\) K<EIUBERi},1880. I 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



345 



llbraiy had done me the honor of wondering at' my hermit- 

 like (ilisenco. Ho, however, was talked out and hai come to 

 his hliven of refuge for a pipe. 



It was while lighting his violetwood that he pointed 

 across the lake with "Look, Warwick, nrr? those not ducks 

 in the west end?" "Teal? Your'r right. Kis up, old fel- 

 low, and we'll take the skiff after Iheni " Then drawins 

 out an oil-iaiined leather iackel from a cupboard, he opened 

 a cabinet, whose interior did spvrice for an iimmnnition box, 

 and I left him swab'.iiiig out the oil from the barrels of a ten- 

 bore as I hastened 1 5 niv room for my Scott, Mackintosh 

 coat and Glengarry boimet. Feask WARWirw. 



Oim WATERFOWL.* 



IV. 



THE Anati-nm may be distinguished from tlie Anserlnce, Oj- 

 geese, on the one hand, by having the tarsus scutellatc, 

 and from the FnliyuUiuv, or sea-ducks, on the other, by 

 having the hind toe simple. In other words, the tarsus, 

 which is the naked portion of the bird's leg between the 

 origin of the toes and the next joint above, is covered in front 

 by broad, overlapping scales, instead of being, as in the 

 geese, "reticulate," or covered with small, approximately 

 six-sided scales, which merely meet and do not noticeably 

 overlap. The hiud toe is short, elevated, and has no lobe of 

 skin depending from it. 



The AiiaHnof have been termed by different writers Fresh- 

 water, River, Shoal-wulcr and Inland Ducks. As a group, 

 they may be said to bo confined to fresh waters, althougli 

 they are often found on the sea shore, and some species oceiu- 

 during the niigxations more abundantly on salt water than on 

 Inland lakes and streams. They feed to a very great extent 

 on vegetable matter, and as a result of tliis diet their flesh is 

 excellent eating. The legs of the A-iMtiim are placed well 

 forward, and hence they are quite at home on dry laurl, where 

 they wait and rmi with ease. Unlike the geesa and swans, 

 in which the two sexes resemble each other in c->lor, the 

 males of the Anatince are, as a rule, more brightly plumagod 

 than the females, while the young of both sexes reaentble the 

 latter. 



The female alone performs the duty of rearing the young, 

 the males deserting her as soon as the cgtcs are laid. 



Anc^ bosdias. Mallard; Greenhead ('male; ; Gray Duck 

 (female). Male, head and neck, brilliunt glossy gi-een, 

 bounded below by a collar of white ; breast, deep chestnut, 

 fading on the back into brownish gray ; lower part, gray, 

 trairsversely waved with black ; wings, black tipped ; specu- 

 lum, or "wing spots," violet, with a black border; tail 

 feathers, white; bill, greenish yellow ; feet, orange. The 

 female has wing as in the male ; everywhere else, yellowish 

 brown, raai-ked with streakings and spocklinga of black. 

 Length, about two feet ; weight, about tlircc pounds. 



The mallard is perhaps the best known of all our ducks, 

 and as the progenitor of the common domestic duck, its ap- 

 pearance is familiar to every one It is found almost every- 

 where throughout the United States, being least abundant in 

 Now England. We have occasionally found them in Con- 

 necticut associated with the next species, but they are unusurd 

 even there, and occur still more .sparingly in rUassaclm.^etls 

 and to the eastward. In our Western and Southern Stales, 

 however, it is extremely abundant during the migrations, 

 and probably in these sections more ducks of this species are 

 killed eacli season than of any otlier. They are shot in the 

 grain fields, in tUe sloughs and in the rice swamps, and came 

 well to decoys. 



The mallard breeds in considerable nnmbcrs within om- 

 borders, and on the plains and in the Roclcy Mo\miain region 

 may fairly be considered a resident. We have seen ihem in 

 ihe dead of winter, when the thermometer stood 12 degree.s 

 below zero, on open spots on the Lodge Pole Crock in Ne- 

 braska and Wyoming, and know of their havmg been taken 

 on warm spring holes in the Elk Mountain Range when it 

 was mttch colder. In fact, from favorable feeding-grounds 

 they are only driven by the absolute closing of the waters. 

 In California, during the winter, they are very abundant, 

 and form a large proportion of the ducks that then abound 

 there. 



AiKts ohtcura. Black Duck ; Dusky Duck ; BlacJi 3Ial- 

 lard. The black duck closely resembles the mallard in fonn, 

 and in color is like the female of that species, but the general 

 tone of the plumage is much darker. The liill is yellowisli 

 green, and the feet orange, with duskj' webs, or wholly 

 dusky. It is about the same size as the preceding species. 

 The female is somewhat duller iu color than the male, and is 

 smaller. 



In New England and along the Northern Atlantic coast, 

 tills species almost wholly replaces tlie mallard. It is found 

 in less abundance in the We^st, and is not common Ijoyond 

 the Mississippi Kiver. We have seen occasional specimens, 

 however, iu Nebraslm, and Dr. YaiTow has reported the 

 bird from Rush Lake, Utah. On the Northern Atlantic 

 coast it is the only one of the AnaU/ue that occurs in suffi- 

 cient numbers to furnish good sport. 



* Manj' of tlie descriptions ol waterfowl giron in these artideB 

 are taken, iduioat without change, from Dr. Oouea' "Key to North 

 Americau Buds." Suice that author's desfcriptious ai'e ruodela of 

 oondaenesR. ilucI, at the aarae tiiue, call attention to tho salient 

 foatures of each Bpecied, it has been tJionght better in many cases 

 to foUow him ratber than to att«mpt to better what is already bo 

 good. 



Where black ducks have been much shot at they feed only 

 at night, and in some localities wo have known them to be so 

 suspicious that they wovdd not leave the open water for their 

 feeding-ground before midnight, and wotdd be off again be- 

 fore daylight. In some localities tha species comes well to 

 decoys, a»<l is shot from blinds built on the feediug-grounds, 

 or from batteries ; but most of those taken on the Atlantic 

 coast are killed as they fly from the open water to places 

 where they paas the night. In very severe weather, when 

 the feeding-grounds are covered with ice, the black ducks 

 suffer severely. They arc then obliged to resort for food to 

 such warm springs im maj' be still open, and the gimners, 

 taking advantage of this, kill great numbers of them. 



The black duck sometimes breeds with the domestic duck, 

 and the offspring of this intermixture makes an e.xcellent 

 table bird. It has also been domesticated, and after a few 

 generations reared in captivity would, no doubt, make a val- 

 uable addition to tho poultry yard. Being usually kept with 

 other ducks, Lcwever, they soon lose their characteristic 

 color, and cannot be distuiguished from the ordinary domes- 

 tic bird. Sueh of the offspring of the black duck ami the 

 lame mallard as take id'ter the wild parent make excellent 

 black duck decoys, and can without much diflSculty be trained 

 so as to be of great service to the gunner. 



A smaller variety of the black duck, denominated by Mr. 

 Ridgway AnaJi obaeurafuMffuh, is resident, in Florida. 



IJaftla acuta.. Pintail Duck; Sprigtail; Pheasant. Male, 

 head and upper neck, brown ; stripe on side of neck, breast 

 and lower parts, white; sides and back gray, waved with 

 black ; dorsal line of neck and tertiary wing feathers, black ; 

 scapulars, black, bordered with silver gray; speculum, green ; 

 tail, long, 4 to 9 inches, the black middle feathers extending 

 far beyond the others : bill, black ; feet, gray blue. Female 

 colored much like the female mallard,- but paler; always to 

 be distinguished from that bird by the narrower, differently 

 colored bill, different feet and more pointed tail. 



The pintail is an extremely abundant and widely distrib- 

 uted species. It occurs in greater or less abundance every- 

 where from New England to California. Dming the migra- 

 tions it affords much sport to gunners in the Western and 

 Southern States. Up to within a short time it had been 

 supposed that ibi.s species always retired to tho far North to 

 breed, but Dr. Coues has shown that some breed in Jlontana, 

 on the tributaries of the Milk Kiver. During the mouth of 

 July he found in this region young birds scarcely able to fly. 

 In Alaska, according to Mr. Dall, they breed in considerable 

 numbers. 



The pintail is one of the most graceful of our ducks, and 

 appears to equal advantage whether seen in flight, on the 

 water, or on dry land. They associate freely with mallards, 

 teal, and other fresh- water ducks. 



ChauMa.wnin atrr pel-US. Gadwall: Gray Duck. Male with 

 the pale gray plumage, somewhat barred with black; shoul- 

 der, chestnut : greater w^ing coverts, black ; speculum, white. 

 Female smaller, with little or no chestnut, but with the other 

 wing marks. Bill, black ; feet, dull orange j length, about 

 twenty inches; weight, about two poimds. 



Although the gadwall is said to be distributed through* 

 North America at large, we have never found it very abundant 

 on tlie North Atlantic coa.st. Iu the interior it is much more 

 plenty, and fiunishes good sport, decoying readily. Iu 

 the Rocky Mountain region it is abundant during the mi- 

 grations, and some remain through the summer to breed. 

 Dr. Coues foimd their nests in Montana, and we have taken 

 them in the mountains of Wyoming, not far from the line of 

 the Union Pacific R. R. In California it is rather abmndant. 



Mureca. penslox": European Widgeon. Head and neck, 

 gi'ayish bro^vn, si)eck!ed with black, the top white or brown- 

 ish white ; faint ti aces of glos.sy green on its sides ; breast, 

 brownish red; belly, white; under tail coverts, black ; awhlte 

 patch on the wing ; speculum, green, bordered with black ; 

 back, gray, waved with black ; bill and feet, blue gray. The 

 European widgeon is merely au accidental visitor to our 

 shores, and' occurs so rarely that any specimens of it which 

 may be killed should be recorded, and their skins preserved. 

 It can readily bo distinguished from the succeeding species 

 by the brownish, instead of gray, head and neck, and by the 

 mere trace of green instead of the broad patch seen on the 

 American bird. 



Mareca mi%erioan<t. American Widgeon; Baldpale; White- 

 belly. Head and neck, grayish, speckled with black, the 

 top white; a broad patch of glossy green on the side ; other- 

 wise like the preceding, which it about equals in size ; weight, 

 about one pound fourteen ounces. 



The ividirei'Ti is found almost everywhere throughout the 

 United .States, In ing equally abundant on the seaboard and 

 inland. They are found in great numbers on the brackish 

 waters at the mouths of many of our rivers and bays, and 

 many arc shot on our inland waters. We have found this 

 species breeding abundantly in Montana and Dakota, near 

 little sloughs and narrow streams. 



[TO BE OONTWUED.] 



PBOOKEOrNGS OF THE PHtt.A^DELPUIA AOADEMY. — Part IT. 



of the Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural 

 Sciences, covering April to September, has just reached m, 

 and for it wo desire to express our acknowledgements. It is 

 replete with iuterestiiig matter, and contains contributions 

 fi-om the pens of Dr. Leidy, Mr. Kiugsley. Dr. Chapman, 

 Capt. Vogdes. Mr. Theo. D. Rand, Dr. Harrison Allen, Dr. 

 Hartman, Mr. Barbeck, Mr. Lockington and others. 



Ait Sable in another column gives some new testimony on 

 the beaver question. 



SOaiBTHING ABOUT SQUIRBELS. 



SQUIRRELS are wonderfully mixed up with childhood 

 reminiscences. Solitary indeed would have been the 

 grand old woods without those ever-present and active little 

 nut-cracKers. 



The striped or ground squirrel is a sprightly and industri- 

 ous little bod}'. He is not fastidious in his diet, but his favor- 

 ite food seems to be beech nuts, of which he frequently stores 

 away large quantiiies for winter use. It is quite amusing to 

 see the amount of nuts which he will gather and cram into 

 his motith until his cheeks are distended seemingly to burst- 

 ing. His deposits are invariably underground, where he 

 abides dm-ing the winter and seldom comes out while cold 

 weather lasts. In the spring when his supplies are short he 

 is sometimes driven to the necessity of digging up young com 

 which has been lately planted near the woods, wiuch brings 

 him into bad repute among the farmers' Ixiys, who often wage 

 an exterminating war against the whole race. 



The red squin-el or chickaree is a hardy specimen of the 

 race, and is bound to live whether nuts are plenty or .scarce. 

 They are out in all kinds of weather, and we frequently find 

 them iu midwinter in deep pme forests, where they subsist 

 chiefly on pine cone*, or rather the small seeds which are 

 found iu tho cone. He is the most lively and active of all 

 squirrels; his every move, look or action denotes mischief. 

 llis favorite liome is near settlements and among butternut 

 groves, from the nuts of which ho has such an ingenious and 

 workmanlike manner of extracting the meats. He will some- 

 times lay up large stores of these nuts in hollow stubs and 

 trees for future use. The red scpiirrel is found sitting upright 

 on a limb with his back tmned to the body of the tree aud 

 tail curled over llis head, while he keeps up "an incessant chat- 

 tering and .sputtering which no other species could imitate. 

 Regardless of the boy who is filling his pockets with small 

 rocks, determined to pelt the life out of him, aud who, for- 

 gets the fact that he generally' came out second best in all 

 iuB former attempts to stone a red squirrel out of a tree top, 

 (^'hickoiee awaits the attack. He does not seem to be much 

 alarmed at the boy's approach, merely making a few bounds 

 upward and squats himself lengthwise on top of a good sizal 

 horizontal limb, as much as to say, "Now, fire away; if there is 

 an}' danger you can just see how easy I can slip over on the 

 other side of the limb." Boy begins throwdng stones and 

 finally expends all his ammuni'lion^'without effect, while he 

 knows he cannot get him. Becoming exasperated, he declai'ea 

 he will hoist the .squirrel out of that, and begins climbing it, 

 Wlicn he gets pretty dose to the game the little red runs out 

 on the end of the limb, makes a flj^ing leap, comes to the 

 gromid right side up aud rtms oft' as though nothing had hap- 

 pened. Boy slides down, and while pinning up divers rents 

 in his pants'discovers the little rascal in the top of a neigh- 

 boring butternut tree skipping from branch to branch, clipping 

 off' the stems and letting the butternuts fall at a lively ruteu 

 Boy concludes to wait a while; he will make something out of 

 that squirrel yet, and after a sufllcient time he falls to and 

 gathers up quite a pile, and for lack of a sack to carry them 

 he decides to cover them with barks and rubbish and come 

 for them early in ;he morning. But iu his absence Chickaree 

 has carried off every nut and stored them away for his own 

 use. He is a great robber of birds' nests, whether there be 

 eggs or young birds it is all the same to him. He is also ad- 

 dicted to stealing hens' eggs, of which he has a peculiar knack 

 of inserting into the small end his sharp teeth without other- 

 wise breaking the shell, and carries them off with apparent 

 ease ; in fact, his petty larceny proclivities render him some- 

 wliat obnoxious and frequently brings down vengeance on his 

 devoted head. 



The nature and habits of the black and gray squirrels are 

 nearly aUlce, the only difference seems to be iu color and lo- 

 cality. I believe the former is seldom found except in the 

 Northern and Middle States, while the latter is foimd in 

 nearly all the Western and Southern States as well as in .some 

 localities iu the Middle and Eastern Slates. I have never 

 foimd the black and gray both occupying the same ground. 

 I have fomid the fox squirrel among the gray both West and 

 Soiitli. They differ iu size but not much in habits. 



The natural home of the black squirrel is in heavy beach, 

 maple, hemlock and pine forests where they are able to travel 

 at a fast rate on the tree tops, leaping from branch to branch 

 with surprising agility. They rarely if ever lay up food for 

 winter, as they seem to be well adapted for foraging in all 

 kinds of weather. However deep the snow may be they have 

 a natural instinct for finding nuts or other food which may 

 be lying under the snow. 



The flying squirrel is perhaps scattered over more territory 

 than any other vaiiely, and is not often seen even in localities 

 where they iue plenty, as they are decidedly noctm-nal in thoii' 

 habits, seldom moving iu daylight unless when disturbed. 



They are socially disposed, and it is rare that one is foimd 

 alone. They seem to keep together in families of a half 

 dozen or more high up iu the hollow trunk of some old tree. 

 Their power of flying, or rather sailing, is attained by their 

 extending the legs at right angles with tlie body, which also 

 distends tho skin and Hnttens the squirrel to the dimensions of 

 about five by seven iucbi;s. The tail is thickly furred, wide 

 and flat, and doubtless aids them in their flight. Their mode 

 of travel is to run up a tree nearly or quite to the top, aud 

 siill off on a descoui of about forty degrees until near the 

 groimd, when with a sort of swoop they ahoot upward ten or 

 twelve feet striking another tree, thence, running up to the 

 top, repeat the manoeuvre, and in this way some distance is 

 gained iu a short time. 



I have frequently while being camped out on dark nights 

 heard those little night ramblers come spatting along from 

 tree to tree, one after another, until a whole family had 

 passed. Astlee. 



Piaey Falls, Tenn., Nm. 33, 1880. 



A Sick Obang. — The orang which is af present at the 

 Westminster Aquarium has had a severe attack of sickness 

 from which, however, it is now happily recovered. The 

 Loudon correspondent of the Liverpool Porf says: "The 

 missing link who parts his hair down the middle, and has 

 been for some time past on exhibition at the Westminster 

 Aquarium^namely, the orang-outang — has not escaped fall- 

 ing a victim to the malady which has proved fatal to so many 

 of his kind in our climate. The stranger caught cold, which 

 quickly developed into a severe attack of bronchitis, and on 

 Fi-iday nighl last his medical attendant held out little or no 

 hope of the patient being able to sm-vive the night. How- 

 ever, Mr. John E. Carrington, F. R. S., the naturalist of the 

 aquarium, was determined, it possible, to save the creature's 

 life. He sat up all night with him steaming and doctoring 

 him, and by morning the symptoms were so favorable that 

 the oraug-oulaug was declared to be out of immediate dan- 

 ger. Since then, by dint of careful nursing, the animal has 



