“The notes of Traill’s Fly-catcher consist of the sounds wheet, wheet, which it articulates clearly while on wing.  It resides in the skirts of the woods along the prairie lands of the Arkansas River, where alone I have been able to procure it.  When leaving the top branches of a low tree, this bird takes long flights, skimming in zigzag lines, passing close over the tops of the tall grasses, snapping at and seizing different species of winged insects, and returning to the same trees to alight.

. . . I have named this species after my learned friend Dr. Thomas Stewart Traill of Liverpool, in evidence of the gratitude which I cherish towards that benevolent gentleman for all his kind attentions to me.”

–J. J. Audubon, Ornithological Biography, I (1831), 236 [excerpted].

“This beautiful species is destitute of song, and is of solitary habits, preferring at all times the interior of the forests, but not the densest part of them.  I have observed that woods interspersed with what are called scrubby hickories or stunted oaks, are favourite resorts of the Summer Red Birds.

Their residence in the United States scarcely exceeds four months.  None remain in any of the more southern parts of our districts.  Indeed, by the middle of September, it would be difficult to see a single pair in the forests of Louisiana.  So very tender do they seem to be in regard to cold, or even temperate weather, that they seldom go farther north than Boston, or the shores of Lake Erie, but prefer the sandy woodlands all along the eastern shores, as far as Massachusetts.

. . . I have represented an adult male, his mate, and a young bird in its singularly patched state, to enable you to judge how different a family of these birds must appear to the eye of a person unacquainted with the peculiarity of these differences and changes of plumage.”

–J. J. Audubon, Ornithological Biography, I (1831), 232-233 [excerpted].

“The appetite of the Cedar Bird is of so extraordinary a nature as to prompt it to devour every fruit or berry that comes in its way.   In this manner they gorge themselves to such excess as sometimes to be unable to fly, and suffer themselves to be taken by the hand.  Indeed I have seen some which, although wounded and confined in a cage, have eaten of apples until suffocation deprived them of life in the course of a few days.  When opened afterwards, they were found to be gorged to the mouth.

It is a beautiful bird, but without any song, even during the breeding season, having only a note which it uses for the purpose of calling or rallying others of its species.  This note is feeble, and as it were lisping, yet perfectly effectual, for when uttered by one in a flock within hearing of another party, the latter usually check their flight, and alight pell-mell on the same tree.”

–J. J. Audubon, Ornithological Biography, I (1831), 227 [excerpted].

“The migration of the Orchard Oriole from south to north is performed by day, and singly, as is that of its relative the Baltimore Oriole, the males appearing a week or ten days sooner than the females . . .

“The arrival of the females is marked with all due regard, and the males immediately use every effort in their power to procure from them a return of attention.  Their singings and tricks are performed with redoubled ardour, until they are paired, when nidification [nest-building] is attended to with the utmost activity . . .

The nest represented in the plate was drawn in Louisiana, and was entirely composed of grass . . . The branch of Honey Locust on which you see these birds belongs to a tree which sometimes grows to a great height . . . it bears a long pod, containing a sweet substance, not unlike that of the honey of bees, and which is eaten by children, when it becomes quite ripe.  The spines are made use of by tobacconists for the purpose of fastening together the different twists of their rolls.”

–J. J. Audubon, Ornithological Biography, I (1831), 222-224 [excerpted].

“You are now presented,kind reader, with a species of Grouse, which, in my humble opinion, far surpasses as an article of food every other land bird which we have in the United States, except the Wild Turkey, when in good condition.  You must not be surprised that I thus express an opinion contradictory to that of our Eastern epicures, who greatly prefer the flesh of the Pinnated Grouse to that of the present species, for I have had abundant opportunity of knowing both . . .

The names of Pheasant and Partridge have been given to the present species by our forefathers, in the different districts where it is found.  To the west of the Alleghanies, and on these mountains, the first name is generally used.  The same appellation is employed in the Middle Districts, to the east of the mountains, and until you enter the State of Connecticut; after which that of Partridge prevails.”

–J. J. Audubon, Ornithological Biography, I (1831), 211 [excerpted].

“This is one of the most lively, as well as one of the handsomest, of our Fly-catchers, and ornaments our woods during spring and summer, when it cannot fail to attract the attention of any person who may visit the interior of the shady forests. . . .

It keeps in perpetual motion, hunting along the branches sidewise, jumping to either side in search of insects and larvae, opening its beautiful tail at every movement which it makes, then closing it, and flirting it from side to side, just allowing the transparent beauty of the feathers to be seen for a moment . . .

I have looked for several minutes at a time on the ineffectual attacks which this bird makes on wasps while busily occupied about their own nests. The bird approaches and snaps at them, but in vain; for the wasp elevating its abdomen, protrudes its sting, which prevents its being seized.  The male bird is represented in the plate in this posture.”

–J. J. Audubon, Ornithological Biography, I (1831), 202-203 [excerpted].

“Although this smart little bird breeds in the State of Louisiana and the adjacent districts, it is not there found in so great numbers as in the Middle States, and farther to the northward.  It generally prefers the depth of the forests during summer, after which it approaches the plantations, and even resorts to the granaries for corn.

. . . They move about in little companies formed of the parents and their young, eight or ten together, and escorted by the Nuthatch or the Downy Woodpecker . . .

. . . This species sometimes forms a nest by digging a hole for the purpose in the hardest wood, with great industry and perseverance, although it is more frequently contented with the hole of the Downy Woodpecker, or some other small bird of that genus.  It fills the hole with every kind of warm materials, after which the female deposits from six to eight eggs, of a pure white, with a few red spots at the larger end.

. . . The species of Pine, on a twig of which you see a pair of these birds, is the White Pine (Pinus Strobus), a tree of great beauty, of which individuals have been observed of the enormous height of 180 feet, with a diameter at the base of from six to eight feet.  The trunk is branchless for two-thirds of its height, and afford the most valuable wood perhaps of any tree in the United States.”

–J. J. Audubon, Ornithological Biography, I (1831), 199-200 [excerpted].

“This beautiful species is the most common and abundant that visits the state of Louisiana and those situated on the borders of the Mississippi.  In Kentucky it is much less common, and in the state of Ohio, scarcer still.  It is an extremely active and lively bird.  It is found in all the low grounds and damp places near water-courses, and generally among the tall rank weeds and low bushes growing in rich alluvial soil.  Continually in motion, it is seen hopping in every direction from stalk to stalk, or from one twig to another, preying upon insects and larvae, or picking small berries, seldom, however, pursuing insects on wing . . .

It arrives in the southern states, from Mexico, about the middle of March, and remains with us until the middle of September, during which time it rears two broods . . .

The branch on which two of these birds are represented, is that of the tree commonly called the White Cucumber, a species of Magnolia.  It flowers as early in the season as the Dog-wood.  The flowers open before the leaves are expanded, and emit an odour resembling that of a lemon, but soon becoming disagreeable, as the blossom fades.  This tree seldom grows to a height of thirty feet, and is consequently disregarded as a timber-tree.”

–J. J. Audubon, Ornithological Biography, I (1831), 196-197 [excerpted].

“It is generally agreeable to be in the company of individuals who are naturally animated and pleasant.  For this reason, nothing can be more gratifying than the society of Woodpeckers in the forests . . .

No sooner has spring called them to the pleasant duty of making love, as it is called, than their voice . . . is heard from the tops of high decayed trees, proclaiming with delight the opening of the welcome season.  Their note at this period is merriment itself, as it imitates a prolonged and jovial laugh, heard at a considerable distance.  Several males pursue a female, reach her, and, to prove the force and truth of their love, bow their heads, spread their tail[s], and move sideways, backwards and forwards, performing such antics, as might induce anyone witnessing them, if not of a most morose temper, to join his laugh to theirs.  The female flies to another tree, where she is closely followed by one, two, or even half a dozen of these gay suitors, and where again the same ceremonies are gone through.  No fightings occur, no jealousies seem to exist among these beaux, until a marked preference is shewn to some individual, when the rejected proceed in search of another female.  In this manner all Golden-winged Woodpeckers are soon happily mated.  Each pair immediately proceed to excavate the trunk of a tree, and finish a hole in it sufficient to contain themselves and their young.  They both work with great industry and apparent pleasure.  Should the male, for instance, be employed, the female is close to him, and congratulates him on the removal of every chip which his bill sends through the air.  While he rests, he appears to be speaking to her on the most tender subjects, and when fatigued, is at once assisted by her.  In this manner, by the alternate exertions of each, the hole is dug and finished.  They caress each other on the branches, chase all their cousins the Red-heads, defy the Purple Grackles to enter their nest, feed plentifully on ants, beetles and larvae, cackling at intervals, and ere two weeks have elapsed, the female lays either four or six eggs, the whiteness and transparency of which are doubtless the delight of her heart . . .

Racoons and Black Snakes are dangerous enemies to this bird.  The former frequently put one of their fore legs into the hole where it has nestled or retired to rest, and if the hole be not too deep, draw out the eggs and suck them, and frequently by the same means secure the bird itself.  The Black Snake contents itself with the eggs or young.  Several species of Hawk attack them on the wing, and as the Woodpeckers generally escape by making for a hole in the nearest tree, it is pleasing to see the disappointment of the Hawk, when, as it has just been on the point of seizing the terrified bird, the latter dives, as it were, into the hole.”

–J. J. Audubon, Ornithological Biography, I (1831), 191-194 [excerpted].