Ornithological biography, Vol. 3 (of 5)

Grous and Grouse John Bullow and John Bulow Ingalls and Ingals Lehman and Leehman lents and lints Magdaleine and Magdeleine Islands oppossum and opossum waggons and wagons Schuy...

Although the Canada Goose is considered as a northern species, the number of individuals that remain at all seasons in the milder latitudes, and in different portions of the Uni...

The flight of this species of Goose is firm, rather rapid, and capable of being protracted to a great extent. When once high in the air, they advance with extreme steadiness and...

Bill, feet, and claws black. Iris chestnut-brown. Head and two upper thirds of the neck glossy black; forehead, cheeks, and chin, tinged with brown; lower eyelid white; a broad...

The young, which are at first black, leave the nest as soon as they burst the shell, and follow their mother, who leads them along the borders of the streams and pools, where th...

Bill much longer than the head, slender, compressed, slightly curved, rather deep at the base. Upper mandible with the dorsal line almost straight until towards the end, where i...

I have known instances when the waters of a dam having been let out, for some reason better known to the miller than to myself, all the sun-fish have betaken themselves to one o...

The best season in which to procure these birds for the table is from the beginning of September until the first frost, their flesh being then tender, juicy, and in my opinion e...

The Young, when fledged, are of a greyish-brown colour all over, the breast and abdomen being merely a little lighter than the rest. The bill and claws are dusky, the tarsi and...

The flight of this bird is apparently weak by day, for then it seldom removes to a greater distance than a hundred yards at a time, and this, too, only when frightened in a mode...

It is by no means a constant practice with this species to breed in communities, whether large or small; for although I have seen many such associations, I have also found many...

Our Common Gull is seldom seen in the adult plumage of winter beyond the shores of Maryland southward, or in full summer plumage beyond the Bay of New York, and this rarely afte...

The young, while yet covered with down, are black, with a white patch on the belly. Their bills do not acquire much of the form which they ultimately have for several weeks; nor...

Bill long, very slender, flexible, nearly cylindrical, but towards the point tapering. Upper mandible with the dorsal line straight, excepting at the end, where it is a little c...

Talk to me of the stupidity of birds, of the dulness of the Wood Ibis! say it is fearless, easily approached, and easily shot. I listen, but it is merely through courtesy; for I...

The flesh of the young birds affords tolerable eating. The food of this species consists of small fry, water insects, worms, slugs, and snails, as well as leeches, tadpoles, and...

To satisfy yourself as to the correctness of the statements which he here lays before you, go to the desolate shores of Labrador. There, in the vernal month of June, place yours...

Some days afterwards, the same party took me on an expedition in quest of sea-shells. There we were all in the water at times to the waist, and now and then much deeper. Now the...

The flight of the Mallard is swift, strong, and well sustained. It rises either from the ground or from the water at a single spring, and flies almost perpendicularly for ten or...

Head and throat bare to beyond the eyes, as are the tibiæ nearly half way up. Plumage in general soft, unglossed, the feathers rather blended, those of the head and neck narrow...

Length to end of tail 18 inches, to end of wings 20, to end of claws 17; extent of wings 36-1/2; wing from flexure 12, tail 7; bill along the back 1-1/2, along the edge of lower...

The Cray is certainly not a fish, although usually so styled; but as every one is acquainted with its form and nature, I shall not inflict on you any disquisition regarding it....

It was nearly full-grown when I obtained it, and its plumage was changing from greyish-brown to white. Its figure you will see in the plate to which this article refers. I recei...

I have often thought that water-birds, ducks for example, like land-birds which migrate in flocks, are very apt to pass over the place where others of the same kind had been bef...

Bill light greyish-blue, the unguis blackish. Iris yellow. Feet greyish-blue, the webs and claws black. The head, the whole neck, and the fore part of the back and breast black,...

The Long-billed Curlew is a constant resident in the southern districts of the United States, whereas the other species are only autumnal and winter visitors. It is well known b...

Plumage on the upper parts strong and imbricated, on the lower blended and glossed; on the head and neck soft and blended, the feathers of the upper part of the head elongated a...

Whilst in ponds, they feed by diving and dabbling with their bills in the mud amongst the roots of grasses, of which they eat the seeds also, as well as snails and all kinds of...

While residing at Henderson in Kentucky, I became acquainted with a gentleman who had just returned from the country in the neighbourhood of the head waters of the Arkansas Rive...

The Night Heron undergoes three annual changes of plumage ere it attains its perfect state, although many individuals breed in the spring of the third year. After the first autu...

Although the curious form of their feet, and the situation of their legs, might induce one to suppose these birds incapable of moving on land with ease, experience proves the co...

The tea-drinking having in due time come to an end, young BEWICK, to amuse me, brought a bagpipe of a new construction, called the Durham Pipe, and played some simple Scotch, En...

This Gull is excessively shy and vigilant, so that even at Labrador we found it difficult to procure it, nor did we succeed in obtaining more than about a dozen old birds, and t...

Space between the bill and eye, and around the latter, bare, as is the lower half of the tibia. Plumage soft and blended. Feathers of the upper and hind part of the head, very l...

The nest is formed with more labour than art, being composed of a quantity of withered rushes and plants, interwoven in a circular form, frequently from two to three inches thic...

The fact that the Eider Duck breeds on our eastern coasts, must be interesting to the American Ornithologist, whose fauna possesses but few birds of this family that do so. The...

Bill about the length of the head, deeper than broad at the base, somewhat depressed towards the end, which is broad and rounded. Upper mandible with a soft tumid substance at t...

This bird retires to rest on the floating beds of rushes met with in ponds, or on the edges of the shores; and in such places you may see it sitting upright, and dressing its pl...

One of our fellow-travellers, named ROSE, who was a delicate and gentlemanly person, acknowledged that he was not a good walker, and said he was glad that my son was with us, as...

At all periods the Brown Pelican keeps in flocks, seldom amounting to more than fifty or sixty individuals of both sexes, and of different ages. At the approach of the pairing t...

The nest of the Florida Cormorant is of rather a small size, being only eight or nine inches in diameter. It is formed of sticks crossing each other, and is flat, without any ap...

Bill long, very slender, flexible, flattened towards the end. Upper mandible with the dorsal line straight, the ridge flattened, the sides at the base sloping, but towards the e...

The Reddish Egret is a constant resident on the Florida Keys, to which it is so partial at all seasons that it never leaves them. Some individuals are seen as far east as Cape F...

My son, accompanied by the captain and four sailors, sailed for Cormorant Island, on which, however, they found great difficulty in landing, for the surf broke so fearfully as t...

I have not seen the young of this species when small; but from the knowledge I have of those of other Grebes, I feel pretty certain that the notions entertained of their being c...

Head rather large, ovate. Neck short and thick. Body rather full. Feet very short; tibia bare for a considerable space; tarsus extremely short, roundish, covered all round with...

This singular animal is found more or less abundant in most parts of the Southern, Western, and Middle States of the Union. It is the _Didelphis virginiana_ of PENNANT, HARLAN,...

The Common Cormorant walks in a waddling and awkward manner, but at a good pace, and leaps from one stone to another, assisting itself with its wings, and occasionally with the...

There is a kind of innocent simplicity in our Woodcock, which has often excited in me a deep feeling of anxiety, when I witnessed the rude and unmerciful attempts of mischievous...

“The Greenshank is seen in the Outer Hebrides early in spring, and generally departs in October, although I have observed individuals there in November. Previous to the commence...

One morning, that of the 22d of June, the weather sultry, I was surprised, on getting out of my hammock, which was slung on deck, to find the water all around swarming with Dolp...

This bird, though rare on the coast of the United States, visits the shores of Massachusetts and Maine, where, during winter, it is seen over the bays and inlets, to which vario...

The Willets retire to the interior of the larger salt-marshes for the purpose of forming their nests and raising their broods in security. There, in the vicinity of the shallow...

Head large, compressed. Neck rather short. Body bulky and much depressed. Feet very short, strong, placed rather far behind; tarsus very short, compressed, anteriorly having a s...

The Black Tern begins to arrive from the Mexican territories over the waters of the Western Country, about the middle of April, and continues to pass for about a month. At that...

The boats parted again, and it was now arranged that whenever a Heron was killed, another shot should be fired exactly one minute after, by which each party would be made aware...

Bill about the same length as the head, rather slender, nearly as deep as broad at the base, compressed towards the end, slightly curved upwards, with the tips decurved. Upper m...

Neither WILSON nor NUTTALL seem to have been aware of the regularity with which this species migrates through the United States. When I shewed a drawing of it to the first of th...

Head small, oblong, anteriorly narrowed. Eyes large. Neck rather long and slender. Body slender. Feet long and slender; tibia bare nearly half its length, scutellate before and...

I was much pleased with the humanity of our host, and requested him to let me know when all the Gulls, or the greater part of them, would abandon the trees and resume their form...

Between the orifice of the œsophagus and the pylorus is a rounded lobe, from the lower part of which the intestine comes off. The pylorus has no valve, but a thick marginal rim....

Mr SELBY thus speaks of it in the second volume of his Illustrations:—“The Bernicle is amongst the number of our winter visitants, annually resorting in vast numbers, upon the a...

They skim very low over the sea in search of the floating bunches of marine plants, usually called the Gulf Weed, so abundant here as sometimes to occupy a space of half an acre...

The _Colymbi_ or _Divers_ have the end of the toe very narrow and flat, with a single small rounded terminal plate, and numerous small scales behind it. These birds have the cla...