Part 17

58. =Perisoreus canadensis= (_Linn._) _Bp._ CANADA JAY.—At Houlton: “very common. These birds do not often appear in the thickly settled part of the town, but are very abundant around the lumber camps in this vicinity.” This no doubt explains the fact that the species was not seen by any of us at Grand Falls and Fort Fairfield.[72]

59. =Tyrannus carolinensis= (_Linn._) _Bd._ KINGBIRD.—Rather common at Fort Fairfield. At Grand Falls several were seen, but it was not common.

60. =Myiarchus crinitus= (_Linn._) _Caban._ GREAT CRESTED FLYCATCHER.—In June, 1878, Messrs. H. A. Purdie and Ruthven Deane observed a pair nest-building at a point in New Brunswick about six miles east of Houlton.

61. =Sayornis fuscus= (_Gm._) _Bd._ PEWEE.—One was observed at Fort Fairfield, June 28. “Very rare” at Houlton.

62. =Contopus borealis= (_Swains._) _Bd._ OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER.—Common in the woods at Grand Falls. This species was rather common at Fort Fairfield. We usually saw them perched on the tops of tall dead trees in clearings. They were rather shy.

63. =Contopus virens= (_Linn._) _Caban._ WOOD PEWEE.—At Fort Fairfield it appeared to be not uncommon. It was not met with, however, at Grand Falls.

64. =Empidonax flaviventris= _Bd._ YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER.—At Fort Fairfield this species was rather common in wet evergreen woods, especially in those that had small streams flowing through them. It was not observed at Grand Falls. Messrs. Purdie and Deane found it rather common at Houlton in June, 1878.[73]

65. =Empidonax trailli= (_Aud._) _Bd._ TRAILL’S FLYCATCHER.—Not common at Grand Falls. They were to be found mostly where there were scattered dead trees. We did not find it at Fort Fairfield. Mr. H. A. Purdie informs me that it was not uncommon at Houlton in June, 1878.

66. =Empidonax minimus= _Bd._ LEAST FLYCATCHER.—Very abundant in hard woods at Grand Falls. At Fort Fairfield it was rather common.

67. =Caprimulgus vociferus= _Wils._ WHIP-POOR-WILL.—Mr. McLeod notes that there are a few at Houlton during the summer. The species was neither seen nor heard at Fort Fairfield and Grand Falls.

68. =Chordeiles popetue= (_Vieill._) _Bd._ NIGHTHAWK.—Very abundant at Grand Falls. At Fort Fairfield it was common; they frequented burnt lands.

69. =Chætura pelasgica= (_Linn._) _Bd._ CHIMNEY SWIFT.—At Fort Fairfield they were common, breeding both in chimneys and in hollow trees. Common in the burnt country at Grand Falls. Not many were breeding in chimneys, the people disliking to have them there.

70. =Trochilus colubris= _Linn._ RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD.—Common at Grand Falls. At Fort Fairfield it was apparently rather common—we saw several.

71. =Ceryle alcyon= (_Linn._) _Boie_. BELTED KINGFISHER.—Rather common at Fort Fairfield. At Grand Falls it was to be seen wherever there was good fishing ground.

72. =Picus villosus= _Linn._ HAIRY WOODPECKER.—Common.

73. =Picus pubescens= _Linn._ DOWNY WOODPECKER.—At Fort Fairfield this species was much less common than _P. villosus_. It was not uncommon at Grand Falls.

74. =Picoides arcticus= (_Swains._) _Gray._ BLACK-BACKED THREE-TOED WOODPECKER.—Common at Grand Falls in burnt cedar swamps. At Fort Fairfield we shot two, all we saw.

75. =Sphyropicus varius= (_Linn._) _Bd._ YELLOW-BELLIED WOODPECKER.—Common—the commonest Woodpecker—at Fort Fairfield. They were generally found about recent clearings, or in the more open mixed woods. At Grand Falls they were common in hard woods.

76. =Hylotomus pileatus= (_Linn._) _Bd._ PILEATED WOODPECKER.—At Grand Falls half a dozen pairs were seen. Probably there is too little of the heavy forest left in the immediate neighborhood of Fort Fairfield to suit their tastes, as we did not meet with them. “Common” at Houlton.

77. =Colaptes auratus= (_Linn._) _Sw._ GOLDEN-WINGED WOODPECKER.—Rather common at Fort Fairfield. Not common at Grand Falls.

78. =Coccyzus erythrophthalmus= (_Wils._) _Bd._ BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO.—Mr. McLeod records this bird in his notes, but without comments. It was not seen at Fort Fairfield or Grand Falls.

79. =Strix nebulosa= _Forst._ BARRED OWL.—“Very common” at Houlton. We were shown a mounted specimen by Mr. Frank P. Orcutt at Fort Fairfield. He considered it the commonest Owl.

80. =Nyctale acadica= (_Gm._) _Bd._ SAW-WHET OWL.—This bird is not uncommon at Houlton. Mr. Frank P. Orcutt told us that it was tolerably common at Fort Fairfield.

81. =Bubo virginianus= (_Gm._) _Bd._ GREAT HORNED OWL.—“Very common” at Houlton. Mr. Orcutt said it was rather common at Fort Fairfield.

82. =Circus hudsonius= (_Linn._) _Vieill._ MARSH HAWK.—Rare at Houlton. One seen at Fort Fairfield.

83. =Accipiter cooperi= _Bp._ COOPER’S HAWK.—Not common at Grand Falls. Not observed at Fort Fairfield or Houlton.

84. =Accipiter fuscus= (_Gm._) _Bp._ SHARP-SHINNED HAWK.—“Not common” at Houlton.

85. =Falco sparverius= _Linn._ SPARROW HAWK.—Commonest Hawk at Grand Falls. Not met with at Houlton or Fort Fairfield, though Mr. Orcutt considers it common at the latter place.

86. =Buteo borealis= (_Gm._) _Vieill._ RED-TAILED HAWK.—Not common at Grand Falls. Not observed at Fort Fairfield. “Common” at Houlton.

87. =Buteo pennsylvanicus= (_Wils._) _Bp._ BROAD-WINGED HAWK.—Not common at Grand Falls. It was found breeding at Houlton, but not met with at Fort Fairfield.

88. =Haliæetus leucocephalus= (_Linn._) _Savig._ BALD EAGLE.—“Not common” at Houlton.

89. =Ectopistes migratorius= (_Linn._) _Sw._ WILD PIGEON.—Breeding at Grand Falls, but not common.

90. =Canace canadensis= (_Linn._) _Bp._ SPRUCE PARTRIDGE.—At Houlton “mostly found in the deep fir thickets, or in the swamps of firs and cedars.” Not met with at Fort Fairfield and Grand Falls, though of course it occurs there.

91. =Bonasa umbellus= (_Linn._) _Steph._ RUFFED GROUSE.—Rather common at Fort Fairfield. At Grand Falls only a few were seen—in the hard woods.

92. =Ardea herodias= _Linn._ GREAT BLUE HERON.—“Common” at Houlton.

93. =Nyctiardea grisea nævia= (_Bodd._) _Allen_. NIGHT HERON.—“Not common” at Houlton.

94. =Botaurus lentiginosus= (_Montag._) _Steph._—BITTERN.—“Common” at Houlton. One seen at Grand Falls.

95. =Philohela minor= (_Gm._) _Gray._ WOODCOCK.—One seen on Little River Flats near Grand Falls. At Fort Fairfield we saw a specimen in the collection of Mr. Frank P. Orcutt, who considered it rare in that neighborhood. “A few breed in the vicinity” of Houlton.

96. =Rhyacophilus solitarius= (_Wils._) _Cass._ SOLITARY SANDPIPER.—At Grand Falls some were seen along the river June 9 (J. A. J.).

97. =Tringoides macularius= (_Linn._) _Gray._ SPOTTED SANDPIPER.—At Fort Fairfield it was very numerous along the Aroostook River, and was also noticed in one or two other places. It was abundant along the rivers at Grand Falls. At Houlton too it was very common.

98. =Porzana carolina= (_Linn._) _Bd._ CAROLINA RAIL.—One seen at Fort Fairfield, June 20, in a wet meadow partly grown up with alder bushes (J. D.).

99. =Anas obscura= _Gm._ BLACK DUCK.—“Very common, breeding” at Houlton.

100. =Aix sponsa= (_Linn._) _Boie_. WOOD DUCK.—“Quite common” at Houlton.

101. =Clangula glaucium americana= (_Bp._) _Ridgw._ GOLDEN-EYE.—A few seen at Grand Falls.

102. =Mergus merganser americanus= (_Cass._) _Ridgw._ SHELDRAKE.—Not uncommon at Grand Falls.

103. =Mergus serrator= _Linn._ RED-BREASTED MERGANSER.—“Very common, breeding,” at Houlton.

104. =Larus argentatus smithsonianus= _Coues_. HERRING GULL.—At Houlton it is common on the neighboring lakes, where it breeds.

105. =Podilymbus podiceps= (_Linn._) _Lawr._ PIED-BILLED GREBE.—Rare, breeds, Houlton.

A SKETCH OF THE HOME OF _HYLOCICHLA ALICIÆ BICKNELLI_, RIDGWAY, WITH SOME CRITICAL REMARKS ON THE ALLIES OF THIS NEW RACE.

BY EUGENE P. BICKNELL.

That there remained unrecognized at this late day a bird regularly inhabiting one of the must populous portions of our country; or, indeed, that a species of eminently boreal habitat during its breeding season, and not known to occur at all at such time within the limits of the United States, should have a representative race regularly breeding in our midst, are facts for which we were little prepared. Mr. Ridgway’s recent paper[74] announcing these facts being necessarily of a technical nature, and confined to a formal description of the new Thrush, it has been thought well on the present occasion to allude more particularly to the character of the locality inhabited by the bird, and to some of its associates there, in connection with other sequential considerations. As the general physical character of the Catskill Mountains and the faunal features of the region will be treated by the writer elsewhere, it will be unnecessary to extend the range of the present relation from the summit of Slide Mountain in Ulster Co.,[75] where the new race was discovered.

On June 15, 1881, nearing the summit of this mountain, the forests of a more northern latitude were forcibly suggested. A shower had fallen during the ascent, and the sun was still obscured, while a sharp wind from the northwest piercing the wet woods and sighing among the balsams, blasted and weather beaten, heightened an impression of remoteness and desolation. The evergreens, constituting the principal arboreal growth, extended off on all sides, clothing the rocky and moss-grown slopes, and presenting the striking contrast of a young and fragrant second growth clustering about the branchless and spiny trunks of their sires tottering in decay; or, with tangled and matted branches outlined here and there, as we approached the summit, against a gray and cheerless sky. Owing to the comparatively short life of these trees, that high portion of the mountain where their tribe had pitched was brought into grim contrast with its surroundings. Old age and death, continually present invading their ranks, had everywhere left their traces; flourishing clusters had been stricken in their fellowship, groups and gatherings had been divided and scattered, and like a contagion the destroyer had spread among their hosts. But the younger generations are continually forming their associations, and with green and fragrant grouping filling in deserted chambers and screening the devastation that has gone before, although only to furnish material for its continuance in the future. All this, with an occasional undergrowth of greater or less luxuriance, gave a diversified and somewhat open character to the surroundings, entirely dissimilar to that of the environing forest; conditions, which, in conjunction with humidity and elevation, have brought this mountain top into some relation with the swampland of a more northern region.

Reaching a more elevated portion of the ridge where the ground was more level and the surface less rocky, that north-woods tree, the Paper Birch (_Betula papyracea_) occasionally appeared, and more abundantly the Mountain Ash. Almost the only remnant of the dense mountain forests below was the Yellow Birch (_Betula lutea_) which, joining the undergrowth, persisted with small and stunted stature to the summit. On all sides were to be seen the white blossoms of _Viburnum lantanoides_ which, though also found in the valley woodlands, had there long since flowered and was now bearing green fruit. Another characteristic shrub was _Amelanchier canadensis oligocarpa_; lower down had been found the var. _botryapium_, but here, the northern form was well marked, seeming almost specifically distinct. In the deep, damp moss, covering and filling in the rocks beneath the balsam growth, and relieving the ruggedness of the slopes, northern plants were growing in greater or less profusion. The Dwarf Cornel (_Cornus canadensis_) grew in such close luxuriance in congenial spots, that its snowy bracts imparted an almost uniform whiteness to whole beds. With, or near it, blossomed the Wood Sorrel (_Oxalis acetosella_) with delicately violet-veined petals, and the appropriately-named Gold-thread (_Coptis trifolia_) of evanescent bloom but shining evergreen leaves, and the little Star Flower (_Trientalis americana_) were often also associates. Excepting the pale yellow bells of _Clintonia borealis_, and the purplish tinge, or veining, of the blossoms of several other species, all the plants noticed in bloom at this time upon the mountain bore flowers of some shade of white. The more open ground about our course along the ridge supported a luxuriant and graceful growth of that lovely fern _Aspidium spinulosum_, and with it, in openings about the summit, grew abundantly the Mountain Golden-rod (_Solidago thyrsoidea_) which, although yet many weeks from bloom, heralded a royal emblem to light the mountain’s brow ere the white locks of winter should again possess it.

At the elevation where these plants first appeared the trees nowhere attained more than a medium stature, those which seemed best to have surmounted the difficulties of their situation, the Balsam and the Paper Birch, never rising to a height of more than, perhaps, twenty-five feet. This growth completely encompassed the range of vision, but an occasional scantiness in the foliage permitted glimpses of surrounding mountains rolling off like huge green billows into the blue distance.

From these evergreens came the leisurely call of the Canada Nuthatch (_Sitta canadensis_), and on closer approach the low, plaintive notes of the little Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (_Empidonax flaviventris_). The brief warble of the Black-and-Yellow Warbler (_Dendrœca maculosa_) told of the presence of its unseen author in the surrounding trees, while among the undergrowth the less frequent, but louder and more sustained song of the Mourning Ground-warbler (_Geothlypis philadelphia_) showed that this species, which had been left at the foot of the mountain, had here reappeared. At intervals, faintly mingling with these songs, from some hidden fastness below, came the _fantasia_ of the Winter Wren, a melody that seemed to pass from the spirit of unclaimed nature, voicing some mystery of the mountains. The clamor of a party of Blue Jays occasionally arose and died away in the forest, but here, in this mountain solitude, their screams seemed more subdued than in less primitive regions, and lacked that suggestion of consciousness which individuals constantly within human hearing, seem to acquire. Busily roaming Chickadees (_Parus atricapillus_) at times came about our path, and the Snowbird (_Junco hyemalis_) was present with its simple song. Olive-backed Thrushes (_Hylocichla ustulata swainsoni_) too, were constantly to be heard, and finally, guided by its near song, one was followed up and secured. A moment later another Thrush darted across the path, and disappearing through a young balsam growth, immediately began to sing a few rods off. The song was different from that of the bird which had just been shot, so much so, in fact, as to be remarked even by my guide. It seemed to be more uniform in character, with less variation and definition of the notes; as I wrote in my note-book at the time—more suggestive of the song of _H. fuscescens_. A conspicuous point of difference was that it was more subdued in tone, in fact of a somewhat ventriloquous nature. On examining the bird, in hand, although I had thought myself familiar with all our eastern _Hylocichlæ_, I must confess to having been puzzled. It was obviously neither the Olive-backed nor the Hermit Thrush, the only species of our own smaller Thrushes which from the distribution of their group (as then understood) could possibly be expected to occur. I at once noted its general resemblance to the Gray-cheeked Thrush, but it seemed impossible that this Hudsonian bird could be found so far south at this season; and though a second specimen pointed more strongly toward it, it was not until I had reached home and made actual comparisons, that I could feel satisfied that its true relationship was with that species. I had long noticed certain somewhat constant differences between examples of _aliciæ_ occurring at New York on their migrations, and incited by these specimens went carefully over my series of seventeen examples and found them separable into two forms, characterized by slight differences in coloration and a notable difference in size. The examples from the Catskills were more closely allied to the smaller of the two forms, and these, with, subsequently, my entire series, were submitted to Mr. Ridgway, the result being the recognition of a new bird, belonging to our eastern fauna.

But to return to the mountain. It would hardly be justifiable to make a positive statement about a difficult song that had been but once identified, but I feel positive that the Thrushes which were last heard that evening about our camp on the extreme summit of the mountain were of the new form. Night was rapidly falling, and the valleys were in darkness, when one sang several times near the camp, and for some time afterwards a single call-note was occasionally heard, and the varying distance of the sound showed that the birds were still active. Excepting these sounds, the last bird notes heard were those of the Yellow-bellied Flycatcher.

The sharp northwest wind continued late, and the night became clear and cold. Shortly after midnight the bright moon showed the temperature, by a thermometer which I had hung beside the camp, to be 35°, and at sunrise it stood at 32°. Before daylight I was standing on a boulder of conglomerate on the dim mountain’s brow listening for the awakening of the birds. The first songs heard were those of the Hermit Thrush, Snowbird, and Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, which began almost simultaneously, followed a little later by those of the Olive-backed Thrush and the Mourning Warbler, but _H. bicknelli_ was not heard, or at least not near enough to be distinguished among the other species.

The increasing light upon the mountain seemed to attract the birds from below, whither, perhaps, they had retired for the night, and soon many different notes were to be heard about the camp; not, however, in that boisterous chorus with which the day is often announced about our homes, in which the notes of many individuals of many species are blended in such confused medley that separate voices are almost indistinguishable, but simply the association of a few vocalists, the very isolation of whose position endowed their voices with an additional interest and charm.

After those already mentioned the Black-poll Warbler (_Dendrœca striata_) began its unpretending notes, which always to me suggest a short dotted line, and this song, with that of the Black-and-Yellow Warbler, occasionally alternated about us in agreeable contrast. Now and then a Canada Nuthatch, on its morning tour, tarried to inspect some dead trunk or thinly clothed tree, upon the projecting apex of which, or that of some companion, a solitary Purple Finch occasionally alighted, and with a few wild fugitive notes was gone, to other mountain tops or the forests of the descending slopes.

But to revert to the Thrushes. The two specimens of the new form which were obtained were both males, and were unquestionably breeding,[76] though no nest known to belong to their species was found.

It remains to briefly consider some facts furnished by the birds’ occurrence as narrated. These facts bear directly on the long contested question of the relationship which _H. aliciæ_ and _H. swainsoni_ bear to one another, and it can scarcely be denied that the present evidence on this point is conclusive. Not only have we representatives of both birds preserving their respective identities at the same locality, under identical conditions of environment, but examples of each taken under these circumstances, display, except in size, even a greater dissimilitude than those which occur together on their migrations. There is but one tenable interpretation of these facts: the birds—_Hylocichla aliciæ_ and _H. ustulata swainsoni_—are wholly and entirely distinct. Any theory of dichromatism which might be advanced, aside from its extreme unlikelihood, would be shown inadequate by the relative differences in proportions of parts which the two birds exhibit. These differences, as well as those of color are illustrated by the Catskill birds. A specimen of _H. swainsoni_ taken at the top of Slide Mountain was in every way typical of its species, and conspicuously unlike the examples of _bicknelli_ taken at the same time. Aside from differences in the proportions of parts, the two birds were strikingly different in color, the decided grayish olive tinge of the superior surface of _swainsoni_ contrasting strongly with the much darker brownish cast of its congener. One example of the latter instead of showing indications of a buffy tinge about the sides of the head and on the breast, which under the circumstances we should expect to be the case, were it in any way specifically related to _swainsoni_, has absolutely no indications whatever of this shade about the sides of the head, and actually less on the breast than any specimens of true _aliciæ_ that I have seen, and this little most evident low down where the corresponding shade in _swainsoni_ begins to pale. It seems probable that this newly recognized race of _aliciæ_ is responsible for much of the ambiguity which the discussion of both species by different writers has occasioned. Indeed, it seems to occupy the same position relative to _aliciæ_ proper which, by some, _swainsoni_ was supposed to hold, viz., the more southern-born individuals of the species, but that it represents a link specifically connecting the two, the facts already presented refute. As it occurs with true _aliciæ_ on the autumn migration most specimens of the new form are paler and more brownish in color above, and their general size is nearly that of _swainsoni_,[77] and these differences may be regarded by some as approaches towards the latter species. 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. Such obscure insight into this point as I have been permitted seems to indicate that the latter alternative will be found to be the more correct, but, for the present, from lack of the necessary data this important subject is proscribed.

It is unnecessary here to repeat the diagnosis of the new form of _Hylocichla aliciæ_ given by Mr. Ridgway in the paper before cited. As this writer states, the race breeds “probably in other mountainous districts of the northeastern United States” than the single locality where it was discovered, and it seems very singular that up to the present time we have no knowledge of its occurrence in the summer season elsewhere, even in regions where the two congeneric species with which it was here associating—_H. nanus_[78] and _H. swainsoni_—are well known to be common summer residents. The occurrence of a representative of _H. aliciæ_ in the United States at all during its breeding season is a matter of surprise, especially when we recollect the boreal distribution of the typical form during that period, and read[79] that so far towards the north as the Yukon and the Great Slave Lake it occurs “only as a bird of passage to and from more northern breeding grounds.” Additional information respecting the distribution of the new race will be awaited with great interest.

SHORT NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF BAYOU SARA, LOUISIANA.

BY CHARLES WICKLIFFE BECKHAM.

As the avian fauna of the lower Mississippi Valley is now receiving some attention,[80] it seems well that I should contribute my mite of information to the general fund.

Bayou Sara and the adjoining town of St. Francisville, in the parish of West Feliciana, are situated on the east bank of the Mississippi River, 170 miles above New Orleans by that stream and about 80 miles in an air line northwest of it. It is 30 or 40 miles north of Baton Rouge, near which place Dr. Langdon made his observations in April, 1881. The following notes were made principally on and near “Wyoming,” two miles from the river, the plantation of Ex-Gov. R. C. Wickliffe, a place possessing peculiarly agreeable ornithological associations on account of its former owner, Gen. Dawson, having entertained Audubon as his guest for several months. It will be remembered that the type specimen of _Buteo harlani_ was captured here.