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Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont film^s en commenpant par la premidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la dernidre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole — ^ signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbole V signifie "FIN". Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent §tre filmds d des taux de reduction diff6ren\s. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour 6tre reproduit en un seul clich6, il est film6 A partir de I'angle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent !a m^thode. rata ) elure. J I2X 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 \ ; AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY; OR, THB NATURAL HISTORY Birds of the United States, ILLUSTiRATRfD WITH TLATES ENGRAVED FROM DRAWINGS FROM NATURE. BY ALEXANDER WILSON ■ AND CHARLES LUCIAN BONAPARTE. POPULAR EDITION. Vol. III. PHILADKI.PIMA! P O R T I-: R & C O A T E S , B22 CHESTNUT STREET. w I // CONTENTS OF VOL. III. Phalaropus Fith'rnriwi, Gray Pbalarope, lobalus, Brown Phiiluropc, Fnlica Americana, (/increous Coot, Recurvirostra Amr.rianKi, American Avoset, I/imaiiliipits, Long-legged Avoset, Phsenicoplenix ruber, Red Flamingo, Uriii alfc, Little Guillemot, Co/i/mt/us (jhuialis, Great Northern Diver, or Loon, Rijiichujn niijrn, Wack Skimmer, or Shearwater, Sterna Iliruudo, Great Tern, mintUii, Lesser Tern, . araiira, JLirsh 'I'ern, plumhea, Short-tailed Tern, fuUgliiosa, Sooty Tern. Larus africilla, Liiughing (Jull, Procellaria pelai/ica, Stormy Petrel, Mcri/us Merganser, Goosander, male, . I'emale, Serrator, Iled-breasted Merganser, albellus. The Smew, or White Nun, curullatus. Hooded Merganser, Anas 6'(iHa. lied Coot-footed Tringn, Edwards, pi. 142. Gray Cool-footed Triiiya, Id. Gleaviiiyn, PI. 308. — Le Phalarope roiiye. Buff. Ois. viii., p. 225. Le Phalarope dfentons dentelSs, Id. p, 226. — Gray Phalarope, Montagu, Orn. Die. and Appendix le Sup. — Bewick, n., p. 132. — Le Phalarope yris, Cfv. Ueij. An. i., p. 492. Le Phalarope rouge, Id. Ibid. — Phaloropu.t platyrhiwhrin, Temm. Man. d' Orn. p. 712. Bill pretty stout and wide, slightly coTnprcssed at the tip, depressed on the lower half, upper maiulihle carinate ; nostrils subovate, a short distance from the base ; feet semi palmate, lobes of the toes broad and greatly scalloped ; hind toe barely touching the ground. Bill reddish orange at the base, the remainder black, an inch long; front and crown black, barred transversely with lines of white; throat, sides of the neck, and lower parts, white, thickly and irregularly barred with curving dashes of reddish chocolate ; upper parts of a deep cine- reous blue, streaked with brownish yellow and black ; the black scapu- lars broadly edged with brownish yellow ; wings and rump dark cine- reous ; greater wing-coverts broadly tipped with white, forming a large band ; primaries nearly black, and crossed with white below the coverts ; tail plain olive, middle of its coverts black, their sides bright brownish # Named in tho phito Red Phalarope. (9) 10 GUAY iMIALAKOl'E. •s. -», ^^ yellow ; votit wliitc, those feathers iniinodiately next to the tail rcddisli chocolate; lt'j;s black on the outside, yellowish within. Length nine inches, breadth fifteen iiicheH and a half; length of hind too, independent of the claw, one-eighth of an inch. Mali'? The inner toe is connected to the niidiMe one, by a ineiiibvane, oh far 08 the first joint, the outer toe much liirther; henee the feet may ht properly termed seinipalmato ; webs and lobes finely pectinated. This conformation of the feet is pretty accurately exhibited in Edwards's plate, No. 308. The Gray Phalaropo is a rare bird in Pennsylvania; and is not often met with in any part of the United States. The individual from which our figure and description were taken, was shot in a pond, in the vi- cinity of rhiladcljihia, in the latter part of May, IHl'J. There wero three in company. The person who shot it had never seen one of tho species before, and was struck with their singular uumners. He de- scribed them as swimming actively near the margin of the pond, dipping in their bill vi'ry often, as if feeding, and turning fre(iueiitly. In con- sequence of our sj)eeimen being in a state of putridity when received, it was preserved with considerable diftieulty, and tho sox could not bo ascertained. In the spring of the year 181(!, my friend, Mr. Le 8ueur, shot in Boston Bay a young individual of this species: crown dark slate, tinged with yellowish brown; front, throat, line over the eye, belly and vent, white; shoulders, breast and sidt's, tawny or fawn color; back dark slate, jialer near the rump, the feathers edged with bright yellow ochre; wings jjale cinereous, some of the los.ser coverts edged with white, tho greater coverts largely so, forming the bar; primaries and tail black, the latter edged with yellowish brown, the shafts of the fornu-r white. Bill and feet as in tho first described. On the 20th of March, 181 H, I shot in the river St. John, in East Florida, an immature female siiecimen : irides dark brown ; around tho bast! oftiie bill a slight marking of diiik slate; front and crown white, mottled with pale ash; at the anttrior f)art of each eye a blarl spot; beneath the eyes dark slate, whieh extends dver the auriculars, tho liind-head, a::il nj)per part of the neck ; upper parts cinereous gray, with a few faint streaks of slate ; throat, bnast, whole lower parts, and under fail-eoverts, pure white; flai.ks with a few faint ferruginous stains; wings slate brown, the coverts of the secondaries, and a few of the primary coverts, largely tipped with white, forming the bar as usual ; tail brown, edged with cinereous ; legs and feet pale pinmbeons, the webs, and part of the scalloped nnMidiranes, yellr)wisli. liill and size as in the first speeinuMi. The tongue of this species is large, fleshy and obtuse. A reference to lie bead of this artii^le will show the variety of nauies '^r-t-ti^ GRAY PIIALAUOPB. ft under which thiH bird Iiiih bpcn doscribed. What could induce that respectable iiaturaliHt, M. Tomininck. to give it a new appellation, wo (iro totally at a Iohh to conceive. That his iiamo in j^ood, that it is even better than all the rest, we are willinif to auuiit ; but that he liad no right to give it a new name, we Hhall boldly maintain, not only on the score of expediency, but of justice. If the right to change bo onco concedcMJ, there is no calculiiting the extent of the confusion in which the whole system of nomenclature will be involved. The study of methodical natural history is sufficiently laborious, and whatever will have a tendency to diminish this labor, ought to meet the cordial sup- port of all those who are interested in the advancement of the natural sciences. "The study of Natural History," says the present learned president of the Linnean Society, " is, from the multitude of objects with which it is conversant, necessarily so encutnbenMl with names, that students require every |)ossible assistance to facilitate the attainment of thoso names, and have a just right to complain of every needless impediment. Nor is it allowable to alter such nanu's, even for the better. In our Bcience the names established throughout the works of liimucus arc bo- come current coin, nor can they be altered without great incon- venience."* That there is a property in names as well as in things, will not be disputed ; and there are few naturalists who would not feel as sensibly a fraud committed on their nomenclatun^ as on their i)urse. The ardor with which the student pursues his researches, and tlie solicitude which h" majiifests in promulgating his discoveries under appropriate app(;llar tions, ar(^ proofs that at least [liirt of his gratification is deriveil from the supposed distinction which a name will confer upon him ; deprive him of this distinction, and you inflict a wound upon his self-love, which will not readily bo healed. To enter into a train of reasoning to prove that he who first describes and names a subject of natural history, agreeably to the laws of syste- matic classification, is for ever entitled to his name, and that it cannot be superseded without injustice, would be useless, because they are pro- positions which all naturalists deem self-evident. Then how comes it, whilst we are so tenacious of our own rights, wo so often disregard tho.sc of others ? I would now come to the point. It will be perceived that I have ven- tured to restore the long tieglected name lA' fuUcaria. That I shall bo supportet' in this restoration I have little iloiibt, when it shall have been manifest that it was Linns«us himself who first named this species, A An IiitrodiKtidti to rii_vsi(ilo}!;icnl anil Systeinieal Botany, cliup. 22. 3'^^ 18 nUOWN IMI A L \ HOPE. roforpnco to the tenth edition of tlie SyHtoina Naturoo* will Hhow that tho autliority for Trhuja fuUcaria is Edwardn's lied Coot-footed Tringa, pi. 142, and that alone, for it dooH not appear that LinnoouH had «eon the liird. The eire«nistiiiiet> of tlu^ ehaiij^e of the generic ap- pellation can in nowise all'eet the speeifie name ; the present improved fltato of the Hcicnco requires tho former, justice demands that tho latter should be preserved. In this work I have preserved it ; and I flatter myaelf that this hiimhlo attempt to vindicate the rifjlits of Linnscua will bo approved by all those who love thoso sciences, of which ho was 80 illustrious a promoter.f * if r ■ '■ n si" I Ji fin J. s Spicies II. PHALAIiOPDS LORATUS. BROWN PHALAROPE.J [Plate LXXIII. Fig. 3.] 'Mnga Inbata, Linn, %.v^ pil. 10, toin. i., ji. 148, .*>. 7'. /i;/pfrborea, Id. od. 12, torn. I., p. 249, '.•. — Triinja Int/atit, (Juki,. Sy^t. i., \>. (174, (>. T. J'lisra, Id. p. ((".'), 33. T. hi/perhovea, Id. No. 9, — l'/ialaropv» rinereim, Urish. Oin. vi., )i. I.*). J', fits- cua, Id. p. 18. — l,r Phaliirape nwln: Huff. Oh. viii., p. '224. PI. h'.nh 7()(i. — Cuot-footed Tiiilijn, KuwaRI).h, pi. 4t). Cock Coot-fouled TriiKjn, Id pi. 143. — Ued P/ialnrope, 1'knv. liiit. Zool. No. 21'.). lirown I'/iulavope, Ani. Zool. No. 414. — Plialaropux /ii/pirliornis, Lath. IhiI. Oin. p. IT."), 1. /'. funnin, lil. p. 77fi, 4. Rtd PJialivopr, Gen. S.ni. iii , p. 270, 1. Id. p. 272, var. A. livown I'hulwope, Id. p. 274, 4. — lied Pla'crope, Mo.vTAdu, Orn, Die. Id. Sup. and Ajipendix. — Ph(diiropus hi/jxi'lioreuK, Temm. Man, d' Orn, p. 70'J. — Le Loliipcde, d liaiisse-col, Cuv. Prj. An. 1, p. 4115. Ov tliia species only ono specimen wa« <,'ver seen by Wilson, ami that wa,s preserved in Trowbridge's Museum, at Albany, in the state of New York. On referring to Wilson's Journal, I found an account of tho bird, there called a Trinija, written with a lead pencil, but so scrawled and obscured, that parts of the writing were not legible. I wrote to Trowbridge, soliciting a particular description, but no answer was * Of nil tho editionH of the SyHtema Niitura>, the tenth and the twelfth are the nio.st valiiatilc; thi' former lieinj; the tir.st wliieh eontaiiis the wynonyniii, and the hitter heiiii; that whirh received the tini.shini:; hand of it.s author. In the United States, liinnccuN is principally known throuj;h two editors : — (Jmelin, whoso tliir- teenth edition of the Systoma Natune lias involved the whole seienee in almost in- exfricahlo confnsion, and Turton, whost? Hnnllsh translation of (Jmelin is a dis- grnco to seicnoe and letters. All writers on /o()lo;:y and Botany sliould possess Linnociis's tenth and twelfth editions; they will Le found to he of indisiensuble use in tracinf; synonynies, and fixing nonienelaturo. t From Mr. Oid's supplementary volume. X Named ii .le plutu (iray Fhalaropc. 11 II OWN IMI A LA IIOI'K. 11 returned. Ilowovt-r, liiivinj^ liad tli(( ^ood fortune, rtinco publishing the firHt edition, of examining a fine rei-cnt Hpecinien of tWia rare bird, 1 liope I Nball be enabled to fix the HpecieH by hucIi ehaructorH, aa will prevent any ornitholofjist in future from lionfounilinj^ it with the npocies wliich follows ; two birds which, owing to a wat.t of precision, wore in- volved in aiuioHt inextricable confusion, until Temminck applied himself to the task of diHenii>ruiling thetn ; and this ingetiious naturalist he:; fully proved that the seven species of authors constituted, in effect, only two species. Temminck's distinctive characters are drawn from the bill ; and he has divided the genus into two sections, an arrangement the utility of which is not evident, seeing that each section contains but one species; unless we may consider that the Barred rhalaro[)e of Latham consti- tutes a third : a point not yet ascertained, and not easy to be settled, for the want of characters. In my examination of these birds, I have paid particular attention to the feet, which |)ossess characters eejually striking with those of the bill : hence a union of all these will afford a facility to the student, of which he will be fully sensible, when ho makes them the subject of his investi- gation. Our figure of this species betrays all the marks of haste ; it is inaccu-. rately drawn, and imperfectly colored ; notwithstanding, by a diligent study of it, I have been enabled to ascertain, that it is the Coot-footed Tringa of Edwards, ])1. 4G, and 143, to which bird Linnicus gave the specific denomination of lo/tatd, as will be seen in the synonynies at the head of this article. In the twelfth edition of the Systcma Naturae, the Swedish naturalist, conceiving that he might have been in error, omitted, in his description of the lulxtta, the synonymo of Edwards's Cock Coot- footed Tringa, No. 143, and recorded the latter bird under the name of hyperhorca, a specific appellation wliich Temminck, and other ornitholo- gists, have sanctioned, burwhich the laws of methodical nomenclature prohibit us from adopting, as, beyond all (lucstion, hijperfiorea is only a synonymc of hilxita, Avliich has the priority, and must L'tand. M. Temminck differs from us in the opinion, that the T. lohata of Gmelin, vol. r.. p. 074, is the present species, and refers it to that which follows. But if this respectable ornithologist will take the trouble to look into the twelfth edition of Linnseus, vol. i., p. 24U, No. 8, ho will there find two false references, Edwards's No. 808, and Brisson's No. 1, which gave rise to Gmelin's confusion of synonymes, and a consequent confusion in his description, as the essential character in both authors being in nearly the same words, {rostro sulndato, apicc injlexo, &c.) we are at no loss to infer that both descriptions have reference to the same bird; and we are certain that the lolnda of the twelfth edition of the V,'-ii^i«ifiiiKl*i. 14 BROWN PHALAROPE. former is preci Jy the same as that of the tenth edition, wliich cites for authority Edwards's 46 and 143, as before mentioned. I shall now give the short description of the bird figured i i the plate, as I find it in Wilson's note book. Bill black, slender, and one inch and three eighths* in length, lores, front, crown, hind-head, and thence to the back, very pale ash, nearly white ; from the anterior angle of the eye a curving stripe of black descends along the neck for an inch or more ; thence to the shoulders (lark reddish brown, which also tinges the white on the side of the neck next to it ; under parts white ; above dark olive ; wings and legs black. Size of the Turn-stone. The specimen from which the following description was taken, was kindly communicated to mo by my friend, Mr. Titian R. Peale, while it was yet in a recent state, and before it was prepared for the museum. It was this individual which enabled me to ascertain the species figured in our plate. It was shot in the neighborhood of Philadelphia, on the seventh of May, 1818. Bill narrow, slender, flexible, subulate, of equal width ; nostrils basal and linear ; lobes of the toes thick, narrow, and but slightly scalloped ; outer toe connccteil to the middle one as far as the first joint, inner toe divided nearly to its base ; hind toe resting on the ground. Bill black, one inch and three-eighths in length ; head above of an ash gray ; hind-head whitisii, which color extends a short distance down the neck ; over the eyes a white stripe, below thoni a white spot ; throat and lower parts white; a line of black passes through tlie eyes, spreads out towards the hind-head, and descends along the neck ; lower part of the neck pale ferruginous; back part of the neck deep ferruginous, which descends on each side, and mingles with the pluniiige of the hack and scapulars, which arc of a clove brown, the feathers tijjpcil with whitish ; wings and tail dark clove brown, some of the lesser coverts Laving a reddish tinge; the upper tail feathers tinged with red at their tips, the under feattiers marked with white on their inner welis; irides dark brown ; legs and feet ilark plumbeous; claws long, of a dark horn color ; hind toe, independent of the claw, five-sixteenths of an inch long ; the tertials, when the wing is closed, extend to within three-eighths of an incli of the tip of tlic primaries ; weight an ounce and three-(|iiar- ters ; length nine inches and a iiaif, breadth sixteen inches. This was a female, her eggs very small. In the grand chain of animated nature, the Phalaropes constitute ono * In tho original the hill is said to be ono inuh anil tlirce-quiirtiTH lon^r ; Imttlmt th'iM is a inistaki', we liiivc only to incasuro ihe hill iil" tin- (i;;urp, drawn of Imlf tho size of natiiri', to ho conviiici'il. Wilson always iiieasiiifd his hills IVoiii the tip to the nn);1c of the month. Our fi^iiri!, hy this ndinunsiirninent, indiualcs a hill of preciitely the length of that of IVah-'s Hpeoiiiu-ii, whii'h I have described in detail. BROWN PIIALAROPE. 15 of the links between the waders and the web-footed tribes, having the form of the Sandpipers, with some of the habits of the gulls : the scal- loped membranes on their toes enabling them to swim with facility. They are clothed with a thick coat of feathers, beneath which, as in tho Ducks, lies a mass of down, to protect them from the rigors of tho northern climates, of which they are natives. They do not appear to be fond of the neighborhood of the ocean, and are generally found in tho interior, about the lakes, ponds, and streams of fresh water, where they delight to linger, swimming near the margin in search of seeds and insects. They are nowhere numerous, are commonly seen in pairs, and arc so extremely tame and unsuspicious, that one may approach to within a few feet of them. The genus Lobipes, of the Baron Cuvier, is founded upon this species ; and it must be confessed, tliat its chanactcra arc sufficiently distinct, from those of the bird wlii(;ii follows, to authorize such a separation ; but unless some new species should be discovered, we see no impropriety in associating tho two birds already known, taking care, however, to preserve a consistency in tho generic characters, which Teniminck, in his Manuel, has not sufficiently observed. In the appendix to Montagu's Supplement to the Ornithological Dic- tionary, we find the following remarks on this species, there named fuliearia : " We have before mentioned, that tiiis bird ha take wing, and can seldom be sprung in its retreat at low water ; for altiioiigh it walks rather awkwardly, yet it contrives to skulk through tiie gra.ss and reeds Avith great speed, the comprosscd furm of its body, like that of tlie Rail genus, being well adapted to tiie purpose. It swinis remarkably well, and, when wounded, will dive like a iluek. When closely pursued in the water, it generally takes to the shore, rising with apparent reluc- tance, like a wounded duck, and fluttering along the surl'a<'e with it< feet pattering on the water.! It is known in Pennsylvania by the name of the Mud-hen. I have never yet discovered that this species breeds with us ; though • Niiiin'il ill tlio plato romnion Coot. t III Caroiiiia tlii-y iir« callt«il Fluslerm, from tlio noinn tlipy miikn in flying along tho Burfttcc of till' water. A voyajru to Carolinii liy .loliii I.awKoii, p. 149. CINEREOUS COOT. 17 it is highly probable that some few may occupy the marshes of the interior, in the vicinity of the ponds and lakes, for this purpose : those retired situations being well adapted to the hatching and rearing of their young. In the Southern States, particularly South Carolina, they are well known ; but the Floridas appear to be their principal rendezvous, for the business of incubation. " The Coot," says William Bartram, " is a native of North America, from Pennsylvania to Florida. They inhabit large rivers, fresh-water inlets or bays, lagoons, &c., where they swim and feed amongst the reeds and grass of the shores ; particularly in the river St. Juan, in East Florida, where they are found in immense flocks. They are loquacious and noisy, talking to one another night and day ; are constantly on the water, the broad lobated membranes on their toes enabling them to swim and dive like ducks."* I observed this species to be numerous, during the winter, in the fresh water ponds, situated in the vicinity of the rivor St. Juan or St. John, in East Florida ; but I did not see them in the river. The food which they obtain in these places must be very abundant and nutritious ; as the individuals which I shot were excessively fat. One male specimen weighed twenty-four ounces, avoirdupois. They associate with the Common Gallinule [Gallinula chloropus); but there is not, perhaps, one of the latter for twenty of the former. The Cine- reous Coot is sixteen inches in length, and twenty-eight in extent ; bill one and a half inch long, white, the upper mandible slightli/ notched near the tip, and marked across with a band of chestnut, the lower mandible iniirked on each side with a squarish spot of the like color, edged on the hiwer part with a bright yellow or gamboge, thence to the tip pale horn color ; membrane of the forehead, dark chestnut brown ; irides cornelian red ; beneath the eyes, in most specimens, a whitish spot ; the head and neck are of a deep shining black, resembling satin ; back and scapulars dirty greenish olive ; sliouMors, breast, and wing- coverts, slate blue ; the under parts are hoary ; vent black ; beneath the tail pure white ; primaries and secondaries slate, the former tipped with black, the latter with white, which does not appear when the wing is closed ; outer edges of the wings white ; logs and toes yellowish green, the scalloped membrane of the latter lead color; middle toe, including the daw, three inches and three-quarters long. The bird from which the foregoing description was taken, was shot on the Delaware, below riiiladelphia, the 21'th of October, 1813. It was an old male, an uncommonly fine specimen, and woiglied twenty- three ounces avoirdupois. It was deposited in Peale's Museum. The young birds differ somewhat in their plumage, that of the head * Letter from Mr. Bartrnm to the author. Vol. III.— 2 hL. - 1.. I I; I I; i :». 1 ! 18 CINEREOUS COOT. and neck being of a brownish black ; that of the breast and shoulders pale ash ; the throat gray or mottled ; the bill bluish white ; and the membrane on the forehead considerably smaller The young females very much resemble the young males; all the difference which I have been enabled to perceive is as follows : breast and shoulders cinereous ; markings on the bill less ; upper parts of tho head, in some specimens, mottled ; and being less in size. The lower parts of these birds arc clothed with a thick down, and, particularly between the thighs, covered with close fine feathers. The thighs are placed far behind, are fleshy, strong, and bare above the knees. The gizzard resembles a hen's, and is remarkably large and muscular. That of the bird which has been described, was filled with sand, gravel, shells, and the remains of aquatic plants. Buffon describes the mode of shooting Coots ip France, particularly in Lorraine, on the great pools of Tiuucourt and of [mire ; hence wo arc led to suppose that they are esteemed as an article of food. But with us who are enabled, by the abundance and variety of game, to indulge in greater luxuries in that season when our Coots visit us, they are considered as of no account, and arc seldom eaten. The European oriiitliologists represent the membrane on the forehead of the Fuh'ca atra as white, except in the breeding season, when it is said to change its color to pale red. In every specimen of the Cinereous Coot which I have seen, except one, the membrane of the forehead was of a dark chestnut brown color. The one allutlcd to was a fine adult male, shot in the Delaware, at Philadelphia, on the eleventh of May ; the membrane was of a pure tvhite ; no white marking beneath the eye ; legs and feet of a bright grass green. In Wilson's figure of the Coot, accompanying this volume, there are some slight errors : the auriculars are designated, which should not have been done, as they arc not distinguishable from the rest of the plumage of the head and neck, which is all of a fine satiny texture; and the outline of the bill is not correct. Latham states that the Common European Coot, F. atra, is " met with in Jamaica, Carolina, and other parts of North America." This I presume is a mistake, as I have never seen but one species of Cnot in the United States. Brown, in speaking of the birds of Jamaica, men- tions a Coot, which, in all probability, is the same as ours. Th'; Coot mentioned by Sloane, is the Common Galli'iule. So is also that spoken of in the Natural History of l{arl)adoes, by Hughes, p. 71. In Lewis and Clark's History of their expedition, mention is made of a bird, which is common on the Columbia ; is said to be very noisy, to have a sharp, shrill whistle, and to associate in large flocks ; it is CINEREOUS COOT. 19 called the Black Duck.* This is doubtless a species of Coot, but whether or not different from ours cannot bo ascertained. IIow much is it to be regretted, that in an expedition of discovery, planned and fitted out by an enlightened government, furnished with every means for safety, subsistence and research, not one naturalist, not one draftsman, should have been sent, to observe and perpetuate the infinite variety of natural productions, many of which are entirely unknown to the com- munity of science, which that extensive tour must have revealed ! The Coot leaves us in November, for the southward. The foregoing was prepared for the press, when the author, in one of his shooting excursions on the Delaware, had the good fortune to kill a full plumaged female Coot. This was on the twentieth of April. It was swimming at the edge of a cripple or thicket of alder bushes, busily engaged in picking something from the surface of the water, and while thus employed it turned frequently. The membrane on its forehead was verjr small, and edged on the fore part with gamboge. Its eggs were of the size of partridge shot. And on the thirteenth of May, another fine female specimen was presented to him, which agreed with the above, with the exception of the membrane on the forehead being nearly as large and prominent as that of the male. From the circum- stance of the eggs of all these birds being very small, it is probable that the Coots do not breed until July. * History of tho Expedition, vol. ii., p. 194. Under date of November ."iOth, 1805, they say: "The hunters brought in a few black durks of a species common in tho United States, living in largo flocks, and feeding on grass; they are distin- guished by a aharj) while beak, toes separated, and by having no craw." S;.l; f il! Gencs LXXXV. RECURVmOSTRA. AVOSET. - Spkciss I. R. AMERICANA. . <^ AMERICAN AVOSET. " " [Plata LXIII. Tig. 2.] Aret. Zool. No. 421.— Lath. Syn. v. in., p. 295, No. 2. Tnis species, from its perpetual clamor, and flippancy of tongue, is called by the inhabitants of Capo May, the Lawyer ; the comparison, however, reaches no farther : for our Lawyer is simple, timid, and per- fectly inoffensive. In describing the Long-legged Avoset of this volume, the similarity between that and the present was taken notice of. This resemblance extends to everything but their color. I found both these birds asso- ciated together in the salt marshes of New Jersey, on the twentieth of May. They were then breeding. Individuals of the present species were few in respect to the other. They flew around the shallow pools, exactly in the manner of the Long-legs, uttering the like sharp note of click click click, alighting on the mar.sh, or in the water, indiscriminately, fluttering their loose wings, and shaking their half-bont legs, as if ready to tumble over, keeping up a continual yelping note. They were, how- ever, rather more shy, ami kept at a greater distance. One which I wounded, attempted r«'[)oatedly to dive; but the water was too shallow to permit him to do this with facility. The nest was built among the thick tufts of grass, at a small distance from one of these pools. It was composed of small twigs, of a seaside shrub, dry grass, sea weed, &c., raised to the height of several inches. The eggs were four, of a dull olive color, marked with large irregular blotches of black, and with others of a fainter tint. This species arrives on the coast of Cape May late in April; rears its young, and departs again to the .south early in October. While here, it almost constantly frequents the shallow j)()ols in the salt marshes; wading about, often to the belly, in search of food, viz., marine worms, snails, and various insects that abound among the soft muddy bottoms of the pools. The male of this species is eighteen inches and a half long, and two feet and a half in extent; the bill is black, four inches in length, flat above, the general curvature upwards, except at the extremity, where (20) AMERICAN AVOSET. 21 it bends slightly down, ending in an extremely fine point ; irldes reddish hazel ; whole head, neck and breast, a light sorrel color ; round the eye, and on the chin, nearly white ; upper part of the back and wings black ; scapulars, and almost the whglc back, white, though generally concealed by the black of the upper parts ; belly, vent and thighs, pure white ; tail equal at the end, white, very slightly tinged with cinereous ; tertials dusky brown ; greater coverts tipped with white ; secondaries white on their outer edges, and whole inner vanes ; rest of the wing deep black ; naked part of the thighs two and a half inches ; legs four inches, both of a very pale light blue, exactly formed, thinned and netted, like those of the Long-legs ; feet half-webbed ; the outer mem- brane somewhat the broadest ; there is a very slight hind toe, which, claw and all, does not exceed a quarter of an inch in length. In these two latter circumstances alone it differs from the Long-legs ; but is in every other strikingly alike. The female was two inches shorter, and three less in extent ; the head and neck a much paler rufous, fading almost to white on the breast ; and separated from the black of the back by a broader band of white ; the bill was three inches and a half long ; the leg half an inch shorter ; in every other respect marked as the male. She contained a great number of eggs, some of them nearly ready for exclusion. The stomach was filled with small snails, periwinkle shell-fish, some kind of mossy vegetable food, and a number of aquatic insects. The intestines were infested with tape-worms, and a number of smaller bot-like worms, some of which wallowed in the cavity of the abdomen. In Mr. Pcale's collection there was one of this same species, said to have been brought from New Holland, differing little in the markings of its plumage from our own. The red brown on the neck docs not descend so far, scarcely occupying any of the breast ; it is also some- what less.* In every stuffed and dried specimen of these birds which I have examined, the true form and flexure of the bill is altogether deranged ; being naturally of a very tender and delicate substance. Note. — It is remarkable, that, in the Atlantic States, this species invariably affects the neighborhood of the ocean ; wc never having known an instance of its having been seen in the interior ; and yet Captain Lewis met with this bird at the ponds, in the vicinity of the Falls ,of the Missouri. That it was our species, I had ocular evidence, in a skin brought by Lewis himself, and presented, among other speci- mens of natural history, to the Philadelphia Museum. See History of Lewis and Clarke'is Expedition, vol. II., p. 343. — G. Ord. * This 18 a different species ; it is the R. rubricollis of Temminck, Manuel d'Or- nithologic, p. 592. ...r ; , .' Spicies II. RKCURVIROSTRA UIMANTOPUS* LONG-LEGGED AVOSET. • [Plate LVIII. Fig. 2,] Lony-hgjed Plover, Arrt. /^uol. p. 487, No. 405.— Turton, p. 416. Bewick, ii., 'n—i:Echasse,]ivrr.\iu.,n4. I'l. Enl. HIS. Naturalists have most unaccouut.-ihlv classed this bird with the genua Cfiaradn'us, or Ph)ver, and yet afl'ect to make tlio particular con- formation of the 1)111, legs and feet, tlio rule of their arrangement. In the present .subject, however, excepting the trivial circumstance of the want of a hind toe, there is no resemblance whatever of those parts to the bill, legs or feet, of the Plover ; on the contrary, they are so entirely different, as to create no small surprise at the adoj)tion, and general acceptation, of a cla.ssification, evidently so absurd and unnatural. This appears the more reprehensible, when wo consider the striking affinity there is between this bird and the common Avo."4et, not oidy in the particular form of the bill, nostrils, tongue, legs, feet, wings and tail, but extending to the voice, manners, food, place of breeding, form of the nest, and even the very color of the eggs of both, all of which arc strikingly alike, and point out, at once, to the actual observer of nature, the true relationship of tliese remarkable birds. Strongly impressed with the.se facts, from an intimate acquaintance with the living subject.^, in their native wilds, I have presumed to remove the present sj)ecies to the true and ])roper place assigned it by nature ; and shall now proceed to detail ,' large, tl(3shy, filling thu cavity of tho bill, furnished with twelve or more hooked pajiilhc on each Hide, turning hackwanU ; tho tip a Hharp oartilaginoutt Hubi^tanee. Tho bird when in full plunntge iii wholly of a nio.-^t di>ep Hcarlet (thoMO of Africa uaid to be the deepest), excejjt the (|uill.s, which are "duck ; ); )m thu baHO of tho thigh to the claws ineasures thirty-two iiichos, of w'l.;jh tho fea- thered part takes up no uioru than three inches ; tho bare part above thu kiu'e thirteen inches, and from thence to the claws sixteen ; the color of the hare parts is red, and tiiu toes are furnishud with a web as in tho Di'ek genus ; but is deeply indented. Tlie lega are not atraitjht, but x/ii/ht/if Itfut, the »hin riither projecting. " These binls do not gain their full plunnige till the third year. In the first tiny are of a grayish wliile fur the most part; the second of a clearer white, tinged with red, or rathei roso color; but tho wings and scapulars are red ; in the third year a general glowing scarlet manifests itself throughout; the hill and legs also keep pace with the gradation of color ill the plumage, these parts changing to their colors by tlegreos as the bird a|)pi-oaelies to an adult stuto. " Flamingoes prefer a warm climate, in the old continent not often met with beyond forty degrees north or south. Everywhere seen on tho African coast, and adjacent isles, quite to the Cape of (lood Hope,* and now and then on tho coasts of Spain, f Italy, and those of France lying in the Mediterranean Sea ; being at times met with ut Marseilles, and for some way up the llhone. In some seiisons fre(|uents Aleppo,]; and parts ailjacent. Seen also on the I'ersian side of the Caspian Sea, and from thence along the western coa.st as far as tho Wolga ; though this at iincertain times, and chiefly in considerable Hocks, coming from the north coast mostly in October and November; but so soon as the wind changes they toti'lly disappear. § They breed in the Cajie \'erd Isles, particularly in that of Sal.|| The nest is of a singular construction, made of mud, in shape of a hillock, with a cavity at top ; in this the female lays generally two white eggs,^ of the size of those of a (loose, but more elongate. t Alioiit Viilenciii, in the Lake Albuferc. Hillon'M Trav. p. 374. X Uunhi.'I'h Aleppo, p C'J. J Decouv. Huss. ii., p. 248. II Damp. Voy. i., p. 70. \ They never lay more than three, and seldom fewer. Phil. Trans. U K U F L A M I N O 0. 21 placed ono on each Hido nt full length.* The young cannot fly til' full grown, l»ut run very fust. " Kiiiinin^ocH, for the most part, keep together in flocltH ; and now and then are scon in great numbers together, except in breeding timo. Dainpier inciitioiiH having, with two more in compiiiiy, killed fourteen at once; but thin was eft'ected by secreting thcniselvs ; for they are very ■hy binls, anil will by no means sufTer any ono to approach openly near enough to shoot them.f Kolben observes that thc^y are very numerous at till- Ciipc, keeping in the day on the borders of the lakes and rivers, and lodging tlieinselves of nights in the long grass on the hills. They arc also common to various places in the warmer parts of America, fre- quenting the same latitudes as in other nuarters of the world ; being met witli in Peru, Chili, Cayenne,'|: and the coast of llrazii, as well a« the various islands of the West Indies. Sloane found them in Jamaica; but particularly at the Bahama Islands, and that of Cuba, where thoy brood. When seen at a distance they appear as a regiment of soldiers, being arranged alongside of ono another, on the borders of the rivers, Bcarching for food, which chieily consists of small fish,§ or the eggs of them, and of water insects, which they search after by plunging in the bill and part of the head; from time to timo trampling with their foot to nniddy the water, that their prey may bo raised from the bottom. In fccfling arc^ said to twist the neck in such a manner tliat the upper part of the bill is applied to the ground ;|| during this one of them la said to Btand sentinel, and the moment he sounds tin; alarm, the whole flock take wing. This bird when at rest stamls on one leg, the other bt.'ing drawn up close to the body, with the head placed under the wing on tint side of the body it stands on. " The flesh of these birds is e.^^teemcd pretty good meat ; and tho young thought by some equal to that of u Partridge ;1[ but the greatest dainty is the tongue, which was esteemed l-y the ancients an exquisite morsel.** Are sometimes caught young and brought up tame; but are ever impatient of cold, and in this state will seldom live a great while, gradually losing their color, flesh and appetite ; and dying for want of * SoiiiL'timcH will liiy tho Pf^gH on a i)roj('ctin}; part of a low rook, if it be placed sufBcii'titly coiivoniont so us to admit of tho logs being placed ono on eiiuh side. IJnn. t PiivifH talks of the gunner disgiii.sing himself iu an ox hido, and by this means getting within gnn-shot. Hist. Uiirbiid. p. 88. X Culled there by tho name of Tocouo. { Siiuill uhell fish. Gcsncr. II Linnanis. lirisson. U ("ominonly fat and accounted delicate. Pavics's Hist. Barbad. p. 88. Tho inhabilatits of I'roveni'e always* throw away the llesh, us it tastes fishy, and only niuke use of the feathers as ornaments to other birds at particular entertainments. Dillon's Trav. p. 374. *» See Plin. IX., cap. 48. S8 LITTLE GUILLEMOT, 1 I I. : ^H Shi that food which in a state of nature, at large, they were abundantly supplied with." Genus XC. URIA. GUILLEMOT. , Species. URIA ALLE. ;...'. LITTLE GUILLEMOT.* /./ [Plata LXXIV. Kg. 6.] ^, , .;, Una alh, Temm. Man. d'Orn. p. 928. — Alca alle, Linn. Sijst. cd. 12, torn, i., p. 211, 5. — Gmel. i/st. I., p. 554, 5. — Ind. Orn. p. 795, 10. — Uiia tninor, Briss. vi., p. 73, 2.— '« Petit Guillemot fewelle, PL Enl. 917. — Small black and white Diver, Edwards, pi. 91. — Little Auk, Lath. Gen. Syn, in., p 327. — Penn. Arct. Zool. No. 429.— Bewick, ii., p. 158. Of the history of this little stranger, but few particulars are known. With us it is a very rare bird ; and, Avhen seen, it is generally in the vicinity of the sea. The specimen from which the figure in the plate •was taken, was killod at Great Egg Harbor, in the month of December, 1811, and was sent to Wilson as a great curiosity. It measured nine inches in length, and fourteen in extent ; the bill, upper part of the head, back, wings and tail, were black ; the upper part of the breast and hind-head, were gray, or white mixed with ash ; the sides of the neck, whole lower parts, and tips of secondaries, were pure white ; feet and legs black, shins pale flesh color ; above each eye there was a small spot of white ; the lower scapulars streaked slightly with the same. The little Guillemot is said to be but a rare visitant of the British Isles. It is met with in various parts of the north, even as far as Spitz- bergen ; is common in Greenland, in compai'.y with the black-billed Aux, and feeds upon the same kind of food. The Greenlanders call it the j[ce-bird, from the circumstance of its being the harbinger of ice. It lays two bluish white eggs, largor than those of the Pigeon. It flies quick, and dives well ; and is always dipping its bill into the water while swimming, or at rest on that element. Walks bt'tter on land than others of the genus. It grows fat in the stormy season, from t\w waves bringing plenty of crabs and small fish within its reach. It is not a very crafty bird, and may be easily taken. It varies to quite white ; and sometimes is '"ound with a reddish breast. f To the anatomist, the internal organization of this species is deserving attention : it is so constructed as to be capable of contracting or dila- ting itself at pleasure. We know not what Nature intends by this con- formation, unless it be to facilitate diving, for which the compressed • Named in the plate Litiio Auk. f Lutkiuu. Pennant. 11 GREAT NORTHERN DIVER. 29 form is well adapted ; and likewise the body when expanded will be rendered more buoyant, and fit for the purpose of swimming upon the surface of the water.* Genus XCI. COLYMBUS. DIVER. ;: : ^ Species. C. GLACIALIS. ' '' GREAT NORTHERN DIVER, or LOON. [Plate IXXIV. Kg. 8,] Colymhus glacialia, Linn. Si/sl. ed. 12, torn, i., p. 221, 5. C immer, Id. p. 222, No. 6. — Ind. Orn. p. 799, 1. C. immer, Id. p. 8(X), 2. — Le grand Plongeon, Briss. vi., p. 105, pi. 10, fig. 1. Le grand I'longeon tacheiS, Id. p. 120, pi. 11, fig. 2. — Le grand Plongeon, Buff. Oin. viii., p. 251. L'Imhrim, on grand Plongeon de la met du nord, Id. p. 258, fab. 22. PL Enl. 0^2.— Northern Diver, Lath. Gen. Syn.ui., p. 337. Imber Diver, Id. p. 340.— Penn. Brit. Zool. No. 237, 238. Arct. Zool. No. 439, 440. — Bewick, ii., p. 168, 170. — Montagu, Orn. Die. Sup. App, — Low, i'aMJtffl Orcadensis, p. 108, 110. — Plongeon Imbrim, Temm. .Van. d'Orn. p. 910. This bird in Pennsylvania is migratory. In the autumn it makes its appearance with the various feathered tribes that frequent our waters; and when the streams arc obstructed with ice, it departs for the Southern States. f In the months of March and April it is again seen; and after lingering awhile, it leaves us for the purpose of breeding. The Loons are found along the coast as well as in tlie interior ; but in the summer they retire to the fresh-water lakes and ponds. We have never heard that they breed in Pennsylvania ; but it is said they do in Missibisci Pond, near Boston, Massachusetts. The female lays two largo brownish eggs. They are commonly seen in pairs, and procure thcr foo.I89. *• llcftrnc's Journey, p. 429, quarto. lli. GREAT NORTHERN DIVER. into each other, and are ragged, the lower mandible separates into two branches, which arc united by a thin clastic membrane, and are easily movable horizontally or receding from each other, so as to form a wider gap to facilitate the swallowing of large fish ; tongue bifid ; irides dark blood red ; the head, and half of the length of the neck, are of a deep black, with a green gloss, and purple reflections ; this is succeeded by a band, consisting of interrupted white and black lateral stripes, which encompasses the neck, and tapers to a point on its fore part, without joining — this band measures about an inch and a half in its widest part, and to appearance is not continuous on the back part of the neck, being concealed by some thick, overhanging, black feathers, but on separating the latter the band becomes visible : the feathers which form these narrow stripes are white, streaked down their centre with black, and, what is a remarkable peculiarity, their webs project above the common surface ; below tliis a broad bind of dark glossy green and violet, which is blended beliind with the plumage of the back ; the lower part of the neck, and the sides of the breast, are ribbed in the same manner as the band above ; below the chin a few stripes of tlie same ; the wliole of the upper parts are of a deep black, slightly glossed with green, and thickly spotted with white, in regular transverse or semicircular rows, two spots on the end of each feather — those on tlie upper part of the back, shoulders, rump and tail coverts small and roundish, those on the centre of the back, square and larger, those on the scapulars are the largest, and of an oblong square shape ; the wing feathers and tail are plain brown black, the latter composed of twenty feathers ; the lower parts are ])ure white, a slight dusky line across the vent ; tlie scapulars descend over the wing, wlien closed, and the belly feathers ascend so as to meet them, by which means every part of the wing is concealed, except towards the tip ; the outside of the legs and feet is black, inside load color ; the log is four inches in length, and the foot measures, along the exterior toe to the tip of its claw, four inches and three-quarters ; both legs and feet are marked with five-sided polygons. Weight of the specimen described oiglit pounds and a half. The adult male and female are alike in plumage. Tlie young do not appear to obtain their perfect plumage until the second or third year. One which I saw, and wliich was conjectured to be a yearling, had its ujiper parts of a brown or mouse color; a few s])ots on the back ami scapulars ; but none of those markings on the nock, which tlistiiiiruish the full-jfrown male. Another had the whole upper parts of a pale brown ; the plumage of part of the back and scapulars tipped with pale ash ; the lower parts white, with a yellowish tinge ; no bands on the nock, nor spots on the bod3\ The conformation of the ribs and bones of this species is remarkable, and merits particular examination. 32 GREAT NORTHERN DIVER. r;i In the account which some of the European ornithologists give of their Northern Diver, we presume there is an inaccuracy. They say it measures three feet six inches in length, and four feet eight in breadth; and weighs sixteen pounds. If this be a correct statement, it would lead to the surmise that our Diver is a different species ; for of several specimens which we examiiicd, tho best and largest has been described for this work, the admeasurement of wliich bird comes considerably short of that of the European, mentioned above. Tho weight, as has been stated, was eight pounds and a half. On a re-examination of the Supplement to tho Ornithological Dic- tionary of Montagu, I find, upon this subject, the following remarks, which should seem to put the question at rest respecting the identity of the European and American species : " It should appear that the size of this species has been commonly exaggerated, or they must vary materially, since those which have come under our examination did not exceed ten pounds; and an old or matured male measured only two feet eight inches. A young female, before the plumage was perfected, weighed eight pounds six ounces, and measured two feet seven inches in length. " A Northern Diver taken alive, was kept in a pond for some monthn, which gave us an opportunity of attending to its manners. In a few daj's it became extremely docile, would come at tho call, from one side of the pond to the other, and would take food from the hand. Tho bird had received an injury in the head, which had deprived one eye of its sight, and the other was a little impaired, but notwithstanding, it could by incessantly diving, discover all the fish that was thrown into the pond. In defect of fish it would eat flesh. " It is observable that the legs of this l)ird are so constructed and situated, as to render it incapable of walking upon them. This is pro- bably the case with all the divers, as well as the Grebes. " When this bird quitted the water, it shoved its body along upon tho ground, like a seal, by jerks, rubbing the breast against the grountl ; and it returned again to the water in a similar manner. In swimming and (living,* only tlie legs are used, and not the wings, as in the Guil- lemot and Auk tribes; and by their situation so far behinr 'n piirHiiit of fi.sh, but I bnvo seen it in the act of (livirij; to nvoiJ (lunger, and took notice, thiit its win^H, wlien beneath tlio Burfuoe of the wiiter, did not lie close to tho body, but they were not ao much extended us when in the iict of flyinj;. Tliey had no visibl(j motion, lienco the pre- sumption in, that their only use xn to balance the body. t From .Mr. Ord's nupplcmentary volume. y» ■ .,''■' . -■-■)■ ',«■' 1 Gkwhs XCII. RHYNCHOPS. SKIMMER. Spbcibs. RHYNCHOPS NIGRA. BLACK SKIMMER, or SHEARWATER. [Plate LX. Fig. 4.] drct. Zool. No. 445. — Catesby, i., 90. — Le Bee en Ciseaux, Buff, viii., 454, tab. 36.* This truly singular fowl is the only species of its tribe hitherto dis- covered. Like many others, it is a bird of passage in the United States ; and makes its first appearance, on the shores of New Jersey, early in May. It resides there, as well as along the whole Atlantic coast, -luring the summer ; and retires early in September. Its favorite haunts are low sand-bars, raised above the reach of the summer tides ; and also dry flat sands on the beach, in front of the ocean. On such places it usually breeds along the shores of Cape May, in New Jersey. On account of the general coldness of the spring there, the Shearwater does not begin to lay until early in June, at which time these birds form themselves into small societies, fifteen or twenty pair frequently breeding within a few yards of each other. The nest is a mere hollow, formed in the sand, without any materials. The female lays three eggs, almost exactly oval, of a clear white, marked with large round spots of brownish black, and intermixed with others of pale Indian ink. These eggs measure one inch and three-quarters, by one inch and a quarter. Half a bushel and more of eggs has sometimes been collected from one sand bar, within the compass of half an acre. These eggs have something of a fishy taste ; but arc eaten by many people on the coast. The female sits on them only during the night, or in wet and stormy weather. The young remain for several weeks before they are able to ily ; arc fed with great assiduity by both parents ; and seem to delight in lying with loosened wings, flat on the sand, enjoying its iuvigor ting warmth. They breed l)Ut once in tiie season. The singular conformation of the bill of this bird has excited much surprise ; and some writers, measuring the divine proportions of nature by their own contracted standards of conception, in the plenitude of their vanity have pronounced it to be " an awkward and defective » PI. Enl. 357. Vol. hi.— 3 (33) I i n BLACK SKIMMER. ingtruincnt."* Such ignorant presumption, or rather impiety, ought to hide its liciul in the dust on a calm display of the peculiar construction of this singular bird, and the wisdom by which it is so admirably adapted to the purposes, or mode of existence, for which it was intended. The Shearwater is formed for skimming, while on wing, the surface of the Boa for its food, which consists of small fish, shrimps, young fry, &c., whoso usual haunts are near the shore, and towards the surface. That the lower mandible, when dipped into nd cleaving the water, might not retard the bird's way, it is thinned and sharpened like the blade of a knife ; the upper mandible being at such times elevated above water, is curtailed in its length, as being less necessary, but tapering gradually to a point, that, on shutting, it may offer less opposition. To prevent inconvenience from the rushing of the water, the mouth is confined to the mere opening of the gullet, which indeed prevents mastication taking place there ; but the stomach, or gizzard, to which this business is solely allotted, is of uncommon hardness, strength and muscularity, far sur- passing, in these respects, any other water bird with which I acquainted. To all these is added a vast expansion of wing, to enable tiie bird to eail with sufficient celerity while dipping in the water. The general proportion of the length of our swiftest JIawks and Swallows, to their breadth, is as one to two ; but in the present case, as there is not only the resistance of the air, but also that of the water, to overcome, a still greater volume of wing is given, the Shearwater measuring nineteen inches in length, and upwards of forty-four in extent. In short, who- ever has attentively examined tliis curious apparatus, and observed the possessor with his ample wings, long beixliiig neck, and lower mandible occasionally ilipped into, and ploughing, the surface, and the facility with which he procures his food, cannot but consider it a mere playful amusement, when compared with the dashing immersions of the Tern, the Gull, or the Fish-IIawk, who, to the superficial observer, appear so superiorly accommodated. The Shearwater is most frequently seen skimming close along shore, about the first of the ilood, at which time the young fry, shrimp, &c., are most abundant in such places. There are also numerous inlets, among the low islands between the sea beach and main land of Cape May, where I have obsi-rved the Shearwaters, eight or ten in company, passing and repassing at high-water particular estuaries of those creeks that run up into the salt marshes, di])ping, with extended neck, their open bills into the water, with as much apparent ease as Swallows glean up flies from the surface. On examining the stomachs of several of these, shot at the time, tliey contained numbers of a small fish, usually called gilver-sidca, from a broad line of a glossy silver color that runs • Vido Biiflbn. BLACK SKIMMER. 86 from the gills to the tail. The mouths of these inlets abound with this fry, or fish, probably feeding on the various matters washed down from the marshes. The voice of the Shearwater is harsh and screaming, resembling that of the Tern, but stronger. It flies with a slowly flapping flight, dipping occasionally, with steady expanded wings, and bended neck, its lower mandible into the sea, and with open mouth receiving its food as it ploughs along the surface. It is rarely seen swimming on the water ; but frequently rests in large parties on the sand-bars at low water. One of these birds which I wounded in the wing, and kept in the room b ">ide me for several days, soon became tame and even familiar. It generally stood with its legs erect, its body horizontal, and its neck rather ex- tended. It frequently reposed on its belly, and stretching its neck, rested its long bill on the floor. It spent most of its time in this way, or in dressing and arranging its plumage, with its long scissors-like bill, which it seemed to perform with great ease and dexterity. It refused every kind of food off'ered it, and I am persuaded never feeds but when on the wing. As to the reports of its frequenting oyster beds, and feeding on these fish, they are contradicted by all those persons with whom I have conversed, whose long residence on the coast, where those birds are common, has given them the best opportunities of knowing. The Shearwater is nineteen inches in length, from the point of the bill to the extremity of the tail, the tips of the wings, when shut, extend full four inches farther ; breadth three feet eight inches ; length of the lower mandible four inches and a half, of the upper three inches and a half, both of a scarlet red, tinged with orange, and ending with black ; the lower extremely thin, the upper grooved so as to receive the edge of the lower ; the nostril is large and pervious, placed in a hollow near the base and edge of the upp(>r mandible, where it projects greatly over the lower ; upper part of the hea twenty-fifth of May, before they had begun to breed. The female con- taitK'd a great number of eggs, the large.st of which were about the size of duck-shot ; the stomach, in both, was an obh)ng pouch, ending in a remarkably hard gizzard, curiously puckered or plaited, containing the half dissolved fragments of the small silver-sides, pieces of shrimps,, small crabs, and skippers, or sand floas. On some particular parts of the coast of Virginia, these birds are seen, on low sand-bars, in flocks of several hundreds together. There more than twenty nests have been found within the space of a square rod. The young are at first so exactly of a color with the sand oh whicli they sit, as to be with diificulty discovered, unless after a close search. The Shearwater leaves our shores soon after his young are fit for the journey. lie is found on various coasts of Asia, as well as America, residing principally near the tropics ; and migrating into the temperate regions of the globe only for the purpose of rearing his young. He is rarely or never seen far out at sea; and must not be mistaken for another bird of the same name, a species of Petrel,* which is met ivith on every part of the ocean, skimming wiih bended wings along the sum- mits, declivities, and hollows of the waves. ' I "i ; I « t ♦ I Genus XCIII. STERNA. TERN. Speciks I. STERNA HIRUNDO. GREAT TERN. [Plate LX. Fig. 1.] Ard. Zool. p. 524. — No. 448. — Le jiierre tjarin, on ){ ^ Sficiks IV. STERNA PLUMREA* SHORT-TAILED TERN. [Plato LX. Fig. 3.] A SPECIMEN of this bird was first sent mo by Mr. Beasley of Capo May ; but being in an imperfect state, I could form no correct notion of the species ; sometimes supposing it might be a young bird of the prece(1"ng Tern. Since that time, howevei*, I have had an opportunity of procuring a con.«iderable number of this same kind, corresponding ahnost exactly with each other. I have ventured to introduce it in this place as a new species ; and have taken pains to render the figure in the plate a correct likeness of the original. On the sixth of September, 1812, after a violent north-east storm, which inundated the meadows of Schuylkill in many places, numerous flocks of this Tern all at once made their appearance. Hying over those watery spaces, picking up grasshoppers, beetles, spiders, and other insects, tiiat were floating on the surface. Some hundreds of them might be seen at the same time, and all seemingly of one sort. They were busy, silent and unsuspicious, darting down after their prey with- out hesitation, though perpetually harassed by gunners, whom the novelty of their appearance had drawn to le place. Several flocks of the YelJo. -shanks Snipe, and a few I'urres, appeared also in the meadows at the same time, driven thither, doubtless, by the violence of the storm. I examined upwards of thirty individuals of this species, by dissec- tion, and found both sexes alike in color. Their stomachs contained grasshoppers, crickets, spiders, &c., but no fish. The people on the seacoast have since informed me, that this bird comes to them only in the fall, or towards the end of summer; and is more frequently seen about the mill-ponds, and fresh-vater marshes, than in the bays ; and add, that it feeds on grasshoppers, and other insects, which it finds on the meadows and marshes, picking them fnmi the grass, as well as from the surface of the water. They have never known it to a>>sociate with the Lesser Tern, and consider it altogctaer a difTerent bird. This opinion seems confirmed by the above circumstances, and by the fact * Prince Musignano asserts that tliix is tlio young of the Slenia nigra, a bird inliuliitinj; Kiiro|)o ns woll ^\» ttiJH (-ountry, nnd of wliicli nitmy noniiniil Bpcciua have beuu uiuJu. In tliia ojiinion ho \t> probulily correct. (42) SOOTY TERN. u of its greater extent of wing, being full three inches wider than the Lessor Tern ; and also making its appearance after the others have gone oflF. The Short-tailed Tern measures eight inches and a half, from the point of the bill to the tip of the tail, and twenty-three inches in extent ; the bill is an inch and a quarter in length, sharp pointed, and of a deep black color ; a patch of black covers the crown, auriculars, spot before the eye, and hind-he; 1 ; the forehead, eyelids, sides of the neck, passing quite round below the hind-head, and whole lower parts, are pure white ; the back is dark ash, each feather broadly tipped with brown ; the winga a dark lead color, extending an inch and a half beyond the tail, which is also of the same tint, and slightly forked ; shoulders of the wing brownish ash ; legs and webbed feet tawny. It had a sharp shrill cry when wounded and taken. This is probably the Brown Tern mentioned by Willoughby, of which 80 many imperfect accounts have already been given. The figure in the plate, like those which accompany it, is reduced to one-half the size of life. . Spbcies V. STERNA FULIGINOSA. SOOTx TERN. [Plate LXXII. Fig. 7.] Le Ilirondelh de Ma- d ijrandc envenjuer, Uukf. vm., p. 345. — Eijg-bird, Forst. Voy. p. \l'i.— Noddy, LSmp. Foy. iii., p. 142,— Aral, Zuol. No. 447.— Latu. Syn. in., p. 352.* This bird has been long known to navigators, as its appearance at sea usually indicates the vicinity of land ; instances, however, have occurred in which they have beon mot Avith one hundred eagucs from shore. f The species is widely dispersed over the various: shores of the ocean. They were seen by Danipier in New Holland ; are in prodigious numbers in the Island of Ascension ; and in Christmas Island are said to lay, in December, one egg on the ground, the egg is yellowish, with brown and violet spots. J In passing along the northern shores of Cuba and the coast of P^lorida and Georgia, in the month of July, I observed this species very numerous and noisy, dashing down headlcig after small fish. I shot and dissected several, and found their stomachs uniformly filled • Sterna fnliyinoaa, QutL. Sysl. I., p. COS. — Ind, Orn. p. 804, No. 4. Gen. Syn. Ml, p. .T5-i, No,"4. t Cook, Voy. I., p. -75. J Turton. 44 LAUGHING GULL. with fish. I could perceive little or no difference between the colors of the male and female. Length of the Sooty Tern seventeen inches, extent three feet six inches ; bill an inch and a half long, sharp pointed and rounded above, the upper mandible serrated slightly near the point ; nostril an oblong slit, color of the bill glossy black ; irides dusky ; forehead as fur as the eyes white ; whole lower parts and sides of the neck pure white ; rest of the plumage black ; wings very long and pointed, extending, when shut, nearly to the extremity of the tail, which is greatly forked, and consists of twelve feathers, the two exterior ones four inches longer than those of the middle, the whole of a deep black, except the two outer feathers, which are white, but towards the extremities a little blackish on the inner vanes; hgs and webbed feet black, hind toe short. The secondary wing feathers are eight inches shorter than the longest primary. This bird frequently settles on the rigging of ships at sea, and, i common with another species, S. Stolida, is called by sailors the Noduj, GENUS XCIV. LAllUS. GULL. Species. L, AriiWlLLA. LAUGHING GULL. [Flat« LXXIV. Fig. 4] Larus atricilla, Linv. SyM. rd. 10, torn, i., p. l.'iC, 5.— Omel. ^ijst. I., p. 000,8.— Ind. (hn. p. 813, 4. — iMUijhiiuj dull, Catesby, i., pi. KD. — Lath. den. Syn. ill,, p. 38.H, ]2.—Arct. Zool. No. 454.— /.« Mouetie rieiise, Bhiss, vi., p. 192, 13, pi. 18, fig. 1. — Mouette d capuchon pliitnb^, Tkum. Man. d'Otn. p. 770. Length seventeen incho.i, extent throe fi ct .xix inchf.>^ ; bill, thighs, legs, feet, sides of the mouth and eyi'lid.'*, dark biood reil ; in.>*ide of the mouth vermilion ; bill nearly two inches and a half long ; the nostril is placed rather low ; the eyes are black ; above and below (>ach eye there is a spot of white; the head and pnrt of the neck are black, remainder of the neck, brea.st, whole lower parts, tail-coverts and tail, pure wMie ; the scapulars, wing-coverts, and whole upper parts, are of a fine blue Bsh color ; the first five primaries are black towards their extremities; the secondaries are tipped largely with white, and alino.»4. X Tills nume »wmH to liavo bcon ori^iniilly frivon tlicin liy Cuptnin Cartorct's Hiiilorg, who mot witli tlicso birds on the const of Chili. See llawkesworth's Voy- ages, vol. I., p. 2K3. (47) 48 STORMY PETREL. examine into the reality of these things ; to dissipate the clouds of error and superstition Avhcrovcr they begin to darken and bewilder the human understanding ; and to illustrate Nature with the radiance of truth. With these objecta in view, we shall now proceed, as far as the few facts wc possess will permit, in our examination into the history of this celebrated species. The Stormy Petrel, the least of the whole twenty-four species of its tribe enumerated by ornithologists, and the smallest of all palmated fowls, is found over the whole Atlantic Ocean, from Europe to North America, at all distances from land, and in all weathers ; but is par- ticularly numerous near vessels immetliately preceding and during a gale, when flocks of them crowd in her wake, seeming then more than usually active in picking up various matters from the surface of the water This presentiment of a change of weather is not peculiar to the Petrel alone ; but is noted in many others, and common to all, even to those long domesticated. The Woodpeckers, the Snow-birds, the Swal- lows, are all observed to be uncommonly busy before a storm, searching for food with great eagerness, as if anxious to provide for the privations of tlio coming tempest. The common Ducks and the Geese are infallibly noisy and tumultuous before falling weather; and though, with these, the attention of man renders any extra exertions for food at such times unnecessary, yet they wash, oil, dress and arrange their plumage with uncommon diligence and activity. The intelligent and observing farmer remarks this bustle, and wisely prepares for the issue ; but he is not so ridiculously absunl as to suppose, that the storm which follows is pro- duced by the agency of these feeble creatures, who are themselves equal sufferers by its effects with man. He looks on them rather as useful moni- tors, who from the delicacy of their organs, and a perception suj)crior to his own, point out the change in the atmosphere before it has become sensible to his grosser feelings; and in the Journal of the Academy of Natural Seiences of IMiila- delpliia, wo shall take the liberty of making an extract. The author of tho paper in question first describes and figures tho true Pelaijica of the systems ; secondly, the Lcachii, a species described by Tiniminck, and restricted to the vicinity of the Island of St. Kiida, but which tho former found diffused over a great part of the Atlantic, east of tho Banks of Newfoundland ; and thirdly, the species of our coasts. IIo also indicates a fourth, which inhabits the Pacific Ocean ; but whether or not this last bo in reality a species different from those named, has not yet been determined.* "When I first procured this species," says Mr. Bonaparte, "I con- flidored it a nond(>script, and noted it as such ; the citation of Wilson's pelii/ira, among the synonymes of the true pelai/iaa, by the most emi- nent oriiithoh)gist of the age, M. Temminck, not permitting a doubt of their identity. But having an opportunity of inspecting the very indi- vidual from whicli Wilson took his figure, and drew up his description, I was undeceived, by j)roving the unity of my Bi)ecimens with that of Wilson, and the discrepancy of these with that of Temminck. Tho latter had certaiidy never seen an individual from America, otherwise the difference between the two species would not have eiudeil tiie accu- rate eye of this naturalist. I propose for tiiis species the name of Wil- tonii, as a small testimony of respect to tho memory of the author of the American Ornithology, whoso loss science and America will long deplore. The y»'llow spot upon the membrane of the feet distinguishes this sjiecies, at first sight, from the others ; and this character remains permanent in the drien;;th of tho laisun nourly one inch and thri'o-tiuartiTS (oij;htcon French lines). We cxtrai't from IiIh papiir, in the Zooloj^icul Journal, the followin;; oliHcrvations: " In eoin|parin); this HpoeieM (I'.ocmniid) to the three otIierN ( /'. ii"* V!i '">,s ' ' -3 64 GOOSANDER. ;• . ! " f r :! n I .vs 801110 assorting that thoy build on trees ; others that they iiuike their iiests among tlio rocks. The male of this Hpeeios is twenty-six inches in length, and three foot three inches in extent, the hill three inches long, and nearly one inch thick at tile liase, serrated on hoth iniinilililcs ; tlie ii|i|ier overhanging at the tip, where each is furnished witli a large nail ; the ridge of the bill is black, the sides crimson red ; irides red ; head crested, tumid, and of a black color glossed with green, wiiicli extends iiearly'lialf way down the neck, the rest of which, witii the breast and belly, are white tinged with a delicate yellowish cream ; back and adjoining scapulars black; primaries and shoulder of the wing brownish black; exterior part of the scapulars, lesser coverts, and tcrtials white ; secondaries neatly edged with black, greater coverts white, their iipjier halves black, forming a bar on the wing, rest of the upper parts and tail brownish a,«ih ; legs and feet the color of red sealing-wax ; flanks marked with fine semicircular dotted lines of deep brown ; the tail extends about three inches beyond the wings. This ilescription was taken from a full plumagcd male. The young males, which arc generally much more numerous than the old ones, so exactly resemble the females in their plumage for at least the first, and part of the second year, us scarcely to be distinguished from them ; and what is somewhat singular, the crests of these and )f the femitles arc actually longer tlian those of the full grown male, though tliiniu towards its extremities. These eircumsta'ices have induced souie la Ornithologists to consider them as two diflerent species, the young, or female, having been called the Dun Dhur. Wy this arrangement they have i'litirely dt^prived the (Goosander of his female ; for in the whole of my examinations and dissections of the present species, I have never yet found the female in his dress. What I consider as unihiubtedly the true female of this species is figured beside him. They were both shot in the month of April, in the same creek, uiiaeeoiiipanieil by any other, and on examination the sexual parts of each were strongly and promi- nently marked. The windpipe of the female had nothing remarkable in it ; that of the male had two very large exjiansioiis, which have been briefly descril)eil by Willoughby, who says : " It bath a large bony labyrinth on the wiiidpi|»e, just above the divarications ; and the wind- pij)e hath besides two swellings out, one above another, each resembling a powder puff." These labyrinths are the distinguishing characters of the males ; and are always found ev»!ii in young males who have not yet thrown off the plumage of the female, as well as in the old ones. If we admit these Dun iJivers to be a distinct species, we can find no diiler- ence between their pretended females and those of the Goosander, only one kind of female of this sort being known, and this is contrary to the usual analogy of the other three species, viz., the Ited-hreaiitfd Mer- [fis of lot yet ^. If ilinVr- •, only Id tho / Mer- a 0 0 S A N D E II. M gansor, the Hooded ami the Smew, all of whoso females are well known, and hear the sauie comparative reseuihlaiiee in color to their reMpeetive males, the lenj;th of crest excepted, a8 tho female (Joosaiider we have figured bears to him. llavirif^ thoii;^ht thus much necessary on this disputed j)oiiit, I leave oacli to form \i\a own opinion on tho facts and reasoning produced, and proceed to describe tho fomalo. MERGUS. MERGANSER. GOOSANDER. [Plate tXVIII. Fig. 2, Female] Dun Diver, liATii. Sijn. in., p. 420. — Arrt. /nol. No. 4().'"). — Bewick's lirit. ftirdt, n., p. 2.'J. — TuRT. Hyat. p. 335. — L' Harte Jhndle, Uriss. vi., p. 230.— Uuff. yiii., p. 272 —P/. Enl. 9j3.» This generally measures an inch or two shorter than the male; tho length of the present specimen was t went -five inches, e.xtent thirty-five inches ; bill crimson on the sides, black above ; irides reddish ; ere.sted head and part of the neck dark brown, lightest on the sides of the neck, where it inclines to a sorrel color ; chin and throat white ; the crest shoots out in long radiating flexible stripes; upper part of the body, tail, and Hanks an ashy slate, tinged with brown ; primaries black ; middle secondaries white, foriniiii; ;i larj^e speculum on the wing ; greater coverts black, tipped for half an inch with white ; sides of tho brea.st, from the sorrel colored part of the neck downwards, very pale a.sh, with broad semicircular touches of white; belly and lower part of the breast a fine yellowish cream color, a distinguishing trait also in the male; legs and feet orange red. * Merijiis C(islor,GuKh. Syst. i., p. 545, et var. — Latu. Ind. Orn. p. 829, No. 2.— Dun Diver, Montagu, Orn. Diet. Sup. ^ H „ ) / ■ ' . V. 1 til \i ij>i m\ 'a-; It ll f ' M 1 1 Spechs II. MERQU3 SERRATOR. RED-BREASTED MERGANSER. [Flat-^ LXIX. fig. <: ] L'Uarle hitppfe, Briss. vi., p. 237, 2, pi. 23.— Bust, v.u., p. 273.-PZ. EmZ. 207.— Bewick, ii., p. 23.5, Ed>v. pi. 95. — Lat:;. Sijn. in., p. 432. This is mucli more common in our frcsli waters than either of the preceding, and is frequently brouglit to the Philadelphia market from the shores of the T'elawaro. It is an inhabitant of both continents. In the United States it is generally migratory ; though a few are occa- sionally seen in autumn, but none of their nests have as yet come under my notice. They also frecjuent the seashore, kevping within the bays and est)iarios of rivers. They swim low in the water, and when wounded in the wi.ig, very dexterously contrive to eJude the sport.sman or his dog, by diving and coming up at a great distance, raising the bill only, above water, and dipping down again with the greatest silence. The young males of a year old are ofte found in the plumage of the female ; their food consists of small fry, and various kinds of shell fish. The Ked-Brciisted Merganser is said by Pennant to breed on Loch Mari in the county of Ross, in North Britain ; and also in the I.sle of Hay. Latham informs us that it inhabits most parts of the north of Europe on the continent, and as high as Iceland ; also in the Russian dominions about the great rivers of Siberia, and the Lake Baikal. Is said to be frequent in Greenland, where it breeds on the shores. The iidiabitants often take it by darts thrown at it, espcially in August, being then in moult. At Hudson's Bay, according to llutihins, they come in pairs about the beginning of June, as soon as the ice breaks up, and build soon after their arrival, chiefly on dry spots of ground in the islands ; lay from eiglit to thirteen white eggs, the size of th(i(*( '>f a duck ; tlie nest is made of withered gra.xs, and lined with the down of the breast Tht young arc of a dirty brown like young gosliiis. In Octo- ber they all depart southward to the lakes, where they may have open water. This species is twenty-two inches in length, and thirty-two in extent; the bill is two inches and three-quarters in length, of tin- color of bright Bealing-wax, ridged above with dusky ; the nail at the tip large, blackish, (.00) RED-BREASTED MERGANSER. 67 and overhanging; both mandibles are thickly serrated; irides red; head furnished with a long hairy crest which is often pendent, but occa- sionally erected, as represented in th? plate ; this and part of the neck is black glossed with green ; the neck under this for two or three inches is pure white ; enuing in a broad space > f reddish ochre spotted with black, which spreads over the lower part of the neck and sides of the breast ; shoulders, back, and tcrtials deep velvety black, the first marked with a number of singular roundish spots of white ; scapulars white ; wing coverts mostly white, crossed by two narrow bands of black ; primaries black, secondaries white, several of the latter edged with black ; lower part of the back, the rump and tail coverts gray speckled with black ; sides under the wings elegant'^ crossed with numerous waving lines of black ; belly and vent whit'. ; legs and feet red ; the tail dusky ash ; the black of the back pa&ocs up the hind neck in a narrow band to the head. The female is twenty-one inches in length, and thirty in extent ; the crested head and part of the neck are of a dull sorrel color ; irides yellow ; legs and bill red, upper parts dusky slate ; wings black, greater coverts largely tipped with white, secondaries nearly all white ; sided of the breast slightly dusky; whole lower ports pure white; the tail is of a lighter slate than the back. The crest is much shorter than in the ma)e, and sometimes there is a slight tinge of ferruginous on the breast. The windpipe of the male of this species is very curious, and differs something from that of the Goosander. About two inches from the mouth it swells out to four times its common diameter, continuing of that size for about an inch and a half. This swelling is capable of being shortened or extended; it then continues of its first diameter for two inches or more, when it becomes fiiittish, and almost transparent for other two inches ; it then swells into a bony labyrinth of more than two inches in length by one and a half in width, over the hollow sides of which is spread a yellowish .«kin like parclinient. Tiie left side of this, fronting the back of the bird, is a hard bone. The divarications come out very regularly from this at the lower end, and enter the lungs. The intention of Nature in this cxtrai dinary structure is probably to enable tiio bird to take down a su]i[,ly of air to support respiration while diving ; yet why should the female, who takes the same submarine excursions as the male, be entirely destitute of this apparatus ? V. Specibs III. MERGUS ALBELLUS. THE SMEW, OR WHITE NUN. . [Plate LXXI. Fig. 4.] Le petit Ilarle huppt, ou la Pielte, Briss. vi., p. 243, 3, pi. '4, fig. 1. — Buff, viii., p. 275, pi. 24. — I'l. Eul. 449, iiialo 4^)0, female— Bewick, i., p. 238. — Lath. Syn. III., p. 4-2S.—A)ct. Zool. No. 408. This is another of tlio.se Mergansers commonly known in this country by the apjicllution of Fi.shormen, Fisher Lucks, or Divers. The present species is much more common on the coasts of New England than farther to the south. On the shores of New Jersey it is very seldom met with. It is an admirable diver, and can continue for a long time under water. Its food is small fry, shell fish, shrimps, &c. In England, as with us, the Smew is seen only during winter ; it is also found in France, in Bome parts of which it is called la Piette, as in parts of England it is named the Magpie Diver. Its breeding place is doubtless in the Arctic regions, as it frequents Iceland ; and has been observed to migrate with other Mergansers and several kinds of Ducks up the river Wolga in February.* Iho Smew, or White Nun, is nineteen inches in length, and two feet three inches in extent; bill black, formed very much like that of the Red-breasted M., but not so strongly toothed ; irides dark ; head crested ; crown white, hind head black, round the area of the eye a large oval space of black ; whole neck, breast, and belly white, marked on the upper and lower part of the breast with a curving line of black ; back black ; scapulars white, cro.ssed with several faint dusky bars ; shoulder of the wing and primaries black, secondaries and greater coverts black broadly tipped with white ; across the le.xser coverts a large band of white; sides and Hanks crossed with waving lines; tail dark ash ; legs and feet pale bluish slate. The female is considerably less than the male ; the bill a dark lead color ; crest of the same peculiar form as that ;)f the male, but less, and of a reddish brown ; marked round the area of tlie eyes with dusky ; cheeks, fore part of the neck, and belly white ; round the middle of the neck a collar of pale brown ; breast and shoulders dull brown and * Deo. Ku88. II., p. 145. (58) HOODED MERGANSER. 59 whitish intermixed ; wings and back marked like those of the male ; but of a deep brownish ash in those parts which in him are black ; legs and feet pale blue. The young birds, as in the other three species, strongly resemble the female during the first and part of the second year. As these changes of color, from the garb of the female !'> that of the male, take place in the remote regions of the north, we have not the opportunity of detecting them in their gradual progress to full plumage. Hence, as both males and females have been found in the same dress, some writers have considered them as a separate species from the Smew, and have given to them the title of the Red-headed Smew. In tlio ponds of New England, and some of the lakes in the state of New York, where the Smew is frequently observed, these red-headed kind are often found in company, and more numerous than the other, for very obvious reasons, and bear, in the markings, though not in the colors, of their plumage, evident proof of their being the same species, but younger birds or females. The male, like tho Muscovy Drake and many others, when arrived at his full size is nearly one-third heavier than the female, and this disproportion of weight, and difference of color, in the full grown males and females are characteristic of the whole genus. Speciks IV. MERGUS CVrULLATUS. HOODED ^'EHOANSER. [Fla.e LXiA Fig l] L' Hark hnppi . This species on the seacoast is usually called the Hairy head. Tl"y are more common, however, along our lakes and fresh-water rivers than near the sea; tracing up creeks, and visiting mill jjoml.-*. 'living perpo- tiuilly for their food. In the creeks and rivers of the Soulliorn States they are very frequently seen during the winter. Like the Red- breasted they are migratory, the manners, food, and places of resort of both being very niueli alike. The Hooded Merganser is eighteen inches in length, and two feet in extent; bill blaeki.-h reil, narrow, thickly tootheil, and furnished with a projecting invil at the extremity ; the head is ornamented with a large circular crest, which the bird has the faculty of raising or depressing at pleasure ; the fore part of this, as far as the eye, is blaek, thence to eo HOODED MERGANSER. the hind head white and elegantly tipped with black ; it is composed of two separate rows of feathers, radiating from each side of the head, and which may be easily divided by the hand ; irides golden ; eye very small ; neck black, which spreads to and over the back ; part of the lesser wing coverts very pale ash, under which the greater coverts and Bccondaries form four alternate bars of black and white, tertials long, black, and streaked down the middle with white ; the black on the back curves handsomely round in two points on the breast, which with the whole lower parts, are pure white; sides under the wings and flanks reddish brown, beautifully crossed with parallel lines of black ; tail pointed, consisting of twenty feathers of a sooty brown ; legs and feet flesh coloru'l ; claws large and stout. The windpipe luis a small labyrinth. The female is rather less, the crest smaller and of a light rust or dull ferruginous color, entirely destitute of the white; the upper half of the neck a dull drab, with semicircles of lighter, the white on the wings is the same as in the male ; but the tertials are shorter and have less white ; the back is blackish brown ; the rest of the plumage corresponds very nearly with the male. This species is peculiar to America ; is said to arrive at Hudson's Bay about the end of May ; buiu's close to tlie lakes; the nest is com- posed of grass lined with feathers from the breast; is siid ♦" lav six white eggs. The young are yellow, and fit to fly in July.* * UutcliiDB, as quoted by Luthuiu. Genus XCVII. ANAS. DUCK Species I. AN^AS CANADENSIS. CANADA GOOSE. [Plate LXVII. Fig. 4] L'Oye sauvage de Canada, Briss. vi., p. 272, 4, pi. 26.— 7,'Oic d. cravale. Buff, ix., p. 82. — Kdw. pi. 151. — Ard. Zool. No. 471. — Catesby, i., pi, 92. — Latu. Syn, III., p. 450.» .^ . This is the common Wild Goofic of the United States, universally known over the whole country ; whose regular periodical migrations are the sure signals of returning spring, or approaching winter. The tracts of their vast migratory journeys arc not confined to the seacoast or its vicinity. In their aerial voyages to and from the north, these winged pilgrims j)ass over the interior on both sides of the mountains, as far west, at least, as the Osage river, and I have never yet visited any quarter of the country where the inhabitants are not familiarly ac- quainted with the regular passing and repassing of the Wild Geese. The general opiniim here is that they are on their way to the lakes to breed ; but the inhabitants on the confines of the groat lakes that sepa- rate us from Canada, are equally ignorant with ourselves of the parti- cular breeding places of those birds. There their journey north is but commencing, ami how far it extends it is impossible for us at present to ascertain, from our little acquaintance with these frozen regions. They were seen by Ilearne in largo flocks within the arctic circle, and were then pursuing their way still further north. Captain Pliipps speaks of seeing Wild Geese feeding at the water's edge, on the dreary coast of Spit7.1)ergen, in lat. S0° 27'. It is highly probable that they extend their migrations under the very pole itself, amid the silent desolation of unknown countries, shut out ever tinee creation from the prying eye of man by everlasting and insuperable barriers of ice. That such places abound with their suitable food we cannot for a moment doubt; while the absence of their great destroyer man, and the splendors of a perpe- tual day, ntay render such regions the most suitable for their purpose. Having fulfilled the great law of nature, the approaching rigors of • Anas Canadensis, Gmel. Syst. i., p. 514.— P/. Enl. 346.— /nd. Orn., p. 838, No. 17. (61) m CANADA GOOSE. iUT^-i^H ;fr . V 'i tliat dreary climate oblige these vast congregated flocks to steer for the more genial regions of the south. And no sooner do they arrive at those countries of the earth inhabited by man, than carnage and slaughter is commenced on their ranks. The English at Hudson's Bay, says Pennant, depend greatly on Geese, and in favorable years kill three or four thousand, and barrel them up for use. They send out their servants as well as Indians to shoot these birds on their passage. It is in vain to pursue them ; they therefore fo'-m a row of huts, made of boughs, at musket-shot distance from each other, and place them in a line across the vast marshes of the country. Each stand, or hovel, as they are called, is occupied by only a single person. These attend the flight of the birds, and on their aj)proach mimic their cackle so well, that the Geeso will answer and wheel and come nearer the stand. The sportsman keeps motionless, and on his knees with his gun cocked the whole time, and never fires till he has seen the eyes of the Geese. lie fires as they are going from him, then picks up another gun that lies by him and discharges that. The Geese which he has killed he sets upon sticks, as if alive, to decoy others ; he also makes artificial birds for the same purpose. In a good day, for they fly in very uncertain and une- qual numbers, a single Indian will kill two iiundred. Notwitlistundiiig every species of Goose has a different call, yet the Indians are admira- ble in their imitations of every one. The autumnal flight lasts from the middle of August to the middle of October ; those which are taken in this seasoii, when the frosts begin, are j)reserve ; in both cases the van is led by an old gander, who every now and then pipes his well known honk, as if to ask how they come on, and the honk of " all's well " is generally returned by some of the party. Their course is in a straight lino, with the exception of the undulations of their flight. When bewildered in foggy weather, they appear sometimes to be in great distress, flying about in an irregular manner, and for a considerable time over the same quarter, making a great clamor. On these occasions should they approach the earth, and aliglit, which they sometimes do, to rest and re-collect themselves, the only hospitality they meet with is death and destruction from a whole neighborhood already in arms for their ruin. Wounded Geese have, in numerous instances, been completely domes- ticated, and readily pair with the tame Gray Geese. The offspring are said to be larger than either ; but the characteristic marks of the Wild Goose still predominate. The gunners on the seashore have long been in the practice of tamijig the wounded of both sexes, and have some- times succeeiled in getting them to pair and produce. The female always seeks out the most solitary place for her nest, not far from the water. On tlie ai)proach of every spring, however, these birds di^.cover svniptonis of great uneasiness, fre(iuently looking up into the air, and attempting to go off. Some whose wings have been closely cut. luive travelled on foot in a northern direction, and have been fouiul at tho distance of several miles from liome. Tlicy hail every flock that ]i;is,.ies overhead, and the salute is sure to be returned by tlie voyagers, wiio ii only prevented from alighting among them by the presence and iiahita- tions of man. The gunners take one or two of tliese domesticated Geese with them to those parts of the marshes over whicli the wild ones -■■m 04 CANADA GOOSE. s. are accustomcJ to fly ; and concealing themselves within gun-ahot, wait for a flight, which is no sooner perceived by the decoy Geese, than they begin calling aloud, until the whole flock approaches so near as to give them an opportunity of discharging two and sometimes three loaded muskets among it, by which great havoc is made. The Wild Goose, when in good order, weighs from ten to twelve, and sometimes fourteen pounds. They are sold in the Philadelphia markets at from seventy-five cents to one dollar each ; and are estimated lo yield half a pound of feathers a piece, which produces twenty-five or thirty cents more. The Canada Goose is now domesticated in numerous quarters of the country, and is remarked for being extremely watchful, and more sensi- ble of approaching changes in the atmosphere than the common Gray Goose. In England, France, and Germany, they have also been long ago domesticated. Buffbn, in his account of this bird, observes, " within these few years many hundreds inhabited the great canal at Versailles, where they breed familiarly with the Swans ; they were oftener on the grassy margins than in the water;" and adds, " there is at present a great number of them on the magnificent pools that decorate the charming gardens of Chantilly." Thus has America already added to the stock of domestic fowls two species, the Turkey and the Canada Goose, superior to most in size, and inferior to none in usefulness ; for it is acknowledgcun;■ 72 THE BRANT. visited the coast of Picardy in France, in prodigious multitudes, and committed great depredations on the corn, tearing it up by the roots, trampling and devouring it ; and notwithstanding the exertions of the inhabitants, who were constantly employed in destroying them, they continued in great force until a change of weather carried them off. The Brant generally weighs about four pounds avoirdupois, and measures two feet in length, and three feet six inches in extent ; the bill is about an inch and a half long, and black ; the nostril large, placed nearly in its middle ; head, neck, and breast black, the neck marked with a spot of white, about two inches below the eye ; belly pale ash edged with white ; from the thighs backwards white ; back and wing coverts dusky brownish black, the plumage lightest at the tips ; rump and middle of the tail coverts black, the rest of the tail coverts pure white, reaching nearly to the tip of the tail, the whole of which is black, but usually concealed by the white coverts ; primaries and secon- daries deep black ; legs also black ; irides dark hazel. The only material difference observable between the plumage of the male and female, is, that in the latter the white spot on the neck is less, and more mottled with dusky. In young birds it is sometimes wanting, or occurs on the front, cheeks, and chiji ; and sometimes the upper part of the neck, only, is black,* but in full plumaged birds, of both sexes, the markings are very much alike. The Brant is often seen in our markets for ..Je. Its flesh, though esteemed by many, tastes somewhat sedgy, or fishy. *• The figure of this bird given by Bewick, is in that state. tPf Spicies IV. ANAS CLYPEATA. SHOVELLER. [Plate LXVII. Fig. 7.] T^ Souehet, Briss. vi., p. 329. 6, pi. 32, fig. 1.— Borr. ix., 191.— Pi. Enl. 971 — Arct. Zool. No. 48.5 — Catesb. i., pi. 96, female— Lath. Syn. in., p. 509.* If we accept the singularly formed and disproportionate size of the bill, there arc few Ducks more beautiful, or more elegantly marked than this. The excellence of its flesh, which is uniformly juicy, tender, and well tasted, is another recommendation to which it is equally enti- tled. It occasionally visits the seacoast ; but is more commonly found on our lakes and rivers, particularly along their muddy shores, where it spends great part of its time in searching for small worms, and the larvae of insccLs, sifting the watery mud through the long and finely set teeth of its curious bill, which is admirably constructed for the purpose ; being large, to receive a considerable quantity of matter, each mandible bordered with close-set, pectinated rows, exactly resembling those of a weaver's reed, which fitting into each other form a kind of sieve, capa- ble of retaining very minute worms, seeds, or insects, which constitute the principal food of the bird. The Shoveller visits us only in the winder, and is not known to breed in any part of the United States. It is a common bird of Europe, and, according to M. liaillon, tho correspondent of Buffon, breeds yearly in the marshes in France. The female is said to make her nest on the ground, with withered grass, in the midst of the largest tufts of rushes or coarse herbage, in the most inaccessible part of the slaky marsh, and lays teu or twelve pale rust-colored eggs ; the young, as soon a,s hatched, are conducted to the water by the parent birds. They arc said to be at first very shapeless and ugly, for the bill is then as broad as the body, and seems too great a weight for the little bird to carry. Their plumage does not acquire its full colors until after the second moult. * We add the Ibllowin^ gynonymcs. — ^4(104 elypeaia, Gmei.. Syst. i., p 51S<. No. 19. A. Mexiriiiia, I.I. p. .519, No. 81?—^. rHl>en.i, Id. No. 82.— Lath. Imt. <>r„. p. HAi), \o. tU) ; p. 8.'>7. No. ()1, No. (>2. dcii. Siin. in , p. .51 1, No. .JO ; p. 512, No. 57. lilHt-tciuij SlidieUtr, I'atesiiv, i.. pi. 90, fcnmlo. — /Ir. /.iml. No. 2t^0, No. 281 — !jt SoKcInt Ju .Ui'x/'/iif, IJriss. vi., p. 337. Le Canard Siiuruije dn Mrxique, Id. p 327, No. ^.— Canard S,mrhet, Tkmm. }f«n. d' Orn. p. 812.— Bewiik, ii . p. 310, 3r< 173) 74 SHOVELLER. The Bluc-wingcd Shoveller is twenty inches long, and two feet nix inches in extent ; the hill is brownish black, three inches in length, greatly widened near the extremity, closely pectinated on the sides, and furnished with a nail on the tip of each mandible ; iridos bright orange ; tongue large and fleshy ; the inside of the upper and outside of the lower mandible are grooved so as to receive distinctly the long, sepa- rated reed-like teeth ; there is also a gibbosity in the two mandibles, which do not meet at the sides, and this vacuity is occupied by tho sifters just mentioned ; head and upper half of the neck glo^•Hy, change- able green ; rest of the neck and breast white, passing round and nearly meeting above ; whole belly dark reddish chestnut ; flanks a brownish yellow, pencilled transversely with black, between which and the vent, which is black, is a band of white; back blackish brown, exterior edges ^ of the scapulars white ; lesser wing coverts and some of the tertials a fine light sky-blue; beauty spot on the wing a changeable resplendent bronze green, bordered above by a band of white, and below with another of velvety black ; rest of tho wing dusky, some of the tertials streaked down tlieir middles with white ; tail dusky, pointed, broadly edgeil with white; legs and feet rechlish orange, hind toe not finned. With the aliove another was shot, which differed in having the breast spotted with dusky, and the back with white ; the green plumage of tho head intermixec' vith gray, and the belly with circular touches of white ; evidently a young male in its imperfect plumage. The female has the crown of a dusky brown ; rest of the heail and neck yellowish white, thickly spotted with dark brown ; these spots on the breast become larger, and crescent-shaped ; back and scapulars dark brown, edged and centered with yellow ochre ; belly slightly rufous, mixed with white; wing nearly as in the male. On dissection the labyrinth ii the windpipe of the male was found to be small ; the trachea itself seven inches long ; the intestines nine feet nine inches in length, and about the thickness of a crow quill. n .,, u ? ■'■:A Specibs V, A^AS BOSCHAS. THE MALLARD. [Plate LXX. Fig. 7.] • Lath. Syn. in., p. 489. — Bewick, n., p. 291. — Le Canard Sauvage, Briss. vi., p. 318, 4.— Buff. IX., p. 115, pi. 7, 8.* The Mallard, or common Wild Drake, is so universally known as scarcely to require a description. It measures twenty-four inches in length, by three feet in extent, and weighs upwards of two pounds and a half ;t the bill is greenish yellow ; irides hazel ; head and part of the neck deep glossy changeable green, ending in a narrow collar of white ; the rest of the neck and breast are of a dark purplish chestnut; lesser wing coverts brown ash, greater crossed near the extremities with a band of white, and tipped with another of deep velvety black ; below this lies the speculum, or beauty spot, of a rich and splendid light purple, with green and violet reflections, bounded on every aide with black ; quills pale brownish ash ; back brown, skirted with paler ; sca- pulars whitish, crossed with fine undulating lines of black ; rump and tail coverts black glossed with green, tertials very broad and pointed at the ends; tail consisting of eighteen feathers, whitish, centered with brown ash, the four middle ones excepted, which are narrow, black glossed with violet, remarkably concave, and curled upwards to a com- plete circle ; belly and sides a fine gray, crossed by an infinite number of fine waving lines, stronger and more deeply marked as they approach the vent ; legs and feet orange red. The female has the plumage of the upper parts dark brown broadly bordered with brownish yellow ; and the lower parts yellow ochre spottcfl and streaked with deep brown ; the chin and tin-oat for about two inches, plain yellowish white ; wings, bill, and legs, nearly as in the male. The windpipe of the male has a bony labyrinth, or bladder- like knob * Allan nosclias, Gmei,. Sysl. i., p. 538, No. 40. — Iiid. Orn. p. 850, No. 49. — Arct. Zool. No. 4'J4. — Hi: Zool. No. 'IVi. — Le Canard Sauvage, PI. Enl. 77t>, male; 777, foninlc. t Mr. Ord whot a mule on tlie Dcliiwnro, in tlio montli of April, wliicli weighed three pounds five ounces ; nnd lie miw them in Florida, in the winter, when they arc futter than in the spring, of greater weight. In the month of March he shot two females, in East Florida, weighing two pounds each. (75) fS! ':<'*(, t llf, «.. "f Jj.. 76 THE MALLARD. puffing out from the left side. The intestines measure six feet, and are aa wide aa those of the Canvas-back. The windpipe is of uniform diameter until it enters the labyrinth. This is the original stock of the common domesticated Duck, reclaimed, time immemorial, from a state of nature, and now become so serviceable to man. In many individuals the general garb of the tame Drake seems to have undergone little or no alteration ; but the stamp of slavery is strongly imprinted in his dull indifferent eye, and grovelling gait ; while the lofty look, long tapering neck, and sprightly action of the former, bespeak his native spirit and independence. The common Wild Duck is found in every fresh-water lake and river of the United States in winter ; but seldom frequents the seashores or salt marshes. Their summer residence is the north, the great nursery of this numerous genus. Instances have been known of some solitary pairs breeding here in autumn. In England these instances are more common. The nest is usually placed in the most solitary recesses of the marsh, or bog, amidst coarse grass, reeds, and rushes, and generally contains from twelve to sixteen eggs of a dull greenish white. The young are led about by the mother in the same manner as those of the tame Duck ; but with a superior caution, a cunning and watchful vigilance peculiar to her situation. The male attaches himself to one female, as among other birds in their native state, and is the guardian and protector of her and her feeble brood. The Mallard is numerous in the rice fields of the Southern States during winter, many of the fields being covered with a few inches of water, and the scattered grains of the former harvest lying in abundance, the Ducks swim about and feed at pleasure. The ilcsh of the common Wild Duck is in general and high estima- tion ; and the ingenuity of man, in every country where it frequents, has been employed in inventing stratagems to overreach these wary birds, and procure a delicacy for the table. To enumerate all these various contrivances would far exceed our limits; a few, however, of the most simple and effective may be mentioned. In some ponds frequented by these birds, five or six wooden figures, cut and painted so as to represent ducks, and sunk, by pieces of lead nailed on their bottoms, so as to float at the usual depth on the surface, are anchored in a favorable position for being raked from a concealment of brush, &c., on shore. The appearance of these usually attracts passing flocks, which alight, and arc shot down. Sometimes eight or ten of these painted wooden ducks are fixed on a frame in various swimming postures, and secured to the bow of the gunner's skiff, pro- jecting before it in such a manner that the weight of the frame sinks the figures to their proper depth ; the skiff is then dressed with sedge or coarse gras-s in an artful manner, as low as the water's edge ; and THE MALLARD. 77 under cover of this, which appears like a party of ducks swimming by a small island, the gunner floats down sometimes to the very skirts of a whole congregated multitude, and pours in a destructive and repeated fire of shot among them. In winter, when detached pieces of ice are occasionally floating in the river, some of the gunners on the Delaware paint their whole skiff or canoe white, and laying themselves flat at the bottom, with their hand over the side silently managing a small paddle, direct it imperceptibly into or near a flock, before the Ducks have dis- tinguished it from a floating mass of ice, and generally do great execu- tion among them. A whole flock has sometimes been thus surprised asleep, with their heads under their wings. On land, another stratagem is sometimes practised with great success. A large tight hogshead is sunk in the flat marsh, or mud, near the place where. Ducks are accus- tomed to feed at low water, and where otherwise there is no shelter ; the edges and top are artfully concealed with tufts of long coarse grass and reeds, or sedge. From within this the gunner, unseen and unsus- pected, watches his collecting prey, and when a sufticient number off"ers, sweeps them down with great eff"ect. The mode of catching Wild Ducks, as practised in India,* China,t the Island of Ceylon, and some parts of South America,|: has been often described, and seems, if reli- ance may be placed on those accounts, only practicable in water of a certain depth. Tiie sportsman covering his head with a hollow wooden vessel or calabash, pierced with holes to see through, wades into the water, keeping his head only above, and thus disguised, moves in among tho flock, which take the appearance to be a mere floating calabash, while suddcidy pulling them under by the legs, he fastens them to his girdle, and thus takes as many as he can conveniently stow away, with- out in the least alarriing tlie rest. They are also taken with snares made of horse hair, oi with hooks baited with small pieces of sheep's ligiits, which floating on the surface, are swallowed by the ducks, and with them the hooks. They are also approached under cover of a stalking horse, or a figure formed of tliin boards or other proper mate- rials, and painted so as to represent a horse or o.x. But all tiiese methods require much watching, toil, and fatigue, and their success is but trifling when compared with that of the Decoy now used both in France and Englaiul,§ which, from its superiority over evci'y other mode, is well deserving the attention of persons of this country residing in the neigh- boriiooky brown, rest of the upper half of the neck brownish white, both thickly speckled with black ; lower part of the neck and breast dusky black, elegantly ornamented with large con- centric semicircles of white ; scapulars waved with lines of white on a dusky ground, but narrower than that of the brea.-^t ; primaries ash ; greater wing-coverts black, and several of the lesser coverts immediately above chestnut red; speculum white, bordered below with *ljlack, form- ing three broad bands on the wing of chestnut, black, and white ; belly dull white; rump and tail coverts black, glossed with j/reen ; tail tapering, j)ointed, of a pale brown ash edged with white ; Hanks dull white elegantly waved ; tertials long, and of a pale brown, legs orange red. The female I have never seen. Latham describes it as follows: " differs in having the colors on the wings duller, thou^ii marked the same as the male ; the breast reddish brown spotted with black ; the feathers on the neck and back edged with pale red ; rump the same instead of black ; and those elegant semicircular lines on the neck and breast wholly wanting." The llesh of this duck is excellent, and the windpipe of the male is furnished witli a large labyrinth. The Gadwall is very rare in the northern parts of the United States ; ♦ Anax sirepera, Gm^i,. Si/st. i., p. 520, No. 20.— Ind. Oni. p. 849, No. 69.~Te«¥ Man. d'Orn. p. 837. — Bewick, ii., p. 314. Vol. 111.— 6 (81) |V !"• )?'■ 1) ix I < -ij^ii hi • 4h I 82 PINTAIL DUCK. iH Httid to inhnbit England in winter, and vnrinud parts of France and Italy ; migrates to Sweden, and is found throughout lluHsia and Siberia.* It la a very quick diver, so as to make it difficult to bo shot ; flics also with great rapidity, and utters a note not unlike that of the Mallard, but louder. Is fond of salines and ponds overgrown with reeds and rushes. Feeds during the day, as well as in the morning and evening. Note. — A male specimen shot by Mr. Ord in East Florida, in the month of February, had its crown of a pale ferruginous, mixed with browp ; head and neck yellowish white, barred and mottled with brown ; back, outer scapulars, vent and flanks, brown, with pale zigzag lines ; Home of the inner scapulars reddish and cinereous brown ; upper and under tail-coverts velvet black ; legs and feet yellow ochre, part of tho webs dusky. Weight two pounds. This species is very rare on the Delaware ; but in East Florida it is common. On the fresh-water ponds, in tho vicinity of tho river St. John, Mr. Ord shot many of them ; and found them in good condition, und excellent eating. , Spechs VII. ANAS ACUTA. PINTAIL DUCK. [Pl«t« LXVIII. Tig. 3] Ia Canard d longue queue, Bris. vi., p. ^tVJ, 10, pi. .14, fifr. 1, 2. — Bufp, h., p. 199, pi. V.i.—lf. Kul. 'JCA.—Aret. Zool. No. 5W.— Lath. S,,n. m., p. 520. The Pintail, or as it is sometimes called, the Sprigtail, is a common and well known Duck in our markets, uiueb esteemed for the e.xcellence of it» flesh, and is generally in good order. It is a shy and cautious bird, feeds in the mud flats, and shallow fresh-water marshes ; but rarely resides on the seacoast. It seldom dives, is very noisy, and has a kind of chattering note. When wounded they will sometimes dive, and coming up conceal themselves under the bow of the boat, moving round as it moves. Are vigilant in giving the alarm on the ajjproach of the gunner, who often curses the watchfulness of the Sprigtail. Some Ducks when aroused disperse in difl"erent directions ; but tho Sprigtails when alarmed cluster confusedly together as they mount, and * Latham. PINTAIL DUCK. 88 thereby afford the BportHman a fair opportunity of raking them with advantage. They generally leave the Delaware about the miildl*! of March, on the way to their native regions the north, where they are most numerous. They inhabit the whole northern parts of Europe and Asia, and doubtless the corresponding latitudes of America. Are said likewise to be found in Italy. Great flocks of them are sometimes spread along the isles and shores of Scotland and Ireland, aiul on the interior lakes of both these ''ountries. On the marshy shores of some of the bays of Lake Ontario they are often plenty in the montliH of October and November. I have also met with them at Louisville on the Ohio. The Pintail Duck is twenty-six inches in length, and two feet ten inches in extent; the bill is a dusky lead color; irides diirk hazel; head and half of the neck pale brown, each side of the neck marked with a band of purple violet, bordering the white, hind part of the upper half of the neck black, bordered on each side by a stripe of white, which spreads ov-r the lower part of the neck before; sides of the breast and upper part of the back white, thickly and elegantly marked with trans- verse undulating lines of black, hero and there tinged with pale buff; throat and middle of the belly white tinged with cream ; flanks finely pencilled with waving lines, vent white, under tail coverts black ; lesser wing coverts brown ash. greater the same, tipped with orange, below which is the speculum or beauty spot of rich golden green bordered below with a band of black, and another of white ; primaries dusky brown ; tcrtials long, black, edged with white, and tinged with rust ; rump and tail coverts pale ash centered with dark brown ; tail greatly pointed, the two middle tapering feathers being full five inches longer than the others and black, the rest brown ash edged with white ; legs a pale lead color. The female has the crown of a dark brown color; neck of a dull brownish white, thickly speckled with dark brown ; breast and belly pale brownish white, interspersed with white; back and root of the neck above black, each feather elegantly waved with broad lines of brownish white, these wavings become rufous on the scapulars ; vent white, spotted with dark brown ; tail dark brown spotted with white ; the two middle tail feathers half an inch longer than the others. The Sprigtail is an elegantly formed, long bodied Duck, the neck longer and more slender than most others. t; (^ Spiciis VIII. ANAS AMERICANA. * AMERICAN WIDGEON. [PUULXIX. Fig. 4.] , Le Canard Jensen, PL Enl. 955. — Buff, ix., p. 174. — Ard. Zool. No. 502. — Lath, Syn. III., p. 520. This is a handsomely marked and sprightly species, very common in winter along our whole coast, from Florida to Rhode Island; but most abundant in Carolina, where it frequents the rice plantations. In Martinico great flocks take short flights from one rice fi'-ld to another during the rainy season, and are much complained of by the planters. The Wi(l;;oon is the constant attendant of the celebrated Canvas-back Duck, so abundant in various parts of the Chesapeake Bay, by the aid of who.se labor he has ingenuity enough to contrive to make a good subsistence. The Widgeon is extremely fond of the tender roots of that particular species of aijuatic plant on which the Canvas-!)ack feeds, and for which that Duck is in the constant habit of diving. The Widgeon, who never dives, watches the moment of the Canva^t-back's rising, at;i. before he has his eyes well opened, snatches the delicious morsel from his moulh and makes off. On this account the Canvas- backs and Widgeons, or as they are called round the bay, Bald-pates, live in a state of perpetual contention. The only chance the latter have i.« to retreat, and make their approaches at convenient opportu- nities. They are said to be in great plenty in St. Domingo and Cayenne, where they are called Vingeon or Gingeon. Are said sometimes to perch on trees. Feed in company an'»'11y white ; vent black ; back and sca- pulars black, thickly and beautifully crooMti with undulating lines of vinous bay ; lower part of the back more dusky ; tail coverts long, pointed, wiiitish, crossed as the back ; tail pointed, brownish ash, the two middle feathers an inch longer than the rest, and tapering; shoulder of the wing brownish ash, wing coverts immediately below white, forming a large spot ; primaries brownish ash, middle seconda- ries black glossed with green, forming the speculum ; tertials black edged with white, between which and the beauty spot several of the secondaries aie white. The feuiiile has the whole head and neck yellowish white, thickly speckled with black, very little rufous on the breast ; tlit; back is dark brown. The young males, as usual, very much like the females during the first season, and do not receive their full plumage until the second year. Thoy are also subject to a regular charge every spring and autumn. NoTK. — A few of thc'yn. in., p. 645. • This species is generally known along the seacoast of New Jersey and the neighboring country by the name of tlio Black Duck, bemg the roost common and most numerous of all those of its tribe that frequent the salt ma-shes. It is only partially migratory. Numbers of them remain during the Humin«r, and breed in sequestered places in the marsh, or on the sea islands of the beach. The eggs are eight or ten in number, very nearly resembling those of the domestic duck. Vast numbers, however, regularly migrate farther north on the approach of spring. During their residence here in winter they frequent the marshes, and the various creeks and iidets with which those e-xtensivo flats are intersected. Their principal food consists of those minute snail shells so abundant in the marshes. They occasionally visit the aandy beach in search of wnnll bivalves, and on these occasions some- times cover whole acres with their numbers. Tlioy roost at night in the shallow ponds, in the middle of tiie salt marsh, particularly on islands, where many are caught by the foxes. They are extremely shy during the ilay ; and on the most distant report of a musket, rise from every quarter of the marsh in prodigious numbers, dispersing in every direc- tion. In calm weather they fly high, beyond the reach of shot ; but when the wind blows hard, and the gunner conceals himself among the salt grass in a place over which they usually Hy, they are shot down in great numbers, their flight being then low. (Jeese, Hraiit, and IJlack Duck are the common game of all our gunners along this part of the coast during winter ; but there are at least ten Black Ducks for one Goose or IJrant, and probably many more. Their voice resembles that of the Duck and Mallard; but their flesh is greatly inferior, owing to the nature of their food. They are, however, large, heavy bodied Ducks, and generally esteemed. I cannot discover that ♦his species is found in any of the remote northern parts of our continent ; and this is probably tiic cause why it is altogether unknown in Kumpe. It is abundant from Floritia to New (86) DUSKY DUCK. 87 England ; but is not enumerated among the birds of Hudson's Bay, or Greenland. Its chief residence is on the seacoast, though it also makes extensive excursions up the tide waters of our rivers. Like the Mallard they rarely div,* for food, but swim and fly with great velocity. The Dusky, or Black Duck, is two feet in length, and three feet two inches in extent ; the bill is of a dark greenish ash, formed very much like that of the Mallard, and nearly of the same length ; irides dark ; upper part of the head deep dusky brown, intermixed on the fore part with some small streaks of drab ; rest of the head and greater part of the neck pale yellow ochre, thickly marked with small streaks of black- ish brown ; lower part of the neck, and whole lower parts, deep dusky, each feather edged with brownish white, and with fine seams of rusty white ; upper parts the same, but rather deeper ; the outer vanes of nine of the secondaries bright violet blue, forming the beauty spot, which is bounded on all sides by black ; wings and tail sooty brown,; tail feathers sharp pointed ; legs and feet dusky yellow ; lining of the wings pure white. The female has more brown on her plumage ; but in other respects differs little from the male, both having the beauty spot on the wing. Note. — Of all our Ducks this is perhaps the most sagacious and the most fearful of man. In the neighborhood of Philadelphia they are found in great numbers, they are notwithstanding hard to be obtained, in consequence of their extreme vigilance, and their peculiar habits. During the day they chiefly abandon the marshes ; and float in con- siderable bodies on the Delaware, taking their repose, with the usual precaution of employing wakeful sentinels, to give notice, of danger. In the evening they resort to the muddy flats and shores, and occupy themselves throughout the greater part of the night in seeking for food. When searching out their feeding grounds, every individual is on the alert ; and on the slightest appearance of an enemy the whole mount and scatter, in such a manner, tliat, in a flock of a hundred, it would be diflScult to knock down more than two or three at one shot. Their sense of smelling is uncommonly acute, and their eyesight, if we may judge from their activity at night, mus* Y'^ better than that of most species. When wounded on the watv will immediately take to the shore, if in the vicinity, and conceal themselves under the first covert, so that one accustomed to this habit can have no difficulty in finding them. — G. Ord. ■♦'■■ it w^ ii.:l I 1.^ Spbcies X. ANAS SPONSA. * SUMMER DUCK, or WOOD DUCK. [Plate LXX. Fig. 3, Male.] Le Canard d'ElS, Briss. vi., p. 3.^1, 11, p. 32, fig. 2. — Le beau Canard huppi, Burp. IX., p. 24.5.— /'/. Enl. 980, 981.— Summer Z>i/rA-, Catesbv, i.. pi. 97.— Edw. pi. 101.— ^Irc^ Zool. No. 943.— Lath. Syn. in., p. 546.* This rrost beautiful of all our Ducka, has probably no superior among its whole tribe for richness and variety of colors. It is called the Wood Duck, from the circumstance of its breeding in hollow trees ; and the Sionnier Buck, from remaining with us chiefly during the sum- mer. It is familiarly known in every quarter of the United States, from Florida to Lake Ontario, in the neighborhood of which latter place I have myself met with it in October. It rarely visits the seashore, or salt marshes ; its favorite haunts being the solitary deep and muddy creeks, ponds, and mill dams of the interior, making its nest frequently in old hollow trees that overhang the water. The Summer Duck is etjually well known in Mexico and many of the West India Lslands. During the whole of our winters they are occa- sionally seen in the states south of the Potomac. On the tenth of January I met with two on a creek near Petersburg in Virginia. In the more northern districts, however, they are migratory. In Pennsyl- vania the female usually begins to lay late in April or early in May. Instances have been known whero the nest was constructed of a few sticks laid in a fork of the branches ; u.sually, however, the inside of a hollow tree is selected for this purpose. On the eighteenth of May I visited a tree contr.ining the nest of a Summer Duck, on the banks of Tuckahue river. New Jer.sey. It was an old grotes(jue white oak, whoso top had been torn off by a storm. It stood on the declivity of the bunk, about twenty yards from the water. In this hollow and broVvu lop, and about si.\ foet down, on the soft decayed wood, lay tbirloeu egif^, snugly covered with down, doubtless taken from the breast of the binl. These eggs were of an e.xact oval shape, h*."* than those of a hen, the surface exceedingly fine grained, and of the hi^he.st polish and slightly yellowish, greatly resembling old polished ivv»ry. The egg measured Aiuix sjii'imay (iltm. Si/sl. i., p. 539, No. 43. — lud. Orn. p. H7t>, No. 97. (88) SUMMER DUCK. 89 two inches and an eighth by one inch and a half. On breaking one of them, the young bird was found to be nearly hatched, but dead, as neither of the parents had been observed about the tree during the three or four days preceding ; and were conjectured to have been shot. This tree had been occupied, probably by the same pair, for four suc- cessive years, in breeding time ; the person who gave me the informa- tion, and whose house was within twenty or thirty yards of the tree, said that he had seen the female, the spring preceding, carry down thir- teen young, one by one, in less than ten minutes. She caught them in her bill by the wing or back of the neck, and landed them safely at the foot of the tree, whence she afterwards led them to tlie water. Under this same tree, at the time I visited it, a largo sloop lay on the stocks, nearly finished, the deck was not more than twelve feet distant from the nest, yet notwithstanding the presence and noise of the workmen, the ducks would not abandon their old breeding place, but continued to pass out and in as if no person had been near. Tlie male usually perched on an adjoining limb, and kept watch while the female was laying ; and also often while she was sitting. A tame Goose had chosen a hollow space at the root of the same tree, to lay and hatch her young in. The Summer Duck seldom flies in Hocks of more than three or four individuals together, and most commonly in pairs, or singly. The com- mon note of the drake is peet, peet ; but when, standing sentinel, he sees danger, he makes a noise not unlike the crowing of a young cock, oe eek ! oe eek ! Their food cons*" ts principally of acorns, seeds of the wild oats, and inseci*. Their flesh is inferior to that of the Blue- winged Teal. They are frequent in the markets of Philadelphia. Among f>th>'r i;-iudy roathers with which the Iiulians ornament the calunut »M- jiipo of peace, the skin of the head and neck of the Summer Duck is frciiuontly seen covorinj» the st> m. This beautiful bird has often been tamed, and soon becomes so fami- liar as to permit one to stroke its buck with the hand. I have seen individuals so tamed in various parts of the Union. Captain Boyce, collector of the port of Ilavre-de-Grace, itiforms me that about forty years ago, a Mr. Nathan Nicols, who liveil on the wt-it side of Gunpow- der crook, had a whole yard swarming with Suininor Ducks, which he had taniod and complotoly domesticated, so that tlioy brod and wore as familiar as any other tame fowls; that he (Capt. B«>yoo) himsolf saw thon> in tliat state, but does not know what becanw .>f theou Latham savs that they arc often kept in European menageries, and will breed there.* The Wood Duck is nineteen inches in length, and two feet four inches in extent ; bill red, margined with black ; a spot of black lies between Uon, Syn. iii., p, 547. f iM. m 90 SUMMER DUCK. the nostrils, reaching nearly to the tip, which is also of the same color, and furnished with a large hooked nail ; irides orange rod ; front, crown, and pendent crest rich glossy bronze green ending in violet, elegantly marked with a line of pure white running from the upper mandible over the eye, and with another band of white proceeding from behind the eye, both mingling their long pendent plumes with the green and violet ones, producing a rich effect ; cheeks and sides of the upper neck violet ; chin, throat, and collar round the neck pure white, curving up in the form of a crescent nearly to the posterior part of the eye ; the white collar is bounded below with black : breast dark violet brown, marked on the fore part with minute triangular spots of white, increasing in size until they spread into tlie white of the belly ; each side of the breast is bounded by a large crescent of white, and that again by a broader one of deep black ; sides under the wings thickly and beautifully marked with fine undulating parallel lines of black, on a ground of yellowish drab : the flanks are ornamented with broad alternate semicircular bands of black and white ; sides of the vent rich light violet ; tail- coverts long, of a hair-like texture at the sides, over which they descend, and of a deep black glossed with green ; back dusky bronze, reflecting green ; scapulars black ; tail tapering, dark glossy green above, below dusky ; primaries dusky, silvery hoary without, tipped with violet blue ; secondaries greenish blue, tipped with white ; wing-coverts violet blue, tipped with black ; vent dusky ; legs and feet yellowish red, claws strong and hooked. The above is as accurate a description aa I can give of a very perfect specimen now before me, from which the figure in the plate was faith- fully copied. The female has the head slightly crested, crown dark purple, behind the eye a bar of white ; chin, and throat for two inches, also white ; head and neck dark drab ; breast ilusky brown, marked with large tri- angular spots of white ; back dark glossy bronze brown, with some gold and greenish reflections. Speculum of the wings nearly the same as in the male, but the fine pencilling of the sides, and the long hair-like tail- oovort.Hs «r« wanting ; the tail is also shorter. Spiciks XI. ANAS DISCORS. BLUE-WINGED TEAL. [Plate LXVIII. Kg. 4, Male.] La Sarcelle d' Ainerique, Briss. vi., p. 452, 35.— Buff, ix., p. 279. — PL Enl. 966.— Catesb. I., pi. 100. — White-faced Duck, Lath. Si/n. m., p. 502. — Arcl. Zool. No. 503.* The Bluc-wingcd Teal is the first of its tribe that returns to us in the autumn from its breeding place in the north. They are u.sually seen early in September, along the .shores of the Delaware, where they sit on the mud close to the edge of the water, so crowded together that the gunners often kill great numbers at a single discliarge. When a flock is discovered thus sitting and sunning themselves, the experienced gun- ner runs his battoau ashore at some distance below or above them, and getting out, pushes her before him over the slippery mud, concealing himself all the while behind her ; by this method he can sometimes approach within twenty yards of the Hock, among wliich he generally makes great .slaughter. They tly rapidly, and wlien they alight drop down suddoidy like the Snipe or Woodcock, among the reeds or on the mud. They feed chiefly on vegetable food, and are eagerly fond of the seeds of the reeds or wild oats. Their flesh is excellent ; and after their residence for a short time among the reeds, becomes very fat. As the first frosts come on, they proceed to the south, being a delicate bird, very susceptible of cold. They abound in the inundated rice fields in the Southern States, where vast numbers are taken in traps placed on small dry eminences that here and there rise above the water. These places are strewed with rice, and by the common contrivance called a figure four, they are caught alive in hollow traps. In the month of April they pa.ss through Pennsylvania for the north ; but make little stay at that season. I have observed them numerous on the Hudson opposite to the Catskill Mountains. They rarely visit the seashore. This species measures about fourteen inches in length, ami twenty- two inches in extent ; the bill is long in proportion, and of a dark dusky slate ; the front and upper part of the head are black, from the eye to the chin is a large crescent of white, the rest of the head and half of • Ahcu discors, Ombi.. Sysl. p. 535, No. 37. — Lath. Ind. Orn. p. 854, No. 55. — nine-u'inijfd Teal, Catksii. j)!. *.)'.>, foiniilo. — La Sarcelle de Virginic, Briss. vi., p. 455, No. 30. — Art Sarcelle Sottcruurou, Bukk. ix., p. 279. — PI. J^id. 40;!, i'ouiale. (91) '\'»\ t i 11 GREEN-WINGED TEAL. the neck is of a dark slate richly glossed with green and violet, remain- der of the neck and breast is black or dusky, thickly marked with semi- circles of brownish white, elegantly intersecting each other ; belly pale brown, barred with dusky, in narrow lines ; sides and vent the same- tint, spotted with oval marks of dusky ; flanks elegantly waved with largo Bcmicircles of pale brown ; sides of the vent pure white ; under tail-coverts black ; back deep brownish black, each feather waved with large semi- ovals of brownish white ; lesser wing-coverts a bright light blue ; prima- ries dusky brown ; secondaries black ; speculum or beauty spot, rich green ; tertials edged with black or light blue, and streaked down their middle with ^hite ; the tail, which is pointed, extends two inches beyond the wings ; legs and feet yellow, the latter very small ; the two cres- cents of white before the eyes meet on the throat. The female differs in having the head aiid neck of a dull dusky slate instead of the rich violet of the ma''% the hind head is also whitish. The wavings on the back and lower p../ts more indistinct ; wing nearly the same in both. hi'' SriciES XII. AXAS CRECCA. GREEN-WINGED TEAL. [Plate LXX. Fig. 4, Male.] Lath. Syn. iii., p. r)5-l— Bewick's Br. Hit da, ii., p, 338.* TUE naturalists of Europe have designated this little Duck by the name of the American Teal, as being a species different from their own. On an examination, however, of tlie figure and d>'.-icTiption of the Euro- pean Teal by the ingenious and accurate llewick, aii^ ''^ \v y % Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST M.«i(N STREET WEBSTER, NY 14580 (716) 872-4503 % <^ k\ 96 EIDER DUCK. a few spots of black still remaining on the neck ; the crown black, and bifid at the back part. " The young of both sexes are the same, being covered with a kind of hairy down : throat and breast whitish ; and a cinereous line from the bill through the eyes to the hind head."* ANAS MOLLISSIMA. E I D E K DUCK. [Plate LXXI. Fig. 3, Female.] The difference of color in these two birds is singularly great. The female is considerably less than the male, and the bill does not rise so high in the forehead ; the general color is a dark reddish drab, mingled with lighter touches, and everywhere spotted with black ; wings dusky, edged with reddish ; the greater coverts and some of the secondaries are tipped with white ; tail brownish black, lighter than in the male ; the plumage in general is centred with bars of black, and broadly bor- dered with rufous drab ; cheeks and space over the eye light drab ; belly dusxy, obscurely mottled with black ; legs and feet as in the male. Van Troil, in his Letters on Iceland, observes respecting this Duck, that " the young ones quit the nest soon after they are hatched, and follow the female, who leads them to the water, where having taken them on her back, she swims with them a few yards, and then dives, and leaves them floating on the water ! In this situation they soon learn to take care of themselves, and are seldom afterwards seen on the land ; but live among the rocks, and feed on insects and seaweed." Some attempts have been made to domesticate these birds, but hitherto without success. * Synopsis, iii., p. 471. Species XIV. ANAS PER SPICILL ATA. ,,.,.. BLACK, OR SURF DUCK. ' '' [Plate LXVII. Fig. 1.] Le grande Macrmse de li Baye de Hudson, Briss. vi., p. 425, 30. — Tm Macreuse d large bee, Buff, ix., p. 244. — PI. Enl. 995. — Edw. pi. 155. — Lath. Syn. iii., p. 479— Phil. Trans, i.xii., p. 417.* Tiiis Duck is peculiar to America, and altogether confined to the shores and bays of the sea, particularly where the waves roll over the sandy beach. Their food consists principally of those small bivalve shell fish already described, spout fish, and others that lie in the sand near its surface. For these they dive almost constantly, both in the sandy bays and amidst the tumbling surf. They seldom or never visit the salt marshes. They continue on our shores during the winter ; and leave us early in May for their breeding places in the north. Their skins are remarkably strong, and their flesh coarse, tasting of fish. They are shy birds, not easily approached, and are common in winter along the whole coast from the river St. Lawrence to Florida. The length of this species is twenty inches, extent thirty-two inches ; the bill is yellowish red, elevated at the base, and marked on the side of the upper mandible with a large square patch of black, preceded by another space of a pearl color ; the part of the bill thus marked swells or projects considerably from the common surface; the nostrils are large and pervious ; the sides of the bill broadly serrated or toothed ; both mandibles are furnished with a nail at the extremity ; irides white, or very pale cream ; whole plumage a shining black, marked on the crown and hind head with two triangular spaces of pure white; the plumage on both these spots is shorter and thinner than the rest ; legs and feet blood red ; membrane of the webbed feet black, the primary quills are of a deep dusky brown. On dissection the gullet was found to be gradually enlarged to the gizzard, which was altogether filled with broken shell fish. There was a singular hard expansion at the commencement of the windpipe ; and another much larger about three-quarters of an inch above where it separutes into the two lobes of the lungs ; this last was larger than a Spanish hazel-nut, flat on one side and convex on the other. The » Anas perspicillata. Quel. Syst. i., p. 524, No. 25.— J«d. Om. p. 847, No. 42. Vol. III.— 7 (97) 98 VELVET DUCK. protuberance on each side of the bill communicated with the nostril, and was hollow. All these were probably intended to contain supplies of air for the bird's support while under water ; the last may also pro- tect the head from the sharp edges of the shells. The female is altogether of a sooty brown, lightest about the neck ; the prominences on the bill are scarcely observable and its color dusky. This species was also found by Captain Cooke at Nootka Sound, on the north-west coast of America. Specus XV. ANAS FUSCA. V E L V E T D U C K. [Plate LXXn. Fig. 3, Male.] Le grande Maererise, Briss. vi., p. 423, 29.— Buff, ix., p. 242.— Pi. Enl. 956.— Arct. Zool. No. 482.— Bewick, ii., p. 286.— Lath. Sijn. in., p. 482.* This and the following are frequently confounded together as one and the same species by our gunners on the sea coast. The former, however, differs in being of greater size ; in having a broad band of white across the wing ; a spot of the same under the eye, and in the structure of its bill. The habits of both are very much alike ; they visit us only during the winter ; feed entirely on shell fish, which they procure by diving ; and return to the northern regions early in spring to breed. They often associate with the Scoters, and are taken fre- quently in the same nets with them. Owing to the rank fisliy flavor of its flesh, it is seldom sought after by our sportsmen or gunners, and is very little esteemed. The Velvet Duck measures twenty-three inches in length, and two feet nine inches in extent, and weighs almut three pounds; the bill is broad, a little cleviited at the base, where it is black, the rest red, except the lower mandible, which is of a pale yellowish white ; both are edged with black, and deeply toothed ; iridcs pale cream ; under the eye is a small spot of white ; general color of the plumage brownish black, the secondaries excepted, which are white, forming a broad band across the wing ; there are a few reflections of purple on the upper plumage ; the legs are red on the outside, and deep yellow sprinkled with blackish on the inner sides ; tail short and pointed. • Anas Ftixra, Ombl. Sysl. i., p. .W?, No. C>.—Tnd. Om. p. 848, No. 4i.— Canard double Miicreune, Tehm. Man. d' Orn, p. 858. SCOTER DUCK. 99 The female is very little less than the male ; but differs considerably in its markings. The bill is dusky, forehead and cheeks white, under the eye dull brownish; behind that a large oval spot of white; whole upper parts and neck dark brownish drab ; tips of the plumage lighter, secondaries white ; wing quills deep brown ; belly brownish white ; tail hoary brown ; the throat is white, marked with dusky specks ; legs and feet yellow. Latham informs us that this species is sometimes seen on the coast of England, but is not common there ; that it inhabits Denmark and Russia, and in some parts of Siberia is very common. It is also found at Kamtschatka, where it is said to breed, going far inland to lay ; the eggs are eight or ten, and white ; the males depart, and leave the females to remain with the young until they arc able to fly. In the river Ochotska they are so numerous that a party of natives, consisting of fifty or more, go off in boats and drive these ducks up the river before them, and when the tide ebbs fall on them at once, and knock them on the head with clubs, killing such numbers that each man has twenty or thirty for his share.* Speciks XVI. ANAS NIGRA. SCOTER DUCK. [Plate LXXII. Fig. 8.] Le Macreuse, Briss. vi., p. 420, pi. 38, fig. 2.— Burr, ix., p. 234, pi. 16.— P/. Enl. 978.— Bewick, ii., p. 288.— 4rr<. Zvol. No. 484.-LATn. Syn. in., p. 480.t This Duck is but little known along our scacoast, being more usually met with in the northern than southern districts ; and only during the winter. Its food is shell fish, for which it is almost perpetually diving. That small bivalve so often mentioned, small muscles, spout fish, called on the coast razor handles^ young clams, &c., furnish it with abundant fare ; and wherever these are plenty the Scoter is an occasional visitor. They swim, seemingly at case, amidst the very roughest of the surf; but fly heavily along the surface, and to no great distance. They rarely penetrate far up our rivers, but seem to prefer the neighborhood of the ocean ; differing in this respect from the Cormorant, whicii often makes extensive visits to the interior. » Hist. Kamtschatka, p. 160. t Anas nigra, Omel. Syst. i., p. 508, No. 7. — Ind. Orn. p. 848, No. 4tS- Man. d'Orn. p. 856. -Tkmm. 100 SCOTER DUCK. The Scoters are said to appear on the coasts of France in great num- bers, to which they are attracted by a certain kind of small bivalve shell fish called vaimeattx, probably differing little from those already mentioned. Over the beds of these shell fish the fishermen spread their nets, supporting them, horizontally, at the height of two or three feet from the bottom. At the flowing of the tide the Scoters approach in great numbers, diving after their favorite food, and soon get entangled in the nets. Twenty or thirty dozen have sometimes been taken in a single tide. These are sold to the Roman Catholics, who eat ttiom on those days on which they are forbidden by their religion the use of ani- mal food, fish excepted ; these birds, and a few others of the same fishy flavor, having been exempted from the interdict, on the supposition of their being cold blooded, and partaking of the nature of fish.* The Scoter abounds in Lapland, Norway, Sweden, Russia, and Sibe- ria. It W.IS also found by Osbeck, between the islands of Java and St. Paul, lat. 30 and 34, in the month of June.f This species is twenty-one inches in length, and thirty-four in extent, and is easily distinguished from all other Ducks by the peculiar form of its bill, which has at the base a large elevated knob, of a red color, diviilod by a narrow line of yellow, which spreads over the middle of the upper nian i- < '! •! ); !i •; .1' ■ f m Spicim XVIII. ANAS VALLSNKRIA. CANVAS-BACK DUCK. • i [Plato LXX. Fig. S,] ' • » This celebrated American species, as far as can bo judged from tht best figures and descriptions of foreign birds, is altogether unknown in Europe. It approaches nearest to the Pochard of England, Anxufeiina, but differs from that bird in being superior in size and weight, in the greater magnitude of its bill, and the general whiteness of its plumage. A short coinj)aris()n of the two will elucidate tiiis point. The Canvas- back measures two feet in length, by three foet in extent, and when in the best order weighs three pounds and upwards. The Pochard, accord- ing to Latham and Bewick, measures nineteen inches in length, and thirty in extent, and weighs one pound twelve or thirteen ounces. The latter writer says of the Pochard, " the plumage above and below is wholly covered with prettily freckled sleiKler dusky threads disposed transversely in close set zigzag lines, on a pale ground, more or less shaded oft" with ash ;" a description much more aj)plicable to tho bird figured beside it, the Red Head, and which very probably is the species meant. In the figure of the Pochard given by Mr. Bewick, who is generally correct, the bill agrees very well with that of our Red Head ; but is scarcely half the size and thickness of that of the Canvas-back ; and the figure in the Planches EnluminSea corresponds in that respect with Bewick's. In short, either these writers are egregiously erroneous in their figures and descriptions, or the present Duck was altogether unknown to them. Considering the latter supposition tho more proba- ble of the two, I have designated this as a new species, and shall pro- ceed to detail some particulars of its history. The Canvas-back Duck arrives in tho United States from tho north about the middle of October, a few descend to the Hudson and Dela- ware, but tho great body of those birds resort to the inimerous rivers belonging to and in the neighborhood of the Chesapeake Bay, particu- larly the Sus([uehanna, tho Patapsco, Potomac, and James rivers, which appear to be their general winter rendezvous. Beyond this to the south, I can find no certain accounts of them. At tho Sus(tuehanna they an called Canvas-backs, on the Potomac White-backs, an-!n noix, Id. p. 389, A youmj maUf; I.t Millouin (fit .Vcxiijiie, Id. p. 3<.K). No. 20, fomiile, Bufk. ix., p. 21t). I't. Knl. 803 Tbiim. Mitn. d' Orn. p. (KVJ. — Wili.ouoiibv, p. 307, \ xi. — Mont.\(1u, Orn. Diet. t litK^iil niirnt'H given to one and the same Duck. It ia also oiiUod the Poker, Vol. hi.— 8 iK, 114 RED-IIEADED DUCK. eighths of an inch thick at the base, furnished with a largo broad nail at the extremity; irides flame-colored; plumage of the head long, velvety, and inflated, running high above the base of the bill ; head, and about two inches of the neck deep glossy reddish chestnut ; rest of the neck a!id upper part of the breast black, spreading round to the back ; belly white, becoming dusky towards the vent by closely marked undulating lines of black ; back and scapulars bluish white, rendered gray by numerous transverse waving lines of black ; lesser wing coverts brownish ash ; wing quills very pale slate, dusky at the tips ; lower part of the back and sides under the wings brownish black, crossed with regular zigzog lines of whitish ; vent, rump, tail, and tail coverts black ; legs and feet dark ash. The female has the upper part of the head dusky brown, rest of the head and part of the neck a light sooty brown ; upper part of the breast ashy brown, broadly skirted with whitish; back dark ash, with little or no appearance of white pencilling ; wings, bill, and feet nearly alike in both sexes. This Duck is sometimes met with in the riv, 's of North and South Carolina, and also in those of Jersey and New York ; but always in fresh water, and usually at no great distance from the sea. Is most numerous in the waters of the Chesapeake ; and with the connoisseurs in good eating, ranks next in excellence to the Canvas-back. Its usual weight is about a pound and three-(iuarters, avoirdupois. The Ked-heud leaves the bay and its tributary streams in "March, and is not seen until late in October. The male of this species has a large flat bony labyrinth on the bottom of the windpipe, very much like that of the Canvas-back, but smaller ; over one of its concave sides is spread an exceeding thiji transparent Bkin, or membrane. The intestines are of great width, and measure six feet in length. '/y r ■'■\u Specus XX. ANAS MARILA. SCAUP DUCK. [Plato LXIX. Fig. 8.] • »^ Le petit Morillon rayi, Briss. vi., p. 416, 26. A.~Arct. Zool. No. 498. — Lath. iS^h, III., p. 500. This Duck is better known among us by the name of the Blue-hill. It is an excellent diver ; and according to Willoughby feeds on a cer- tain small kind of shell fish called scaup, whence it has derived its name. It is common both to our fresh-water rivers and seashores in winter. Those that frequent the latter arc generally much the fattest, on account of the greater abundance of food along the coast. It is sometimes abundant in the Delaware, particularly in those places where small snails, its favorite shell fish, abound ; feeding also, like most of its tribe, by moonlight. They generally leave us in April, though I have met with individuals of this species so late as the middle of May, among the salt marshes of New Jersey. Their flesh is not of the most delicate kind, yet some persons esteem it. That of the young birds is generally the tendcrest and most palatable. The length of the Blue-bill is nineteen inches, extent twenty-nine inches ; bill broad, generally of a light blue, sometimes of a dusky lead color ; irides reddish ; head tumid, covered with plumage of a dark glossy green, extending half way down the neck ; rest of the neck and breast black, spreading round to the back ; back and scapulars white, thickly crossed with waving lines of black ; lesser coverts dusky, pow- dered with veins of whitish, primaries and tertials brownish black ; secondaries white, tijjpeil with black, forming the speculum ; rump and tail-coverts black ; tail short, rounded, and of a dusky brown ; belly white, crossed near the vent with waving lines of ash ; vent black ; legs and feet dark slate. Such is the color of the bird in its perfect state. Young birds vary considerably, some having the head black mixed with gray and purple, others the back dusky with little or no white, and that irregularly dispersed. The female has the front and sides of the same white, head and half of the neck blackish brown ; breast, spreading round to the bark, n dark sooty brown, broadly skirted with whitish ; back black, thinly sprinkled with grains of white, veiit whitish ; wings the same as in tho male. (115) , 116 SCAUP DUCK. The windpipe of the male of this species is of large diameter ; the labyrintii siiniiar to some others, tliough not of the largest kind ; it has something of the shape of a single cockle shell ; its open side or circular rim, covered with a thin transparent skin. Just before the windpipe enters this, it lessens its diameter at least two-thirds, and assumes a flattish form. i The Scaup Duck is well known in England. It inhabits Iceland and the more northern parts of the continent of Europe, Lapland, Sweden, Norway, and Russia. It is also common on the northern shores of Siberia. Is very frequent on the river Ob. Breeds in the north, and migrates southward in winter. It inhabits America as high as Hud- son's Bay, and retires from this last place in October.* LL. Note. — Pennant and Latham state that the male weighs a pound and a half; and the female two ounces more. This is undoubtedly an error, the female being less than the male, and the latter being generally the fattest. Montagu says that the opecies weighs sometimes as much as thirty-five ounces, which statement comes nearer the truth than that of the foregoing. On the eighth of April, of the present year (1824), I shot, on the Delaware, an adult male which weighed two pounds and three-quarters. I have frequently shot them of two pounds and a half; and on the Chesapeake, and on the coast, they are still heavier. In I he Delaware there are several favorite feeding grounds of the Blue-bill along the Jersey shore, from Burlington to Mantua creek ; but the most noted spot appears to be the cove which extends from Timber creek to Eagle Point, and known by the name of Ladd's Cove. Thither the Blue-bills repair in the autumn, and never quit it until they depart in the spring for the purpose of breeding, except when driven away, in the winter, by the ice. It is no uncommon circumstance to see many hundreds of these birds at once constantly diving for food ; but so shy are they, that even with the aid of a very small and well-constructed skiff, cautiously paddled, it is difficult to approach them within gunshot. So very sagacious are they, that they appear to know the precise dis- tance wherein they are safe ; and, after the shooter has advanced within this point, they then begin to spread their lines in such a manner that, in a flock of a hundred, not more than three or four can be selected in a group at any one view. They swim low in the water ; are strong feathered ; and are not easily killed. When slightly wounded, and unable U) fly, it is almost hopeless to follow them, in consequence of their .Hkill great in diving. Their wings being short they either cannot rise ^ith the wind, when it blows freshly, or they are unwilling to do so, for * Latham. TUFTED DUCK. 117 thoy aro invariably seen to rise against the wind. In a calm they get up with consiclorahlo fluttering. The Blue-bills when disturbed by the fishermen along the Jersey shore, in the spring, resort to other feeding places ; anj they aro frequently observed a short distance below the Philadelphia Navy-yard, particu- larly at the time when their favorite snail-shells begin to crawl up tho muddy shore for tho purpose of breeding. Though often seen feeding in places where they can reach the bottom with their bills, yet thoy sel- dom venture on the shore, the labor of walking appearing repugnant to their inclinations. When wounded they will never take to tho land if thoy can possibly avoid it ; and when compelled to walk they waddle along in the awkward manner of those birds whose legs, placed far behind, do not admit of a free and graceful progression. , ' ^ Spechs XXI. ANAS FULIGULA* TUFTED DUCK. [Plate LXVII. Fig. 5] Arci. Zool. p. 573. — 7>e petH Morillnn, Briss. vi., 411, 20, pi. 37, 1.— Buff, ix., p. 227, 231, pi. 15.— Lath.'^tj. ni., p. 540. This is an inhabitant of both continents ; it frequents fresh-water rivers, and seldom visits the seashore. It is a plump, short-bodied Duck ; its flesh generally tender, and well tasted. They arc much rarer than most of our other species, and are seldom seen in market. They are most common about the beginning of winter, and early in the spring. Being birds of passage thoy leave us entirely during the summer. The Tufted Duck is seventeen inches long, and two feet two inches in extent ; the bill is broad aiid of a dusky color, sometimes markeil round tiie nostrils and sides with light blue ; head cresteil, or tufted, as its name expresses, and of a black color, with reflections of purple ; neck marked near its middle by a band of deep chestnut ; lower part of the Tieck hliiek, which spreads quite round to the back ; back and scapulars lilack, minutely powdered with particles of white, not to bo observed but on a near inspection ; rump and vent also black ; wings ashy brown ; secondaries pale ash or bluish white ; tortials black, reflecting green ; lower part of the breast and whole belly white ; flanks crossed with fine * Anas nifitorques, Bonaparte, Journal of the Acadtmy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, in., p. 385 ; pi. 13, fig. 6, the trachea. 118 TUFTED DUCK. zigzag lines of dusky ; tall Bhort, roundi'd, and of a dull brownish black ; legs and feet greenish nsh, wobs black, irides rich orange ; stomach filled with gravel and some vegetable food. In young birds the head and upper part of the neck are purplish bro^tn ; in some the chestnut ring on the fore part of the middle of tho neck is obscure, in others very rich and glossy, and in one or two spe- cimens which I have seen it is altogether wanting. The back is in some instances destitute of the fine powdered particles of white; while in others these markings are large and thickly interspersed. The specimen from which the drawing was taken, was shot on tho Delaware on the Ift'h of March, and presented to mo by Dr. S. B. Smith of this city. On dissection it proved to bo a male, and was ex- ceedingly flit and tender. Almost every specimen I have since met with ha« been in nearly tho same state ; so that I cannot avoid thinking this species equal to most others for the table, and greatly superior to many. NoTK. — It is remarkable that our author should not have observed the difference between this species and the fuln/tila of Europe; and still more worthy of note that Mr. Temminck, whose powers of discrimi- nation are unusuiiUy acute, should also iiave been misled by the oj)inion9 of others, and concluded, with Wilson, that the Tufted Duck figured in our plate was of the same species as the Tufted Duck of Europe. The only apology which we can make for our author is, that he had never had an opportunity of examining a specimen of tho fulii/tila ; otherwise tho specific differences of the two would have been o])vious at the fin^t glance. The bill of the fuliffula has not those white bands or markings which are so conspicuous in our bird, its neck is also destitute of the chestnut collar; the speculum of the former is pure wliite, that of the latter is pale ash ; and, what is a still more striking charactfristic, its head is merely tufted, while the fulii/ula'a is ornamented with a pendent crest, of two inches in length. The credit of having l)een the first to publicly announce our bird as a new species belongs to Mr. Charles Bonaparte, who, in the publication, quoted at the head of this article, has given a comparative description of the two birds, and nanu' HtoinacliH of those HpcciinonH which I diHsectod wore filled with gravel and vegetable food. The traehea, according to tho obHcrvations of Mr. IJonapartc, re.send)leH that of the /w%u/ri. This BpecieH is in no respect ho shy and cunning as the ■■'■■ aup Duck, and is moro easily shot. — G. Ord. Snciis XXIT. ANAS ClANQULA. GOLDEN EYE. [Plate LXVII. Fig. 6,] Le Garrot, Briss. vi., p. 416, 27. pi. 37, d^. 2.— llurr. ix.. p. 222.—Avct. Zool. No. 480.— Lath. Sijn, iii., p. hW'y.* This Duck is well known in Europe, and in variou.s rogioiiH of tho United Stnte-s, both along the aeacoa.st and ;iboiit the lakes and rivers of the interior. It a.s.soeiate8 in Hniall parties, and may easily bo known by tho vigorous whistling of its wings, as it passes through tho air. It swims and dives well ; but seldom walks on shore, and then in a wad- dling awkward manner. Feeding chiefly on shell fish, sniull fry, &c., their flesh is less esteemed than that of the preceding. In the United States they are only winter visitors, leaving us again in tlic month of April, being then on their passage to the north to breed. Tiiey aro said to build, like tho Wood Duck, in hollow trees. The Golden-oye is nineteen inches long, and twenty-nine in extent, and weighs on an average about two pounds ; the bill is black, short, rising considerably up in the forehead ; the pluniuge of the beail and part of the neck is somewhat tumid, and of a dark green with violet re- flections, marked near the corner of the mouth with an oval spot of white ; the iridcs are golden yellow ; rest of the neck, breast, and whole lower parts white, except the Hanks, which are dusky ; back and wings black ; over the latter a l)road bed of white extends from the middle of the lesser coverts to tho extremity of the secondaries ; the exterior scapu- lars arc also white ; tail hoary brown ; rump and tail-coverts black ; legs • Le Garrot, PI. Enl. »02.—Morrillnn, Arct. Zool. ii., p. 300, F.—Br. Zool. No. 276, 277.— Lath. .S'm;);^. ii., p. 535, No. 'lO.—fnd. Orn. p. 807, No. 87 ; A. (/lanrion, Id. p. 868, No. 88.— Gil El,. Si/.it. i., p. 523, No. 23; Id. p. 525, No. 26."— Temm. Man. d'Orn. i., p. 870. — Drwick, ii., p. 330. GOLDEN EYE. 121 uiiil toes roddiHli orango ; webs very large, and of a dark purpliLh brown; hind too and exterior cdj^o of the inner one broa\v. pi. 100. — Arct. Zool. No. 487. — CATEsnv, i., O.l. — L.\fii. i. La Surnlli- de Fcrnir. Id. p -It'.ri, pi. '10, ti!;. 2.— Biff. IX., p. 27,s. I'l. lOO.S, old miilo ; \^W. yciirliiifr — Edh ahus, pi. 280, old mule, pi. I.')l), yoiinn mule. — Hr. Zoul. No. 2S.3. — IIewick, ii., p. Wll .— Canard de union, 'I'KyM. .Van. d'Oin., p. S60. 124 LONG-TAILED DUCK. m ^ N,l migrating south to avoid the severest rigors of that climate. They are common to the wliole northern hemisphere. In the Orkneys they are met witii in considerable flocks, from October to April ; frequent in Sweden, Lapland, and Russia ; arc often found about St. Petersburgh, and also in Knmtschatka. Are said to brce; A. minuld, lli. No. 36, ftsmali'.— //((/. Oin. p. S4'.i, .No. 4'>. — Giii. Ny/i. iii., p. 484,485, fuiimle. — Diiaky and Spoltol Vurk, Kuw.vKiis, pi. yj; l.illU iiiown and il'hite Duck; id. pi. 1;')7, I'fiiiule. — La Sitrrelle de la Baije de Hudson, BKisis. vi., p. 4(59, No. 41, i'uinulc. — Tkmm. Man. d'Oin. p. 878. 128 HARLEQUIN DUCK. lays ten white eggs on the grass ; the young are prettily speckled. It is found on the eastern continent as far south as Lake Baikal, and thence to Kamtschatka, particularly up the river Ochotska ; and was also met with at Aoonalashka and Iceland.* At llud-son's Bay it is called the Painted Duck, at Newfoundland and along the coast of New England, the Lord ; it is an active vigorous diver, and often seen in deep water, considerably out at sea. The Ilarlequin Duck, so called from the singularity of its markings, is seventeen inches in length, and twenty-ciglit inches in extent ; the bill is of a moderate length, of a lead color tipped with red, irides dark ; upper part of the head black ; between the eye and bill a broad space of white, extending over the eye, and ending in reddish ; behind the ear a similar spot ; neck black, ending below in a circle of white ; breast deep slate, shoulders or sides of the breast, marked with a semi- circle of white; belly black; sides chestnut; body above black or deep slate, some of the scapulars white ; greater wing coverts tipped with the same ; legs and feet deep ash ; vent and pointed tail black. The female is described as being less, " the forehead, and between the bill and eye, white, with a spot of the same behind, the ear; head, neck, anil buck, brown, palest on the fore part of the neck ; upper part of the breast and rump red brown, lower breast and belly barred palo rufous and white ; behind the thighs rufous and brown ; scapulars and wing coverts rufous brown ; outer greater ones blacki.'^h ; quills and tail dusky, the last inclining to rufous; legs dusky."* The few specimens of this Duck which I liave met with, were all males ; and from the variation in their colors it appears evident that the young birds undergo a considerable change of ])luniage l)efore they arrive at their full colors. In some tiie wiiite spot beiiind tiie eye was large, extending irregularly half way down the neck ; in others confined to a roundish spot. The llesh of this species is snid to be excellent. Latlioiu. Obnos CI. PLOTUS. DARTER. Specibs. p. ANHINGA. DARTER, OR SNAKE-BIRD.* [Plate LXXIV. Fig. 1, Hale.] Plotus anhinga, Linn. Syst. cd. 12, torn, i., p. 218. — Gmel. Syst. i., p. 580, 1. — Ind. Orn. p. 895, 1. Plotus melanogastei; Id. p. 890, var. B,, var. C. — Anhinga Tirasilieni^ibus Tupinamb. Marcohav. Hist. Nat. Bras. p. 218. — L' Avhwga.^niss. VI., p. 47G, — Sai.erne, p. .^75. — Bukf. W.?. viii., p. 448. Anhinga noir de Ca- ymne, I'l. Enl. WO.— White-bellied Darter, Lath. Gen. Syn. iii., p. 622, 1. Black-bellied Darter, Id. p. 024, var. A. pi. 106. Id. p. 62.5, var. B. — Colymbus colubrinus, Snake-bird, Bartrah, p. 132, 295. Head, neck, wliolo body above and below, of a deep shining black, ■with a green gloss, the plumage extremely soft, and agreeable to tho touch ; the commencement of the back is ornamented with small oblong ashy white spots, Avhich pass down the shoulders, in('rca,sing in size according to the size of the feathers, and running down the scapulars ; wings and tail of a shining black, the latter broadly tipped with dirty white ; the lesser coverts are glossed with green, and arc spotted with a.shy white ; the last row of the lesser covert.^, and the coverts of tho secondaries, are chioily ashy white, which forms a large bar acro.ss tho wing ; the outer web of tho large scapulars is crimped ; tail rounded, the two under feathers tho shortest, the two upper feathers, for tho greater pavt of their length, beautifully crimped on their outer webs, the two next feathers in a slight degree so ; bill dusky at the base and above, the upper mandible brownish yellow at the sides, the lower mandible yellow ochre ; inside of the mouth dusky; irides dark crim- son ; the orbit of the eye, next to tho plumage of the head, is of a greenish blue color, this passes round, in the form of a zigzag band, acro.ss the front — the next color is black, which entirely surrounds the eye; eyelids of a bright azure, running into violet next to the eyeball ; K)res greenish blue ; naked skin in front black ; jugular pouch jet black ; hind-head subcresteil; along the sides of the neck there runs a line of loose unwebbed feathers, of a dingy ash color, resembling the pluuuige of callow young, here and there on the upper part of the neck one per- ceives a feather of the same ; on the forehead there is a sniall knob or NaiDod in the plato Black-bellicd Darter. Vol.. III.— 9 (129) 180 SNAKE-BIKD. iA I . protuberance ; the neck, near its centre, takes a singular bend, in order to enable the bird to dart forward its bill, with velocity, when it takes its prey ; legs and feet of a yellowish clay color, the toes, and the hind part of the logs, with a dash of dusky ; claws greatly falcated ; when the wings arc closed, they extend to the centre of the tail. Length from the tip of the bill to the end of the tail two feet ten inches,* breadth three feet ten inches ; bill to the angle of the mouth full four inches ; tail ten inches and a half, composed of twelve broad and stiff feathers. Weigiit three pounds and a half. The scrratures of the bill are extnsmely sharp, so much so, that when one applies tow, or such like substance, to the bird's mouth, it is with difficulty disengaged. The lower mandible and throat, as in the Divers, are capable of great expansion, to facilitate the swallowing of fish, which constitute the food of this species. Tiie position of these birds, when standing, is like that of the Gannets. The above dt'scrij)tion was taken from a fine adult male specimen, which was shot by my fellow-traveller, Mr. T. I'eale, on the first of March, 1818, in a creek below the Cow Ford, situated on the river St. John, in East Florida. We saw some others in the vicinity, but owing to their extreme vigilance and shyness, we could not procure them. From the description of the White-bellied Darter of Latham and others, which is unciuestionably this species, one would be inclined to conjecture, that the bird figured in our plate, as the female, is the young male. IJiit this point it is not in my power to ascertain. The specimens in IVales Museum, from which Wilson took his figures, were labelled male and female. All the Darters which I saw, while in Florida, were males. The Snake-bird is an inhabitant of the Carolinas, Georgia, the Floridas and Louisiana ; and is common in Cayenne and Brazil. It seems to have (Iciivcd its name from the singular form of its head and neck, which, at ii tiistanco, might be mistaken for a serpent. In those coiMitrics where noxious animals abound, we may readily conceive, that the appearance of tins bird, extending its slender neck through the foliage of a tree, would tend to startle the wary traveller, whose innigi- nation haha/us, Yellow-headed Troopial, Si/lvia marltii -xiale Cape May Warbler, Quiscalus major, (ircat Crow IJlackbird, . Quiscalus versicolor, Female Common Crow lilackL'rd, S,'/lvia celuta, Oranfi;e-crowned Warbler, Fringi'la ijravunma, Lark Fiti' '<, Pt/rr hula frontal in, Crinison-riccked Bullfinch, FrimjiUa pmiltria, Arkansas 8iskin, Frincs not write in his own language ; and were his abilities equal to his wis f ' .. species recorded in the following pages are, for the most part, so , , and their history so little known, as to preclude the possibility of making the attempt. To compensate for such disadvantages, the author has throughout endeavored to give accurate descriptions, correct synonymes, and a nomenclature as conformable to nature as possible. He has been equally solicitous to procure the best representations of his birda ; in which he hopes he has succeeded, through the happy pencil of Mr. Titian Peale, who has invariably drawn from the recent bird, and not from the preserved specimen ; this being the principal advantage of works on Natural History, published in tho^ country where the animals figured are found. The want of such opportunities of making drawings, causes the chief defect of various magnificent European works, in which beauty and brilliancy of coloring scarcely compensate for the unnatural stiff- ness, faithfully copied from stuffed skins. With the birds always before him, Mr. Lawson has transferred our drawings to the copper with his usual unrivalled accuracy and ability. This artist, who acquired so much distinction by the engravings in Wilson's work, has become per- fectly master of his art, and so intimately ac(|uaiiitfd with the various parts of a bird, th1lfri of this volume, and is yet with Sylvia vclata apd PREFACE TO VOLS. II. A N l> III. U7 others CHtabli.shi'd by Vioillot, of whose existonoo as distiiu-t .species there can hardly be any rea.sonable doubt. In order more clearly to explain our moaning, it may be proper to enter into the following calculations. In Linnd's la.st edition of hia Syntema Nnturrr. a work profesfiing to contain, like all others, all the then known birds of the United States, which had been chiefly taken from the original sources of Catesliy and Edwards, only one hundred and eighty-three are assigned to Norlii America. It is true that ho was accjuainted with several other Nortii American birds wliieh also inhabit other countries, those common to Europe especially ; but as many of the one hundred and eighty-three are merely nominal, we may allow them to counterbalance those omitted. Of the entire number, one hundred and three are land birds, all which we have verified either as real or nominal, four excepted, of which J'iciiH hirunilhiaci'HS alone (a real species) may have escapetl Wilson and our- Bclves, though we do not believe it. Of the three remaining, two, Jai- niM* canadcnitis nnd Loaia eariaditiniit, are now well known to be South American birds given as North American through mistake; and the third, Sylvia trochihis of Europe, may have been reckoned as American on account of the resemblance between it and the fennile of some American Warbler, probably Si/h'i'a trkht^. Since the time of Linnd however, great attention has been paid to American Ornithology, and very numerous contributioira nniva8 found to be filled with Pokeberries {Phytolacca dccandra, L.). Beyond these particulars we have no positive knowledge of the man- ners of our Flycatcher, though Vioillot has recorded a history of some length, taken from D'Azara ; but the bit I observed by the latter author in Paraguay and Buenos Ayres, though closely allied, appears to bo specifically distinct from the one we are describing. Vieillot has since been convinced of this difference, and, i i the (French) New Dictionary of Natural History, he has separated tho more southern species under the name of Tyrannua violentua. In color that bird strongly resembles our Muicicapa savana, but it is considerably smaller, and has different habits, being gregarious ; whilst the savana, as we have ai.'eady stated, is a solitary bird. Another species, for which ours may be readily mistaken, is the Tyra.inus beUuhts, Vicill., which, however, is much larger, with a still longer tail, differing also by having a large black collar extending to each corner of the eye, margining the white throat ; and the IumuI of the same bluish-gray color wi'^h tho other superior parts of the body ; the remaining under parts being of the same color, with a narrow brown line in tho -.jiuidle of oich feather ; and by having a whitish lino on each side of the head behind the eye, extending to the occiput. The Tyran- nu» uellulm is a native of Brazil. MYIOTEERA OBSOLETA. KOCKY MOUNTAIN ANTCATCHER. [Plate I. Fig. 2.] Troglodytes obsoleta, Say, in Long's Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, vol. ii., p. 4, This bird is one of those beings wVich seem created to puzzle the naturalist, and convince him thp* nature will never conform to his systems, however perfect his ingenuity may be capable of devising them. This will become sufficiently apparent, when we consider in what manner different authors would have arranged it. We cannot positively decide whether Vieillot and his followers would have referred this species to Myrmothera, a name they have substituted for Myiothfra ; to their genus Thryothorus, which wo unite to Troglo- dytes; or to their slender-billed section of Tamnophilus, i ejected by us from that genus, and of which some recent authors have made a gemis called Formicivora ; yet we have very little hesitation in stating our belief, that they would have assigned its place among the species of the latter. According to our classification, it is certainly not a Tamno- philus, as we adopt the genus, agreeably to the characters given by Temminck, who, not admitting the genus Troylodytes, would undoubtedly have arranged this bird with Myiothera, as Illiger would also have done. The only point, therefore, to be established by us, is whether this bird is a Myiothera or a Troylodytes. It is, in fact, a link intermediate to both. After a careful examination of its form, especially the unequal length of the mandibles, the notch of the superior mandible, and the length of the tarsus ; and, after a due consideration of the little that is known relative to its habits, we unhesitatingly place it with Myiothera^ though in consequence of its having the bill more slender, long, and arcuated than that of any other species I have seen, it must occupy the h -t station in the genus, being still more closely allied to Troglo- dytes, tlnui those species whose great affinity to that genus has been ])ointed out by Cuvier. This may be easily ascertained, by comparing the annexed representation with the figures given by Buffon and Tem- minck. Tlie figure which our Rocky Mountain Antcatciier resembles most, is BufTon's PI. Enl. 82;}, fig. 1 [Myiothera lineata). The colors of our bird are also similar to those of a Wren, but this similitude is likewise observed in other Myiothera;. (153) if 154 ROCKY MOUNTAIN ANTCATCIIER. The bird now before us was brought from the Arkansas river, in the neighborhood of the Rocky Mountains, by Major Long's exploring party, and was described by Say unslcr the name of Troglodytes obso- h'ta, from its close resemblance to the Carolina Wren [Troglodytes Ludovicianns), which Wilson considered a Certhia, and Vieillot a Thryothorus. » As the Rocky Mountain Antcatcher is the first and only species hitherto discovered in North America, we shall make some general observations or the peculiarities of a genus thus introduced into the Fauna of the United States. Buffon first formed a distinct group of the Antcatchers under the name of Fourmilicrs, and considered them as dlied to his Breves, now forming the genus Pitta of Vieillot, they having been previously placed in that of Turdus. Lac<^i)5(le adopted that group as a genus, and applied to it the name of Myrmrcophnga. Illiger aildcd such species of the genus Lanius of Liniid and Latham, as are destitute of promi- nent teeth to the bill, and gave to the genus thus constituted the name of 3Iy)otJiera ; rejecting Lac^pSde's designation, as already appro- priated to a genus of Mammalia. Cuvier perceived that some of the Fourniiliers of Buffon were true Thrushes ; but he retained the remainder as Myiothcrcv, among which he' also included the Pittce. Vieillot, besides the Pittce, removed some other species, in order to place them in bis new genera Conopophaga and TamnnphiluK, giving the name of Myrmothcni to the remaining species, with the exception of- the Myiothrra rex, for which he forme(l a distinct genus, with the name of Grallaria. AVe agree with Vieillot, in respect to the latter binl ; but as reganls the other species, we prefer the arrangement of Temminck, who has adopted the genus Myinthera nearly as constituted by Illiger, including some of the slender-billed TamnopJnIi of Vieillot, of which our Myiothera ohsoleta woubl probably be one, as above stated. The genus thus constituted contains numerous species, wbieli inhabit the hottest parts of the globe; a greater number of them existing in South America than elsewhere. For the sake of convenience, several sections may be formeil in this genus, founded on the characters of the bill, tail, and tarsus : but as we liuve only one species, it (b)cs not rest with us to make divisions, and we shall merely remark, that our ohsoleta is referable to the last section consisting of those wiiosc bills are the most slender, elongated, and arcuated, in company with the Ttirdun b'yirafiis of (Jmelin. The Antcateheis may justly be enumerated amongst the benefactors of mankinil, as they dwell in regions where the ants are so numerous, large, ami voracious, that without their agency, co-operating with that of the Myrmecophagii julata, ami a few other ant-eating (|iia(lrupe(ls, ROCKY MOUNTAIN ANTCATCIIER, 1S6 the produce of the soil would inevitably be destroyed in those fertile parts of the globe. The ant-hills of South America are often more than twenty feet in diameter, and many feet in height. These wonder- ful edifices arc thronged with two hundred fold more inhabitants, and are proportionally far more numerous, than the small ones with which we are familiar. Breeding in vast numbers, and multiplying with great celerity and profusion, the increase of these insects would soon enable them to swarm over the greatest extent of country, were not their propagation and diffusion limited by the active exertions of that part of the animal creation, which continually subsist by their destruction. The Antcatchcrs run rapidly on the ground, alighting but seldom on trees, and then on the lowest branches ; they generally associate in small flocks, feed exclusively on insects, and most commonly frequent the large ant-hills before mentioned. Several different species of these birds are often observed to live in perfect harmony on the same mound, which, as it supplies an abundance of fooil for all, removes one of the causes of discord which is most universally operative throughout animated nature* On the same principle we might explain the comparative mild- ness of herbivorous animals, as well as the ferocity anntu8, as the form of its bill is exactly the same with tiiat of the King-bird, the type of the sub-genus. The Swallow-tailed Flycatcher, when in full plumage, is elcvt. inches long. Tiie bill and feet are blackish ; the irides are brown (red ac- cording to authors). The upper part of the head and neck is of a 160 SWALLOW-TAILED FLYCATCHER. light gray ; the back and scapulars are dark cinereous, tinged with reddish-brown ; the rump is of the same color, but strongly tinged with black, and the superior tail coverts are deep black ; the under part of the body is milk-white, the flanks being tinged with red ; the inferior tail coverts are pale rosaceous ; the wings are brownish-black ; the upper coverts and secondaries being margined externally, and at tip, with dull whitish ; the under wing coverts are whitish rosaceous; the axillary feathers, above and beneath, are of a vivid scarlet color. The tail is greatly elongated and excessively forked ; it is of a deep velvet- black color, each feather having the terminal margin of a dull whitish tint, and the shafts white at their bases. The three exterior feathers on each side, are of a delicate pale rosaceous color, on a considerable part of their length from the base. The external one is five inches and a half long ; the second and third gradually decrease in length, but the fourth is disproportionately shorter, and from this feather there is again a gradual decrease to the sixth, which is little more than two^ inches long. The female of the Swallow-tailed Flycatcher is probably very similar to the male ; but the colors of the young bird are much less vivid, and the exterior tail feathers are much shorter than those of the adult. The Swallow-tailed Flycatcher is as audacious as the King-bird, at- tacking with unhesitating intrepidity, and turning the flight of the most powerful of the feathered tribe. Its note consists of a chirping, sound- ing like tsch, tach, much resembling that of the Prairie Dog [Aretomya ludoviciana, Ord), by which it deceived the members of Long's party into a belief that they were approaching one of the villages of this animal. " A note, like that of the Prairie Dog (writes Say), for a moment in- duced the belief that a village of the Marmot was near ; but wo were soon undeceived, by the apj)earance of the beautiful Ti/rannua forficatu8, in full pursuit of a Crow. Not at first view recognising the bird, the fine elongated tail plumes occasionally diverging in a furcate manner, and again closing together, to give direction to the aerial evolutions of the bird, seemed like extraneous processes of dried grass, or twigs of a tree, adventitiously attached to the tail, and influenced by currents of wind. The feathered warrior flew forward to a tree, whence, at our too near approach, he descended to the earth, at a little distance, contin- uing at intervals Lis chirping note. This bird seems to be rather rare in this region ; and, as the very powder within the barrels of our gmi!-- was wet, we were obliged to content ourselves with only a distant view of it." The range of the Swallow-tailed Flycatcher appears to be limited to the trans-Mississippian territories, lying on the south-western frontier ( f ARKANSAS FLYCATCHER. tdi of the United States, more especially frequenting the scanty forests, •which, with many partial, and often total interruptions, extend along the Arkansas, Canadian, and Platte rivers, where, in some districts, they do not seem to bo very uncommon. MUSCICA PA VER TIC A LIS. ARKANSAS FLYCATCHER. [Plate II. Fig. 2.] Tyrannus verlicalis, Say, in Long's Expedition to the Rochj Mountains, ii., p. 60. This bird, brought from the Rocky Mountains by Major Long's ex- ploring party, is so closely allied to many imperfectly described species of the extensive genus to which it belongs, that ornithologists, at first sight, may very reasonably doubt its pretensions to rank as a new species. But, notwithstanding any doubt that may bo produced by its similarity to others, it is certainly an addition to the already numerous catalogue of Flycatchers. The total leiigth of the Arkansas Flycatcher is eight inches. The bill is similar to that of the Crested Flycatcher, but is more rounded above, and more abruptly inflected at tip, being of a blackish color, as well as the feet. The head above, and nucha, are pure pale plumbeous ; the crown has a restricted bright orange spot in the middle, invisible when the feathers are at rest ; there is a dusky spot between the bill and eyes. The cervix and back are pale plumbeous, tinged with oliva- ceous, and deepening on the rump almost to blackish, which is the color of the superior tail coverts. The chin is whitish ; the throat and upper part of the breast are of the same color as the head, but paler ; the remaining under surface, including the inferior wing and tail coverts, is yellow. The wings are brown, the secondaries being margined ex- teriorly with whitish ; the inner webs of the primaries are whitish towards the base, and near the tips they are narrowed ; the first is remarkably so, being almost falciform. The tail is of a deep brown- black color, and very slightly emarginated ; the exterior feather is wbite on the outer web, the shaft being white on the exterior half, and brown on the interior. Say first described and named this bird in the second volume of the work above quoted ; and he remarks that it is allied to the Tyrannus grisetis and Tyrannus sulphuratus of Vieillot. There are many species for whit;h the Arkansas Flycatcher might more readily be mistaken ; Vor. III.— 11 162 SAY'S FLYCATCHER. of tlu'so, we may mention the Crested Flycatclicr [Miiscicapa crinita), fo well described and figured by Wilson in hia second volume ; and par- ticularly the Muitr'u'iipa ferox* of Ginelin, a South American bird, the deneription of wliieh agrees so well with the spcoiea we are now con- sidering, that it might bo equally applied to either. Our bird differs from the two latter by that striking eharaeter, the white exterior web of the outer tail-feather. From the crinita it may, more especially, be known by the spot on the crown, which does not exist in that species: by not having the tail and wing feathers rufous in any part ; and by having the primaries narrowed at tip, while the crinita has them quite large, entire and rounded. On a particular comparison with thn ferox, we shall perceive that the bill of that bird is flattened, broad, and cari- nate, whilst in the verticalis it is almost rounded above. The general color of the latter is, besides, much paler, and the tail is less deeply emargiiiated. The Arkansas Flycatcher appears to inhabit all the region extending west of the Missouri river. The specimen we have been describing is a male, killed in the beginning of July, on the river Platte, a few days' march from the mountains. MUSCICAPA SATA. SAY'S FLYCATCHER. [Plat* II. Fig. 3,] We now introduce into the Fauna of the United States a species which is either a nondescript, or one that has been improperly named ; and I dedicate it to my friend Thomas Say, a naturalist, of whom Ameri^ca may justly be proud, and whose talents and knowledge arc only equalled by his modesty. The specimen now ])efore us is a male, shot by Mr. T. Pcale, on the 17th of July, near the Arkansas river, ftbout twenty niil(\s from the Rocky Mountains. We cannot be perfectly sure tliat this Flycatcher has not heretofore been noticed, since we find in the books, two short and unessential de- ((j;»(i barbala). SAY'S FLYCATCHER. 168 Muicicapa ohncura of Lathain (Duwky Flycatcher of liis Synopsih), from the Siuidwich Irthituls ; hut, hcsidcs the difTcrcticc of the tail feathers, described as acute in that bird, the locality decides against its identity witli ourH. The other description is that of a bird from Cay- enne, the MuHcicapa ohsmira of Vieillot,* given by that author as very distinct from Latham's, although lie has applied the same name to it, no doubt inadvertently. This may possibly be our bird ; but, even in this case, the name we have chosen will necessarily be retained, as that of ohseura attaches to Latham's species by the right of priority. Tills Flycatcher strongly resembles the common Pewee (Musincapa fusca), but differs from that familiar bird by the very remarkable form of the bill ; by the color of the plumage, which verges above on cinna- mon-brown instead of greenish, and beneath is cinereous and rufous instead of yellowish-ochreous; and by the proportional length of the primary feathers, the first being longer than the sixth in our bird, whereas it is shorter in the Pewee. The total length of Say's Fl^-catcher is seven inches. The bill is long, straight, and remarkably fliittened ; the upper mandible is blackish, and but very slightly emarginated ; the lower mandible is much dilated, and pale horn color on the disc. The feet are blackish ; the irides are brown. The general color of the whole upper parts is dull cinna- mon-brown, darker on the head; the plumage at base is of a lead color. The throat and breast are of the same dull cinnamon tint, gradually passing into pale rufous towards the belly, which is entirely of the latter color ; the under wing coverts arc white, slightly tinged with rufous. The primaries are dusky, tinged with cinnamon, and having brown shafts ; they are considerably paler beneath. The first primary is a quarter of an inch shorter than the second, which is nearly as long as the third ; the third is longest ; the fourth and fifth gradually decrease, and the sixth is decidedly shorter than the first. The tail is hardly emarginated, and of a blackish-brown color. We know nothing of the habits of this Flycatcher, except what has been communicated by Mr. T. Peale, from his manuscript notes. The bird had a nest in July, the time when it was obtained ; its voice is somewhat difTorent from that of the Pewee, and first called attention to its nest, which Avas built on a tree, and consisted chiefly of moss and clay, with a few blades of dried grass occasionally interwoven. The young birds were, at that season, just ready to fly. * Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat. xxi., p. 451. I t^iKi , m JiRGULUS CR [STATUS. FEMALE GOLDEN-CROWNED GOLD-CREST.* • [Plato II. 7ig. 4.] Motarilla rfi/ulits, Linv. Syst. I., p. ,'{38, Sp. 48. Gmki.. Syst. i., p. 995, Sp. 48.— Si/lfia regnlus, Lath. liid. p. 548, Sp. 15'2. Temm. ^fan. d'Orn. p. 229. Uan- z.tNi, /'.7('«i. (/i Z«(i/. III., I'lirt v., p. 105, IM. IC), fig. ;}. — Hei)uhtn n-inlalus, Hav, Syn. p. 79, Sp. 9. Ai.dr. 0;»». ii., p. C49. Wii.i,. Oin. p. UV.i, VI 42. Vikii,i-. .A1)Mi'. DM. il'Ilint. Nat. xxix., p. 420. — Jlegulua vulgarin, Stei'HKNS, Cont. of Shaw's }^^ing coverts are dusky, margined "vitk YELLOW-HEADED TROOPIAL. 167 olive-green, and tippel with whitish ; the greater coverts are dusky, the outer ones immaculate, the inner ones have white tips, which form a band on the wings. The inferior wing coverts, and all the under surface of the wings, are more or less whitish-gray ; the primaries arc dusky, with a narrow greenish-yellow outer margin, wider at base, and atten- uated to the tip, where it is obsolete. The secondaries are dusky ; on the outer web they are whitish near the base, then black, then with a greenish-yellow margin extending nearly to the tip ; the margin of the inner web is white ; the secondaries nearest to the body are, moreover, whitish on the terminal margin. The tail is eniarginivted ; the feathers are dusky olive-green on the margin of the outer web ; the inner mar- gins, with the exception of the two middle ones, are whitish. , Until their first moult, the young of both sexes are much like the adult female, excep*^ in being destitute of the yellow spot on the crest, which is greenish-olive. In this state, however, they are not seen here, as thev breed farther to the north, and moult before their arrival in the autumn. ICTERUS JCTEROCF.PHALUS. YELLOW-HEADED TROOPIAL. [Flate III. Fig. 1, Male; 2, Female.] Oriolus Iciei' cephalus, Linn. Si/st. i., p. 1(J,'5, Sp. IG. Gmel. Si/st. i., p. 392, Sp, IG. Lath. Itid p. 1S3, Sp. .32, Male. — Icterus Ictciocephatua, Daudin, Or7i. ii., p. 337, Sp. 9, Miilf. — I'miliiliiiiiii I(:liruccj)liali(.i,\ \Eii.h, Xouv. Dirt, d'llist. Nat, v., p. 317, Male. — Icterus Xanthornus Icterocephalus Cayanensis, Briss. Av.u., p. 124, Sp. 27, PI. 12, fig. 4, Male. — Comix atra; mpite, collo, pectureqve Jlavis, KoELREUTER, Nov. Ctmiiii. Ac. Sc. Pelrop. xi., p. 435, IM. 15, fig. 7, Male. — Let Coiffcs jaunts, Buff. Ois. iii., p. 250, Mule. — Carowje dn Cayenne, Bvrv. PI. Knl. 343, Male. — YMnw-htaded Starliwj, Euhakds, Clean, iii.. p. 241, PI. 323, Male. — Yellow-headed Oriole, Lath. Syn. i.. Part ii., p. 441, Sp. 30, Mule. Al.TlloUtJH this species lias long been known to naturalists as an in- habitant of South America, and its name introduced into all their works, yet they have given us no other information concerning it than that it is black, with a yellow head and neck. It was added to the J'auna of the United States by the expedition of M-Jor Long to the Kocky Mountains. The female has been hitherto entirely unknown, and all the figures yet given of the male being extremely imperfect, from the circumstance of their having been drawn from wretchedly stuffed specimens, we may safely slate, that this sex also is, for tlie first time, represented with a due degree of accuracy in our plate. The figures published by Edwards ^Lt'iSh^i^^^M.iijiM^-,^ i 168 YELLOW-HEADED TROOPIAL. I and Buffon approach the nearest to the real magnitude ; but they arc mere masses of black, surmounted by a yellow cap ; those of Brisson and others, are considerably smaller. As that striking character, the white spot on the wing, is neither in- dicated in the figure nor description of any author, we might have been induced to believe that our species is different from the South American, if a close comparison of the two had not proved their identity. Another circumstance might have been equally deceptive : Brisson, who gave *be first account of this bird, from a Cayenne specimen sent to Rdaumur'a Museum, and who seems to have been copied by ail subsequent authors, states its length to be less than seven inches, a size considerably inferior to that of the living bird. Had this admeasurement been taken from a recent specimen, we could hardly hesitate to believe our bird distinct;; but as he had only a dried skin, and as Buffon 's figure represents a nearer approach to the size of nature, we conchnle that Brisson's esti- mate is not to be implicitly relied upon. Vieillot, who never saw the bird, states the length to be six inches and a half, and refers it to his genua Vnuhilmiis, but it certainly belongs to his genus Ayelaiua. The male Yellow-headed Troopial is ten inches and a half long. The bill is dark horn color, anil formed exactly like that of the Iled-winged Troopial. The feet are black ; the irides dark brown. The whole head, neck, and breast, are brilliant orange-yellow, more vivid and seri- ceous on the head, and terminating in a point on the belly ; the fea- thers around the base of the bill, the chin, and a wide stripe passing from the bill through the eye, are black. The remaining parts, except- ing some feathers of the belly, and some of the under tail coverts, which are yellow at biuse, arc glossy black, very slightly tinged with brownish. Some of the exterior wing coverts are pure white with black tips, con- stituting two very remarkable white spots on the wing, the larger of which is formed by the greater coverts of the primaries, and the smaller one by the middling coverts. The first, second, and tiiird j)rimaries, are longest and equal. The tail is four inches long, slightly roundearate flocks. We adopt the genus Icterus, nearly as it was established by Brisson, and accepted by Daudin and Temminck. Authors have variously esti- mated this genus both in regard to its denomination and limits. One of Wilson's most important nomenclatural errors, consisted in placing one of the sj)ocies under the genus Sturnus, with which it has but little similarity, if we except some of its habits, and particularly its grega- rious disposition. Linnd considered these birds as Orioli, in which he was followetl by Gmelin and Latham, notwithstanding the remarkable difference existing between them and the Oriolus galbula of Europe, the Ivpe of that genus. lUiger, and some other naturalists, considering that bird a Coraciag, aj)propriated the name of Oriolua to our Icterus, and separated from it the largest species, which he called Oassici. Linnd had declared all generic nanu's previously given to arts, diseases, &c., to be inadmissilile in natural history ; llliger, on that principle, altogether rejected the name Icterus, as being preoccupied by a disease. 170 FEMALE CAPE MAY WARBLER. This may account for the introduction of new names for genera, one of which at least ought to have retained its first appellation. Vieillot, however, would have caused less confusion, if ho had adopted the name of Icterus (which, with Saxicola, and all other names of that class, wc do not think objectionable), instead of Agelaiua, Pendulinus, or Yphantes, three of his four genera corresponding to our Icterus. But, if the latter name was considered as utterly inadmissible, we see no reason why he did not accept that of Xanthomas, applied to this genus by Pallas. All the species of Troopial are peculiar to America. We divide them into four sub-genera, the present bird belonging to the second, to which we apply the name of Xanthornus. The species of this sub-genus are peculiarly social in their dispositions, and their associations are not lia- ble to interruption from the influence of love itself. Not only do many individuals of the same family combine and labor in concert, but thev also unite with very difl'orent species. Their aspect is animated, and their movements are quick, bold, and vigorous ; they fly rapidly, at a good height, and are much attached to the places of their birth. Their song is a kind of whistling; they walk with the body nearly erect, with a sliglitly hurried step, and are seen sitting on the ground, or perched on the bra!i.;he3 of trees. They seek no concealment, and never enter the woods, though they are very careful to construct their nests in a safe situation. The Troopials eat no fruits, but derive their subsistence from insects, worms, grains, and small seeds. They leave the temperate climates at the approach of winter, and arc amongst the first birds of passage that return with the spring. SYLVIA MAlilTI.VA* FEMALE CAPE MAY WARBLER. [Plato III. Fig. 3 ] I WAS so fortunate as to obtain this unde.scribed little Warbler in a small wood near liordentown, New Jersey, on tiie fourteenth of May, at wiiicli season oriiithologi.sts would do well to be on the alert to detect the passenger Warblers, whose stay in this vicinity is fre(iuently limited to a very few days. Juil^ing by the analogical rules of our science, this bird is no other than tiie female of Wilson's Cape May Warbler. Its appearance is so different from the male ho described, that the specific identity is not • See Wilson's American Ornithology, ii., p. 209, PI. 54, fig. 3, for tlin Mule. FEMALE CAPE MAY WARBLER. 171 recognised at first sight ; but, by carefully comparing the two specimona, a correspondence in the least variable characters may readily be per- ceived, especially in the remarkable slendcrness of the bill, which dis- tinguishes the Cape May, from all other resembling species of North American Warblers. Wilson has given no information relative to the history and habits of this species, having never procured more than a male specimen ; and we have ecjually to regret, that, having obtained but a single female, we are unable to supply the deficiency, even in regard to its song. The female Cape May Warbler is four inches and three quarters long, and more ihan eight in extent. The bill is slender, delicate, and slightly curved, being black, as well as the feet. The irides are dark brown ; the upper part of the head olive-cinereous, each feather having a small blackish spot on the middle. A yellow line extends from the bill over the eye, and is prolonged in an obsolete trace around the auditory region, thence returning to the corner of the mouth. A blackish line passes through the eye which is circumscribed by a whitish circle ; the cheeks are dull cinereous, with very small pale spots; the upper parts of the neck and of the body are olive-Cinereous, tinged with more cinereous on the neck, and with yellow-olive on the rump. The chin is whitish ; the throat, breast, and flanks are whitish, slightly tinged with yellowish, each feather having a blackish spot on the middle ; the belly is immaculate ; the vent and inferior tail coverts are shaded in the middle of each feather with dusky. The smaller wing coverts are dull olive-green, blackish in the centre ; the middling wing coverts are black, margined exteriorly, and tipped with pure white ; the greater wing coverts are blackish, margined with olive-white ; the primaries are dusky, finely edged with bright olive-green on the exterior web, obsolete on that of the first primary, which is of the same length as the fourth; the f-'econd and third are longest, and but little longer than the fourth. The tail is slightly emarginated, the feathers being dusky, edged with bright olive-green on the exterior side, and with white on the interior ; the two or three exterior feathers on each side have a pure white spot on their inner webs near the tip. The female Cape May Warbler may be very easily mistaken for an imperfect Sylvia coronata, of which four or five nominal species have already been made. The striking resemblance it bears to the young, and to the autumnal condition of the plumage in that species, requires a few comparative observations to prevent their being confounded together. The present bird is smaller than the coronata, with a more slender, aTid rather more elongated bill ; it is altogether destitute of the yellow spot on the head, as well as of the yellow on the rump, which is a 172 GREAT CROW BLACKBIRD. striking character of the coronata in all its states, and gives rise to tha English name adopted by Wilson. The color of the outer edging of the wing and tail feathers is a very good distinctive mark ; in the maritima it is olive-green, whilst in the coronata it is white. The white spot on the inner webs of the exterior tail feathers, is also four times larger in the coronata, than in the maritima. ! 1 H QUI SC ALUS MAJOR. GREAT CROW BLACKBIRD. [FUt« IV. Fig. 1, Male; 8, Female.] Quiscalus tnq/or, Vieill. Nouv. Diet. d'Hisl. Nat. xxviii., p. 487. — Gracula quiS' cala, Ori), Journ. Acad. Nat. Sc. Philad. i., p. Ili'i. — Gracula harita, Wilson, Am. Orn. vi., Index p. viii. — Gracula quiscala, the Purple Jackdaw of the sea- coast, Bartram, Travels, p. 200. — Corcus mexicanus? (ijiEi,. .9i/.v<. i., p. ,375, Sp. 42. Lath. Ind. p. 164, Sp, 36, Male. — Corvus zanoef (Jmei,. Syst. i., p._875, Sp. 44. Lath. Ind. p. 164, Sp. .37, Female. — Pica mexicaiia majvr? Barss. Ai\ ii., p. 43, Sp. 4, male. — Pica mexicana minor? Brkss. Ac. ii., p. 44, Sp. 5, Feiiiiile — L'llocizanaf Buff. Ois. iii., p. 103, Male. — Le Xanodf Buff. Ois. in., p. 106, female. — Mexican Crow f Lath. S!iju. i., p. 396, Sp. 34, Mule. — Lester Mexican Crow? Lath. Syn. I., p. 3'J7, .Sp. 30, Feniule — llocitzanatl, scu magnus Hinrmisf IIkrnand. llist. An. Nov. lli.tp. p. 21, Male. — Tzanahoeif Hf.rnand. Hist. An. Nov. Ilinp. p. 22, Female. — lloitzanatl? Hay, .Syu. Av. p. 162, Male. — Tzanahoei, seu Pica mexicana Ilernandezii f Ray, Syn. Av. p. 162, Female. No part of natural history has been more confu.ocd than that relating to North and South American birds of black pluniago ; which is by no means surpri.'rhboring marshes on the main land, where they feed at low water, on the oyster beds anil sand flats. The chuck of our species is shriller than that of the Common Crow 1ft GREAT CROW BLACKBIRD. !*^' Blackbird, and it has other noto8 which rosctnblo the noise made by a watchman's rattle ; their song is only heard in the spring, and though the concert they make is somewhat melancholy, it is not altogether dis- agreeable. Their nests arc built in company, on reeds and bushes, in the neighborliood of marshes and ponds : they lay about five eggs, which are whitish, spotted with dark-brown, as represented in the plate. Mr. Ord mentions in his piipcr, that the first specimens he saw of this bird, were obtained on the 22d of January at Os.sabaw Island, whon buf a few mules were seen scattered over the cotton plantations. Advanc- ing towards the south, they became more numerous ; and in the early part of February, the males, unaccompanied by females, were common near the mouth of the river San Juan, in Florida. A few days after, thf females aj)peared, and associated by themselves on the borders of f'.esh-water ponds; they were very gentle, and allowed themselves to bo approached within a few feet, without becoming alarmed. Flocks com- posed (if l)()th sexes were seen about the middle of March About tiie latter end of November, they leave ever ibc warm region of Florida, to seek winter quarters farther south, , lubably in the West Indies. Previous to their depart n' •, they assemble in very large flocks, and detni'hinents are seen evei irning moving southward, flying at a great height. The males appeur to migrate later tiian tlie females, as not more than one female (easily distinguishable even in the higher regions of the air by its much smaller size) is observed for a hundred males, in the last flocks. The Great Crow Blackbird is also very numerous in the West Indies, Mexico and Louisiana ; but it does not frequent the Northern, or even the Middle States, like the Common Crow Blackbird. Our opinion that the (.'orvus mexieanus of authors is tlie male of this species, und their Corvus zanoe the female, is corroborated by the male and fem;ilc Great Crow Blackbird being seen in separate flocks. ■'i. QUISCALUS VERSICOLOR* FEMALE COMMON CROW BLACKBIRD. [Plate V. Fig. 1,] ' Qttiscaluii venirnfur, Virit.i., Kouv. Dirt, d' lli.il. A'a/. xxriii.. p. 488.— Nonis. Obs, Kom. H'i7«. Orit. Jnnrn. Aiad. Nat. ,SV. J'hilad. in., p. 'M'tb.— Gracttla quiaiala, Linn. Si/sl. i., p. ItW, Sp. 7. Gmri,. Si/nt. i., p. 397, Sp. 7. Lath. Ind. p. 191, Sp. l.— Cnmiln haril/i, Omei,, Si/sI. i., p. ,W>, Sp. 4. Lath. Ind. p. 191, Sp. C. Okd, Journ. Aaid. Nat. Sc. Philad. i., p. 254 (not of L\nH.).— Oriolus liidovi- lianits, (jmel. Sysl. I., p. 387, Sp. 31 (pied \anoly).— Onotua leucncephalus, Latu. hid. p. 175, Sp. 4 {pied variety).— 7Vca^a7Hrti( annexed plate, is a remarkably fine one, in the most perf'.'ct state nibled to breeil at one of the identical Fish-Hawks nests, in the interstices of which Wilson mentions having seen them buihling. One of their nests contained three eggs, and the species had not ceu:"d to lav. These liirds, as we have had occasion personally to observe, like most of the feathered tribes, are subject to become either wholly or partially albinos. From this circumstance, numerous errors have been introduced in the pnges of ornithological works. STLVfA CELATA. ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER. [Plate V. Fig. a.] ^jlvia cdata, Sav, in ling's Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, I., p. 169. Thir little bird, discovered early in May, at Engineer Cantonment, on the Missouri river, was first described and nainod by Say ; the species was not uncommon at that season, and appeared to bo on its passage further north. It is more pavticularly interesting, inasmuch as it enriches the Fauna of the United States with another species of the •'mall sub-genus Dacrm, which may bo ascertained by inspecting the bill, represented in the annexed plate. The Orange-crowned Warbler is full five inches long, and seven in extent. The bill is dark horn color, slender, straight, entire, and taper- ing to an acute point ; the base of the inferior mandible is wiiitish beneath ; the legs are dusky ; the irides dark brown. The general plumage above is dull greenish-olive, the rump and tail coverts being bright yellowish-olive. The head is very slightly and inconspicuously crested ; the feathers of the crest are orange at base, constituting a spot on the crown, visible only when they are elevated, being tipped with the common color. The whole bird beneath is dull olive-yellow ; the inferior tail coverts are pure yellow. The wings are destitute of spots or bands ; the primaries are dark brown, olive-green on the exterior margin, which is much paler on the outer ones ; the interior margin is whitish; the four outer primaries are sub-equal ; the fifth is but very little shorter. The tail is even, the feathers being dark brown, edged with olive-green on the outer, and with white on the inner web. The Orange-crowned Warbler resembles several species of indigenous and foreign Warblers ; and the females of others, such as that of the Si/lvia triehaii, may also be mistaken for it; but it may be distinguished from each of them respectively by particular characters, which it is not necessary to detail, as the concealed orange spot of the crown is a pecu- liarity not possessed by either of the allied species. The Nashville Warbler {^Sylvia nihrkapiila) of Wilson, seems to be more closely related to the Orange-crowned Warbler than any other. That bird, also, is evidently a Dacnis, and scarcely differs from our species, except in the white belly, the light ash color of the head and neck, and the deep chestnut color disposed in small touches on the crown, instead of an uniform orange color. (179) tv^ % 180 LARK FINCH. The figure given in our plate is that of a male ; and the only differ- ence observable between the sexes is, that the rump of the male ia of a brighter color, approaching, in old birds, to a pure yellow. During winter, the Orange-crowned Warbler ia one of the most com- mon birdi -1 the neighborhood of St. Augustine, Florida, almost exclu- sively frequenting the orange trees. Their manners resemble those of the kindred species, though they have a remarkable habit of constantly inflecting the tail, like the Pewee. The note consists of a chuck, and a faint squeak, but little louder than that of a mouse. FRINOILLA GRAMMACA. LARK FINCH. [Plate V. Fig. 3 ] F/in(/illa grammaca, Sat, in Long's Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, i., p. 139. FoK this very interesting new species, Ornithology is again indebted to Long's expedition, and particularly to Say, who gave it the name wo have adopted, and informs us, in his notes, that many of these birds were shot in the month of June, at Bellefontaine, on the Missouri ; and oth'^rs were observed, the following spring, at Engineer Cantonment, near Council Bluffs. It seems probable that the range of this bird ia limited, in a great measure, by the Mississippi on the east. Like the Larks, they frequent the prairies, and very seldom, if ever, alight on trees ; they sing sweetly, and often continue their notes while on the wing. The Lark Finch is six inches and a half long ; its bill, a little notched at tip, ii. of a pale horn color, with a sliglit elevation on the roof of the upr, -r niandibie. The feet are pale flax color, tingeitant of this contiuent, when it is a well known fact, that many authors ^peak of it us an American liird. This apparent contradiction may bo readily rt-moved, by considerinj; wiiat bird tlmse outhors alluded to, uhoi they elated the tryihrina to be a native of iVorth America. When Latham cxprcBsed u i 182 CRIMSON-NECKED BULLFINCH. may be mistaken for the Crimson-ncckctl Bullfinch ; two of these, belong ing to the genus Pyrrhala, present so much analogy with the present species, judging from their descriptions, that wo doubted the correct- ness of giving the latter a separate place, considering it identical with Pyrrhula vrythrina of Temminck, whose description agrees better with it th»ii that of any other. Yet, in addition to some differences discov- erable by comparing the Crimson-necked Bullfinch with his description, w«» cannot admit, that un arctic bird of the old continent, known to visit even the more northern portion of the temperate climates only during very cold winters, and then not very regularly, should be found, in the month of July, on the sultry plains of the Arkansas, and of course breeding there. We therefore conclude that our bird is not the ery- thrina, although we regret our inability to give differential characters, having never seen that species, as our endeavors to obtain a specimen have not been attended with success. The southern residence of our bird might lead us to suppose it the Loxia (I'yrr/tula) violacea, which wc have not seen, neither do we think the species well established. But, if \vc are to rely 1*11 the short description given of it, and on Catesby's figure, we cannot perceive much resemblance between them ; their iden- tity, however, would not much surprise us, when we consider that Cates- by's figure of the Pyrrhula violacea is as much like our bird, as hia figure of the Purple Finch is like what it is intended to represent. Having the authority of Say, we consider it as new, notwithstanding these doubt)*. The Crimson-n#eked Bullfinch was procured by Long's party, near the Rocky Mountains, and Say described it in the journal nf that expe- dition, under the name of FrimjWa frontalis, adopting that genus in the comprehensive limits assigned by llliger and Cuvier. Tlie sj»ecific name given by Say is preoccupied in that genus hy an African species; but, as we consider our bird a Pyrrhula, we think proper to retain his naine. The Crimson-necked Bullfinch is five inclu-s ami a half long. The bill and feet are horn color ; the lower mandible is paler ; the irides are dark brown. The heail, neck beneath, and superior portion of the breast, are brilliant crimson, most intense near the bill and over the eye; the space between the bill and the eyes is cinereous-gray, as well as the cheeks, and the small feathers immediately around the bill ; the doiilit in tiix SvnopHJB, whether the hirds in tlio neighborhood of New York, so much rcm.'iiiljlini! the eiylhriiM, Hero not H|iei'ilit'all)' the .Mtni<', ho iillmieii to the J-'iiiii/illii purfiuiia: (iiiielin, un uxiiiil, in IiIh niiHeruMu eoiii|iilution, ihHerted tliJH doiiht of Lntliuni ux a certuinty. An tu the CriniHunheudeti Finch of I'onnunt, it Ik evidently tho purpurtii, thuH excusing, in part, the ntran^^e UMMertion of WilHon. I.utliiim, aImu. eoiiuiiitted an error in Imh Indi'X, \iy |iliiein^ tlie Lmiii rri/lhiiim of I'lilhisand tiuiulin, liitt uwn CriiuKun-huuded Finch, ua a vuriuty of t'riHgiUa ruttu. CRIMSON-NECKED BULLFINCH. 183 crimson feathers are brown at base, being red only at tip. The occiput, and the neck above and on each side, are brown, with a reddish cast, the feathers being margined with pale ; the back is dusky-brownish ; the rump and superior tail coverts are crimson, but less vivid than that of the head ; the inferior portion of the breast, the belly, and vent, are whitish, each feather having a broad fuscous line ; the general plumage is lead color at base. The wings are blackish-brown, the primaries being broadly margined within, towards the base, with whitish, and exteriorly edged with grayish ; the coverts and secondaries are edged with dull grayish. The tail is blackish-brown, hardly emarginated ; the lateral feathers are edged, on the inner side, with whitish. Such is the description of ouv male specimen ; but as it was procured when summer was far advanced, a season in which the plumage begins to failc, it is proper to observe, that the coloring of this bird is probably much more brilliant in its full spring dress, the crimson extending much further down on the back, &c. . As the season advances, the tips of the feathers, which are the only parts of a crimson color, being gradually worn off, the bird as gradually loses its brilliancy, and, in the autumnal and winter plumage, exhibits the humble appearance of the female. The female is altogether destitute of the brilliant color, being dusky- brown above, the feathers margined on each side with dull whitish ; the whole inferior surface is whitish, each feather having a brown longitudi- nal line in the middle, obsolete on the vent, which is almost pure white. A change similar to that above mentioned, takes place in the Purple Finch, whose habits also much resemble those of the Crimson-necked liullfinc'h ; but the form of its bill is certainly that of a Finch, and will always distinguish it irom the species we are describing, the bill of which is unequivocally of the liullfinch form. The different tints of red adorning these birds, will also at once strike the eye of the least expert in discriminating species ; in the present bird the tint is vivid crimson, whilst in the Purple Finch it is rosaceous. In addition to these characters, the latter is a somewhat larger bird, with a pure white belly and inferior tail coverts, and a deeply emarginated tail ; whilst the former has a nearly even tail, and its belly and inferior tail coverts are striped with dusky. Some persons, without •' .ay think it highly improper to sepa- rate generieally two birds, .-«.. v,.osely allied as the present species and the Purple Fincii, which may be mistaken for the same species ; but we may remark, that they stand at the extreme limit of their respective genera, and form the links of union between PifrrhuJa an<. The greater number of the species moult twice a year ; the sexes differ considerably in appearance. They reside in cold and tem- perate climates, with the exception of a few species, that inhabit Africa and South America. The Crimson-necked Bullfinch is found in the district of country extending along the base of the Rocky Mountains, near the Arkansas river, and has not been observed elsewhere. In the month of July, when our specimens were obtained, these birds occur in small scattered flocks, keeping mostly on the tops of the cotton-wood trees, on whoso buds they partially feed. Their voice considerably rescmbleii that of their relative, the Fringilla purpurea. \ FRINGILLA PSALTRIA. ARKANSAS SISKIIS. [Plate VI. Fig. 3,] Fringilla psaltria, Say, tn Long's Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, ii., p. 10. " A VERY pretty little bird," writes Say, in his precious zoological notes to the journal of Long's expedition, " was fre(iucntly seen hop- ping about in the low trees or bushes, singing sweetly, somewhat in the manner of 'he American GoldBnch, or Hempbird, Fringilla triatis. The tints, and the distribution of the colors of its plumage, resemble, in a considerable degree, those of the autumnal and less brilliant vesture of that well known species. It may, however, be distinguished, in addition to other differences, by the black tip of its tail feathers, and the white wing spot." The Arkansas Siskin inhabits the country near the base of the Rocky Mountains, south of the river Platte, and probably is also to be found in Mexico. Tiie only specimen brought by the party, was shot on the sixteenth of July, near Boiling Spring creek : on the annexed plate, it is figured in company with the American Goldfinch in autumnal plum- age, for the sake of comparison. The Arkansas Siskin is four inches and a quarter long ; the bill is yellowish, tip' ^•d with blackish ; the loet are flesh color ; the irides Imrnt-uuiber. The top of the head is blue-black ; the cheeks are dusky- olivaceous ; the neck altove and half its side, the back, and rump, are olivaceous, more verts ; ttic first four primaries are nearly ecjual in length, the fifth is a quarter of an inch shorter ; the secondaries arc broadly margined with white exteriorly, towards their lips. The tail is slightly emarginatcd, the feathers being blackish, sliglitly edged with dull whitish ; the three exterior ones arc widely pure white on the middle of their inner webs. Tlie specimen we have just described is a male, cvsdently in perfect (185) 186 ARKANSAS SISKIN. plumage ; the female, and state of imperfect plumage, arc unknown ; but, without risking any great deviation from the truth, we may state, from analogy, that the young resemble the female, which must be desti- tute of the black cap, and have the colors less vivid and loss pure. The Arkansas Siskin certainly resembles the American (Joldfinch in its winter dress ; but a still more striking similarity exists in some other birds, such as the European Siskin {Frmgilla spinus), and the Olivarcz [Fringilla mac/ellanica, Vioill.) of South America; and it is .so similar to the European, that it might with a much greater degree of propriety be considered as a variety, than those regarded us such by authors. They can, however, be easily distinguished by the following comparative characters : all the under parts of the Arkansas Siskin are bright yellow, whilst the corresponding parts of the European Siskin are tinged with greenish, the throat being black, and the belly, vent, and flanks whitish, spotteil longitudinally with black ; the margins and spots of the wing and tail feathers are white in our bird, and yellow in the European Si.skin ; the white spots on the tail of the Arkansas Siskin are confined to the three outer feathers, whilst in the foreign bird all the foathors, excepting the two middle ones, are marked with yellow ; the bill of our species is also a little shorter, less compressed, and less acuminated ; finally, we may notice another trifling diff'erence, which consists in the proportional length of the primaries, the four first being nearly equal in the American bird, and the three first only in the European, the fourth being almost a quarter of an inch shorter. The other approxi- mate species, Fringilla magellanica, Vieill., considered by Gmelin and Latham as a variety of the European Siskin, is readily distinguishable by having the head entirely block. Though the Mexican Siskin {^Frinyilla mexicana, Gmel.) may prove to be the female of our bird, or the male in an imperfect state of plum- age (and, from tlie locality, we should possibly have referred it to that nanto, had the classification of it fallen to our lot), yet, as nothing posi- tive can be drawn from so unessential an indication as that of the Mexican Siskin, we have no hesitation in following the same course with Si^^x, *ho considers it as entirely new, and have retained his elegant name of Frinyilla psaltria. It is very possible that not only the Frin- gilla merieana, but also the lilack Mexican Siskin {Fringilla eatotol, Gmel.) may be the same bird as our Fringilla psaltria ; but how can we determine, from the vague descriptions that have been given of those •IH'cies? they are equally applicable to the American Goldfinch in its dull stale of plumage; and Wilson expresses a doubt whether or not the Black Mexican Siskin is the same as his new species, Fringilla pinus. All these pretty little liirds belong to the sub-genus Oardiwlis, having a more slender, acute, and cloiigiiteil bill, timn other Fringilla. FRINGILLA TRISTIS. FEMALE AMERICAN GOLDFINCH.* [Plate VI. Fig. 4.] Fringilla Irialis, Linn. Si/sL i., p. 320, Sp. 12, Male.— Omei-. Si/st. i., p. 907, Sp. 12. Lath. Ind. p. 452, Sp. 64. Vieii.l. Kouv. Did. d'llisl. Nat. xii., p. 167.— Fringilla npiiius, viir. y Gmei-. Si/st. i., p. 914, Sp. 2.'), Mule, in winter plumage. — Cardudis Amervana, Bri.ss. Aj. hi., p. 04, Sp. 'i.—Curduelia Americunun, the American Gtddfinch, Catesuy, Carolina, I., p. 43, pi. 43, Male in spring dresa. Bartr. Trav. p. 291. — Chardonnaet janm; Buff. Oia. iv., p. '2\'l—CliardoHneret du Canada, Buff. I'l. Enl. 202, fig. 2, Male, in spring dress.— Tarin de la Nou- velle York, BufF. Ois. iv., p. 2;il. I'l. Knl. 292, fig. 1, Male changing; fig. 2, Male in winter dress.— Go/den Finch, Penn. Aral. Zuol. Sp. 2\2.—Amc}-ican Gold- finch, Edwards, Glean, ii., p. 133, pi. 274, Male ar.d Female.— Lath. Sijn. ii., Part I., p. 2.S.S, Sp, 57. Id. 1st Suppl. p. Idd.—iiiskih, var. B., Latu. Syn, ii., Part I., p. 291, Sp. 5S, Male changing. Wk have been induced by the analogy existing between the preceding new species and this common bird, to figure them as companions on the same plate, that they may be immediately and readily compared. To give the present figure more interest, we have chosen the female, though we might with eijual ])ropriety have selected the male in winter plumage, as the latter dift'ors but slightly from its mate during that season. The very great dissimilarity between the sexes in their spring dress, will justify the reappearance of a bird already given by Wilson, more espe- cially as it ha.s, in this state, been mistaken for a distinct species, and most unaccountably arranged in the systems as a variety of the Euro- pean Siskin. The history of this bird, which so completely resembles the Goldfinch of Europe in song and habits, being nearly completed by the golden pen of Wilson, wo shall not attempt to add any observations of our own, but shall refer the reader to his volume, quoted above, for its biography. As we cannot but observe that his description is short and somewhat imperfect, pr.)bably owing to the opinion he at first entertained, but afterwards judiciously relinquished, that a minute description of common birds is superfluous, wo shall proceed to describe the species in all its different states. The male American Goldfinch in summer dress, represented by Wilson in his first plate, is four and a half inches long, and eight in extent. The bill resembles that of the European Goldfinch, and, as well as the * See Wilaon'8 American Ornithology, u., p. 99, pi. 1, fig. 2, for the male, and history. (187) I m FEMALE AMERICAN GOLDFINCH. feK|i: ^r feet, is of a reddish-cinnamon color ; the irides arc dark brown. The front and vertex are glossy black ; the remiiining part of the head, and all the body, rich lemon-yellow ; the superior and inferior tail coverts nro white, as well as the thighs. The wings and tail are black, the small coverts of the wings being yellow externally, and wliUe on the inner side and at tip ; the greater coverts are tipped with white, an arrangement which exhibits two white bands across the wings ; the first and third primaries are equal, hardly shorter than the second, which is the longest, the fourtii being nearly as long as the third ; the secondaries are margined with white. The tail is emarginated, the feathers being black, slightly edged with white, and having a large pure white spot on the inner web at tip. The female, as is usual in this family of birds, is rather smaller than the male, and is widely different from that sex in the colors of its plumage. The bill and feet a. brownish ; the lower mandible is whitish at base : the head has no appearance of black, and, with the neck, the back, and rump, is brownish-olive, the latter part being of a lighter shade than the preceding portions ; the upper tail coverts are greenish- white. The frontlet, clieeks, sides of the neck, throat, and upper part of the breast, arc pale greenish-yellow ; the lower portion of the breast, belly, vent, flanks, under wing and under tail coverts, are whitish. The wings and tail, which always afford the most constant specific characters, are like those of the male, except that the black color is less intense, and the white is less pure, being slightly tinged with rufous. In this state of plumage, the bird closely resembles the Fringilla eitrinella of the south of i)urope, which however can always be distin- guished from it by several characters, but more j)articularly by its greenish-yellow rump, and by being destitute of tiic whitish sjiot at the tip of the inner web of the tail feathers. The young are so like the females as to be distinguished with difficulty ; their colors, however, are still less lively ; tiiej assume the adult livery in the spring, but do not exhibit all the brilliancy of the perfect bird until the third moult. The American Goldfinch moults tAvice a year, in the seasons of spring and autumn. At the spring moult the males obtain their vivid coloring, which is lost at the autunuiiil change, and replaced by a more humble dress, similar to that of the fennile, IVuui which sex they cannot ttien be readily distinguished. The black of the wings is, however, somewhat more intense ; the white of the wings and of the tail is dull and dirty, and a yellowish tint prevails around the eyes, as well as on the neek. From this statement it follows, that Wilson's figure represents the adult male in that brilliant dress in which it appears for the space of four or five months only ; whilst the figure in the annexed plate exhibits the invariable colors of the female and young, as well as the appearance of the male for the remaining seven months in the year. LAZULI FINCH. 189 As the season advances, the plumage of the adult male gradually changes, but not simultaneously in the different individuals, so that in the spring and autumn we rarely find two that are alike ; some being more or less yellow, having a rudiment of black on the head, &c., accord- ing as the moulting process is more or less advanced. A remarkable variety is exhibited in a changing male, which I shot near Philadelphia, in the month of April, and which is therefore con- siderably advanced towards perfect plumage. All the primaries are pure white on the outer web towards the base, thus constituting, in the most obvious manner, that white spot beyond the wing coverts, assigned by Say as a good discriminating mark between this species and the pre- ceding. The fact we have related diminishes the value of this char- acter, which is nevertheless a very good one ; but as many other distinctions are observable, we need not rely exclusively upon it. The deviation we have here mentioned is the more remarkable, as the greater number of species allied to this bird have that spot either white or yellow. Since writing the above, I obtained, from one of the large flocks in which these birds congregate in the autumn, several specimens of both sexes, more or less distinguished by the marking above stated as pecu- liar to the variety. FRINGILLA AMCENA. LAZULI FINCH. [Plate VI. rig. 6.1 Emberiza amana, Say, in Long's Expedition to the liocky Mountains, ii., p. 47. The genus Emheriza, though very natural, and distinguished by well marked cliaracters, has, notwithstanding those advantages, been often misunderstood ; and authors, without consulting the boundaries assigned to it by themselves, liave recorded a copious list of species, whilst in nature its limits are much restricted. We are not therefore surprised, that so acute a zoologist as Say should have arranged his bird in that genus, particularly as it is more closely allied to f-!>iif>,rizn than many of those, not only of Wilson, but even of Linnd and Latham. This bird, which we have no hesitation in pronouncing one of the most beautiful of its tribe, would be placed by N'ioillot in his genus Passerina, but according to my classification it belongs to the genua Fringilla, and to that American subgenus lately established in my " Observations on the Nomenclature of Wilson's Ornithology," under LAZULIFINCII. the name of Spiza. As a species, it is more intimately allied to Frin- gilla ciris and n/anea,* which I stated in that paper to differ so much from their congeners, particularly in the greater curvature of the upper mandi- ble, as to deserve, perhaps, a separation into a small sub-genus by thccn- selves : this would unite Fringilla to Tanagra, as Sptza, on the other hand, shows its transition to Emberiza. ' • The Lazuli Finch is five inches and three-quarters long. The bill is formed like that of the Indigo-bird [Friugilla cyanea, Wiis.), but is einarginated near the tip, being horn color, as well as the feet ; the irides are dark brown. The whole head and neck arc brilliant vordi- grise-bluo; the back is brownish-black, intermixed with blue, and a little ferruginous-brown ; the rump is pure verdigrise-bluo : the sup( rior portion of the breast is pale ferruginous ; the lower part of the breast, the belly, and inferior tail coverts, arc white. The smaller wing coverts are blue ; the middling coverts are blackish at base, and broadly tipped with white, forming a wide band across the w ing ; the greater wing coverts are biackisii, obscurely margined with blue, and slightly tipped with white on the exterior web, constituting a second band across the wings paralk'l to the first, but much narrower ; the primaries and se- condaries arc blackish, obscurely margined with blue on the outer web; the under wing coverts are whitisli, a little intermixed with blue. The tail is slightly emarginated, the feathers being blackish, edged with blue on the outer web, and with white on the inner web at tip. The above descrijition of this hand.'^oine bird is taken from a male in summer plumage, the only specimen brought by Long's exploring party ; hence wo are unable to give any positive information relative to the fomalc and young, though from analogy we must believe thcni in great part destitute of the blue color, and otherwise less brilliantly au icd. This species appears to be rather rare ; it is found along the Arkan- sas river, near the ba.se of the Rocky Mountains, during the summer months ; they frecjuent the bushv valleys, keeping much in the grass, and seldom alight on shrubs or trees. In this respect, also, they resem- ble the Indigo-bird, and probably their habits are the same, although the note is entirely dissimilar. * Its relation to Frimjilla cyanea, considered as an Emberiza, probably induced Say to place it under that genus. f •' _r, i niRUNDO FULVA. FULVOUS OR CUFF SWALLOW. ' ■■■ -Xi - ^ ' ^ . '. [Plate vn. Fig. 1.] llirundo fulva, VifiLi,. Oh. del' Am. Sept. I., p. 62, PI. 32. Stephens, Conl. of Shaw's ZdoI. x., Part i., p. 120. Dkwitt Tlinton, Ann. Lyceum Nat. Hist. N. Y. I., p. I'XV — llirundo luni/roiUf Sav, tft Long's Exjpedition to tht Hochj Moun- tains, 11., p. 47. With the exception of a very imperfect description, little was known relative to this interesting bird, anterior to Long's expedition to the Kooky Mountains. One of the notes annexed to the account of that journey contains an excellent description of this Swallow, with a notice of its liabits, and remarkable manner of building. Mr. Do Witt Clinton has recently published a paper on the same subject, accompanied by some ob.servati()n8 from Mr. Audubon. Combining what these gentle- m(!n have made known with the information previously givei, by Vieillot and Say, we can present a tolerably complete history of the Cliff Swallow. Some doubts having been entertained whether the Hirundo lumfrons of the Rocky Mountains be the same species as the Hirundo fulva of the western part of New York, I was desirous of deciding the question by comparing the pecimeris ; this I accompli.shed, through the polite- ness of i'r. Dokay of Now York, who, with the kindness and liberality distinctii >f those who cultivate science for its own sake, sent me the specimen . d nest defxisited by Mr. Clinton in the cabinet of the Lyceum. 'J iius being possessed of the individuals in question, we are enabled to phice th»'ir specific identity 'cyond the reach of future uncertainty. That Say considered his Hirundo lunifrons as a new bird, is entirely attributa le to the incorrectness of Vioillot's figure, which is one of those betiiT suited to mislead than to assist tho naturalist in his re- searches. The most striking characteristic of the Hirundo fulva is its even tail ; yet Vieillot has represented this part as forked. We are therefore not surprised that our learned zooloirist, who had no opportu- nity of consulting the colored plate, should not have even thought of "omparing his bird with that of Vieillot, who probably figured it with a 'orked tail merely because it was a Swallow. The characters of the !liff Swallow are so r'markable, and its manner of building is Sd "cu- iiar, that, when these -ire accurately delineated, it cannot be misi,w,en for any other species. (191) IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // it. 1.0 I.I 1.25 bi 128 ^ aim 1.4 12,2 M 1.6 V. <^ /a e. e/,. % '> > "9 ^'J Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY 14580 (716) 872-4503 ^ -b s^ V ^v N> ^ 6^ .^"^ % ^^ rt7 o WssS. ^ / ^ w o 192 FULVOUS OR CLIFF SWALLOW. I ! The Cliff Swallow is five and a half inches long. The bill is black, and the feet dusky ; the irides are dark brown. A narrow black line extends over the bill to each eye ; the front is pale rufous, and the re- maining part of the crown black-violaceous ; the chin, throat, and cheeks are dark ferruginous, extending in a narrow band on the hind head ; the upper part of the body is black, glossed with violaceous ; the inferior part of the rump, and some of the tail coverts, are pale ferru- ginous ; the breast is of a pale rufous-ash color, and the remaining under parts are whitish, tinged with brownish-ferruginoup The wings and tail are blackish, the small wing coverts being glos^ with viola- ceous; the inferior w.'ng coverts are ashy-brown: the tail is net ly entire, somewhat shorter than the tips of the wings ; the exterior tail feather is slightly edged with whitish on the inner vane : the wing and tail feathers have their shafts black above, and white beneath. This description is taken from our finest male, which is also repre sented in the plate ; no difference exists between the sexes, and the young, even during early age, can scarcely be distinguished from the parents, except by having the front white instead of rufous. We are informed by Vieillot, that some individuals have all the inferior surface of the body tinged with the same color as that of the throat ; these are probably very old males. A very singular trait distinguishes the migrations of this bird. V/hile the European or white variety of the human race is rapidly spreading over this continent, from its eastern borders to the remotest plains beyond the Mississippi, the Cliff Swallow advances from the extreme western regions, annually invading a new territory farther to the eastward, and induces us to conclude, that a few more summers will find it sporting in this immediate vicinity, and familiarly established along the Atlantic shores. Like all other North American Swallows, this species passes the win- ter in tropical America, whence in the spring it migrates northward, for the purpose of breeding. It appears to be merely a spring passenger in the West Indies, remaining there but a few days, according to Vieillot, who, not seeing any in the United States, and observing some whilo at sea, in August, ii? the latitude of Nova Scotia, supposed that they pro- pagated in a still more northern region. As we have not rocoivod any account of their inhabiting the well explored countries around Hud- son's Bay, we are led to the conclusion, that the western wihls of the United States have hitherto been their summer resort, and that not until recently have they ventured within the domains of civilizctl man. Be this as it may, they were observed in great numbers, by Major Long's party, near the Rocky Mountains, in the month of July; and a few were also seen on the banks of the Missouri river. Within ten or twelve years, they have become familiar in different localities of Ohio, Ken- i' FULVOUS OR OLIFF SWALLOAV. 198 tucky, &o., whence thoy are extending very rapidly, and have recently appeared in the western part of New York. In order to show the rapid progress of this little stranger, we quote the following passage from Mr. Clinton's interesting paper. The Fulvous Swallow " first made its appearance at Winchell's tavern, on the high road, about five miles south o? Whitehall, near Lake Champlain, and erected its nost under the eaves of an out-house, where it was covered by the projection of a roof. This was in 1817, and in this year there was but one nest ; the second year seven ; the third twenty-oigut; the fourth forty; and in 1822 there were seventy, and the number has since continued to increase." " It appeared in 1822 at Whitehall, on the fifth of June, and departed on the twenty-fifth of July ; and these are the usual times of its arrival and disappearance." This active little bird is, like its congeners, almost continually on the wing, and feeds on flics and other insects, while performing its aerial evolutions. Their note is different from that of other Swallows, and may be well imitated by rubbing a moistened cork around in the neck of a bottle. The species arrive in the west from the south early in April, and immediately begin to construct their symmetrical nests, which are perfected by their united and industrious efforts. At the dawn of day they commence their labors, by collecting the necessary mud from the borders of the river or ponds adjacent, and they persevere in their work until near mid-day, when they relinquish it for some hours, and amuse themselves by sporting in the air, pursuing insects, &c. As soon as the nest acquires the requisite firmness it is completed, and the female begins to deposit her eggs, which are four in number, white, spotted with dusky brown. The nests are extremely friable, and will readily crumble to pieces : they are assembled in communities, as repre- sented in the back-ground of our plate. In unsettled countries these birds select a sheltered situation, under a projecting ledge of rock ; and, in civilized districts, they have already evinced a predilection for the abodes of man, by building against the walls of houses, immediately under the eaves of the roof, though thoy have not in the least changed their style of architecture. A nest from the latter situation is now before me ; it is hemispherical, five inches wide at its truncated place of attachment to the wall, fron; which it projects six inches, and con- sists exclusively of a mixture of sand and clay, lined on the inside with straw and dried grass, negligently disposed for the reception of the eggs. The whole external surface is roiighenod by the projection of the various little pellets of earth which compose its substance. The entrance is near the top, rounded, projecting and turning downward, so that the nest may be compared to a chemist's retort, flattened on the side applied to the wall, and with the principal part of the neck broken ofi". Vol. III.~13 1 194 BURROWING OWL. So great is the industry of these interesting little architects, that this massive and commodious structure is sometimes completed in the course of three days. About the middle of July, some nests found near the Rocky Mountains contained young ones, while in others the process of incubation had not terminated. It is probable that the Cliff Swallows rear two broods in that region, though in Kentucky and Ohio, agree- ably to Mr. Audubon, they have but one in the year. During the first few days of August they assemble in flocks, and after several attempts to commence their migration, they finally succeed in obtaining a unan> imity of purpose, and they disappear as suddenly as they came. mi STRUT CUNICVLARIA. BURROWING OWL. I [Plate VII. Fig. 8.] Strix eunicularia, Momna, Hist. Chili (Am. ed.), i. p. 184. Ghcl. Syst. i., p. 192, Sp. 28. Lath. Ind. p. 63, Sp. 38. Vibim-. Oi«. dr I' Am. Sept. i., p. 48. Say, t» Long's Expedition to the Rocky Mountaitis, ii., p. 30 and 200. — Ulula cxmicu- laria, Fkdii.l^e, Journ. Ohs. Phys. p. 502. — Noctua coqiiiniliana, Briss. Av. i., p, 525, Sp. \l.— Coquimbo Owl, Lath. Syn, I., p. 145, Sp. 33. Venerable ruins, crumbling under the influence of time and vicissi- tudes of season, are habitually associated with our recollections of the Owl ; or he is considered as the tenant of sombre forests, whose noctur- nal gloom is rendered deeper and more awful by the harsh dLssonance of his voice. In poetry he has long been regarded ob the appropriate con- comitant of darkness and horror ; and, when hoard screaming from the topmost fragments of some mouldering wall, whose ruggedness is but slightly softened by the mellowing moonliglit, imagination loves to view him as a malignant spirit, hooting triumphantly over the surrounding desolation ! But we are now to make the reader acquainted with an Owl to which none of these associations can belong ; a bird tluit, so far from seeking refuge in the ruined hnbitations of man, fi.vcs its residence within the earth ; and, instead of concealing itself in solitary recesses of the forest, delights to dwell on open plains, in company with animals remarkable for their social dispo.sition, neatness, am! order. Instead of sailing heavily forth in the obscurity of tlie evening or morning twilight, and then retreating to mope away the intervening hours, our Owl enjoys the broadest glare of the noonday sun, and flying rapidly along, searches for food or pleasure , ai \.}M , . COLUMBA FASCIATA. . ."'"''.. BAND-TAILED PIGEON. ' r [PUUVin. Fig. 8] Cblumba fcuciata. Say, in Long's Expedition to the Rocky Mountain*, ii., p. 10. This bird, which is a male, was shot in July, by Mr. Titian Peale, at a saline spring on a small tributary of the river Platte, within the first range of the Rocky Mountains ; it was accompanied by another indi- vidual, probably its mate, which escaped. As no other specimens have been discovered, the reader will not be surprised that our specific description is unaccompanied by a general history of their manners. The Band-tailed Pigeon is thirteen inches long; the bill is yellow, black at tip, and somewhat gibbous behind the nostrils. The feet are yellow, and the nails black ; the irides are blackish. The head is of a purplish-ciiH'reous color ; the neck, at its junction with the head, has a white semi-band, beneath which its back and sides are brilliant golden- green, the feathers being brownish-purple at ba.se ; the under part of the neck is j)ale vinaceous-purplish, this color becoming' paler iis it approaches the vent, which, together with the inferior tail coverts, is white. The anterior portion of the back, the wing coverts, and scapu- lars, arc browni.sli-ash ; the primaries are dark brown, edged with whitish on the exterior webs ; the lower part of the back, the rump, tail coverts, inferior wing coverts, and sides, are bluish-ash, brighter beneath the wings. Tho shafts of the body feathers and tail coverts are remarkably robust, tapering rather suildenly near the tip. The tail, which consists of twelve feathers, is slightly rounded at tip, witii a definite blackish band at two-thirds the length from the ba.se, visible on both sides ; before this band the color is J)luisli-as}i, and behind dirty grayish : the tail is much lighter on the inferior surface. This species is closely allied to Columba cnriha'a of Gmelin, with which Say stattnl its analog^-, and also to Columla leucocephala of Linn^. t] WILD TURKEY. 201 In fact, it po88C88e8 somo characters in common with each of these gpccles, such as the band on the tail of the former, and an indication of white on the head of the latter. This character may induce some naturalists to suppose it the young of the leucocephala, but by a careful comparison all doubt will be removed, and it will be admitted to the rank of a distinct species. The cariboea may readily be distinguished from the present species by its superior size, and by being destitute of the white band on the neck ; by having a reddish bill, tipped with yellow, and dark red feet. Th«<> leucocephala, in the adult state, has the whole head white above ; but as it is destitute of this distinction when young, acquiring it gradually as it advances in age, other discriminating characters must be employed ; the tail is without a band, the bill is red with a white tip, and the feet are red. ' ' ' MELEAORIS GALLOPAVO. WILD TURKEY. [Plate IX. Male and Female.] Meleagris gallopavo, Linn. SysL i., p. 268, Sp. 1. Gmel. SysL i., p. 732, Sp. 1. Lath. Ind. p. 618, Sp. 1. Temm. Hist. Nat. des Pig. et Gall. Index, iii., p. 676. — Wilson, Am. Om. vi., Index, p. xvii. Stephens, Cont. of Shaw's Zool. xi., part I., p. 156, pi. 8. Ranzani, Elem. di Zonl. in., part i., p. 154. — Meleagrit ti/hestris, Vieii.i,. Xouv. Did. d' Hist. Nat. ix , p. 447. — Gallopavo, Aldrovandi, Orn. II., p. 35, fig. on p. 39, domestic variety. Mule; fig. on p. 40, Id. Female. Wii.LuaBY, Orn. p. 113, pi. 27, fig. 4, dom. var. Male. Johnston, Theatrum Universale de Aribus, p. 55, pi. 24, fig. 1, dom. var. Male ; fig. 2, Id. Female. — Briss. Av. I., p. 15H, pi. 16, diim. var. Male. — Galliis indinis, IVelscher Han, Johnston, Th. Ao. p. 83, pi. 2'.), fig. 1, dom. var. Male. — Gallapaco syleesins Nova Anglice, a New England Wild Turkei/, Ray, Si/n. p. 51, Sp. 3. — Gallapavo sylves- tris, Catesby, Carolina, I., App. p. xliv. — Meleagris Americanus, the Wild Turkey, Bartr. Trav. p. 290. — Gallo Pavo, Gallo Pavoue volgarmente Polio d' India ; Storia degli Uccelli, ii., pi. 222, dom. crested var. Male ; pi. 22,", dom. white, black- Bpotted var. young ; pi. 224, dom. white, yellowish-spotted var. young ; pi. 225, dom. black var. young: pi. 226, dom. black, white-spotted var. young. — Coc. d'Inde, Belon, llintoire de la Nature des Oiseaux, p. 248, with fig. dom. var. Miilo— I) indon. Buff. Ois. ii., p. 132, pi. 3.— 77. Enl. 97, dom. whitish var. Male.— Temm. Hist. Nat. des Pig. et Gall, ii., p. 374. Gerardin, Tabl. Elem. d'Orn. II., p. 103, pi. 21. fig. 2, dom. var. Male.— I'lirAiV, Josselyn, Voyages to New Enijland, p. 99.— AVw England's Rarities, p. 8. Wild Turkey, Clayton, Virginia, Phil. Trans, xvii., p. 992. Id. Abrigd. in., p. 590. Lawson, Carolina, p. 149. Penn. Phil. Trans, lxxi., p. 67. Arct. Zool. Sp. llS.— American Turkey, Lath. Syn. ii., part ii., p. 676, Sp. I.— Domestic Turkey, Penn. Brit. Zool. I., Sp. 97. The native country of the Wild Turkey extends from the north- 202 WILD TUKKKY. it V 'I:- 'iif il wostcrn territory uf thu United StateH to the iHthinus of Paiiaina, south of whi'^h it is not to be found, notwithHtanding the statements of authors, who have miHtakun the Ciirassow for it. In Canada, and the now densely peopled parts of the United States, Wild Turkeys were formerly very abundant ; but, like the Indian and Buffalo, they have been com- pelled to yield to the destructive ingenuity of the white settlers, often wantonly exercised, and seek refuge in the remotest parts of the inte- rior. Although they relinquish their native soil with slow and reluctant steps, yet such is the rapidity with which settlements are extended and condensed over the surface of this country, that wo may anticipate a day, at uo distant period, when the hunter will seek the Wild Turkey in vain. Wo have neglected no means of obtaining information from various parts of the Union, relative to this interesting bird ; and having been assisted by the zeal and politeness of several individuals, who, in different degress, have contributed to our »Unik of knowledge on this subject, wo return them our best thiuiks. We have particular satisfaction in acknow- ledging the kindness of Mr. John J. Audubon, from whom wo have received a copious narrative, containing a considerable portion of the valuable notes collecte(|ual ; tliu Hinallur and middling wing covi-rtH uru culort>d liko the feather« of tho body ; tho greater coverts aro coppcr-violaccous, having u black band near tho whitiHli tip ; their concealed web in blackixh, sprinkled with dull ferruginoun: in old birds the exterior web itr much worn by friction amongst tlie bushcH, in consequence if which thoso feathers exhibit a very singular unwebbed, curved appeii .nco, faithfully representeil in the plate. Tho spurious wing, the primary coverts, and tho primaries, are plain blackish, banded with wliite, which is interrupted by tho shaft, and sprinkled with blackish ; tho secondaries have tho white portion so largo, that they may as well bo described as white, banded with blackish, and are moreover tinged with ferruginous-yellow; this color gradually encroaches on the white, and then on the blackish, in propoi'tion as the feathers approach the body, bo that tho tertiuls aro almost entirely of that color, being oidy sprinkled with blackish, and having metallic refle(!tions on the inner wvh ; the anterior under wing coverts are brownish-black, the posterior ones being gray, 'i'ho tail measures more than a foot and u *|uarter, is rounded, and composed of eighteen wide feathers ; it is capable of being ex])anded and elevated, together with the superior fail coverts, so as to resemble a fan, when tho bird parades, struts, or wiieels. The tail is ferruginous, mottled with black, and crossed by numerous narrow, undulated lines, of tho same color, which become confused on the midille feathers; near tho tip is a broad black band, then the feathers are again nntttled for a short dis- tance, and are wiilely tipped with ferruginous-yellow. The foot aro robust and somewhat elongated ; the tarsus uieasures more than six inches in length, being covered before by large alternato pentagonal plates, and furnished, on the inner posterior side, with a rather obtuse, robust, compressed spur, nearly one inch long. The toes arc three bef">re, connected at base by a mend)rane, and ono behind, touching the ground only at tip, being articulated higher on the tarsus than the others, and one-half shorter than the lateral toes, which aro equal ; the middle toe is more than four inches long, and the posterior but little more than ono inch ; they are all covered by entire plates ; the sole is granulated: the color of tho feet is red, the margins of tho plates and scab's, the membrane and nails being blackish ; the nails are oblong, wide, obtuse at tip, rounded above, and perfectly plain beneath. The female, or hen Turkey, is considerably smaller in size, being three feet and a quarter long. The bill and feet resend)Ie those of tho male, but are proportionally smaller, the latter being destitute of even a rudiment of spur : the irides are like those of the male. The head and neck are not so naked as in that sex, but are covered by small de- composed feathers, of a dirty grayish color ; those of the back of tho If Ui litl WILD TURKEY. 817 neck are tipped with forriiginous, constituting a longitudinal vitta on that part ; the caruncle on the frontlet is ruiliniontal, not suMCt-ptihle of being elongated ; the pectoral appendage is entirely wanting in our specimen. The general plumage is dusky-gray, each feather having a metallic band, less brilliant than that of the male, then a blackish band, and a grayish terminal fringe; the black subteruiinal band is obsolete on the feathers of the neck, and of the whole inferior surface ; those of the latter part, with the feathers of the lower portion of the back, of the rump, and the flai-ks, have their tips yellowish-ferruginous, becoming gradually brighter towards the tail. The vent and thighs are dirty yellowish-gray, without any reflections; the under tail coverts are tipped, and varied with rather deep ferruginous ; the superior tail coverts are like those of the male, but duller, and tipped with a broad, whitish-ferruginous fringe. The wings are also duller, each covert being tipped with grayish ; less white existw on the primaries, the bands being narrower, and the secondaries entirely destitute of them. The tail is similar in color to that of the male. It is proper to remark, that the female which furnished the above description, and is figured in the plate, though certainly adult, had not attained to its full size and perfect beauty. It was procured in the month of March, on St. John's river, Florida. The young of both sexes resemble each, other so closely, before the naked membrane acquires its tinge of red, as to be scarcely distinguish- able ; the females, however, when a few days old, are somewhat larger than the males, and have a weaker piping note ; the males the'i begin to stand higher on their legs, which are stronger than those of the fe- males, and soon exhibit the rudiments of spurs. On the approach of the first winter, the young males show a rudiment of the beard or fasci- cle of hairs on the breast, consisting of a mere tubercle, and attempt to strut and gobble ; the second year the hairy tuft is about three inches long; in the third the Turkey attains its full stature, although it cer- tainly increases in size and beauty for several years longer. In a fine male specimen, evidently young, which I obtained in the Philadelphia market, the plumage is equally brilliant with that of the finest adult, although the frontal caruncle is only one inch in length, the pectoral appendage two inches, and the spur merely rudimental. The concealed portion of the plumage on the anterior part of the back is sprinkled with pale ferruginous, which disappears as the bird advances in age. Females of four jcars old have their full size and coloring; they then possess the pectoral fascicle, four or five inches long (which, ac- cording to Mr. Audubon, they exhibit a little in the second year, if not barren), but this fascicle is much thinner than that of the male. The barren hens do not obtain this distinction until a very advanced age; and, being preferable for the tabic, the hunters single them from the [ 218 WILD TURKEY. flock, and kill them in preference to the others. The female Wild Turkey is more frequently furnished with the hairy tuft than the Tame one, and this appendage is gained earlier in life. The great number of young hens without it, has no doubt given ise to the incorrect assertion of a few writers, that the female is always destitute of it. The weight of the hen generally averages about nine pounds avoirdu- pois. Mr. Audubon has shot barren hens, in strawberry time, weighing thirteen pounds ; and lie has seen some few so fat as to burst open by falling from a trot', after being shot. The male Turkeys differ more in bulk and weight : from the accounts I have received from various parts of the I nion, fifteen or twenty pounds may be considered a fair state- meUv of their medium weight; but birds of thirty pounds are not very rare ; and I have ascertained the existence of some weighing forty. In relation to those surpassing the last-mentioned weight, according to the report of authors who do not speak from personal observation, I have not been able to find any, and am inclined to consider them as fabulous. Mr. Audubon informs us, he saw one in the L(misville market that weighed thirty-six pounds ; the pectoral appendage of this bird mea- sured more tiian a foot in length, llartram describes a specimen uf remarkable size and beauty, reared from an egg found in the forest, and hatched by a common hen : when this Turkey stood erect, the head was three feet from the gnnind. Tlie animal was stately and handsome, and did not seem insensible of the admiration he excited. Our plate, which is the first that has been given of the Wild Turkey, represents both sexes, reduced to one-third of their natural size ; the male was selected from among many fine specimens, shot in the month of April, near Engineer Cantonment, on the Missouri. It weighed twenty-two pounds ; but, as the males are very thin at thut season,* when in good order it must have weighed much more. Though comparatively recent, the domestic state of the Turkey has been productive of nniny varieties ; we need not, therefore, be surprised at the existence of numerous and remarkable differences in those ani- mals which have been domesticated from time immemorial. The most striking aberration from the standard of the species, is certainly the tufted Turkey, which is very rare, the crest being white in some speci- mens, and black in others. Tame Turkeys sometimes occur of an im- maculate blacK color ; others are exclusively white ; some are speckled or variegated ; and all these varieties are continued by propagation, under analogous circumstances. In the wild stale, a white, or even a * The pxtniordinary loiinnotiH of tliiH bird, at particular Boaaons of tlie year, has bci-oiiH" provcrljinl in iiiuiiy Iixiiun Inngiiafj;*')*' An (>m(iirh'y allied to that of the United States, it now consists of two species. The Ocellated Turkey (^Meleagris oeulata) inhabits Honduras, and may be distinguished from the common species by its smallei size, more brilliant plumage, and principally by having ocellated spots on the tail. It was first described by Cuvier, and has lately been figured in that magnificent periodical work, the "Planches Colori(5es" of Temminck and Laugicr. A beauti- ful specimen has long been exhibited in the Charleston Museum. Mr. Diiponocau, so well known by his philological rpsoarcheS, has fiivored ua with Uio full')win}^ table of names for the Wild Turkoy, in the different Indian languages: E Enj^lish Pronunciation. — F. French. — S. Spanish. — 0. German. Alj^onkin Mississay, E Mackenzie. Aduycs Owachuk, 8 MS. Voo. Atacupas Skillij;, S MS. Voc. Crtddoes Noe, K Dr. Sibley. Chcjtimachas .... Tsante hatincche base, S. MS. Voc. Charokeo Kainna ; Oocoocoo, E. . MS. Voo. Chiekasaws Fukit, E MS. Voc. Chocfaws Oopuh, E MS. Voc. Creeks Pinowau, E. . . . MS. Voc. Delaware proper . . . Tschikeuuni, 0. ... Ilockewelder and Zeis- berfjer. Delaware of Now Jersey T.shikuuna, E MS. Voc. Delaware of New Sweden Siokenem (Swedish) . , Luther's Catechism. Huron Ondetontak, F Pfero Saf^ard. Wyandot (same people) . Daigh-ton-tah, E. . . . Attwater in Archicol. Anier. Illinois Pircoiinh, F MS. Voc. Kiiisteneaus . . , . Mes-aey-thew, E. . . . Mackenzie. Miamis Pilauoh S. Voc. Nenticoke Puhqiiun, E MS. Voo. Nottoway* Kunum, E MS. Voc. * Indians of Virginia, a branch of the Tuacaroras. ^i m COOPER'S HAWK, Omawhaw (a branch of Sioux) Ze-zc-kah, E Saj. Ononda^os (Iroquois) . Nctuchr6chwa gatschinak, Zeisbcrgor's Dictionary, G Sukah tinjrah, E. . Inchuga Sukah, E. _ f cock .... ^«"«*' ihen .... Ottos or Wahtoktatah (Sioux) Wa-ek-kung-ja, E Shawancso Pel6wa, O. . . Uchee* Witch-pshnh, E. Unquachog (Long Island) Nahiam, E. . . MS. MS. Voc. MS. Voc. Say. Hoc lowelder. MS. Voc. MS. Voc. FALCO CGOrERIT. COOPFR'S HAWK. [Plate X. Fig. 1.] BuFFON complained of the difficulty of writing a history of Bird.s, becau.se he already knew eight hundred species, and supposed that there might actually exist fifteen hundred; or even, said he, venturing as he thought to the limit of probability, two thousand ! What then would be his embarrassment at j)re8ent, when nearly six thousand species are known, and fresh discoveries are daily augmenting the number ? The difficulties Attending a general work on this subject are not perhaps experienced in an equal degree by one who confines himself to the history of a particular group, or of the species inhabiting a single district. Nevertheless, in a work like the prcsi-nt, which is not a monography limited to one genus or family, liut eml)races within its scope species belonging to all the different tribes, it is requisite, in order to explai; their various relations and analogies, that the author .■-iKinld be more i»r less ac(|uaiiite(l with the whole system of nature. To attcm|it, without the aid uf methodical arrangement, a sul)ject so viust, and .ipparently unlimited, wouhl be hopeless. Uent-e tiie importance of a correct system of clai*sification ; and the construction of one which shall exhibit, as far as jjraeticable, the true affinities of oiijects, has exercised the attention of t!ie most powerful minds, that have been employed in the stmly of nature. That division of the feathered class popularly called llirds of prey, has always been recognise(l as a separate, and well defined group. In • Vrhffx. a nation of Floritla Iiidianii, r{M-HkiTi^r a curious hinguiigi*. full of par ticular sounds, not found in iiny other languages ; they live among thw Crooks. COOPER'S HAWK. 221 the Linnoan system they form the order Accipitres, and were, by that father of the science, distributed into three great natural divisions, which comprise nearly, if not quite, one-fifteenth part of all the known species of birds. The ulterior arrangement of one of these groups, the genus Fako of Liniid, at present composed of between two and three hundred species, lias much divided the opinions of naturalists. From the majestic Eagle, the terror of the husbandman, to the feeblest Hawk, preying on grasslioppers, it is undeniable that there exists in all these birds, a great resemblance in some of the most prominent characteristics ; which, being found to predominate in the Fish-hawk, as well as the Kite, and all other species of the Falcon tribe, however dissimilar, indicate their separation as a peculiar family from all other birds. But that they are susceptible of division into smaller groups of inferior rank, no practical ornithologist will for a moment deny. Whether these minor groups shall be considered as trivial and secondary, or whether some of them ought not to be ailmitted as distinct and independent genera, is a question that has been much agitated, and respecting which, ornithologists will probably for a long time continue to disagree. Equally great authorities might be cited in favor of either of these opinions, which like nuitiy others of more importance that have divided mankind from the bcgiTining of the world, may perhaps after all be considered as merely a dispute about words. Admitting, however, as seems to be done by all parties, that this great gonus may be subdivided with propriety, we look upon it as alto- gether a secondary (luestioii, whether we shall call the minor groypa genera, subgenera, or sections ; and we deem it of still less consequence, in a philosophical view, whether the names by which these groups are designated, be taken from a learned, or a vernacular language. It is our intention to pursue a middle course. We are convinced of the necessity of employing numerous s>d)divisions, not only in this, but also in its allied genus Sirir. These, however, we cannot agree to admit as genera, preferring to call them subgenera, and giving '.Iieni a name ; but when having occasion to mention a species belonging to any of them, to employ tlio niune of the great genus. The desire of avoiding too great a multiplication of groups, has caused some, even of the first ornithologists of our time, to employ sections that are not natural, and with false or inapplicable characters ; and, as if they would compel nature to conform to their preconceived and narrow views, after having assigned decided limits to their groups, to force into them species nut only widely different, but that do not even jiossess the artificial character proposed. We shall not imitate this irrational example. It shall rather be our object to compose natural groups, and, in obedience to this principle, whenever we meet with a group, or even a single sjiecies, clearly insulated, it shall at 222 COOPER'S HAWK. least be pointed out ; not bo much regarding the number of our sub- genera, as the characters that unite the species of which they are respectively composed. It is objected to tlie numerous subdivisions tliat have been proposed in our day, that they pass into, and blond insensibly with each other. This is no doubt true ; but is it not the same with regard to natural groups of every denomination ? It is this fact which has induced us to consider them as subgenera, and not as distinct genera. We are told, however, b^' the advocates for numerous genera, that in giving a name we adopt a genus ; but we do not sec that this necessarily follows. There are, we confess, other grounds on which we might be attacked with more advantage. We may perhaps be charged with inconsistency in refusing to admit as the foundation of generic groups in the liapaccs, characters, which are allowed, not only by ourselves, but by some of those who are most strenuously opposed to the multiplication of genera, to have quite sufficient importance for such distinction in other families. With what propriety, it might be asked, can we admit Ifi/drobatrs {FuUynla, Nob.), as distinct from Anas^ and the various genera that have been dismembered from Lanhcs, at the same time that we reject, as genera, the different groups of Hawks? To this we can only reply, that we are ourselves entirely convinced, that all the subgenera adopted ill our Synopsis among the Fdlcinics of North America, are (piite as distinct from each other as Cocei/zus and Cucuhis, or Corviis and GaiTulus. The latter genus wc have admitted after Temminck, who is opposed to new genera among the Hawks; though yl«^Mr and EInnu» certainly retjuire to be soparaud, no less than the two genera that Temminck himself has established in the old genus Vultur. No living naturalist (with the exception of those, who, through a sort of pseudo-religious feeling, will only admit as genera, groups indicateii as such by Linm') has adhered longer than ourselves, to large genera; at the same lime ihat wc could not deny the existence of sub- ordinate natural groujis. We will not pretend to deny that these aro of e(|ual rank with smiie recognised as genera in other families; and we can only say, that we consider it doulitful, in the present unsettled state of the science, what this rank ought to be. We therefore, in the instances above quoted, consider it of little importance, whether these groups be considered as genera or subgetiera. I?ut what is certainly of gr.'at importance, is, to preserve uniformity in all such cases ; to make co-ordinate divisions, and give corresponding titles to groups of equal value. This uniformity, however desirable, cannot, in the actual st»te of ornithology, be easily attained ; and we have decidetl, after much hesitation, to continue to employ suligeiiera. In doing this, we are moreover intiuenced by the great difficulty that is met with, in some cases, in determining the proper place of a species par- COOPER'S HAWK. 223 taking of the characters of several groups, yet not in the least deserv- ing to be isolated ; such as Falco borealis, which is almost as much iin Astur as a Buite, and has been . placed by authors, according to their different views, in both those groups. An extensive reform ia evidently needed in the department of classi- fication that relates to genera ; and we propose, with this view, to under- take at some I'uture period a general work, when, erecting our system on a more philosophical basis, tiiough we may restrict some, and enlarge other genera, we shall in the instances to which we have alluded, as well as in a multitude of others, at least place them all on an equal footing. Among the several groups into which the Falcon tribe is divided, we come to one composed of about sixty species, well marked, and, if kept within its proper bounds, very natural ; to which authors have variously applied the name of Accipiter, Sparvius, and Astur, which last we have adopted. Found in all parts of the globe, and destroying everywhere great numbers of birds and small quadrupeds, the Hawks (by which English name we propose to distinguish this group more particularly) closely resemble each other in color and changes of plumage, especially the North American and European species. They are eminently distin- guished from all other Falcons by their short wings, not reaching by a considerable length to the tip of their tail, which is even, or but very slightly rounded ; and by their first quill feather or primary, which is very short, while the fourth is constantly the longest. Their bill, sud- denly curved from the base, is very strong and sharp ; their head is nar- rowed before, with the eyes placed high, large, and fiery. Their feet are very long, and the toes especially, the middle one of which is much the longest, and all are arme, in Conlr, Mad. Lye. i.. p. 11. Id. Syunpsi.in/ X. A. liird.i, Sp. 10, in Ann. Lye. N. Y. — Le Faucoii blane, Sonnini's d'Azara, in., p. 9(), Sp. 30. This beautiful Hawk, which we recently discovered to be an inhabit- ant of North America, is so strikingly similar to the Black-winged Hawk {Falco melanopterm*) of the old continent, that we have hitherto • Falco melanopterm, Diiud. Orn. 2, p. 152, Sp. 124. Lath. Ind. Suppl. p. vi., Sp, 10, — Falvo sonninen^iK, Lutli. Ind. Sii))pl. p. xii., Sp. 38. — Elanus cee.iius, Siivigny, OIh. d'Egyp. p. 98, pi. ii., f. 2. Yioill. Nouv. Diet, d'llist. Nut. viii., p. 240 (now KlanoidrK). — Hlanu.i melanoplenis, Lench Zool. Misc. iii., p. 4, pi. 122. Vi);orH DosiT. A\iNtral. ISirds in Tr. Lin. Soc. xv., p. 1S5. — Le lUae, Le Vaillant, Ois. d'AIV. I., p. 147, pi. o(i, .Mall', .'i7, youiij; Malo. — lilack-ivimjid Falcon, Lath. Syn. Suppl. II., p. 28, 8p. 23. — Sonnini's Falcon, Lath. Syn. Suppl. ii., p. 52, Sp. 59. The inspeotion of ori;.i;inal drawinfrs, in a collection that Mr. Gray, of the British Museum, was kind enough to show me lately in London, has enabled me to add to r \ 282 WHITE-TAILED HAWK. considered them as identical, contrary to the opinion of Vieillot, whose authority, it is true, could in this case be of little weight, as he had not seen the species, but like many others had merely given it a name ; his sole knowledge of it being derived from the work of d'Azara. We have now yielded only to the decision of Temminck (who has lately intro- duced the young into his Planches Colorizes), but not without much reluctance, e.«i)ecially as that diHtiiiguishcd ornithologist has evidently not been at the trot'ble of comparing the two species. Otherwise, he would certainly not have omitted noticing their affinities and differential characters ; since in the history of species so closely allied as these two, the differential choraeters arc of more importance and utility than the most labored descriptions. This comparison we have carefully instituted betv.>een our American specimens, and others from Africa and Java. They agreed perfectly, especially with that from Java, in every, the minutest character, even feather by feather, much better than birds of prey of the same species, and from the same country, do generally. They arc even more alikart of the neck, thighs, flanks, and under tail-coverts are pure white ; the breast and belly are of the same color, but are marked with reddish spots, and brown lines ; the occiput, nucha, back, and scapulars are brownish, mixed with whitish, and more or less tinged with cinereous ; all these feathers having wide margins of whitish and reddish ; the upper tail-coverts are black, with reddish margins ; the inferior niarblod with black and white ; the quills are bluish, termi- nated witli white ; the tail is of a grayish-white, with blu k shafts ; all the feathers have dark cinereous towards the point, and are tipped with white. This species is ai\ inhabitant of a great portion cf the A.merican continent, as the Alco7i bianco of Paraguay, so well described by d'Azara, is undoubtedly the flame bird. Vieillot undertook to classify it from d'Azara's descri|)tion, applying to it the name of Milvus leucurus ; but after more attentive consideration, he perceived that it was not a Milvus, but an FAnnus. He conseiiueiitly removed it to that genus, which he called Ulanoides, at the same time asserting, that with the Swallow- tailed Ilawk, it ought to constitute a different section from the Black- winged Hawk; from which, upon actual comparison, it is with difliculty shown to be even specifically distinct ! Such are the absurdities into which authors are betrayed through the highly reprehensible practice to which some arc addicted, of attempting to classify, and name, animals they have never seen, from the descriptions or mere indications of trav»;llers. Tliough by such means, they may sometimes gain the credit of introducing a nt!W species, and thus deprive future observers who may risk their fortunes, or even their lives, in pursuit of imperfectly known animals, of their best reward, they cannot fail to incur the rited reprobation of all honorable and f..ir-dealing naturalists. Though this bird ranges so widely over the American continent, it is everywhere a i >,ro species, and in the United States appears to be con- fined to the sontiii'rn extrem'ty. The specimen figured in the plate of the natural size, was shot iii December, in the neighborhood of St. 236 WHITE-TAILED HAWK. i^^ Augustine, East Florida, at the residence of my near relation, Colonel Achilles Murat, whose kind hospitality afforded to Mr. Titian Pcale every facility for the prosecution of his scientific researches. It was observed by Mr. Peale, about the dawn of day, sitting on the dead branch of an old live-oak, attentively wato^iijig the borders of an alja- cent salt-marsh which abounded with Arvicola hispidus, and the difffent species of Sparrow, which make their residence in the southern pa ta of the Union. It was very shy, and on his approach, it flew in easy circles at a moderate elevation, and such was its vigilance, that the greater part of a day was spent in attempting to get within gunshot. At length the cover of interposing bushes enabled him to effect his purpose. It was a beautiful female, in perfect adult plumage. This sex in the ■V'-t state, is now for the first time represented, Temminck's plate reprcb ; -he young female only ; and even the figures of the African analog i Lo Vaillant's work exhibit only the male in the young and adult states. As usual in the tribe of predaccous birds, the female is m^.'ch larger than the male, and is therefore entitled to prece- dence. . I Though this species is so rare, its near relative, the Black-winged Hawk, appears on the contrary to be very numerous. In Africa, where it was first discovered, and which is probably its native country, it is rather a common species, and has a very extensive range. Le Vaillant frequently observed it on the eastern coast of that little-known conti- nent, from Duyven-IIoek to Caffraria, where, however, it is less com- mon. The same traveller found it to inhabit also in the interior, in the Cambdebo, and on the shores of the Swart-kop, and Sunday rivers. It is very common in Congo, and numerous also in liarbar_) , Egypt, and far-distant Syria. The researches of Kuppcl in the interior of North- Eastern Africa, already so productive, and from which so much more may be expected, have furnished specimens of this species, of which we owe two to the kindness of Dr. Creitzschmaer, the learned and zealous Director of the Museum of the free city of Frankfort, an institution which has risen up with such wonderful rapidity. We are also informed, that it is an inhabitant of India, which is rendered probable by a specimen from Java in my collection. It is found in New IIoliiiiHl, being numer- ous in the autumn rf New South Wales, where it is migratory, and preys chiefly on field-mice, but is seldom known to attack iiinls. It i;j there observed at times to hover in the air, as if stationary and motion- less. Though occasionally met with on the Af. ican coast of the Me' consists of hemiptcrous insects, chiefly of the Gryllui and Mantis genera, as well as other insects, and some reptiles. In the stomach of our specimen, however, Mr. Peale found, besides the usual food, fragments of an Arvicola hispidua, and one or two feathers appa- rently of a Sparrow : but it is not a cowardly bird, as might be sus- pected from its affinity to the Kites, and from its insignificant prey, Hince it successfully attacks Crows, Shrikes, and even the more timid birds of its own genus, compelling them to quit its favorite haunts, which it guards with a vigilant eye. They build in the bifurcation of trees. The nest is broad and shallow, lined internally with moss and feathers. The female is stated to lay four or five eggs ; the nestlings at first are covered with down of a reddish-gray color. The African species is said to diffuse a musky odor, which is retained even after the skin is prepared for the Museum : but we arc inclined to believe, that it is in the latter state only that it possesses this quality. Mr. Peale did not observe any such odor in the bird he shot, but being obliged, for want of better food, to make his dinner of it in the woods, found it not unpalatable. SYLVIA AZURE A. FEMALE CCERULEAN WARBLER.* [Plate XI, Fig. 2.] Sylvia azurea, Stephens, cont. .Shaw's Zonl. x., p. 653. Nou. Oh.i. Jour. Ac. Nat. Sc. Ph. IV., p. 193, Male. — Syluia bij'asciala, Say, in Long's Exp. to the Itocky Mountains, i., p. 170, Male. The merit of having discovered this bird, is entirely due to the Peale family, whose exertions have contributed so largely to extend the limits of Natural History. The male, which he has accurately described, and figured, was made known to Wilson by the late venerable Charles Wil- son Peale, who alone, and unaided, accomplished an enterprise, in the formation of the Philadelphia Museum, that could hardly have been exceeded under the fostering hand of the most powerful government. * Seo Wilson's American Ornithology, Coerulean Warbler, Sgloia coerulea, Vol. II., p. 189, PI. 17, fig. 5, for the Male. 238 FEMALE C(ERULEAN AVARBLER. To the no less zealous researches of Mr. Titian Penle, the discovery of the female is recently owing, who moreover evinced his sagacity by deter- mining its affinities, and pointing out its true place in the system. Although it preserves the principal characters of the male, yet the difference is sufficiently marked to deserve an especial notice in this work. The specimen here represented, was procured on the hanks of the Schuylkill, near Mantua village, on the first of August, 182r). It was very active, skipping about on the branches of an oak, attentively searching the leaves, and crevices of the bark, and at intervals taking its food on the wing in the manner of the Flycatchers. It warbled in an under tone, not very unlike that of the Blue-gray Flycatcher of Wilscn {Si/h'ia cccrnlea, L.), a circumstance that woubl lead to the sup- position of its being a male in summer dress, but on dissection it prnvo'l to be a female. The Female Azure Warbler is four and three-quarter inches long, and eight and a quarter in extent.* Hill blackish above, pale bluish beneath ; feet light blue ; irides very dark brown ; head and neck above, and back, rich silky-green, brighter on the head, and passing gradually into dull bluish on the rump ; line from the bill over the eye whitish, above which is the indication of a blue-black line widening behind ; a dusky streak passes through the eye ; checks dusky greenish ; beneath entirely whitish, strongly tinged with yellow on the chin ; sides of the neck, breast, flanks, and vent, streaked with dark bluish : the base of the whole plumage is bluish-white ; inferior tail-coverts pure white ; wings and tail very siniilar to those of the male, though much less bril- liant; smaller wing-coverts bluish, tipped with green; miiMling and large wing-coverts blackish, widely tijipcd with white, constituting two very apparent bands across tiie wings, the white slightly tinged with yellowish at tip; spurious wing blackish; quiII-featli(Ts blackish, edged externally with green, internally ami at tip with whitish, the three near- est the body more "i 'ely so ; the inferior wing-eovcrts whit(> : tail hardly rounded, feathers dusk, slate, slightly tinged with bluish externally, and lined with pure white internally, each with a white spot towards the tip on the inner web. This spot is larger on the outer feathers, and decreases gradually until it becomes inconspicuous on the two middle ones. The description of the male need not here be repeated, having been already given with sufficient accuracy by Wilson, to whose work the reader is referred. On a com[)arison « *" the description and figures, he ;s^ . r T • The dimPHKionn fjiven hj Wilson of the male munt be rather below the Htnndard, M they an* inferior to those of the female, whoreah all the R|ieciiiicti8 wo exnuiincd were larger, an usual. I ! 'it: BLUE HAWK, OK IIEN-II ARRIER. 289 will find that the chiof difference between the Bexcs consrsts in the female being green instead of blue, in her wanting the black streaks, and in being tinged with yellow beneath. We have to regret our inability to add much to Wilson's short and imperfect account of the species. It is by no means more common at this time, than it was when he wrote ; which may account for the diflB- culty of ascertaining the period ol its migrations, and for the circum- stance of our having never met with the nest, and our want of acquaint- ance with its habits. We can only add to its history, that it is found in the Trans-Mississippian territory ; for the Sylvia bifasciata of Say, ac- curately described in Long's first expedition, is no other than the male. We have examined the specimen shot at Engineer Cantonment. Although the undisputed merit of first making known this species belongs to Wilson, yet the scientific name that he applied to it cannot bo retained, inasmuch as it is preoccupied by the Blue-gray Warbler, a Linnean species, which Wilson placed in Muscieapa, but which we con- sider a Sylvia, notwithstanding that it does in some degree aberrate from the typical species of that genus.* Under such circumstances, we cannot hesitate in adopting the name substituted by Mr. Stephens, the continuator of Shaw's compilation. FALCO CYANEUS. BLUE HAWK, OR IIEN-HARRIERf [Plate XII.] Falco ajaneim, Linv. Si/nt. i., p. 12r., Sp. 10. Omei,. Syirl. i., p. 270, Sp. 10. Her Posey, p. '11, luloloscont Male. Lath. Ind. Orii. i.. p.. 30, Sp. 94. Montagi'k, m Tiatis. Lin. Sor, ix., p. 182. Meyer, Taseh. DeutsM. Vog. i., p. 145. Temm. Man. Orn. i., p. 72. Ranz. El. Zool. iii., PI. 7, p. 1.37, Sp. 28. Breum, Lehrh. Eur. Voij. I., p. 50 Sei.uv, ///. Brit. Orn. i., p. 20, Pi. 10, fip. 1, Male, fig. 2, Female. Savi, Orn. To.sr. i., p. 0.'!. Noii. Cat. and Si/n. liird.i U. S. Sp. 22.— Falco p!/gar(ju.i, Linn. Sj/st. i.,p. 120, Sp. 11. Gmei,. I^yst. i., p. 277, Sp. 11, Female mid young.— Frt/ro Hiidsoniun, Linn. Sy.it. i., p. 128, Sp. 10. Gmei,. Sysl. I., p. 277, Sp. 10, young Amerienn. — Falco bo/icmicu.i, Cimei.. Sy.it. i., p. 276, Sp. 107. Lath. Ind. p. liS, Sp. 03, iidult Mule— /■'(i/fo athiran.i, Gmei,. ,S^.v^ I., p. 276, Sp. 102. Lath. ///(/. p. .38, Sp. 03, adult Male. — Falco (/riaeii.i, Gmei.. Syst. I., p. 275, Sp. 100. Lath. Ind. p. 37, S)). 80. (ierard. Tabl. Elem. p. ;'.7, adolcHcent Male — Falco montanus, var. IJ. Gmei,. Sysl. i., p. 278, Sp. 100. ' * See my Observalinns on the Nomenclature of Wilson's Ornithology. t See Wilson's American Ornithology, Vol. i., p. 70, PI. 51, lig. 1, for the young (under the name of Marsh-IIawk, Falco uliginuaua). . . 240 BLUE HAWK, OR HEN-HARRIER. :i rl ■H » t Lath. Ind. p. 48, Sp. 116. — Falco cinereus, It. Poser/, p. 27, ndolcacent Mnlc— /'a/ro ulliirnlliii. Lath. Ind. p. Sfi, ,Sp. 81, ndult South American Miilo. — Falco buffduii, Omki,. Kyst. i., p. 277, Sp. 103, Fcmalo and young American. — Falco ulii)inosi(.i, Gmel. Sysl. i., p. 278. Lath. Ind. p. 40, Sp. 95. Sauine, Zool. App, to yrankl. Exp. p. f)71, younj; American. — Falco ruhii/hwsus, It. I'oseg. p. 29. Lath. Ind. p. 27, Sp. 50, young. — Falco ranivovts, Daudin, Orn. ii., p. 170. Lath. Ind. Suppl. p. 7, young. — Falco europoyistus, Daud. Orn. ii., p. 110, ado- lescent Male. — Circus eiiropoi/istnn, Vieii.i,ot, Oi.f. Am. Srpt. i., p. 36, Pi. 8, adoloscont Male. — Cirrus Ilndsonius, Vieii.l. /. c. i., p. ;>0, PI. 9, young. — Circus uliijinosus, ViEii.i.. /. e. i., p. 37, Female and young. — Circus farie(/aius, Vieili,. I. c. I., p. 37, Male changing. — Circus (jallinarius, ViEri.L. Nouv. Diet, d'llist. Kat. IV., p. 459. Circus cyaneus, In. xxxi., p. 410. — Circus cyaneus, Roie. Circus ranivorus, Vieii.i.. Nouc. Dirt, d'llist. Nat. iv., p. 456, young African. — Falco striijicejis, Nii.i.s. Orn. Suer. i., p. 21. — Falco torquatus, Riiiss. Orn. i., ]% 345, Sp. 7. Id. 8vo. p. 100, Male and Fcmalo, Brunn, Sp. \A.— Falco Montanus cinereus, Briss. Orn. i., p. 355, Sp. 9, Var. A. In. 8vo. p. 112, adolescent Male. — Accipiler Freti Iludsonis, Briss. Orn. vi., App. p. 18, Sp. 47. — Lanarius cine- reus, Briss. Orn. i., p. 365, Sp. 17. Id. 8vo. p. 106. — Lanarius alliicans, Briss. I., p. 367, Sp. 18. — Suhbuteo, Oessner, Av. p. 48. — Pygarc/us accipiter, Ray, Syn. p. 17, Sp. 5. Wn./., Orn. p. 40, PI. 7. — Falco plumhrus eauda lesselala, Ki.ein, Av. p. 52, Sp. Q'2.— Lanarius, Au>r. Orn. i., PI. 381,382, adult Miiic—Laitariu.? cinereu.i, sire Falco cinerro-ulhu.i, Friscii, Pi. 79, 80, adult Male. — Falco Monta- nus .lecundus, Ai.dr. Will. Pi. 9, adult Male. — AlbancUa, Storia dcgli Ucc. i., PI. 35, adult Miilo. — Falco Pigargo, Id. I., PI. 31, Female. — Autre (Hseau St. Martin, lir.i.o's, y//.^■^ Ois. p. lOA.— L'Oiseau St. Martin. Bukf. Ols. i., p. 212. Id. /'/. Fnl. 459, adult Male. Oerardin, T(d>l. Firm. Orn. i , p. 43. — La Snu- buse, BuFP. Ois. i., p. 215, PI. 9. Id. I'l. Fnl. 443, young Female, 4S0, young Male. Gerardin, Tall. Elein. Orn. I., p. 37, Female and young. — I.e Grenouil- lard, Le Vaill. Ois. Afrique i., n. 03, PI. 23, young. — Kore oder Ualbwajhe, Bechst. Tasch. Dcutsch. p. 25, Sp. 20. Meyer & Wolf, Ois. d'AlUm. liv. 27, PI. 5, adult Male, PI. 6, Female. Naumann, Voi,. Dent.ich. ed. 2, i., PI. 39, fig. 1, adult Male, fig. 2, adult Female, PI. ,38, fig. 2, young Male.— -Vrti/.?? Ifabicht, Missilauchc, JIeyer, Boehm. Abh. 6, p. 313, adult Mule. — lUue-Ilau-k, Edw. v., p. 33, PI. 225, adult yh\\e.—Marsh-llawl;V.M\ p. 17.'., PI. 291. Penn. Arct. Zool. Sp. 105. Lath. Syn. i., p. 90, Sp. 75, Var. A. Foinale and young. — Ash- colored Mountain Falcon, Lath. Syn. i., p. 94, Sp. 78. Var. A. adolescent Male. — Ilen-IIarricr, Enw. PI. 225, very old Male. Will, (Angl.) p. 172. Alii, ii., Pl. 5. IIaye.'s, Ihit. nird.f, PI. 1. Lewis, lirif. lUrds, i., p. IS. Penn. Jhil. Zool. I., Sp. 58, p. 28. Lath. Syn. i., p. 88, Sp. 74. Id. Suppl. p. 22, adult Male. — liing-tail llaxrk, Edw. hi., pl. 107. Pknn. Arci. Zonl. Sp. 100, Female and youn^.—Ning-lail, AVill. (Ang.) p. 72, Alb. hi., Pl. 3. Haves, Hril. Birds, PI. 2. Lehin, nril. Birds, i., Pl. 18, Female. In. PI. 2, fig. 4, the egg. Penn. Brit. Zool. Sp. 59. Lath. Syn. I., p. 89, Sp. 75. Id. Suppl. p. 22, Fe- male and young. — JV/iile-rumped Hay Falcon, Lath. Syn. p. 54, Sp. 34, Var. B. young. — Hudson's Bay lling-tail. Lath. Syn. i., p. 91, Sp. 76, young. — While lAinner, Lath. Syn i., p. 87, Sp. 73, adult Mule.— Cray FaUnu, Penn. Brit. Zool. I., .Sp. 49. Lewin, Brit. Birds, i., Pl. 15. Lath. Syn. i , p. 82, Sp. 67, adolescent Male. — Xew York Falcon, Penn. Arct. Zool. ii., |) 209, adolescent Male. — Ranirorous Falcon, Lath. Syn. Supjd. Female and young. Whilc-neckcd Falcon, L.KTii. Syn. Suppl. p. 30, Sp. 101, uilult Male, South American. — Cayenne liing-tail. Lath. Syn. i., p. 91, Sp. 76, Var. A. young. — Falco glaucus, the sharp- winged Hawk, of a pale sky-blue color, the tip of the wings black, Bartr. IVav. p. 290, adult Mule. — Falco subcartdcus, the sharp-winged Hawk, of a daik or dusky BLUE HAWK, OR HE N-II A RRI E R. 241 hirfit, l)W. v., Wet. —Anh- Male. It. II., lint. a'lult c'lnnlo Itrll. le vpi^. 1. Fe- ar. B. While Brit. Sp. 1)7, I'ont -livrktil \vienne sharp- 'rav. p. • dutky blue color, Bartr. Trar. p. 290, adolescent Male.— Fa?co ranivorus, the Mar»h- Hawk, Bartr. Trav. p. 290, young. As will bo perceived upon a alight inapcction of our long and elabo- rate list of synonyme.'', this well-known species is found in almost every part of the globe ; and not only does it seem to have been considered everywhere distinct, but nearly every different appearance which it a,ssume8 during its progre.«s through the various and extraordinary changes that its plumage undergoes according to sex and age, has in each country given rise to a nominal species. At the same time, how- ever, that names were thus inconsiderately multiplied for one bird, two, really distinct, were always confounded together. Analogous in their changes, similar in form and plumage, it was reserved for the acute and ingenious Montague, to point out the difference, and establish the two species by permanent characters. The new one was called by him Falco cineraceua, and is known by the English name of Ash-colored Ilarrier. It is figured and accurately described in all its states of plumage by Vieillot, in his Galcn'e ilea Oiseaux, where he has dedicated it to its discoverer, calling it Circus Montagui; thus fully apologizing for having in his article Busard, of the New Dictionary of Natural History, declared it to be a state of the other. How far, howevQr, it may bo considered a compliment to change the name given to a species by its discoverer, in order to apply even his own to it, we are at a loss to imagine. The principal distinctive characters of the two species are to be found in the relative length of the wings and tail, and in the proportional lengths of the primaries. In the Ash-colored Ilarrier, the si.xth primary is shorter than the first, the second is much longer thivn the fifth, and the third is the longest ; the wings when closed reach to the tip of the tail. In the Ilen-IIarrier, the first primary is shorter than the sixth, the second sub-equal to the fifth, and the third equal to the fourth, the longest ; the wings closed, not reaching by more t:ian two inches to the tip of the tail, which is also but slightly roundeancies in color, size, and (not in this, but in otiier instances) even of form, prove mere variations of sex or age I We cannot wonder at the two real species liaving alwaya been confounded amidst tlie cliaotiu indications of the j)resent. Even Wilson was not free from the error wliicli had prevailed for so long a period in scientific Europe, tliat the Ring-tail and llen-llarrier were two species. Though lie sun, itay. aiid others of the older authors, were perfectly in accordance with nature on this point. It was perhaps with Linnd, or at least with IJuffon, (imelin, Pennant, and Fialham himself, who afterwards corrected it, that the error originated. Latham, confident of his own (tbservalions and those of Pennant, who hail found imili'ti of the species said to be the female of the Falcn n/aneus (Hen-IIarrier), and not reflecting that these males might be the young, exclaims, " authors have lu ver blundered more than in making this bird (the King-tail) the same species with the last mentioned (llen-Harrier) ;" an opinion that he wiis afterwards obliged to recant. In physical science we cannot be too cautious in rejecting facts, nor too careful in distinguishing in an author's statement, what BLUE HAWK, OH 11 E Nil A lUU E U. 248 has piiMHod under his own cyos, however extraordinary it may seem, from tlio inference he draws from it. Thus, to apply tlie principle in this instanec, Latham mi;j;ht have reconciled the fact of males and females beinj^ foutid in the pliimn>;ro of the Uing-tail, with the others, that no females were ever found uinler the dress of the Ilen-IIarrier, and that some Ring-tails would gradually change into Hen-llarriers. Whether or not the Marsh-Hawk of America was the same with the Ring-tail of Europe, Wilson would not take upon himself to pronounce, as he has left to his bird the distinctive name of Falco uUgmosus ; though he positively states, that in his opinion they are but one species, and oven rejects as false, and not existing, the only character on which the specific distinction was baseil, that of the American having "strong, tliick, and short legs," instead of having th( m long and slender. PW want of opportunity however of actually comparing specimens from I'oth continents, ho could choose no other course than the one he has followed ; and so great appears to have been the deference of ornitholo- gists for this extraordinary man, that while they have unhesitatingly quoted as synonymous with the European Ilen-IIarrier, the African specimens described by Le Vaillant, and even the various nominal species creat<'d or adopted by ^'ieillot as North American, the F'alco ulujinoma of former authors has been respected, probably as the Marsh- Hawk of Wilson ! But the latter is not more than the others entitled to be admitted as distinct, being merely the present in its youthful dress. The Ilen-IIarrier belongs to the subgenus Circus, which in English we shall call Harrier, the name of Buzzard being appropriated to the ButconcK. Though perfectly well marked in the typical species, such as this, the group to which our biril belongs passes insensibly into others, }>ut especially into t'lat called liitd'o, some even of the North American upocies being intermediate between then. Whenever tlic groups of falcons shall be elevated to the rank of genera, it will perhaps be found expedient to unite Cirrus and lintro, as they do not differ nuich more from each other than our two sections of Hawks; those with long and slender legs, and those with short stout legs, Antur and Sparvius of authors, the line of demarcation being (piite as difficult to be drawn. The Harriers are distinguished in their tribe by their weak, much C(unpressed bill, destitute of a tooth or sharp process, but with a strongly marked lobe; their short and bristly cere; their long, slender, and scutellated tarsi ; their slender toes, of which the outer are connected at base by a membrane ; their nails, subequal, weak, channelled beneath, much incurved, and extrenu>ly sharp : a very remarkable characteristic is exhibited in their long wings, subequal to the tail, which is large, and even, or slightly rounded at tip : tluir first quill is very short, always shorter than the fifth, and the third or fourth is the longest. Their 241 HI, UK HAWK, oil IIKN-HAUKIKR. •I w ■f fi hIcikIci' boily aixl elegitiit Hliapo chiefly distiii^uiHli tliein from tlieir ullioH, the HuzziinlH. Tlii-y nuiy bo fiirllu>r subdivided into tlioHC in which the female at least, is possessod of that curious facial riiiy of scaly or stiff feathers so remarkaliie in the Owls, and those entirely destitute of it. One sjieeies only is found in the United States, which belon;»s to tho first section, and cannot bo confounded with any other than that from which we have thouj^lit j)roper to distinj^uish it at the bej^inninj; of this article. In this seiition, the fennile dilVers essentially from the male, the young being similar to her in color. The latter change wonderfully as they advance in age, to which circumstance is owing tho wanton multiplication that has beer, nnide of the species. In those which com- pose the second section, the changes are most extraordinary, since, whiio tho ailiilt male is of a very uniform light color, approaidiing to white, tho fenmle and young aro very dark, and much spotted and banded : they are also much more conspicuously distinguished by the rigid facial Tlu'se birds are bold, and somewhat distingui.sheil for their agility, especially when compared with the Uuzzards, and in gracefulness of flight they are hardly inferior to flu! true Falcons. Thi'y do not chase well on the wing, and Ily usually at no gnat height, making freijuent cir- cuitous sweeps, rarely flapping their wings, and strike their prey upon the ground. Their food consists of mice, and the young of other quaJ rupcds, reptiles, fishes, young birds, especially of those that build on thv, ground, or even adult water birds, seizing them by surprise, and do tiot disdain insects; for wliich habits they arc ranked among the ignoble birds of jirey. Unlike most other large birds of their family, they (juarter their victims previously to swallowing them, an operation which they always perform on the ground. Morasses and level districts are their favorite haunts, being generally observe