- Spiderweb
The simple nests and tubes that have been described are made by spiders, most of which spin no other webs. The larger and better known cobwebs for catching insects are made by comparatively few species. On damp mornings in summer the grass-fields are seen to be half covered with flat webs, from an inch or two to a foot in diameter, which are considered by the weatherwise as signs of a fair day. These webs remain on the grass all the time, but only become visible from a distance when the dew settles on them. Figure is a diagram of one of these nests, supposed, for convenience, to be spun between pegs instead of grass. The flat part consists of strong threads from peg to peg, crossed by finer ones, which the spider spins with the long hind-spinnerets - Agalenidæ
Long-legged, brown spiders, with two spinnerets longer than the others, and extending out behind the body. Figure is Agalena nævia, the common grass spider. They make flat webs, with a funnel-shaped tube at one side, in which the spider waits. - Drassidæ
A large family of spiders, varying greatly in shape, color, and habits. Most of them are dull colored, and live under stones, or in silk tubes on plants, and make no webs for catching insects. Their eyes are small, and arranged in two rows on the front of the head. Their feet have two claws and a bunch of flat hairs. The spinnerets are usually long enough to extend a little behind the abdomen. The figure is a Drassus, and the eyes as seen from in front. - Ewe with baby lambs
- Cockroach (Roach)
- Head and Antlers of the Arctic Reindeer
- Cicindela tuberculata - Larva
- Cicindela tuberculata
- Colymbetes rufimanus
- Pterostichus opulentus - Larva
- Pterostichus opulentus
- Colymbetes rufimanus - Larva
- Dorcus punctulatus
Dorcus punctulatus - Dryocora howittii - Larva
Dryocora howittii - Larva - Dryocora howittii
Dryocora howittii - Staphylinus oculatus
Staphylinus oculatus - Stethaspis suturalis
Stethaspis suturalis - Chætosoma scaritides
Chætosoma scaritides - Stethaspis suturalis - Larva
Stethaspis suturalis - Larva - Oral and digestive system of Deinacrida megacephala
Oral and digestive system of Deinacrida megacephala 1, mandibles 2, maxillæ 3, labrum 4, labium 5, maxillary palpi 6, labial palpi 8, œsophagus 9, crop 10, gizzard 11, pancreas 12, stomach 13, biliary vessels 14, ilium 15, colon 16, anus. - Body of an insect
Body of an insect (Hymenoptera), showing the principal divisions A, head B, thorax C, abdomen a, antenna c, compound eyes m, mandible s, simple eyes b, prothorax d, mesothorax k, metathorax 1W, fore-wing 2W, hind-wing n, coxa o, trochanter p, femur r, tibia t, tarsus 1 to 9 segments of the abdomen. - Tiger Cub
- Tiger head
Tiger head - Cow
- Calf
Calf laying down - Cow
Cows head - Insect Frame 4
- Butterfly and flower frame
- Butterfly frame
- Insect Frame 2
- Insect Frame 3
- Insect frame
- On the Watch
Bird watching a butterfly - Two birds watching a bug
- The Pursuit
Birds chasing insects - Brown Cachalote
Brown Cachalote - Chat-like Tyrant
Chat-like Tyrant - Cow-bird
Cow-bird - Bridges’s Wood-Hewer
Bridges’s Wood-Hewer - White-Capped Tanager
White-Capped Tanager - White-banded Mocking-Bird
White-banded Mocking-Bird - Many-coloured Ground Finch
Many-coloured Ground Finch - Red-breasted Plant-cutter
Red-breasted Plant-cutter - Schulz's Dipper
Schulz's Dipper - Shrikes
Shrikes 1 Ochre-Headed Greenlet-Shrike 2 Deep-Billed Greenlet-Shrike - American Merganser, Male
MERGANSER Mergus merganser americanus Cassin Other Names.—Shelldrake; Goosander; Fish Duck; Sawbill; American Merganser. Description.—One of the largest of the ducks; bill long and narrow, with teeth on both mandibles. Adult male: Head and upper neck greenish black; lower neck, patches in wings, and underparts white; belly suffused with salmon-pink, noticeable in some individuals; back, shoulders, and wings black; rump and tail gray; bill and feet red; eyes bright red. Adult female: Head, with two large crests, and neck rich brown, marked with white areas in front of eye and on chin and upper throat; upperparts ashy gray; patch in wings, and breast and belly white. Length: 25 inches. Range in Pennsylvania.—A fairly common and regular migrant along the larger waterways and sometimes on the smaller streams from about March 15 to April 20 and from October 1 to December 1. It frequently occurs in winter when the water is free of ice. The mergansers are all expert fishermen and like to fish in swift water. They dive easily and their serrate bills help them to hold their slippery prey. The female Merganser is difficult to distinguish from the female Red-breasted Merganser; in the present species, however, the white area on the chin and upper throat is sharply defined, whereas in the Red-breasted species the chin and throat are not white, but of a brownish color, paler than the rest of the head. - Double-crested Cormorant, Breeding Plumage
DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT Phalacrocorax auritus auritus (Lesson) Other Name.—Shag. Description.—Four toes all webbed together; bill long and strongly hooked at tip; tail stiff and moderately long; plumage thick and firm. 16Adults in breeding plumage: Glossy greenish black, save on back which is dark gray, each feather being margined with lighter gray; two filamentous tufts of black feathers on back of head; neck with thin sprinkling of silken white feathers during period of courtship; bill blackish, marked at base with dull yellow; sack under bill yellow; eyes bright green. Immature and adult in winter (the plumage usually seen in Pennsylvania): Without crests, and whole plumage brownish black, somewhat mottled beneath, and with light area on throat; eyes grayish green, not bright green. Length: About 30 inches. Range in Pennsylvania.—A migrant found principally along the larger water-ways from about March 20 to May 10 and from September 15 to November 15. It is occasionally seen in winter when the water is free of ice. - Black Tern, Adult
BLACK TERN Chlidonias nigra surinamensis (Gmelin) Other Name.—Marsh Tern. Description.—Size small; tail short, forked. Adults in summer: Head and underparts black, save under tail-coverts, which are white; upperparts gray; bill and feet red. Adults in winter and immature: White, with pearl-gray back and wings and dusky spots on head; bill and feet dusky. Length: 10 inches. Range in Pennsylvania.—Irregular as a migrant throughout the Commonwealth; more frequently seen than other Terns about marshes and on small bodies of water; usually seen between April 25 and September 30. Though it is thus to be seen in midsummer irregularly, it is not known to nest in Pennsylvania at the present time. - Common Tern, Adult
COMMON TERN Sterna hirundo Linnæus Other Names.—Sea Swallow; Striker; Wilson’s Tern. Description.—Smaller than a gull, with long, deeply forked tail. Adults in summer: Top of head glossy black; rest of body pearl-gray, save throat, sides of head, and tail, which are white, the outer tail-feathers with outer webs pearl-gray; bill red, with black tip; feet orange-red. Adults in winter: Similar, but with forepart of head and underparts white, and bill blackish. Immature: Similar to adults in winter, but plumage considerably washed with brownish, lesser wing-coverts slaty, and tail short, though forked. Length: 15 inches. Range in Pennsylvania.—A rather irregular migrant. - Canada Goose
Other Names.—Wild Goose; Honker. Description.—Size large, about that of a domestic Goose, with about the same proportions; sexes similar. Head and neck black, a broad band under eye, and across throat, white; upperparts brownish gray, the feathers margined with a lighter shade, giving a somewhat scaled appearance; breast and sides gray-brown, more or less as in back; belly white; rump and tail black; upper tail-coverts white. Feet and bill black; eyes dark brown. Length: About 3 feet. Range in Pennsylvania.—A regular and sometimes common migrant from mid-February to early April and from October 15 to November 30, sometimes occurring in winter, even when ice covers the lakes, at which times the great birds stand about on the frozen surface. As a rule, Canada Geese do not stop long in Pennsylvania; most flocks do not linger here at all, merely passing over. - Herring Gull, Breeding Plumage
Other Names.—Sea Gull; Gray Gull. Description.—Sexes similar. Adults in summer: White, with pearl-gray back and wings; tips of wings black with white spots; bill yellow with orange spot near tip of lower mandible; feet pale pink; eyes pale yellow. Adults in winter: Similar, with gray spots on head and neck. Immature birds: Dark gray-brown at a distance, with blackish bill and dark brown eyes; in the hand the upper-parts are found to be dark gray, considerably marked with buffy. The acquiring of fully adult plumage requires several moults. Birds which are not fully adult may have black-tipped, white tails. Young in their first flight plumage are darker than older individuals. Length: 24 inches. - Loon, Breeding Plumage
Gavia immer immer (Brünnich) Other Names.—Great Northern Diver; Loom. Description.—Size large; bill long and sharp; tail very short, with legs sticking out behind. Adults in spring: Upperparts black, with bluish and greenish reflections; patches on throat and sides of neck streaked with white; back and wings marked regularly with rows of white squares; underparts silvery white; sides black, spotted finely with white; eyes red. Immature birds and adults in winter: Upperparts blackish, margined with gray and without white spots; throat and neck grayish; underparts white. Length: about 30 inches. - Pied-billed Grebe, Breeding Plumage
Other Names.—Dabchick; Hell-Diver; Dipper; Dipper-Duck (erroneous). Description.—Sexes similar. Adults in summer: Glossy, dark brown above; throat black; neck, breast, and sides grayish, washed with brownish and indistinctly mottled with blackish; lower breast and belly glossy white; black band across bill. Immature birds and adults in winter: Similar, but without black on throat and bill. Length: 13½ inches. Range in Pennsylvania.—Rare as a summer resident, chiefly because 12there are so few lakes and marshes suited to its nesting; fairly common as a migrant from April 1 to May 15 and from August 25 to October 30. Nest.—Flat, composed of decaying vegetation, floating among water-weeds or anchored by plants which are attached to the bottom. Eggs: 4 to 7, dull white, usually so heavily stained as to be brownish in appearance. - Horned Grebe, Winter Plumage
Other Names.—Dipper; Hell-Diver. Description.—Neck long; no tail-feathers; toes flat and broad, feet at rear of body; sexes similar. Adult in spring: Large, puffy head, black, with stripe and silken plumes behind eye buffy; plumage of back blackish edged with gray; secondaries white; neck, breast, and sides chestnut; belly silvery white; eyes bright pink, the pupil encircled with a white ring. Immature birds and adults in winter: Grayish black above, silvery white beneath, grayish on the throat, with white cheek-patches which nearly meet on nape. Length: 13½ inches. Range in Pennsylvania.—A migrant throughout the Commonwealth from March 20 to May 10 and from October 1 to November 30; occasional in winter when water is free of ice. - Topography of a Bird
- Lion Divider
Lion Divider - The Two White Birds
The Two storks - Cat looking at reflection in the water
Cat looking at reflection in the water - Wading Birds
Wading Birds - Long Eared Owl
The Long-eared Owl was about fifteen inches high. He had, as his name implied, long ear-tufts that stood up very straight over his yellow eyes, and thick tawny stockings on his feet and legs. He was finely mottled above with brown, black, and dark orange, had long brown streaks on his buff breast, and dark-brown bands on his wings and tail.