406 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Deobmbbr 23, 1880. 



Toultitudes of crese, braut niirl ducks, alVordins; fmo sport lo 

 t.he mai-iy possesgoVs ol' brfn h-loMders in nil (Kirtsof the 

 f:»tate. My oM, pearpable .ind woll dispoMci DnkiMa fricntis 

 after being made the vk'timn f' i : i / i i! broken prom- 

 ises, violated treaties niul bad i: : . ;:ii, . m tbc part of 



thegoverament, were at Iciiglhi i „,.,., - inel ai'd lliirsty 



snvagfis wlio spread desolation aim tieaiii aiong the frontiers 

 of ^Minnesota and Iowa in 1863 and 186a, until," routed in suc- 

 cessive engagements by the Minnesota forces under the oom- 

 rnand of thl' writer, unmy of them were captured and exe- 

 cuted, and the remainder sought refuge in the British Pos- 

 sessions and across tlu^ Upi»;r Missouri Kiver there to await 

 ths fate which has befallen ihe Indian tribes successively as 

 the wave of white immigration has reached and destroj'ed 

 them. 



In view of the Ijcncfits conferred upon the Imman race liy 

 the opening of this new Northwest to white setllemenl, the 

 true sportsman will not regret that lie has been deprived of 

 many sources of pleasure thereby. He can still find oppnr- 

 tunities for the display of liis skill, even in the most popu- 

 lous parts of the State, although his sport will not be so per- 

 ilous and exciting as was the chase Of the greater and fiercer 

 animals in the olden time. Hat. a Daootau. 



SI. Piml, Minn., 1880. 



OUR WATEKPOWL. 



Bxusephala clangula. Golden Eye, Carrot, Whistler. Male, 

 head puffy, dark glossy green, except white oval spot beneath 

 find in front of the eye, which touches the base of the bill. 

 Lower neck, under parts, a patch on the shoulder, most of 

 the scapulars and wing coverts white; other upper parts 

 black ; tail, ashy ; bill, black ; feet, yellow ; length, over 

 sixteen inches. The female has the head dark brown with- 

 out wliite markings, and has the breast and sides gray, the 

 black of the bade replaced with dark gray. 



The Golden Eye, or Whistler, as it is more often called 

 on tlie Atlantic Coast, is abundant during the migra- 

 tion all through the Eastern States, but is not so numerous 

 west of the Mississippi Pdver. We believe that it has not 

 been fouud in the Missouri River region, though it probably 

 occurs in small numbers at some points in the Rocky Moun- 

 tains, having been reported from that region in Fokest akd 

 Si'REAM by Mr. Morton Cxruuiell. 



The flesh of the Whistler is not regarded as particularly 

 delicate, though much better in this respect than that of 

 some of the species to be hereafter mentioned. It docs not 

 by any means confine itself exclusively to an animal diet, and 

 sometimes feeds on corn and other grain. It is very expert 

 at diving, and single birds, found feeding near the shore, 

 may often be approached hy running toward them while 

 they are beneath the sm-face, and then dropping flat on the 

 ground when they come up again. The Whistler sometimes 

 comes up well to decoys, but we have usuallj' found it rather 

 an uncertain bird in this respect. 



Bwxphala Ulandicn. Barrow's Golden Eye, Rocky Movm- 

 tain Garrot. This species bears a very close resemblance to 

 the preceding, but is generally regarded as a valid species. 

 In the male the while loral spot is larger than in />'. dangula, 

 triangular in shape, with one of its sides touching tlie whole 

 side of the bill at the base. The white on the wing is 

 divided by a dark bar. Otherwise siniilar to B. clangula. 

 The female is with difficulty to be distinguished from the 

 last, Imt perhaps has the dark bar across the white of the 

 wing. 



Barrow's Golden Eye was regarded by Audubon as the 

 specimen plumage of the common Whistler. It appears to 

 be much more Arctic in its distribution than that bird, and is 

 ever3nivhere rare in the United States. Its 80\ithern limit 

 during the winter is given as Isew York, but on the shores 

 of Canada it is said to be not very uncommon during that 

 season. It has been taken in the Rocky Mountains by Mi-. 

 Hcnshaw as far south as Utah, though not abundant there. 

 But little is l^jiowi of its habits, and its Ijrecding place is 

 supposed to be in the Far Korth. 



Bw^ii/ialii albeola. Buffle Head, Butter Ball, Spirit Duck, 

 Dipper, Salt-Water Teal. The male has the colors generally 

 us in the Golden Eye. Head extremely puffy, iridescent, 

 with green, gold and violet reflections, without the white 

 loral spot, but with a white patch reaching from behind the 

 eye backward, meeting its fellow of the opposite side behind. 

 Female grayish or slate coloi' where the male is black, with a 

 trace of the white head patch. 



The little buffle head is well known to every one who uses 

 the gun, and needs no extended description. The full plumagcd 

 male is a very beautiful bird, while the female is, as Dr. Cones 

 remarks, " an insignificant duck," in striking contrast to her 

 highly colored mate. The buttle head is an expert lUver and 

 a very swift flyer. It does not often, on the Atlantic Coast, 

 pay much attention to decoys. It is rather unsuspicious, and 

 one may often row a boat up to withiu gunshot of the feed- 

 Jug flock. 



This species is found almost everywliere throughout the 

 United States, and in winter is very common. Althoug;Ii by 

 far the greater portion proceed to the British Possessioas to 

 rear then- young, yet we found them breeding in Montana in 

 the summer of 1874. Ko nests were found, but many broods 

 of young still unable to fly were seen, and a number of speci- 

 mens taken. This, we believe, was the first record of the 

 breeding of this species within our territory, 



Harelda glacialis. Long-Tailed Duck, South Southerly, 

 Old Wife, Old. Squaw. Tail of fourteen narrow, pointed 



feathers ; in the male the central ones very long and slender, 

 about criudlling the wing in length. The nail of the hill 

 occui>ies the whole lip. The plumage in winter different 

 from that of the summer. Male in siunmer has the back and 

 the long narrow-pointed scapulars, varied with reddish 

 lirown, Init cliangiug in winter to white or pearl gray. Gen- 

 eral coloi', black -, below, white from the breast back ; sides 

 of head gray. In winter the head, neck and upper breast 

 are while, but the gray cheek patch remains, and there is 

 below it a larger dark area. Bill bla<'k, with a j-t-llow or 

 flesh-colored bar toward the tip. The female is an ordiuaiy 

 looldng grayish bird, without the long tail feathers or scapu- 

 lars, but may be known by the shape of the hill, the iialches 

 on the head and neck and tlie wing without any white. 

 Leogtli varies with the length of tbo tail feathers from fifteen 

 to twenty inolics. 



The Old t^qiiin\', .-IS it is iisufllly culled on this coast, is one 

 of the mosi, tinly maritime of our ducks. It is very rarely 

 seen exce].il on ilie siilt water, and seldom ventures even into 

 the moulh.i of rivers except when wounded. There ai-e a 

 few instances iccorded of its capture on inland waters— for 

 example, cjn the great lakes— but these, in view of what is 

 known of its range, can only be regarded as accidental occiu"- 

 rences. louring the winter it is extremely abundant along 

 our whole New Kngland coast, and from tlie constant clamor 

 that the birds keep up is derived the popular name. Old Wife. 

 The title South Southerly Is given it from a ftinci(id resem- 

 blance of its cry to these w:>rds, bul to make them at all like 

 the note of the Old Squaw, the two first syllables must be 

 spoken rapidlj', and the third strongly accented. 



The old squaw, though its flesh is very poor eating, is shot 

 in great numbers along the coast, and, beiiig a bird of rapid 

 and somewhat irregular flight, affords very good sport. In 

 the spring this species comes up well to decoys, and wc have 

 known of over sixty being killed in this way during a 

 morning's shooting. The favorite method of killing them, 

 however, is by forming a line of lioats between the feeding 

 grounds and the outer water, where they pass the night, and 

 shooting them as they fly over. They rarely rise to any great 

 lieight, and, as the boats are stationed only about a gunshot 

 apart, many good opportunities are given the gTinncr. Tiiis 

 method of shooting is also iiracticed with success for coots. 

 It has been m ire (ban once described in these eoluiim.s. The 

 Old Squaw retires to the North to lireed, and is .said lo rear 

 its yoiuig on the fresh-water lakes of Labrndnr. We have 

 good reason to believe that it sometimes breeds cm the Con- 

 necticut coast, but it is jirobaljle that the birds which do so 

 are wounded ones, which arc nnable to make the long journey 

 to the Norlii. This species is found on the Pacific coast, imd 

 is also a common bird of nortbern Eui'ope. 



Cnmpt<A(Fi)nii> liihn><h,niix. Labrador Duck, Pied Duck. 

 Bill enlarged losvard the end by nienibranous exiiansion; 

 cheek feathers rigiil and somewliat scale-like. The nude has 

 the body and wing-tips black, a black co'lar about the neck, 

 and a longitudinal black stripe along the crown of head ; 

 elsewhere white. Female, slatey gray; length, about two 

 feet. 



The Pied Duck is not spoken of by older writers as an un- 

 common species, but is now extremelyrare. It is diflicult to 

 understand wliat can li-i^-e caused the disappearance of lliis 

 bird, bull Ihe fad remains that spcciiiiens now .scarcely ever 

 find their way into the eolleelor's bands. During the last ten 

 years we have never seen Imt one individual (a young male) 

 in the flesh. 



Sportsmen, therefore, who maybe fortunate enough to 

 secure specimens of this species would do well to have them 

 preserved, and to record the fact without loss of time. Ac- 

 cording to Audttlion tlie PiedDuckisa truly marine species, 

 and raiely cuiry.; ri\cfs. It is said to occ\ir as far south 

 as the f^hesapeakc May. 



[to tie ClONTlSI'Bn.] 



MIGRATION OF THE WAGTAIL. 



THE following letter contributed pscudonymoiisly to the 

 Jir, ;.;,}■-: ,"', / I r.nlains much tliiit will be new to most 

 of our r. :i - ' "count is so inlereslingand sopleaRiint- 



lywrillf:! :l i ■,'. i I'virint it entire in the hope that it may 

 elicit some expression of opinion on the subject from our own 

 ornithologists ; 



In the autiunn of 1878 T spent several weeks on the Island 

 of Crete. On several occasions Ibc papas— village priest— a 

 friendly Greek wbliwbom I spent the greater pai't of my 

 time— fi'cquenlly directed my atteiilion to the twittering and 

 singing of small birds which be distinctly heard when a floek 

 of s-jnil cranes passed by 0)i their southward journey. 1 ti>]d 

 Lay friend that I could not, see any small biiTls and suggesic^d 

 that the noise came from the wiiigs of the large ones. This 

 he denied, saying, "No, no! I know it is the chirping of 

 small birds. They Jire on the backs of the cranes. I have 

 seen them frequentlv fly up and alight again, and are always 

 with tbein when li'iev'stop lo rest and' feed." I waa still 

 skei)l!Ciil, for with a lield-glass I tVdlcd (o di.scoverthe "small 

 Itirds" spoken of. 1 inquired of several others and found 

 the existence of Ihese littU; feathered compunions to lie a 

 matter of genenil belief among both olii and young. I s\ig. 

 gested that" possibly the small birds might go out from the 

 .shore a short disiance and come in with the cranes. '• No, 

 no," was the gencial answer. "Iliey come over from Europe 

 vs-iththem," I cevtainlv heard the cinrpnig and twittering 

 of birds upon several dift'ereni, occasions, both inland and out 

 upon the sea. But in spite of the positive statements of the 

 natives, I could not believe their theory until convinced one 

 day while fishing about fifteen miles from the shore, when a 

 flock of cranes passed quite near the yacht. The fishermen, 

 hearing the "small birds," drew my attention to their chirp- 



ing. Presently one cried out, "There's one," btit 1 failed to 

 catch si^ht of it. Then one of them diKsharged his flint- 

 lock. 1 hrcc small birds rose up from the flock and soon dis- 



apiiearcd among the cratics. 



1 Eubsetiuently inquiied (if several scientific men, among 

 ^vllOln wcie two ornithologists, .as lo the probability of such 

 a state of afl'airs. They ali agreed that it could not be, and 

 1, too, was icireed lo cling to my originiu judgment, and let 

 the matter go. Recently, however, while reailing the " Gai- 

 tenlaube," my attention was attracted to an ai'ticle beaiiug 

 directly upon" llie subject. The writer, Adolf Ebelmg, tells 

 the same story, and fidds the statements of some ornitholo- 

 gists of distiiiction, which makes the whole matter so strik- 

 ing and interesting that I qiiole the paagraph from his 

 book : 



"Shortly after my arrival in Cairo I greeted various old 

 Gennan friends among tlie birds that I ob.served in the palnr- 

 garden of our hotel. First, naturally, was the siiarrow, the 

 impndenl proletariate— I had almo.'^T sidd social democral, 

 oe.ause the whole world to-d,ay has lliat bad word in the 



in luth. lleapt 1 i' "be more shameless llnui ever 



m the land ct i. ; .r be liew withoul cmlnm-ass- 



ment on ihel r .nd picked offthc crumbs and 



bits from eves., ■ ■■. Tnt Mk- iniok uf honor 



we paid to'the w ;■ ■ 1 1 1- , ' : i ■■ i ' i -■: i ^ i , ';inrause we did 



not then know ic::' !■■' -.•.m . ■ ,■ - ';.■!■:■ ■•ir,; i.i\i;>uss;i(;e. Wc 

 had thought lh;i,t, uicy \..i-=-.. i i- - ..^ni^ ; -M s,,!i;ijern Europe, 

 or atfarthcst, as many of them do, in Sicily and the Grecian 

 Islands. That they came to Africa, and especially lo Nubift 

 and Abys.sinia. was then iinknown lo us. Tliia appeared to 

 ussingtdarly sir;.- ■.-, trr,-. :'m ■•; -M'Tcdiblc, particukirlv on 

 account of (he (:. ■: ":_. ' mails, which il is well 



known always ij;,: ,,, , m , . :-.j;igli tlie air in longer 



or shorter curve- ,■ -I ■ :i|' -■" n; i;, ■.' iry tew moments, int^r- 

 ru))ts Its flifdit lo .siL a'/rdii :irnt ■ \i:iic its tall.' But there was 

 the fact, and could noi: be denied. Eveiywliere in tlie Gar- 

 dens of C'nirc. ^-.■,:; cnnld see iliem under .In; palms that border 

 the bank " : : ..n the great avcimes that lend to the 



pyruni:' :iii the pyramids tlicinselvcs in the 



nuddle-i. And there'll Vrtis timl i lirsi heard of 



this siiu- ..ill. 



'■'.till" .i'csiltinir at the foot of the pyramid 



ofC'be,;,. , ; .M, .;.up of Iragntnt Moclni and in jollv 



conver,-!!,-: , ,i , up clouds of blue smoke fi-.)ni our 

 Koiiinii ii I, ', ■ were wailimj- tor (he sinkhig of the 



sun tu ;,. ■■ . :i - ,m> to Cain,. "The deep silence of the 

 sarromid;:,_ ...,;■ , „. vssed •^f.metliing uncommonly solemn, 

 only now aeu ti.eii di.-l'c-' ■ l •■■; ■' . --v i.f the bnar.se tish- 

 hawks far above us. ■- , rliru,,.. y.x-n.- ;.;rundly 



circling. Their liight. • i,i'ii.see!i Ir. ii.n anear, 



posses.ses a majesty in 11 ined liv no other bird. 



P.ight before us several A,':igt nils v. ere hopping around and 

 ' tilting.' They were quite tame, and Hew restlessly hither 

 and thither. On Iliis occasion 1 renuukcd, "I could not 

 tjuitc understand how these birds could make the long' pus- 

 sage of the Aledilerranean.' Shci k Ibrahim heard this from 

 our interpreter. The old Bedouin mrned to me with a niix- 

 tm-e of French and Arabic as follows, which the inlei'preter 

 aided us to fully comprehend : 



" 'Do you not Imow, Hadrelch (noble sir), that these 

 small birds are borue over the sea by the larger ones?' 



"1 laughed as did our friends; for at first we thought we 

 had misunderstood him ; but no ; the old man continued 

 quite naturally : 



"' Every child among us knows that. There little birds 

 are much too weak lo make ilie louL'sea journey with their 

 own strengih. This they know very well, and, therefore, 

 wail for the storks and cranes and other large liinls, and set- 

 lie themselves upoii llieir backs. In this way lliey allow 

 themselves to be borne over the se*. The large birds submit 

 to it willingly ; for they iil.:e Ihcir little guest.9, who by their 

 merry tr. iiieriiigs iielp to kill the time on Ihe long vo_yage.' 



1; a]-)pi-ured iiicrcoilile in us. \\'c called to a pair of brown 

 Bednuinboys, poinu'dout the wagtails to them, and imiuircd : 



■' ■ Do you kncov Avheiicu come these small birds!'' 



" ' Ceibiiiily,' they answered ; ' The Abu Saad (the stork) 



ed the 



r the 



"At supper in the Hotel du Nil, I related the curious 

 story lo all present, but naturally enough found only imbe- 

 lieviug ears. 



"The only one who did not laugh was the Privy Council- 

 lor llcuglin, the famous African traveler and, excepting 

 Brehm, "the most celebrated ornithologist of qjir time for 

 the birds of Africa. I turned to him after the meal, and in- 

 quired of his faith. The good, royal councillor smiled in his 

 caustic way, and wiUi a meny twinlde remarked: 'l.et the 

 others laugh; they know iiotiungabout it. I do not laugh , 

 for the tiling is known to me. 1 should have recently made 

 mention of It in my work if I bad bad any strong personal 

 proof to justify it. " We nu-t lie much more careful in such 

 tilings than a inerestory-icUer nr covei-'viiirr : wermist have 

 a proot fur everything, 1 consider the case probable, but us 

 yet caiirjot give any warrant for it.' 



" .M\ diticovery, if I may so call it, I had kept to myself. 

 even after II euglin had tlius expressed himself, and -vvoiUd 

 even now niai main silence on the subject had I not recently 

 discovered a new authority for it." 



I read lately in the second edition of Poterman's great book 

 of trave' • •■ • i-"-;.i:.- : 



"Proi Munich, related to me in Jerusalem 



that the ' relish traveler, lledenborg, made the 



following I.I I - "'tservation on the Island of Rhodes, 



where he .sioppctL In the autumn tide, when the storks 

 come in flocks over the sea to Rhodes, he often heard the 

 songs of birds without being able to discover them. Once he 

 folfowed a flock of storks," and as 11 icy lighted he «iw small 

 birds llv up from their backs, which in ibis manner bad been 

 borne over the sea. Tiie distance prevented him from ob- 

 serving to which species of singing liinls they belonged." 



Thus wrote the fVunous geographer, Petennan. Professor 

 Roth aj:d lledenborg and Heuglin are entirely reliable 

 authors. This waa a matter of creat curiosity to me, and 

 afler I fouinl oihers had made similar observations, and ex- 

 pi-e-iHxl [iiein in prim, 1 ihouLiht thev would be of no les.q 

 curii.siiyand interest on this side of the AUanlic. .and equally 

 deserving of public notice. I hope I hat connoi.sseurs, amii- 

 tenrs and experts may be excited by this lo extend their ob- 

 servation ill this line also. The iiiBiinct of animals is still, in 

 spite of all our ob.wrvations and experience, almost a seah;d 

 book to us. By a little atlenlion we might liear of still more 

 curious things in this field. 



Peooeedtnos U. S. Nat'i. MriSEUM. — Volume II. of the 

 proceedings of the U. S. Nal'l Museum, for 1879, published 

 under the direction of the Smithsonian In.stitution, contains 

 a vast amount of new and varied information. Mesas, 



