Birds and Nature Vol. 9 No. 2 [February 1901]

    – Alfred Tennyson.

THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF BIRDS

What do we mean by the “Geographical Distribution” of birds? Are not birds to be found everywhere, over both land and sea? Are they not, then, universally distributed? As a class they certainly are, but not as species nor even orders. Parrots are not found in frigid regions, nor are snowflakes and snowy owls found in the tropical regions. Our Wood Warblers and Vireos are not found outside of America, while there are no birds of Paradise anywhere in America. We shall see that most of the birds found in the eastern hemisphere differ from those found in the western, speaking broadly, but that many of the island birds are different from birds of continents.

Since most birds migrate shorter or longer distances in search of a place to rear their young, and return again to warmer regions to pass the winter months, the question at once arises, What is the geographical distribution of such migratory birds? That is not so difficult as it may seem at first glance. We have only to inquire what governs the movements of the species in question in such a way that its appearance at certain places at certain known times may be confidently expected. The study of migration and breeding has shown that the impulse to move northward in the spring to the old nesting-places where the young are reared is more reliable than the impulse to move southward on the approach of cold. The birds are more certain to appear at their old summer homes in spring than they are to be found at any particular place during the winter. But if there be any objection to this view it will yet remain true that where a bird rears its young should more properly be called its home than the place to which it is forced by the approach of cold or the lack of food. In either case, therefore, we may regard the home of the bird, and therefore treat its distribution geographically as the place where it habitually rears its young. Having settled the question as to what shall determine the distribution of the separate species, it remains to study the physical conditions of the earth for the sake of finding what it is that determines the limits to which the different species may go.

We know that the distribution of land and water over the earth has not always been the same as it is now, but that many places that are now covered with water were once dry land, and that in many places where there is now land there used to be water. Now, America is wholly separated from Uro-Asia-Africa, but once they were connected together by a broad neck of land where Bering Sea now lies, and there may have been another neck of land connecting Europe with Iceland and Greenland and so with North America. Now Australia and New Zealand are wholly separated from all other lands, but they were not so long ago. So of the larger islands in general, they have not always been isolated as now, but connected with great land masses, sharing with them the animals which roamed over the whole vast regions. For in the earlier times before Man had appeared upon the earth, before the great Glacial Period, the whole earth was tropical in climate, making it possible for plants as well as animals to live anywhere upon the earth, as they cannot now. Then extensive migrations north and south were not necessary, but instead there were roamings about in all directions, or great invasions of new regions by hosts of animals of one kind.

As the land sank away here and there, and the sea covered it, barriers were thus formed to further roamings, except by the birds of strong flight or animals that could swim long distances, and there could no longer be an intermingling of the animals of the whole land surface of the world. Since all animals are inclined to change somewhat to meet or keep pace with the changes that are going on in vegetation and the general physical conditions of the earth, those that have been separated in this way will grow more and more unlike. In some such isolated regions there may not be much change in their environment and so they will change but little, if at all, and so will not keep pace with those in other regions where life is a constant struggle with others for supremacy. It is just as true in the natural world as in the commercial, that competition is necessary for the highest development. It is probably true that the disturbances which caused the land to sink in places and so disconnect what had been connected lands, possibly a splitting up of one great flat land mass, also brought about the changes which made out of one great tropical world the one that we know with its frigid, temperate and tropical zones. So that just at the time when the animals of the different regions were separated from each other forever there came these changes in physical conditions which would make them change to meet the new conditions. But that is a long story for the geologist to tell. Of course the sinking of the land in different regions occurred at different times, probably thousands of years apart in many cases. And the changes from tropical to temperate and frigid must have been very gradual also, or there would have been no animals left alive in the northern and southern regions. Only those near the equator could have lived.

Probably New Zealand was the first considerable land mass to be separated absolutely and for all time from all other land, because here we find the lowest type of birds and lower animals. There are no terrestrial indigenous mammals even. Such birds as were not able to fly across the now wide stretches of ocean did not continue to develop rapidly because there was little change in their environment and because there was little or no competition with other similar forms. So to-day we find them either very similar to what they were when their island home was made an island home, or else even degenerated into flightless creatures. Australia seems to have been the next tract of land cut off, for here, too, we meet with the lower forms which show the lack of the keen competition which their relatives further north had to sustain. When North America was cut off from Siberia, marking the close of more or less extensive interchange of communication of the animals of both regions, there was little difference in their animal life; but following this separation there came about a more rapid change in the Orient than in the Occident. It may not be quite clear why this was so, but that it was cannot be doubted, for some of the lower forms of animals which still inhabit America have been completely destroyed in the Orient. At the time of their separation these forms were found in both places. What seems a probable explanation of this more rapid change in the Orient may be briefly stated. The configuration of the Orient is such that animals would have a far greater range east and west than north and south. A great mountain range and a great desert are thrown as barriers across the way of the northward and southward movement. In America there is a continuous gateway to the north and south, but barriers to an eastward or westward movement. With such creatures as the birds freedom to move north and south would always lessen competition, while the crowding of one group or race upon another eastward or westward would increase the competition. But Geology tells us that in the Orient such westward invasions have actually occurred, causing the death of the less hardy forms and the modification of all forms of animal life.

It must not be understood, from what has been said, that all the animals, especially the birds, found in any one country or island, are different from the birds found in all others, for that is not true. There are many species of birds that are found practically all over the earth. But what is true is that each country or region of any considerable extent, or group of oceanic islands has some species which are not found anywhere else in the world.

From what has already been said it will be clear that the world may be divided into several different regions, according to the animals which are peculiar to the different ones. Following Newton’s system, because it seems the most logical, at least so far as the birds are concerned, we have first

THE NEW ZEALAND REGION

Here we find the flightless Apteryx and a flightless goose now extinct, also the extinct Moa. There, are also peculiar forms among the shore-birds, the birds of prey, the parrots, and some rather curiously constituted passerine birds. There have been several species introduced in relatively recent times, some of which already show signs of change.

THE AUSTRALIAN REGION

is but slightly connected with the preceding. The line separating this region from the Indian passes between the islands of Bali and Lombok, through the Strait of Macassar, between Borneo and Celebes, thence northward between the Philippines and Sanguir and Pelew; including, further on, the Ladrones, Hawaiians, all of Polynesia except the northern outliers of the New Zealand group, and finally sweeping back to encompass Australia. Here we find the curious egg-laying mammal, Ornithorhynchus. But to pass at once to the birds. Here we find such peculiar forms as the megapodes, cassowaries, sun-bitterns, birds-of-paradise, lyre-birds, and many not so familiar. Of the higher birds there are but few compared with Europe or America. It is evidently a continent which has long been separated from the rest of the world.

THE NEOTROPICAL REGION

includes, broadly, tropical America. The forms found here bear certain resemblances to those found in the two regions already discussed; but this resemblance is probably rather because they are low in the scale of development than that there has ever been any direct land connection between them. Much the same conditions of life must have prevailed for all, thus making the rate of development nearly equal. Here we find the rhea, tinamou and hoactzin, which show low grade; but mingling freely with them the higher forms which seem to have come down from the north later and all but crowded out these lower ones. There is abundant evidence that the struggle for existence in South America has been far less severe than in North America.

THE HOLARCTIC REGION,

as the name implies, includes all of North America, Europe, Asia north of India, and the Himalaya mountains, northern Africa where the great Sahara forms the natural boundary, and all islands belonging to the north temperate and north frigid zones. Many have divided this great belt into Palearctic and Nearctic, but the intermingling of species between northeast Siberia and Alaska seems to make such a distinction impracticable. But these distinctions should be and are retained in the divisions of the Holarctic. When we understand that at least one-third of the species found in the Nearctic are also found in the Palearctic, we shall understand why these two are grouped under one region. There are no orders, and there seem to be no families which are found in the Holarctic and nowhere else. Indeed, it is difficult to find even genera which do not have some species ranging into the Neotropical, Ethiopian or Indian. But among the species we find many. Indeed, there are few species which nest in both the Holarctic and in the regions bounding it on the south, and many of these are found only on the southern boundaries of the Holarctic. In our part of the Holarctic, that is, the Nearctic, the familiar birds about us do not nest also in the tropical regions.

THE ETHIOPIAN REGION,

as the name suggests, includes the whole of Africa except that portion north of the Sahara desert, and Arabia and Egypt, with Madagascar and other islands in the immediate vicinity. It seems hardly necessary to even mention the forms that are peculiar to this peculiar region. Even the word Africa brings trooping to our minds a whole continent of peculiarities in more realms than one. Here we find the Ostrich, the plantain eaters, the colies and several, other families – nine in all. Of the lower groups there are the rollers, bee-eaters, horn-bills, the curious secretary-bird and many others. It is significant that among the Passerine birds there are but three families that are peculiar. So on the whole, this region has not developed so rapidly as the Holarctic. There has not been the intense struggle for supremacy here which we see in the north temperate and higher regions.

THE INDIAN REGION

completes the list. Broadly speaking, this region comprises that part of Asia which lies east of the Indus river south of the Himalaya mountains except the eastern half of the drainage basin of the Yang-tse-kiang river, reaching the coast just south of Shanghai, including the island of Formosa, the Philippines, Borneo, Java, Sumatra and Ceylon. This is the Oriental Region of Wallace. There are, apparently, but two families of birds peculiar to this region: the bulbuls and the broad-bills; but there are very many genera and species found nowhere else in the world. The king-crows, sun-birds, swallow-shrikes, argus pheasant, jungle fowl and the well-known peacocks belong here. Very many of the birds of this region are gaudily colored and striking in appearance.

Each of these great regions, except possibly New Zealand, are readily divisible into sub-regions, and these again into areas of lesser extent, until each fauna may be assigned its proper place. Thus in the Holarctic Region we recognize the Nearctic, which comprises about all of North America, and a Palearctic sub-region, the outlines of which have already been sketched. Within the Nearctic three minor regions are recognized. The Arctic “includes that part of the continent and its adjacent islands north of about the limit of forest vegetation” (Allen). That is, extreme northern and northwestern Alaska, sweeping southeasterly through British America to and including Hudson Bay, northern and northeastern Labrador and northern Newfoundland. The Cold Temperate, which lies next south, begins in the east near Quebec, then sweeps westward past the Great Lakes almost to Winnipeg, thence in a northwesterly direction just west of Lake Winnipeg; from there in a more westerly direction to the mountains, which it follows even into northern Mexico as a narrow line; from the west coast at the north end of Vancouver Island it runs east to the mountains. Maine and Nova Scotia are a part of the Allegheny belt which reaches to Alabama. Below this southern limit of the Cold Temperate lies the Warm Temperate, extending almost to Central America. But this is again subdivided into an eastern Humid Province which ends at the Plains, and a western Arid Province. These are again subdivided into an Appalachian Subprovince and an Austroriparian Subprovince for the Humid Province, and a Sonoran and Campestrian Subprovince for the Arid Province. But the boundaries of these minor subdivisions are not yet definitely settled, nor are the characteristic species in each finally decided upon, so it will not be profitable to carry our investigation further at this time.

We learn from this that when we find that one region, be it large or small, is unlike every other region in some particulars of climate or vegetation or temperature, or when it is not easily accessible from other regions, we may expect to find the animals somewhat different according to the conditions which prevail. From this it is a clear step to the truth that an animal’s environment exerts a considerable influence upon its life and through its life upon its form; changing the form in some particulars that make it different from all other animals. It is also true of plants. Since, then, there are different physical conditions in every country of any considerable size, these changes in plants and animals are going on now, but so slowly that we are not able to see them. At the end of another thousand years or longer, the species of birds which we now know may be so changed that we should not know them if we could see them. But that need not worry us!

    Lynds Jones.

THE HOODED WARBLER

(Sylvania mitrata.)

“He was recognizable at once by the bright yellow hood he wore, bordered all around with deep black. A bright, flitting blossom of the bird world!” —Leander S. Keyser, in Bird Land.

This beautiful little warbler is a resident of the eastern United States. It is more common in the southern portion of this district and throughout the Mississippi Valley. Its breeding range extends from the Gulf of Mexico as far to the northward as southern Michigan. It winters in the West Indies, in Mexico, and in Central America. Though a wood warbler it prefers the shrubby growths in low and well-watered places rather than the forest. It is said to be abundant among the canes of the Southern States. Many other names have been given this warbler, all having reference to the arrangement of the black and yellow colors on the head. It is called the Black-headed Warbler, the Hooded Flycatching Warbler, the Mitred Warbler, and the Black-cap Warbler.

Activity seems to be the keynote of its life. It is in constant pursuit of insects, which it catches while they are on the wing. Unlike the flycatchers it seldom returns to the same perch from which it flew to catch its prey.

The words of Mr. Keyser most aptly describe the habits of the Hooded Warbler. He says, speaking of an hour spent in observing the bird’s behavior, “He was not in the least shy or nervous, but seemed rather to court my presence. Almost every moment was spent in capturing insects on the wing or in sitting on a perch watching for them to flash into view. Like a genuine flycatcher, as soon as a buzzing insect hove in sight, he would dart out after it, and never once failed to secure his prize. Sometimes he would plunge swiftly downward after a gnat or miller, and once, having caught a miller that was large and inclined to be refractory, he flew to the ground, beat it awhile on the clods, and then swallowed it with a consequential air which seemed to say, ‘That is my way of disposing of such cases!’ Several times he mounted almost straight up from his perch, and twice he almost turned a somersault in pursuit of an insect. Once he clung like a titmouse to the hole of a sapling.”

To some its notes, which are quite musical, lively, sweet and happy, seem to resemble twee, twee, twitchie. Mr. Chapman says the song “is subject to much variation, but as a rule consists of eight or nine notes. To my ear the bird seems to say, ‘You must come to the woods, or you won’t see me.’”

The nest of the Hooded Warbler is usually built in low shrubs, sometimes but a few inches from the ground and seldom higher than two feet. It is constructed of fine rootlets, and fibers of bark compactly interwoven with leaves, fine grass and hair. It is lined with grass, hair and feathers. The eggs, which are usually five in number, are white, or nearly white, in color, with red or brownish spots near the larger end. They are nearly three-fourths of an inch in length, and a little over one-half of an inch in their greatest diameter.

Three years or more are required for the development of the fully adult plumage. The throat of the female, though black, is not as pure a black as that of the male, and it is not so extensive or as well defined.

MRS. JANE’S EXPERIMENT

One is surprised at the wonderful vitality to be found in an egg. The following incident, almost incredible as it seems, is an absolute fact.

Mrs. Jane, very fond of raising select breeds of chickens, put a setting of fine Brahma eggs under what she considered an absolutely trustworthy Biddy, – but, alas! Biddy proved unstable, like many another biped, and went off in a few days, leaving her nest and rather costly contents to the mercy of the elements.

Mrs. Jane, in three or four days, discovered the abandoned domicile, and, determined not to be outdone by any such maneuver on the part of Biddy, proposed to show her that Brahma chickens could be developed without the assistance of any old hen.

So, not having an incubator of any approved manufacture, she proceeded to make one. She secured a large bread pan to hold the water, a small wooden pail to hold the eggs, which were wrapped in warm flannel, and a good kerosene lamp, which was placed under the pan holding the water and then lighted.

The bucket containing the eggs was then placed in the pan of water and the whole apparatus left in a quiet bedroom.

Oh, how Mr. Jane and the boys and the neighbors twitted Mrs. Jane about wasting coal oil and time in keeping those eggs warm! But, behold! in a little over two weeks, one morning a shell was chipped, at noon another, and by the next morning four pert little downy fellows occupied the bottom of the bucket, with seven unhatched eggs.

Those chickens grew faster than almost any chickens ever known. They were never anything but tame, and the most active of the four, who bears the appropriate name of Theodore Roosevelt, allows any one to pick him up and fondle him, but is ready to fight with anything in the poultry yard – big chicken, little chicken, the skye terrier, the cat or anything else that is or might be in his way. Mrs. Jane says she never was sorry for her experiment but once, and that is all the time.

The cause for Mrs. Jane’s regret is the fact that whether she be in the hen yard, kitchen or parlor, no place except right under her motherly gown is quite good enough for these enterprising birds.

Recently I saw “Teddy” open the screen and walk into the kitchen.

He lifted his foot, pulled the screen open wide enough to admit his head and then pushed his whole body, now quite large and plump, through the crack.

How long this interesting little hero, with his mates, will be permitted to enjoy the rights of chickendom yet remains to be seen, but the fact that “Mrs. Jane’s incubator was a success” has been admitted by all who were so skeptical when she began her novel experiment.

    Mary Noland.

A STROLL IN THE FROST KING’S REALM

The rain of the night before had turned into a heavy sleet, followed by blustering weather. All day the sun was hidden by gray clouds, accompanied with fitful snow showers; but at last the clouds were dispelled and the following morning dawned clear and cold.

As the sun slowly rose above the horizon he added dazzling brilliance to the already lovely landscape.

The mercury was very little above zero as I sought the woods to reap the full benefit of this wonderful transformation of Nature. Just two days ago she wore her usual garb of neutral tints; but what a magical change the Frost King had wrought in this time! The earth was now covered with a white mantle of snow and every tree and shrub had on a glittering armor of sleet. A few minutes’ brisk walk over the crisp snow brought me to a corn field, and by wending my way along a path through this field I arrived at a strip of woodland. Here the path merged into a narrow wagon road cut out of a steep bluff. The entrance to this road introduced me to a land of enchantment.