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American Museum of Natural History Birds of North America François Vuilleumier
We dedicate this book to the memory of John Bull, John Farrand, and Stuart Keith, top birders, field guide authors, AMNH colleagues, first-rate ornithologists, and friends.
DORLING KINDERSLEY
Senior Art Editors
Caroline Hill, Ina Stradins
Senior Editor
Angeles Gavira Guerrero
US Senior Editor
Jill Hamilton
Project Editor
Nathan Joyce
Designers
Sonia Barbate, Helen McTeer
Editors
Jamie Ambrose, Lori Baird, Tamlyn Calitz, Marcus Hardy, Patrick Newman, Siobhan O’Connor, David Summers, Miezan van Zyl, Rebecca Warren
DK, a Division of Penguin Random House LLC 16 17 18 19 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 001—288637—September 2016
All rights reserved.
Without limiting the rights under the copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.
Published in Great Britain by Dorling Kindersley Limited.
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN 978-1-4654-4399-1
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CONTRIBUTORS
David Bird
Nicholas L. Block
Peter Capainolo
Matthew Cormons
Malcolm Coulter
Joseph DiCostanzo
Shawneen
Finnegan
Neil Fletcher
Ted Floyd
Jeff Groth
Paul Hess
Brian Hiller
Rob Hume
Thomas Brodie
Johnson
Kevin T. Karlson
Stephen Kress
William
Moskoff
Bill Pranty
Michael L.P. Retter
Noah Strycker
Paul Sweet
Rodger
Titman
Elissa Wolfson
Map Editor Paul Lehman
Project Coordinator Joseph DiCostanzo
AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
The American Museum of Natural History, founded in 1869, is one of the world’s preeminent scientific, educational, and cultural institutions. The Museum encompasses 45 permanent exhibition halls, including the Rose Center for Earth and Space and the Hayden Planetarium, as well as galleries for temporary exhibitions. The Museum’s five active research divisions and three crossdisciplinary centers support approximately 200 scientists, whose work draws on a world-class permanent collection of more than 33 million specimens and artifacts, as well as specialized collections for frozen tissue and genomic and astrophysical data, and one of the largest natural history libraries in the world. Annual attendance has grown to approximately 5 million, and the Museum’s exhibitions and Space Shows can be seen in venues on five continents. The Museum’s website and collection of apps for mobile devices extend its collections, exhibitions, and educational programs to millions more beyond its walls. Visit amnh.org for more information.
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Lifelong studies of birds make François Vuilleumier uniquely qualified to be Editor-in-Chief of Birds of North America. After obtaining a Ph.D. at Harvard University, he started a long association with the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Past Chairman of the Department of Ornithology, he is now Curator Emeritus. His research has taken him all over the world, especially South America. Author of about 250 papers and one book, Dr.Vuilleumier taught ornithology at the College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, Maine. He has watched birds from the Canadian High Arctic and south to Mexico. His life list is about 4,000 species, and he is familiar in the field with all but a handful of the species treated in this book.
CONSULTANT
Paul Sweet was born in Bristol, England, and has been interested in natural history for as long as he can remember. After completing a degree in zoology at the University of Liverpool, he worked at the Raffles Museum in Singapore. In 1991 he moved to the American Museum of Natural History, where he is now the Collection Manager of the Ornithology Department, the largest bird collection in the world.
HOW THIS BOOK WORKS
This guide covers just under 900 North American bird species. The species are organized into three sections—the first profiles common North American species, with each given full-page treatment; the second covers rarer birds in quarter-page entries; the third section consists of a list of rare visitors.
INTRODUCTION
The species are organized conventionally by order, family, and genus. This means that related birds appear together, preceded by a group introduction. The book follows the most up-to-date avian classification system, based on the latest scientific research.
GROUP NAME
The common name of the group each species belongs to is at the top of each page.
COMMON NAME
IN FLIGHT
Illustrations show the bird in flight, from above and/or below— differences of season, age, or sex are not always visible.
DESCRIPTION
Conveys the main features and essential character of the species including:
VOICE
A description of the species’ calls and songs, given phonetically where possible.
NESTING
The type of nest and its usual location; the number of eggs in a clutch; the number of broods in a year; the breeding season.
FEEDING
How, where, and what the species feeds on.
SIMILAR SPECIES
Similar-looking species are identified and key differences pointed out.
LENGHT,
In this book, North America is the region from the southern tip of Florida and the US–Mexico border to the Canadian High Arctic. Each profile includes a map showing the range of the species, with colors reflecting seasonal movements.
COMMON SPECIES
The main section of the book features the 659 most commonly seen bird species in the North American region. Each entry is clear and detailed, following the same easy-to-access structure.
Baltimore Oriole
Length is tip of tail to tip of bill; measurements are averages or ranges.
SOCIAL
The social unit the species is usually found in.
LIFESPAN
The average or maximum life expectancy.
STATUS
The conservation status of the species; the symbol (p) means the data available can only suggest a provisional status. The term “Localized” suggests that the species may be widespread but restricted to smaller areas of suitable habitat and climatic conditions.
The Baltimore Oriole’s brilliant colors are familiar to in eastern North America because this bird is so tolerant humans. This species originally favored the American Elm nesting, but Dutch Elm disease decimated these trees. The has since adapted to using sycamores, cottonwoods, and tall trees as nesting sites. Its ability to use suburban gardens parks has helped expand its range to incorporate areas densely occupied by humans.
VOICE Loud, clear, melodious song comprising several short notes in series, often of varying lengths.
NESTING Round-bottomed basket usually woven of grass, toward the end of branches; 4–5 eggs; 1 brood; May–July.
FEEDING Hops or flits among leaves and branches picking and spiders; fond of caterpillars; also eats
and sips
MAPS
See panel, left. The occurrence caption describes the bird’s preferred habitats and range within the North American region.
MAPS
RARE SPECIES
CLASSIFICATION
The top band of each entry provides the scientific order, family, and species names (see glossary, pp.736–38 for full definitions of these terms).
HABITAT/BEHAVIOR
Additional photographs reveal the species in its typical habitat or show the bird exhibiting typical behavior.
COLOR BAND
The information bands at the top and bottom of each entry are color-coded for each family.
PHOTOGRAPHS
These illustrate the species in different views and plumage variations. Significant differences relating to age, sex, and season (breeding/nonbreeding) are shown and the images labeled accordingly; if there is no variation, the images have no label. Unless stated otherwise, the bird shown is an adult.
FLIGHT PATTERNS
This feature illustrates and briefly describes the way the species flies. See panel below.
VAGRANTS
Very rare visitors and peripheral bird species are listed at the back of the book with a brief description, including where the species is from.
FLIGHT PATTERNS
Simple line diagrams are used to illustrate eight basic flight patterns.
Woodpecker-like: bursts of wing beats between deeply undulating glides. wing beats
Finch-like: light, bouncy action with flurries of wing beats between deep, undulating glides.
Grouse-like: bursts of wing beats between short, straight glides.
Over 60 less common birds are presented on pp.710–727. Arranged in the same group order used in the main section, these entries consist of one clear photograph of the species accompanied by a description of the bird.
VAGRANTS
Sparrowhawk-like: straight, with several quick, deep beats between short, flat glides.
Gull-like: continually flapping, with slow, steady wing beats.
Duck-like: continually flapping, with fast wing beats.
Kite-like: deep, slow wing beats between soaring glides.
Swallow-like: swooping, with bursts of wing beats between glides.
Species Icterus galbula
EVOLUTION
Ornithologists agree that birds evolved from dinosaurs about 150 million years ago, but there is still debate about the dinosaur group from which they descended. Around 10,000 species of birds exist today, living in many different kinds of habitat across the world, from desert to Arctic tundra.
SPECIATION
MISSING LINK?
Archaeopteryx, shown here as a 145-million-year-old fossil, had dinosaur-like teeth and a long tail, but birdlike feathers.
What are species and how do they evolve? Species are biological entities. When two species of a genus overlap they rarely interbreed and produce hybrids. The Northern Flicker has an eastern (yellow-shafted) and a western (red-shafted) form; because of the discovery that they interbreed in the Great Plains, ornithologists now consider these two forms to be a single species. In other cases, a previously single species, such as the Sage-Grouse, has been divided. Such examples illustrate how species evolve, first by geographic separation, followed in time by overlap. This process can take millions of years.
BIRD GENEALOGY
The diagram below is called a phylogeny, and shows how selected groups of birds are related to each other. The timescale at the top of the diagram is derived from both fossil and DNA
evidence, which allows ornithologists to estimate when different lineages of birds diverged. The names of groups shown in bold are those living in North America.
This magnificent species is diurnal, unlike most other owls, which are nocturnal. The Snowy Owl breeds in the Arctic tundra and if the ground is covered with snow, it blends in perfectly.
CONVERGENCE
The evolutionary process during which birds of two distantly related groups develop similarities is called convergence. Carrion-eating birds of prey are one example. Old World vultures belong to the hawk family (Accipitridae), while New World vultures are more closely related to storks. However, both groups are characterized by hooked bills, bare heads, and weak talons.
PARALLEL EVOLUTION
The African longclaws (family Motacillidae) and North American meadowlarks (family Icteridae) show remarkable convergence in plumage color.
EXTINCTION
During the last 150 years, North America has lost the Passenger Pigeon, the Great Auk, the Carolina Parakeet, the Labrador Duck, and the Eskimo Curlew. Humans either hunted them out of existence or destroyed their habitat. Some species that seemed doomed have had a reprieve. Thanks to a breeding and release program, the majestic California Condor soars once again over the Grand Canyon.
CLASSIFYING BIRDS
All past and present animal life is named and categorized into groups. Classifications reflect the genealogical relationships among groups, based on traits such as color, bones, or DNA. Birds make up the class “Aves,” which includes “orders”; each “order” is made up of one or more “families.” “Genus” is a subdivision of “family,” which contains one or more “species.“ A species is a unique group of similar organisms that interbreed and produce fertile offspring. Some species have distinct populations, which are known as subspecies.
OVERHUNTING
The Passenger Pigeon was eradicated as a result of relentless hunting.
CAPE LONGCLAW
WESTERN MEADOWLARK
Aves (Birds)
Passeriformes (songbirds)
Parulidae (Wood Warblers)
Setophaga
Setophaga tigrina
Setophaga palmarum
Setophaga castanea
p. palmarum
ANATOMY AND FLIGHT
ISKELETON
Avian skeletal features include the furcula (wishbone), the keeled sternum (breastbone), and the fused tail vertebrae.
n spite of their external diversity, birds are remarkably similar internally. To allow flight, birds require a skeleton that is both rigid and light. Rigidity is achieved by the fusion of some bones, especially the lower vertebrae, while lightness is maintained by having hollow limb bones. These are connected to air sacs, which, in turn, are connected to the bird’s lungs.
FLIGHT ADAPTATIONS
For birds to be able to fly, they need light and rigid bones, a lightweight skull, and hollow wing and leg bones. In addition, pouch-like air sacs are connected to hollow bones, which reduce a bird’s weight. The air sacs also function as a cooling system, which birds need because they have a high metabolic rate. The breast muscles, which are crucial for flight, attach to the keeled sternum (breastbone).
bird bONE STrucTurE
Most bird bones, except those of penguins and other flightless birds, are hollow, which reduces their weight. A honeycomb of internal struts makes the bones incredibly strong.
LEGS, FEET, AND TOES
When you look at a bird’s leg, you do not see its thigh, which is inside the body cavity, but the leg from the knee down. When we talk about a bird’s feet we really mean its toes. The shin is a fused tibia and fibula. This fused bone plus the heel are known as the “tarso-metatarsus.”
uNdErParTS
enables grip on ground
WaLKiNg
Ground-foraging birds usually have a long hind claw.
enables strong grip on branches used to grasp prey webbing provides thrust in water
SWimmiNg
Water-loving birds have webbing between their toes.
cLimbiNg
Most climbers have two toes forward and two backward.
Underwing coverts have a regular pattern of overlapping rows. Short feathers cover the head, breast, belly, and flanks. In most birds, the toes are unfeathered.
HuNTiNg
Birds of prey have powerful toes and strong, pointed claws.
tertials
keeled sternum
axillaries
fused tail vertebrae
undertail coverts scapulars
uppertail coverts
UppeRpARts
The wing feathers from the “hand” of the bird are the primaries and those on the “forearm” are the secondaries. Each set has its accompanying row of coverts. The tertials are adjacent to the secondaries.
FEATHERS
All birds, by definition, have feathers. These remarkable structures, which are modified scales, serve two main functions: insulation and flight. Special muscles allow birds to raise their feathers or to flatten them against the body. In cold weather, fluffed-out feathers keep an insulating layer of air between the skin and the outside. This insulating capacity is why humans often find wearing “down” jackets so effective against the cold. The first feathers that chicks have after hatching are down feathers. The rigidity of the flight feathers helps to create a supporting surface that birds use to generate thrust and lift.
WING FUNCTIONS
types of feAtHeRs
Birds have three main kinds of feathers: down, contour, and flight feathers. The rigid axis of all feathers is called the “rachis.”
Flapping, soaring, gliding, and hovering are among the ways birds can use their wings. They also exhibit colors or patterns as part of territorial and courtship displays. Several birds, such as herons, open their wings like an umbrella when foraging in water for fish. An important aspect of wings is their relationship to a bird’s weight. The ratio of a bird’s wing area to weight is called wing loading, but this may also be affected by wing shape. An eagle has a large wing area to weight ratio, which means it has lower wing loading, whereas a swallow has a small wing area to weight ratio, and therefore high wing loading. This means that the slow, soaring eagle is capable of much more energy-efficient flight than the fast, agile swallow.
The broad, long, rectangular wings of an eagle allow it to soar. The outstretched alulae (bastard wings) give it extra lift.
The supporting surface of a bird’s wing enables it to takeoff and stay aloft. Propulsion and lift are linked in birds—which use their wings for both—unlike in airplanes in which these two functions are separate. Large and heavy birds, like swans, flap their wings energetically to create propulsion, and need a long, watery runway before they can fly off. The California Condor can takeoff from a cliff with little or no wing flapping, but the Black and Turkey Vultures hop up from carrion then flap vigorously and finally use air flowing across their wings to soar. This diagram shows how air flow affects lift.
Broad at their base and tapering toward a point, and bent at the wrist, a swallow’s wings enable fast flight and sharp turns.
Short, broad, and round wings enable warblers to move between perches and to migrate long distances.
alula (bastard wing)
DOWN feather CONtOUr feather fLIGht feather
throat primary coverts
LoNG AND BRoAD
sHoRt AND RoUND
poINteD
Introduction MIGRATION
Until recently, the mechanics, or the “how” of migration was poorly understood. Today, however, ornithologists know that birds use a variety of cues including visual and magnetic, whether they migrate by day or by night. Birds do not leave northern breeding areas because of the winter cold, but because day-length is getting shorter.
INSTINCTIVE MOVE
REFUELING
Red Knots make a stop on their long journey to probe for mollusks and crustaceans.
NAVIGATION
During migration, ornithologists can point a telescope on the moon and count the birds that cross its surface.
Even though many birds use visual cues and landmarks during their migration, for example, birds of prey flying along the Appalachians, “instinctive” behavior must control much of how and where they move. Instinct is a loose term that is hard to define, but ornithologists generally understand it as a genetically programmed activity. They assume that natural selection has molded a behavior as complex as migration by acting on birds’ DNA; this hypothesis is reasonable but hard to prove. Nevertheless, it would seem to be the only explanation why many juvenile shorebirds leave their breeding grounds after their parents and yet find their way to their final destination.
One of the most puzzling aspects of migration is understanding how birds make their way from their breeding grounds to their destination. Ornithologists have devised experiments to determine how the different components of a navigation system work. For example, if visual landmarks are hidden by fog, a faint sun can give birds a directional clue; if heavy clouds hide the sun, then the birds’ magnetic compass may be used to ascertain their direction.
FINdING THE wAy
These birds coordinate information their brains receive from the sun, moon, stars, landmarks, and tiny pieces of magnetite, and use it as a compass.
OvERLANd FLIERS
Sandhill Cranes migrate over hills and mountains from their Arctic tundra breeding grounds to the marshes of the Platte River in the midwestern US.
NIGHT MIGRANTS
GLOBETROTTERS
Some bird species in North America are yearround residents, although a few individuals of these species move away from where they hatched at some time in the year. However, a large number of North American species are migratory. A few species breed in Alaska, but winter on remote southwest Pacific islands. Others breed in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, fly over land and the Pacific Ocean, and spend the winter at sea off the coast of Peru. Many songbirds fly from the Gulf Coast to northern South America. The most amazing globetrotters, such as the Red Knot, fly all the way to Tierra del Fuego, making only a few stops along the way after their short breeding season in the Arctic tundra. The return journeys of some of these travelers are not over the same route— instead, their entire trip is elliptical in shape.
Key
Trans-Pacific route
Coastal Pacific route
Arctic to Pacific route
Trans-Gulf route
Atlantic to Caribbean route
Argentina to Arctic route
Arctic-Atlantic Neotropical route
EPIC JOURNEY
The Arctic Tern is a notorious long-distance migrant, breeding in northern regions and wintering in the pack ice of Antarctica after flying a round-trip distance of about 25,000 miles (40,000km).
NEOTROPICAL MIGRANT
Many wood-warblers, such as this Blackpoll Warbler breed in boreal forests, before migrating to their wintering grounds in the Caribbean, or Central or South America.
The American Robin is a good example of a partial migrant, a species in which the birds of some populations are resident whereas others migrate out of their breeding range. Most Canadian populations of the American Robin fly south, US populations are largely resident, and quite a few from either population spend the winter in the Southwest, Florida, or Mexico.
Key Breeding distribution
Resident all year
Nonbreeding distribution
MIGRATION ROUTEs
The map above shows the range of migration routes that some North American species take to and from their breeding grounds.
V-FORMATION
Geese and other large waterfowl fly in a v-formation. The leader falls back and is replaced by another individual, saving energy for all the birds.
partial migrant
COURTSHIP AND MATING
Whethermonogamous or not, males and females need to mate for their species to perpetuate itself. With most species, the male plays the dominant role of advertising a territory to potential mates using vocal or visual displays. Females then select a male, and if the two respond positively to each other, a period of courtship follows ending in mating. The next step is nest building, egg laying, and rearing the young.
DISPLAYS
During courtship,
perform spectacular dances, the two birds of a pair leaping into the air with wings opened and legs splayed.
Mutual attraction between the sexes starts with some sort of display, usually performed by the male. These displays can take a number of forms, from flashing dazzling breeding plumage, conducting elaborate dancing rituals, performing complex songs, offering food or nesting material, or actually building a nest. Some birds, such as grebes have fascinatingly intricate ceremonies, in which both male and female simultaneously perform the same movements.
WelCome Home
Northern Gannets greet their mates throughout the breeding season by rubbing bills together and opening their wings.
CHoiCe On a lek (communal display area) male Sage-Grouse inflate chest pouches while females flock around them and select a mate.
COURTSHIP FEEDING
In some species, males offer food to their mate to maintain the pair-bond. The Male Common Tern routinely brings small fish to a mate in a nesting colony, spreading his wings and tail until she accepts the fish.
maintaining relations
A male Northern Cardinal offers food to the female, which is a way of reinforcing their pair bond.
DanCing Cranes
Sandhill Cranes
laDies’
BREEDING
After mating, a nest is made, often by the female, where she lays from one to a dozen eggs. Not all birds make nests. Nightjars, for example, lay their eggs directly on the ground. In many species incubation doesn’t start until the female has laid all the eggs. Incubation, again usually done by the female, varies from 12 days to about 45 days. Songbirds ranging from the temperate zone to the Arctic show a range in clutch size with more eggs produced in the North than in the South. The breeding process can fail at any stage, for example, a predator can eat the eggs or the chicks. Some birds will nest again, but others give up breeding for the season.
monogamoUS bondS
Some birds, such as Snow Geese, remain paired for life after establishing a bond.
A male Red-necked Phalarope incubates eggs in the Arctic tundra. Phalaropes are well known for their reversal of breeding roles. The female, who is the larger and more colorful of the two sexes, aggressively competes for males, and after mating with several of them, plays no role in nest building, incubation, or caring for chicks, but tends to her territory instead. Although the chicks can feed by themselves immediately after hatching, they remain with a male before growing feathers and living on their own.
Mating is usually brief, and typically takes place on a perch or on the ground, but some species mate in the air. This male Black Tern balances himself by opening his wings.
mUtUal PREEning
Many species of albatross, like these Black-footed Albatrosses from the Pacific, preen each other, with one bird softly nibbling the feathers on the other’s head.
Polygamy
This Winter Wren collects nesting material for one of the several nests he will build.
mating tERnS
SINGLE FATHER
NESTS AND EGGS
Most bird species build their own nest, which is a necessary container for their eggs. Exceptions include cowbirds, which lay their eggs in other species’ nests. Nest-building is often done by the female alone, but in some species the male may help or even build it himself. Eggs are incubated either by females alone, or by males or females, depending on the species. Egg shells are hard enough to sustain the weight of incubating parents, yet soft enough for a chick to break its way out. Eggs, consisting of 60 percent water, contain a fatty yolk for nourishment of the embryo as well as sugars and proteins.
NEST TYPES
In addition to the four types shown below, nests range from a simple scrape in the ground with a few added pebbles to an elaborate woven basket-like structure. Plant matter forms basic nest material. This includes twigs, grass stems, bark, lichens, mosses, plant down, and rootlets. Some birds add mud to their nest for strength. Others incorporate animal hair or feathers to improve its softness and insulation. Female eider ducks pluck down feathers from their belly. Some birds include bits of plastic or threads in their nests. Many birds make their nest or lay their eggs deep inside the empty burrows of other animals. Burrowing Owls nest in prairie dog burrows, where they coexist with the rodents.
untidy nest
Huge stick nests, built on top of dead trees, are the hallmark of Ospreys. They also use custom-made nesting platforms erected by humans specifically for them.
nest box
Cavity-nesting bluebirds have been affected by habitat loss, and compete with other birds for nest sites, which may include human-made structures.
complex weave
New World orioles weave intricate nests from dried grass stems and other plant material, and hang them from the tip of branches, often high up in trees.
egg cup
A clutch of three blue robin’s eggs rest in a cup nest made of grass stems. Robins build their nests either in shrubs or trees.
natural cavity
This Northern Saw-whet Owl is nesting at the bottom of a cavity in a tree that has probably been excavated by a woodpecker.
eGG sHApes
There are six basic egg shapes among birds, as illustrated to the right. The most common egg shapes are longitudinal or elliptical. Murres lay pear-shaped eggs, an adaptation for nesting on the narrow ledges of sea cliffs; if an egg rolls, it does so in a tight circle and remains on the ledge. Spherical eggs with irregular red blotches are characteristic of birds of prey. Pigeons and doves lay white oval eggs, usually two per clutch. The eggs of many songbirds, including sparrows and buntings, are conical and have a variety of dark markings on a pale background.
NEAT ArrANgEmENT
Many shorebirds, such as plovers and sandpipers, lay four conical eggs with the narrow ends pointed in toward each other.
HATCHING CONDITION
After a period of incubation, which varies from species to species, chicks break the eggshell, some of them using an egg tooth, a special bill feature that falls off after hatching. After a long and exhausting struggle, the chick eventually tumbles out of the shell fragments. The transition from the watery medium inside the egg to the air outside is a tremendous physiological switch. Once free of their shell, the hatchlings recover from the exertion and either beg food from their parents or feed on their own.
pArENTAl
gUIdANcE
Birds of prey, such as these Snowy Owl owlets, need their parents to care for them longer than some other bird species, and do not leave the nest until their feathers are sufficiently developed for their first flight.
food dElIVErY
Tern chicks, although able to move around, cannot catch the fish they need to survive and must rely on their parents to provide food until they can fly.
color ANd shApE
Birds’ eggs vary widely in terms of shape, colors, and markings. The American Robin’s egg on the left is a beautiful blue.
Neither cowbirds in the New World nor cuckoos in the Old World make a nest. Female cowbirds deposit up to 20 eggs in the nests of several other species. If the foster parents accept the foreign egg, they will feed the chick of the parasite until it fledges. In the picture below, a tiny wood-warbler feeds its adopted chick, a huge cowbird hatchling that has overgrown the nest.
pear shaped longitudinal elliptical
conical
oval spherical
brood parasitism
fAsT fEEdEr
Coots, gallinules, and rails hatch with a complete covering of down and can feed themselves immediately after birth.
IDENTIFICATION
Some species are easy to identify, but in many cases, species identification is tricky. In North America, a notoriously difficult group in terms of identification is the wood-warblers, especially in the fall, when most species have similar greenish or yellowish plumage.
GEOGRAPHIC RANGE
Each bird species in North America lives in a particular area that is called its geographic range. Some species have a restricted range; for example, Kirtland’s Warbler occurs only in Michigan. Other species, such as the Red-tailed Hawk, range from coast to coast and from northern Canada to Mexico. Species with a broad range usually breed in a variety of vegetation types, while species with narrow ranges often have a specialized habitat; Kirtland’s Warblers’ is jack pine woodland.
SIZE AND WEIGHT
From hummingbird to Tundra Swan and from extra-light to heavy, such is the range of sizes and weights found among the bird species of North America. Size can be measured in several ways; for example, the length of a bird from bill-tip to tail-tip, or its wingspan. Size can also be estimated for a given bird in relationship with another that is familiar. For example, the less familiar Bicknell’s Thrush can be compared with the well-known American Robin.
GENERAL SHAPE
Just as birds come in all sizes, their body shapes vary, but size and shape are not necessarily correlated. In the dense reed beds in which it lives, the American Bittern’s long and thin body blends in with stems. The round-bodied Sedge Wren hops in shrubby vegetation or near the ground where slimness is not an advantage. In dense forest canopy, the slender and long-tailed Yellow-billed Cuckoo can maneuver easily. Mourning Doves inhabit rather open habitats and their plumpness is irrelevant when it comes to their living space.
BLUEBIRD VARIATIONS
Species of the genus Sialia, such as the Mountain Bluebird above and the Eastern Bluebird below, are easy to identify.
SIZE MATTERS
Smaller shorebirds, with shorter legs and bills, forage in shallow water, but larger ones have longer legs and bills and can feed in deeper water.
chestnut flanks
SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER
HUDSONIAN GODWIT
LESSER YELLOWLEGS
AMERICAN BITTERN
white belly bright blue wings
BILL SHAPE
These images show a range of bill shapes and sizes relative to the bird’s head size. In general, bill form, including length or thickness, corresponds to the kinds of food a birds consumes. With its pointed bill, the Mountain Chickadee picks tiny insects from crevices in tree bark. At another extreme, dowitchers probe mud with their long thin bills, feeling for worms. The avocet swishes its bill back and forth in briny water in search of shrimp.
WING SHAPE
Birds’ wing shapes are correlated with their flight style. The long, round-tipped wings of the Redtailed Hawk are perfect for soaring, while the tiny wings of hummingbirds are exactly what is needed to hover in front of flowers and then to back away after a meal of nectar. When flushed, quails flutter with their round wings and quickly drop down.
TAIL SHAPE
It is not clear why some songbirds, like the American Goldfinch, have a notched tail while other similar sized birds do not. Tail shapes vary as much as wing shapes, but are not so easily linked to a function. Irrespective of shape, tails are needed for balance. In some birds, tail shape, color, and pattern are used in courtship displays or in defensive displays when threatened.
COLORS AND MARKINGS
Melanin and carotenoid pigments determine color. Gray and brown birds have melanin (under hormonal influence), yellow and red ones have carotenoid (derived from food). Flamingos are pink because they eat carotenoid-rich crustaceans. Diversity in color and markings also results from scattering of white light by feathers (producing blue colors) and optical interference (iridescence) due to the structural properties of some feathers.
mammals and birds
AMERICAN ROBIN
CHICKADEE
AVOCET
GREAT BLUE HERON
GOLDEN EAGLE
MOUNTAIN QUAIL
RUFFED GROUSE
GOLDFINCH
WESTERN KINGBIRD
LAZULI BUNTING WHITECROWNED SPARROW
WARBLER
Specie S Guide
Ducks, Geese, anD swans
ReCeNT
SCieNTifiC studies indicate that waterfowl are closely related to gamebirds. Most species of waterfowl molt all their flight feathers at once after breeding, making them flightless for several weeks until they grow new ones.
geese
Ornithologists group geese and swans together into the subfamily Anserinae. intermediate in body size and neck length between swans and ducks, geese are more terrestrial than either, often being seen grazing on dry land. Like swans, geese pair for life. They are highly social, and most species are migratory, flying south for the winter in large flocks.
swans
Swans are essentially large, long-necked geese. Their heavier weight makes them ungainly on land, and they tend to be more aquatic than their smaller relatives. On water, however, they are extremely graceful. When feeding, a swan
stretches its long neck to reach water plants at the bottom, submerging up to half its body as it does so. The Trumpeter Swan is North America’s largest native waterfowl, growing up to 5ft (1.5m) long, and weighing up to 25lb (12kg).
ducks
Classified in their own subfamily, called the Anatinae, ducks are more varied than swans or geese, with many more species. They are loosely grouped by their feeding habits. Dabblers, or puddle ducks, such as the Mallard, teals, and wigeons, eat plants and other edible matter like snails. They feed by upending on the surface of shallow water. By contrast diving ducks, a group that includes scaups, scoters, eiders, mergansers, and the Ruddy Duck, dive for their food deep underwater.
instant takeoff
Puddle ducks like the Mallard can shoot straight out of the water and into the air.
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
all-black underwing
IN FLIGHT
pink feet extend beyond tail wings dark underneath
chestnut upperparts
long, pink, rubberylooking legs
The Black-bellied Whistling-Duck is one of only two North American species of whistling-duck. Unlike most other waterfowl, they have long legs and an upright posture when standing. Whistling-ducks used to be known as “tree-ducks” because they perch on trees while they roost and nest. With its distinctive red bill and long, pink legs, the Black-bellied Whistling-Duck is spectacular and unmistakable.
VOICE Soft wheezy series of 5 – 6 notes pit pit weee do dew; flight calls include a chit-chit-chit, often heard at night.
NESTING Tree holes, occasionally on ground, sometimes uses nest boxes; 9–18 eggs; 1–2 broods; April–October.
FEEDING Feeds on seeds in agricultural fields or submerged vegetation in shallow water; also eats insects and mollusks; largely nocturnal feeder.
SIMILAR SPECIES
uNDErCarrIaGE
Whistling-ducks drop their legs down and stretch their necks forward when landing.
Long necks and an upright posture help these ducks to keep a sharp eye out for predators.
OCCurrENCE
Prefers shallow, freshwater habitats; rice fields are a common foraging habitat; also occurs along shorelines and mud bars. Casual west to southeastern California and occasionally east as far as Florida. Northernmost populations move south for the winter, but generally resident.
Social Flocks
Lifespan Up to 8 years Status Localized
ADULT
pinkish red bill
FULvoUS WhiStLinG-DUck dark legs; see p.23
tawny head and belly
white wing bar
ADULT pale eye-ring
uPrIGhT STaNCE
ADULt
gray face and upper neck
pale patch on wing
FLIGhT: flies with slow wing beats, with legs extending beyond body and neck drooping.
short, black tail
chestnut neck and breast
black belly
Fulvous Whistling-Duck
Although often thought of as dabbling ducks, whistling-ducks act more like swans, as they form long-term pairs, but without an elaborate courtship display, and the male helps to raise the brood. The Fulvous Whistling-Duck is a widespread species in tropical regions, but in the US it is closely associated with rice fields, where numbers of these noisy birds have steadily recovered from the use of pesticides in the 1960s.
VOIce High-pitched squeaky pi-teeeew; often calls in flight.
neSTInG Simple bowl-shaped nest made of plant matter; among dense floating plants, or on ground; 6 –20 eggs; 1 brood; April–September.
FeeDInG Filter feeds on rice, seeds of water plants, insects, worms, snails, and clams by swimming, wading, or dabbling along or below the surface.
BLAck-BeLLieD WhiStLiNG-DUck see p.22
When feeding in water, the bird often upends to feed on snails and submerged rice seeds.
PiNtAiL 1 see p.43
The Fulvous Whistling-Duck is shorter-necked than its black-bellied cousin, and can be confused with other ducks when its long legs are hidden.
Occurrence
Permanent resident in southern Texas and Florida; range expands in summer to coastal Texas and Louisiana. In the US, often found in rice fields, together with the Black-bellied Whistling-Duck. Casual vagrant as far north as British Columbia and Nova Scotia.
adult dark wings barred back
tawny buff head and neck
NortherN
SIMIla R SPECIES
all-black tail
white flank plumes
brown-andblack mottled plumage longer neck
bOTTOmS up!
gray bill
gray feet extend beyond tail
FLIGHT: fairly shallow wing beats; legs extend beyond tail.
no white on flanks
tawny head and underparts white rump
tawny buff underparts
bold white wing stripe
IN FlIGHt
ADULt
SHOrT neckeD
faint crest
Greater White-fronted Goose
IN FLIGHT
The Greater White-fronted Goose is the most widespread goose in the Northern Hemisphere. It is easily distinguished by its black-barred belly and the patch of white at the base of its bill. There are five subspecies, two of which are most commonly seen in North America. The “Tundra” (A. a. frontalis), makes up the largest population, breeding across northwestern Canada and western Alaska. The “Tule” (A. a. gambeli), while the largest in stature, occurs in the fewest numbers, and is restricted in range to northwest Canada.
VOICE Laugh-like klow-yo or klew-yo-yo; very musical in a flock. NESTING Bowl-shaped nest made of plant material, lined with down, constructed near water; 3–7 eggs; 1 brood; May–August.
FEEDING Eats sedges, grasses, berries, and plants on both land and water in summer; feeds on grasses, seeds, and grains in winter.
SIMILAR SPECIES
FLIGHT: strong, direct flight; flies alone, in multiple lines, or in a V-formation.
FLIGHT FORMATIONS
This heavy-bodied, powerful flier can often be seen in tightly packed flocks.
OCCuRRENCE
Different habitats are utilized, both for breeding and wintering. Nesting areas include tundra ponds and lakes, dry rocky fields, and grassy slopes in Alaska and northern Canada. In winter, coastal marshes, inland wetlands, agricultural fields, and refuges are used along Pacific Coast, southern US, and Mexico.
ADUlt
MALE
A. a. frontalis (TuNdRA)
gray wing feathers
brown underparts with black bands
white flank streak
pink bill with white base
HEAVY GRAZER
Grass is the major component of this goose’s diet. bright orange legs
JuVENILE
dull yellowish orange bill
A. a gambeli (TuLE)
darker chocolatebrown upperparts
legs, bill, and neck
body
white chin strap
white rump band
white tip to tail
brownish gray head
Emperor Goose
all gray underwing short neck
dark underparts
silver-gray plumage with thin blackand-white edges
small pink bill
black throat
scalloped appearance
InNorth America, this small, elegant goose is restricted to coastal Alaska. With its white head, black throat, and patterned silvery-gray body and wings, the Emperor Goose is a distinctive bird. During migration, they congregate to feed in large estuaries along the Alaskan Peninsula. The Alaskan population of these birds declined drastically during the 1960s–80s, but has remained stable since then.
VOIce Calls rapid high-pitched kla-ha kla-ha kla-ha, deep ringing u-lugh u-lugh when alarmed; on ground, also grunts.
neSTInG Scrape-type nest usually lined with grasses in elevated areas along rivers, marshes, in permafrost, and dead vegetation; 3–6 eggs; 1 brood; May–August.
FeeDInG Eats mostly roots, shoots, and bulbs during nesting; in winter, feeds mostly on clams, mussels, and plants.
SNOW GOOSE (BlUE FORM); see p.26 blacker back
bigger bill with black patch
white wing feathers and belly
ROSS’S GOOSE (BlUE FORM); see p.27
orange bill
FLIGHT: direct with comparatively rapid wing beats for a goose; migrates in large flocks.
LOnG-TerM reLATIOnSHIP
The Emperor Goose is a monogamous species, with pairs forming life-long bonds.
Occurrence
Breeds in Arctic and subarctic coastal salt marsh habitats in Alaska and eastern Russia. A large proportion of the population nests within 9 miles (15km) of the coast at Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. Majority winter on the Alaska Peninsula and on ice-free beaches in the Aleutian Islands.
male
IN FlIGHT
ADUlt
white head and nape
orange legs
JUVeNIle
dusky head different neck pattern
white tail
yellow legs pale wing feathers
Snow Goose
dark flight feathers gray bill
AdUlt (blUe)
dark head and neck pink legs d ucks, Geese, and Swans
elongated, white head
gray wing patch
IMMAtuRE (bLuE foRM) gray upperparts gray legs and feet
In fLIght AdUlt (white)
pale wing feathers
blackish brown back
long neck
dark belly
pale underparts
(bLuE foRM)
white upperparts
gray-brown all over
IMMAtuRE (whItE foRM)
FLight: direct, strong flight with moderate wing beats in either V-shaped or bunched flocks.
Theabundant Snow Goose has two subspecies. The “Greater” (C. c. atlantica) is slightly larger and breeds further east. The smaller “Lesser” (C. c. caerulescens) breeds further west. Snow Geese have two color forms—white and “blue” (actually dark grayish brown with a white head), and there are also intermediate forms.
VoicE Basic call a nasal whouk, kowk, or kow-luk, also higherpitched heenk; feeding call a series of hu-hu-hur nESting Scrapes on hummock, lined with plant material and down; 2– 6 eggs; 1 brood; May–July.
FEEding Grazes on aquatic and terrestrial vegetation, including stems, seeds, leaves, tubers, and roots; also grain and young leaves in agricultural fields in winter.
SIMILAR SPECIES
GReAteR whiteFRonted GooSe see p.24
white forehead
RoSS’S GooSe see p.27 much
overall shorter bill barred underparts
black patch on long bill
touching down
Snow Geese are well known for migrating in flocks that number in tens of thousands.
occurrEncE
Breeding colonies in High Arctic from Wrangel Island in the West to Greenland in the East; a population of “lesser” Snow Geese breeds near Hudson Bay. Winters along interior valleys westward to coastal lowlands and central plateau of Mexico; Atlantic populations winter in coastal marshes.
Lifespan Up to 27 years Status Secure
Social Flocks
ADuLt
ADuLt (whItE foRM) grayish legs
Ross’s Goose
gray wash on upperparts light gray crown
IN FLIGHT
mostly dark brown upperparts
round head
dusky line through eye
short, deeply furrowed neck
IMMATURE (wHITE FoRM)
clean white upperparts
short, triangular
This
diminutive white goose is not much bigger than a Mallard, and half the weight of a Snow Goose; like its larger relative, it also has a rare “blue” form. About 95 percent of Ross’s Geese once nested at a single sanctuary in Arctic Canada, but breeding pairs have spread eastwards along Hudson Bay and in several island locations. Hunting reduced numbers to just 6,000 in the early 1950s, but since then numbers have increased to around 2 million individuals.
VOIce Call a keek keek keeek, higher-pitched than Snow Goose; also a harsh, low kork or kowk; quiet when feeding.
neSTInG Plant materials placed on ground, usually in colonies with Lesser Snow Geese; 3–5 eggs; 1 brood; June–August.
FeeDInG Grazes on grasses, sedges, and small grains.
SIMILAR SPECIES
Family groups migrate thousands of miles together, usually from northern Canada to central California.
Occurrence
Breeding grounds are amidst tundra in a number of scattered, High Arctic locations. Main wintering areas in California. On the wintering grounds, it feeds in agricultural fields, and also grasslands. Roosts overnight in several types of wetlands.
Snow GooSe blue form; see p.26
Snow GooSe white form; see p.26
TraVelInG In FamIlIeS
ADULT (wHITE FoRM)
ADULT (BLUE FoRM)
white rump and tail
AdUlt (white)
Geese, and Swans
FlIGHT: strong and direct, with rapid wing beats.
reddish pink legs
black patch on bill
pink legs
bill black wing tips
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distance without speaking. The silence was growing apparent when Fanchon broke it.
“So that’s the girl who’s in love with you!” she said abruptly William reddened.
“Don’t say that!” he exclaimed hastily. “I never said that!”
She laughed, and he grew angry.
“Listen, Fanchon, I’ve got something to say to you!”
She gave him a sidelong look.
“Dis donc,” she said.
“I wish you wouldn’t smoke on the street. American girls never do it.”
“Street?” Fanchon looked about her vacantly. “Ciel, do you call this a street?”
“Yes, I do. It’s a street in my home town,” replied William doggedly. “I’m sorry you don’t like it. We’ve got to live here, you know.”
“Here?” She looked at him now, her lip trembling. “Toujours?”
Suddenly she began to laugh, softly at first, and then wildly, hysterically, dashing tears from her eyes.
William, nonplused, simply stared. He no longer understood her.
VII
T difficulties of St. Luke’s Church had been very great. The interest on the debt was heavily in arrears, and the Ladies’ Association, selected from the active female members of the congregation, had labored early and late to find its share of the money. There had been fairs and tableaux and even Mrs. Jarley’s waxworks, but none of these things had done more than collect a tax on the members of the church. Outsiders had been absolutely shy, and the members were beginning to find a hole in both sides of their pockets. They made dainty articles for sale—splashers and whiskbroom holders and aprons—and dressed dolls and baked cakes, and then went to the bazaar and solemnly bought them back again. It had become a little wearing on sensitive nerves and pocketbooks.
Finally, as a brilliant climax, old Mrs. Payson conceived the idea of a concert that would be fine enough to coax the reluctant dollars from the Presbyterians and the Baptists, the Methodists and the Universalists and the Catholics—in fact, an entertainment that would draw the town. The Sunday-school hall, a gift from Dr. Barbour’s father, was large enough to seat almost a theater audience, and it had a fine platform, furnished with footlights, and wide enough not only for a grand piano but for a number of famous singers.
The question of paying the singers had, at first, staggered the ladies, but Mr. Payson had finally come to their relief. As the wealthiest member of the congregation, he usually had to make good the deficiencies, and he proposed to pay for some first-class performers if the ladies of the association would guarantee that they could fill the hall at good prices—five dollars for the best seats, two-fifty for the second best, and one dollar and fifty cents for children. If they sold every seat at these rates, they could cover the deficit, and Mr. Payson would escape another and heavier levy.
It was Virginia Denbigh who finally achieved it. She had taken hold with the ardor of youth and the executive ability which Colonel Denbigh proudly claimed was an attribute of his family. The thing was done. The pianist, Caraffi, was engaged and one fine singer, besides a first-rate orchestra from out of town.
“No one,” said Virginia, “will pay to hear our own people, even if they play better.”
The wisdom of this diagnosis of the popular sentiment was demonstrated by the sale of tickets. As the night drew near, it became apparent that not a seat would be vacant. The invitation to young Mrs. William Carter was a brilliant coup. The town was anxious to see her and to hear her; the announcement that she would sing—probably a French ballad—had rushed the last seats up to a premium. For William Carter’s sudden marriage abroad had aroused no small amount of gossip.
The hall began to fill early. Virginia Denbigh, who had come down with her grandfather, glanced over it with a thrill of pleasure.
“We’re going to make it,” she said softly, “every cent! Look, grandpa, they’re selling the last seats for five dollars—away back, too!”
“Scandalous!” retorted the colonel. “Can’t see a thing there but the top of Mrs. Payson’s bonnet, and there’ll be a draft from the door. You’ve got no conscience, Jinny. Make them sell those for a dollar.”
She laughed, patting his arm.
“You go and take your seat; I’ve got to be back in the reception-room to meet the singers.”
The old man nodded, making his way to a front seat, and looking about him interestedly as he went.
The congregation was there in force, with the rector and his wife well down in front; but, for the first time in the history of their church entertainments, the rest of the townspeople appeared there, too. Colonel Denbigh counted three ministers and half a dozen deacons. The black coats and white neckties were well forward, and there were three old ladies, patrons of the church, already seated, with
their ear trumpets at their ears. On the rear benches the young people were congregated, and, as the hall filled, the young men of the town stood about in groups in the aisles and behind the last seats.
But it was a very solemn gathering, after all.
“Sunday-school meeting,” thought the colonel. “Hard-shelled Baptists and Methodists on one side, and High-church Episcopalians and Roman Catholics on the other. Needs something a little sprightly to make ’em sit up and take notice. I wonder——”
He looked about him curiously, and then he saw Mr. Carter going slowly down the aisle, followed by his wife and Emily.
“Hello!” said the colonel. “Didn’t expect such luck. You’ve got the seat next to me, Mrs. Carter. How are you, Emily?” He glanced rather sharply at the girl as he spoke, startled by her unusual appearance, for Emily’s white eyelashes were now a dark brown, and her nose was whitened. “Bless my soul!” thought the colonel, and then, to Mr. Carter: “Where’s William and his pretty wife?”
“William isn’t coming,” Mr. Carter replied shortly, seating himself heavily and feeling of his necktie. “He’s at home, smoking a pipe with Dan. His wife”—Mr. Carter glanced at the lighted platform, filled with a grand piano and many palms—“I suppose she’s coming. She started with Leigh half an hour ago. He’s bringing her.”
“Humph!”
The colonel tried to think of something more to say, but Mrs. Payson relieved him. She fluttered across the aisle.
“Dear Mrs. Carter, we’re all crazy to hear your new daughter sing! Judge Jessup says she’s got a lovely voice.”
Mrs. Carter smiled tremulously and blushed.
“Yes,” she said faintly, but with some pride in her voice. “The judge heard her the other night. She’s—she’s coming with Leigh.”
As she spoke there was a flutter and stir in the audience, and Mrs. Payson retreated hastily to a front seat. Judge Jessup had just
appeared on the platform with a tall, thin man who wore an immaculate dress-suit and displayed an amazing head of black hair.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” said the judge in his deep bass, “it’s my duty and my pleasure to introduce the great pianist, Signor Caraffi.”
Colonel Denbigh led the applause, and for a moment it was deafening. The pianist, thrusting one hand in the front of his white satin waistcoat, bowed low. Judge Jessup discreetly withdrew into the shadow of the palms where—at intervals—the audience glimpsed white skirts and pink skirts and blue skirts, and two or three amazing pairs of feet skirmishing behind the foliage and between the substantial green tubs. But even these things became less diverting when the hirsute gentleman began to play.
“Oh, how wonderful!” breathed Mrs. Carter with relief.
Colonel Denbigh nodded.
“Looks like a hair-restorer advertisement,” he replied gently; “but he can play. I reckon it’s genius that makes his hair grow!”
It certainly looked like genius, for he was really a great pianist. For a while he held the audience spellbound. Splendid music filled their ears and, in some cases at least, stirred their souls. Even the more frivolous listeners forgot to make fun of the huge, shaggy head as it bent and swayed and nodded while the pianist forgot himself and forgot the world in his conflict with the instrument—a conflict that always left him supremely master of heavenly harmonies.
Back in the little room behind the platform, Virginia listened and forgot that she was worn out with superintending it all; forgot that she still had her anxieties, and would have them until the last number was successfully rendered, for Mrs. William Carter was next on the bill, and Mrs. Carter had not come. Not yet! Virginia was waiting for her, much against her will, for there were two or three operatic strangers waiting also, and that intolerable man Corwin, Caraffi’s manager.
Virginia was aware of him, aware of his sleek good looks and his watchful eyes. Finding them fixed in her direction, she turned her shoulder toward him, and was thus the first to see the arrival of
Fanchon and Leigh. They came in softly, Fanchon on tiptoe, listening to Caraffi, and Leigh laden with her wraps and her music-roll, his young, flushed face turned adoringly toward his sister-in-law.
Virginia could not blame him. It seemed to her that the girl—she looked no more than seventeen or eighteen—was wonderfully pretty. For Fanchon had stopped just inside the door, where the light fell full upon her, and was listening, her head a little bent and her finger on her lips. She had given her wrap to Leigh, and stood there, a shining little figure, in white and silver, much décolleté, her slender arms and her lovely young throat unornamented. Her gown—a Parisian thing, Virginia thought—clung to her in a wonderful way, like the shining calyx of a flower; and yet it floated, too, when she moved. Her dusky hair, her wonderful dark eyes, and the piquant little face, needed no better frame than the glimpse of starry night in the open door behind her and the glimmer of shaded lights overhead.
Virginia went forward.
“I’m so glad you’ve come,” she said softly. “Your number is the next one, Mrs. Carter.”
Fanchon turned to answer, putting out a small, bejeweled hand, confident and smiling, a sparkling little creature. Then suddenly there came a change. She stopped short and stood motionless. She scarcely seemed to breathe. It was as if some force stronger than her will had arrested her
Watching her face, Virginia felt the shock of it, without knowing what it was—fear or hate, or a mingling of both. But Fanchon’s eyes were fixed on Corwin, and they were no longer soft. It was not the look of a wild fawn, but of a tigress at bay. Something within, some feeling as strong as it was extraordinary, transformed her. For an instant she seemed to flinch, then she stood facing him.
The man, turning as suddenly, saw her. He jumped to his feet.
“Fanchon la Fare!” he exclaimed, and came toward her, speaking rapidly in French.
Virginia turned away. She did not want to listen, but she heard an exclamation from Fanchon, and saw her leave Corwin standing, an
odd look on his face.
Leigh, who had been busy with the wraps, turned, saw the meeting and Fanchon’s face. He dropped his burden and crossed over to her quickly.
“What did he say to you, Fanchon?” he panted. “If he was rude to you, I’ll—I’ll thrash him!”
Fanchon laughed a wild little laugh.
“Dear boy!” she said softly, and stroked his hand. “Je t’adore!”
Leigh flushed, his lowering gaze fastened angrily on Corwin, and Virginia drew a breath of relief when she heard the applause outside. Caraffi had given them a cheery encore; he was coming off the platform, and Fanchon must go on. Virginia called to her softly.
“Now, please, Mrs. Carter!” she said.
Fanchon turned and looked at her, saw by her face that Virginia had seen too much, and her eyes blazed with anger. She took a step forward and snatched up her music-roll, running her fingers over the leaves and biting her lip.
“Tell them to play this, please,” she said, with her head up.
Without looking at it, Virginia took it to the director of the orchestra, glad to escape the little scene. It seemed to her that the air was charged, and she knew that the wait had been too long already. She could hear the impatient stir outside.
There was, indeed, a little stir of impatience in the hall. Two or three young ushers went up and down the aisles with pitchers of iced water, and the rear seats began to fill up with gentlemen who were eating cloves. The rest of the audience studied the program, expectant. “No. 2, Mrs. William Carter, solo,” appeared on it in fine type.
“My daughter-in-law’s going to sing next,” said Mr. Carter, remembering the broken engagement and putting out a feeler. “Seen her yet, colonel?”
“Saw her the other day.” The colonel clasped the top of his cane, leaning on it, and looking absently at an amazing pair of feet and ankles that he saw approaching from behind the palms. “She’s mighty pretty.”
“Think so?” Mr. Carter smiled. “Notice her eyes? Something fawnlike about them—and velvety. We’ve got to calling her—among ourselves, of course—‘the wild fawn.’”
At this moment one of the old ladies behind them interrupted. She tapped Mr. Carter’s shoulder with her fan.
“I do like music,” she said in a loud whisper. “It’s so churchy. I can’t hear much, but I feel it down my spine. Now, tableaux—well, sometimes they’re not just the thing, but music for the church, it’s— it’s safe!”
Colonel Denbigh, overhearing, pulled his mustache. His ear had caught the first notes of a piece that was not “churchy”; it was far too light and too fantastic.
“The kind of tune that makes a fellow sit up and take notice,” the colonel thought. “I wonder——”
He got no farther before he was drowned in applause. A small, graceful, shimmering figure had slipped out from behind the palms. Fanchon stood in the center of the stage, her slender arms raised and her hands clasped behind her head, her eyes bent downward, the shadowy hair framing a low, white brow, her red lips slightly parted. If she heard the applause, she did not heed it. She made no response; she only waited.
Then, as the soft, seductive strains began to fill the hall with music, she began to sing—softly at first, then rising note by note until her clear soprano floated upward like the song of a bird. Then, just as the tension seemed to relax and a deep sigh of pleasure came from the most anxious of the audience, she began to dance.
Still singing, she danced wonderfully, strangely, wildly. Her skirt, clinging and shimmering and floating at the edges, clung to her. It unfolded like a flower as she stepped, and folded again about her slender ankles, above the marvel of her dancing feet. She swayed
lightly from side to side, her slender body the very embodiment of grace and motion, as her dancing seemed to be the interpretation of the music, subtle, seductive, wonderful. So might the daughter of Herodias have danced before Herod Antipas!
Breathless, the good people in the front rows stared. Movement was impossible, every sense seemed suspended, everything but the sensation of amazement. Mrs. Carter looked in a frightened way at her husband and caught the twinkle in Colonel Denbigh’s eye. Then she saw her rector mop his forehead with his handkerchief, and she raised her shamed eyes to the stage. Fanchon was pirouetting on one toe! Applause had started in the back rows, among the black sheep, and was running down the side aisles like a prairie-fire when Mr. Carter abruptly rose.
“Excuse me,” he said roughly to Colonel Denbigh as he clambered over him. “I—I’ve forgotten something!”
Mrs. Carter half rose and then sank back, pulled down by Emily, but she seemed to hear, through the spluttering applause, her husband’s crashing exit.
It might be said that Mr. Carter had the effect of a stone thrown from an ancient catapult, he went with such bounds and rushes. For a stout man his performance was little short of miraculous. He covered the distance to his own door in ten minutes, got out his latch-key, found the key-hole unerringly in the dark, went in, and banged the door to with a violence that made the ornaments on the hall mantel rattle.
The hall was vacant, but he saw a stream of light coming out of the library, and headed violently for it. William was alone, huddled in an easy chair, smoking and reading. Mr. Carter came in and shut the door. Then he advanced on his son with a face of thunder.
“William Henry Carter,” said he, “you’ve married a dancer—a French dancer!”
William, overtaken by the unexpected, laid down his book and stared. But his father only roared the louder. He seemed to think that his son had grown suddenly deaf.
“Do you hear me, sir?” he bellowed fiercely “You’ve married a—a dyed-in-the-wool ballet-dancer!”
VIII
I was an hour later when Miranda, looking very dark and showing the whites of her eyes to an alarming extent, opened the front door for Mrs. Carter, Emily and Leigh.
“Mist’ Carter says, please, ma’am, yo’ come inter de libr’ry,” said the colored servitress in a sympathetic undertone.
Mrs. Carter cast an apprehensive look at her daughter
“I guess you two had better go up-stairs,” she whispered.
Emily nodded, and started for the staircase, but Mr. Carter shouted from the library:
“I hear you-all out there—come in here!”
They went. Leigh, having forgotten to put down Fanchon’s extra wraps, brought up the rear, his flushed face just appearing above a mass of chiffon, lace and fur.
Mr. Carter, striding up and down the room alone, caught sight of his youngest son first.
“Put down those things!” he shouted. “You look like a dromedary.”
Leigh obeyed, but he straightened himself and stood, sullenly, his eyes on the ground. His father took no further notice of him.
“I’d like to know if any of you knew what that girl was going to do tonight?” he demanded fiercely.
Mrs. Carter sank weakly into the nearest chair.
“No, we didn’t! Wasn’t it awful? I was so mortified. The Baptist minister went out just after you, Johnson, and the rector was as red as could be. I’m sure I don’t know what he thought!”
“Thought! Where is she?”
“William came for her, and took her out to supper at the inn,” said Emily in a weak voice.
Like Leigh she stood back, unsympathetic, but she was a little frightened, too.
“Humph! Took her out to supper, eh?” Mr. Carter thundered. “I reckon he thought he’d better! I gave him a piece of my mind.”
“Oh, papa! He was as white as a sheet.” William’s mother pressed her handkerchief against her shaking lips. “He didn’t know, of course. He wasn’t to blame, dear—you shouldn’t have done it!”
“Wasn’t to blame?” Mr. Carter blazed with wrath. “Didn’t he marry that ballet-dancer? Didn’t he bring a French ballet-dancer home here and foist her on a decent, respectable family? He wasn’t to blame, you say? By Jove, I wish he was small enough to thrash!”
He was still walking up and down. As he swung around, Leigh faced him.
“She’s a lovely creature!” the boy cried passionately. “That dance was beautiful—everybody thought so!”
“Oh, Leigh!” gasped his mother. “Dr. Fanshawe was ashamed to look at it!”
“Old idiot!” cried Leigh. “You’re all making her unhappy—any one can see it. Nothing but criticism from morning until night—I call it cruel!”
Mr. Carter stared at him a moment in amazed incredulity. Then he jeered.
“Hear, hear!” he cried. “Wisdom from the mouths of babes and sucklings! Do you want to marry a ballet-dancer, too, sir?”
But his son’s blood was up.
“I call it a burning shame!” he cried. “She’s come here, a foreigner, and she wants to love us, and you’re talking brutally about her. She’s exquisite, she was to-night, she——”
“Go to bed!” shouted Mr. Carter. “Shut up and go to bed!”
Mrs. Carter rose hastily and gave Leigh a little shove.
“Go!” she whispered. “There, there—don’t aggravate papa.”
Leigh, shaking with anger, yielded ground reluctantly.
“She’s an angel!” he shouted at the door. “I won’t have her abused!”
“Did you marry her!” Mr. Carter asked with fine sarcasm. “Maybe I’ve made a mistake; I thought it was William.”
Leigh almost choked with indignation.
“He isn’t here—I won’t have her talked about.”
“Go to bed!” thundered Mr. Carter, taking a step forward.
“I——” Leigh began to sputter again, but his mother thrust him out and shut the door.
“Do speak lower, Johnson,” she sobbed. “I know Miranda listens.”
“I don’t care a hang whether Miranda listens or not,” said Mr. Carter.
“That boy’s an ass—talk about his being a genius!”
“Oh, papa, he’s only eighteen,” said Mrs. Carter deprecatingly, “and she’s made up to him from the very first.”
“He’s an ass!” repeated Mr Carter “And I guess the whole town knows I’ve got a ballet-dancer——”
He stopped; his eye had suddenly lighted on Emily. She was huddled in a frightened attitude behind her mother’s chair, and the light was strong on her face. Her father stared.
“What’s the matter with that child’s eyes?” he demanded suddenly. “They look like burnt holes in a blanket!”
Mrs. Carter, following his look, suddenly noticed her daughter’s eyelashes and nose. In an illuminating flash she remembered that first night in Emily’s room.
“Oh, Emmy!” she gasped. “You’ve painted your eyelashes!”
Emily clung to the back of her chair.
“I had to, mama. They’re horrid and white.”
“Good Lord, that minx is teaching my daughter to paint her face! Mama, you ought to be ashamed of yourself. Can’t you watch your own children?” bellowed Mr. Carter, beside himself.
“Emmy, I’m ashamed!” Poor Mrs. Carter sat gasping, her mouth open. “I never dreamed—what’s that on your nose?”
Emily seized her handkerchief and began to rub the offending feature.
“It’s nothing, mama—just a little liquid powder.”
“You march up-stairs and wash your face!” said her father. “Hear me? Don’t let me catch you painting up like that—singing doll!”
Emily began to cry.
“It’s—it’s nothing, papa. Everybody does it. The girls think I look so nice.”
“Wash your face!” shouted her father. “March up and wash your face!”
“I don’t want to!” sobbed Emily. “The girls say my eyes look twice as ——”
Mr. Carter seized her by the shoulder and turned her toward the door.
“Want me to wash your face?” he asked her grimly. “No? I thought not. Well, then, you march!”
Emily, sobbing loudly, marched. They could hear her stumbling upstairs, crying as she went.
“Oh, papa, you were awful!” Mrs. Carter wiped her own eyes. “The poor child!”
“Do you suppose that I’m going to let my daughter paint her face?”
Mr. Carter fairly bellowed. “I reckon I’ve got enough in a daughter-inlaw! I’ll see to Emmy myself, if you can’t!”
“Johnson, you know I didn’t notice.”
Mr Carter emitted another roar, and finally threw himself into a chair and thrust his feet out.
“What did that fool William do?”
“You mean to-night?” Mrs. Carter dried her eyes. “He just met us at the door. He was so white he scared me, and he took Fanchon off in a taxi—in that scandalous dress! Said he’d give her a supper out tonight. I’m afraid you’ve done it this time, Johnson. What did you do to the poor boy?”
“Poor donkey! I told him what I thought of that woman—called by my name, too—a woman dressing like one of those yellow East Indian dancing-girls—that’s what I told him.”
“Johnson!”
“I did! What do you s’pose the congregation thought? By George, it made me hot all over. Did you see her legs?”
“You mean her stockings? They were a little startling. I told her so before we started.”
“Startling? My word.”
Mr. Carter relapsed into a terrible silence. Mrs. Carter sat helplessly looking at him. She was thinking of that dance, that terrible, amazing, dazzling dance. What a pretty creature, too! That was it; she had turned William’s head; and Leigh’s and Emily’s, too. Those painted eyelashes! For a moment Mrs. Carter half laughed.
“It’s funny—I can’t help it, Johnson,” she said, feebly apologetic, as she met his irate eyes. “I was thinking of Emmy trying to paint her lashes.”
“I’m glad you think it’s funny,” he retorted hoarsely. “Don’t see the joke myself. I’ve got too much daughter-in-law, that’s my trouble!”
“Hush! There’s some one now—they’ve come!” Mrs. Carter tiptoed to the door and listened, coming back, relieved. “No, it’s only Dan.”
“I wish William had Dan’s sense!”
“I wish Dan would marry a nice home girl. It would make things better,” sighed Mrs. Carter.
“Daniel marry?” Mr Carter raised his voice again to a roar of discontent and hopelessness. “Who d’you think Dan could marry? What kind of a girl d’you think would pick a cripple?” “Hush!”
Mrs. Carter, very pale, rose and shut the door; but she was too late. Daniel, suspecting the trouble in the library, had started for his own room. The stairs were just outside the library door, however, and he could not help hearing every word his father said. In fact, Mr. Carter’s irate voice rang out like a trumpet. “What kind of a girl d’you think would pick a cripple?”
Daniel, clinging to the banisters, ascended more wearily than usual. The stairs turned at the landing, and he was out of sight when his mother shut the door. He never used a cane in the house now. He was well enough to get along with a heavy limp, and he made no noise as he crossed the upper hall and went into his own room. Once there, he locked his door, and, crossing to the window, stood staring out with absorbed and thoughtful eyes.
The night was perfect. A young moon had set, and there seemed to be, instead, a myriad of stars. He could discern, too, even in the darkness, the darker profile of the hills, and, nearer at hand, the clustering beauty of foliage, pierced here and there with the lights of near-by houses, which shone in the darkness, without any discernible outlines behind them, like fallen stars. The air was fragrant and soft, with the sweetness of flowering grapes, familiar and homelike, amid all that blended early blossoming.
He could hear soft, blurred sounds, too—the hum of insect life, the piping of frogs, the murmur of the brook that flowed not a hundred yards away. He stood motionless, thinking, and glad of the cool night air on his hot cheeks and brow. He felt as if some one had dealt him a physical blow, and his bruised flesh was still quivering under it.
“What kind of a girl d’you think would pick a cripple?”
Daniel shut his lips sharply over his clenched teeth. It wasn’t a new idea; it wasn’t even a suggestion. He had known it all along, he told himself, and yet the bare words were brutal. They seemed to brand him like hot iron, to shrivel into his shrinking flesh and leave the mark there.
“Cripple!” He remembered, in a flash, his well days—the days when he was like other boys, before the fall which lamed him. He remembered his own young scorn of the weakling and the maimed, the repugnance that the physically strong often feel toward the physically disabled. Yet there was nothing disfiguring in his trouble. He was lame, but he was not twisted; he only halted in his walk. But, none the less, he was a cripple.
“What kind of a girl d’you think would pick a cripple?”
Daniel stared steadily out into the night, as if the starry darkness held the answer. One by one he saw the lights go out in the houses near at hand. Farther off, lights still shone in the town but darkness grew and grew. Then, far off, he detected a moving thing, saw a leap of flame and sparks as the smoke belched from the funnel of the engine. He could trace it coming nearer and nearer, and then he heard the clamor of its bell at the crossing, strangely distinct at night. He turned slowly away, lit the lamp on his table, and, going to his desk, took out the picture of Virginia that he had stolen from the mantel down-stairs after Fanchon’s attack upon it. He brought it to the table, and, setting it down beside him, began to write. From time to time, as he wrote, he glanced up at the young face in the frame, and felt an exquisite sense of companionship. He was not alone; the picture kept him company. The pallor of his face, too, gradually changed, and a slight color rose in his cheeks. He took off his coat and lit his pipe. Well into the small hours he worked steadily on a case for Judge Jessup.
He was aware of doors shutting below, aware that sounds gradually ceased and sleep drenched the household, but he worked on with the passionate zeal that only an ambitious man can feel—a man who has no other end in life but to forget himself in the fury of his toil. Yet,
all the while, the young face of Virginia bore him mute company, and sometimes it seemed to smile upon him.
At daybreak, the fury of his thirst for work slaked, he lifted a haggard face to the light, glanced at the picture, and stretching his arms across the table laid his head upon them with a groan. He fell asleep there from sheer exhaustion and was sleeping when the sun rose.
IX
W C took his wife to the inn for supper. He had appeared at the door of the Sunday-school hall with a taxi and abruptly bundled Fanchon into it. It was just after her performance on the stage and before the audience began to disperse. In fact, they heard the strains of some very churchy music coming from the orchestra, as if an effort was being made—delayed but strenuous— to soothe the startled spectators of Fanchon’s amazing dance.
William said nothing. He sat in the dark interior of the taxi with a face as white as paper, and Fanchon, watching him covertly, saw that the hand he laid on the window shook. She leaned back in her corner, twisting a strand of pearls around her throat—a strand that she had put on after the dance—and watching him; but she said nothing. She had danced so wildly, indeed, that she was still panting and throbbing with excitement. She seemed to feel the thrill of the music even in her feet. It was intoxicating, it was what she loved—the glamour of the lights, the music, the motion. Her whole body vibrated, she could scarcely sit still, her feet still moved restlessly. She loved it!
Yet she felt that heavy silence of her husband, the stiffness of his body as he sat there, and she had caught a glimpse of his ghastly face. She bit her lips, staring out into the night, her bosom heaving passionately. She felt like a beautiful wild bird in a trap.
She stared, too, at the quiet street, with inveterate dislike of its quietness. She saw the group of loungers in front of the chemist’s, the belated pedestrians at the crossing. There was a glimpse of shadowing trees. Pendent branches swept and swayed before feebly lighted show-windows, where the shades were partly drawn down, and the infrequent street-lamps shot occasional lances of light across their dingy way. One such shaft struck on William’s profile and revealed his tightened lips.
Fanchon wondered. She had not been aware of Mr Carter’s catapultic exit, and she did not know how much her husband knew. Some one must have telephoned him—whom, she could not conjecture. She shrank away from him a little, thinking, and Corwin’s face rose before her mind’s eye. She saw again the confidence of his smiling, mocking eyes, and she shuddered.
William seemed to feel it and gave her a quick look, but said nothing. The taxi had stopped in front of an old-fashioned inn. It was a long, low building with a glassed-in dining-room, built to accommodate the stream of motorists who had begun to tour the mountains and scatter gold and gasoline in their wake.
Into the new dining-room—a plain, bare place with rows of whitecovered tables and a few lean palms on pedestals—William conducted his wife. Half a dozen negro waiters came forward. He selected one he knew, chose a remote table, and gave his order for supper.
“I suppose you want wine?” he said shortly to Fanchon—almost the first words he had addressed to her.
She shrugged, slipping off her wraps and amazing the other diners with the marvels of her costume.
“Mais non,” she replied indifferently. “I’m heated; I never drink wine when I have danced.”
William, who was giving his order, stopped short a moment, his eyes down, and she saw him pant like a man short of breath. But in another moment he had despatched the waiter with his order and drained his glass of water.
“Mon Dieu!” said Fanchon, watching him with dark, mysterious, brooding eyes. “How can you? Iced water—it’s bad for your liver!”
“Drat my liver!” said William hoarsely. Then he leaned across the table, his eyes raised to hers at last and spoke in a low, even voice for her ears alone. “What have you been doing, Fanchon?”
She had never seen that look in his eyes before, and the blood rushed back to her heart. She could not answer for a moment; her
