USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Northfield > History of Northfield, New Hampshire 1780-1905: In Two Parts with Many Biographical Sketches and. > Part 24
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BIRDS OF NORTHFIELD.
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cal stripes surrounds its neck. Fall and winter birds are plain gray above, but their large size affords an easy means of identifi- cation. Length, 33 inches or more. Nest on shore quite near water. The RED-THROATED LOON (Gavia lumme) is a rarity, but it is to be expected at intervals as a fall migrant. Adults are ashy gray above, white beneath, and chestnut on the throat. Young specimens have gray backs with numerous small, round spots of white. Length, 30 inches or less.
THE AUK FAMILY. (Alcidae.)
The auks belong to the sea, and appear here only by accident or by an unusual and unexplainable tide of migration. They have webbed toes like the loons, but their backs are solid black and under parts clear white at all seasons. BRUNNICH MURRES (Uria lomvia) appeared in the fall of 1900 on Lakes Winnepe- saukee and Winnisquam, and one specimen was picked up by the roadside on Bean Hill where it had fallen exhausted, unable to continue its flight. The entire upper parts of this murre, as it appears here, are black, excepting a narrow bar of white on the wings. Length, 16 to 19 inches. The DOVEKIE (Alle alle) has been found at various times in different portions of the state as far inland as this, and at least once in Merrimack County, so it must be considered a possibility here. Its appearance is prob- ably due to a heavy east or northeast storm, which carries the unwilling migrant away from its beloved ocean. It is colored like the last species, but it is only about 81/2 inches long.
THE LONG-WINGED SWIMMERS. (Order, Longipennes.)
This division is composed of the gulls and terns and a few allies. They feed on fish, aquatic insects and-the gulls at least- on floating garbage. Though their food is similar to that of the divers, their manner of hunting it, and consequently their struc- ture, are very different. These birds are to the sea what hawks and swifts and swallows are to the land. They hunt by flying hither and yon over the water ever on the lookout for a mouthful. Their webbed feet come into play only when food is captured or when there is need of rest. Large of wing, legs hung medially, feet webbed, usually seen flying-these are characteristics of the long-winged swimmers. They are abundant about the larger
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HISTORY OF NORTHFIELD.
bodies of water but only appear here as stragglers from the sea, usually by way of the Merrimack River.
The HERRING GULL ( Larus argentatus) appears like a large white hawk flapping leisurely at some distance above the water which it scans for floating fish or garbage. Adults are pale blue on the back and white beneath. The tips of the wings as seen from below are black. The bill is about 21/4 inches long, rather deep and arched toward the end. Immature birds are gray all over. Length, about 2 feet; extent of wings, about 41/2 feet. The BONAPARTE GULL (Larus philadelphia) is tiny as compared with the last species, being scarcely more than a foot in length. In breeding plumage the head is black; in autumn and winter it is white. The back is pale blue, the under parts are white and the tips of the wings are black. Adults have white tails, but immature specimens have a black band near the end, which is rounded,-a form so totally unlike the forked tails of the terns as to afford observers an easy clue for separating this species from the terns that are of a similar size. The COMMON TERN (Sterna hirundo) has longer, more pointed wings than the gulls, and consequently an easier manner of flying. Its bill is more slender and uniformly tapering to an acute point; and its tail is deeply forked. Its crown is black, back very pale blue, under parts white, base of bill and feet red. It dives from aloft and ascends again immediately to wing with its fish. Young birds have less black on the crown and paler bills and feet than adults. Length, 12 to 16 inches; extent, about 30 inches.
DUCKS AND GEESE. (Order, Anseres.)
Ducks and geese are peculiar among our water birds in having their bills covered with a leathery skin, except at the tip, which bears a nail. But four ducks and one goose are common enough here to be well known. They are the black duck and the wood duck, which are here in spring and fall and occasionally in sum- mer, and the whistler and sheldrake which are found only be- tween late fall and early spring. Another duck, the hooded mer- ganser, is an occasional migrant spring and fall. The Canada goose is the only one ordinarily seen here. Several other ducks and one other goose have been found either in town or in the vicinity on one or more occasions, and these will be included in our list, though they are but strays from other localities.
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BIRDS OF NORTHFIELD.
DUCKS WITH THE HIND TOE LOBED. The ducks are conveniently divided into two groups, one of which has a flap attached to the hind toe, making it a quarter of an inch or more in width. The other group lacks this flap. We will consider first the group having the hind toe lobed.
The mergansers are distinguished by nar- Saw-bills. row bills, each jaw bearing a row of tooth-like projections along each side, whence the name saw-bills, that is often applied to them. They are also called fish ducks because they subsist mainly upon fish. The AMERICAN MERGANSER (Merganser americanus) is the heaviest of our ducks. The head of the adult male is dark green, the fore part of the back is black, the rump and tail gray, the neck and much of the wings and underparts white. Females and young males have reddish brown heads with a moderate crest, gray backs and white bellies. Their saw-bills coupled with their large size render them unmistakable. The HOODED MERBANSER (Lophodytes cucullatus) is little compared with the last species. The high circular crest, brownish black, except for a conspicuous triangular area of white with its apex behind the eye, makes the male a beautiful object. Both sexes are mainly black above and white beneath, with more or less chestnut vermiculated with narrow black lines along the sides. The head of the female and young male is brown without white, and the crest is small. Their saw-bills and small size are sufficient for their identification. There is still another mergan- ser, the red-breasted, found along the coast, but there is no record that it ever occurred in Merrimack County.
Excepting the mergansers, all our ducks have wide, flat bills. In this division of the ducks
Sides of bill diverging. having the hind toe lobed, the bill is distinctly broader toward the tip than at the base. There are in it five species, all stragglers either from the ocean or the West. The RUDDY DUCK (Erismatura jamaicensis) is character- ized by having the nail at the tip of its bill, as seen from above, not over an eighth of an inch wide. It is a small duck with a rather long, stiff tail and a bill that is much wider near the tip than at the base. The RING-NECKED DUCK (Aythya collaris) is of medium size, has the nail at the tip of the bill a quarter of an inch wide and a bluish, gray speculum on its wing. The male
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HISTORY OF NORTHFIELD.
has head, neck, breast and back black, and round its neck a ring of chestnut, whence its name. The LESSER SCAUP DUCK (Aythya affinis) has the nail at the tip of its bill a quarter of an inch wide like the last species, which it also resembles in size and habits, but it has a white speculum bordered outwardly by a band of dusky brown, which distinguishes it at once. The GREATER SCAUP DUCK (Aythya marila) is an exact counterpart of the last in color, but it is larger and the nail at the tip of its bill is five-sixteenths of an inch wide. The WHITE-WINGED SCOTER (Oidemia deglandi) has the nail at the tip of its bill half an inch wide, and a white speculum without a margin of any other color on its wing. Except for this speculum and a small crescent of white at the rear corner of its eye, the male is black. The female is dusky, but easily determined by her speculum as above.
A third division of the ducks with the hind Sides of bill toe lobed has the sides of the bill converging converging. toward the tip. Of these, two are of rare occur- rence, while the third is a regular winter resident on the river. Both of the two rarities have the nostrils nearer the base of the bill than the tip. One of them, the BUFFLE HEAD (Charionetta albeola) has the nail at the tip of its bill three-six- teenth of an inch wide. This is the smallest duck that we have, its bill being only about an inch long. The other rarity, the OLD SQUAW (Harelda hyemalis)-named for its scolding propensi- ties-has the nail at the tip of its bill five-sixteenths of an inch or more in width. The male has its middle tail feathers slender and six inches or more in length. The WHISTLER or AMERICAN GOLDEN-EYE (Clangula clangula) has the nostrils nearer the tip than the base of the bill. The adult male has a deep green head with a large white spot in front of each eye. Females and im- mature males have brown heads without the white spot. The whistlers and the mergansers or sheldrakes, as they are often called, are our winter ducks. All of the ducks with the hind toe lobed are excellent divers.
LOBE.
The ducks of this group have no flap or lobe on HIND TOE WITHOUT A the hind toe, which is not over three-sixteenths of an inch wide. They may be called dabbling ducks, inasmuch as they are given to feeding in shallow water where they can reach the bottom without being completely submerged. Their food consists mainly of vegetable
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HISTORY OF NORTHFIELD.
GOOSE (Branta berncla) is much smaller than the wild goose. It usually has a small patch of white on each side of the neck, but none on the throat or cheeks. The only specimen ever seen in this locality was killed in November, about 1891, on the Winne- pesaukee River between Tilton and Franklin Falls.
We have finished the swimming birds and are now ready to consider those that follow the border lands between open water and dry ground-the waders. Wading birds have long legs, long toes, long necks and, as a rule, long bills. Three orders are repre- sented : herons,.rails and sandpipers, which will be dealt with in turn.
THE HERONS. (Order, Herodiones.)
Herons are distinguished from rails by having the bill longer than the middle toe including its claw, and from sandpipers by their much larger size; and from both rails and sandpipers by having hard spear-like bills tapering gradually down to a sharp point, and by certain dense patches of short greasy feathers called powder-down tracts on the under parts of the body. The AMERICAN BITTERN (Botaurus lentiginosus), better known as the STAKE DRIVER, from the peculiar sound it makes during the breed- ing season, is a summer resident, coming quite early in spring and staying until October or November in the marshes along the river and about the ponds. The stake driver ordinarily stands 15 or 18 inches high, and has a general coloration of buffy brown mottled and streaked with dusky, being quite different in color from the night heron-the only other species approaching it in size. When subjected to a close inspection, this bittern is seen to have a heavy black streak on each side of the throat, and its outer front toes shorter than the inner one. The nest is placed upon the ground in a marsh. The NIGHT HERON (Nyciticorax nycti- corax naevus) is similar to the bittern in size but its outer front toe is longer than the inner one and it never has black on the sides of its throat. It is a rare straggler here, though it is lo- cally common near the coast. The adult has a black crown, deep green back, wings and tail gray, neck and under parts white. It is our handsomest heron. Young birds are gray streaked and spotted above with white, and white streaked with gray beneath. Its length is about two feet from bill to tail, and it stands about 18 inches high. The GREEN HERON (Butorides virescens) is our
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BIRDS OF NORTHFIELD.
smallest species, measuring 18 inches or less from bill to tail, and standing in ordinary posture from 8 to 10 inches in height. Its crown and back are green, whence its name. It is an occasional breeder but is far less common here than near the coast. Nest in trees. The GREAT BLUE HERON (Ardea herodias) is conspicuous by its great size, standing from 3 to 5 feet high, according to attitude. Its upper parts are grayish blue, whence its name. It may occasionally breed here but there is no swamp sufficiently extensive, wet or heavily timbered to meet its usual requirements. Nest in tall trees.
RAILS AND COOTS. (Order, Paludicolae.)
Such birds of this order as are found here differ from herons in having the bill shorter than the middle toe with 'claw, and in lacking powder-down tracts. They are also much smaller than the herons. They differ from sandpipers and plovers in having the spread wing rounded at the tip, the outer feather being shorter than the one next to it. Rails live among the tall reeds, flags and grass of meadows and wet marshes. They swim well though their feet are not webbed, and, when flushed from their hiding, fly with dangling legs a few rods only to drop again to cover. Two species have reported from this vicinity; both are very rare. The VIRGINIA RAIL (Rallus virginianus) has a bill one and one fourth inches long or more. Its back is streaked with black and brown, its breast is dark cinnamon and its length is from 8 to 10 inches. It is only a migrant. The SORA or CAROLINA RAIL (Porzana carolina) has a bill less than an inch long. It is dark brown, streaked with white, above, and gray on the breast. Adults have the throat black, but on immature birds this area is white, merging gradually into the gray of the breast. Its size is similar to that of the Virginia rail. This species is also but a migrant. The AMERICAN COOT (Fulica americana) is to be dis- tinguished from all other water birds of this region by its toes which have scalloped margins along each side, making it a very capable swimmer. . The water, indeed, is its usual habitat. Its color is slate, paler below and tinged with olive above. It is a scarce migrant, though not so rare as the rails. Its length, bill to tail, is about 14 inches.
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HISTORY OF NORTHFIELD.
THE SHORE BIRDS. (Order, Limicolae.)
Typical members of this order are the sandpipers and plovers which follow the shores and feed upon such worms and insect lave as abound there. They are much smaller than herons and their bills are weak and covered with a sensitive skin. They do not haunt reedy half-submerged marshes like the rails, and their flight is strong and swift without any dangling of legs such as rails show.
THE SANDPIPER FAMILY. (Scolopacidac.) .
Sandpipers have very slender bills, and all that occur here have four toes on each foot. Of the entire family, the WOODCOCK (Philohela minor) is most aberrant in structure and habit. Its bill is two and one half to three inches long, being approximately a fourth of its entire length. Its eyes are set so near the top of its head that they are farther from the base of the bill than are its ears. The three outer wing feathers are shorter and much narrower than the fourth. It does not follow shores but pre- fers alder runs and corn fields, and even dry woods in autumn. The feathers of its back are black with gray or rusty edges, while beneath it is of an uniform cinnamon brown. It stands about 7 inches high. It is an occasional breeder here, nesting in the woods on the ground. The WILSON SNIPE (Gallinago deli- cata) reminds one of the woodcock by having a very long bill in proportion to its size, and its eyes high set, though they are not so far back, being above the ears instead of behind them. Snipes are migrants found occasionally on the shore, but more often in the marshes. The bill is about two and one-half inches long and somewhat enlarged toward the tip, where are numerous pits con- taining nerves for feeling worms in the mud. The upper parts are black streaked with buff and white; the breast is mottled and the belly is white. It stands about 6 inches high.
The LESSER YELLOW-LEGS (Totanus flavipes) is named for its lemon-yellow legs, which are decidedly long for the size of the bird. The diagnostic character of this species are the yellow legs, the white rump narrowly barred with dusky, the tail feathers all showing bars and the length of the bill, which is about an inch and one-half. This bird is an uncommon migrant. It stands about 8 inches high. The GREATER YELLOW-LEGS (Totanus mela-
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BIRDS OF NORTHFIELD.
noleucus) is practically a counterpart of the lesser yellow-legs in color, but it has a bill about two and one-fourth inches long, and is proportionately larger in other parts. It also is a rare mi- grant. Height, about 10 inches. The SOLITARY SANDPIPER (He- lodromus solitarius) has legs and bill olive green; tail, except two middle feathers, white with broad dusky bars. These two char- acters combined suffice to distinguish it from all other sandpipers found here. Other characters are: dark olive back, each feather having two or three small white spots along either edge; rump dusky; neck streaked; lower breast and belly white. Its bill is about an inch and an eighth in length and it stands about 6 inches high. It is a common migrant.
The SPOTTED SANDPIPER (Actitis macularia) is a common sum- mer resident along the river and about the ponds. Its legs and the base of the lower mandible are pale straw color, and only the outer tail feather shows even a trace of bars. The back is olive- brown, spring and summer specimens having each feather with one or two irregular bars of dusky. The under parts are white, heavily spotted in the breeding season, but immaculate in autumn. Its bill is an inch or slightly less in length, and it stands about 5 inches high. Its nest is on the ground, usually within a few rods of the water. The PECTORAL SANDPIPER ( Actodromas maculata) is a scarce migrant. None of its tail feathers show the slightest sign of a bar, but the outer one has a narrow edging of white. The feathers of the back are black with rusty edges; the rump is dusky; the neck and breast are heavily streaked, in sharp con- trast to the clear, white chin and belly. Its bill is about an inch and one-eighth long, and stands about 6 inches high. The LEAST SANDPIPER ( Actodromas minutilla) is colored like the last species, but it is much smaller, being the smallest sandpiper in America. It is only a straggling migrant here, though common, spring and fall, along the coast. Its bill varies from three-fourths to fifteen- sixteenths of an inch, and its height is about 4 inches.
The BARTRAMIAN SANDPIPER (Bartramia longicauda) more commonly called the UPLAND PLOVER, curiously enough avoids water, preferring high land. A few pairs breed regularly on Bean Ilill and possibly elsewhere in town. It has all the struc- tural characters of a sandpiper, and is not a plover at all, as may be seen by comparison with characters of the next family. This
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HISTORY OF NORTHFIELD.
is the only sandpiper found here that has the outer wing feather barred, white and dusky. Its bill is about an inch and one-fourth long and it stands about 8 inches high.
THE PLOVER FAMILY. (Charadriidae.)
Plovers differ from sandpipers in having, as a rule, no hind toe, and a bill shorter than the head and smaller in the middle than toward the tip. Their habits, however, do not differ from those of the. sandpipers. They resemble sandpipers in their general contour, their food habits and their manner of flying. The only plover that is known to visit this vicinity is the RING-NECKED or SEMIPALMATED PLOVER (Aegialites semipalmatus). It is uni- formly buffish gray on the back and white on the forehead and underparts, except for a ring of black or dusky around the neck. It stands about 5 inches high and has a bill about half an inch long.
LAND BIRDS.
Although several of the so-called land birds live principally near water, as for example the kingfisher, none of them are fitted for wading or swimming or running over soft mud. . The ground, the trees and the air have each a contingent from them. The ground birds have strong legs and feet and comparatively small wings. The tree birds have shorter legs and toes, better adapted for grasping branches, and larger wings for flitting from tree to tree in search of fruits and insects. The aerial species, like the swallows, have tiny legs and feet, but very long wings, capable of long-sustained flight.
THE GROUSE FAMILY. (Tetraonidae.)
The grouse belong to the Gallinae, the same order as hens and turkeys. The RUFFED GROUSE or PARTRIDGE (Bonasa umbellus) is too well known to need describing. The QUAIL or BOB WHITE (Colinus virginianus) occasionally breeds here, but more often it is to be found as a solitary visitor, whistling its clear notes about the fields and open pastures on summer mornings. Its whirring flight and makeup in form and color proclaim its relationship to the partridge, but it has no neck plumes, its legs are bare of feathers to the heel, and its weight is only about one-third that
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BIRDS OF NORTHFIELD.
of the partridge. The throat of the male is white; of the female, brown. Length, about 9 inches. Nest on the ground.
THE PIGEONS. (Columbidas.)
The pigeons, which belong to order Columbae of world-wide distribution, are so much like the domestic breeds in form and habits that they do not need to have their family characters paraded here. The most striking difference between the two that have a place in this list and the tame blue pigeon is in their long, wedge-shaped tails, which give them a somewhat different con- tour. The WILD PIGEON or PASSENGER PIGEON (Ectopistes mi- gratorius) is about of the same weight as the tame pigeon. Its upper parts are grayish blue. Males have an irridescence on the sides of the neck, and a rich, purplish red breast. Females have less irridescence and grayer breasts. Length, about 16 inches. This pigeon was formerly abundant, but it has disap- peared from New England and before many years will probably have vanished from the earth. The MOURNING DOVE ( Zenaidura macroura) is rare in this section, though in the southeastern por- tion of the state it is fairly common. In shape and general color- ation it resembles the wild pigeon, but it weighs scarcely half as much and its breast is much paler. A small black spot just below each ear is a notable character. Length, about 12 inches.
HAWKS AND OWLS. (Order, Raptores.) ·
To this order belong the carniverous birds, which catch their prey with their talons and are provided with hooked bills for tearing flesh.
THE HAWK FAMILY. (Falconidae.)
The hawks have no feathers on their feet, and their eyes are in planes oblique to the bill, which characters distinguish them from the owls. An even dozen, including the bald eagle, may be . looked for, though two of them are very rare.
The MARSH HAWK (Circus hudsonius) is a bird of the field. It courses to and fro close to the ground over fields and meadows, looking for mice and frogs. It is our only hawk having a white spot on the rump. Males are gray and females and young, brown. The average expanse of wings is about 40 inches. Nest on the ground. The OSPREY or FISH HAWK (Pandion haliaeetus
LE TOTE ng in vision ary guay nach i tami. being
wrist rivei at al umiy seaquelle in space characters
KanCE E. VI Blir buch gets it's same
wing barn bead
the imer web and are withont spots on the outer
web. Young birds have the tall barred instead of clear chestnut- red. This hawk is seasonally son in winter. Extent of wing, " inchen or more. Liest in trees. The RED-SHOULDERED HAWK ' Buten lineatus, is the commonest member of this sub-group. It measures winewhat less than the last and weighs much less. It in readily distinguished from the red-tail at any age by spots of white or buff on the outer webs of its four outer wing feathers, all of which, however, are abruptly narrowed on the inner web,
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BIRDS OF NORTHFIELD.
as on the red-tail. The tail is barred at all ages, and the bend of the wing is covered with a more or less dense suffusion of cinna- mon brown,. whence the bird's name. Nest in trees. Both the red-tail and the red-shoulder have the habit of soaring in circles and crying kea, kea, kea. The BROAD-WINGED HAWK (Buteo pla- typterus) is decidedly smaller than the other two, being scarcely more than 40 inches in extent, and is readily distinguishable from them by having only three outer wing feathers with inner webs abruptly narrowed. It is surprisingly tame for a hawk, but may usually be recognized at some distance by wide dusky streaks running down each side of the chin from the corners of the mouth. It, is an occasional breeder here, nesting in trees.
The members of this sub-group have relatively Tail more than two thirds as long as the folded wing from bend to tip. short wings and long tails, the better to make quick turns in chasing flying birds, upon which they mainly feed. Out of the dozen hawks that are found here, these three are all that are not of more benefit than injury to man. These are the chicken hawks, which raid poultry yards. regularly, while the other kinds do so only occasionally. Besides having the edge of the upper mandible undulating like the last sub-group, and agreeing among themselves in having short wings and long tails, these hawks have color features in common, so their final identifi- cation may rest on dimensions alone. Adults of each species are slate-blue above and the under side is barred-that is, the dark lines run crosswise the feathers. Specimens under a year old are brown-varying from a gray to a sooty tone-above, and streaked below, that is, having the dark lines running lengthwise the feathers.
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