484 



FORE'ST AND STREAM. 



[July 19, 1883. 



■■< -in.: 1 iVrl tolerably sure that lie has misuudor 

 tier's words, or that Steiior, If he really 1ms 



reported its urrence, met with only ft straggler from 



i tatkn The former supposition seems lo mo to bo 



more probable, For the reason that Steller, ill his description 



of Bering Island, does not mention this eagle.* He. how. 



'■■■■ of mi eagle in the followiug termsi "Von selt- 



m-ru, nn der sibirisehen Ruslc niehl, gesehenen You li I i,„ 

 ich Sort [Bering Isld] einen besondern Seemlier mil weissem 

 Kopf and Schwnuz * * * angetroffen * * * 

 [ener nistet auf den hbchsten Felsen, mid >ie haben im in- 

 fo ' ii Junius J tinge, dicganz mit weisser Wolle bedeokl 

 »lna." Tills is the -nine Ivirdofwhioh he speaks in his 



ehreibUbg von dem Lande KaratecbMka" (1774), ftp: 



I as follows: -Eine irt unbekamiter und setti 

 -ehr.nn Adler, so aber in Kauitschatkn viel Bellsamer 

 vorkoiiiruen als in America und den Insein hu Canal, 

 daheioaneii solche bis dies,- Stunde noch uioht erhalten 

 kttnnen. Es isl derselbe so gross als der BhUmt. 

 sehwar/. ausgenouimcn den Kopf, Uropf/giW>>, sehwarzo 

 Fiisscj und Sebenkel, welcbe so woiss ; ,ls Sehnee sind. El- 

 s' lin Nasi ttll1 honen Felsen, ihik Reisern im Diameter 



Fadeu einen Sohuhdicke, und legHeineEyorgegeo 



den An fang des Tumi, swey an der ZahJ Die Jiingen sind 

 ganz Weiss, ohue einigc Fleeken; und stiesen die beyde 

 Bltern, da ieb ant' Biirfngs Eilande das Nest besahc, derge 

 stall auf mieh ?.u, dass ieb mien kauin Direr n il dem Stock 

 erwehren konnte. Ohnerachtet ieb den Putto keiuen Scnaden 



1 verhesen die Alton dennoeh das Nest mid 

 b.nietensieb . in anderes an einen Felsen wohin niomand 



milglieb zu ton 



1 think there can be little doubt that the bird thus de- 

 scribed is a fftiMteHw lewfwxphalm (LinnA iu spite of the 

 white "thighs," which perhaps is only a bijisus raUvffliat the 

 person copying the original manuscript, this being, as we 

 flow -il;. a rough draught of Stoller's, in common with 

 the "black feet." The Following are my special reasons; 

 1. Theliabital given by Steller agrees exactly with that of 



while '/'. pelagi mon in Kim- 



"id di.i-s not occur at all in America; ii. "White 



bead" can only be said about !■ -iirorrjilmliis and not of -pcl/i- 

 Qfcug, whieli bus merely the forehead while; S. If Steller 

 liad intended to describe the ■/>,•!, igicva he would not have 

 Overlooked the white shoulders, a much more conspicuous 

 feat i tie. iiiau the while forehead; -I. Even if Sleller's nianu 

 scripts contained words "thighs white" it would be of little 



» . as it Beema that he did not kill the bird and only 

 made the description from the living animal. In pelagictii the 

 whole abdomen is white. The supposition here advanced 

 seems the more plausible, as a pair certainly belonging to 



■ s still breeds in the neighborhood of flic place where 

 Steller and his comrades wintered. Besides, T. p il 



habits exclusively the dense and large forests, and is not 

 known to rear its' young ones in such treeless localities as 

 those of Bering Island. When it. DCCUM here, it is, at 

 present at least, only as a loncK straggler froniKamlsohatka, 

 usually a young bird, and there is no reason why this should 

 have be. -ii different during SI filer's time. I have seen such 



a young bird here, shot on the island, obtained by Mr, Greb- 

 nitzky, and forwarded by him to I he Academy in St. 

 It was iu the same- plumagens the young speci- 

 men in the National Museum. Tin; nnasureu'e n; n 

 follows; Total length '.iiiiiuui; chord of culuieu from Fore- 

 head to tip 85mm, from cere to tip ONinm; radius of curva- 

 ture of culmou from cere to tip U; bill from tip to mouth 

 84, tO hind angle of nostrils 63, and From this point to fore 

 angle of eye 40mm.; height of upper mandible al upper bor- 

 dcroi ce ind its breadth at the lower border ot cere 



37mm; gonys, 29; wing, 830; tail feathers, 340mm; from 

 feathering on front of tarsus to base of middle claw 142; 

 Chord of the latter Ml, and of its hind claw 44mm. 



li will beseou From theabove statement that the bald 

 eagle is an inhabitant of the island, but 1 can affirm that it 

 il very scarce al present iu proportion to what it. must have 

 been only a few years ago, judging from the many aban- 

 doned nests and from reports of the residents. 



But it seems as if a third species of sea eagles should be 

 added, uol only to the fauna here, lint, even to the list of 

 known birds, for I have never seen a young HuHuitas with 

 lower surface almost white, and the tipper side 

 With dark tips and edgings on a whitish bottom, such as 

 my A" 1JQ85. This, a young female, still with black tail. 

 was shot on Ike 151 h of May, measuring in total length 

 890mm (:55 inches), with a stretch of wings of 2.230m iH7.4(i 

 inches); iris Faint yellowish while; bill, horny brown; 

 cere;, yellow, with horny brown shadings on the back; feet. 

 bright golden yellow. 



Compared with the young of IL. h'un,e«pli,ihi« of the 



it has, quite in contrast with the color of the 



body, the tail feathers, under tail-coverts, and axillarics 



still' darker colored. The size is not inconsiderably less 



than that Of the bald eagle, as Hie specimen in question 



represents the largest size of ita kind, being no larger than 

 . old aalt of the saidapeeies. The'bil] is Fully equal in 



lot if a oiin ■ ,,/,, ■.'<!.<, and the feci likewise; 



bul the body, fail and wings are smaller. 



I have little doubt i ) l; ,t Ibis bird if more mature would 



have assumed an almost; uniform white plumage below, with 



U -uppo.-il.ion corroborated by Ihe statement of Mr. 



Orebnit/.ky. that he himself Once has observed here, on Ihe 



island, an eagle, with a while lower surface and tail. 



That we do not deal in our case with an albino is evident, 

 not only from the color of the e-yes. bui the character of the 

 whole plumage would also contradict such a theory. The 



White color noes not appear as an irregularity, and the dark 

 Colors are deen and distinct. 



Upon the whole. I reach the conclusion that the present 

 bird is sufficiently distinct from //. hiirmvphdiix. and con- 

 sequently, abo fro,,, //, cdbieObl (L.i. There ;oe two other 

 aperies, however. o| which I know only the names, viz., 

 //. U)W0>m>"<"< (Fall.) and //. /, -upoijndr (Aim.): lad Dr. 

 Dybowski, who is well acquainted with the former, asserts 

 that, this is quite a different bird, while \1v. Henry Guille- 

 martl, who has been collecting in Central Africa arid is rpiite 

 familiar with the lutter, corroborated the same statement 

 upon seeing my bird during B day's visit here. Bath re- 

 ceived the impression that, the species is a new one. 



Did I not have the hope that Mr. Kidgway would take 

 t.llc trouble to COJUpare this specimen with those in Ihe 

 National Museam, and describe il il be should come to the 

 same conclusion, I should nol hesitate, to give it a name. 

 Bul as the collection of birds will be placed in such gooo 

 bands as bis, I ihink it advisable to waif for his decision. 



* fteuestenoni. kielM . II [1798 D 



t Tills is e.omplsteh len.ele^s. I conjecture il to he a misprint for 

 "Suhwanzfedern." 



^ 



In this connection f will merely mention some other 

 forms which I suspect to have been bit berlo more or less 

 Unknown, or wrongly kuowu, likewise leaving to Mr. Ridg- 

 way the labor of having them compared, described, and 

 named if ho should find them |o be actually new. 



In the first placelcaU your attention lb the four lurks, 

 Nos. 1020 and HIT from Bering Island, and 1242 and 12411 

 from Felropnulski. where 1 Found this SpeCiei in one place 

 at least, tolerably common. The lengths are respectively 

 180, 187. 188 and 173mm: iris, dark brow.,, bill, pale flesh 

 color; culmcii and tips of both mandibles, blackish brown; 



Feet, tight reddish brown, tarsal joint, dark grayish; toes 



below, livid: nails, blackish gray. It is mm h like till COm 



uion European Alamtfa ancntinL., but it a], pears to me to 

 have lighter and clearer colors. The size agrees very well 

 with thai of birds from .Notlbern Europe. 



No. 1251 is another passerine bud, thought to be new. 



It is a kind of willow-warbler, common in Petropaulski. 

 but not observed here em the islands. My only specimen is 

 a male, shot on the 5th of July, 1882. Total length 149mm; 

 iris, hazel; feet, clear yellowish brown. 



The loud song, consisting of the syllables mts7«s-wU*/ui- 

 MiiMmmM, and somewbal resembling the sound made by 

 w betting a scythe, was beard, especially toward night, from 

 all sides when walking through the high grass and willows 

 covering the swampy slopes o*f the mountains with a thicket 

 almost, impenetrable both to foot and eye. You would very 

 seldom get a glimpse of the watchful songster, when, cling- 

 ing to the middle of the upright, stalk of some high orchid 

 or grass, he did his best iu the- singing match with one of 

 his own kind or a dulHiijw h,iiihr/int/.nis/,s or a Ctirpotlxtvux. 

 But no sooner would you move your guu to secure the 

 longed-for specimen than he silently disappears, as com 

 pletely and suddenly as if he possessed Ttr. Fortunatus's 

 cap. The ouly way to obtain a specimen is to watch 

 patiently near one of his favorite bushes, with the gun 

 ready. For hours 1 huvc thus sat, in the wet swamp, almost 

 desperate from the bites of the numberless bloodthirsty 

 mosquitos, which I did not daie to wipe off, tearing 

 to drive away the silent bird, who perhaps was watch- 

 ing my immovable ligure until he was satisfied as 

 to his safety. Curious, but still cautious, he would 

 come nearer* slipping between the stems and branches 

 nearest to the ground, uttering a very low, thrush-like to/,-,- 

 Ink; t.jk: Ink, and with the tail straight upright, very much 

 like a long-tailed Troglodytes both Tn col of and conduct. 

 Ami if 1 kept absolutely quiet, lie sometimes would proceed 

 close to my feet, looking curiously at me witli his pretty 

 dark eyes. But, before the challenge of a neighbor bad at- 

 tracted Ids attention and provoked his reply, which he 

 usually began with a short trill, il, would not have been ad- 

 visable to move a muscle. 



Then comes the time to lift your gun very slowly, stop- 

 ping as often as he suspiciously stops his song, until the 

 "crack" puts an end to it forever, and you hold in your hand 

 a crushed specimen, unfit for preparation, when youhaveto 

 shoot from too short, a distance, or return without anything, 

 while, after a longer shot, you cannot find the plaiu-lookirig 

 Utile bird amidst the immense vegetation in the dim light of 

 the vanishing day and tortured by the intolerable mosquitoes. 

 Von will understand from your own rich experience how 

 much pleasure it gave me when I, al last, obtained a toler- 

 ably good specimen. Should it prove to be a valid species. 

 I -would be obliged if the name of its tirst discoverer, Dy- 

 bowski, lie affixed to it. 



The family of sandpipers is very well .represen'ed here 

 on the island, and my collection therefore contains not less 

 than nineteen species', or nearer one-third than one-fourth of 

 the total number of species collected, a number liable to be 

 not inconsiderably increased before the list embraces all the 

 species oecuring here as residents or visitors. 1 

 must confess that there are several species among my 

 birds which 1 have not been abb- to identify, although 

 I have no hope thai all these will prove to be new, 

 Thus the most common limieolhio bird here is an 

 Arquatetia (Nos. idyl, 1039, 1044, 1048, 1 085, 1107, 1108, 

 1202, 1344, 1846, 1488, etc.), about which 1 feel quite sure 

 that it is a very well known species, but as to these birds it, 

 is moie difficult to determine tin; species from memory alone 

 than in almost any other group that I know of. 



But there are in my collection two species, the common 

 forms of which 1 have been well acquainted with, showing 

 some differences from these, if I -tin not, quite mistaken. 

 The one is the snipe, which, having only fourteen tail- 

 feathers, comes nearer to the European (fidliiiur/in/raUi/wriu 

 (MU1I.) than to Ihe American O. imlsanii (Temm.). But, I 

 do not think that the former has the crissum and the under 

 tail-coverts so dark brownish as my specimens, nor is the 

 pattern of their greater wing-eovertsquue identical, Snipe- 

 hunting without a dog is exceedingly difficult here. For 

 this reason I have at present only five specimens to send of 

 this bird, which, in suitable localities, is by no means uu- 



Th6 other one is a form of I'lliilna (ilpirut, which seems 

 remarkable for its pure colors and the absence of any dark 

 spots on the lores. I cannot unite it, with P, cl'iiumxix 

 Swiuh., which has been identified by Tac/.anowski with P. 

 i in, ), and consequently must be muehsmaller than 

 my birds. 



Finally, I have referred five birds (Nos. 1687 f 1641, 1846, 

 1652 anil ltir.il), with much doubt, to the genus Ti ,- 

 Cab., on account.. of the very short bill, this being consider- 

 ably shorter than the bead, and the long toes exceeding the 

 tail by their whole length when stretched backward. Thc 

 fealhering of the bill seems to me likewise to lie more pro- 

 tracted than in Other Trir)#i/i<t, all bough not to such a degree 

 as given lor the American T. j-iifesivnn (Vieill.). Besides, 

 there are no black mott lings on a white ground on the wing, 

 only some faint whitish mottliugs at the" base of the remiges 

 us ii, is often seen in 7'rin,j,r, A conspicuous feature is the 

 tine black bristles before and below the eyes, almost encir- 

 cling them, and, upon the whole, more developed than iu 

 other genera. The color, except the rusty crown, is to a cer- 

 tain degree like the plumage of the snipe.' and the bill, being 

 somewhat widened, grooved, and furrowed at the litis, anil 

 having- a very long nasal groove, also remotely resembles 

 that of the bird mentioned. 



The total number of species collected during these months 



amount to sixty-one, without counting those cell I i 



Petropaulski-, and, besides these, I have observed about ten 

 species of which no specimens have yet been secured. 

 Among tlic latter is St, rim hitujip, miix Temm., of which a 

 specimen was shot during my stay in Petropaulski, but on 

 my arrival I found it. in such astute of decomposition that il, 

 was quite impossible tn preserve it. This, species bred on 

 the island, butonh in four pairs. I looked in vain for \our 



I "Urn. upon the whole, the -poverty of representa- 



tives of the subfamilies Sternina and Lorin'i is very notice- 

 able; thus, for instance, 1 have met with only one species 

 of the. genus Uftus, L. glattcwnt, Licht., being not. so nil- 

 morons, however, as one might expect.* 



""^T&e species of &m oh, 



' T( 



f Island by Dr. Kjrll- 



lireulhux is pr. eupied for a eelillsof ''.,/, ,./,,,, sine.- | K-,1i*. 



[TO BE CoVn.NTKD. ] 



NEW YORK FORESTRY ASSOCIATION. 



THE indiscriminate cutting of timber, the stealing of it 

 and the pealing of bark iu the Adirondacks has been 

 a great evil for years. It. has been written about by individ- 

 uals who saw that unless it could be checked there would 

 soon be no woods to speak of. and consequently no water 

 for the. canals and rivers. The attention of the Legislature 

 of New York was called to it. and Jast winter the Senate 

 appointed a committee consisting of Senator Koch. Lynde 

 and Frederick Lansing, to look into the matter and take 

 such preliminary steps as would in tbeb judgment seem 

 just and proper for that purpose. Joseph Koch, its chair- 

 man, called a meeting of the committee at Albany, July 12. 

 The meeting was held al Ihe office of Superintendent Colviu, 

 of the Adirondack Survey, at 11 o'clock on the 18th, In 

 connection with this meeting Mr. Colviu invited several 

 gentlemen known to be interested in the subjeet to meet 

 the Senate committee and form a forestry association. In 

 answer to this call the following gentlemen were present; 

 Gen. Robert Lenox Banks, C." P. Williams, Fred Mather, 

 Judge Clinton of Buffalo, Hon. Neil Gilniour. Dr, S. B. 

 Ward, Hon. P. J. Rogers of Seneca. Hon. William P. 

 Leitchworth, Chairman of the Stale Board of Charities, Mr. 

 William Barnes and several others. 



Superintendent Colvin explained the object of the meet- 

 ing and read letters of commendation of the work to be 

 undertaken from ex-Gov. Seymour, Hon. Erasing Brooks, 

 Prof. Edward North, of Hamilton College, Dr. Franklin B. 

 Hough, Judge Smith and Erastus Corning, all of whom 

 gave words of encouragement to the undertaking, and ex- 

 pressed regret at being unable to attend the meeting. Mr. 

 Colvin staled that the fact, that, the Senate Committee on 

 State Lands was to meet in this city on this date induced a 

 movement, by several who were interested in the formation 

 of a State forestry association. He said that on the 8th of 

 August the American Forestry Congress would meet at St. 

 Paul, Minn. Heretofore the State of New York had been 

 represented at the yearly meetings of (be national body only 

 by the presence of volunteers interested in forestry, while 

 most of the other States had sent regular delegates. Iu 

 view of the fact, that so much' had been done by the last 

 Legislature looking. to the preservation of the forest lands 

 of the State, it hat! seemed to those interested that this was 

 a favorable time to organize a State association. 



Senator Lansing stated that there were 000.000 acres of 

 forest laud which "the State now owned, having acquired 

 title through recurring tax sales, situated in the counties of 

 Herkimer, Franklin and St, Lawrence, and dwelt at some 

 length upon the necessity of saving these lands from further 

 spoliation, both as a sanitary measure and for the benefit of 

 our streams, rivers and commerce generally. 



He was followed by Hon. William Barnes, of the Poresl 

 Commission, who gave a brief and interesting history of our 

 forests, and explained the manner in which forests are pre- 

 served in Germany and Russia, showing on a map the inil 

 line of the Russian forests. 



Mr. ColYln showed new manuscript maps, prepared in bis 

 office, of Hamilton county and other counties, on which the 

 forest, lauds were outlined in red. 



Mr. Lansing explained the characteristics of the lauds 

 shown on the map, and said that the question wa- as to 

 whether the State should acquire more lands, with a view of 

 preserving its forest possessions iu one great tract, explained 

 the great importance of tht preservation of the vast forests 

 in the Adirondack region, and urged that the Legislature hi 

 so important a matter could do little without the active sup- 

 port and assistance of citizens generally. Discussion and a 

 Comparison of views would have an educational influence 

 and bring out the facts, and determine what it was neces- 

 sary to do lo accomplish the desired result. It, was certain 

 that along the Black River the rapid cutting away of the 

 forest had so opened the woevds to evaporation that Hie 

 springs of the head-w-aters were drying up, and with his 

 peope at Watertown it became a simple, practical question 

 — shall the forests be destroyed and the streams cease to 

 give the regular supply of water, or shall we study and 

 guard against these dangers? 



Mr. <S P. Williams believed that a forestry association 

 might accomplish good results, and queried whether the 

 interests of private owners in the forest region might not lie 

 made to contribute to the end aimed at— lire preservation of 

 the wooded lands and their scientific maintenance. He 

 knew, from personal experience, that the lauds in lower 

 Hamilton were almost, worthless for agriculture. The 

 climate in winter was substantially an arctic one, the snow 

 falling to a depth of seven or eight feet. He had maintained 

 a farm in the locality for ten or twelve years, by annual con- 

 tribution to the family working il, not for any agricultural 

 results, but for the purpose of having a summer home and a 

 trout fishing resort for himself and friends. Pasturage was 

 lair in tue district, but the ordinary crops of the farmer 

 could not be grown. If the forests could he preserved, they 

 would furnish to the State a very attractive resort, outside 

 of the economical propositions involved. 



Mr. Fred Mather then spoke at some length about the in 

 jury done to the different kinds of fish in the Woodland and 

 other streams by the sawdust, and the odor of pine resulting 

 from the destruction of the timber. He said that Ihe practice 

 of clearing up a tract of land on such thin soil rendered ihe 

 land permanently barren, there was nothing to prevent the 

 bills from drying up. When he was a boy i hero was plenty 

 of water iu the Hudson for sail vessels to tack anywhere 

 from Castleton to Albany and now nothing but a steamboat 

 channel rem-iius in summer. 



After further discussion, Gen. Banks whs chosen chair- 

 man, and Mr. Colvin, secretary of an executive coinruittec. 

 which, on motion, was made to consist of those persons 

 present who took an active interest iu the matter. A resolu- 

 tion, offered by Mr, Barnes, authorizing the executive euiu 

 niittee lo report a constitution and by-laws, and also to sug- 



