to
attend to business of his own, the Nuthatches become more retiring,
aud frequent the woods, groves, thickets and timber in the river bot-
toms, where, in holes in snags, stumps, trees, fenceposts, etc., they
nest. Sometimes they make homes about our orchards, and Mr. L. F.
Meyer tells me of a nest in Lake County, built in a house which was
occupied by a family having ten children. Prof. F. H. King exam-
ined 25 specimens; 14 had eaten 32 beetles; 1, 2 ants; 1, 2 caterpillars;
1, 2 grubs of a beetle; 1, a spider; 1, a chrysalid; 1, small toadstools;
5, acorns; 1, corn (Geol. of Wis., I., p. 486). This beneficial species
should be carefully protected and encouraged. Placing suitable nest-
ing sites about country homes will doubtless lead them to seek these
if they are in retired places, as the area of woodland, year after year,
diminishes.

*307. (728). Sitta canadensis Livy.
Red-breasted Nuthatch.

Synonym, Rrep-BELLIED NUTHATCH.

Adult Male—Smaller than last; above, bluish-gray; crown, glossy
black; stripe over eye, white; black stripe through the eye; secondaries,
not marked with black; below, rusty or ochraceous; throat, white ; tail,
black and white. Adult Female.—Similar, but crown and _ stripe
through the eye, dark-gray.

Length, 4.12-4.75; wing, 2.60-2.85; tail, 1.58.

Raner.—North America, from Gulf States north to Hudson Bay
Territory. Breeds from Virginia (in the Alleghany Mountains),
Maine, northern Michigan and Manitoba, northward. Winters from
Minnesota and northern Michigan, southward.

Nest, in a hole excavated in an.old, well rotted snag, + to 35 feet up;
of chips, lined with finely shredded bark or fine grass. Hggs, 3-6; rosy-
white, thickly dotted or speckled with reddish-brown, sometimes very
pale; markings mostly at larger end; .60 by .4:7.

The Red-breasted Nuthatch is a bird of very irregular and peculiar
distribution. It is usually a rather common migrant late in \pril and
Birps oF INDIANA. 1133

early in May, and again in September. Sometimes, however, it will
‘be found migrating early in March, and will be abundant in October.
Other years, it will occur locally as a rare winter resident, not only
as far north as our northern boundary, but still farther north in Illi-
nois—Lake Forest (Parker), and on beyond to Palmer, on the upper
peninsula of Michigan, where, Mr. O. B. Warren informs me, it is a
permanent resident. It also sometimes breeds in Indiana. Dr. A.
W. Brayton has so reported it from the northern part of the State,
and Prof. B. W. Evermann found young just able to fly in Carroll

 

Head of Red-breasted Nuthatch. Natural size.

County, in August, 1878. About Brookville I have found them, some
years, quite common between April 30 (1885) and May 15 (1879).
Then they frequent the denser woodland and may be readily recog-
nized either by sight or sound. Their drawled, nasal utterance is
quite different from that of the larger species, just mentioned. It has
been expressed by Mr. F..M. Chapman as yna, yna. It has been
taken during the spring migrations at*Lafayette, March 13, 1897, May
4, 1897; English Lake, March 18, 1894; Greensburg, March 29, 1896,
May 9, 1893; Spearsville, April 11, 1897; Bloomington, April 21, 1885;
Carroll County, May 3, 1883, May 7, 1885; Richmond, May 16, 1897.

In the fall they have been noted at Chicago, Ill, August 25, 1886;
Lafayette, Ind., August 30, 1895, October 31, 1896; Wabash, Septem-
ber 15, 1891; Cincinnati, O., September 15, 1878; Bicknell, October
11, 1895. They were found wintering at Greensburg’ the winter of
1896-7 (Shannon); at Bloomington, the winters of 1882-3 and 1885-6
(Blatchley); Spearsville, 1894-5 (Barnett); Lafayette, 1895-6 (Test);
Waterloo, 1888-9 (H. W. McBride); Cook County, IIl., 1894-5 (Parker),
and were very abundant there the winter of 1866-7 (Aiken).

Their habits are much similar to those of the last mentioned species.
Like it, they are great creepers and are diligent insect hunters.
1134 Report oF STavTE GEOLOGIST.

Supraminy PARINAS, Trice.

173. Gryos PARUS Lryy vs.

a!. Head crested. Subgenus LorHopuanes Kaup. P. bicolor Linn. 308
a?, Head not crested. Subgenus Parus.
b1. Tertials and greater wing coverts without distinct whitish edgings; wing

under 2.50. : P. carolinensis Aud. 310
b?. Tertials and greater wing coverts with distinct whitish edgings; wing usu

ally over 2.50. P. atricapillus Linn. 309

‘Subgenus LopuopHanes Kaup.

*308. (731). Parus bicolor Liyy.
Tufted Titmouse.

Synonyms, PeTer-PETER, SvGarR Birp.

Adult.—Conspicuously crested; above, ashy; forehead, black; below,
whitish; sides, brownish.

Length, 5.65-6.50; wing, 3.05-3.45; tail, 2.80-3.15.

Raneu.—Hastern United States north to Connecticut Valley and
southern Michigan; west to central Texas and Nebraska.

Nest, in Woodpecker’s hole, or natural cavity‘in stump or tree, 2 to
60 feet from ground, generally 5 to 30 feet; of leaves, bark, moss,
hair, feathers, and sometimes snake skin: loosely constructed. LHgqs,
5-6, sometimes as many as 9; white or creamy-white, speckled and
spotted, often heaviest near larger end, with hazel, rufous, chestnut
or vinaceous, and sometimes lilac; .71 by .54.

An abundant resident in southern Indiana and north, at least in
the Wabash Valley, to Parke, Warren, Carroll, Tippecanoe and Wa-
bash counties. Northward, in many localities, it is rare, and about
the southern end of Lake Michigan it is apparently wanting. Mr. J.
G. Parker, Jr., informs me it is not uncommon at Kouts, Ind., 60
miles southeast of Chicago, Ill., where he took a specimen, November
28, 1894, and a pair, December 10, 1896.

In the northern part of the State and in Michigan it is irregular in
its occurrence. Some places it appears occasionally as a straggler in
fall, winter or spring; other places, it is a summer resident, disappear-
ing in the fall and returning in the spring. In other localities it is
present, some years, the year round, and others only in summer. It,
however, through our northern counties, seems to be increasing in
numbers,.and in some places, where it was only seen occasionally cer-
tain seasons, has become a permanent part of their bird life. Prior to
1890, the only record I had from Starke County was from Mr. H. K.
Coale, who found a pair there, January 1, 1884. At English Lake,
Birps or Inpiana. 1135

however, since 1890, Mr. Deane has met with them a number of
times at almost all seasons, and it would seem to be resident. In 1887,
Mrs. Jane L. Hine informed me it was very rare in Dekalb County,
and had only been observed in autumn. They continued so until the
winter of 1890-91, when they began to increase. Some winters they
remained and others they disappeared. It is now tolerably common
there, and breeds. It also breeds in Elkhart County, where a nest
was taken, Juge 12, 1891, containing seven young birds (McBride,
Proe. I. A. 8: 891, p- 167). It was very common near Peru in Oc-
tober, 1893, where it is probably a resident (Dunn). Mr. Elwood
Pleas informs me that it is a tolerably common resident at Dunreith,

 

Head of Tufted Titmouse. Natural size.

Henry County. April 14, 1894, he found one impaled on a thorn—
evidently the work of a Shrike. It is also a rather abundant resident
at Richmond, where it breeds (Dr. E. Test, A. M. Hadley). Mr. G.
G. Williamson reports it from Muncie, November 22, 1896. Mr. V.
H. Barnett says it is common and breeds in Vermillion and Warren
counties. Dr. A. W. Brayton, of Indianapolis, has a beautiful ‘albino
of this species.

The Tufted Titmouse frequents all kinds of woodland. In summer,
it prefers the quiet of the denser forest or of the trees along the river
bottoms. In winter they go wherever their companions go, or, rather,
they lead the company where they will. Through woods, thickets,
tangled ravines, along the old worm fence, into the orchard, then
among the garden shrubbery. Their loud whistle sounds peto, peto,
peto, peto, and when one comes upon them to see what is the matter,
the Downy Woodpecker calls quit, quit. This Titmouse utters de-de-
de-de, and thus reminds one by his call of his relationship to the Chick-
adees. The warm, sugar-making days of early spring, they proclaim
1136 Revort oF STaTE GEOLOGIST.

their happiness throughout all the woods, and the sugar-makers know
them then as “Sugar Birds.” I have observed them mating as early as
April 8 (1887), and have found them nest-building May 16 (1884).
The nest is usually in a hole in a tree, snag, fencestake or post. Messrs.
Dury and Freeman found an unusual nest, May 25, 1878, near Cin-
cinnati, O. A Tufted Titmouse selected as its‘breeding place the
discarded nest of some large bird, in the top of a tall sapling. The
bird had deposited six eggs (nearly hatched when foung)) on a layer of
dry grass, which nicely lined a large hole which she i excavated in
the side of the rough structure (Journ. Cin. Soc. N. H., 1879). The
Tufted Titmouse is not only a hunter of insects over the trunks and
among the limbs of trees, but it examines the ground and explores the
rank shrubbery. It also visits the orchards, and sometimes makes its
home there. There it is very busy about the blossoms, leaves and
fruit, not only gathering insects for itself, but also to supply the wants
of its young.

Subgenus Parvs Linnzus.

*309. (735). Parus atricapillus Livy.
Chickadee.

Synonym, BLack-cAPPED CHICKADEE.

Adult.—Above, plain grayish; crown and throat, deep black; greater
wing coverts, distinctly edged with whitish; sides of head and ‘neck,
and other lower parts, white, the latter buffy on the sides: tail and
wing, usually about equal in length.

Length, 4.70-5.75; wing, 2.50-2.75; tail, 2.50-2.75.

Raner.—Northeastern North America, from North Carolina (in
Alleghany Mountains), Missouri, southern Illinois, northern Indiana
and Virginia to Labrador and Ontario. Breeds almost to the southern
limit of its range.

Nest and Eggs, similar to those of P. carolinensis.

Abundant resident in the northern part of the State; common win-
ter resident for a little distance south of the area where it is a resident.
Not often seen in the southern part of the State, and then only as a
winter visitor. In the absence of a series of specimens it is impossible
to define the limits of the range of this species southward, or of the
next bird northward. However, to most persons, they appear to he
the same bird; and, as their habits are practically the same, the only
ones who will regret this lack of detail will be the naturalists. This
Chickadee is a common resident in Lake County (Parker); Dekalb
County (Mrs. Hine); Tippecanoe County (Test); Starke County
Birnps oF INDIANA. 1137

(Coale, Deane); Wayne County (Hadley). In Carroll County, it is
the most common form (Evermann). In Wabash County, it is an
abundant winter resident (Ulrey and Wallace); and in Monroe County
it has also been noted in winter (Evermann, Blatchley). I have never
taken it in Franklin County.

The note of this species is lower and more slowly given than that
of Carolinensis. It-consists of three notes, which sound like chick-a-
dee, or as others say, te-derry. At other times they call day, day, day.

 

Chickadee.

Twelve specimens examined hy Prof. Ning had eaten 14 larve (10 of
which were caterpillars), 13 beetles, 2 spiders, 5 insect éggs, some
other insects, and a few seeds (Geol. of Wis.. I., p. 484). They are
also very destructive to leaf-rolling caterpillars, tent caterpillars, and
other noxious forms also.

Prof. Forbes found those that frequented an orchard infested with
canker-worms made 75 per cent. of their food of those insects (Rept.
Mich. Hort. Soc.. 1881, p. 204).

*310. (736). Parus carolinensis Avo.
Carolina Chickadee.

Adult—Similar to P atricapillus, but tail decidedly shorter than
wing; greater wing coverts, not distinctly edged with whitish.
Length, 4.25-4.60; wing, 2.40-2.60; tail, 2.10-2.50.

72—GEOL.
1138 REPortT oF State GEOLOGIST.

 

Raxce—Southern United States, north to New Jersey and central
Indiana; west to Texas and Indian Territory. Resident throughout
its range.

Nest, in cavity in tree, stump, post or rail, usually not over 10 feet
up; of grass, bark shreds, feathers and hair. Hggs, 5-8; white, speckled
with light reddish-brown, markings heaviest at larger end; .57 by .45.

The Carolina Chickadee is an abundant resident throughout south-
ern Indiana, where it replaces the last mentioned form. This bird ex-
tends, at least in the Wabash Valley, two-thirds of the way across the
State. In Carroll County, both forms are found resident, but this is
least common. Doubtless they occasionally are found north to our
northern limit. Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr., informs me he has a specimen
taken at Lake Forest, Ill, December 12, 1890. ,

The Chickadee proclaims itself by its note, chicka-dee-dee, which
is louder than that of the Blackcap. They also have a call—day, day
—yvery similar to the last species, and a two-note utterance that sounds
something like hey-de, hey-de.

I have seen them mating, March 31 (1884), and full sets of eggs
are sometimes found late in April and early in May. The following
description of a nest taken at Richmond, Ind., May 12, 1889, by Mr.
H. N. McCoy,from a hole six inches deep in a fence rail lying against a
fence,is characteristic both as to nest and location in localities where
worm fences are commonly found. Nest: outside diameter, 34 inches;
inside diameter, 2 inches; depth, 13 inches; lower part. green moss; up-
per part, vines, bark, cowhair and a little wool, all woven together
closely. Contained 6 fresh eggs. Another favorite nesting place is in a
dead willow stub, along a stream. In those and the dead trunks of other
soft-wood trees they can readily excavate a nest. A hole made by a
Downy Woodpecker is often handy, and they promptly occupy it. In
winter they use excavations made by themselves and other birds as
protected quarters, and there keep snug and dry, though, with the
weather below zero and no fire, we may express our sorrow for the
poor little mite. On the morrow, however, he is still able to sing his
merry song. Their food is similar to that of the last mentioned species.
Often they may be sven clinging to the blossom end of a large apple,
inspecting it for larve, and when they are found, drawing them forth.
It likes the worm, and, if it gets it, is willing to leave to the farmer
the apple.
Birps oF INDIANA. T139

LI. Fammy SYLVIIDA. Krineiets anv GnatTcaTcoers,

a', Front of tarsus with transverse scales at extreme lower portion only; wings
longer than tail; tail without white; nostrils concealed by small feathers.
Subfamily Recutiya. Recubus. 174
a3, Front of tarsus covered with transverse four-sided scales; wings not longer
than tail; tail more or less white.
Subfamily PoLiortininz. Potsorptra 175

SurnramMity REGULIN. Kuinerets.

174. Genus REGULUS Cuvirr

a’. Nostril hidden by a single small feather; crown with a black stripe on each
side. Subgenus Rrcuuus. R. satrapa Licht. 311
a*. Nostril with a tuft of small bristle-like feathers; crown without black stripes.
Subgenus PHyLuoBasiLeus Cabanis. BR. calendula Linn. 312

311. (748). Regulus satrapa. Licur.’
Golden-crowned Kinglet.

Adult Male.—Above, olive-green; brighter on rump and wings; -
crown, yellow, with an orange center and a black stripe on each side;
forehead and stripe over eye, whitish; beneath, dull whitish. Adult
Female—Similar, but lacking the orange center in the yellow crown.

Length, 3.15-4.55; wing, 2.10-2.25; tail, 1.60-2.00. ~

Ranee.—North America, from Mexico (State of Vera Cruz) north,
at least to Labrador. Breeds from North Carolina, in Alleghany
Mountains, and Massachusetts, north; also south along the Rocky
Mountains into Mexico. Winters from Indiana, Illinois and Massa-
chusetts, south.

Nest, in evergreen, 6 to 60 feet up; of mosses and lichens, lined with
bark fibres, fine rootlets and feathers. Hggs, 9; creamy-white or cream,
sprinkled with numerous markings of wood-brown and occasionally
a few of lavender; .55 by .44. (Brewster).

The Golden-crowned Kinglet is an abundant migrant in early spring
and late fall. Over the southern half of the State, at least, they are
irregularly rare winter residents. They begin to arrive about the
southern end of Lake Michigan sometimes as early as September 17,
and the first arrivals are found in the southern part of the State
such a season by October 8. The year 1896 was one of early fall mi-
gration. That year they arrived at Chicago, September 17; at Bick-
nell, October 8; and Greensburg, October 9. Prof. E. L. Moseley
informs me that thousands of Creepers and Kinglets must have been
in Sandusky, O., October 2, 1896, the first pleasant morning after a
long nocturnal storm.
1140 REPORT: OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

They usually pass south through October, though sometimes they
remain in our northern counties well into November, and perhaps,
favorable seasons, all winter. They were noted at Chicago, IIl., No-
vember 1, 1896 (Bollman), November 28, 1883 (Parker); Sedan, Ind.,
November 5, 1894 (Hine); Lafayette, November 21, 1895, where they
probably winter (Test). Prof. Evermann thinks it probable a few
remain all winter in Carroll County. They are reported as winter
residents from Brookville; Bicknell (Chansler); Greensburg (Shan-
non); Bloomington (Evermann, Blatchley); and Wabash County
(Ulrey and Wallace). Prof. Cook reports it as occasional, in winter,
in Michigan (B. of M., p. 148). ,

 

Golden-crowned Kinglet.

The migrants usually begin their return journey in March, and are
very numerous the latter part of that month. They may be found
any place, often associated with Brown Creepers and more rarely with
one of those social groups of Titmice, Chickadees, Downy Wood-
peckers and other companionable birds. The bushes beside a stream
are as attractive as the thickets along a deep ravine; the evergreens
about our homes, even in towns, are visited as well as the native
growth of red cedar; the garden shrubbery and trees in the orchard
are sometimes their feeding ground, but not so often as the brush piles
and more numerous trees of the dense woods. At all times they have
a little tinkling note, but as April comes on, their song begins. Mr,
H. KX. Coale has interpreted it as ‘‘/e-lze-tze-lze.” This is much elabor-
ated when they reach their breeding grounds. It is very similar to
that of the Brown Creeper. Sometimes they appear in the greatest
abundance. April 12, 1897, | found both these little birds and Brown
Birps oF INDIANA. 1141

Creepers in such numbers as I never saw before. They were every-
where—in woods, thickets, orchards and dooryards—and all. in full
song.

Spring migrants were noted at Greensburg, March 21, 1894; Rich-
mond, March 26, 1897; Laporte, March 23, 1893; Chicago, Ill., March
23, 1894. Usually they reach northern Indiana about April 1, and
leave between the middle and last of the month. The latest spring
records at hand are: Brookville, April 24, 1884; Greensburg, April
24, 1895; Richmond, April 27, 1897; Lafayette, April 29, 1893; Chi-
cago, Ill., May 5, 1894, and Miss H. E. Colfax observed it in Porter
County, June 8, 1884. Their food is entirely insects. Many of these
it takes on the fly, and others are obtained about the trunks and limbs
of trees. They are full of energy, which is utilized from dawn till
dark. They put in full time and are all the time doing useful work.
“Of 9 specimens examined, 2 had eaten 12 small diptera (flies etc.); 3,
9 small beetles; 1, 5 caterpillars; 1, a small chrysalid; and 3, very small
insects, too fine to be identified” (King, Geol. of Wis., I., p. 482).

312. (749). Regulus calendula (Lryy.).
Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

Adult Male.—Above, olive-green, brighter on the rump; crown, with
a patch of vermillion-red in the center; no black stripes on each side;
below, dull whitish. Adult Female—Similar, but with crown patch
smaller or wanting. Immature—Similar, but with no crown patch.

Length, 3.75-4.60; wing, 2.20-2.30; tail, 1.85-1.90.

Rance.—North America, from Mexico (Valley of Mexico) north to
the limit of trees within the Arctic Circle. Breeds from Colorado, in
the higher mountains, and Oregon, northern Michigan and Quebec,
northward. Winters from southern Illinois, South Carolina and
Texas, south. :

Nest, in evergreen, 10 to 20 feet up, semi-pensile, quite bulky; of
bark, moss, weed fibres, spider webs, lined with feathers. Eggs, 8;
dirty cream-color, darker sometimes, faintly spotted at the larger end;
BB by .43.

The Ruby-crowned Kinglet is a common migrant, as a rule, arriving
and remaining later than the last species in the spring and arriving
and departing earlier than in the fall. However, in the fall, they oceur
together, and more frequently associated than in the spring, and the
difference in time is not so much noted. In the southern part of the
State they are very rare winter residents. They have been noted, in
winter, in Monroe County by Profs. Evermann and Blatchley. This
1142 REPorT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Kinglet is less hardy than the other species and winters farther south.
Sumichrast mentions specimens in the collection of Sr. Botteri, from
Orizaba, Mexico (La Naturaleza Tomo, V., p. 241), and I have found
them in numbers in the Valley of Mexico. They begin to return to
southern Indiana, May 30, and reach the extreme north of the State:
some years by April 11. They are most numerous the latter part of
that month, when the bulk passes northward.

Some, however, are usually seen after May 1. These are mostly in
immature plumage. I always associate them in my mind with the
blooming of the apple trees, about which they are often seen. The
following are some early and late records, showing the extremes of the
period of spring migration: Greensburg, March 31, 1895; May 6,
1893; Brookville, April 6, 1883, May 9, 1885; Spearsville, April 3,
1895, April 26, 1894; Richmond, April 12, 1897, May 1, 1897; La-
fayette, April.1, 1893, May 9, 1894; Sedan, April 11, 1889, May 4,
1889, and 1894; Laporte, April 11, 1896; Chicago, Ill, April 13, 1896,
May 12, 1895; Petersburg, Mich., April 14, 1897, May 15, 1888.

Miss H. E. Colfax reports it from Michigan City at the unusually
late date, June 8, 1884.

When with us they have, like the Ruby-crown, a squeaky note—ti—
often coupled, two ‘or three together. When many are in company,
and not too close to the listener, there is a peculiar tinkling effect.
At the latter part of their spring visit they occasionally favor a
strolling bird-lover with their love song. Of this song, which few
have heard, and known the author, Audubon said: “When I tell you
that its song is fully as sonorous as that of the Canary bird, and
much richer, I do not come up to the truth, for it is not only as
powerful and clear, but much more varied and pleasing.”

Their habits, in general, resemble those of the Golden-crowned
Kinglet at the same season, except they seem to keep in little com-
panies more to themselves, and are not so frequently associated with
the other birds; and they frequent more often the higher limbs of
trees, often being seen, a tiny mite, about the topmost boughs of some
tall forest tree. This species is not so numerous as the former one,
and appears to be more numerous in fall than spring. They occa-
sionally arrive in autumn as early as the beginning of September.
Usually, however, they are most numerous the latter part of that
month and in October. At Chicago, Ill, they were noted, September
3, 1895, and last fall date is October 20, 1894; Lake County, Ind.,
September 11, 1881, September 25, 1875; Sedan, September 25, 1894,
October 11; 1894; Lafayette, October 26, 1895; Brookville, October 8,
1885, November 11, 1894,
Birps oF INDIANA. 1143

The orchards, shade trees, small fruit farms and woods are visited
by these Kinglets, too, and they do much to decrease the number of
the insect population there. “Of 7 specimens examined, 2 had eaten
+ small caterpillars; 3, 5 beetles; 1, an ant; 1, a chalcis fly; and 2 bits
of insects not identified (King, Geol. of Wis., I., p. 482). It has been
said they ate the blossoms of maple, pear, apple and other fruit trees.
Recent investigations have shown no evidence of this. It is probable
they were observed when they were engaged, as they often are, catch-
ing insects about the blossoms, and were wrongly judged and then
misrepresented. Mr. E. R. Quick has published the following interést-
ing note concerning it:

“On October 16, 1879, a Ruby-crowned Wren’ took up its abode
in a barroom, in Brookville, where it remained until the 25th, flying
about amongst the often noisy patrons of the establishment; and,
though it was caught and handled, to thoroughly identify it, this sum-
mary proceeding did not cause it to leave, although the door stood
open during the entire day. During its stay it subsisted on flies, which
it very expertly captured, returning to its perch to eat them in the
manner of the flycatchers. Toward the latter part of its sojourn it
became so much accustomed to its strange quarters as to sally out
from its perch by lamplight after insects attracted by the light. It
finally took its departure without apparent cause, probably to resume
its southward migration” (Journ. Cin. Soc. N. H., July, 1880, pp. 121,
122).

Supramity POLIOPTILINA. GNatcaTcuErs.

175. Gexus POLIOPTILA Scuater.

*313. (751). Polioptila caerulea (Liyy.).
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.

Adult Male—Above, blue-gray, bluer on the head, lighter on the
rump; forehead and line over the eye, black; ring around the eye,
whitish; below, whitish; tail, black, three outer feathers with white.
Adult Female—Similar, but lacking black streak across forehead and
over the eye.

Length, 4.05-5.50; wing, 2.00-2.20; tail, 2.05-2.20.

_ Ranez.—Eastern North America, from Guatemala and West Indies
to New York, Ontario, southern Michigan, northern Illinois. Acci-
dental to Maine and Minnesota, west to Nebraska and western Texas.
Breeds from Gulf coast, north. Winters from Florida, south.

Nest, in woods, 10 to 50 feet up, in fork or saddled on horizontal
limb of tree; of moss, fibre or spiders’ webs, covered with lichens;
1144 REpoRT -OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

lined with vegetable down, feathers and fine grass; deep. Eggs, 4-5;
greenish or bluish-white, spotted and marked with different shades
of brown; .57 by .44.

The Blue-gray Gnatcatcher is a summer resident; very abundant
southward, and in some localities is rare or wanting. They are very
irregular in their migrations. Some years they appear in southern
Indiana late in March, and others, not until a month later. Some
seasons, in one locality, they appear very early, and in others, quite
late; 1893 and 1896 were years of early migration in southern Indiana,

 

Blue-gray Gnateatcher. Natural size.

and 1897 was a medium season. At Greencastle they only arrive one
other year as late as they did in 1896, and the earliest is in 1897,
which is also the earliest record for the State for that year. It would
seem they present an instance of migration per saltum; indeed, it is
probable that all migration is by leaps, the later comers passing ahead
and becoming the van, and then, in turn, being passed by the others;
and that here we have a good illustration of it. Early and late dates
of first appearance at Greensburg are, March 27, 1896, April 15, 1894;
Bicknell, March 28, 1897, April 10, 1894; Brookville, March 31, 1884,
April 29, 1895; Greencastle, \pril 6, 1893, April 20, 1895, 1896;
Lafayette, April 4, 1897, April 29, 1893: Sedan, April 16, 1896, May
1, 1894; Chicago, Ill., April 15, 1896, May 4, 1894, 1895; Petersburg,
Mich., April 20, 1889, May 5, 1897. They are common, at leasi, north
to Richmond (A. M. Hadley), Anderson (C. P Smith), Wabash (W.
O. Wallace), Tippecanoe (L. .\. and C. D. Test), and in Vermillion
Birps oF INDIANA. 1145

County (V. H. Barnett). In Carroll-County they are rather common
(B. W. Evermann); at Waterloo it is common. (F. P. Feagler); Sedan,
tolerably common (Mrs. J. L. Hine). It is rare in Allen County (C.
A. Stockbridge), and has been reported from Starke County, and
breeds (G. Fream Morcom, H. K. Coale); Porter, summer resident
(J. W. Byrkit); Lake, breeds (G. F. Clingman). In Cooke County,
IIL, it is not common and breeds (C. A. Tallman, Elliot Blackwelder).
It is common at Hillsdale, Mich. (C. L. Cass), and tolerably common
at Petersburg (Jerome Trombley). I found them at Brookville, paired,
April 4, 1884, and they are usually mated when they arrive. April
18, 1882, four days after arrival, they were building. The earliest
completed nest I have seen was April 21, 1883, seven days after they
were first seen. A set of eggs was noted, May 10, 1881. I have found
young as late as July 9 (1886). Mr. E. R. Quick has found, at Brook-
ville, June 4, two well-incubated eggs in a nest which he thinks was
begun May 21 (Langdon, Cat. Birds, Vic. Cin., 1877, p. 2). Prof. B.
W. Evermann obtained full sets of eggs, May 17, from two nests which
were commenced May 5. He thinks they were completed and the first
egg laid May 12 (The Auk, January, 1889, p. 29). The nest is one of
the most beautiful pieces of bird architecture to be found with us.
It resembles the nest of the Ruby-throated Humming-bird, but is
much larger. Indeed, it seems from the outside too large for the size
of the bird, but the cavity is comparatively small, and in order to sit
within it the bird has to erect her head and tail—apparently a very
uncomfortable position. The nest is composed of fine fibres and spider
webs, and the outside is covered with lichens. It is placed in the fork
or saddled upon a limb of a rough-barked tree in the more open woods.
When completed, owing to its resemblance to a lichen-covered knot,
it is hard to find. While the birds are building it—for both share in
the work—they are very industrious and often pay little attention
to a visitor. At other times they spy him when afar off, and, like the
Tufted Titmouse, continue noisily to pay him attention while he is in
the vicinity. The female is the chief architect. Every little while
during the course of the construction, she settles herself into the nest
and, pressing her breast against the inside wall, stretches her neck
over the side, reaching with her bill as far towards the base as pos-
sible, and presses it together and works it into shape. Often she works
half way around the nest, apparently with much effort and taking
great pains. She uses her bill in forming the nest as a potter uses his
fingers in shaping the plastic clay. Nests are usually placed 25 to 60
feet from the ground.
1146 Report oF STaTE GEOLOGIST.

The ordinary note is something like tszee-tszee-tszee, with occasional
squeaks and clucks. Their call has been compared to the Catbird’s
note and their low, harmonious song—the love song—which is a
pleasant surprise to one who hears it for the first time, to a minature
of the Catbirds’ well-known production. ,

The song, Dr. A. Le Moyne gives as: “ ‘Twing-twing-twing-twing,
ree-ree-ree-ree, first half rising scale, latter descending, followed by
the low jumble of warbles, which defies any representation.”

They become quiet in July, and after that do not attract so much
attention. The following month most of them leave, a few lingering
until after the beginning of September. It has been last noted at
Brookville, September 6, 1896; in Vermillion County, September 6,
1897; Hillsdale, Mich., September 9, 1894; Chicago, Ill., August 31,
1895.

They are restless, active little birds, which we see first when they
come and last before they leave, among the thickets of the more open
woodland. Soon after their arrival they are to be seen among the
trees, and their peculiar notes, lack of shyness, incessant activity and
long tail with outer white tail feathers, are all marks that attract atten-
tion. :

The one who named this little fidget named it well. Its life is spent
in catching small insects, mostly on the fly. In the course of its
journey through the woods it seems to be half the time in the air.
It keeps its eye upon the intruder, but is determined that he shall
obtain a good idea of its expertness in catching gnats and of its ability
to gracefully handle its long tail. It performs remarkable gyrations,
and accompanies them with the opening and folding of its long tail.
Every dart it makes for an insect is followed by a snap of the bill
that is the announcement of the end of one small life, and bears to the
ears of the observer an emphatic attestation of the bird’s ability.

LIT Fammry TURDID, Turusues, Souiraires, Siondowana-
BLuepirps, Etc

a!, Wings and tail with no blue; wing less than four times as long as tarsus.
b!. Tail without white at base.
c, Tail Jess than three times as long as tarsus; breast spotted. Turpus. 176 °
e?, Tail more than three times as long as tarsus; breast in adult not spotted,
MeRvULA. 177
b?. Tail with basal portion white; plumage entirely without spots in adult.
SaXICoLa.
a”, Wing and tail with blue; wing more than five times as long as tarsus.

Srauia. 178
Brrps or INDIANA. 1147

Supramity TURDINA. TuHRvsHeEs.

176. Genus TURDUS Lins aus.
a}, Color brown above.
b1. Tail brighter than back. T. aonalaschkee pallasii (Cab.). 319
6. Tail not brighter than back.
ce}, Sides spotted; head, in adult, brighter than back.

. T. mustelinus Gmel. 314
ce”, Sides not spotted; color uniform above.

d!, Above light tawny brown; throat spots not darker than back.
T. fuscescens Steph. 315
d?. Above rugset olive; throat spots darker than back.

T. fuscescens salicicola Ridgw. 316
a. Color above olive.

e}. Ring around the eye and sides of head and breast buffy.
T. ustulatus swainsonii (Cab.). 318
e?, No buffy ring around eye; sides uf head grayish; breast lighter;
throat white. T. alicie Baird. 317

Subgenus Hytocrouua Baird.

*314. (755) Turdus mustelinus Get.

Wood Thrush.

 

Iiead of Wood Thrush. Natural size.

Adult.—Above, cinnamon-brown, brighter and more rufous on the
crown, more olive on the tail; beneath,.including the sides, white, the
breast and sides marked with roundish spots of black. Immature.
With the upper parts spotted and streaked with yellowish fulvous.

Length, 7.50-8.25; wing, +.10-4.50; tail, 3.00-3.30 (Ridgway).

Rance.—North Anjierica, from Honduras and Bermudas over the
eastern United States to Maine, Quebec and Minnesota; west to Kan-
sas and North Dakota. Breeds from Georgia and southern Missouri
north. Winters from Texas and Florida south.

Nest, on horizontal branch or fork of low tree or sapling, 6 to 15
feet up; of mud, leaves, weeds and twigs, lined with fine rootlets.
Eggs, 2-5; greenish-blue; 1.00 by .75.
1148 Report oF Stare GEOLOGIST.

The Wood Thrush is a common summer resident. Throughout the
denser woodland its ringing metallic notes may be commonly heard
from its arrival in spring until July and occasionally into August.
Its well-known call, e-o-le, is one of the features of our forests that
is passing with the clearing of the land. The flourishing of the magic
ax has wrought greater changes than seemed possible to our childish
mind by the wave of a fairy’s wand. I recall deep woods, from which
comes the notes e-o-lie, that have disappeared, and from the fields that
mark their site is borne the sound of the rattle of the mower, the
tinkle of the sheep bell, or the song of the Dickcissel. The song of the
Wood Thrush is one of the most beautiful in the forest.

They usually appear in southern Indiana after the middle of April
and are common before May 1. Towards our northern boundary they
arrive one year with another near May 1, and are common from the
10th to the 15th of that month. The year 1897 gives us a remarkably
early record—about two weeks earlier than they ever were reported.
At Edwards, Vigo County (A. H. Kendrick), they were noted April

3; at Brookville, April 5. It was noted at Hillsdale, Mich., April 8,
1884 (C. L. Cass). Hitherto, the earliest record at Brookville and
in the State was April 15, 1887, and the latest first arrival, May 3,
1882. They have first been noted at Bicknell, April 21, 1897, April
23, 1895; Lafayette, April 23, 1897, April 29, 1893; Sedan, April
28, 1896, May 3, 1895; Laporte, May 1, 1894, 1896; Petersburg, Mich.,
April 27, 1888, May 5, 1897; Chicago, IIl., April 28, 1896, May 11,
1895. At Brookville they have been seen mating April 27 (1894),
where I have found them nesting as late as July 8, 1886. Prof. B.
W. Evermann found a nest with eggs at Bloomington, May 6, 1886,
and in Carroll County found full sets May 24, 1883. The nest is
placed in a bush or sapling just beyond my reach, generally from eight
to fifteen feet from the ground. Like the Robin, the Wood Thrush
uses considerable mud in nest building, and its eggs resemble those
of that bird, but are smaller.

They are largely insectivorous. Prof. 8. A. Forbes found that 72
per cent. of their food was insects, and the greater part of them
ground-inhabiting forms. Twenty per cent. of their food was fruits,
much of which they obtain from their haunts. In April and May,
during the migrations, insects formed 84 per cent of their food. Ants
formed 15 per cent.; diptera, principally craneflies and wirc-worms,
12 per cent.; lepidoptera, one-third of them cut-worms, 13 per cent.;

beetles, 18 per cent. (Bulletin No. 3, Ill. S. Lab. N. H., pp. 127-129).

It is probable with a little encouragement’the Wood Thrush could

be induced to come into our orchards, fruit gardens and about the
Birps or Inprana. 1149

shrubbery of larger farm yards. In fact, it has been noted as so
doing in the east (King, Geol. of Wis., I, p. 474). While it would
probably demand its toll in fruit, yet it would grind therefore an
enormous grist of insects. They begin to leave in August, and often
are not seen after the first of September, while other falls they occur
after the first of October. The latest record from Brookville is Sep-
tember 7, 1886; Lafayette, September 15, 1894; Sedan, October 15,
1894; Cincinnati, O., October 7, 1877; Warren County, September 20,
1897. While some remain on our southern border, others go as far
south to winter as Honduras (Biol. Cent. Am. Aves., Vol. I., p. 9).

*815. (756). Turdus fuscescens StTEPu.
Wilson’s Thrush.

Synonym, VEERY.

Adull—aAbove, uniform light tawny-brown; below, white; breast,
buffy, it and sides of throat marked with wedge-shaped spots of about
the same color as the back, often arranged in more or less regular rows;
sides of belly slightly cea

Length, 6.45-7.75; wing, 3.75-4.15; tail, 2.70-3.30.

Ravan — America, from Brazil over eastern United States to New-
foundland and Manitoba. Breeds from North Carolina along the Alle-
ghanies, Pennsylvania and Indiana northward. Winters from Florida
southward.

Nest, on ground or near it, loosely constructed of dry leaves, bark .

shreds, grass and weeds; no mud. Eggs, 3-5; grayish-blue; rarely
marked; .85 by .67.
, Wilson’s Thrush is chiefly a rare migrant, but occurs occasionally
as a summer resident and breeds. Some places common. In Franklin
County it is one of the rarest birds. But two specimens have been
taken in twenty years; in Carroll and Monroe counties it is not very
common, and from many localities where there are active collectors
it has never been reported. Dr. F. W. Langdon gives it as “a rare
migrant in April in the vicinity of Cincinnati” (Jour. Cin. Soc. Nat.
Hist., January, 1879, p. 169).

It is usually found late in April and early May, but has appeared
as early as April 9 and remained southward until late in May. Mr.
- Robert Ridgway informs me it breeds in Knox and Gibson counties,
and in Dekalb County Mrs. Jane L. Hine said “it will average toler-
ably common. Abundant in a very few localities, as about the bush
and willow-grown bottom land of Stony Juake.” In 1897 she informs
me they are becoming rare. It possibly breeds in other localities
1150 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

throughout the State. Mr. Ridgway noted their arrival in Knox
County, April 21, 1881, and they were observed toward the last of
May (Bulletin N. O. C., L, January, 1882, p. 19). Mr. W. O. Wallace
noted their arrival at Wabash, April 27, 1894, where they were still
found in June. The earliest record from the State is that noted by
Prof. B. W. Evermann from Carroll County, April 9, 1885 (The Auk,
January, 1889, p. 29). The following additional dates of first arrivals
are given: Brookville, April 28,1897; Spearsville, April 29, 1894,
May 6, 1895; Moore’s Hill, May 1, 1893; Bloomington; May 13, 1886;
Lafayette, April 29, 1893, April 36, 1892; Richmond, May 7, 1897;
Sedan, April 26, 1896; April 28, 1889, 1897; Laporte, May 1, 1894;
Chicago, Ill., April 29, 1886; Petersburg, Mich., April 26, 1889, 1897,
May 2, 1893.

Of these localities they are reported as common from Richmond,
Sedan, Laporte and Petersburg, Mich. Mr. Coale formerly found
it a rather common migrant in the vicinity of Chicago, but of late
years it seems to be very rare. Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr., thinks it is a
rare summer resident there. At its breeding places it has the reputa-
tion of being one of the most famous woodland songsters. At times
it sings far into the night, and has now the name of “Nightingale.”
All its notes are said to he “clear, bell-like, resonant, distinct, yet
soft and of indescribable sadness.” My. Ridgway says their song con-
sists of an indescribably delicate, metallic utterance of the syllables,
ta-weel’-ah, ta-weel’-ah, twil-ah, twil-ah, accompanied by a fine trill
that renders it truly seductive. While they are with us, as migrants,
we do not hear their famous xong. Their food is largely insects. Prof.
King found that of eight he examined, seven ate 2 ants, 9 beetles
and one harvestman, and one ate raspberries, and two, dogwood berries
(Geol. of Wis., I, p. 471). They begin passing south in August. and
most have gone early in September, but some occasionally linger until
October.

The latest record at Sedan is September 7, 1889; at Cincinnati, O.,
September 1; 1879, and at Lafayette, Ind., they were moderately com-
mon- October 2, 1894.

316. (7560). Turdus fuscescens salicicola (Rivew.).
Willow Thrush.

Similar to 7. fuseescens, but above, russet-olive; chest. very pale
buff with broader wedge-shaped markings of brown darker than the
back.

Length, wing, 3.80-4.25; tail, 2.70-3.30,
Birps oF INDIANA. 1151

Rance.—America, from Brazil north over interior region, between
Utah and Mississippi River to British Columbia. Accidental in IIli-
nois, Indiana and South Carolina.

Nest and eggs, similar to those of last species.

This western form of Wilson’s Thrush is of rare or accidental. occur-
‘rence during the migrations about the lower end of Lake Michigan.
Mr. H. K. Coale obtained a specimen at Chicago, Ill., September 16,
1877. It was submitted to Mr. Robert Ridgway, who verified the
identification. Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr., informs me that he took a male
of this form at Grand Crossing, Ill, April 29, 1886, and two at Liver-
pool, Ind., May 5, 1894.

317. (757). Turdus aliciz Barrp.
Gray-cheeked Thrush.

Synonym, ALIcr’s THRUSH.

Adult——Above, uniform olive; whitish ring around eye; sides of
head nearly uniform grayish; below, white, the throat and upper
breast often tinged with bright buff, the sides of the former and all
the latter with triangular dark-grown or blackish spots; the sides
washed with ashy, sometimes tinged with brownish.

Length, 7.00-7.75; wing, 3.75-4.40; tail, 2.95-3.40.

Note.—This species is slightly larger and more plainly grayer on
sides of head than 7. ustalatus swainsonii.

Rance.—America, from Columbia over eastern United States to
Labrador and Alaska; also eastern Siberia. Breeds from Labrador
and Hudson Bay north. Winters in Central America and southward.

Nest, in woods, in low bush, 2 to 7 feet up; of moss, strips of bark,
old leaves and grass. Hggs, deep green, marked with russet-brown
spots: .92 by .67.

The Gray-cheeked Thrush is generally not a common migrant in
Indiana.

Some places it is very rare and others it at times is common. In
the Whitewater Valley it is very rare. I, myself, have never seen a
specimen in Franklin County. Prof. Evermann does not give it from
Carroll County, but says it is a common migrant in Monroe County
(Hoosier Naturalist, May 1, 1887, p. 145). At Spearsville it is toler-
ably common, where it has been noted April 14 and 15, 1894, April
3 to 10, 1895; and May 5, 189% (Barnett); and at Lafayette, not very
common (L. A. and C. D. Test). Mr. Robert Ridgway has this to
say regarding its occurrence in Knox County in the spring of 1881:
“The exact date of the arrival of this species was not noted, but was
1152 REroRT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

somewhere near the 20th of April. During the last week of April
and the first three weeks of May it was very common, perhaps more so
than any of the other small Thrushes. Specimens were shot May 23,
and others were observed as late as the 28th of that month, the date
of my departure” (Bulletin Nutt. Orn. Club, January, 1882, p. 19).
Prof. B. W. Evermann. has found it common in Vigo County. Prof.
W. 8. Blatchley noted them at Bloomington, May 1, 1886. Mr.
Charles Barber notes it as abundant at Laporte, April 10th to 12th,
1892, and Mr. C. E. Aiken informs me that he has found it common
in Lake County, May 2, 3 and 4, 1894. Mr. J. G. Parker, Jr., says
it is a not uncommon spring and fall migrant near Chicago, Ill. He
has noted it between May 13 (1886) and May 20 (1896), and in Sep-
tember. Messrs. L. A. and C. D. Test saw twelve at Lafayette, Sep-
tember 4, 1895, and note it May 12, 1892. Mr. Alden M. Hadley
took specimens which are in the collection at Earlham College, at
Richmond, September 16 and 19, 1896. Messrs. Dury and Freeman
noted them at Cincinnati, O., September 16, 1879, and Dr. F. W.
Langdon has observed it in that vicinity “rather ‘common early in
October, feeding on the berries of the sour gum” (Journ. Cin. Soe.
Nat. Hist., January, 1879, p. 169).

Their habits appear to be substantially the same as the Olive-back’s.
They frequent the same localities, eat similar food, and are often
found together. This species seems to be more solitary, and more
retiring in its habits than the other.

Prof. Forbes found that the food of ten specimens of this Thrush
shot in May consisted of five per cent. mollusks, chiefly succinea and
Helix labyrinthica; ninety-three per cent., insects, almost half of
these being ants, of which each bird ate forty-three per cent. Fifteen
per cent. of their food was caterpillars: nine per cent., craneflies;
eighteen per cent., coleoptera, one-half being aphodid@, and the re-
mainder, wire-worms, curculios and plant beetles. Almost none of
its food is beneficial elements (Bulletin No. 3, Ill. State Lab. N. H., p.
130).

318. (7580). Turdus ustulatus swainsonii (Caz.).
Olive-backed Thrush.
Synonym, Swarnson’s THRUSH.

Adult—Above, uniform olive; ring around eye and light feathers
on head, buff; below, throat and upper breast. buff, the sides of the
former and all the latter spotted with triangular dark-brown or black-
ish spots; other lower parts, white, spotted next the breast with ashy
and washed on the sides with ashy, sometimes tinged with brownish.

Length, 6.35-7.55; wing, 3.80-4.10; tail, 2.80-3.10.
Brros oF INDIANA. 1153

RancEr.—America, from Brazil and Ecuador over eastern North
America (west to Great Basin) to Labrador and Alaska. Breeds from
Pennsylvania, in the Alleghanies, southern Sierra Nevadas, moun-
tains of southern New England and Manitoba northward.

Nest, in woods in bush, small tree or hollow stump, 5 feet up; of
rootlets, bark, grass, moss, lined with finer material. Eggs, 3-5; pale
blue, spotted chiefly at larger end with reddish-brown, sometimes
forming wreath about larger end; .93 by .70.

The Olive-backed Thrush is a common migrant. It is possible it
breeds rarely in the extreme northern portion of the State.

Dr. A. W. Brayton says it is a rare summer resident in the north of
the State (Ind. Birds, 1879, p. 95).

Some springs they arrive in southern Indiana by April 23 and reach
the northern part of the State by April 28. Usually, however, it is
about the first of May when they are seen southward, and a week or
ten days later before they reach our northern boundary. Most of
them pass through in from one to tio weeks after they arrive, but
individuals are found along our northern border until near the end
of May.

It is well to note that this, the Gray-cheeked and Wilson’s Thrushes,
are late migrants compared with the Wood Thrush and Hermit
Thrush. They have been-noted at Brookville, April 26, 1883, May
8, 1882; Richmond, May 23 and 24, 1897; Greensburg, May 1 to May
22, 1894; Spearsville, May 4 to 18, 1895; Wabash, May 1 to 5, 1893;
Bloomington, May 9, 1893; Lafayette, May 12, 1892; Laporte, April
10, 1893, 1894, May 1, 1893; Sedan, May 6, 1896, May 16, 1889; Chi-
cago, Ill., the earliest date of arrival is April 28, 1896, and they were
noted there May 26, 1897.

The Olive-backed Thrush is found in all kinds of woodland, where
either singly or in small groups they spend much time upon the
ground, where they obtain their food. When surprised they fly upon
the lower branches of a tree or bush, usually getting behind a limb
or tree trunk out of view, but sometimes simply turning the back to
the intruder and then sitting motionless. Often when frightened
from this perch they fly wildly away with a flight almost as erratic
as that of Wilson’s Snipe.

Prof. Forbes examined eleven of these Thrushes taken at different
seasons and found 62 per cent. of their food was insects and 35 per
cent. fruits. Of the insects, ants constituted 17 per cent; caterpillars,
12 per cent.; beetles, 18 per cent.; craneflies, 4 per cent. Of the fruit
eaten 27 per cent. was wild grapes.

73—GROL.
1154 REeporT oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

In spring their food is like that of the last-described species. The
large number of ants, caterpillars and beetles eaten are especial fea-
tures. In fall they fed largely upon fruits, which constituted 60
per cent. of their food. These were principally wild cherries, elderber-
ties, blackberries, and wild grapes. These last constituted over half
of their food (Bulletin No. 3, ll. S. Lab. N. H., pp. 131, 135, 136).
(See also King’s Geol. of Wis., I., pp. 475, 476.)

They appear about our northern boundary the last days of August
and early part of September, sometimes all the month, are found over
the State. Occasionally they are found after October 1. The latest
fall date at Brookville is September 13, 1897; in Warren County,
September 25, 1897 (V. K. Barnett); at Sedan they were first noted
September 3, 1889, and September 16, 1892, and 1894, and the latest
date seen was September 26, 1894. At Oincinnati, O., in 1879, they
were first seen September 2, and last, September 21. In 1895 they
were first seen at Chicago, Ill., August 29, and were last noted there
October 5 (Elliot Blackwelder). In 1896 they’ were first seen there
August 29 and last observed September 30 (C. A. Tallman). They
appear to be much more numerous in fall than in spring.

They have a loud and beautiful song that is heard about their sum-
mer homes. I have never heard them sing during the migrations,
though it is possible the later migrants sometimes do. The song of
Alice’s and the Olive-backed Thrushes are said to be different. Mr.
Bicknell thinks that of the present species “is louder, more spontane-
ous and lyrical. Almost the first note is the loudest and most liquid,
' after which the melody becomes rapidly finer, seeming to dissolve
upon the air like the spent vibration of a stringed instrument. The
song of the Gray-cheeked Thrush commences low and reaches its
loudest, and I think its highest, part a little beyond half its continu-
ance. It is, throughout, much fainter and of less favorable delivery
than the song of the Olive-backed species” (The Auk, April, 1884,
pp. 180, 181). :

319. (7596). Turdus aonalaschke pallasii (Caz.).
Hermit Thrush.

Adult.— Above, olive-brown; upper tail-coverts and tail, rufous; buff
ring around the eye; below, whitish; throat and front of breast, buffy;
sides, olive-brown or olive-gray; sides of throat with blackish stripes
and breast with wedge-shaped, triangular, blackish spots.

Length, 6.50-7.65; wing, 3.40-3.90; tail, 2.55-3.15.

Rance.—Eastern North America, from Gulf Coast to mouth of St.
Birps oF INDIANA. 1155

Lawrence River and Manitoba. Breeds from northern Michigan and
southern New York north. Winters from Illinois and Pennsylvania
south.

Nest, in swampy or low places in woods, on ground; of old leaves,
weeds, bark-strips, rootlets and grass; contains no mud; lined with the
finer materials. Hggs, 4; greenish-blue, pale; .90 by .66.

The Hermit Thrush is a common migrant. It may possibly rarely
winter in the lower Wabash Valley and perhaps rarely breeds. Dr.
F. W. Langdon says, upon the authority of Mr. Charles Dury, that
its nest and eggs were taken near Cincinnati, O., May 10, 1877 (i ourn.
Cin. Soc. Nat. Hist., January, 1879, p. 169).

The Hermit Thrush is the first to arrive in the spring and the last
to depart in the autumn. The early arrivals and tardy departures,
however, aré but a few of the many who visit us. The bulk of the
species are found with us the last half of April and the first half of
October. The earliest and latest spring records at Greensburg are
March. 28, 1896, April 30, 1895; Brookville, April 12, 1897, May 3,
1889; Richmond, April 11, 1897, May 19, 1897; Greencastle, April
22, 1893, May 8, 1895; Carroll County, March 30, 1884; Wabash,
March 26, 1894, April 29, 1894; Lafayette, April 5, 1896, May 3,
1893; Sedan, April 5, 1893, May 6, 1889; Laporte, April 12, 1896,
May 4, 1894; Chicago, Ill, April 18, 1897, May 20, 1897; Petersburg,
Mich., April 7, 1889, 1893, May 20, 1889. They are found in the more
open woodland, along the wooded banks of streams, in the more open
second-growth and along bushy ravines. In the northern part of the
State they frequent damp woods, groves and scrubby growth and about
Chicago vacant lots and grounds containing shrubbery: When sur-
prised they fly upon a low limb of a tree or bush and remain there
quietly eying the intruder. If not further alarmed they soon fly to
a neighboring brush pile, thicket or the top of a fallen tree and begin
anew searching for food. Every now and then one hears their cluck,
and even though they are hidden by the tangle of leafless vines and
stems, one can imagine they are busy.

The winter home of the Hermit Thrush was partly in the range of
the. destructive storms of 1895, and great numbers evidently perished.
In some places none were seen that spring; in others, they were scarce,
while a few stations report the usual number. About Chicago they were
rather common (Elliot Blackwelder, C. A. Tallman); at Greencastle
the usual numbers were noted (Jesse Harlle); at Spearsville (V. H.
Barnett) and Lafayette (L. A. and C. D. Test) none were seen; at
Sedan they were wery rare, only one being obsevred (Mrs. Jane L.
Hine). At Palmer, Mich., where they breed, Mr. O. B. Warren writes
1156 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

there was a marvelous decrease in numbers, more noticeable than the
absence of the Bluebird. In the depths of the northern forests it
finds its voice, lost there the year before, of which we of more southern
latitudes know nothing. Neither Audubon nor Wilson seem to have
known of its song, but such gifted interpreters as Dr. Coues and Mr.
John Burroughs have heard it sing and brought to us their concep-
tions of its efforts, fresh from the cool north woods, written as with
the flowing of inspiration from the point of the pen. In Mr. Bur-
roughs’ “Wake Robin,” we find these words: ‘Ever since I entered
the woods, even while listening to the lesser songsters or contemplat-
ing the silent forms about me, a strain has reached my ears 1rom out of
the depths of the forest that to me is the finest sound in nature—the
song of the Hermit Thrush.

“T often hear him thus a long way off, sometimes over a quarter of
a mile away, when only the stronger and more perfect parts of his
music reach me; and through the chorus of Wrens and Warblers I
detect this sound, rising pure and serene, as if a spirit from some
remote height were slowly chanting a divine accompaniment. This
song appeals to the sentiment of the beautiful in me, and suggests a
serene religious beatitude as no other sound in nature does. It is,
perhaps, more of an evening than a morning hymn, though I hear
it at all hours of the day. It is very simple and I can hardly tell the
secret of its charm. ‘O spheral, spheral!’ he seems to say; ‘O holy,
holy! O clear away, clear away! O clear up, clear up!’ interspersed with
the finest trills and the most delicate preludes. It is not a proud,
gorgeous strain, like the Tanager’s or the Grosbeak’s; suggests no pas-
sion or emotion—nothing personal—but seems to be the voice of that
calm, sweet solemnity one attains to in his best. moments. It realizes
a peace and a deep, solemn joy that only the finest soul may know.
A few nights ago I ascended a mountain to see the world by moon-
light, and when near the summit, the Hermit commenced his evening
hymn a few rods from me. Listening to this strain on the lone moun-
tain, with the full moon just rounded from the horizon, the pomp
of your cities and the pride of your civilization seemed trivial and
cheap.”

The greater part of their food is obtained from the ground. Prof.
H. K. King examined nine specimens. One had eaten twenty ants;
three, a caterpillar each; two, three.grasshoppers; six, six beetles; one.
a wire-worm; one had eaten wild grapes, and one berries of the Indian
turnip (Geol. of Wis.. p. 475). Prof. 8. A. Forbes examined twenty-
one specimens. Highty-four per cent. of their food was insects; four
per cent. spiders. and twelve per cent. thousand-legs. The most of
Birps or INDIANA. 1157

the insects consisted of ants, fifteen per cent.; lepidoptera (butterflies,
moths, cut-worms, caterpillars, etc.), nineteen per cent.; beetles, thirty
per cent.; hemiptera, mostly predaceous, eight per cent.; grasshoppers,
eight per cent. (Bulletin No. 3, Ill. State Lab. N. H., pp. 129, 130).

In the fall they begin to be seen in northern Indiana, late in Sep-
tember. While the multitude passes through the early part of Octo-
ber, there are some that remain into November. The earliest and
latest dates where they have been observed are at Sedan, September
22, 1889, October 27, 1894; Brookville, October 11, 1887, October 22.
1394; Greensburg, October 22, 1893, October 27, 1894; Carroll
County, October 5, 1878; Chicago, Ill., October 6, 1893, November 11,
1895.

The Hermit Thrush may be readily recognized by its bright, tawny
tail. It is the only thrush that has the tail brighter than the back.

177. Gexus MERULA Lracg.

*320. (761). Merula migratoria (Linw.).
American Robin.

‘ Synonym, Rosin.

Adult Male-—Above, head, black; eyelids and a spot in front of the
eye, white; wings, black; tail, blackish, the two outer feathers tipped
with white; other upper parts, slate-gray; below, throat, breast and
sides, deep rufous, or reddish; other lower parts, white, the crissum
tinged with dusky; bill, yellow. Adult Female—Similar, but paler
and duller. Bill, less yellow. Immature.—Back, with black markings;
breast, sides and abdomen, pale rufous, thickly spotted with black.

Length; 9.00-10.00; wing, 4.90-5.40; tail, 4.10-4.50.

RancE.—Eastern North America, from eastern Mexico to Hudson
Bay and Alaska, west to Rocky Mountains. Breeds from Virginia and
southern Missouri north. Winters from Minnesota, Michigan and
southern New England south.

Nest, preferably in fruit tree or shade tree; of twigs, grass, weeds,
strings, papers, fibres, with much mud; lined with fine grass. KHyggs,
4-6; greenish-blue; 1.18 by .81. Two broods.

The Robin is a common summer resident, abundant during the
migrations. It is an irregular winter resident throughout the State,
more regular and numerous southward. While almost every year they
are found the whole year round somewhere in the State, the prob-
ability is that the Robins that breed with us are not the ones that
winter in the same locality. Usually the migrations begin near the
first of February in the vicinity of the Ohio River, and the birds be-
1158 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

come common that month sometimes within a few days after the
migrants are first noted. In the center of the State, in general, they
may be looked for near the middle of February, and to become com-
mon within the next two weeks. In the northern counties the aver-
age arrival is about March 10, a little later in the vicinity of Chicago,
and they are common about the 25th of that month. The following
are the early and late first appearances of migrants: Brookville, Janu-
ary 17%, 1897, February 23, 1885; Greensburg, February 23, 1894;
Greencastle, February 11, 1893, March 1, 1896; Lafayette, February
1, 1897, March 23, 1895; Sedan, February 28, 1896, March 18, 1895;
Laporte, March 2, 1893, March 16, 1896; Chicago, Ill, March 3,

 

American Robin.
(Beal.—Farmers’ Bulletin 54, United States Department of Agriculture.)

1894, March 27, 1895; Petersburg, Mich., February 26, 1893, March
9, 1897. At Brookville I have found the migrants in flocks in the
woods making their way north so late as April 2 (1896), when the local
summer residents were nest building. Within the last few years they
remained through the winter of 1894-5 in favorable locations over
southern Indiana as far north as Greensburg (Shannon) and Green-
castle (Harlle). The most general distribution of Robins in winter
occurred the past winter (1896-7). That year they were found
throughout Indiana into northern Illinois and southern Michigan.
They were reported from Hanover (Culbertson), on the Ohio River:
from Greensburg, where a flock of five hundred was seen December
30, 1896 (Shannon). They were observed at Waterloo (Keep) and
Sedan (Mrs. Hine). At Angola they were abundant all winter. feed-
Birps or Inprana. 1159

ing upon dogwood berries (Mrs. Sniff). They were common all winter
in the vicinity of Chicago, Ill. (Dunn), and at Petersburg, Mich., a
flock of a hundred or more were present all winter feeding upon frozen
apples (Trombley). At Spearsville, Brown County, and Bicknell,
Knox County, they are usually found through the winter.

At the height of the migration they arrive in great flocks, which
scatter over the country in little bands through the day and at night
collect: in favorite roosting places, where several flocks are sometimes
associated together. My yard is one of these roosting sites. There
they may be found for two or four weeks after arrival every spring.
The. summer residents usually arrive after the first of March and
sometimes not until the latter part of that month. The latest date
tor their arrival is in 1897, when they arrived March 25. I have
heard them begin singing as early as March 8 (1893) and as late as
March 23 (1895). The first song is sung from the top of a certain
maple tree in my front yard. As the time approaches, I am listening
for it, and often while at supper its call sounds, “cheerily, cheer up,
cheer up, cheerily, cheerily, cheer up,” as Mr. Nehrling would inter-
pret it. He also gives its well-known call as “Durick, tuck, tuck,
tuck.” They usually begin building early in April, sometimes the
first week. Prof. W. P. Shannon notes a pair at Greensburg that
began their nest March 28, 1896; first egg laid, April 5; second, April
6; third and last, April 7; began to sit, April 8; hatched, April 21;
young left nest, May 3. It requires about seven days to build the
nest; an egg is usually laid each day; about thirteen days are required
for incubation, and the young remain in the nest twelve or thirteen
days. Two broods are reared each year and, doubtless, occasionally,
three. The bright color of the breast in spring has darkened by the
first of May or before to a dingy reddish-brown. Throughout the late
summer the Robins wander over the country, in dry years seeking
swampy and other wet places where wild fruits are ripe and ripening.
Often about their breeding places they will seem quite scarce. With
the last of September flocks of early migrants may be seen, quietly
trooping through the woods, making their way southward. This is
continued through October and sometimes well into November. They
are usually rather quiet, sometimes uttering a loud cry and occa-
sionally voicing a few notes. I heard its well known “durick’’ call
November 23, 1896, as strong and clear as it was the preceding spring.
Mr. J. G. Parker informs me the migrants sometimes linger in the
vicinity of Chicago until November. I have the following late fall
dates when they did not winter. Brookville, October 14, 1890; La-
fayette, October 21, 1894;. Greencastle, December 15, 1893; Sedan,
1160 REPoRT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

November 11, 1889. Their remaining through the winter depends
not so much upon the weather as upon a supply of food that may be
easily obtained.

They gather into large roosts some winters. There was one re-
ported the winter of 1896-7 in Brown County. Considerable attention
has been given in different parts of the country to the food of the
Robin. I can give but a few points from the conclusions reached.
From the time of its first arrival until June, almost its entire food is
insects. In the early spring in Illinois, Prof. Forbes found its chief
food was the larve of a fly (Bibio albipennis Say), a species which if
allowed to increase might do much damage to meadows and pastures.
Mr. Wilcox has found this to be the same in Ohio and doubtless it is
true in Indiana. The last named gentleman has found that over 96
per cent. of their food in April, 97% per cent. in May, over 43 per cent.
in June, was insects, of which from almost one-fifth to near two-fifths
of the total food was injurious species and more than that of neutral
species. In June they began eating fruit to an amount equal to 54
per cent. of their food, cherries forming 14.6 per cent. and raspberries
36.6 per cent. Prof. Forbes found, deducting the Bibio larve, that
the total percentage of injurious insects eaten was as follows: February,
18; March, 37; April, 39; May, 55; June, 24; July, 10; August, 31;
September, 7, while the percentage of fruits and seeds eaten were
for June (when they first became important), 58; July, 79; August,
56; September, 70, and October, 56. In June cherries formed 47
per cent. and raspberries 8; in July, blackberries were 56 and currants
17 per cent.; in August, cherries were 44 and hackberries 5 per cent.;
in September grapes were 52 and Mountain Ash berries 8 per cent.;
and in October grapes constituted 53 per cent. of their food.

The grapes eaten in October and doubtless many of those eaten in
September were wild kinds. In an orchard infested with canker-
worms the Robins’ food consisted of 40 per cent. of that species (Rept.
Mich. Hort. Soc., 1881, p. 204).

Profs. F. and L. Beal have reported an examination of 330 stomachs
of Robins taken at different seasons. Forty-two per cent. of their
food was found to be animal matter, principally insects, and the re-
mainder is largely small fruits and berries.

From the evidence presented it is safe to say that noxious insects
comprise more than one-third of the Robin’s food. Vegetable food
was found to be nearly 58 per cent. of that eaten, wild fruits forming
47, and varieties that were possibly cultivated a little more than 4
per cent. They ate 25 per cent. of cultivated fruit in June and J uly.
Wild fruit was eaten every month and forty-one kinds were noted.
Birps oF INDIANA. 1161

Small fruits and cherries that ripen early are almost the only fruits
that are eaten to any amount. Early cherries are about the only fruit
that is ripe at that time when the Robin wants a change of diet. By
July and through the remainder of the season there is an abundance
of wild kinds that are more to its taste. The investigations show that
the Robin takes ten times as much wild as cultivated fruit. The wild
plants upon which it feeds are not those gathered by man or adopted
by him for cultivation. It is wise either to plant a few extra plants
or trees for the birds or to plant a few of some such trees as the Rus-
sian mulberry, the fruit of which they seem to prefer to kinds that
man values more highly. (On this subject see Farmers’ Bulletin, No.
34, U. 8. Dept. of Agriculture, pp. 37, 38; Journal Columbus (0.)
Hort. Soc., Vol. VI., September, 1891, pp. 75, 80; and Bull. Ill.
State Lab. Nat. Hist., No. 3, pp. 89, 107.)

There come years when the severe weather kills some of the Robins.
Perhaps this has not been observed to have occurred to so great an
extent as it did the latter part of the winter and early spring of 1895.
The sudden storms and severe weather of February, March and April
south of us covered much of the territory where they winter just as
they were beginning to move northward, that they were undoubtedly
destroyed in countless numbers. In some localities they seem to have
been almost exterminated. The effects of this were noted throughout
Indiana, Illinois and Michigan. In the northern part of the first two
States, particularly in the vicinity of Chicago, they were very scarce.
(See Proc. Ind. Acad. Science, 1895, pp. 165, 166.)

178. Guxus SIALIA Swaryson.

*321. (766). Sialia sialis (Livy.).
Bluebird.

Adult Male—Above, bright blue; below, throat and breast cinna-
mon, other under parts white. Adult Female-—Above, grayish; wings,
tail and rump blue; below, paler. Immature.—Similar to female;
upper parts and breast marked with white.

Length, 5.70-7.00; wing, 3.90-4.15; tail, 2.60-2.90.

Rance.—Eastern North America from Cuba, and Bermudas to
Nova Scotia, Ontario and Manitoba, west to Rocky Mountains. Breeds
throughout its range. Winters from northern Indiana and southern
New York southward. Resident in Bermudas.

Nest, in hole in tree, post, stump or in a box; of grass: Hggs. 4-6;
pale blue, unmarked.
1162 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

The Bluebird is a common summer resident. It is also resident,
being most common southward and varying in numbers different
years. The past twenty or twenty-five years the Bluebird has been
noticeably becoming less numerous. The persecutions of the English
Sparrow and several disastrous winters had almost exterminated them.
They are, however, now increasing in numbers. They usually remain
through the winter in greater or less numbers as far north as Knox,
Monroe and Brown counties and almost to Decatur and Franklin
where they are often found at that season. Irregularly they are found
over the State. The winter of 1893-4 they were reported at Green-
castle and Greensburg; of 1894-5, at Greencastle, Greensburg, Brook-

 

Bluebird.
(Beal—Farmer’s Bulletin 54, United States Department of Agriculture.)

ville and Oxford, O.; and that of 1896-7, at Hanover, Brookville.
Greensburg, and even at Angola, Steuben County. The following are
early and late dates of the beginning of migration: Richmond, Feb-
ruary 1, 1895, February 24, 1892: Sedan, February 9, 1894, February
27, 1896; Lafayette, February 22, 1892, March 17, 1896; Laporte,
February 27, 1894, March 29, 1896; Chicago, March 3, 1894, March
29, 1896. The following dates of the beginning of migration for the
spring of 1897 is an average date: Brookville, February 11; Richmond,
February 16; Janesville. February 21; Waterloo, February 24; Ed-
wards, Vigo County, February 28; Lafayette, March 7; Liverpool,
March 10; Chicago, March 12; Petersburg, Mich., March 6.

I found them paired by February 10, 1882. March 10, 1881, they
were nest hunting, and April 11, that year, they were nesting.
Birps oF INDIANA. 1163

Prof. Evermann found a nest with a full set of eggs at Blooming-
ton April 4, 1882, and I noted young at Brookville April 14 of the
same year. It rears two and sometimes three broods, often occupying
the same site for years.

Occasionally eggs are found that are pure white, but usually the en-
tire set is of the same color. Mr. A. H. Kendrick, of Edwards, Ind.,
informs me that he has taken a set of six, five of which are white,
and one, dark blue.

Prof. B. W. Evermann in the Ornithologist and Oologist, August,
1886, p. 124, gives an account of a female Bluebird that laid three
successive sets of five white eggs each, the first two sets having been
taken. May 5, 1884, the first set was taken. May 14, the second nest
was completed and first egg laid. One egg was laid each day and the
set was completed the 18th. It was removed May 20th. The next
day work began rebuilding the first nest. June 3 the nest was com-
pleted and the third set was complete. It was not removed. In thirty
days two nests had been built and fifteen eggs laid. After the last
brood is reared they wander about the country in little groups, perhaps
family parties from three to a dozen individuals. These become more
numerous in October and November. With the first severe weather
most of them retire for a few weeks a little farther south. The great
number of Bluebirds winter between the Ohio River and the Gulf
‘ Coast. This region is also the winter home of most of the Robins,
Hermit Thrushes, Yellow-rump Warblers and Home Wrens.

Dr. Vernon Gould, of Rochester, writes me that as a boy he recalls
having frequently found the bodies of Bluebirds under the loose bark
of trees and in crevices and cavities where they had sought shelter but -
found death through the severe weather. Many of us recall similar
instances of the effect of sudden severe cold spells upon these birds.
The peculiar weather conditions of the early part of the year 1895
had a deadly effect upon them. The Bluebirds remained in some
numbers north almost to middle Indiana until late in December, 1894.
The weather was warm until after Christmas. December 27 and 28
it became quite cold in this latitude. The Bluebirds were forced far-
ther southward beyond the limits of the severe weather. There it
remained warm until late in January. On the 24th of that month the
temperature as far south as South Carolina remained near the zero
mark. It turned warmer that night and the next day, January 25,
the weather was bright and clear. The.day following was Friday. It
rained, then snowed; the wind came down from the northwest with
great velocity and the temperature fell rapidly. Everything was ice-
bound or snow-bound to the Gulf of Mexico. Then followed weeks
1164 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

of unusual severity. By the end of the severe weather in April, it is
said, but few Robins or Bluebirds could be found. The destruction of
bird life must have been enormous.. The Bluebirds seem to have
. been almost exterminated. Few, indeed, returned to their breeding
grounds in the north and from many localities none were reported
the spring of 1895. At Vincennes (Bicknell), Frankfort (A. B. Ghen),
and Rochester (Gould), Ind., and Oxford, Ohio (Prof. A. L. Tread-
well), none were observed.

At the following places very few were seen: At Redkey, probally
six or seven (Roy Hathaway), none breeding; Greensburg, few (Prof.
W. P. Shannon); Upland, not more than a dozén (D. W. Collet); Han-
over, few (Prof. Glenn Culbertson); Greencastle, few (Jesse Earlle);
Sedan, very rare (Mrs. Hine); Lafayette, three (L. A. and C. D. Test);
Waterloo, very rare, (C. L: Hine); Orange, Martin and Dubois
counties, very scarce (E. M. Kindle); English Lake, one seen, very
scarce (R. Deane); Wilders, Ind., heard a pair in July, very scarce;
none seen about Chicago (J. O. Dunn); Sandusky, Ohio, very scarce
(Prof. E. L. Moseley); Agricultural College, Mich., one heard, none
seen (Prof. T. L.. Hankinson); Brant, Mich., very scarce (Dr. W. De-
Clarenze); Bay City, Mich., one, nearly extinct (Eddy); Grand Haven,
Mich., two (E. Davidson); Plymouth, Mich., few, one pair nested (R.
C. Alexander); Glen Ellyn, Ill., three seen (B. T. Gault); Morgan Park,
IL. twelve seen, four of them young (Elliott Blackwelder); Chicago,
Il., not over twenty seen the entire year (C. H. Tallman). At Brook-
ville but a few were seen in the spring and none through the summer.
In the fall a number were noted. (See Proc. Ind. Acad. Sci., 1895,
pp. 162, 165.) There was an increase in number in 1896 and again
in 1897.

Indeed through October and November of the latter year they were
quite common at Brookville.

The Bluebird is one of the most domestic of birds. It builds its
nest in holes in posts, rails, outbuildings, in holes in trees, very often
selecting the orchard as its site. It eats almost no fruits or seeds of
beneficial plants, and the only thing charged against it is the beneficial
insects it takes. Of 205 birds reported upon by Prof. F. E. L. Beal,
76 per cent. of their food’ was insects and allied forms. The other 24
per cent. was various vegetable substances, mostly eaten in winter.
Beetles constituted 28 per cent of the total food; grasshoppers, 22:
caterpillars, 11. All are more or less harmful, except a few predaceous
beetles, amounting to 8 per cent. The destruction of grasshoppers and
caterpillars is very large. The former constitute more than 60 per
Birps oF INDIANA. 1165

cent. of its diet in August and September (Farmers’ Bulletin, No. 54,
U.S. Dept. Agr.).

Prof. S. A. Forbes found a bird taken in an orchard infested with
canker-worms had eaten 60 per cent. of that food. But on the con-
trary he found that both this and the Thrushes made about 16 per
cent. of their food of predaceous beetles which are beneficial, and were
making about one-sixth of their food of canker-worms. (Rept. Mich.
Hort. Soc., 1881, p. 204; see also Bulletin Ill. State Lab. N. H., No.
3, pp. 137, 148.)

This bird deserves special endoutaxement and protection.

Nesting places should be provided for it about gardens, orchards,
groves and yards. If protected from pestiferous, English Sparrows
and wanton boys it will thus have a better opportunity to regain
its former numbers and will be more useful where its powers as an in-
sect destroyer are most needed.
HYPOTHETICAL LIST.

. The following list of species which have not been, as yet, positively
reported from the State, is composed of those forms which have been
taken in neighboring States, or whose known range-seems to include
Indiana. Some of them, it will be noticed, are of very rare or acci-
dental occurrence in the locality where they have been found, and pos-
sibly may not be found at all within our limits. For the sake of
abbreviation references are made as follows:

RIDGWAY CAT.—Ridgway’s Catalogue of the Birds of Illinois,
Bulletin No. 4, Illinois State Laboratory of Natural History.

RIDGWAY, ILL. ORN.—Ridgway’s Ornithology of Illinois, Vol.
I., 1889; Vol. II., 1895.

RIDGWAY MANUAL.—Ridgway’s Manual of North American
Birds, Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott Co., 1887; revised edition, 1896.

GIBBS.—Gibbs’ Annotated List of the Birds of Michigan, Bulletin
of the U. 8. Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories,
Vol. V., No. 3.

WHEATON .—Dr. Wheaton’s Report on the Birds of Ohio, Geo-
logical Survey of Ohio, Zodlogy and Botany, Vol. IV.

BECKHAM.—Beckham’s List of the Birds of Nelson County, Ken-
tucky; Kentucky Geological Survey, 1885.

NELSON, N. E. 1LL.—Nelson’s Birds of Northeastern Illinois,
Bull. Essex Institute, Salem, Mass., 1876.

NELSON, S. ILL.—Nelson’s Notes upon Birds observed in South-
ern Illinois, between July 17 and September 4, 1875, Bull. Essex
Institute, June, 1877.

COOK, MICH.—Cook’s Birds of Michigan, April, 1898.

‘Famity PODICIPIDA. Gnreses.
Genus KCHMOPHORUS Cours.
1, (1) Mchmophorus occidentalis (Lawr.).
Western Grebe.

I am now satisfied that this species was erroneously placed in my
list of 1890.
Birps oF INDIANA. 1167

Famity URINATORIDZ. Loons.
Gunvus URINATOR Cuvier.
2. (9). Urinator arcticus (Linv.).
Black-throated Loon.

Rare winter visitor, Lake Michigan. No Llinois record. Ridgway,
Ill. Orn., IL., pp. 256-7; Ohio, rare visitor (Wheaton, p. 565); Michi-
gan, rare (Gibbs, p. 496).

Famity ALCIDZ. Avuxs, Murres anp PUFFINS.

Supraminry PHALERINA. AcuxkLets, MURRELETS, GUILLEMOTS.
Grxus SYNTHLIBORAMPHUS Branpr.
3. (21). Synthliboramphus antiquus (GMEL.).
Ancient Murrelet.
Wis., Lake Michigan (Cook, Mich., p. 30).

Suspramity ALLINA. Dovektes.
Genus ALLE Linx.
4, (34). Alle alle (Lrny.).
Dovekie.

Lake Michigan (Cook, Mich., p. 31).

Famity STERCORARIIDA. Sxuas anp JAEGERS.
Genus STERCORARIUS Basson.
5. (87). Stercorarius parasiticus (Liyy.).
Parasitic Jaeger.

Cleveland, Ohio, Auk, April, 1896, p. 171; Tinois, Bull. Nutt.
Orn. Club, Vol. V., p. 31; Lake Michigan, Ridgway, Ill. Orn., II., pp.
216-17.

6. (38). Stercorarius longicaudus VIsILL.
Long-tailed Jaeger.

Illinois, Ridgway, Ill. Orn., IL, pp. 217-18.
1168 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIN).

Faminry LARIDZ. Gu.Lis anp TERNs.

Suspramity LARINZ. Gutts.
Genus RISSA SrepHens.
7. (40). Rissa tridactyla (Liny.).
Kittiwake Gull.

Illinois and Wisconsin, rare winter visitor (Nelson, N. E. IIL, p.
146; Ridgway, Ill. Orn., II., pp. 221-2); Ohio, rare winter visitor
(Wheaton, p. 549); Michigan, rare (Gibbs, p. 495); Illinois (Woodruff,
in letter).

Genus LARUS Linyzus.

8. (47). Larus marinus Livy.
Great Black-backed Gull.

Kent County, Mich., March 28, 1889, White. (Cook, Mich., p.
32.) Illinois, winter resident (Nelson, N. E. Ill, p. 145); Ohio, rare
winter visitor (Wheaton, p. 547); Michigan, rare (Gibbs, p. 495).

9. (51). Larus argentatus Brinn.
Herring Gull.

Ridgway (Ill. Orn., Vol. II.) thinks its occurence doubtful. Illinois,
rare winter visitor (Nelson, N. E. IIL, p. 145).

10. (58). Larus atricilla Livy.
Laughing Gull.

Washtenaw County, 1 specimen, 1884, Watkins (Cook, Mich.); Ili-
nois, rare summer visitor southward (Ridgway Cat.. p. 202); Michigan,
abundant (?) (Gibbs, p. 495).

Genus XEMA Lracu.
11. (62). Kema sabinii (Saz.).
Sabine’s Gull.

Illinois, rare winter visitor to Lake Michigan (Ridgway, Ill. Orn.,
IL., pp. 237-8) (Ridgway Cat., p. 202); Ohio, accidental on Lake Erie
(Wheaton, p. 552).
Birps oF INDIANA. 1169

Supramity STERNINA. Terns.
Genus GELOCHELIDON Breau. '
12. (63). Gelochelidon nilotica (Hassste.).
Gull-billed Tern.
Illinois, rare summer visitor (Ridgway Cat., p. 202); Ohio, rare vis-
itor northward (Wheaton, p. 552); Michigan, not rare summer visitor

(Gibbs, p. 496). St. Clair Flats, breeds (Cook, Mich.). Breeds, Lake
Michigan (Ridgway, Ill. Orn., IL., p. 242).

GENUS STERNA Linnazvs.
Subgenus THALASSEUS Boie.
13. (64). Sterna tschegrava Lepzcu.
Caspian Tern.
Illinois, winter visitor (Ridgway Cat., p. 202); Michigan, accidental
(Gibbs, p. 495). St. Clair Flats. Breeds, Islands, Lake Michigan

(Cook, Mich.); also C. L. Cass, Manuscript. Breeds abundantly on
islands in Lake Michigan.

‘

Subgenus AcTocHELIDON Kaup.
14. (65). Sterna maxima Bopp.
Royal Tern.

Illinois and Wisconsin, summer visitor (Ridgway Cat., p.-202);
Michigan, rare summer visitor (Gibbs, p. 495; Cook, Mich., p. 34).

15. (71). Sterna paradisea Brinv.
Arctic Tern.
Michigan, not common migrant (Gibbs, p. 496). It has been accred-

ited to Ohio, perhaps by mistake (Wheaton, p. 561). Lake Kosh-
-konong, Wis., breeds (L. Kumlein) (Cook, Mich.).

Famity PHALACROCORACIDZ. Cormorants.
@sxus PHALACROCORAX Brisson. ,
Subgenus PHaLacRocorax.
16, (119). Phalacrocorax carbo (Linn).
‘Cormorant.
Given by Dr. Haymond, but more recently regarded as an, error.
Also reported from Ohio, but that is now considered an error (Whea-

‘ton, p. 545); Michigan (7). Noted as doubtfully an occasional visitor
(Gibbs, p. 495).

74—GEOL
1170 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

17. (121). Phalacrocorax mexicanus (Branpt).

Mexican Cormorant.

Illinois (Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, Vol. V., p. 31).

Famity PELECANIDA. PE icays.
Genus PELECANUS Linnzvs.

‘ Subgenus Lurropeiicanus Reichenbach.
18. (126). Pelecanus fuscus Linn.

Brown Pelican.

Illinois (Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, Vol. V., p. 31).

Famity ANATIDZ. Ducks, Gerse anp Swans.

Supraminry ANATINA. River Ducks.
Geyus ANAS Linyzovs.

Subgenus QurRQueDuLa Stephens.
19. (141). Anas cyanoptera VI=ILL.
Cinnamon Teal.

Illinois, occasional visitor (Ridgway Cat., p. 199).

Genus HISTRIONICUS Lesson.
20. (155). Histrionicus histrionicus (Lryy.).
Harlequin Duck.
Illinois and Wisconsin, in winter (Nelson; N. E. Ills., p. 142); Ohio.
mentioned by error (Wheaton, p. 535); Michigan and Wisconsin
(Cook, Mich., p. 44). Ridgway, Il. Orn., I., pp. 172-3.
Gexus CAMPTOLAIMUS Gray.
21. (156). Camptolaimus labradorius (GMEL.).
Labrador Duck.

Formerly found in Michigan (Gibbs, p. 494); Great Lakes (Ridgway
Manual, p. 107). Now very rare, if not extinct.

Guuus SOMATERIA Leacu.
Subgenus SomaTeRia.
22. (160). Somateria dresseri SHARPE.
American Hider.
Illinois and Wisconsin, in winter (Nelson, N. E. Ill, p. 142); Michi-
gan, occasional (Gibbs, p. 495). Michigan (Cook, Mich., p. 41).
Ridgway, Ill. Orn., IL., p. 177.
Birps oF INDIANA. 1171

Subgenus Erionetta Coues.

23. (162). Somateria spectabilis (Lrv.).
King Eider.
Ilinois and Wisconsin, rare winter visitor (Nelson, N. E. IL, p.

143); Ohio (Wheaton, p. 535). Michigan and Wisconsin, Kumlein
(Cook, Mich.; Ridgway, Il. Orn., IL., p. 178).

Genus OIDEMIA Fremina.
SusGEnus OmpeMra.
24. (163). Oidemia americana Sw. & Ricu.

American Scoter.

Illinois, winter resident (Nelson, N. E. Ill., p. 143); Michigan, rare
(Gibbs, p. 494). Lake Michigan. Bay City, female (Cook, Mich., p.
41). Ridgway, Ill., II, p. 180. Ohio (Wheaton), pp. 537-8.

Genus NOMONYX Ripeway.
25. (168). Nomonyx dominicus (Liyy.)
Masked Duck.
A tropical species, accidental in New York and Wisconsin (Ridgway
Manual, p. 114).
Supramity ANSERINA. GeExse.
Genus BRANTA Scopotr.
26. (1726). Branta canadensis occidentalis (Batrp).

White-cheeked Goose.

Michigan (Cook., Mich., p. 47).

27. (172c). Branta canadensis minima Ripew.
Cackling Goose.

Ninois (Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, 1876, p. 41); Ridgway, Ill. Orn., IT.,
pp. 123-4; Wisconsin (Ridgway Manual, 1887, p. 117). A specimen
from Wisconsin presented to Smithsonian Institution ‘by Mr. G. F.
Morcom (Deane, in Manuscript).

Famiuty IBIDIDA. Iniszs.
crnus PLEGADIS Kavp.
28. (186). Plegadis autumnalis (Hassz1c.).
Glossy Ibis.

Tlinois, rare (Ridgway Cat., p. 192); Ohio, accidental (Wheaton, p.
498). Michigan (Cook, Mich., p. 48).
1172 REpPoRT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Famity ARDEIDZ. Herons, Birrerns, Erc.

Susramity BOTAURIN®. Brrrerns.

Gexus ARDETTA Gray.

29. (191.1). Ardetta neoxena Cory.
Cory’s Least Bittern.

August 8, 1894. Manchester, Mich. A specimen of this rare species.
was brought to Mr. L. Whitney Watkins by a neighbor’s boy. Mr.
Watkins at once wrote me of the peculiar dark Least Bittern that he
had received. I suspected its identity and requested that he send it
to me for examination. It had, however, been forwarded to Prof. W.
B. Barrows, Agr. Coll., Mich. He determined it to be Cory’s Bittern.
It will be noted that six of those known have been taken in Florida
and the other three north of the latitude of the northern boundary
of Indiana.

The bird may be reasonably expected to occur in Indiana. Its dark
color gives it the name of “Black Bittern” in Florida, to distinguish
it from the “Least Bittern,” which is called “Brown Bittern.” They
are about the same size.

Supramity ARDEINA. Herons anv EGREtTs.

Genus ARDEA Lisn.£us.

Subgenus ARDEA.

30. (198). Ardea rufescens GMEL.
Reddish Egret.

Illinois, summer visitor southward (Nelson. S. IIL, p. 60).

Famiry RECURVIROSTRIDA. Avocerts and STILTs.

Genus HIMANTOPUS Brisson.
31. (226). Himantopus mexicanus (MULL).
Black-necked Stilt.

Illinois and Wisconsin, rare (Nelson, N. E. Ill, p. 124). Ridgway.
Ill. Orn., IL, p. 76. Ohio, rare (Wheaton, p. 463); Michigan, rare-
(Gibbs, p. 492). Cook, Mich., p. 57.
Brrps or INDIANA. 1173

Famity SCOLOPACIDA. Swires, SanpprPers, Ere.

Genus TRINGA Linn aus.

Subgenus ARQuaTELLa Baird.

32, (235). Tringa maritima Bruny.
Purple Sandpiper.

‘Ilhnois, rare (Ridgway Cat., p. 195); Ohio, rare (Wheaton, p. 476).
Cook Co., Dl., Auk, April, 1896, p. 180.

Subgenus ACTODROMAS Kaup.

33. (240). Tringa fuscicollis Visr.1.
‘White-rumped Sandpiper.

Dlinois: and Wisconsin (Nelson, N. E. IIL, p. 127); Ohio, migrant
(Wheaton, p. 475); Michigan, rare (Gibbs, p. 492; Cook, p. 59). Cin-
cinnati, two specimens. Glendale, O., September 6, 1879. (Journal
Cincinnati. Society Natural History, July 8, p. 127.)

34. (244). Tringa ferruginea Bruny.
Curlew Sandpiper.
Michigan (Cook, Mich., p. 59).

2

Genus EREUNETES I.iicsr.
35. (247). Ereunetes occidentalis Lawr.

Western Sandpiper.
Illinois (Ridgway, Ill. Orn., IT., p. 54.

!

Genus PAVONCELLA Leacu.
36. (260). Pavoncella pugnax (Liny.).
Ruff.
A European species, accidental in Ohio (Wheaton, p. 489).

Gexus TRYNGITES Capanis.

37. (262). Tryngites: subruficollis (V1erL1.). ,
. Buff-breasted Sandpiper.
Tllinois and Wisconsin (Nelson, N. E. Tl., p. 130); Ohio (Wheaton,
p. 491); Michigan, rare (Gibbs, p. 493). Cook Co., Ill, Auk, April,
1896, p. 180.
1174 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Famity TETRAONIDZ. Grouse, Partripers, Erc.
SupramMity TETRAONINZ. Gnrovss.’
Genus DENDRAGAPUS Exuior.
38. (298). Dendragapus canadensis (Liyy.).
Canada Grouse.

Michigan, as far south as Washtenaw County (Cook, Mich., p. 67).

Genus LAGOPUS Brisson.
39. (301). Lagopus lagopus (Liny.).
Willow Ptarmigan.

Illinois and Wisconsin, former resident (Nelson, N. E. Ill, p. 122);
Michigan (Gibbs, p. 491; Cook, p. 68). Ridgway; Ill. Orn., IL., pp.
10-11. .

Genus PEDIOCAETES Bairp.
40. (3085). Pediocaetes phasianellus campestris Kipew.
Prairie Sharp-tailed Grouse.

Illinois, rare (Ridgway Cat., p. 191). Lower Peninsula, Mich. (Cook,
p. 69). Ridgway, Ill. Orn., II., pp. 13-14.

Famiry FALCONIDZ. Vutrores, Fatcons, Hawks, Etc.

SupraMity ACCIPITRIN A. Kzures, Buzzarps, Hawks, Erc.-
Genus ELANUS Saviery.
41, (328). Elanus leucurus (VIEILL.).
White-tailed Kite.

Illinois, breeds (Nelson, 8. Ill., p. 46); Michigan, rare (Gibbs, p.
490). Four records (Cook, Mich., p. 72). Ridgway, Ill. Orn., L., pp.
446-7. Two specimens.

Genus Burro Cuvier.
42. (8372). Buteo borealis krideri Hoops.
Krider’s Hawk.
Illinois, accidental (H. K. Coale, see Ridgway, Ill. Orn., I., p. 469).

43. (8376). Buteo borealis calurus (Cass.).
Western Red-tailed Hawk.

Illinois (Ridgway Cat., p. 189; Ridgway, Ill. Orn., L., p. 469); Michi-
gan (Gibbs, p. 490).
Birps oF Ixprana. 1175

44, (842). Buteo swainsoni Bonap.

Swainson’s Hawk.

Illinois (Ridgway Cat., p. 189); Michigan (Gibbs, p. 490; Bull. No.
1, Mich. Orn. Club; Cook, Mich., p. %5). Given by Dr. Jordan as
from Indiana (Manual, p. 113), but he informs us that this is an
error. Ridgway, Ill. Orn., I., pp. 474-5.

Gexus ASTURNIA Viritior.
45. (346). Asturnia plagiata Scuuzcet.
Mexican Goshawk.

Illinois, accidental; one specimen (Ridgway, Ill. Orn., I., p. 463).

Genus ARCHIBUTEO Bream.
46. (348). Archibuteo ferrugineus (Lic#7).
Ferruginous Rough-leg.
Illinois, straggler (Ridgway, Ill. Orn., L., pp. 481, 482).

Supramity FALCONINE. Fatcons.

GEnus FALCO Linnazus.

Subgenus Hiwrora.co Cuvier.

47. .(354a). Faleo rusticolus gyrfalco (L.).
Gyrfalcon.
Michigan (Cook, Mich., p. 77).

48. (355). Falco mexicanus Scuuze.

Prairie Falcon.

Illinois, accidental; three records near Mt. Carmel (Ridgway, Il.
Orn., I., pp. 429-31).

Famity BUBONIDZA. Horyep Ow 1s, Erc.
Gexus NYCTALA Bream.
49. (371). Nyctala tengmalmi richardsoni (Bownap.).
Richardson’s Owl.

Has been taken in Illinois and Wisconsin (Ridgway, Ill. Orn., I.,
p. 413). It was reported from Indiana, but that, I am informed, is
an error. Michigan, no record (Cook, Mich., p. 81).
1176 REPORT oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Gexos BUBO Dumeriz.
50. (3752). Bubo virginianus subarcticus (Hoy).
; Western Horned Owl.

Illinois, occasional in winter (Ridgway, Ill. Orn., L., p. 421). One
record. No record, Michigan (Cook, Mich., p. 83).

Famity PICID. Woopprckers.

Genus PICOIDES Lacepgpg.

51. (400). Picoides arcticus (Swa1ys.).
Arctic Three-toed Woodpecker.
Synonym, BLAcK-BACKED THREE-TOED WOODPECKER.

Illinois, rare winter visitor (Nelson, N. E. Ill., p. 115; Ridgway,
Il. Orn., L., pp. 379-80); Ohio, accidental (Wheaton, p. 397); Michi-
gan, rare (Gibbs, p. 489; Cook, Mich., p. 88). Kent and Ionia counties.

52. (401). Picoides americanus Brexm.
American Three-toed Woodpecker.

Michigan (Cook, Mich., p. 88); Wisconsin (O. B. Warren, in letter).

Famity CAPRIMULGIDA. Goarsvucxers, Erc.
Genus CHORDEILES Swainson.
53. (420a). Chordeiles virginianus henryi (Cass).
Western Nighthawk.
Illinois, occasional (Ridgway, Ill. Orn., L., p. 370).

Famity TYRANNIDE. Tyrant Fiycatcoers.

Genus MILVULUS Swarnson.
54, (442). Milvulus tyrannus (Linv.).
Fork-tailed Flycatcher.

A tropical species, accidental in Kentucky (Ridgway Manual, p.
327),

55. (443). Milvulus forficatus (GmEL.).
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher.

Accidental in Missouri, New England, Manitoba, etc. (Ridgway
Manual, p. 328).
Brrps oF Inprana. 1177

Genus SAYORNIS Bonaparte.
56. (457). Sayornis saya (Bonap.).
: Say’s Phebe.

Illinois and Wisconsin (Nelson, N. B. IIL, p. 113); Michigan (Gibbs,
p. 488). Not in Mich., Cook. Ridgway, Ill. Orn., L., p. 348.

Famity ALAUDIDA. Larxs.
Genus ALAUDA Lixyavs.
57. (473). Alauda arvensis Linn.
Skylark.

Ohio, introduced in the vicinity of Cincinnati, but it seems doubtful
if it will succeed in establishing itself in this country. (Langdon,
Journ. Cin. Soc. Nat. Hist., Vol. I.. 1878, p. 111.)

Famiry CORVIDZ, Crows, Jays, Maariss, Erc.

SupramMity GARRULINA. Magpirs anp Jays.
Genus PICA Brisson.
58. (475). Pica pica hudsonica (Saz.).
American Magpie.

Illinois and Wisconsin, a former winter visitor (Nelson, N. E. IIL,
p. 112); Cook, Mich., p. 99. Michigan (?) (Ridgway Manual, p. 352).
Ridgway, Ill. Orn., L., pp. 333-4. J. O. Dunn. One specimen identi-
fied by Wallace Craig, October 17, 1892, near World’s Fair, Chicago.

Genus PERISOREUS Bonararre.
59. (484). Perisoreus canadensis (Liny ).
Canada Jay.

Ilinois and Wisconsin, former winter visitor (Nelson, N. E. IIL, p.
113); Michigan, breeds (Gibbs, p. 848); has been reported from Ohio,
but that is an error (Wheaton. p. 366).

Famry ICTERID. BLACKBIRD, Or10LEs, Erc.
Genus STURNELLA VisiLuor.
60. (5016). ‘Sturnella magna neglecta (Avp.).
Western Meadow Lark.

Illinois (Ridgway, Ill. Orn., Vol. I, p. 318); Michigan (Gibbs, p.
488; Cook, Mich., p. 103).
1178 Report oF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Genus SCOLECOPHAGUS Swainson.
61. (510). Scolecophagus cyanocephalus (W GL.).
Brewer’s Blackbird.
Illinois, Mt. Carmel, straggler (Ridgway, Tl. Orn., L., p. 824).

Famity FRINGILLIDA. Fincues, Sparrows, Erc.-
Gexus ACANTHIS Bacusrain.
62. (5272). Acanthis hornemannii exilipes (Covzs.)
Hoary Redpoll.

Illinois, rare winter visitor (Ridgway, Ill. Orn., I., p. 232); Michi-
gan (Gibbs, p. 486). Omitted by Cook.

Genus SPINUS Kocs.
63. (532). Spinus notatus (Du Bus).
Black-headed Goldfinch.
A Mexican and Central American species, accidental in Kentucky
(Ridgway Manual, p. 400).
Genus RHYNCHOPHANES Barre.
64. (539). Rhynchophanes mecownii (Lawer.).
McCown’s Longspur.

Illinois, straggler (Ridgway, Ill. Orn., I., p. 246). Not in Michigan.

Genus ZONOTRICHIA Swarnson.
65. (553). Zonothrichia querula (Nvurt.).
Harris’ Sparrow.

Illinois and Wisconsin, rare winter visitor (Ridgway, Ill. Orn., L.,
pp. 266-7).

J. O. Dunn shot a Harris Sparrow in some bushes along a road, east
of Riverdale, Ill., October 6, 1894. Letter, January 26, 1895.

66. (554a.) Zonotricia leucophrys intermedia Rrvew.
Intermediate Sparrow.

Wisconsin, accidental (Nelson, N. E. Il., p. 107).

67. (557.) Zonotrichia coronata (PALL.).

Golden-crowned Sparrow.

Wisconsin, accidental (Nelson, N. E. U1., p. 108).
Brrps oF INDIANA. 1179

Gzxus PIPILO Vigriuor.
68. (588). Pipilo maculatus arcticus (Swarns.).
Arctic Towhee.
Wisconsin, two specimens (Nelson, N. E. Ill. p. 110).

Genus HABIA. Reicaensaca.
69. (596). Habia melanocephala (Swarns.).
Black-headed Grosbeak.
Michigan, very rare (Gibbs, p. 487).

Grsus PASSERINA VIEILLOT.
70. (600). Passerina versicolor (Boy.).
Varied Bunting.
Michigan, one specimen by Dr. H. A. Atkins (Cook, Birds of Michi-
gan, p. 118). .
71, (601). Passerina ciris (Lryy.).
Painted Bunting.

Tlinois, Wabash County, rare (Ridgway, Ill. Orn., I., p. 302).

Famity VIREONIDA. Vrreos.
Grxvs VIREO Viertor.
Subgenus Vireo.

72. (633). Vireo bellii Aun.
Bell’s Vireo.

Illinois, summer resident in prairie districts (Ridgway, Ill. Orn., L,
pp. 190-91). Richland County, June 8, 1871, and 1875. One speci-

men in Chicago, June 23, 1875.

Famity MNIOTILTIDZ. Woop WaRBLERs.
aa Genus HELMINTHOPHILA Ripeway.
78. (—-). Helminthophila leucobronchialis (Brewst.).

Brewster’s Warbler.

A rare and peculiar Warbler, found in eastern United States, west
imto Michigan (Gibbs, p. 483; Ridgway Manual, p. 486).
1180 Report or STATE GEOLOGIST.

te. 5) Helminthophila cincinnatiensis (Lanep.).
Cincinnati Warbler.

Only known from one specimen from Cincinnati, O. (Journ. Cin.
Soc. Nat. Hist., July, 1880, pp. 119-120). This is supposed to be a
hybrid, between Helminthophila pinus and Oporornis formosa (Bull.
Nutt. Orn. Club, Vol. V., 1880, p. 237).

Genus DENDROICA Gray.

Subgenus Denproica.
75, (6722). Dendroica palmarum hypochrysea Ripew.
Yellow Palm Warbler.

One specimen, Oberlin, O., April 16, 1892 (Auk, October, 1892,
p. 397).

Famiry PARIDA. ‘Nursarcaes anp Trrs.

Susramity SITTIN. NutHatcHes.
Genus SITTA Linnagus.

76. (729). Sitta pusilla Lars.
Brown-headed Nuthatch. *
Ohio and Michigan, accidental (Wheaton, p. 226); St. Louis, Mo.,
(Ridgway, Ill. Orn., L., p. 83).
Supramity PARINAS. Trrmice.

Genus PARUS Linwarus.

Subgenus Parus.

77. (740). Parus hudsonicus Forst.
Hudsonian Chickadee.

Hlinois, Rock Island, accidental. Racine, Wis. (Ridgway, Il. Orn.,
L, p. 82); Michigan (Ridgway Manual, p. 564; Cook, Mich., p. 147).

Famity TURDIDA. Turusues, Souirarres, BLuEBrRDs, Erc.

Supramiry MYADESTINA. Sourrarres.

Gexus MYADESTES Swainson.
78. (754). Myadestes townsendii (Avup.)

Townsend’s Solitaire.
Illinois, accidental northward (Nelson, N. E. IIL,’ p. 94).
Brrps oF INDIANA. 1181]

ScsramMiLy TURDINA. Turvusues.

Genus TURDUS Linnazus.

Subgenus Hytocicata Baird.
79. (757a). Turdus alicie bicknelli (Ripew.).
Bicknell’s Thrush.

Illinois, rare in spring (Ridgway, Ill. Orn., I., p. 59). ‘Warsaw, IIL,
May 24, 1884, by Chas. KX. Worthen.

Gunus SAXICOLA Becusrein.
80. (765). Saxicola enanthe (Livy.).
Wheatear.

A specimen of this species was shot’ from among a flock of .Titlarks
at Ann Arbor, Mich., October 4, 1894, by Adolphe B. Covert. The
specimen is now in the U. 8. Nat. Mus., Washington, D. C.—No. 135,-
068, male, immature. (The Nidologist, Vol. II., No. 3, November,
1894, pp. 42-43.)

Greus SIALIA Swainson.
81. (768). Sialia arctica (Swatrns.)

Mountain Bluebird.

Towa, accidental (Nelson, N. E. Ill, p. 95).

The following species have been reported from a range which would
seem to include Indiana, but should properly be excluded from the
Hypothetical List:

1. (—-). Colymbus cristatus Laru.
Crested Grebe.

An Old World species, wrongfully accredited to America.

2. (336). Buteo buteo (Liny.).

European Buzzard.

A European species, attributed to Michigan. Perhaps an error.
Acanthis linaria............6.-.. cere eee
linaria rostrata, .

    

 

 

 
 

Accipiter atricapillus ...... 779
cooperi...... 777

VOlOR <teins detent eae, eee 775

Actitis macularia................-.5..055 729
Aigialitis meloda 2 183
meloda circumcincta......... 743
semipalmata.................. 741
vocifera...... 739

Agelaius phoeniceus 893
ATXABPONS Bs hese sg ssiey Honites Soom ae 610
Ajaja ajaja --- 643
Ammodramus caudacutus nelsoni . 947
henslowii ... 943

leconteii 945
sandwichensis savanna. 940

savannarum passerinus. 941

Ampelis cedrorum
garrulus
Anas americana. ..4. 0... 0.0... ee ee eee
DOSGHAB acu! idsayerd vegas nai oeen Roa
carolinensis.....
discors
OD ECU cise -ieiesenn'sdsirncictstaremavearsen ee
penelope
strepera...........
Anhinga anhinga..........
Anser albifrons gambeli. ..
Anthus pensylvanicus
Antrostomus carolinensis...
vociferus......
Aquila chrysxtos j
Archibuteo lagopus sancti-johannis....
Ardea candidissima ............. 0.560055
cxrulea 4
egretta ..
herodias - le Bites
tricolor ruficollis . :
VITOSCONS: (iaeadiesen putes thin ahed
wuerdemanni
Ardetta exilis.................0000.
Arenaria interpres
Asio accipitrinus.............. as
pL OTN RARE ese nactiee mon a sient
Avocet, American................... so
Aythys affinig: i. jcccnehe cue oess. aed ah
americana ............ 0. ce eee
COLATISS: 5 siered ssheie ware aeons
marila ne-arctica...............
vallisneria

   
  
   
  

 

  

INDEX TO BIRDS OF INDIANA.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Page.
WBA oases save need Saende ses LOR RS 600
Bartramia longicauda.............. ; 727
Bittern, American..... ................. 649
TiO esti. c scat cent cegaachennhet 652
Blackbird, Crow.... 2.0.0... .00e eee eee 905
Red-winged ................ 893
RUBY scsites eevecraviaes wae 904
Yellow-headed ............ $e2
(Bluebird «42 eta sete Moet eeesee ee rae 161
Bobolink: j..4-s.csecsenmeecaeie: 384
Bobwhite: <:. as Gecoaeanssy cease ee 46
Bonasa umbellus............... 0. - 752
Botaurus lentiginosus............ .... . 649
YON ts sentence ce wears ceaneciatran ies o% 639
Branta bernicla ........... ............. 639
canadensis. . 635,
canadensis hutchinsii satin a4 638
Bubo virginianus........ 0.0.2... 0000-05 815
Bale ead: seve scien cecivaee ere eee ats a. 623
Bunting, Indigo .... sod 982
Butco borealis. ..............200. 00 00..  780
borealis harlani.......... 7
latissimus ................ TRS
lineatus TS84
Calearius lapponicus......... ........ . 928
DICtUS sac asa erie a Mees > 982
Calidris arenaria 716
Campephilus principalis.......... su
Canvasback..............-...405+ 615
Cardinal . Lahdwlakwiatice 2 atten | ED
Cardinalis cardinalis. Sih.tb mavirhatarte Gunde 975
Carpodacus purpureus .......... ....... 916
Catbird.. pas heen ecursnbeane ies 1108
Catharista, atrata. oe 768
Cathartes aura. ; minnie 766
Ceophloeus piloatus . Sim tata dey wee soy
Certhia familiaris americana.... ...... 1128
Ceryle aleyon............ : SOK
CHO POMBE os orca care ecorcess BOL
Charadrius dominicus ........ .......... 737
squatarola . Sa TA
Charitonetta albeola ............ 623
Chat, Yellow-breasted........... .. .. . 1098
Chelidon erythrogaster --. OH
Chen cwrulescens ..................... G82
DHPOTHOTEA occ cc eines kee ae BBO
hyperborea nivalis woe OBL
DROW pies occa. aicecunen mde wre a
Chicka 66: a:-ccncintowoninsrneyts 1136
Caroling: sso. yeuhawedae 4 TIRE
InpEx To Brrns or INDIANA.

Page.
Chondestes grammacus ............. 0... 949
Chordeiles virginianus.................. 849
Chuck-will’s-widow................0.... 846

  

Cireas hudsonius..

Cistothorus palustris
stellaris

Clangula hyemalis ......

CLVI COLA PIU DAIA oye cooscingicedswan o-anuce ann

Coceothraustes vespertinus............ 911

Cocoyzus americanus.................... 822
erythrophthalmus............. 825

Colaptes auratus...............0. 0000000. 844
Colinus virginianus .................0... 746
Colymbus auritus........................ 587
HOUR ass acer ses weckeac shwe 556

Colymbus nigricollis californicus....... 558

Compsothlypis americana...............
Contopus borealis ....................... 863
PUGS cence tind im reamucmcarce BOU

 

Conurus carolinensis.................... 819
Coot, American. . de wren (O84
Cormorant, Doublo- forested. esate aye/ bon ates 583
Florida...

{US GOP CANES 9 8 eos one ee ORE
ecorax sinuatus........ 2.0.00... 879
Cowbird . aardick baer taiitsncoe taney) 480
Crane, Sandhill. n clposswticehe danas eva tcresboteieloie ea Wake 670
WAG Opti ease ceisreactnarcearversnatenae 669
(reper, BrOWN seve sce eeevaeaceeas ya es 1128
Crossbill. American...............0..004 918
White-winged ................ 920
CFOW,, AMEOFIC8D «2.5 50 ceccnee aden cence 881
Crymophilus fulicarius ................. 687
Cuckoo, Black-billed...............-..-. 825
Vollows billed «cco scconecesannnrs 822
Carlet BSG Gt8 cncc cca varmsnc ina wns 733
GOON ocean seecaawnnias 732
Long-billed ...........0. e000 cee 731
Cyanoeitta cristata.........../. 00... .. 876
Da fla aout scsctncnien vewnmdenprneeecs cee 607
Dendroica wstiva...... 0.0... cce eee cee 1045
blackburniae ................ 1063
CROP WAG ca niciessccssteeinie sudsestie cia 1053
csrulescens ......... 2.22000. 1047
cagtamea ........ ..6.......-. 1058
COT OM BEB siceniarsiezesornitere teenie tae bieve 1049
GIS COLOR ia seuss eareicmcitinmsn woe 1076
dominica albilora .. ........ 1065
MONG eee sesie wen, deeecxaee 1070
“maculosa............6.00. eens 1051
PalMardMseccss seer ew wens 1074
pensylvanica...... Aisi spinster 1056
TET: 6 ofapcelessctionipend Siete aialscon tase 1053
BULA b Bh ces ssniseeinrouniieen cabeceseunndeates 1069
PIBEEN A senepsirrieston Aan tse 1043
VAG OLB Lec setecacie wesc anemaoraas 1072
VITONS 6 wi cwngdac tank mcnccigyg 1068
Dickcissel . emegucrene weuees cmpaac: OBB
Dolichonyx 0: oryzivorus seatiah wes See Salat 886
Dove, Mourning ec. cece dccie scenes chee « 765
DO wate hers caxivsiasnaste icakesoedsterueshasieass 703

Long billed................... 704

 

Dryobates pubescens....... hse eptnstbeaedec cnet 832 ©

villosus, :

Duck, American Scaup ................. 617
PONG Eseries ep RORY oe ME

 
 

 

  

 
    
 
  
 
   
   
   
 
   
   
  
 
 
 

BS aed ecssscstoigeon
Lesser Scaup ...
MUBCOIS sesso nisos ansen nies
Ring-necked......
Rudd@y.............
. Wood esisisccgenzaereiaies
Hagle, Bald ces cosenwwnecc en
Goldeiies e-eniss cones
Ectopistes migratorius
Egret, American...............
Elanoides forficatus........... i ao
Empidonax flaviventris..................
MONA TN WS iss cperoeerctocsn esetes sive
traillii .
traillii dtnorunts:
VIPESCONS vere per serene
Ereunetes pusillus ....
Erismatura rubida
Falco columbarius .............. 0... ..05 796
peregrinus anatum. . 794
sparverius ............. » 797
Finch, Purple ... 916
Flicker............. 844.
Flycatcher, Alder ... ... 870
Crested........ . 859
Green-crested 867
Least............ 871
Olive-sided.. « 1B6S
Traill’s........ . 869
Yéllow-bellied on B68
Fregata aquila................. . 587
Palica american ing. ses4 gee wes dees 684
(Ga ppl ayare oe cinasestecranenmie cus snisetovcoe seater
Galeoscoptes carolinensis.
Gallinago delicata ......

Gallinula galeata....
Gallinule, Florida... :
PUTDIC ose ees wie
Geothlypis agilis
formosa .... “tos
philadelphia ................

SEICHAB x sconiciciisaarsnans dee

trichas occidentalis. .
Glaucionetta clangula americana...... 621

islandica .................

Gnat-catcher, Blue-gray i
Godwit, Mudsonian 20.56 occ. cgi case

Golden-eye, American
Barrow’s....

Goldfinch, American...........

Goose, American White-fronted . 633
BlUG ces ce news sxsaceeaees . 632
Canada..... 635
Greater Snow. ... 681
Hutehin’s..... . 638
Thes8et BROW ces eun ceiwes mes 630
1184

   

  

‘ Page
Goshawk, American .................0. 779
Gre 6, BrOn Gd iyi e5. enone pedniek amen 905
Grebe, American Hared.................. 558

PEE cs csickg conserves une 556
TROT ik asia a siviorecapeietvarcnn-aiananeedes 557
Pied-billed ....... Prac ss ooroastvt 559
Grosbeak, Blue 981
Evening 911

Pine 914
Rose-breasted ........ ...... 978

ASS TNE goo cesssecrecceinind Solem mtinednos 752
Grus americana ......... 0... 0:0. ceee eee 669
DO RL OHTA fcspccosesstncucyesnintunysntesaraunvarenivng 670
PRP IOBE oe sereies sonst ascend eh 644
Guiraca cerulea 981
Gull, American Herring .......... 571
Bonaparte’s ..............055 575
Branklin: oa. cos-senmasausesy 574
GlaeCous. nies. cenammeree.e 569

CSV AT sey ca cicienticeste: assedsteiens 570
Ring-billed.................. 000005 572

Mabie Ludovielama: + coc causnse weyesers
Haliwetus leucocephalus
Harporhynchus rufus.............

 

Hawk, American Rough-legged ........ 789
American Sparrow wo HOT
Broad-winged ................08. 788
COOP OTIS ccs sccisuastes estrie tesitontnerinnemdiort

Dive es vyccessicomncnscnnperesarcvernarcetins #
PRB es cmrosone. cen cate oo ode iy

 

 

   
  

Marsh iscsieanceigaeranaas sagan
PU6OD) cen cenee a wenniivat
Red-shouldered ..... ...........
Red-tailed ..................0024, 780
Sharp-shinned ...... 775
Helinaia swainsonii......... 1024
Helminthophila celata........ 1034
chrysoptera ’. » 108t
peregrina.... 1035
pinus...... 1029
ruficapilla, 1033
Helmitherus vermivorus.... . 1026
He niy Prairies api sre excise patsanden aduscnd hi 755
Heron, Black-crowned Night........... 666
‘ Great Blue ‘
DC OW hve ainacuscins cic toieeaseuasetun dilate 664

 

Snowy

Wilrdentann’§s ricco. ves. d.0n

Yellow-crowned Night.. A
Hummingbird, Ruby-throated..........
Hydrochelidon nigra surinnmensis..... 580

 

spurius..............
Ictinia mississippicnsis
Jomnmnie merle ticcisonns na ceea gore e 681

 

 

REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST.

Jaeger, Pomarine ...........6..0-..0000- 567

 
  
   
 
 

 

 

 

   

 

 

  
  
  

Jay, Blue ...... 876-
Junco hyemalis....... 963
hyemalis shufeldti 965
Junco, Slate-colored ... . 963
SOCIAL See: ese vere eeeen eens 965-
BN issih ete canines. d bid dp eialadvo Dacre 739
Kini... ec canen 857
Kingfisher, Belted.......... 826-
Kinglet, Golden-crowned .. ... 1139
Rubyecrowned sig cesescqe pens 1141
Kite, Mississippi ................... 00.5 773
Swallow-tailed . Ti
PN same wneee ee eg oe 28 08 ess tl dae wc 706-
DGWIWS DOPOAIS oo co eccan oe nine aw anes 1005
VAM OV ICTR: esos sete eernnidinn sand 1006-
ludovicianus excubitorides..... 1007
RS TOR IOT ccoscsssmcscaniniorive placer naiescnn 873
Prairie Horned. ape BN
BHOTO says vermane cose eee guess see BIS
Larus argentatus smithsonianus .. 571
GSA WATOMSIS: ©... iv eocce saan woe (DIZ
PPM T TI | insocd dec toess oseyaienoos . 54
glaucus .............. esse Nontnsaint tats 569
leucopterus ............. 0... 00200s 570
philadelphia.............. 02... 575
TATOO TRS. cir tee cen micancomarsmmnesncme we UNE
‘ PRA SEIOR ssteninenewiansoamdaune 718
Longspur, Lapland. .................... 929
Smith's: 2cccosomecasmacecoeme 932
[GOW «vers aut sven eee ier eee cdekes BOL
Red-throated ..... 563
Lophodytes cucullatus.................. 593
Loxia curvirostra minor ................ 918
leucoptera ........ 0... 6.00... ee eee 920:
Macrorhamphus griseus ................ 703
scolopaceus............ 704
acca ara iaderemmstealmeskacaanine 595.
Man-o’-War-bird.......... 0.0.00. 00000, 587
Martin; Purple’ sc. ascicssesassin yaxnmanninein 990
Mead ove at is ensiars-cccatamoornenste cumin soa 896.
Mesastopensio ise: cain acxmiescmuee STL
Melanerpes carolinus 7.................. R42
erythrocephalus...... ..... 83%
Meleagris gallopavo................. : 758
Melospiza fasoiata.. ................ 002. 967
BOOT RLONN isso ccsniserarssiecrusmniwisrs 970
lincolni
Merganser americanus
SOTTALOM: cacnecnwme nents 591
Merganser, American ........ 590
HOGA .o sca iateaacindedsena 593
Red-breasted ............... 591
Merula migratoria ......... satiate DBT
Micropalma himantopus........ .......

Mimus polyglottos ..
Mniotilta yaria.

Mockingbird. . .
Molothrus ater .......
Murre, Brunnich’s ...
Myiarchus crinitus........... ........., 850
INDEX To BIRDS oF INDIANA.

Page.
Nighthawk ......0 00 0..0.0...0.. 020.0... 849
Numenius borealis.............. ....... 788

 

hudsonicus .. i Vigeee ahnges 732
longirostris.................. 721
Nuthatch, Red-breasted ................ 1132
White-breasted..... ........ 1131

Nyctala acadica......................... 809
Nyctea nyctea
Nycticorax nyeticorax nevius.......... 666

VIGISCONSees cecin e+ Sicage OOF

 

Oidemia deglandi........ .............. 627
perspicillata...... 2... ....... 627

OVA SGU ine fos seed ehlaivadhsones Shas Sehossertae iain ee 625
Olor bmeeinabor ccc new arcuwn ceece: BEL
columbianus ........ .............. 689

 

Oriole, Baltimore..... ....... 0. 0.0.02. 900
Drenettiecc 4 us anes 4 head ee ca 898
Osprey, American .. eo Bue?
Octocoris alpestris. . ali Ei eaayids Tas AOI.
alpestris BrEticols, siete eae eee 874

OEE OI, ccncceyiasic ealak Goesnerae nacind wh anus 1078
Owl, American Barn...  —......... 800
American Hawk...... ...... 818
American Long-earel.. —...... 803
Barred sain sogrsaues <4 Be. ae bea 807
GreavGray svccus +: sai dase :BO8'
Great Heretics 2. Gases orcs 813
Saw-whet............ 809
PORE OCH ia: vuesten cr Stuoae as temvommsAeat 811
BShortzearedsy.c. oc coe Weawsweiuine akon we 804

SNOWY sdomexciamivgnuen ae wonrey O16

Pandion haliewtus cardlinensis.......... 798

Paroquet, Carolina............ 0... .0.06. 819
Parus atricapillus....................... 1136

bICOL Os nine a nesy anes wens os 1134

carolinensis 24s: c2.cu sec aen vs L187
Passer domesticus...... .. as gS 935
Passerellailiaca ... 2. 2... 0. cle 971
Passerina cyanea... 5 Sige Nag 982)
Pelecanus erythrorhynchos. ‘aissgsan’ 586
Pelican, American White... ... -  . §86

Petrochelidon lunifrons ......... ..... 991
Peucea estivalis bachmanii............ 965

Pewee, WiO0d « cscs 5 sar oceans eres waes 864

Phalacrocorax dilophus................. 583
dilophus floridanus..... 585

Phalarope, Northern....................

ROG) sc" wessiee a sutieko ce oe ons
Wilson's. . gaint GAgear A
Phalaropus lobatus....... ............55
triCOlO Me sesourcincssencaasecee, as
Philohela minor................ c0.8 0
DW Gees, wy awaseniy dee 2 5 iwi, ree ee x
Pigeon, Passenger.
Pinicola,enucleator...... 2.0. .... 2.65.
Pintail... Se wap « Siete
Pipiloerythrophthalmus... .
Pipit, American............
Piranga erythromelas.. ... ... ..
TUDES: scans sons cnese
Plectrophenax nivalis ............ .... 927

75—GEOL.

 

 

Plover, Belted Piping...................
Black-bellied ..... .............
TRON ORY seein cial, on ge nee ws eae 9
BYU a vera esses 4 de 590 98's
Semipalmated...................
Podilymbus podiceps
Polioptila carulea..... ......
Pooceetes gramineus.........
Porzana carolina.............. ober
jamaicensis ........... ...
noveboracensis......... ..
Progne subis............. 00.00.0005 s
Protonotaria citrea ............. .......

 

Quiscalus quiscula eneus............... 905

DRED AB Ta lesa ice taws ators aeae ba! eran ns ene COTO)
Kan gieas 2 cde sees ak we es 7
Virginia. « + siaetuly <2 ace ee. BTL
BOW gowns wrcagt panes dows deie ie. SOE

Rallus elegans............. 0... 0. 0... 672

virginianus...........  . .... 674

Raven, American.................. .... 879

Recurvirostra americana. . ........ ... 695

BRC sisi, nasain vierdececn verbena s

 

Beep veocaaceve oer

Redpoll, Greater
Redstart, American...
Regulus calendula ....

    
  

 

 
 

   
 
   
 

 

satrapa....... Deseo

ROG, AMASTIORI once own ies sane wien

Sanderling.. onan dy,

Sandpiper, Baird’s rate es
Bartramian........
Buff-breasted
Leashes axe: y
Pectoral..........0. 0.0.0.0.
Red-backed.................
Semipalmated wag) TIS:
SOLAR: (65 sence: vsk en arece TR!
OEE ncaa wa: mista earn due ei be 729
Stilt ..... 705

Sapsucker, Yellow-bellied 834

Sayornis phoebe........ 861

Scolecophagus carolinus ... . . -.. 904

Scoter; Surf ws. vt exces 3.28 oun 627

Velvet ... g 627
Scotiaptex cinerea ... 808
Seiurus aurocapillus.................... 1078

TNO GCI leis seb siacded ake ed aae dite we 1082

Seiurus noveboracensis................. 1080

noveboracensis notabilis....... 1082

Setophaga ruticilla............ 0.0.0.0...

Shoveller . sigh ieee

Shrike, Loeeerhead..

NOFtherit ce hae aie: ges eee

White-rumped .................. 1007

Sialia sialis
Siskin, Pine... ee
Sitta canadensis .............. .........

 

1132
CAROMINENSIS cwics cents anders news 1181
Snipes, Wilson Sissi. ¢ sects wey wee Oo we 4 700
1186

Page.
Snowhake’ os. niccuewaetnacae 4 aden COLT

 
  
  
  
  

ORR sitsics wbieareiaisreteha Se taaiaaetewe oahee 6 675
Sparrow, Bachman’s 965
Chipping ... 958
Clay-colored.. 959
English. 935°
TST LO ieee insta eesosinary dove ncowvenea 961
TRO le sies ci erssty he ceestceterccaeecceaunsboci ante 971
QrNae ROP POR incxc cove ncowewywiow 941
Henslow’s.... 943
Lark:....:.'. 949
Leconte’s:  sescre san soared 945

Dincola ayes. arene vcerareees O08

    
 
 
 
  

Nelson’s.. 947

940

967

970

AalaareRiea ine qu netek’ne DE

RVIOR DOE sysciiaiacetiesettontonaenus alee stern 933
White-crowned... 951
White-throated ............... 953

Spatula OLY POAtS nore sexevecuaves seesaw 605
Sphyrapicus varius 834

Spinus pinus....
tTIStIS) so aae eons
Spizu ameri¢ama.........
Spizella monticola.. .. ..
BLD LB esis ysccacaessostag nts corabdav sci obs
Pusillase concen aestaenaascee OBL
socialis siannmineniasenn DDS
Spoonbill, Roseate ...................... 648
Stelgidopteryx serripennis.............. 999

  

 
 

  

 

 

  
  

Stercorarius pomarinus................. 567
Sterna antillarwum s:0¢.202¢ seco weeny 579
dougalli. Sie ihewscagee LOUD,
POTRESPT ae eyn see scence cts .. 576
hirundo Rabat encece O18

Bik PAtBCOlS . 2 pink ine co nnce inne BOO
Ptapwelle MARNE cer dw nesceceamnrecasie 896
Surnia ulula cuparoch . 818
BWAllow,. BAM oie ccicccvsancrennnascweaws 997
Barn cicinssecner als alae due 1 OOF

Cliff... 991

Rough- winged): ee 999

DECC icaruiics cree cree sek rostral a 996

Sal iy FS ee ae ery ces oss cs wok aan 641
Whistling .. 639
Swift, Chimney... 852
Sylvania canadensis .................... 1100
TVET G A ac snssvestsccciaritccartnevcie itt 1696

DUS ULV chs rice tratatteomyebenere ele 1099

Sym pbemia semipalmata siete 725
semipalmata inornata gas 726

Syrnium nebulosum.................... 807

Tachycineta bicolor....... ............. 996

  

Tanager; Seatlets cess ccnenceyonaveesvewvs 986
RO TRRE asprscnres west cxueidemep. aes 988
Tantaluwlooulater® 2..ccncc04 « aces 645

Teal, Bluc-wingéds, ccccousy divscce. BOR
Green-winged....... ............. 602
Tern, Blaékinc a. .. ‘ é
COMO 6 doce casrae eyes OS

 

REPORT OF SvaTE GEOLOGIST.

Page.

Pern Mors ter 6) seuss ce. asssesceieersoicwespetioncensays 576
TE cise trees irowwmnefimaminniun aoe OT
ROSCA iicinssaie cece sects ane sen 579
Thrasher, Brown gc00.9:00e nang avan ss 1111
Thrush, Gray-cheeked .................. 1151
Hermit . 1154

Olive- backed . 1152

WNT G Wns deauaonedis ave HEAD

1150

WIS ONS ieee Ses ancrrsrcor ca weiaicvuaces 1149

Wi00 dh sscnvsiereorsutosercuinnan airs 1147
Thryothorus bewickii................... 1116 °
ludovicianus............. 1114’

Titmouse, Putteds ccs cee sazcrees. grace TBA

Totanus flavipes 721

 

melanoleucus................. 719
solitarius
ROW CO bo cpc.ny cso pcsatecerstirsnaten
Tringa alpina pacifica..........
DIRE syics cssssseresencesiorseatscopcraponsts
CanMMbusin ssocueeccas
maculata ...........
minutilla .......
Trochilus colubris.
Troglodytes edon .......

    

 

 

zedon ertseus.| 1121
hiemalis....... 1122
Tryngites subruficollis antes $e EOS
DUDS BOT oso stassese iin naraneerwnnseonwa 1151
aonalaschke pallasi............ 1154
fuscescens
fuscescens salicicolus.. ........ 1150
MUBStOlIMUB weesenmrarwese cu 1147
ustulatus swainsonii.... .. . We
Turkey, Wild........: denies eg aces a 758
Turnstone .......... Aakodteds 20) AE
Tympanuchus americanus. i = tap
Tyrannus tyrannus ..... ............... 857
Wri Lome ceceuesncyes noe cen siacanee 564
Upinator ii ber wpe cca esse saisanaiciieauwsiast 561
lumme 563
Vireo flavifrons ........ 0.0... ........ 1013
BILVUS icra + aarcornbmstegieeen LOE)
noveboracensis eat ermes --- 1016
olivaceus .. vaste Sone tered: 1009
philadelphicus. -. 1001
SOURIS 0. veces eertee ods daw musa aamincaonians 1015
Vireo, Blue-headed .... ..... .. ..... 1015
Philadelphia ..............0... 0... ‘1011
RGd*696Us circ. concen werent LOOD
Ce . 1012
White-eyed. oo .cccces se eens 1016
Yellow-throated ................. 1013
Vulture) Black! os y.oseecew ee ree 168
MUCK Gs aes sc dass howe soe 766
Warbler, Bay-breasted.......... ....... 1058
Black aitd White........ .. 1019
Blackburnian ..... ......... . 1068
Blackspoll issuers geces vie 1060
Black-throated Green......... 1068

Black-throated Blue..... .... 1047
InpEx To Brrps oF INDIANA.

Page.

Warbler, Blue-winged..................- 1092

   

 

 

Canedianin: .c.2.s2swes yeni
Cape May:....c65 case gene eae
Cerulean ......
Chestnut-sided
Connecticut .........0........
Golden-winged................ 1081
IN GOD OOo sce aja sceciiaiian vircrmecenanion 1096
ae TOWERO RY veces uy wen wnclenad 1085
Kirtland’s ..... 1070
MaRNON fos sono eueeeeevea rs 1051
“Mourning ....................- 1088
DV POLO) siove. taza Sdsece. epicade hevecccrects 1049
Nashville .......... . 1033
Orange-crowned .. 1034
Pa ccrsee samoroacione --. 1074
SParil sien: makesiigerndien ae, LOBT
PNG xo cxeys var neers Benes 1072
Prairiesccc: sensessens . 1076
Prothonotary ... 1021
PWAINSEHOS cries nes ncanscen 1024
SYCAMOTO Kw. a ccreacen vaca von LOGS
Tennessee ............. . 10385
Wir ls0nl Bese cer otwsenc's 1099
Worm-eating........ . 1026
VYelloweiew.. sascseace 1045
Yellow-rumped ..... . 1049
Winter PRGash) oi. icon aemuoiteeoid . 1080
Grane s 4 vccanve . 1082
Louisiana. ..... .. - 1082
Waxwing, Bohemian......... .... 1000

 

Cedar... we -.. 1002

 

 

Woodcock, American a
Woodpecker, Downy sac.cnce com seoccnan
1 SIE accccmsnsigun, meimeciote
Ivory-billed .... ......
Pileated: 202 ancss evens
Red-bellied........ 0 ....
Red-headed........... ...
Yellow-bellied..... :
Wren, Bewick’s ....................
Carolina. ..
HOUSE! ss coy :ct terre sansowcecdeideled ied.
Long-billed Marsh..............
Short-billed Marsh........
Western House..........
, Winter ace yncecarta ince tenhas aene teres

  

 

Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus....... 892
Yellow-Legs .........00 cece eee eee eee 721
Greater. consis eo cr euseie, > 719
Yellow-throat, Maryland ....... .. .... 1090 *
Western...... ....... 1092
Zenedura macroura.. ... Je abated, Ween. TRS
Zonotrichia albicollis . ....... 0 ...--.-. 953
leucophrys ........ .....05- 951