ROSEATE TERN— SANDPIPERS— TURNSTONE— CANVAS-BACK DUCK. 



89 



once sweet, expressive, and charming. This song always com- 

 mences with loud, clear, and vivacious notes, falling in almost im- 

 perceptible gradations until they are scarcely articulated. Its nest, 

 like that of the Long-billed Water Thrush, is built in the side of a 

 decayed log, or at the foot of some tree, and is composed of dry 

 leaves, moss, fine grasses, and lined with hair. The eggs are 

 usually five in number, of a delicate flesh color, spotted with light 

 reddish-brown, and measuring about .81 by .63. 



Roseate Tern. {Sterna dougalti.) 



Fig. 6. 



The Roseate Tern is found all along the Atlantic, from Massa- 

 chusetts to Florida, though none are known to winter within the 

 United States. It is also found in Europe, where it inhabits the 

 sandy shores of Norway. From their light and graceful move- 

 ments, Audubon called them the Humming Birds of the Sea. This 

 bird is at all times restless and noisy, and when its breeding place 

 is approached, emits many sharp, shrill cries, resembling the syl- 

 lable " crak I " Its food consists of insects, small fish, moluscous 

 animals, and shrimps. It will pursue insects, like the Flycatchers, 

 on the wing. In incubating, no nest is made, the eggs being laid 

 upon the rocks among roots and grasses, and in fair weather left 

 to the heat of the sun. These eggs are usually three in number, 

 longish oval shape, dull buff or clay in color, sparingly sprinkled 

 with different tints of umber and light purple, and measuring about 

 I *7S by 1. 13 inches, and are delicious eating. The delicate and 

 beautiful tint of the breast begins to fade immediately after death. 

 Its flight is swift and graceful, dashing boldly into the water in pur- 

 suit of game, and reascending without apparent effort. 



Buff-breasted Sandpiper. (Tryngites rufescens.) 



Fig. 7. 



This bird is found throughout North America, but is known only 

 in the United States as a migrant, breeding in Alaska and in the 

 interior regions of the fur countries, and wintering in South America. 

 During their fall migrations they become very fat, their food con- 

 sisting of grasshoppers and other insects. The nidification is very 

 simple, the nest consisting of a slight depression in the ground, 

 lined with a few dried grasses and leaves. The eggs are usually 

 four, very pointedly pyriform, in color of a clay, drab, or oliva- 

 ceous green, marked with heavy blotches of rich umber-brown. 

 But little is known of its habits, though, according to DeKay, it has 

 been observed in Ohio, and every year is known to frequent the 

 southern shores of Long Island. 



Least Sandpiper. (Tringa mtnuttlla.) 



Fig. 8. 



This little bird is abundant throughout the United States, 

 especially during the migratory seasons. It reaches the Middle 

 States from South America, where it winters, the last of April, and 

 immediately passes to the more northern sections of the continent 

 for the purpose of breeding. Dr. Richardson says, that on the 

 21st of May it was observed as far north as latitude 66°. One of its 

 favorite places of nidification is the rock-bound coast of Labrador. 

 Here, in some half-sheltered nook, is fashioned a little mossy home, 

 just large enough to hold four bufTy yellow-brown and drab spotted 

 eggs. Considering the size of the bird these eggs are very large, 

 measuring about .96 by .75 inches. As soon as their young are 

 hatched they leave for more genial quarters, arriving along the 

 New England coast in August, where, during that month and the 



following, they are found in great abundance, feeding in the salt- 

 marshes or along the muddy and sedgy shores of tide rivers. 

 Their food consists of larvae, worms, minute shellfish, and aquatic 

 insects ; and in search of these they thrust their flexible and awl- 

 shaped bills into the mud in the manner of Snipe and Woodcock. 

 When disturbed by the hunter they give a slender " peep," imme- 

 diately followed by a lisping whistle, and a general rising on the 

 wing. At the approach of night, in fair weather — we quote from 

 Nuttall — "the marshes almost re-echo with the shrill but rather 

 murmuring or lisping, subdued, and querulous call of « peet,' 

 and then a repetition of « pe-dee, pe-dee, dee-dee/ which seems 

 to be the collecting cry of the old birds calling together their 

 brood ; for, when assembled, the note changes into a confused mur- 

 mur of * peet, peet,' attended by a short and suppressed whistle." 



Black-headed Turnstone. (Strepsilas melanocephalus.) 



Fig. 9. 



In size and general form this bird resembles the Turnstone, dif- 

 fering only in the prevalence of the dark color on the head, breast, 

 and upper parts. Professor Baird, in the ninth volume of the 

 United States Pacific Railroad Explorations, tells us that in the 

 museum of the Philadelphia Academy is a specimen from India 

 which is exactly like this bird, with others, apparently from Europe, 

 which approach it very nearly. Beyond being an inhabitant of 

 the Pacific coast, but little is to be gleaned regarding it. Its habits 

 are undoubtedly identical with that of the S. interpres, which is 

 described in another part of the present work. 



PLATE LXIII. 



Canvas-baok Duck. (Fuligula vallisneria^ 

 Fig. 1. 



Notwithstanding the renown attained by the Canvas-back Duck, 

 alike the delight of the sportsman and the joy of the epicure, its 

 history is still in great obscurity. This bird is not known to nest 

 in any of the Eastern States, but is supposed to do so in Upper 

 California and on the Yukon. Coues says they breed from the 

 Northern States northward, but so far no naturalist has made 

 record of its breeding habits. Samuels describes a single egg in 

 his collection as follows : " This is of an ovate form, nearly oval, 

 of a pale blue color, with an olivaceous tinge, quite smooth to the 

 touch, and quite thin and brittle. Its dimensions are 2.54 by 1.78 

 inches." 



The Canvas-back is found all over North America, but is very 

 rare in New England. It is a remarkable example of certain 

 foods in imparting quality and flavor to the flesh. When taken in 

 the Chesapeake and a few other localities, its flesh has a flavor 

 unsurpassed by any of its kind, while in less favored spots it in no 

 wise transcends the ordinary sea Ducks. The superiority is due to 

 the plant called wild celery, which grows abundantly in the Ches- 

 apeake, and on which they feed. It is an aquatic plant, grow- 

 ing entirely beneath the water, with long, narrow ribbon-like 

 leaves. Its botanical name is Vallisneria spiralis, and from its 

 being the favorite food of the Canvas-back is recognized in the 

 specific name of the bird. Wherever this plant abounds, the ducks 

 acquire the peculiar flavor which makes them so famous. 



They arrive in the Chesapeake and its tributaries about the last 

 of October, and are allowed to remain unmolested for some days. 

 They only eat the buds and roots at the base of the plants, and 

 consequently have to dive constantly for their food. Though found 



