502 AUTHENTIC HISTORY 



ORNITHOLOGY.i 



It will be seen that the synopsis comprises both the scientific and common names. 

 The scientific name is followed by the name (in brackets) of the author who first de- 

 scribed and named the species, pi-operly, and then by the name of the author, who 

 referred them to the genus, under which they are found, and then by the vulgar or 

 common name. It will also be seen that the more important species, either in an econ- 

 omical point of view or as of value in determining their habits and migratory limits, 

 have been noticed by remarks warranted by my own observations and those of others 

 on whose judgment I could rely. In regard to those species that are noticed as breed- 

 ing in the County, it is to be understood that only those are thus designated which are 

 known positively to do so, by their nests and eggs having been found; and it must not 

 be inferred that others, not thus indicated, do not, for it is reasonable to suppose that 

 those species which remain with us during the spring and summer months, do so for the 

 purpose of incubation. 



The Ornithology of this great County, a commonwealth in itself, may be regarded as 

 very extensive, jiossessing nearly half the entire ornithology of Eastern North America. 

 Those speecies that are Avanting, being natives either of the extreme north or south; 

 many of the species, it is true, are only migratory, and a few accidental, a consequence 

 always attending limited districts of country; but the proportion is, perhaps, less than 

 would be found in almost any other territory of the same size, lying farther north or 

 south, where the species crowd annually to rear their young or spend the winter, whose 

 severity is too great even for the most hardy to endure, or pick up a scanty subsistence. 

 It is owing to the circvimstance that our county occupies a middle position, that those 

 species peculiarly southern or arctic, are met with only as sti-agglers or occasional 

 visitants. 



The instinctive wants of birds seem to be met when they reach a climate which has 

 a middle temperature, subject neither to arctic cold nor tropical heat. Another reason 

 for the large luimber of species found in our fauna, is the great variety of country 

 within our limits. The noble Susquehanna, bordering our territory for nearly sixty 

 miles on our southwestern line, reaching down to near tidewater; the Conestoga and 

 Octoraro coming down from the north; their reedy and marshy shores and islands 

 affording suitable food and breeding places for the Anatidaj and the Grallatores; the 

 towering rocky clifts which bound the river in a portion of its course through the 

 county, afford the Raptores a safe and favorite retreat. The Furnace Hills on our 

 northwestern confines, still clothed with extensive forest and inpenetrable thickets, 

 broken by deeply-shaded glens and rocky ravines of the wildest and most sequestered 

 character, are solitary and secure retreats for secluded and retiring species, and the 

 natural resorts of our only remaining species of Grouse, and where still an occasional 

 specimen of the wild turkey may be met with. Our broad and far-stretching cultivated 

 and grazing fields, interspersed groves and wood abound with the Insessores and sum- 

 mer visiting Grallatores, and with the exception of the streams and their shores, are 

 the chosen resorts of most of our summer and winter visitants. 



In an insular district of country of limited extent, where the poi^ulation has become 

 comparatively dense and the cultivation of the soil rapidly extended by the introduc- 

 tion of agricultural implements, it may be expected that many species, in numbers, 

 have decreased and several have become nearly if not totally extinct. This decline is 

 to be greatly regretted, especially in regard to those species which, by habit, live almost 

 entirely iipon insect food, and are therefore to be considered of the utmost importance 

 to the horticultural and agricultural interests of the county. This march of civiliza- 



. 1 Contributed by Hon. J. J. Libhart. 



