Jahtjabt lb, 1S81.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



465 



aud millions of lliesc luscious birds were in the air scudding 

 across from point to point or resliiig in lo;i!r dark rafts of 

 miles in extent. All tliese liirds, we weri_- k.ld, or nmsl of 

 them at least, really l^elouged on C4ull Island Siioals iin;l tbal, 

 they would gradually gravitate back, there wheu the high salt 

 tide should run out. We were told that we had been excep- 

 tionally unfortunate in our trip this year, that such a state of 

 affairs had not been in forlr \pars. elc, etc. Jonah .' 



Well, we Piuv the fowl ami know lU-jy are in siifflcient 

 quaiitilie.s to suit the most cxtrava^raTit desires, and .another 

 year we pi'opose to go down auiply equipped and make 

 it lively among them. 



Jonah stuek to us this trip, as you wiU perceive, aU the 

 while. Owing to high winds, rain and rough water wo only 

 had one or two really iT'iorl ,j;ivs fr.r iiiiorjtiiia-. But amid all 

 these clouds there were man'," sun-iiiiiv li.'ur<i. In the cap- 

 tains and crews of Life-JSavine Stations IS and 20 we foujid 

 big hearts and right royal fellows. Cajrtaoi Bannister Mid- 

 gett and Captain John Allen Midu:ett are good types of the 

 brave and successfid coastmen of ijiat dangerous locality. By 

 them we were welcomed in ■>! r..,-,,i-' s|.-1rC 



Did the reader cv<?r sho^^l ' : . , Ijlind? Have out 



from fifty to one hniKircd J.. : i>\ ten or twelve or 



more, if one has them, of Ir, i v il ' . , :i) do the honking? 

 Bid you ever? And as .you lie smigly concealed, to see'iu 

 the far distance those long living lines approacliiny. while 

 your stools give out their honk of invitation, see the gradual 

 lowering of the wings and dropping of the feet of thelie deli- 

 cious birds, amid the incessant honking of the gee.?e ajid tbe 

 discordant note, of tliel.ir.nnt? When yon. can fairly see the 

 wMte ring on thetluoaland jast ere the great black feet touch 

 the water you rise and pour in a broadside of No. 3, and as the 

 vast number speed by you look over and see the white breasts 

 of a goodly number within easy reach? Ah! that is sport, 

 and when they come m pairs, by threes, by half-dozens, so 

 thick and fasi t hat your breech-loader gets too hot to hold in 

 your mjgloved hand, and you wade out in your high rubber 

 boots and bring ui all you can carry at one time of these 

 queeu of waterfowl, weighing from sis to ciglit pounds 

 apiece ! Canvas-backs are good aud theii- shooiiug aft'ords 

 good sport, but thev are not a prituiag to black braat"shootiiig 

 oa Pimlico Smmd. No. sir 1 



Well, all pleasures have an end; so, with oui' birds nicely 

 packed in barrtl--, with lair trunks, we started for home on 

 Thm-aday the 23d, in Capt. Pugh's canoe, Daly O'Keil aud 

 Bannister Pugh as steersman and worker, N." E. Nash, E. 

 Wright, F. 31. Thom.sou ;uid your humble servant— Captain 

 Johnson oul}' remaining until February, when another party 

 proposes to go down. We reached JIanteo toward night of 

 the first day all right (guess Jonah had left ns.i. 



At the earnest solicitation of Mr. Lewis Ulann, the mail 

 carrier from Manleo to Kinnckccl, Mr. >Ja.sh aud myself 

 betook ourselves to his house, some two miles inland on the 

 island. We found Mr. Mann very pleasantly situated, in 

 Gen. Burnside's old headquarters, where he had charge of the 

 island. Mr. Mann is one of the most intelligent and go- 

 ahead of any of the citizens we have met in our trip South. 

 He knows everybody in the two counties and all know him 

 and speak of bim as the right man in the right place. The 

 next day, Jonah still being around, it rained heavily all day 

 aud no wind, imtil about 3 i>. m. it let up, and there being a 

 slight wind, although in the wrong quarter, we decided to 

 start tor Powell's Point, about 30 miles, where we were told 

 the steamer Harbinger would pass about 9 or 10 p. ir. for 

 Norfolk. 



Well, we were off with all our stuff (four of us) in this 

 open canoe, wind K. W. We wanted to go about north. 

 We bowled along pleasantly for an hour or two. when the 

 wind freshened up dead ahead. It was tack and tack; the 

 sun went down ; it grew colder and colder. With Oroatau 

 light over our left shoulder in the distance, \V(> were told 

 that when we could see a light ahead (Ihe beacon on Po\\'ell'8 

 Point) we would be half way. Ye grjd.s : how we Avatched 

 for that light. Hour after hotir passed i)y, higher grew the 

 wind aud colder the night air. We were "chilled to the very 

 bone; the gunwales of thu boal at limes running under 

 water, the spray flying over us and freezing where it fell. J ust 

 before 9 o'clock the liglit appeared— orjly half \\'ay ; we co\ild 

 not reach it in lime for the Harbinger. Would we reach it 

 it at all alive? Put on more sail. For God's .sake help us, 

 we are freezing in that open boat far out in (I'urriluck 

 Sound. 



It really seemed that Frank T would die before we 



reached the wharf. Prone in the bottom of the boat he lay, 

 groaning as only a hearty man in pain can groan. Poor 

 slim, fragile Wright, wrapped in his rubber coal, but chilled 

 througli and tlu'ough, suffered in silence. 



Nash forgot his jollity in this hour of intensity. As for 

 the undersigned, his lower extremities, from his hips down, 

 were like clogs ; the}' were past feeling. But he thought of 

 home, of that cosey room with the lire burning bright, that 

 tea kettle over the gas lamp and the sugar aud ' the lemon — 

 and if this was all a dream — or that — or was this the last. 

 Should he struggle more ! 



All was still save the rushing of the waters by the gunwales ; 

 we were fast losing our consciousness, when we were aroused 

 by the thumping of tiie boat on the wharf — half past eleven — 

 Powell's Poiut"Dock, a house on stilts a quarter of a mile 

 from laud. 



But the man in the house refused to be aroused. Said he 

 wouldn't get up — boat had been gone hours and ho didn't take 

 in travelers, etc. 



However, after the matter \ya.s explained to him he aroused 

 himself and provcil indeed a good Samaritan. He had no 

 wood, but he broke up boxes aud madeafire, and we crawled 

 on our hands aud knees (not one of us could walk alone) up 

 that pier and into that 6 by 8 room, where we shivered 

 for two hours, while our host, Jehu Midgett, God 



We were amused by six the next morning with the inteUi- 

 geiice that I he Ft earner" Astoria was passiiiL' tTic bridge en route 

 for Norfolk. I'p we were and ?oon bad all tran.sl erred. 



Now we were all right, we were on ihe tliijroughfai'e, and 

 Jonaii might be blowed. We steamed away up the cnnal. 

 Hurrah.' we are homeward bound. But hark! tlj at grating 

 soimd, that lurch and .s\idden stop. We were dead fast on a 

 sunken log. (Jonali still with us. ) An hom- of backing. 



bless his kind heart, waded ashore in Ids 

 made arrangement with Mr. Newbern, a jila 

 for a warm breakfast for us. About 4 f. m. 

 and w^ere kindly received by Mr. aud Mrs Nt 

 one of us could eat, we drank a little coffee a 

 our chairs in front of the fire. At 8 < 



feet and 



dleUa.sleepin 

 ; Mr. Jlidgett 

 had four of Mr. Newbern's boys, each with a pony aud cart. 

 before the door to take us and our luggage across country, 14 

 miles, to Coin Jock, on the canal where we would strike 

 a steamer for Norfolk, some time. 



Aud tins was Christmas, 1880, and across country in a cart 

 to the music of the darkies' guns and horns. But it was not 

 a bad trip by any means, aud we .arrived at Hall's hotel. Coin 

 Jock, about 2 r. M Here we found Christ mvi= iiein.i- r,.|,.. 

 brated in all its glory. Mr. Hall is a good b i 



class hotel and one of the best tables we e. 

 imder. He is the proprietor of a large stot i i j 



paying trade and seems to be doing well. He is a jjlly good 

 fellow, and our stay with him was made esceedingly pleasant. 



going ahead, poiing, etc. and we wen 

 We passed through the canal and int' 

 was going on pleasantly, we thouglii. : 

 very Birong a?ul dead ahead. Aboul 

 the captain saying that he could i-i 

 that wind. It was blowing the walei 

 it would be dangerous to proceed. (J 

 So we lay at anchor all Sunday and Su 

 raorumc about eight, the wind bavin: 



off. 



Currituck Somid. All 



ih -erl; ;he wind was 



I •: to anchor, 



-: li '^ vay agauist 



'■: i ■ ' '->i]nd so that 



uah cimckling again.) 



day night. Monday 



gone down, we up 



ichor and on our course arain. and" arrived at Norfolk 

 in due time for Ihe Baltimore boat. Captain Hudgius, 

 of the steamer Astoria, is another type of those energetic 

 Southern business lueu. Our two days and niglita with 

 lum were very pleasant. He sets a good table and plenty of 

 it, and the demands are reasonable. Well, we were at 

 Norfolk. (Jonah.) But hold! the train was an hoiu-anda 

 half late ; boat Ijad to wait. Nevermind. Arrived in Balti- 

 more all right — but train behind hand again — but off at last 

 all right. Bothered some around Germantown Jtmction aud 

 West Philadelphia, but off for Jersey City. Jonali dead now 

 and gone to rest. But hold ! passed Newark, crossed the 

 meadow.?, drew uigh to Bergen cut, dead stop; delay of an 

 hour in sight of home. 



Who was the .Jonah ? 



But all is well that ends well. Such is a plain and imvar- 

 nished accomit of the trials and tribulations of one party of 

 the Gull Island Club on their first trip to their new [tossess- 

 ious. Wo had some hard times, but we are not by any 

 means discouraged. Another year and we can reacii Guil 

 Island in one day and a half from Jersey City. 



The railroad from Norfolk to Elizabeth City will be com- 

 pleted and ninning bj' the fifteenth of this month. There a 

 steamer will be put ou the route, contract with post office 

 department m.ade to carry the mail (and pas.seugers) daily 

 from Elizabeth City to Roanoke Island and farther south, 

 thus passing by om- possessions, and the best brant region on 

 the coast if not in the United States will be within easy reach. 

 Gull Island stock is still booming. Jaoobstaff. 



^^ttiral ^i^iori^ 



OUR WATERFOWL. 



Erismnuuv. rumda. Kuddy Duck. Male, neck and upper 

 parts l.irownish-red ; under parts silky white, watered with 

 gray ; chin and sides of head white ; crown and nape black. 

 Female and young, mottled dusky, darkest on crown and 

 back, paler on sides of head, chin and lower parts ; under 

 tail coverts always white. Plumage, silky. Length, about 

 fifteen inches. Bill and feet dark - 



Of the two species of the genus Eriamatura fotmd in North 

 America, tlie present is Ihe only one known to sptortsmen. It 

 is moderately abundant and generally distributed throughout 

 the country, though we have never om-selves taken it on the 

 Atlantic coast. Audubon speaks of its occurrence in Florida 

 in goodly numbers, and says that he shot forty there in a 

 morning. Dr. Cones reports it moderately abimdaut durina: 

 the migrations throughout the Missouri River region, and 

 states that he found it nesting near Turtle Mountains and 

 along Milk River, a tributary of the Missouii. 



The genus Ermnatnra may readily be distiugnished from 

 any of the sea ducks by the peculiar character of its tail 

 feathers. These are iroui sixteen to twenty in number aud 

 are verj' narrow- and srilT and appear dis-proportionately long 

 because of the shoriuess of llie upper tail coverts. The webs 

 are often worn off' Ihe extremities of the taU feathers, so that 

 the shafts project like the spines ou the tail of a chimney 

 swift. The biU is broad and much flattened aud the nail 

 overhanging. The bright plumage ascribed to the male in 

 the description above given is very seldom seen, at least in 

 the United States, and almost aU the birds Idlled wear the 

 sober livery of the female. 



Ermtuttnrn dominici — St. Domingo duck. "Male, head an- 

 teriorly and chin black ; hind head, neck and brea.st deep 

 feiTugincous ; above, brownish-red, blotched with black ; be- 

 low, lighter ferr\igiueous ; speculum white. Female similar, 

 but less strongly marked. BiU .smaUer aud less expanded 

 than in the preceding."— (Key to N. Am. Birds, p. 395.) 

 Length, thirteen to fourteen inches. 



The St. Doramgo duck is a South American and West In- 

 dian species which has only been taken in the United States 

 on two or three occasions, and is purely accidental here. 

 Meeginj!. 



The Mt:T;ii'na' constitute the third sub-family of small duck- 

 like birds inhabiling North America. They are readily dis- 

 tinguished from any other ducks by the bill, which is almost 

 cyliudrical iustead of being flattened. Its nail is hooked and 

 everhanging, and the lameUaj are produced, in several forms, 

 into distinctly toothdike processes directed backward. The 

 birds of this group feed to a very great extent on small fish, 

 which they arc rcadilj- enabled to capture and hold by means 

 of their greatly modi lied bUls. They are thtis fishing ducks 

 and of course, i:a?tronondcally considered, not partictdarly 

 excelleut. There are only about eight species, of wliich 

 North America has three, only one of which, however, is pe- 

 culiar to the new world. It !:hould iie said, ho^vever, that 

 Audulxin staierj tt,.o 1,,. \r„-_,\-^ a spiecimen of the European 

 smcwij/i,; I Lake Barataria, near New Or- 



leau.s, and V, :, , , .; it as abundant, but the latter 

 probably conlounded some other species with the one ia 

 (luestion, and as no second specimen has ever been taken it 



is conjectured that Audubon too may have been mistaken. 



Mergi.is 'mcrijiuiafr. Goosander, Jlerganser. Fish duck. 

 Male with head somewhat puffy ; glossy green in color; up- 

 per parts black and white, the latter cro.ssed by a black bar ; 

 lower neck, aU round, white ; under parts white, tinged with 

 salmon color, which, in the diied .skin, seion fades out, leav- 

 ing the under parts plain white. Length, about two feet. 

 Bill and feet red. Tu this species the nostrils axe near the 

 middle of the bUl, and the feathers from the forehead project 

 further forward on the bill than do those at the side. Female 

 has head and neck reddish-brown : upper parts ash-gray 

 where black in male ; under parts white. 



The Goosander is distributed throughout the whole of 

 North America and is extremely abundant in winter on the 

 Atlantic coast. When the weather is so severe as to have 

 frozen up almost all the open water, these birds congregate 

 in considerable numbers on the open spots on oiu- rivers, 

 where the swift flow of the water prevents the formation of 

 ice, and in such places they are sometimes shot in great num- 

 bers. The flesh is very flshy, however, and the birds, as a 

 rule, are not fit for food. 



Mergus serrator — Sheldrake, Red-breasted Merganser. 

 Male with a thin crest ; bead glossy green ; upper neck 

 white ; upper parts somewhat as in M. nwrganmt; but with 

 less white ; a small white patch in front of wing; forebreast 

 reddish-brown, streaked with black ; flankswaved with black; 

 under parts white. Female colored much as in AL mergmuer. 

 SmaUer than the preceding. In the Red-breasted Merganser 

 the nostrils are decidedly nearer the b.ase of the bill than in 

 the goosander and the feathers of the forehead do not reach 

 further down the bill than those at the sides. The laminte 

 of the bill in this species are tooth-like in shape and very 

 sharp, but, as can be readily seen by removing the horny 

 covering of the biU, the resemblance is merely a superficial 

 one, and the so-called teeth are nothing more than imusu,ally 

 developed laminae. 



The red-breasted merganser is almost everywhere a com- 

 mon bird. We have frequently found it breeding in the 

 Rocky Mountains, and during the migrations it is foxmd all 

 over the United States. It is no better as a table bird than 

 its larger cousin. 



Mergu.t cucvMatius — Hooded Merganser, Saw-biUed Diver. 

 Male with a very conspicuous semicircular crest ; that of the 

 female much smaller. Male black, including two crescent- 

 shaped marks in front of wing aud a bar across the specu- 

 lum ; lower parts, centre of crest, specidum and longitudinal 

 stripes on tertiarics white ; flanks reddish-brown, waved with 

 black. Female has head and neck brownish-gray, chin and 

 lower parts white ; upper parts and flanks dai-l.-'a- : Uo^ i.i,ite 

 on the wing thau the male. Length of male, _ :, i ie^s; 



female somewhat smaUer. The Hooded :'-i __,,,. , Uie 

 bill shelter than the head, while in the two toregomg species 

 it is longer. The nostrils are near the base of the biU aud the 

 frontal feathers reach beyond those on the sides. 



In appearance the male hooded merganser i? one of the 

 most striking of our ducks. It is rather a, solitary species, 

 and we have never found more than two or tliree together. 

 More often you may start a single bird, or perhaps a pair. 



The Saw-billed Diver, as it is called in Connecticut, does 

 not seem to frequent the salt water nearly as much as do the 

 goosander and red-breasted mergan.'-;er. We have found them 

 most trerpieutlj' on little pond holes far from the shore, or on 

 the expansions of trout brooks that pass through the awamps. 

 We have taken this species in Western Nebraska and on 

 Heart River, iji Dakota, but have never seen it in the Roclcy 

 Moimtains. 



The species mentioned in the preceding articles include all 

 the An'tli'liK knowii to inhabit this country. It is hoped thqt 

 the descriptions may prove of practical value to gianncrs and 

 may caU their special attention to the different kinds of wild 

 fowl inhabiting the section.s where they shoot. Two inter- 

 esting notes have already been called out by the articles, 

 namely, the great abmnlancc of IfairJda glaciaiix on tlio Ni- 

 agara River and the absence from the region aliout Wimipeg 

 of Ross's Goose (..1 «-'!'/• A''. «.>70, which had by some writers 

 been supposed to occur there during the migrations. We 

 now know that it is the snow goose (^4 hyperboTeu.H), which 

 ia there called the " wavie." 



.Partial List of jVL:nnbbota BiEoa. — The eighth annual 

 report of the Geological and Natural Histnry Survey coulaijis 

 an interesting list of the birds of St. Louis iiud Lake coun- 

 ties, Minn. Mr. T, S. Roberts, the author of this list, is 

 well known to oiu' readers freim his valuable coutrihulions to 

 the columns of Foi:e,-!t axd STiiEA^r, and the Geological Sur- 

 vey of Minnesota Is to be cemgratidated ou having secured 

 the services of 80 energetic and competent an ornithologist. 

 The region to which the observations made in the list relcte 

 consists of a strip of Country along the shore of Lake Supe- 

 rior about one hundred and twelve miles in length. DevU's 

 Track Lake was also visited. The country is everywhere 

 thickly timbered, the conlinnity of the dense and sombre for- 

 csi being broken only by occa'^ional " linr;!-,'' which admit 

 the sunlight aud allVrd Ihe collector an opportunity to find 

 some of those species wluch love the open country rather 

 timti the dark woods. An interesting account of the habits 

 of the mourning warbler {GeotMffpU p/diiKMphia) appeai-s in 

 the present paper, extracted from a contribution by Mr. Rob- 

 erts to the Linnfan Society of this city, read in February, 

 1879. There are also a number of valmdjle notes on other 

 species. 



