RIJKSMUSEUM VAN NArUURLIJKr .MISrORIE LEIDEN . CONSTABLE’S MISCELLANY. The Publishers beg leave to announce, that the 72d volume of the Miscellany will contain Memoirs of the Empress Josephine, by Dr Memes, the translator of Bourrienne’s Napoleon. In the present volume, Dr Memes may be considered more as redacleur than as either translator or author, taking for his groundwork the celebrated memoirs of the Empress, by Madame de Remusat, regarding which work it maybe sufficient to quote the opinion of an eminent French critic, while reviewing the volumes of Bourrienne : — “ From these, the only genuine and impartial Memoirs of the Emperor, we cannot disjoin those of his first consort. While Bourrienne, in the former, describes the public acts or unfolds the secret policy of Napoleon — the master of France, almost of Europe — the lady who writes the Life of Josephine unveils the privacy of the courts of the Tuileries, Mulmaison, and St Cloud. 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Jn (fo , p resg , The Ninth and last Volume ’ GeJral InScx. » England, Scotland, and W«4» Department of Great Britain has been found necessary 'to have the Up ^ a scale comnaensn- entirely re-written for English 1 reade r attaches to this rate with the importance which the n. b portion of Geography. j a complete Table of Refer- useful Gazetteer. A— Bi.cn, Edinburgh ;( andI^o X ,.R E -> “ MONTAGU’S ORNITHOLOGICAL DICTIONARY. i. - «r “ — I “ i ” VV UUU-hueo, MOKTA GU’S ° RN ^vf\ he^jl^iai ? t estabbsl I’d TIONARY. a New Edition^ wit _ Tu„ f , ir! ,Ws. A Plan P41 ,T- 1 I TIONARY. A New Edit.om and Numerous Original Obser- various. By JAMES RENNIE, A.M.A.L.S. ^3 ♦ * OK ^ S. — ^ "hT the VA1UODS DEPARTMENTS — HE — LITKKATITRE . SCIKN'CE.&TUK ARTS. TOIL. 1L. XX IT. THE AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. VOL. IV. TlW'vtLD TURKEY EBINlURStt PMHTiEBFORl'ttHSWBI,® & RIDHBmai ANDSTOWT.CHAHCS S' ft MHIMUT. 1831. VSJJ AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY; -ft" OR THE NATURAL HISTORY OF **y*. A/I the birds of the united states. BY ALEXANDER WILSON, AND CHARLES LUCIAN BONAPARTE. EDITED BY Robert jameson, Esq. f.r.s.e. &l. f.l.s. m.w.s. Regius professor of natural history in the university OF EDINBURGH, &C. IN FOUR VOLUMES. VOL. IV. EDINBURGH: PRINTED FOR CONSTABLE AND CO. AND HURST, CHANCE, AND CO. LONDON. 1831. EDINBURGH : Printed by Andrew Shortreed, Thistle-Lane. ADVERTISEMENT. In this the only European edition of Wilson’s American Birds, the whole work (in the original edition in nine volumes quarto — here in three volumes) is, for the first time, regularly arranged ; so that it is now equally accessible to the general reader and the ornithologist. The interesting biographical Memoir by Mr Hetherington, an esteemed writer, prefixed to the first volume, is the best account of Wilson hitherto published. 1 he fourth volume contains the valuable American Ornithology of Prince Charles Lucian Bonaparte ; Vi ADVERTISEMENT. also occasional notes by the Editor : and many beautiful sketches of the feathered creation from the pen of Audubon, another great American self-taught naturalist; and illustrations from an important work, Northern Zoology, by Richardson and Swainson, at present in the press, conclude the volume. It. JAMESON. Edinburgh College Museum, CONTENTS OF VOLUME FOURTH. Arkansaw Flycatcher Page . 89 Arkansaw Siskin 127 Band-tailed Pigeon . 156 Blue Hawk, or Hen-harrier 21 Bohemian Waxwing 71 Burrowing Owl 30 Cock of the Plains 212 Cooper’s Hawk 3 Crimson-necked Bullfinch . 145 Busky Grouse 189 Evening Grosbeak 134 Bemale American Goldfinch 130 female Cape May Warbler 105 Bemale Cosrulean Warbler . 114 Bemale common Crow Blackbird 57 Bemale Golden-crowned Gold-crest . 116 Bemale Golden-winged Warbler 103 Bemale Indigo Finch . 141 Bemale Pine Bullfinch 149 Bemale Rose-breasted Grosbeak . 138 Bemale White-winged Crossbill 151 Blorida Jay ... 67 ^°rk-tailed Flycatcher '•ivous, or Cliff Swallow . 82 78 Vlll CONTENTS. • Pago Great Crow Blackbird . • Lapland Longspur . • • .121 Lark Finch . • Lazuli Finch . • • .132 Northern three-toed Woodpecker . • 40 Orange-crowned Warbler • • .107 Pallas’ Dipper . . . ■ Palm Warbler ... . . 109 Rocky Mountain Antcatcher Say’s Flycatcher . ■ • .91 Sharp-tailed Grouse Spotted Grouse . • • • 20® Steller’s Jay . • Swallow-tailed Flycatcher . • .86 White-crowned Pigeon White-tailed Hawk Wild Turkey • • • • 163 Yellow-headed Troopial • . . 48 Young red-headed Woodpecker . . 46 Young Yellow-bellied Woodpecker . . 39 Zenaida Pigeon . Synonyms . • • 219 APPENDIX. Systematic Catalogue of the American Birds, drawn and described by Audubon . • 242 Catalogue of the New Species of American Birds described by Richardson and Swainson . 244 CONTENTS. IX Turkey Vulture, or Turkey Buzzard Observations on the supposed power which Vultures are said to possess of scenting carrion at great distances Californian Vulture The Bird of Washington Ring-tail, or Golden Eagle The White-headed Eagle, or Bald Eagle The Stanley Hawk ... The Winter Hawk i Petit Caporal «... Black Warrior . Barred Owl The Great Horned Owl . The Ivory-billed Woodpecker The Cow-pen Bird .... The Columbia Jay The Raven Chuck-will’s- widow White-fronted, or Cliff Swallow . The Republican, or Cliff Swallow Bonaparte’s Flycatcher Selby’s Flycatcher Traill’s Flycatcher The Louisiana Water Thrash . ' . *->n Voices of Birds The Mocking Bird The Robin, or Red-breasted Thrash Awakening of Birds- Early Morning Roscoe’s Yellow-throat On determination of Species of Birds Vigors’ Warbler Childrens’ Warbler The Carbonated Warbler he Rathbone Warbler Page 245 ib. 259 261 266 267 278 ib. 279 280 ib. 285 ib. 286 287 290 292 293 295 297 297 ib. ib. 298 305 307 308 311 ib. 315 ib. ib. ib. X CONTENTS. Northern Humming Bird Page 316 Cuvier’s Regulus . . 317 The Prairie Titlark ib. Bewick’s Wren . . ib. Henslow’s Bunting • ib. Snow Bunting . . ib. The Passenger Pigeon . 319 Flight of Birds . . . 320 Brehm’s Arrangement of Pigeons 325 Grouse ... . . ib. Ptarmigan ... 326 Willow Grouse .... 327 Rock Grouse . . 32S White-tailed Grouse 330 Account of several new species of Grouse 331 On the Nests of Birds 336 Brehm’s Arrangement of Grouse . 340 Goose Tribe ... 341 Longevity of Animals 342 Trumpeter Swan 345 Bewick’s Swan . . : 346 Rocky Mountain Garrot ib. Brehm’s Arrangement of the Anatid® 347 Short-billed Mew Gull 352 Franklin’s Rosey Gull . 353 Richardson’s Jager . . . 354 Brehm’s Arrangement of Gulls . 356 Great Northern Diver 358 Brehm’s Arrangement of Grebes, Divers, 8ec. . 359 BONAPARTE’S AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. ORDER I. ACCIPITRES, Linnj?,us. VOL. IV. A 1 GENUS I. FAL C O, Linnasus. *• PALCO COO PERU, BONAPARTE. — COOPER’S HAWK. BONAPARTE, PLATE X. FIG. I. Buffon complained of the difficulty of writing a story of birds, because he already knew eight humfred fifte leS i and su PP osed that t here might actually exist to Ti'" , undrefl > or eveil > said he, venturing as lie thought Woi U » lt . ot P ro,J ability, two thousand! What then sir ,i. llls embarrassment at present, when nearly am ,, ; U! ' aiul s P ct 'ies are known, and fresh discoveries T? a*ly augmenting the number? subi 1C f d **ficulties attending a general work on this bv n ai i e not ’ P cr b a ps, experienced in an equal degree ouhr'.r ' V1 ° c0,l | ies himself to the history of a parti- „^ 0l JP> or of the species inhabiting a single district, a nio„„ le eS ,’ ™. a Work like the present, which is not embraepf to one genus or family, but different Iril' '- tS SC0 P e species belonging to all the vmious VelLti 8 ’ " is , r< ‘ r l uisit ':> i« order to° ex-plain their be mom nr ] ° nS aud a . na ^°^ es > ^ at the author should nature' ° To S ac r ai,1 . ted with the whole system of arr-m re + a ^P*’ without the aid of methodical Would nient > a object so vast, and apparently unlimited, system ‘‘e . b'Ucc the importance of a correct ivhinli classification ; and the construction of one affi,.;.- s la !. exhibit, as far as practicable, the true n, . s ° objects, has exercised the attention of the study of nature mindS ^ haVe bee “ cm P lo y ecl the 4 FALCO COOPERII. That division of the feathered tribe popularly called birds of prey, has always been recognized as a separate and well defined group. In the Linnsean System they form the order Accipitb.es, 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 Falco of Linne, at present composed of between two and three hundred species, has much divided the opinions of naturalists. From the majestic eagle, the terror of the husbandman, to the feeblest hawk, preying on grasshoppers, it is undeniable that there exists in all these birds a great resemblance in some of the most prominent characteristics, which, being found to predo- minate 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 orni- thologist will for a moment deny. Whether these minor groups shall he considered as trivial and secondary, or whether some of them ought not to be admitted 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 favour of either of these opinions, which, like many others of more importance that have divided mankind from the beginning 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 genus may be subdivided with propriety, we look upon it as altogether a secondary question, whether we shall call the minor groups 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 cooper’s hawk. £> necessity of employing numerous subdivisions, not only 111 this, but also in its allied genus Strix. These, however, " e cannot agree to admit as genera, preferring to call them subgenera, and giving them a name, but when having occasion to mention a species belonging to any of them, to employ the name of the great genus. The desire of avoiding too great a multiplication of groups, has caused some, even of the first ornithologists °f our time, to employ sections that are not natural, an d 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 not only widely different, but that do not even possess the artificial character proposed. We shall not imitate this ’•■rational 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 su *gle species, clearly insulated, it shall at least be pointed out, not so much regarding the number of our subgenera, as the characters that unite the species of which they are respectively composed. It is objected to the numerous subdivisions that have ieen proposed in our day, that they pass into and blend insensibly with each other. This is no doubt true ; J ut 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 geneia. We are told, however, by the advocates for numerous genera, that, in giving a name, we adopt a inis, but we do not see that this necessarily follows, r uere are, we confess, other grounds on which we ue attacked with more advantage. We may, P’.rnaps, be charged with inconsistency in refusing to aiinit., as the foundation of generic groups in the Kapaces, characters which are allowed, not only by ourselves, hut by some of those who are most strenuously opposed to the multiplication of genera, to have quite sununent importance for such distinction in other •■‘mihes. With what propriety, it might be asked, can 6 FALCO COOPERII. we admit Hydrobates ( Fuligula, Nob.) as distinct from Anas, and the various genera that have been dismem- bered from Lanius, 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 in our synopsis among the Falcones of North America, are quite as distinct from each other as Coccyzus and Cucu/us, or Corvus and Garrulus. The latter genus we have admitted after Temmiuck, who is opposed to new genera among the hawks, though Astur and Elanvs certainly require to he separated no less than the two genera that Temminek 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 indicated as such by Linne) has adhered longer than ourselves to large genera, at the same time that we could not deny the existence of subordinate natural groups. We will not pretend to deny that these are of equal rank with some recognized as genera in other families, and we can only say, that we consider it doubtful, in the present unsettled state of the science, what this rank ought to he. We therefore, in the instances above quoted, consider it of little importance whether these groups he considered as genera or subgenera. But what is certainly of great 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 state of ornithology, be easily attained ; and we have decided, after much hesitation, to continue to employ suhgenera. In doing this, we are moreover influenced by the great difficulty that is met with, in some cases, in determining the proper place of a species partaking of the characters of several groups, yet not in the least deserving to he isolated ; such as Falco borealis, which is almost as much an Astur as a Buteo, and has been placed by authors, according to their different views, in both these groups. cooper’s hawk. 7 An extensive reform is evidently needed in the department of classification that relates to genera, and "' e propose, with this view, to undertake at some future Period a general work, when, erecting our system on a *uore philosophical basis, though we may restrict some, at id 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 *s divided, we come to one composed of about sixty species, well marked, and, if kept within its proper oounds, very natural, to which authors have variously a Pplied the’ name of Accipiter, Sparvius, and Astur, which last we have adopted. round in all parts of the globe, and destroying every where great numbers of birds, and small quadrupeds, he hawks (by which English name we propose to ^tiuguish this group more particularly) closelyresemble other in colour and changes of plumage, especially he North American and European species. They are eminently distinguished from all other falcons by their ”ort wings, not reaching by a considerable length to he tip of their tail, which is even, or but very slightly ounded; and by their first quill feather or primary, he* 1 is very short, while the fourth is constantly the ^ongest. Tlieir bill, suddenly curved from the base, is yj s [ r0ll o and sharp; their head is narrowed before, With the eyes placed high, large, and fiery. Their feet J,!' ' c . r y ‘' m g> and the toes especially, the middle one u Inch is much the longest, and all are armed with et y strong sharp talons, well seconding the sanguinary a ure of these fierco creatures ; their outer toe is nneeted at base by a membrane to the middle one. c female is always one-third larger than the male, ' . * 'e plumage of both is, in most species, dark above white beneath; in the adult, barred with reddish 1 dusky. In the young bird the colour is lighter, the fathers skirted with ferruginous, aud the white of the uder parts streaked longitudinally with dusky, instead betng barred. The tail is uniform in colour with 8 FALCO COOPERII. the hack, with almost always a few broad bands of black, and sometimes of white, and a whitish tip. The hawks (Astures) combine cunning with agility and strength. Sudden and impetuous in their movements, they make great havoc, especially among birds that keep in flocks, as pigeons, blackbirds, &c. and are the terror of the poultry yard. Fearless and sanguinary, they never feed, even when pressed by hunger, except on red and warm-blooded animals, whoso quivering limbs they tear with savage delight. Birds they pluck very carefully, and quarter, before eating them, but swallow small quadrupeds entire, afterwards ejecting their skins rolled up into a ball. They always pursue and seize their prey npon the wing, not falling upon it from aloft, but, rapidly skimming the earth, make their insidious approaches sidewise, and, singling out their victim, dart upon it with fatal velocity. They never soar, like the kites and eagles, to the upper regions of the atmosphere; and it is only duriug the nuptial season that they are observed sailing in wide circles in the air. Their favourite haunts, during summer, arc forests, building' their nests on trees ; in winter they spread over the plains. Though generally observed alone, the male and his companion are seldom far apart. Duriug the youth of their progeny, the parents keep them company, in order to teach them to hunt their prey, and at such times they are observed in families. This group may be farther subdivided into two sections, to one of which the name of Astur has more strictly been assigned, while the other has been distin- guished by those of Sparvius and Accipiter. The former, of which the goshawk of Europe and North America (black-capped hawk of Wilson) is the type, is characterized by its wings being somewhat longer, body more robust, and shorter, and much thicker tarsi. This is the only species that inhabits the United States' and Europe. The second section, to which the present new speeics belongs, possessing all its characters in a pre-eminent degree, equally with the hawk described by Wilson in 9 cooper’s hawk. >ts adult state as Falco Pennsylvanicus, and in its youth as Falco velox, was established on the sparrow hawk of Europe, Falco nisus, but the American species just mentioned are no less typical. The hawks of this section are more elegantly shaped, being much more slender; their wings are still shorter than in the other section, reaching little beyond the origin of the tail, and their tarsi slender and elongated, with a smooth and almost, continuous covering. Notwithstanding their smaller size and diminished strength, their superior courage and audacity, and the quickness of their movements, enable them to turn the night of the largest birds, and even sometimes, when J n captivity together, to overcome them. We have >ept a sparrow hawk, ( Falco nisus,) which, in the space W twenty-four hours that he was left unobserved, killed ih't'e falcons which were confined with him. the inextricable confusion reigning throughout the '''"‘'ks of authors who have not attended to the laraeters of the different groups of this genus, renders 1 next to impossible to decide, with any degree of certainty, whether our Falco Cooperii has or has not eeu recorded. Though agreeing imperfectly with mnny, we have not been able, notwithstanding our most sedulous endeavours, to identify it with any. It is evidently a young bird, and we should not be surprised a ’ ts (moving, when adult, a known species, perhaps n 6 •!] r numer °ns species figured of late, and JK>sm i y Le Grand Epervier de Cayenne of Daudin, bparvius major, Vi c iU„t, stated to he onc-third larger man the European sparrow hawk. At all events, uowever, it is an acquisition to the ornithology of these a . > au " we have ventured to consider it as a new peeies, and to impose on it the name of a scientific JMend, William Cooper of New York, to whose sound ' , gmeut, and liberality iu communicating useful advice, naturalists of this country will unite with us iu earing testimony, and to whom only the author, on 10 eve of his departure for Europe, would have been 10 FALCO COOPERII. willing to intrust the ultimate revision and superinten- dence of this work. Our bird agrees very well with the falcon gentle, Falco gentihs, Linne; but as that species is referred to the young of the goshawk, we have preferred giving it a new name to reviving one that might have created an erroneous supposition of identity. To the young goshawk, our hawk is, in fact, extremely similar in colour and markings, being chiefly distinguished from it by the characters of their respective sections, having the tarsi much more slender and elongated, and the wings still shorter ; the tail is also considerably more rounded. But it is to the sharp-shinned hawk (Falco velox ) of Wilson, the Falco Pennsylvanicus, or Falco fuscus in its immature plumage, that our Cooper’s hawk bears the most striking resemblance, and is in every particular most closely allied. Even comparing feather by feather, and spot by spot, they almost perfectly agree ; but the much larger size of the present, it being more than twice the bulk, will always prevent their being con- founded, even by the most superficial observer. Another good mark of discrimination may be found in the comparative length of the primaries; the second in F. Cooperii being subequal to the sixth, while in F. velox it is much shorter. The latter has also the fifth as long as the fourth ; that, in our species, being equal to the third. The tail is also much more rounded, the outer feather being nearly an inch shorter than the middle one. In F. velox the tail is even, the outer feather being as long-, or, if any thing, longer than the middle. There is no other North American species for which it can be mistaken. The bird here described, of which we have seen seven or eight specimens, perfectly similar in size and plumage, was a male, killed in the latter part of Sep- tember, near Bordentowu, New Jersey. The stomach contained the remains of a sparrow. Another that we procured, was shot on the 12th of December, while in the act of devouring on the ground a full-grown ruffed cooper’s iiawk. 11 Sfouse which he had killed, though a larger and heavier jurd than himself. Mr Cooper, the friend to whom we have dedicated this species, has recently favoured us " |th an accurate description of a specimen of a some- what larger size, shot in the early part of November, °n th e eastern part of Long- Island. lhc male Cooper's hawk is eighteen inches in length, j I nearly thirty in extent. The bill is black, or rather blackish brown ; the cere, greenish yellow ; the angles of ff le m< )uth, yellow. The irides are bright yellow. The pneral colour above is chocolate brown, the feathers Jtuiig whitish gray at base ; on the head, and neck above, lo y are blackish, margined with rufous, pure white ai 'ds the base, and grayish at the bottom, the w hite u > our shewing itself on the top and sides of the neck, ail< l being much purer on the nucha. The back and n>np are the same, but the feathers larger, and lighter cured, less margined with rufous, more widely s aysh at base, and bearing each four regular spots of ' nte in the middle of their length, which arc not seen "less w hen the feathers are turned aside. The whole ‘ody beneath is white, each feather, including the lower ■ng-coverts and femorals, marked with a long, dusky ®! Ia stripe, broader and oblanceolate on the breast j ,‘ "nnks, (some of the feathers of which have also a uc vish band across the middle,) the throat, and under ’"g-co verts ; the long feathers of the Hanks (or long axillary tealhors) are white, banded with blackish ; the m am ower tail-coverts, pure white; the wings are • 'm' leS a,K '> " hen folded, hardly reach to the second bar of the tail from the base; the smaller wing- |. Crts antl scapulars, are like the back, the quills »rowm above, (lighter on the shaft) and silvery gray beneath, reguhudy crossed by blackish bands, less con- 0,, '| ous > , ie space between the bands is white amt * • 1 ’. ner va ? os at base i s °me of the secondaries ertials are tipped and edged with rusty, and have t li-.V +V' 11 ^ naore 88 ^ey approach the body, so at those nearest may in fact be described as white landed with blackish. ■hite blackish. The first primary is very short, 12 FALCO COOPERII. more so than the secondaries ; the second is equal to the sixth, the third to the fifth, these two last mentioned being hardly shorter than the fourth, which, as in all Astures, is longest. The tail is full eight inches long, reaching five beyond the wings ; its colour is ashy brown, much paler beneath, tipped with whitish, and crossed hy four equidistant blackish bauds, nearly one inch in breadth; the tail-coverts at their very base are whitish ; the lateral feathers are lighter, and with some white on the inner webs. The legs and feet are yellow, slender, and elongated, but still do not reach, when extended, to the tip of the tail; the tarsus, feathered in front for a short space, is two and three quarter inches long; as in other Astures, the middle toe is much the longest, and the inner, without the nail, is shorter than the outer, hut taken with its much longer nail, is longer. The talons are black, and extremely sharp, the inner and the hind ones suhequal, and much the largest, while the outer is the most delicate. The female is larger, and measures two inches more in length, hut in plumage is perfectly similar to the male. As the male we have described is evidently a young bird, it is very probable that the adult, after undergoing the changes usual in this group, obtains a much darker and more uniform plumage above, and is beneath lineated transversely with reddish. That i" this supposed plumage, the bird has not yet been found, is no reason to doubt its existence, as the species is comparatively rare. Even of the common Falco fuscus, though constantly receiving numerous specimens of the young, we have only been able to procure a single out in adult plumage, during a period of four years. We regret that this is all that is in our power to offet of the history of this species, which, as will he sees' from the description, possesses in an eminent degree the characters of the group. From the circumstance of its being found here in autumn and winter, we at 9 led to infer, that it comes to us from the north. WHITE-TAILED HAWK. 13 2. FALCO DISFAB, BONAPARTE. WHITE TAILED HAWK. BONAPARTE, PLATE XI. FIG. I. This beautiful hawk, which we recently discovered ? an inhabitant of North America, is so strikingly 7‘W,o the black- winged hawk ( Falco melanopterus *) o the Old Continent, that we have hitherto considered win as identical, contrary to the opinion of Vieillot, ' ’. os ® authority, it is true, could in this case be of little otli *, as ' le had not seen the species, but like many "Ts had merely given it a name ; his sole knowledge it being derived from the work of D’A/ara. We a 'c now yielded only to the decision of Temminck, 10 uns lately introduced the young into his Planches ° orieesj) but not without much reluctance, especially i* that distinguished ornithologist has evidently not a t the trouble of comparing the two species; th '■ 1 " ’ se > l le would certainly not have omitted noticing i. e ’ r uuinities and differential characters; since in the *°W ‘h species so closely allied as these two, the „ ( ,^ , 'tiul characters are of more importance and 7p|y than the most laboured descriptions, ins comparison we have carefully instituted between Orn. 2, p. 152, Sp. 124. Lath. d. Suppl. p. 12, Sp- 38. is. d'Jigyp. p. 98, pi. 2, f. 2. t. 8. p. 240, (now Elanoides . ) ,. Zuol. Misc. 3, p. 4, pi. 122. in Tr. Lin. Soc. 15, p. 185. I'Afr. 1, p. 147, pi. 36, mule, 37, 5yn. Suppl. 2, p. 28, Sp. 23. Suppl. 2, p. 52, Sp. 59. ruivings, in a collection that Mr ■as kind enough to shew me lately add to these already numerous i. Ind. Suppl. ( Circus axillaris , / *, 7 c /< 0 "“danopterus, Daud, Ind Suppl. p. 6 . Sp. 16. Paloo Sonninensis, Lath. 1 Manns cccsius, Savicnv i ViMll. Nouv. put. d'Hilt. N JManus melanopterus , Leac Vigors, Descr. Austral, Birds Le. Blac , Le Vaillant, Ois. young male. •fitac/*- winged falcon , Lath. Somuni's falcon, Lath. Syn -The inspection of original . ra y? ( >f the British Museum, ■ * n London, has enabled me t yovnyms, Falco axillaris , Lat vieilh !) f r o m New Holland. 14 FALCO DISFAR. our American specimens, and others from Africa and Java. They agreed perfectly, especially with that from Java, in every, the minutest character, even feather hy feather, much better than birds of prey of the same species, and from the same country, do generally. They are even more alike than different specimens from the Old Continent of the black-winged itself, since that species is said to vary considerably in the black markings, which extend more or less on the wings in different individuals. Nevertheless, a constant, though trivial, differential character, added to the difference of locality, has induced us to follow Temminck’s course, in which we should never have ventured to take the lead. This character consists in the tail being in Falco clispaf constantly irregular, while in F. melanopterus, it is even ; or to explain it more clearly, the outer tail- feather is rather the longest in the African, and more than half an inch shorter than the next in the American species. This essential character is much more con- spicuous in Temminck’s plate than in ours, owing to the tail being spread. In the black-winged, also, the lower wing-coverts ai'e destitute of the black patch so conspicuous in the American bird ; a female from Java has, however, a slight indication of it, but no trace of it is observable in our African males. By admitting this to be a distinct species from the black- winged hawk, we reject one more of those sup- posed instances, always rare, and daily diminishing upon more critical observation, of a common habitation of the same bird in the warm parts of both continents, without an extensive range also to the north. A steady and long protracted exertion of its powerful wings, would have been requisite to enable it to pass the vast and trackless sea which lies between the western coast of Africa, the native country of the black-winged hawk, and the eastern shores of South America. Yet were the species identical, this adven- turous journey must have been performed. For, even admitting several centres of creation, we cannot believe WHITE-TAILED HAWK. 15 . at na ture, * who, notwithstanding her luxuriant undance, evidently accomplishes all her ends with "■in f, rea * est economy of means, has ever placed, abori- a ln different parts of the globe, individuals of 8am ® species; but has always given to each the ‘ extending its range, according to volition, in otbn . ectlon where it should find climate, food, or or circumstances most appropriate. s»e "b'te- tailed hawk is one of those anomalous of tV e . S ’ " b ' cb connec t the generally received divisions ami T ?r oat r!' cllus Falco, It participates in the form relat' ,ablt * °* tbc ( Milvus ,) while in its other at th« US U u PP roa<:lles the true falcons (Falco,) and Savin*' Si J me tinle presents traits peculiar to itself. ucarfL- 8 ’ thcrefore > v ery properly considered its groan 1 ' e i tbe ^lack-winged, as the typo of a peculiar Which " lub be elevates to the rank of a genus, but oni v 1 l°r the present shall adopt as a subgenus Vafli ,, “sequent observations have confirmed Le fur™, \ < ; pl ", ioi, > that the swallow-tailed hawk (Falco a few' ti' S ° loSel y related to it; and associated with been -j r reeently discovered species, they have name ofKv 6< * a 3 T a distinct group, under Savigny’s but i a '! us ‘ ^ icillot adopted the group as a genus, the'iiiir.,!' ** reason we know not, has since changed readil v ,r c ^lanoides. The hawks of this group are lemrth of rt lll « l " s b f ‘d from all others, by the superior bv “their l iu Setond primary of their elongated wings; noTtooLrih 6d n lb0Ve ’ curved from the ba “b wholly reticulated e tarsi ,r half Tfl ‘’“fV f° rt ’ and entirely senarated ' i " feathered before; toes llatteimd love H, an<1 |l0 "" , ' f ' ul uails - The head is deep sunk and wittTth 8ap \ wide ’ aud c y es lar ge. The colours are also abo . ve ' y white, . F ie, r^tKs We tbink^rnno”^”.* *! Cb u, *?*? u‘S > “‘“"S’ lliffe rent acceptations, “Sgregatorf *° State ’ t . hat W1 ‘t Ranzani, we mean by it “ the lj y the Supreme Creator ^‘ Wga ’ a “ d of the laws “nposedoii them 16 FALCO DISPAR. or less of black. The comparatively even tail of the two allied species of which we are treating, eminently distinguishes them from the others of the subgenus, which have the tail exceedingly forked. They are remarkable also for another characteristic, that ol having the nails rounded beneath, and not canaliculate, a circumstauce that occurs besides only in the sub- genus Pandion* This character, which we formerly attributed to all the Elani, and which we believe we first observed not to exist in the fork-tailed species, has induced Mr Vigors, the English ornithologist, to separate the latter as a new genus, under the name of Nauclerus. The female white-tailed hawk, is sixteen and a half inches long, and three feet five and a half inches in extent. The bill is black, and measures from the corners of the mouth one inch and a half, the sides ot the mouth, posterior portion of the lower mandible, and cere, bright yellow orange; bristles on the cere white, as well as those first on the lores ; those nearest the eye, black; irides, brownish red; eyelids, white! cilia, long and black ; orbits, black, wider before the eye ; front line over the orbits, sides of the head, neck, and body, and whole inferior surface of the bird, togethef with the thighs, pure white ; head, pearl gray, becoming gradually darker from the pure white front towards the neck and back, which are entirely bluish ash, as well as the rump, scapulars, secondaries, and greater wing-coverts; smaller and middle wing-coverts, deep glossy black ; spurious wing, blackish ; lining of tie’ wing, and inferior coverts, pure white, the latter with a wide black patch ; primaries on both surfaces, slat f colour, the shafts, black, and, the first excepted, mar- gined exteriorly, and slightly at tip, with dusky, ai) black, very acute, and, with the exception of the "Idle one, perfectly rounded beneath ; the middle one s very sharp on the inner side. the male is of a smaller size; the upper surface, nstead of being bluish slate, is more of a dirty grayish, "Oghtly tinged with ferruginous ; the tail is less purely ute. These sexual differences are the more worthy note, as they are the reverse of what is exhibited in o her hawks. It is, however, possible, that they are °t to be found in very old males. i the young of both sexes, but especially .the young hales, are somewhat darker, and are strongly tinged ! ferruginous, principally on the head, neck, and ln ? s ’ , le breast being entirely of that colour. A pecimen of the African species in this state is figured jy e VaUlant, whose plates in general are tolerably accurate ; but how great is the disappointment of the j;” 1 . to find the tarsi represented as covered distinctly with plates, as in other hawks ! We cannot 1 Pass this opportunity of exhorting engravers, drafts- ii, and all artists employed on works of natural a 01 y> never to depend on what they are accustomed to see. all cases to copy faithfully what they Wen, and all artists hist' . see, but iu .... lave under their eyes; otherwise, taking for granted T hat they ought not, they will inevitably fall into 0 lesc gross errors. Even the accurate Wilson himself, 1 rather perhaps his engraver, has committed the same VOL. IV. B 18 FALCO DISPAR. error in representing the feet of the swallow-tailed hawk. Of what consequence, will it perhaps he said, is the form of the scales covering the foot of a hawk ? But. these afford precisely one of the best representative characters of groups, and it will, therefore, not be thought unnecessary to caution artists in this, and similar cases. The, young, as described by Temminck, is in a more advanced stage of plumage ; the front, forepart of the neck, thighs, flanks, and under tail-coverts are pure white ; the breast and belly are of the same colour, 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 marbled with black and white ; the quills are bluish, terminated with white ; the tail is of a grayish white, with black shafts ; all the feathers have dark cinereous towards the point, and are tipped with white. This species is an inhabitant of a great portion of the American continent, as the Alcon bianco of Paraguay, so well described by D’Azara, is undoubtedly the same bird. Vieillot undertook to classify it from D’Azara’s description, applying to it the name of Mihus levcurus ; but, after more attentive consideration, he perceived that it w r as not a Milvus, but an Elanus. He conse- quently removed it to that genus, which he called Elanoides, at the same time asserting, that with the swallow-tailed hawk, it ought to constitute a different section from the black-winged hawk; from which, upon actual comparison, it is with difficulty shown to be even specifically distinct ! Such are the absurdities into which authors are betrayed through the highly reprehensible practice to which some are addicted, of attempting to classify and name animals they have never seen, from the descriptions, or mere indications, of travellers. Though, by such means, they may some- times gain the credit of introducing a new species, and WIIXTE-TAILED IIAWK. 19 tttas deprive future observers, wbo may risk their fortunes, or even their lives, in pursuit of imperfectly known animals, of their best reward, they cannot fail to incur the merited reprobation of all honourable and ‘air-dealing naturalists. 1'hough this bird ranges so widely over the American continent, it is every where a rare species, and in the United States appears to be confined to the southern en ?ity- Tins specimen was shot in December, in the neighbourhood of St Augustine, East Florida, at 'e residence of my near relation, Colonel Achilles urat, whose kind hospitality afforded to Mr Titian eale every facility for the prosecution of his scientific researches. It was observed by Mr Peale, about the awn of day, sitting on the dead branch of an old live oak, attentively watching the borders of an adjacent salt marsh, which abounded with Arvicola hispidus, and the different species of sparrow, which make their residence in the southern parts of the Union. It was very shy , and, on his approach, it flew in easy circles a moderate elevation; and such was its vigilance, nit the greater part of a day was spent in attempting 0 get within gunshot. At length the cover of inter- posing bushes enabled him to effect his purpose. It ' as a . beautiful female, in perfect adult plumage. This j CX ’ ? n f' le perfect state, is now for the first time escribed, Temminck’s plate representing the young emu e only ; and even the figures of the African na ogue, m Le \ affiant's work, exhibit only the male n ie young and adult states. As usual in the tribe pi edaceous birds, the female is much larger than the male, and is therefore, entitled to precedence. 11 l0U gh th- speeies i s so rare, its near relative, the ulack-wmged hawk, appears, on the contrary, to be ' ery numerous. In Africa, where it was first discovered, • Uld "'Inch is probably its native country, it is rather a fommon species, and has a very extensive range. Le 1 Vni tVe T 1, ‘ ntl >' observed it on the eastern coast of that >ttle known continent, from Duyven-Hoek to Caffraria, where, however, it is less common. The same traveller •20 DALCO DISPAR. found it to inhabit also in the interior, in the Camdebo, and on the shores of the Swart-kop, and Sunday rivers. It is very common in Congo, and numerous also in Barbary, Egypt, and far-distant Syria. The researches of Ruppel, in the interior of North-Eastern Africa, already so productive, and from which so much more may he expected, have furnished specimens of this species, of which we owe two to the kindness of Dr Creitzscbmaer, the learned and zealous Director of the Museum of the free city of Frankfort, — an institution which lias 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 Holland, being numerous in the autumn of New South Wales, where it is migratory, and preys chiefly on field mice, but is .seldom known to attack birds. It is there observed at t imes to hover in the air, as if stationary and motionless. Though occasionally met with on the African coast of the Mediterranean, not a solitary individual has ever been known to visit the opposite shores of Italy, Spain, or Turkey, nor has it been met with in any other part of Europe. When at rest, it is generally seen perched on high bushes, where the pure white of the lower parts of its body renders it very conspicuous at a distance. It utters a sharp piercing cry, which is often repeated, especially when on the wing, though Mr Peale assures us, that our individual uttered no cry. Like its closely related species, it does not attack small birds, except for the purpose of driving them from its favourite food, which consists of hemipterous insects, chiefly of the Gryllus 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 hispidus, and one or two feathers apparently of a sparrow : but it is not a cowardly bird, as might be suspected from its affinity to the kites, and from its insignificant prey, since it successfully attacks crows, shrikes, and even the more BLUE IIAWK, OH HEN-HARRIER. 21 ii ', d ^irds °f its own genus, compelling them to quit ev av £“ n i e haunts, which it guards with a vigilant i hey build in the bifurcation of trees. The nest 0,w aut l shallow, lined internally with moss and env, Ur fi' The female is stated to lay four or five apJj- i nestlings at first are covered with down of ^dish-gray colour. whif] 8 • Uri< " u ' s P e °i es is said to diffuse a musky odour, the 1 1 1S ' ^inined even after the skin is prepared for in : ^ ut we are inclined to believe, that it is Mr Pe l a* j State 0 "if that it possesses this quality, shot i • not ?hserve any such odour in the bird lie his . ' c a P obliged, for want of better food, to make ner of it in the woods, found it not unpalatable. n. PALCO cta. KBITS, BONAP. blue HAWK, Oil HEN-IiA RRIElt. BONAPA11TE, PLATE XII. Will be perceived upon As our long and a t tue is slight inspection of ti 1A - j « ^ a l>orate list of synonyms, [printed found *• °i * le V0 ^ ume J this well known species only doe s Tt a ! m ° S ‘ ? cr T P ar t of the globe; and not distinct i , seew t° have been considered every where it assume U l oO'Ody/'very different appearance which and extnmr.l ' U " n ^ , lts progress through the various according to se7 f*f n ° es its plumage undergoes rise to a & nomin^ • a ” e ’ ! llls m cacb country given that names , VGr „ 8 E“ 0le8 .- At t,,(! samB time, however, one bird, two iL.li ‘? cons iderately multiplied for together A,’ n i„ ^ distinct, were always confounded and plumag^'itwasrcser ffl “ in form Montague to noint es f r T ve ^ * or the acute and ingenious - "$3. £ «;»»■ -*— ** *. and ae£ S t {*T ot .f h ; •° lourpd harrier. It is figured Vieijw T f- de * crl ' ,cd “ its states of plnraa|e by dedicated it t '*t < ' aerle des Oiseaux, where he has thus fulTv mil ,ts . d ! sco J er ® r > railing it Circus Montagui ; } apologizing for having, m his article Buzzard, 22 FALCO CYAXEUS. of the New Dictionary of Natural History, declared it to he a state of the other. How far, however, it may be 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-coloured harrier, the sixth primary is shorter than the first, the second is much longer than the fifth, and the third is the longest ; the wings, when closed, reach to the tip of the tail. In the hen-harrier, the first primary is shorter than the sixth, the second sub- eqnal to the fifth, and the third equal to the fourth, the longest; the wings closed, not reaching, by more than two inches, to the tip of the tail, which is also but slightly rounded in the latter, while in the ash-coloured it is cuneiform. Other minor differences are besides observable in the respective sexes and states of both; but as those we have indicated are the only ones that permanently exist, and may be found at all times, we shall not dwell oil the others, especially as Montague’s species appears not to inhabit America. We think proper to observe, however, that the adult male of Falco cineraceus has the primaries wholly black beneath, while that of the F. cyaneus has them black only from the middle to the point ; and that the tail-feathers, pure white in the latter, arc in the former spotted beneath. The female in our species is larger than the correspon' ding sex of the other, though the males in both are nearly of equal size ; and the collar that surrounds the face is strongly marked in ours, whereas it is but little apparent in the other. The F. cineraceus has two white spots near the eyes, which are not in the F. cyaneus- The young of the former is beneath rusty without spots. Thus, slight but constant differences, are seen to repre- sent a species, while the most striking discrepancies id colour, size, and (not in this but in other instances) even of form, prove mere variations of sex or age ! W« cannot wonder at the two real species having always BLUE HAWK, OR HEN-HARRIER. 23 been confounded amidst the chaotic indications of the Present. Even Wilson was not free from the error which had Prevailed for so long a period in scientific Europe, that e ring-tail and hen-harrier were two species. Though ? ( 'd n °t publish a figure of the present in the adult P-iunage of the male, he was well acquainted with it as an inhabitant of the Southern States; for there can be , 0 uoubt that it is the much desired blue hawk which e was so anxious to procure; the only land bird he » ended to add to his Ornithology, or at least the only °?? l°ft registered in his posthumous list. It was th* 6 l k° cause be " ; 's not aware of this fact, and ougiit that no blue hawk existed In America corres- ponding to the European hen-harrier, that Mr Sabine, e Appendix to Franklin’s Expedition [as quoted in ynonyms,] persisted in declaring that the marsh-hawk as a distinct species peculiar to America, of which he T Hudson's Bay ring-tail to be the young. ,,b at the error of considering Br ", 1. er alM . iTng-tail as different species liad tint ah ° r ^ uro P e » it is hut just to mention, that Aldrovandq Bnsson, Ray, and others of the older li,; u,rs * were perfectly in accordance with nature on P“ lnb was, perhaps, with Linin'-, or at least ' Hi Huffon, Grnelin, Pennant, and Latham himself, LaH a Rewards corrected it, that the error originated, niam, confident of his own observations, and those 24 FALCO CYANEUS. of Pennant, who had found males of the species said to be the female of the Falco cyaneus (hen-harrier,) and not reflecting’ that these males may be the young, exclaims, “ Authors have never blundered more than in making this bird (the ring-tail) the same species with the last mentioned (hen-harrier ;”) an opinion that be was 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 has passed under his own eyes, however extraordinary it may seem, from the inference he draws from it. Thus, to apply the principle in this instance, Latham might have reconciled the fact of males and females being found in the plumage of the ring-tail; with the others, that no females were ever found under the dress of the hen-harrier, and that some ring-tails would gradually change into hen-harriers. W liether 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 uliginosus ; though he positively states, that, in his opinion, they are but one species, and even rejects as false, and not existing, the only character on which the specific distinction was based, that of the American having “ strong, thick, and short legs,” instead of having them long aud slender. For ivant of opportunity, however, of actually comparing specimens from both continents, he 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 hen-harrier, the African specimens described by Lc Vaillant, and even the various nominal species created or adopted by Vieillot, as North American, the Falco uliginosus of former authors has been respected, pro- bably, as the marsh-hawk of Wilson ! But the latter is not more than the others, entitled to be admitted a* distinct, being merely the present in its youthful dres* The hen-harrier belongs to the suhgenus Circus, which BLUE HAWK, OR IXEN-IIARRIER. 25 ! n English we shall call harrier, the name of buzzard being appropriated to the Buleones Though perfectly „ ^ mar ked in the typical species, such as this, the group to which our bird belongs passes insensibly into w hers, but especially into that called Buleo, some even ? t “ e North American species being intermediate etween them. Whenever the groups of falcons shall ,. e to the rank of genera, it will perhaps be ound expedient to unite circus and buteo, as they do "t differ much more from each other than our two ections of hawks ; those with long and slender legs, ■no those with short stout legs, A. stur and Sparvius of u hors, the line of demarcation being quite as difficult w be drawn. The harriers are distinguished in their tribe by their eak, much compressed bill, destitute of a tooth or iarp process, but with a strongly marked lobe ; their . orl a, ’d bristly cere ; their long, slender, and scutellated ^ > their slender toes, of which the outer are con- w 1 * '’- v a membrane; their nails, subequal, oak, channelled beneath, much incurred, add extremely .l^I’ j a very remarkable characteristic is exhibited in a- 1 j lr ou - wings, subequal to the tail, which is large, . eveu > ol ’ slightly rounded at tip : their first quill is '/ s hort, always shorter than the fifth, and the third 1 oul 'th is the longest. Their slender body and elegant v a P e , le ®T distinguish them from their allies, the izzarUs. They may be farther subdivided into those *• '' , ue . 1 * 10 f e| nale at least is possessed of that curious • ci.i nng ot scaly or stiff feathers, so remarkable in mil °' V r’ alK ! t . ‘ 0S , e entirely destitute of it. One species on'y .s found m the United States, which belongs to the first section and cannot he confounded with any j- . h that from which we have thought, proper to aistmgmsh it at the beginning of this article. In this section, the female differs essentially from the male, the young being similar to her in colon'r. The latter change wonderfully as they advance in age, to which circum- twT 6 1S °"’ in £ tlie wanton multiplication that has been a de of the species. In those which compose the 26 FALCO CYANEUS. second section, the changes are most extraordinary since, while the adult male is of a very uniform \i$ colour, approaching- to white, the female and young at very dark, and much spotted and handed : they are aM much more conspicuously distinguished by the r\f facial ring. These birds are bold, and somewhat distinguish*! for their agility, especially when compared with ft 1 buzzards ; and in gracefulness of flight they are hard)! inferior to the true falcons. They do not chase w* on the wing, and fly usually at no great height, makirf frequent circuitous sweeps, rarely flapping their win$ and strii-ce their prey upon the ground. Their fof consists of mice, and the young of other quadruped? reptiles, fishes, young birds, especially of those th? build on the ground, or even adult water birds, seiziflj them by surprise, and do not disdain insects ; for wliw habits they are ranked among the ignoble birds of pr ei Unlike most, other large birds of their family, tlk! quarter their victims previously to swallowing Iheit an operation which they always perform on the ground Morasses and level districts are their favourite haul'® being generally observed sailing low along the surfin'® or m the neighbourhood of waters, migrating- wh*j they are frozen. They build in mai*shy places, a mot! high grass, bushes, or in the low forks or branches 4 trees ; the female laying four or five round eo-n- Si entire)! white, or whitish, without spots. During the nupti* season, the males are observed to soar to a consider;^! height, and remain suspended in the air for a leno-tb d time. The male hen-harrier is eighteen inches lon