CAROLINIAN AVIFAUNA 83 lines between these faunas cannot, of course, be sharply drawn. The change from one to another is gradual, and between the two a neutral strip exists in which will be found species characteristic of each. Just such a condition is found in this vicinity, the northern boundary of the Carolinian Fauna over-lapping the southern boundary of the Alleghanian Fauna in the valleys of the Delaware, Hudson and Connecticut. In other words, we have here on the one hand a number of birds which are found no farther north and on the other certain species which are found no farther south; that is, in the breeding season, for among birds only the nesting ranges are of value in determining the boundaries of faunas. The southern limit of the Carolinian Fauna on the Atlantic Coast is near Norfolk, Virginia; its northern limit, on the coast, as said above, is in the vicinity of New York City. To be more exact, a careful study of the nesting ranges of certain species shows that the most northern points at which they are regularly found is Port Jervis in the Delaware valley, Fishkill in the Hudson River valley, and Portland in the Connecticut River valley. These localities then may be considered as defining the northern limits of the Carolinian Fauna in the valleys in which they are placed. In the more elevated country between these points it is doubtful if the limits of the fauna reach quite as far north, for river valleys, both because they offer a natural pathway for the extension of a bird’s range, and because of the higher temperature prevailing in them, tend to carry northward the boundaries of faunas. Eastward, along the Connecticut shore, the Carolinian Fauna may reach the mouth of the Thames. Long Island, although farther south, belongs for the most part in the Alleghanian rather than the Carolinian Fauna. Numbers of species common and even abundant in the Lower Hudson valley are exceedingly rare on Long Island, especially on the southern shore. But along the northern shore, or older part of the island, where deciduous trees abound, there is an evident trace of the Carolinian Fauna shown by the regular occurrence of the Blue-winged Warbler and the Acadian Flycatcher.
The following Carolinian birds are found every summer within 50 miles of the Museum, and all but two or three are known to nest regularly here. Their occurrence as breeding birds northward beyond these limits is, with but few exceptions, rare and irregular.
[5]
THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL Clapper Rail.
King Rail.
Turkey Vulture.
Barn Owl.
Blue-winged Warbler.
Louisiana Water-Thrush. Kentucky Warbler.
Hooded Warbler.
Acadian Flycatcher. Mockingbird. Fish Crow. Carolina Wren. Cardinal. Tufted Titmouse. Rough-winged Swallow. Carolina Chickadee. Worm-eating Warbler. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. The southern limit of the Alleghanian Fauna on the coast is less clearly defined. It includes, however, Long Island and northern New Jersey. Its boundaries may be determined by the presence in the breeding season of the following species, few of which are known to nest at sea-level south of our limits: Purple Finch.
Golden-winged Warbler. Nashville Warbler.
Chestnut-sided Warbler. Black-throated Green Warbler. Wilson’s Thrush.
Carolina Rail.
Alder Flycatcher.
Least Flycatcher.
Bobolink.
Savanna Sparrow.
Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Thus it will be seen that while the region south of our district has the Carolinian species mentioned, and the region to the northward has the Alleghanian species just given, we, in this intermediate strip, have both Carolinian and Alleghanian species. It is evident, therefore, that from an ornithological standpoint we are most favorably situated, and a comparison of the number of birds found within our limits with the numbers recorded from other districts shows that the causes mentioned have been effective in giving us an unusually rich avifauna. Due allowance must of course be made for the much greater area included in all but one of the regions used in comparison. ESD oe within 50 Miles of New York City 353 District Columbia (Richmond, MS.) 281 Ontario, Canada, (Mcllwraith) 316 Massachusetts (Howe and Allen) 362 Illinois (Ridgway) 352 Indiana (Butler) 305 “Michigan (Cook) 332 “Kansas (Goss) 343 During the course of a year the bird-life of our vicinity is subject to great changes. Some birds are always with us, some come for the summer, others pass us in the spring and fall in traveling to and from their more northern homes, and others still come [6]
PERMANENT AND SUMMER RESIDENTS 85 only in the winter. Our birds may thus be arranged, according to the season when they are present, in several rather well-defined groups, for which the following names seem most applicable. I. Permanent Residents.—This class includes species which are with us throughout the year, but it does not follow that the same individuals pass the entire year here. Comparatively few, indeed, of the species in this group are permanent residents in the strict sense of the term. “The Bob-white, Ruffed Grouse, and several of the Owls are doubtless literally permanent residents, that is, the same individuals pass their lives in one restricted locality, but it is not probable that the Bluebirds, for example, found here during the winter are the same birds which nested with us in the summer. Doubtless our winter Bluebirds pass the summer farther north, while our summer Bluebirds winter farther south but as a species, the Bluebird is a permanent resident. List of Permanent Residents.
Bob-white. Blue Jay.
Ruffed Grouse. American Crow.
Marsh Hawk. Fish Crow.
Sharp-shinned Hawk. Starling.
Coopers Hawk. Meadowlark.
Red-tailed Hawk. House Sparrow.
Red-shouldered Hawk. Purple Finch.
Broad-winged Hawk. American Goldfinch. Bald Eagle. European Goldfinch.
Duck Hawk. Song Sparrow.
Sparrow Hawk. Swamp Sparrow.
Long-eared Owl. Cardinal.
Barred Owl. Cedar Waxwing.
Screech Owl. Carolina Wren.
Great Horned Owl. White-breasted Nuthatch. Hairy Woodpecker. Tufted Titmouse.
Downy Woodpecker. Chicadee.
Flicker. Robin.
Bluebird.
II. Summer Residents——Summer residents, as the name implies, are birds found here during the summer. They may, however, arrive early in March and remain until December, as do the Blackbirds and the Woodcocks, or they may not come until May and may leave us in August. Summer residents, then, are birds which come to us at varying times in the spring and after nesting here return to more southern winter resorts in the fall. [7]
86 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL List of Summer Residents. Wood Duck.
American Bittern. Least Bittern. Green Heron. Black-crowned Night Heron. King Rail.
Clapper Rail. Virginia Rail. Sora.
Yellow Rail. Black Rail.
Woodcock.
Bartramian Sandpiper. Spotted Sandpiper. Kildeer.
Piping Plover. Mourning Dove. Osprey.
Barn Owl.
Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Black-billed Cuckoo. Belted Kingfisher. Red-headed Woodpecker. Whip-poor-will. Nighthawk.
Chimney Swift. Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Kingbird.
Crested Flycatcher. Pheebe.
Wood Pewee.
Acadian Flycatcher. Alder Flycatcher. Least Flycatcher. Bobolink.
Cowbird.
Red-winged Blackbird. Orchard Oriole. Baltimore Oriole. Purple Grackle. Vesper Sparrow. Savanna Sparrow. Grasshopper Sparrow. Henslow’s Sparrow. Sharp-tailed Sparrow. Seaside Sparrow. Chipping Sparrow. Field Sparrow. Towhee.
Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Indigo Bunting. Scarlet Tanager. Purple Martin. Cliff Swallow. Barn Swallow. Tree Swallow. Bank Swallow. Rough-winged Swallow. Red-eyed Vireo. Warbling Vireo. Yellow-throated Vireo. White-eyed Vireo. Black and White Warbler. Worm-eating Warbler. Blue-winged Warbler. Golden-winged Warbler. Parula Warbler. Yellow Warbler. Chestnut-sided Warbler. Black-throated green Warbler. Pine Warbler. Prairie Warbler. Ovenbird.
Louisiana Water-Thrush. Kentucky Warbler. Maryland Yellow-throat. Yellow-breasted Chat. Hooded Warbler. Redstart.
Catbird.
Brown Thrasher. House Wren.
Short-billed Marsh Wren. Long-billed Marsh Wren. Wood Thrush. Wilson’s Thrush. III. Summer Visitants.—Comparatively few birds fall into this group. As a rule the northern limit of their breeding range is not far south of our southern boundaries and they sometimes
WINTER RESIDENTS AND VISITANTS 87 visit us in small numbers, generally after their breeding season is over. In this group may also be placed the Shearwaters and Petrels, some of which are known to nest in the Antarctic Regions during our winter. In the spring they migrate northward and pass the summer off our coasts. List of Summer Visitants.
Gull-billed Tern. American Egret. Royal Tern. Little Blue Heron. Forster's Tern. Wilson’s Plover. Sooty Tern. Oyster-catcher. Black Skimmer. Turkey Vulture. Greater Shearwater. Red-bellied Woodpecker. Audubon’s Shearwater. Summer Tanager. Sooty Shearwater. Carolina Chickadee. Wilson’s Petrel. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. Mockingbird.
IV. Winter Residents.—Winter residents, like summer residents, may arrive long before and remain long after the season which gives them their name. Our Junco, or Snowbird, for example, comes from the north in September and remains until April, but is a typical winter resident. That is, it arrives in the fall and after passing the entire winter with us returns to its more northern summer home in the spring. List of Winter Residents.
Holbeell’s Grebe. Rough-legged Hawk. Horned Grebe. Saw-whet Owl. Loon, Horned Lark.
Red-throated Loon: Prairie Horned Lark. Razor-billed Auk. American Crossbill. Kittiwake Gull. Redpoll.
Glaucous Gull. Pine Siskin. Great Black-backed Gull. Snowflake. Herring Gull. Lapland Longspur. Ring-billed Gull. Ipswich Sparrow. Green-winged Teal. White-throated Sparrow. American Golden-eye. Tree Sparrow. Buffle-head. Junco.
Old-Squaw. Northern Shrike. King Eider. Myrtle Warbler. American Scoter. Winter Wren. White-winged Scoter. Brown Creeper. Surf Scoter. Canadian Nuthatch. Purple Sandpiper. Golden-crowned Kinglet. V. Winter Visitants.—W inter visitants are birds which may or may not visit us during the winter. As a rule, their presence [9]
88 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL depends upon the severity of the winter. An unusually severe season sometimes forces boreal birds southward and they then may be found in numbers south of their regular winter range. List of Winter Visitants.
Puffin. American Eider.
Black Guillemot. Goshawk.
Brunnich’s Murre. Black Gyrfalcon. (?) Dovekie. Hawk Owl.
Iceland Gull. Snowy Owl.
Kumlien’s Gull. Evening Grosbeak. Cormorant. Pine Grosbeak.
Harlequin Duck. White-winged Crossbill. Holbeell’s Redpoll.
VI. Regular Transient Visitants.—The birds of this class are found here only during the migrations. Their summer homes are north of us, their winter homes are south of us, and we see them only when they pass northward on their spring migration and southward on their fall migration. List of Regular Transient Visitants. Pied-billed Grebe. Tennessee Warbler. Pomarine Jaeger. Cape May Warbler. Parasitic Jaeger. Black-throated Blue Warbler. Long-tailed Jaeger. Dowitcher. Laughing Gull. Long-billed Dowitcher. Bonaparte’s Gull. Stilt Sandpiper. Common Tern. Knot.
Roseate Tern. Pectoral Sandpiper. Caspian Tern. White-rumped Sandpiper. Cory’s Shearwater. Least Sandpiper. Leach’s Petrel. Red-backed Sandpiper. Gannet. Semipalmated Sandpiper. Double-crested Cormorant. Western Sandpiper. Red-breasted Merganser. Sanderling. Hooded Merganser. Greater Yellow-legs. Black Duck. Yellow-legs.
Blue-winged Teal. Solitary Sandpiper. Pintail. Willet.
Redhead. Hudsonian Curlew. American Scaup Duck. Black-bellied Plover. Lesser Scaup Duck. Golden Plover. Ruddy Duck. Semipalmated Plover. Canada Goose. Turnstene.
Brant. , Pigeon Hawk.
Great Blue Heron. Short-eared Owl. Florida Gallinule. Yellow-bellied Woodpecker. Coot. Magnolia Warbler.
Red Phalarope. Bay-breasted Warbler. [10]
TRANSIENT VISITANTS 89 Northern Phalarope. Black-poll Warbler. Wilson’s Snipe. Blackburnian Warbler. Olive-sided Flycatcher. Palm Warbler. Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. Yellow Palm Warbler. Rusty Blackbird. Water-Thrush. Bronzed Grackle. Connecticut Warbler. Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow. Mourning Warbler. Acadian Sharp-tailed Sparrow. Wilson’s Warbler . White-crowned Sparrow. Canadian Warbler. Lincoln’s Sparrow. Titlark.
Fox Sparrow. Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Philadelphia Vireo. Gray-cheeked Thrush. Blue-headed Vireo. Bicknell’s Thrush. Nashville Warbler. Swainson’s Thrush. Hermit Thrush.
VII. Irregular Transient Visitants——These birds occur irregularly during the migrations. With certain exceptions they are birds of the interior and breed in the northern United States and British Provinces. Their regular line of migration is down the Mississippi Valley, and their occurrence on the Atlantic coast is more or less infrequent. Here are also included species formerly common near New York, but now practically extinct within our limits, where, however, they are sometimes found. List of Irregular Transient Visitants. Least Tern. Whistling Swan.
Black Tern. Wilson's Phalarope. Mallard. American Avccet.
Gadwall. Baird’s Sandpiper.
American Widgeon. Marbled Godwit. Shoveller. Hudsonian Godwit. Canvasback. Buff-breasted Sandpiper. Ring-necked Duck. Long-billed Curlew. Greater Snow Goose. Eskimo Curlew. Blue Goose. Passenger Pigeon. American White-fronted Goose. Golden Eagle. Hutchins’s Goose. Migrant Shrike. Black Brant. Orange-crowned Warbler. ; Grinnell’s Water-Thrush.
VIII. Accidental Visitants——The homes of the birds included in this class are so far removed from our boundaries that their presence here at any time can be considered only as purely accidental. In most cases it is doubtless due to the agency of storms or high winds which drive migrating birds from their course. One-fourth the number given below are Old World birds, and about one-half the total number have been found here but once. [11]
go THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL List of Accidental Vistants. Black-throated Loon. Ground Dove. Ivory Gull. Black Vulture.
Little Gull. Swallow-tailed Kite. Sabine’s Gull. Swainson’s Hawk. Fulmar. White Gyrfalcon.
Booby. Great Gray Owl.
White Pelican. Red-cockaded Woodpecker. Brown Pelican. Pileated Woodpecker. European Widgeon. Arkansas Kingbird. European Green-winged Teal. Raven. Rufous-crested Duck. Chestnut-collared Longspur. Barnacle Goose. Lark Sparrow. White Ibis. Blue Grosbeak.
Glossy Ibis. Painted Bunting. Snowy Heron. Dickcissel.
Yellow-crowned Night Heron. Louisiana Tanager. Corn Crake. Bohemian Waxwing. Purple Gallinule. Prothonotary Warbler. Black-necked Stilt. Cerulean Warbler. European Woodcock. Yellow-throated Warbler. Curlew Sandpiper. Townsend's Solitaire. Ruff. Varied Thrush.
Lapwing. Wheatear.
Summary.
Permanent Residents : ; : : : ; 34 Summer Residents ; ; : : , : : 86 Summer Visitants . ‘ : : : F : : 19 Winter Residents. : 4 me : ‘ s 38 Winter Visitants . : : ; 3 : ‘ : 17 Regular Transient Visitants . : 5 : ; ; 86 Irregular Transient Visitants . : : : . ; 27 Accidental Visitants 7 : : J : . : 40 Total, 353 THE SEASONAL COLE CHION The preceding seasonal analysis of our avifauna shows that only a part of the 353 birds which have been recorded from this vicinity are present at one time, and any arrangement of specimens which will, for example, show only the birds of a given month, will of course greatly simplify the problem of identification by excluding from it all species which, for seasonal reasons, we should not expect to find during the month in question. The Seasonal Collection is made up of the Permanent Residents (Cases Q and ©) and Migrants (Case P) and is changed [12]