Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/150

130 of which there are many species. The order insessores is very numerous in the United States, and includes the song birds as well as those distinguished by their cry or sharp shrill note. The most common members of the order are the thrush tribe, including the bird here called robin, the mocking bird, and the cat bird; the warblers and flycatchers; the swallows, a numerous family; the finch tribe, which includes the sparrows; the kingfishers, the crow tribe, the orioles, the grakles, and the humming birds. The rasores, divided into the suborders columbæ and gallinæ, are numerously represented. Pigeons and doves of many species are found in vast numbers in the wooded portions of the western and northwestern states, and are not uncommon in any part of the Union. There are no true partridges in the United States, the partridge of the northern states being a grouse, and that of the southern states a quail; but the grouse, of at least a dozen species, quail, wild turkey, and several other species of gallinaceous birds, occur in great numbers. Of the grallatores or waders we have the flamingo, several herons, the ibis, the crane, the coot or mud hen, the rail, sandpiper, snipe, plover, &c. The natatores or swimmers are here a very numerous order. Of the anserinæ or geese there are about 20 species, including 2 species of swans; and of the anatidæ or duck family, at least 30. There are also 2 species of pelicans, a great number of species of gulls, and half a dozen cormorants. In reptiles the United States are less prolific than some other countries. There is a considerable variety of tortoises, though few of great size; and the keys or small coral islets along the coast of Florida, and the sandy spits along the shores of the southern Atlantic and gulf states, are frequented by the green and other sea turtles in great numbers. The alligator inhabits the rivers and bayous of the gulf states. The saurians are abundant, especially in the southern states, and include a great variety of lizards, skinks, horned frogs, monitors, &c. The ophidians or serpents are numerous, but only the rattlesnakes, the moccason snakes, and the vipers are venomous. The black snake is the only large constrictor in the United States. The batrachians embrace numerous species of frogs, tree frogs, 2 or 3 species of toad, the menobranchus, siren, 3 or 4 tritons or newts, and about 20 species of salamander. The number of genera and species of fish visiting or inhabiting the waters of the United States is too great to be enumerated. The most remarkable of the spine-finned are the perch, mackerel, sword fish, and mullet. Among those with soft abdominal fins, the best known are the salmon, shad, menhaden, alewife, herring, pike, and carp; of those with soft fins at the throat, cod, flounders, flat fish, &c.; and of fish without ventral fins, several species of eels, both fresh and salt water fish, and the lamprey The shark, of which there are 16 or 18 species

and the ray or skate, of which there are 30 or 40, are the most formidable on the American coasts. Other fish well known and highly prized for the table are the halibut, tautog, blue fish, sea and striped bass, tomcod, porgy, perch, roach, dace, brook trout, lake trout, giant pike or muscalonge, and the delicious white fish of the lakes. Of mollusks, the acephala are widely distributed on the sea coast and through the lakes and rivers. The oyster of numerous varieties attains a flavor and excellence unknown elsewhere. The pearl oyster has been found on the California coast, and several of the unionidæ secrete pearls of considerable value. The soft-shelled clam (mya arenaria) and the quahaug or round clam (Venus mercenaria) are also much prized in some districts as articles of food. The pecten or scollop and the mussel are also edible species of bivalves. Others of the order are the cockle, hammer shell, razor shell, club shell, waterpot shell, and teredo or ship worm; and in the rivers the numerous species of unio and anodonta, usually called fresh-water clams, are abundant. There are many genera and species of land snails and slugs, and many species of fresh-water and marine gasteropoda; and the Atlantic, Pacific, and gulf of Mexico wash upon our shores great numbers of the cephalopods which inhabit their waters, among them the squid. The crustacea are numerous, and many of them edible. Crabs, lobsters, shrimps, horseshoes or king crabs, &c., abound on the coast; and the crawfish and land crab are found in the interior. Of the arachnida there are in the gulf states some venomous species, as the scorpion and several species of spider; but for the most part the spiders, mites, &c., of the United States are harmless. The centipede, though properly belonging to the tropics, is occasionally found in the southwestern states. The insect tribes are too numerous to receive more than a passing notice. The beetles are very abundant, and include many genera. There are several species of locust, some of them as destructive to vegetation as the locust of oriental countries. The bee, wasp, hornet, and bumblebee, each of numerous species; the vast tribe of butterflies; the whole family of flies, including a blistering fly nearly equal to the Spanish; and the other insect orders, all have their representatives; and as we approach the tropics their number and variety greatly increase.—The population of the country prior to the first census, according to Bancroft, was as follows: