CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY LS LABORATORY OF ORNITHOLOGY LIBRARY Gift of Aided Pagh ‘ " ra Laboratory of Ornithalogy 459 Sapsucker Woeds Road Cornell University ithaca, New York 1485 ’ BIRDS OF CALIFORNIA By Mrs. WHEELockK NESTLINGS OF FOREST AND MARSH With 12 full-page photogravures and nearly 60 text illustrations from original photographs. 12mo. 257 pages. $1.20 net A. C. McCLURG & CO. Bywce dows c 309. Sacre GrousE Centrocercus urophasianus BIRDS OF CALIFORNIA AN INTRODUCTION TO MORE THAN THREE HUNDRED COMMON BIRDS OF THE STATE AND ADJACENT ISLANDS: WITH A SUPPLEMENTARY LIST OF RARE MIGRANTS, ACCIDENTAL VISITANTS, AND HYPOTHETICAL SUBSPECIES BY IRENE GROSVENOR WHEELOCK AUTHOR OF ‘‘ NESTLINGS OF FOREST AND MARSH” WITH TEN FULL-PAGE PLATES AND SEVENTY-EIGHT DRAWINGS IN THE TEXT BY BRUCE’ HORSFALL CHICAGO A. C. McCLURG & CO. 1904 CopyRIGHT A. C. McCuure & Co. 1903 Published February 20, 1904 Dan ith, OL. 684 5G: WHC —_— THE UNIVERSITY PRESS CAMBRIDGE °« U.5. A. TO MY MOTHER NOTE OF ACKNOWLEDGMENT HILE, in the preparation of this work, I have met with universal kindness from the ever- hospitable Californians, my especial thanks are due to members of the Cooper Club and to Dr. David Starr Jordan, of Leland Stanford University, for many cour- tesies extended and kindly encouragement given. For advice and assistance I am also indebted to Mr. Chas. F. Lummis, Mr. Leverett M. Loomis, Mr. John Muir, Mr. Joseph Grinnell, Mr. H. R. Taylor, and the late Chester A. Barlow. But it is to my fellow-student and co-laborer, my husband, Mr. Harry B. Wheelock, that I owe most. With untiring patience he has read manuscript, checked lists, and corrected errors, thereby making it possible for me to go on in the face of many obstacles. Il. G. W. INTRODUCTORY ALIFORNIA is the land of sunshine, flowers, and bird song. In the great sweep of country from Mexico on the south to Oregon on the north are found climatic conditions ranging from the Arctic circle to the tropics. The valleys blossom with roses, while the mountains are crowned with perpetual snow. Hence we find a flora and fauna as unique as the climate. It is the paradise of the bird-lover as well as of the tourist. Birds of the Torrid Zone come here; birds of Alaska winter here; birds from the mountains come down into the valleys. There is a constant movement north and south, a lesser one vertically from the warm lowlands to the colder altitudes, or vice versa. To live among these fascinating feathered folk and not long to know them, one must have eyes that see not and ears deaf to Nature’s music. Yet the bird-lover who wishes to enjoy an acquaintance with them without scientific study finds his road beset with difficulties. From the scientific works that seem to him hopelessly abstruse he turns to the “ popular ” bird book, which is delightful but does not help him to x INTRODUCTORY identify his “bird neighbors.” It is in the hope of meeting this need and affording an introduction to the birds more commonly found in California that this non-technical work is offered. Keys have been avoided and a simple classification, according to habitat or color, substituted, following the excellent plan used by Neltje Blantjan, which has never been excelled for easy iden- tification. In selecting these three hundred from the five hun- dred varieties listed as occurring within the confines of the State and adjacent islands, no arbitrary rule has been followed, the author being guided by her own experience in field work among them. During a test study in 1902, the ground covered was from Mexico to Oregon, and from the islands off the coast to the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada; and in this, two hundred and forty odd species were commonly met with, while the others were by no means rare. The observations were made in the desert region along the California side of the Colorado River, and at Tia Juana, San Diego, Riverside, Redlands, Pasadena, San Pedro, Santa Cata- lina, in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Palo Alto, Alviso, San Francisco Bay region, Martinez, the Farallones, Mt. Tamalpais, Mt. Shasta, Sacramento, Slippery Ford, Lake Tahoe, Fallen Leaf Lake, Eagle Lake, and Lake Tulare. This list is given for the benefit of bird-loving tourists who may wish to do likewise. INTRODUCTORY xi Of the birds occurring in the State and not men- tioned in this volume forty are ducks and geese, the rest being either rare migrants or subspecies, confus- ing to the observer and usually impossible to differ- entiate without a gun. The seabirds, usually omitted from non-technical bird books in the East, are so conspicuous a part of California Avifauna that no work on the subject would be complete without them. Field notes begun in 1894, and made with the aid of powerful binoculars, form the basis of the follow- ing pages. The books used for reference, wherever the author’s personal observations were unsatisfactory, are “Ridgway’s Manual of North American Birds, ” Bendire’s “ Life Histories,”? Loomis’s “‘ Water Birds of California,’ Mrs. Bailey’s ‘Manual of Birds of the Western United States,” Davie’s “Nests and Eggs of North American Birds,” “The Condor, ”’ “The Auk,” ‘“‘The Nidologist,” Nelson’s “ Report of Birds of Alaska,” and Mr. Grinnell’s “ Check-list of California Birds.” The check-list numbers and nomenclature of the American Ornithologist Union have been strictly adhered to. No originality is claimed for the technical descrip- tions of the birds, as on this point the author has drawn freely from standard authorities, oftentimes verbatim, when a personal examination of specimens was impossible. xii INTRODUCTORY It has been a difficult matter to collect facts for the breeding range and season because there is no pub- lished data on the subject; but the work has been conscientiously done, and every precaution taken to prevent possible errors. The dates given include the earliest and latest at which eggs or newly hatched young are usually found. It will be seen from this that. especial attention has been given to the habits of each species during the reproduction period, including nest-building, incubation, care of the young, etc., all of which, unless otherwise accredited, has been taken from the author’s own notes. Long and careful study of the feeding habits of young birds in California and the Eastern United States has led the author to make some statements which may incur the criticism of ornithologists who have not given especial attention to the subject. For instance, — that the young of all macrochires, wood- peckers, perching birds, cuckoos, kingfishers, most birds of prey, and many seabirds are fed by regurgita- tion from the time of hatching through a period varying in extent from three days to four weeks, according to the species. Furthermore, that birds eating animal flesh or large insects give fresh (unregurgitated) food to their young at a correspondingly earlier stage of devel- opment than do those varieties which subsist on small insects or seeds. Also, that exclusive seed eaters are usually fed by regurgitation so long as they remain in INTRODUCTORY xiii the nest. Out of one hundred and eighty cases recorded by the author, in every instance where the young were hatched in a naked or semi-naked condition they were fed in this manner for at least three days. In some instances the food was digested, wholly or in part; in others it was probably swallowed merely for con- venience in carrying, and was regurgitated in an un- digested condition. There seemed to be no definite relation between the duration of the period of regurgi- tative feeding and the length of time required for the full development of the fledgeling. Young vul- tures were fed in this way for ten days, and stayed in the nest nine weeks. Young robins received their food by this process three, occasionally four, days, and usually took flight on the fifteenth day. Hum- ming-birds, swallows, and a few others are fed by regurgitation so long as they remain in the nest. Goldfinches, waxwings, and others are nourished in this way, with an occasional meal of raw food, until they are ready to fly. The list is a long one, and as most if not all of these instances are mentioned in their individual biographies, given in this volume, they need not be cited here. Scientists have long known that pigeons, doves, and humming-birds feed their young in this manner, and the discovery that most species do likewise need cause no surprise. IRENE GROSVENOR WHEELOCK. Cuicaco, January 1, 1904. & eV 2. vr , - IES ‘ey Sn Z & gor tee - a 2 oy oy x z sarndeag Zs __ Stouqeat al aN ANY sfisae9=199 400 i kg ~ san ave Bang, oad 2) > =~ 40 W no? \ so ©) ‘a ay? R oy203 \ r 470 \ “moa9 3 " IDENTIFICATION Tue accompanying chart of a bird will explain the terms used in the descriptions. ‘‘ Upper parts” refers to the entire upper surface of the body of the bird from the bill to the tail. In the same manner, ‘‘ Under parts” refers to the under surface. In identifying, decide first into which class the bird you are observing is likely to belong, — that is, whether land or water birds. If water, whether it is found on the open sea, or near shore, or in bayous or marshes, and whether it is a swimmer or a wader, and then look for it in the list where you think it may belong. Always ascertain as near as you can the bird’s length, and remember, in judging length, that a bird usually looks smaller than he actually measures. If the bird is among the land birds, and is neither a game bird nor a bird of prey, trace it down in the color classification. AN ER ‘ie Ss! (TM... oweER SONOR l EEE] TRANSITION [os upPP' USE OF THE MAP Tue four Life Zones indicated on the accompanying map are those mentioned in the data given under the headings Geographical Distribution and Breeding Range. They represent climatic conditions of temperature in the regions indicated. The ‘‘ Boreal” extends from the tree- less, snowclad summits, far above the timber-line down through the coniferous forests. Next in coldness is the ‘* Transition,” which begins at the Yellowpines, overlap- ping the Boreal a little, and containing some species of oaks, buckbrush, manzanita, and some sagebrush. Lying between the Transition and the almost tropical heat of the ‘‘ Lower Sonoran” is the ‘‘ Upper Sonoran,” where we find the juniper, oaks, pifion pines, and sagebrush. Last of all, the ‘‘ Lower Sonoran” is the warmest. In it lie the hot valleys and desert regions of California, and here flourish the live oaks and mesquites. Many Cali- fornia birds migrate from one to another of these zones during the breeding season, as the birds of the Eastern United States migrate north and south. This changing from lower to higher altitude, or the reverse, is termed vertical migration. CONTENTS PART IL—WATER BIRDS BIRDS OF THE OPEN SEA Tufted Puffin 3 Black-footed Albatross Rhinoceros Auklet 65 Short-tailed Albatross Cassin Auklet 6 Pacifie Fulmar d Ancient Murrelet 7 Black-vented Shearwater Marbled Murrelet 10 Dark-bodied Shearwater Xantus Murrelet ‘ 11 Kaeding Petrel . Pigeon Guillemot 12 Black Petrel . California Murre i 13 Ashy Petrel Parasitic Jaeger . « 16 Man-o’-War Bird BIRDS FOUND NEAR THE SHORE OR IN BAYS Loon . : 27 ~—s- Forster Tern Pacific Loon ‘ 30 ~— Least Tern . Red-throated Loon. . . 31 American Black Tern Glaucous-winged Gull . 82 Farallone Cormorant Western Gull . . . 34 Brandt Cormorant . Herring Gull . : 37 Baird Cormorant California Gull . 39 American White Pelican Ring-billed Gull. 40 California Brown Pelican . Heermann Gull : . 41 Whistling Swan . Bonaparte Gull eo 42 Trumpeter Swan Royal Tern . ‘ 43 BIRDS FOUND ALONG THE BEACHES Wilson Phalarope . : 58 Red-backed Sandpiper, or Ox American Avocet . . . 60 Bird . . Black-necked Stilt . 62 Western Sandpiper . Long-billed Dowitcher . 63 Sanderlitig Least Sandpiper, or Meadow Greater Yellow-legs . Oxeye . . ‘ . . 65 Wandering Tattler 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 26 44 45 46 48 50 52 53 55 56 57 66 67 68 69 71 XxX Spotted Sandpiper . Long-billed Curlew, or Sickle- billed Curlew . Hudsonian Curlew, or J ack Curlew . 72 73 75 CONTENTS Black-bellied Plover Killdeer Snowy Plover Black Turnstone Black Oyster-catcher BIRDS FOUND IN BAYOUS AND MARSHES Western Grebe . American Eared Grebe Pied-billed Grebe . White-faced Glossy Ibis . American Bittern Least Bittern Great Blue Heron, Crane . American Egret Snowy Heron or Blue 82 84 86 88 90 91 93 94 95 Anthony Green Heron Black-crowned Night Heron Sandhill Crane . ~ % California Clapper Rail . Virginia Rail Sora, or Carolina Rail Black Rail : Florida Gallinule, billed Mud-hen . American Coot . or Red- PART II.—LAND BIRDS I. — UPLAND Wilson Snipe 111 Mountain Plover 113 Mountain Partridge 114 Plumed Partridge . 115 California Partridge 118 Valley Partridge 120 I]. —BIRDS California Vulture, orCondor 134 Turkey Vulture 136 White-tailed Kite 138 Marsh Hawk . . 139 Sharp-shinned Hawk . 142 Cooper Hawk 143 Prairie Falcon . 145 Western Red-tailed Haw k 147 Red-bellied Hawk . 149 GAME BIRDS Gambel Partridge . Sooty Grouse Oregon Ruffed eee Sage Grouse . Band-tailed Pigeon Mourning Dove OF PREY Swainson Hawk Ferruginous Rough-leg Golden Eagle Bald Eagle . Duck Hawk. Pigeon Hawk Desert Sparrow Hawk Fish Hawk, or American Osprey . 76 77 78 80 81 96 97 98 99 101 102 104 105 107 122 124 126 127 130 132 150 153 154 156 158 159 161 163 CONTENTS American Barn Owl American Long-eared Owl Short-eared Owl California Screech Owl 166 168 169 71 Pacific Horned Ow] Burrowing Owl . Pygmy Owl . III.—COMMON LAND BIRDS IN COLOR GROUPS With Brown Predominating in Plumage Road-runner California Cuckoo . Red-shafted Flicker Dusky Poorwill, or California Poorwill Z ee Nighthawk . Texan Nighthawk . Say Phebe . Western Wood Bancen Pallid Horned Lark, or Des- ert Horned Lark Mexican Horned Lark Ruddy Horned Lark . Streaked Horned Lark Gray-crowned Leucosticte Pine Siskin, or Pine Finch ‘Western Vesper Sparrow. Western Savanna Sparrow Bryant Marsh Sparrow Belding Marsh Sparrow . Large-billed Sparrow . ‘Western GrasshopperSparrow Western Lark Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow . Gambel Sparrow, or Inter- mediate Sparrow Nuttall Sparrow Golden-crowned Sparrow . Western Chipping Sparrow . Brewer Sparrow Black-chinned Sparrow Thurber Junco, or Junco . é Point Pinos Junco, Sierra 181 185 188 192 194 197 199 202 204 208 208 209 209 211 213 215 216 217 218 219 221 222 224 225 225 227 228 230 231 234 Bell Sparrow Sage Sparrow Rufous-crowned Sparrow, Desert Song Sparrow . Mountain Song Sparrow Heerman Song Sparrow . Samuels Song Sparrow Rusty Song Sparrow Lincoln Sparrow Townsend Sparrow Thick-billed Sparrow . Stephens Sparrow . Californian Towhee Anthony Towhee . Green-tailed Towhee . Black-headed Grosbeak Cliff Swallow ‘ Rough-winged Swallow . Cedar Waxwing American Pipit . Water Ouzel, or American Dipper . Sage Thrasher . Californian Thrasher . Pasadena Thrasher. Leconte Thrasher . Crissal Thrasher Cactus Wren Rock Wren . Cation Wren Dotted Cafion Wren Vigors Wren Parkman Wren, or Pacitic House Wren . Xl 173 175 178 236 237 239 240 242 243 243 244 244 245 247 246 248 250 251 253 256 258 259 262 264 268 270 272 273 274 276 279 281 282 284 285 Xxil CONTENTS Western Winter Wren . . 287 Coast Wren-tit . Tule Wren . ‘ 289 Townsend Solitaire Interior Tule Wren, or West- Russet-backed Thrush ern Marsh Wren 292 Andubon Hermit Thrush, or Californian Creeper. 293 Sierra Hermit Thrush . Sierra Creeper. . . . 293 Dwarf Hermit Thrush Pallid Wren-tit. . . . 296 Western Robin . Californian Bush-tit . . 298 Varied Thrush Chestnut-backed Chickadee . 301 With Dusky, Gray, and Slate-Colored Plumage Belted Kingfisher . . . 8138 Western Mockingbird Vaux Swift. . . . 317 ~Slender-billed Nuthatch . Arkansas Kingbird. 318 Red-breasted Nuthatch Cassin Kingbird . . . 822 Pygmy Nuthatch . Ash-throated Flycatcher. . 324 Plain Titmouse . Oregon Jay a ee 327 Mountain Chickadee . Clarke Nutcracker . 329 Californian Chickadee Oregon Junco . . . 883 Lead-colored Bush-tit. Bank Swallow. . . -834 Western Gnatcatcher . White-rumped Shrike. 336 Black-tailed Gnatcatcher California Shrike . oe . 887 Plumage Conspicuously Black and White Harris Woodpecker . 360 White-throated Swift . Cabanis Woodpecker 361 Western Black Phoebe Gairdner Woodpecker 363 Black-billed Magpie Nuttall Woodpecker .. . 364 Yellow-billed Magpie White-headed Woodpecker . 366 White-necked Raven Arctic Three-toed Wood- Bobolink pecker. . 868 Spurred Towhee Williamson Sapsucker 370 Oregon Towhee . Northern Pileated Wood- Lark Bunting ‘i pecker . . 872 Phainopepla .... . Californian Woodpecker . 876 Black-throated Gray Warbler Gila Woodpecker . . . . 378 Plumage Black or Iridescent Black Black Swift . . 404 Cowbird . i American Raven 405 Brewer Blackbird . American Crow. . . . . 408 Western Martin 302 303 306 307 309 309 311 340 342 344 345 348 350 353 354 356 358 379 381 383 387 389 390 393 394 396 398 401 411 412 415 CONTENTS Plumage Green, Greenish Gray, and Olive Black-chinned Humming- bird : Costa Hummingbird . Anna Hummingbird . Rufous Hummingbird Allen Hummingbird . Calliope Hummingbird Olive-sided Flycatcher Western Flycatcher Traill Flycatcher Hammond Flycatcher Wright Flycatcher 417 420 423 426 429 431 433 436 4389 441 442 Northern Violet-green Swal- low ri Warbling Vireo Cassin Vireo Hutton Vireo Least Vireo . Gray Vireo . : Lutescent Warbler Dusky Warbler Western Galdencerawnnd Kinglet Ruby-crowned iaplet Red Conspicuous in Plumage Red-breasted Sapsucker . Lewis Woodpecker Vermilion Flycatcher . San Diego Red-win ged Black- bird . Sonoran Badwinged Black- bird . Sseeey: @ 462 465 466 470 473 Bicolored Blackbird Tricolored Blackbird . California Pine Grosbeak . California Purple Finch . Cassin Purple Finch . House Finch, or Linnet . Mexican Crossbill . Blue or Metallic Blue Conspicuous in Pluinage Steller Jay Blue-fronted Jay California Jay . Pion Jay ‘ Western Blue Giosteak ‘ Lazuli Bunting 485 489 490 493 496 498 Barn Swallow F White-bellied Saallae. or Tree Swallow ‘Western Bluebird Mountain Bluebird Yellow or Orange Conspicuous in Plumage Yellow-headed Blackbird Western Meadowlark . Scott Oriole . Arizona Hooded Oviele Bullock Oriole . Western Evening Grosbeak Willow Goldfinch . Arkansas Goldfinch 508 511 514 517 519 523 525 528 Lawrence Goldfinch Louisiana Tanager, or West- ern Tanager . Calaveras Warbler . Yellow Warbler ° Yellow-rumped Warbler, or Myrtle Warbler Audubon Warbler . XXii1 445 447 448 451 453 454 455 457 458 459 474 475 476 478 480 481 483 500 502 505 506 529 530 533 535 537 538 XX1V CONTENTS Townsend Warbler. . 540 Long-tailed Chat . . . . 549 Hermit Warbler . . . . 542 Pileolated Warbler . . . 552 Macgillivray Warbler. 545 Verdin ..... + + 554 Pacific Yellow-throat . . 546 SUPPLEMENTARY LIST ........ ++ + + 559 INDEX giwcd bow. go Boma oR gece cake Oe ae Re ee 088 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Sace Grouse . Wy ates 2's de G8 : Frontispiece IDENTIFICATION CHART OF Birp. . . . 1 ee . xiv Map oF ZONES . BS, tae ak ok Gh” Ge St igs age as : 4% xvi TorreD PurFiIn. ‘‘Asa puppy enjoysa bone” . . 4 ANCIENT MurreLer. ‘‘If a white-cap developed near them, they would always escape it by diving” . . . . . : 8 Piceon GuiIttemot. ‘‘The Baby Guillemot” : wie 12 Asuy Pretrev. ‘The playmate of the grim old sea” 25 Loon. ‘‘The young loons are taken into the water”. . . . . 29 WesTERN GULL. ‘‘The young gull is taught to fish” . . 85 AMERICAN Biack Terry. ‘‘As it picks dragon-flies from the low rushes” : ewe ae AF BRANDT CORMORANT Re ad To face page 50 Witson PHatarore. ‘Picking up their own food before they were ten hoursold”. . . . . |. beck ee, Seat oa he BD SANDERLING. ‘‘A game of tag with the ocean” . é 69 Hupsonian Curtew. ‘“ Whenalighting” . . .. . - 75 AMERICAN EarED GREBE. When tired, they are given a ride on the mother’s back Bb the tage Aafia 85 WHITE-FACED Guossy Ipis. ‘‘ Watching for minnows in the shallow water”. . . . BS Sid “ase do Set OS . 89 Vircinia Ratu. ‘ Picking his way cautiously between the tules” 101 CALIFORNIA ParTripce. ‘It haunts the cafions and slopes” . 119 Movurnine Dove. ‘A platform of sticks” . . . - . 183 CALIFORNIA VULTURE, OR ConpoR . . . . . To face page 184 WHITE-TAILED Kits. ‘‘Preying upon the field mice”. . . . 189 Prarrie Fatcon. ‘‘Not even the bald eagle can strike such terror to a flock of grouse” =. woe ced a 146 XXV1 ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Swainson Hawk. ‘‘ Wait silently until the prey appears” : 151 Bourrowine Ow, ‘‘ They converse in soft love nates”. 176 Roap-RUNNER . raed ‘ 3 To face page 181 CaLIFORNIA Cuckoo. ‘‘He was busy feasting where the tent caterpillars nested”. . ah fe ‘ 187 NicHTHAWK. ‘‘ Crept back as often as she was driven away” 196 Say Puase. ‘‘ The industrious little mother repairs the nest” . 201 GRAY-cROWNED Levcosticrr. ‘‘ Searching in the snow for beetles and bugs” . aa ue) 8 : : . . 210 LARGE-BILLED Sparrow. ‘‘It haunts the wharves and break- waters” ‘i 219 WESTERN Lark Sparrow. ‘‘ The singer’ 221 GOLDEN-crowNED Sparrow. ‘‘ Their food is che weed as and winter berries ” ‘ i ; 226 THURBER Junco. ‘‘They iene with slaiutive calls” . 232 Sace Sparrow. ‘‘ He sings to his mate, not to you” . . . . 288 Desert Sone Sparrow. “In rain or shine, he is the same jolly fellow ” z : 241 TownsEND Sparrow. ‘‘ The way he digs for his supper” 246 GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE. ‘‘ A manner distinctly hisown” . 252 BLACK-HEADED GrosBEAK. ‘‘ His little brown throat swelling with music” . ans bs gn SB 254 American Pipir. ‘‘ Up to the very highest peaks they wander” 263 Water OUZEL, OR AMERICAN DIPPER To face page 264 Leconte THRASHER. “ He loves the barrenness of the desert” . 274 Cactus Wrry. ‘A long, purse-shaped affair” . . . 278 TuLE WREN. . . ak . To ee page 289 Sierra CREEPER. ‘‘ He offers his sweetheart a fat grub” . . 295 CALIFORNIAN BUSH-TIT . . . i To face page 298 TownsEND Sorrarre. ‘Remained there singing when the shadows of evening closed over the scene”. 304 Rosset-BAcKED THRusH. ‘Only at twilight and in the ears dawn may one hear the rich sweet song of this shy singer” . 307 Variep Tarusn. ‘‘ Silent and shy” i j . $312 Be,rep KINGFISHER. “‘ He strikes again and again” . . . 815 Arkansas Kinepirnp. ‘* Watching witha great show of alertness” 319 ILLUSTRATIONS XXVil PaGE Orncon Jay. ‘Nota single blue feather ” ae 328 CuarkrE NuTCRACKER .. . o 8 . To face page 329 WHITE-RUMPED SHRIKE. ‘‘ Impaling their prey on thorns” . 337 Pyemy Nursarcnu. ‘‘ Both birds worked busily carrying feathers” 347 Piain Tirmouse. ‘‘Busily carrying short hair, feathers, and wool” a2 aes Aa 3 : é i 349 Mountain CuHickaDEE. ‘‘ The birds were very fearless ” 352 BLack-TAILED GNATCATCHER. ‘‘ He was a bewitching little gray ball of feathers ” prose & BA goo TE 359 CaBANis WoopPECKER. ‘‘ Both sexes share the labors of excavat- ing” : 5 Shs od 362 WHITE-HEADED WooDPECKER. ‘‘ Where the bark is thickest and roughest ” ‘ a a 367 NortHeRN PiLEaTeD WooprecKer. ‘‘After a few trials he learns to hammer right merrily ” A 374 CALIFORNIAN WOODPECKER . a -To face page 376 WHITE-THROATED Swirt. ‘‘ Its nesting site is the most inaccessi- ble cliff” a Uae oy 380 Bozsotink. ‘‘ While his demure sweetheart listens”’ . ey 392 PHAINOPEPLA : as To face page 398 BLaCK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER. ‘‘ They lean away over to peer under every leaf” . . ane, SS ay 403 Biack Swirr. ‘‘ While flying swiftly through the air” 404 BLAcK-CHINNED HumMINGBIRD. “‘ Lit daintily a few inches away” 418 Anna Hummincsirp. ‘‘ Upon a wire clothes-line, and squeaking right merrily ” ; Bs Be, GS Os 424 CatuiopE HumMinesirp. ‘It feeds upon the painted cups” 432 NortHern VIOLET-GREEN Swatiow. “It is a lover of pine woods and mountain forests” . 446 Guay Vireo. ‘‘ The best songster of all the vireos ” 454 Rusy-crownep Kineier. ‘Only an expert climber can hope to peep into one” : ep » . 461 Rep-sreastep Sapsucker. ‘‘The mother watched the attempt to drink the sweet syrup”. : 463 VERMILION Fiycatcuer. ‘‘ Pouring out his joy ” 467 San Dizco REep-wincep Bracknind. ‘A spirit of reckless daring” 472 KXVIll ILLUSTRATIONS CALIFORNIA PinE GrosBEak. ‘He seems fairly to revel in the pa swirling clouds of snow” . . . . . 1. 1 ee ee 477 Mexican CrosssBitt. ‘‘ Head down, chickadee fashion” . . . 484 STELLER Jay. ‘‘ Nowhere are they welcome”. As . 487 Catirornia Jay. ‘‘The colder the better” . . . 491 YELLOW-HEADED BLacKBIRD. ‘‘Beseechingly from the cradle” 510 Scorr Oriotz. ‘‘ He will peer into it with ludicrous earnestness” 516 Lovistana Tanacer. ‘A dragonfly had been captured for break- fast” 532 AupUBON Warsier. ‘‘ Always in a mad chase for something to Cate. he hk Glas Behnke Ye Se : be. Ss . 539 Hermit Warsier. ‘‘ With her beak fall of cobwebs” . . . 543 Lonc-TaILED Cuat. ‘‘Where he whistled and sang from dawn until datke es we Gy ay we oo ee ED) PILEOLATED WARBLER. ‘‘ His song reminds one of the tinkle of abrooklet” . F fo er Ge Sy Be Gee Ay en eo BBS VeERDIN. ‘A retort-shaped affair” . . . . . 1. « » » 555 PART I WATER BIRDS BIRDS OF CALIFORNIA Part I WATER BIRDS BIRDS OF THE OPEN SEA 12. TUFTED PUFFIN. — Lunda cirrhata. Famity: The Auks, Murres, and Puffins. Length: 15.00. Adults in Summer : Top of head, wings, back, and tail uniform blackish brown ; throat, breast, and belly dark grayish brown ; cheeks, fore- head, and chin white; a long silky tuft of yellow feathers, curved like horns, hanging down and back from each side of the crown, just back of the eyes. End of the bill bright red, base greenish yellow ; feet bright red. Adults in Winter: Tufts wanting ; sides of head dusky; feet and bill duller; horny covering at base of bill replaced by brown skin. Downy Young: Uniform dark gray or black. Geographical Distribution : Coasts and islands of the North Pacific from Southern California to Alaska. Breeding Range: From the Farallone Islands north to Behring Sea. Breeding Season: Approximately, June 1 to August 1. Nest : Usually in crevice in rock ; sometimes a burrow is excavated in the shale; bare, or lined with coarse weeds. Eggs: 1; ranging from white to yellowish buff, variously marked with lilac dots at both ends ; or, irregular, indistinct tan-color spots over entire surface ; or, having nondescript zigzag markings. Size 2.81 X 1.89. THE name “sea parrot” is applied to all puffins on account of their curious parrot-like bill. The Tufted 4 WATER BIRDS Puffin breeds extensively on the Farallone Islands and, to a limited extent, on Santa Barbara and San Clementi and Point Reyes Islands. Its single egg is laid in the barest semblance of a nest at the end of a burrow, or in a crevice among the rocks, or often under the shelter of a boulder. Wherever the nest may be it is always valiantly defended, and only in the rare absence of both parents will the collec- tor rob it. The only child receives all the atten- tion proverbially given to only children, for the nest is never left unguarded and the par- eae, ents make a fierce fight if molested. The young puffin is an odd- a looking baby, for it inherits the family bill. Otherwise it looks like a gray rat crouched at the entrance to its home run. Both adults and young are noisy, con- stantly growling from their burrows, and croaking when outside; this with their odd bill, white face- mask, and drooping yellow ear-tufts, makes them eerie creatures of the sea. Their food consists of fish, mollusks, and crustacea, which they obtain by diving, using both wings and feet to propel themselves under water. This top-heavy bird is exceedingly awkward on land, and especially so when alighting with a fish in its beak, as with a swinging motion it drops its feet very wide apart. In feeding, the parent holds the fish or 12. Turrep Porrtn. ~ “* As a puppy enjoys a bone.” ae y BIRDS OF THE OPEN SEA 5 crustacean firmly in its beak, and the young tear bits from it with snarling whines, somewhat as a puppy enjoys a bone. The young bird dives or is shoved off from the rocks to the water, both parents assisting at the rather startling début and, apparently, breaking the force of the fall by flying under the little one. One would expect a bird so uncouth and helpless in walking to be particularly graceful on the water, but this is not the case with the puffins, for they swim in such a horizontal position as to seem even more ungraceful than on land. 15. RHINOCEROS AUKLET. — Cerorhinca monocerata. Famity: The Auks, Murres, and Puffins. Length : 15.00. Adults: Upper parts uniform grayish black ; sides of head, neck, upper neck, and sides dull gray ; lower breast and belly white, washed with gray; a row of narrow, pointed white feathers along each side of occiput ; another row trom base of bill across cheek to ear. Nuptial Plumage: Base of upper mandible surmounted by a compressed upright horn, the base of which clasps the mandible as a saddle, down to and inclosing the nostrils. In winter this is replaced by leathery skin. Downy Young: Soft gray-brown. Geographical Distribution: Coast and islands of the North Pacific from Behring Sea south to Lower California (resident). Breeding Range: From Washington northward on islands near the coast. Breeding Season : Approximately, June 1 to August 20. Nest: In crevice or at end of burrow, 2 to 4 feet from entrance, some- times lined with refuse, but oftener bare. Eggs: 1; chalky white, with faint gray markings. Size 2.70 X 1.82. Tue Rhinoceros Auklet is an odd-looking bird, hav- ing a short chunky body, with head set so close to its shoulders as to leave no neck at all, and legs so 6 WATER BIRDS short as to be practically invisible. Floating on the water it seems to have fallen over on its face and to be unable to right itself, so that it looks much more like a bit of wood than a bird. You glance at it carelessly, never dreaming that it may be alive, when suddenly it dives, leaving no trace. In a moment it reappears at some distance away, only to dive again the instant you turn in its direction. It is perfectly at home on or in the water, although so helpless on land, and can swim a long distance submerged. Largely nocturnal in habits, migrating and feeding at night ; it hides from the sun in burrows or behind rocks during the day, and if brought into the strong light it blinks like an owl. At night it flies swiftly in flocks, with peculiar, plaintive cries, after the manner of the swift. In winter it is found on most of the islands along the coast from Tia Juana and San Diego north. Migrates in flocks about May 1. Is recorded from Santa Catalina. 16. CASSIN AUKLET. — Ptychoramphus aleuticus. Famity: The Auks, Murres, and Puffins. Length: 8.75. Aduits: Above, dark slate-color, merging into ashy on sides of head and neck ; upper breast and sides slate ; lower breast and belly white ; a white spot on lower eyelids. Downy Young: Soft brownish gray. Geographical Distribution: Pacific coast of North America from Alaska to Lower California. Breeding Range: From San Benito Islands northward. Breeding Season: Approximately, April 1 to September 1. BIRDS OF THE OPEN SEA q Nest : In crevices of rocks, under edge of boulders, or in shallow burrow ; unlined. Eggs: 1; greenish white. Size 1.81 X 1.33. Like the rhinoceros auklet, Cassin’s Auklet is noc- turnal in habit, hiding in its burrow by day and coming out in the twilight to feed and fly. Both species are expert swimmers and divers, obtaining in this manner the crustacea which form their chief diet. On stormy nights they may be heard calling to each other above the thunder of the surf and the fury of the gale. On clear or moonlight nights they flit like huge beetles over the shore, with continual high-keyed notes. With the screams of the gulls by day and the calls of the auklets by night, the rocky islands of the Pacific coast are never silent. The Cassin Auklets are resident in small numbers off the coast of Southern California and on the islands of Santa Catalina, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz, breeding locally northward along their range. On the Farallones they breed in great numbers, and are also found nesting abundantly on the Netarte Islands and along the rocky coast of British Columbia. Each pair will usually raise three broods, of a single bird each, every season. The young remain in the nest until fully feathered, when they are able to fly, swim, and dive with the ease of adult birds. 21. ANCIENT MURRELET. — Synthliboramphus antiquus. Famity: The Auks, Murres, and Puffins. Length: 10.00. Breeding Plumage: Head and throat black ; sides of neck, line on each side of crown to nape, white; upper back gray, streaked laterally with white ; back, wings, and tail brownish gray, blackish on prima- ries ; sides sooty brown; breast and belly white, 8 WATER BIRDS Winter Plumage: Throat white; upper parts uniform dark gray ; under parts white. Downy Young: Above, soft dark gray ; lower parts and throat white. Geographical. Distribution : Coasts of the Northern Pacific from Monte- rey northward to arctic circle. Breeding Range: From Sitka northward. Breeding Season: June and July. Nest: Unlined, in holes in a bank or shallow burrow. Egys: 2; deep buff, with fine markings of light purplish brown. Size 2.32 x 1.47. In “California Water Birds,” No. II., Mr. Leverett M. Loomis says concerning the occurrence of the Ancient Murrelet at Monterey in midwinter: “About . _ five hundred yards ~~ from the surf a belt >: EE Laboratory oe 7 around Point Pinos (Pacific Grove, Cal.) had gained an fF anchorage. ‘ 21. ANCIENT The nar- — 7” MurRELET. 2 “Tf a white-cap developed near them, lp they would always escape it by diving.” Fe row strip between this and the beach was the favorite resort of -_=7~Ancient Murrelets. A good many were -— ~ also found near the surf in the little coves in —~ the direction of Monterey, and some were seen “several miles out from the land. They were great BIRDS OF THE OPEN SEA 9 divers and swimmers under water, and voracious in their pursuit of small fry. Unlike marbled murrelets they did not seek safety in flight when pursued. Neither did they dive as soon or remain as long under water when keeping out of the way of the boat. If a whitecap developed near them they would always escape it by diving. That this little Auk leaves its summer home in the land of ice- bergs and comes south in considerable numbers in winter to California has not been generally known to ornithol- ogists.” In April it starts north again, and by May 20 has reached the breeding ground in Alaska. Here it selects a nesting place, either a deep crevice in the rock, the abandoned burrow of a rabbit, or under the heavily matted grass. Under the grass it burrows its way for two or three feet, and there scratches out a small cavity, lining it carefully with dry grass from the outside. Here two buff eggs are laid. These are brooded by one bird during the day, while the other feeds out at sea. At night they change places. The only account of their nesting habits has been given by Mr. Littlejohn, who spent some time with them on an Alaskan island. He describes the squeaky noises made by the nocturnal birds, murrelets, auklets, and petrels, as effectually banishing sleep. “ As if not satisfied with the constant babble of their neighbors, the murrelets took especial delight in alighting at the foot of the A-shaped ‘tent, toe-nailing it up to the ridgepole, resting there a moment, and then sliding down the other side.” 10 WATER BIRDS 23. MARBLED MURRELET. — Brachyramphus marmoratus. Famity: The Auks, Murres, and Puffins. Length: 9.75. Adults in Summer: Above dusky, barred with rusty brown ; under parts white, each feather tipped with umber, producing a mottled effect. Adults in Winter: Above slate-gray with white band across nape ; scap- ulars mixed with white, and feathers of back tipped with brownish ; lower parts white, more or less mottled with gray. Young: Above uniform dark gray, with light band on nape more or less distinct. Lower parts white, mottled with gray. Geographical Distribution : Pacific coast of North America from South- ern California to Alaska. Breeding Range: From Oregon coast northward. Nest: In burrow in ground, or hole in bank, or crevice in cliff. £ggs: 1; buffy, marked with purple-brown. Size 2.14 X 1.42. THE Marbled Murrelet is found only in the Pacific Ocean, and breeds in such inaccessible places that little is known of its habits. The adult birds and young are found in numbers about Vancouver Island, but its nest- ing sites are difficult to find. It is more common along the coast of British Columbia than farther south. The best authorities seem to agree that the nesting habits of this species are like those of the ancient murrelet and their usual breeding grounds only a little farther south. In California they are common near the coast all winter as far’ south as San Diego. At Monterey we found them exceedingly timid, diving at the slightest alarm and impossible to approach. Their food consists of small invertebrates, which they pick from the rocks at some distance under water. BIRDS OF THE OPEN SEA 11 25. XANTUS MURRELET. — Brachyramphus hypoleucus. Famity: The Auks, Murres, and Puffins. Length : 10.00. Adults: Upper parts plain slaty gray ; under parts, including cheeks and throat, uniform clear white ; lining of wing white; head without ornamental feathers or spines. Downy Young: Uniform dusky color above, light gray beneath. Geographical Distribution: Southern California to Cape St. Lucas. Breeding Range: From San Diego southward on coast of Southern Cali- fornia and on Coronado Islands. Breeding Season: Approximately, March 1 to June 1. Nest : In crevices of cliffs; usually lined with coarse grass. Eggs: 1; light buffy, with gray-brown markings. Size 2.05 X 1.50. Te Xautus Murrelet is a common resident along the coast of Southern California as far north as Monterey. Little is known concerning its breeding habits, although it nests on the coast from San Diego south, more abun- dantly south of the Mexican border. It is numerous out in the open sea south of Coronado Islands during the breeding season, and is said to nest on the Island of San Clementi as well as Coronado. It is found in the Santa Barbara Channel at all seasons of the year, and without doubt a few nest on the Santa Barbara Islands at present, though the breeding ground there is reported. as deserted for some years. The nesting habits are probably not unlike those of its Alaskan cousins except as to season. 12 WATER BIRDS 29. PIGEON GUILLEMOT.— Cepphus columba. Famity : The Auks, Murres, and Puffins. Length : 13.50. Adults in Summer: Uniform blackish except wings, where black basal half runs to point, making a black wedge between two white patches ; feet red; bill black and slender. Aduits in Winter: White, varied on upper parts with black ; wings and tail as in summer. Young: Similar to winter plumage of adult. Downy Young: Uniform black above, under parts gray. Geographical Distribution : Coasts and islands of the North Pacific from Behring Strait to Southern California. Breeding Range: From San Nicholas Island northward. Breeding Season: Approximately, May 1 to August 1. Nest: Behind or under boulders or in dark places, as near the water as possible. £ggs: 2; light green-blue, thickly marked with lilac, mostly at larger end. Size 2.43 X 1.62. TueE Pigeon Guillemot, “so like a guillemot and so like a pigeon,” is very abundant on the Farallones. It is a pretty, graceful bird, first cousin to the murre, which it somewhat resembles, being of a soft, dark brown color. Two points im- press you at first, — its conspicuous scarlet feet, and the broad white band on the wing. Like many =~ sea birds, it stands with the body in ~ &e - eye a vertical position, supported by the oie, OS long foot, after the manner of a penguin. Bn At Its curious nest is made of pebbles, carried 29. “THe Basy a = . : GUILLEMOT” one by one in its bill and deposited in a circle in dark crannies of the rocks or hidden under boul- ders. They seem to serve chiefly as a rim to keep the eggs BIRDS OF THE OPEN SEA 13 from rolling away. The breeding ground of the Pigeon Guillemot is that also occupied by the gulls, on the lower part of the islands, often near the water’s edge. Yet surrounded on every side by the nests of the gulls and living near neighbors with them, they seem to be the only birds which these brigands of the sea do not commonly molest. Probably pigeon eggs are not to their taste. The baby Guillemot when first hatched is covered with thin blackish down on the head, neck, and back, shading to dark gray on the under parts. There is no conspicuous coloring to betray him in the dark nesting place, for even his feet are dull olive rather than red like those of his father. As with our own land pigeons, the family always consists of twins, theo- retically a male and a female. Like the land pigeons, also, they are fed by regurgitation ; but here the resem- blance ends, for they learn to dive and swim almost as soon as the down is fairly dry, and become expert in paddling swiftly with their heads submerged, in a unique and very amusing fashion. 30a. CALIFORNIA MURRE— Uria troile Californica. Famity: The Auks, Murres, and Puftins. Length : 17.50. Adults in Summer: Upper parts uniform grayish brown; browner on neck and sides of head; under parts white. Adults in Winter: Upper parts same as in summer ; under parts white ; throat and sides of head more or less washed with brownish ; sides tinged with darker. Downy Young: Upper parts grayish brown, the head and neck finely streaked with pearl-gray. Under parts white. Geographical Distribution : Coasts and islands of North Pacific. 14 WATER BIRDS Breeding Range: From Farallones to Alaska. Breeding Season ; Approximately, May to August. Nest: A bare fiat place on cliffs, no lining, no protection. Eggs: 1; pear-shaped; varying from white to buffy, amber, and pale green. May be either unmarked or streaked with brown. In size they vary from 3.50 X 1.90 to 2.05 X 1.45. THE great Murre rookery of the California coast is on the Farallone Islands; until the last few years their eggs were a common product in the markets of San Francisco. According to figures furnished by Mr. Leverett M. Loomis, the collection of Murre’s eggs at the Farallones in 1896 amounted to 7,645 dozen, all of these being shipped to California markets. Mr. Loomis also says: “In 1885 three hundred thousand eggs were gathered. The market became glutted, one cargo being dumped into San Francisco Bay and another abandoned on the island.” According to another au- thority, five hundred thousand eggs were sold in less than two months, — all collected in one limited portion of South Farallone Island, and, “in the opinion of the eggers, not more than one egg in six was gathered.” Fortunately the Government has now forbidden the collection of eggs and the molesting of the birds on any portion of these islands, and no one is allowed to land except by permission of the Government Light House Inspector. Besides being robbed by human enemies, the unfor- tunate Murres have to wage continual war against the Western gulls, who steal their eggs the moment their backs are turned, or even snatch them from under the mother bird. Possibly for this reason they often choose BIRDS OF THE OPEN SEA 15 a narrow ledge just wide enough for them to squat upon when brooding the egg, where they will have only one side to defend. Since they brood in an almost upright position, the egg resting between the feet, it is difficult to tell a brooding bird. Most ludicrous is their habit of ducking their heads as if in salute, and when this is done by hundreds, one after another, the effect is grotesque indeed. I had thought this the result of excitement at the presence of an enemy, but it continued when I fancied myself well concealed and no one else in sight. It is usually fol- lowed by the departure of a number, who dive with incredible swiftness from the steep rocks to the sea, either from hunger or alarm. Although so awkward and helpless on land, they are at home on or under the water, swimming submerged with great ease and swiftness. The nesting date of the California Murres differs with different authorities, Mr. Loomis placing it in April, and Mr. Emerson from the middle of May to late in August ; my own date is June. This discrepancy is accounted for by the fact that they rear several broods in a year if accident befall the earliest. And as the Western gulls consider the young Murre a delicious morsel, the life of any nestling is precarious. When the gulls press too closely, the wise Murres push their one baby off the rock into the water below, darting beneath it with in- credible swiftness, and the young Murre, although not ready for the dive, is yet born with its swimming-suit on, and bobs up serenely after a dizzy fall. 16 WATER BIRDS 37. PARASITIC JAEGER. — Stercorarius parasiticus. Famity: The Skuas and Jaegers. Length: 17.00. Light Phase of Adults: Top of head and lores dark grayish brown ; rest of head and back of neck straw-color, merging into white on throat ; breast and belly white, washed on sides with grayish ; back, wings, and tail slaty gray; middle tail-feathers narrow, pointed, and 3.00 longer than the others; tarsi black. Dark Phase of Adults: Entire plumage dark brownish slate-color, darker on head and lighter on under parts. Light Phase of Young: Head and neck buffy, streaked with dark ; upper parts dark grayish brown, the feathers tipped with buffy ; under parts buffy, barred with dark. Dark Phase of Young: Dark grayish brown, darker on wings and tail ; neck, belly, and sides streaked with buffy. Downy Young: Soft grayish brown above, under parts lighter. Geographical Distribution: Entire northern hemisphere ; south in winter to equator. Breeding Range: Chiefly within the arctic circle. Breeding Season: Approximately, June 5 to July 15. Nest: A mere depression in the ground, rudely lined with grass, dry leaves, or moss; situated on dry upland or rocks near the water. Eggs: 2 to 4; pale greenish brown, spotted thickly with umber at larger end and somewhat over entire surface. Size 2.23 X 1.62. a THE Parasitic Jaeger occurs commonly as a migrant on the coast of California, though a few remain all winter. Mr. Grinnell reports one taken at Santa Monica, and Dr. Jeffries tells me they are numerous at Santa Catalina’in November. They are winter residents in small numbers, also in Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia, and wherever found in sufficient numbers they render life miserable for terns and gulls by snatching their fish from them. At the end of a month’s persecution the bodies of the terns become much emaciated from lack of food, BIRDS OF THE OPEN SEA 17 as nearly every capture is seized by the rapacious Jaegers as soon as raised from the water. Like most bul- lies, the Jaeger never bothers a gull of its own size, but chooses its victim from the smaller varieties. In the northern regions it destroys eggs and nests of other water-fowl, rarely fishing for itself, but living by thievery. 81. BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS. — Diomedea nigripes. Famity: The Albatrosses. Length: 28.50-36.00. Adults: Upper parts dark brownish gray ; under parts uniform grayish ; tail-coverts and anterior portions of head white ; bill dusky brown ; feet black. Young: Similar, but upper tail-coverts dark gray, and little or no white on head. Geographical Distribution: North Pacific, including west coast of North America. Breeding Range: Islands of the Pacific near the equator. Nest: A depression in the guano, lined or edged with a little seaweed. Eggs: 1; white. Very little is known of the nesting habits of this rover of the high seas. I have been able to find only one record of any nest discovered or any egg taken. It is said to breed on the islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean toward the equator, in January and Feb- ruary. Its cries are said to resemble cat-calls and to have a particularly doleful sound heard in the roar of a tempest. Of untiring flight, it visits the land only to nest, and is seldom seen near the coast, preferring the free, bold life on the open sea. 2 18 WATER BIRDS It has been nicknamed “Gonie” by the fishermen, in supposed allusion to a peculiar croaking noise it makes when feeding. 82. SHORT-TAILED ALBATROSS. — Diomedea albatrus. Famity: The Albatrosses. Length : 33.00-37.00. Adults: White, merging to straw-yellow on head and neck; tail- feathers brownish, primaries having yellow shafts. Young: Uniform dark brownish gray, merging to blackish on head and neck ; shafts of primaries straw-yellow ; bill and feet light brown. Geographical Distribution: North Pacific; in America from California to Alaska. Breeding Range: Islands of the Sandwich group and northward to Aleutian Islands. Nest: The bare ground. Eggs: 1; elliptical; white. Size 4.20 X 2.60. Tue Short-tailed Albatross is found on the Pacific Ocean, following the whaling ships to feed on the refuse. Mr. Davie says: “It is easily caught with hook and line, and when taken on board is unable to rise from the deck, as it requires a long range of surface on which to flap its wings.” It is occasionally seen in the Bay of Monterey in December and January, following the whales that fre- quently come into the harbor, and it is remarkably fear- less. A young bird of this species shot by Mr. Loomis was very ferocious, screaming with rage, and trying to bite its wounded wing. When approached by the col- lector who had shot it, the bird turned its fury upon him. The Chinese fishermen regard these monarchs of the high seas with superstitious awe, feeding them and BIRDS OF THE OPEN SEA 19 propitiating them with choice bits, in hope of averting dan- ger and winning good luck in their fishing. According to their belief, the whales drive the sardines into the bay to help the Chinese, but the albatross drives the whales. 86 b. PACIFIC FULMAR. — Fulmarus glacialis glupischa. Famity: The Fulmars and Shearwaters. Length: 17.00-19.00. Light Phase: Head, neck, and under parts white; upper parts ashy gray ; primaries and secondaries dark gray-brown. Dark Phase: Uniform dusky gray above, ashy gray below. Geographical Distribution: North Pacific, south on the American coast to Mexico. . Breeding Range: Islands of the Pacific from the coast of British Colum- bia to Behring Sea. Breeding Season: June and July. | Nest: In colonies on ledges and in crevices of steep promontories rising perpendicularly from the sea. Eggs: 1; chalky white. Size 2.85 * 1.90. Like all the Fulmars, this species is found on the open sea and rarely lands upon the coast. It has been recorded at Monterey, and occurs at most of the islands along the coast of California, Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia. It is very abundant at Santa Cata- lina in the fall and winter. Its common names are Goose, Gonie, Gluttonbird, Giant Petrel. Of these “‘ Gluttonbird ” seems to apply to this vulture of the sea. Its food consists of dead flesh, fish, or fowl, as the case may be, upon which it gorges until unable to fly. It is eminently a bird of the open sea, visiting the land seldom except in the breeding season, and usually not flying nearer the coast than five or ten miles. 20 WATER BIRDS All the Fulmars may be distinguished from the gulls in flight by their characteristic wing motions. The wings of the gulls rise and fall rapidly in wide sweeps, and are held more or less at an angle in soaring; the Fulmar wing stroke is slower and apparently (though not really) less powerful. The Pacific Fulmar feeds its newly hatched young by regurgitation of an amber-colored ill-smelling oil. It is said by some authorities to eject this as a protection against enemies, also; certainly the odor is sufficiently offensive to prevent any but the most enthusiastic orni- thologist from meddling with its domestic affairs. 93. BLACK-VENTED SHEARWATER. — Puffinus opisthomelas. Famity: The Fulmars and Shearwaters. Length : 12.00-15.00. Adults: Upper parts dark slate-color, merging to gray on head and neck ; under parts white, except lower tail-coverts, which are blackish gray. Downy Young: Upper parts dark ashy gray ; under parts smoky white. Geographical Distribution : Pacific Ocean, chiefly the southward coast of Lower California, north to Santa Cruz, California. Breeding Range: Islands of the South Pacific, north to Lower California. Recorps are claimed of this species as far north as the coast of Oregon. Little is known concerning its nesting habits. Mr. Anthony found adults and young on San Benito Islands in July, and writes that they nest in caves there. (“The Condor,” Vol. IT. page 29.) Mr. A. W. Anthony in “The Auk,” Vol. XIII., has given a full description of the occurrence of these Shear- BIRDS OF THE OPEN SEA 21 waters off the coast of Southern and Lower California. Here flocks of several thousand birds may be frequently seen hovering over the vast schools of herring that for some reason come near the shore. Mr. Anthony men- tions one flock that numbered at least fifty thousand. The presence or absence of the Shearwater near shore is governed by the abundance or scarcity of fish; during late July, August, and September the maximum is reached. The Black-vented Shearwater is supposed to breed during the winter months, south of the equator, and the summer flocks usually contain numbers of young birds. 95. DARK-BODIED SHEARWATER — Puffinus griseus. Famity: The Fulmars and Shearwaters. Adults: Plumage uniform sooty gray; lighter, sometimes whitish, on chin and throat; under wing-coverts white, transversely mottled with gray at tips ; bill blackish. Geographical Distribution: South Pacific, north on the American coast, to Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia. Breeding Range: Islands of the South Pacific. Nest: A rude structure of twigs, dead leaves, and peat at the end of a burrow three or four feet long, in side of a bank. Eggs: 1; chalky white. Size 2.25 x 1.45. Turis Shearwater occurs in great numbers at Monterey and Santa Cruz, California. I have seen a black cloud fully a mile long composed of thousands of dark-bodied Shearwaters, a few brandt cormorants, and many gulls hovering over the sardines in the Bay of Monterey in June. So numerous were they that the surface of the water was black with them in continual motion as they 22 WATER BIRDS dropped for a catch, or rose each with a fish in its beak, or settled to the water to eat. In this multitude the dark-bodied Shearwaters outnumbered both gulls and cormorants, and the combined noise was indescrib- able. Mr. Loomis, in his work on the migration of sea birds, as observed at Monterey, proves inferentially that the dark-bodied Shearwaters breed in the south temper- ate zone during the winter months, coming north as soon as the breeding season is over, and remaining until September. In New Zealand, where this bird breeds abundantly, it excavates a burrow in a bank almost exactly like that made by a kingfisher. At the end of this is placed a lining of small sticks, and occasionally a few leaves, or a little moss, and here the one chalky egg is laid. 105.2. KAEDING PETREL. — Oceanodroma Kaedingi. Famity: The Fulmars and Shearwaters. Length : 7.25-8.50. Adults: Sooty gray, lighter on under parts; upper tail-coverts white ; tail-feathers shading to gray at base ; tail forked ; bill and feet black. Geographical Distribution : North Pacific, south to Southern California. Breeding Range: Islands of the Pacific Coast. Breeding Season : March to September. Nest : In burrow, or more commonly in crevices of loose rock ; rudely lined with dried grasses. Logs: 1; cream white, with wreath of fine purple dots about larger end. Size, 1.34 X 1.00. According to Mrs: Bailey the Leach petrels reported on the coast of California were really the species known BIRDS OF THE OPEN SEA 23 as Kaeding petrels. There is little to distinguish the two except size, the latter being slightly smaller and darker than the Eastern species. In breeding habits the two are probably identical. Male and female take part in sitting upon the single egg—sometimes one of the pair, sometimes both together. The newly hatched young are fed by regurgitation of a brownish oily fluid. Like the forked-tailed petrel, this species ejects the oil from its throat and stomach if molested. The odor clings te nest, eggs and young. 107. BLACK PETREL. — Oceanodroma melania. Famity : The Fulmars and Shearwaters. Length : 8.00-9.00. Adult: Dusky blackish, lighter on under parts; greater wing-coverts and outer webs of tertials light ash-color. Geographical Distribution: South Pacific, northward to Los Angeles County, California. Breeding Range: Islands off the coast of Southern California and south- ward to the equator. Breeding Season: July. Nest: Bare ground, or burrow one to three feet in depth. L£ggs: 1; pure white ; elliptical oval. Size 1.44 X 1.08. THe Black Petrel, while less common than the ashy, is yet a resident on the ocean adjacent to Southern California. Mr. Grinnell reports it as far north as Santa Barbara, and as breeding on Los Coronados Islands, off San Diego. Like all its family, it comes to land only to nest, and any acquaintance with it must be made from a boat, or during the breeding season at the islands. It 24 WATER BIRDS is nocturnal in habits, feeding and flying only after dark- ness has settled over the sea, and enjoying a storm as the robin enjoys the sun. Its notes are a high plaintive call or a queer, low, purring coo. The latter is heard only during the nesting season. The name “ Petrel” means Little Peter, and bas been given this bird be- cause of its curious habit of skimming over the surface of the water with feet just touching it in a quick, patter- ing motion, as if trying to walk upon the waves. All the time it flutters its wings like a huge butterfly. 1os. ASHY PETREL. — Oceanodroma homochroa. Famity: The Fulmars and Shearwaters. Length: 8,00-9.00. Adult: Grayish slate-color, merging to lighter on wing-coverts ; quills and tail blackish, merging to ashy slate-color on rump and upper tail-coverts. Geographical Distribution : Coast of Califormia. Breeding Range: \slands off the coast of California, including the Farallones and Santa Barbara. Breeding Season: June and July. Nest: In crevices under rocks, under driftwood, in stone walls, in burrows. Eggs: Creamy white, sometimes faintly spotted about the large end. Size 1.19 X 0.93. Tue Ashy Petrels were breeding abundantly on the South Farallone Islands at the time of a recent visit I made to the spot, but few of the birds were in evidence during the daylight hours. The nests were well hidden under loose rocks, in crevices and in all sorts of crannies ; they were betrayed only by their disagreeable odor. In BIRDS OF THE OPEN SEA 25 common with other petrels these feed their newly hatched young upon the dark oily fluid which they eject through their bills into the throats of the fledgelings, and this is undoubtedly the cause of the unpleasant smell that ever clings to their plumage. The male petrel takes a full share of the labors of incubation, and some authorities aver that, like the phalarope, he does it all. As soon as he is able to fly, the young petrel takes to the sea, 108. Asuy PETREL. NS eT cee “ The playmate of the grim old sea.” never to come ashore until, a year or two later, he wants a wife and a burrow of his own. Think of it — day after day, week after week, eating, sleeping, resting on the boundless water! His only refuge from the storm -is to fly above or beyond it; his only food is the drift he may pick up. Dancing on the crest of the wave, dashing through the salt spray, he is the ocean's own darling, the playmate of the grim old sea. 26 WATER BIRDS 128. MAN-O’-WAR BIRD. — Fregata aquila. Famity: The Man-o’-War Birds. Length: 39.00. Adult Male: Uniform iridescent black, with green and reddish purple reflections; wings very'long; tail forked for more than half its length. Adult Female: Upper parts rusty black ; under parts white ; wings with gray patch. Young: Head, neck, and under parts white; rest of plumage dull blackish. Downy Young: Uniform white. Geographical Distribution: Tropical and subtropical coasts generally ; in America north to Florida and Texas, casually through interior along Mississippi River and along Pacific coast to Humboldt Bay, California. Breeding Range: Gulf of Mexico and islands off coast of Lower Cali- fornia. Breeding Season: January to March. Nest: A slight platform of twigs upon the branches of the mangrove trees at edge of lagoon. Eggs: 1; dull white, unspotted. Size 2.70 « 1.84. FricaTE Birp, Frigate Pelican, Man-o’-War Bird, and Hurricane Bird are the common names applied to Fregata aquila by sailors and fishermen. It is regarded by sea- men as a weather prophet, always flying higher in clear weather and low before a storm. The name “ Man-o- War Bird” doubtless obtains from its resemblance to a black ship as it hangs motionless in midair. Mr. Chap- man writes of these birds: “ They have a greater expanse of wing in proportion to the weight of their body than any other bird. They rarely alight on the water, but, facing the wind, pass hours resting motionless on outstretched wings, sometimes ascending to great heights and calmly soaring far above storms. It is when feeding that their BIRDS FOUND NEAR SHORE OR IN BAYS 27 marvellous aerial powers are displayed to the best ad- vantage. By swift, indescribably graceful darts they secure fish which are near the surface, or capture those which have leaped from the water to escape some enemy below. They also pursue gulls and terns, and, forcing them to disgorge their prey, catch it in midair.” Although rare in California north of Monterey, they are more or less common throughout the coast from that point southward. They are high-handed plunderers of the gulls, meting out to them some punishment for their constant thieving. But it is to the unfortunate fish-hawk that these pirates are most terrible. Reports are given on good authority of the terror exhibited by fish-hawks at the approach of their enemy, who forces them to fish hour by hour until exhausted, and seizes every fish as soon as it is brought up from the water. This frequently results in the death of the hawk by exhaustion and drowning. BIRDS FOUND NEAR THE SHORE OR IN BAYS 7. LOON. — Gavia imber. Famity: The Loons. Length: 32.00. Adults in Summer : Head and neck glossy greenish black ; upper parts, wings, and tail iridescent black ; throat and sides of neck crossed by transverse streaks of white ; back and wings spotted or speckled with white ; breast and belly white; sides black, spotted with white ; bill black. 28 WATER BIRDS Adults in Winter, and Young: Plumage of upper parts without white ; under parts and throat white. Downy Young: Uniform blackish ; belly nearly white. Geographical Distribution : Northern part of northern hemisphere. Breeding Range: Northern United States and throughout Canada to the arctic circle. Breeding Season: Approximately, June 1 to August 15. Nest: A slight hollow in the sand near the water; sometimes roughly lined with dry reeds, sticks, or marsh grass. Eggs: 2, rarely 3; olive, spotted with umber ; elliptical. Size 3.50 X 2.20, On the loneliest lakes of California the common Loon, known as Gavia imber, is a regular winter visitant, but he shuns the coast whenever he can. Is this because he likes the taste of fresh-water fish better than that of sea fish? Who knows? Like those of all diving birds, the Loon’s stout legs are set well back, and propel its heavy body with equal rapidity and ease on or under the water. Its speed in submarine swimming has been estimated to reach eight miles an hour and to continue indefinitely with only the bill exposed. In this he uses only his feet, the wings being folded tightly. All its _ fish are caught by diving. Awkward and helpless on land, where it uses wings to assist in locomotion, it leaves the water only to nest. Its two greenish gray eggs are laid upon a thin mat of grass in a slightly hollowed place on the ground, and, in order to be as far as possible re- moved from neighbors, the site chosen is usually a small grass-covered islet. The young Loons are oval balls of blackish down and are occasionally taken into the water on the back of the adult bird. Their first attempts at div- ing are very funny, and with all their efforts they are able to submerge no more than their heads and necks, so that BIRDS FOUND NEAR SHORE OR IN BAYS 29 they seem to be standing on their heads and paddling their feet in the ait. They soon become expert swim- mers and divers. Yet under the water as on it, lurk the Loon’s enemies. The large pickerel are fond of catching him by the feet, and great mud-turtles wait for a delicious piece of Loon meat. If he floats serenely on the ready to swoop down upon ~<: him. Fortunate it is for the ~~ poor mother that she has <@ but two to guard. og The peculiar ery of the Loon has been , well described by Mr. J. H. “ The young loons are taken into the water.” Langille: “Beginning on the fifth note of the scale, the voice slides through the eighth to the third of the scale above in loud, clear, sonorous tones, which on a dismal evening before a thunderstorm — the light- ning already playing along the inky sky —are anything but musical. He has also another rather soft and pleas- ing utterance, sounding like ewho-who-who-who, the syl- lables being so rapidly pronounced as to sound almost like a shake of the voice —a sort of weird laughter. 30 WATER BIRDS “Only on a lonely lake in the heart of the woods do you get the startling thrill of the Loon’s wild cry — one clear, piercing note, or a long, quavering, demoniacal laugh that to the timid suggests a herd of screaming panthers.” 10. PACIFIC LOON. — Gavia pacifica. Famity: The Loons. Length: 27.00. * Adults in Summer: Upper part of head and nape pale gray, nearly white ; sides of head, throat, and fore-neck black, glossed with metallic purple and green ; wings and tail blackish; breast and belly white; sides of neck, wing-coverts, and back black, spotted and streaked with white; sides of belly sometimes finely streaked with black. Adults in Winter, and Young: Similar to Gavia imber. Downy Young: Dark sooty gray. Geographical Distribution : Western United States, east to Rocky Moun- tains, south to Cape St. Lucas, north to arctic circle, east to Hudson Bay. Breeding Range: From Northern United States to Alaska. Breeding Season: Approximately, June 1 to August 1. Nest : Of water grasses, rushes, or decayed vegetation at edge of water. Eggs: 2; varying in color from brown-olive to pale greenish gray. Size 3.00 X 1.85. Tuis species of the Pacific coast Black-throated Loon corresponds to the Black-throated Loon of Eastern United States, being a trifle paler in coloring but iden- tical in habits. It is the most expert of all divers; I have seen one remain under water three minutes by a watch, meanwhile covering a distance of a hundred yards in his submarine swimming. They are very abun- dant in Monterey Bay all the winter, and I have found a few there as late as June 10, although the regular BIRDS FOUND NEAR SHORE OR IN BAYS 31 breeding season had begun and they were long since due in Canada. The nest of the Pacific Loon is usually a mass of wet, decaying vegetation at the very edge of the water, or sometimes floating among the rushes. Occa- sionally it is lined with feathers. The bird follows the grebe’s fashion of covering the eggs during her absence, but does not remain away all day as do the grebes. The Loons are most devoted parents, carrying the little ones pick-a-back as soon as hatched, and, in case of attack by hunters, often rising with a great splash be- tween the hunter and their brood, to cover the retreat of the young. The food of all Loons consists largely of fish, although they occasionally relish frogs, and to the newly hatched young the mother brings the larvee of water insects obtained by diving. These she lays on the surface for the brood to pick up, instead of placing them in the bills of the little ones. 11. RED-THROATED LOON. — Gavia lumme. » Famity: The Loons. Length : 25.50. Adults in Summer : Sides of head and neck light brownish gray ; throat gray ; a triangular patch of rich chestnut on fore-neck ; crown and broad stripe down back of neck finely streaked brownish black and white; back, wings, and tail dark grayish brown, finely specked with white; breast and belly white. Adults in Winter, and Young: Throat and fore-neck white; upper parts blackish, spotted with white. Downy Young: Upper parts blackish slate ; under parts dark gray. Geographical Distribution: Entire northern hemisphere, south in winter as far as latitude 30°. Breeding Range: The arctic regions. Breeding Season ; June 1 to August 1. 32 WATER BIRDS Nest: A slight hollow on ground, close to water; unlined and unpro- tected. Eggs: 2; brown or olive, spotted with umber. Size 2.50 X 1.81. Tus is the smallest and handsomest of the loons. It occurs in California from November to late in April, being the last to arrive from the North and the first to leave. In habits it is nearly identical with Gavia imber, but is a more northern variety, being more abun- dant in Canada than in the United States. It has been found breeding in British Columbia fifty miles north of Vancouver. Unlike the common loon, however, it fre- quents the salt rather than the fresh water, and during the winter months is common along the California coast from Oregon to Mexico. It is the “gray loon” of the fishermen, and its long, wild call as it rises against a breeze and circles under a cloudy sky is always a signal for the boats to seek shelter, for the storm will break and not “blow over.” 44. GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL. — Larus glaucescens. Famity: The Gulls and Terns. Length: 25.75. Adults in Summer: Head, neck, lower parts, and tail uniform white ; mantle dark pearl-gray ; feet and legs black. Adults in Winter : Plumage similar to that of summer, but with head and neck finely mottled or washed with sooty gray. Young: Dark ash-gray, with mantle mixed with pearl-gray ; head and neck indistinctly streaked with buffy ; under parts mixed with white. Downy Young: Dull whitish gray ahove, white below ; head, neck, and upper parts marked irregularly with dark gray. Geographical Distribution : Pacitic coast of North America from Alaska and Behring Sea; south in winter to Southern California. Breeding Range: Islands of the Pacific coast from Washington north- ward. BIRDS FOUND NEAR SHORE OR IN BAYS 33 Breeding Season. Approximately, May 1 to August 1. Nest: A bare slight depression in the ground near shore, or a rude affair of seaweeds and grass on shelving rocks or cliffs. Eggs: 2to 4; from dark olive to white, spotted with light brown and umber, Size 2.88 X 2.08. THE Glaucous-winged Gull is one of the most numer- ous birds on the California coast. Mr. Leverett M. Loomis writes of it at Monterey in midwinter as follows: “Whales frequently came into the bay. Often they would be attended by a great train of gulls and pelicans ‘feeding upon the slop-over’...In Carmel Valley near the ocean I found them [the Glaucous-winged Gulls] in company with Western gulls following the plough as robins do in the spring in South Carolina. The tameness and familiarity of the water birds on this coast strikingly contrast with the wariness of those of the North Atlantic.” This gull may be known from the others by the long wing-quills of slate-gray tipped with white. Its winter range does not extend so far south as that of some of its congeners, but it is reported all along the California coast from Monterey northward. In nesting habits the Glaucous-winged Gulls resemble the Western gulls; the newly hatched Glaucous-winged are the softest, downiest nestlings imaginable. They are fed upon small fish, refuse from salmon canneries, — which the parents fly miles to obtain, — and small mollusks. 34 WATER BIRDS 49. WESTERN GULL. — Larus occidentalis. Famity: The Gulls and Terns. Length : 25.50. Adults in Summer: Head, neck, lower parts, ramp, and tail white ; mantle dark slaty gray ; wing-quills black, with large spots of white. Angle of lower mandible very conspicuous ; depth of bill through mandible greater than at base. Adults in Winter : Plumage similar to that of summer, except that top of head and nape are streaked with dark gray-brown. Young: Upper parts brownish gray mottled with white ; quills and tail- feathers black, tipped with white; under parts grayish; sides mot- tled with white. Douny Young: Ashy white ; head mottled with distinct black patches ; upper parts more or less mottled with dark ash. Geographical Distribution : Pacific coast of North America from Lower California to British Columbia. Breeding Range: From Coronado Islands to British Columbia ; at Santa Catalina, Santa Barbara, and San Clementi. Breeding Season: Approximately, May 1 to August 1. Nest: Of weeds ; on rocky ledges. Eggs: 2 to 3; light olive, spotted with umber. Size 2.76 x 1.94. Most conspicuous because everywhere present, most interesting because of his very wickedness, is the variety of gull found on the Farallones, and everywhere on the California coast. He is known as Larus occidentalis, and is the only species that breeds on those islands. The pretty herring gulls of our harbors are quite differ- ent in habit from this voracious plunderer. Larus occidentalis is a degenerate. Too lazy to fish for himself, he steals from whomsoever he can. If the victim be a diving bird who has come to the surface with a struggling fish in his beak, the Western Gull will hover over him, compelling him to dive again and again, until, exhausted, he abandons the food he has had no BIRDS FOUND NEAR SHORE OR IN BAYS 35 time to swallow ; then the victor, seizing it quickly, flies away to devour it. Fish brought to the nest of other birds as food for mate or young is stolen by the Western Gulls as soon as laid down, and so expert on the wing are they that but once have I seen punishment overtake them. In this case the bird tried to snatch a fish that had been thrown to a baby seal. Quicker than thought, the seal mother caught the bird by the feet and drew it under the water. In a few moments she rose with the lifeless body, shook it viciously, and tossed it con- 49. WESTERN GULL. The young gull is taught to fish. temptuously away. This occurred at Avalon, Santa _ Catalina, and was witnessed by many spectators at 6 A.M. one May morning. But seals are not usually the victims of these tyrants. Cormorant and murre eggs and young, and even young rabbits, are its favorite bill of fare. Eggs they will steal in spite of all precautions; a lighthouse keeper tells about covering a pile of eggs closely with a sail-cloth, only to have the gulls work their way under it and carry off every one. But in spite of all his faults, the Western Gull is devoted to his mate and nestlings, feeding and guarding them with constant care. Early in May he begins to repair his old nest, stealing material from the cormo- 36 WATER BIRDS rants if he can, bringing it himself if he must. The nest is a large, soft, and warm affair made of dried Farallone weed and occasionally lined with a few feathers. It is also scrupulously clean. No fish scales, fish bones, or other debris is allowed to remain near it. The young gulls, usually three in number, are beauties, covered with grayish buff down and spotted all over with dots of darker. At three weeks old they are mottled black and light ashy. They show no fear, and will allow a person to handle them, only looking surprise from their bright little eyes. One would never believe that such innocent-looking babies could ever become thieves and cannibals. They stay in the nest longer than most of the young sea birds, not leaving it until their wings are fully feathered and strong. Even then they are not like the parents, for, until a year old, all young gulls are mottled brown and white. The brownish-looking gulls flying with the others on our harbors and rivers are not a different species, but are the immature. The young gull learns to fish in a unique way. He also learns to steal, but that is another story. He scram- bles with fluttering wings down to the water, accom- panied by the rest of his family. As soon as he is fairly launched, one of the adult birds brings a small fish, and showing it to him, lets it float on the surface. If the youngster is an apt pupil, he snaps at it and usually gets it. If not, it is snatched up by some adult, for might is right in the sea-bird world. If after losing several in this way he becomes discouraged, he is fed, taken ashore for a sun-bath, and in an hour is back for BIRDS FOUND NEAR SHORE OR IN BAYS 87 another lesson. In the meantime he watches his par- ents filching food from nestlings around him, and as soon as he dares, or can find a bird more helpless than himself, he tries the plan. He finds it much easier than catching a bobbing sardine in the water, and from that time his career in crime begins. 51. HERRING GULL. — Larus argentatus. Famity: The Gulls and Terns. Length: 23.25. Adults in Summer: Head, throat, and under parts white ; mantle pearl- gray; white tip of first primary separated from large white spot farther up by blotch of black half an inch wide extending to the tip ; eyelids yellow ; feet pale flesh-color. Adults in Winter: Similar, but mottled with ash-color on head and neck. Young: Grayish brown, streaked or mottled on head, neck, and upper parts with dull whitish ; quill-coverts and tail-feathers rusty black. Downy Young: Soiled white; head irregularly spotted with black ; back, wings, and tail washed with ashy. Geographical Distribution: North America in general; in summer from latitude 40° northward; south in winter to Cuba and Lower California. Breeding Range: Inland lakes from latitude 48° to the Upper Yukon, Alaska. Breeding Season: Approximately, May 15 to August 1. Nest: A slight depression in the ground, lined thinly with grasses ; near water. Lays: 33 varying from blue-white to yellow-brown, blotched with light and dark brown. Size 2.80 X 1.75. THIS is a common gull throughout its range, and differs from other species in its abundance around rivers and harbors. It is the gull seen following the ferry- boats on San Francisco Bay, perching on the anchored fishing craft in Monterey harbor, and sitting on the buoys at San Diego, and tormenting the seals at Santa 38 WATER BIRDS Catalina. It is the species best known East and West, following the coastwise vessels as well as those of the Great Lakes, and feeding on the refuse thrown out. Its name of Herring Gull is probably derived from its habit of following a school of herring, and gorging itself upon them as it flies. To see the countless numbers of gulls and shearwaters hovering over a school of her- rings in Monterey Bay is an experience worth a trip across the continent. No words can describe their multitude or their clamor. A compact cloud of them two miles long and half a mile wide, seeming almost like a solid mass of wings, is a common sight in that harbor. By a curious adaptation of its natural nesting-habits to necessity for self-protection, in localities where its nests have been continually robbed, it has learned to build in trees sixty and seventy feet from the ground. In these cases the nest is a compact structure some- what resembling a crow’s nest, but more often plastered with a small amount of mud and lined with grasses and moss. In fact, it adapts itself to local conditions in placing and constructing its home: guided by some instinctive law, it lays its eggs on the bare ground in one region; it elaborately lines and carefully conceals its nest in another; and, wherever necessary for self- preservation, it chooses a tall tree. The young gulls are fascinatingly fat babies covered with fluffy down, and even prettier than ducklings. When hatched in ground nests, they soon learn to run about, and they are taken to the water when a few weeks BIRDS FOUND NEAR SHORE OR IN BAYS 39 old. It is possible that when the nest is seventy-five feet up in a tree the nestlings, like those of the wood ducks, are carried down by one of the adults. 53. CALIFORNIA GULL. — Larus californicus. Famity: The Gulls and Terns. Length: 21.50. Adults: Head, neck, and under parts white; mantle dark slate-gray ; the yellow bill marked with red spot, touching or encircling a black spot near end of lower mandible; iris bright brown; feet light green. Young: Head, neck, and lower parts white, washed with brownish gray; upper parts mottled gray and buffy; quills and tail-feathers trusty black. Downy Young: Light ash-gray, marked with black spots on head and washed with dark gray on back, wings, and tail. Geographical Distribution: Western North America, chiefly in the inte- rior from Alaska to Mexico. Breeding Range: Inland lakes of Oregon, Washington, British Colum- bia, and Utah. Breeding Season: Approximately, May 15 to August 15. Nest: Of sticks and grasses, lined with feathers ; on ground, on rocks, or in low sagebrush near water. £ggs: 3+0 5; from blue-white to gray-brown. Size 2.50 X 1.65. Tue California Gull is a regular winter visitant on the coast, but disappears usually about May 1. It breeds abundantly on Lake Malheur, Oregon, on Great Salt Lake, Utah, and as far north as Great Slave Lake. It may easily be distinguished from the other species by its smaller size. Mr. Loomis reports it as abundant at Monterey, where it is found in company with the west- ern and glaucous-winged. -During the winter it is com- mon on all the fresh-water marshes as well as the coast, throughout Southern California. Mrs. Bailey says, “ At 40 WATER BIRDS Pescadero in the low fields near the ocean, hundreds have been seen following the plough.” A similar state- ment has been made of two other varieties, the ring- billed and the short-billed. 54, RING-BILLED GULL. — Larus delawarensis. Famity: The Gulls and Terns. Length : 19.00. Adults in Summer: Head, neck, lower parts, and tail white; mantle pearl-gray ; first primary black, with white patch near tip; rest of primaries gray, washed with black on outer web and tipped with white; iris pale yellow; eyelids red; bill greenish yellow, banded near end with black and tipped with orange ; feet yellowish green. Adults in Winter : Similar, but with ashy streaks on head and nape. Young: Upper parts dark ashy, mottled with buff; outer primaries black ; upper half of tail-feathers pearl-gray, meeting a broad band of black which extends to a narrow white tip; bill yellowish at base, shading into black at tip. Douny Young: Dull gray-white ; head spotted with black ; back washed with dusky. Geographical Distribution: Entire North America; south in winter to Cuba and Mexico. Breeding Range: Northern portions of the United States, and inland lakes of Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. Breeding Season: Approximately, May 1 to August 1. Nest: Of coarse grass ; on ground, near water. Lggs: 2t03; buffy gray, spotted with chocolate. Size 2.77 X 1.67. AuTHoUGH the Ring-billed Gull is a more or less locally common species in every part of the United States, it is more abundant on the Atlantic than on the Pacific coast. In habits it is like the herring gull, but may be distinguished by its smaller size, yellowish green feet, and banded bill. Quite un-sea-bird-like, it relishes the larvee of marsh insects as well as the adult forms, and during fall migrations it catches them on the wing, BIRDS FOUND NEAR SHORE OR IN BAYS 41 as do swallows. In some localities it has been seen feed- ing among the freshly turned furrows of a ploughed field. There is reason to believe that, unlike some members of its family, it never robs other birds either of food, eggs, or young, but is content with the small fish and insects it can pick,up on inland marshes and meadows. 57. HEERMANN GULL. — Larus heermanni. Famity: The Gulls and Terns. Length : 18.75. Adultsin Summer: Upper parts dark slate-color ; head and neck white ; under parts dusky gray; wings and tail black, the latter tipped with white ; bill scarlet. Adults in Winter: Similar, but head very dark, nearly black. Downy Young: Dark ash-color, the feathers of upper parts edged with. buffy ; head mottled. Immature (Second Year ?): Entire plumage uniform dark ash ; tail black. Geographical Distribution : Pacific coast of North America from British Columbia south to Panama. Breeding Ranye: From Coronado Islands northward ; does not breed at the Farallones. Breeding Season: Approximately, May 20 to August 1. Nest: On ground near water, or on cliffs; scantily lined with coarse grass or moss. Eggs: 2t03; greenish gray, marked with lilac and brown. Size 2.45 X 1.50. Tue Heermann Gull may be readily distinguished from any other species by its darker plumage. It is a curious sight to see these handsome birds at San Diego Bay and La Jolla following an unlucky pelican who has a fine pouchful of fish. They fly over and around him, darting down to peck at him with their bills until he is forced to disgorge his catch. The dignified and methodi- cal pelican is no match for these swift flyers, and soon yields to the inevitable. I have seen the same pelican 42 WATER BIRDS robbed three times in succession, leave the vicinity with a flock of several gulls following. A close watch failed to discover any other species of gulls at this sport, and I believe the persecutors are invariably the Larus heer- manni, although the Western gull is much more apt to commit such atrocities. In this locality, however, the Heermann Gulls outnumber the Western three to one. Mr. Grinnell says this is the case also at Los Angeles, while at Monterey Mr. Loomis reports them as varying in proportion at different times during migration. 60. BONAPARTE GULL. — Larus philadelphia. Famity: The Gulls and Terns. Length : 13.00. Adults in Summer: Head and throat dark slate, nearly black ; mantle pearly gray ; under parts, tail, nape, and sides of head white ; wings white, shading to pearl-gray; first primary tipped aud edged on outer web with black ; other primaries with broad black transverse spots, forming a bar ; feet and legs orange; bill black. Adults in Winter: Similar, but head and throat white, back and sides of head gray. : Young: Head white, top and nape washed with gray; under parts and tail white, the tail banded with black near end; back and wing- coverts ashy; primaries bluish gray, narrowly tipped with black. Geographical’ Distribution : Whole of North America. Breeding Range: Northern parts of the United States northward. Breeding Season: Approximately, June 1 to August 1. Nest: Of sticks and grasses ; lined with fibre; always elevated from the ground in bushes, trees, or high stumps. Eggs: From greenish to olive-brown, spotted with brown and light purple, chiefly at larger end. Size 1.95 X 1.34. Tue distinguishing feature of the Bonaparte Gull is its slate-gray hood in summer, all the other Pacific gulls having light-colored or white heads. Its appearance as BIRDS FOUND NEAR SHORE OR IN BAYS 43 it flies toward you may have suggested its name, for it is not unlike the black cocked hat and white expanse of bosom so characteristic of the portraits of that monarch. It is found throughout North America, being rather more abundant on the Atlantic than the Pacific coast. Its food is small fish, which it procures by diving from the air to the surface of the water, not beneath it. Swift and graceful in flight, of small and elegant form, it seems rather to belong to the terns than to the gulls. Its breeding grounds are in the far north, through the wooded districts of Alaska and as far south as Mani- toba. In November and May these gulls pass through California as migrants, a few remaining at San Diego Bay throughout December and returning there in March. 65. ROYAL TERN. — Sterna maxima. Famity : The Gulls and Terns. Length : 18.21. Adults in Spring: Top of head and nape glossy black, feathers length- ened to form a crest; upper parts pearl-gray, merging to white on tail and at back of neck; under parts, including throat and sides of neck, pure white ; bill bright orange ; feet black. Adults after Breeding Season and in Winter : Similar, but black on head and crest mixed with white; bill pale orange. Young: Similar to winter adults, but upper parts more or less mottled with dusky brown; tail dusky near tip; crest slightly developed ; top of head dusky, mixed with white. Downy Young: Like downy young of S. caspia. Geographical Distribution : Tropical America and warmer parts of North America, to latitude 40°, casually northward to Massachusetts and the Great Lakes. Common coastwise in California at all seasons. Breeding Range: On Atlantic coast from New Jersey southward; on Gulf coast from Texas to Florida; at San Miguel Island on the Pacific coast. 44 WATER BIRDS Nest: A shallow depression scooped in the sand of a beach. Eggs: 2to 4; narrower and more pointed than those of Caspian tern ; grayish, spotted with brown and purple. Size 2.67 X 1.70. ConcerninG the Royal Tern, Mr. Frank M. Chapman writes: “It is a strong, active bird on the wing, and a reckless, dashing diver, frequently disappearing beneath the surface in catching its prey. The slow-flying pelican are at its mercy, and it often deftly robs them of their well-earned. gains. | “All the terns are to be known from the gulls by the very different manner in which they hold their bills. A tern points its bill directly downward and looks, as Coues says, like a big mosquito, while a gull’s bill poms forward in the plane of its body.” 69. FORSTER TERN. — Sterna forsteri. Famity: The Gulls and Terns. Length: 15.10. Adults in Summer : Top of head and nape jet black ; upper parts pearl- gray; under parts, including throat and sides of neck, uniform white; bill dull orange, tipped with dusky; feet deep orange. Adults in Winter: Similar, but head white, tinged with gray on nape, and white dusky patch around eyes and ear-coverts ; bill brownish, merging to black at tip; feet brownish. Young: Similar to winter adults, but with top of head, nape, back, and wings washed with dark umber; distinctly darker at end of tail ; sides of head dusky brownish. Downy Young: Upper parts pale buffy brown, coarsely mottled with black ; under parts, except throat, white. Geographical Distribution: North America generally ; south in winter to Brazil. Breeding Range: On Pacific coast from Washington to Lower California ; common at Lake Tahoe, Eagle and Elsinore Lakes, California. Breeding Season: Approximately, May 1 to July 20. BIRDS FOUND NEAR SHORE OR IN BAYS 465 Nest: Made of flags or marsh vegetation; lined with weeds; in wet marshy place, or floating among rushes. Eggs: 2 or 3; from pure white to pale green or brown-gray, irregularly spotted with several shades of brown and purple. Size 1.85 X 1.35. Dr. BREWER Calls this species “ pre-eminently a marsh tern,” and says that its monotonous cry closely resembles the call note of a loggerhead shrike. It is found nest- ing in colonies in company with gull-billed terns and Bonaparte gulls in suitable localities throughout its breeding range, but chiefly on large lakes in the interior. Its food consists of minnows, insects, and refuse floating on the water. 74. LEAST TERN. — Sterna antillarum. Famity: The Gulls and Terns. Length: 8.50-9.75. Adults in Summer : Upper parts pearl-gray ; under parts white ; fore- head white; crown, lores, and nape jet black; bill yellow, usually tipped with black ; feet orange. Adults in Winter : Similar, but lores and crown white ; nape black ; bill black. Young : Similar to winter adults, but upper parts mottled with blackish and buffy. Downy Young: Upper parts pale buffy gray, finely mottled with dusky; head distinctly marked with irregular black speckles; under parts white. Geographical Distribution : Northern South America, north to California, Minnesota, New England, and casually to Labrador. Breeding Range: Breeds locally nearly throughout its range. In Cali- fornia as far north as Ballona Beach, Los Angeles County. Breeding Season: Approximately, May 1 to July 15. Nest : Scarcely perceptible hollow in the bare sand of the beach ; unlined. Eggs: 2 or 3; greenish gray, spotted with light and dark brown, and light purple. Occasionally these markings form a wreath at the larger end. Size 1.25 X 0.95. Sea Swauptow and Little Striker are the common names applied to this little tern, although sea swallow 46 WATER BIRDS is used of all terns. The Least Tern is said to feed upon insects, and has the peculiar darting, skimming flight of swallows ; hence the appellation “sea swallow” is particularly appropriate to it. Its call note is a high- keyed squeal or squeak, and it utters this note almost continuously while on the wing. Throughout the coast of Southern California these Terns are found nesting on the narrow strip of beach between the tide marsh and the sea. Along the old sea drive, a few miles southward from Coronado Beach, it is not uncommon to find their eggs laid on the bare sand, at the edge of the salt marsh, well out of reach of the tide; but so perfectly do they harmonize with their environment that the searcher may, and usually does, pass them by, unless the distress of the parent bird or the flushing of the mother from the nest betrays its location. Even more difficult to find are the newly hatched young, which are little balls of down scarcely larger than a walnut, and seem to melt into the color of the sand even after you have discovered them. Crouched motionless among the pebbles, they do not even wink until your hand almost closes over them, when, presto / they scud off with most surprising speed, 77. AMERICAN BLACK TERN. — Hydrochelidon nigra surinamensis. Famity: The Gulls and Terns. Length : 9.00-10.00. Adults in Summer: Head, neck, and under parts black; upper parts uniform slate-gray ; bill and feet black. BIRDS FOUND NEAR SHORE OR IN BAYS 47 Adulis in Winter; Head, neck, and under parts white; upper parts deep pearl-gray. Young: Similar to winter adults, but feathers of back tipped with brownish, and sides washed with slaty. Downy Young: Upper parts dull dark brown, coarsely mottled with black; top of head, throat, and breast plain blackish brown ; side of head dull whitish ; belly white, washed with dark gray. Geographical Distribution: Temperate and tropical America, from Alaska to Brazil and Chili. Breeding Range: Interior of United States from latitude 39° northward. On Pacific coast breeds abundantly in Oregon and California. Breeding Season: Approximately, from May 10 to August 1. West: The eggs are laid on a mat of reeds and decaying vegetation float- ing among rushes of a marsh, in shallow water ; or occasionally on bare ground of a mud flat. ggs: 2 or 3; brownish green, thickly spotted with dark and light brown and light purple, mostly about the larger end. Size 1.35 X 0.98. Tue Black Tern has long wings and a short tail which, with its dark eoonng, renders it easily dis- 77. AMERICAN Buack TERN. “As it picks dragon-fltes Jrom the low rushes.” tinguishable from the “es other species occur- = __ — a ring on the Pa- ee cific coast. Like Sterna antillarum, it is a fly-catcher among the terns, re feeding almost entirely on aquatic insects and dragon- flies. It darts and skims over the marshes with the 48 WATER BIRDS grace and agility of a swallow, scarcely pausing in its flight, as it picks dragon-flies from the low rushes or catches them in midair. Fish proper it scorns. Cray- fish forms some part of its diet, though possibly only a small part. It is found circling over a marshy meadow as well as above the more open water of the lakes, and its nesting site is not infrequently an almost dry pool. The choice of these often seems to be a mere matter of whim, but probably is determined by the abundance of insect life in the locality. 120 c. FARALLONE CORMORANT. — Phalacrocoraz dilophus albociliatus. Famity : The Cormorants. Length: 25.00-31.00. Adults: Greenish black merging to grayish brown on back and wings. All the feathers of these parts bordered with black, producing a scaled effect. Nuptial Plumage: On each side of head behind the eye there is a small tuft of long, curved, whitish feathers ; gular sac bright orange. Young: Head and neck brownish gray shading to light on chin, and dark on top of head; under parts brownish, darker on sides; gular sac yellow. Geographical Distribution : California, south to Cape St. Lucas and the Revilla Gigedo Islands. Breeding Range: Farallone Islands. Breeding Season: May and June. Nest: A loosely constructed mat of kelp, seaweed, and sometimes twigs. Eggs: From 4 to 5; light greenish, covered with chalky film. Size 2.40 X 1.54. ‘ THE Farallone Cormorant may be recognized from the other species on the Farallone Islands by the long white tufts over the eyes. In nesting habits it is identical with Brandt’s cormorant, nor can the eggs of the two species BIRDS FOUND NEAR SHORE OR IN BAYS 49 be distinguished by an expert. Both nest in colonies on the South Farallone, and Mr. Corydon Chamberlin, in the “ Nidologist,” 1895, reports a rookery at Clear Lake, California. Early in May it constructs a shallow nest, about a foot in diameter, lined with Farallone weed and kelp. Occasionally one attempts to carry a long, bulky-looking string of the latter, which trails behind him as he flies, making him look like a winged ‘polliwog. They mould these nests to a roundness by sitting on them, turning awkwardly about and working the kelp into place with feet and bill, but with none of the flut- tering movements of wings and tail apparent in the nest- building of land birds. After the nest is begun, one or the other of the parent birds is constantly present, and even then it isa hard struggle to keep the Western gulls from stealing the nesting material as fast as it is brought. The newly hatched Cormorants lack the down of most young sea-birds and are not handsome babies, their fat bodies and grotesque long necks being covered with a leathery-looking black skin. My observations convince me that they are fed by regurgitation for the first twenty- four hours or longer; this is, if possible, a more ludicrous process of “ pumping” than in the case of young herons.? After this regurgitation period comes a time when live fish is brought to the nest and torn or chewed by the adults before being given to the nestlings. As soon as the latter are able to manage live fish, small carp are popped into their throats head first, and swallowed with curious gulpings. Each meal is followed by a rest time, 1 See Brandt Cormorant. 4 50 WATER BIRDS when the half-grown Cormorant sits shrugged up into a discouraged-looking bunch, or loils listlessly against his fellow nestlings. Around (and beneath the nest if in a tree) are bits of fish and other debris, showing that the supply often exceeds the demand. 122. BRANDT CORMORANT. — Phalacrocoraz penicillatus. Famity: The Cormorants. Length: 35.00. Adults: Head and neck iridescent black, with a patch of whitish sur- rounding base of gular sac; under parts iridescent dark green ; scapulars and wing-coverts dark green, edged with black. Nuptial Plumage : Uppermost scapulars and sides of neck ornamented with long stiff white filaments; gular sac blue. Young: Head, neck, and rump dark brown; rest of upper parts paler brown ; under parts dusky brown, paler on throat. Geographical Distribution: Pacific coast of North America from Cape . St. Lucas to Washington. Breeding Range: Islands of the Pacific from Lower California to Wash- ington. Breeding Season: Approximately, May 1 to July 20. Nest and Eggs: Identical in appearance with those of Farallone cor- morant. Size 2.40 X 1.50. - Tus is the most common cormorant of the California coast, and may be distinguished by its stiff white feathers on sides of neck and by its blue gular sac. Rookeries are found on seal rocks near Cypress Point, Monterey, at Santa Cruz, and on the Farallones. These birds nest in colonies on the steepest crags and ledges of those islands. About the middle of May they may be seen carrying sea- weed and kelp to their chosen site. There they fashion a new shallow, bowl-shaped nest, which becomes cemented with guano; or perhaps they redecorate an old one 122. Branpr ConMoRantr Phalacrocoraa penicillatus BIRDS FOUND NEAR SHORE OR IN BAYS 51 with fresh sea moss. From the amount of guano used, and the solidity with which most of these structures had become cemented to the rock, — indeed, they seemed a part of the rock itself, —I judged that they had been handed down from one cormorant generation to another, for many years. Yet each season sees them carefully redecorated on the outside with new, bright-colored seaweed. This weed is seldom picked up on the rocks, but is freshly pulled from the bed of the ocean near shore, the birds diving in some places more than fifty feet. Upon timing one, I found it was under water two and one half minutes; it then reappeared with a bill full of scarlet algae. Here again the mischievous gulls are in evidence, and the poor Cormorant must guard his gayly trimmed nest, or every bit of his hard-earned moss will be stolen. After the five chalky green‘ eggs are laid his vigilance must never relax, for cormorant eggs and cormorant babies are the most delicious morsels in a sea gull’s menu. So the great awkward birds are ever craning their long necks this way and that, — watching before, behind, on every side, for the white- winged robbers. The effect is that, from any point of view, a cormorant rookery is a weird sight. As the days go by, the pretty nests blossom one by one with newly hatched Cormorants, the very homeliest of all created things. Their ungainly bodies are encased in a naked, greasy black skin, and their preternaturally long necks end in immense mouths, so that they resemble huge polliwogs. Like polliwogs, also, they are ever wriggling. For the first few days the young Cormorants 52 WATER BIRDS are fed by regurgitation —a curious process, always alarming to the observer. The mother squats at the side of the nest, and immediately four or five long black necks are stretched up like fingers of a black kid glove split at the end. These wave helplessly about, until she selects one and thrusts her bill far down the split, which is the throat of the young. She then violently shakes the baby, thereby emptying the food from her mouth into his. Later on small fish are torn and given them? 123 b. BAIRD CORMORANT. — Phalacrocorax pelagicus resplendens. Famity: The Cormorants. Length : 34.00-40.00. Adults: Feathers of forehead advancing to base of culmen ; gular sac and naked lores dull coral-red or reddish brown ; head and neck glossy violet-black, more purplish toward head, changing gradually through green-blue to glossy bronze-green on under parts; scapulars and wing-coverts dark green, tinged with bronze. Back dark green. Nuptial Plumage: Neck and rump ornamented with narrow white fila- ment-like feathers; flanks with a large patch of pure white. Young: Uniform brownish dusky, merging to grayish on head; the upper parts darker, with glossy greenish reflections. Downy Young: Covered with down of a uniform dark sooty gray (Ridgeway). Geographical Distribution: Pacific coast of North America from Wash- ington south to Cape St. Lucas, and Mazatlan, Mexico. Breeding Range: Islands near the coast of California and Washington. Breeding Season: Approximately, June 1 to July 15. Nest : Of rock moss or kelp on ledges of perpendicular rock. Eggs: 4; pale bluish green, with lime deposit on surface. Size 2.19 X 1.44. Tue Baird Cormorants are less common and more timid than either of the foregoing species. They may 1 See Farallone Cormorants. BIRDS FOUND NEAR SHORE OR IN BAYS 53 be recognized by a white patch on each flank. They breed in very small rookeries of ten or a dozen pairs, — instead of several hundred as is the case with Brandt cormorants, —and are frequently found nesting alone. Their site is usually the most inaccessible rocks in the vicinity. Frequently, so narrow is the ledge chosen that the young are crowded off and are killed by the fall to the water or rocks below. Each season the old nests are used, being repaired with kelp or relined with fresh sea moss. Baird Cormorants, though so retiring, are particularly courageous in defence of their nests and young, and are either so devoted to the former or so stupid that they will return after being robbed and brood upon the empty nest. Their nests are con- structed with greater care than those of the other species mentioned, and are lined with the more deli- cate varieties of sea moss as well as the coarse kelp. They become cemented into a more or less solid mass and also glued to the rock with guano. Some of them are so solid as to warrant the opinion that they have been in use many years. The feeding habits of this species are like those of the Brandt and Farallone cormorants. 125. AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN. — Pelecanus erythrorhynchos. Famity: The Pelicans. Length: 44-6 feet. Adult Nuptial Plumage: Entirely white, quills black, whitish at base; a pendant crest of pale yellow feathers, and a horny protuberance on top of bill ; pouch and bill reddish ; feet bright red, 54 WATER BIRDS Adults in Winter : Similar to above, but lacking the crest. and the horny protuberance on bill. Pouch, bill, and feet lemon-yellow. Young: Plumage white, merging to brownish gray on top of head ; bill, pouch, and feet pale lemon. Geographical Distribution : Temperate North America, south in winter to Mexico; common on the coast of California. Breeding Range: Southeastern Oregon, Red River valley in British Co- lumbia; lakes of the interior west of Mississippi River, and from Utah northward. Breeding Season: Approximately, April 15 to August. Nest: A pile of sand heaped up about 8 inches high and 14 inches in diameter, sometimes lined with sticks and slightly hollowed out on top. Usually on dry sandy beach of an island. Eggs: 2, rarely 4; chalky white. Size 3.45 X 2.30. THe American White Pelican has become a com- paratively rare bird east of the Mississippi River, but is abundant throughout the coast of Southern and Cen- tral California and on Santa Barbara Island. Mr. Grinnell reports it breeding at Eagle Lake. It feeds while on or in the water, scooping the fish in its bill when swimming or wading, seldom diving for them from the air, and always tossing the catch until it can be swallowed head first. Crustacea are rarely if ever ‘eaten by this species, and they will travel many miles for fish rather than eat frogs. “Often a flock will band together and, by beating their wings, drive a school of fishes into the shallows, where they gather up large numbers at every scoop of their big bag. The water taken is allowed to drain out of the corners, and the fish are swallowed. If the bird is fishing to feed her young, she still does the same, and afterwards disgorges the fish; for she could not fly if her pouch were filled with fishes.”? 1 Mrs. Eckstrom, in ‘‘The Bird Book.” BIRDS FOUND NEAR SHORE OR IN BAYS 55 It is the White Pelican that the gulls torment so by stealing his hard-earned catch time after time. And the Pelican, always of dignified and care-burdened mien, looks comically disconsolate over losing his dinner in this fashion. Yet he makes no attempt to defend him- self, for he has no chance; the quick gulls have seized the booty and fled before his slow brain and slower body can move to resent the robbery. 127. CALIFORNIA BROWN PELICAN. — Pelecanus californicus. Famity: The Pelicans. Length: 44-5 feet. Nuptial Plumage: Head and chin white, the top of head tinged with straw-yellow ; a chestnut patch more or less lengthened to crest on back of head ; neck chestnut, merging to seal-brown ; upper parts, including wings and tail, silver gray, more or less streaked with seal- brown ; under parts dark brownish, streaked with white ; pouch and feet red. Adults in Winter: Similar, but entire head and neck white, somewhat tinged with straw-color; pouch and feet dull olive. Young: Head, neck, and upper parts light-brownish gray, tipped with paler; under parts white, washed with brownish gray on sides. Geographical Distribution: Pacific coast from British Columbia to the Galapagos. Breeding Range: Islands off coast of Lower California and Mexico. Breeding Season: May and June. Nest: Usually on the ground, sometimes in the mangrove trees; a ‘loosely constructed, rather bulky mass of sticks and weed-stalks ; lined with grass. Eggs: 2to 5; chalky white. Size 3.00-X 2.01. Tue California Brown Pelican is abundant through- out California, especially from Santa Cruz southward. At almost any time of the day during the fall, winter, and early spring, a flock of them may be seen lazily 56 WATER BIRDS flying along the coast over the water in pelican fashion, one behind another. Their flight is characteristic, being five or six wing-strokes taken by all simultaneously, followed by a soaring, which lasts until the leader gives the signal for more wing-strokes. Back and forth up and down the coast, always in pelican single file, the line broken only whén one dives to the water for an especially tempting fish. At the inlet on the west side of the isthmus of Santa Catalina, the early morning hours are vocal with the noise of their fishing. Plunk! plunk !—they dive one by one from various heights, striking the water with a heavy splash that can be heard several hundred feet. Mr. Gosse says that these Pelicans invariably turn a somersault under the surface of the water; for they descend diagonally, and the head emerges in the opposite direction. Although shown a young Brown Pelican which the owner said he had taken from the nest on Santa Cata- lina Islands, I found that the fishermen there agreed with Mr. Grinnell that no pelicans nested nearer than Los Coronados Islands. As they return to the same breeding ground year after year, the rookery would cer- tainly have been discovered, no matter how inaccessible. 180. WHISTLING SWAN. — Olor columbianus. Famity: The Ducks, Geese, and Swans. Length: About 44 feet. Adults: Uniform white; basal portion of bill white, with lores black, the latter usually with a small yellow spot. Young: Light grayish; bill pinkish ; feet light. BIRDS FOUND NEAR SHORE OR IN BAYS 57 Geographical Distribution: Whole of North America. Breeding Range: Arctic regions. Breeding Season: June, July, and possibly May. Nest : ‘The eggs are usually laid on a tussock surrounded with water, ‘and so near it that the female sometimes sits with her feet in the water.” 1 Eggs: 3 to 6; grayish white, stained with rusty. Size 4.19 x 2.72. Turs beautiful bird is found in the United States only in winter and while migrating in spring and fall. It is rare in California, but a few remain through the winter in the interior of the northern part of the State. The peculiar call note is kept up while the birds are mi- grating; it resembles the “honk” of wild geese, but is shriller and more metallic in tone. Heard overhead in a small valley shut in by mountains, it has a weird, vibrant quality. 181. TRUMPETER SWAN. — Olor buccinator. Famity: The Ducks, Geese, and Swans. Length: 5-53 feet. Adults: Plumage uniform white ; bill and lores jet black. Young: Grayish brown, browner on head and neck. Geographical Distribution : Interior of North America, west to the Pacific coast ; rare or casual on the Atlantic. Breeding Range: Interior of the Northern United States northward. Breeding Season: May and June. Nest: On high ground; of grasses and moss ; lined with down and feathers. Eggs: 2to6; white. Size 4.30 x 2.60. A NoT uncommon bird in California during the winter and early spring. It is found somewhat back from the coast in the fresh-water sloughs. According to Mr. Shields, the cry of the Trumpeter Swan resembles the tones of the French horn. Certainly it is a different 1 Davie. 58 WATER BIRDS sound from the shrill notes of the preceding species, being deeper and more mellow. It is a more common bird in Southern California, and may be heard, as well as seen, in large flocks migrating during the early spring and late fall. It trumpets, however, at dusk and day- break, for an hour at a time without ceasing, and is particularly noisy at nesting time when feeding its young; the united clamor carries the news of its presence at the nest to listeners a mile or two away. Although the arctic regions are the breeding ground of this bird, a few pairs are said by Mr. Lockhart to breed on the Saskatchewan River in British Columbia. BIRDS FOUND ALONG THE BEACHES 224. WILSON PHALAROPE. — Steganopus tricolor. Famity: The Phalaropes. Length: Female, 10.00; male, 9.00, a little smaller than a robin. Male in Breeding Plumage: Upper parts grayish brown, brownest on crown and merging to reddish brown on sides of neck in a more or less distinct stripe ; line over eye and under parts w white, tinged with buff on throat and breast. Female in Breeding Plumage : Back and crown slaty gray ; a black stripe on sides of head and neck merging to red-brown on shoulders ; line over eye and under parts white, tinged with light brown on chest and lower part of throat. Adults in Winter : Upper parts dusky gray ; under parts white, washed with grayish on chest and sides. Downy Young: Light cinnamon-brown above, paler below, merging to white on under parts. Line of black through crown and nape to back of neck. Three black stripes on lower back. BIRDS FOUND ALONG THE BEACHES 59 Geographical Distribution: From British Columbia, south in winter to Brazil. Breeding Range: Breeds locally throughout the United States from lati- tude 35° northward. At Lake Tahoe and other points in California. Breeding Season: May 20 to July 15. Nest: A slight depression in the ground ; lined with grass. Eggs: 3 or 4; buffy, marked with umber. Size 1.30 x 1.60. Witson PHALAROPES present some unique features of bird life. The female is an inch or more longer than the male and larger in proportion. She is more con- spicuously marked, and is the handsomer of the two, — avifauna. Although so : P trim and 224, WiLson PHALAROPE. “ Picking up their own food before they were ten hours old.” g up dainty, she is naturally, perhaps, somewhat overbear- ing in her domestic relations, refusing to consider her master in anything. She does all the wooing, and woe to the unfortunate male if two females place their choice upon him. No voice will he have in the matter, for the more persistent or the stronger will win, and he must follow her. To do him justice, he seems to admire her fully as much because she is aggressive. Once the choice is made his daily life is cut out for him. He must make the nest in which madam condescends to lay three or four buff eggs spotted with dark brown. After that the entire care of incubation and rearing the brood devolves upon him. In one instance at least, I 60 WATER BIRDS am positive that the mother was not near the nest at any time after the eggs were laid. The male brooded continually, leaving only when necessary to obtain food. Almost as soon as the down was dry on the chicks they ran out’ of the nest like little sandpipers, and followed him about up and down the beach, picking up their own food, before they were ten hours old, and the second day they were swimming in the shallow water as gayly as any of the adult birds. The Phalaropes are not rare along the eastern part of California, and doubtless nest in other marshes than those bordering some parts of Lake Tahoe. They breed there quite abundantly, and their sandpiper-like cries mingle with the plaintive notes of the killdeer whenever anyone enters the nesting place. Like the killdeer, also, the Phalarope will fly restlessly back and forth over its home, revealing by its very anxiety what it is most anxious to conceal. Wilson Phalarope is exclusively an American species, and is less common on the coasts than in the interior. 225. AMERICAN AVOCET. — Recurvirostra americana. Famity: The Avocets and Stilts. Length: 17.00. Adults in Summer: Head, neck, shoulders, and chest uniform light reddish brown, merging to buff at base of bill; rump, wing-patches, and belly white ; scapulars and primaries black ; bill long, black, and curved upward ; feet and legs grayish blue. Adults in Winter: Head, neck, and chest grayish white ; otherwise as in summer. Downy Young: Upper parts grayish, mottled with darker ; under parts lighter, nearly white on throat and chest; dark, almost black, splatches on the rump and shoulders. BIRDS FOUND ALONG THE BEACHES 6] Geographical Distribution: Western United States in general from lati- tude 30° to the Canadian border; south in winter to Guatemala and West Indies. Breeding Range: The plains of the Dakotas, Montana, Wyoming, Colo- rado, Utah, and interior of California. Breeding Season: June to July 15. Nest: Of grass stems matted together ; placed in tall grass near water. Eggs: 2or 3; light olive, spotted with brown. Size 1.90 & 1.35. THE American Avocet is a conspicuous bird under any circumstances, for its long, curved-up bill, intensely black and white plumage, and long blue legs are sure to attract attention. In some localities its blue legs have given it the nickname of “ blue-stocking.” In writing of these birds, Mr. Frank Chapman says: “They frequent shores and shallow pools, and in searching for shells, crusta- ceans, etc., their peculiar recurved bill is used in a most interesting manner. Dropping it beneath the surface of the water until its convexity touches the bottom, they move rapidly forward, and with every step swing their bill from side to side as a mower does his scythe. In this way they secure food which the muddy water would prevent them from seeing.” They may occasionally be found swimming in small companies, but never in exposed or very open water, and usually as near shore as possible. The nest is made in a wet meadow, and is not unlike that of a king rail, ex- cept for size. The young, like the young rails, are taken to the edge of a meadow, and, until they are two or three days old, do not go into the water. They pick up bugs for themselves from the damp ground and run to cover at the call of the mother, after the manner of killdeer. Their note is seldom heard until nightfall 62 WATER BIRDS 7 when, during nesting season, it adds much to the weird- ness of the marsh music. The alarm call is something between a croak and a whistle, but usually the retreat is made with no sound but the soft flutter of wings as the birds take refuge in the tall marsh grass. 226. BLACK-NECKED STILT. — Himantopus mecxicanvs. Famity: The Avocets and Stilts. Length: 14.50-15.00. Adult Male: Back of head and neck, upper back, and wings iridescent greenish black ; tail grayish ; forehead, throat, and under parts white ; white spots above and below each eye; bill black; feet and legs flesh-color. Adult Female: Similar to male, except back, which is grayish brown. Downy Young: Upper parts light grayish, mottled with dark ; large black patch on back and rump; crown light grayish, with median line of black ; under parts white. Geographical Distribution : United States, chiefly west of the Great Lakes ; south in winter to Brazil. Breeding Range: From Southern States to Oregon. In California, breeds in Los Angeles County and in various localities in interior of State north to Sutter County, west of the Sierra Nevada ; east of the Sierra Nevada it breeds as far north as Rhett Lake. Breeding Season: May 1 to June 16. Nest: A shallow depression in ground ; lined with grass and occasionally rimmed with rootlets ; usually in grass on edge of lake. Eggs: 3 to 4; light olive-brown, thickly and irregularly marked with purplish brown. Size 1.72 X 1.20. : Tus bird with the extraordinarily long legs is rare east of the Mississippi River, but throughout the West it is abundant. It is a common summer visitant in California, where it breeds in colonies. Formerly it was found in numbers in Los Angeles County, but of late years it seems to prefer more northern nesting grounds, although a few pairs still breed there every year. It is BIRDS FOUND ALONG THE BEACHES — 63 a picturesque graceful bird, well proportioned in spite of the stilt-like legs which give it its name. In flight it is not unlike the cranes, but when alighting it drops its feet and raises its wings, poising a moment, as do the gulls. It feeds upon small fresh-water crustaceans, mollusks, and larvee of insects, not scorning earthworms, and picks its way daintily through the marsh grass in search of favorite tidbits, with a charming air of quiet grace. Surprised, it springs into flight, trailing its long legs behind it. During the breeding season it is quite noisy, uttering its hoarse croaks continually, until the whereabouts of its nesting place may be known by any who will investigate. A large part of this noise occurs when the food is brought to the mate on the nest, where it receives a joyous, if unmusical, welcome. The nestlings look like balls of down perched upon tooth- picks, but neither their legs nor their bills are developed at all in proportion to those of the adults. They are spry, like the young of most ground birds, and in a marvellously short time become self-supporting. 232. LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER. — Macrorhamphus scolopaceus. Famity : The Snipes and Sandpipers. Length: 11.00-12.50. Adults in Summer: Upper parts black, mottled with buff and light red- brown ; rump mottled black and white, and tail barred black and white ; a light line over eye, and a dark one from eye to bill; under parts mottled on throat, breast, and belly with red-brown and black- ish ; sides and lower tail-coverts barred with same colors. Adults in Winter : Plumage uniform dusky gray ; line over eye and the lower belly white. 64 WATER BIRDS Young: Similar, but belly and chest tinged with uniform light red- brown. Geographical Distribution : Mississippi valley and Western North Amer- ica trom Mexico to Alaska. In California it is found as a common winter visitant in the interior valleys. Breeding Range: The Yukon valley and arctic regions. Breeding Season: May 28 to July 1. Nest: A shallow depression in Alaskan moss ; placed on dry hill-tops. Eggs: 3 or 4; dirty grayish buff, marked with blackish brown. Size 1.80 X 1.20. In California, the Long-billed Dowitchers occur only in the winter, when cold drives them southward from their chosen haunts among the frozen regions of Alaska. They come in October, flying in little companies along the coast region or through the interior valleys, feeding wherever there is a suitable marshy place. About San Francisco Bay and Alviso they may occasionally be seen on migration, but as soon as possible they find winter quarters in the more sheltered valleys. Their flight is strong and swift, though rather low. When resting, the Dowitchers huddle together in the tall grass, and are either so confiding or so stupid that they are easy victims to the hunter. To know them one must watch them in their nesting grounds in the Yukon valley. Here, ac- cording to Mr. Nelson, their noisy wooing can be heard morning and evening, the love song being a clear “ pee- ter-wee-too ; wee-too! pee-ter-wee-too ; wee-too,” sung as the pair hover in midair, twenty yards’ above the earth. The unlined nest is usually in a clump of Alaskan moss or dry grass, and not very near the water. The young are covered with brownish gray down, so pro- tective in coloring as to render their discovery difficult. BIRDS FOUND ALONG THE BEACHES — 65 If disturbed, the mother flies a short distance with a shrill cry and, hiding behind a tussock, watches the intruder but makes no attempt to defend. By September 1 the adults are in winter plumage and ready for their trip south. 242, LEAST SANDPIPER, OR MEADOW OXEYE. Tringa minutilla. Famity: The Snipes and Sandpipers. Length: 5.00-7.00. Aduits in Summer: Upper parts dusky, nearly black ; feathers aed with light red-brown ; middle tail-feathers black, ater ones gray ; upper throat, belly, and sides white; neck and breast yellowish white, streaked with dusky. Adults in Winter: Upper parts lighter than in summer, and clouded with dusky ; under parts light gray, finely streaked with darker. Young : Similar, but with heavy black streak through crown and middle of back. Geographical Distribution: North America, wintering from the Gulf States southward. Breeding Range: From Canada to arctic regions. Breeding Season: May 15 to June 15, Nest: A slight depression in the dry ground near water; usually lined with leaves and grasses. Eggs: 3 or 4; light gray, speckled with cinnamon and lavender. Size 1.15 X 0.85. TuEseE tiny little Sandpipers are commonly found in flocks, alone or in company with the semipalmated sand- pipers, along the shores of the bays and lakes of Cali- fornia during the fall, winter, and spring. They trip lightly along the beaches, just at the edge of the water, with a dainty bobbing walk, scurrying out of the reach of a wave, picking up bugs and water insects, and so absorbed in the fun that they forget to be afraid. Mr. : 5 66 WATER BIRDS Bailey describes them as quick to take alarm, but I have had them pick up food almost under my feet. Their habit of frequenting the meadows in the vicinity of water and hiding in the long grass has given them the name of “Meadow Oxeye.” On account of their small size, they escape the covetous eye of sportsmen and plume-hunters, and are in little danger of being decimated by the gun. When newly hatched, the young are not larger than a man’s thumb, and they begin im- mediately to run about on their spry little legs. 243.a. RED-BACKED SANDPIPER, OR OX BIRD. Tringa alpina pacifica. (Common names: American Dunlin; Lead Back; Black Breast.) Famity: The Snipes and Sandpipers. Length: 7.50-8.00. Adults in Swnmmer: Upper parts bright reddish-brown, more or less mottled and streaked with black; breast whitish, streaked with ‘dark gray ; centre of belly black ; sides and lower belly white. Adults in Winter: Upper parts brownish gray, streaked with dark gray; breast ashy, streaked indistinctly with darker ; rump, throat, and belly white. Young: Similar to winter adults, but with upper parts streaked with black and buffy. Geographical Distribution: North America; south in winter to South America. Breeding Range: Arctic regions. Nest: A slight hollow; lined with grass. Eggs: 3 or 4; grayish buffy or greenish white, dotted with shades of brown. Size 1.43 X 1.01. Tuis species may be known in any plumage by its curved ‘bill. It is common along the coast of California BIRDS FOUND ALONG THE BEACHES = 67 in the winter, and is found in the interior in spring and fall. Early in May it leaves for its breeding grounds in the arctic regions, returning in October. It is seen usually in large flocks, and, being less active than most shore birds, is oftener a victim to the surf of the winter storms. Walking along the beach after a blustering night or day, one occasionally may find the lifeless bodies of these little birds half buried in the sand, not in the same numbers as the more venturesome waders, but enough to sadden a morning tramp. 247, WESTERN SANDPIPER. — Ereunetes occidentalis. Famity: The Snipes and Sandpipers. Length : 7.00 or 8.00. Adults in Summer: Upper parts black or dusky, conspicuously mottled with buffy and red-brown; breast and sides streaked with blackish ; rest of under parts white. Adults in Winter: Upper parts dull brownish gray, indistinctly streaked with dusky ; under parts white, with faint dusky spots on breast and sides. Downy Young: Upper parts bright rusty buff, spotted with black ; a black line through crown and middle of back; hair-like feathers among the down, tipped with yellow ; under parts cream-white. Geographical Distribution: Western North America ; south in winter to Central America. Breeding Range: Alaska and British America. Breeding Season: June 1 to July 1. Nest: A hollow in the ground, with scanty lining of grasses. Eggs: 4; clay-colored, thickly speckled with reddish brown. Size 1.20 X 0.87. Tue Western Sandpiper is abundant on the Pacific coast during the spring and fall migrations. In its nesting grounds it is said by Mr. Nelson to be fearless, and conspicuously devoted to its young. He gives an 68 WATER BIRDS instance in which a bird returned to her eggs across a man’s outstretched arms. During migrations the Western Sandpiper rests occasionally for two or three days in one locality. It is less timid than most of its family. 248. SANDERLING. — Caldris arenaria. (Common names: Surf Snipe; Ruddy Plover; Beach Bird.) Famity: The Snipes and Sandpipers. Length: 7.00-9.00. Adults in Summer : Upper parts mottled white, gray, and black ; darker through crown and middle of back ; wing-bar and entire under parts white. Adults in Winter: Upper parts ashy gray; bend of wing blackish ; under parts uniform clear white. Young: Upper parts pale gray, spotted with black and white ; under parts white. Geographical Distribution: ‘‘ Nearly cosmopolitan.” In America a few winter in Texas and California, and from there southward to Patagonia. Breeding Range: Arctic and subarctic regions. Breeding Season: June 15 to July 15. Nest: A slight depression in ground ; lined with grasses. Eggs: 3 or 4; greenish buffy, speckled with brown. Size 1.41 X 0.91. Tae Sanderling inhabits the entire American con- tinent, and may be found during spring and fall mi- grations picking up its food on nearly every salt-water beach. It follows closely in the wake of each receding wave, scampering out of the way of the returning water with swiftness and dainty grace. This game of tag with the ocean would seem to be as much for fun as for food, for I have often watched them as they ran back and forth after the waves for several minutes without pick- BIRDS FOUND ALONG THE BEACHES 69 ing up anything. In California the Sanderling fre- quently remains all winter and adds to the delights 248. SANDERLING. “ 4 game of tag with the ocean.”” of a stroll along the beach. Not especially shy, it will permit one to come within twenty feet of it, and it pays no attention to any observer seated on the sand. 254. GREATER YELLOW-LEGS. — Totanus melanoleucus. Famity: The Snipes and Sandpipers. Length: 12.00-15.00. Adults in Summer: Upper parts black, streaked and spotted with white and gray; tail and upper tail-coverts white, barred with black ; middle of belly white ; rest of under parts white, spotted or barred with black ; throat streaked light and dark gray. Adults in Winter: Similar, but upper parts dark gray, mottled with white; under parts white, finely speckled with gray on throat and upper breast. Young: Similar to, winter adults, but white of plumage tinged with buffy. Geographical Distribution: North America ; south in winter to South America. Breeding Range: From latitude 40° northward. Nest : A shallow, grass-lined depression in the ground. Eggs: 3 or4; muddy buff, marked with dark brown. Size 1.43 X 1.20. THe Greater Yellow-legs is an abundant migrant throughout California, some remaining in the southern 70 WATER BIRDS portion near the coast throughout the winter, and, doubt- less, a few breed in the more northern Sierra Nevada district, though I am unable to find any authoritative breeding record. My own record shows that none were seen by me after May 9, although a search and lookout were maintained. They are conspicuous birds, and not easily mistaken for others of their family. The white tail and rump are distinguishing marks, particularly in flight. This bird is the sentinel of the game-birds, giving warning of the approach of the hunter in loud, whistling notes repeated rapidly ; hence its names “ Tell- tale” and “Long-legged Tattler.” Mr. Chapman writes of it delightfully as follows: “Few birds are flying; lulled by the lap, lap of the water, I have almost fallen asleep, when from far up in the gray sky comes a soft wheu, wheu, wheu. I respond quickly, and lying on my back, look eagerly upward. Not a bird can be seen, but the questioning call grows stronger, and is repeated more frequently. Finally I distinguish five or six black points sailing in narrow circles so high that I can scarcely believe they are the birds I hear. But no bar or shoal breaks the sound-waves. The birds grow larger, and widening cir- cles sweep earthward. Their soft whistle has a plaintive tone; their long bills turn inquiringly from side to side. The stolid decoys give no response, they repel rather than encourage; but the whistling continues, and with murmured notes of interrogation, the deluded birds wheel over them, to find too late that they have blundered.” BIRDS FOUND ALONG THE BEACHES 11 259. WANDERING TATTLER. — Heteractitis incanus. Famity: The Snipes and Sandpipers. Length: 10.50-11.50. Adults in Summer ; Upper parts uniform slate-color ; under parts barred with dark gray and white ; throat white, spotted with dusky ; lower belly white. Adults in Winter : Upper parts, sides, and breast gray ; middle of belly and throat white. Young: Similar to winter adults, but feathers of wings and back marked with pure white. Geographical Distribution : Pacific coast of North America from Alaska to Lower California, west to Hawaiian Islands and Kamtchatka. Breeding Range: From Vancouver Island northward to valley of Yukon River. ‘* Nest and Eggs apparently not recorded: but young birds taken by Macoun on west coast of Vancouver Island” (F. M. Bailey). THe Wandering Tattler is well named, for it remains in one locality only during the nesting season, which is from May 20 to July 1 in Alaska. Its food consists of mollusks and crustaceans, and for that reason it is seldom found at any great distance from the shore. Its note is a clear, flute-like. whistle, not unlike that of the greater yellow-legs, and is translated by one ob- server as “tu-tu-tu-tu.” Like its larger relative, it is a stately little bird, graceful whether on land or in the air. It is said to give warning of the approach of dan- ger by a shriller whistle than its customary sweet call, and consequently is berated by sportsmen. 72 WATER BIRDS 263. SPOTTED SANDPIPER. — Actitis macularia. (Common names: Teeter; Tip-up; Sandlark.) Famity: The Snipes and Sandpipers. Length : 7.00-8.00. Adults in Summer : Upper parts gray, with an olive or greenish bronze sheen ; head and neck faintly streaked with black ; back barred with black ; under parts white, spotted with black ; a white wing-bar con- spicuous in flight. Adults in Winter: Under parts uniform white, without spots or markings. Downy Young: Upper parts buffy gray, with black line from bill through and down back, crossed transversely at shoulders by two short black lines in form of Greek cross ; under parts white. Young: Similar to winter adults, but finely mottled or barred with buff on back. Geographical Distribution: North America to Hudson Bay ; in winter to South America. Breeding Range: Breeds locally wherever found. In California breeds on shores of lakes in the Sierra Nevada. Breeding Season : June. Nest: A depression in the sand a little way back on a beach, usually under a tuft of grass; unlined, or scantily lined with dry grass. Eggs: 4; light butf, thickly spotted with lilac, light brown, and umber. Size 1.34 X 0.92. Founp along almost every beach and river and lake of California, this small Sandpiper is the most abundant and most commonly observed of all our shore birds. Its dainty, dipping motion while standing by the shore has given it the nickname of “Teeter,” and that name alone would help to identify it. It is the only one of its family that nests commonly in California, and is a mem- ber well worth studying. It may be found in the same locality day after day, picking up its food at the edge of the water, or venturing out on the lily pads in search of some particularly tempting morsel. The young leave BIRDS FOUND ALONG THE BEACHES 73 the nest as soon as the down is dry, but so protective is their coloring that they might crouch unnoticed at your feet. I have found them sleeping huddled together at night in a hole made by a cow’s foot in the grassy meadow bordering a lake, and though they were so openly exposed, I should never have discovered them but for the anxiety of the parent birds. They are about the size of a walnut, quaint little balls of down, perched on toothpick-like legs, and have the same odd _ habit of bobbing as the adults. Instead of opening their mouths to be fed, after the manner of most young birds, they will pick up the food found for them by the parents, and in a day’s time they have learned to hunt it along the shore. They are independent youngsters, wise in tricks of hiding motionless on the sand or in the grass, and in keeping together. Their low, sweet, peeping notes are like those of young chickens, and they seem to care more for each other than for the brooding of the parent birds. The call note of the adults is a sharp “neet-weet” uttered on the wing. 264. LONG-BILLED CURLEW, OR SICKLE-BILLED CURLEW. — Numenius longirostris. Famity: The Snipes and Sandpipers. Length : 20.00-26.00. Adults: Head, neck, and upper parts streaked and mottled grayish buff and black ; under parts brownish buff, more or less streaked and barred with black; bill very long, slender, and curved. Downy Young : Upper parts deep buff, mottled with black ; under parts sulphur-yellow ; bill straight. Geographical Distribution : Entire temperate North America; south in . winter to West Indies, i 74 WATER BIRDS Breeding Range: North of latitude 35° to latitude 50°. In California breeds in northwestern portion of the State, in the Pitt River valley. Breeding Season : May and June. Nest: A shallow depression in the ground; lined with dry grasses ; placed near water. Eggs: 3or 4; buffy, spotted with purple and umber. Size 2.52 X 1.85. Tue Sickle-billed Curlew is a conspicuous bird wher- ever it occurs on the beaches. In California it is common on the coast and valleys west of the Sierra Nevada dur- ing the winter months, appearing early in October and remaining until the last of April or the middle of May. These Curlews fly in wedge-shaped flocks of from fifty to a hundred, the movement of migration being con- tinuous when started, and mostly by daylight; they rest and feed late in the afternoon. A flock of them alighting is suggestive of a multitude of gigantic butter- flies, as they touch the earth with feet down and wings raised over their backs. Their long bills are used to probe in the earth for their food, which consists of worms, small snails, crabs, crayfish, the larvee of beetles, and adult insects of all kinds. Their note is a prolonged whistle as heard from high in the air, or a clear rich call as you flush them from the ground. If disturbed in their breeding ground, they unite, as do the jays, to drive the intruder away with harsh cries and a succession of shrill notes that one observer calls laughter. Failing in this, they circle about as near as they dare, and occasionally one, more daring than the rest, comes too near for comfort. The mother, finding defence useless, tries the old feint of a broken wing, while the others watch her with anxious cries. BIRDS FOUND ALONG THE BEACHES = 175 The young bird has a well-developed but straight bill more than an inch long when hatched ; he runs about on strong legs within an hour of his emancipation from the shell. 265. HUDSONIAN CURLEW, OR JACK CURLEW. Numenius hudsonicus. Famity: The Snipes and Sandpipers. Length : 16.50-18.00. Adults: Upper parts mottled and barred with pale cinnamon-brown and blackish; line through the crown buffy, bordered with two brown stripes; under parts buff, narrowly streaked with blackish. Downy Young: Buffy ‘brown above, merging to lemon- yellow below ; upper parts indistinctly mottled with dusky. Geographical Distribution : Nearly the whole of North and South America; south in winter. Breeding Range: Arctic regions. Breeding Season: June 15 to July 15. Nest: A slight hollow, scantily lined with grasses. Eggs : 4; pear-shaped, grayish yellow, coarsely scrawled with chocolate and brown. Size 2.27 X 1.57. tees ie THE Hudsonian Curlew occurs GaaaaW: throughout North America, breed- “ When alighting.” ing at the ponds and lakes of the ae arctic regions and in all parts “é yl of Alaska. In California it is abundant as : a spring and fall migrant, and is found on the coast in company with the long- . billed curlew and the jack-snipe. Like the others, it is a conspicuous bird on the beach or flying in triangular flocks over the edge of the water; like the long-billed curlew, it drops its feet and raises 76 WATER BIRDS its wings in a peculiar butterfly fashion when alighting. It is not so commonly found in the interior as other members of its family, and probes in the sand of the beach for its food rather than in the salt meadows ; its favorite food is small snails, water-spiders, and crayfish. 270. BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER. — Squatarola. (Common names: Beetle-head ; Oxeye; Whistling Field Plover; Bull-head Plover; Swiss Plover.) Famity: The Plovers. Length: 11.00. Adults in Summer : Sides of head and neck and under parts black ; lower belly and under tail-coverts white; upper parts mottled black and white ; tail white, barred with black. Adults in Winter: Upper parts brownish gray, mottled with lighter, and under parts white, streaked with gray. Young: Similar to winter adults, but spotted on upper parts with buff. Geographical Distribution: Nearly cosmopolitan. Breeding Range: Arctic regions. Breeding Season: July. Nest: A mere depression in the soil, lined with dry grass. Eggs: 4; light buffy olive, heavily marked with brown or black. Size 2.04 X 1.43. Tue Black-bellied, or Beetle-head Plover is a com- mon migrant on the California coast. Each spring and fall flocks may be seen flying in lines or wedge- shaped ranks after the manner of geese, and their mellow three-noted whistle sounds clearly above the roar of the surf. These birds run along the beach at the edge of the water, snatching up the sea food left by the receding tide, and when the turn sets in they retreat to the higher sand banks to be out of the way of a wetting. The BIRDS FOUND ALONG THE BEACHES 177 species is nearly cosmopolitan, being found in Asia, Africa, Australia, the West Indies, North America, Central America, and South America on migrations; in the breeding season it is found in Russia, Siberia, Alaska, Franklin Bay, and the Barren Lands. In each locality it has a different common name. 273. KILLDEER. — A gialitis vocifera. Famity: The Plovers. Length: 10.50. Adults: Forehead, throat, collar, and under parts white ; front of the crown, lores, ring around the neck, band on the breast, black ; back olive-brown ; rump and sides of the tail dark buffy. Downy Young: Upper parts olive-brown ; under parts white; collar and bands across the chest, and across lores black, like adults. Geographical Distribution: North America ; south in winter from latitude 80° to South America. Breeding Range: Breeds locally wherever found. In California breeds throughout the State, but in Jarge numbers at Lake Tahoe. Breeding Season: May and June. Nest: A slight depression in the earth ; unlined. Eggs: 3 or 4; butfy, marked with dark brown and blackish. Size 1.50 X 1.10. WHEREVER seen, this pretty plover announces its name in plaintive cries of “kildee, kildee.” Often in the night, as if troubled by bad dreams, it sounds this anxious cry. It is abundant everywhere, and is known to every country boy. Its nest is on the bare ground in the edge of an upland meadow; but the eggs are so protectively colored that you might pass it without notice, did not the old bird by her great anxiety pro- claim the hiding place. An hour later you may find every shell broken and the little ones gone, for they run about in the grass as soon as free. No other bird will "8 WATER BIRDS make more frantic efforts than the Killdeer to lead you away in order that the young may escape: she feigns broken wings, falls over and over on the ground, moan- ing as if with pain, and begging you to capture her. But the whole performance is only a feint, for when you come up to her, she will fly away on swift, strong wings. The favorite nesting ground is more or less stony, and the little Killdeers, crouching motionless to hide, so resemble the stones as to render discovery difficult. They are very like the adults in form and markings, the characteristic black bands across the upper breast pro- claiming the kinship were other sign wanting. 278. SNOWY PLOVER. — Zgialitis nivosa. Famity: The Plovers. Length: 6.00-7.00. Adults in Summer: Upper parts pale buff-gray ; forehead, cheeks, and under parts white ; bar across forehead, patch at back of cheeks, and patch at the side of chest black. i Adults in Winter: Black, replaced by grayish. Young: Like winter adults, but feathers of the upper parts distinctly tipped with white. . Downy Young: Upper parts pale grayish buff, mottled with black ; white collar across neck ; under parts white. Geographical Distribution: Western United States; south in winter to Chili. Breeding Range: Breeds wherever found in the United States; through- out California as far north as Pescadero. Breeding Season: April and May. Nest: A slight hollow in the sand ; unlined. Eggs: 3; pale grayish buff, spotted with umber and black. Size 1.20 X 0.90. Tue Snowy Plover is resident all the year round in the southern part of California near the coast, and occurs BIRDS FOUND ALONG THE BEACHES 79 as far north as Cape Mendocino. It is abundant at Long Beach, San Pedro, and all along the sandy coast near Los Angeles. These: Plovers are pretty, plump little birds, and trip unconcernedly at the water’s edge, picking up the food left by the retreating waves. If one is disturbed, it crouches flat on the sand, in a hollow if possible, trusting to protective coloring to escape notice. A nest found near San Diego in April, con- tained, when discovered, three clay-covered eggs. When it was visited three hours later, two little ones had broken the shell and were crouched down like small gray stones. The third egg was sterile. The young were about the size of large walnuts and were the prettiest creatures imaginable. The next morning the nest was deserted, only the particles of eggshells scat- tered about told where it had been; but the mother bird was discovered with both chicks hiding behind a tuft of grass. No other nest was found nearer than two hundred feet, and it is doubtful whether the one found at that distance was really the nest of a Snowy Plover. This species has none of the dipping motions of the sandpiper, and is much plumper-looking, though not less trim than the sandpipers. Its call is a whistled “pleep, pleep,” somewhat between the note of a spotted sandpiper and that of a golden plover. caboratory of Ornithelogy 459 Sapsucker Woeds Road Cornell University Ithaca, New York 1485 A 80 WATER BIRDS 284, BLACK TURNSTONE. — Arenaria melanocephala. Famity: The Surf Birds and Turnstones. Length : 9.00. Adults in Summer: Forehead, sides of head, neck, throat, and chest black, more or less spotted with white, a small white patch in front of the eye; crown and back iridescent greenish black; belly and sides white. Adults in Winter: Similar, but without white spots on head and neck. Young: Plumage like winter plumage of adults, but black is replaced by grayish, and feathers of the upper parts are tipped with white or buff. Geographical Distribution: Pacific coast of North America, from Point Barrow to Lower California. Breeding Range: From British Columbia northward. Breeding Season: June and July. Nest: A slight depression in the ground, near beach. Eggs: 4; grayish green, thickly spotted with brown. Size 1.62 X 1.12. THE Black Turnstone is common along the coast dis- trict of California throughout all the year. Mr. Grinnell says that although a few individuals remain all summer, they are not known to breed within the confines of the State. They are seen most frequently along the exposed ocean beaches, where their curious habit of poking under small stones for food has given them their name. They may be known by their short, sharp, tip-tilted bill, black head, and white rump. There are but four species in the family, three of which occur in the United States. Of these the Black Turnstone is the only one met with frequently in California, although the Ruddy Turnstone occurs as a migrant throughout the coast district. All the species are strictly maritime birds, living on the outer beaches and shunning the interior. BIRDS FOUND ALONG THE BEACHES _ 8] 287. BLACK OYSTER-CATCHER. — Hematopus bachmani. Famity: The Oyster-catchers. Length: 17.00. Adults: Head and neck bluish black, rest of plumage rusty black ; bill chisel-shaped and red ; feet and legs red. Young: Genera] color more brownish. Downy Young: Head, neck, and upper parts sooty brown; the down tipped with rusty ; under parts black. Geographical Distribution: Pacific coast of North America from Lower California to the Aleutian Islands. Breeding Range: Breeds nearly throughout its habitat. Breeding Season: June. Nest: The bare ground of the beach or the shale. £ygs: 1 to 3; olive, spotted with umber and purplish gray. Size 2.20 XK 1.52. THe Oyster-catcher family includes ten species, mostly found in the tropics; but three species are found in North America, and two occur in California. While found all along the coast of California, they are especially partial to rocky portions and islands, and are not usually seen on the sand beaches. Their feeding grounds are the outer bars, beaches, and rocks, where they search for clams, muscles, and oysters exposed by the fall of the tide. The strong shells of these mollusks the birds pry open with their bills. Oyster-catchers are abundant along the rocky coast at La Jolla, but I have never found any breeding there. Mr. Anthony found them breeding on the rocky islands close to the coast, the eggs having been laid on the bare rocks, usually but a few feet above high water, and close to the edge. All about them were empty shells of limpets brought there 6 82 WATER BIRDS by the mate of the nesting bird. In no case was there any attempt at nest-building. When watching this bird stride over the rocks with a queer stilted motion, one is impressed with the idea that its odd gait is the effect of self-consciousness. So shy is it that it keeps up a constant nervous turning of its head in search of danger, and takes alarm at the least unusual sight in the distance. The call note is a low, rather musical whistle. BIRDS FOUND IN BAYOUS AND MARSHES 1. WESTERN GREBE. — 4chmophorus occidentalis. Famity: The Grebes. Length: 27.50. Adult Plumage: Top of head and stripe down back of neck black ; rest of upper parts brownish gray; lower parts, including sides of head and all of neck except stripe down back, glossy white; bill long and yellowish white, with black stripe down upper mandible from base to tip. Downy ae Above uniform light brownish gray ; under parts white. Geographical Distribution: Western North America from Lower Cali- fornia to British Columbia ; east to Manitoba. Breeding Range: Breeds locally nearly throughout its habitat. Breeding Season: Approximately, May 15 to July 1. Nest: A mass of floating vegetation on the surface of the water in a slough or marsh, and usually fastened to surrounding rushes. Eggs: 2to 5; soiled bluish green. Size 2.50 X 1.40. Afchmophorus occidentalis is the largest of all the North American grebes, but not the most common. It is found in the marshy portions of the inland lakes on the Pacific coast and throughout the Western States. Gre- BIRDS FOUND IN BAYOUS AND MARSHES 83 garious, like all the grebes, it nests in colonies sometimes numbering a hundred. A marshy place where there is water from two to four feet deep is chosen, so that safety from storm may be secured for the nest among the strong rushes, and escape from pursuit may be found for parent and young by diving directly from the nest into the water. Knowing their helplessness on land, the wise grebes avoid all travel on it for themselves and their broods. The nest platform of rushes is made by pulling the reeds down one by one until they lie criss-cross on the surface of the water. Upon this foundation is placed decaying vegetation of all sorts, picked out of the water,— apparently the wetter the better. The eggs when first laid are a pale blue-green, but soon become a dirty brownish color from contact with the slime of the nest. Naturalists assert that all grebes cover their eggs during absence both for purposes of concealment and, to assist incubation. I believe, however, that this is _ less the practice of Western Grebes than of any other variety, for out of many nests I visited only one was covered, while I have never found the nest of either a pied-billed grebe or an American eared grebe where there had not been at least an attempt at covering. The eggs of the Western species also are invariably less stained than those of either of the others, a fact which may support the theory that they are not so fully covered. Eggs of the American eared grebe are often found in the nest of a Western Grebe, but never, to my knowl- edge, vice versa. I believe this is to be accounted for 84 WATER BIRDS by the more exposed position and looser construction of the nests of the American eared grebe, which results in their destruction by storm. When this occurs, the home- less bird nearly always invades another nest, and usually the better made one of his larger neighbor. Frequently, this results in a battle to the death for the possession of the nest, but never, so far as I have observed, in a vic- tory for the smaller bird. 4. AMERICAN EARED GREBE. — Colymbus nigricollis californicus. Famity: The Grebes. Length: 13.00. Adults in Nuptial Plumage: Head, neck, and chest black; sides of head behind eyes with tuft-like patches of small buffy brown feathers ; under parts silky white, washed with dusky on sides; inner quills dusky; eyes scarlet ; eyelids orange. Downy Young: Top of head dusky, with white markings; upper ‘parts light brownish gray ; under parts white. Geographical Distribution: Western North America from Guatemala to Great Slave Lake. East to Mississippi valley. Breeding Range :. Locally throughout above territory. Breeding Season: Approximately, May 15 to August 1. Nest: A mass of floating vegetation more or less matted together and woven to surrounding rushes; in more open situations than that of the western grebe. £ggs: 3 to 7; elliptical in shape; bluish white, more or less soiled by dampness of nest. Size 1.75 < 1.19. Tus little Grebe breeds commonly in the inland lakes, grassy ponds, and sloughs of California, Wash- ington, Oregon, and Lower Canada. Dr. Jeffries tells me that it also breeds somewhat sparingly in the slough across the isthmus at Santa Catalina Islands, and I found several individuals there, in nuptial plumage, in ' BIRDS FOUND IN BAYOUS AND MARSHES 85 May. This species follows the habits of all grebes in covering the nest with wet vegetation and debris during its absence, leaving the sun to continue the work of in- cubation. Like other grebes also, it secures its food by diving, and then pursuing its prey under the water. The Grebe babies are fat, roly-poly youngsters, who tumble into the water almost from the ege-shell, div- : ing and swimming like experts when “ \ ie a day old. They seem to pick up SN KINA Me ‘S their own food from the water, : q \ / bat the parents also assist with yINN larvee of water-bugs and tiny min- nows. The young Grebe Re ee ee es cee a od a = 4, AMERICAN EARED GREBE. When tired, they are given a ride on the mother’s back. is seldom fed by having the food placed in its bill, but by a curious wisdom he is taught to help himself. Sometimes the bug is tossed into the group, and the ‘smartest youngster gets the prize. Oftener it is laid on the water for a little one to pick up. The whole process is very like the way a hen places food in front of her chicks. The mother’s watchful eye detects the first sign of weariness in the tiny swimmers, and gently diving be- neath them she gathers them on her back. 86 WATER BIRDS These habits in the care of the young characterize all species of grebes, for in no birds are the family traits more prominent than among these queer divers. To the shame of all plumage-hunters be it said, the love of the grebes for their young is one cause of the rapid diminu- tion of their number, for so expert are the grebes in div- ing at the flash of the gun that, but for the mother love which impels them to protect their helpless little ones, they could easily escape. But they are mercilessly shot while defending their nests, and the young are left to starve, while the silvery breast of the mother bird adorns the hat of a thoughtless woman. 6. PIED-BILLED GREBE. — Podilymbus podiceps. (Common names: Hell Diver ; Water Witch ; Dabchick.) Famity: The Grebes. Length: 13.50. Adults in Summer: Upper parts glossy blackish brown ; sides of head and entire neck soft gray-brown; throat black; upper breast and sides of belly light gray-brown, indistinctly mottled with dusky ; belly and lower breast glossy white; bill light, crossed by black band. Winter Plumage: Throat changed from black to dull white; head browner; lower parts whiter, with no dusky spots; white bill replaced by brown without black band. : Young: Similar to winter adults, but sides of head striped with brown. Downy Youny: Head and neck black and white with rufous spot on crown ; upper parts blackish, with stripes of white. Geographical Distribution: The whole of North America from Mexico to Hudson Bay. Breeding Range: Breeds locally throughout its habitat. Breeding Season: Approximately, May 15 to July 1. Nest: A more or less solid structure of mud, marsh grass, and wet weeds ; fastened to growing plants. Sometimes built entirely up from the bottom of the slough, and sometimes laid on the rushes pulled over BIRDS FOUND IN BAYOUS AND MARSHES 87 to support it. It is fastened securely, and usually rises several inches above the surface of the water. £ygs: 5 to 10; soiled greenish white. Size 1.70 X 1.18. Tus, the most abundant of the grebes, is the one usually shot for its plumage. It breeds commonly in Los Angeles County, California, and about San Fran- cisco Bay. Its common names express well its mar- vellous powers of diving and remaining for a long time under water, where it swims easily and rapidly with just the tip of its bill exposed. On land it is, like all grebes, awkward and helpless, and, as one author says, looks more like a tiny kangaroo than a bird. Possibly on account of its helplessness when on the nest, it has formed the habit of covering the eggs with decaying vegetation during the daytime and leaving them to be cherished by the artificial heat, and of returning to brood them during the night. Certainly these little Grebes are never found on their nests during sunny days, and in California June days are always sunny. In Oregon, on dark cold days, they are close sitters, and it is an odd sight to see them jump into the water at any distance and disappear with scarcely a ripple. They breed abundantly throughout California in the more sheltered ponds and inland lakes, requiring only that there shall be tule, rushes, or flags to form a platform for the slimy structure called a nest. The young Grebes attempt to dive as soon as hatched, but rarely succeed in submerg- ing their entire bodies at the first trial ; and their plumage, like that of the adults, seems to be waterproof, for never a wet feather do they show on emerging. The Pied- billed Grebe is a much shyer bird than either the West- I 88 WATER BIRDS ern or the eared grebe, and is less noisy, its call being only a plaintive note quite in contrast to the hoarse croak- ing cries of the larger species. It is also less gregarious ; a pair may sometimes be found nesting in a marsh unfre- quented by any other of their species. 187. WHITE-FACED GLOSSY IBIS.— Plegadis guarauna. Famity: The Ibises. Length: 22.50. B Adults: Head, neck, and lower parts reddish brown; feathers around base of bill white; lores pink; upper parts iridescent green and purple. Young: Upper parts as in adults, except head and neck streaked with white and dark ashy gray ; under parts plain gray-brown. Downy Young: Entirely black. Geographical Distribution; Tropical America, south to Argentine Re- public and Chili; north from Texas and Lower California to Oregon. Breeding Range: Texas and the Gulf States, and, to a limited degree, in the Ballona marshes, as well as various San Diegan points. Breeding Season: April, May, and June. Nest: Of reeds woven in among the rushes ; shaped similar to the red- winged blackbird’s nest, but much larger. Eggs: 8to 5; deep bluish green. Size 1.95 X 1.35. In the wet meadows and marshes of California there are frequently seen queer black birds which might be taken for large crows but for their long legs and long, curved, curlew-like bills. They wade about probing in the mud for crayfish or snails, or stand motionless on one leg in heronesque attitudes, watching for minnows in the shallow water. In habits they seem to resemble the bitterns, nesting in the rushes and feeding upon frogs, fresh-water crustaceans, or small snakes, trusting to protective coloring for safety except when forced to BIRDS FOUND IN BAYOUS AND MARSHES 89 take flight. At dusk and at dawn, large companies of - them may sometimes be seen circling slowly over a marsh as if to find a suitable feeding ground, or fly- ing in long lines as do the pelicans. But after the nesting y season is ended, they become more sol- itary and are less frequently seen on the » Look for them at that ¥ time in the tall tule marshes. They are there, though you may not 187, WuitE-FACED Gtossy Isis. “ -- them, for i Hiding Sor mlannnedn' the Rata = 2 ‘they are the water.” 2 —_— shyest of water birds. At night,- ™ _3 > they roost in trees in certain 2 chosen localities, returning to the = same tree year after year. ~ Their cry is not often heard; it has a ~~=~ peculiar gut- tural quality not unlike that of a bittern. 90 WATER BIRDS 190. AMERICAN BITTERN. — Botaurus lentiginosus. (Common names: Marsh Hen; Stake-driver; Thunder Pump.) Famity: The Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns. Length: 29.00. Adults: Crown and nape slate-color, more or less tinged with light brown ; a black stripe on either side of the neck ; back irregularly mottled chestnut, blackish, and light brown; quills and coverts gray, tipped with chestnut ; under parts light brown to pale buffy-white on throat, striped with darker. Young: Similar to adults. Geographical Distribution: Temperate North America, south to Gua- temala. Breeding Range: From the Middle States northward. In California in limited numbers. Breeding Season: May and June. Nest: A loose mat of marsh vegetation or grasses; on the ground in swampy places. £ggs: 3 to 5; light olive. Size 1.90 x 1.50. THs much-scorned bird, for whom neither sportsman nor ornithologist has much regard, is common in nearly every marsh and slough throughout the United States at some season of the year. It is called “ Fly up the creek,” “ Stake-driver,” “ Bog-bull,” and other names too un- pleasant to mention. Most of them bear some reference to its peculiar love song, called commonly “ pumping.” The sound is somewhat like the noise of a distant pile- driver, and is at once recognized as soon as heard. The birds may be both heard and seen in the marshes at Alviso and in Los Angeles County, California. Only two things are required by the observer, — patience and leisure. Twilight and dawn are the hours at which they BIRDS FOUND IN BAYOUS AND MARSHES 91 may be most frequently heard. They are solitary birds, each pair nesting alone. Their food consists largely of frogs and small fish, which they obtain by still fishing, standing motionless for almost any length of time in shallow water among rushes. The newly hatched Bitterns are particularly homely nestlings, with their disproportionately long necks and bills. They are fed by regurgitation for at least forty- eight hours after hatching. The Bittern’s attempts at love-making and brooding are rendered pitifully grotesque by the ungainly body of the bird and his queer contor- tions. Even in flight he is slovenly and loose-jointed, as if his legs were likely to be shaken off from the efforts his wings are making. In fishing he sits motionless for hours with head drawn back to the shoulders, the very picture of discomfort. In fact, under no circum- stances does he seem joyous or even moderately happy. 191. LEAST BITTERN. — Ardetta evilis. Famity: The Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns. Length: 13.00. Adult Male: Top of head, back, rump, and tail glossy black ; sides of head and neck light buff, deepening to chestnut on nape ; throat and fore-neck white, striped with pale straw-color. Under parts pale buff ; a dark patch on either side of the breast. Adult Female: Similar, with brown in place of black on upper parts. Young : Similar to adult female, but coloring more buffy on upper parts. Geographical Distribution: Temperate North America, north to the British provinces, south to the West Indies and Brazil ; less common west of the Rocky Mountains. On the Pacific coast north to Oregon. Breeding Range: Breeds locally wherever found. Breeding Season: May to August. ‘ 92 WATER BIRDS Nest: A platform of marsh grass or rushes ; placed on a floating bog or slough. Eggs: 3 to 5; light olive. Size 1.23 x 0.93. Tur Least Bittern, or Little Green Heron, as it is sometimes called, is a smaller and much shyer bird than the American bittern. It is found nesting in small colonies in the edge of swamps; its nest is a mere crushed-down platform of rushes, and itself so exact an imitation of its surroundings as to be practically invisible to the naked eye. On the approach of danger it becomes rigid, with head and bill extended straight up, in mim- icry of a reed, thus rendering its discovery much more difficult. If discovered and flushed from the water-side, it straddles off through the weeds by grasping them on either side with its feet, producing a comical effect of walking on stilts. It looks back often to see whether it is being pursued. If approached from the land side, it takes wing with loud squawks of terror, and flies low but swiftly through the open channels of the marsh to a tree if there be one near. It is frequently found roosting in trees in the early morning or evening, in groups of six or more, after the breeding season is over. During the breeding season its call is a soft dove-like note, repeated over and over in a sort of undertone, as if it were intended for the ear of its mate alone. BIRDS FOUND IN BAYOUS AND MARSHES 93 94. GREAT BLUE HERON, OR BLUE CRANE, — Ardea herodias. Famity: The Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns. Length: 45.50. Adults: Crown and throat white ; sides and back of head white ; feath- ers lengthened to form a crest ; upper parts bluish gray ; under parts broadly striped black and white ; legs and feet black. Young: Top of head sooty slate ; throat white ; neck ashy, washed with light brown ; under parts streaked buff, slate, and white, with some black. Geographical Distribution: North America from arctic regions south- ward to the northern parts of South America. Breeding Range ; Breeds locally in colonies wherever found. Breeding Season: April and May. Nest: A platform of coarse sticks ; placed high up in the tree ; always in colonies, Eggs: 38 to 4; pale bluish gray. Size 2.50 X 1.50. THE Great Blue Heron is a common species through- out California, and nests in almost every locality where it is found. At Muir Station, California, there is a large heronry in sycamore trees on the property of Mr. John Muir, and the noise of the young birds at feeding time can be heard half a mile away. The birds return to their heronry in February, and the young are hatched in April, though fresh eggs have been found as late as Junel. The young are fed by regurgitation, which in this case is a more than usually ludicrous performance. So violent is the shaking which each young heron undergoes in the process of receiving his food that he seems in imminent danger of being jerked out of the nest and hurled to the ground fifty feet below. These herons fly miles to obtain fish for food, and one or the other parent is en route during all the daylight 94 WATER BIRDS hours. After having been fed, the young heron draws back his head until it lies upon his shoulders, and sits there a sleepy, solemn-looking hunchback until next feeding-time. 196. AMERICAN EGRET. — Ardea egretta. Famuy: The Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns. Length: 39.00. Adults in Nuptial Plumage: Snowy white; the interscapular plumes straight, filamentous, very long, reaching below the end of the tail ; head without crest ; bill yellow ; lores orange. Young, and Adults after Breeding Season: Same, but lacking the inter- scapular plumage. Geographical Distribution: Temperate and tropical America, on the Pacific coast from Oregon to Patagonia, Breeding Range: As far north as Oregon on the Pacific coast. Breeding Season: April, May, and June. Nest: A loose platform of coarse twigs ; in colonies in trees near water. £ggs: 2to 4; light bluish. Size 2.35 x 1.65. THE story of the American Egret is one more tragedy in the annals of ornithology, and is “a startling evidence of man’s power in the animal world. At his word a species is almost immediately wiped out of existence.” These beautiful birds are exterminated in Florida, and the devastation has begun on the Western coast ; already they are listed as “ rare” where they once bred in abun- dance. The “nuptial plumage” only is salable, since it alone contains the pretty “aigrette” plumes; and so, at a time when the true sportsman is bound by an unwritten law to protect the nesting birds, the plume- hunter shoots them mercilessly for commercial purposes. BIRDS FOUND IN BAYOUS AND MARSHES 95 197. SNOWY HERON. — Ardea candidissima. Famity: The Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns. Length : 28.50. Adults : Plumage always pure white. Nuptial Plumage: Pure white; ‘‘aigrette” plumes hang like a white fringe. from interscapular region to beyond the end of the tail ; simi- lar plumes on lower neck and forming an occipital crest ; bill black, yellow at base ; legs black ; feet yellow. Young: Like adults after breeding season ; that is, white, with no inter- scapular plumes. Geographical Distribution: Temperate and tropical America; on the Pacific coast from Oregon to Buenos Ayres. Breeding Range: As fay north as Oregon. Breeding Season: April 15 to June 15. Nest: A loosely built platform of sticks ; placed in trees or bushes near swamps. Eggs: 2to 5; light bluish. Size 1.80 1.20. Beauty has proved a fatal dower to this exquisite bird, which has become nearly extinct through the ravages of the plume-hunters. “The delicate aigrettes which it donned as a nuptial dress were its death warrant. Woman demanded from the bird its wedding plumes, and man has supplied the demand.” The saddest part of the whole sad story is the fact, not sentiment, that the killing must be done during the nesting season ; consequently the young, bereft of both parents, starve in the nest. For every dainty aigrette in hair or bonnet, a brood of baby herons has suffered excruciating, long- continued torture, and death. In California this heron is a summer visitant to the interior valleys, but is by no means common at any season of the year. 96 WATER BIRDS 201b. ANTHONY GREEN HERON. — Ardea virescens anthonyi. Famity: The Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns. Length : 15.00-22.00. Adults: Crown, crest, tail, and wings green; sides of neck yellow- brown ; belly light grayish brown. Geographical Distribution: Southwestern United States; south in winter. Breeding Range: Breeds locally wherever found, along the rivers of the interior. Breeding Season: April. Nest: On branches of trees and bushes ; a loose platform of sticks; Jined with leaves. Eggs: 3 to 5; light greenish buff or olive. Tuts is a subspecies of the Green Heron, and is found resident only in the southern part of California. Mr. Grinnell lists it as a common migrant, and says it breeds along the larger streams of the interior valleys. It is largely nocturnal in habit, and not unlike the American bittern in its guttural alarm note. This species is found less often in the marshes, and more often along the banks of shallow streams and small lakes, where it sits for hours motionless in a dead tree or concealed stump, seeming to doze through the day- light hours. arly in the morning or late in the evening, however, the heronry awakes to great activity; for the hungry young clamor harshly for food, and the adults hurry to and fro in pursuit of it. This noise continues far into the night and begins anew with daylight. Frogs, small snakes, fish, and lizards are the prey this Heron seeks, but it occasionally contents itself with insects and field mice. BIRDS FOUND IN BAYOUS AND MARSHES 97 202. BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON. — Nycticorax nycticorax navius. Famity: The Herons, Egrets, and Bitterns. Length : 24.50. Adults: Crown, scapulars, and back iridescent black, with greenish reflections ; forehead, sides of head, throat, and under parts cream white; sides ashy; sides and back of neck light brownish gray ; wings, rump, and tail dusky brownish gray ; head ornamented with a few very long, narrow, white occipital feathers. Young: Upper parts grayish brown, each feather marked with a wedge- shaped streak of white ; the quills with white at tips ; tail brownish gray ; under parts striped dark ash-brown and white. Geographical Distribution : Nearly all America, except the arctic regions. Breeding Range: From Manitoba to South America. Breeding Season : April and May. Nest: A platform of sticks, bulky ; placed in high trees ; in colonies of 2 to 5 in a single tree, and thousands in the close vicinity. Eggs: 4to 6; pale greenish. Size 2.15 X 1.55. Tue Black-crowned Night Heron is an abundant resi- dent in all parts of California, breeding in suitable locali- ties. Although these herons prefer a nest in a tree, they frequently build in tule swamps, following the habits of the bitterns. They are gregarious at all times, nesting in large colonies. Except when there are young in the nest, these birds are nocturnal feeders, beginning at dusk. Their food consists largely of frogs. During incubation, one bird remains on the nest constantly, and is fed by the other, who also shares in the sitting. As soon as the young are hatched the fact is made known by the constant foraging for food during the day and carrying it to the nest. It is, however, partly digested and fed to them by regurgitation until they are a week or ten days old. I have never seen anything but frogs, 7 98 WATER BIRDS minnows, and small snakes brought to the nest, and these are carefully killed before being given to the young. The ery of the Black-crowned Night Heron is a harsh guttural squawk or croak, and the noise made when the rookery is full of young birds screaming for food is inde- scribable. Each brood discern their own parent flying toward the nest, and, although the nestlings have sat in unbroken silence until then, at sight of him the hungry cries begin. 206. SANDHILL CRANE. — Grus mexicana. Famity: The Cranes. Length: 44.00. Adults: Bluish gray, varying to brownish gray; paler on throat and sides of head, darker on primaries; crown nearly bare, covered with reddish membrane and a scant growth of black hairs. Young: Crown feathered ; plumage rusty brown. Geographical Distribution: United States from the Mississippi valley west to Pacific coast, south to Mexico, east along the Gulf coast to Florida. Breeding Range: In mild localities throughout its habitat. Breeding Season: February, March, and April. Nest: A platform of weeds and grass, on the water line, in a marshy lagoon. Eggs: 2; grayish yellow, spotted with cinnamon and gray. Size 8.98 X 2.44. THE habits of the Sandhill Crane and those of the whooping crane are very similar. “ During courtship and the early breeding season their actions and antics at times are ludicrous in the extreme, bowing and leaping high in the air, hopping, skipping, and circling about, with drooping wings and croaking whoop, — an almost indescribable dance and din, in which the females join, BIRDS FOUND IN BAYOUS AND MARSHES 99 all working themselves up into a fever of excitement equalled only by an Indian war dance; and, like the same, it stops only when the last one is exhausted.” The alarm call of this species is a long clear note like a bugle blast; it may be heard nearly a mile away. It is repeated over and over, as the birds fly in flocks, like the honk of wild geese. 210. CALIFORNIA CLAPPER RAIL. — Rallus obsoletus. Famity: The Rails, Gallinules, and Coots. Length : 17.50. Adults: Upper parts greenish gray, indistinctly but broadly streaked with blackish brown; under parts red-brown, washed with gray on neck and sides. Downy Young: Uniform black. Geographical Distribution : Salt-water marshes of the Pacific coast from Lower California to Oregon. Breeding Range: In sloughs and salt-water marshes, throughout Cali- fornia and Oregon. Breeding Season: April, May, and June. Nest: A loose mat of dry grass ; placed among rushes in marsh. Eggs: 8; buff, marked with cinnamon and lilac. Size 1.71 x 1.24. Tuts species is abundant on the salt-water marshes in the vicinity of San Francisco and Oakland, and partic- ularly in the south end of the bay near Alviso. They are either tame or exceedingly stupid birds —I believe the latter, for they may be captured alive during the early spring and late fall, as they trust to protective coloring and do not try to escape until too late. During the breeding season they are somewhat more shy, but even then it is nearly impossible to flush them because they 1 Goss. 100 WATER BIRDS skulk or dive rather than fly, and refuse to desert. the nest. About the middle of April they commence to make a nest of marsh grass on a tussock, and from that time on are devoted to it. Eight or nine eggs are laid, and incubation lasts nineteen to twenty-three days. The young Rails run about within an hour after hatching, and look much like tiny black chickens with overgrown legs and bills. If discovered on a mud flat, they crouch motionless like so many small black lumps of dirt or stones, and though one may know where to search, it is hard to find them. The immature rails are as stupid as the adults, and will often allow themselves to be picked up without trying to get away. Their food con- sists largely of the larvee of marsh insects which they pick up in the shallow water and along shore, and mature insects of all sorts, as well as small crustaceans. As is well known, certain varieties of marsh birds build several nests, using but one. The “dummy” sometimes serves as a shelter for the adult male; sometimes the making of it seems to have been a mere pastime; and, occasionally, as in the case of the clapper rail, it forms a convenient platform or nursery on which the young can scramble for a sun-bath when weary with their first swimming lessons. These unused nests are commonly placed close to the one occupied by the brood and closely resemble it. My own observations in this matter, made at Alviso, tally with those of Mr. Adams at San Fran- cisco Bay and Mr. Shields at Los Angeles. BIRDS FOUND IN BAYOUS AND MARSHES |10] N 212. VIRGINIA RAIL. — Rallus virginianus. \ Famity: The Rails, Gallinules, and Coots. if Length: 9.30. Adults: Upper parts brownish olive, striped with sooty ; breast and wing-coverts light chestnut ; wings and tail dark olive- brown ; cheeks gray; throat white; under parts light chest- nut; sides barred with white. ) Downy Young: Uniform black. | Geographical Distribution: North America, from the British I IA provinces south to Guatemala. Breeding Range: Wherever resident. Breeding Season: April, May, and June. Nest: A mat of grasses ; placed on a hummock in a marsh. Lggs: 7to 12; buffy, marked with chestnut. Size 1.24 x 0.94. Tue Virginia Rail, although more common east of the Rockies, is by no means rare throughout California. He is an odd-looking bird with voice and manners in keep- ing with his appearance. In the early morning and at twilight his call is a curi- ous combination of grunt and squeal. The love song, however, is quite different; it is de- . scribed as “a guttural ~ ~ “SS cut, cutta-cutta-cutta oft ~~ repeated for hours in suc- cession.” You have only to visit a marsh lake in the afterrioon or early in 212, Virernia Rar. the morning and listen, «Picking nis somnrcovtlousty between the tules,” 102 WATER BIRDS to discover whether or not he is nesting there. But the marsh birds are shy and very wary, and the long marsh grass guards them well. It is far easier to hear them than to see them. If your patience endures long enough, you may catch a glimpse of a Rail picking his way cautiously between the tules, with a curious bobbing motion. If you are so fortunate as to find a mother bird on her eggs, she will become rigid with terror, her red eye dilating and her long neck stretched up not unlike a water snake. In this position you may easily mistake her for a stick or a dry rush. If flushed, her small powers of flight suffice to carry her only a short distance, when she will disappear in the rushes and no patient waiting will give you another glimpse of her. My own experience goes to prove that the nest is always deserted by her after the first forced flight from it. Mr. Brewster says: “ The female, when anxious about her eggs or young, calls ki-ki-ki-ki in low tones, and kiw much like a flicker. The young of both sexes in autumn give, when startled, a short explosive kep or kik, closely similar to that of the Carolina rail.” 214. SORA, OR CAROLINA RAIL. — Porzana carolina. Famity: The Rails, Gallinules, and Coots. Length: 8.60. Adults: Feathers about base of bill black ; a broad black line through crown and extending down the back of the neck ; throat, breast, and cheeks gray; upper parts grayish brown, streaked with black and white ; belly white; flanks barred with blackish slate-color. Young: Similar, but no black at base of bill ; upper parts darker. Downy Young: Uniform black; a tuft of orange-colored, hair-like feathers on throat. BIRDS FOUND IN BAYOUS AND MARSHES 103 Geographical Distribution: North America ; south in winter to northern parts of South America. Breeding Range: Northern United States, northward, including Cali- fornia and Oregon. Breeding Season: May and June. Nest: Of grass ; on the ground, in a marshy place. Eggs: 7 to 14; cream-color, marked with cinnamon and lilac. Size 1.26 X 0.90. Tue Sora Rail breeds commonly in California in swamps about Los Angeles and other suitable localities. Unlike the clapper rail, it prefers fresh-water sloughs, where it hides among the tall rushes. The baby Rails are fluffy little black chicks with absurdly large feet, and necks too long for their fat little bodies. Almost as soon as hatched they run about among the grass of the drier parts, sometimes being taken away from the water to an adjacent meadow, where they soon learn to snap up bugs and small grasshoppers. Like all the rail family, the Soras are most musical at dawn and dusk, when their queer weird notes make the marshland seem an uncanny spot. In the South this species is sold as a game bird under the name of ortolan, and is much liked by epicures, though its thin little body has, not without - reason, given rise to the saying “ As thin asa rail.” It is abundant on migrations, flying at night and resting wherever it happens to be during the day, even in the noisy streets of Chicago. In these circumstances it seems stupid and confused. I have captured it without difficulty while it was resting, as it squats on the ground, making absolutely no effort to escape. Mr. Frank Chapman writes of this species: “The Sora’s summer home is in fresh-water marshes, where, 104 WATER BIRDS if it were not for their notes, the reeds and grasses would long keep the secret of their presence. . . . They will greet you late in the afternoon with a clear whistled keewee which soon comes from dozens of invisible birds about you, and long after night has fallen it continues like a spring-time chorus of piping hylas.) Now and again it is interrupted by a high-voiced rolling whenny which, like a call of alarm, is taken up and repeated by different birds all over the marsh. They seem so ab- sorbed in their musical devotions even when calling con- tinuously, it requires endless patience and keen eyes to see the dull-colored, motionless forms in places where one would not suppose there was sufficient growth to conceal them.” 216. BLACK RAIL. — Porsana jamaicensis. Famity: The Rails, Gallinules, and Coots. Length: 5.00-6.00. Adults: Crown blackish slate ; upper parts dark red-brown, speckled with white ; under parts, neck, and sides of head slate-color; belly sooty brown. Downy Young: Uniform black. Geographical Distribution ; From northern boundary of the United States south to Chili. Breeding Range: For the Pacific slope, Oregon and California ; east of the Rockies, through the United States. Breeding Season: June. Nest: Of grasses ; on ground ; in wet meadows or marshes. Eggs: 7 to 10; white, thinly spotted with cinnamon. Size 1.05 x 0.80. Most of us are quite willing to agree with the man who said that this bird is “about as difficult to observe as a field mouse.” It is its shyness and small size that render it so little known to local ornithologists, who con- tent themselves with pronouncing it rare. Its nest isa BIRDS FOUND IN BAYOUS AND MARSHES 105 cup-shaped depression lined with fine grasses, usually in a wet meadow; it may be mistaken for that of a meadow lark, but is nearly an inch less in diameter and never arched over. The Black Rail nests in the marshes at Alviso, California, and, I have no doubt, elsewhere throughout the State. The young are tiny black balls of down, apparently less than one inch in diameter; they leave the nest the moment the down is dry, and run about with the agility of sandpipers. Although so tiny, they have the instinct of self-preservation to a marked degree ; whenever danger threatens they stiffen into un- winking puff-balls, with only their beady black eyes to betray life. 219. FLORIDA GALLINULE, OR RED-BILLED MUD-HEN. — Gallinula galeata. Famity: The Rails, Gallinules, and Coots. Length : 13.25. Adults: Dark slate-color, sometimes tinged with brown on back and whitish on belly ; edge of wing and a patch on flank white ; bill and frontal shield red, tipped with greenish ; legs and feet greenish. Downy Young: Uniform black, a “few white hairs among the down on throat and cheeks. Geographical Distribution: Tropical and ener North America, north to British provinces. Breeding Range: For the Pacific slope, from Oregon southward. Breeding Season: April, May, and June. Nest: A mat. of rushes bent over and more or less woven together, over water. Liggs: 8 to 10; cream-buff, finely marked with reddish brown and chocolate. Size 1.87 X 1.25. In form so like a sleek bantam hen, in habits so like a coot, the Florida Gallinule is a most interesting study. 106 WATER BIRDS It has a large vocabulary of calls ranging from harsh squawks to pathetic complaining cries not unlike the skirl of a bagpipe. It is a common resident on the fresh- water marshes of California, where it can be heard much oftener than seen ; for it is exceedingly shy, and its dusky plumage renders it inconspicuous among the rushes. In swimming it has a rather awkward way of sitting up very straight and bobbing its head with every stroke of its feet. Feeding on the mud-flats, it dips daintily, as it picks its way through the tangled reeds after the manner of the king rail. Its nest is of dried tule or marsh grass, lined with softer grass of the meadow, the latter being brought there from a distance. All about the rim of the structure the rushes are broken to form a guard for the eggs, for although usually about three inches deep the nests are sometimes only a shallow platform. The young run about like tiny black chicks, and pick up a living from the water, almost as soon as they are hatched. It would be impossible to distinguish them from young clapper rails except for the sprinkling of white hairs among the black down. They are quite unlike little chickens in one thing: at the warning call of the parent they disappear noiselessly, as if by magic, or are meta- morphosed into dark stones ; feathered barnyard babies, on the other hand, run to the mother with cries of fear. BIRDS FOUND IN BAYOUS AND MARSHES 107 221. AMERICAN COOT. — Fulica americana. (Common names: Mud-hen; Blue Peter.) Famity: The Rails, Gallinules, and Coots. Length: 15.25. Adults: Dark bluish slate, nearly black on head and neck ; under parts paler; edge of wing white; bill white; frontal plate, and spots on bill near end, brown ; legs and feet greenish ; toes with scalloped flaps. Downy Young: Upper parts rusty black ; under parts white; head and neck with orange-colored hair-like feathers, and upper parts with pale yellow hair-like feathers among the down ; bill red, tipped with black. Geographical Distribution: North America. Breeding Range: Breeds locally through the United States, British Columbia, and Canada. Breeding Season: April, May, and June. Nest: Of grass and reeds ; among the flags or tall marsh grass. Eggs: 8 to 16; cream-colored, speckled with dark chocolate. Size 1.89 X 1.42. ALTHOUGH so closely resembling the Florida gallinule in appearance, the Coots may be easily distinguished from them by their white bills. They are much more social and are better swimmers than the gallinules, gathering in companies morning and evening in the shallow water at the edge of a marsh, to feed upon the larvee of water insects and small crustaceans, which they obtain by diving. They like best, however, to pick up their food from the slime at the border of a mud flat or low marshy place, and here they take their newly hatched bantlings. The young are covered with down of a rusty black color above and white beneath, with pale yellow hair-like feathers sprinkled through it. Their bills, unlike those of the parents, are red. They some- times stray near a farmyard and may be picked up easily, as they seem stupefied with fear. 108 WATER BIRDS The adult Coots are very noisy birds, constantly call- ing, screaming, or complaining. Just after nightfall and before dawn, most California marshes are vocal with their varied cries. But, like the gallinules, they are more easily heard than seen, for they are exceedingly shy. If surprised and forced to flight, they rise with much splattering, fly rapidly a short distance, and fall back into the marsh. They are worthless as game birds, as their flesh is toughand rank in taste; for this reason the real sportsman shuns them. Part II LAND BIRDS Part II LAND BIRDS IL—UPLAND GAME BIRDS 230. WILSON SNIPE. — Gallinago delicata. (Common names: Jack Snipe; English Snipe.) Famity: The Snipes and Sandpipers. Length: 10.85. Adults: Crown buff ; upper parts black, bordered and mottled with buff ; neck and breast mottled dnd streaked buffy and blackish brown ; sides barred black and white ; belly white. Downy Young: Upper parts dusky, more or less mottled with light brown ; under parts whitish. Geographical Distribution: North America; south in winter to Brazil. Breeding Range: From latitude 45° to the arctic circle. In California, the valleys of the northern Sierra Nevada. Breeding Season: In California, June 15 to July 15. Nest: A slight depression on open, marshy ground; sometimes lined with grass, usually unlined. Eggs: 3 or 4; olive, streaked with black and chocolate. Size 1.55 x. 1.07. THE species known as Jack Snipe, or English Snipe, is a prime favorite with sportsmen and epicures. Breed- ing so far north, they are commonly hunted as migrants, and so are more or less protected during their nesting 112 LAND BIRDS season. They usually migrate in small companies. Dur- ing the breeding season solitary birds are frequently seen, which spring from the marsh grass with a harsh cry and zigzag swiftly out of sight in a way most tantalizing to the sportsman. Only an expert can hope to bag them. The Jack Snipe frequents low wet places, obtaining food after the manner of a woodcock, by probing with its long slender bill, which, although not prehensile to the extent of a woodcock’s, is yet very sensitive at the tip, and readily detects the choice morsels of food down in the damp earth. Their capricious selection of feeding ground seems to be governed by some occult knowledge as to the con- ditions of the soil, for they are here to-day, gone to- morrow, and often the only places which seem most likely to be their haunt will not be visited by them at all. ‘ Mr. Bailey writes of the Jack Snipe: “ He is a com- mon bird wherever there are marshes to his taste... . On warm summer evenings or cloudy days before a storm, he mounts high in the air and with rapidly vi- brating wings produces a prolonged whirr that increases to a diminutive roar, and repeats it every two or three minutes for sometimes half an hour. At other times he flies low over the grass uttering a guttural chuck-chuck- chuck-chuck-chuck, and then drops out of sight. His common all-round-the-year note is a nasal sguawk.” UPLAND GAME BIRDS 113 281. MOUNTAIN PLOVER. — Agialitis montana. Famity : The Plovers. Length : 8.00-9.00. : Adults in Summer: Upper parts grayish brown ; under parts buffy ; a white band across forehead and over the eye; front of crown and lores black. Adults in Winter: Without distinct black or white on head. Young: Similar to winter adults, but general tone light yellowish brown or buffy. Geographical Distribution: United States bordering the Pacific; in winter as far south as Santa Ana. Breeding Range : Interior of the United States from Texas to Montana. Breeding Season: June and July. Nest: Anywhere on the open prairie ; a depression in the ground, thinly lined with grass. Eggs: 3; light buffy olive, thickly speckled with lavender, brown, and black. Size 1.45 x 1.11. TurovucHout the interior plains of California west of the Sierra Nevada the Mountain Plover is a common winter resident. It can be easily recognized by its large size, and by the absence of rings on throat and breast. Mountain Plover is one of the many misnomers, for although called by this name, the bird loves the prairies and treeless plains, and is never found at great altitudes. Unlike most plovers, it seems to shun the water; even in California it is not found along the beaches where its relatives feed, but hunts grasshoppers and terrestrial insects in the drier inland meadows. Its nest consists of a few grasses scratched together in a spot exposed to wind and weather; and here the female broods for nine- teen days. As soon as the down is dry on the chicks, they scramble off at their mother’s heels, and in twenty- four hours are catching bugs for themselves. 8 114 LAND BIRDS 292, MOUNTAIN PARTRIDGE. — Oreortyz pictus. Famity: The Grouse, Partridges, Quails, etc. Length: 10.00-11.12. Adult Male: Crest black ; back and upper parts olive-brown, striped on sides of back with light brown; top of head and entire breast slate-color; throat aud sides dark red-brown; sides barred with black and white. Adult Female: Crest shorter, otherwise like male. Young : Upper parts grayish brown, speckled with white; breast gray, with wedge-shaped white spots; 4 whitish line over the ear; belly white; sides washed with chestnut. Geographical Distribution : Humid transition zone of Pacific coast region, from about latitude 35° to Southern Washington. Breeding Range: Nearly coincident with its habitat. Breeding Season; Apvil and May. Nest: A slight depression in the ground, lined sparingly with dry leaves ; placed beside or under a fallen tree or a bush. Eygs: 8 +0 13; plain light buff. Size 1.36 X 1.02. Tur Mountain Partridge of the coast belt is so nearly like the plumed partridge of the Sierra Nevada in habits and coloring as scarcely to need a separate description. Both are designated as “mountain quail” in the com- mon parlance, and it is about as difficult to obtain a satisfactory view of one as of the other. The plumed partridge is said to measure a trifle less than this species, but in the field the only distinguishing marks are the grayer tone of the back and the bluish nape, all of which makes it difficult to differentiate the species. The Range is possibly the best guide for an amateur in iden- tifying the species. (For habits see “ Plumed Quail.” UPLAND GAME BIRDS 115 292a. PLUMED PARTRIDGE. — Oreortyx pictus plumiferus. Famity : The Grouse, Partridges, Quails, etc. Length: 10.50-11.50. ' Adult Male: Crest black ; forehead whitish ; upper parts grayish olive, striped on sides of back with light brown ; top of head, hind-neck, and breast bluish slate-color ; throat and sides dark red-brown ; sides barred with black and white. Adult Female: Crest shorter ; otherwise plumage the same. Young: Upper parts grayish brown, speckled with white; breast gray with triangular white spots; a whitish line over the ear; belly white; sides washed with chestnut. Downy Young: Head and neck buffy; broad chestnut stripe down the middle of back and rump, bordered along each side by dusky; breast and belly dull whitish. Geographical Distribution: Arid transition zone of Pacific coast district, from Lower California northward through Oregon. Breeding Range: Along both sides of the Sierra Nevada and the south- ern ranges. Breeding Season: April and May. Nest: On the ground ; on bed of dead leaves; concealed under a bush, or weeds, or log. Eggs: Usually 8 to 14; uniform buff. Size 1.36 1.02. Food : Insects, berries, and bugs. OnE bright morning in early June, on the way from Fyffe to Slippery Ford on the Lake Tahoe stage route, we flushed a Plumed Partridge from the roadside, and my companion remarked that he had flushed a partridge from that place two days before. A search for a nest began among the manzanita bushes and “ mountain misery,” which latter was thick, nearly ten inches high. After a short hunt we discovered the treasure hidden well at the base of a tall cedar and guarded by the pretty white blossoms and green leaves of Chameebatia. 116 LAND BIRDS It was made of leaves and stems of this plant and lined with feathers, and in it lay ten eggs of the Plumed Partridge. They were nearly ready to hatch, —how ready I did not guess, —and with a hope that no one would molest them in the meantime, we departed, re- solving to come back the next day. But I reckoned without my host, for having eaten luncheon and rested, I stole back alone for a last peep at them, and two had pipped the shells while a third was cuddled down in the split halves of his erstwhile covering. The distress of the mother was pitiful, and I had not the heart to torture the beautiful creature needlessly ; so going off a little way, I lay down flat along the “ misery,” regardless of the discomfort,-and-awaited developments. Before I could focus my glasses she was on the nest, her anxious little eyes still regarding me suspiciously. In less time than it takes to tell it, the two were out and the mother cuddled them in her fluffed-out feathers. This was too interesting to be left. Even at the risk of being too late to reach my destination, I must see the outcome. Two hours later every egg had hatched and a row of tiny heads poked out from beneath the mother’s breast. I started toward her and she flew almost into my face, so closely did she pass me. Then by many wiles she tried in vain to coax me to go another way. I was curious and therefore merciless. Moreover, I had come all the way from the East for just such hours as this. But once more a surprise awaited me. There was the nest, there were the broken shells ; but where were the young partridges ? Only one of all that ten could I find. For so closely did UPLAND GAME BIRDS 117 they blend in coloring with the shadows on the pine needles under the leaves of the “ misery ” that although I knew they were there, and dared not step for fear of crushing them, I was not sharp enough to discover them. No doubt a thorough search would have been successful, but this a dread of injuring them forbade me to make. So picking up the one which had crouched motionless beside a leaf and which was really not much larger than my thumb, I contented myself with trying to solve the mystery of how so much bird ever grew in that small shell, half of which would scarcely cover his head. Once fairly in my hand, he cuddled down perfectly con- tented to let me fit the empty shell to his fat little body, as if he knew he was out of that for good. He was a funny little ball of fluffy down, with a dark stripe down his back and a lesser one on each side of that. Mean- while the adult bird had disappeared, and there was no choice but to put the youngster back in the nest and go on my way. But I had learned two things, — that affairs move rapidly in the partridge household, and that hu- man eyes are seldom a match for a bird’s instinct. Most interesting of the many characteristics of the Plumed Partridge is the habit of migration into the valleys by the first of September each year, and back to the elevations in the early spring. Scarcity of food does not drive them to more fertile foraging grounds, for in the spring they return while yet there is snow. Unlike their relatives, these birds do not band together in large flocks, and seldom more than two broods are to be found in the same cover. Mr. Edwyn Sandys says: “‘ The call 118 LAND BIRDS of the male is suggestive of the crowing of a young ban- tam, while the rallying cry of scattered birds is not unlike the yelping of young wild turkeys.” 294, CALIFORNIA PARTRIDGE. — Lophortyx californicus. Famity: The Grouse, Partridges, Quails, etc. Length : 9.50. Adult Male: Crest black; nape dusky brown, bordered by black and white lines; upper parts dusky brown, striped with chestnut along the sides of the back; throat black, bordered by white; breast slate- color; belly, except chestnut patch, scaled; sides dusky brown, streaked with white. Adult Female: Head plain, with no black and white ; plumage uniform dusky brown; belly scaled; no chestnut on under parts; sides streaked with white. Young: Upper parts gray-brown; feathers of back and wing-coverts edged with dark gray and white; under parts white and gray. Geographical Distribution : Pacific coast region from Monterey to Oregon. Breeding Range: Nearly coincident with the Geographical Distribution. Breeding Season: April and May. Nest: A hollow near a rock or at foot of a tree trunk; scantily lined with grass ; sometimes under hedge, bush, or brush-heap. Eggs: 8 to 10; buffy, thickly spotted with shades of brown. Size 1.33 X 0.97. THE crest of the California Partridge is a little longer than that of the valley partridge, and tips forward in the same way. This handsome little partridge is unfortunately a favorite game bird, and, as such, has become not only somewhat scarce but exceedingly shy. It haunts the cafions and slopes covered with underbrush, as well as the sagebrush and stubble, and has learned to run to cover rather than to flush when pursued. In this way UPLAND GAME BIRDS 119 it offers a difficult mark for the true sportsman, and is less in danger from him than from the pitiless trapper. It differs from the valley partridge in being darker- colored and of a more northern range, but is often mis- taken for it, as the habits and call are exactly alike. It is quite unlike the mountain partridge, — an inch smaller, ee with more of a blue tinge to the slate-color of planeee Moreover the crest is shorter and tips _ forward like a pompon, iil the mountain =e he, __ ties his 1s 3. “er ac erest float- 2 ing backward. “ail the nest of the > ea mountain partridge, too, 294. Cautrorsia Partrince. the nest of californicus is “Zt haunts the cations and slopes.” — rarely concealed, the eggs being laid on a mat of leaves or grass on the open ground beside a stump or under a bush, and they are sometimes found in the nest of the Oregon towhee. Doubtless the protective coloring helps to prevent their discovery dur- ing the three weeks required for incubation. In this task, unlike our Eastern ‘ Bob White,” the male does not assist, but frequently stands guard at a short distance and warns of danger by a sharp short call. The chicks are out of the nest almost as soon as out of the shell, and are as skilful as their parents at running to cover. When a day or two old they learn to find their own food, picking up the bugs and even jumping for them when 120 LAND BIRDS they themselves are not much larger than a good-sized beetle. Although so capable and independent, they are constantly attended by both parents until the down has merged into fully developed feathers. Then the gregari- ous habits of the grouse blood assert themselves, and by September 1 all the broods of that district band to- gether to the number of several hundred individuals, and remain so throughout the fall and winter. This is the harvest time of the hunters and the season of unrest for the birds. In the early autumn mornings in the stubble of the field and the underbrush of the cafions, you may hear their plaintive whistle, ‘ whether friend or foe is astir. ‘who-are-you,” questioning 294a. VALLEY PARTRIDGE. — Lophortyz californicus vallicola. Famity: The Grouse, Partridges, Quails, etc. Length: 9.50. Aduits: Similar.to the California partridge ; upper parts grayish ; sides olive ; crest short and tipped forward. Young: Breast gray, marked with wedge-shaped black spots; belly faintly barred dark and light gray; upper parts striped brown and white. Douny Young: Upper parts white, washed with rusty and mottled with dark brown; under parts plain dull whitish. Geographical Distribution: Pacific coast region from Southern California to Oregon ; through upper and lower Sonoran zones. Breeding Range: The interior valleys between the humid coast belt and the Sierra Nevada. Breeding Season: April and May. Nest: A slight depression in ground, under hedge, bush, or brush-heap. L£ggs: Generally 10 to 12; buffy, thickly spotted with shades of brown. Size 1.23 X 0.94. So closely allied are the California partridge and the Valley Partridge that only by direct comparison of the UPLAND GAME BIRDS 121 two species may the lighter coloring of the latter be dis- tinguished. In habits they are alike, but in range they differ, the former being a coast bird and found from Monterey northward, while the latter occurs in the interior and southern valleys. In spite of being dubbed the Valley Partridge, it is found on the mountains of Lower California sometimes at an elevation of eight thousand feet. It breeds throughout suitable localities in Southern California, and is hunted wherever resident, though not so extensively as formerly, when it was the favorite game bird of that region. The eggs are laid on a mat of leaves or grass, or on the bare ground either in underbrush or in the farmer’s door-yard. Incubation requires three weeks, and usu- ally the hen alone broods the eggs. After the young are hatched they are kept in the underbrush or heavy stubble and can rarely be discovered, so expert at hiding are they. Like the California partridge they run to cover rather than fly, and they are so swift-footed that it is almost impossible to flush them. When the young are feeding, the adult males constantly call them, either to keep the covey together or to give warning of danger, and they answer each call with a faint piping note. This is not unlike the scatter call of the Eastern Bob White, but consists of two syllables in one tone, or one longer note. It is not unusual to come upon a covey of these when driving through the foothills and valleys of South- ern California, but the sensation is simply of something scampering into the brush rather than a definite sight 122 LAND BIRDS of any bird, unless the cock comes out into view for a moment to sound his warning and draw your attention from the brood to his handsome self. 295. GAMBEL PARTRIDGE. — Lophorty« gambelii. Famity: The Grouse, Partridges, Quails, etc. Length : 9.00-10.00. Adult Male: Crest black ; forehead and throat black, edged with white ; crown chestnut; upper parts slate-color; breast gray ; belly buff, with black patches ; sides bright chestnut, streaked with white lines. Adult Female: Similar to male, but plainer; belly without black patches, and sides without white stripes. Young: Upper parts brownish gray, finely mottled black and white ; belly uniform white ; breast gray, striped with white. Geographical Distribution: Lower Sonoran zone from Western Texas to Southeastern California, and from Southern Utah to Mexico. Breeding Range: The desert region of California southeast of the Sierra Nevada. Breeding Season: April 15 to July 1. Nest: A slight depression in the ground, under a bunch of tall grass ; usually without lining. Eggs: 10 to 12; buffy, marked with brown and blotched with light purple. Size 1.27 X 0.98. Eary in the morning during the months of March and April, the love note of the Gambel Partridge may be heard from the underbrush of the valleys and foothills of Southeastern California. So handsome, so confident in his wooing is he that he sounds it over and over, alike in the warm spring sunshine and the soft spring rain. And it is always answered by a demure little hen that comes stealing noiselessly through the mesquite to peep coyly at her lordly wooer. She. admires him. Who would not, as he swells and struts before her, lowering his pretty crest, assuming such loverlike airs? And the UPLAND GAME BIRDS 123 protection he seems to offer is not all a mockery, for, although he scorns to take part in the feminine task of brooding those buffy eggs, he will stand on guard ready to warn, and will expose his trim body to the hunter for the sake of his mate and young. The brooding time is twenty-eight days, but the little brown mother has end- less patience and cannot be induced to desert. If meddled with, she will in some way remove the eggs to another hollow in the ground, and brood as before. This has been done in four instances that I have re- corded, and however much it may be disputed, is true. Most of the nests are hard to find, being usually well concealed in a hollow under a log, or mesquite clump, or cacti. The nestlings resemble those of the Bob White in appearance as well as habit, only they are grayer and with less white down on under parts. They run about the moment the cracking of the shell sets them free, and right spry little balls of down they are, hiding instantly at their father’s warning “ quit,” cuddling under their mother each night, and snapping up.bugs for their own breakfasts each day. Fortunately for them, according to Mr. Sandys, although so “ beautiful, hardy, and prolific,” they have some habits which lead a sportsman a hard, wild chase if he gets them at all. They run rather than fly, keeping under the thickest, thorniest cover ; they fly down into cafions only to climb up the other side among the stiffest underbrush ; they lie low when the foe is searching close beside them, and they “ scoot ” when least expected. “Only a Christian of the sternest stripe is fit to be trusted on the trail of this nimble-footed little rascal.” 124 LAND BIRDS 297a. SOOTY GROUSE. — Dendragapus obscurus Suliginosus. Famity: The Grouse, Partridges, Quails, ete. Length: Adult male 20.00-23.00; adult female 16.00-19.00. Adult Male: Upper parts blackish slate-color, finely mottled with gray and brown ; tail black, with or without gray border on end ; under parts very dark slate-color. Adult Female: Similar to male, but much smaller ; upper parts washed with dark rusty, and indistinctly barred with sooty brown. Young: Upper parts rusty brown, mottled with sooty and buff; under parts gray, more or less spotted with black. Downy Young: Above, brown, white, and black mixed, forming irregu- lar stripes on the back and head ; under parts grayish white or light buffy gray. et Geographical Distribution: The Coast Range from Alaska through Cali- fornia in the timbered Transition and Boreal zone. Breeding Range: Nearly coincident with Geographical Distribution. Breeding Season: May and June. Nest: A hollow under the side of a log or bush, scantily lined with grass. Eggs: 7 to 10; cream, thickly spotted with shades of brown. Size 1.78 X 1.38. Tue Sooty Grouse is one of the largest and hand- somest of its family. It haunts the coniferous forests of the Sierra Nevada, and rears its brood in security in timber too dense for the hunter. Well it knows that in silence and statuesque rigidity lies its safety, and when pursued it takes to a tree, where its sooty plumage makes it seem like a bump on a branch, rather than a bird. Let it guess, however, that its presence is dis- covered and like a flash it ‘is gone, cackling like a frightened hen and “whirring” like a small cyclone, down into the cover of the underbrush. “The love-making of the male is marked by all the UPLAND GAME BIRDS 125 pomp and vanity of the strutting gobbler ; indeed, in his actions he might pass for a turkey bantam, but he has one marked peculiarity. It is his habit to perch in some thick-growing tree, and by filling the sacs upon his neck with air and abruptly expelling it to produce a low boom- ing whistle, which has‘an extraordinary carrying and ventriloquial power. This booming, or ‘booing’ as some Westerners term it, seldom fails to puzzle sorely a tenderfoot, the baffling feature of it being that it does not appear to ‘gain volume or distinctness when the bird is closely approached.” 3 In May or June, according to location, the wooing begins, and soon the mother is brooding on her eight buffy eggs in the shade of a fern tangle, near a log, or in a clump of manzanita. No part does the father take in the three weeks of patient incubation, but the mother can seldom be surprised away from the nest. It would be far easier to discover the eggs were she not covering them, for so protective is her coloring that you may be looking directly at her and never suspect it, although at that very moment you are searching for a nest. Her food is all about her, — buds, berries, and insects. If she leaves the eggs, it is only to stretch her tired little legs and pick up a few dainties close by. But once the little mottled puff-balls are out of the shell and dry, away she goes, proud as a peacock, with them at her heels. And now the father is introduced to family cares, and he scratches for bugs, calling the young with impera- tive little chucks to come. He is the drill-master of the 1 Upland Game Birds. 126 LAND BIRDS little flock, teaching them with infinite patience all that they need to know of wood lore. He stands on guard at every suspicious noise, and whistles his warning when danger threatens. When their wing-feathers have devel- oped and they can flutter up to a low branch in the bush, they roost there instead of cuddling under the mother’s broad wings at night. But they remain with the parents and evidently under discipline throughout the first six or eight months of their existence. In the wintry weather, when their mountain homes are covered deep with snow, they often sleep huddled together deep in a drift, waking to feed upon the buds of the coniferous ‘trees, but seldom seeking a lower level. They are the hardy mountaineers, the children of the forest ranges. 300c. OREGON RUFFED GROUSE. — Bonasa umbellus sabini. Famity: The Grouse, Partridges, Quails, etc. Length: 15.00-19.00. Adult Male: Rough iridescent black, upper parts mottled dark brown and black, tail rusty dark brown; under parts ‘heavily barred with black and brown. Adult Female: Similar to male, and with neck tufts less developed. Young: Similar to adult female, but browner, and neck tufts entirely wanting. Downy Young: Upper parts chestnut-brown ; deeper on under wings and rump ; under parts buff; a conspicuous black line from corner of eye through ear tufts. Geographical Distribution: Humid transition and boreal zones and the coast ranges from Humboldt County, California, to the northern limits of Washington. California Breeding Range: The humid coast boreal from Cape Mendo- cino northward. UPLAND GAME BIRDS 127 Nest: On ground in the woods, usually under fallen trees. Eggs: 6 to 12; buffy, sometimes slightly stained or speckled with brown. Size 1.56 X 1.16. Tuts is a fairly common resident in the coast district of Northern California. Its habits of “drumming,” etc. are like those of the Eastern grouse. The cocks leave their mates as soon as sitting begins, and do not usually return until fall, when the broods get together for the winter. The young are to be found with the mother in the vicinity of the nesting place for ten days or two weeks, and then are taken to a thicket-bordered stream. Their food consists of grasshoppers, insects, young leaves of plants, berries, and a few varieties of seed, such as the wild sunflower. 309. SAGE GROUSE. — Centrocercus urophasianus. Famity: The Grouse, Partridges, Quails, etc. Length: Male 26.00-30.00 ; female 21.00-23.00. Adult Male: Upper parts mottled and barred gray, buff, and black ; cheeks, chin, and throat spotted black and white ; a white crescent on each side of throat reaching to eye; fore-neck black, merging to dull gray on the chest; the feathers with very stiff black shafts ; belly uniform black ; chest white after breeding season. In breeding season, tufts of wiry black feathers mixed with white down on the shoulders ; air sacs on sides of throat yellow. Adult Female: Chin and throat white ; fore-neck speckled gray in ruffs ; air sacs or shoulder plumes. Young: Similar to female, but browner; niarkings of lower parts indistinct. Downy Young : Upper parts brownish gray mottled with blackish. Geographical Distribution: Sagebrush plains of the Rocky Mountain plateau, southwest to California, north to British Columbia. Breeding Range: In California the arid Great Basin region, east of the Sierra Nevada. Breeding Season: April and May. 128 LAND BIRDS Nest: A slight depression in the ground ; usually unlined, and under a sagebush. Eggs: 8 to 12; olive-yellow, spotted with dark brown. Size 2.16 X 1.50. As its name implies, the Sage Grouse loves the barren alkali plains, ‘ sun-parched in summer and swept by icy blasts and wolf-voiced blizzards during the winter,” where no green thing can grow save the sagebrush and the cacti. Here, of necessity, his chief diet is sage leaves, insects, and the pulp of the cactus fruit; his drink the strong alkali water of the desert. The storms of winter drive him through the timber belt to the stunted vegetation under the snow, and he lives for weeks at a time in the warm shelter of a deep drift, eating the young green shoots that he scratches from their wintry cover, five or six feet below the level. With the spring comes a revival of life to the big Grouse. A restless hunting for some- thing takes possession of him, and he wanders through the brush, fighting every male grouse that he meets. In March he encounters his fate in the form of a tiny gray hen, before whom he struts and salaams, sliding along on his breast until he wears a bare place among his fine feathers. What greater proof of his infatuation could he give than this? “Then the big air sacs are filled to their fullest capacity, the spiny feathers about them bristle out like thorns, the long tail is spread and the wings trailed. One familiar with the noise of other grouse naturally would expect from this great fellow a thunderous booming, but the fact is the sounds produced amount to nothing more than a broken, indistinct croak- ing.” It is all done with an air of desperate earnestness, UPLAND GAME BIRDS 129 comical to a disinterested observer, but very pleasing to madam, who, feigning indifference, is not too easily won. Finally, when his much salaaming has scoured his breast nearly bare, you may, if you are sharp enough, discover a nest with greenish-buff eggs in it, hidden snugly under asagebush. When the mother is brooding, — and during the twenty-two days required for incubation she is rarely away from the nest, — you will find the search difficult if not futile. So protective is her coloring, and so perfectly does she blend with the alkali dust and the shadows of the sage, that it is impossible to distinguish her so long as she remains motionless. She will sit in unwinking still- ness until you are about to step on her, and then, with a blinding “ whirr ” she scoots through the brush, cackling angrily, to return before you are fifty yards away. When sitting begins, the erstwhile ardent wooer de- . serts his mate, and the entire care of the little ones falls upon her. Jiike all grouse nestlings, they run about as soon as the down is dry, which is about fifteen minutes after the shell breaks. They pick up food at her scratch- ing all day, and at night they nestle on the ground under her wings, only a row of little heads being visible. As soon as their own feathers are developed, they sleep every night in a circle about her, each one with head pointed to.the outside as before, and always on the ground; fer the Sage-Grouse never trees. It is not difficult to come upon a brood sleeping this way on a moonlight night; but the only satisfaction will be to hear the sharp alarm of the mother, a whirr as she runs by you, and a knowl- edge that though the young are hiding on the dust at 9 130 LAND BIRDS your feet, you could not find them were your eyes ten- fold sharper. I have groped carefully on hands and knees among them, and actually touched one before I saw it at all. For the desert hides its secrets well, and the little grouse have learned to trust to it for safety. These broods unite with others in the same locality, forming coveys of a hundred or more individuals, and as cold weather advances, they retreat to their snow shel- ters at the timber edge. This is the time the hunters go forth to seek them, for the flesh of the young is not yet tainted with the bitterness of sage diet, and in that barren region game is scarce. 312. BAND-TAILED PIGEON. — Columba fasciata. Famity: The Pigeons, or Doves. Length : 15.00-16.00. Adult Male: Upper parts grayish brown, browner on the back, bluer on _ the rump, high neck bronzy green, crossed by narrow collar of white ; head and under parts metallic purplish, becoming pink on belly and gray on the sides ; belly whitish ; end of tail crossed by broad band of pearl-gray, bordered by black on the upper edge; wing-coverts narrowly edged with white. Adult Female: Similar to male, but duller and grayer. Young: Without white on nape; upper parts paler; under parts gray, washed with brown. Geographical Distribution: Western United States from Rocky Moun- tains to the Pacific, south through Mexico to Guatemala, through the Transition zone. California Breeding Range: Mountains of Southern California. Breeding Season : May, June, July, and August. Nest: A thin platform of sticks, in trees or bushes near water ; some- times on the ground. Eggs: 2; white. Size 1.50 x 1.20. Tue Band-tailed, or White-collared, Pigeon is irregu- larly distributed from the Rocky Mountains to the UPLAND GAME BIRDS 131 Pacific. It breeds in small numbers at several points in the Coast Range between Santa Cruz and San Diego, laying its two white eggs on the ground near the bank of a pond or river in some localities. In other places it prefers to construct a shallow platform of twigs in a tree or bush. Incubation lasts from fourteen to sixteen days. In shape the newly hatched young are like minia- ture geese, and their yellow skin is covered with the sparse, cottony, whité down. They are fed ona thin milky fluid, by regurgitation, for twenty days. The adult deserts its nest, eggs, or young on the slightest provocation ; it is exceedingly timid, so that any attempt to study its nesting habits, should one be so fortunate as to discover a nest, would prove disastrous to the brood, unless very cautiously done. They are said to have no breeding season in California, but to raise their young during any mouth except December. From April to September is their usual time. Deep in the recesses of a cafion you may come upon a company of these gre- garious birds in the tree-tops. Unless you see the bird, you will fancy you have discovered a new owl, so hoot- like is their “coo.” It has been described as “a short, hard hoot and a long coo.” In the large aviary on the grounds of Mrs. Sefton at San Diego, a pair of these pigeons taken at Bear Valley have been kept some time ; their note has become modified, I presume by confine- ment with other birds, for it is much less expulsive and more purring in quality than when heard in the moun- tains. They breed in the aviary, laying their eggs on the ground behind a bush in one corner and also in com- 132 LAND BIRDS partments for the purpose, like domestic pigeons. The eggs are glistering white, equally round at both ends and very beautiful to look at. The birds themselves are remarkably handsome, and seen coming like rockets through the air down the side of the mountain, are startling to the ear as well as to the eye. The noise is produced by the rapid vibration of the wings, and re- sembles the roar, of escaping steam. In flying upward or on a level, the sound is less loud but quite as char- acteristic, and, when a large flock are startled into flight, the vibratory effect is not unlike that of a small cyclone. 316. MOURNING DOVE. — Zenaidura macroura. Famity: The Pigeons, or Doves. Length: 11.00-13.00. : Adult Male: Upper parts soft brownish ; head and neck iridescent gray- ish pink ; a black spot on sides of the head ; sides of neck, chest, and breast changeable metallic purple-pink, changing to buff on the belly. Adult Female: Similar to male, but paler, and metallic gloss less distinct. - Young: Duller than female, and withont black spot on the head. Geographical Distribution: Temperate North America, north to Canada, south to Panama. Breeding Range: Breeds throughout its habitat. Breeding Season: March to October. Nest: A platform of sticks, in a bush or tree. Eggs: 2; white. Size 1.12 X 0.82. For a land bird, the Mourning Dove is strikingly fond of the water and usually tries to build within sight of it. At intervals all day, the parent birds fly back and forth between it and their nest, if brooding, and I have reason to believe that the male brings the female water as well UPLAND GAME BIRDS 133 as food in his own throat. Both adults feed their young by regurgitation for twenty days, and undoubtedly give them waiter in the same way until they learn to drink, in true pigeon fashion, by suction. The newly hatched Mourning Doves are unique among young birds, for they are daintily formed miniature goslings ; with goose bill and all. This bill ends in a pearly tip, and the young doves | / are covered with short, cottony, white down, through which _ -, ify the yellow skin is ap- parent. The ~ mother birdsare both shy and stupid, for they will in- z variably betray their nest by flymg off when, if they re- aire part cane mained quiet, it might not be noticed. I know of no birds who desert their eggs and young so readily. The mother bird is also a slack housekeeper, and so loosely is the nest built that the eggs may nearly always be seen from below.. In two instances Mr. P. W. Smith, of Greenville, Illinois, found these birds occupying old robins’ nests, and once he discovered two of their eggs in the home of a thrasher, which also contained one thrasher ege. » 39930035 In spite of these well-authenticated instances, and the fact that I have found Mourning Doves brooding their young in a kingbird’s old nest thickly lined with sheep's 134 LAND BIRDS wool, I believe such cases are uncommon; the bird usually builds her own home, and returns to it two years ¥ in succession, if not molested. II.—BIRDS OF PREY 324. CALIFORNIA VULTURE, OR CONDOR. Gymnogyps californianus. Famity: The Vultures. val Length: 44.00-55.00 ; extent 84 feet to nearly 11 feet. e Adults: Head and neck covered with a warty orange skin; Dill pale yellow ; plumage black ; wing-coverts tipped with white; under wing-coverts pure white. Young: Like adults, but naked skin and bill black ; more or less cov- ered with sooty gray down. Downy Young: Covered with white cottony down ; bill yellow. Geographical Distribution: Coast ranges of Southern California from Monterey County to Mexico. Breeding Range: Breeds in the mountainous districts throughout its habitat. Breeding Season : Eggs have been taken in April and May. Nest: The bare floor of a cave or recess among the rocks, or in a hollow stump. Eggs: 1 or 2; plain grayish green or dull greenish white. Size 4.46 X 2.48. Tue California Condor is, so far as known, the largest bird that flies, except its cousin the Condor of the Andes, and was formerly abundant throughout the coast ranges of Southern California. It has become comparatively rare through various causes, chief among them the feed- ing upon poisoned flesh put out by stockmen to kill wild animals. For a long time the species was on the verge of extermination, but through the efforts of the Cooper : A i ae oy gi . BIRDS OF PREY 135 Club it has been protected, and according to latest reports it is increasing in numbers. On his first trip to California, the Eastern bird-lover expects to see these birds soaring majestically over every mountain, and is disappointed when he has remained a year, or two, or three, with never a glimpse of one, although right in the Condor range. The truth is the Condors keep well back in the hidden and inaccessible parts of the mountains, and if you would see one, you must go where they are and see the sun rise, —as they do ; for the Condor seeks his prey as soon as the sunlight has reached the valleys and before the world is fairly astir. Then you may see him on glorious wings, circling, circling, with scarcely a movement save of his head, which, stretched out before him, turns this way and that. He is magnificent to look at, — nearly eleven feet from tip of wing to tip of wing, — but in some ways he is very stupid. AJ vultures are stupid. Although so keen of vision that you can never hope to conceal your presence from him, yet he will betray his nest and make no effort to lead you from it by the wise feints of smaller birds. Thus in the animal world nature compensates for great strength and ferocity by giving the quicker instincts to the hunted, not to the hunters. The Condor’s senses are keen to show him where to obtain food, and his wings are strong; but, in danger from no creature, he has not been trained to protect himself. He gorges, is satisfied, and sleeps with no need of precaution for self or young, because, unless his food be poisoned, what has he to fear? The young Condor reared by Mr. 136 LAND BIRDS Holmes of Berryessa developed some remarkable habits, but I believe these were due to artificial conditions. Solomon puzzled over “the way of an eagle in the air” and left the mystery unsolved, and bird-lovers have been studying it ever since. When I have been able to watch the nesting habits of the Condor, as I have done those of some more accessible birds, I may recall the epithet “stupid,” for in the training of their young some otherwise dull birds show wonderful sagacity. Whether sagacious or stupid, the Condor is one of the glories of a glorious State, and deserves the protection of all loyal citizens. 325. TURKEY VULTURE. — Cathartes aura. Famity: The Vultures. Length : 26.00-32.00. Adults: Head covered with bare, red, warty skin; bill white; upper parts iridescent black ; under parts dull black, shafts of quills and tail-feathers dirty white. Young : Similar to adults, but bill blackish and naked skin of head and neck livid dusky. Douny Young: Covered with a white cottony down, naked head cov- ered with a sallow skin. Geographical Distribution : Temperate North America, Breeding Range: North to latitude 40°. Breeding Season: April 1 to June 15. Nest: Frequently built in a tree, or a slight depression under a ledge or a cliff. £ggs: 2; greenish buffy or white, more or less spotted with brown and light purple. Size 2.73 X 1.87. Food: Carrion. THE Turkey Vulture, or Turkey Buzzard, is a com- mon bird East and West, an industrious scavenger, and a self-appointed “ Board of Health.” In the warmer BIRDS OF PREY 137 portions of the United States its offices are necessary and are valued greatly by the farmers and ranchmen. Long before the owner has missed the sheep or known that it is dead, the quick eye of the Vulture has discov- ered the carrion and he has called his family to the feast. Unlike most birds of prey, the Vulture feeds upon the ground where the carcass is found, and for this reason his foot has become modified for walking rather than for grasping. He is usually silent, except for hisses and guttural growls, uttered when feeding, which remind one of a hyena. Recent successful attempts have been made to prove that he discovers his food by . the sense of smell as well as by keen sight. Carrion has been hidden under a dense growth of brush where it could not be seen, and the Vultures have found it quite as readily as when exposed to view. The nesting season of this Vulture in California begins about April 15, the eggs being laid in a depression in the ground under a ledge, or on a steep hillside, or in the cavity of a tall stump, or ina tree. The young are fed by regurgitation, and remain in the nest nine weeks. Except at nesting season, this Vulture is gregarious, fly- ing and feeding in company and roosting in great num- bers in favorite groves. On the wing it is graceful and impressive, moving in great circles apparently without effort and without fatigue. One can scarcely look up to the hills without seeing it, and it comes to be as much a part of California scenery as the mountains or the sea. 138 LAND BIRDS 328. WHITE-TAILED KITE. — Elanus leucurus. Famity : The Falcons, Hawks, Eagles, ete. Length : 15.50-17.00. Adults: Upper parts slate-color ; top of head and tail white ; a patch of black on each shoulder and around each eye ; under parts uniform pure white. Young: Similar to adults, but tinged with rusty, and more or less streaked with dark gray ; wing-feathers tipped with white; under parts streaked with yellow-brown ; tail with a dusky band. Geographical Distribution : Tropical America north to San Francisco on ’ the Pacific coast ; on the Atlantic coast to latitude 37°. Breeding Range: The central portions of California, west of the Sierra Nevada. Breeding Setson: April 1 to June 1. Nest: Placed high in a tree; a platform of sticks, lined with straw and grasses. * Lggs: 3to5; dull buffy white, spotted and tinged with chestnut over the entire surface. Size 1.72 X 1.30. THE White-tailed Kite is a fairly common resident of the interior valleys of California west of the Sierra Nevada, north to Red Bluff and south as far as Los Angeles. Its nest is always placed just as far from the ground as pos- sible, in a sycamore or oak or maple tree, and is a loosely constructed platform of sticks, occasionally lined with straw. In Santa Clara valley the birds are not at all uncommon ; they nest in the oak groves from April 1 to May 1. They remain paired all the year, and may be seen hunting together over the fresh and salt water marshes. Mr. W. K. Fisher records them as preying upon the field mice in the vicinity of San Francisco Bay. They are common at Alviso in the early morning, hover- ing over the marshes, as kingfishers do over water, be- fore plunging downward for a strike. Graceful and easy BIRDS OF PREY 139 on the wing, they have a steadiness of flight unlike the bullet-like dash of some of the hawks, and more closely resembling the flight of the gulls. eo Their call is a high-keyed whistle, ' A which falls three tones in a plaintive minor key. Besides this, they utter a sharp, short squeak when darting down to seize their prey. Aside from the fact of his beauty and grace, the food of the White-tail is such as to ga render him beneficial to farmers, ba and he should be protected by law fully as much as the game and song birds. Lizards, frogs, & L snakes, grasshoppers, and eK beetles are his bill of fare, and these he consumes in great num- bers. Small birds do not fear him as they do the bird-eating species, and this alone is proof that he does not molest them. 328. WHITE-TAILED KITE. “ Preying upon the field mice.” 331. MARSH HAWK. — Circus hudsonius. Famity: The Falcons, Hawks, Eagles, ete. Length: 19.50-24.00. Adult Male: Slate-color streaked with white; under parts and rump pure white; breast and sides lightly speckled with reddish brown ; tail with alternate bands of brown and black, six or seven in number ; tips of wings black. Adult Female, and Young: Rusty, more or less streaked with black. Downy Young: Rusty buff above, more or less washed with gray, and merging to whitish on lower parts, 140 LAND BIRDS Geographical Distribution: North America from southern border of Alaska, south in winter from latitude 40° to Cuba. Breeding Range: In California breeds on the interior marshes as far south as San Diego and north to Oregon. Breeding Season: April, May, and June. Nest: On the ground, among the marsh grass ; made of grass and sticks, and lined with feathers. Lggs: 4 to 6; dull bluish white, sometimes spotted with light and dark brown, Size 1.80 X 1.38. To most bird-lovers the sight of an old gray Marsh Hawk soaring gracefully over the broad stretch of wet meadows in the early spring suggests but one thing, — an immediate tramp in his direction. All sorts of fasci- nating things are hiding in that grass; and who knows it so well as he? A sudden swoop downward, a slow, circling rise, with a small dark object in those strong claws, and an alighting on the nearest tree to dine. What is the menu? Perhaps a pretty field mouse that, unconscious of the sharp eyes overhead, ran through his burrow ; or a gopher, or possibly a lizard. He has little choice between these and frogs, snakes, young ground- squirrels, and insects. In that he never molests the chicken yard but rids the meadow of insects and small animals, he is the protégé of the intelligent farmer. A few there are to whom a hawk is simply a hawk, to be destroyed without mercy or discrimination, but such per- sons become fewer every year as the economic value of certain varieties of these birds becomes better known. In a clump of stiff marsh grass or a bunch of weeds, you may find the nest of this “ soft-winged still-hunter.” It is simply a thick mat of coarse sticks and straw, lined slightly with feathers, and usually measuring about thir- BIRDS OF PREY 14] teen to fifteen inches at its largest diameter. In it are laid four or five dull light-green eggs, either plain or sparsely spotted with brown. Here the adults brood by turns, the free one bringing food in its claws and drop- ping it from the air to its mate on the nest below, as if by accident ; for these handsome Hawks are wise and very, very wary. I have seen them bring sticks for nest- ing materials and drop them in the same way to the other bird in the grass. You will rarely discover the nest by seeing them alight near it. When the time for a change of labor has come, one of the birds circles over and over, without dropping food, and finally alights in a tree, if there be one there. Before you know it another Hawk, his counterpart except for size, is circling in his place while he still sits in the tree. By and by he is gone from the tree, but in most instances you have not seen him go, you have been so intently watching the gyrations of his mate in the air. In eighteen to twenty days the young Hawks break their hard shells, one each day, and cuddle down among the feathers and straw of the crude nest. From the day the first little ball of down appears, one or the other of the adults may be seen constantly on the wing over that meadow. The same tactics are pursued as before, for the food is dropped to the parent on the nest, who, after the first few days, holds it fast in her beak while the nestlings tear off bits from it for themselves. In this way the muscles of bill and neck are developed. Later on the food is simply dropped to them, both parents being off on the hunt, and the little fellows grasp it in 142 LAND BIRDS their sharp claws and tear from it with a right good-will. It is comparatively easy, with a large amount of patience, a good blind, and a field glass, to watch the brood de- velop day by day; for although so wild, the Marsh Hawks will not desert their nestlings, and if you can so arrange as to be inconspicuous they have little fear of you. 332. SHARP-SHINNED HAWK. — Accipiter veloz. Famity: The Falcons, Hawks, Eagles, ete. Length: Male 10.00-11.50 ; female 12.50-14.00. Adult Male: Upper parts slate-color ; under parts white, heavily barred and spotted with chestnut; tail with three or four narrow black bands and » white tip. Adult Female: Similar, but with markings less pronounced. Young: Dusky brown above, buffy below, striped with brown or dusky. Geographical Distribution: North America to arctic circle; south in winter from 40° to Guatemala. Breeding Season: April, May, and June. Breeding Range : Throughout the United States and north to Alaska. Nest: Of small sticks, lined with fibre of leaves, placed from 10 feet to: 60 feet high in a tree. Liggs: 4 or 5; dull greenish white or grayish green, irregularly marked with brown. Size 1.46 X 1.20. EQuaLLy at home in the dense shadows of the forest, on the treeless plains, or on the pine-covered mountain tops, the little Sharp-shinned Hawk requires but two things, — plenty of food and good water. Alas, that the food should preferably be small song birds! He is a dainty eater, also, stripping all feathers from his victim and refusing to swallow a bit of fur or a bone. This is the only good thing which can be said of him, for a bird more baleful to other feathered creatures, large and small, can nowhere be found. All laws protecting native BIRDS OF PREY 143 birds should offer a bounty on his head and that of his relatives, the big Cooper hawk and the goshawk. For- tunately the last two are not numerous in the Land of Sunshine. The Sharp-shinned is a fierce defender of his home in the top of a pine or spruce. And this nest he has very likely seized by force from its owners, the magpies or squirrels or crows; for might is always right in the forest world, and whatever this brigand wants he takes. His nestlings receive such constant care and strong food that, by the time they are feathered and ready to leave the nest, they are noticeably larger than the parents. It is worth while to note, also, that the female is larger and fiercer than the male, consequently more rapacious. The note of the Sharp-shinned is in accord with his nature, a high-keyed shrill whistle or shriek, and is uttered when in triumph he dashes into a terrorized flock of small birds or down into a barnyard full of poultry. For he is no coward, and will attack a hen many times his own weight even though she be surrounded by her kin. As one writer says of him, “‘ He is the boldest fellow for his inches that wears feathers.’ Certainly he is the most destructive desperado, without fear and without mercy. 333. COOPER HAWK. — Accipiter cooperit. Famity: The Falcons, Hawks, Eagles, etc. Length : Male 14.00-17.00 ; female 18.00-20.00. Adult Male: Upper parts slate-color, top of head black; under parts white, heavily barred with chestnut ; tail rounded at end, barred with black, and tipped with white. Adult Female: Upper parts duller, top of head rusty black. 144 LAND BIRDS ' Young: Upper parts dark brown ; under parts streaked, not barred. Downy Young: Uniform pure white. Geographical Distribution: The entire United States and southern British Provinces, south in winter to Mexico. Breeding Range: Throughout California. Breeding Season: April and May. Nest: Usually in high trees ; often a remodelled crow’s nest. Eggs: 4 or 5; pale greenish white, plain or dimly marked with light brown. Size 1.97 X 1.42. Lixe the sharp-shinned, the Cooper Hawk is the bane alike of the farmer and the bird-lover. He is known throughout the United States by the name of Chicken Hawk, and so daring is he that he will come down into the farmyard for poultry in the face of the farmer. There are several records of weasels that have been seized by this hawk, sucking its blood at the throat and causing its death. One skeleton specimen was found with the teeth of the weasel so locked in the bone of the hawk that it could not be removed. But unfortunately, although chickens, weasels, snakes, lizards, and small quadrupeds are doubtless upon his bill of fare, song birds are too often his victims, and the ornithologist who is patiently studying the development of some rare brood has good cause to dislike him. The nest of the Cooper Hawk is placed in tall a and being added to and occupied year after year, it be- comes an exceedingly bulky structure. April to May is the usual date, in California, at which nesting begins, and incubation lasts thirty-one days. The young remain in the nest six to eight weeks, and are fed upon the small live mammals, never upon dead flesh. Small won- der they learn to pounce upon and tear anything that moves in the grass or among the trees. BIRDS OF PREY 145 355. PRAIRIE FALCON. — Falco meicanus. Famity: The Falcons, Hawks, Eagles, etc. Length: Male 17.00-18.00 ; female 18.50-20.00. Adult Male: Upper parts light yellow-brown ; indistinctly barred with buffy on the head and neck, and with slate-color on lower back and tail; sides of the head with dark patches ; under parts and nuchal collar white; belly lightly streaked or spotted with dusky, and flanks heavily spotted with same. Adult Female: Upper parts same as male, but duller; palest toward the tail ; tail tipped with white on the outer edges of the feathers. Young: Upper parts grayish brown; under parts grayish buff with broad dusky streaks. Geographical Distribution: Western United States from the plains to the Pacific. Breeding Range: Throughout the United States. Breeding Season: May. Nest: Of sticks, with a lining of grasses ; usually on cliffs, sometimes in cavities in trees, always in inaccessible places. Eggs: 2 to 5; deep cream-buff, covered with fine specks of cinnamon, rufous, and light chestnut. Size 2.10 X 1.64. ALTHOUGH not a large hawk and apparently built for swift flight rather than for strength, the trim Prairie Fal- con has the courage of an eagle and does not hesitate to attack prey of twice its own weight. Poultry it seizes only when other food is scarce, but a good-sized jack- rabbit is often a victim, and is carried to the nearest low perch to be devoured ; — this by a bird the size of the American crow, but with sinews of steel and a heart that absolutely knows no fear. With an audacity worthy of a better cause it pursues marsh hawks, compelling them to relinquish the fish they have caught; and not even the bald eagle can strike such terror to a flock of grouse. Their eyrie is a crevice or ledge on the perpendicular face of a cliff where none but the most daring can 10 146 LAND BIRDS climb. Of one such exploit Mr. ard writes in “The Con- 1902, as follows : “April 18, I secured one hun- dred feet of inch-and- a-quarter rope, and we again Ay ANS < ) made our way to the cliff§ On ~#23., ") reaching the top of the ridge we ( made our way down to the edge oe A of the cliff where a bunch of oak ° i} ae trees were ; ; o LY Wa growing. We tied the - sh rope to oaks, w feet to a shelf-like standing just above where the cliff over- About four feet to one the rock, and by jerking the above me I could let myself did to a point opposite the rather a risky undertaking as / along the face of the cliff, and , in one hand and the sharp and I slid down it thirty [dBlt.3 projection. I was then WY the nesting cavity | fe y hung considerably. ee side was a crevice in y rope over a point down it, which I nest. It was I made my way ~* I held the rope pointsofrock ’// |"; in the other, at the same time using my feet j 4° to steady myself. By keeping my hand- / /, J) hold I could lean over just far enough to | hh i see that the nest contained eggs, fi ) how managed to squeeze into the cavity head first. The nest was about four feet ( —/ from the entrance in a depression in the solid f ' rock, with no nesting material except a few /4” — feathers of the old bird and small 355. PRAIRIE FALCON. and some- “Not even the bald eagle can strike such terror to a flock of grouse.” BIRDS OF PREY 147 bones and hair of the smaller quadrupeds ; also a number of pellets ejected by the old birds. I am certain that both birds occupy the nesting cavity at night, for there was a depression in the end of the cavity which showed signs of being occupied by one of the birds. “The nest contained five eggs, rather light in color for this species. They have a yellowish brown appearance, the color being almost solid but darker about the larger ends.” It is a matter of regret that Mr. Howard gives us no record of how the adults conducted themselves during the time they were being robbed ; also, that he did not ‘make a study of the feeding and nesting habits of the birds with regard to incubation and care of the young, as this is a field open for just such daring observers and one where good work is needed. 337b. WESTERN RED-TAILED HAWK. — Buteo borealis calurus. Famity: The Falcons, Hawks, Eagles, etc. Length: Male 19.00-22.50 ; female 23.00-25.00. Adults: Varying from light grayish brown to uniform dark sooty brown ; under parts white or buffy, with broad brown streaks on throat, belly, and sides ; tail bright reddish brown in any phase, crossed by one or more black bars. In the dark extreme the entire plumage except the red tail is a dark sooty brown. Young: Darker throughout, and more heavily spotted; tail grayish brown, barred with black bands. Geographical Distribution: Western North America, east to Rocky Mountains, south to Mexico. Breeding Range : Almost throughout the State of California, Breeding Season: March, April, and May. 148 LAND BIRDS Nest: Of sticks; lined with roots or fibre, placed in trees or ledges of cliffs from 25 to 50 feet high. Eggs: 2 or 3; dull whitish, plain or marked with shades of brown. Size 2.36 X 1.80. Tue Western Red-tail is common, though not very abundant, throughout the wooded mountainous districts of the central portion of the State. On the road from Tallac to Lake Valley several were seen, and one nest was found in a coniferous tree thirty feet from the ground. The climber sent up to investigate shouted back that there were four young nearly ready to fly. Being told to bring one down, he picked one out of the nest, but it bit his finger, and angrily he hurled it out into the air. Fluttering, turning over and over, down it came; but the fall did not hurt it much, and as soon as it could catch its breath it fought like a little fury. It was a handsome bird, nearly feathered, and in a week more would have flown of its own accord. It fluttered about on the grass, and after resting a time managed to scramble into a low bush, where it felt more secure though it was really much more exposed. In the mean- time the adults had circled wildly about with discordant screams, and the mother still remained near. Curious to see how she would manage to get that unlucky young- ster back into his nest, we moved off fifty yards and watched through the glasses. Both parents swooped down and looked at him, from on the wing, again and again, screaming when away, but silent whenever near him or the nest. At length a more sudden swoop and a momentary flutter, as a butterfly flutters over a flower. Then she rose carefully and slowly, with the young in BIRDS OF PREY 149 her claws, and carried him to the nest. It was impos- sible to see whether she was holding him between them or grasping him by them. Five days later the nest was deserted and the young hawks were nowhere to be found. The adults still appeared in the vicinity, but the young were safely hidden from prying eyes in the heavy foliage. 339 b. RED-BELLIED HAWK. — Buteo lineatus elegans. Famity: The Falcons, Hawks, Eagles, etc. Length : Male 17.00-19.00 ; female 18.50-21.00. Adults: Upper parts dark brown, streaked with buffy or white ; shoulders bright red-brown ; under parts chestnut, barred with white on belly and sides; wings and tail barred with white. Young : Under parts dusky ; wing-quills spotted with buffy. Downy Young: Dull grayish white. Geographical Distribution: Pacific coast of the United States, south to Mexico, east to Texas. Breeding Range: In California, chiefly in the interior valleys from lati- tude 33° to 41°. Nest: Of twigs; lined with vegetable fibre, feathers, and leaves; on limbs of trees, usually in the neighborhood of water. Eggs: 2 to 5; grayish white, marked with brown and lilac. Size 2.40 X 1.77. THs is the Western race of the red-shouldered hawk. It is one that should receive all protection from the law. Mr. Lyman Beldings records a pair that for three sea- sons nested near a poultry yard, and whose post mortem proved their food to have been exclusively lizards, tree- frogs, and insects. Mrs. Bailey says that their food is “ sometimes small birds,” but this is doubtless in treeless regions, where their favorite food is less easily obtained. In most parts of California where they breed, the records 150 LAND BIRDS show them to have eschewed everything with feathers, and to have dined upon small snakes, lizards, frogs, in- sects, and crawfish. Fur and feathers are caught only as a last resort, when there are hungry young in the nest. ' The Red-bellied Hawk is exceptionally fond of bath- ing, and in California it usually builds within a hun- dred yards of water. Both adults indulge in a daily bath, returning to the same place at about the same hour for it. The nest is placed in a tree or giant cactus; it is composed of twigs with leaves and usually lined with leaves and feathers. This hawk utters a shrill,. high scream when molested, but does not offer to fight unless the intruder be a bird or snake. Incubation lasts thirty- one days. 342. SWAINSON HAWK. — Buteo smainsoni. Famity: The Falcons, Hawks, Eagles, etc. Length: Male 12.50-20.00 ; female 21.00-22.00. Adult Male: Upper parts dark grayish brown ; forehead, chin, throat, and under parts white, except a sharply defined reddish brown chest band ; belly often barred or spotted with brownish ; tail a brownish gray, crossed by 9 or 10 narrow dusky bands. Adult Female: Similar to male, but chest band grayish brown instead of reddish brown. Melanistic Phase: Both sexes uniform rusty black ; many gradations are found between this black phase and the normal plumage. Young: Tail as in adult ; upper parts sooty brown, varied with yellow- brown ; under parts and head streaked brown and black. Geographical Distribution: From the arctic regions to South America, from the Pacific to the Eastern States. California Breeding Range: San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys, and the San Diegan district. Breeding Season: May. BIRDS OF PREY 151 West: Made of sticks, sagebrush, and leaves; lined with green leaves and plant fibre ; from 20 to 50 feet high in trees, sometimes in bushes, sometimes on the ground, sometimes on ledges of rocky cliffs. Hogs: 1 to 4; pale greenish buffy, lightly spotted with shades of brown. Size 2.21 x 1.70. THRovGHOOT the interior valleys of California, Swain- son’s Hawk is a common spring and summer visitant, and one whose full value is not yet so well known as it should be. Pocket gophers, ground squirrels, insects, trict, and no one can com- pute the benefit that accrues to the farmer from the breed- ing of these hawks on or near theirland. Par- = ticularly is this ““". trueofasandy “> \ barren soil »—\ where gopher ~ burrows are «~*~ SB numerous. Dozens of the hawks fly down to the go- pher colony, just at dusk, and take up their stand at the entrances of the bur- rows, where they wait patiently and silently until the prey appears. It never escapes them. If there are young hawks in the nest, the victim will be carried to them; if not, it will usually be eaten at the perch nearest to the hunting ground, In either case, back comes the hawk for a 342. Swarnson Hawk. “ Wait silently until the prey appears.” 152 LAND BIRDS second and a third course in surprisingly few minutes. Anyone who cares to watch will probably find that sixty gophers to each dozen hawks each day, besides countless insects and grasshoppers, is a fair estimate. Small birds they do not harm. If any proof of this were needed, the song birds themselves furnish it every season by building their nests fearlessly in the same tree, and not seldom within ten inches of that of the hawk. Arkansas king- birds, shrikes, and bullock orioles have all been found, by Captain Bendire, rearing their young close to the young hawks, and a veritably happy family they are. The hawk’s nest is large and slovenly, a mere platform of sticks, placed indiscriminately in a low bush or a tall tree, and lined with green leaves and corn husks. Equally indifferent is he as to the location; for he is content on a grassy prairie where there are few trees, or in the timbered districts. The only requirements for his home seem to be food and water, — the last for bathing as well as drinking, for, like all birds of prey, Swain- son’s Hawk is an enthusiastic splasher. Early every morning he flies down to his favorite pond or stream, and sends a shower of sparkling drops in every direction. It is a very wet, bedragegled-looking bird that, a few moments later, flies up to a sunny perch to shake him- self and preen his feathers. His hunting is mostly done on the ground; after his young are fledged, you may see them jumping with raised wings through the grass in brisk pursuit of crickets and grasshoppers. This they learn to do by imitating the par- ent, and it is probably their first lesson in pursuing prey. BIRDS OF PREY 153 In the nest, they are fed upon small mammals and, even before their down has changed to feathers, they will tear their food with all the ferocity of a young puppy. The adults arrive from the South about the middle of March; by the middle of April they have constructed their nest and are brooding their two or three eggs. Incubation requires twenty to twenty-two days, and the young remain in the nest from four to five weeks. One authority says eight, but this is a longer time than any of my own records show, and is, I believe, unusual. In flight, sevaznsont seems a trifle clumsy as he rises from the ground with a good-sized gopher in his claws; but, as he swings into full headway, you realize that, like all his family, he is both swift and graceful on the wing. 348. FERRUGINOUS ROUGH-LEG. — Archibuteo ferrugineus. Famity : The Falcons, Hawks, Eagles, ete. Length: Male 22.50; female 24.00. Adults, Normal Phase: Upper parts and flanks bright rufous; under parts white, lightly streaked with brown ; tail white, tinged with rufous and sometimes banded with dark. Adult, Melanistic Phase: Upper parts dark brown marked with rusty; under parts dull rufous. Young: Upper parts grayish brown, feathers edged with rusty ; tail white at upper third ; rest brownish, banded with dark. Geographical Distribution : From Dakota and Texas to Pacific. Breeding Range: In California, the interior, west of the Sierra Nevada from Sacramento to San Diego. Breeding Season: April and May. Nest: Of sticks ; lined with leaves, grass, and rootlets. Eggs: 2 to 5; greenish buffy, marked with shades of brown and purple. Size 2.48 < 1.91. THIS species is variously known as “ Rough-legged Buzzard,” “California Squirrel-Hawk,” or “ Prairie 154 LAND BIRDS Eagle.” It frequents the prairies and desert plains, and, unlike others of its family, cares little to be near water. Its food is small mammals and reptiles, seldom birds, and it is one of the few species that the law should protect. In hunting, it flies low over the fields, carrying its food to a low perch to devour at its leisure. Late in the afternoon it may be seen circling gracefully high in the air; at such times it appears not unlike the golden eagle, which doubtless accounts for its nickname, Prairie Eagle. It makes no attempt to defend its nest when molested by men, but flies away with scarcely a protest. Incubation is complete in twenty-eight days, the young remaining in the nest six to eight weeks. This difference in time is the difference between a cold and a warm climate, the young of the former maturing less rapidly. 349. GOLDEN EAGLE. — Aquila chrysaétos. Famity: The Falcons, Hawks, Eagles, etc. Length: Male 30.00-35.00 ; female 35.00-40.00. Adulis: Entire plumage dark brown; the lanceolate feathers of high neck and the feathers of tarsus golden brown ; tail blackish, irregu- larly barred with dark gray. + Young : Similar to adult, but upper half of the tail plain white. Downy Young: Gravish white, grayer beneath. Geographical Distribution: Northern portions of the northern hemi- sphere, chiefly in mountainous regions. Breeding Range: Throughout its habitat, the mountainous regions of California. Breeding Season: February, March, and April. Nest : Bulky, sometimes 4 feet deep and 5 feet in diameter ; of sticks, lined with straw, leaves, hair, or feathers ; usually placed in trees on a steep mountain side, BIRDS OF PREY 155 Eggs: 2 or 3: whitish, marked with heavy blotches, spots, and specks of brown, lilac, and gray, most abundant at the longer end. Size 2.96 X 2.97. Tue Golden Eagle is by no means a rare bird in Cal- ifornia. He breeds in the mountains of Santa Cruz County and at many other localities throughout the State. Fortunately, the nest is usually placed in such an inaccessible location as seldom to fall a victim to collectors. It is a large structure, nearly five feet in diameter and several feet deep, lined with stubble, grass, and leafy twigs, and placed in the top of a sycamore, pine, or oak, overhanging a rocky cafion. The two eggs vary from unmarked white to heavily marked with red, brown, and purple. Three and a half weeks are required for incubation, and the young remain in the nest nearly six weeks after they are hatched, so that, although the eggs may be laid in March, the first of June often finds young in the nest. A pair whose record I have, began sitting March 26, and the young were newly hatched April 22. On June 14 they were still in the nest, but June 16 both had left. This nest was in a live-oak on the crest of a ridge in Santa Clara County, and had been built new that year. Rabbits, grouse, and many small quadrupeds were carried to the nest, as well as several good-sized snakes. I saw no lambs, fawns, or fish, but several times the male brought what looked to be young foxes or coyotes. Meal-time came twice or three times a day, never oftener. This pair hunted together, leaving the young unguarded hour after hour, but I believe they were always kept in range of the mother’s keen eye, however far away she seemed to be. Early in the morn- 156 LAND BIRDS ing both plunged into the brook for a bath, and emerged with every feather limp and dripping, to shake violently and preen for half an hour. Then the plumage shone with a tinge of tawny-gold in the sunlight, and the glorious bird seemed worthy his name. 352, BALD EAGLE. — Haliwetus leucocephalus. Famity : The Falcons, Hawks, Eagles, etc. Length: Male 30.00-35.00; female 34.00-48.00 ; extent 7 feet. Adults: Head, neck, rump, and tail white; rest of plumage sooty brown. : Young: First year, black ; second and third years, mixed black and white, gray and brown ; head and neck black. Downy Young: Uniform sooty gray. Geographical Distribution: United States and Mexico. 2 California Breeding Range: Among the Santa Barbara Islands and locally along the coast. Breeding Season: December to April. Nest: Very bulky; made of sticks and lined with rootlets, or rock moss ; in trees from 20 to 90 feet up, or on cliffs. Same nest is occu- pied year after year. Eggs: 2; ivory white, unmarked except by nest stain. Size 2.51 x 1.94. “« HERE he is again. Here’s Old White-head robbing the fish hawk.’ I started from the fire and ran out to look. The hawk had risen from the lake with a big fish, and was doing his best to get away to his nest, where his young ones were clamoring. Over him soared the eagle, still as fate, and as sure, now dropping to flap a wing in his face or touch him gently with his great talons, as if to say, ‘Do you feel that? If I grip once, it will be the end of you and your fish together. Better drop him peacefully; you can catch another. BIRDS OF PREY 157 Drop him, T say!’ Up to that moment the eagle had merely bothered the big hawk’s flight with a gentle reminder that he wanted the fish, which he could not catch himself. Now there was a change, a flash of the kingly temper. With a roar of wings he whirled round the hawk like a tempest. But the hawk knew when to stop. With a cry of rage he dropped his fish. On the instant the eagle whirled and bent his head sharply. I had seen him fold wings and drop before, and had held my breath at the speed. But dropping was of no use now, for the fish fell faster. Instead, he swooped down- ward, adding to the weight of his fall the push of his strong wings, and glancing down like a bolt to catch the fish ere it struck the water, then rising again in a great curve — up and away, steadily, evenly, as the king should fly, to his own little ones far away on the moun- tain. . . . One day, when I came to the little thicket on the cliff where I used to lie and watch the nest through my glass, I found that one of the young eaglets was gone. The other stood on the edge of the nest, looking down fearfully into the abyss whither, no doubt, his bolder nest-mate had flown, and calling disconsolately from time to time. His whole attitude showed plainly that he was hungry, cross, and lonesome. Presently the mother eagle came swiftly up from the valley, and there was food in her talons. She came to the edge of the nest, hovered over it a moment, so as to give the hungry eaglet a sight and smell of food, then went slowly down to the valley taking the food with her, telling the little one in her own way to come and he should have it. He 158 LAND BIRDS called after her loudly and spread his wings a dozen times to follow. But the plunge was too awful; he settled back in the nest, pulled his head down into his shoulders, shut his eyes, and tried to forget he was hungry. The meaning was plain enough. She was try- ing to teach him to fly, but he was afraid.” ! 356. DUCK HAWK. — Falco peregrinus anatum. Famity: The Falcons, Hawks, Eagles, ete. Length: Male 15.50-18.00 ; female 18.00-20.00. Adults: Top of head sooty black, sides of head and neck blackish, in sharp contrast to white throat; rest of upper parts ‘slate-color ; lighter on the rump, dimly barred with blackish ; under parts except throat and breast deep buff, spotted or barred with blackish ; tail black, barred with light gray and tipped with white. Young: Upper parts blackish, feathers edged with rusty ; under parts chestnut, heavily streaked with dark. Geographical Distribution: America, south to Chili. In California, occurs coastwise. California Breeding Range: Breeds locally in the mountainous regions as far south as latitude 36°. Breeding Season: March and April. Nest: On a narrow edge of a cliff; a few sticks to keep the eggs from rolling off. Eggs: 3 or 4; creamy, tinged with brown, spotted and blotched with shades of brown. Size 2.10 X 1.68. “THis species,” says Mr. F. M. Chapman, “is the noble peregrine of falconry. It would be difficult to imagine a bird more highly endowed with the qualities which make the ideal bird of prey. Its strength of wing and talon is equalled by its courage. No bird flies more swiftly than the Duck Hawk. Even teal, those winged bullets, cannot escape it. No bird is more daring. I . 1 W. J. Long in ‘‘School of the Woods.” BIRDS OF PREY 159 have had Duck Hawks dart down to rob me of wounded snipe lying almost at my feet, nor did my ineffectual shots prevent them from returning.” There is little to be said in favor of this relentless persecutor of water-fowl, shore birds, and song birds. Solitary in habit except at the breeding season, it fears no bird of its kind except the marsh hawk and the prairie falcon. These two wage unceasing warfare on it when it becomes conspicuous about their hunting grounds, which it never does willingly. Its nest is made on an inaccessible cliff, or in a high tree away from all its kind. From the hour they emerge from the shell, the young are taught to devour anything in feathers brought to them ; and when they hunt for themselves, feathered game is the only food they know. When the first wave of migration starts southward in the fall, the Duck Hawks are close behind, easily overtaking any stragglers or weak ones, and, if necessary, pursuing the swift, strong fliers of twice their size and weight. So every flock of coastwise migrating birds, particularly those classed as water-fowl, has one or more of these fierce birds of prey in its wake, and its numbers are constantly decimated to furnish food for its pursuers. 357. PIGEON HAWK. — Falco columbarius. Famity: The Falcons, Hawks, Eagles, etc. Length : Male 10.00-11.00 ; female 12.50-13.25. Adult Male: Upper parts slate-color, streaked with black ; wing-quills black, inner web spotted ; under parts and hind-neck buffy, nearly white on throat ; streaked on breast, sides, and belly with dark; middle tail-feathers barred with blackish and light gray. 160 LAND BIRDS Adult Female: Top and sides of the head streaked black and brown 3 back, wing, and tail brownish ; under parts whitish or buffy. Young: Like female, but darker; tail brown, with three or four white bands. Geographical Distribution: Whoie of North America, chiefly north of the United States ; south in winter to Northern South America. Breeding Range: From Mackenzie River region down to Washington and Oregon. Breeding Season: May. Nest : On ledges of cliffs or in hollow trees ; made of sticks or grass, and lined with feathers. Eggs: 4 or 5; ground color cinnamon, covered with large indistinct rust-colored blotches. Size 1.59 X 1.24. THE Pigeon Hawk is one of the trimmest and-hand- somest of its family, and is tolerated in spite of its bird- eating habits. It is not at all shy, and may be seen feeding in the open country or on the edge of timber land or along the shores. -Its food consists of small birds, pigeons, flickers, blackbirds, orioles, mice, and gophers. Like the duck hawk, it follows birds in mi- gration to eat stragglers. Its favorite victims are gallina- ceous birds, but it also devours many of our familiar friends among the song birds. This may be one cause for the habit of migrating at night. It nests largely north of latitude 40°, and in Northern California it begins to build early in April. The nest is only a rude platform of sticks, scantily lined with feath- ers, and placed in the crevices of a cliff, or in a hollow tree, or high among branches of trees; one observer has found it occupying a space between the rafters of a de- serted miner’s cabin. It is most common throughout California in the winter months, when it comes into the interior valleys from the colder districts and remains until the early spring. BIRDS OF PREY 161 360a. DESERT SPARROW HAWK. — Falco sparverius deserticola. Famuty: The Falcons, Hawks, Eagles, ete. Length: Male 9.00-11.00 ; female 10.00-12.50. Adults: Top of head pale grayish brown, usually with rufons crown- patch; back light reddish brown, with or without black spots ; wings all grayish brown ; tail reddish brown, with dark band ; under parts whitish to buff, with or without brownish spots. Young: Similar to adults, but colors more blended. Geographical Distribution: Western’ United States and British Columbia, south to Guatemala. Breeding Range: Wherever resident throughout the State of California. Breeding Season: April. Nest: In holes, usually in dead trees. Eggs: 2 to 5; white, marked with shades of brown. Size 1.36 X 1.12. Next to the marsh hawk, the handsome little Sparrow - Hawk is the one oftenest met with in California. From his lookout on a dead tree at the edge of the meadow, he watches for his prey. A slight movement in the grass, and out he flies, poises over the spot like a king- fisher over the water or a humming-bird at a flower tube, then swiftly he drops with feet extended, strikes the moving object, and rises with it in his talons. If he has neither mate nor young in the nest, he carries the tidbit to his dead-tree perch and eats it himself. But when his home, in an old stump near.by, is filled with hungry nestlings, he flies directly to it with every morsel he picks up. Sometimes it is a field mouse, sometimes grasshoppers, lizards, or frogs, and sometimes, alas ! small birds. Although so small, he has the courage of his race, and often captures prey at least twice his own weight, man- 1 162 LAND BIRDS aging in some way to convey it to a perch before eating. Of man-he has little fear, building his nest in a tree near to human habitation, and paying little attention to any- thing but his own hunting. His call is a sharp, high “ killy-killy-killy,” uttered as he flies over his prey, and has given him the nickname of “ Killy Hawk.” He is also called “Mouse Hawk ” in some sections, from his habit of preying upon field mice. Early in April the Sparrow Hawk looks about for a place in which to set up housekeeping. Sometimes it is an old magpie’s nest that pleases him best, sometimes a kingfisher’s hole in the bank of a river, sometimes a snug crevice in a wall of rock, but usually he chooses the deserted excavation of a woodpecker, or a natural cavity in a sycamore tree. No nest is made, but on the. unlined surface of the cavity the four or five speckled eggs are laid. Incubation lasts twenty-three to twenty- six days, and the young remain six weeks in the nest. For the first week the nestlings are fed exclusively on insects ; after that, insects predominate in the nursery menu, although mice are brought several times a day. After leaving the nest they are fed in the tree, for a week or so, before they try to hunt for themselves. The first lesson is very interesting to watch. One of the adults brings a bit of food to the youngster, who is sit- ting on the perch where for several days he has been fed, and instead of giving it to him, lets it fall in full view, at the same time calling “ killy-killy-killy.” In nearly every case the young hawk springs after it with- out hesitation the first time this is tried, and he often BIRDS OF PREY 163 gets it. The mother is beside, over, and under him as he drops for it, encouraging him with her calls, and he soon responds with a little cry of unmistakable triumph. But he is not allowed to eat it on the ground, as he would like to do. An imperative call from the adult makes the young hunter exert his strength and follow to the nearest low perch before he tastes it. You watch and wonder at the instinct that prompts such skilful training, and the longer you watch the more there is to see. 364. FISH HAWK, OR AMERICAN OSPREY. — Pandion haliaétus carolinensis. Famity : The Falcons, Hawks, Eagles, etc. Length: 20.75-25.00. Adult Male: Head, neck, and under parts white; a broad black line from bill through eye ; top of head, and nape sometimes streaked with blackish ; a few light brown spots on the breast; back of wings and tail dark gray-brown, the latter banded with black and tipped with white. Adult Female: Similar, but upper breast distinctly spotted with brown. Young: Upper parts dusky brown, each feather tipped with white or buffy ; rest of plumage like that of adults. Downy Young: Dull sooty grayish above, with broad white stripe down the middle of the back, and a dark stripe on the sides of the head ; crown striped white and dark; under parts whitish, washed with brown on the chest. Geographical Distribution : Temperate and tropical America, north to Hudson Bay and Alaska. Breeding Range: Santa Barbara Islands, and locally along the entire sea- coast and on some of the inland lakes. Breeding Season: April and May. Nest : Bulky ; of sticks ; on trees near water. Logs: 2to 4; buffy white or deep buff, spotted with shades of brown and purplish gray. Size 2.44 X 1.81. WHEREVER there are fish there are pretty sure to be fishermen and Fish Hawks. Right good comrades are 164 LAND BIRDS these two, neither one grudging the other his fine catch, and the more skilful the fishing the greater the admira- tion for the fisher, be he man or bird. On bold, free wings the Osprey comes swinging over the lake in the cool of the morning, and his clear whistle gives you “Good hunting” before he fairly comes into sight. Down he dives with wings folded. There is a splash of silver spray and he rises triumphant, with a fish held lengthwise in his talons, and flies swiftly back to his nest. It is quite likely to be in that tall tree across the lake that has been his home for years. It is said that each fall, before leaving it, he carefully repairs it with fresh sticks, so that spring finds it ready for him. To make it in the first place was an arduous task, for it is a bulky platform of strong sticks, surmounted and inter- woven with smaller ones and carefully lined with leaves, moss, or soft vegetable fibre. Now the Osprey never alights on the ground when it is possible to avoid doing so; his method of obtaining these sticks is similar, though on a larger scale, to that by which the little chimney- swift gets his, — that is, by breaking them from the tree. But the Osprey does this with his feet, while the swift uses his bill. The former swoops down upon a dead twig with such force as to snap it off, sometimes with a loud crack, and flies with it to the chosen nesting-site. Some of these twigs are four feet long, and several efforts are necessary to break them. If he has the misfortune to drop one en route, he will not pick it up again, but with renewed energy will break off another. Hundreds of these twigs must be brought to fashion his strong nest, BIRDS OF PREY 165 and it is small wonder he uses it year after year. As in the building of a home, so in the choice of a mate, the Osprey acts once for all; the pair remain together throughout the years, together making the long trip south, as do the loons. When the leaves on the trees are the size of a mouse’s ear, the Fish Hawk lays her three characteristic eggs and begins to brood. In a little more than two weeks downy nestlings stretch up their pretty heads for food, and both parents are kept busy supplying the demand. Small fish are carried con- stantly to the nest, the heads, bones, and fins being thrown to the ground and the soft parts given to the young. As the young emerge from the downy state to the dignity of feathers, they begin to sit up cautiously on the edge of the nest and call with short, sharp, impatient whistles for their food. This the parent answers with a clear, cheery whistle, as he rises from the water, and when he nears the nest the calls of both grow very quick and excited. It is a charming bit of home life, well worth some discomfort to watch. When the young are fully feathered and strong, — at about four weeks old, — their training in fishing begins. They are taken to the water and, by repeated trials, learn to dive and strike their fish. Sometimes it is learned the first day, and sometimes several lessons must be given, but the end is the same, — the nestling is forced to catch his own dinner, or go hungry. Among the twigs of the large nest small birds fre- quently make their home unmolested. I have known wrens to do this, and there are other well-authenticated 166 LAND BIRDS records of purple grackle, jays, and tree swallows nesting beneath the bulky platform, thus attesting their faith in the friendly attitude of their carnivorous neighbor. 365. AMERICAN BARN OWL. — Strix pratincola. Famity: The Barn Owls. Length: 18.00. i Adults: Upper parts mottled gray and tawny, finely streaked with black and white ; face white to light brown; under parts white to tawny, with triangular spots of black or dark brown ; wings and tail tawny, barred with black. Geographical Distribution: United 'States generally, south to Mexico. California Breeding Range: Suitable localities in the latitude of the State of Sonora, in the northwest of Mexico. Breeding Season : April 1 to June 30. Nest: In holes in the ground, holes in river banks, hollow trees, old crow’s nests, barns, belfry towers, etc. The nests are scantily made, with a few sticks, straw, bones, and other refuse. Eggs: 5to 8; plain, dead white. Size 1.72 & 1.35. WHEN the sun sinks behind the oak trees and the shadows creep over the valleys, the Barn Owl hurries to the nearest meadow or marsh land on a hunting trip. If it has young at home in the nest, its flight will be swift and noiseless, as it crosses the intervening fields at short intervals, carrying mice, gophers, and ground squirrels. Nine mice form a meal for the brood, and sixteen mice have been carried to the nest in twenty-five minutes, besides three gophers, a squirrel, and a good-sized rat. Early in April the Barn Owl begins its nesting, laying one white egg every other day until there are from five to ten or eleven hidden in an old crow’s nest, or in a hollow tree, or even ina hole ina bank. The cares of incubation are shared by both birds, and last from three BIRDS OF PREY 167 to three and a half weeks. Mr. Bendire says it is not unusual for the last eggs to hatch two weeks after the first. The young owls are covered with a whitish gray or brown cottony down, and have the hooked bill and talons of the adults. They stay in the nest until seven weeks old. At four weeks old, a young Barn Owl will tear a gopher as fiercely as an adult, swallowing it fur and all. The noise of a family of these hungry young birds in a tree can be compared to nothing, for it is like nothing else. As soon as they discover, by some occult sense, that the adult is on the way home with supper, the hissing and shrieking begin, and are kept up all night long. When the nestlings are seven or eight weeks old, the first lesson in hunting is given early in the evening, and the young owls flit about with the adults on noiseless wings like roly-poly bats. They soon learn to imitate the ludicrous attitude of the parent as, bolt upright, with half-closed eyelids, it blinks at the daylight, looking as wise as a sage and as comical as a monkey. Except in the breeding season these owls are gre- garious, and an old belfry is often the home of from ten to twenty inhabitants. Besides its screech, the Barn Owl has a nasal snore. 168 LAND BIRDS 366. AMERICAN LONG-EARED OWL. — Asvo wilsonianus. Famity: The Homed Owls and Hoot Owls. Length: 14.80. Adults : Conspicuous brown ear-tufts an inch or more in length ; face tawny; upper parts mottled tawny, black, and ashy; wings and tail barred ; under parts mottled buffy and white, the breast broadly streaked, the sides and belly irregularly barred with brown ; flanks tawny unspotted. Geographical Distribution : Temperate North America. California Breeding Range: Suitable localities in the interior valleys. Breeding Season: In California, from February 15 to May 15. Nest: Occasionally an old magpie’s nest ; sometimes in hollow trees, cavities in rocks, old crow’s or hawk’s nests. Eggs: 3to6; white. Size 1.62 * 1.32. Tue American Long-eared Owl breeds in the interior valleys and foot-hills, haunting the lower range of co- niferous timber. Unlike the short-eared owl, it never hunts in the daytime ; it is rarely found in the open, but hides through the sunny hours in the shade of the thick woods. It is not shy, and trusts to protective coloring rather than to flight. When discovered, “it sits upright, draws the feathers close to the body, and erects the ear-tufts, resembling in appearance a piece of weather-beaten bark more than a bird.” In flight it is swift and noiseless, and flits about on moonlight nights like a huge black shadow. It has a habit of always fiying to the same tree to devour its food, of taking a nap afterwards, and on awakening, of ejecting the undigested portions of food in little wads, which may be found in heaps under the tree. This is a curious performance ; the bird yawns once or BIRDS OF PREY 169 twice, and then shakes its head violently sidewise till the pellet is dislodged from its throat. During the nesting season the male bird is exceedingly devoted to his mate, frequently occupying the nest with her or sitting on a branch of the same tree in close prox- imity. The incubation requires three weeks ; the young stay in the nest about five weeks and afterwards hide in the trees, not catching their own food until eight or nine weeks old. Major Bendire describes the nest of a pair of these owls less than two feet above an excavation occupied by a family of flickers. The owls were late in nesting, it being a second or third brood, and the families were reared at the same time, neither apparently paying any attention to the other. As the young of these owls keep up a constant calling for food all night long, this brood doubtless disturbed the slumbers of the young flickers. Their note is a low, not unmusical, whistling call, but during the breeding season they hoot like screech owls. 367, SHORT-EARED OWL. — Asio accipitrinus. Famity - The Horned Owls and Hoot Owls. Length: 15.50. Adults: Ear-tufts conspicuous ; a blackening around the eye, and con- spicuous white eyebrow ; plumage tawny to buff, heavily streaked with dark brown ; wings and tail broadly and irregularly barred with dark brown and tawny. Young: Above dark brown ; under parts grayish buffy ; face brownish black. Geographical Distribution : Western hemisphere ; common winter visit- ant in California, some remaining through the summer. Breeding Range: In California, breeds sparingly on certain coast marshes. : 170 LAND BIRDS Breeding Season: March 15 to May 15. Nest: A few sticks ; lined with grasses and feathers; placed on the ground in the long grass of the meadow, or at the foot of a bush, or beside a log, or in a rabbit burrow. Lggs: 4t06; white. Size 1.56 X 1.19. Tux habits of the Short-eared Owl differ so greatly from those of the rest of its family that it is sometimes called the Marsh Owl. It is rarely seen in a tree, and never in the dense woods. On bright days it sits con- cealed in the long grass of a marsh; but at dusk or in cloudy weather it can be found hunting its food over the low, wet meadows. In California it breeds on the coast marshes and islands, making its nest on the ground and lining it with feathers from its own body. Incubation lasts nearly four weeks. The young are more fully feathered when hatched than most young owls. They soon flutter about in the grass with their parents, sitting patiently beside a marsh rat’s run, or chasing grasshoppers with awkward fluttering hops. The adult, although it usually flies low over the marshes, may be seen during the breeding season flying quite high in the air and uttering a shrill, high, yelp- ing call. The food of these owls consists mostly of mice and quadrupeds, but they are very fond of terns, which they pursue through the open, and which, being the better fliers, usually make good their escape. They are emi- nently gregarious, remaining in flocks and colonies of several hundred, BIRDS OF PREY 171 373c. CALIFORNIA SCREECH OWL. — Megascops asio bendiret. Famity: The Horned Owls and Hoot Owls. Length: 10.00. Adults: Ear-tufts conspicuous, about an inch in length; upper parts brownish gray, heavily streaked with black or dusky; under parts grayish, with heavy streaks and indistinct cross lines of black. Young: Plumage barred grayish and whitish. Downy Young : Covered with a pure white cottony down. Geographical Distribution: Throughout California. Breeding Range: In wooded districts throughout the State. Breeding Season: March to June. Nest: A cavity in a tree, usually oak or cottonwood. Eggs: 3 or 4; white. Size 1.40 X 1.17. Tus bird may be known by its small size and con- spicuous ear-tufts. It breeds commonly throughout California. On June 15 one was seen going into a red-shafted flicker excavation, eighteen feet from the ground, in an old stump near Santa Cruz. An investi- gation showed five eggs, three of which were the flicker’s. The Owl had evidently driven off the flicker and taken possession of the nest, and was brooding all the eggs indiscriminately. Curious to know how it would come out, I hired a boy to watch it. On June 17 the flicker eggs evidently had hatched, for every trace of their con- tents had disappeared, but the Owl’s eggs were still there. Seven days later they hatched, and two funny Owlets thickly covered with white down were the result. In order to look at them it was necessary to drive the mother from the cavity by rapping on the tree with a heavy rod, and even then she would not readily go. All 172 LAND BIRDS the feeding of the young was done at night, and each morning witnessed a fresh heap of debris under the nest- hole, as well as in the nest itself. This habit of leaving all the remains of undigested food heaped just outside the burrow seems to me particularly stupid, but I have found it the case with burrowing owls also. Most birds are careful to remove all trace from the vicinity, in order not to betray the nesting place, as well as for cleanliness. The parent Owls were remarkably silent when at the nest tree, uttering no sound beyond an occasional odd chuck when one arrived with food for the young before the other had left it. After careful observation, we decided that the young were fed upon insects at first, and afterwards upon mice. The adults came and went every half-hour during the evening, and our presence so near did not seem to bother them in the least. One of them usually sat on the stump, pending the absence of the other, but not infrequently both left at the same time. The young Owls remained in the nest tree eight weeks, and then, one day, were seen sitting side by side among the thick foliage of a neighboring oak. This species is strictly nocturnal in habits, and is one of the most important aids ‘to the farmer in ridding him of mice and insects, though song birds and sparrows are also among its victims. Like most birds of prey, it is fond-of bathing, and may be found just at dusk or dawn in a quiet corner of a small brook or pond, splashing and ducking energetically with evident enjoyment. I have watched one shake himself after such a bath until his mandibles rattled like castanets, and a funnier sight I BIRDS OF PREY 173 fever saw. ‘Then every feather was carefully combed out with the point of the bill until it felt comfortable and lay well in its place. For birds so untidy in the care of their nest, these Owls are surprisingly particular about their own toilet. 375d. PACIFIC HORNED OWL. — Bubo virginianus pacificus. Famity : The Horned Owls and Hoot Owls. Length : About 16.00 to 18.00. Adults: Upper parts grayish, mottled with buff and darker; under parts heavily mottled light and dark grayish. Geographical Distribution: The wood regions west and south of the humid coast belt, almost throughout the State. Breeding Range: Same as Geographical Distribution. Breeding Season : February, March, and April. Nest: In hollow trees ; 30 to 50 feet from the ground. Liggs: 3; white. Amonce the tall redwood timber about Rowardennan, the hooting of a chorus of Horned Owls’ at dusk is a weird, ghostly sound. The theory has been advanced that the call of the owl is a means of terrifying the small animals, which, by their excitement, would reveal their presence to the keen ears of the soft-winged hunter. But this is not always the case, for those six or eight Horned Owls which congregated each night in the trees close together, and made the moonlight hours vocal with their uncanny notes, evidently did so from the mere joy of too-hooing. The effect in itself was bad enough, but when one thought of the timid little wood creatures trembling in their nests from terror at the sound, one 174 LAND BIRDS longed to wring the necks of the ghostly choir and end their music forever. Yet, when a friend offered the same result with a gun, the relief was declined. The next day when we found many despoiled nests and I was told that these same Owls were the ravagers, I regretted my clemency. This species breeds .more or less abundantly through- out the redwood district and in most of the mountainous regions of the State. So early in the year do they com- mence their cares that January sometimes finds young in the nest. The only pair with whose domestic arrange- ments I ever attempted to interfere had domiciled themselves in a hollow tree, where, although at a distance of thirty or more feet from the ground, it was accessible from a ledge near by. All dreams of watching the young develop were rudely dispelled the first time an attempt was made to pry into the nest hole. The prier escaped with one finger badly damaged and nerves some- what shaken, never again to meddle with that Bubo household. The incubation lasted four weeks, and then we knew by the squeaking cries and hisses that issued from the nest, as well as by seeing the adults carry food, that the young were hatched. From that time on for nearly eleven weeks the devoted parents foraged for the brood, bringing food constantly, and never once did those small Owls venture to peep out of the hole in the daytime. Just at dusk we could hear them scrambling about and practising little “ too-hoos,” and fancied that we could see a head or two in the doorway. The adults roosted BIRDS OF PREY 175 outside during the day, bringing food by sunshine or moonlight as it happened. Tn Santa Cruz County the food of this species consists, I am sorry to say, oftener of poultry and song birds than of mammals, though squirrels, chipmunks, and lizards are among its victims. In other parts of the State, under different conditions, it is said to prefer rodents and to be of value to the farmers. 378. BURROWING OWL. — Speotyto cunicularia hypogea. Famity: The Horned Owls and Hoot Owls. Length: 9.00-11.00. Adults: Upper parts brownish, mottled with white and tawny ; under parts tawny to buff, barred with brown. Young: Upper parts uniform brown, except darker bars on wing and tail; under parts plain tawny. Geographical Distribution : From the Pacific, east to Dakota and Texas. Breeding Range: Same as Geographical Distribution. Breeding Season: In California, April to June. Nest: In a burrow of prairie dog, or rabbit, or badger, or gopher. Eggs: 6 to 11; glossy white. Size 1.24 < 1.03. OnE of the commonest sights throughout California is a pair of these little Owls sitting side by side at the entrance to their burrow, sunning themselves, or perched on a fence post or low stump, blinking wisely at the passer-by. They are numerous on the drive from San Diego to Tia Juana, and are scarcely less interesting to the Easterner than is the far-famed road-rumer. In vicinities where the prairie dog abounds, many fairy stories are told of how he shares his home with the owls and with the rattlesnakes, but I believe there is no grain 176 LAND BIRDS of truth in them. The owls hunt among the burrows for young mammals, and the offspring of the “dogs” are doubtless a choice tidbit; the snakes crawl from hole to hole for the same purpose, but include owl eggs and nestlings in their menu. So far as I have been able to observe, the “dogs” are in terror from both, but the 378. Burrowine OwL. “ They converse in soft love notes.”’ sudden advent of a human intruder causes the three enemies to pop suddenly down the same hole with surprising unanimity. Usually one may find the Owls sitting at the doorway of their own nest-burrow, which may be the excavation of some badger or prairie dog whose claim they have “jumped.” If the young Owls are old enough, they will be there also in the family circle, but at sight of a BIRDS OF PREY 177 human visitor they will scramble into the hole and hide, leaving the adults to fool him by flying away. If, how- ever, only the adult birds are outside and there are eggs or young in the nest, the result is quite different. Their antics as they watch a person approaching from a dis- tance of, say, fifty yards, are comical enough. They straighten up and duck excitedly, exactly as a tiny chicken makes a show of his fighting powers, bending so low that the head nearly touches the ground. Then straightening up again, they turn their wise-looking heads slowly from side to side, as if to see the effect, and duck again. Finally one, presumably the male, decides to fly and the other pops into the burrow. It is of no use to try to coax or drive the mother out. She will seize and bite a stick thrust into the nest, but out she will not come, and the only way to see her is to dig for her. All about the door are heaps of cow or horse dung and wads of hair and bones, and I believe the same usually continues to the end of the burrow. It did in the only one I ever excavated. Incubation begins any time in March, April, or May, and lasts three weeks. Both parents assist, and fre- quently both brood at the same time at the end of the burrow, which is from four to ten feet long. Usually, however, one acts as sentinel at the door. While the courtship of these queer birds lacks the grotesqueness of that of the sage grouse, it has some features no less amusing ; after watching a pair, you will conclude, as I did, that the sofa-pillow caricatures are not far from the truth. Sitting as close together as 12 178 LAND BIRDS possible on top of their chosen burrow, they converse in soft love notes not unlike a far-away “ kow-kow-kow ” of a cuckoo ; at the same time caressing with head rub- bings and billings. Although the Burrowing Owl is more or less shy, it: is not at all difficult to study its habits, and none of the owls are better worth while. Only one thing is needful, patience, — patience to lie flat on your face in the broil- ing sun with field glass glued to your eyes, hour after hour, and, if you are a woman, thoughts of possible lizards or rattlers tormenting your inner consciousness. But the game is worth the candle, as always in nature study. On the Tulare plains you may watch them at any hour of the day hunting grasshoppers, crickets, mice, gophers, squirrels, lizards, and shore larks. You may even see them kill bull snakes that are crawling too near their nest. This war they wage on bull snakes has doubtless given them the reputation of killing rattlers, but I know they are afraid of the latter and scramble away with queer sidewise hops, breaking into flight at the near approach of one. 379. PYGMY OWL. — Glaucidium gnoma. Famity: The Owls. Length: 6.50-7.50. Adults: Upper parts grayish brown or reddish brown or drab; top of head speckled with white ; under parts white, thickly streaked with dark brown ; tail barred with white and blackish ; face encircled by a dusky border. Young: Similar, with head not speckled. Downy Young: Gray, merging to white. BIRDS OF PREY 179 Geographical Distribution: Western North America through the timbered regions, from British Columbia to Mexico; not in the humid coast district. Breeding Range: Throughout its habitat. Breeding Season: Apvil 20 to June 15, est: In deserted woodpeckers’ holes. Leggs: 45; white. THE Pygmy Owl is a tenant of old woodpeckers’ holes all through the San Bernardino Mountains. Early in May it may be seen sitting close beside its mate near the trunk of a pine tree, looking somewhat like a huge pine cone wrong end up. It is a very love-sick wover, and the indifference of petite Madame Owl is, we are all convinced, only feigned. All the soft, purring love notes may come from the throat of the male, but after lying concealed and listening for hours at different times, I felt certain that it was a conversation in which,both took part. The home of this pair was in a charred tree-trunk next to the pine in which they used to sit morning and evening. They were so chubby that it seemed to me the doorway must be too small; but evidently it suited, for on May 20 there were four white eggs in it, and from that time on Madame Owl was a devoted mother. I watched closely but never saw the male go to the nest between 7 A.M. and 5 p.m. As soon as the sun’s brightest rays were gone, he would call softly from the pine, and soon a small brown head appeared in the round doorway. Aftera moment of sleepy winking and blinking at the great sun sinking behind the trees, the head would come farther out of the nest hole, followed by the plump brown body, and the next instant there were two in that old pine tree. It was comical to watch 180 LAND BIRDS her stretch each little leg in its pantalette of feathers and give a few preliminary wing flaps, as if so relieved to be out of that dark hole and into the free air once more. But she is hungry, and soon flits down through the low shrubs to hunt grasshoppers or small lizards, while her mate goes into the nest to brood. He does not always do this, I am told, but in the case of one brood I watched the male took his turn on the eggs each night and morn- ing. I judged him to be a male bird from his trimmer appearance and long absence from home during the day- light hours, which he spent largely in eating. Often he would perch on the top of the nest shrub and fluff out all his feathers in a sun-bath, until he looked like a minia- ture porcupine. This was his favorite place to breakfast also, but I never saw him eat there during the brightest hours of the day. These he spent in the shady depths of the old pine tree. When the young were hatched, — eighteen days after the first eggs were laid,— they were covered with a cottony down of a soft mouse-color, merging to whitish on under parts, the funniest little puff-ball nestlings imaginable, in size not larger than a walnut. Grass- hoppers and various kinds of insects were carried to them by both parents throughout the day. At night the mother remained in the nest while the male hid in the thick foliage of the pine, but with the sun’s first ray both were astir hunting breakfast for the hungry babies. az ce Hance oe 885. Roap-RUNNER Geococeyx califurnianus WITH BROWN PREDOMINATING 181 ZI.—COMMON LAND BIRDS IN COLOR GROUPS WITH BROWN PREDOMINATING IN PLUMAGE 385. ROAD-RUNNER. — Geococcywx californianus. , (Common names: Chaparral Cock ; Ground Cuckoo; Liz- ard Bird.) Famity: The Road-runners, Anis, and Cuckoos. Length : 20.00-24.00. Aduits: Upper parts iridescent blue-black on head, neck, and shoulders ; metallic greenish brown on lower back, tail, and wings; feathers broadly edged with white ; tail-feathers blue-black, broadly tipped with white ; under parts whitish, and throat streaked dull buff and blackish ; naked skin in front of the eye, blue and orange ; feathers of the head and neck stiff and bristly ; tail long and graduated ; four white thumb marks on the under tail-feathers. Geographical Distribution: Texas, New Mexico, Southern California, west through California, south into Mexico. Breeding Range : Throughout its habitat. Breeding Season: March 15 to July 1. Nest: A platform of twigs ; lined with cowhair, leaves, or feathers, or nearly unlined ; variously placed in bushes or trees, from 3 to 8 feet from the ground. Eggs: 2t0 12; buffy white. Size 1.56 & 1.23. . Tue “ Road-runner ” is well named. No matter how long one has lived in California or how familiar one may be with Western birds, the novelty of seeing one of these birds dart out of the chaparral and race down the road ahead of one never loses its charm. “It takes a right smart horse to keep up with him.” Do not expect to overtake him or to win the race. A brisk trot merely keeps you the same distance behind him, and a faster gait only sends him scudding along more rapidly. When 182 LAND BIRDS tired, or if he sees that you are gaining on him, he dodges into the roadside thicket, stopping so suddenly as to go heels (or rather tai’) over head. It is a unique performance, and one never becomes quite used to it. Few birds are more interesting to study, or better repay observation. The Road-runners are common resi- dents of the valleys and desert regions of California, from the Mexican border north to Sacramento valley. In the southern part of the State and in Mexico they are occasionally found at an altitude of five thousand feet, but they prefer the lower range of the cactus- covered plains and foot-hills. Their food consists of insects, land crustacea, small reptiles of all varieties, young birds, and _field-mice. They are popularly believed to destroy rattlesnakes, but Mr. Bendire denies this. At the same time he reports having fourd a garter-snake twenty inches long in the crop of ove of them. A Road-runner killed by Mr. Anthony had just swallowed a large lizard. Un- doubtedly its fondness for lizard diet has given it one of its many nicknames. In habits, the Road-runners are shy, suspicious, and unsocial. Except during the breeding season, I have rarely seen more than one in a neighborhood. Just before rearing their brood, and for some time after, they feed and roost in pairs. In the choice of nesting site and material they are capricious. Of several nests ex- amined, no two were alike. One found in May was in a manzanita bush about four feet from the ground, was lined with rootlets and a few feathers, and contained WITH BROWN PREDOMINATING 183 five eggs. Another in an oak, eight feet from the ground, looked as if it might have been built originally by a jay and relined with a few dried leaves. Several were in clumps of cactus ; and one was within a foot of the ground, on a broken part of a log, well sheltered by bushes, — the bird perhaps having fancied that the log was part of the bush. This nest was quite elaborately constructed of twigs and lined with cow-hair, snake- skin, and feathers interwoven with rootlets. It con- tained, June 3, five young birds, covered with quills. Twenty-four hours later, every feather on three of them had burst its sheath, and they were apparently ready for their début ; but they clung desperately to the nest with their strong feet when an attempt was made to lift them from it. The noise made by the young resembled the click of two pieces of wood—not metal — striking sharply together, and did not fail to bring both parents to the scene. They were very angry, and presented a ludicrous though more or less formidable defence, with bills snapping sharply, wings and head bristling, and long tail wagging. But they preferred discretion to valor, and on being pursued slunk away swiftly after the manner of cuckoos. In Southern California the Road-runners begin nesting in March, and eggs are found late in June; hence we may infer that in some instances even three broods are raised in a single season. I believe, however, that this is true only when an accident destroys the eggs or young of the earlier broods. The Mexicans insist that the pairs remain united throughout the entire year; but I 184 LAND BIRDS doubt if there is good scientific authority for such a statement, and, like the rattlesnake story, it should be taken with a grain of allowance. Although so shy, these birds are very inquisitive, often coming close to human habitations for apparently no other reason than to satisfy their curiosity. A ranchinan told me about a Road-runner that carried off a bright red ribbon half a yard long, which he had picked up in the road, running as fast as his swift legs could carry him with the ribbon fluttering behind him like a flag. Nor do I doubt this, after having seen a very amusing comedy played by one of these birds. The sole actor was a handsome cock, who was jumping back- ward and forward over a clump of sagebrush at least eight times in succession, each time leaping higher than before. At first I thought it was some sort of love- dance; but no female was in sight. Then I fancied he might be killing some enemy, he seemed so excited. But the passage of a horseman startled him, and away he ran on a merry race, with nothing in his beak. There was no trace of anything on the ground by the time I could cross the thirty yards’ distance to investigate. The usual note of the Road-runner is a modification of the “kow-kow-kow ” of the yellow-billed cuckoo into a softer ‘‘ coo-coo-coo,” which some one has likened to the “coo” of a mourning dove; but this is varied by the chuckling notes I have heard a crow utter when talking to himself, and it occasionally degenerates into a cackle. WITH BROWN PREDOMINATING 185 387a. CALIFORNIA CUCKOO. — Coccyzus americanus occidentalis. Famity : The Road-runners and Cuckoos. Length : 13.00, Adults: Upper parts grayish brown, slightly glossed with greenish ; under parts white, tinged with gray on chest ; lower mandible yellow ; tail with broad white thumb-marks on the tips ; middle tail-feathers brown, tipped with black ; remainder iridescent blue-black. Young : Similar to adults, but duller. Geographical Distribution : Western United States and Lower California. Breeding Range: In California the breeding range seems to be confined to the willow bottoms. Breeding Season: May, June, July, and August. Nest: A loose platform of sticks; sometimes lined with leaves and catkins. Lggs: 3 or 4 ;. glossy light bluish green ; paler in the incubated than in the fresh laid. Size 1.27 X 0.89. THe California Cuckoo, or Western Yellow-billed Cuckoo, breeds extensively along the willow bottoms of the interior valleys of the State. Mrs. Eckstrom says: “As a nest-builder the cuckoo is no genius; or, if a genius, he belongs to the impressionist school. The nest is but a raft of sticks flung into the fork of a bough.” Indeed so frail and so loosely put together is it that one may see the eggs from underneath. Occa- sionally an individual will be found who aims at better things and has made some slight attempt to line her cradle with grass. Most of these twig platforms are so shallow that an effort to peep into them will result in spilling the contents, and a windstorm often scatters the eggs over the ground in spite of the mother’s care. When this happens, or when the eggs have been stolen, 186 LAND BIRDS a second set is laid in another nest, and for this the unfortunate bird sometimes occupies the abandoned nests of other birds. There is no authentic record of her having left her own eggs to be brooded by another, however, and the accusation of parasitic parenthood is, in her case, unjust. It belongs rather to the European species. Always shy haunters of the willow thickets, cuckoos are most apt to be heard during the mating season, which varies from May, in San Bernardino County, where they are more or less scarce, to the last of August in Sacramento valley, although a brood of the latter date, as noted by Major Bendire, undoubtedly was a belated one. The only brood of the Western Yellow-billed Cuckoo that I have watched develop was housed in a willow clump in Santa Clara valley. The last of three pale green eggs was laid May 30, and incubation began the next day. For eighteen days the slim brown mother brooded ; and when, at the end of that time, three wrig- gling, naked birdlings filled the nest, her watchful care was doubled. Noiselessly as a shadow she would slip through the low bushes with a cricket in her bill, and during the early hours of the morning one or the other of the parents was en route continually with food for the ‘hungry but silent nestlings. These were fed by regurgi- tation at first, and they grew surprisingly as the days went by. At the end of twenty days they were covered with pinfeathers and looked like tiny porcupines. Sud- denly, on the twenty-first day, these sheaths burst, and WITH BROWN PREDOMINATING 187 the young Cuckoos were arrayed in all the glory of real plumage. The next day the three left the nest and I was unable to find them again. During this period of brood- ing and caring for the young the adult Cuckoos, though at - first suspicious, became some- what reconciled to my visits ; at any rate, they neither moved the eggs— as cuckoos have been thought to .%/. do when cere “YY SY nor deserted them. At my approach the mother would ruffle her feathers until the usually sleek, slen- der bird seemed to be bris- tling with rage, her head extended on a level with HY > her body and her long tail 4) slightly elevated. But es though her eyefollowed mewith }@@ B unwinking intensity, she would [ 9 not desert her post, nor did 1 “(ah ever force her to do so. The clear “ kow-kow-kow ” of it the father-bird could be heard 387 a. Catrroryra Cuckoo, . . . “ TT Ss Dus oc stti far into the night, if the moon she tent caer unas nating where 188 LAND BIRDS lighted the lowlands, and during the day it floated through the wood like a wandering voice. It was diffi- cult to tell by the sound just how far away he was, but I knew that he was busy feasting where the tent cater- pillars nested. In my heart I blessed him for his choice of food, for he is the only bird that will touch these pests, and even he clips off the hairs before he swallows the morsel. 413.. RED-SHAFTED FLICKER. — Colaptes cafer collaris. Famity: The Woodpeckers. Length : 12.75-14.00. Adult Male: General color of body and head brownish, becoming no- ticeably grayer on back of neck ; ramp white ; back narrowly barred with black ; tail black; nuchal band and mustache red; a black crescent on chest; under sidé of wings and tail red; under parts thickly spotted with round black dots. Adult Female: Like male, but malar stripe usually buffy. Young: Like adults, but with no mustache. Geographical Distribution : Western United States from Rocky Moun- tains to the Pacific coast ; north to Sitka, south to Mexico. California Breeding Range : In suitable localities throughout the State. Breeding Season: May and June. Nest : In trees or stumps, from 2 to 70 feet from the ground ; and also in sides of banks. Eggs: 5 +010; white. Size 1.12 X 0.86. Tue Eastern flicker, known as “ yellow-hammer,” “ high-holer,” or “ golden-shafted woodpecker,” is repre- sented in California by the Red-shafted Flicker, a bird similar in everything except his red malar stripe and the under surface of the wing-quills and tail-feathers, which in his case are rose-color or soft scarlet instead of yellow. In call-notes, nesting habits, and food the Western is WITH BROWN PREDOMINATING 189 identical with the Eastern species. The nest is a hole eighteen or twenty inches deep and four inches wide at the bottom, with an entrance two inches in diameter at the top. It is made in old stumps or dead trees, gate- posts, nooks and crannies in deserted buildings, and sometimes in banks of earth. Both male and female birds share in the excavation, working in turns of about twenty minutes each. The site having been chosen, the male clings to the surface and marks with his bill a more or less regular circle in a series of dots, then begins ex- cavating inside this area, using his bill, not with a side- wise twist, as do many of the woodpecker family, but striking downwards and prying off the chips as with a pickaxe. When his mate has rested and wishes to share in the labor, she calls from a near-by tree and he instantly quits his task. In afew moments, before one has realized how or whence she came, the female has taken his place and the chips are flying merrily. As a tule, the birds work only early in the morning and late in the afternoon, taking from ten to fourteen days to finish the excavation. By the middle of May there have been laid seven or eight beautiful, glossy-white eggs, having a pearly lustre, and so transparent that when fresh the yolks show through the shell. As incubation advances, the shells become more opaque, until, when ready to hatch, they have a limy ring around the middle, showing where the shell will part. In fifteen days appear the most grotesque of all bird babies, unless it be those of the pileated woodpecker or of the cormorant. Their bodies are the shape, size, and color of a pink rub- 190 LAND BIRDS ber ball, such as children use for playing “jacks.” Two worm-like appendages, for embryo wings, dangle help- lessly, and two long, sprawly, weak legs are set far back on the ball-like body. An extremely long neck waves aimlessly, ending in a camel-like head, the lower man- dible of the wide mouth projecting beyond the upper ; there are black, skinny knobs for eyes and curious, large ear-holes. If placed on a level surface, these animated balls roll about helplessly, the only way of steadying themselves apparently being by bracing and pushing with their heads. As they are fed by regurgitation they will swallow two inches of one’s finger and hold on so tightly that they may be lifted up by it. Having been unable to complete my observations at Lake Tahoe, I once took two of these ungainly but interesting pets, when three days old, from California to Chicago, on the “ Overland,” feeding them with hard-boiled yolk of egg mixed with water, potato, and grated carrot. They were remark- ably well behaved, and excepting an occasional clatter- ing noise, somewhat between a mowing-machine and a nestful of bees, they were silent and throve well. In feeding, I first gave them the food and then allowed them to suck a finger, shaking them by moving it, as I had seen the parents do, as otherwise they would have been unable to swallow. As they grew older they were given mocking-bird food, composed largely of ants’ eggs and resembling their natural diet. When left to the parent, however, they are brought up in a much more hygienic fashion. For nearly three weeks they are fed by regurgitation, and after that time the in- WITH BROWN PREDOMINATING 191 sects brought are masticated by the parents. The adult, coming with food, lights on the tree at one side of the nest-hole, and instantly the small doorway blossoms with two or three grotesque heads, mouths wide open and ready. Meanwhile all the infants are joining in the buzzing chorus that announces their hunger in language plainer than speech. The parent inserts his bill into the throat of each one in turn, shaking the nestling back and forth vigorously. When all have been fed, he retires behind the tree trunk out of sight, to wait until the hub- bub subsides and to determine whether any of the young- sters are still hungry or are only crying from habit. After they are old enough to leave the nursery, they follow their parents about for nearly two weeks, begging to be fed and gradually learning to hunt for themselves. This lesson is wisely taught by the parents, who place the food under a crevice in the bark, in full sight of the young, who must pick it out or go hungry. The baby cocks his head wisely, looks at it, and proceeds to pull it out and dine. Flickers are essentially ant-eating woodpeckers, and consequently are seen upon the ground oftener than any other variety. They run their long bills down into the ant-hills, and, extending their spiny, sticky tongues still farther, withdraw them covered with eggs and larve. Their call-note is a shrill “ wicker-wicker-wick-wick- wick,” and sometimes, when angry, a high, screaming “hii-k-ha.” The wooing of a pair of these birds is the most ludicrous performance that can be imagined, and well worth watching. 192 LAND BIRDS 418b. DUSKY POORWILL, OR CALIFORNIA POOR- WILL. — Phalenoptilus nuttalli californicus. Famity: The Goatsuckers. Length : 7.00-8.00. Adult Male: Upper parts blackish or dark brown, with a velvety moth- like surface, barred with finely mottled grayish brown and distinct black arrow-shaped markings ; middle of crown black ; tail-feathers, except the middle ones, tipped with white; sides of head and chin black ; white throat-patch bordered with black ; under-tail coverts buffy ; rest of under parts barred. Adult Female: Like male, but tail-feathers tipped with a narrower band of white. Young: Upper parts grayish, finely mixed with brown; markings less distinct. Geographical Distribution : From the foot-hill regions west of the Sierra Nevada to the coast and south to Lower California. California Breeding Range: Latitude of Upper Sonora, west of the Sierra Nevada. Breeding Season : May. West : No nest, eggs being laid on the ground. Liggs : 2; glossy white, with a faint pinkish tint. Size 1.00 0.76. THROUGHOUT the coast region of California I believe the Dusky Poorwill is a rather common summer visitant, if not a summer resident. It is a haunter of cafions and deep woody places, never of the open. I found the eggs of a bird of this species on the bare ground at the foot of a tree in Marin County. The mother was brooding ; she flushed from literally under my feet, brushing me as she took flight and hid in the deep wood, and I found the eggs scarcely a foot from where I was standing. Marking the tree and leaving for several hours, I re- turned to find her on the eggs again, and this time watched her through my glass, not going nearer than fifteen feet. So far as I could judge in that way, she WITH BROWN PREDOMINATING 193 corresponded perfectly to the mounted specimen of the Dusky Poorwill which I had seen, but it was my first experience with the live bird. Three days later, when I went to the spot, there were two downy young ones in the nest, looking so much like the shadows on the pine needles that at first I could not see them and, but for the mother’s antics, would have given up the search. She flopped about on the ground, feigning a broken wing, wallowing among the leaves, and whining like a young puppy. I picked up one of the fuzzy babies, looked it over carefully, and replacing it, withdrew to hide and watch. For two hours she did nothing but brood them, but thereafter I was rewarded by seeing her lug one off to a distance of half a rod and drop down with it in a-fern tangle. In a moment she came back for the other and repeated the performance. During the early evening hours of my watching she left the nest and came again, but apparently brought nothing in her bill, and if she fed them then it was by regurgita- tion. In all this time I saw nothing of the other parent either in the wood or near the nest, and do not think he paid any attention to the cares of the family. The Poorwills are nocturnal and crepuscular in habits, feeding upon night-moths, beetles, grasshoppers, and gnats, and ejecting the indigestible parts in the same manner as do the owls. Like owls also, they are abso- lutely noiseless and bat-like in flight. Their note is the well-known soft, two-syllabled call, so imperfectly repre- sented by letters, and rapidly repeated with scarcely a pause for breath throughout the evening hours. 18 194 LAND BIRDS Although it may never have been heard before by the watcher, it may be instantly and instinctively recognized as it floats out of the deep ravine or from the darkness of the woods. 420. NIGHTHAWK. — Chordeiles virginianus. (Common names: Bull Bat; Mosquito Hawk; Will-o’- the-Wisp.) Famity: The Goatsuckers. Length: About 9.00. Adult Male: Upper parts black, mottled with gray and buffy ; a white or buffy patch on the wing ; tail, except the middle feathers, banded with white near the tip; throat white; chest black; belly barred black and white. : Adult Female: No white on tail ; otherwise like male. Downy Young: Covered with thin yellowish brown down mottled with darker. Young : Markings less distinct than on adults. Geographical Distribution: In California, the Transition and Boreal zones of the northern end of the State, and south through the ' Sierra Nevada; yecorded during migration through the western valleys; south in winter to the tropics. California Breeding Range: Wooded districts of northern part of the State. Breeding Season: May 15 to June 15. Nest: None; eggs laid on the bare ground. Eygs : 2; vary from pale olive-buff to buffy and grayish white ; thickly mottled and dashed with varied tints of darker gray, olive, or even blackish, marbled, and clouded with lavender. Size 1.25 < 0.85. Wiru the exception of the Texan nighthawk the sub- species of nighthawks occurring in California resemble each other so closely that it is impossible to distinguish them without shooting, and their ranges overlap in such a way as to make locality an uncertain guide. Therefore only one species, .Chordeiles virginianus, of which: the WITH BROWN PREDOMINATING 195 others are subspecies, will be here recorded. The char- acteristics of this species may be regarded as belonging to all. Although called “ Nighthawk,” it really hunts almost as much by day, and may be seen late in the afternoon or early in the morning, skimming over the water or low wet ground with graceful swallow-like flight. Its food consists of the insects found in the air and near the water, swarms of small gnats, small night-moths and flies. These it catches in its capacious mouth in the same manner that a fisherman uses a scoop net, the “ whiskers” helping to trap the prey. It may easily be distinguished from the poorwill, which it closely resem- bles, by the conspicuous white patches on its wings, which, when seen from beneath in flight, look like holes. It is known also by its diurnal habits, as it seldom flies after the sun has set. The poorwill, on the contrary, unless flushed, never flies by daylight, but hides through the sunny hours in the shadows of the deep wood, usu- ally crouching on the ground or on a well-shaded log. Nighthawks spend the middle of the day squatting lengthwise on a limb, their feet, like those of the poor- wills, being too weak to perch. Here they sleep, trust- ing for safety to protective coloring, and refuse to move unless startled into flight. , They make no nest, but lay their two speckled eggs on the bare ground usually in plain view of the passer-by, and not infrequently on the flat gravel roofs of buildings. Always a well-drained, rather sunny place is selected, and the eggs are less frequently found than one would 196 LAND BIRDS suppose, because their color usually blends so well with that of their surroundings. Incubation lasts sixteen days, and it is a question how far the male shares in it. In some cases he does; but as a rule he prefers to watch from a limb overhead so long as there are eggs only. So soon as these become animated bits of bird life, his interest is aroused, and he is quite as ready to guard them as is the mother. The newly hatched young are little balls of rusty down, mottled slightly with dusky, and have the characteristic 420. NIGHTHAWK. * Crept back as often as she was driven away.” large head, wide mouth, and short thick neck of the adults, so that you know at once to what family they belong. They are carefully guarded by ‘one of the parents continually, and if molested they will likely be removed to another hiding-place; but the nighthawks remove their young less frequently than the poorwills. The feeding of the nestlings is accomplished by a modified regurgitation, the small insects being brought in the gular pouch or cheeks of the parent. A female that we found on the nest would not leave the young WITH BROWN PREDOMINATING 197 until flushed, and then she crept back as often as she was driven away, all the time spitting like a cat and ruffling her feathers like an angry owl. I believe this was due to her courage in defending her young and not to any stupidity. The next day she had removed them, and we did not find them again. Other cases of as great courage on the part of both adults of this species I have noticed, and am sure that the Nighthawks are more devoted to their nests and young than any other birds I have studied. On the wing, Nighthawks are very sociable, circling in flocks and twittering after the manner of chimney- swifts, to which they are closely related, and uttering their characteristic “boom” which has given them the name of “ night jar.” They seem always to be having a good time together, —a jolly good fellowship, as it were, —that fits in well with the joy of morning or the glory of evening. 421. TEXAN NIGHTHAWK. — Chordeiles acutipennis texensis. Famity : The Goatsuckers. Length : 8.00-9.00. Adult Male: Upper parts dull mottled gray, streaked with rusty black ; chest and under parts barred black and light brown ; throat white ; a white band-like patch crossing wing; wing-coverts spotted and mottled with brown. Adult Female: Similar, but wing-patch buffy. Young: Finely mottled above ; under parts washed with pale red-brown. Geographical Distribution : Southern border of United States from Texas to Southern California, north to Utah, south to Cape St. Lucas. Breeding Range: In California, the southeastern portion of the State. 198 LAND BIRDS Breeding Season: April and May. Nest: None ; eggs laid on the bare ground. Eggs: 2; clay-colored, dotted, mottled, or marbled with brown and obscure lilac. Size 1.07 X 0.77. Mr. GrINNELL says the Texan Nighthawk is a common summer visitant throughout the Lower Sonoran zone, and occurs as far north as Stanislaus and San Benito counties. Mr. Bendire records it at San Joaquin County, and Mr. Merriam found it breeding in Inyo County. It is the smallest of all the nighthawks found in the United States. Like the other varieties, it is gregarious while feeding; it skims over the water like a swallow, and scoops the tiny gnats in its wide mouth. It is said not to make the peculiar booming of the Eastern night- hawk, but to utter a peculiar humming sound while on the wing. Dr. Merrill writes of it: ‘‘The eggs are usually de- posited in expased situations, among sparse chaparral, on ground baked almost as hard as brick by the intense heat of the sun. One set of eggs was placed on a small piece of tin within a foot or two of a frequented path. The female sits close, and when flushed flies a few feet and speedily returns to its eggs. They make no attempt to drive an intruder away. I have ridden up to within five feet of a female on her eggs, dismounted, tied my horse and put my hand on the bird before she would move. ... The notes are a mewing call and a very curious call that is with difficulty described. It is some- what like the distant and very rapid tapping of a large woodpecker, accompanied by a humming sound, and it is WITH BROWN PREDOMINATING 199 almost impossible to tell in what direction or what dis- tance the bird is that makes the noise. Both these notes are uttered on the wing or on the ground, and by both sexes. 457, SAY PHCEBE. — Sayornis saya. Famity: The Flycatchers. Length : 7.50-8.05. Adult: Upper parts dark brownish gray; tail black ; belly light cin- namon, merging to light brownish gray on breast. Young : Similar to adults, but wing-coverts tipped with brown. Geographical Distribution: Western United States, north to arctic circle, south to Mexico. California Breeding Range: East of the Sierra Nevada to Lower Cali- fornia. Breeding Season: March 10 to June 20. Nest : Of weed stems, dry grasses, moss, plant fibre, wool, spider webs, hair, and sometimes of mud ; the lining generally composed of wool or hair ; placed on projecting ledges, protected by overhanging walls, in old tunnels, about barns, or under bridges. Eggs: 3 to 6; white. Size 0.75 X 0.61. SomewuarT larger than the Eastern phoebe is the Western representative of the family. It has a wide geographical distribution, breeding from the arctic circle to the southern limit of the United States. In habits and general characteristics it resembles the Eastern phoebe, returning among the earliest spring migrants to its old home, whether that be just inside the borders of Southern California or in frosty Alaska. For in whatever spot the Say Phcebe has reared its first brood it will continue to nest year after year. This species is found in greatest numbers in the open country, seldom or never frequenting the deep forests. 200 LAND BIRDS Originally, all phcebes built on sheltered ledges of cliffs, or shelves in caves, or on any jutting bit of rock secured from storm by an overhanging roof. But all this is changed, now that men have conquered the wilderness and caused it to blossom like the rose. These birds were among the first to recognize the advantage of human friendship and to seek its protection. Without a question they preémpted the beams of barns together with the swallows, encroaching more and more upon the new-found territory, until now they build their nests as close to human dwellings as the owners will permit. Beams of piazzas, window-ledges behind blinds, and summer book-shelves nailed to the wall of the veranda are among their chosen sites. Unlike her Eastern repre- sentative, Sayornis saya rarely uses mud in the construc- tion of her home, making quite a flat structure of weed stems, dry grasses, moss, wool, hair, spider webs, and silky material from cocoons or plant down. Usually it is smoothly lined with this silky fibre or wool, or some- times hair. Four or five pearly eggs are laid, one each day, and the day after the set is completed the mother begins her cares. Incubation lasts two weeks, and although the male does not brood he sits all day long on a lookout near by. The newly hatched young are naked except for a slight gray fuzz on their saffron skin. Until six days old their eyes are closed by a skinny membrane, and during this time they are fed by regur- gitation. They mature very rapidly, and in two weeks have their feathers well in order for their first attempts to fly. Up to this time the father bird has diligently WITH BROWN PREDOMINATING 201 fed and guarded both them and the mother, coming to the nest every two or three minutes with butterflies in his bill. But as soon as they are ready to try their wings, he assumes full charge, teaching them to fly and to catch insects on the wing in true flycatcher fashion. Two, and occasionally three, broods are raised in a season. No sooner has the father fairly launched the young on the world than the industrious; Ea little mother repairs \* "> the nest, and in it :\% lays a second set of . pretty white eggs. My Again she broods for fourteen days, now seldom or never fed by her mate; but, since the days grow warmer, leaving oftener and for longer intervals to forage for her- self. When the second 457. Say Pua. family is ready to fly, she ieee little mother repairs takes charge of it unless the necessity of rearing a third brood should compel her to desert them; and then, from somewhere, the hitherto unnoticed male appears, to assume care of them. It is a mooted question whether any bird rears three broods in one year, and this is the only species for which I make the claim. While the same pairs usually return each year to the same locality to nest, some instances 202 LAND BIRDS of very unusual choice of sites have been recorded: “in an old robin’s nest placed in a bush four feet from the ground ” ; in old tunnels and mining shafts, in pros- pect holes, in an old embankment, in burrows of the bank swallows, etc. But always the nests are lined with some soft warm material, such as wool or short hair. The ordinary call-note of the Say Phebe is a plain- tive “phee-er,” always accompanied by a twitch of the tail and the raising and lowering of the crest. Besides this note, during the mating season it utters a short low warble. 462. WESTERN WOOD PEWEE. — Contopus richardsonit. Famity: The Flycatchers. Length : 6.20-6.75. Aduits: Upper parts dark grayish brown ; under parts washed with dark gray ; belly and under tail-coverts whitish or tinged with yellow. Young: Similar to adults with brownish wing-bars. Geographical Distribution : Western North America, north to British Columbia, east to Great Plains, south in winter to Mexico and South America. California Breeding Range: In Transition zone throughout the State. Breeding Season: June and July. Nest: Of plant fibre, rootlets, down, sage, and grass tops ; sometimes “ covered with lichens or spider webs ; in trees, from 5 to 40 feet from the ground. Logs: 2 to 4; irregularly spotted with brown and purple at the larger end. In general characteristics the Western Wood Pewee does not differ much from the common wood pewee of the East. Its call-note is, however, harsher and more emphatic, lacking the plaintive quality of the “ peeah- wee” heard morning and evening in the Eastern woods. It is variously described as “ pee-ee,” “ pee-eer,” “ pee-ah,” WITH BROWN PREDOMINATING 203 “tweer,” or “deer.” It ranges from the valleys to the higher Sierra Nevada, building its nest indiscriminately in pine, cottonwood, aspen, oak, ash, or fruit trees, but always near water. In habits it is essentially a fly- catcher, darting out from a favorite perch to seize its prey in the air. Mr. Lawrence advances the theory that it feeds high among the tree-tops during the early morn- ing and late evening, because the sunlight sets the insects stirring there before it does those of the undergrowth. The nests of this species are deeper and more solid than those of the Eastern pewee, in whose shallow structures the bare foundation branch sometimes shows through the scanty lining. Fine dry grasses, vegetable fibre, shredded inner bark and plant down, woven well together and bound with web from spider or cocoon, form the walls. A lining of softer material, with occa- sionally a few feathers, completes the cradle which, about the middle of June, will contain two or three small eggs. Both parents share in the building of the home, though the male usually prefers to bring the material and the female to weave the walls to her own liking. She alone broods on the nest, but her little lover sits on a twig near by, calling her “dear” in sweetest tones, and if he makes two syllables of it, the meaning is just as clear. At the end of two weeks his cocky airs tell you there are babies in the wee nest, and that upon him falls the tremendous responsibility of guarding and feeding them. Small butterflies, gnats, all sorts of small winged insects are the orthodox food for infant flycatchers, and are swallowed at the rate of one every two minutes. Nor 204 LAND BIRDS does the supply ever quite equal the demand, for every visit of the devoted father is welcomed with wide-open mouths and quivering wings. At first all this feeding must be by regurgitation, the adult swallowing the in- sect first and partially digesting it in some cases, and in others merely moistening it with the saliva. After four or five days most of the food is given to the young in a fresh state. 4742. PALLID HORNED LARK, OR DESERT HORNED LARK. — Otocoris alpestris leucolema. Famity: The Larks. Length : Male 7.50-8.00. Adult Male in Breeding Plumage: Fore part of crown, cheeks, horn-like tufts, and patch on the breast black; white stripe across forehead, extending back over the eyes; throat and sides of neck white, some- times washed with yellow; sides of breast, nape, and upper parts pale cinnamon ; the back more or less distinctly streaked with darker ; belly white. * Adult Male in Fall and Winter: Plumage generally softer and colors more blended ; black markings more or less obscured ; chest often streaked or washed with gray. Adult Female: Similar to male, but decidedly smaller ; black on the head replaced by brownish or buffy; the back reddish, and the plumage streaked.. Young: Upper parts brownish, white parts washed with buffy ; throat and sides of the head spotted. Geographical Distribution: Great Plains and Great Basin of the United States ; migrating in winter to Mexico. California Breeding Range: In deserts of southeastern region. Breeding Season: May 16 to July 21. Nest: On the ground; well built of grass, roots, and bark ; lined with hair and old cocoons. Eggs: 3 to 4; grayish, irregularly marked with brown. Size 0.86 X 0.60. In every suitable locality throughout the great State of California some form of the Horned Lark is found. WITH BROWN PREDOMINATING 205 ‘From the Sierra Nevada to the coast, and from San Diego north to the vicinity of San Francisco, it is called the “ Mexican Horned Lark”; in the upper Sacramento valley we find the “ Ruddy” and south through the in- terior to San José and Santa Barbara the “ Streaked.” In the northeastern corner, east of the Sierra Nevada, the species is known as the “Dusky,” and that found on Santa Barbara Island is designated as the “Island Horned Lark.” The distinction between these forms is one of size and color of plumage rather than structure or habits ; and while all are listed for purposes of identifi- cation, the description here given of the habits of the “Pallid” or “ Desert” Horned Lark is true of all. This is an abundant resident in the deserts of South- eastern California, east of the Sierra Nevada and through the Great Plains and Great Basin of the United States. It is characteristically terrestrial in all its ways, nesting and feeding on the ground, and is never found in heavily wooded districts. As its name implies, the arid, sandy regions where only stunted growth is found are the favorite haunts of this species. The others of its fam- ily, while equally terrestrial, prefer fallow fields, prairies, meadows, or edges of wet lowlands. The name of Horned Lark has been given them on account of the erectile tufts of black feathers on either side of the head, which, in anger, surprise, or the ardor of wooing, stand erect like tiny black horns. By this you may know them at first sight and love them ever after. Except during the breeding season, these birds are found in flocks; but as soon as the spring rains are over they 206 LAND BIRDS separate, each pair preémpting a quarter section of land and setting up a homestead claim. Anywhere in the open, sometimes close to a clump of sage, sometimes almost in the travelled wagon road, the little nests are made in a saucer-like hollow in the ground. The only material used is dry buffalo grass or fine vegetation, a small quantity of which usually lines the nest for the earliest brood. In the second brood, however, whether because of the warmer season or the carelessness of cus- tom, the eggs are often laid on the bare ground, with no attempt at nest-building. While the mother prepares the cradle, the father indulges in aerial concerts. You may hear the sweet, tinkling music while yet he is a mere speck in the blue, tumbling and turning with the rapture of his song. He calls to his mate; she hears, you may be sure, and in a moment she too is frolicking through the sunny air as if life held no such word as care. But when the snug little nest holds egys, she foregoes the fun of a chase over the fields and sits patiently for nine days, in heat so intense that she gasps with open bill. It has seemed to me the eggs would be cooked if left too long exposed to the hot desert sun, and that her brooding was fully as much to shield them from his fiery rays as to preserve them from the cool night air with her body. If sur- prised on her eggs, the mother runs a few yards and begins feeding as unconcernedly as possible; but if there are young in the nest, both parents exhibit ereat dis- tress. Back and forth over the field they fly, crying “tseet, tseet!” in pitifully appealing tones, and trying WITH BROWN PREDOMINATING 207 to muster courage sufficient to come down and defend their little ones. The young larks leave the nest usually on the ninth day after hatching, although one brood certainly were gone on the fourth day, and one remained until the tenth. They are beautiful babies, of soft mottled light and dark brown and cream buffy ; they are fed by both parents until fairly well grown, when the male takes entire charge, and the female scratches out another nest in the stubbly grass or sand. The education of the family thus depends entirely on the father bird, who may be found any sunny afternoon, initiating them into the mysteries of a dust bath, or standing beside them under a sagebush, panting in the terrible heat that beats down from the cloudless sky and up from the blistering sand. In the early morning you can watch them feeding on the insects and seeds on the ground. A little later in the season, if you are an early riser, you may witness their first singing lesson. With wide-eyed amazement and dawning envy they have watched their father rise twittering through the clear air; and, one by one, they learn to do it too. The first I ever saw start gave a little bound, uttered a weak “tweet, tweet,” and fluttered up about ten feet only to sink back again. But he was full of triumph and, unable to contain him- self any longer, soon attempted a second flight. The method is very like that of the bobolink, though the result is far less brilliant. Yet so full of irrepressible joy in living is the Horned Lark that as you listen you are glad, like him, just to be alive. 208 LAND BIRDS 474e. MEXICAN HORNED LARK. — Otocoris alpestris chrysolama. Famity: The Larks. Length: Male 6.75-7.25 ; female 6.50-7.00. Adults: Upper parts reddish, more brownish in female , nape, shoulders, and rump light reddish brown, in contrast to back ; breast pure white in both sexes. Geographical Distribution: Coast district of California and south to Lower California. Breeding Runye: West of Sierra Nevada from San Diego to Marin County. Breeding Season: April 15 to June 15. Nest: On the ground ; of dried grasses; similar to that of pallid horned lark. Liggs : 210 4; resemble those of the pallid liorned lark. Size 0.82 X 0.60. 4744. RUDDY HORNED LARK. — Olocoris alpestris rubea. Famity: The Larks. Length: Male 6.50-7.00 ; female 6.00-6.50. Adults: Similar to the Mexican horned lark, but smaller and brighter colored ; hind neck, shoulders, and rump tawny cinnamon ; forchead, superciliary, and throat yellowish ; sides marked with reddish brown. Geographical Distribution : California, in Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, California Breeding Range : Upper Sacramento valley. Breeding Season: May to June 10. Nest: Usually placed in a depression on the ground under a small bush, a tuft of grass, vines by the side of a clod of earth, or a small rock ; sometimes in a cultivated field; composed of fine straw and grasses ; lined with horsehair. Liggs: 2t04; pale olive buff, finely sprinkled with rusty gray. Size 0,82 K 0.54. WITH BROWN PREDOMINATING 209 4742. STREAKED HORNED LARK. — Otocoris alpestris strigata. Famity: The Larks. Length: Male 6.75-7.25 ; female 6.25-6.50. Adult Male: Upper parts dull olive-brown ; back broadly and conspicu- ously streaked with black; nape andrump ruddy; under parts generally pale yellow. Adult Femule: Similar, but upper parts more olivaceous and more dis- tinctly streaked. Geographical Distribution: Coast districts of Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia, west of the Cascade Mountains, south in winter to Southern California. Breeding Range: Coast region of British Columbia, Washington, Ore- gon, and possibly the northwestern corner of California. Breeding Season: May. Nest : On the ground, in a depression ; of grass stems, and lined with cattle hair. Eggs: 3 or 4; grayish or pale greenish tint. Size 0.83 X 0.56. 524, GRAY-CROWNED LEUCOSTICTE. — Leucosticte tephrocotis. Famity: The Finches, Sparrows, ete. Length: 5.75-6.85. Adult Male: General plumage deep cinnamon-brown ; forehead and fore part of crown black ; rest of head gray, but not spreading down over ear-coverts ; bill black ; back, rump, and belly streaked with black- ish ; upper tail-coverts, wings, and tail more or less tinged with pink ; winter plumage edged with whitish ; black crown smaller ; bill yellow, tipped with black. Adult Female: Similar to male, but colors paler and duller; same change in winter. Young: General plumage brownish, without the characteristic markings of the male. Geographical Distribution: Along the crests of the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada and the highest peaks of the Cascades, from British America south to Mexico. 14 210 LAND BIRDS California Breeding Range: Locally in the upper Boreal along the Sierra Nevada from Mt. Shasta south to Mt, Whitney. Breeding Season: June. / Nest: Carelessly arranged on a ledge of a bluff, or in a small crevice ; composed of wild parsnip stalks, coarse grass stems, and lined with finer grasses. Eggs: 4 or 5; white. Size 0.97 x 0.67. WueEnz the range of the Pipilo ends that of the Leucos- ticte begins. Far above the timber line, amid a wilder- 2 ness of snow-clad peaks these Alpine dwellers have their home. — Only the severest storms of winter are able to drive them to the shelter of the forest. Flying high over the top- most peak of the range, searching in the snow for beetles and bugs that a kind Providence sends there for oe their special nourishment, they lead charmed lives. Even bumblebees and ==» 6 y butterflies are on their menu, coming - *\ as mysteriously as do the birds them- ’ selves. When storms swirl over the summit, they crowd together in the shelter of a rock or a snowbank. When the sun comes out again, they are off for a frolic over the chasms and gulches, or a dip in ghee icy water of the glacial lake. They ae Ne mare constantly in motion, and their 524. Gnav- “9 clear, low “churr” is the embodi- hoe ment of gayety. Somewhat sh LEvcosricrs. : gayety: shy ey «Searching in the snow’, Auring the breeding season, as soon Jor beetles and bugs.” WITH BROWN PREDOMINATING 211 as the family cares are over they become as friendly as possible with the few who invade their haunts. The nest is snugly hidden in a cleft in the rock under- neath a crag, where the fury of the storm will pass it by. It is not an elaborate affair, but composed of weed stalks, and lined with deer moss and occasionally a few feathers. Late in June incubation begins, and it continues four- teen days. The newly hatched young are only thinly sprinkled with hair-like gray down and look not unlike baby juncos. They remain in the nest fully three weeks, and by the middle of August are able to fly nearly as well as the adults. In September the broods of the vicinity unite in bands of one or two families, frolicking and chattering about the summit as if it were mid- summer, and braving the snowstorms until the cold dark November days drive them to the firs for shelter at night. Even then the adults fly back to the crests during the sunny hours, as if homesick for the bare, bleak crags and the broad vista of snowy peaks. By December they are well within the forest, whirling from place to place in masses like juncos, and sleeping huddled together in the heavy firs, sometimes almost buried in the snow but always sure of a joyous resurrection in the morning. 533. PINE SISKIN, OR PINE FINCH. — Spinus pinus. Famity: The Finches, Sparrows, etc. Length : 4.50-5.25. Adults: Upper parts grayish or brownish ; under parts whitish ; whole body finely streaked with brown ; sulphur-yellow patches on wings and tail. 212 LAND BIRDS Young: Upper parts bright greenish yellow, tinged with brownish yellow ; feathers streaked, except on belly ; wing-bands and patches brown. Geographical Distribution : Northern North America, west to the Pacific, south in winter to Gulf States and Mexico. California Breeding Range: In Boreal and Transition zones, along the Sierra Nevada forests, south through the San Bernardino mountains ; also in Santa Cruz mountains. Breeding Season : May and June. Nest : Usually a rather flat compact structure of fine twigs, pine needles, grasses, rootlets, and plant fibres ; lined with fine rootlets and hair ; placed generally in pine or cedar trees, from 20 to 35 feet from the ground. Eggs: 3 or 4; pale greenish blue, spotted with various shades of brown, especially at the larger end. Size 0.67 x 0.48. Hic up in the mountains the tramper will find these fascinating little birds flitting through the pines, flashing a glint of yellow from wings and tails as they dash from tree to tree. Wherever a pine cone offers its seeds, or a clump of weeds hangs full of brown pods, a banquet is spread for the Siskins. With a merry note, strikingly like the “per-chic-o-ree ” of the goldfinches, they settle down to the feast, only to rise and fly farther on as the whim seizes them. The flight also is of the graceful, undulat- ing character, as the flight of the goldfinch, as if the birds were playing with the air rather than trying to go somewhere. Yet they can fly with speed and strength, and in the breeding season they indulge in dizzy aerial gymnastics, accompanied by their own merry music. Their song is a wheezy little tune in the ascending scale, —a kind of crescendo,— which sounds as if it were produced by inhalation rather than by exhalation, but so bubbling over with gladness as to be enchanting. WITH BROWN PREDOMINATING 213 The nest of these charming feathered romps is high in a pine tree on the steep side of a cafion, so inaccessible that never have I looked into one. After the broods are reared and able to look out for themselves, the Pine Siskins band together in small flocks. So long as every bit of food is not covered with snow too deep for shak- ing off, they feast and frolic among the scrubby pines of the mountains until storms drive them to the foot-hills. 540a. WESTERN VESPER SPARROW. — Poecetes gramineus confinis. Famity: The Finches, Sparrows, etc. Length : 6.00-6.75. Adults: Upper parts brownish gray, everywhere streaked with dusky ; bend of wing reddish brown ; outer tail-feathers mostly white ; under parts pale buffy white; streaked along sides of throat and across chest with dark grayish brown. Young : Similar to adult, but markings less distinct. Geographical Distribution: Western North America, north to British America, east to Manitoba, south to Lower California and Mexico. California Breeding Range: In the valleys east of the Sierra Nevada. Breeding Season: May and June. Nest : On the ground ; of dried grass. £ggs: 3to 6; pale buffy, or dull whitish, often blotched and streaked with reddish brown and lavender. Size 0.80 X 0.60. THE hall marks of this dull-colored haunter of grassy upland meadows and roadside thickets are its pale red- brown shoulders and white outer tail-feathers, shown as it flies low over the ground ahead of you. Rarely does it venture higher than the top of a fence post, or the low branch of a scrub pine, to sing its quaint melodious ves- per hymn. As the sun sinks behind the dark trees it 214 LAND BIRDS begins its chant, to end only when all the world is asleep, and when its music alone breaks the silence of the forest. Hidden deep in the grass of the meadow is its nest, woven of grass and rootlets, and roofed with leaning green spears. Here, rendered doubly safe by her protec- tive coloring, the pretty brown mother broods for twelve days, and though you may locate the spot you will find her difficult to discover. I have actually put my hand down within a few inches of the nest without noticing it, even when I was looking for it. The young are born without feathers and are blind, like most young birds; but they soon don coats of soft brown, indistinctly. streaked with darker, and, did not their open mouths stretched up for food betray them, they would, I am sure, never be discovered. The feeding is by regurgita- tion for the first four days. In eight to ten days they are feathered, and leave the nest, though unable to fly. Like the meadowlarks, they remain hidden in the long grass, fed by both parents, and gradually becoming ex- pert in picking up bugs for themselves. In the fall the broods flock together in small com- panies, and leaving the high altitude of the breeding grounds, gradually work down to the brush-covered foot-hills for winter food and shelter. WITH BROWN PREDOMINATING 215 542b. WESTERN SAVANNA SPARROW. — Ammo- dramus sandwichensis alaudinus. Famity: The Finches, Sparrows, etc. Length : 4.75-5.90. Adults : Upper parts brownish gray, streaked with black ; the streaks in sharp contrast to feather-edgings of whitish, grayish, or buffy ; crown stripe and superciliary usually yellow, sometimes white. Young : Similar to adults, but light markings more buffy ; under parts less distinctly marked ; superciliary stripe usually without yellow, and finely streaked. Geographical Distribution ; Western North America, from Alaska south in winter to Guatemala. California Breeding Range: In valleys east of the Sierra Nevada re- ‘corded from Owens Lake. Breeding Season: May and June. Nest : On the ground, in meadows or other grassy places. Eggs: 3 to 6; pale brownish, varying to dull whitish or greenish white, spotted with brown. Size 0.75 X 0.55. WHEN on a tramp through salt marsh or upland meadow you flush a sparrow-like bird, with more white in its plumage than most sparrows, and with yellow about the eye and on the band of the wing, you may write it down tentatively as a Western Savanna Sparrow. If, a little later, you find it swinging on a grass stem, uttering its “weak little insect-like trill,” you may be sure of its identity. He is one of the hardest of all the sparrow tribe to observe, and the one least apt to be dis- covered by the bird-lover, because the moment he be- comes aware of your presence he drops into the grass and refuses to come into view. Even when flushed, his flight is merely a short zigzag to the nearest cover. Yet although you find so few, there are doubtless a large 216 LAND BIRDS number hidden in the weed patches and nesting in the wiry marsh grass. His song at best is so weak and low as to seem like the note of an insect, to one who has never heard it, and is not likely to attract attention unless the listener is very near. In nesting habits the Savanna resembles the field sparrow described elsewhere. 542c. BRYANT MARSH SPARROW. — Ammodramus sandnichensis bryant. Famity: The Finches, Sparrows, etc. Length: 4.78-5.30. Adults: Similar to the Western savanna sparrow, but darker and browner, with sides and breast usually more heavily streaked ; the whole head often tinged with yellow. Geographical Distribution : Salt marshes about San Francisco Bay, south in winter along the coast to the San Diegan district. California Breeding Range: On marshes of San Francisco and Monterey Bays. Breeding Season: May. Nest: Placed on the ground, usually in a slight depression. Eggs: 4 or 5; grayish white, irregularly blotched with shades of brown and marked with light purple. Size 0.73 X 0.57. Amone the thick rushes of the San Francisco Bay marshes the Bryant Marsh Sparrow makes its home. There you may find it swinging on a tule or warbling a short sweet song, as it flies out over the tangled sedges. Its nest is made on the ground among the coarse meéadow grass at a safe distance from the edge of the marsh, to escape high tides. Here in the thickest tus- sock, or perhaps, in a hollow in the soil, a thin mat of WITH BROWN PREDOMINATING 217 grass is scratched together and serves as a nursery. It is always more or less damp, but this does not to any marked degree interfere with the hatching. When near their nests these birds skulk through the rushes in the same manner as a rail, straddling along with one foot on one tule and the other on a second. In the shadow of the rushes one might easily mistake them for little black rails. After the four weeks of this constant brushing through the rushes to and from the nest, both parents present a decidedly threadbare appearance, and their tails are often almost as stringy asa rat’s. Incubation lasts thirteen days, and the young remain in the nest ten days longer. They are fed mostly upon insects picked up in the damp grass or at the edge of the water. 543. BELDING MARSH SPARROW. — Ammodramus beldingi. Famity : The Finches, Sparrows, ete. Length : 5.00-5.25. Adults: Upper parts olive-brown, with broad black streaks on back ; superciliary and median crown-stripe very indistinct or wauting ; fore- part of superciliary stripe greenish yellow; sides of head and neck darker ; under parts more thickly and heavily marked with black ; under tail-coverts with concealed streaks. Young: Similar to adults, but upper parts more buffy; superciliary finely streaked and usually without yellow; under parts less dis- tinctly streaked. Geographical Distribution : Salt marshes of Southern California south to Lower California and Todos Santos Island. California Breeding Range: On southern coast marshes from Port Har- ford to National City. Breeding Season : May. : 218 LAND BIRDS Nest: Placed in salt marsh mud, raised about 6 inches from the ground; made of weed stalks, grass, horsehair, or feathers. Logs: 3; light blue, marked with lavender specks; reddish brown blotches principally at the larger end. Size 0.78 X 0.58. THe Belding Marsh Sparrow is abundant on the salt marshes near the coast of Southern California from Santa Barbara south to Lower California. It replaces the Bryant marsh sparrow of the San Francisco Bay region. Like the latter, its nest is a thin mat of grass on the ground as near the edge of the marsh as the tide will allow. In the vicinity of National City, San Diego County, the nests outnumber those of any other sparrow. Many of them are placed on tussocks of grass, which raise them several inches above the ground. Even then they are usually quite damp, and we might expect to find the eggs addled, which they doubtless would be were not the water salt. In May, or early June, the newly hatched, naked, pinky grayish nestlings are to be found wriggling their wrinkled necks and opening their tiny mouths for food. This consists of the insects picked up from the wet vegetation, and the seeds of marsh plants given at first by regurgitation. By June 20 the young sparrows are looking out for themselves, secure in their protective coloring in the long grass. 544. LARGE-BILLED SPARROW. — Ammodramus rostratus. Famity: The Finches, Sparrows, ete. Length : 5.30. Adults: Upper parts light grayish brown, indistinctly streaked with darker: under parts streaked with rusty brown: bill long and swollen and regularly curved from the base. WITH BROWN PREDOMINATING 219 Geographical Distribution: Coast of Southern and Lower California ; south in winter to Cape St. Lucas and Mexico. California Breeding Ranye: Along the salt marshes of the coast from the San Diegan district north to Santa Barbara. Nest and Eggs: Similar to those of the Belding marsh sparrow. Tue Large-billed Sparrow is found in the winter along the seacoast of Southern California from Santa Barbara to San Diego, usually close to the water; at San — Pedro it might be Zh ih called the Harbor a ae Sparrow, as, according to a RY Mr. Grinnell, it frequents =e the decks of vessels and haunts the wharves and breakwaters. Its breeding habits are so similar to those of the Belding marsh sparrow that no separate description is necessary. It may be known from all its kinsfolk by its large bill and the uniform pale 544. _Lancr-sritmp : Sparrow. brown of its upper parts. ge “ Tt haunts the wharves and breakwaters."’ 546a. WESTERN GRASSHOPPER SPARROW. — Am- modramus savannarum bimaculatus. Famity: The Finches, Sparrows, etc. Length : 5.00-5.50. Adults: Upper parts reddish brown, black, gray, and buffy ; feathers of back spotted with black and brown ; median crown-stripe buffy, bordered on each side with blackish stripes ; nuchal patch dull gray, 220 LAND BIRDS marked with reddish brown; edge of wings yellow; under parts plain buffy on throat and sides ; belly white. Young: Similar to adults, but with little or no reddish brown on upper parts, feathers being more conspicuously bordered with pale buffy and whitish ; median crown-stripe more ashy ; under parts dull buffy- whitish ; chest distinctly streaked with dusky. Geographical Distribution : Western United States east to Great Plains, from British Columbia to Southern California and Arizona. California Breeding Range: West of the Sierra Nevada, in valleys north to Sacramento, south to San Diego. Breeding Season: April, May, and June. Nest : On ground ; rather bulky and deep; sometimes partially arched over ; made of dried grasses. Eggs: 3 to 5; white, spotted with reddish brown, mixed with a few markings of black and lilac, mostly at the larger end. Size 0.75 X 0.57. As its name implies, this tiny brown bird hides away in the grass and low shrubbery, like a wee brown mouse or a big brown grasshopper. Its weak, shrill “zee- ee-ee,” so like the song of an insect, is readily passed by as belonging to such in the medley of meadow music, unless the listener is close to the little musician. It is even better known as the “ Yellow-winged Sparrow ” on account of the bright lemon-color at the bend of the wing. It is so shy that one seldom catches a glimpse of it, and “none but the grazing cattle know how many nests and birds are hidden in their pastures.” Instead of flying up when alarmed, it runs deeper into the grass, and is seldom flushed. If driven to desperation by close quarters it may dart out in a short zigzag flight of a few yards and seek the first concealment that offers. Unlike most sparrows, it feeds mostly upon insects, and is of incalculable bencfit to the farmer. Its nest is hidden in the meadow grass, and differs from that of most other ground birds in being deep and arched over. WITH BROWN PREDOMINATING 221 552a. WESTERN LARK SPARROW. — Chondestes grammacus strigatus. Famity: The Finches, Sparrows, etc. Length : 6.50-7.25. Adults ; Upper parts brown- ish or brownish gray, the back streaked with blackish ; crown and ear-coverts chestnut with median stripe white or buffy; black and white streaks on side of head, bordering the chestnut patch, also a black streak along each side of throat ; a small black spot on. middle of chest ; tail dark brown, all but middle feathers tipped with white; under parts white, with a small black spot on breast. Young: Upper parts buffy; head without ‘ chestnut crown or patches or black and white streaks; aly chest streaked with dusky. Geographical Distribution: Western United States east to Great Plains and Middle Texas, south to Mexico, north to British Columbia. Californian Breeding Range: Upper Sonoran zone, chiefly in interior valleys west of the Sierra Nevada. Breeding Season: May and June. Nest: Of dried grasses, plant stems, and fibres; placed on the ground, or in bushes and trees. ‘ Eggs: 3 to 6; white or pale bluish or brownish, speckled and lined, chiefly on the larger end, with black and brown. 4% Size 0.50 X 0.60. Tue Lark Sparrow is one of the sweetest singers, as well as one of the most abundant of the Western sparrows. Walking along the * country roadside at any hour of the day during April, May, or June, one is likely to hear “ gush of silvery notes accompanied by a metallic tremolo,” and find the singer swinging on a weed a 552a. WESTERN Lark Sparrow. “ The singer.” 222 LAND BIRDS stalk or on a low bush, ruffling his little throat with a continuous flow of music. Or he may be caught dancing before his demure brown sweetheart, ecstatically pouring out melody. It is difficult to go anywhere in the inte- rior valleys of California and not see him. His striped head and white-bordered tail and sweet song are the characteristics by which you may identify him. His nest is usually well hidden, either on the ground or in low bushes, and in going to it he skulks through the intervening foliage in a secretive fashion hard to follow. The young are like those of his kind, naked, except for thin down, and blind for the first few days, during which they are fed by regurgitation. They are well feathered on the tenth day, and at this stage scram- ble out of the nest at the approach of danger. Like young meadowlarks they spend their babyhood days in the concealment afforded by the grass and thickets, and not until able to fly do they follow the adults to the more conspicuous feeding grounds. 554. WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW. — Zonotrichia leucophrys. Famity : The Finches, Sparrows, etc. Length: 6.50-7.50. Adults: Upper parts grayish brown, back streaked with brown or black ; crown with median white stripe, having lateral deep black stripe ; a broad white superciliary stripe, below which is a narrower black stripe behind the eye; edge of wing white ; under parts plain gray. Young: Similar to adults, but head striped brown and buffy instead of black and white; under parts very light brown; breast, sides of throat, and sides of belly streaked. Geographical Distribution: United States and Canada, north to Lab- WITH BROWN PREDOMINATING 223 rador ; in winter migrates stragglingly over the whole of the United States and south into Mexico. California Breeding Range: In the higher Sierra Nevada as far south as Mt. Whitney. Breeding Season: June and July. Nest: Composed of fine twigs, weed stalks, and coarse material ; lined with fine grasses and hair; placed on the ground or in low bushes. Eggs: 3 to 5; pale greenish blue, speckled with light reddish brown, more thickly at the large end. Size 0.89 X 0.63. As the snow disappears from the sides of the Sierra Nevada, the White-crowned Sparrow follows in its wake, higher and higher, until it reaches the extreme limit of the willows. Among the dense thickets that border the upper edge of the timber line it is most abundant, and during June, July, and August its song rings eonstantly, fine and clear. During the breeding season it haunts the willows along the mountain meadows, placing its nest on the ground, or, more commonly, in the lower branches. Its nest and young can with difficulty be told from those of the song sparrow; and as it scratches among the dry leaves of the underbrush for insects with which to feed the nestlings, its manner distinctly suggests the latter. But here the resemblance ends; the White-crowned Sparrow is distinguished by its white crown and _plain gray breast, as well as by its large handsome form. When there are eggs or young in the nest, the male sings early and late, often piping his clear whistle when all the world is silent. I have heard him at intervals until long past midnight, as if the joy of parenthood forced him to waken and give to his sleepy mate and little brood below the assurance that “ All’s well.” Evi- dently the singer needs little rest, for with the earliest 224 LAND BIRDS dawn the whole thicket rings with his melody, rousing the more drowsy willow-dwellers to rejoice with him. “The ballad singer of the mountains,” some one has called him. His is a vertical as well as longitudinal migration, for when the September snow-flurries threaten, the various broods form a straggling flock that retreat slowly before the cold, until in October they have reached the valleys of Southern California, and pass on farther south. 554a. GAMBEL SPARROW, OR INTERMEDIATE SPARROW. — Zonotrichia leucophrys gambelit. Famity: The Finches, Sparrows, etc. Length: 5.75-6.75. Adults: Similar to the white-crowned sparrow, but edge of wing pale yellow instead of white, and lores white or buffy instead of black, and white superciliary stripe extending to bill. Geographical Distribution: Coast ranges of California and north to British Columbia, straggling east as far as Iowa, and south to Mexico. Breeding Range: From Alaska and Montana to Eastern Oregon. Breeding Season: June 15 to July 15. Nest: Similar to that of the white-crowned sparrow, but placed in bushes, trees, and thick clumps of weeds, Eggs: Similar to those of the white-crowned sparrow, but tinged with rusty brown. In form, coloring, and habits the Gambel Sparrow, or Intermediate Sparrow, closely resembles the white- crowned, of which it isa subspecies. It breeds in the far north, returning to California in October, and is an abundant winter visitant throughout the State. For nesting habits, see “ White-crowned Sparrow.” WITH BROWN PREDOMINATING 225 554b. NUTTALL SPARROW. — Zonotrichia leucophrys nuttalla. Famity: The Finches, Sparrows, etc. Length: 6.00-7.00. Adults: Like the white-crowned sparrow, but white superciliary stripe extending to bill; lores white, and general coloration brown. Geographical Distribution :. British Columbia to Southern California, south in winter to Lower California. California Breeding Range: Humid coast belt from Oregon south to Point Sur. Breeding Season: March 15 to May 1. Nest: Bulky ; of weed stems, and lined with grasses; placed in thick clumps of weeds or low trees or bushes. Lggs: 3 to 5; pale greenish blue, spotted with pale rusty. Size 0.87 0.64. Like the intermediate sparrow, the Nuttall Sparrow is also a subspecies of the white-crowned, and similar in habits. It is a resident of the coast belt in the vicinity of Santa Cruz, and straggles as far south as Los Angeles in winter. 557. GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW. — Zonotrichia coronata. Famity:: The Finches, Sparrows, ete. Length : 7.00-8.00. Adults: Upper parts olive-brown, streaked on the back with rusty black ; two white wing-bars ; middle of crown yellow, between two black lines, the yellow merging to gray for the last third ; under parts gray, tinged with brown on sides. Young: Similar, with forehead suffused with yellow, and black crown. stripes streaked with brown ; under parts soiled white. Geographical Distribution : Pacific Coast, Southern California to Alaska, straggling to the Rocky Mountains and Wisconsin. Breeding Range: Alaska. Ereeding Season: June. 15 226 LAND BIRDS Nest : Of weed stems ; lined with grasses ; placed in alder bushes. Lggs: 4 to 5; pale greenish blue, heavily spotted with pale reddish brown. Size 0.90 * 0.66. Like the Gambel sparrow, the Golden-crowned Spar- row is found in California during the winter months only. He occurs at this season through- i thane out the length of the if fn aL Op Ee State west of the tA 4 of fist [ips AT iy ie Sierra Nevada, and eT f pm co 7” 4 ~~ h is oftenest found near e the haunts of men. a Wie City parks and door- fe t infre- ALOFT RE em yards are not infre Ao Pe ea eee 557. GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW. “ Their food is chiefly weed seeds and winter berries.” quently his banquet hall, and he regards human friends almost as trustfully as do his less welcome English cousins in the East. Along the foot-hills the Golden-crowned fre- WITH BROWN PREDOMINATING 227 quents the thickets, keeping on rather than an the bushes. Other varieties, especially white crowned and gambel, are often found in a flock of the Goldens, and are evidently received into the freemasonry of good-fellowship. Their food is chiefly weed seeds and winter berries, but insects are also eaten, and occasionally caterpillars. 560a. WESTERN CHIPPING SPARROW. — Spizella socialis arizona. Famity: The Finches, Sparrows, etc. Length : 5.00-6.00. Adults: Back light brown, narrowly streaked with black ; rump and tail gray ; top of head reddish brown, sometimes streaked with ashy and dark; forehead black, with short white median line; super- ciliary line white ; narrow line through the eye black ; sides of head gray ; ‘under parts gray, whiter on chest, and throat unstreaked ; bill black. Young: Top of head streaked brown and black ; breast streaked. Geographical Distribution: Western North America, east to Rocky Mountains, north to beyond latitude 60° in summer ; south in winter to Southern Mexico. California Breeding Range: Upper Sonoran to Boreal zone, nearly throughout the State. , Breeding Season : May and June. Nest: Of fine grasses ; lined smoothly with horsehair ; placed in bushes or small trees. Lggs: 3 to 5; light greenish blue, speckled around the larger end with black and brown. THE Chipping Sparrow, or Hair Bird, is the universal favorite of the sparrow family. No other is so confiding, so trustful, building his nest in the fruit tree near the dooryard, or in the evergreen on the lawn, or even in a large rosebush. I have found him weaving his dainty hair-lined cradle in the same bush in which a thrasher was rearing his brood. The wee sparrow mother had 228 LAND BIRDS dauntless courage, and allowed me to touch her before she could be induced to leave her nest, when the speckled eggs were laid. She was a fluffy, fascinating bit of soft grayish brown and buffy, with sparkling eyes that flashed indignant protest at my intrusion. After ten days, when those small eggs had hatched into nestlings, the life of both parents was full of care. The nestlings were fed by regurgitation for the first few days. After that in- sects of many sorts, and seed, were brought to the nest at surprisingly short intervals, yet those young Chippies were never satisfied; and long after they were well feathered and out of the nest they followed the parents about, begging constantly for food. They were exquis- itely proportioned little creatures, from the time the thin fuzz began to show on their bald heads until they were clothed in soft brown feathers, like the adults. The call note of this bird is a thin, shrill “chip, chip,” which has given it its name. The fact that, wherever placed, the nest is always beautifully lined with horse- hair, has won for it the nickname of “ Hair Bird ” in the East, and this name is equally applicable to the Western variety, though less frequently applied to it. 562. BREWER SPARROW. — Spizella breweri. Famity: The Finches, Sparrows, ete. Length: 5.00-5.60. Adults: Entire upper parts grayish brown, streaked with blackish, less distinct on head and ear-coverts ; under parts soiled grayish ; winter plumage more buffy. Young: Similar to adult, but chest and sides streaked with dusky ; upper parts less distinctly streaked ; wings with two distinct bands. WITH BROWN PREDOMINATING 229 Geographical Distribution : Western United States east to Rocky Moun- tains, south to Mexico, north to British Columbia. California Breeding Range: Arid foot-hill regions of the interior, chiefly along the southern Sierra Nevada. Breeding Season: May and June. Nest: Of dry grasses and rootlets; lined with hair; placéd generally in sagebushes a few feet from the ground. Eggs: Usually 4; light greenish blue, with reddish brown markings, chiefly at the larger end. Size 0.69 X 0.53. WHEREVER in California there is sagebrush there are Brewer Sparrows, be it in the arid deserts of the south- ern district, or among the foot-hills, or on the mountains. As Mrs. Bailey says, 8,400 feet high on the snowy crests of the sierras, “ morning and evening the curious little tinkling song comes up from all over the brush, and it seems as if we had come upon a marsh full of singing though subdued, marsh wrens.” In appearance this sparrow is much like the clay- colored sparrow, but is paler and duller, being almost ashy on the under parts, and harmonizing well with the tones of its arid nesting ground. The nests are usually in sagebushes a foot or two from the ground, and, unlike those of most sparrows, are lined with hair. In this and in other habits it resembles the chipping sparrow, and the eggs are so like those of the latter as to be dis- tinguishable from them with difficulty. It is sometimes called the “Sagebrush Chippie.” The newly hatched young complete the family resemblance, being the same daintily proportioned little creatures that we find in the nests of the Eastern chipping sparrow or hair bird. As soon as they are able to fly, they care for themselves, and the parents turn their attention to another brood. In 230 LAND BIRDS the winter these birds wander to the coast and the San Diegan district and south through the table-lands of Mexico. 565. BLACK-CHINNED SPARROW. — Spizella atrigularis. Famity: The Finches, Sparrows, etc. Length: 5.50-5.75. Adults: Upper parts rusty brownish, narrowly streaked with black ; head, neck, and under parts gray, becoming white on belly and under tail-coverts ; chin and upper throat black ; bill pinkish. Young: Similar to adults, but chin and throat gray instead of black ; chest indistinctly streaked. Geographical Distribution: Arizona south to the southern border of the United States and Lower California. California Breeding Range: Arid foot-hill regions of the southern Sierra Nevada and desert ranges. Breeding Season: April and May. Nest: Of grasses, on w foundation of leaves ; lined with hair; usually placed in low bushes. Eggs: 3 to 5; light greenish blue. Size 0.68 X 0.50. Tue Black-chinned is a common summer visitant in the foot-hills of Southern California, and occasionally wanders as far as Alameda and Monterey counties. It haunts the grassy fields and low thickets on the edges of meadows, where the clear, low trill is heard through sunny hours. The nest is very like that of the Eastern field sparrow in construction, but is placed in bushes rather than on the ground. Incubation lasts twelve days, and the young remain in the nest ten days longer, being fed by one parent while the other anxiously tries to attract the attention of the intruder to himself. Rather than betray the hiding place WITH BROWN PREDOMINATING 231 of the little brood, the adult will flit restlessly about for an hour with a bug in his bill, which he himself abso- lutely refuses to eat. Finally he compromises by alight- ing in the grass at some distance from the nest, and running under cover to the bush where it is located. This species has the red bill of the field sparrow and is said to resemble it in song. 567c. THURBER JUNCO, OR SIERRA JUNCO. Junco hyemalis thurberi. Famity: The Finches, Sparrows, etc. Length : 5.60-6.20. Adults: Similar to the Oregon junco, but wings and tail longer ; head, throat, and breast black, sharply defined against light brown of back and white of under parts ; sides buffy. Young: Similar to the young of the Oregon junco, only upper parts lighter. Geographical Distribution : Sierra Nevada, the desert, and the southern coast ranges of California from Oregon to latitude 32°. California Breeding Range: Transition and Boreal zones along the whole length of the Sierra Nevada. Breeding Season: April to July 23, vest: Of dry grasses and bits of moss ; lined with finer materials of the same ; placed on the ground, usually under a bush. £ggs: 4 or5; bluish white, spotted with chestnut, red, and lavender, forming a ring around the larger end ; a few spots scattered over the smaller end. Size 0.71 X 0.58. BeForeE the snows had left the sides of Mt. Tallac, I found a nest of the Thurber Junco among the pines at its foot.‘ Hidden snugly under the edge of a log and close by a clump of scarlet snowflower, it might have been secure from all detection had not the calls of the parents attracted my eager prying eyes. When I peeped in, the four nestlings were cuddled down on a bed of red-brown pine needles, so exactly matching their own 232 LAND BIRDS striped plumage that at first I saw nothing. They were too old to be fooled into opening their bills for food, but crouched flat in fear, only their beady eyes telling me they were alive. As I put down my hand to take one, the four popped out of the nest with one accord so swiftly that I could not see what hap- md pened. Then ensued a search, long and painstaking, before I found even one. During all this time the 5 excited father Youd mother were fol- lowing me just over- head in the ee (- branches, the “seep, seep” seeming to my _ strained imagination like “Don’t, don’t,” but not once had they come to the ground. The instant I espied the 5H. youngster sitting placidly 567 c. THURBER JUNCO. on the ground, they seemed “ They protested with pluintive intuitively to know it. calls.” With redoubled cries they flew down to him, evidently coaxing him to make some effort to escape. And he did try, but I had never photographed a Junco baby and this chance was too good to lose, so I caught him. Soon after I found two of the others. Once caught, they seemed to lose WITH BROWN PREDOMINATING 233 fear and ate readily while sitting contentedly on my hand. There was no difficulty in inducing them to sit for their pictures, nor did the parents interfere. From a near perch they protested with plaintive calls, but ceased to fly down as they had done when the little ones were first discovered. On the same day that this brood were found, I flushed a mother from her nest on the lawn of the Hotel Tallac, not a hundred feet from the main entrance. In this case the nest was a little hollow in the ground, lined with dried grasses and entirely concealed by the green grass of the lawn. It was not near any tree or other protec- tion, and, when built, must have been quite exposed to view before the grass had grown tall enough to cover it. Four eggs nearly ready to hatch were its precious con- tents, which I left as speedily as possible, trusting that no careless foot or knife of the mower would ruin the pretty home. Before I was twenty feet away the mother had returned to them and the father had ceased his anxious cries. In this and subsequent broods in the same locality I noticed the same fondness for bathing as in the case of the Point Pinos juncos at Monterey. No water was too icy for their plunge, but they usually chose an hour soon after noon when the sun was high, and sat in his rays to preen their little brown coats. Their food was whatever could be picked up, whether crumbs scattered for them or weed seeds or fruit, and quite as often insects caught by hopping up from the grass or ‘gathered from the trees. The green worms 234 LAND BIRDS found on evergreen trees they ate with impunity, though I feel certain the same variety has killed other birds in the Kast. 567d. POINT PINOS JUNCO. — Junco hyemalis pinosus. Famity: The Finches, Sparrows, etc. Length: 5.25-5.75. Adults: Similar to the Thurber Junco, but the black on sides of head and throat replaced by slaty. Young: Similar to the young of the Thurber Junco, but under parts more strongly tinged with buff. Geographical Distribution: Vicinity of Monterey, California, north through San Mateo County, east through Santa Clara County, south to Point Sur. California Breeding Range: Santa Cruz district south to Point Sur, north as far as King Mountain. Breeding Season: May to August. Nest: Of leaves ; lined with dead grasses and hair ; placed in a hollow at a clump of grass. WHETHER seen in the beautiful grounds of Del Monte or in the pine forests of the Sierra Nevada, the Juncos are the same friendly little birds that we have known and loved as the “snow-birds” of the East. Some one has called them gray-robed monks and nuns, and the description fits them well. During the fall, winter, and early spring they are found in flocks of from ten to twenty, feeding on the ground, flying up at the approach of an intruder, only to alight again farther on. If you sit quietly they will hop quite near you, particularly the Point Pinos Juncos found at Monterey, who are accus- tomed to the presence of strangers in their haunts and have become as fearless as the English sparrows of the WITH BROWN PREDOMINATING 235 East, hopping close to the benches and picking up food at your feet. They have a not unmusical call-note and a soft, sweet, twittering song. When the birds are about to begin housekeeping in the spring, this musical effort is heard at intervals all day long and is very pleasing. Both sexes codperate at the preparation of the nest, which they build in a hollow under the roots of a tree, or, at Del Monte, under the heavy evergreens and low- growing shrubbery. It is a simple affair of pine needles or fine grass, and so nearly matches the bird in coloring as to render her practically invisible when sitting. The little Juncos, although born naked, soon don a pretty habit of striped light and dark brown, and are even more invisible than the adults among the reddish pine needles. They remain in the nest about ten days, when they are fully feathered and able to fly. They are fed by regurgi- tation for several days, and then with raw insects brought by both parents. For some time after making their début from the nest, the hungry youngsters follow the adults about, begging with quivering wings for food. They are fond of bathing, and run into the spray of the lawn hose or splatter in the puddles made by it with utter disregard of the presence of gardener or guest. I have seen them pick up crumbs scattered for them by a Chinese helper within two feet of where he lay under a tree eating his own dinner. Evidently the most per- fect camaraderie existed between the man and the birds, for when the feast was spread he called them by a pecu- liar squeaking noise and was instantly surrounded by several pairs. This was late in May, and they were 236 LAND BIRDS housekeeping ; but both male and female responded to the call, leaving the nest unguarded. All these Juncos found at Del Monte or Monterey and vicinity are of the variety known as Point Pinos, a subspecies of the gray-headed or common junco of the Eastern States. In habits and song the species are closely identified. 574, BELL SPARROW. — Amphispiza belli. Famity: The Finches, Sparrows, ete. Length: 5.50-5.75. Adults: Upper parts brownish gray, grayer on head and neck ; the back generally without distinct streaks ; orbital ring, spot over the eye, broad malar stripe, chin, throat, and under parts white ; black spot on middle of chest ; throat marked on sides with a continuous stripe of blackish ; wing-coverts edged with buffy ; edge of wing yellowish ; tail-feathers black, indistinctly marked with lighter. Young: Upper parts light grayish brown, streaked with dusky ; under parts buffy ; chest distinctly streaked with dark gray ; wings with two rather distinct pale buff bands. Geographical Distribution: West of the Sierra Nevada and San Bernar- dino mountains from Marin County to Lower California. California Breeding Range: In upper Sonoran zone locally, west of the Sierra Nevada from latitude 38° southward. Breeding Season: May and June. Nest: Of grass stems and vegetable fibre ; lined with hair ; placed in low bushes. Eggs: 3 or 4; pale greenish blue, finely dotted and speckled with dark reddish brown. Size 0.74 X 0.60. Tue Bell Sparrow is abundant on the bush-covered plains of Southern California as well as in the foot-hills. It is a thicket-dweller, darting from the cover of one clump to another with rapid flight as if uneasy in the open. Its nest is in the thickest of the bushes, but the anxious chirp of the male sparrow is sure to reveal WITH BROWN PREDOMINATING 237 his secret to the intruder. .His song is a clear, monot- onous twitter, not unmusical and full of enthusiasm. Only early in the breeding season does he attempt as much as this, usually preferring to flit silently through the thick foliage. His food consists of both insects and seeds, the latter predominating. 574a. SAGE SPARROW. — Amphispiza belli nevadensis. Famity: The Finches, Sparrows, etc. Length: 6.00-7.00. Adults: Upper parts light ashy brown, tinged with ash-gray, the back usually distinctly streaked with dusky; sides of throat marked with a series of narrow blackish streaks ; under parts whitish, with black spot on chest; sides and flanks faintly tinged with light brown ; outer web of lateral tail-feather white. Young: Similar to adults, but upper parts and chest streaked ; wings with two buffy hands. Geographical Distribution: Sagebrush region of Western United States, north to Southern Idaho and Montana, east to Colorado and New Mexico, south to interior of Southern California and Western Mexico, west to Los Angeles. California Breeding Range: In arid upper Sonoran and Transition zones, east of the Sierra Nevada. Arid desert region of Southeastern Cali- fornia. Breeding Season: April and May. Nest: Of shredded sagebrush bark, dry grasses, etc.; in a hollow in the ground, or lower branches of the sage or other bushes. Eggs: 3 or 4; light greenish or dull grayish white, speckled all over with reddish brown and a few blotches of darker brown at the larger end. Size 0.80 X 0.60. TruLy well named is the little gray bird called the Sage Sparrow. Everywhere in the sagebrush district his metallic call may be heard; and during the sunny spring days when the enthusiasm of nesting time in- spires him to music, his sweet, ringing song is a delight to the ear. Little cares he for that. Swinging care- 238 LAND BIRDS lessly on the highest twig of the nest bush, he sings to his mate, not to you; and, the song finished, he disap- pears earthward in the gray-green foliage. His nest is either hidden in a low crotch of a bush or on the ground underneath it, and so formed of sage- bark and leaves and dried grasses } as to seem a part of its surround- ings. Unless the nestlings are hungry and stretch up wide-open bills for food, you will be almost certain to overlook the nest. When on it the mother bird becomes practically invisible, so well does her soft coloring blend with the lights and shadows of the 3*| earth and leaves. The buds of the sage- brush form at least a part of their diet, but I am inclined to believe that insects form the larger half. Mrs. Bailey says: “The absence of a continuous stripe on the side of the throat is enough to distinguish the Sage Sparrow from the Bell,” and “his long black tail and its gently tilting motion are good long-range recog- nition marks.” 5740. Sac SpaRRow. “* He sings to his mate, not to you.” WITH BROWN PREDOMINATING 239 580. RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW. — Aimophila ruficeps. Famity: The Finches, Sparrows, etc. Length : 5.50-5.75. Adults: Upper parts grayish or grayish brown; back broadly streaked with reddish brown ; crown reddish brown ; under parts light brown, palest on throat and belly; a distinct black stripe on each side of throat ; a rusty streak extending back from eye ; edge of wing dull white or grayish. Young: Similar to adults, but upper parts dull brownish ; streaked with deeper; under parts dull buffy, chest and sides streaked with dusky. Geographical Distribution: California coast from about latitude 40°, south to Cape St. Lucas. California Breeding Range: In upper Sonoran zone west of the Sierra Nevada from San Diego to Marin County. Breeding Season : April to August. : Nest: Of coarse grass and weed stalks ; lined with a few hairs; placed on the ground in a hollow. Eggs: 3 to 5; plain white or bluish white. Size 0.89 X 0.65. BrRusH-COVERED hillsides are the favorite haunts of the Rufous-crowned Sparrow. Here, on the ground under thick low bushes, its nest is hidden so securely that only accidental discovery is possible. The only way possible to observe these birds is to sit motionless among the sparse growth of bushes on the side of a hill and wait their coming with endless patience. Their bright chestnut upper parts will serve to identify them. A short, rather sweet song is sung morning and evening during the nesting season, and occasionally in their winter haunts in the interior valleys. Their food is mainly seeds and fleshy seed-pods, such as haws. 240 LAND BIRDS 581a. DESERT SONG SPARROW. — Melospiza melodia fallax. Famity: The Finches, Sparrows, etc. Length: 6.10-6.50. Adults: Upper parts light gray; back streaked with rusty, usually without blackish shaft-line; under parts brownish buffy; chest streaked with chestnut. Young: Upper parts dull brown; back streaked with brown; under parts butly white ; chest streaked. Geographical Distribution: New Mexico, Arizona, Southern Nevada, Utah, Southern and Lower California. California Breeding Range: In extreme southeastern portion, along the lower Colorado River. Breeding Season: April and May. Nest: Of grasses, weeds, and leaves ; lined with fine grass stems, roots, and sometimes hair ; placed in low bushes, or in tufts of grass on the ground. Eggs: 4; light greenish or bluish white, more or less spotted with brown. Size 0.75 X 0.55. THE Song Sparrow is a bird with a name that fits. Every day in the month, every month in the year, you may hear his ecstatic song. In rain or shine, in heat or cold, whether in Maine or California, he is the same jolly fellow, singing his glad little roundelay, a “ plain, every-day home song with the heart left in.” And he may be found everywhere. No State in the Union lacks the cheer of his sunny presence. To be sure, he has various prefixes to his name,—as in California he is dubbed “ Desert Song Sparrow,” “ Mountain Song Spar- row,” “Heerman Song Sparrow,” “ Samuels,” “ Rusty,” “Santa Barbara,” “San Clementa,” and “ Merrill”? Song Sparrow, — each name indicating some variation of plu- mage due to environment. In the extreme northern por- WITH BROWN PREDOMINATING 241 tions he wears dark brown, while on the sands of the extreme south border he is almost clay-color. But the habits and song remain unchanged. Thoreau declares the Massachusetts maidens hear him say, “ Maids, maids, maids, hang on your tea-kettle, tea-kettle, ettle-ettle,” and this is exactly the advice he gives to campers in the sierras when the first rays of the sun strike the tops of the pine trees. Day has be- gun for bird and bird- lover. Then if you rise quickly and steal down to the edge of a moun- tain brook you may catch him at his bath. What- ever the locality or the subspecies, do not ex- pect to see him at any great distance from water, for he is an in- veterate splasher. I have seen him dip into a puddle whose edges were crusted with ice and apparently enjoy it of a July day. me oe eS 58la. Desert Sone Sparrow. “In rain or shine, he is the same jolly Sellow.” as well as a bath in the heat When alarmed, his first impulse is to dart downward into the friendly shelter of bushes, pumping his expres- sive tail vigorously as he flies. But in rising from the 16 242 LAND BIRDS ground he hops from twig to twig and seldom, if ever, flies in any direction but downward or straight ahead. Unlike some of the sparrow family, these birds do not travel in compact flocks. If several individuals are to- gether, they are usually part of a scattered band that is working its way to or from the nesting ground. The nests and nesting habits of all the various sub- species are so alike that one description will apply to all. The structure is usually near the ground, and often on it, with very little effort at concealment. Incubation lasts twelve days, and is shared by the male to a limited extent; but as soon as the little ones emerge from the shell the greater part of the labor of caring for them falls upon him. In ten days they are fully feathered and ready to leave the home shelter and follow him. As soon as this family are launched into the green forest, the busy mother prepares a new nest for a second brood. The male soon leaves the first to shift for themselves, and returns valiantly to his post of duty, guarding and feeding the next instalment with the same zealous care he had given the first. 581b. MOUNTAIN SONG SPARROW. — Melospiza melodia montana. Famity: The Finches, Sparrows, etc. Length : 6.25-7.00. Adults: Upper parts grayish, with narrgw streaks of black and brown ; wings and tail brown ; under parts white ; chest and sides streaked with brown. Young : Similar to adults, but upper parts paler and less tawny ; under parts whitish and streaks narrower. WITH BROWN PREDOMINATING 243 Geographical Distribution: Rocky Mountain district, west to Nevada, Oregon, and Washington, and extending to Western Texas. California Breeding Range: Eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada from Mt. Shasta to Mono Lake. Breeding Season: May and June. Nest and Eggs: Similar to those of the desert song sparrow. 581c. HEERMAN SONG SPARROW. — Melosmza melodia heermanni. Famity: The Finches, Sparrows, etc. Length: 6.25-6.50. Adults: Plumage brown or olive; upper and under parts streaked ; flanks light grayish brown ; spots on chest separate and distinct from one another. ‘ Young: Similar to adults, but under parts tinged with brownish buff, having broad streaks. Geographical Distribution: Interior districts of California, including eastern side of Sierra Nevada. California Breeding Range: Along streams of the San Joaquin-Sacra- mento basin. Breeding Season: March, April, and May. Nest: Of grasses, weeds, and leaves ; lined with finer grasses and some- times hair; placed in bushes from 2 to 6 feet from the ground. Eggs: Usually 4; bluish gray, spotted and blotched over most of the surface, with dark brown, the spots becoming more confluent at the larger end. Size 0.87 * 0.64. 581d. SAMUELS SONG SPARROW. — Melospiza. melodia samuelis. Famity: The Finches, Sparrows, ete. Length: 4.70-5.75. Adults: Very similar to the Heerman song sparrow, only smaller. Geographical Distribution : Coast of California. California Breeding Range: Along the coast belt from Santa Cruz north to latitude 40°. Breeding Season: March to June. Nest : Of coarse dry grasses and weed stems; lined with finer kinds of 244 LAND BIRDS the same ; placed on the ground beneath tufts of grass, in salt weeds, or low shrubs on the sand drifts. Eggs: 3 or 4; bluish gray, spotted and blotched over the entire surface with reddish brown. Size 0.75 X 0.59. 58le. RUSTY SONG SPARROW. — Melospiza melodia morphna. Famity: The Finches, Sparrows, etc. Length : 6.00-7.00. . Adults: Upper parts rusty brown, almost obscuring the black streaks ; chest with heavy dark brown markings ; flanks greenish olive. Young: Upper parts dark brown, back streaked with blackish ; under parts buffy grayish ; chest and sides light brown, streaked with darker brown. Geographical Distribution : Pacific coast district, Washington, Oregon, and Alaska; south in winter to Southern California, Breeding Range: Pacific coast region, from Northern California north- ward through Washington and Oregon. Breeding Season: May and June. Nest and Eggs: Very similar to those of the desert sparrow. 583. LINCOLN SPARROW. — Melospiza lincolnit. Famity: The Finches, Sparrows, ete. Length: 5.25~6.00. Adults: Upper parts dark brown and olive, sharply streaked with black ; crown sharply streaked with black and divided by a median grayish line ; malar stripe, chest, and sides buffy ; sides and chest narrowly streaked with black. Young: Similar to adults, but colors and streaks less sharply defined. Geographical Distribution: Whole of North America south of Hudson Bay region. California Breeding Range: Breeds sparingly along the high Sierra Nevada from Mt. Shasta south to near Mt. Whitney. Breeding Season : June and July. Nest : Of grasses ; placed on the ground. Eggs: 3; light greenish white, heavily marked with chestnut and lavender gray, chiefly at the larger end. Size 0.79 X 0.58. A suy bird, skulking through the tangle of grass and bushes in the swampy borders of a marsh, is the Lin- WITH BROWN PREDOMINATING 245 coln Sparrow. About the edges of a mountain meadow as well as in the wet lowlands, he flits in and out of the willows, giving the observer as little opportunity to see him as he can, and never so absorbed in his insect- hunting as to forget the presence of a stranger. His song is rarely heard, yet he has a happy little lay not unlike that of a song sparrow but inferior in quality. His nest is deftly concealed on the ground, and he approaches it by a circuitous route, dodging through the grass and never by any chance revealing its whereabouts. Only by catching a glimpse of him with food in his bill one may be able to guess at its location, and that there are young to be fed. 585a. TOWNSEND SPARROW. — Passerella iliaca unalaschcensis. Famity: The Finches, Sparrows, etc. Length : 7.00-7.50. : Adults: Upper parts bright chestnut, mixed with gray ; wings, upper tail-coverts, and tail rusty brownish; under patts white, with dark brown markings on chest. Young: Similar to adults. Geographical Distribution: Pacific coast region from Alaska south in winter to California. Breeding Range : From British Columbia north through Alaska. Breeding Season: May and June. Nest: Of grasses, moss, and vegetable fibres, closely woven together ; placed near the ground, in dense thickets. Eggs: 3 to 5; pale bluish green, spotted and blotched with reddish brown and lilac. Size 0.90 x 0.66. THE Townsend Sparrow is one of the largest and red- dest of all our fox sparrows, and in his musical efforts is 246 LAND BIRDS surpassed by few of that family. In the quiet woodlands of his summer home, he sits on the topmost bough of the dusky thicket and pours out his joy in a song of exquisite melody, clear and pure as that of a thrush, yet lacking the spiritual quality of the latter. The song has a won- derful carrying power withal, that renders it peculiarly attractive. But it is as a scratcher that he excels all his kind. Among the dead leaves under a thicket, he may be heard rivalling a towhee in the vigor with which he makes the dirt fly. A few steps for- ward, and a sud- : den kick out with 585 a. TOWNSEND SPARROW. both feet, then a “ihe Way he dige for Jes suppers thorough searching of the ground laid bare, is the way he digs for his supper. With the same energy that charactérizes his scratching, he wooes his chestnut mate by alternate scoldings and songs, treating her with the lordly airs of a successful suitor, and fairly compelling her to accept him. To his credit be it said that he does his share of the nest build- ing, such as it is, and though a tyrant,-he is a brave guardian of his brood. When, after twelve days of patient brooding, the eggs are transformed into naked nestlings, he is ready to scratch enthusiastically all day for their sustenance. And this is really just what he is compelled to do so long as they remain in the nest and WITH BROWN PREDOMINATING 247 for at least two weeks afterwards. Then his fine song is hushed and only the metallic “tseep ” of his call note is heard. Until the nestlings are three or four days old they are fed by regurgitation, and after that upon insect food. Usually the Townsend Sparrows fly and feed in small flocks, often along the roadside thickets, and occasion- ally they stray into the city parks in the winter season. In the great State of California, with its varied climate, which produces variations of form and coloring, the fox sparrows have been divided into several subspecies. These are all so much alike in habits that the descrip- tion of one applies to all, with a few modifications to be noted in the different subspecies. 585b. THICK-BILLED SPARROW. — Passerella iliaca megarhyncha. Famity: The Finches, Sparrows, ete. Length : 7.00-7.75. Adults: Bill thick ; upper parts plain brownish gray, becoming rusty brownish on wings, upper tail-coverts, and tail; under parts white, with small dark brown spots on chest. Young: Similar to adults. Geographical Distribution: Mountains of California, including eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada. South in winter to Los Angeles County. California Breeding Range: From Mt. Shasta south to Mt. Whitney, in Boreal and Transition zones. Breeding Season: June. Nest : Of plant fibre and willow bark ; lined with grasses and horsehair ; placed on or near the ground, in thickets. . Eggs: 8 or 4; pale bluish green, spotted with dark brown. Size 0.86 X 0.64. Tue Thick-billed Sparrow inhabits the forests of the Transition and Boreal zones, breeding among the ever- 248 LAND BIRDS greens. His big bill serves to identify him, and during the warm June days. his loud clear song rings out from all the thickets early and late. In the winter this sub- species migrates southward to the San Diegan district. 585d. STEPHENS SPARROW. — Passerella iliaca stephensi. Famity: The Finches, Sparrows, etc. Length: 7.10-7.90. Adults: Similar to thick-billed sparrow, but averaging somewhat larger, with much larger bill. Geographical Distribution : Mountains of California. California Breeding Range: In Boreal zone on southern Sierra Nevada. Breeding Season: April and May. Nest and Eggs: Similar to those of the thick-billed sparrow. 591b, CALIFORNIAN TOWHEE. — Pipilo fuscus crissalis. ' Famity: The Finches, Sparrows, etc. Length : 8.50-9.00. Adults: Upper parts uniform grayish brown, darker on head ; throat pale rusty, marked with dusky ; belly whitish, washed on sides with grayish brown, Young: Similar to adults, but browner ; under parts buffy.white ; throat and belly rusty ; throat streaked with darker. Geographical Distribution : California, west of the Sierra Nevada from Shasta County, south to Santa Barbara County. California Breeding Range: Upper Sonoran zone, west of the Sierra Nevada, south to latitude 35°, north to Shasta valley. Breeding Season: April and May. Nest: In trees or bushes, usually from 8 to 5 feet from the ground ; occasionally in hollow trunks of trees, or in crevices of vine-covered rocks of caions ; made of twigs, bark, and grass ; lined with rootlets. iggs: 4 or 5; bluish, marked with various shades of dark and light purple and black. Size 0.92 X 0.73. Tue Californian Towhee is the brown chippie, or long- tailed chippie, of common parlance throughout most of WITH BROWN PREDOMINATING 249 California west of the Sierra Nevada. Unlike the shy chewink of the Eastern States, it comes to village door- yards not only in winter but often to rear its brood. Mr. Grinnell called my attention to a nest in a bush not twenty feet from the house at Palo Alto, and remarked that at Pasadena the Towhees usually nested upon the ground, while at Palo Alto they were oftener found in bushes. Mr. Shields records nests of the Californian Towhee in crevices of vine-covered rocks, in hollow trunks of trees, and in thickets five feet from the ground. These Towhees are most devoted parents, resembling the catbird in their piteous protests against any molesting of their treasures. Early and late they scratch under the dead leaves or in the rich garden soil for insects, or pick up scattered grain in the barnyard, or crumbs at the door. I have seen bits of muffin fed to the nestlings with impunity, but their orthodox diet is small insects and seeds, the former predominating while the parents feed them. They are fed by regurgitation at first, but in a few days they receive fresh food. As soon as able to fly well, they take to the trees and spend only enough time on the ground to satisfy their hunger. The characteristic song, like the tinkle of a silver bell, is heard oftenest at this time when, late in the after- noon, the little brood are safely housed in the sheltering branches of an oak tree, and in the earliest dawn the same clear notes come up from the copse on the edge of the brook. For, unlike most birds, the Towhee sings after his family cares are over as joyously as he did in the full tide of his wooing. Mr. Frank Chapman’s 250 LAND BIRDS happy description of some characteristics of the Eastern variety is applicable also to that called the Californian. He says: “There is a vigorousness about the Towhee’s notes and actions which suggests both a bursting, energetic disposition and a good constitution. He entirely dom- inates the thicket or bushy undergrowth in which he makes his home. The dead leaves fly before his attack ; his white-tipped tail-feathers flash in the gloom of his haunts. He greets all passers with a brisk, inquiring chewink, towhee; and, if you pause to reply, with a fluff, fluff of his short, rounded wings he flies to a near-by limb better to inspect you. “Tt is only when singing that the Towhee is fully at rest. Then a change comes over him; he is in love, and, mounting a low branch, he gives voice to his passion in song. I have long tried to express the Towhee song in words, but never succeeded as well as Ernest Thomp- son when he wrote it chuck-burr, pill-a-willa-will-a.” 591c. ANTHONY TOWHEE. — Pipilo fuscus senicula. Famity: The Finches, Sparrows, ete. Length: 8.20-8.30. Adults: Similar to Californian towhee, but smaller, darker, and grayer. Geographical Distribution : Southern California. : California Breeding Range: Below Transition zone in the San Diegan district. Breeding Season: March, April, and May. Nest and Eggs: Similar to those of the Californian towhee. Tue Anthony Towhee chooses more southern breed- ing grounds than any of its Californian kinsfolk. This is WITH BROWN PREDOMINATING 251 the species commonly met with in the San Diegan dis- trict, and from there north to the valleys about Pasa- dena. Unless you have the two birds in hand, you are likely to mistake it for the Californian towhee, so similar is it in form and habits. The song of the Anthony Towhee is less liquid and more metallic in quality. It is most effective in the twilight, when one singer after another takes up the short refrain, tossing it from bush to bush like the echo of fairy bells. 592.1. GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE. — Oreospiza chlorura. Famity: The Finches, Sparrows, etc. Length : 6.35-7.20. Adults: Crown bright chestnut ; upper parts grayish olive, merging to bright olive-green on wings and tail ; throat, malar stripe, and middle of belly white ; edge of wing apd under wing-coverts yellow. Young: Grayish olive above, streaked with dark gray ; under parts whitish, streaked with dark. Geographical Distribution: Rocky Mountains to the coast, north to Mt. Shasta, south’ to Lower California. California Breeding Range: Higher Sierra Nevada and desert ranges from Mt. Shasta to San Bernardino mountains. Breeding Season ; June. Nest: On or near the ground, in cactus, sagebrush, or chaparral; of twigs and weed stems ; lined with grass. Lggs: 3 or 4; whitish, speckled with chestnut. In the higher Sierra Nevada, where the solitaire and leucosticte form the mountain chorus, look for the Green- tailed Towhee. Among all the mountain songsters he has few rivals. Whether perched on top of a clump of chaparral pouring out his rich bell-like music in the halflight of evening, or dodging among the dense 252 LAND BIRDS brush, or running swiftly across the open spaces from bush to bush on the arid mountain sides, the Green- tailed Towhee has a manner distinctly his own. You “=, may know him by his semi-erectile chestnut “w, crown, white throat, and green tail. Jf Ilis alarm note is a cat-like mew, lacking the harshness of the note of the catbird, and the insistent force of that of the spurred ™. towhee. It is a polite protest against a your intrusion. Ilis song np hag somewhat of a thrush- like uli, but is more varied, possessing _a vigor and enthusiasm not found in that ~ of the more quiet singer. His nest is hidden in, or under, one of the stunted bushes with which the rocky ground oa is covered, and, brooding there day after day, | his olive mate is safe in her protective coloring. Sealy hatched Towhees are the same naked nestlings, whether cuddled in a chaparral- 0 a sheltered nest of the mountains or rocked in — a garden rosebush ; dark bluish gray in color, with yellow bills, they are covered with a thin 7 whitish down. They feather rapidly, and leave 592.1, Ginen- the nest when from ten to twelve days TAILED TOWHEE, oy old, those of the warmer localities ma- A manner dtatinelly i he ons turing somewhat sooner than those born on the edge of the Boreal zone. They follow the adults for several weeks, learning to jump forward and kick out backward, in scratching for their food, just as the WITH BROWN PREDOMINATING 253 parents do. But this is only a small part of the hunt- ing, for the Green-tail uses his bill more and his heels less in procuring his food than do others of his kind. Insects and seeds of all sorts are his chief dict. 596. BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK. — Zamelodia melanocephala. Famity: The Finches, Sparrows, ete. Length: 7.50-8.90. Adult Male: Upper parts mostly black ; rump and collar light chest- nut; wings and tail black ; two white wing-bars ; under parts buffy cinnamon, changing to lemon-yellow on belly and under wing- coverts, Adult Female: Upper parts blackish brown, streaked with buffy ; collar and under parts buffy ; sides streaked ; belly pale yellowish ; under wing-coverts lemon-yellow. Young: Similar to adult female, but without yellow on belly ; and back mottled, not streaked. Geographical Distribution : Western United States, east to Great Plains, south to Mexico. California Breeding Range: Upper Sonoran and Transition zones through- out the State. Breeding Season: April, May, and June. Nest: In trees or bushes, usually 5 to 20 feet from the ground ; made of twigs, weed stems, grass, and rootlets. Higgs: 2or3; bluish white, speckled and blotched with rusty brown. Size 0.92 X 0.69. Amone the alders that border small streams in the valley, in the cherry orchards at cherry time, in the potato field when bugs are rife, in the oaks and ever- greens of the lower Sierra Nevada, one may hear the metallic “ eek, eek,” of the Black-headed Grosbeak. But do not judge his vocal powers by this squeaky call-note, for he is a delightful musician. Unlike most woodland singers, he chooses the sunny hours of the midday for 254 LAND BIRDS his best efforts. Then from high in an oak or pine he will whistle a rhapsody, so tender, so pure, so full of joy that it seems a floodtide of love let loose in music. But alas for sentiment! No sooner is one round fin- ished than the singer turns his atten- tion to feeding on the young buds nearest to him, sometimes even interrupt- ing his song to seize an especially tempting morsel. oo And so it is through- i ‘.” out the long bright « .* day, — he stops eat- ing to break into singing, and pauses in his finest carol to finish a meal, flit- ting from tree to tree and daintily feasting upon the tender terminal buds. No doubt this may be a disadvantage to the tree, but when we see him industriously clearing a