Illustrations of the Birds of California, Texas, Oregon, British and Russian AmericaCassin, John
Science
Illustrations of the Birds of California, Texas, Oregon, British and Russian America
Cassin, John
Birds -- North America
“Charlotte Harbour is situated on the Gulf of Mexico, and is studded
with numerous small islands or keys, as they are called, on which grows
the cocoa-nut, said to be brought hither from the West Indies by the
tides, and being thrown on the shore, takes root and flourishes. Some of
these islands, during my visit, I may say almost swarmed with Herons,
Cormorants, Snake-birds, Spoonbills, and Pelicans, engaged in attending
to their nests, and raising their young. The wild fig, orange, lemon,
palmetto, and pine, abound—the first of which is the principal food of
several species of birds, while the large numbers of fishes everywhere
in the surrounding waters afford ample subsistence to those that I have
mentioned. On the sand-bars, various species of Terns were to be found
in abundance, also engaged in incubation, while the Fish Crow, ever on
the alert to seize the eggs or young, or the captured prey of any of
these species when left unguarded, was ever to be seen on the wing, and
at a distance, and not to be approached easily, I have frequently seen
flocks of Flamingoes dredging perseveringly for shell-fishes, or
standing in groups, looking almost like files of soldiers in red
uniforms.
“I mention these birds because, like the little Long-billed Flycatcher,
and like the cocoa-nut, too, if the prevailing belief is correct, they
appear to be visitors only from a more southern clime. They seem to have
reached Florida in the course of a northern migration, and although
remaining for a season, retire periodically, again to appear in due
time.
“In this vicinity, I met with the Long-billed Flycatcher, which, coming
with his larger and more conspicuous fellow-travellers, to which I have
alluded, appears to be a more transient visitant, performing the duties
of incubation on this the northern district of his range, and soon
retiring southwardly to the West Indies. This bird much resembles in
manners and appearance the Red-eyed Flycatcher of the Northern States,
but is not, I think, its equal as a vocalist. His notes, at the season
when I heard them, were not as numerous, nor his song so long-continued.
They are quite different from those of the Red-eye, but clear and
musical, and very distinctly uttered. He is constantly on the search for
insects, and appeared to me to be more active than either of the
northern species, darting about amongst the foliage, or peering into a
crevice or recess in a branch, or a spider’s web, with his back
downwards, like the warblers,—or occasionally chasing a flying insect,
in the manner of the Pewee Flycatchers. These actions were usually
accompanied by his song, as is the case with the Red-eye and the
Warbling Flycatchers. This species was not abundant, though I saw it
frequently, and obtained several specimens.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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