4 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[July 30. 1 885 



A.S you look down from tlie trail, the dominating mass of 

 the structure seems to be crushin.;^ the back of the crouching 

 town. Inside all is tawdry; rude wooden angels with puffy 

 checks painted and gilded as if bound to a ball. On eacii 

 side of the door hang' numbers of offerings t© various local 

 di vinities. I say "local" because, although all bear the names 

 of ''Nuestra Senora," or "Nuestro Senor,'" those titles are 

 qualified and limited often to some small village, so strong is 

 the survival of pagan thought. 



The oflcriDgs consist rnainly in small oil paintings of 

 "moving accideuts by flood and field," of scenes of illness 

 deemed mortal, in most cases with a cross or a Virgin ap- 

 pearing in one comer framed in a glowing cloud. Absurd 

 daubs nearly alw-ays, with legends below telling, with ill- 

 spelled simpliciry, some story of rewarded faith. 



In a church in Tenaucingo, which had, by the way, the 

 best pictures I have seen in the country, hung, among other 

 little squares of canvas, one picturing two riders and a pack 

 mule a good deal embarrassed by high water. It was a 

 sample taken at random, and I give the legend as it stood 

 for the instruction of those who care to decipher the faulty 

 Spanish : 



En^ 6 lie Oiubre ds 1805 allandose en peligro de la bida 

 Josejitaqidra destrado y m moso pedro franco en las orillas de 

 8amoro4: dim par agua y in bocando a' Sa- del Calvavio 

 de- tenancingo y al ds C'halma saUron libres a quietm d^tdica 

 este. 



"On the 6th of October, 1805, Don Jose Juaquira Destrado 

 and his servant Pedi-o Franco, finding themselves in danger 

 of their lives for four days, by reason of floods, on the bor- 

 der, of Samoro, and invoking the aid of our Lady of Calvary 

 of Tenancingo and our Lord of Chalma, escaped unhm t. 

 To them he dedicates this." 



I have spoken of the picture of Borda. Let me say a few 

 words about his life, more wonderful than romance. Joseph 

 Laborde was a poor Frenchman, who many years ago came 

 hither. He began mining; worked in many different States 

 and on many different veins. The records are said to show 

 that, iis a consequence either of luck, skill or instinct, he 

 took from the ground over two hundred millions of dollars 

 of bulhon. In TIalpujahua alone the "Borda" mine (for the 

 Spaniards had altered the original name to suit their tongue) 

 gave over thirty millions. Tasco shows as large an output, 

 and Zacatecas and other States must make up the remainder. 



Laborde fancied that he had a mission from God to put 

 these hidden treasures into the hands of men. It was also a 

 part of his mission to further the cause of the church. Of 

 the many temples he built to God, the cathedrals TIalpujahua 

 and Tasco are the most considerable. But he did not 

 confine himself to building. He founded colleges, he edu- 

 cated armies of priests, he provided rich vestments and 

 sacred vessels. On one occasion when Laborde was ruined 

 by the long barrenness of his mines (for he was not without 

 reverses), the Ajchbishop of Mexico gave back to him a "cus- 

 todia" or box for holding the consecrated host, which 

 Laborde had had made at the cost of a hundred thousand 

 dollars. Selling this he got money to keep on and at last 

 found again his lost bonanzas. At the end he died poor, 

 having devoted so much wealth to pious uaea that his family 

 were left in need. 



Tasco, though shorn of its former glory, still has claims 

 to respect. Water is brought from the higher mountains in 

 an acqueduct built by Laborde, and through its masonry 

 pipe goes growling and ' iown the steep incline. 

 Ooe conduit leads to a : .uk where the women 



jjather to wash clothes, a l ;i public horse bath, also 



of stone, and stiJ* olh»ir s.ueuins flow to the fountains and 

 basins in the square. The pavements are laid in patterns, 

 hard black pebbles being used to make the design or a name 

 or date as it happens. Food, if you get it, is cheap. My 

 meals, which were the most luxurious the place afforded, 

 cost me fifteen cents apiece. The boy who served as guide 

 dined with me, and it was curious to watch him at table. 

 For a moment he eyed the imusual apparatus of knife and 

 fork with distrust. His mind was soon made up. Bravely 

 and without embarrassment he knocked a hole in his eggs 

 and sucked them. Then he carved his fried potatoes and 

 chicken and what not with his fingers, and did very satisfac- 

 tory work. 



My sleep was bad owing to foreign invasion. In the 

 morning I reproached the landlady with the plentitude of 

 bedbugs; but she soon convinced me that T was mistaken, 

 ' 'For, " she said, ' 'the room next to yours, which is locked, 

 is the one that is full of bedbugs. Here there can be only 

 ileas." H. 6. Dulog. 



[to be cokcltjded,] 



Address all communications lo the Forest and Stream Publish- 

 ing Co. 



NIGHT HAWKS NESTING. 



THE night hawk {CapHmulgus tirginianua Kirtland) has 

 within a few years made a new departure here in locat- 

 ing its nest. I cannot say nest building, as I have never 

 met with its eggs protected by stick, straw, or material of 

 anj' kind whatever. Six years ago I found a pair nesting on 

 the tin roof of a public building in the heart of the city. 

 The eggs, two in number, were laid hj the upper side of a 

 chimney; a fortunate choice of place, as the rain would 

 quickly drain off, and the eggs, if undisturbed, were safe 

 from a roll into the gutter. 



Three pairs of these birds now nesting on a slate roof of a 

 prominent building thu'ty rods from "where I am writing 

 have given me, during the season, a fine opportunity of 

 watching their maneuvers. They arrived the 30th of April, 

 and for several days made merry over the place as if uncer- 

 tain about choosing the location. By the 6th of May and 

 after this date they might be seen about 5 P. M., rising from 

 the roof together as it were at the word go! and cutting an- 

 tics and gyrations that would do credit to any bird on the 

 wing; in fact, 1 know of no other bird that can excel him in 

 flight, the albatross or frigate bird even, I doubt, can more 

 than equal him on or with the wind in rapidity of flight or 

 aerial maneuvers. Until long after dark these flights are 

 maintained seemingly for amusement, perhaps for the enter- 

 tainment of the partners that are caring for the eggs below. 

 When the moon is full, the well known speek, spesk, can be 

 heard at all hours of the night and often after the sun is well 

 up in the east. The number of nocturnal insects destroyed 

 b}^ these birds must be enormous, judging from the appear- 

 ance of the young. I have met with many of them and al- 



ways found them featherless and fatter than any other callow 

 bird it has been my fortune to observe. Their rapid and 

 irregular flight makes them a difficult mark for the young 

 sportsman to practice on, as he never fails to make a target 

 of them when the opportunity offers. I can now under- 

 stand the object for which this bird was created. 



Last summer, while walking through the grounds of the 

 Lake View Cemetery, I foimd a nest of this bird on a barren 

 knoll not fifty feet from the main drive and foot way. Step- 

 ping to the spot the bird only left after receiving a careful 

 push of my foot, she mounted quickly high into the air in a 

 manner that spoke of no immediate return. While examin- 

 ing the two eggs as they lay on the bare sand, the bird sud- 

 denly made her appearance, flying close to my head as 

 though to attack, then tumbled to the ground to roll and 

 perform all the antics common to the ground-nesting species. 

 We left the bird covering her nest and learned subsequently 

 from the guardian of the grounds that she raised her young un- 

 disturbed, for the reason, as he remarked, "no one else ever 

 discovereil the nest, or the eggs would soon have been 

 gathered up and Mowed for some naturalist's cabinet." The 

 question is what induced this bird to nest in such an exposed 

 position, the knoll was as clear of grass or other obstruction 

 as a new laid sea beach, and close by hundreds of foot and 

 carriage passengers went daily. It is not uncommon for 

 ruffed grouse, quail and other gi-ound-nesting bix-ds to nest in 

 close proximity to well beaten paths, but in all these cases 

 we find the bird and eggs well concealed by surrounding 

 grass or bushes. Dr. E. Sterling. 



Cleveland, O., July 23. 



THE BIRDS OF MICHIGAN. 



BY DR, MORRIS GIBBS. 

 (Ccmtinued.) 



46. Bendmm. mrMka (Wils.) Baird. — Cserulean warbler; 

 blue warbler. 



A locally distributed bird. Perhaps common in certain 

 sections, but certainly not abundant throughout the State. 

 Many observers have never taken it, and it is first reported 

 as a bird of Michigan in 1878 by Covert, who later, 1881, in 

 his "Birds of Washtenaw County," says of it: "A very com- 

 mon summer resident ; breeds, nesting in the tops "of tall 

 trees." Embraced by but four lists, and only given as a 

 summer sojourner in two catalogues. Dr. Atkins, of Locke, 

 Ingham county, is the most northern observer, about 43° 

 north latitude, and he only mentions the finding of three 

 specimens in his twenty-nine years of observations. Mr. Jer- 

 ome Trombley, of Petereburgh, Monroe county, in the ex- 

 treme southeastern portion of the State, gives a verj^ valu- 

 able description of this species in his notes of the warblers 

 of the county, sent to me, 1881. He says: "This is one of 

 the most abundant of the warblers in this section of Michi- 

 gan. There is near here a piece of heavily timbered land of 

 about ten or twelve acres extent, where I will venture to say 

 there are each year not less than twenty pairs of these birds 

 that breed. They abound more or less in allot the woodlands 

 of Monroe, Wayne, Washtenaw and Lenawee counties. They 

 appear from the south from the first to the sixth of May. It 

 may be truly said to be a wood-inhabiting species, as I'have 

 never, in aU my observations, seen more than a dozen speci- 

 mens outside of the woods. During the time they remain 

 here they haunt the tops of the tallest trees, and while feed- 

 ing seldom descend nearer than twenty or thirty feet of the 

 ground. While nesting, they necessarily come to the ground 

 after building materials, and this is the best time to secure 

 specimens. They are very shy and suspicious at all times, 

 and diflicult of approach, a habit which, as is well known, 

 is conti-ary to the nature of the greater portion of the true 

 wood warblers. 



They usuafly begin nesting soon after their arrival here, 

 or about the 15tb to the 20th of May. The situation of the 

 nest is different from all the authentic accounts which have 

 ever come to my knowledge. Audubon describes it as being 

 placed in a low tree or bush and partly pensile. In Vol. 

 IV., No. 1, Nutt. Orni. Bull., is an article on the "JSTest 

 and Eggs of CfBrulean Warbler," by J. A. Allen, in which 

 is given the record of three nests. 'One nest situated sixty 

 feet from the ground more nearly accords with all those I 

 have seen in this section. All of my nests were not less than 

 forty feet up, and from that to seventy-five feet from the 

 ground, and invariably placed on the upper side of a branch, 

 generally a fork formed by smaller limbs shooting up from 

 the main branch. The first nest I discovered was forty-five 

 feet from the ground, in a basswood, and contained eggs 

 just ready to hatch; the next was built in a maple, all of 

 fifty feet 'up, on a branch, and contained four fresh eggs. 

 Another nest was quite seventy-five feet from the ground, in 

 an ash, and placed at the extremity of a small limb. All 

 the nests agree in size and construction with those described 

 in the Bulletin. The outside is composed of fine dry grass, 

 strings from plants, caterpillars' silks, spiders' web, and an 

 occasional shred of moss and bits of inner bark. The lining 

 is composed wholly of fine strips of the reddish outer down 

 of fern stalks. One of the nests is covered on the outside 

 with a few grayish licihens. The nests are about of a size, 

 measuring 2f inches outside, by 2 inches inside diameter, 

 and If inches in height externally by li inches inside. The 

 eggs are dull white with a faint yellowish tinge. The mark- 

 ings are small spots, specks and blotches of a reddish brown, 

 the bulk being disposed about the greater end. The meas- 

 urements are, averaged, .60x.48 of an inch. The cerulean 

 warbler remains until about the 25th of September, and by 

 Oct. 1 they have all disappeared.";/ My experience with this 

 species is extremely limited, having only met with it on one 

 occasion. On May 11, 1884, I shot a fine male which was 

 singing in a small tree near the banks of the river in a low 

 woods. The song was tree-iree-tree-tree-ires-tree-zioeeeee, and 

 quite agreeable. The bird was active in its motions and ap- 

 peared a tvpical warbler. , 



47. I)mdm!M.~J^mmylmy^ (Linn.) Baird.— Chestnut- 

 sided warbler. , . , . , 



In the early days of ornithology in America, this bird was 

 considered scarce by some of our best Avriters, and though 

 since then it has become abundant, it is frequently, at least 

 in sections of Michigan, so irregular in its movements and 

 choice of summer haunts, that during some seasons it is 

 quite a rarity. It is a peculiar species in its choice of a 

 summer residence, and from its decidedly irregular migra- 

 tions, we may expect it to become i-ai-e or abundant without 

 anparent reason each summer. 

 ' My first acquaintance with it was in 1878, when it ap- 

 peared May 9. The following^ season it appeared on the 

 same date. These dates of arrival are a httle later than the 

 average, as they are usually here by May 5, My earliest 



arrival noted is Aprfl 25. and my latest May 13. The birds 

 sing on their appearance or sooii after, and continue the re- 

 frain until July 15, after which a sound rarely escapes them 

 for some weeks, excepting the call notes, but again in late 

 August I have frequently heard the simple song. The com- 

 mon song is: Che che che che che wee wee weo icee, sometimes 

 cJwo a choo a che che o wee o icee rapidly uttered. Another 

 song, not so often heard, is difficult to express in syllables. 

 It goes something like this: T»is tsis isis tsis cliee ah. The 

 first part of the song ids. is sometimes only repeated twice or 

 thrice, again five or six times, the notes being nearly of one 

 key, while the last part of the song is varied, the first sylla- 

 ble being higher than the end note. 



It is essentially a bush warbler, confining itself to low trees 

 and bushes, being seldom seen in the tops of trees. Speci- 

 mens are taken from the tops of the tallest trees, but as a 

 rule only during migration, as they usually remain in thick- 

 ets and bramble patches. While nesting it is more com- 

 monly found among thick clumps of bushes, often near the 

 edges of streams, but occasionally on high land, preferring 

 the outskirts of the forest for its haunts. Most nests have 

 come to my notice in low land among elm and ash woods in 

 half cleared sections, where the raspberry and blackberry 

 bushes have formed thick bramble patches. In favorable 

 seasons a good many nests can betaken in an acre of briers, 

 and I recall two years, when at least thirty nests were dis- 

 covered. But the birds are quite scarce now, and few eggs 

 have been taken since 1878 in parts of Michigan that I have 

 visited. This season I have not seen a half dozen birds, but 

 next year they may appear as abundant as formerly. 



The nests are usually placed from three to four feet from 

 the ground, sometimes a nest is taken all of six feet up, and 

 many nests have come to my notice from a foot to two feet 

 above the ground. These low nests were generally built on 

 top of a recumbent raspberry bush. A common place for 

 the nest is in a small-forked ash or elder. A few dates may 

 give a fair idea of the time for nesting: 1874 — June 1, two 

 nests, four fresh eggs each; 1877— May 27, incubation began; 

 June 8, young two days old ; 1878 — May 25, three eggs nearly 

 hatched. The nests are quite durable in their make-up, ana 

 though one is occasionally taken which is rather loose in con- 

 struction, most of them are quite firm in build. The body 

 of the nest is composed quite often of coarse grass and small 

 dead stalks, and is lined with finer qualities of the same. 

 This description accords with Kuttall's, but more nests are 

 composed of fine bark strippings and grasses, and are lined 

 with hair— often horse hair. 'The eggs are three or four in 

 number, more often three, but five eggs have been found ina 

 nest. Roughly described, the eggs are small, white, and 

 speckled with red and brown. 



The chestnut-sided is a common species generally and well 

 known. It was known to ^ager in 1839, and is reported 

 from all parts of the State, even to our most northern points. 

 The birds depart for the south in numbers by September 15, 

 and are all gone by the 25th of the month. 



48. Dendr mM castanea (Wils.) Baird. — Bay-breasted 

 Warbler. 



A rather irregular migrant. Often observed in abundance 

 both in spring and autumn, and again scarcely observed or 

 not seen again during a season. The earliest arrival I have 

 noted is May 10, while some seasons no specimens are ob- 

 served until the 20th of the month or even later. It does 

 not remain with us more than a very few days in spring, and 

 is frequently observed only during an afternoon's walk. The 

 nesting season undoubtedly finds the birds in the extreme 

 northern part of the State. No record of svimmer captures 

 has appeared, and thus far it is not reported from the 

 Upper Peninsula. Sager, 1839, embraces it, and most of 

 the lists of IVUchigan birds mention ii as a migi-ant and tran- 

 sient. 



During the autumnal migrations the birds seem to be as a 

 rule much more common than in spring, appearing in late 

 Augpst and remaining in favorable seasons until September 

 30. At this season they are sileno but active. I have met 

 with few if any of our warblers which are more active and 

 pleasing in their manners than the baybreast. It is an 

 active insect hunter, and in its movement often appears like 

 a chickadee, rolling around the twigs and flitting about in a 

 restless manner quite amusing. It has a most delightful 

 song in the spring, which I have heard but a few times and 

 unfortunately cannot describe. It is vivacious and pleasing, 

 and quite different from the notes of the other wiirblers. 

 Pew notes escape the birds in the fall, and only subdued 

 twitterings are heard. 



49. Bendr ma siriata_ (Forst.) Baird.— Blackpoll warbler. 

 Strangely enough this species has never come under my 



observation, although many rarer members of the family are 

 well represented in my cabinet. However, it cannot be 

 called a common bird in sections in which I have collected. 

 It IS one of the last migrants to arrive and is frequently not 

 seen till after May 20. " It is pronounced a transient in the 

 various lists of birds of the lower peninsula, but is recorded 

 by Cabot, 1850, and Kneeland, 1856, of the upper peninsula, 

 but is not given as a summer resident of them. Sager, 1839, 

 does not embrace it. In its movements it is described as 

 being similar to the baybreast, and like that species is irreg- 

 ular in its appearance and distribution during migrations. 

 It is observed in the southern part of our State during late 

 August and September. 



,50. pendrn>ea hlarMurnice (Gm.) Baird.— Blackburnian 

 warbler. 



An abundant migrant and known to all collectors in the 

 lower peninsula, recorded by Cabot, 1850. in the_ northern 

 peninsula. In the past month of June, during a trip among 

 the islands and in various parts of the northern portion of 

 our State, I looked in vain for the orange-throated warbler, 

 although many species usually found in company with it 

 during summer were abundant. This is one of those birds 

 which has a reputation of going to the north to breed, but 

 which I believe breeds abundantly in all suitable localities 

 north of 43°, and frequently as far south as 43°. It is quite 

 abundant in Southern Michigan during some springs, and 

 again is really scarce, a peculiarity shared to a greater or less 

 extent by many members of the family, and perhaps to be 

 accounted for on the principle of a change in the migrating 

 routes. I have yet to see a list, with the exception of Covert s, 

 which embraces it as a summer resident, but the fact never- 

 theless exists that it is in many quarters really common dur- 

 ing June and July, and the discovery of two nests is fau- 

 evidence of its nesting south of 43°. 



The blackburnian warbler reaches us occasionally by April 

 34, being one of our earliest arrivals in this family. In late 

 seasons it occasionally does not make its appearance until the 

 10th of May; but such late arrivals are unusual. The birds 

 are generally common by May 5, and are observed flashing 

 their brilliant throats among the budding trees from the 

 eariy hours of morning to dusk. Tamaracks are favorite 



