USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Littleton > History of Littleton, New Hampshire, Vol. I > Part 7
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The Pectoral Sandpiper ( Tringa maculata) is another passenger that is most likely to be seen between August 20th and October 20th. It follows the shore or the marsh, as suits its fancy, not being strictly a beach bird. Its length is nine inches and extent seventeen. Excepting the black rump, the upper parts are dusky, each feather having a whitish margin. The feathers across the breast are light buff, with dusky medials. The throat and abdo- men are white. Though the Pectoral Sandpiper is near the size of the Spotted and Solitary, it may be told from the one by having no light bar across the wing as it flies, and from the other by the absence of white in its tail.
The Greater Yellow Legs ( Totanus melanoleucus), like the Least Sandpiper, is a casual visitor so far inland. It weighs about the same as the Upland Sandpiper, but is taller and slenderer gener- ally. It is always found in the vicinity of water. Its length is nearly fourteen inches, and extent about two feet. The rump is white, elsewhere an ashy gray prevails. Its legs are very long and yellow, whence its name.
The Lesser Yellow Legs ( Totanus flavipes) is a miniature of the preceding, occurring under similar circumstances. Its length is eleven inches, and extent twenty.
The Ruffed Grouse ( Bonasa umbellus), better known in New England as the Partridge, is too well known to need describing.
The Spruce Grouse, or Canada Partridge (Dendragapus cana- densis), replaces the common Partridge as we go northward, and so far overlaps the limits of the latter's domain as to be occasion- ally found as far south as this. It is smaller than our Partridge, and looks nearly black as it flies, but in the hand shows marks of tawny or gray. Its favorite habitat is the evergreen swamps, and it is thus sometimes spoken of as the Swamp Partridge.
The Quail ( Ortyx virginiana), often called " Bob White " from its lusty whistle, finds our northern winters too severe to be borne without great danger, and rarely appears here. It lives in fields and pastures rather than in woodland. The males now and then stray in summer far away from their families, and at such times are most likely to be seen with us. Its plumage is the same neutral mixture which belongs to the Ruffed Grouse, though it has neither ruffs nor showy tail. It has the same short, rounded, vaulted wings, and flushes with the same startling flutter. Its weight is about eight ounces.
Two generations ago the Wild or Passenger Pigeons ( Ectopistes
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The Birds of Littleton.
migratorius) were slaughtered by thousands with net and gun throughout New Hampshire. To-day it is practically unknown in the State. It considerably resembles the iridescent varieties of doves that haunt the village street, only the blue is rather lighter, and the breast has a rich chestnut hue that the tame birds lack. Its tail also differs from the pet in being long and tapering, and varying from black middle feathers to blue intermediates and white outer ones.
Another species, the Mourning or Turtle Dove ( Zenaidura macroura), rarely wanders so far north, but has been detected here. It is about two-thirds as large as the Wild Pigeon, with the same figure and practically the same coloring, except for a black spot on each side of the liead. Its length is twelve and a half inches, and its extent is about eighteen.
The Marsh Hawk ( Circus hudsonicus) is the common hawk that glides with rigid wing over cleared land in search of frogs, mice, and other vermin. It is to be known at a glance by its conspic- uous white rump. The male is of a light slate color, while the female and young of the year are dark brown. They are bene- ficial birds to agriculture, and deserve protection and encour- agement. Males measure about eighteen inches in length and forty-two in extent. Females are larger.
The Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter fuscus) is one of the smaller species that are indiscriminately called chicken hawks. Its legs and feet are long and slender, which give the bird its name. All hawks vary greatly in color according to age. Old Sharpshins are slaty above, and the breast feathers are marked by cross lines of brown. Young ones are umber brown above, and the stripes of the breast feathers run lengthwise. The outline of the upper mandible of this species is curved, but without any abrupt angles or projections which may be called teeth, - a. dis- . tinction from the Pigeon Hawk, as will be seen when the latter bird is described. This is one of the worst enemies to the poultry- yard. Males are eleven inches long and twenty-one in extent ; females are thirteen inches long and twenty-five in extent.
The Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperi) is a precise counterpart of the Sharp-shinned Hawk on a larger plan. The structure, color variations, and food habits of the two are practically iden- tical. The female is twenty inches long and nearly three feet in extent ; the male is considerably smaller, being about sixteen inches long and thirty across the wings.
The Goshawk ( Accipiter atricapillus) is a fierce variety that rarely breeds in this latitude, but usually appears late in the fall
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History of Littleton.
or in early spring, and scatters consternation all along its course. It does not hesitate to attack full-grown hens, even under the eye of their owner, and frequently comes to grief by its rashness. The difference between young and old birds is striking. The young are similar to other youthful accipiters, - umber above and with longitudinal stripes of brown beneath. Adults are bluish slate above, blackish on the head, with a white line over each eye ; the under parts are paler than the back, and finely barred with white, and streaked with narrow black lines ; the tail has four dark bars. The female is two feet long and nearly four in extent, the tail occupying eleven inches of the length. Males are smaller.
The commonest large hawk that remains through the summer, and sometimes throughout the year, is the Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo borealis). It does but little harm to the farmyard, as its food is chiefly limited to mice and other small vermin. It is one of the varieties that soar in circles high in the air the while it utters its piercing cry. The species is named from the reddish chestnut which covers the upper side of its tail. Otherwise they are brown above; the under parts are white, more or less shaded with brown streaks. Young birds have the tail gray, with six to ten dark bands, and the breast heavily marked with brown. They measure about two feet in length and four feet or more in extent. This is one of the popularly called Hen-Hawks. There are several species that are promiscuously called by the same name. They are all sturdily built birds that seem able to cope successfully with large game, yet their mission is plainly to contend with the small crea- tures that are generally harmful to man, and they deserve more kindly regard than they get.
The Red-Shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) has a more south- erly range than the Red-tail, and is therefore less common here. Its average length is about twenty inches ; and extent, three and a half feet. Its habits are similar to its larger relative's, as is its coloration, except that its tail is dark brown, crossed by narrow white lines; and its breast and the bend of its wings are quite ruddy or fulvus, though there is considerable variation as to depth of color in different specimens. Young birds show no fulvus on the breast, though it is present on the angle of the wings, - plain enough to identify them.
A more rare Buteo than either of the others is the Broad-winged Hawk (Buteo latissimus). It is smallest of the trio, the female measuring eighteen inches in length and forty from tip to tip; the inale being rather less. The upper parts of this hawk are dark umber ; the tail has three or four black bars across it which show
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The Birds of Littleton.
dimly through to the nether surface. The under parts are streaked with umber. Heavy maxillary lines of brown are diagnostic points.
The Rough-legged Hawk (Archibuteo lagopus) has the build and the nature of the last three species. It is a denizen of marsh land, where it feeds on mice, frogs, snakes, and insects. It breeds in the northern regions, and is not likely to be seen here except during migration. This species is subject to excessive variation in color, ranging from black throughout to gray above and white beneath. But it is always known by having its legs feathered clear down to the foot. In size it equals the Red-tail.
The Sparrow Hawk (Falco sparverius) is at once the smallest and prettiest of the family. It may be found breeding now and then in a hollow tree, but is most plentiful at the autumnal migra- tion during the last ten days of September, when one or more may be seen on nearly every cleared hilltop on the watch for grass- hoppers from a convenient branch or fence-stake. This hawk belongs to the Falcon family, which is distinguished by a notch and a tooth near the end of the upper mandible. The prevailing color above is chestnut, more or less marked with black; the crown is ashy blue, usually with a chestnut tract in the centre ; below they are creamy, striped, or dotted with chestnut. The sexes are of the same size, - eleven inches long and twenty-two in extent.
The Pigeon Hawk ( Falco columbarius), often confounded with the Sharp-shinned Hawk, has a true falcon's bill, which is the readiest method by which it may be known when one has a speci- men in hand. So far as color or size go, it is not to be distin- guished from the Sharp-shinned Hawk, but it is of a more robust build, and flaps more steadily as it flies. Its wings are also more pointed. The Pigeon Hawk is of uncommon occurrence with us.
The Duck Hawk, or Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus), is an- other falcon of only casual occurrence. It is an exceedingly fierce bird that apparently disdains carrion and ignoble frogs and mice. It destroys numberless grouse and ducks, hesitating at nothing that is not much larger than itself. Its color is slaty, finely barred above, with lighter and darker hues ; its under parts are whitish, more or less checkered with black ; its throat is clear white, which extends up back of the eyes, bringing out black maxillary patches in sharp relief. Its length is about eighteen inches and its extent forty or more.
The Bald Eagle (Haliactus leucocephalus), famous as the em- blem of the Republic, though the largest in alar expanse among our birds, is after all a very ordinary sort of fowl when its habits
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History of Littleton.
are considered. Its life is spent in the vicinity of water, gather- ing carrion fish cast up by the waves, robbing the Osprey, or when worse comes to worst, fishing for himself. Adult birds have head, neck, and tail white ; while the body is nearly black. Young birds, three years old or less, are dark brown or black. Average specimens weigh about nine pounds, and measure seven feet in extent, but there is considerable variation from this average.
The Golden Eagle ( Aquila chrysaëtus) is as fond of the moun- tains as the Bald Head is of water. It feeds on wild fowl and mammals, and has been known to kill young lambs. Its size is practically the same as that of the Bald Eagle, and young birds greatly resemble those of the other species; but Golden Eagles may be known at once, whatever the age, by the presence of feathers on the shank of the leg quite to the toes, a feature not possessed by Bald Eagles. Adult Golden Eagles are a dark golden brown, with white tails having a subterminal band of black. They have been known to breed in the Franconia Mountains.
The Fish Hawk, or Osprey ( Pandion haliactus), comes sailing up the Connecticut valley every spring, as soon as the ice is out, to enjoy a feast of fresh-water fish. Its long, crooked wings pro- claim the bird as far as one can see it. At a little distance its upper parts seem black, and head, neck, and under parts white. A black line running back from the eye is noticeable. Its feet are coarsely granular on the bottoms, the better to hold its slip- pery prey. Its measurements are two feet in lengtli, and four and a half to five feet in extent.
The Barred Owl (Syrnium nebulosum) is common for an owl. Its tremulous looting is to be heard as night draws on or during rainy days. It holds to the woods very closely and rarely invades the farmyard, preferring a diet of mice and other small nocturnal creatures to domestic fowls. It has no ear tufts. Its color is a uniform ashy, barred with white. Females measure twenty inches in length, and forty-four in extent. Males are a little less.
The Arcadian Owl, or Saw Whet (Nyctala arcadia), is a diminu- tive little owl, whose plucked body is hardly larger than a robin's. The notes of this species are said to resemble the filing of a mill- saw. Its color is light chocolate, almost ashy, slightly variegated with white. It has no ear tufts. Its length is eight inches. This is a highly useful species, as it lives largely on insects, with now and then a mouse or mole:
On rare occasions during the inclement season the beautiful Arctic Owl, or Snowy Owl (Nyctea nyctea), visits this region. It is known at once by its color, which is white more or less covered
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with brown spots. It is about two feet long, and nearly five from tip to tip.
Another winter visitor is the Hawk Owl (Siurnia ulula), a bird with an owl's face and feet, but with diurnal habits and a hawk's form. It is brown, mottled and barred with white. Its face is ashy, with a black border. Its tail is long and barred with white. Its length is sixteen inches, and wing-breadth thirty-two.
The Great Horned Owl ( Bubo virginianus) is the only large variety with ear tufts. It is a powerful bird, that makes no bones of killing hares, partridges, hens, and even skunks. Its back is dark brown ; the under parts are a mixture of light and dark shades of brown. The most conspicuous color mark on its body is a white crescent on the throat. Its dimensions are two feet in length, and four to five from tip to tip. Like the Barred Owl, this species " hoots."
The Screech Owl (Megascops asio) has a well-earned reputation for making uncanny sounds in the middle of summer nights which are very trying to timid people. It is harmless, however, to every- thing but mice and shrews, and such other small animals as it may find on its crepuscular rambles. A strange difference in col- oration is noted between specimens of this species. The normal color is ashy-gray, many feathers having a black line down the midrib, the under parts being white sharply marked with black stripes. The abnormal coloration consists of a change from the ordinary gray and white to brick-red, so that now and then a Screech Owl is found that is red, with a few white marks on his back, and black stripes beneath. Both kinds have been found in the same nest. There is no theory that will satisfactorily explain the matter. This is one of the eared varieties. Its length is ten inches, and extent twenty-two.
The Black-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus erythrophthalmus) is the common cuckoo that haunts thickets, and is said to prophesy rain when it sings. Whoever examines a cuckoo will find that it has two toes in front and two behind, contrary to the ordinary plan of a bird's foot, which has three toes in front and only one behind. Its bill will be seen to be rather long and curved downward. Its back is olive-brown and under parts white. Its tail is nearly half its entire length, which is twelve inches. With the exception of a small portion of the lower mandible, which may be yellowish, its bill is black. Its tail-feathers are tipped with white.
The Yellow-billed Cuckoo ( Coccyzus americanus) finds its northern limit at about this latitude, and at best is only an occa- sional summer resident. It closely resembles the last species, but
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History of Littleton.
is distinguished by larger dimensions, entire lower mandible and a portion of the upper yellow ; and tail-feathers, except the mid- dle ones, black, with conspicuous white tips. Its cuckoo note can hardly be told from the Black-bill's.
Both of our cuckoos, unlike the parasite of England, build nests of their own, and attend to their increase.
The noisy Kingfisher ( Ceryle alcyon) haunts ponds and streams, where it is a veritable terror to the small fry. It plunges head- first into the water, and captures its prey with its spear-like bill. This bird is too well known to need an extended description either of habit or dress. Its upper parts are bluish drab, and under parts white, with a bluish belt across the breast. Females have a second belt of brown lower down. Its length is about thirteen inches.
Of all our woodpeckers none are so well known as the Downy Woodpecker (Dryobatis pubescens). It is the small species that often comes to the orchard and makes a diligent search for insects. No bird is a more persistent benefactor to humanity than this little woodpecker. Sometimes it pecks holes in trees, to be sure, but the hole will go no farther, while the borer that he drilled for and killed would have spoiled the tree, and besides that would have changed into a beetle that would have deposited many eggs to make other borers for the destruction of other trees. The wise husbandman will cherish the woodpeckers for the sake of his forest. The Downy is black, with a white stripe along his back, and many round white spots on his wings; his under parts are white. Males have a narrow bar of crimson on their heads which is not found on the other sex. This species is hardly seven inches in length.
The Hairy Woodpecker ( Dryobates villosus) is a close copy of the Downy on a larger scale. Like the last, it remains with us throughout the year. It is rather shy, and spends most of its time in the woods. It is about ten inches long.
The Pileated Woodpecker ( Ceophleus pileatus), often called Logcock or Black Woodcock, may well be termed the plumed knight of the forest. He is essentially a woods bird, loving old- growth trees, and rarely venturing out in open land. In size he is nearly as large as a crow. His loud hammering announces his presence while yet afar off ; but if one would approach him it must be done very cautiously, for the Pileated Woodpecker is a wary bird, and early detects danger. Black is the prevailing color, varied with a white line down each side of the neck, and a long scarlet crest.
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The Birds of Littleton.
The Black-backed Three-toed Woodpecker ( Picoides arcticus) is to be classed as an occasional winter visitant and a possible resi- dent. It is peculiar in having but three toes on a foot, one of the hind digits being wanting. It spends most of its time among coniferous trees, clearing them of such insect larvæ as infest the bark. It is slightly larger than the common Hairy Woodpecker, but is not to be confounded with the latter for a moment. The Black-back is entirely black above, heavily shaded on the sides, and white beneath. The male has a square patch of yellow on its crown.
The Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus), though very abundant in the Southern and Western States, is only a straggler here. It is similar in size to the Hairy, but its coloration is noticeably different. Its head and neck are scarlet ; the belly, rump, and middle third of the wings are white; the rest of its body is a glossy blue-black.
The Yellow-bellied Woodpecker (Sphyrapicus varius) is fairly common locally, though one may often go miles without finding any. This species is more given to a vegetable diet than any of its congeners, and when wild fruits are ripe spends most of its time in their vicinity. This is a gayly dressed bird, with crimson crown and throat, black breast, yellowish abdomen, and variegated black and sulphury back. The sexes are similar, except that females have white throats. The size of this species does not materially differ from the two preceding.
The Flicker (Colaptes auratus) is locally known by various names, such as Yellow Hammer, High Holer, Woodwall, Pigeon Woodpecker, and Harry Wicket. Its habits differ considerably from other species of woodpeckers. It procures most of its food from the ground, subsisting largely upon ants. Its upper parts are mostly brown, with black cross markings on the back ; a large spot of white covers the rump, and a line of crimson adorns the occiput ; the under parts are lighter brown, marked with a cres- cent of black on the breast, and numerous black dots on the sides and belly. During the season of migration flickers are commonly associated with Robins. This species averages about a foot in length, and a foot and a half in extent.
The well-known Whippoorwill ( Antrostomus vociferus) is some- times said to be only a sexual form of the Night Hawk. But this is not the case. Whippoorwills live in the woods through the day, and do not emerge till evening is well advanced, which accounts for their being so little understood. In their general appearance and manner of living they resemble the Night Hawk, yet there are
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History of Littleton.
several points of difference between the two which will appear in a comparison of the descriptions. The Whippoorwill has a series of long bristles projecting from each side of its upper mandible. Its head is large ; its bill is short and insignificant, but it serves to introduce an enormous mouth that is a pitfall to great numbers of winged insects. Its color is nearly uniform, - a mottling of brown, gray, and black, with the brown predominating, especially on the wings ; a line across the throat and a portion of the outer tail-feathers are white, but it is to be noted that there is no white on the wings. Its length is ten inches, and extent eighteen.
The Night Hawk (Chordeiles virginianus) is less nocturnal than the Whippoorwill, and is usually found in open land through the day. Its plumage is lighter than the Whippoorwill's, being rather gray, and lacking the ruddy brown of the latter bird altogether. Its most prominent mark is the white spot on each wing that shows as it flies. It has no bristles about its mouth. Its length is about ten inches, and extent twenty-three.
The Chimney Swift ( Chetura pelagica) is one of the birds that ' has completely modified their nesting habits since the settlement of the country. It used to build its nest in hollow trees, and still does in unsettled portions of the West. The Chimney Swift is a strictly insectivorous bird, taking its food as it flies without re- course to its feet, which are almost abortive, and never used except for clinging to the perpendicular walls of its sooty home, and even then they would likely fail were it not for the bird's stiff tail quills which serve as a prop. Its wings are long and narrow, and its flight is very rapid. The Swift is often re- garded as a swallow, but its wings, feet, and tail are all quite different from the swallow's, and they are thought to be more nearly related to the Night Hawk family. The Chimney Swift is of a sooty color throughout, lightest on the throat. Its length is five inches, and extent about twelve.
The Ruby-throated Humming Bird ( Trochilus colubris) belongs to a large family of tropical birds that are exclusively American. This is the only species found in the United States north of Florida and east of the Rocky Mountains. It is a hardier bird than its size would seem to warrant. It comes north by the middle of May, and lingers till near the middle of September. The Hummer is not to be mistaken for any other species, and is so common that a description is unnecessary.
The King Bird (Tyrannus tyrannus), whose unbounded pluck has won renown in all quarters, is a resident of every orchard,
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along with the Robin, Blue Bird, and Chipping Sparrow. It is a tyrant that shows neither fear nor favor, driving even the great eagle out of the neighborhood, or pestering the gentle swallow half out of her wits according to its moods. The King Bird is one of the Flycatcher family, and, though of more distinctive colors than most of its tribe, its structure may readily be taken as a type of Flycatchers. They are built for their business, that of catching winged insects, mostly flies and beetles. In the first place, it is to be noted that the bill is wide, and provided with bristles on the sides of the upper mandible to assist in the capture of insects. The wings are broad, and the tail is of good length, which allow strong flight and the ability to make short tacks. The feet are small, and the legs are short, suitable for perching, but evi- dently not intended for a ground-bird. Flycatchers are soberly dressed, the better to escape the observation of their insect prey. The King Bird is black above, and white beneath ; the tip of the tail is also white. Concealed in the feathers of its crest is a small spot of bright orange. Its length is eight and a half inches ; ex- tent, fourteen.
The Great Crested Flycatcher (Myiarchus crinitus) is slightly longer than the last species, being nine inches in length ; but in other respects it is smaller than the King Bird, its extent being only thirteen inches. It is a woodland bird, with all the irrita- bility of its relative, though its ill temper is usually expended in quarrelling with others of its kind rather than open warfare with the whole feathered creation. Its back is brownish olive, throat ashy, belly yellow, and tail brown.
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