Tyrannidae: FLYCATCHERS
Small and medium-sized dull, dark-olive, or gray birds, with big heads that
are sometimes crested. Bills hooked at end, and with bristles at base. Harsh
or plaintive voices. Wings longer than tail; both wings and tails usually
drooped and vibrating when the birds are perching. Habits moody and silent
when perching on a conspicuous limb, telegraph wire, dead tree, or fence rail
and waiting for insects to fly within range. Sudden, nervous, spasmodic
sallies in midair to seize insects on the wing. Usually they return to their
identical perch or lookout. Pugnacious and fearless.
Excellent nest builders and devoted mates.
Kingbird.
Phoebe.
Wood Pewee.
Acadian Flycatcher.
Great Crested Flycatcher.
Least Flycatcher.
Olive-sided Flycatcher.
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher.
Say's Flycatcher.
Alaudidae: LARKS
The only true larks to be found in this country are the two species given
below. They are the kin of the European skylark, of which several unsuccessful
attempts to introduce the bird have been made in this country. These two larks
must not be confused with the meadow larks and titlarks, which belong to the
blackbird and pipit families respectively. The horned larks are birds of the
ground, and are seen in the United States only in the autumn and winter. In
the nesting season at the North their voices are most musical. Plumage grayish
and brown, in color harmony with their habitats. Usually found in flocks; the
first species on or near the shore.
Horned Lark.
Prairie Horned Lark.
Corvidae: CROWS AND JAYS
The crows are large black birds, walkers, with stout feet adapted for the
purpose. Fond of shifting their residence at different seasons rather than
strictly migratory, for, except at the northern limit of range, they remain
resident all the year. Gregarious. Sexes alike. Omnivorous feeders, being
partly carnivorous, as are also the jays. Both crows and jays inhabit wooded
country. Their voices are harsh and clamorous; and their habits are boisterous
and bold, particularly the jays. Devoted mates; unpleasant neighbors.
Common Crow.
Fish Crow.
Northern Raven.
Blue Jay.
Canada Jay.
Icteridae: BLACKBIRDS, ORIOLES, ETC.
Plumage black or a brilliant color combined with black. (The meadow lark a
sole exception.) Sexes unlike. These birds form a connecting link between the
crows and the finches. The blackbirds have strong feet for use upon the
ground, where they generally feed, while the orioles are birds of the trees.
They are both seed and insect eaters. The bills of the bobolink and cowbird
are short and conical, for they are conspicuous seed eaters. Bills of the
others long and conical, adapted for insectivorous diet. About half the family
are gifted songsters.
Red-winged Blackbird.
Rusty Blackbird.
Purple Grackle.
Bronzed Grackle.
Cowbird.
Meadow Lark.
Western Meadow Lark.
Bobolink.
Orchard Oriole.
Baltimore Oriole.
Fringillidae: FINCHES, SPARROWS, GROSBEAKS, BUNTINGS, LINNETS, AND CROSSBILLS
Generally fine songsters. Bills conical, short, and stout for cracking seeds.
Length from five to nine inches, usually under eight inches. This, the largest
family of birds that we have (about one-seventh of all our birds belong to
it), comprises birds of such varied plumage and habit that, while certain
family resemblances may be traced throughout, it is almost impossible to
characterize the family as such. The sparrows are comparatively small gray and
brown birds with striped upper parts, lighter underneath. Birds of the ground,
or not far from it, elevated perches being chosen for rest and song. Nest in
low bushes or on the ground. (Chipping sparrow often selects tall trees.)
Coloring adapted to grassy, dusty habitats. Males and females similar. Flight
labored. About forty species of sparrows are found in the United States; of
these, fourteen may be met with by a novice, and six, at least, surely will
be.
The finches and their larger kin are chiefly bright-plumaged birds, the
females either duller or distinct from males; bills heavy, dull, and conical,
befitting seed eaters. Not so migratory as insectivorous birds nor so
restless. Mostly phlegmatic in temperament. Fine songsters.
Chipping Sparrow.
English Sparrow.
Field Sparrow.
Fox Sparrow.
Grasshopper Sparrow.
Savanna Sparrow.
Seaside Sparrow.
Sharp-tailed Sparrow.
Song Sparrow.
Swamp Song Sparrow.
Tree Sparrow.
Vesper Sparrow.
White-crowned Sparrow.
White-throated Sparrow.
Lapland Longspur.
Smith's Painted Longspur.
Pine Siskin (or Finch).
Purple Finch.
Goldfinch.
Redpoll.
Greater Redpoll.
Red Crossbill.
White-winged Red Crossbill.
Cardinal Grosbeak.
Rose-breasted Grosbeak.
Pine Grosbeak.
Evening Grosbeak.
Blue Grosbeak.
Indigo Bunting.
Junco.
Snowflake.
Chewink.
Tanagridae: TANAGERS
Distinctly an American family, remarkable for their brilliant plumage, which,
however, undergoes great changes twice a year, Females different from males,
being dull and inconspicuous. Birds of the tropics, two species only finding
their way north, and the summer tanager rarely found north of Pennsylvania.
Shy inhabitants of woods. Though they may nest low in trees, they choose high
perches when singing or feeding upon flowers, fruits, and insects. As a
family, the tanagers have weak, squeaky voices, but both our species are good
songsters. Suffering the fate of most bright-plumaged birds, immense numbers
have been shot annually.
Scarlet Tanager.
Summer Tanager.
Hirundinidae. SWALLOWS
Birds of the air, that take their insect food on the wing. Migratory. Flight
strong, skimming, darting; exceedingly graceful. When not flying they choose
slender, conspicuous perches like telegraph wires, gutters, and eaves of
barns. Plumage of some species dull, of others iridescent blues and Greens
above, whitish or ruddy below. Sexes similar. Bills small; mouths large.
Long and pointed wings, generally reaching the tip of the tail or beyond. Tail
more or less forked. Feet small and weak from disuse. Song a twittering warble
without power. Gregarious birds.
Barn Swallow.
Bank Swallow.
Cliff (or Eaves) Swallow.
Tree Swallow.
Rough-winged Swallow.
Purple Martin.
Ampelidae: WAXWINGS
Medium-sized Quaker-like birds, with plumage of soft browns and grays. Head
crested; black band across forehead and through the eye. Bodies plump from
indolence. Tail tipped with yellow; wings with red tips to coverts, resembling
sealing-wax. Sexes similar. Silent, gentle, courteous, elegant birds. Usually
seen in large flocks feeding upon berries in the trees or perching on the
branches, except at the nesting season. Voices resemble a soft, lisping
twitter.
Cedar Waxwing.
Bohemian Waxwing.
Laniidae: SHRIKES
Medium-sized grayish, black-and-white birds, with hooked and hawk-like bill
for tearing the flesh of smaller birds, field-mice, and large insects that they impale on thorns.
Handsome, bold birds, the terror of all small, feathered neighbors, not excluding the English
sparrow. They choose conspicuous perches when on the lookout for prey a
projecting or dead limb of a tree, the cupola of a house, the ridge-pole or
weather-vane of a barn, or a telegraph wire, from which to suddenly drop upon
a victim. Eyesight remarkable. Call-notes harsh and unmusical. Habits solitary
and wandering. The first-named species is resident during the colder months of
the year; the latter is a summer resident only north of Maryland.
Northern Shrike.
Loggerhead Shrike.
Vireonidae: VIREOS OR GREENLETS
Small greenish-gray or olive birds, whitish or yellowish underneath, their
plumage resembling the foliage of the trees they hunt, nest, and live among.
Sexes alike. More deliberate in habit than the restless, flitting warblers
that are chiefly seen darting about the ends of twigs. Vireos are more
painstaking gleaners; they carefully explore the bark, turn their heads upward
to investigate the under side of leaves, and usually keep well hidden among
the foliage. Bill hooked at tip for holding worms and insects. Gifted
songsters, superior to the warblers. This family is peculiar to America.
Red-eyed Vireo.
Solitary Vireo.
Warbling Vireo.
White-eyed Vireo.
Yellow-throated Vireo.
Mniotiltidae: WOOD WARBLERS
A large group of birds, for the most part smaller than the English sparrow;
all, except the ground warblers, of beautiful plumage, in which yellow, olive,
slate-blue, black, and white are predominant colors. Females generally duller
than males. Exceedingly active, graceful, restless feeders among the terminal
twigs of trees and shrubbery; haunters of tree-tops in the woods at nesting
time. Abundant birds, especially during May and September, when the majority
are migrating to and from regions north of the United States; but they are
strangely unknown to all but devoted bird lovers, who seek them out during
these months that particularly favor acquaintance. Several species are erratic
in their migrations and choose a different course to return southward from the
one they travelled over in spring. A few species are summer residents, and
one, at least, of this tropical family, the myrtle warbler, winters at the
north. The habits of the family are not identical in every representative;
some are more deliberate and less nervous than others; a few, like the
Canadian and Wilson's warblers, are expert flycatchers, taking their food on
the wing, but not usually returning to the same perch, like true flycatchers;
and a few of the warblers, as, for example, the black-and-white, the pine, and
the worm-eating species, have the nuthatches' habit of creeping around the
bark of trees. Quite a number feed upon the ground. All are insectivorous,
though many vary their diet with blossom, fruit, or berries, and naturally
their bills are slender and sharply pointed, rarely finch-like. The yellow-breasted chat has the greatest variety of vocal expressions. The ground
warblers are compensated for their sober, thrush-like plumage by their
exquisite voices, while the great majority of the family that are gaily
dressed have notes that either resemble the trill of mid-summer insects or, by their limited range and feeble utterance, sadly
belie the family name.
Bay-breasted Warbler.
Blackburnian Warbler.
Blackpoll Warbler.
Black-throated Blue Warbler.
Black-throated Green Warbler.
Black-and-white Creeping Warbler.
Blue-winged Warbler.
Canadian Warbler.
Chestnut-sided Warbler.
Golden-winged Warbler.
Hooded Warbler.
Kentucky Warbler.
Magnolia Warbler.
Mourning Warbler.
Myrtle Warbler.
Nashville Warbler.
Palm Warbler.
Parula Warbler.
Pine Warbler.
Prairie Warbler.
Redstart.
Wilson's Warbler.
Worm-eating Warbler.
Yellow Warbler.
Yellow Palm Warbler.
Ovenbird.
Northern Water Thrush.
Louisiana Water Thrush.
Maryland Yellowthroat.
Yellow-breasted Chat.
Motacillidae: WAGTAILS AND PIPITS
Only three birds of this family inhabit North America, and of
these only one is common enough, east of the Mississippi, to be included in this book. Terrestrial birds of open
tracts near the coast, stubble-fields, and country roadsides, with brownish
plumage to harmonize with their surroundings. The American pipit, or titlark, has a peculiar
wavering flight when, after being flushed, it reluctantly leaves the ground. Then its white tail
feathers are conspicuous. Its habit of wagging its tail when perching is not an exclusive family trait, as the family name
might imply.
American Pipit, or Titlark
Troglodytidae: THRASHERS, WRENS, ETC.
Subfamily Miminae: THRASHERS, MOCKING-BIRDS, AND CATBIRDS
Apparently the birds that comprise this large general family are too unlike to
be related, but the missing links or intermediate species may all be found far
South. The first subfamily is comprised of distinctively American birds. Most
numerous in the tropics. Their long tails serve a double purpose-in assisting
their flight and acting as an outlet for their vivacity. Usually they inhabit
scrubby undergrowth bordering woods. They rank among our finest songsters,
with ventriloquial and imitative powers added to sweetness of tone.
Brown Thrasher.
Catbird.
Mocking-bird.
Subfamily Troglodytinae: WRENS
Small brown birds, more or less barred with darkest brown above, much lighter
below. Usually carry their short tails erect. Wings are small, for short
flight. Vivacious, busy, excitable, easily displeased, quick to take alarm.
Most of the species have scolding notes in addition to their lyrical, gushing
song, that seems much too powerful a performance for a diminutive bird. As a
rule, wrens haunt thickets or marshes, but at least one species is thoroughly
domesticated. All are insectivorous.
Carolina Wren.
House Wren.
Winter-Wren.
Long-billed Marsh Wren.
Short-billed Marsh Wren.
Certhiidae: CREEPERS
Only one species of this Old World family is found in America. It is a brown,
much mottled bird, that creeps spirally around and around the trunks of trees
in fall and winter, pecking at the larvae in the bark with its long, sharp
bill, and doing its work with faithful exactness but little spirit. It uses
its tail as a prop in climbing, like the woodpeckers.
Brown Creeper.
Paridae: NUTHATCHES AND TITMICE
Two distinct subfamilies are included under this general head. The nuthatches
(Sittinae) are small, slate-colored birds, seen chiefly in winter walking up
and down the barks of trees, and sometimes running along the under side of
branches upside down, like flies. Plumage compact and smooth. Their name is
derived from their habit of wedging nuts (usually beechnuts) in the bark of
trees, and then hatching them open with their strong straight bills.
White-breasted Nuthatch.
Red-breasted Nuthatch.
The titmice or chickadees (Parinae) are fluffy little gray birds, the one
crested. the other with a black cap. They are also expert climbers, though not
such wonderful gymnasts as the nuthatches. These cousins are frequently seen
together in winter woods or in the evergreens about houses. Chickadees are
partial to tree-tops, especially to the highest pine cones, on which they hang
fearlessly. Cheerful, constant residents, retreating to the deep woods only to
nest.
Tufted Titmouse.
Chickadee.
Sylviidae: KINGLETS AND GNATCATCHERS
The kinglets (Regulinae) are very small greenish-gray birds, with highly
colored crown patch, that are seen chiefly in autumn, winter, and spring south
of Labrador. Habits active; diligent flitters among trees and shrubbery from
limb to limb after minute insects. Beautiful nest builders. Song remarkable
for so small a bird.
Golden-crowned Kinglet.
Ruby-crowned Kinglet.
The one representative of the distinctly American subfamily of gnatcatchers
(Polioptilinae) that we have, is a small blue-gray bird, whitish below. It is
rarely found outside moist, low tracts of woodland, where insects abound.
These it takes on the wing with wonderful dexterity. It is exceedingly
graceful and assumes many charming postures. A bird of trees, nesting in the
high branches. A bird of strong character and an exquisitely finished though
feeble songster.
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.
Turdidae: THRUSHES, BLUEBIRDS, ETC.
This group includes our finest songsters. Birds of moderate size, stout build;
as a rule, inhabitants of woodlands, but the robin and the bluebird are
notable exceptions. Bills long and slender, suitable for worm diet. Only
casual fruit-eaters. Slender, strong legs for running and hopping. True
thrushes are grayish or olive-brown above; buff or whitish below, heavily
streaked or spotted.
Bluebird.
Robin.
Alice's Thrush.
Hermit Thrush.
Olive-backed Thrush.
Wilson's Thrush (Veery).
Wood Thrush.
