1856.] 295 



Genus AEDEA, Linn. 



Ardea herodias, Linn. Great Blue Heron. 

 Quite abundant during the warmer seasons of the year. 



Ardea candidissima. The Snowy Heron. 



Quite numerous some years along White Water, in August, September and Oc- 

 tober. 



Ardea exilis(?). Least Bittern. 



Very numerous along all our streams. Builds its nest in apple-trees and other 

 scrubby trees in the vicinity of rivers. I am not sure that this is not the Green 

 Heron of naturalists (^A. virescens). 



Ardea lentiginosa. The American Bittern. ^ 

 I have seen but three birds of this species in this part of the State. They are 

 quite numerous on the Iroquois and Kankakee in the N. West. The people 

 there call them ''thunder-pumpers;" hence I infer that their love-call is equivalent 

 to the booming of the European Bittern. 



Genus IBIS, Moehr. 

 Ibis loculator. The Wood Ibis. 



The first day of August, 1855, a large flock of these birds made their appear- 

 ance in this neighborhood. They remained along the river and White Water 

 canal for about a month or six weeks. A son of one of my neighbors broke 

 the wing of one of them and caught it. After keeping it three or four weeks, 

 feeding it upon fish, he gave it to me. I kept it until near the first of November, 

 when it fell a victim, as many another biped has done, to its appetite. Some 

 mackerel had been placed to soak upon a table in the back yard, one of which 

 he stole and ate, and upon the evening of the next day died in convulsions. 



It was wonderful to see with what rapidity it could swallow live fish from 

 three to ten inches long, almost as rapidly as a chicken would grains of corn. 



It became so tame whilst I kept it that it would come into the house when 

 hungry. In that short time it learned to know its name (Tantalus), and would 

 come when called, if it happened to be hungry. We learned it to eat raw meat, 

 by putting it into water where it had been fed on fish. 



When not hungry it would remain constantly on a certain spot in the yard, 

 and seemed to have no disposition to leave it, except in search of food. It would 

 stand for hours perfectly still, with its long bill hanging straight down along 

 the neck. When tired of this position it would lay the tarsus flat upon the ground 

 and stand upon the lower end of the tibia. It was perfectly harmless and 

 gentle, and possessed much more good sense and sagacity than its appearance 

 would seem to justify. 



Genus TOTANUS, Bechst. 



ToTANus PLAViPES, Gmel. Little Yellow Shank Tattler. 

 Not very numerous. Occasionally seen along the river. 



ToTANUS MELANOLEUcus, Gmcl. Great Yellow Shank Tattler. 

 Occasionally seen in fall and spring. 



ToTANus SEMiPALMATus, Gmcl. The Willet. 



These birds are rare, though flocks occasionally appear late in the fall and 

 early in the spring. 



Genus TRINGOIDES, Bonap. 



TfiraGOiDES MACULARiA, Liuu. Spottcd Sandpiper. 



Rather numerous along all our streams. 



Tringoides Bartramius, Wils. Upland Plover. 



Very rare. I do not remember ever to have seen but two or three of these 

 birds in this neighborhood. 



