92 



PLOVER— TEAL— WATER-TURKEY— BLACKBIRD— NUTHATCH. 



about 1.40 by I. inches. These are of a clay color, with delicate 

 shadings of olive, and thickly covered with large, distinct spots of 

 umber-brown. Their favorite haunts are rocky shores, where they 

 may be found in flocks of a dozen or more. Their flight is rapid, 

 and their only musical accomplishment a feeble «« weet," which 

 they repeat several times in succession. Their food consists of 

 shrimps, shell-fish, and worms, and in autumn and winter, when 

 fat, the young are much sought for food. 



Wilson's Plover. (^Egialitis ivilsonii.) 

 Fig. ia 



Wilson's Plover is confined almost entirely to the Atlantic and 

 Gulf coasts of the United States, a few possibly being found off 

 the shores of California. It rarely reaches farther north than Long 

 Island, though occasionally seen in Massachusetts. It is a wading, 

 not a swimming bird, reaching its northern range sometime in 

 April, when they gather in small flocks of some twenty or thirty, 

 and ramble over the sea-beaches in search of food. After becoming 

 sufficiently recuperated from the fatigues of their journey, they 

 pair and set up housekeeping. This is attended with but little la- 

 bor, a simple hole being scratched in the sand, with a few bits of 

 sea-weed and grass for a lining, large enough to hold three eggs 

 of a pale olive-drab, tinted sometimes with brown or again with 

 green, thickly spotted all over with very dark, irregular dots and 

 small flashes, and measuring about 1.30 by 1.02 inches. The flight 

 of this Plover is alike rapid and elegant, and when on the wing 

 it frequently gives utterance to a clear, melodious note. Its food 

 consists of small aquatic insects, minute shell-fish, and worms, and 

 they feed as much by night as during the day. When fat, they 

 are in great request among sportsmen. 



PLATE LXIV. 



Cinnamon Teal— Red-breasted Teal. {Qucrquedula cyanoptera.) 



Fig. 1. 



This Teal was entirely unknown to our early ornithologists, and 

 until the last twenty-five years was supposed to belong entirely to 

 South America. The many recent exploring expeditions made 

 by the United States Government throughout the Western Territo- 

 ries have proved it to be an abundant bird throughout all the region 

 west of the Rocky Mountains, and as far north as Columbia. Its 

 nests, so far as found, have been built in swamp grass, near some 

 stream, and lined with down. In the Geological Survey of 1872 

 is the record of such a nest, containing nine eggs. These eggs 

 were oval in shape, ranging from a creamy white to a pale buff, 

 and measuring 1.75 by 1.30. But little has been recorded regard- 

 ing its habits. In fact but little is known regarding the habits of 

 the water-birds of America. Most of them breed beyond the range 

 of the United States in the Arctic regions, or in the unsettled por- 

 tions of our Western Territories. To Dr. Coues, of the United 

 States Army, the history of water-birds is largely indebted for care- 

 ful and painstaking labor ; but there still remains a vast and un- 

 trodden field for some future lover of nature to explore. 



Anhinga— Snake-bird— Water-turkey-~Darier. (Plotus anhinga.) 

 Fig. 2. 



This bird of many names is common in the Southern Atlantic 

 and Gulf States, extending its range up the Mississippi as far as 

 Southern Illinois, and is also found in New Mexico. It is a con- 



stant resident of Louisiana, Alabama, and Georgia ; is found in 

 the Carolinas from April until November, inhabiting the rivers, 

 lakes, and lagoons of the interior. Their nests are invariably 

 placed over water, sometimes in low bushes, and then again on the 

 tops of tall trees. These nests are fully two feet in diameter, com- 

 posed of dry sticks laid crosswise, and covered with leaves, bits of 

 moss, and slender roots. The eggs, which are usually four, are 

 of a dull, uniform, whitish color in appearance, though really of a 

 light-blue, the former color arising from their being covered with 

 a sort of chalky coating, and are about 2.75 by 1.25 inches in size. 

 They are excellent swimmers, and, from the sinuous motion of the 

 head and neck when thus exercising, have received the name of 

 Snake-bird. Their food consists of fish, shrimps, reptiles, and 

 kindred aquatic fauna, which they devour in great quantities. They 

 are expert divers, swift in flight, graceful in all their movements, 

 and when on land walk and run with great ease, continually giving 

 utterance to rough guttural notes. Audubon expresses his admira- 

 tion for this bird by devoting twenty-three large octavo pages of 

 his Ornithological Biography to a description of its haunts and habits. 



Brewer's Blackbird— Blue-headed Grackle. (JScolecophagus cyano- 



c&phalus?) 



Fig- 3- 



Brewer's Blackbird is common from Eastern Kansas and Minne- 

 sota to the Pacific, extending south as far as Mexico, and breeding 

 throughout its entire range. These birds are only gregarious after 

 the breeding season is over, when they may be found in flocks of 

 from fifty to one hundred or more. Their nests are sometimes 

 placed upon the ground, at other times in the crotch of a tree sev- 

 eral feet from the earth. When the former position is selected, a 

 dry knoll in the center of a clump of bushes, surrounded by low, 

 swampy morasses, is chosen, and a nest, large for the bird, is built 

 of weeds, grass, and other material, and neatly lined with hair, 

 small roots, silky bark, and fine hay. When a tree is used, an 

 outer wall of twigs is interlaced together, sometimes slightly plas- 

 tered with mud, and lined as in the former case with hair, rootlets, 

 and fine grasses. The eggs vary from four to six, the ground 

 colors presenting sometimes a dull, olivaceous-gray, at others a 

 clear, pale, bluish or greenish hue, thickly spattered over with dif- 

 ferent shades of brown, and measuring about 1.05 by .78 inches. 

 They feed in flocks on the ground, frequenting cattle-yards, trav- 

 elers' camps, running with nimble steps, yet always with ease and 

 grace. When their hunger is appeased, they fly to the nearest 

 tree, passing the period of digestion in silence, and then breaking 

 out into an unanimous concert. Their notes are not soft or sweet, 

 but from their animation, rapidity, and variety, very pleasing. 

 Coues tells us that the usual note is like the sound of pebbles 

 smartly struck together, rapidly repeated an indefinite number of 

 times. When fat, they are said to make very good eating. 



Brown-headed Nuthatoh. (Sitta pusilla^ 



Fig- 4- 



This active little Nuthatch is confined to the South Atlantic 

 States, and wherever found is a constant resident. Its favorite 

 haunts are pine forests, where it is enabled to gratify its excessive 

 fondness for the seeds of this evergreen. It is a restless bird, seem- 

 ingly never quiet, but pursuing its search for food over fences and 

 trees, running up and down the latter, prying into every hole and 

 cranny. During breeding season, this little bird-man and wife are 

 always together, keeping up an unflagging conversation, which 

 sounds like " dent ! dent ! dend 1 dend I " They pair early, and in 

 February commence the task of house-building, both working con- 

 stantly and eagerly together. The dead portion of some log or 



