History of Androscoggin County, Maine, Part 9

Author: Merrill, Georgia Drew, ed
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Boston, W.A. Fergusson & co.
Number of Pages: 1050

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42. WARBLING VIREO. VIREO GILVUS. Vicillot.

Similar in appearance to the red-eyed, the warbling vireo is distinguishable by the absence of the black line over the eye. This is one of the most beautiful singers that comes to us in the cities and towns, warbling, at short intervals, from the second week in May until September, a cheerful, long- continued strain in the trees that line our streets and roadsides. His voice is weak. but it is tenderly liquid.

43. YELLOW-THROATED VIREO. VIREO FLAVIFRONS. Vieillot.

Olive head and slate-blue rump. Yellow throat and white beneath. Tail- feathers white-edged. This is the handsomest of the vireos and probably the least common, although often seen here during their passage.

THE BIRDS OF ANDROSCOGGIN COUNTY.

44. BLUE-HEADED VIREO. VIREO SOLITARIUS. Wilson.

Olive back and white around the eyes. Whitish beneath, with yellow undersides. Distinguishable by its dark ashy-blue head. Arriving the earliest of all the vireos late in April or early in May, they are quite, abundant for a short time, after which they pass farther north, perhaps a few remaining to breed here. They also linger the last of the vireos in their retrograde migration.

Ninth Family - Laniidæ.

45. NORTHERN SHRIKE. LANIUS BOREALIS. Vieillot.

Snuff-colored back, dark wings, rippled breast, and white-edged tail. This is the " butcher-bird," who exercises his cruel and tyrannical disposition in our county, from October to April, on small birds, mice, and such insects and larvæ as are in exposed situations. He is the "white whisky-John " of the Indians and has been very suggestively designated by Dr Wheaton as the " bushwhacker among birds." Sometimes he is attracted even into the cities after the English sparrows that throng our streets, and he has the peculiar habit of impaling his prey on some thorn or stub after he has torn off its head and taken its brain, for the shrike is a great believer in brain food. He seizes his quarry in his bill with unerring aim, usually darting from some lookout where he has been quietly perched, with his fiery red eye wide open for the opportunity. Only occasional instances are given of their breeding in the United States and never in Androscoggin county, its accustomed nesting haunts being farther north.

46. LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE. LANIUS LUDOVICIANUS. Linnaeus.

Similar to No. 45 in habits and appearance, with the exception of being somewhat smaller. A black line running above its eyes and beak is its distinguishing characteristic. This shrike is much less common than the former, but has been taken in the county. The nests of both shrikes have been found in Maine.

Tenth Family - Ampelidæ.

47. CEDAR WAXWING. AMPELIS CEDRORUM. Vieillot.

This gipsy-like bird, with his sleek coat of an indescribable snuff-brown color, looks as if he had just stepped out of that traditional bandbox from which some scrupulously neat persons are supposed to emerge. A gentleman of leisure in the midst of a busy world, he delays the shackles of wedded life until late in the season, and usually it is the first of July before their bulky nest appears, built in some cedar or orchard tree. Dr Cones aptly describes their insignificant note as a "weak and wheezy whistle." They are sociable, amiable, and affectionate in disposition, and seem to have quite a code of genteel manners, as is illustrated by their peculiar habit, which I had the good fortune once to observe, of daintily passing an insect or berry back and forth from beak to beak before eating it, as if out of pure politeness. In the earlier

HISTORY OF ANDROSCOGGIN COUNTY.

part of the season they feed on the insects and their larvæ, which are so injurious to the fruit trees, but later, as the cherries ripen, they turn them- selves into generous paymasters for their own valuable services, much to the annoyance of the farmer, who only secs his cherries disappearing before his very eyes. Still later, in "dog-days," when the small fruits become less plenty, the " cherry-birds " take a few weeks' hunting excursion for insects up the streams and lakes, and by September their summer vacation is over.

Eleventh Family - Hirundinidæ.

This well-defined group of insectivorous birds is distributed all over the world, about one hundred species being nominally recorded. They are great housekeepers and, returning usually in April, they build their peculiar nests, not so much in concealment as in inaccessible places. They often return year after year to the same nest. Graceful and dextrous in flight, they scarcely ever use their feet, relying on their pinions for locomotion. The following are the only representatives of this family in this county, the so-called " chimney swallow " belonging to an entirely different family, the Cypselide.

48. PURPLE MARTIN. PROGNE SUBIS. Linnous.

This loquacious and interesting bird is the largest of the swallows, and has come to be familiar in many localities where bird houses have been erected for his occupancy. He is something of a city bird, since his choice for a nesting- place in the country is too often disputed for his comfort by the blue birds, wrens, and tree swallows. They formerly built in hollow trees, but since bird houses have been constructed for them they keep abreast of civilization and occupy these. It requires two years for the young to attain the beautiful purple-black color of the adult. The male has been observed occasionally to stay at home on the eggs during incubation, like a dutiful spouse, and give the female a short afternoon out. He often has pitched battles with the king bird, and also the irrepressible English sparrow with whom he has had a misunder- standing from time immemorial. Their food is principally flies, wasps, bees, and beetles, and their song is noisy and loud, but quite pleasant.

49. CLIFF OR EAVES SWALLOW. PETROCHELIDON LUNIFRONS. Say.

Ash colored crescent on the head. This bird was originally a South American species, and it has slowly migrated north until it has reached Maine in abundance. They build their flask-shaped nests of mud usually under the eaves of barns and sheds where their unmusical, earnest, and not unpleasant creaking note, uttered as if with difficulty, becomes familiar to every one. They are called republicans from their social habits.

50. BARN SWALLOW. CHELIDON ERYTHROGASTER. Boddaert.

This most abundant of the swallows, flashing in and out of old barns in every country place, is the only one of the family with the forked, or typical, swallow tail. Like the other swallows, while abroad on his beautifully erratic

THE BIRDS OF ANDROSCOGGIN COUNTY.

and graceful flight, he eatches flying inseets in his mouth and sticks then together, by means of a peculiar mucus, into little balls which are afterwards fed to the young. The nest is a structure of mud pellets interwoven with straw or hay and lined with fine grasses, often a whole village of them being placed together in the rafters of a barn. Social, affectionate, and wonderfully active, they are always benefiting, and never injuring their human brothers. 51. TREE SWALLOW. TACHYCINETA BICOLOR. Vieillot.

White beneath and iridescent bluish-black above. These beautiful little inhabitants of the air are more conservative than some of their family, and still build in hollow trees and old woodpeckers' holes, as their ancestors did, although occasionally a pair will occupy the chinks of a building or a martin house. They have an especial fondness for water and linger quite late in autumn, depending somewhat on the weather for their departure.

52. BANK SWALLOW. CLIVICOLA RIPARIA. Linnaus.

Brown back, white throat, and dirty-tinged beneath. The least in size and the commonest of the swallows in such localities as are favorable for the construction of their remarkable nests. These nests are dug in, perpendicularly to the surface of some bank, usually from two to four feet, and all the work is done with the closed bill of the little bird. They possess a rapid, flickering flight, and delight to dip their breasts into the water as they skim over its surface in their zigzag course after insects. They are the shyest of all the swallows.

Twelfth Family -Tanagridæ.

53. SCARLET TANAGER. PIRANGA ERYTHROMELAS. Vieillot.

Mature male, bright scarlet with dark wings and tail, the scarlet being replaced in the female by dull olive. This bird is so brilliant that he attracts even the most careless eye as he flashes in the midst of the green foliage. The full color of the male is not attained until after the first year, and it fades in the autumn almost to the olive of the female. Although quite rare yet it has been repeatedly seen in Androscoggin county.

Thirteenth Family-Fringillidæ.

This is the feathered Smith family, being the largest and containing one- ninth of our North American birds. It includes the finches, grosbeaks, and crossbills, hailing chiefly from the north, and the vast army of sparrows, mostly from the south.

54. EVENING GROSBEAK. COCCOTHRAUSTES VESPERTINA. Cooper.

Yellowish brown, with black wings and tail and a large white spot on the upper part of the wing. Black on the head. A striking combination of black, white, and yellow. The nest and eggs of this very rare visitor have never been found. The birds themselves have been reported only a few times within the limits of the United States and, so far as I am informed, it has never been

HISTORY OF ANDROSCOGGIN COUNTY.

seen in Maine but once, when a male, in full plumage, was taken on the Bates College campus in Lewiston, January 10, 1890.

55. PINE GROSBEAK. PINICOLA ENUCLEATOR. Linnaus.

Male reddish. Female olive-green. With a large beak, as the name signifies. These birds are not uncommon visitors of our coniferous woods during the winter months, where they feed on young buds. Sometimes they visit an orchard for the seeds which they can pick out of the frozen apples which may be left hanging on the trees. Being good singers and quite tame, they are often taken into captivity as cage birds. They fly about in small flocks and are somewhat sluggish in their movements. Length, eight and one-half inches.

56. PURPLE FINCH. CARPODACUS PURPUREUS. Gmelin.

Male with reddish breast, fading away insensibly beneath and not attaining its color until the second year. Female olive. The only purple about this bird is in its name. Brilliant and lively in song, he holds rank as one of the sweetest, best, and most constant of our singers, and therefore he is often caged, when he is known as the red linnet. Although they have no proper crest, yet they are in the habit of erecting their crown feathers on occasion, and often after moulting, especially in captivity, their plumage turns to a yellowish color. They fly in compact flocks, usually alighting and starting up together. With the robin and cedar waxwing he forms the trinity of cherry-eaters.

57. AMERICAN CROSSBILL. LOXIA CURVIROSTRA MINOR. Brehm.

This winter resident, red-tinged in the male, is never mistaken when once his beak can be examined. The mandibles cross each other, this peculiar arrangement being especially adapted for prying out the pine-cone kernels on which the bird feeds. They are seen flying in flocks high overhead and alighting only in the tops of tall evergreens, and they utter a peculiar, whistling twitter while in flight. They nest very early and are quite erratic in their appearance, a flock being seen and three of them taken, in Lewiston, June 3, 1891.

58. WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL. LOXIA LEUCOPTERA. Gmelin.

Similar to but somewhat more rare than No. 57, and distinguishable by the marked white bars on the wings. They usually fly in company with the American crossbills and have been reported in the Arctic regions by Sir John Richardson. They were very abundant throughout the county in the winter of 1888-89, remaining even into the spring.

59. REDPOLL. ACANTHIS LINARIA. Linnaus.

Brown, with small red crown. These neat, hardy little snow-birds usually make their cheerful appearance after the first heavy snow fall, taking possession of fields and gardens wherever the weed-stalks and grasses lift up a supply of seeds above the snow. They are timid and easily alarmed, and in note

THE BIRDS OF ANDROSCOGGIN COUNTY.

and general habits resemble the goldfinches. They nest in the alders of Greenland and the Hudson Bay region, and their migration seems to be controlled rather by the food supply than the weather, as they are very erratic in appearance.

60. AMERICAN GOLDFINCH. SPINUS TRISTIS. Linnaeus.

Black cap, wings, and tail. The male bright yellow elsewhere, and the female olive green. This nomadic little dandy in feathers is regularly a summer resident, but occasionally he remains in the county all winter. They gather in large flocks in the autumn and can everywhere be heard, festooning their plaintive lisping twe-e twe-e through the air in their undulatory flight. For three-fourths of the year they are gregarious, and separate into pairs only long enough to build their peculiar felted nests and to rear one brood. They are called the " thistle birds " because they feed so largely on the seeds of the Canadian thistle.

61. PINE SISKIN. SPINUS PINUS. Wilson.

Olive green, black mottled, with a very pointed beak and considerably yellowish on the wings. This is the " pine finch." With querulous notes and undulatory flight they frequent thickets and underbrush in flocks. They are strictly seed-eaters, and are the rarest of the finches that visit us, with the exception, of course, of the evening grosbeak.

62. SNOWFLAKE. PLECTROPHENAX NIVALIS. Linnaeus.

In full dress much more nearly white than it is in its winter plumage. The "snow bunting " is always welcome when a flock of them come scurrying down in the teeth of a snow-storm to brighten a dreary winter day. They are entirely terrestrial and seed-eating in habits. One peculiarity about them is the fact that they change from winter to summer plumage by the fraying off of the ends of the feathers without moulting. They breed within the Arctic Circle, and are said to have a beautiful song in their far northern home.

63. VESPER SPARROW. POOCETES GRAMINEUS. Gmelin.

The individuality of this bird, often called the " grassfinch " or " bay-winged bunting," is betrayed chiefly by two or three white tail-feathers made conspic- nous in flight. He has been called the "poet of the pastures," and his soft, sweet, and somewhat plaintive strain is usually heard greeting the dying day, from which habit Mr Wilson Flagg christened him the " vesper bird." Their nest is built on the ground, and the mother bird will always do her best to decoy intruders by running before them in the grass, or even by feigning a broken wing, to attract attention when the safety of her trust becomes especially imperiled. They are summer residents, coming usually by the middle of April, and are fearless and unsuspicious of mankind in their general habits, neither seeking nor shunning human society. The eggs have a milky, yellowish tinge instead of the green of the song sparrow,

HISTORY OF ANDROSCOGGIN COUNTY.

64. SAVANNA SPARROW. AMMODRAMUS SANDWICHENSIS SAVANNA. Wilson.

It requires some experience to distinguish this sparrow away from his accustomed haunts of open, marshy ground and when he is not singing his peculiar trilling song. A yellowish line above the eye marks him for the near observer. They come early in April and, although they nest in open, marshy fields and swampy places, yet the nest itself, of coarse grass, is always sunken in the ground in a dry spot, and is usually somewhat elevated. Whenever the nest is approached they thread their way through the grass like a mouse. They are somewhat gregarious, and are eminently terrestrial. Chiefly in the morning their weak song is heard, resembling a thin insect trill in its volume and ventriloquistic properties.

65. WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW. ZONOTRICHIA LEUCOPHRYS. Forster.

The white of the crown separates two black stripes on either side rather narrower than itself. No yellow anywhere. This rare, transient visitor is quite irregular in his appearance, but sometimes passes through the county on his way to Labrador, where the young are reared. He pauses long enough sometimes to pour forth his beautiful song, perched in some tree and beating time with his eloquent tail. The song is loud, clear, and musical at first, with a touch of plaintiveness, diminishing in volume until it dies away at the last. 66. WHITE-THROATED SPARROW. ZONOTRICHIA ALBICOLLIS. Gmelin.

Yellowish stripes over the eyes. Edge of wings yellow. The female has no white on the throat. This handsome bird, often called the " peabody bird " from his song, sometimes nests in this county, although usually selecting higher altitudes or latitudes. They arrive by the third week of April and linger in the fall migration until late into November. Generally seen flying near the ground and seeking the shelter of low bushes. Their song, a series of clear whistles, is chanted often in concert in early morning and, in cloudy weather, is continued at intervals all day. Often in the dead of night also their sweet and plaintive pea-peubody-body-body is heard, when the effect is singularly striking in the midst of the stillness.

67. TREE SPARROW. SPIZELLA MONTICOLA. Gmelin.

Brown cap and barred wings with the under mandible of the beak yellow. A rare winter resident, nesting on the ground in Labrador and New- foundland. They are quite abundant about the middle of April during their northern migration, flying in flocks along the shrubbery and underbrush, and occasionally singing their soft, sweet song, which dissolves at last into a warble. They were remarkably abundant in Lewiston during the season of 1890-91.

68. CHIPPING SPARROW. SPIZELLA SOCIALIS. Wilson.

This little brown-capped citizen is one of the most widely distributed and abundant of all our birds. He has earned the name of "hair bird," from his skillful workmanship as an architect, weaving his little home, which is perched on some bush, out of hair and fine grass. Their song is a clear trill, and the

THE BIRDS OF ANDROSCOGGIN COUNTY.

young birds experience some noticeable difficulty at first in performing it. Very often it is heard in the night when it may be some overworked little chipper is breaking out in his troubled sleep, or more likely some restless little toiler is impatient for the break of day. Their chipping note, which they constantly utter and from which they are christened, sounds like chinking two pebbles sharply together.

69. FIELD SPARROW. SPIZELLA PUSILLA. Wilson.

Faded breast and reddish-yellow beak. This bird is not an uncommon summer resident of our fields, pastures, and scrublands, building a deep nest on the ground. His song is melodious and brilliant, and ordinarily sung at morning and night, but in cloudy weather he cheerfully volunteers to sing during the day. The song, which rivals that of the white-crowned and fox- colored sparrows, begins with three or four crescent-like notes which dwindle rapidly into a sweet trill. The whole has been very well described, as follows : fe-o-fe-o-fe-o-few-few-few-fee-fee-fee.

70. SLATE-COLORED JUNCO. JUNCO HYEMALIS. Linnaus.

Slate-colored back, and slate-colored bib very distinctly defined across the breast. White bill and white tail-feathers flirted in sight during flight. Cheery and bright, the "black snowbird " is an occasional winter resident, when they appear as the feathered prophets of a coming storm, but he is very abundant during the spring passage. Their migrations are quite irregular and uncertain, often in flocks with other birds, but they retire to the highlands to breed, seeming to be constitutionally unfit to endure much warm weather. Their song is a simple trill, in addition to which they are continually "sucking their teeth," as their peculiar note has been happily expressed. Their food consists of berries, seeds, and insects.

71. SONG SPARROW. MELOSPIZA FASCIATA. Gmelin.

His quaker-like garb is usually adorned by a blotch of black in the middle of the breast. Always welcome, this cheerful and hardy songster gets the start of the spring every year, being the earliest arrival of his family, coming with the bluebird and robin, and collecting in loose flocks for the return south in October. His hopeful, silvery, jubilant song is the song of all songs in the early spring, foretelling the joyous carnival to come. It is to be distinguished from that of the vesper, who joins the chorus later, by the two or three confident, piping notes with which it opens. The vesper has no such intro- duction, but begins in the middle of his song as if he had sung a part of it under his breath before opening his mouth. The song sparrow generally places his well-made nest on the ground, and usually rears at least two broods during the summer.

72. SWAMP SPARROW. MELOSPIZA GEORGIANA. Latham.

This brunette of the sparrows, with no distinctive mark on his breast like the song sparrow, is quite a rare summer resident of this county. His life

HISTORY OF ANDROSCOGGIN COUNTY.

history is but imperfectly known because of his secretiveness, and whenever his seclusion is intruded upon by some member of the human family in rubber boots, he shows his indignation by spiteful flirts of his expressive tail as he skulks from bush to bush among the swampy thickets.

73. FOX SPARROW. PASSERELLA ILIACA. Merrem.

Conspicuous from his beauty and size as well as his form, this rare visitor abounds for a short time in the middle of April and then disappears for his Arctie nesting grounds. Haunting shrubbery and undergrowth and frequently scratching among the leaves like the brown thrasher and ovenbird, whenever he is alarmed, instead of taking precipitous flight like many birds, he usually flies to some low perch and looks about for the cause of his alarm. His song, onee identified, is unmistakable, being a series of sweetly modulated tones terminated by a vocal twist that would turn Patti herself green with envy. 74. TOWHEE. PIPILO ERYTHROPHTHALMUS. Linnaeus.

Black back, chestnut sides, and white beneath. A red iris to his eye, and showing white tail feathers in flight. With as many aliases as the erookedest of us, this stylishly dressed scratcher-among-the-leaves answers, with a saucy flirt of his tail, to the names of " towhee," " chewink," and " joreet," because of his note, and "ground robin " and " marsh robin " because of his habits, although it is questionable how far the latter name is applicable. He is quite rare in this county, although he is very common farther south in New England. 75. ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK. HABIA LUDOVICIANA. Linnaeus.

The male has a black baek and, after the first year, a beautiful blood stain on his white breast. The female is more quietly dressed in light brown and white. Both have the big beak of the grosbeaks and are sometimes tamed as cage birds. Perhaps no one of our birds combines more attractions in beauty and song than this "rose bud " of the North American birds. Nuttall ranks him even next to the mocking-bird as a singer, and surely his rich rolling song, suggesting that of the robin at its start, entitles him to much praise. They feed on the seeds of birches and alders, berries and buds, and do not seorn an occasional indulgence in insects.

76. INDIGO BUNTING. PASSERINA CYANEA. Linnaeus.

Male dark, rich indigo, with black wings and tail, not acquiring its full color until after the first year. One would never suspect that the modest snuff-colored bird, with never a trace of blue about her, who follows this gaudy and vivacious bit of color, was his faithful mate. His song, given rapidly and often- even in the heat of noonday -consists of about six notes dimin- ishing in volume.

Fourteenth Family-Icteridæ.

These are the starlings of the old world, and they all have sharp beaks running well back into the head. They are walkers, and their eggs are beau- tifully marked.

THE BIRDS OF ANDROSCOGGIN COUNTY.

77. BOBOLINK. DOLICHONYX ORYZIVORUS. Linnaeus.

This merry minstrel of our meadows has a sufficiently changing indi- viduality to be called a feathered " Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde." Known to us as the most light-hearted and rollicking bird of the whole catalogue, appearing in his motley garb by the middle of May, before the summer is over the laugh has died out of his song and his theatrical plumage has become replaced by citizen's clothes. Late in August or early in September this reformed trouba- dour turns his course to the south, departing usually in the night, when his metallic chink from the blackness of the upper air falls on the ear of the belated traveler. In Pennsylvania he becomes the "reed-bird," where he turns himself into such a gourmand and becomes so plump that whole flocks are shot by gunners for the market. In the Carolinas he undergoes another change and is the "rice-bird," doing, according to the Agricultural Depart- ment, $2,500,000 yearly damage. In South America he is the "butter-bird," and after his songless winter is over he threads his way north to our New England meadows again, where he turns over a new leaf and rears his young, covering his multitude of sins by that most popular and jolly of all our summer songs. The young birds fly before the hay harvest, and the nests, although placed in open meadows on tussocks of grass, are rarely found except by accident. The bobolink with a hovering flight sings often in the air, and then his music sounds as if some musical winged bottle, with its stopper lost forever, was bubbling out its liquid contents over the green fields.

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History of Androscoggin County, Maine, Part 9

Author: Merrill, Georgia Drew, ed Publication date: 1891 Publisher: Boston, W.A. Fergusson & co. Number of Pages: 1050

Author: Merrill, Georgia Drew, ed
Publication date: 1891
Publisher: Boston, W.A. Fergusson & co.
Number of Pages: 1050