New-York tribune., 1902-08-16
THE BIRDS OF LONG ISLAND.
AN ADMIRABLE REGION FOR ORNI-
BIOLOGISTS.

The birds OF Long Island worthy Of study.
The peculiar situation of the island offering as 1t
does home both for land and sea birds. has made
ornithoogy popular pursuit there. 1t once
asked in the Oyster Bay region who in all those
parts would be likely to know the most Of native
ornithology. The answer was. "A who
pretty busy that time'-no other than President
Roosevelt himself 1t that he is not only
ceedingly fond of the birds. but Is of
knowledge pertaining TO them.
Long Island is full of birds Sportsmen think of
and only the game birds the great variety of
ducks the most Of which are the 'old
wives; the broad bill. which give fair shooting:
the teals the black duck and the butter balls In
the winter time great focks of Canada geese pass
over the island. Then, Of course there the
partridges and quiet quail and all kinds of hard
hunted snpe With these sport has been made
famous the island.
Large birds OF the useless kind also abound,
such a great variety of hawks which the farmer
imagines must be always killed sight, with
mercy than is given snakes; the sparrow
hawk which is very common; the red shouldered
and red headed hawk, which is less COM
mon, and the fshhawk that is being exterTnnated-
Owls also form important family, a few OF
which genus are the screech owl. the oceas. or
great horned owl, and the barn owl 1t is said that
once in q great while the snowy owl is the
northern part OF the island Not long ago Presi-
dent Roosevelt added to his collection.
Baldheaded eagles were seen years ago in
Oyster Bay. Southern turkey buzzards have also
passed over the island, but without deigning to
stop a pay visit. Gulls of course,
are found here in multtudes, for this is but jut
Of dryness in the midst of the Great clouds
OF gulls come up in the winter time, the rugged
billed and the gulls with the others Of their
numerous cousins
The heron family is rather exclusive, and Ii takes
patience 20 get an acquaintance with them
They are the American bttern, the great blue
heron or. as il is commonly called the blue crane.
though there are no cranes really: the little green
heron and the black crowned night heron, the last
two varieties being quite common. On Lake Rom
konkoma sometimes is the crazy loon, which
imagines everybody is hunting for him, dives
now and again into the lake and comes up at
unexpected spot. when he laughs at his joke and
keeps laughing at the echo Of his amusement.
The pheasant is avis. 1t has been killed off
numerically, and is fast becoming a memory of
fathers.
To the eager inquirer of the natives after the
birds Of the island. the limit of enumeration of the
most bird is reached when every
thing else is denoted a "chippy.' The 'chippy'
covers a mountain Of insular ignorance. II has
more family connections according the gossips
among the uninitiated than the head of royal
line. 1t is the friend of the man whose world
reaches just foot beyond the end of his
not shut out 10 the diigent the many other varie-
ties birds that make their home on Lcng Island.
so only few will be named. for convenience sake
Among the most beautiful and popular are. of
and the Wilson thrush. and perhaps a shy hermit,
the ronin and the bluebird. Then, OF course the
thrashes or wrens-cafhirds. brown thrasher house
wren and long bill marsh wren; The nycatcher
family claims title 10 that royal lighter; the deadly
enemy Of the thieving crows the kingbird, and his
least of the dycatchers. the ph0sbe and the wood
pecker. The swifts are a numerous family. some of
and bank swallows. Then once in while among
there are no wild pigeons here-and the yellow and
black billed cuckoo. The woodpeckers present
long line of honorable branches. among them the
iickerg. the sapsuckers. the downy hairy and red
dn1ing rnieTstie9 Then there are the nutbstcbes
bIova GFselegs. sRtcka6ees, orioles. the biackbrd