184 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



rApRrx 6, 188,1 



THE BIRDS OF MICHIGAN. 



BY T)R. MORRTS GIBBS. 



(Continued.i 



24. Thryothorus ludoneiunvs (Gm.) Bp. — Great Carolina 

 wren. 



This species is always a scarce Michigan bird, and 

 although it has been recognized by a few collectors, to the 

 majority it is unknown. It is not' recorded in 1839 by Prof. 

 Sager iuhis list of the birds of Michigan, the first published 

 in the State. Dr. Miles first records it in 1860, in the State 

 Geological Report. Covert embraces it in his list of birds of 

 Southern Michigan, 1878. No northern record is made for 

 this wren, and it is to be doubted if the species is often, or 

 ever, taken north of 48° in this State. 1 have met with the 

 Carolina wren but once. A large bird, which I knew at 

 once to be of this family, flew into our city door yard, and 

 sang at a great rate in the top of a burr oak. A respect for 

 neighboring females of hysterical tendencies alone prevented 

 my securiug the specimen. We may fairly consider as 

 stragglers all individuals of this species which appear in 

 Kalamazoo county. This bird, I understand, like many 

 Others, is found to follow iu the wake of civilization, and 

 form its home in the neighborhood of dwellings, often in 

 close proximity to the habitation of man. We may hope in 

 the future, when our territory shall have beeu more com- 

 pletely populated, that this' beautifully singing bird will 

 become more abundant. 



25. Tharyomwm bmmxM (Aud .) Brd.— Bewick's wren. 

 This species appears even rarer as a Michigan bird than the 



last, being embraced in but one list exclusive of my list of 

 18T9, published in the Geolog. and Geograph. Report of the 

 Department of (he Interior. This bird as yet has not been 

 recorded north of Kalamazoo county. Covert gives it as 

 taken once in Washtenaw county. 



It may be that 1 had the pleasure of securing the first 

 specimen. On May 5, 1877, while collecting, I shot a wren, 

 new to roe and of agreeable sons, which proved to be of this 

 species. On April' 18, 1874, Mr. F. II, Chapin secured a 

 male. Mr. Syke observed it May 2, 1883. 



In all, I believe that not over five specimens have been 

 seen or shot in this county. It is a rare species. One col- 

 lector claims to have found this wren breeding in the 

 State, and that it does occasionally nest here there is little 

 reason to doubt, but as the eggs were not secured or birds 

 taken we cannot embrace it as a certified summer resident 

 for the present. 



26. Troghdyti $ aedoto Vieill.— House wren. 



This vivacious, ever happy, active sprite, is extremely 

 abundant durine- nearly six months of the year. Arriving 

 from the south from April 20 to May 3, it spreads over the 

 entire lower peninsula, and breaks into a rattling artillery 

 of song which does not close for at least three months. We 

 might say with more propriety that the song resembles the 

 rattle of small arms, for, though possessing considerable vol- 

 ume, the notes are mixed up with au incessant rattle, sound- 

 ing like a f usilade at the side of ducking flat in the fall. To 

 describe the song is utterly impossible. It is agreeable, were 

 it not for that destroyer of beauty in many carols, monotony, 

 which is a decided feature of most of the wren's songs. 

 Compare a house wren's song to a train of cars in crossing a 

 switch on a small scale, and you have as good an idea as it 

 lies in my power to give. The song starts in low," with a few 

 gutteral notes, then a rattle of ten to thirty seconds' dura- 

 tion, broken into by a series of irregular notes of a higher 

 key, the whole winding up with a bold attempt of the per- 

 former at singing in high c, while too conceited to under- 

 stand that he has a very bad cold. But at just this stage of 

 the proceedings and when you are debating whether to decide 

 for or against this fellow's ability, and trying to make up 

 your mind which end of the song he began on, he proceeds 

 to again thrash through his lingo without intermission be- 

 tween the high c and the gutteral notes. This continues in- 

 definitely until you are thoroughly worried with attempting 

 to formulate the air of the song in your mind. 



The wren often scolds away as if' his life depended on his 

 rattling off adjectives like a pirate. Such a wicked, savage 

 rattle, coming from beneath our feet as we step aside to 

 climb the fence, and the scolder actually seems everything 

 but capable of annihilating us. That he has the evil will is 

 evident from his manner and style of swearing. Like some 

 people, puerile in strength but mighty in talk, this brown bit 

 of feather and sarcasm expostulates without a chance for one 

 to defend himself. Two means of exit from our unpleasant 

 plight presented themselves; one to shoot the blasphemer, the 

 other to leave the neighborhood. As our collection is replete 

 with skins of this wren, taken principally by accident when 

 collecting other and rarer birds, we choose the latter and 

 hasten away, receiving a broadside salute from the valiant 

 warrior as we cross the field. 



The fact that this bird is so much more common now than 

 it was fifteen years ago has led me to conclude that it, like 

 the rest of the family^ is to a large extent influenced by the 

 tide of civilization, and in its spread to the northward it is 

 entirely controlled by the influx of settlers, at least to the 

 extent'of enlarging its range and increasing its numbers 

 among us. 1 have said that it spreads over the entire Lower 

 Peninsula., which is maintained, with the qualification that 

 ■it is not found in wooded sections. The species has as de- 

 cided a preference to villages, farms and partially-cleared 

 localities as has the winter wren for the recesses of deep, 

 dark woods. 



However, in all portions of the State that 1 have visited 

 many birds are found, excepting in heavy pineries or hard 

 timber. Twenty years ago there was scarcely a house wren 

 in Kalamazoo county, and I can remember with what boyish 

 delight I hailed the first song. The country about the south- 

 ern border of our State has been principally under cultiva- 

 tion for over thirty years, while in many portions sections 

 have been populated over sixty years. Kalamazoo county 

 has now fifty wrens of this species where she had one fifteen 

 years ago, and yet 1 think candidly that we have fewer now 

 than we had five years since. I account for this on the 

 principle that many more birds are completely transient in 

 the county, the birds going to the north to nest, occupying 

 the vast burnings and devastated pine forests, where ten 

 years ago stood thousands of acres of virgin pine. 



The species was known in the State as early as 1839, as 

 Sager records it. Other lists embrace it, In Kneeland's 

 list of the "Birds of Keweenaw Point, Lake Superior,'" 1856, 

 the species is omitted. Cabot also omits it in 1860 in his 

 ' 'Birds of Lake Superior. " Judge J. H. Steere observed the 



species a few years ago at Sault Ste. Marie, indicating a 

 northern extension of range. 



This bird is a single illustration of a principle which ever 

 obtains, viz. : that the animal creation, as a whole, is subor- 

 dinate to the power of man, and that the movements of the 

 civilized portions of the country, from necessity, affect the 

 entire order of migration, oven to the seasonal journeys of 

 bur simplest creatures. 



Within two or three weeks from the ' time of arrival, or 

 about May 15 to 20, the busy wren begins preparations for 

 nesting, having completed the mating, which is ushered in 

 with savage warfare and revengeful talk. I say begins, for 

 it should not be understood the giddy creature 'is to occupy 

 the first nest constructed. On the contrary, it takes the little 

 busy-body a long time to decide on a home after preparing, 

 I think always as many as two, often four houses for its mate 

 and self. The dapper little snuff-coated gentleman has, in 

 common with all the other members of the family, so far as 

 my experience goes, a predilection for the amassing of wealth 

 in the form of real estate, and nothing quite so well suits him 

 as the finding of a suitable building site for a new house. 

 He at once presses his amiable, sprightly wife into tbe ser- 

 vice, and while she is compelled to carry the greater share of 

 twigs and material for the nest, he carries a few twigs, does 

 an immense amount of bossing and no end of cursing and 

 swearing in a high key. Sometimes the nest is completed 

 without a stop, but generally it is about oue-half finished 

 when it is left, and another suitable location is looked up. 

 This manner of becoming a landlord in a small way, is apt 

 to retard the chances for an early first brood, and theresult is 

 that the little affimia are rather slow to make their appearance! 

 The first eggs are generally laid in late May and the brood is 

 spread to the four winds before June 30." That a second 

 brood is reared I feel confident, but it may not be a general 

 rule. 



Tbe situations chosen by the house wren as nesting sites 

 are variable and often extremely curious. There appears to- 

 be no limit to the oddities of the old birds in the selection of 

 a home, Hollows in limbs and stubs, nooks in cornices, 

 bird houses and knot holes in fence posts seem to be the posi- 

 tions usually chosen ; but often hollows are selected, or mechan- 

 ical spaces in buildings, entered by small holes. One case 

 which I call to mind is a peculiar illustration of the birds 

 peculiarity in filling a larger space than was required by the 

 birds, with rubbish. Tbe site in question contained at least 

 a peck of twigs, which were massed together in one large 

 lump. It took the birds quite two weeks of spare moments, 

 when not engaged in the construction of other quarters 

 across the way, to accumulate this material, and the strug- 

 gles of the chattering pair in getting the large twigs, some 

 of them over six inches in length, into the nest through an 

 orifice scarce one inch and a half in diameter, were amusing 

 in the extreme. 



The nests are generally placed from five to ten feet from 

 the ground, wheu built in hollows, in limbs or stubs, but are 

 often found twenty or twenty-five feet up, when built in the 

 gables of houses. The nests in their makeup are constructed 

 of almost everything that the wrens find adapted to their 

 wants, but in my experience small twigs are more often 

 used iu the body of the nest. The lining is of softer material, 

 while it is sometimes entirely wanting, the eggs resting on 

 the bare twigs or coarse grass, 



After the nesting season,' which we may consider as 

 practically ended by July 15, the birds become quite refined 

 in their behavior and keep respectably quiet, only occasion- 

 ally sputtering wheu irritated. Just when the little fellows 

 leave us for the season I am unable to attest, but can say that 

 the} r become quite scarce after the middle of September. 



CENTRAL PARK FORESTRY COLLEC- 

 TION. 



QPECIAL operations in progress at the Old Arsenal at 

 IO Central Park are novel both as to method and motive. 

 The work includes various technical processes preparatory to 

 the permanent exhibition of forestry , of which some por- 

 tion of the specimens have been placed already in the 

 Museum of Natural History. It has been hoped that the 

 entire collection might be arranged and opened to public 

 view during the present spring. The exhibition is to be 

 arranged within one large case extending throughout the 

 length of the great hall, and iu six smaller cases placed next 

 the wall along either side. 



The collected specimens amount to 420; iu addition will 

 be a few of difficult access yet remaining to be obtained. 

 About 400 specimens form the census collection made uuder 

 the direction of Professor C. S. Sargent, Arnold Professor of 

 Arboriculture at Harvard, acting as chief agent of the for- 

 estry department for tbe tenth census publication. Prom 

 this work w r as developed the idea of the present museum ex- 

 hibition movement, the latter also in charge of the Arnold 

 Arboretum; the financial means being provided through the. 

 generosity of Mr. Moms K. Jessup. The preparation of 

 the specimens is intrusted to Mr. S. D. Dill, who performed 

 the same service in an excellent manner for the census col- 

 lection. The present scheme has been his inclusive occupa- 

 tion already tor two and a half years, with two assistants 

 since March of the past year, instead of one, as previously. 



A specimen consists of a section of about five feel , eigh f 

 inches in length, taken from the trunk of a tree, with a par- 

 tial section, including half or more of the diameter and in 

 length about one-third of the whole piece, cut down and re 

 moved from the top; in this way the inner vertical and the 

 horizontal surfaces are shown at once. Only half of each 

 of these exposed portions is polished in order to illustrate the 

 effect of the treatment ; the top of the remaining upper por- 

 tion is neatly finished by beveling. 



The dimensions of specimens range from tw r o inches to six 

 feet in diameter, the California pine showing the latter large 

 measurement. A plank of redwood {Sequoia aempevmnns) 

 is also included, which measures eight and a half feet in 

 width. 



Without extension to the innumerably multiplied varieties, 

 the collection will re present every native species of this 

 country. Each specimen is to be accompanied by a placard 

 giving both the local and the scientific name, the study being 

 rendered of further advantage by numbering in duplicate 

 trees of corresponding species in Central Park. The plan 

 includes also the publication of a descriptive catalogue. 

 Another useful feature in addition will be thatof the draw- 

 ings of leaves, flowers, cones, fruits, etc., which are being 

 prepared by Mr. Paxon at the Arnold Arboretum. These 

 are to be hung in the exhibition, each above a corresponding' 

 specimen in the wood, while a different illustrative series 

 will consist of pressed leaves forming an herbarium. 



A course of observations connected with the work may prove 

 scientifically of some aid in arboriculture. 



tion of the wood at the Arsenal, exact diagrams are drawn 

 from the horizontals as the cuttings are made, and represent- 

 ing the increase in diameter for succeeding years of the 

 tree's existence as indicated by the rings. It is hoped that 

 the record may serve toward a solution of such questions as 

 whether dry seasons affect some or all trees as causing slower 

 growth, and all the data for comparative study 'are filed away 

 for reference. 



A record of the age and diameter of every tree represents 

 m a general way the comparative rates of growth. A tree 

 three hundred and sixty-nine years old which is only fifteen 

 inches in diameter is an example of slow growth. * This is 

 the Pin us eduUs or edible pine from Arizona, called also nut 

 pine, and of which the seed, resembling in dimensions a 

 good-sized bean is used by the Indians for food. The West- 

 ern shell-bark hickory {Carya svleata) from Allenton, Mis- 

 souri, which is three hundred and forty-One years old, has a 

 diameter of thirty-seven inches; another tree only one hun- 

 dred and fifty years old with a diameter of forty inches rep- 

 resents a different habit of growth. This is the TtUa ameri- 

 cana or bassw T ood, from the same locality as the last named 

 species. 



The oldest tree in the collection, and which has felt the 

 snows of four hundred and ten winters, represents a species 

 remarkable for slow" growth, being only of twenty four 

 inches diameter; it is named Picea engelrnauni from its dis- 

 coverer, Dr. Engelmann, beinff known also as Engelmann's 

 spruce; its locality is from British Columbia to Arizona, and 

 it forms extensive forests in Colorado. 



Among rare specimens in view for this collection, but 

 which remains to be secured as circumstances permit, is the 

 La/rix lyellii or Western larch, growing in the Cascade and 

 Galton ranges of Oregon at 6,000 or 7,000 feet elevation; the 

 acquisition of trees so situated is evidently attended by diffi- 

 culties; even the extensive census collection is destitute of 

 this species. 



Woods of handsome appearance include the arbutus, hola- 

 pensis, sweet bay (Persea caroUnemis), Alaska cedar (Chamm 

 cyparis vu/hmms) and the-- beautifully-figured maple burl 

 from Missouri. A species most remarkable for durable qual- 

 ity is the catalpa, of which some of the wood buried in the 

 ground for seventy-five years is brought out in a perfectly 

 sound condition. Among other interesting specimens are 

 the cocoanut tree from Key West, and the finely odorous 

 nutmeg tree from California. 



An extremely curious species is the Washington palm 

 (WasMngtoniani filipera) from Southern California, of which 

 the rings are nearly detached, forming layers of fibrous, 

 bark-like substance lying loosely ope within another to the 

 heart; the top of this tree severed from the trunk is also 

 among the specimens, with its immense spreading leaves 

 dried and yellow. 



From Texas comes another extraordinary tree formation 

 resembling a fluted column, and known as the Oer&ns Qtgan- 

 fits. Its vertical, singularly curved parts are easily separ- 

 able, being without attachment of any heart at the center. 

 The Douglas spruce exhibits an equally peculiar appearance, 

 but from extrinsic cause; its bark is thickly perforated with 

 holes of the average size of nuts, the cavities representing an 

 economical system pursned by woodpeckers; after forming 

 these holes, the birds therein deposit acorns, to remain until 

 some future day when required for food. 



One of the most interesting curiosities is that of the Glc- 

 d.Unchia triamntlms or honey locust, from Missouri, of which 

 the body is covered with thorn clusters, shooting outward in 

 all directions from their centers of growth. The base of 

 this thorn formation is in the bark, without any source in 

 the wood beneath or connection with it. These knots or 

 crowns of thorns are therefore easily detached, and it was 

 necessary on this account for the tree to be transported from 

 the West suspended from the ceiling of the car. 



Horns ok the Female Caribou. — Iiklifor Forest and 

 Stream: Apropos of the present discussion, the writer bad 

 the pleasure of lately meeting Mr. E. W. Methot, of Quebec, 

 a nimrod the value of whose local reputation is vouched 

 for by his having, during the previous week, on the grounds 

 of the Shawinigan Club of this Province, killed six male 

 caribou, and shown mercy to sundry "cows and calves." 

 Closely interrogated on the subject, Mr. Methot stated that 

 it was well knowu to the Canadian hunters of this animal, 

 that only the barren or fallow female produced horns, it 

 being the rule to find them in such a case, while they have 

 never been reported as borne by the pregnant or nursing 

 cow. Nature's anomalies being only examples of her laws 

 misunderstood, and physiologists knowing many instances 

 where morbid growths follow from the increased supply of 

 blood intended for nourishing offspring, the above appears a 

 very rational explanation of the varying existence of the 

 horns. That the different condition actually occurs, your 

 correspondents have ampby proved, while if auy good rea- 

 son for the fact has been produced, the writer has not seen 

 it.— Nitre (Montreal, March 21). 



Capture of ax Opossmr in Essex Cocxty, N. Y. — 

 Dr. M. H. Turner (Hammondville, Essex county, 1ST. Y.,) 

 informs me of the capture of an opossum near Crown Point, 

 on or about Oct. 15, 1884. While visiting his traps near the 

 mouth of Puts Creek, which empties into Lake Champlain 

 at Crown Point, a young man named George Williams found 

 in one of the traps a strange animal to him, as well as to 

 almost every one in the vicinity. Dr. Turner and a friend 

 went to see it, and at once identified it. Diligent inquiry 

 has failed to reveal anything pointing toward its having es- 

 caped from confinement. It is still kept alive as a pet. The 

 rapture of an opossum in the Lake Champlain valley is in- 

 teresting, as showing the tendency of more southern species 

 to extend up through this region.— A. K. Fisher, M.D. 



The White-Throated Sparrow.— Sherbrooke, P. Q., 

 March 35, IS8&,— Miit&r Forest and Stream: Can you or any 

 of your subscriber's let me know as to the behavior of the 

 white-throated sparrow in confinement? Whether it will 

 sing and breed or not? 1 well know that it can never sing 

 so sweetly anywhere as on the edge of a clearing at sunrise 

 and sunset of a day in early summer, but ask as a matter of 

 curiosity, and I think, general interest. — Jos. G. Walton. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



Bpoht. Fox-bunting, salmon -fishing, covert-shooting, deer-sfcalk- 

 ing By. W. Bromley-Davenport. Illustrated. New York: Sorib- 

 ner&Welford. 3885. ' 



Spalding's Base Ball Guide. A. G. Spalding & Bro.. Chicago and 

 In the prepara- J New York. 1885; Price 30 cents. 



