NATURAL HISTORY. 



27 



AMERICAN BITTERN. 



GREATER YELLOW-SHANKS. 



SEMI-PALlLiTED SANDPIPER. 



dai'k browu. Crown dusky reddish browu. 

 Chin and throat white, with reddish brown 

 stripe. From the angle of the mouth a 

 brownish black stripe proceeds downward, 

 becoming bro.ader on the side of the neck, 

 and turning upwards towards the bacli 

 side, where it is lost. The quills are also 

 brownish black. Feathers of the neck and 

 breast have their central part along tlie 

 shaft dark yellow, sprinkled thickly with 

 brown, broadly margined with tawny cream 

 color. Dorsal plumage dark umber brown, 

 with the feathers edged and spotted with 

 yellowish brown and tawny white Plu- 

 mage about the vent and inside of the 

 thighs, ochre-yellow. Legs, feet and nails 

 greenish olive-brown. Bill dark greenish 

 horn color, longer than the head, straight 

 beneath, moderately arched above, stout, 

 pointed, serrated on both mandibles, and, 

 on the upper, notched towards the point. 

 Tibia bare nearly an inch abo\e the jcint. 

 Middle toe longest, pectina'ted. Hind nail 

 longest. Feathers on the back of the head 

 and neek loose and elongated. Tail small, 

 rounded, and of 10 feathers. Length of 

 the specimen before me, which is a female, 

 25 inches. Bill, along the gape, 4, along 

 the ridge, 2.6 ; neck 11 ; folded wing 10 ; 

 tail 3 ; tarsus 3 ; longest toe 3 ; longest 

 nail 1.2. 



History. — The specimen of American 

 Bittern described above", was presented to 

 me by my friend, N. A. Tucker, Esq. It 

 was shot by him in his garden, in Burliog- 

 ton village, where it had alighted, on the 

 30th of April, 1845. It was a female, and 

 contained several eggs, which were some- 

 what enlarged. About the first of June, 

 Prof. .J. 'i'orrey found the nest of one of 

 these birds in a swamp, in the cast part of 

 Burlington. It was made on the ground, 

 of sticks and grass, was very shallow, and 

 contained G eggs. The eggs were of a dark 

 bluish brown clay color, and contained 

 young, which were considerably advanced. 



This bird is called by a great variety of 

 name=, but is most generally known in 

 Vermont by the name of Stake Driver. 

 This name is given it, on account of the 

 resemblance of the sound, it makes in the 

 breeding season, to that made by a smart 

 blow and its echo, in driving a stake into 

 the ground, resembling somewhat the un- 

 couth syllables of 'pump-au-galt. It is a 

 sly, solitary bird, and feeds on mice, 

 aquatic reptiles and the larger insects, and 

 though not often seen, its sound is not un- 

 frequently heard during the summer, pro- 

 ceeding from the depths'of the swamps, in 

 vai'ious parts of the state. Its range, ac- 

 cording to DeKay, is between the 38th and 

 58th parallels of latitude. 



THE GREATER YELLOW-SHANKS. 



Totanus melmioleucas. — Gemlin. 



Description. — Color of the upper parts 

 brown, spotted with black and white. Bill, 

 black; rump and tail dusky white, barred 

 with brown. Throat, belly, and under 

 tail coverts, white. Legs and feet yellow. 

 A small black spot before the angle of the 

 ejG. Shaft of the first primary white. 

 Length, 13 inches; folded wing, 7.25; bill, 

 along the ridge, 2.1 ; under mandible short- 

 er, and both cylindrical towards the point. 

 Tarsus 2.5 inches long; middle toe to the 

 nail 1.5. A short web between the inner 

 and middle toes. 



History. — This bird appears in Vermont 

 in the latter part of May, proceeding north- 

 ward, where it is found in the summer up 

 to the GOth degree of latitude. Some of 

 them, however, remain in Vermont through 

 the summer, and breed here. It builds 

 its nest, according to Nuttall, in a tuft of 

 rank grass, on the border of a creek or bog, 

 and lays 4 eggs of a dingy white color, 

 marked with spots of dark brown. The 

 eggs are said to be remarkably large for 

 the size of the bird. Perhaps its most 

 common vulgar name is that of Tell-Tale. 



THE SEMI-PALM ATED SANDPIPER. 

 Tringa semipalviata. — Wilson.] 



Description. — The bill is shorter than 

 the head, straight, enlarged and flattened 

 towai'ds the end, and acutely pointed at the 

 tip. Tibia one-fourth naked; tarsus com- 

 pressed and of the length of the bill. Hind 

 toe short and small. First quill longest. 

 Tail pointed, reaching beyond the folded 

 wings; middle feathers longest. The color 

 of the bill is black ; the legs dark dusky 

 olive. General color above grayish ash, 

 thickly streaked and spotted with dusky 

 brown, while the feathers are edged with 

 lin-ht gray and rufous Frontlet and line 

 over the eye, light gray. All beneath, 

 white, excepting the breast and lower front 

 of the neck, which are gray, with brownish 

 spots and streaks. Length, G inches; fold- 

 ed wing, 3.7; bill and tarsus each 0.8; mid^ 

 die toe, which is longest, including the 

 nail, 8. 



History. — This little Sandpiper ranges 

 through all parts of the United States. It 

 appears in Vermont in Aiay, and remains 

 here till autumn, and undoubtedly breeds 

 here, although I have not seen its nest. 

 According to Nuttall, it makes its nest, 

 early in June, of withei-ed grass, and lays 

 4 or 5 eggs, which are white, spotted with 

 brown. For the specimen above described 

 I am indebted to Mr. C. S. Paine, of Ran- 

 dolph, who shot it in the fall of 1850. 



