522 



J. A. ALLEN ON BIRDS 



It may be added that among the rapacious birds Pandion " caroMnensis Bon." is rather 

 common ; that Nauclerus furcatus has been several times taken near Chicago ; and that 

 Cathartes aura is known as a rather infrequent visitor. As far north, however, as the 

 Kalamazoo River in Michigan, I found this species well known, where in summer it is said to 

 be quite common. 



III. Richmond, Wayne County, Indiana. 



To render the following list more complete than my own opportunities for observation 

 allowed, I have added several species on the authority of Dr. Haymond, who some time 

 since published a list of one hundred and forty-seven species of birds observed by him in 

 southeastern Indiana. 1 His observations appear to have been made on the White Water 



legs, as indicated by collectors' labels, of californicus, is by far 

 too variable a character to have alone much weight. There 

 seems then, in short, but little reason why californicus, as well 

 as Smitksonianus, should not be referred to argentatus ; "cali- 

 fornicus " being perhaps more generally found in the higher lat- 

 itudes and representing the most perfect condition of the Amer- 

 ican argentatus," Smitksonianus " forming the southern race, 

 with a larger proportion of immature birds ; as we have good 

 data for supposing that, in general, fully mature birds prefer a 

 locality more northern than do the younger representatives of 

 the species. With this view the argument based on the sup- 

 posed southern distribution of " Smitksonianus " in favor of 

 its distinctness is unfounded. 



Since the above was written I have received a mature speci- 

 men of the Herring Gull from my friend Mr. C. J. Maynard, 

 killed at Ipswich, Mass., early in the fall, that in every way 

 corresponds with the typical L. argentatus of Coues, or with 

 the more mature European birds. The first primary is white 

 for about two inches, the subterminal black bar being entirely 

 obsolete ; the second has the subterminal white spot entirely 

 covering both vanes for the space of more than an inch. 



A series of six mature specimens in alcohol, in the Mu- 

 seum of Comparative Zoology, presents the following grada- 

 tion : No. 985, from Lake Winnipeg, collected by Mr. S. H. 

 Scudder, has no white subterminal spot on the second primary, 

 and a wide black bar separates the apical white spot from the 

 subterminal in the first primary; another, from Grand Menan, 

 is like this, except in having a very small subterminal white spot 

 on the second primary; No. 2G33, from Maiden, Mass., has the 

 second primary like the last, but the separating black bar on 

 the first is nearly obsolete; No. 244, from the Mingan Islands, 

 has the white spot nearly covering both vanes of the second 

 primary, but on the first the separating black bar is still dis- 

 tinct. Other specimens from those already mentioned show 

 the same inconstancy of marking of the first and second prima- 

 ries, with a more or less decided approach to what has been 

 assumed as exclusively the European style. To sum up the 

 facts in a general statement, less than a third of the mature 

 American birds examined have the markings of the first and 

 second primaries according with Dr. Coucs' diagnosis ; nearly 

 another third have them like, or very nearly like, his diagnosis 

 of the European; the remainder being intermediate; of the 

 two European specimens examined, one is like the average of 

 American specimens, while the other is fully matched by sev- 



eral of my American birds, which in every way bear marks 

 of being either in very high plumage, or of being very old birds. 



[In relation to the variability of the markings of the wings 

 of gulls, the following important testimony of Audubon, in his 

 account of the Laughing Gull (Chroicocephalus atricUla ; 

 Birds of America, VII, 137), escaped my notice till after the 

 preceding had been placed in the hands of the printer. 



"As to the white spots on the extremities of the primary 

 quills of birds of this family, I would have you, reader, never 

 to consider them as affording essential characters. Nav, if 

 you neglect them altogether, you will save yourself much 

 trouble, as they will only mislead you by their interminable 

 changes, [the italicising in these quotations from Audubon is en- 

 tirely my own] and you may see that the spots on one wing 

 are sometimes different in size and number from those on the 

 other wing of the same specimen. If all this be correct, as I 

 assure you it must be, being the result of numberless observa- 

 tions made in the course of many years, in the very places of 

 resort of our different gulls, will you not agree with me, 

 reader, that the difficulty of distinguishing two very nearly 

 allied species must be almost insuperable ichen one has noth- 

 ing but a few dried skins for objects of observation and 

 comparison ? " 



In his description of the Herring Gull (Laws argentatus 

 Briinn.), he further observes (lb., p. 160) : "From the exam- 

 ination of individuals of this species, it would appear that little 

 reliance can be placed on the markings of the quills as afford- 

 ing specific character. Four undoubted specimens of Larus 

 argentatus now before me have a white spot, varying in length 

 from one to two inches, anil including both webs, near the end 

 of the first quill. One has no spot on the second quill; another 

 has a white spot on both webs of the second quill of one win^, 

 and a smaller spot on part of the inner web of the same quill 

 on the other wing ; the third has a very small spot on part of 

 the inner web of the same quill of both wings ; the fourth has 

 a large circular spot on the inner web of that quill, also in 

 both wings." 



Probably no naturalist has ever had so favorable oppor- 

 tunities for observing our various species of gulls in life, and 

 of studying them from fresh specimens, as Audubon. His 

 testimony on this point is hence of the highest importance.] 



1 Birds of Southeastern Indiana. By Rufus Haymoxd, 

 M. D., Proc. of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, 

 November, 1856. 



