NOVEMBER 17, 1881. J 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



307 



THE DERRING GTJLL AND THE RING-BILL ON 

 GEORGIAN BAT. 



BY KEV. J. II. I.ANOITXE. 



THE most characteristic bird of Georgian Bay is the her- 

 ring gull, Lant* argentatw. In Collingwood Harbor 

 it sails among the masts of schooners and the smoke-stacks 

 of steamers almost as fearlessly as if no one were present, 

 seeming to understand that that city has a special law for its 

 safety. Every bit. of offal is eagerly gobbled up, and even 

 the large quantities of refuse matter cast overboard by the 

 fishermen is devoured by these elegant scavengers. As the 

 steamboat starts out numbers follow in her wake to take ad- 

 vantage of anything edible which is thrown into the water, 

 and until the distant port is reached there is scarcely a minute. 

 when they are out of sight. One may amuse himself by the 

 hour throwirg bits of cracker or meat overboard for them. 

 Though quite a distance away they will d- tect a mere ciumb 

 on the surface, and, screaming with delight, will pick it up 

 on the wing. If the cook should throw overboard a dish of 

 remnants, a considerable number will alight on the water and 

 take their repast at their leisure. If one discovers a particu- 

 larly large Or desirable meirsel he will seize it and rise to leave, 

 generally being pursued by several of his eag. r, equalling 

 COnmdeB, All along on the rocks and shoals they stand like 

 snowy sentinels, here and there they float met gracefully on 

 the water, now they fly low over ih'! surface in search e>f 

 their favorite prey, or they soar most majestically against the 

 , clear ether or the sombre cloud, the entire snow-white figure 

 of their under parts reminding you most forcibly of the purity 

 of the elements around you. Its length being two feet or up- 

 ward and its spread of wings some four and one-half feet it 

 compares well in size with the larger birds of prey, and its 

 Strong, steady stroke of the wings as well as its spiral soaring 

 is very suggestive of ihe grand flight oF the larger buzzards. 

 Pure while in maturity, with yellow bill and red gonys, light 

 bluish-gray curtain over the back and wings, ends of the 

 primaries jet blsck tipped or spotted with white, feet a deli- 

 cate flesh-color, i his bird is an object of great beauty in what- 

 ever attitude one meets it. On c ear sunny days of April I 

 have seen it floating leisurely northward overland, so high 

 up i hat it appealed at first sight like a bit of stray down in 

 the atmosphere, and only as the eye adjusted itself to the dis- 

 tance could its outline be defined. 



The Herring Gull breeds in communities in a number of 

 places ah ut Georgian Bay, f ometimes a dozen or fifty appro- 

 priating small rocky islands or shoals, sometimes very large 

 communities taking possession of larger rocky islands or even 

 groups of them. One of I he most extensive breeding places 

 is ihe island called the Half-mcon, lying between Cape Hurd 

 and the east end of Great Manitoulin. Here the fishermen 

 sometimes obtain hundreds of dozens of the eggs at a time. 

 The nest, generally placed in the most exposed situation on 

 the bare rocks, sometimes under shelter of the bushes, is a 

 promiscuous pile of trash and dirt — consisting largely of 

 moss and lichens ga hered from the recks, of small sticks and 

 dried grasses, of almost anything to be picked up in the vi- 

 cinity — pretty well heaped up, and with a considerable de- 

 pression in the centre. The eggs— the full complement of 

 whxh is three— are about 3.75— 2.83x1.80— 2 00. Tlie color 

 is grccn^h or brownish drab, the dark brown and light gray- 

 ish-brown spots, blotches and scratches, extending more or 

 less over the entire surface, but frequently thicker at the 

 large end. The thick and elegant down cf the newly hatched 

 young is nearly the color of the egg. As these buds occupy 

 the same site for breeding from year to year, it becomes gen- 

 erally known in the vicinity, or if the spot be remote it is 

 viBited by fishermen and adventurers from a distance ; and 

 the nests are robbed most unmercifully, often until la' e in 

 summer, the gulls continuing to lay in a very prolific man- 

 ner. The disastrous consequences of this cruel practice, 

 when kept up from year to year, must be very great, rapidly 

 reducing the numbers of these birds, so useful about many of 

 the towns and villages, and so highly ornamental to the land- 

 scape. It is probable, in consequence of this continued dis- 

 turbance, that whole colonies about the sea-shore have re- 

 sorted to the tall trees for nidiflcation, ss reported by Audu- 

 bon and others. Their breeding habitat on the Atlantic is 

 from New England to Labrador. 



At their breeding places these gulls are quite noisy. They 

 have a loud, clear note, sounding like cbee-ah, every now 

 and then repeated, and a shorter nasal hunk, hunk. These 

 notes are uttered in a very spirited manner, as they describe 

 their grand circles high over head when their nests are being 

 disturbed. Then it is also accompanied by a harsh rattling 

 sound — kuk-kuk-kuk-kuk-kuk-kuk. 



"How many kinds of Gulls breed on those shoals?" I in- 

 quired of an old gentleman, as the tug was nearing one of 

 the well known breeding places. "Two," was the answer; 

 "white uus an' gray uns." So might any one think who is 

 not acquainted with the history of these birds; but the fact 

 U that the white ones and gray ones are all of the same kind, 

 the young birds in their gray plumage reqirring several years 

 t ) frach the mature colors.' ion. Like the. Gull family in 

 general, this bird has two moults, one in the spring and one 

 in the fall, and during winter the mature bird has the 

 head and neck streaked with dusky. 



From its name one might suppose that the bird subsists, 

 mainly at least, on herring, but it captures with equal readi- 

 ness almost every fish of proper size, dashing at the surface, 

 or dropping onto Ihe water a few moments to secure it, 

 bnt rarely, if ever, plunging after it. It also feeds 

 oi various kinds of mollusks, holding the shell in its 

 caw after the manner of a hawk, and breaking it with 

 its bill in order to secure the contents. Dr. Couea "once 

 found remains of a marsh hare in the stomach of one of these 

 Gulls." I have Been it pick up ihe newly-skinned body of a 

 common tern thrown on the water, and gulp it down at a 

 mouthfid, scarcely retarding its flight. In fact, it will feed 

 on almost anything, and' in certain localities is an excellent 

 scavenger. 



In the fall migration, theee gulls move southward through 

 the interior, and "spread aloug our whole Atlanlic c^ast, 

 but principally from New England to the Carolinas, where 

 many winter." Dr. Coues gives the following as ihe changes 

 of plumage in the young. " Immature — The feathers of the 

 back have gray margins, and the upper wing-co verts are 

 mottled with dusky gray. An imperfect subterminal bar of 

 of dusky on the tad. Young of first winter— Head, neck 

 and whole underparts more or less thickly mottled with 

 dusky, aa are the wing-coverts, secondaries and tertials. The 

 gull-blue of the upper parts appears in irregular patches, 

 mixed with gray. Remigts and reetrices brownish-black, 

 with very narrow whitish tips, the former wanting both 



apical and subapical white spots. Bill flesh olor, its termi- 

 nal third black. Feet dull flesh color. Younger— Entirely 

 a deep dull brownish, the throat litrhtly stieaked, and the 

 rump transversely barred with whitish ; the leathers of the 

 back with yellowish or grayisli-wbite edges ; wings and tail 

 black ; bill black ; legs and feet, dusky flesh color." 



TUB KING BILLED GULL. 



In observing the Herring Gulls on Georgian Bay, one will 

 notice certain individuals very much smaller than the rest, 

 while their form and color, as well as their general habit, is 

 precisely 1 he same. On shooting one of these, however, il 

 will be discovered that, the bill is greenish-yellow at the base, 

 followed by a broad band of black encircling it at the gonys, 

 while its tip is bright chrome, the angle of the uiouih anel 

 part of the cutting edges of the bill beirg red ; aoel that the 

 legs and feet are of a dusky green. On measuring it, it is 

 found to be only 18 20 inches long and some 48 

 inches in extent, thus being much smaller than the Herring 

 Gull, while the colors of its bill and feet fully differentiate 

 if. From the dark ring around i s bill, it is called the Ring, 

 billed Gull, scientific name, Larui lJclairatcnsis It has 

 about the same diet and habitat as its near relative, which it 

 so closely resembles. 



About forty-four miles northeast of Collingwood, and 

 somewhat north of the route from that city to Party Sound, 

 are the Western Islands. They are in two thick groups, 

 the largest containing several acres each, the smallest being 

 mere rocky shoals. One of the largest has a few trees, most 

 of the rest contain a few shrubs, and more or less small 

 vegetable growth and grasses on some of the ledges of rock. 

 They are many miles from any human habitation, resting 

 quietly in the grand solitude of this waste of wa'ers. On 

 one of the larger islands of these groups, the Rint'-bi.'h breed 

 in immense numbers. As one nears the shores, they are 

 seen to svgarm with many hundreds, if not thousands, 

 of these elegant birds. The locks and the water 

 along the shore are literally white with them. Approaching 

 Btill nearer they take alarm, and rise like an immense liv- 

 ing cloud. The very air rustling with the noise tif their 

 snowy .wings seems alive wilh them, and still they rise fc.rtn 

 the more distant parts of the island until I heir numbers are 

 overwhelming. Rising highovtrbeidthe great mass spreads 

 out somewhat, and describing their graceful circles among 

 themselves form a most complicated and animated figure of 

 huge dimensions against the sunlit ether or the ihick veil of 

 dark clouds. Now tbey become very noisy, their voices be- 

 ing quite similar to that of the Herring Gull. Presently the 

 great excited mass separates into sections. Several large 

 bodies dropping into the water nearby whiten its surface for 

 some distance, others continue their flight further away, 

 while not a few still linger near to watch the fate of their 

 treasures, and keep up an uneasy chattering immediately 

 overhead. The nests on the island are found to be almost 

 numberless, some of them being so close toge'her the sitting 

 birds must almost touch each other. In the style of the nest, 

 the shape, color and number of the eggs, and the color of the 

 newly hatched young there is the greatest resemblance to the 

 nidification of the Herring Gull; only, in accordance with the 

 diminished size of the birds both nests and eggs are much 

 smaller, the latter being2.07— 2.f)0xl.G3— 1.70. On the whnle 

 the marking of these eggs tends more to blotches than is the 

 case wilh the eggs of the near but larger relative. Passing by 

 many nests containing newly hatched young, and others 

 with eggs through the shells of which the peeping chicks 

 have thrust their bills, one may gather a sufficient supply of 

 egijs for study scarcely affecting the number on t 1 e whole. 



The full-grown young, on through its years of gradual 

 change into the maturity of coloration, bears a close resem- 

 blance to, in fact, is almost identical in shades and marking 

 with the Herring Gull of corresponding age. The lesrnblance 

 of these two species als'i holds good in respect to the mature 

 birds in their annual changes of plumage. 



The almost exact likeness of these two gull*, the one be- 

 ing scarcely more than a smaller pattern of the other, finds its 

 counterpart in a number of other esses among American 

 bireis. In comparing the Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers, 

 the King and Virginia Rails, Cooper's Hawk anel the .Sharp- 

 shinned, the Large and Small Yellow-Shanks, the Common 

 Crow and the Fish Crow, the Larger and Smaller Scaups or 

 Blue-bills, what is the latter in each but a minatmv of the 

 former ? 



The Gullsproper are a well-marked sub-division of the Gull 

 family in general, that family including Jeegers or Skua Gulls, 

 Gullsproper, Terns and Skimmers. Some of the differentiating 

 characters of the Gulls proper are : the rather long, deep and 

 much compressed bill, well hookeel toward the point, with 

 peculiar enlargement at the gonys, and sharp cutting edges : 

 tail even, generally; body thick and wings broad as compared 

 with the Terns for instance, while they are generally of larger 

 size; feet and legs stout for birds of their class ; the bouy- 

 ancy with which they fi >at on the water on account of their 

 small bodies as compared with the bulk erf their 

 plumage. In form generally, the whole sub-family are so 

 similarly moulded that any eye of moderate discrimination 

 can recognize tbem. In size and coloration they are subject 

 to great variation in different localities. 



HABITS OF REDHEADED WOODPECKERS. 



BKADFonn, Pa., November 8, 1881. 

 Editor Forest and Stream: 



Last Sunday, while walking in the woods, I came to a 

 small clearing. On one side of this clearing, among the 

 trees, I noticed several redheaded wo dpi ckers ( U. ■ ri/thro- 

 ccphalii*). As I watched them I observed they appeared to 

 be gathering something from the outer branches or twigs. 

 They would keep flying up to these small branches, and, 

 poising with quivering wings in the manner of a kingfisher, 

 would pick something from them, then fly back to s -me tree 

 in the woods. I walked slowly up, and watched them for 

 about thirty minutes. A wood-chopper said they were 

 gatheriug beech nuts for next winter's use, although the 

 trees were so tall I could not say positively that they were 

 doing so, still it looked as though they were. I have never 

 seen it stated that they did this. A friend of mini!, who lakes 

 care of an oil Icaue near here, saw one perched in the top of 

 an iron smoke stack pounding away, but after a few trials 

 the bird concluded that was not the kind of "tree" be was 

 looking for, anel flow away. SUM \. 



[We have seen it stated that the woodpeckers are in the 

 habit of gathering nuts for winter onsumpt on, bat do not 

 remember that such statements have been confirmed by the 

 observations of ornithologists in the case of ourconirnon red- 

 heaeled species. The carpintero (Melav\ 

 of the Pacific coast, has the curious habit of d illing small 

 holes in tree trunks, each hole being large enough to contain 



au aeorn. After drilling a hole the woodpecker selects an 

 accru to fit it, and by a few taps of his bill settles it so firmly 

 in position that it ib in no danger of falling out. We have 

 seen trets in California studded with acorns, some of which 

 seemed to have been there for years. J ust what the bird's ob- 

 ject is in doing all this work does not appear to be clearly 

 made out. The first thought to occur to one is that the nuta 

 are gathered and stored here as provisions for consumption 

 during the winter, but this is opposed by the fact thit the 

 woodpeckers, as a rule, are insect feeders, and that, with a few 

 exceptions, they tlo not eat vegetable food j moreover, a large 

 proportion of the acorns thus treated seem never to be dis- 

 turbed- It has been suggested that they store the nuts for 

 the sake of the grubs that may be in them, and even that 

 they select the nut iu which an insect h is deposited its egg, 

 and put the acorn away in is ho!e in the tree until such time 

 as the worm has grown to he large enough to be a savory 

 morsel, but thi3 is crediting the woodpecker with more fore- 

 sight than we slioud be willing to atiribute to him without 

 pretty Btr rag evidence io support such ac'aim. Soiie interest- 

 ing notes were recently 7 read befoie the California Academy 

 of Sciences, the purport of which was that the California 

 woodpecker (M. fonnicivorus) was assis ed in his labors by 

 the ( alifornia jay (Apheloamiafiorida «a var California t) The 

 woodpecker seems to have made the holes, and the jay to 

 have collected the nuts and earned tbem up to the curpintero, 

 who adjusted them and drove ihetn home. 



We should be glad to receive from any of our correspon- 

 dents facts which may bpar on the subject of the habits of 

 this interesting eroup of bird'. 



Cilice the. above remarks were put in type, the following 

 very timely nou; has been received, which establisjes the 

 fact that woodpeckers do eat nuts : 



Ea.oi.kh Nbst, Delaware County, N. Y., Nov. 14, 1881.— 

 Editor Forest and S'ream : When out shooting gray squir- 

 rels on a beach ridge the other day, I saw a very large red- 

 headed woodpecker picking beach nuts on the lop of a beach 

 tree. I had supposed, and the books say they live solely on 

 grubs and worms, taken from rotten or dry trees and limbs. 

 To satisfy myself that I was not mis'aken, I shot the bird 

 and found its crop almost full of fine solid nuts. Mr. Warner 

 is setting up the bird for me, as it was in splendid plumage 

 and very pretty. Is it not a new thing to find these birds 

 nutting I I ask for information. Nkd Bunlise. 



DtGESTION OF THE ALLIGATOR. 



A HXOttlDA MONSTEK IN A RA.GB. 



YOUR contributor, who gave us an article on the alli- 

 gator ric.ntly, evidently has "been there." Hm 

 statement that they carry in their stomachs "light'd knots," 

 though p rhaps new to many, is truth. 



I have beard inauy affirm it, and have been witness to it 

 myself. ' I have killed several in the lake in front of my 

 house, ranging from six to eight feet in length, and one, 

 which I killed after toliug him up to shooting distance by 

 imitating the whine and howl of a dog, I opened in presence 

 of my neighbor M. to verify the light'd business, when 

 out crept a soft-shel'ed turtle, " leather-back," six or eight 

 iuehes in diameter, entirely uninjured, not a scratch upon 

 bim. We found the pine knots and bits of pine as we ex- 

 expected, Dolished like rosewood, perhaps a half dtzen 

 pieces, froiii two io four inches long. My idea was that the 

 'gator used them for the same purpose that tha fowl does 

 gravel. The 'gator would use sloues probably if he could 

 find any. 'Gators and chickens don't have the gravel down 

 here. 



I ass'sted a six-foot 'gator to a lively scrimmage last 

 spring, unwittingly on my part. It runs somewhat this 

 way : I saw the ftilow in ihe lake one monrng, and went 

 for my Miynard, crept through the grass and bushes, and 

 put a ball somewhere in his head, as I supposed from the 

 peculiar antics he cut, and which generally follow a mortal 

 wound. He came up once or twice, cut a flourish or two 

 ad sunk. I got my boat and prodded around in eight or 

 nine feet of water, but could hit him but once, and Anally 

 gave if. up, feeling sure he would float in a day c-r two. 



Near where I Shot him the lake has an outlet, a small 

 stream which the road from Sauford crosses near the rear of 

 my place. Two nights afterward Dr. B. , a neighbor who 

 lives a couple of miles west, was returning belated 

 at about eleven o'clock from Sanford, in a sulky, 

 pondering in lis mind what he ought to charge 

 per pound for blue mass and quinine, the staple article 

 among those who are so unfortunate as to get the "shakes." 

 It was something of the kind at least, probably, which was 

 wbiling away the hours for the Doctor on his loneseime trip. 

 The night was cloudless and moonless. The water splashed 

 from his horse's feet as he drove into the little creek, and the 

 wheel struck something hard that was not there when he 

 drove down. This something hard, dark and udefiued in 

 the dim starlight, rc-se into the air to marly the height of the 

 wheel, and grasped the spokes with its teeth in blind fury. 

 The Doctor's horse is quite agile on occasions, and this was 

 one of them. He left that locality on tha jump, the 'gator, 

 for such it was, lost his teeth hold, and the Doctor— well, he 

 never would tell just how he lit, but he didn't go along with 

 the learn. Upon resuming his normal position he saw the 

 'gal or, with dander up, coming for him through the mud and 

 water, in which the doctor was standing. A nice predica- 

 ment this, alone and afoot with a hungry 'gator at eleven *o 

 the night, and not a store or light'd knot around. The 'ga- 

 tor advanced, and the Doctor retreated, clawing the water 

 behind him as he did so, hoping sincerely every second to 

 find a stick of some sort, for his dander had " nz" now, and 

 he was going to hurt that 'gator. He had backed off but a 

 few steps when luckily his hand came in contact with a 

 Water-soaked pine root that bad been cut out of the road, 

 heavy and just about the sizo and length for a good weapon. 

 He was bold as a lion now, anel awaiting the Oncoming oi the 

 Savage saurian he brought down the root on lus head with 

 vigor, but it failed tostop the reptile, audit was only after 

 repeeied blOWS that he wilted. The doctor now set out 

 alter his team, which luckily he found all right not far up 

 the Mad and returning he fastened the 'gator by the hitching 

 strap to the sulky axle and towed him home at a "two- 

 forty" gait, pulling him into a compost heap for the benefit 

 of his orange tr' es. 



I have no doubt at all that this was the same, 'gator that 1 

 shot, two davs previous. Tlie ball crazed him j he followed 

 ihe outlet to the road. crossing and when the wheel struck 

 him that night he rose in blind rage seizing the first object 

 he touched. The Bulky wheel bears the Jagged niarks of 

 teeth on two spokes as a reminder to the Doctor not to 

 travel after dark. 8 ' 



Twin Lakes, Fla. 



