Nests and Eggs of Birds of The United States

Though coming in early May, when Nature is fresh with verdure and buoyant with life, yet there is no desire shown for mating. The sole thought seems to be the acquirement of food. Its foraging is not wholly restricted to trees and shrubs, but the ground as well. While thus engaged, the bird is seen to the best advantage. There is noticeable a most remarkable agility combined with a certain degree of eccentricity. Squatting upon the ground, it keeps up a continual jerking movement of the tail, for a long time, but tired of this, it springs to the feet, and the most ridiculous and uncouth antics follow. Should it be surprised while thus employed, it seeks to conceal itself in the adjoining bushes, or finds security in flight. Beetles, ants, small spiders and moths constitute for awhile its fare, but these give place to caterpillars and fruits when abundant.

***Through accident, a blunder occurred in Part 23. The top line on page 274 belongs at the top of page 273. You will please take pages 273, 274, 275 and 276 out of the Part sent you, and destroy them, inserting these corrected pages in their place.***[The transcriber was unable to make the directed changes as the corrected pages were not provided. DW]

Whilst feeding, the male keeps remarkably silent, and it is only towards the close of the month that he essays a song. A change now comes over his behavior. He is more active than ever, is less tempted by the sight of food, and acts like one who is in search of something lost. He enters a copse, a cluster of brambles, in short, auy place of concealment, and gives himself up to the strangest diversions. The most peculiar sounds emanate therefrom. At one time, in loudest key, but gradually falling, and with forced rapidity, he treats you with music, if such we may be pleased to style it, that favorably compares with the whistling of the wings of a duck. Again, he produces, with wonderful exactness, the bark of puppies; and, as if to show his skill further, closes with the mew of a cat, only hoarser. These notes are produced with wonderful vehemence in several keys, and with peculiar modifications. As the voice apparently shifts from place to place, the possessor being unseen, it seems to be more like that of a spirit than of a bird. Near you one moment, the next it comes from a distance, so that by these tricks, it is not always possible to locate with any degree of certainty the astute ventriloquist. To convey in human characters this song exactly, is beyond the power of mortals. The following syllables express it with tolerable correctness: twi-wi-wï-wi-wï-wi'i, hawawawawae, kith, chï-chï-chi-chï-chi, tweiiiii, chwëah.

Such herculean efforts as the foregoing are certainly deserving of success. Events justify the thought. A few hours at most, and his song receives a response. Aroused from her absorption, his true love appears. The scenes now enacted are ludicrous in the extreme. He flies about her, utters a few syllables of affection, and at length settles down by her side. His whole expression is one of intense delight. While her lord is thus fairly beside himself with joy, she is of a passive disposition. To one who is not experienced in matters pertaining to bird-life, her conduct would seem to betoken lukewarmness. But it is only the coyness of a modest female. Having won his prize, the happy husband leads the way into some secluded spot, where he lays before her his plans for the future. She immediately assents to them, and soon the pair are found beating in and out of the bushes for a home-spot. As many as two days are often spent in these delightful pilgrimages. At length, one is discovered which combines the essentialities, and a house is erected. In woods that are seldom desecrated by the polluting touch of wicked man, there is manifest but little tendency to concealment. Not so in fields which adjoin his retreats. Here the greatest caution is observed, the nest being built in some almost impenetrable bramble-patch, and so placed as to be out of reach of the keenest vigilance. If discovered in such a place, it is more the result of chance than good management, and not through any fault of the birds. We have found it often within a forked twig of the common laurel, more frequently in brier-bushes, and not uncommonly in a young oak, where scores of them are growing thickly together.

The nest is from three to four days in building, through the steady, persevering efforts of the architects. In texture it is rather loose, and is made almost exclusively of strips of bark, dry leaves and stems of grasses. In some instances the ribbons of bark are from one-half to three-fourths of an inch in width, and nearly nine inches in length. Such being the exterior fabric, the inner is composed of a thick lining of roots, rather compactly interwoven, and gradually diminishing in size towards the centre. There is a difference in the composing substances observable in nests from the most diverse localities. Some are built of leaves on the outside, loosely aggregated and held together by the small and nearly vertical branches between which they are placed. Within, there is a profusion of grape-vine bark, small sticks, stems of grasses, and a lining of beech-leaves. In external diameter the nest varies from four and a half to five inches, and has a height of about two and a half inches. The cavity is about three inches wide, and the depth one and three-fourths.

Oviposition rapidly succeeds nest-building, and proceeds at the rate of one egg per day. This is followed by incubation, which continues for a period of eleven days, the female performing the whole of the labor. The male seldom forsakes her, save to procure food. He is the most faithful and jealous of husbands, carefully providing her with nourishment, and guarding her from harm. The approach of an enemy is heralded by loud and noisy chatterings between fear and anger, and even frequent attempts are made at repulsion. He is, however, in the height of his glory when by her side, and seeks by many pleasing little ways to relieve the fatigue and monotony of her task. His song at this time is more loud and incessant than ever. Braving concealment, he mounts into the air almost perpendicularly to the height of thirty or forty feet, with his may be pleased to style it, that favorably compares with the whistling of the wings of a duck. Again, he produces, with wonderful exactness, the bark of puppies; and, as if to show his skill further, closes with the mew of a cat, only hoarser. These notes are produced with wonderful vehemence in several keys, and with peculiar modifications. As the voice apparently shifts from place to place, the possessor being unseen, it seems to be more like that of a spirit than of a bird. Near you one moment, the next it comes from a distance, so that by these tricks, it is not always possible to locate with any degree of certainty the astute ventriloquist. To convey in human characters this song exactly, is beyond the power of mortals.

Such herculean efforts as the foregoing are certainly deserving of success. Events justify the thought. A few hours at most, and his song receives a response. Aroused from her absorption, his true love appears. The scenes now enacted are ludicrous in the extreme. He flies about her, utters a few syllables of affection, and at length settles down by her side. His whole expression is one of intense delight. While her lord is thus fairly beside himself with joy, she is of a passive disposition. To one who is not experienced in matters pertaining to bird-life, her conduct would seem to betoken lukewarmness. But it is only the coyness of a modest female. Having won his prize, the happy husband leads the way into some secluded spot, where he lays before her his plans for the future. She immediately assents to them, and soon the pair are found beating in and out of the bushes for a home-spot. As many as two days are often spent in these delightful pilgrimages. At length, one is discovered which combines the essentialities, and a house is erected. In woods that are seldom desecrated by the polluting touch of wicked man, there is manifest but little tendency to concealment. Not so in fields which adjoin his retreats. Here the greatest caution is observed, the nest being built in some almost impenetrable bramble-patch, and so placed as to be out of reach of the keenest vigilance. If discovered in such a place, it is ble that man's endeavors could succeed any better; perhaps, not so well. A full-fledged bird might accustom itself to the aviary, and become quite an agreeable pet, but the species has not excited sufficient interest in fanciers to induce them to make the attempt.

As shown in the Plate, the Chat is bright olive-green above. Below, excepting the abdominal region which ends abruptly with white, the color is a bright golden-yellow. The lore is black, and separates the white under eyelid from a superciliary line of the same color above, and also a short maxillary one below. The wings and tail are unmarked, and glossed with olive, while the bill and feet are blue-black. The length varies from seven to seven and a half inches; the wing is about three, and the tail three and a quarter. From the male, the female differs in being smaller, and in the indistinctness of her markings.

The eggs are usually four in number. Nests, however, are sometimes found with three as a complement, and others with as many as five, though rarely. In configuration they are slightly rounded-oval. The ground-color varies from a clear, snowy-white to one in which a slight tinge of yellow is perceptible, and the markings are chiefly reddish-brown, interspersed with a few of a faint lilac color. In some specimens which we have examined, the spots are pretty uniformly distributed over the egg-surfaces, and this seems to be the rule in the same nest-full. Others have them arranged more especially about the larger half, leaving the smaller almost barren-of them. It is in the latter that the white ground usually prevails. Variations also exist in size, even in the same locality, for we have often met with eggs that measured as much as .94 of an inch in length, and others but .85, and in breadth from .64 to .70. Throughout its entire range the species appears to be single-brooded. In the Middle Atlantic States this is assured beyond a doubt.

But when the young are hatched, he ceases these vocal performances and odd gestures, and unites with his mate to render homage and obeisance to the new comers. From early morning until sunset they are busy scouring the fields and woods for insects, both parents never being absent at the same time on this business. Larvæ of various kinds, smaller lepidoptera, and straw- and blackberries are in much demand, and hunted with great perseverance and industry. With age comes an increase in the quantity and quality of their food. In thirteen days from the time of hatching we find them ready to leave the nest, and a week later, they are old enough to care for themselves.

The breeding season being over, both young and old spend the time until their departure in September, in thick brier-bushes, and within close hedges, occasionally, however, forsaking such places for cultivated grounds. Now the song of the male can be heard at midnight, and so fond does he seem of this sort of diversion, that he frequently continues singing until daybreak. The early departure of the Chat is not due to the paucity of appropriate food-stuffs, but chiefly to its susceptibility to cold.

No attempts, as far as we have been able to ascertain, have ever been made to rear these birds from the nest. Their beauty of plumage, if they had nothing else to commend them, would doubtless compensate for the lack of sweetness in their voices. While they might signally fail in their efforts to charm us with rich, mellifluous notes, they could, at any rate, amuse us by the variety, volubility and strangeness of their utterances. A friend of Wilson's, an amateur in Canary birds, once placed an egg of this species under a Canary. In course of time the bird made its appearance, but died on the second day, notwithstanding the best of care and attention which it received, for the hen Canary was so solicitous to nourish the stranger, that her own eggs, which required a somewhat longer period of incubation, were lost in consequence. This being the case, it is not possible that man's endeavors could succeed any better; perhaps, not so well. A full-fledged bird might accustom itself to the aviary, and become quite an agreeable pet, but the species has not excited sufficient interest in fanciers to induce them to make the attempt.

As shown in the Plate, the Chat is bright olive-green above. Below, excepting the abdominal region which ends abruptly with white, the color is a bright golden-yellow. The lore is black, and separates the white under eyelid from a superciliary line of the same color above, and also a short maxillary one below. The wings and tail are unmarked, and glossed with olive, while the bill and feet are blue-black. The length varies from seven to seven and a half inches; the wing is about three, and the tail three and a quarter. From the male, the female differs in being smaller, and in the indistinctness of her markings.

The eggs are usually four in number. Nests, however, are sometimes found with three as a complement, and others with as many as five, though rarely. In configuration they are slightly rounded-oval. The ground-color varies from a clear, snowy-white to one in which a slight tinge of yellow is perceptible, and the markings are chiefly reddish-brown, interspersed with a few of a faint lilac color. In some specimens which we have examined, the spots are pretty uniformly distributed over the egg-surfaces, and this seems to be the rule in the same nest-full. Others have them arranged more especially about the larger half, leaving the smaller almost barren of them. It is in the latter that the white ground usually prevails. Variations also exist in size, even in the same locality, for we have often met with eggs that measured as much as .94 of an inch in length, and others but .86, and in breadth from .64 to .70. Throughout its entire range the species appears to be single-brooded. In the Middle Atlantic States this is assured beyond a doubt.

Plate XLVII. – HÆMATOPUS PALLIATUS, Temm. – American Oystercatcher

Essentially a marine species, the Oystercatcher is never found inland, but abounds along the Atlantic coast of the United States from Maine to Florida, where, in summer, small parties of two or three pairs may be seen together in any given locality, but more especially from New Jersey southward. On the shores of New England, according to Samuels, it is of rare occurrence during the breeding-season. It is, however, in the Bahamas, a group of islands situated but a short distance from our Floridan peninsula, and in the Greater Antilles, that we meet with them in great abundance, frequenting the beaches or small sand-bars, when exposed at low tide. Cory fouud them common enough on Andros Island in January, and quite unsuspicious; but in June, at Inagua, only a few were observed, and no eggs taken. But for all this the birds are known to breed in the Bahama Islands, as evidenced by the published observations of Dr. Bryant.

Appearing along our coast from the twentieth to the last of April, they manifest considerable timidity, and instantly take to flight when approached by man. Their vigilance is remarkable, and is seldom relaxed, not even while engaged in earnest pursuit of food. While walking along the shore in a dignified manner, with heads turned away, first this side and then that, they do not seem at all impressed with the business before them. But we must not delude ourselves with this idea. Like most of their brethren, when oppressed and persecuted by man, they have cultivated the habit of dividing their attention, and most admirably do they accomplish the difficult task. Do but watch their movements, in imagination, as the author unfolds to you what he has repeatedly observed. You station yourself upon the beach, out of gunshot reach, and await your opportunity. If you have been so fortunate as to select a well-known resort, and are in season, you may not have long to watch. But patience is sometimes necessary. If you have not this virtue, you must cultivate it. But we will suppose that you have hit upon an opportune moment, – the hour when the birds have returned from the bath, or from a long aerial excursion of pleasure, tired and hungry. Their voices are heard in the distance. Your attention is awakened. You look up, and dimly perceive the moving objects. A few seconds expire, and if you are acquainted with the species, the glittering white of their wings, which show conspicuously, and orange-red bills and feet, tell you at once they are the Oystercatchers. But keep perfectly still, or you might affright them. They see you – an apparently motionless mass of flesh and spirit – and little daunting, pass over your head, and settle some thirty paces away, which is just what you hoped for. Had you perceptibly stirred, you might have been denied the privilege which you now are supposed to enjoy. Do you perceive the stately, deliberate gait, the sideward glance, the statue-like repose? We know you do, and might have saved ourselves the question. But you must not grow impatient, but watch and wait with philosophic coolness for newer revelations. Convinced that nothing is to be feared from you, all heads are at once lowered, and the long, wedge-shaped bills thrust deep down into the moist, yielding sand in search of shell-fish. You repair to the spot, for your curiosity is on tip-toe, and find the ground thickly perforated with oblong holes, some two or three inches in depth. Further investigations will assure you that these holes are not made for any particular species of molluscs, but for other forms of life as well. Tired of the beach, these birds love to burrow in mud-bottomed inlets for the small crabs called fiddlers, which frequent such places. The immense numbers of these, together with mussels, solens, limpets, nereids and marine insects which they daily devour, afford them a dainty, splendid and luxurious living. Some writers assert that they visit the oyster beds for purposes of feeding, but this is probably a mistake, as they are strongly attached to scenes more contiguous to the ocean.

On the high, dry, and level sands, just beyond the limits of the summer tides, usually where hundreds of drifted shells lie scattered about, they lay their eggs towards the close of May. Their nest is merely a slight depression in the sand, sometimes made by the female, oftener the result of some casualty of Nature. Though humble the spot, and poorly provided with the comforts which render most homes endearing to their feathered occupants, it is, nevertheless, one about which cluster many tender feelings. As the female depends largely upon the heat of the sun and of the sand to hatch her eggs, she only sitting upon them during the night, and when the weather is exceedingly cold and rainy, it might be inferred that she was lacking in care and affection. But no. Let the nest be approached by an enemy, and the solicitude of the parents is at once apparent. The male flies off with a loud scream, while his partner, less demonstrative, runs for a short distance before taking to flight, her object being to throw the intruder off his guard, and thus save the nest from discovery. Such attachment as is shown by these birds for their home and its treasures is really surprising, and is scarcely exceeded by any of our smaller land birds that are accustomed to dwell in the cosiest and most elaborate of dwellings.

When the time arrives for the young to burst the checkered walls of their tiny prison houses, where, pent up for eighteen long, oppressive and weary days, they have been preparing themselves for an earthly career, the parents seem more restless, vigilant and solicitous. One or the other is constantly about. Their appearance is hailed with unfeigned delight. The mother is chiefly entrusted with their care, and, under her guidance, they are brought to maturity. If threatened with danger, at the sound of her voice they squat upon the sand, from which they are not easily distinguished; while the parents hover over and around the intruder, alighting betimes first on this side of him, and then on that, and, by the most distressing cries, endeavoring to arouse his sympathies. Sometimes they seek to lure him away by counterfeiting lameness. Their notes of remonstrance are a quick, loud and shrill whistle, and sound like the syllables 'wheep, 'wheep, 'wheo. Somewhat similar expressions are made use of while at rest, as well as upon the wing.

In about five weeks from the time of quitting the nest, the young cut themselves loose from the mother's guiding-strings, and fight their own battles with life. They do not wholly withdraw from their parents, but help to form the flocks we see migrating in the fall. A striking feature of this movement is the regularity with which it is performed. Like marshalled troops they hold together in lines, rise, descend and wheel about with wonderful precision, and effect other feats equally remarkable. However disturbed by the sportsman, they fill up the gaps which are wrought in their ranks, and pursue their course in the most perfect order. On the wing they move with considerable vigor and velocity. In running, swimming and diving they are equally expert, and by the last two methods, when wounded, are able to circumvent their enemies.

In their earliest stage the young are covered with down, of the color of sand, and have a brownish-black bar on the neck, back and rump. In their mature state, the head and neck are blackish, with tinge of brown or ashy, and the back ashy-brown. The eyelid, rump, lower parts from the breast, tips of greater wing-coverts, most of secondaries and basal part of tail feathers are white, while the rest of the tail, and the quills, are blackish. The legs are flesh-colored, and the bill and edges of eyelids red or orange. Their length runs from seventeen to eighteen inches, the wing being ten, tail four and a half, and bill three.

The eggs of this bird are three in number, ovoidal in shape, and are marked with numerous blackish-brown spots and blotches upon a creamy-drab background. Their dimensions vary from 2.31 to 2.13 inches in the long direction and from 1.63 to 1.49 in the short. But one setting is yearly laid. In the drawing they appear of natural size, but the birds are considerably reduced.

Plate XLVIII. – CATHARTES AURA, (Linn.) Illig. – Turkey Buzzard

Few species, if any, have such a wide distribution in America as the Turkey Buzzard. It is found more or less abundantly to the Saskatchewan, throughout North America, from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast, and in all portions of South America as far south as the Strait of Magellan. Individuals have been observed in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, though these birds are generally uncommon north of Central New Jersey. From Eastern Maine, in the neighborhood of Calais, to Connecticut, specimens have been occasionally captured. In a single instance Mr. Lawrence observed a small company of nine at Rockaway, Long Island. West of the Alleghanies, from Central America nearly to the Arctic regions, it occurs more abundantly. Without exception it is found in greater or less numbers in all the Middle, Western, Southern and Northwestern States. From Lower California to Washington Territory, along the Pacific, numerous parties attest to its common occurrence. In the West Indies, the islands of Cuba, Jamaica and Trinidad, the last-named in particular, include it within their faunæ. In Honduras and Guatemala, as well as in the Falkland Islands, off the eastern coast of Patagonia, they are common permanent residents.

In Pennsylvania and New Jersey, where the writer has had many opportunities for studying the species, these Vultures summer quite plentifully. From their first appearance in March, large numbers may be seen, high up in the air, moving in large circles, apparently exploring the ground below for their favorite articles of food. In rural districts they are more frequently observed than in the vicinity of densely-populated towns. The greater abundance of carrion to be met with in the former is doubtless the cause of this preference. However, in California and Oregon, according to Dr. Newberry, they are quite as common near towns as about the large rivers. In our Southern States they visit cities and large villages, and play the part of scavengers, in company with the Black Vulture. They are said to be so tame and unsuspicious in Kingston, Jamaica, that they roost upon the house-tops, or prey upon offal in the streets. In country places they are quite as familiar and trustful. This is evidenced while feeding. So intent are they upon the business before them, that the presence of human beings is unnoticed, and even when compelled to forsake their booty, sullenly repair to a short distance, but to resume their repast when the annoyance has ceased. The Common Crow has been observed to gather around the same food, and the utmost good feeling prevailed. A small flock will often settle down upon a dead horse, around which several dogs are gathered. The snapping and snarling of these creatures, when they approach the latter too closely, does not cause them to retire, but only to step a few paces aside, when, nothing daunting, they continue their feeding, apparently oblivious of their whereabouts and surroundings.