Various

“ In both species there is a wide individual variation, but the closest approach of each towards the other never exceeds that limit within which each may vary without its specific distinctness being compromised. I have yet to see a specimen of either which would admit of the slightest question as to its identity. I speak thus of adult birds. In such closely related species the young must almost necessarily approximate, and to these we must appeal for light on the things that have been—on the question of origin—whether one has been derived from the other, or both species from a common ancestor. ”

“ About such places I used to find the Bachman’s Finch, a retiring little bird which might easily be overlooked by one unacquainted with its habit of skulking among the herbage and lying concealed until nearly trodden on. But no one with the slightest ear for bird music can long remain in ignorance of its presence after the breeding season has set in, for the male possesses vocal powers of a very rare order. ”

“ Unless a hummock interrupts the view, the eye may sometimes roam for half a mile in every direction over a perfectly level plain, interspersed with occasional trees whose tufted heads throw waving shadows upon the bright green beds of saw-palmetto that cover most of the ground beneath. Were it not for the half-wild cattle that range at will through the country, the palmetto would probably usurp every inch of ground ”

“ At the time of my arrival, the most abundant bird was probably the Cardinal Grosbeak, it being no unusual sight to see several males at one time along the railroad track, picking up grain dropped from passing cars, while the swamp and surrounding woods were filled with their sweet but monotonous whistlings. Later in the season, however, other species became rather more numerous, it being difficult to decide between the Redstart and Red-eyed Vireo, as to first rank in point of numbers. ”

“ On the 1st of May I started a female from her nesting-hole, which was about thirty feet above the ground in a large and apparently perfectly sound pine. I was unable to climb the tree but the bird acted as if her eggs had already been laid.
The pine lands of the South have an open park-like character that is a continual surprise to one accustomed only to New England forests. The trees rarely stand in close proximity to one another, and they are often so widely scattered that the general effect is that of an opening rather than a forest. ”

“ The ground-color of the back is decidedly paler, bringing out the dark streaks in sharper contrast, which is heightened by the absence of their usual chestnut edging; the ash of the throat and sides of the head is much fainter, and in many places replaced by brownish-fulvous; the under parts, especially the sides and abdomen, are more strongly ochraceous; and the broad, ashy crown-patch gives the head a very different appearance. ”

“ Nor can we approve the exclusion of certain Audubonian species “not since identified,” as well as some of Giraud’s, which there is no good reason to doubt were actually taken in Texas. “A few Cape St. Lucas birds have been so long in the ‘North American’ list that it is not thought worth while to displace them”; but does not this consideration apply with equal force to many of the Mexican species which are excluded? Our present southern boundary is a political, not a natural one, but this is all the more reason why it should be rigidly adhered to if followed at all. ”

“ We are satisfied to know that this is the nest of the Robin, the Wood thrush, the Catbird; but we do not think of taking the trouble to look every time at their eggs or young.
Still more likely to elude discovery would the strange egg be in the other Cookoo’s nest. In this neighborhood at least are the Cuckoo’s nests generally amidst such a terribly entangled mass of wild vine that we do not care to go up for mere pleasure. I do not know how regular egg-collectors go to work; other ornithologists may operate differently. ”

“ Henshaw comparing the sexes, says: “The adult plumage of the sexes differs little, though the coloration in the female is quite perceptibly duller throughout. The black is less lustrous; the wings are blackish brown instead of pure black; the white on the wing confined to the coverts, and only just visible on the edges of the secondaries.” These differences, however, are not always maintained for one of the two adult females before me is quite as bright as the average male, while the black is not less lustrous, and the white edging on the secondaries is even broader. ”

“ To our garden also came the Blue Jays; bold, familiar birds very different in bearing from the outcast that boys and would-be sportsmen pursue so relentlessly in the northern woods. Everywhere at the South this Jay is as much an inhabitant of the cultivated grounds as of the forests, and if not actually encouraged, it is universally tolerated. ”

“ Especially abundant where during the previous winter or spring many trees have been cut down; these they search for worms, and very soon have all the bark hammered away from them. They often excavate a hole for their nest in a post oak, in a sycamore, and also in elms, often at a considerable height. The cavity is from 10 to 20 inches deep and so large that a man can easily put his hand into it. The eggs, from four to six, are of a brilliant white color. Only one brood is raised, and the young follow their parents till late in the fall. ”

“ Stephens’ evidence is not less explicit. He found the Crissal Thrasher in copses in valleys, and along streams. It was especially fond of well-shaded undergrowth, and spent much of its time on the ground, searching for food under the bushes. It never occurred among cactuses, and the only place where he saw it actually associating with Bendire’s and Palmer’s Thrashers, was at Camp Lowell, where the latter species, with other desert birds, came to drink at a water-hole and thus occasionally mingled with the Crissal Thrashers which inhabited the neighboring thickets. ”

“ The streets and parks were full of the birds, and the daily papers all had their say upon the unwonted apparition. In the Smithsonian Grounds, for example, I saw one day a flock of a hundred or more Orchard Orioles, mixed with Baltimores. There were flocks of Scarlet Tanagers, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, etc., and any quantity of Thrushes, Vireos, Flycatchers and Warblers—among the latter the rare beauty Dendrœca tigrina. ”

“ So I conclude that in the case of this species there are, occasionally at least, two distinct and altogether different songs.
The Hooded Warbler is one of those which make their home on or near the ground. Here it keeps itself for the most part well concealed among the foliage of the thick undergrowth, having a rather slow and dignified movement for a bird of its kind.
It builds its nest from a foot to eighteen inches from the ground, generally in the upright or somewhat leaning fork of a little bush. ”

“ Some individuals even seemed to have a talent for mimicry. One that I remember imitated the note of the Loggerhead Shrike so closely that I was completely deceived. The nest of this bird is a wonderfully delicate and beautiful structure. One that I got at St. Mary’s contained its complement of four eggs on April 26. I discovered it twelve days previously when the birds were busily employed on the framework. The male took an equal part in this task and it was amusing to see him try to sing with his bill full of moss or bark. ”

“ It is of the size of a pigeon, the wings being very long in proportion to the body, the tail short, as also the legs, which are red; the feet being small and flat. The plumage on the upper part is gray-brown, and on the under part pure white. They go always in flocks along the seashore, like the pigeons with us.”
That this species was found on our shores early in this century is proved by the older natives of the Cape telling me, since the bird’s recent occurrence, that “them cutwater or shearwater birds used to be with us summer times.” ”

“ With respect to the skull of Cinclus, our space will not permit us to enter upon the engaging part of the subject as to the mode of formation of this part of the skeleton in the adult from the many segments found in the cranium of the chick, it being enough for us to say that the usual bones ossify, unite, and leave the ordinary ones free, as the pterygoids, the ossa quadrata, and the lower jaw. The superior mandible is drawn out into a sharp point, and the bony nostril on either side occupies considerable space, being long and elliptical in outline ”

“ As regards the colors of Eclectus polychlorus, where green, blue, red, yellow and brown may all be found, the author has brought out some very interesting points. The blue and green are mechanical, or rather the blue is mechanical and the green is the result of a yellow pigment overlying a brown one. The true pigments of the feathers are brown, yellow, and red. If the feathers be blackened on their under surfaces with lampblack or sepia, they become blue. If the yellow feathers are treated in a similar way, they become green. The yellow pigment is Zoöfulvin, the red probably Zoönerythrin. ”

“ The North American Towhees of the maculatus group are at present involved in much confusion. The trouble seems to be that each locality furnishes a race of its own which either possesses certain slight individual characteristics, or combines, in varying degrees, the characters of two or more recognized forms. The case, however, is not peculiar; for to a greater or less extent the same state of things obtains among the Song Sparrows, Shore Larks, and several other species, in which the forces of evolution are still actively working. ”

“ As the nest in this part of Texas is in most cases placed in trees, densely covered with Tillandsia, it is almost impossible to discover it. These beautiful birds are not at all retiring in their habits; in many instances they are so tame as to breed in close proximity to dwellings. They arrive from their winter quarters late in March, sometimes in the first days of April. Very often two broods are raised yearly. I found fresh eggs as late as July 4. The nests in the coast region are built partly of grasses but especially of gray Spanish moss. ”

“ Live-oak grows in scattering groves, the postoak in more compact clusters, and cedar occurs in small “brakes” of some density. There are also, along the creek to which the village owes its existence, two or three small oases of deciduous trees admixed with vines, no one of them, perhaps, an acre in extent. The mesquite, which is so common on the prairies to the south and east, is not seen, but is replaced by a small variety of live-oak growing in the form of chaparral. ”

“ Remarks on Five Maine Birds.—It appears that no formal announcement of the occurrence of the Gray-cheeked Thrush (Hylocichla aliciæ) in the State of Maine has ever been made, though the course the bird is known to pursue in its migrations renders such an announcement of slight importance. It may be stated, however, for the benefit of compilers, that this Thrush is a regular, not very common, spring and fall migrant in southern Maine, reaching Portland in spring about the middle of May, and in autumn about September 20. ”

“ In presenting a list of the birds observed in this locality, I wish to call especial attention to the curious admixture of geographical races found here. Among the species which are subject to climatic variation, several are represented by two distinct varieties and with them confused and indeterminable intermediate forms. In others but one constant form is found. And in a third class the bird occurs in a varying, transitional phase of plumage which, however, occasionally becomes typical of some described race. ”

“ Stephens are clearly referable to that race. They are not quite as yellow beneath as Nicasio (California) specimens, but they come within a shade of it, and are brighter by many shades than any of the same sex among my eastern examples; while in the vividness of the 86olive-green on the upper parts, they fully equal any of the California females. The supposed difference in the tail markings of these races does not hold in the series before me, for a male from Nicasio has the edging on the inner webs of the rectrices quite as broad and pure as that of any of the Florida ones. ”

“ Summer Redbird.—A common summer resident, particularly in oak woods. It is an elegant species, as are all the members of this family, but is more retired in its habits and quicker and more restless in its motions than the preceding. The song is more varied, louder, and wilder. The nest is usually built on the horizontal branch of an oak, from seven to twenty feet above the ground. It is a very open-worked inartificial structure, and the eggs cannot with certainty be distinguished from those of the Scarlet Tanager. ”

“ In the Little Blue Heron [Florida cærulea] and Reddish Egret (Dichromanassa rufa) , where dichromatism appears to be an established fact, each species presents different phases and mixtures of both colors, especially the Little Blue, which shows almost every variety of curious markings of blue and white; while in the Reddish Egret, one specimen shows white on the head, tail, and wings, and others reported by Mr. Adams show white on the wings.
“As before said, I believe the bird to be a geographical variation of A. herodias, residing permanently and breeding in South Florida. ”

“ In studying the skeletons of birds, or of anything else for that matter, the student must keep the fact ever present in his mind, that the great value of such studies and the descriptions that may follow them, rests almost entirely upon the comparisons that he makes; the more carefully and minutely he compares the form he may have under consideration with nearly related forms, the greater will be the value of his results ”