.138 NUKTII A.MKKK'AlN 151 RPS. 



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IIaiwi's. This liird is mic of tlir in;my iiistuncrs in wiiicli AVilsmi lias Iwcn 

 uiifnitunalr' ill itcstuw iii^ upon liis new specie^ a geourapliiral name nut 

 a]»pr(>|uiatL* at liir |»i('S(iil liiiu'. W •• liavc in* ex id^'iict; that tliis hiid, calknl 

 tlie Liniisiaua Taiiaucr, is t'\»'r lomid within the nitMU'in limits nf that State, 

 alth(iu«.jh it nccurs tioni tin* (ln'at Plains t<» thu I'acilic, and I'mni Foil J.iard, 

 in till' nnithi'in Ifocky Mmmtains, to Mt'xico. 



It was Hist nu't with l»y Lewis and (laiks jtaity, on tho rppcr Missouri, 

 a iv^^ion then known a> Louisiana 'rciiitoiy. TIh'V were said to inhal»it the 

 extensive jdains in what was then called Missouri Territory, huildiiiLr their 

 nests in low hushes, and e\en anionic the ^rass, and delighting in the various 

 kinds of herries with whit-h those fertile jtrairies were said to ahound. 



Mr. Nuttall, who met with these hirds in his Western exriirsions, deserihes 

 them as eontinuallv llittinij o\ er those va>t downs, oecasionallv ali'ditin^- on 

 the stems of some tall weed, or Jie hushes hordi'riiii; the streams. Their 

 Iiahits are veiv terrestrial, and from this he infers that thev derive their 

 food from the insects they find near the ij^round, as well as from the seeds of 

 the herha'^e in which thev chiellv dwell. He found them a common and 

 iiunu'rous sj>ecies, remaining in the eoiintiy wi'st of the Mississippi until the 

 approach <jf Octoher. In his first ohservations of them he states that thouudi 

 he had seen many of these hiids, yet he had no recollection of hearini,^ them 

 utter any moduJateil ur musical suumls. They appearetl tu him shy, Hitting, 

 and almost silent. 



lie tirst ohserved these hirds in a thick helt of wood near Laramie's Fork 

 of the Platte, at a considerahle distance east of the lUack Hills. He after- 

 wards found them \ ery ahundant, in the si>ring, in the forests of the Colum- 

 bia, below Fort \'ancouver. In these latter (tbservations he modified his 

 views as to their S(»nLt, and states that he could freinientlv trace them bv 

 their notes, which aie a loud, short, and slow, but jdeasing Marble, not very 

 unlike that of the common lIo])in, delivered from the tops of lofty fir-trees. 

 Their nnisic c(>ntinues, at short intervals, during the forenoon, and while 

 they are busily engaged in searching for larv;e and coleopterous insects, on 

 the small branches of the trees. 



Dr. Sucklev found this Tana,ner quite abundant at certain seasons in the 

 vicinitv of Fort Steilacoom. In one vear a verv limited number were seen; 

 in another they were very abundant. From fre(pient op]>ortunities to exam- 

 ine and to studv their habits, he was inclined to discredit the statement of 

 Xuttall that they descend to low bushes, the reverse being the rule. He 

 found it very ditlicult to meet with any sutliciently low «lown in thti trees 

 for him to kill them with tine shot. Their fa\(>rite abode, in the localities 

 where he observed them, was among the u])per branches of the t;dl Ahira 

 doi'l/fif.ssii. They prefer the edge of the forests, rarely retiring to the depths. 

 In early summer, at Fort Steilacoom, they could be seen during the middle 

 of the day, sunninu themselves in the firs, or dartinu' from one of those trees 

 to another, or to some of the neighboring white oaks on the prairie. Litter 



