FOOTNOTES:
[1] For December, 1858.
[2] A recent English writer upon this subject presents an array of facts and considerations that do not support this view. He says that, with very few exceptions, it is the rule that, when both sexes are of strikingly gay and conspicuous colors, the nest is such as to conceal the sitting bird; while, whenever there is a striking contrast of colors, the male being gay and conspicuous, the female dull and obscure, the nest is open and the sitting bird exposed to view. The exceptions to this rule among European birds appear to be very few. Among our own birds, the cuckoos and blue jays build open nests, without presenting any noticeable difference in the coloring of the two sexes. The same is true of the pewees, the king-bird, and the sparrows, while the common bluebird, the oriole, and orchard starling afford examples the other way.
[3] I am aware that the redstart is generally classed among the fly-catchers, but its song, its form, and its habits are in every respect those of a warbler. Its main fly-catcher mark is its beak, but to the muscicapa proper it presents little or no resemblance to the general observer.
INDEX.
| PAGE | |
| Audubon, | 231 , 241 |
| Birds, as to nesting, classified, | 143 |
| songs of various, | 17 , 18 , 52 , 53 , 67 |
| distribution of, in a locality, | 29 |
| geographically, | 50 |
| instinct of cleanliness in, | 116 |
| propagation in, | 119 |
| relations of the sexes of, | 118 |
| Blackbird, Crow, | 157 |
| Bluebird, | 12 , 13 , 211–224 |
| Bobolink, | 163 |
| Bunting, Black-throated, | 164 |
| Cow, | 18 , 70 |
| Buzzard, Turkey, | 152 |
| Cat-bird, | 36 |
| Cedar-bird, | 100 , 111 , 160 |
| Chat, Yellow-breasted, | 172 |
| Chickadee, | 122 |
| Creeper, Black and White, | 80 |
| Crow, | 152 |
| Cuckoo, Black-billed, | 23 , 24 |
| Yellow-billed, | 23 |
| Dakota Skylark, | 243 , 244 |
| Eagles, The, | 141 |
| Finch, Pine, | 86 , 100 |
| Purple, | 69 , 86 |
| Finches, The, | 238 |
| Fly-catchers, The, | 236 |
| Gnatcatcher. | 134 |
| Goldfinch, American, | 112 |
| Blue, | 129 |
| Cardinal, | 174 |
| Grossbeak, Rose-breasted, | 67 |
| Grouse, Canada, | 107 , 206 |
| Hawk, Hen, | 43 |
| Pigeon, | 42 |
| Red-tailed, | 132 |
| Heron, Great Blue, | 90 |
| Humming-bird, | 67 , 101 , 133 |
| Indigo-bird, | 126 |
| Jay, Canada, | 250 |
| King-bird, | 62 |
| Kinglets, The, | 240 |
| Lark, Shore, | 155 |
| Larks, The, | 244 |
| Oriole, Baltimore, | 126 , 135 |
| Orchard, | 162 |
| Owl, Screech, | 63 |
| Partridge, | 75 |
| Pewees, The, | 62 , 140 |
| Phœbe-bird, | 16 , 63 , 139 |
| Redbird, | 174 |
| Robin, | 14 , 126 |
| Skylark, Dakota, | 243 , 244 |
| Snow-bird, | 55 , 86 , 127 |
| Sparrow, Canada, | 157 |
| Chipping, | 18 , 41 , 124 |
| Field, | 24 , 238 |
| Fox, | 163 |
| White-throated, | 86 |
| Wood, or Bush, | 26 , 126 |
| Sparrows, The, | 238 |
| Swallows, The, | 117 , 124 , 161 |
| Tanager, Scarlet, | 68 |
| Tern, Sooty, | 250 |
| Thrush, Golden-crowned, | 64 |
| Gray-cheeked, | 242 |
| Hermit, | 33 , 57 , 59 , 100 |
| Louisiana Water, | 171 |
| New York Water, | 203 , 243 |
| Wilson’s, | 35 , 56 , 161 |
| Wood, | 31 , 34 , 57 , 187 , 190 |
| Thrushes, The, | 237 |
| Titlark, American, | 244 |
| Vireo, Red-eyed, | 54 , 132 , 235 |
| Solitary, | 130 |
| Warbling, | 80 |
| White-eyed, | 28 , 234 |
| Vireos, The, | 234 |
| Veery, | 35 , 56 , 161 |
| Wren, Winter, | 12 , 28 , 55 |
| Wrens, The, | 240 |
| Wagtails, The, | 245 |
| Warbler, Audubon’s, | 87 |
| Blackburnian, | 58 |
| Black-throated Blue-back, | 79 |
| Black-throated Green-back, | 79 |
| Blue-Gray (or Gnatcatcher), | 134 , 171 |
| Blue, Yellow-back, | 58 |
| Chestnut-sided, | 78 |
| Kentucky, | 170 |
| Mourning Ground, | 77 , 131 |
| Speckled Canada, | 70 , 73 , 87 |
| Varied Creeping, | 80 , 130 |
| Warblers, The, | 171 , 232 |
| Woodpecker, Downy, | 19 , 115 |
| Golden-winged, | 17 , 20 |
| Red-headed, | 113 , 174 |
| Yellow-bellied, | 115 , 204 |
Transcriber's Notes
- All obvious punctuation errors have been corrected.
- Hyphenation has been normalised.
- Pg 22. The word ‘wanderdering’ was changed to ‘wandering.’
- Pg 36. The extra ‘the’ was removed from the following sentence, “It has the the nightingale's habit of singing in the twilight, as indeed have all our thrushes.”
- Pg 56. The word ‘intruder’ was changed to ‘intruders.’
- Pg 65. The word ‘for’ was changed to ‘far’ in the following sentence, “He has a for rarer song, which he reserves for some nymph whom he meets in the air.”
- Pg 76. The word ‘righful’ was changed to ‘rightful.’
- Pg 76. The second occurence of the word ‘when’ was removed from the following sentence, “Scarcely have the trees expanded their buds, when, in the still April mornings, or toward nightfall, when you hear the hum of his devoted wings.”
- Pg 91. The sentence, “In the woods are sounds and voices, and a dumb kind of companionship; one is little more than a walking tree himself; but come upon these one of mountain-lakes, and the wildness stands relieved and meets you face to face”, has been changed to “In the woods are sounds and voices, and a dumb kind of companionship; one is little more than a walking tree himself; but come upon one of these mountain-lakes, and the wildness stands relieved and meets you face to face”.
- Pg 104. The word ‘docdor’ was changed to ‘doctor.’
- Pg 108. The words ‘over night’ were changed to ‘over-night.’
- Pg 120. The word ‘cannnot’ was changed to ‘cannot.’
- Pg 126. The word ‘linging’ was changed to ‘lining.’
- Pg 128. A comma has been added to the sentence, “Among the five, the nest that interested me most was that of the blue grossbeak.”
- Pg 173. The word ‘duke’ was changed to ‘duck.’
- Pg 184. The word ‘nighfall’ was changed to ‘nightfall.’
- Pg 192. One occurrence of the word ‘the’ was removed from the following sentence, “After looking in vain for the line of marked trees, we moved off to the the left in a doubtful, hesitating manner, keeping on the highest ground and blazing the trees as we went.”
- Pg 251. The word ‘parti-webbed’ was retained as it may have been a word intentionally invented by the author.