THE OOLOGIST. 



•20 



crii^tiou of the male ivory-bJl may prove i 

 acceptable to those who may never be able 

 to see even a stuffed specimen of a l)iid, 

 which, taken in everj' way, is, perhaps, the 

 most interesting and beautiful in America. 

 In size, 21 inches leng,and 33 in alar extent; 

 bill, ivory-white, beautifully Huted above, 

 and two ahd a half iuches long; head-tuft, 

 or crest, long and line, of pure scarlet faced 

 with black. Its body-color is glossy blue- 

 black, but down its slender neck on each 

 side, running from the crest to the back, a 

 pure white stripe contrasts vividly with the 

 scarlet and ebony. A mass of white runs 

 across the back when the wings are closed, 

 as in M. erythroc^'phalua, leaving the wing- 

 tips and tail black. Its feet are ash-blue, 

 its eyes amber-yellow. The female is like 

 the male, save that she lies a black crest 

 instead of the scarlet. I can think of 

 nothing in Nature more striking than the 

 flash of color this bird gives to the dreary 

 swamp-land.scape, as it careers from tree 

 to tree, or sits upon some high skeleton 

 cypress-branch and plies its resounding 

 blows. The species will probably be ex- 

 tinct within a few years.* — MAfRiCE 

 Thompson, in The Library Magagine. 



* Since writing the foregoing, I have 

 made several excursions in search of the 

 ivory-bill. Early in January^ 1885, I killed 

 a line male specimen in a swamj) near Bay 

 St. Louis, Mississippi; but was prevented, 

 by an accident, from preserving it or mak- 

 a sketch it. 



The Raptores of Michig-an. 



BY MORRIS GIBBS. M. 1). 



There are known in onr State, either, 

 as residents, transients from the north or 

 south, winter residents aud stragglers. 

 Thirty species in tLis order; over twenty 

 five of these are well known; one. the 

 Eur -pean Buzzard, lias only once been dis- 

 covered, and several are only rarely record- 

 ed. There are also several species and 

 races recorded by some catalogues, which 

 the writer has considered hardly tenable in 

 in this list. 



It mav be of interest to those interested 



in geographical distribution, to that state 

 Michigan lies nearly within forty-one and 

 two-ihirds to forty-seven and one-half 

 degrees north latitude, and eighty-two 

 and one-half to ninety, wtst long tude, thus 

 admitting of the visitation of several uoith- 

 ern species unknown to more soul hern 

 localities . 



My own observations have been taken 

 in sixteen counties, aud cover the space 

 eml raced from the southern tier of counties 

 to our northern boundary. In addition to 

 personal notes the writer is somewhat in- 

 debted to much as a score of published lists, 

 covering a period since I839,many of which 

 however, are somewhat misleading. The 

 assistance of Messrs. B. F. Suke and K. 

 Willhelm is thankfully acknowledged f(U- 

 valuable notes on the breeding habits of 

 several species: 1 am also iudclited to 

 others. 



CATH.\RTID^. 



The American Vultures. 



VartharU'S aura (LinnJ . Turkey ^'ulture. 

 A straggler from the south. It is not 

 probably found nesting in the State; but 

 to this I cannot attest. Twenty years ago 

 this bird was unknown within our bound- 

 aries and is not embraced in any of the 

 earlier lists of Michigan birds . The first 

 specimen that I have knowledge of was 

 taken in VanBuren county, in LST'i, latitude 

 42- 20 ' north. Since then specimens 

 have been occasionally taken, generally 

 duiing July and August . 



During the last tv;*o j'ears the species has 

 appeared almost common in localitits and 

 as many as seven were observed feasting 

 from the carcass of of an unfoi-tunate 

 sheep. From the apparent familiarity of 

 most of the specimens observe I, it is 

 probable that they came from' those 

 regions where, as scavengers, they are never 

 molested. One bird was picked ujj alive, 

 imwounded, and nearly ail were easily ap- 

 proached and shot. 



During the past summei", stock was well 

 up in Turkey Buzzards, and many speci- 

 mens were brought me for which fabulous 

 prices were asked. The birds were deemed 

 rare and rated accordingly: but two nr three 



