BIRDS OF INDIANA.

PREPARATORY LETTER TO THE SECRETARY.

Mr. W. H. Ragan:

INDIANAPOLIS, IND., January 23, 1880.

DEAR SIR-In the letter of Mr. Sylvester Johnson, President of the Indiana Horticultural Society, submitting the transactions and proceedings of the Sixteenth Annual Session to the Governor of the State, occurs the following paragraph on the relations of birds, trees and insects to each other and to the horticulturist:

“An abundant supply of timber, especially of evergreens, furnishing, as it does, the natural home and breeding places of many of our feathered friends, would of itself greatly increase and encourage this source of relief to the horticulturist, while many of our worst insect enemies have been driven, by the destruction of their natural forest homes, to take refuge in our orchards. But the birds must be encouraged and protected, while insects, as a rule, must be destroyed. They should not, however, be slayed indiscriminately, as many of our best friends are amongst the tiny creatures of the insect world, while there are a very few exceptions to the general friendly character of the feathered tribes. These facts, therefore, bring us to a consideration of the importance of a knowledge of the kindred sciences of ornithology and entomology, which it has been the aim of this Society at all times to encourage and foster as of vital importance to the horticulturist, and to which we would now call your attention as subjects worthy of legal attention."

The above sets the case in its true light, and when requested to prepare a paper on the birds of the State, to take the place of the somewhat rambling notes on the collection of Indiana songsters that I exhibited at the Dublin meeting of the Association, I thought it best to give this paper some substantial form, so that it might, at least, serve as a basis for future work, and also a practical hand-book, a key to the birds of the State, so arranged that any person of ordinary intelligence may find the names and brief descriptions of the more common species.

This view met with the hearty approval and encouragement of the President and Secretary, and while the keys and descriptions of the higher groups and the brief diognosis of the species given, render this part of the proceedings somewhat bulky, it is not out of proportion to the subject discussed. Indiana has over three hundred birds, either resident or transient. Of these, keys and specific descriptions are supplied for nearly two-thirds. The diognosis of the species of swimming and wading birds is not inserted, as these are not of such immediate interest to the class in whose hands this report will fall. Lists of these groups are, however, appended. A future worker may record and describe them. Little has been said

as to the "Birds Injurious to Agriculture." Such useless lists disfigure too many agricultural and horticultural reports. The fact is we do not know enough regarding the food and habits of individual species to determine what birds, if any, may be ruthlessly destroyed, and probably all legislation as to birds should be protective. To discriminate in favor of some species is to attempt to right the balance of nature's forces. Not until such workers as Gentry, of Philadelphia, and Prof. Forbes, of Bloomington, Ill., have pronounced upon the contents of the stomachs of our species at large will we have any basis for thorough legislation.

In the preparation of this list I have made free use of Dr. D. S. Jordan's "Manual of the Vertebrates of the Northern United States." This little book is the vade mecum of the student of our fishes, reptiles, birds and mammals, and its arrangement and verbiage, as reduced from Dr. Coues' "Key to North American Birds," has been freely followed. Dr. Coues' "Birds of the Northwest," and "Birds of the Colorado Valley" have furnished many apt quotations in his charming and often racy style, which I have inserted because of their intrinsic value, and because they are at present buried in generally inaccessible government reports. Thoreau and Burroughs, the well-known poet-naturalists, have furnished their happy thoughts, and even the grave Emersonian muse has been solicited, as well as the professional poets, for I deem it well that we look to the bird-thought, and not to his claw and stomach alone.

To my friend and former pupil in Natural History, and my after teacher in Ornithology, Mr, E. W. Nelson, U. S. A., St. Michaels, Alaska, I am under especial obligations for the notes in his list of "Birds of North-eastern Illinois (Bulletin of the Essex Institute), which Dr. Coues pithily characterizes as "a thoroughly good list, annotated of three hundred and sixteen species and several varieties." The birds about Chicago are essentially those of North-western Indiana. For the South-eastern part of the State, we have F. W. Langdon's List of the "Birds of the Vicinity of Cincinnati." I have supplied a few notes for the central region of the State, while the south-west corner of the State has furnished no local list, although such an one would doubtless add several species not included here.

Finally, as an apology for errors and omissions that may be in this list, to the naturalist I would say that it has been prepared on only two weeks' notice, and that while the writer has been daily engaged in professional duties.

Very respectfully submitted,

ALEMBERT W. BRAYTON, M. D.,

Teacher Natural History Indianapolis High School, Professor Chemistry and Toxicology Central College Physicians and Surgeons, Indianapolis, Ind.

CLASS AVES

(THE BIRDS.)

Birds are warm-blooded, air-breathing vertebrates, with a covering of feathers; a complete double circulation; the two front limbs (wings) adapted for flying or swimming, the two back limbs (legs) adapted for walking or swimming; respiration by lungs, which are connected with air cavities in various parts of the body. Birds are born from eggs, which are fertilized within the body, and hatched externally, either by incubation or heat of the sun; the shell is limy, hard and brittle. More might be said, but the obvious mark is this: Birds are the only animals which have feathers.

The classification of birds is unsettled. Existing birds are so closely related they might properly be placed in one order, called by Professor Gill Eurhipidura. Professor Huxley unites all birds having (usually) the power of flight and a vertical ridge or keel on the breast-bone in one order, the Carinata (birds with a keeled sternum); the birds having a smooth or raft-like breast-bone, as the ostrich, rhea, emu, cassowary, the small apteryx of New Zealand, and those "giants of featherdom," the huge species of diornis, are placed by the same author in order Ratita. The extinct Archeopteryx, found fossil in the lithographic slates of Solenhofen, Bavaria a reptile-like bird, having teeth, claws on its wings, and a lizard-like tail longer than the body, forms a third natural order, the Saururæ (lizard-like birds). The term "order," as generally used in Ornithology, is applied to nearly a score of variously related groups of birds and does not imply such fundamental differences of structure as those pointed out above, nor, indeed, such differences as exist between the "orders" of reptiles and fishes.

For convenience in identification, we insert here an artificial key to the

a. Hind toe on a level with front toes.

b. Nose holes under a soft, tumid membrane; head small; tarsus reticulate

behind. (Pigeons and doves.)

Columba D.

bb. Bill hooked and cered; claws sharp and strong. (Owls, hawks, eagles and

bbbb. Claw of hind toe as long as claw of middle toe; wing coverts few,

aa. Hind toe above the others, and usually shorter.

c. Mouth wide and deep, reaching below the eyes.
night-hawks.)

cc. Bill lengthened, mouth not wide and deep.

in

Paseres, A.

(Whippoorwill and Picaria, B.

d. First wing feather notched, or else about as long as second.

Limicolæ, F.

dd. First wing feather not notched, much shorter than second. (Cranes and rails.)

Alectorides, H.

II. Outer and middle toe grown together for half their length. (Kingfisher.)

Picaria, B.

III. Toes joined at the base only by evident movable webbing. (Some falcons, whippoorwills, and doves may be found here.)

e. Hind toe on a level with the rest, and the leg (tibiæ) naked below. (Herons and storks.) Herodiones, G.

ce. Hind toe not level with the rest, and usually the shortest; bill stout, nostrils scaled or feathered. (Turkeys, grouse, and partridge.) Gallina, E. IV. Toes lobate, bordered on the sides by plain or scalloped membranes. f. Tail rudimentary; set far back. (Loons and grebes.)

ff. Tail perfect; a horny frontal shield. (Coots and gallinules.)

Pygopodes, L.

Alectorides, H.

ff. Tail developed; forehead without frontal plate. (Phalaropes.)

V. Toes palmate; three front toes full-webbed.

g. Bill curved up; legs long.

(Avocets).

Limcola, F.

Limicola, F.

Lamellirostres, I.

gg. Bill lamellate, flattish mostly, and the tip with a decurved nail. (Ducks, geese, and swans).

ggg. Wings long and pointed; tail well developed. (Gulls and terns.)

Longipennes, K.

VI. Toes totipalmate; all four full-webbed. (Pelicans and cormorants.)

Steganopodes, J.

ORDER A.

PASSERES.

(Passerine Birds.)

These comprise the great majority of all birds. They represent the " highest grade of development and the most complex organization of the class; their high physical irritability is coördinate with the rapidity of their respiration and circulation; they consume the most oxygen, and live the fastest of all birds."

The toes are 4; fitted for perching; the claw of back toe is as long or longer than claw of middle toe; joints of toes are respectively 2, 3, 4, 5, from the first to the fourth; wing coverts few, chiefly in two series. Tail feathers 12; primaries 9 or IO. Musical organs well developed. Young reared in the nest and fed by the parents.

FAMILIES OF PASSERES.

I. OSCINES. Each side of tarsus (long bone above toes) covered with a plate, meeting its fellow in a sharp ridge behind; musical apparatus highly developed. (All passeres except fly-catchers.)

*Primaries 10; the first short or spurious.

†Scales of tarsus forming a continuous covering (i. e., booted); corners of mouth with bristles.

a. Middle toe free from inner toe; medium-sized birds, not over six inches; wings rather short; no blue. (Thrushes, robins, cat-birds.) Turdia, I. aa. Same as above, only with long, pointed wings, and birds with blue. (Blue birds.) Saxicolidae II. aaa. Middle and inner toes connected at base; small, not five inches long. (Ringlets.) ††Tarsus scutellate in front (that is, with a regular and vertical series of broadplates in front).

b. Nostrils concealed by tufts of bristly feathers.

Sylviida, III.

c. First primary more than half the length of second; large birds over
eight inches long. (Crows and jays.)
Corvida, XVIII.

cc. First primary not more than half the length of second; length less than
eight inches; bill as long as head; wings pointed, longer than tail.
(Nuthatches.)
Sittida, V.

ccc. Same as cc., only with bill shorter than head; wings about tail. (Titmice.)

bb. Nostrils exposed; not overhung with feathers.

d. Bill notched near tip; often hooked.

e. Tail longer than wings; general color gray, or ashy-brown.

Parida, IV.

f. Bill stout, compressed, notched, toothed and hooked at tip; large. length 8 to 9. (Shrikes, butcher birds.)

Laniida, XV.

ff. Bill more slender, not notched or hooked; length 8 to 10. (Thrushes.)

Turdida, I. Sylviida, III,

fff. Bill very slender; length 4 to 5. (Gnat-catchers.) ee. Tail shorter than wings; color olivaceous; bill stout, notched and hooked; length 4% to 6%. (Vireos, greenlets.) Vireonida, XIV. dd. Bill not at all notched.

g. Rictus with bristles; quills not barred; tail longer than wings; length, 9 or more. (Brown thrush.) Turdida, I.

gg. No rictal bristles; wings and tail equal and barred;, small brown birds. (Wrens.) Troglodytida, VII.

ggg. No rictal bristles; tail feathers stiff and sharp, not barred; bill long, decurved; length 5 to 6. (Creeper.)

Certhiida, VI.

** Primaries 9; the first about as long as second. Bill flat, triangular; as wide at base as long; mouth wide and deep for catching insects; wings long and pointed. (Swallows.) Hirundinida, XII. Bill stout and conic; plumage brilliant, chiefly red in male, yellow in female. (Tanagers.)

Tangarida, XI.

Bill conic; stout at base; cutting edges of the bill with an angle near the base (i. e., " corners of the mouth drawn downward"). h. Bill shorter than the head; usually with a notch at tip. all our birds. Sparrows.)

(Comprises % of Fringillida, XVI.