Part 14

=423. Chimney Swift= (_Chætura pelagica_). L. 5.4; W. 4.9. Tail with protruding spines. _Ads._ Above sooty, rump and underparts paler; throat whitish. _Notes._ A rolling twitter.

Range.--Eastern North America, west to the Plains; breeds from Florida to Labrador and Manitoba; winters south of United States, to Central America.

=424. Vaux Swift= (_Chætura vauxii_). L. 4.5; W. 4.4. _Ads._ Similar to No. 423, but smaller and somewhat browner. _Notes._ Resemble those of No. 423, but are less frequently uttered. (Bendire.)

Range.--Western United States; breeds on Pacific coast, locally, north to British Columbia; east casually to Montana and Arizona; winters south of United States to Central America.

=425. White-throated Swift= (_Aëronautes melanoleucus_). L. 6.5. Tail forked, without spines. _Ads._ Above sooty brownish black; breast, middle of belly and flank patches white. _Notes._ A sharp, metallic twitter.

Range.--Western United States; east to western Nebraska and Black Hills; breeds in Rocky Mountains north to Montana; on Pacific coast north to Lat. 38°; winters south of United States to Central America.

Hummingbirds

=426. Rivoli Hummingbird= (_Eugenes fulgens_). L. 5.1. A small white spot behind eye. _Ad._ [Male]. Crown purple, throat bright green, back bronzy green; tail somewhat more bronzy. _Ad._ [Female]. Above bronzy green, all but central tail-feathers with blackish ends and narrow grayish tips; below grayish, all but throat feathers _green centrally_. _Yng._ [Male]. Throat with more or less green, belly and above more bronzy than in [Female].

Range.--Nicaragua, north in mountains to mountains of southeastern Arizona, and southwest New Mexico; winters south of United States.

=429. Black-chinned Hummingbird= (_Trochilus alexandri_). L. 3.5; W. 1.7. _Ad._ [Male]. Chin and upper throat black, lower throat amethyst; tail forked, feathers pointed. _Ad._ [Female]. Throat grayish white; _chin buffy_; tail feathers more rounded, three outer ones tipped with white. _Yng._ [Male]. Similar [Female], but throat with dusky spots.

Range.--Western United States; breeds from San Antonio, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California north to Montana and British Columbia; rare on Pacific coast north of southern California; winters south of United States.

=430. Costa Hummingbird= (_Calypte costæ_). L. 3.1. No rusty in plumage. _Ad._ [Male]. Crown, throat and lengthened neck-feathers amethyst, back dull green. _Ad._ [Female]. Below grayish white; above grayish green; outer tail-feathers _gray_ at base, then black and at tip white. _Yng._ [Male]. Similar to [Female], but throat usually with some amethyst spots; tip of outer tail-feather grayish.

Range.--Northwestern Mexico; breeds north throughout Lower California, to southern California, northern Nevada, southwestern Utah, and southwestern New Mexico; winters from Mexican border southward.

=437. Lucifer Hummingbird= (_Calothorax lucifer_). L. 3.6; B. .8. _Ad._ [Male]. Throat purplish pink, feathers at its side much lengthened; tail feathers very narrow, the outer ones less than .05 in. wide on end half. _Ad._ [Female]. Below nearly uniform _rusty buff_, above bronzy green; tail-feathers white-tipped.

Range.--"From western Texas and southern Arizona south to the city of Mexico and Puebla." (Bailey.)

=440. Xantus Hummingbird= (_Basilinna xantusi_). L. 3.6. A white streak behind eye. _Ad._ [Male]. Chin, forehead and cheeks _black_; throat green; tail rusty brown. _Ad._ [Female]. Below uniform rusty, above green; outer tail-feathers rusty brown.

Range.--Lower California, north to Lat. 29°; most common in Cape Region.

=427. Blue-throated Hummingbird= (_Cœligena clemenciæ_). L. 5.2. A white _stripe_ behind, and a smaller one before eye. _Ad._ [Male]. Throat blue; belly grayish; back green; tail blue-black, outer feathers broadly white tipped. _Ad._ [Female]. Similar but throat dusky gray.

Range.--Southern Mexico north. In mountains to mountains of southwestern New Mexico and southern Arizona; winters south of United States.

=438. Reiffer Hummingbird= (_Amazilis tzacatl_). L. 4.1. _Ads._ Above, _throat_ and _breast_ shining green; belly _grayish_; tail square, rusty brown, _narrowly_ margined with coppery. _Yng._ Similar but more rusty above.

Range.--Northern South America; north, rarely, to Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas.

=439. Buff-bellied Hummingbird= (_Amazilis cerviniventris chalconota_). Similar to No. 438, but belly _rusty gray_, tail forked and _broadly_ margined with coppery green.

Range.--Central America, north, in spring, to Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas.

=440.1. White-eared Hummingbird= (_Basilinna leucotis_). L. 3.7. A white line behind eye. _Ad._ [Male]. Chin, forehead and cheeks _blue_, throat and breast green, tail blackish bronzy green. _Ad._ [Female]. Crown rusty, back bronzy green, below gray spotted with green; outer tail-feathers tipped with gray. _Yng._ [Male]. Similar.

Range.--Nicaragua north, in spring, through mountains to southern Arizona.

=441. Broad-billed Hummingbird= (_Iache latirostris_). L. 4. _Ad._ [Male]. Above green; below darker; throat purplish blue; tail darker. _Ad._ [Female]. Below gray; outer tail-feathers green at base, then bluish black tipped with gray. _Yng._ [Male]. Similar to _Ad._ [Female], but tail blue black with faint gray tips; throat with metallic green feathers.

Range.--Southern Mexico; breeds north through mountains to southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico.

=428. Ruby-throated Hummingbird= (_Trochilus colubris_). L. 3.5; W. 1.5. _Ad._ [Male]. Throat ruby, chin blackish; tail forked, the feathers pointed. _Ad._ [Female]. Throat grayish, tail-feathers rounded, three outer ones tipped with white. _Yng._ [Male]. Like [Female] but throat with dusky spots. (See next page)

Range.--Eastern North America, west to about Long. 100°; breeds from Florida and eastern Mexico, north to Labrador and Hudson Bay region; winters from southern Florida to Central America.

=431. Anna Hummingbird= (_Calypte annæ_). L. 3.6. _Ad._ [Male]. _Crown_ and throat glittering purplish pink; feathers at sides of throat much lengthened. _Ad._ [Female]. Above green; below grayish washed with green; throat usually with pink feathers; tail with a narrow white tip. _Yng._ Similar but browner above.

Range.--Western United States, from northern Lower California north to northern California; east to southern Arizona; south in winter to Mexico; recorded from Guadalupe Island.

=432. Broad-tailed Hummingbird= (_Selasphorus platycercus_). L. 4. _Ad._ [Male]. Outer primary very narrow, end sharp; crown green, throat _pink_; tail green above, purplish below without white tips. _Ad._ [Female]. Outer tail-feathers rusty at base, then black with a broad white tip; middle feathers _entirely_ green; above bronzy green; throat feathers with dusky centers; sides rusty.

Range.--Rocky Mountains: west, rarely to eastern California; north to southern Wyoming and Idaho; winters south of United States.

=433. Rufous Hummingbird= (_Selasphorus rufus_), L. 3.6. _Ad._ [Male]. Next to middle pair of tail-feathers _notched_ near tip of inner web; back _reddish brown_ sometimes washed with green. _Ad._ [Female]. Sides _rusty_, back green, throat spotted with green and sometimes ruby, outer tail-feathers rusty at base, then black and a white tip, the feather _more_ than .12 wide; middle tail-feathers green at base, end black. _Yng._ [Male]. Similar to [Female] but _all_ tail-feathers rusty at base.

Range.--Western United States; breeds from the higher mountains of southern California and Arizona, north to Lat. 61° in Alaska; during migrations east to Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, and western Texas; winters in southern Mexico.

=434. Allen Hummingbird= (_Selasphorus alleni_). L. 3.6. _Ad._ [Male]. Crown and _back green_, and tail rusty tipped with dusky, no notch in tail-feathers; in other respects like No. 433. _Ad._ [Female] _and Yng._ [Male]. Like the same of No. 433, but outer tail-feather less than .12 in. wide.

Range.--Pacific coast, from Monterey, California, north to British Columbia; migrates south through Arizona, and southern California to Mexico.

=435. Morcom Hummingbird= (_Atthis morcomi_). L. 2.9. _Ad._ [Female]. Above bronzy green; middle tail-feathers bronzy green tinged with rusty on basal half; rest of tail-feathers rusty brown, then green, then black and tipped with white; below white, sides rusty, throat spotted with bronze-green. (Ridgw.) Male unknown.

Range.--Huachuca Mountains, southern Arizona, (known from one specimen.)

=436. Calliope Hummingbird= (_Stellula calliope_). L. 3. _Ad._ [Male]. Throat purplish pink, white at base _showing through_; above green. _Ad._ [Female]. Sides rusty, throat with green spots, above green, outer tail-feathers gray at base, then black, then white _in nearly equal amounts_. _Yng._ [Male]. Similar to [Female].

Range.--Mountains of western United States; breeds north to Montana, Idaho, and British Columbia; west to eastern Oregon and eastern California; winters, south of United States; rare on Pacific coast of United States.

Order XVII. PERCHING BIRDS.

PASSERES.

Family 1. FLYCATCHERS. Tyrannidæ. 32 species, 7 subspecies.

Family 2. LARKS. Alaudidæ. 1 species, 13 subspecies.

Family 3. CROWS AND JAYS. Corvidæ. 21 species, 14 subspecies.

Family 4. BLACKBIRDS, ORIOLES, ETC. Icteridæ. 18 species, 14 subspecies.

Family 5. FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. Fringillidæ. 87 species, 92 subspecies.

Family 6. TANAGERS. Tanagridæ. 4 species, 1 subspecies.

Family 7. SWALLOWS. Hirundinidæ. 9 species, 2 subspecies.

Family 8. WAXWINGS. Ampelidæ. 3 species.

Family 9. SHRIKES. Laniidæ. 2 species, 3 subspecies.

Family 10. VIREOS. Vireonidæ. 13 species, 10 subspecies.

Family 11. WARBLERS. Mniotiltidæ. 55 species, 18 subspecies.

Family 12. WAGTAILS. Motacillidæ. 3 species.

Family 13. DIPPERS. Cinclidæ. 1 species.

Family 14. WRENS, THRASHERS, ETC. Troglodytidæ. 26 species, 24 subspecies.

Family 15. CREEPERS. Certhiidæ. 1 species, 4 subspecies.

Family 16. NUTHATCHES AND TITS. Paridæ. 21 species, 20 subspecies.

Family 17. KINGLETS, GNATCATCHERS, ETC. Sylviidæ. 7 species, 3 subspecies.

Family 18. THRUSHES, BLUEBIRDS, ETC. Turdidæ. 13 species, 14 subspecies.

The North American members of the Order PASSERES are placed in two Suborders, the _Clamatores_, or so-called Songless Perching Birds, which includes all the Flycatchers, and the Suborder _Oscines_, or Singing Perching Birds, which includes all our remaining Perching Birds. While the Flycatchers are therefore technically classed as songless birds, it does not follow that they have no songs. Sing they do, but because of the less developed condition of their voice-producing organ, they cannot give utterance to the longer and more musical songs of the Oscines, which are supplied with a better musical instrument.

The Flycatchers, (Family Tyrannidæ) number somewhat over three hundred and fifty species, and are found only in America, where they are most abundant in the tropics. Feeding almost exclusively on insects, those species which visit the United States are of necessity migratory, not more than half a dozen of the thirty species which nest with us, remaining in the United States during the winter, and these are found only on our southern borders.

Flycatchers as a rule, capture their prey on the wing. When perching, their pose is usually erect and hawk-like. They often raise their crown feathers, which in many species are somewhat lengthened, a habit giving them a certain big-headed appearance.

Flycatchers are most useful birds. The food of the Kingbird, for example, a species which is erroneously believed to destroy honey bees, has been found to consist of 90 per cent. insects, mostly injurious species, while only fourteen out of two hundred and eighty-one stomachs contained the remains of honey bees; forty of the fifty bees found being drones.

The true Larks, (Family _Alaudidæ_) are chiefly Old World birds, the Skylark being the best known member of the Family. In America we have only the Horned or Shore Larks, one species of which shows so much climatic variation in color throughout its wide range, that no less than thirteen subspecies or geographical races of it are recognized in the United States.

The Horned Lark is a bird of the plains and prairies and is less common in the Atlantic States than westward. Like the Skylark it sings in the air, but its vocal powers are limited and not to be compared with those of its famous relative.

The Crows and Jays, (Family _Corvidæ_) number about two hundred species of which some twenty-five inhabit the western hemisphere. To this family belong the Raven, Rook, Magpie and Jackdaw, all birds of marked intelligence; and our Crows and Jays are fully worthy of being classed with these widely known and distinguished members of their family.

The Crows and Jays, by varying their food with the season, are rarely at loss for supplies of one kind or another and most species are represented throughout their ranges at all times of the year. In the more northern parts of their homes, however, some of these birds are migratory, and Crows, as is well known, gather in great flocks during the winter, returning each night to a roost frequented, in some instances, by two or three hundred thousand Crows.

While the Crows and Jays are technically 'Song Birds' their voices are far from musical. Nevertheless they possess much range of expression and several species learn to enunciate words with more or less ease.

The Starlings, (Family _Sturnidæ_) are Old World birds represented in America only by the European Starling which was introduced into Central Park, New York City, in 1890 and is now common in the surrounding country.

The Blackbirds, Orioles, and Meadowlarks, (Family _Icteridæ_) number about one hundred and fifty species and are found only in the New World. The Blackbirds are most numerous in North America, where, migrating in vast armies and often living in large colonies, they become among the most characteristic and conspicuous of our birds.

The Orioles are most numerous in the tropics, where some thirty species are known. Apparently all of them are remarkable as nest builders, the large Cassiques, nearly related, great yellow and black birds, weaving pouches three and four feet long, several dozen of which, all occupied, may be seen swinging from the branches of a single tree.

The Finches, Sparrows, Grosbeaks, etc., (Family _Fringillidæ_) number nearly six hundred species, a greater number than is contained in any other family of birds. They are distributed throughout the world, except in the Australian region, some ninety odd species inhabiting North America.

Varying widely in color, the Fringillidæ all agree in possessing stout, conical bills, which are of service to them in crushing the seeds on which they feed so largely.

The streaked, brownish Sparrows, often so difficult of identification, are usually inhabitants of plains, fields, or marshes, where they are rendered inconspicuous by their dull colors. The more gayly attired Grosbeaks, Buntings, Cardinals etc., frequent trees or bushy growths, where their plumage either harmonizes with their surroundings or where they have the protection afforded by the vegetation.

Most of the members of this family are good singers, some of them indeed being noted for their powers of song. They are less migratory than insect-eating birds and some species are with us at all seasons. Their abundance, musical gifts, and constant presence render them, from the field student's point of view, highly important members of the great class Aves.

From an economic standpoint the Fringillidæ are no less deserving of our esteem. Some species are of incalculable value as destroyers of the seeds of noxious weeds. Fifteen hundred seeds have been found in the stomach of one Snowflake or Snowbunting, and it has been estimated by Professor Beal, of the Biological Survey of the United States Department of Agriculture, that during the winter season, in the single State of Iowa, where his studies were made, Tree Sparrows devour no less than 875 _tons_ of weed seeds, chiefly of the ragweed.

The Tanagers, (Family _Tanagridæ_) are found only in the New World, where they are most numerously represented in the tropics. As a family they are remarkable for the brilliancy of their colors; the common, but mistaken idea that most tropical birds are brightly clad being in no small part due to the abundance of Tanagers and beauty of their plumage.

Only five of the some three hundred and fifty known species reach the United States and these are migratory, coming to us in the spring and returning to the tropics in the fall. Tanagers, as a rule, are not possessed of much vocal ability, our species ranking high in their family as songsters, the notes of many species being far less musical.

Like most gaily costumed birds the plumages of many Tanagers undergo striking changes in color with age and season. The male of our Scarlet Tanager, for example, is olive-green with black wing-coverts during his first winter, the scarlet plumage not being acquired until the following spring. It is worn, however, only during the nesting season after which the less conspicuous olive-green dress is again acquired, the wings and tail, however, remaining black.

Swallows, (Family _Hirundinidæ_) are of world-wide distribution, and as might be expected in birds possessing such remarkable powers of flight, many of the species have unusually extended ranges. Our Barn Swallow, for example, is found throughout North America in summer, and in the winter it migrates as far south as southern Brazil.

Birds of the air, the aërial habits of Swallows are reflected in their long wings and small, weak feet; while their small bills and broad, widely opening mouths indicate their manner of feeding.

In spite of their poor equipment of tools, Swallows take high rank as nest builders, and it is interesting to observe that although the birds are structurally much alike, their nests often differ widely in character. Compare for instance, the mud-made dwellings of the Barn and Cliff Swallows with the tunneled hole of the Bank Swallow and one realizes how little the character of a bird's home may depend on the structure of it's builder.

The food of Swallows, remarks Professor Beal, "consists of many small species of beetles which are much on the wing, many species of diptera (mosquitoes and their allies), with large quantities of flying ants and a few insects of similar kinds. Most of them are either injurious or annoying, and the numbers destroyed by Swallows are not only beyond calculation, but almost beyond imagination."

The true Waxwings, (Family _Ampelidæ_) number only three species with representatives in the northern parts of both hemispheres. Their notes, as a rule are limited to a few unmusical calls, which, with our Cedar Waxwing, are usually uttered when the bird is about to fly.

Waxwings are found in small flocks during the greater part of the year and roam about the country as though they were quite as much at home in one place as in another, provided food be plenty. Small fruits, chiefly wild ones, constitute their usual fare, but they also feed on insects, the injurious elm beetle being among their victims.

The Shrikes, (Family _Laniidæ_) are represented in America by only two species, the remaining two hundred or more members of this family being found in the Old World. Shrikes are noted for their singular habit of impaling their prey on thorns or similarly sharp-pointed growths, or occasionally they may hang it in the crotch of a limb. This proceeding enables them to tear it to pieces more readily, for it will be observed that while Shrikes have a hawk-like bill, their feet are comparatively weak and sparrow-like and evidently of no assistance to them in dissecting their food.

Our Northern Shrike, or Butcherbird, feeds chiefly on small birds and mice, while the southern species, or Loggerhead, is a great destroyer of grasshoppers and he also eats lizards and small snakes.

The Vireos, (Family _Vireonidæ_) number fifty species, all American. They search the foliage carefully for leaf-eating insects and their eggs, and examine the crevices in the bark for eggs of the injurious wood-boring insects. They are therefore unusually beneficial birds.

Bearing a general resemblance in size and color to many of the Warblers, Vireos are sometimes confused with members of that family. They are, however, as a rule, more deliberate in their motions and not such active flutterers as are many of the Warblers. They are also more musical, all the Vireos having characteristic songs, which if not always highly musical, are generally noticeable, pronounced and unmistakable.

The nests of all our Vireos are pendant, deeply cup-shaped structures usually hung between the forks of a crotch, to the arms of which they are most skilfully woven.

The Warblers, (Family _Mniotiltidæ_) like the Vireos are distinctly American birds, indeed they may be called characteristic North American birds since most of the one hundred odd species are found north of Mexico. Between thirty and forty species of these active, beautiful little creatures may be found in the course of a year at a single locality in the Eastern States and they therefore constitute an exceedingly important element in our bird-life. Most of them come in May at the height of the spring migration; when the woods often swarm with them as they flit from limb to limb in pursuit of their insect food. The larger number of them pass onward to their northern homes and in September they return to us in increased numbers.

The beauty of their plumage, the briefness but regularity of their visits, the rarity of certain species, combine to make the Warblers especially attractive to the field student and their charms are heightened by the difficulty with which many of them are identified. Study them as we may there are still species which have escaped us.

By far the larger number of Warblers may be described as flutterers that feed agilely about the terminal branches, (genera _Dendroica_ and _Helminthophila_); others are true flycatchers, so far as feeding habit is concerned, (genera _Setophaga_ and _Wilsonia_,) while others still feed in the undergrowth or on the ground, (genera _Geothlypis_ and _Seiurus_). Insects constitute almost their entire fare and they are among our most beneficial birds.

Most of the Wagtails (Family _Motacillidæ_), are inhabitants of the Old World, only three of the sixty odd species being found in this country. Our Pipit or Titlark is our best known, most widely distributed species.

Like other members of its family it has the habit of wagging or tipping its tail both when walking (for it should be noted that these birds are ground-inhabiting and walkers) and at rest.

The Dippers (Family _Cinclidæ_) though numbering only twelve species are distributed throughout the larger part of the world from the Andes of South America to the mountains of Alaska, Europe, Asia and Africa.