Nests and Eggs of Birds of The United States

Although the sense of sight is rather keenly developed in these birds, yet that of smell is none the less so. This is an advantage, for both the visual and olfactory organs are called into requisition in determining the presence of decaying matters. As a proof that smell leads to food-detection, we cannot do better than cite an instance mentioned by Dr. Hill, and given by Dr. Brewer in the work entitled "North American Birds." It was a case where several of these birds were attracted to the house of a German emigrant who was prostrated by fever, by the strong odor escaping from his neglected food which had become putrid. Mr. G. C. Taylor, whilst a resident of Kingston, sufficiently tested their power of smell. He wrapped the carcass of a bird in a piece of paper, and flung the parcel into the summit of a densely-leaved tree, in close proximity to his window. A moment or two elapsed, when the keen smell of these birds scented something edible, but they were unable to find it, for the obvious reason that the object was hidden from view by the enveloping paper.

Generally, their food consists of all kinds of animal matter. They are often accused of egg-sucking, and also of eating the young of Herons, as well as those of other birds. In Trinidad they are said to live on the most friendly terms with the poultry. As no breach of faith has been reported to have occurred in this instance, it is not likely that they would molest in any way our smaller birds, at least we are not cognizant of any such cases of interference, from our own observation, nor do we find them in the recorded experiences of our friends. They are worse-disposed, it seems to us, to their own kith and kin. When several are together, the most violent wrangles occur over their booty. Each strives to get the lion's share. It is rather amusing to witness their manouvres. A fellow has just discovered a very choice bit, which he is endeavoring to make away with in a somewhat hurried manner, but before he has accomplished the task, he is soon beset by a near companion who has scarcely swallowed his morsel. A conflict ensues. The latter being the stronger, succeeds after a while in defrauding the other of his rightful property. When gorged, these birds appear stupid and indisposed to exertion, the period of digestion being ordinarily passed in a motionless, listless attitude, with half-spread wings.

Recovered from their semi-stupid condition, they do not at once go to feeding again, but pass a long time in the healthful exercise of their volant appendages. Few birds are more graceful, easy and dignified while on the wing. On the ground they may seem awkward, but it is while soaring above the earth that they are seen in all their glory. When prepared for their lofty flights, they spring from the ground with a single bound, and, after a few quick flappings of the wings, move heavenward. Having attained a great elevation, they move through the ether in ever-widening circles, or sail on nearly horizontal wings, the tips above being slightly raised, with steady, uniform motion. These aerial diversions are never performed singly, but in small parties of a dozen or more, and are more common in early spring, and at the close of the breeding-period, than during the intervening time. It is also to be remarked that they are executed in silence, for the Turkey Buzzards, like their indigenous American relatives, are a mute species, the only sound of which they are capable, being a kind of hiss, which has not been inaptly compared to the seething noise emitted by plunging a hot iron in a vessel of water.

When ready to breed they look around for a hollow tree, or some stump or log in a state of decay, either upon the ground, or but slightly elevated above it. Generally, there are no indications of a nest. In occasional cases a few rotten leaves are scratched into the hollow selected for the deposition of the eggs, the latter being laid without any previous care having been taken for their preservation and shelter. In Southern New Jersey, we have sometimes strayed upon the nest in the midst of a deep and almost impenetrable morass, placed within an excavated stump. Within the rock-caverns along the wide, shallow Susquehanna, as many as a dozen nests have been observed in a few hundred yards of space, often as early as the last week of March, when the weather was favorable, but generally not till the middle of April. A few individuals have been known to remain in the vicinity of their breeding-quarters through the entire year, when the winters are not extremely rigorous. At Parkersburg, near the western boundary of Chester County, T. H. Jackson, of West Chester, Pa., has found it breeding; but within Philadelphia it rarely does, if at all. In Delaware County, paired individuals have been observed early in April under rather suspicious circumstances. In Southern Ohio it is a common summer sojourner. Mr. Gosse, in speaking of the birds in Jamaica, says that they nest in depressions in the rock, and in the ledges thereof, in retired localities, and also upon inaccessible cliffs. On Galveston Island, Audubon found the birds nesting in great numbers either under widespread cactus branches, or underneath low bushes, in the midst of tall grasses in level saline marshes.

In the vicinity of Cheraw, S. C. Dr. C. Kollock, as mentioned by Brewer, met with the Black and our present species as quite frequent denizens of the interior of swamps and dense forests, where they congregate in vast numbers during the entire year. These places are commonly designated Buzzards' roosts. Audubon once visited one of these roosts in the vicinity of Charleston, which covered more than two acres of ground, and which was completely denuded of vegetation. On the banks of many of the rivers of Southern Texas, Mr. Dresser found them nesting in large numbers, the timber along their borders constituting comfortable and secure shelter. Contrary to what has always been entertained, he affirms that they build large and bulky nests of sticks, which they place at great heights in an oak or cypress, close by the river-banks. Captain C. C. Abbott says that in the Falkland Islands the eggs are deposited in the midst of bushes beneath high banks, or on the summits of decayed balsam logs, during the early part of November, either upon the ground, or on the bare surface of a log. In certain localities, where the birds are not very common, paired individuals are frequently met with.

The eggs are generally two in number, although instances are known where but a single one is deposited. On the Falkland Islands they are said to lay three occasionally. In the West Indies, especially in the Bahama group, the nest-complement is the same as in the United States, and there does not seem to be any difference in the habits of the birds that abound in the latter country. Specimens from New Jersey, Texas, and South Carolina are creamy-white in ground, and are variously marked with divers shades of brown, intermingled with splashes of lavender and purple, which are often so faint as only to be perceptible upon close inspection. Brewer mentions a variety from near Cheraw, S. C., that was nearly pure white, and which showed but a few small red and slightly purplish lines and dots about the larger extremity. Recently, we have met with some from Texas answering the same description. In dimensions these eggs vary but little, and have, on the average, a length of 2.78 inches, and a width of 2.00, or rather less.

The duty of hatching falls not exclusively to either sex, but is shared by both. The time required to bring out the young is, under the most constant sitting, about twenty-two days. While occupied with family-matters the birds are seldom visited by strangers, and are allowed to rule in their own chosen realm with undisputed sway. Only the hardened collector has courage to enter their disgusting abodes, and rifle them of their treasures, a business not difficult of accomplishment, for the birds instantly vacate, and become silent watchers of the pillage. These birds do not seem to possess a particle of spirit, and are as cowardly as they are big. When captured they offer no active resistance, but very effectually warn off their aggressor, by disgorging the half-digested contents of their crop. When being killed they are perfectly passive and apathetic. Dr. Coues affirms that they will often simulate death when captured. On one occasion, an individual being shot, was picked up for dead. While being borne to his tent it was perfectly limp. Reaching his quarters, he carelessly threw it upon the ground, and went to work at something else. After a brief spell he looked around and beheld, to his surprise, that the bird had changed its position, and was furtively glaring around. On going to it, its eyes immediately closed, its body became relaxed, and it lay completely motionless, and apparently dead. After compressing its chest for several minutes, until he fancied life to be extinct, he dropped the bird, and repaired to supper. On returning, the bird had disappeared, it evidently having scrambled into the bushes as soon as his back was turned. This strategem is not new, and has been frequently observed by us, although unrecorded.

What they lack in courage they more than make up in the attention which they bestow upon their offspring. Like their parents, the latter are gluttonous feeders, and must be nourished at frequent intervals during the entire day. Their diet at first is the half-changed matter which is forced by the parents in their mouths. When they have been blessed with the use of their eyes, which occurs during the second week of their life, they are able to masticate small bits of meat that are brought to them, although the early method is still kept up until they are ready to hunt for themselves. This matter, together with that of an excrementitious character, which is found about the nest, renders the latter exceedingly offensive, and is hardly endurable to persons of weak nerves. But where numbers breed together the foulness of the resort is indescribable.

The young are covered at first with a whitish down; but as they increase in age, soon show traces of what they are to be, but of, the precise period when they attain the adult plumage, we are ignorant. When they quit the nest they appear with the bill and naked skin of the head and neck, of a livid blackish hue, and the back of the head and nape with more or less of whitish down. Their dress is more uniformly blackish, the brownish borders above being less distinct, and the reflections rather green than violaceous. Mature birds have the bill white, the feet flesh-colored, and the head red. The general plumage is blackish-brown, and the quills ashy-gray on their lower surfaces. The skin of the head presents a wrinkled aspect, and is sparingly invested with bristle-like feathers, the plumage proper commencing in a circle on the neck The nostrils are quite large and open, the iris umber, and the tail rounded. In length they measure about two and a half feet, and have an extent of nearly six. The tail is one foot long, and the wings two.

Notwithstanding their filthy habits, which render them obnoxious in the eyes of many persons, their harmless, peaceable natures should command for them respect from the lords of creation, even though they should not possess other claims to popular consideration. Like their nearest relations the plundering Buteos and Falcons – they offer no harm to their smaller brethren, nor detriment to the husbandman's stock of poultry. They are essentially a useful bird, and in the Southern States where their services are most in demand, both they and the Black Vulture are protected by law, a fine being imposed upon any who should wilfully destroy their lives. But in more northern sections they are persecuted with impunity. Hence their avoidance of the residence of man. As scavengers we recognize in them great benefactors, and when left in undisturbed possession of their freedom, they come in and go out among their human brethren, and seldom show the repulsive side of their character. In not endowing these birds with the same great force of character which she has lavished upon the Falcons, Nature has provided them with a means of defence, which is as serviceable to them as the powerful talons and bill of their courageous brethren.

Respecting the resident range of this species, as compared with its summer dispersions, it has not been observed to winter on the Atlantic seaboard beyond New Jersey, and is even more abundant here in summer than in the cold season. In Washington, where the bird is said to be quite common, no important diminution of its numbers has been noticed during several successive winters. In both the Carolinas the same condition of affairs is found to exist. Its winter range in the interior seems to be higher up, perhaps as far north as Minnesota, for it has been observed here late in October, and again in December, but the latter may have been an accidental occurrence. According to Dr. Coues, the isothermal line corresponding, on the Atlantic coast, with the fortieth parallel of latitude, may approximately indicate its farthest northern limit in the winter.

Plate XLIX. – LOPHODYTES CUCULLATUS, (Linn.) Reich. – Hooded Sheldrake

The habitat of this species is nearly co-extensive with the whole of North America. Throughout considerable portions of the United States it is chiefly migratory, being seen only in the spring and fall. In the Missouri region it is the most common of the three species that inhabit this country, and is said by writers to breed in Northern Dakota, and also on the Upper Missouri and Milk rivers. It was found along the banks of the Yellowstone by the party under Lieutenant Warren, and by later expeditions, on the Green River. In New England, according to Samuels, it is less plentiful than any of the other Sheldrakes during the autumn, winter and early spring, but more recent writers – Messrs. Rich and Deane – have found it a not uncommon breeder in hollow stumps on Lake Umbagog. In Central New York, Eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey it is quite often seen in transitu, and in some localities a few are known to winter. But the majority, after spending the summer in the northern parts of the United States and the British possessions to their utmost limits, only quit these haunts when the streams have become frozen, for the creeks and rivers of our Southern States, and the still warmer climes of Mexico and Cuba. E. W. Nelson says they are common winter residents upon Lake Michigan, and breed sparingly throughout the State of Illinois.

Though mainly an inland species, having a fondness for ponds, lakes and fresh-water streams, yet it does not confine its visits exclusively to such resorts, but forsakes them during very cold weather for the seashore, where it can pursue its calling untrammeled by the accidents of winter, which are more certain to affect fresh than salt waters. By the sporting fraternity it is now called the "Hairy Head," an appellation which it fitly deserves, for the high, beautifully-rounded and particolored crest which so gracefully adorns the head, is rendered more conspicuous in the absence of the usual decorations which Flora had so recently lavished upon the landscape.

Like most Sheldrakes, in common with the Ducks and Geese, this species depends upon the water for the principal portion of its food. Consequently, it spends considerable time in swimming, and being endowed with keen sight, is able to discern its prey at some distance below.' With the possession of this wonderful faculty, it unites great skill and nicety of address. Its movements upon the glassy liquid surface are performed with silence and gracefulness, so as not to produce undue alarm to the finny tribes and creeping things that dart hither and thither, or crawl their slimy lengths along the oozy or pebbly bottom; and the stroke of the head, when one has crossed its line of vision, is as rapid and unerring as the swift motion of the Heron when he deals the death-giving blow to some luckless reptile that has just emerged from its quiet retreats. In the case of the Sheldrake, it is not merely the head and neck that are immersed, but often the entire body receives the watery bath, especially when the game is out of ordinary reach. These baths are enjoyed; for no sooner has the bird arisen with its feathers glistening in the sunlight like gem-bedecked armor, than, with one slight ruffle, the jewels are dashed to pieces, and it is ready again. Fish, small crabs, molluscs, seaworms, reptiles, and such like creatures as dwell in water, are eagerly hunted and eaten. On the dry laud, beetles, grasshoppers and lepidoptera contribute their share to its varied and voluminous menu.

When the spell of winter has been broken, and thousands of small birds are wending their way northward in April, the Sheldrakes catching the contagion of migration, leave their winter haunts, and following the great arteries of our continent, slowly journey northward. After a little they bid adieu to these essential guides, and betake themselves inland, where by the grassy margins of lakes, ponds and small streams, in retired and unfrequented localities, in the declining days of May, or dawn of laughing June, they select their partners, and enter upon the duties of housekeeping. Around the bayous of the Ohio, on our Northwestern Lakes, by the borders of Hudson's Bay, and on the River St. Peters, they delighted to raise their numerous families in the happy days of Audubon, and there they still find suitable quarters, almost undisturbed by man and his minions. In our own beloved country they breed less abundantly, and only, as far as can be ascertained, in the regions, noted above, adjacent to British America.

In the holes of tall dead trees, or on the tops of stubs, twenty, thirty and forty feet from the ground, seldom higher, the female places her nest, giving it a warm and cosy lining of soft grasses and feathers. She has everything her own way, the male seemingly manifesting little or no interest. Here she deposits her treasures, and relieved of her mate, who dwells by himself in some remote and secluded locality, instantly repairs to its precincts, and for nearly three weeks remains a very assiduous and persevering sitter. Like the Wood Duck, when about to leave the nest for food, she is careful to cover her eggs with some of the materials of the nest, to prevent them from becoming cold. Though not often constrained to leave them, but when she does, she is apt to remain away for a considerable time, but not long enough to endanger the developing life within.

The eggs are thick-shelled, somewhat spherical, more so than any other species of Duck, and a trifle more pointed at one extremity than the other. They are of a clean-white color, but in some instances are made to appear somewhat yellowish on the surface, which is to be attributed to stains produced by moisture from the feet of the sitting-bird. From the other Sheldrakes they may be readily distinguished by color and size, but should these fail, which is not likely to prove the case, their identity may be recognized by a peculiar noise which is made when two of these eggs are struck together, the sound produced resembling nearly that of a couple of ivory balls when submitted to the same treatment. In size there is considerable variation, but in no instance will the eggs be found to rival the others in dimensions. The average length is 2.13 inches, and average breadth 1.72. Samuels mentions specimens that were 2.30 by 1.75, and others, more rounded, that measured 2.10 in transverse diameter, and 1.80 in the other direction.

Though jealous of her treasures, yet the female is not known to risk her life to save them. If the nest is approached, she maintains the utmost silence, and only ventures out when terrified by heavy blows on the trunk of the tree which contains her nest. Driven out, she seeks the pond or stream close-by, and from its bosom surveys the actions of the intruder, with not so much as a cry of remonstrance. If the latter is hidden from view by the dense vegetation, she quits the water, circles over and about Him, and is always careful to keep out of reach of harm. Her quiet demeanor and intense watchfulness betoken the distress and anxiety that reign within, and, to a person of the least particle of sympathy, are enough to cause him to give up his desire for pillage, forsake the scene, and leave that mute witness of his contemplated wrong in peaceful possession of her property.

In course of time the young are hatched. Maternal joy is now at its height. However, the parent does not permit herself to be so completely carried away thereby, as to lose sight of their interests, but sets to work to remove them from their closely-cooped quarters. If their home is some distance from the water, she carries them one by one in her mouth, and lays them down by its banks. In changing from one stream to another, where some space intervenes, this is her ordinary method of transportation in their early ages. Almost as soon as the chicks have been placed in sight of the water, they require no coaxing to induce them to enter, but impelled by feelings of instinct, they plunge into its depths, and act as though they had been there before. While disporting themselves in the aqueous fluid, the mother exercises a strict surveillance, to prevent being surprised. If taken unawares, she utters a chattering, guttural cry. The whole brood dive and swim off under water to the shore, and conceal themselves in the dense herbage. While the young are disappearing, the mother counterfeits lameness, and by every conceivable stratagem known to her, endeavors to lead the intruder away from the spot. Succeeding in this, she takes to wing and flies off. If apprised of the approach in season, before the person has advanced within gun-shot distance, she swims away with great rapidity, her brood following after, until they have reached a bend in the stream. Here, out of sight of the pursuing party, they make for the shore, creep silently out of the water, and hide themselves until the object of their dread has disappeared. The female Wood Duck often encroaches upon the domains of this bird, and the most unhappy consequences follow.

When the young are able to provide for themselves, the male emerges from his solitude, and consorts with his family. Both old and young hold together during the remainder of the season, and then unite with other small flocks to constitute the larger ones which are seen in migration in the month of October. Young birds, when about two-thirds grown, are in great demand for the table, as they are excellent eating. From their habit of flapping the wings on the water, when endeavoring to escape pursuit, they have been called "Flappers." It is probable that they do not attain their full plumage until the next spring. Nuttall says the upper plumage is browner than in the adult, and the white speculum and bands on the tertiaries less perfect. The black and white bars on the shoulders, and the white stripe behind the eye, are wanting. On the head, neck, and upper portions of the breast, a soiled pale-brown color prevails, which is edged with whitish on the last. The chin is inclined to white. The bill is black above, and orange below, and the crest but slightly developed.

The adult male is black above, with two crescent-shaped spots before the wings, and a bar across the speculum, of the same color. The sides are chestnut, and striped with black, while the lower parts, speculum, bands on tertiaries, and crest-centre, are white. The nostrils are sub-basal, and the bill nearly or quite black. His length is from eighteen to nineteen inches, and wing about eight.

From her lord the female differs somewhat in size, being smaller, and in a most marked degree in plumage. The two are easily distinguished. The compact, erect, semi-circular and side-compressed crest is smaller and less rounded; the head and neck are brown; back and sides dark brown, with paler edges to the feathers, and white on wings of less extent. The lower mandible is reddish at base. Upon comparison with the above description of the immature bird, it will be observed that a striking resemblance obtains between the two. Where the sexes materially differ in plumage, the rule seems to be that the young males take on the characteristic dress of the mother before assuming that which is to distinguish them later in life.

The disposition of the Sheldrakes to nest in obscure situations, remote from the haunts of man, and often difficult of access, perhaps, has much to do with the ignorance that enshrouds their history. Were they better known, and more easily approached, they might be subdued by the skill of man, and be made to associate with the Mallard, whose ancestors still live in a feral state. A little patience is all that is necessary to carry the project to completion, if it should be attempted, and reasoning from the success of the plan in the case of the Wood Duck – a species remarkably similar in general habits – we entertain no doubt as to its practicability. But would the plan be feasible? This is a question that we are not prepared to answer. At any rate, it is worthy of an effort. If the trial has ever been made, we are not aware of it, nor can we find anything in the literature of ornithology to warrant us in saying that it has. Beautiful in plumage, and noted for their grace, skill and ease upon the watery element, they might become interesting denizens of man's surroundings, even though they should never, by their usefulness, fully repay him for the care and expense which he would necessarily be compelled to bestow upon them.