212 



New ENGLAND FARMER, 



Jan. 18, If^ait, 



NUTTALL'S ORNITHOLOGY. 



A work entitled ' A Manual of the Ornithology of the 

 United States and of Canada; by Thomas Nuttall, 

 A M , F. L. S., has just been published from the press of 

 Milliard & Biown, Booksellers to the University of 

 Cambridge. A work of this kind, well executed, is of 

 more importance to Cultivators than by some may be ap- 

 prehended. The feathered bipeds, which compose the 

 most beautiful part of the animal creation are mostly 

 either adversaries or coadjutors of the Farmer— they 

 either help him or annoy him. A knowledge of their 

 natural history, habits, manners, beneficial and mischiev- 

 ous propensities, is as useful as it is amusing, and every 

 rural economist ought to be able to lake advantage of the 

 one and to counteract the other. For these and other 

 reasons, which we have not time nor room to specify, we 

 were iifuch gratified with the appearance ol the work 

 named above. 



The following extract from the Author's Preface, will 

 show his views and resources ; and his reputation as a 

 man of science is a guarantee fortlie faithful performance 

 of his undertaking. 



' After so many excellent works have appeared on the 

 Birds of the United States, it may almost appear presump- 

 tuous, at present, to attempt any addition to the list. A 

 compendious and scientific treatise on the subject, at a 

 price so reasonable as to permit it to find a place in the 

 hands of general readers, seemed, however, still a desid- 

 eratum ; and to supply this defect has been a principal 

 object with the author of the present publication. 



' Besides exploring the ever fruitful field of nature in 

 this delightful and fascinating kingdom, every available 

 aid has been employed ; and, as might be expected, in- 

 valuable assistance has been derived from the labors of 

 the immortal Wilson and of the justly celebrated Audu- 

 bon. In the scientific part of the Manual, constant re- 

 currence has also been had to the useful labors of C. L. 

 Bonaparte, Prince of Musignano, and also to the well 

 known treatise on European Ornithology by the accurate 

 and elaborate Temminck, as well as to other authors of 

 established reputation ; such as Brisson, BufTon, Latham, 

 White, and Pennant. 



'To a number of obliging friends who have assisted 

 him in obfaining specimens, or relations concerning the 

 habits of our birds, the author offers his grateful acknow- 

 ledgments; particularlv to Chjrles Pickering, M. D., to 

 whom he is indebted for much valuable information on 

 their geographical limits ; to William Cooper, Esq., well 

 known by his devotion to the study ol ornithology ; to 

 Mr Oakes. of Ipswich ; to T. W. Harris, M. D., Libra- 

 rian of Harvard University ; to S. E. Greene, Esq. of Bos- 

 ton ; and to Mr Nathaniel J. Wycth, Mi James Brown, 

 Mr John Bethune, and Mr Russell, of Canibridije'.' 

 We subjoin an extract : 



RUBY-THROATED HUMMING-BIRD. 



{Trochilus colubris, L. Wilsom, ii. p. 26, pi. 10, fig. 3 



and 4. Audubon, pi. 47. [a numerous group of old and 



young ] Orn. Biog. i. p. 248. Phil. Museum, No. 2520.) 



Sp. Chariot. — Golden-green ; tail forked, dusky ; 3 



outer tail-feathers rusty-white at tip. — Male with a 

 changeable ruby-colored throat. — In the female and 

 young, the throat is nearly white, strongly inclining to 

 yellow in the young male.) 



This wonderfully cliininutive and brilliant bird is 

 the only one of an American genus, of more than 

 100 species, which ventures beyond the limit of 

 tropical climates. Its approaches towards the 

 north are regulated by the advances of the season. 

 Fed on the honeyed sweets of flowers, it is an ex- 

 clusive attendant on the varied bounties of Flora. 

 By the 10th to the 20th of March, it is already 

 seen in the mild forests of Louisiana, and tire 

 warmer maritime districts of Georgia, where the 

 embowering and fragrant Gelsemium (Carolina 

 Jessamine,) the twin-leaved Bignonia,* and the 

 white-robed Mylocarium,] with a host of daily ex- 

 panding flowers, invite our little sylvan guest to 

 the retreats he bad reluctantly forsaken. Desul- 

 tory in his movements, roving only through the 

 region of blooming sweets, his visits to tlie North- 

 ern States are delayed to the month of May. — 

 Still later, as if determined that no flower shall 

 ' blush unseen, or waste its sweetness on the desert 

 air,' our little sylph, on wings as rapid as Ihe 

 wind, at once launches without hesitation itto 

 the flowery wilderness which borders on the aic- 

 tic circle. 1 



The first cares of the little busy pair are nqw 

 bestowed on their expected progeny. This instinct 

 alone propelled tliem from their hybcrnal retreat 

 within the tropics ; strangers amid.st their numer- 

 ous and brilliant tribe, they only seek a transic^it 

 asylum in the milder regions of their race. Willi 

 the earliest dawn of the northern spring, in pairs, 

 as it were with the celerity of thought, they darl, 

 at intervals, through the dividing space, till thei 

 again arrive in the genial and more happy region^ 

 of their birth. The enraptured male is now as 

 siduous in attention to his mate; forgetfid of self- 

 ish wants, he feeds his companion with nectared 

 sweets ; and jealous of danger and interruption to 

 the sole companion of his delights, he often almost 

 seeks a quarrel with the giant birds which sur- 

 round him ; he attacks even the King-Bird, and 

 drives the gliding Martin to the retreat of his box. 

 The puny nest is now prepared in the long accus- 

 tomed orchard or neighboring forest. It is con- 

 cealed by an artful imitation of the mossy branch 

 to v.'hich it is firtnly attached and incorporated. — 

 Hluish-gray lichens, agglutinated by .saliva, and 

 matched with surroimding objects, instinctively 

 I'nrm the deceiving external coat ; portions of the 

 iiiiming architecture, for further security, are even 

 tied down to the supporting station. Within are 

 laid copious quantities of the pappus or other 

 down of plants ; the inner layer of this exquisite 

 bed is finished with the short wool of the budding 

 Plntnnvs, the midlein, or the soft clothing of un- 

 folding fern-stalks. The eggs, as in the whole 

 genus, are white, and only 2, so nearly oblong as 

 to pres^nit no difference of ends. Incubation, so 

 tedious to the volatile pair, is completed in the 

 short space of 10 days, and in the warmer States, 

 a second brood is raised. On approaching the 

 nest, they dart around the intruder, within a few 

 inches of bis face : and the female, if the young 

 are out, oflen resumes her seat, though no more 

 than three or four feet from the observer. In a 

 single week the young are on the wing, and in 



this situation still continue to be fed with their 

 musing sweets by the assiduous parents. Crea- 

 tures of such delicacy and unconuuon circuiti- 

 stances, the wondrous sports of nature, everything 



'Bigncnia capreolata. 

 tCalled the Buck-wheat tree. 



ajjpears provided for the security of their exist- 

 ence. The brood are introduced to life in tho 

 warmest season of the year ; variation of tempera- 

 ture beyond a certain medium, would prove de- 

 structive to these exquisite forms. The ardent 

 heats of America have alone aft'orded them sup- 

 port ; no region, so cool as the United States, j)ro- 

 duces a set of feathered beings so delicate and 

 tender ; and, consequently, any sudden extremes, 

 by producing chill and famine, are fatal to our 

 Hiumning-Birds. In the present remarkably wet 

 summer, (1831,) very few of the young have been 

 raised in New England. In other seasons tliey 

 comparatively swarm, and the numerous and al- 

 most gregarious young are then seen, till the close 

 of September, eagerly engaged in sipping the nec- 

 tar from various showy and tubidar flowers, par- 

 ticularly those of the trimipet Bignonia, and wild 

 balsam, with many other conspicuous productions 

 of the fields and gardens. Sometimes, they may 

 also be seen collecting diminiuive insects, or 

 juices from the tender shoots of llie ]iine tree. — 

 While thus engaged in strife and employment, the 

 scene is peculiarly amusing. Approaching a flow- 

 er, and vibrating on the wing before it, with the 

 rapidity of lightning, the long, clefl, and tubular 

 tongue is exserted to pump out the sweets, while 

 the buzzing or hununing of the wings reminds us 

 of the approach of some larger Sphinx or droning 

 bee. No other .sound or song is uttered, except 

 occasionally a slender chirp while flitting from a 

 flower, until some rival bird too nearly ajiproaclies 

 the same plajit ; a quick, faint, and petulant squeak 

 is then uttered, as the little glowing antagonists 

 lide up in svvil\ and angry gyratiiuis into the air. 

 The action, at the same time, is so sudden, and tho 

 fliglit so rapid, that the whole are only traced for 

 an instant, like a gray line in the air. Sometimes 

 without any apparent jirovocation, the little pug- 

 nacious vixen %vill, for mere amusement, pursue 

 larger bird.s, such as the Yellow-Bird and Spar- 

 rows. To man they show but little either of fear 

 or aversion, quietly feeding on their favorite flow- 

 ers oflen, when so nearly approached as to be 

 caught. They likewise frequently enter the green- 

 houses and windows of dwellings where flowers 

 are kept in sight. Af\er feeding, for a time, the 

 individual settles on .some small and often naked 

 bough or slender twig, and dresses its feathers 

 with great composure, particularly preening and 

 clearing the plumes of the wing. 



The old and young are soon reconciled to con- 

 finement. In an hoiu- after the lo.'-s of liberty, the 

 little cheerful captive will oflen come and siuk di- 

 luted lioney, or sugar and water, from the flowers 

 held out to it ; .ind in a few hours more it becomes ■ 

 tame enougli to sip its favorite beverage from a 

 saucer, in the interval flying backwards and for- 

 wards in the room for mere exercise, and then 

 resting on some neighboring elevated object. In 

 dark, or rainy weather, they seem to pass the tiin« ■ 

 chiefly dozing on the perch. They are also soon-' 

 so familiar as to come to the hand that feeds them. 

 In cold liights, or at the approach of frost, the pul- 

 sation of this little dweller in the sunbeam, becomes 

 nearly as low as in the torpid state of the dor- ' 

 mouse ; but on applying warmth, the almost stag- 

 nant circidation revives, and slowly increases to I 

 the usual state. 



