Birds of North Carolina 



birds that he found here were new to liini; but a,s evi(h"ntly he wa.s not a trained 

 ornithologist, he failed in many instances to note the difference between them and 

 species of luirope which to his eye they much resembled. To many of our native 

 birds, therefore, he gave the names of English species, and, his descrijjtions being 

 meager, we are often left in doubt as to wliat birds he really had in mind. Thus 

 what he calls "Moorehen" may have been either the (lallinule or the Coot. His 

 "Lap-wing" was perhaps one of the plovers, the ('.olden, Hlack-l)ellied, Wilson's or 

 Piping, or may possibly have been the Dowitcher, Turnstone, or Willet. 



Among the hawks he speaks of the "Hol)bie." I am yet at a loss to understand 

 to what species he referred, as all the other small hawks are evidently accounted for 

 under such English titles as "Falcon," "Merlin," etc. 



He made the mistake of regarding the young Bald Eagle as a distinct species, 

 and calls it "Gray Eagle." This error, by the way, was long followed by subse- 

 quent observers of North American bird life. Audubon, wTiting over a hundred 

 years later, tells in much detail about the life history of the Graj' Eagle; in fact, 

 he has left us a full-page drawing of the magnificent "Bird of Washington," as he 

 called it. The fact that the young Bald Eagle does not acquire its white head and 

 tail until a la])se of three years will accmmt, in a measure at least, for its mistaken 

 identity. 



On the other hand, some of Lawson's statements, which bear on the face evidences 

 of being perfectly truthful, reveal some valuable information. One of these is his 

 account of the breeding of the Black Duck in the east(>rn marshes, and another 

 which tells of the common occurrence of the Sandhill Crane. These are the only 

 two positive records we have of this character within the l)orders of North Caro- 

 lina, for, so far as known, no one else has recorded cranes in the State; and while 

 the Black Duck is a common winter visitor, and has long been suspected of breed- 

 ing here, we know of no authoritative record of a n(>st having been found since this 

 account given by Lawson. 



In the days of Law.son, Passenger Pigeons, which have since become extinct, 

 were abundant birds in North Carolina. They jirobably gathered to breed in vast 

 numbers in the mountains, after which they spread over the low country, and, 

 their numbers being augmented by great flights from the north, the pigeon popu- 

 lation must have i)een something enorn)ous. Lawson says: "I saw such prodigious 

 flocks of these pigeons in January and February, 1701-2 (which were in the hilly 

 country between the great nation of the Esaw Indians and the pleasant stream of 

 Sapona, which is the west branch of Clarendon, or Cape Fear River), that thin- 

 had broken dovn\ the limbs of a great many large trees all over those woods, whereon 

 they chanced to sit and roost; especially the great pines, which are more brittle 

 wood than our sorts of oak are. These pigeons, al)out sunrise, when we were i)re- 

 paring to march on our journey, would Hy i)y us in such vast flocks that they would 

 be near a quarter of an hour before they were all passed by; and as soon as that 

 flock was pass(>(l, another would come, and so successively one after another for a 

 greater part of the morning. It is observajjle that wherever these fowl come in such 

 large numbers, as I saw them then, they clear all before them, scarce leaving one 



